Misc Spanish Update

So I've been really enjoying my Spanish Adventures lately -- feeling like it's a bit on an upswing again, which is always a win ;).   That being said, pluses and minuses...   I found a new Spanish teacher I'm excited about, but went through a couple way less fun trial lessons before this one - one of which was super demotivating.  Booo.  

Sheesh - thanks Duo.

Anyways - this instructor sent me a few documents after our lesson; one was the notes from the class (all my previous instructors have just used google docs, but if he wants to do it this way that's fine too); one was almost a report card of the lesson?  This one was interesting as it had two examples in each of "red" "yellow" and "green" categories of things I said with the why it was or was not correct and how to fix it.  That, to me, is just a lot more work on his part, but moderately interesting (only moderately because my knowledge way exceeds my speaking ability so as soon as I see it, I know what's wrong).  And the third one was a summary of my objectives and level.   

So that last one, I wanted to clarify some details.  I debated whether to do so in English or Spanish 😂. I'm reasonably certain this instructor is fluent in English, but I haven't actually heard him speak it.  So I figured I should give writing in Spanish a solid try.   And I did, and I was reasonably pleased with it - if for no other reason than it was a decent length.  Most of my Spanish writing to date is a sentence or two at most.  

And then I got a response that was very long and all in Spanish.  😂. It's amazing how my brain just shut down at that. I've read literal novels in Spanish, an email w a few paragraphs is not, in fact, an issue.  But I def went omg that's way too many words.  Lol when calmer me, not standing in line on my phone, looked at it, it was a non issue to read and reply.   But I'm still amused at my immediate reaction.   Was also pleased -- he correct and returned my email and it wasn't NEARLY as bad as I'd expected it'd be ;).  Some minor things of course but they were conceptually minor.  So yeah - excited to start lessons with this teacher.  We shall see.

Along the same lines -- the Story Learning site that I generally follow just released an "Upper Intermediate" class (aka B2) that I'm *really* enjoying.  It's the first online one I've found that really helps hit the picky details that make a difference and makes me feel like I'm learning "new" stuff again instead of just trying to continue to improve the same beginner topics endlessly.

And then re beginner topics, I got re-hooked on DuoLingo when I was at the cottage; I tested out of the final one which opened the full tree and all the stories, but now I'm going through and testing out of each level individually.  If I can't do it w/ a score better than 90% I do the next step up too.   I figure this is getting me more review on the details I need in a moderately amusing fashion.  I'm loving the daily quests and the friend challenges.   It has more than doubled the size of the tree since the last time I did it, so I'm looking forward to the more advanced topics at the top of the tree.

The big gap remains, of course, speaking practice.   *sigh*.  It is the primary goal of my new lessons is to help bridge the gap between my comprehension abilities and my speaking abilities.   Fingers crossed.

So yeah - all the things :).   This is a hobby that definitely goes in waves for me, but on an upswing atm and really enjoying it.  We'll see how it goes...

Best week in a long time :)

Almost worth getting up early to see this

So the day after my bday, Sasha and I headed up to join most of our extended family (incl, of course, Bailey and Coco) at my aunt and uncle's cottage.   Still one of my top favourite places in the world, and definitely Sasha's top.  Where else is a leash a figment of the imagination, she can run and swim pretty much as much as she wants, and there're endless chipmunks to chase?   Heaven really.  Unless you're a chipmunk ;-P

On the "hunt".
If she ever catches something,
she just bops it with her nose to re-start the game.

A week of sunshine, dock weather, boat rides, waterskiing (?!?! SO much fun, but man the next day did I ever feel old :( ), "synchronised" diving (our record was five cousins at the same time, ranging in age from 9-me ;), other lake fun, watching the competitive gymnasts move in ways I could never have done even as a child, photos (I wish I'd brought my real camera), conversation, toddler making baby noises and wide smiles, lots of books, Duolingo (5 people in my family all doing it?!?! French (4), Spanish (2), Italian (1), and Chinese (1)), and all-round happiness.   Even the one rainy day was great as it led to a trip to town, including the dump (less fun usually but moderately entertaining in this case since it was temporarily closed due to "a really big bear in the bin".  Wouldn't close it for any bear, but this one was "really big" lol and they needed to give it a ladder so it could get out).  Then exploring the knick knack store (so much fun randomness) and, of course, a stop at the milkshake shack.

