Bugs Palace!

Don’t even know where to start. I started documenting garage build on another page and somehow stopped updating my main blog. Shame on me. There certainly hasn’t been any shortage on updates. I will try and do a very abbreviated version here.

Garage build is basically done. It was a year of craziness. Well, about 5 months of crazy, followed by 6-8 more months of chipping away at tasks. I’m happy to say it’s pretty much done buy the taping/mudding and painting. That and some custom work. So very happy with the outcome. Huge thanks to Mike and Yvonne from VanBenthem Construction. Looking for a play-by play updates, please go to THIS PAGE for the diary.

During the year, I am happy to say the world basically decided it was finished with covid. Not gonna dwell on this, but I can say I am beyond thrilled that life seems to be getting back to normal. Our little family made the best out of what ended up being 2-3 years of bullshit. Proud of my kiddos and their repeated ability to roll with the punches. Hopefully after this post I will never have to post about it again.

With the world starting to get back normal, we finally started getting back to the things we love to do. First up – BASEBALL! Abby played U15 for Hagersville, while Joe played U13 for both Hagersville and the Haldimand Bulls. We sure made up for the last couple years of limited ball. Both kids had great seasons! Shannon and I helped with both house league teams again this year. So very proud of every one of the kiddos we had the privilege of coaching. Joe’s Bulls team struggled in their first few games, but at their provincial tournament they beyond exceeded all expectations and pulled out the win in the OASA B division. Both Hagersville teams ended up finishing strong in their division with Joes team winning the championship (sadly while we were away on vacation) and Abbys team came up short in the final game.

Next up on the things we love to do – FLORIDA. The trip that was re-scheduled 2-3 times finally happened! And even then, we still had some delays this year! Joes rep team was a fun team, but no one really expected them to go to far. We were beyond happy to be proven wrong, but it certainly through a wrench in the plans. We were supposed to play Friday night and Saturday morning – with us leaving lunch time Saturday and driving till 9pm, sleep and finish the drive Sunday. Well, the boys won, and won again. End of day Saturday, we were now moving on to Sunday games pushing us back quite a bit. We decided to go home, pack the jeep and get some sleep and we’d go whatever time the boys last game finished. Well, the 2 more wins and a championship later we didn’t end up hitting the road till after 2pm. So after a long 2.5 days in the sun and stress of a crazy tournament we were finally on our way! 22 straight hours of driving (and approximately 36 hours of being awake and baked in the sun) later and we pulled into our hotel in Orlando Florida on Monday evening. Zonked, but stoked for the trip!

We were finally able to book a trip for ALL of us. Mom/Dad, Shannon/myself, Donna/Grant, Katie/Brian and all the kiddos piled up into two 3 bedroom suites and had the most fun a group of 14 can have within their right minds. We hit all 4 Disney parks, did as many new rides as possible and had the best time. This was beyond over due. Only complaint is it wasn’t long enough. But is there ever really enough days in Florida? I know it’s not everyone’s favorite, but it certainly is one of my absolute happiest places to be. After enjoying as much Disney as we could, we finally headed home. We had another ball tournament to get to for Abby! But we thankfully had enough time to stop one night in Atlanta and was able to knock another MLB park off the list! Nice stadium, very cool area around it. Already counting down till the next time.

While on the subject of sports – Joe has decided to become a full-time athlete. At least that’s how it looks. Baseball season he had two teams. When the seasons finally ended, he took a month off and then started down a new path – Basketball. He signed up with the Haldimand Huskies basketball out of Caledonia. (Think HEAT or CYBL if you grew up in Hagersville). He LOVED it. He has been putting in some serious time working on his skills shooting, dribbling and just learning the game. Now hes looking at trying out for the rep team next season. And while basketball was more then enough to keep his busy, he decided he wanted more. His skating skill is one he never really got honed as a little kid so he signed up for lessons that he took all winter to get better at the skills portion of skating, Each week he got stronger and more confident. So much so that hes now added a weekly shinny (pickup hockey game). No stopping this boy. Now the skating and shinny coming to an end and baseball spring training officially starts. I need a nap just thinking about it. Not sure how he’s still able to move! Heck, I never even mentioned the batting clinics or the umpire course he took this winter.

