Anne Kluver Bolmers 1921-2024

Oma passed away yesterday at the age 103. Amazingly she stayed in her own home (same one since 1958?) until the last 3 months or so. She still had her wits about her. Laura and Lucy visited them this last weekend and Oma was feeling a bit blue so Lucy did zerberts and made her laugh. I hope that memory sticks with Lucy - making her great grandmother laugh.

Best picnics are floating picnics

Today Laura and I went for a 13 km paddle along the Rideau in our canoe on our date day. Went from Hogs Back south to the Black Rapids locks and back. I can't ever explain how much I feel my being repair and renew when paddling on the water. It's like a fundamental part of me has always lived near water, and to be on it again I grow back into... me. Like a plate you didn't realize was broken repairs itself as you watch. Yes, really weird way to think about it, but I don't know how best to explain it.

One thing that I've really been enjoying is our picnic lunches on the water. We stop, sit down in the middle the boat and eat sandwiches that Laura's made on plates. It feels like a strange way to do it, but I love sharing a meal while we drift along.

After our paddle, we did a quick bike ride and got some pastries that we quickly ate before the kids came home, then we hid all the evidence of said treats.

It was a very good day.

Time for a new phone

It's been a while since I've gotten a new iphone. About 5 years in fact. They go on sale tomorrow, and I'm going to order a new one. My current phone's back is cracked, the rear camera and lights stopped working most of the time (currently not working), and generally it's starting to show it's age. Now it's not as old as Laura's, but she doesn't want to move away from her current phone, she loves it.

At some point she'll have to. But that's up to her.

I admit that I'm a bit excited. I want a new fancy camera. I mean phone. Yes, phone...

My baby is home

After two weeks, Alice is home from sleep-away camp. This is the second year she's gone to Camp Otterdale. This year there was a girl in her cabin that was from Spain (!) and after camp today was being driven to the airport to fly home.

The dynamic at home was a bit weird at times with Isaac and Lucy. I think that they both missed her very much but didn't have a good way to express it. Mostly they got along very well though. I think that everyone is happy to have Alice home though.

We'll all be home for a bit, and then head off to the cottage on Monday for a week. Then back for a bit, then onto an adventure on the in New Brunswick. It's going to be a lot of driving this August, but I hope that it will be okay. I always stress that something is going to break and throw the whole plan off. No matter what'll happen, we'll be together.

A glove that fits

I did something today that I haven't done I think since I was maybe 10: I got a new baseball glove. Isaac and Lucy have been in a community softball / t-ball thing and I forgot how much I enjoyed playing catch as a kid. I spent a lot of time playing catch. A silly amount. Never was much of a batter or actually playing a game, but catch or "running bases" was a lot of fun.

So I biked over to Canadian Tire and bought a glove on sale. A "training" softball, and a bat. Today when the kids came home from school they saw my new glove and Isaac just lost it. Hangry. But after dinner I went out and played a bit of catch with him and then with both him and Lucy using a tennis ball.

I had such a great time. It's a new glove so it's not worked in, but it instantly took me back 30 year ago. The glove felt like an extension of me. I actually felt competent, which is a huge change for me compared to me playing soccer with the kids. It's very weird to have not done something for so long, and then it feels like the skills are instantly back. I don't think that I even played catch in highschool and I don't have much memory of doing it when we moved to Ottawa, so it would have all been before I was 11.

I hope that we can play well together, ideally at a close baseball diamond. I'm mostly worried that the kids will try to bludgeon each other with the bat, so that'll be a bit of a concern. I really hope that we're past that now.

Did I mention that I've got myself a bat, ball, and glove? Yeessss... so excited. :-D

Narcan

Last night on the way to watch a play were the main character suffers from an opioid addiction and OD's on fentanyl, ironically - don't you think, we witnessed just that.

Biking by a major transit station, someone was flat out and someone was doing mouth to mouth. Turns out that it was the child of the rescuer. That child is only 8 years older than our oldest. The desperation, fear, and terror from the mom as she tried to save her child was hard to see.

We didn't have any narcan / naloxone. They were already on the phone with 911. Laura helped with that too because the lady was having a hard time emotionally explaining where we were. But I honestly believe that Laura saved that woman's life when she asked the mom a simple question: "Do you have any naloxone?". They thought that they given it to their kid before. She quickly searched her bag, and thankfully, she had some. And it worked.

I heard the sirens and went to redirect the ambulance over. Shortly after that the police and fire showed up as well. It now being in the hands of first responders, we biked away.

But honestly, that's fucked up.

We had talked about carrying some narcan with us. Just toss it in your bike bag. But holy shit that... It's not good that we hadn't gotten any yet. We will correct that.

I hope that girl gets the help she needs. I hope that she'll be okay.

Working from home, bay-bee!

I should have done an update after being so blue about returning to the office. And no, I didn't exceed the 25 minutes talking to people. TBS said that people in the role I happen to be in don't actually need to go in. My boss put in the work over months to get all all exempt and it had to go all the way up the the DM for approval, and we got it! Woo-hoo. I am so much happier to be working from home it's hard to describe it.

I do miss seeing my co-workers and going to lunch with them though. The lack of that part is rough. However the weather is nicer which means hopefully there will be more chances for a patio lunch.

Soon...