LOVE the "get up and go" feeling 
when you point this in a straight line and full throttle.

Came back relaxed and happy, with far fewer lines on my face, and a few extra pounds on the scale ;).  Didn't quite get to the relaxed enough phase where I'd actually start writing again (you know - fiction, not just "real" life stuff ;)).  But closer than I've been in a long time, so deeming that a win.

What a perfect way to spend a hot summer week.

On your birthday, calories don't count

Well it seems I've successfully taken another trip around the sun.  This year was really all about learning our new normal.  We moved here shortly before my birthday last year and both Chris and I got new jobs.   So getting the house set up (yeah new deck!) and acclimatising ourselves to our new area.   I made multiple efforts to fill the hole in my life left by a lack of horses and near-by friends.  Some more successful than others ;).   

Between us, we spend an excessive amount of time out here.

Let's see.   I tried volunteering for Big Brothers / Big Sisters.  Plus side, I'm now officially a volunteer.  Except...   They don't have anybody needing a match?   Lol which, I mean, actually awesome.  But it definitely defeated the whole giving back to the community idea.   Then I went to the library to see if there were any literacy or ESL programs for adults that could use a volunteer.   I have exp in both of those fields, and while I definitely don't want to do either of them as a job, a couple hours a week I'd likely enjoy.  And there is definitely a strong need for ESL within the immediate community.  But no.  Not, apparently, a public service.  Lots of tutoring type places, but that's not what I was looking for at all.

Okay so switching tactics -- how about a fun physical activity?  I looked for climbing first - I've enjoyed that in the past.  Unfortunately there's a grand total of one climbing gym anywhere near here and all they do is bouldering.  Yeah no, if I can't go up, why would I do it?   Sideways, way less fun.   Alright, well how about adult gymnastics?   Nope.  Nada.  Nowhere.  Fail.   BUT I *did* find Circus Arts, and promptly signed up for Arial Silks.   This was a riot.  I *really* enjoyed it.  But I got super frustrated by how slowly I could progress as a beginner who could only practice once a week.  Each week it was like starting over, I had to relearn everything we'd done the week before.  And it was a winter, after dinner activity.  So by the time work was done and it was dark, this was not something I really wanted to do.  Although to be fair, I always enjoyed it once I got there.

Alright, so can't be brand new unless it's something I can practice at home.   I don't know how I got to piano, but I randomly decided that's what I wanted to learn, did a ton of research in super speed, and soon had a digital keyboard (headphones!) with weighted keys (feels like a "real" piano), a stand, a bench, and an app.  Set.   This one, stuck.   I'm still really enjoying it, although I put less time in in the summer (shocker) since I'm outside every possible minute from the time work is over till the bugs come out.   So I'd say bare minimum practicing over the summer, but little by little...   Getting there :).   Only down side is it didn't solve the meeting people challenge.  But still really happy I found this one, and hopeful I might be able to take actual lessons in fall or winter.

And work?  It's crazy.  But I love it.   Great environment, totally engaged in and passionate about the work I'm doing.   The only other job I've ever been this into was GRS.  So, I mean, that's saying something.   It *does* mean I tend to put in a lot more hours than I prob should (hence the not enough time for all the hobbies), but other than that, all good.

So, as per almost always, I took Trip Around the Sun day off of work.  I stayed up quite late last night - cause I could ;) and slept in this am.  Chris got the vast majority of his week's schoolwork done in advance so he could join me for the day.  We went for a mini road trip to pick up pies from the Baking Twins.  These are actually for me to take to the cottage w me tomorrow, but it's a pretty drive and, well, if you're ever out here on a weekend, it's worth going to visit them (they're only open Fri-Sun).