Abby’s sports have been a far quieter this winter. While Joe lives for his sports, Abby has been busy with her first job! She started back in November at Giant Tiger. Dealing with people and having to talk to “strangers” is a big step outside of her comfort zone. She’s been doing amazing! She gets regular hours and is really making us proud. When she’s not busy with work or school (which btw, she was club 80 for grade 9 and the first half of grade 10!), shes still killing it with her art. I have no idea where her passion or skill comes from, but I can say, without being biased that she has a phenomenal amount of talent. I believe “Superior ability and excellent technique” was the way her art teacher described her on her report card. And to show just how far shes come, she is currently trying out for her schools rugby team. If it’s full contact, I really hope the opposing team are ready for her! Shes a competitive beast and not afraid to play rough.

Abby is now in grade 10 and Joe is in grade 7. I don’t know where the time has gone. Abby continues to push herself to be the best she can and after Joe’s less than stellar end of grade 6, he has done a complete 180 and is thriving in grade 7. Good work guys, keep it up! Try to have fun while your at it!

Garage aside, house updates are pretty basic this year. Few more rooms painted (repainted) and small changes here and there. Biggest change is the addition of home automation and hands free accessibility. Last Christmas I started with 1 google home screen and a light switch. Twelve months later and nearly every light switch in the house has been converted to a smart switch as well as a Google screen in nearly every room. The automation of having Christmas lights running on their own, exterior lights on/off based on time and weather and the ability to “intercom” any room in the house has really been a game changer. The more smart-home items I add, the more we want to do. Looking forward to what I can do next!

Beetle, MINI and Jeep are pretty much as they were. Stereo in the MINI is nearing completion (110k). The lack of garage for 6-8 months really slowed that process down. The Jeep is still going strong! 310,000km and 10.5 years and she owes us nothing. Starting to consider trading up but not sure if Shannon is ready just yet. Going to be a tough act to follow. Beetle is sleeping in the corner just waiting for me to get done with the garage so I can give it the long overdue love she deserves. As for the bike, I sold the Thruxton and replaced it with a Triumph Bonneville T120 Black. Basically a cruiser version of the Thruxton. With my wrists and back, the clip on bars of the Thrux were just too much for me to ride comfortably. Hopefully this season goes better.

Note on wrist – ya, I broke it. Was on a ladder working on my garage door opener. Next thing I know I’m laying on the floor in immense pain and nursing a broken wrist. Trip to the hospital and a fracture clinic later I was blessed with a cast for 7 weeks right through the summer. Really rough. The pain was pretty bad for weeks. No ability to catch a baseball or swing a bat really made coaching a pain in the ass. And even once the cast came off, I didn’t trust my wrist for months, so I barely rode my motorcycles. And the pain after the cast came off has been unreal. I broke it in May, and was pretty painful for 2-3 weeks. Then 3-4 weeks just being aggravated by being in a cast and unable to do anything. When the cast finally came off early July, I thought I could get back to normal. I was dead wrong, I was at least 3-4 weeks of minimal range of motion and a considerable amount of pain. Hell, the cast has been off for 7 months now and it still isn’t 100%. Slow and steady I guess. At least I can use it again, even if it hurts when I do. Lesson learned. Don’t misuse a ladder.

Finally, the bulls. Jabba and Boba have been an incredible pair of goof balls. Not a day goes by where they don’t make us smile, laugh or just feel happier being in their presence. They are incredible together. Playing, snuggling, wrestling. snoring… All amazing. The love and affection they give us is second to none. They have zero idea what personal space is and they love cuddles. And frankly, they won’t take “no” or “not now” as an answer. When they decide its cuddle time, the only option is “OK”. And we are all OK with that.

