Digital Diet

Digital Diet

April 30, 2018

I read an article in an old issue of Cosmo, yes I know a very 'reliable' source. However the article was about this one writer deciding to go on a 'digital diet'. What is a digital diet you ask...well apparently it is when one decides to take time away from social media and "being present". 

Really?!?! So doing what we've always done in the past now has a term associated with it? I mean c'mon people this is just something we have been doing for decades, we have been engaging in (wait for it)...Human Contact. 

Oh Em Gee!! How is this something new? Why is this a trend? Don't get me wrong I'm all about 'being present', having conversations IRL (in real life) and face to face time. I, and many generations before me are all about that. Don't get me wrong we haven't outright refused to  use technology, in fact we have embraced it and use it to our advantage. But to have to say that "I'm taking a digital diet" is absolutely absurd. 

This is what scares me the most about these younger generations...to us this is just common sense. I suspect and have for awhile that common sense isn't so common. I know that there has been a lot of talks about having a 'societal correction' for these helicopter kids who have zero skills but really to proclaim it as if it's a thing...it's not. 

Just put down your damn phone and pay attention, maybe that's part of the problem that should be addressed. Not being able to focus too long on anything but social media and mobile devices. Pay attention.

Anyhow I don't know if you will also find this as absurd as I did but here is a picture (not as clear as it could've been) of the article and you can zoom in and shake your head too.

Up, up, up, there's no where but up from here

Up, up, up, there’s no where but up from here

April 2, 2018

I was listening to the radio today when Shania Twain’s hit song ‘Up!’ started to play, I immediately turned up the volume and started to sing along. As I sung along, I started to actually listen to the words a little closer. It struck me as odd as I knew the words and distinctly remember playing this song over and over and over again in 2004.

It was my second serious relationship and I had ended it. I was completely heartbroken and sad but something deep inside of me kept playing this song over and over and over again. Each and every single time I got into the car, I would hit play and repeat on this one song. I bet if I were to look at this CD, there would be a very deep groove where this one song is located on it.

It seems weird as I don’t know what kept me playing this song but my grief, it was as though I was reciting this to myself as a mantra…if I said it enough times I would believe it. Weird how the brain works?

I knew my heart was broken into a million little pieces and the only way I knew how to get back on my feet was to keep telling myself that it would eventually get better. Apparently I did that repeatedly without actually knowing it. Don’t get me wrong I know every single word to this song and can recite it to anyone…but at the time I was just singing it and saying it not actually comprehending it, until now 14 years later. Wow!

This song helped me to get to where I am today. It helped me to build myself back up when I didn’t know if I could. It helped me to believe in myself, love and life again.

I still enjoy hearing this song and will always hit repeat on it when I get the chance. Not sure if it’s out of habit or out of love. Either way it helped to heal my broken heart and I suspect many others out there too.

Roseanne

Roseanne

March 27, 2018

It’s been 20 years since this show was last on the air, they decided to do a reboot of the show this year. I decided to watch it, as did 18 million other people…it’s still a hit! As soon as I heard the music and Roseanne’s memorable laugh I couldn’t help but be brought back to a time when I was still living at home with the parents and we would all congregate around the television to watch it.

We could relate to the financial struggles the family was having as could the rest of the world. It was the 90’s and I think a lot of people were falling on economic hard times. I think most of the world was experiencing the penny pinching and the just getting by. Having to raise kids on one or less incomes…this was reality.

Our family was no exception to this rule, my dad wanted my mom to raise us children and not work. We were one of those blue collar families who could relate, so to us it was nice to see a family on TV who was more like us. We have all since grown up and are in better places financially, the world has continued to evolve around us and grow despite the hard times.

I find it interesting that the show would come back on the air 20 years later and be a huge hit again. Have we all evolved back to the place where we’ve started? Or has that little changed that people can still relate?

I honestly have no opinion either way, I just find it interesting is all. I personally wouldn’t mind going back to the simpler times when families stayed together and grew together. I think we’re missing that in our lives. That human connection to help guide us through our lives…to help make us happy and better people. We all know we want better for our children and we want to be better people, maybe taking a few steps back can help us get closer to this goal.

Either way, I’m going to keep watching a show that I use to love as a child and continue to love as an adult. Maybe people can learn a few things about life and we can get back to having some human communication.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney

March 25, 2018

I was getting dinner ready for the fam jam on this beautiful March Sunday afternoon and the television was on CBC and all of a sudden the Walt Disney logo and song came on…you know the one that comes on before all Disney movies. Where the sparkles go around the castle and Walt Disney is spelled out…’When you wish upon a star’.

It immediately brings me back to being a child, I remember every Sunday at 6 o’clock the theme would come on and a Disney animated movie would play. It could’ve been Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Bambi, Cinderella…whatever their heart desired. There was no order to them, they would just play a Disney movie and we as a family would all sit around the television and eat our dinner there enjoying the animated movie.

I miss those days as I’m sure the parents would get prepared for the week as the kids were busy watching the movie. Things were so simple then…it seems now you have to buy them on blu-ray or DVD. They re-release them but they are so expensive and I don’t know that is something I want to invest a whole lot of money into as the format in which they play is ever changing.