We didn't actually pay to go into the fort,
but we did walk around it and answer some questions ;)

Then we went to Niagara on the Lake to do a Let's Roam.   The weather was perfect and the town is lovely, but the Roam was the worst I've ever done.  SO glad it wasn't our first, as I would never have done another.   Almost every checkpoint was nowhere near where the map told us to go, it was only partially a loop, and at one point there was a hugely long walk with no challenges or anything interesting.  So yeah, overall disappointing.  But it is absolutely a lovely town to wander around.  My original thought had been to go to Post and Pillar for massages and hot springs, but when I checked back in Feb, they were already booked :(   lol so this was a nice enough second.

The marketing and finishing touches on this small business impressed me

On our walk I saw this unique trailer and was fasciated.  Turns out it's a local business that creates high-end picnic lunches for people to have in the park.  And their picnic baskets (which look very much like the trailer) fold open into a table.  Very cute, great little business idea.  

Anyways - by this point we were hungry so we had lunch at the Olde Angel Inn, which we've been to before and enjoyed.   This time we got to be out on the HUGE patio, which was lovely.   

Since lunch was mid afternoon, neither of us were starving when it came time for dinner, so we had birthday cheesecake instead :). 😂 sometimes I love adulting.  Then took the dogs for a walk and mostly just chilled.   Facebook told me today the skittle cake was 9 years ago?!?!   It still wins for best cake ever -- if for no other reason than the amount of effort Steph and her sister Nicole put into making it.  Similarly, by far the most personal gift ever was the scrap book my mum made for my 40th.   Still love that one.   Lots of other great goodies (both baked and not) - I've been pretty lucky :), but those stand out as top two things.   Trips and activities can't be ranked - happy memories all around there.   There have been some awesome birthday activities :)

Anyways - it's now super-late and I'm definitely babbling, but - I'm on vacation :).  Sobeit.

More Spanishing

Sometimes Spanish vocabulary fascinates me. For instance, in the story I'm currently reading, I learned they have a verb for “it gets dark” in common usage. So “we arrived when it was getting dark” takes all of 3 words to communicate in Spanish: “llegamos cuando anochecía”. 

However, it took me the longest time to figure out wtf that last word meant since anoche = last night, and the ending told me was going to be a past tense ‘scene setting’ type verb, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to make a verb out of ‘last night’. Eventually I gave up and looked it up lol. 

This is why I keep going - cause randomness like this amuses me more than it should. Especially when combined w things like there is only ONE word for all three of: to hope, to wait, and to expect.   And it's the FIRST / most common word for all three of them.   Not like it's a synonym buried in a list somewhere; it's the one people without access to a thesaurus use.  And every time I have to use it I’m frustrated that it’s not quite right lol.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.  Source: Google Translate.
There are more options, but these were the top ones.

Spanish Shenanigans

So I've been working with a new Spanish teacher who I've been learning a TON from.  I went to her specifically because she's known for aiding in pronunciation, and that was my specific request.   Biggest down-side I've found to my self-taught first year or two is that I never really learned proper Spanish phonetics or syllables.   Which means I often pronounce letters in English, without even realising it, and I'm super hit or miss on which syllable should be stressed.   Suffice to say, the end result is I often am not understood when I speak even when what I say is theoretically correct (aka - if it were written down, it'd make sense).   I've been looking for almost two years to find a teacher to help me with this.  In all that time, I've only found one (she was awesome!) but the company I found her through disappeared and I've not found her anywhere else since.  Fail.   

Regardless, new teacher has reignited my enthusiasm for Spanish, and my learning.   And while I've definitely got a long way to go, at least now I can see a path forward.  Also it's accidentally making me aware of other "unwritten" aspects of spoken language.   