Another Christmas is in the books. Thanks to Covid, it was another one which had only a small piece of the crazy we normally love to surround ourselves with. We certainly made the most of it. We kept our circles small and had a great Christmas. I just pray this is the last one we ever have that keeps us from seeing our extended family. Those who know us, know who close we are to our aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. It just doesn’t feel as festive without them all around.

One of the gifts I received for Christmas was a Google Home screen from my parents. What was meant to be me testing the waters to see if I liked the home automation stuff has very quickly progressed. Within the last 6 weeks we now have screens in most rooms, some smart switches controlling many of the lights as well as a few smart bulbs to go where switches didn’t make sense. The ability to play music on any/all speakers, turn lights on and off with a simple command or click on the phone has been very fun. Even Shannon, who went from a passive “ok, hubs, you have fun” has quickly turned into “I hate using light switches and not being able to control lights from other rooms”. The entire process has also taken me down the home electrical rabbit hole. Still taking baby steps and exercising extreme caution, but my trouble shooting and ability to do simple tasks like change light switches and plugs has come a long way in a month.

Speaking of electrical stuff, it all started in December when we were getting ready for our hot tub. We moved the secondary panel in my garage to a better location, upgrade the power feed lines going to it, and wire in a spa panel outside to run the new tub. The new piece of heaven was delivered just before Christmas. By the 27th of December it was wired end to end and the tub was filled, warmed and ready to go!

And finally, after 20+ years of dreaming, planning, designing and prepping — the garage build is under way! The rain finally stopped for a while, things froze up and the builder got me on the schedule. Demolition of the old garage happened in mid January and the excavator was brought in the week after. Annnnnd then the snow came. All the snow. So the damn things not moved in nearly 2 weeks. Hoping to get a few snow free days that arent minus 200 degrees so we can finally get the footings dug and poured. It’s happening. But unless the weather cooperates, its gonna be a little while before we get things really moving along. I’ve waited this long, another few weeks/months isnt gonna kill me.

Garage is coming – eventually. This never-ending rain is slowing everything down. Until the field around us dries up (or freezes) enough for the equipment to drive across to access the back yard, we are in a holding pattern. I have the garage emptied out aside from a couple essential items. These will be moved the day before the work starts. By the end of the weekend I’ll have the remaining outdoor tasks finished up this weekend, assuming I don’t float away.

Abby has been doing great! Shes really settled into her new school and is feeling more comfortable. She finished her first two courses (Gym and Math) and as of last week started on Religion and English. Still waiting on the gym marks, but she got an 83 in math! Anyone who knows my struggles with math will realize how happy it makes me to see her NOT following in those footsteps. And just because she didn’t have enough “new” in her life, she also started a new job working as a ticket taker for Hagersville Minor Hockey. So proud of you kiddo.

Joe is also doing great! School reports came out a week or so ago and other than his usual struggles (organization etc) he’s doing very well! He quite likes his teacher again this year which I know really helps. Keep up the effort buddy. You have all the tools, so if you keep putting in the work- nothing will stop you! Other than maybe a concussion. Silly kid decided to ring his bell pretty hard about a month ago. Took a few days to start feeling better and a good week before feeling his old self.

Work has been a shit show. Seems like I can’t catch a break. I can’t count how many days I’ve still been poking away at stuff long after closing time. Just not enough hours in the day. I think I’m finally getting to a point where I’m catching up. That said, other than a few classes closed here and there, the kids are in school! And if that means I have to keep working like a crazy person to keep the train on the tracks, I’ll do whatever I have to do. These kids deserve to be in the schools. They need to be. Hopefully the government will approve the vaccine for school age kids and we can get things settled back down to not only finish out the school year, but also move beyond this covid world we’ve been living in for the last 20 months.