Coldest Night of the Year

It's nice to do something for the greater good!

On Saturday, Margot, Glosette Girl and I went for a 5 km walk as part of Coldest Night of the Year 2021, a family-friendly walk to raise money for charities serving people experiencing homelessness, hurt, and hunger. 

Even though we walked alone (as a family), we were actually part of a team, All (Smaller) Saints Westboro, which was organized by our church. Our team's focus was to raise money for an Ottawa women's shelter, Cornerstone.

And guess what? We raised $585 to help our team hit its goal of $5000! Woohoo!

Did you see anyone with these hats on the weekend? They were charity walkers!

Amazingly, this is the first fundraiser that I can remember being a part of...ever.* It was really cool to see just how generous our friends and family were in helping out. 

As for the "hard" part (the walk), well, we chose a walk we've never done before: the Crysler Recreational Trail, which is just east of Ottawa. It was a bit different than some of the walks we're used to (less forest, more pastoral), but still very pleasant. 

We pretty much had the whole trail for ourselves, which is a good thing, as it meant we were able to eat all the icicles we found ourselves!

That's good eatin'

* Not counting stuff I did in school, charity races, general church contributions, Margot fundraisers or random charitable donations. We're not heartless :)

Hinto work lunch break

Somewhat amazingly, I haven't blogged about work at all over the past year despite my job occupying so much of my life. Five days a week, I get up, perform my early morning routine (like practicing piano), take care of Margot, open the laptop and then just start going.

Unlike other people who started working from home during the pandemic, I've been working from home part-time for many years now. The flexibility I get from from home gives me is a real plus. However, a real negative has always been the lack of physical activity. On some days, I hardly move from my "office" in the kitchen except to visit the little boys room! It wasn't as big a deal pre-covid, but in the current era, I find it's easy to slip into a routine of News and Netflix lethargy.

A few months ago, Glosette Girl, who is also at home now, started taking lunch-hour walks to give herself a breath of fresh air. Smart. So to be less of a bum, and when I can pull myself away from my laptop, I try and join her.

Monday was a P.D day so Margot joined us on the walk...reluctantly

The walk she's discovered is nothing fancy, just down Gladstone to Little Italy, then over to the Civic Hospital area before walking back home through Fairmont Park. Lots of other people seem to have the same idea as there are lots of dog walkers* and joggers about at that time.

When I don't join her Glosette Girl listens to podcasts. When I do join her, we chat, which is actually kindof novel as some days it seems we really are in separate worlds with her working upstairs and me downstairs. 

These lunch-time walking days may be fast coming to an end as my gym is opening up again this week, which gives me a new outlet to help stay fin. Still, it was fun while it lasted and it's hopefully me keep a couple of the "covid pounds" off!

* correction: dog walkers are everywhere these days no matter what time of day it is!

Cutest Cats EVER

A sure fire way to banish the winter blues is to visit a cat cafe.

What's that you say? You have never heard of a "cat cafe" before? Well, you are in luck my friend! Because in Hintonburg there is one just 10 minutes (walk) from our house at Wellington and Merton.

Come on down! 

The owner is probably starting to recognize our faces peering through the window

Seriously, whenever we need an excuse for a walk we think, hmmm just what are the cats doing today? Then we stroll down to the cafe and take a peak through the window to see the cats are doing, which is pretty much always sleeping, playing or sleeping.

Cat cafes are a cool concept actually: a combination of cafe, pet store, and animal shelter, which hopefully increases the odds of one of these cuties being adopted. These days, it seems everyone and their uncle wants a dog, but there are no shortage of cats to go around (all the cats at the cat cafe are strays).

And like I said, they are an instant antidote to a sad/mad mood.

Seriously, I dare you not to at least smile after seeing these cuties!

That looks really cozy