The first homework exercise new teacher gave me was based off a children's song.  It's got a single line of silly lyrics, and the concept is they repeat the sentence changing all the vowels in the sentence each time (so one time all the letters are a, next time e, etc etc).  Her challenge to me was to be able to do each sentence of made up stuff to help train the sounds.  No singing required ;).  But she also gave me a YouTube video so I could hear how it's suppose to be.

Okay so I wrote each line out with all the vowels changed, so I'd have a hope of reading it.  Nonsense words are no problem when the real words don't mean much to begin with.   Listened to the song to make sure I had the general concept and started trying it.   But it got to the point that I could say all the words reasonably well, but for the life of me I couldn't "sing along".   Every time it was off.   Almost as though I had extra syllables (which would've been possible - see above challenges - except said teacher had prepped for this and broken the sentence out by syllables in the example already).   And so I focused on what they were doing and realised they were merging words together.

Well f.   😂 I know better.  I KNOW we do this in English, because once upon a time I had to teach it!  When I was learning to teach ESL, I remember having to explicitly teach about things that people SAY that are not how we write.   Consider:

• triple contractions:  I wouldn't've done...   That is 100% wrong in writing, but we say it, and other things like it, all the time.
• Ida gone to the store but... - I would have.   Like wtf?  How is a non-native speaker supposed to get that? 
• Squishing words together and merging sounds -- Is he busy? = Isi busy?   Cats or dogs = catserdogs;  next door = nexdoor; anything where the last letter of one word is the same as the first of the next (this is the same in Spanish I've realised): social life = socialife
• Adding sounds (as if it weren't enough to squish them):  Do it = dowit;  Go out = gowout 

I'm sure there are more and I seem to recall they all have fancy names, but for the life of me can't remember what.   But somehow it never occurred to me they do this in Spanish too.  And suddenly so much I struggled with made sense.    I listened closely to what they were doing (easy enough when you play the same 6 sentences over and over again) and wrote what they were actually saying, NOT what the words were.   And it was mostly dropping a syllable when the last and first letter were the same and squishing the words together.

So yeah - I felt ridiculous that it's taken me SO long to realise that.   And then I extrapolated that to practicing with songs I actually like (conveniently apple provides lyrics to most songs ;).   And it's like a huge light went on.  But man did I ever feel stupid for not having made that connection earlier.

And follow up - I had a good laugh in my next Spanish lesson when my teacher took my notes (google doc, so she could see what I'd done) and corrected my spelling?!?!  lol of nonsense words.   But even that was super learning - her point was that what I'd written (literally changing the vowels and squishing words together) wouldn't be pronounced the way they should be, because squishing them that way sometimes changes the pronunciation.  So she walked me through a bunch of those which was super helpful in wrapping my head around some random pronunciation things, but I still shake my head that I was even spelling nonsense words wrong ;)

Aligned with my new enjoyment of lessons, Amazon recommended a "book I might like" that the description really appealed to me.  And it's on Unlimited (which means no extra cost to me).   And also in Spanish.  hmmmm.  So I've been reading in Spanish for a while now, but always tween or YA level, or "level-appropriate" learner books.  This one was definitely adult.   So downloaded it and it's slow going, but I'm mostly getting it.   But it's painful.

I remember when one of my cousins was very young, he was trying to read Harry Potter and the deal was he would read a page then his mom would read a page (or maybe paragraph?  chapter?  I don't remember the details, but conceptually...).   Anyways - I decided I could do the adult version of the same.   This particular book was a best seller in Spanish and has since been translated to English (English version here if anyone is interested).   So I got both versions, and am currently reading a chapter in Spanish then a chapter in English.  😂.  Partially it keeps it moving and partially it fills in some blanks if I've missed something critical.   I believe the book is part of a trilogy, so maybe by the time I get to book 2, I'll be fluent enough to read more in Spanish.   I hope so, because I'm not convinced books 2 and 3 have been translated *g*

Wish me luck! 