Now that I have kids though I do want to buy more, I will take a peek at some thrift stores and garage sales as I would feel more comfortable spending a few bucks on each DVD rather than 20 dollars each. Funny thing is I would rather buy some of the older ones for myself but newer ones for my babes. I guess in time we will find that happy medium of Disney movies…until then I guess I’ll remember my Sundays as a child.

Netscape

Netscape

March 15, 2018

I watched a documentary about the 90’s and man did it bring back a lot of memories. One of the things that stood out was the creation of Netscape, holy have we come a long way. When Netscape came out I was living in a small-ass hicktown and was so disconnected to all of this and can honestly say that I didn’t know much about the internet. So you can imagine that I didn’t get fully immersed into the who online world until much later in my life and really didn’t notice or appreciate what was going on all around me at the time.

It reminded me that I actually had to take a course or two on how to turn a computer on. I had no idea this whole other world existed and I had just let it slip me by. Once I started to immerse myself in the online world and learned a few more skills, I was off and running.

I thought I had learned quite a bit in my short time in classes but then was introduced to a whole other online world…called ‘chat rooms’. It was actually my mom who introduced me to them as she was an early adopter to the whole computer world. I found that kind of funny as my mom was with us in hicktown nowehere and didn’t get involved with computers until she had moved back to Alberta.

She had set me up with an account and username, she showed me how to navigate in there and when to end a chat. It was funny as I never thought that my mom would be the one to introduce me to chat rooms.

Even saying the words chat room makes me laugh…I don’t know that these even exist anymore. But it definitely puts into perspective how far we’ve come from Netscape and dial-up. The discovery and implementation was definitely revolutionary for it’s time…we just didn’t know it.

I don’t know that we thought we could come as far as we’ve come…us common users that it. I suspect the “real thinkers” of this time, you know Steve Jobs and Bill Gates knew we would all along.

I'm done, it only took 7 years

I’m done, it only took 7 years.

March 13, 2018

I just finished attending the last course in a program that I had been wanting to do for years. I had initially tried to attend these courses back in 2011 but was denied at the time from the HR manager. There wasn’t any clear reason of why I had been denied just that I wasn’t allowed to go.

At the time there had been some tension between her and my boss so everyone in our department was guilty by association and all of our privileges were pretty much taken away from us and attending classes was one of them. I remember at the time thinking this was so unfair and that I would try again later.

Well…later has come, 7 years later. It’s a 6 course program and it’s over an 8 month period. Something that hadn’t been approved before and we thought that we would see just how far we could push the boundaries before the same HR lady denied us again.

Looking back I was an idiot for not applying earlier on…you know when I didn’t have a set of twins under 2 years old. Did I mention that I had one twin who got a new tooth or two every month which usually came with a 40 degree fever. Yes, every month…I can’t wait until this child has all his teeth.

Regardless I attended ALL 6 courses and have just finished the last one today. I am over the moon ecstatic about this as I AM DONE! This is a huge relief off of my shoulders and I feel so accomplished. I have one more assignment to hand in for this course but other than that I am done, I am done done done!

Looking back on it, I would definitely recommend to anyone who wanted to take this program to take it before you have kids. There is a lot of work involved with it and I wasn’t sure about how much work would be involved with it. In the end I’m glad that I had to do the work and the assignments as I was graded on it and I can transfer these courses should I want to move on.

Anyhow, I’ve completed 6 courses in 8 months with twins who were sick at least once a month.

Yay me! I feel like that is a really big accomplishment. Now to move on to finishing my degree.

My babies are two!

My Babies are Two!!

March 1, 2018

Oh em gee, my babies are two!! Where in the hell did the time go? It’s true when all those parents tell you to take in everything when they’re little as the time goes by so quickly. It is 100% true!! I have been trying to document everything about these two monsters as they really truly are growing up too quickly.

As the days were approaching their second birthday I was contemplating what to do. The pressure from all the parents that we know has been absolutely ridiculous. The parent shaming about not having a birthday party has been pretty hard to fend off. I have been pretty evasive with everyone as honestly in my heart of hearts I don’t believe that my children need a huge birthday party.

They are two and they aren’t going to remember, I know this firsthand as I don’t remember anything from when I was two…nor do any of my friends. I am a firm believer in having home birthday celebrations with the family, there doesn’t need to be any huge parties…not at this age. I know as they get older there will be a lot of invites and in time I will have to start hosting birthday parties for the boys. But I am biding my time until then as it’s a huge expense, a lot of time is needed and the boys don’t care as long as they get balloons to play with. I have at 4 more years of this, I hope.

For this year, I decided to just have us four with cake, balloons and a couple of gifts. Like I said, I’m trying to be reasonable about it and not go overboard with anything. These boys need for nothing and get pretty much anything that is needed when it’s required. I am by no means a minimalist but I do have limits on toys that take over the house and giving things for the sake of giving things.

I know when I was pregnant I wanted to instill these values in my kids so that they would appreciate things and also understand the meaning of giving. I want them to experience everything but also know that things won’t be given to them for the sake of giving them things. They will have to earn things and they will also learn the importance of giving back to the community. I will do my best to do that but there is always those parents that will parent shame me for not doing whatever the latest fad is and I’m ok with that. In the end it will be my kids will have the memories that we did celebrate their birthdays and that these are important days. If they grow up and want to have bigger birthday parties that will be great as well, until then I will enjoy the smaller more intimate family birthday celebrations.