Actively not running this summer ;)

So for reasons I still don't understand, I signed up for not one but two activities that theoretically involve "running" this summer?!?!   Yeah, really not sure what that was about.   Suffice to say, neither event actually involved running ;).  Which is, absolutely, the best type of running event.

Before Bronte

The first was the Bronte 5K which I did with Rebecca.   This was an absolutely lovely morning.  Perfect weather.  A gorgeous trail through the park.  Not too many people.  Just a fun morning with a good friend and some exercise.   To be fair, Rebecca was a lot more committed to the exercise portion than I was -- she ran, I chatted.  Given the complete lack of training I did leading up to it, this was probably for the best since we all know I'm not particularly good at rating myself and the odds of me pushing very hard and then seriously regretting it, was pretty high ;).   Would definitely do this one again -- was just such a nice day.

After Bronte

The next one was "Mud Girl" which is a women only event.   I did this one with Jill and her friend Edith.

Before Mud Girl

This one was a mud run that was WAY more committed to the mud idea than Mud Hero that Steph, Kirby, Chris and I did many years ago.   This one, the very first obstacle involved being chest-deep in muddy water so yeah, there was no way of getting through it without being absolutely filthy.   It was ideal weather for the adventure - overcast and not super hot, but warm enough that we weren't freezing if we were waiting.  There was no way this was going to be a "run" -- the footing was super treacherous so running would not have ended well.   Which was all good for me -- to put in perspective, I had named our team "A Walk in the Park" lol.   The event had been put on hold for ...?  I want to say half an hour or so?   Which meant they'd abandoned any semblance of start times by the time we got there and were sending people out in waves every two minutes.  This was actually ideal as there was basically no wait once we made our way to the start and not too many people all together.   

Obstacles included - navigating through mud puddles under nets (never shallow enough to force a crawl, although many people did), climbing mud mountains and sliding down mud hills, climbing over / across nets, inflatable obstacles (I found these a riot!) and slides, slack line (I *loved* this and very much want one in my back yard now), and other similar things.   I had a TON of fun with the obstacles -- far more than I'd expected!  I didn't so much love the organisation and planning of the event.  Was a good day though and since it was on a lake, a quick way to get a lot of the mud off in the end.   Not that there wasn't still mud *everywhere* when I got in the shower later, but much better than it would've been!

After Mud Girl :)

There were photographers on course,
but despite MUCH searching, apparently no pics of our little team.  

Continuing the trend of brilliance or disaster. And, umm, a little light on the brilliance ;)

So it’s amazing how I lose the ability to play as soon as the camera is on. Even though I *know*, logically, that I can record as many takes as I like, AND that my sole audience is my dad, I still slide backwards significantly from what even the last effort was. Super frustrating and makes me glad I never have any inclination toward being on stage! 

The one significant advantage of the video though, is for the songs where I’ve gotten past the “just able to play the right keys” stage, it really helps me to hear it and then I can see what I need to do differently. It helps me pick out which areas aren’t smooth, or where dynamics need to change. I’m loving that that’s now a component of it. It’s only the last couple songs where ‘just get the right notes’ hasn’t been the WHOLE objective.

Also, my tendency in riding to go for brilliance or disaster definitely carries over to piano ;). The happy safe middle won’t do. At least in piano, it’s unlikely that I’ll end up covered in mud as a result ;). So for example, my current challenge is learning to play hands at different volumes. Otherwise even the nicest sounds sound horrible. But I can’t be happy with just slightly different. Oh no. So instead I have cases where one hand is SO soft that sometimes I don’t actually get any sound, while the other sounds like somebody let a toddler loose with a hammer.

Still having fun with it though, so deeming that a win :) I wasn’t sure I’d keep going once the weather was nice enough to go outside, but I still seem to be making time for it.

I HAVE dropped off on the theory portion though. Lol I know I really need to get back into that or I’ll regret it eventually, but atm I’m enjoying songs, and when I get stuck, I go learn the theory I need specific to that moment to get unstuck. It’s pretty much what I’m doing with Spanish too so hey, why not? ;).

I also don’t love that if I don’t play them regularly, I lose them and have to start over again. It comes back fast, but definitely can’t just sit down and play.

I’ve been writing what I’ve been learning from each song in YouTube - going to paste it here in order just for posterity’s sake:

Day 1: Game of Thrones / Sound of Silence:
At this point I had vague memories of how to read treble clef, zero knowledge of bass clef, and only vague ideas of where the keys were.

Month 1: Game of Thrones / Sound of Silence (beginner):
Very rough, but better than Day 1

Month 2: Cannon in D (beginner)
One of my favourite classics, but missing my favourite part :(. Apparently it's not beginner-friendly.

Month 2: Piano Man (beginner)
The end of this one destroyed me!

Month 2: Harry Potter (beginner)
Simple and pretty - this was the first time I got to play with the higher notes, and the first time both hands were in treble clef.

Month 2: Demons (beginner)
Had fun with this one - it was the first one with chords in both hands simultaneously ;)

Month 2: Cannon in D (intermediate)
My first Intermediate!!! Woohoo! lol I LOVED this one, but only cause it's one of my favourite songs and I was *so* disappointed by the beginner version.

Month 2: Havana (beginner)
LOVED learning this one. ALL the black keys and interesting combinations.

Month 2: 7 Years (beginner)
I love the change in rhythm half way through - 2nd half is way more fun :)

Month 3: Let it Be (beginner)
Recorded early just so it could be at exactly 3 months

Month 3: River Flows In You (Intermediate)
This song is super pretty, and I only got through it for the first time ever yesterday, so still a LONG way to go before it should be on here, but staying true to recording the learning journey.

Month 3: In the Hall of the Mountain King (intermediate)
This one gets both faster and louder as you go, which I really enjoyed. I'm not sure the volume comes through in my iffy recording but it was definitely there in my little room!

Month 4: Game of Thrones (intermediate)
Started learning this one after a week's vacation. Don't know if it was brutal because of that, or because it's harder but yeah, it was painful. The parts that I *thought* should've been easy, were hard. On the plus side, super proud of the comparison to the other versions of this song I've done so far!

Month 4: I’m Yours (intermediate)
This one was about learning to play slowly, learning chords (and how to still hear the melody!), and my first ever effort with a pedal.

Month 5: Despacito (intermediate)
This one introduced more complicated chords, triples, notes on a syncopated beat, a new key, and more pedal practice.

Month 5: Pirates of the Caribbean (Easy Piano)
First time with "real" sheet music. Challenges learning not to stall when I need to switch pages, and on the 2nd portion of a repeats going to the right end bar. I am grateful to be learning in a time when tech allows for switching pages digitally via a Bluetooth foot pedal and not needing to actually lift my hands off the keyboard to do so ;)

Month 5: Für Elise (Intermediate)
I read a (plausibly fictional) story that this was composed for a beginner student Beethoven loved. Something she could play that would still sound pretty. He proposed to her but was turned down. So he added a part that she would find very challenging 😂. There is no accurate source I could find that vouches for that; most just propose the three potential Elises. But it still amused me.
This version, suffice to say, does not have the complicated parts. More advanced versions in the same app do.  For me the learnings here were: 

- playing different volumes with each hand (still ridiculously hard for me!)
- having hands overlap without getting tangled

Month 6: Moonlight Sonata (Intermediate) 

This one was a challenge, and I admit I recorded before I probably should 😂 There's a fair bit of polish still required. BUT. I got through it :) New learnings for this one were octaves, so many octaves, and rhythm changes. Also learning to read really low notes in both clefs.

Month 6: Bohemian Rhapsody (intermediate)
SO many challenges, and so much room for improvement still. Next challenge - hands playing with different volumes! lol ah well.  Challenges to learning this song:
- changing key signatures
- changing clefs randomly
- very little repeating sections so way more to learn in a comparatively sized piece

Month 7: Sound of Silence (intermediate)
This one was all about hand independence: partially is each hand doing the right thing at the right time, but primarily getting the left hand to volume down and the right hand to be louder so that the melody can be heard clearly. Also smoothing the notes out while doing that. Lol apparently when too much is going on at once, I can only play super-staccato ;-P

The new normal?

So...  I was back in the office this week.   Was that ever a surreal experience.   I was there for three days; my boss was having an offsite, that included his whole team (which means people flying in from UK, US, and Vancouver), and since so many were coming to Toronto, a few other teams came in as well.   He arranged the schedule so while there were workshops, there was also lots of networking time.

Not sure this post will have any coherence, but my random thoughts over the last few days.

• Getting up more than 2h before the first meeting *just* to get to the meeting on time...  Less fun ;-P. No dog walk, no exercise, just to get there.   And that's when staying in Oakville.
• While there aren't nearly as many people commuting, they've shortened the trains and made them less frequent, so end result is still over-crowding.
• However, since the platforms haven't moved, the doors still open in the same spots they always did. And turns out the same trains are still on the same tracks.  End result, I knew where to stand to ensure I pretty much always had a seat.  Win.
• On the flip side, the GO parking lot is empty.   I'm loving the non-reserved "reserved" spots.  And the fact that with half the lot closed, I could still get an ideal spot mid-rush-hour.
• Remembering what to bring in my train bag.  lol headphones, water bottle, etc
• The train was busiest on Thursday by a LOT.  The couple people I know who've started going back into the office have mentioned that, but I hadn't really expected it.   I'm slightly confused as to why (I prob would've guessed Tues or Wed) but evidently Thurs is the day.
• I haven't worn adult shoes in years.   Let's be honest - I rarely wear *shoes*, much less grown-up ones.  My feet.  My poor feet.   Before I even got to the office, I had to find a pharmacy to buy band-aids, just to make it through the first day.   Also, that was more of a challenge then it should've been since most of the PATH (for non-TO people, it's actually very cool) is out of business :(.  Random stranger gave me directions - thankfully accurate as I was hobbling by that point, so exploring was less fun.
• Day two I wore flats instead; I noticed the vast majority of the women did the same.  To be fair, I can count the women on one hand -- it's still a very male-dominated area -- but we were all shorter on day 2 ;)
• In the "before times" if you were in a hybrid meeting, the people who were remote would always be causing delays and struggling with technology.  Here it was the people in the room, every time.   Couldn't connect computers, had no idea how to make the speaker work.  Ironically as the least technical person in the room, this was something I had no issue with since my last world was also hybrid, I'm well used to the tech.  But *this* office had been 100% in-office before the world shut down (like think actual desktops) so it's all new to them.  Moderately amusing as it is, in fact, a tech team.  The remote people needed a lot of patience this week ;)
• Where I failed in tech was the elevators.   More often than not I'd push the button to call the elevator and forget to check the screen for which one to get in.   This is the reverse of what used to happen when I was super-used to that, but then I'd go into a building without it and just stand in an old-school elevator wondering why it didn't move 😂 
• When you've only met people online, even though we always have cameras on, you have no real idea of size: either height or weight.  There were people *way* taller, skinnier, or heavier than in my mental image.   Apparently they thought I'd be taller 😂 
• Pre-commuting me: packs tank top blouse.   Current me: remembers I didn't have a reasonable jacket to wear and put off going to Winners too long, just accepts I'm going to freeze.   Put on tank top and underneath is a neatly folded office-appropriate sweater.  Thank you past me!
• The quick downward slide amused me.   Day one: set alarm an hour early, transition into an adult, have breakfast before leaving, etc.  Day two: set alarm 45 mins early and 30 mins early.   Wake up at first alarm, get up at second alarm, eat breakfast, and go.   Day three: set alarm 30 mins early.  Get up at 15 mins.  Out the door with time to spare.  Not a ton of it, but some!
• It was really great to catch up with some colleagues from previous teams that I haven't seen since before the world shut down.

As to actual work?  Nothing got done.  It was a great week of networking, actually super helpful as far as building relationships, having casual conversations, and generally getting to know people as humans rather than work-only squares on a screen.  But now it feels like I've been on vacation for a week; it's all the catching up of the work that didn't happen in all the rest.

Chris did a thing!

2020 changed the world in a lot of ways.   For us, it gave Chris the final push he needed to change careers.  His career change, however, required a return to school.  

The adventure began!
True story!  The acceptance letter came with actual confetti ;-P
I feel like I was way more amused by this than Chris was.

The ceremony was similar to other ceremonies I've seen.   I had prime seating right on the aisle.  This meant both good picture taking options and I got to watch some of the behind scenes organising ;)

The entry procession

*insert a bunch of speeches and people we don't know here*

Chris was in the second group of graduates to cross the stage.

You've heard of the "walk of shame"?  I'd like to introduce its opposite.
The only objective is "do not trip" ;)

Somehow I figured not having kids, I wouldn’t be sitting through any graduation ceremonies, but here we are.  And honestly, possibly even more proud.  In my world, it's normal for kids to go to uni and graduate; it's a lot harder to do it as an adult.

Judging by the amount of chairs set up for graduates, they expected about twice as many people as attended; that being said, it ran almost exactly on schedule. 

So my husband is now a university graduate!

 Some differences from other ceremonies I've seen, cause that’s always what interested me: 

• Graduates weren’t separated from audience in advance — Chris came to visit after he had his gown, and others were taking pics on the stage in the formal chair. When I’ve attended before, once guests and graduates went their separate ways, they didn’t reunite until after the ceremony.  And definitely we were not allowed on stage until we were invited.
• Instructions weren’t super clear to the graduates or the audience. The poor woman in charge of making sure people went where they were supposed to (and doing so subtly) was really earning her (likely volunteer) paycheque that day. At the very end, she gave up completely. It did work out, just not quite how they’d intended.
• Lots more setups for photo ops than in my past — to me this is a sign of the times; the last grad ceremony I attended was 2005, selfies and social media weren’t even really a thing yet. So setting up photo ops wasn’t required either. I actually would’ve enjoyed this, but would not have wanted to wait in line for it :) - They weren’t as strategic about portions of it — for instance, the degree framing was hidden indoors where graduates return the gown; it wasn’t where the parents were with their kids (given that in *most* situations it’s parents who are likely to pay for that particular piece).



Chris humoured me and let me take a pic with the badger ;)



• Graduates didn’t receive their degree on stage — they had their colours draped over them instead. They got their degree when they returned the gown. lol. This, to me, combines with the photo ops and the structure. I don’t recall exactly how they enforced getting the gowns back when I did it, but I suspect it was the room we went to right after the ceremony, before going outside again. Photos were taken before, and far less of a “thing”. 
• I really enjoyed people watching after the ceremony, while Chris was off collecting his degree. Brought back some happy memories for sure. It’s a day for positivity and enthusiasm and, well, we can use that once in a while. 

Success.  Woohoo!

Toronto Tourists

Team Al's Adventurers

Took the day off work today and went downtown to do a Let’s Roam with Dad.  Really enjoyed this one --  it’s the first one I’ve done where I knew the area, which circled my former office building. It also had a history focus, which generally fascinates me. The puzzles were good, although a couple we definitely struggled with — one, because the statue in question had moved lol and the other cause clearly we didn’t find the right plaque to get the info from, and Google even led me down the wrong direction. Fail! 

Even statue cats are independent;
this one was not where it was supposed to be ;)

Coolest for me was the old court square — which was less than 5 min walk from where I used to work, and I still never knew existed. It’s a gorgeous park now, well kept up, with some random art.

How could I not love a sculpture of books?

Pleasant surprise a couple times when we appeared like lost tourists that people offered to help.  Faith in humanity at least partially restored.  At the end of our adventure, we stopped to grab a hotdog -- classic downtown moment -- before catching the train home.