Bugs Palace!

So the pandemic is still in full force, and in fact, getting worse. Just when we thought life was going to get back to normal, this 3rd wave hit, and lock-downs are back in place. It still sucks, but we’re making the most of it.

First up, our stove failed a few months back and we finally replaced it. Our old unit was a super wide (46″) fancy unit that looked great but wasn’t really functional — we replaced it with a traditional size that is far more usable. In doing so, I also had to remove and replace the counter on the left of the stove as well as add a spacer on the right side. In the end, it turned out very well, and I’m quite happy with it. Looks like it was part of the original design of the kitchen. The cupboard and stove look great, and both are far more functional. Gonna call that a win!

Vehicle updates: Bug is sleeping still, and the Jeep just passed 250,000km. She needs some love, but all in all still being a beast. As for the Harley and Subaru – both are not long for my garage. As planned, I started looking for a replacement for the WRX a few months ago. Finally settled on a nice, super low km, 1 owner car that should treat us well for the next few years. It will quite likely be Abby’s first car. Deposit was made on Friday and hoping to pick up mid/late this week. I’ll make a new post once it’s officially in my hands. As for the Harley, this is a tougher decision. I knew buying it, that I was stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something different. It is a gorgeous bike that sounds incredible. Sadly the last year has shown me that is where my love for it ends. I’m just not ready for a cruiser style bike yet. Add to that it really isn’t big / comfortable enough to ride two up — I’ve decided to make a change. So it’ll likely be joining the Subaru on Kijiji in the next week. Replacing it is tougher. I’ve got a short list, just need to decide which one calls to me the loudest. Pretty certain it will be retro styled, and British born. But again, will know more soon.

Also on Friday, I got my first shot of the Pfizer vaccine. I realize its a small step, but feels like a step finally. Fortunately no side affects other than a bruise like feeling at the injection site. Second shot incoming in August. Still gotta play safe, but very optimistic this will be the beginning of the end of this pandemic. Just need to get the wifey stabbed in the next couple weeks and all will be well!

Kids are out of school, province is on lock down again. Really worried baseball will also be cancelled again this summer. Need to get a lot more needles in arms before life will really start getting back to normal. Fingers crossed the kids will get back to in school learning – even if just for a few weeks/month. They need it. This homeschooling is getting old. Fast. Thankfully both my kiddos are taking it in stride. But they still hate it.

On the upside, and as a final note. So very proud of Abby. She is the recipient of the 2021 Catholic Leadership Award. Congrats baby girl. Love you to the moon and back!

With lock downs and nothing happening, it certainly affects content.

With Covid still going like crazy, the province shut down again on boxing day. Sadly this is still going on. But as of today, we got the news that after 5 weeks of distance learning, the kids will finally be going back to in school classes on Monday February 8. Thanks to the tremendous teachers my children have this year – they have actually done very well with the homeschooling. Don’t get me wrong, they detest the entire situation. But their teachers have gone above and beyond to help them – and their classmates – make the most of this shitty situation. Alahna, Inge and Kim, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you & the rest of the staff at St. Marys. We couldn’t be more thankful to have you in the drivers seat for our kids education.

Christmas came and went. It was quiet. Too quiet. Anyone who knows us, knows that we do Christmas BIG. We both have amazing families who live within a short drive (for the most part) and also blessed with a couple good groups of friends. That means lots and lots of parties, dinners, get together’s and general shenanigans. Sadly nearly none of that happened this years. We still had a fantastic couple days with our parents and Grandma, but all the extended families, friends and extra stuff were simply cancelled. Abby and I do not take change very well, so we were pretty bummed. After a talk (and some tears) I declared we are gonna try and do Christmas in July for the folks we normally see but didn’t. This thankfully settled my poor girls heart. I just fear shes gonna make me put up another tree LOL.

No real updates in the garage. Subaru and Jeep had a couple minor repairs (clock spring on the Wrangler and another clutch slave cylinder on the WRX). Bug is still sleeping, as is the Bug. That said, I ordered a couple new items for the bike to get it back to 100%. After switching front bars, my turn signals no longer had a mount, so I have new ones coming. And also the side plate needed a light to be “legal”. Those will be done when weather warms a bit.

House updates : Back in September our stove failed. It is a large fancy 36 or 40″ wide unit with 2 electic stoves inside and a gas cook top. Sadly the one larger stove failed. Time and finances weren’t ideal after re-doing our bedroom all summer and working on the deck so we just lived with it till now. That said, our new stove is officially on its way. It is a standard 30″ but this still has nearly double the interior cook space and has built in air-fry to boot. This is also full-gas as well this time. Down side is I need to fab up some new spaces or thin cupboards to fill the gaps where the old stove use to extend into. Hopefully it goes quick and easy. I know Joe will love helping.

Hopefully next time I post will be a little shorter of a break and have more exciting details but for now, I’m calling it a night.

School is back in session for about 2 months now. To say it’s been busy and somewhat stressful would be a bit of an understatement. With Covid still lurking around every corner, everyone is on high-alert. So far (knock on wood) our little school in Hagersville has been missed. I don’t suspect that will be the case all year, but for now I am going to call it a win. Kids are back in routines and enjoying school. They both love their teachers and enjoying having some sort of normal back in their lives. This week we received their first progress reports. Shannon and I couldn’t be prouder of the effort the kiddos are putting forth this year. Hopefully they keep it up! I won’t get into the work side of things. Just know that semi-organized chaos is basically our best case scenario these days.

My baby girl turned 13! Crazy to say that but it is true! We couldnt be more proud of our smart, feisty, fierce and beautiful baby girl. Makes up proud each and every day. For her birthday Shannon and I bought her an acoustic guitar. Lessons soon to follow. Shes picking it up pretty quick from Youtube videos. The sky is the limit for this crazy young lady. Love you Abs.

Though we didn’t get a baseball season this passed summer, both kids DID try out for their respective Haldimand Heat teams. If for no other reason but to play some ball. Abby’s started first. She did very well, but sadly didn’t make the cut. She gave it her all but just wasn’t meant to be. Joe’s team started a few weeks later. He knows a bunch of boys on the team. So far they haven’t done official tryouts yet. He looked solid on the diamond in the weeks they played. They will continue after Christmas – pandemic pending. Good job guys!

House updates – few more tasks knocked off the list. The big one being the barn door for Joes room has been built, and installed. Really finishes the room nicely. Best part is, he helped nearly every step of the the process. Because the door needed to be a specific – and very non standard size – it needed to be custom built. So we bought a stack of lumber, and cut to cutting. He’s happy with it and so are we.

Car updates – Subaru is still going. Winter tires on and ready for the shit show. Just hit 160K kms. Jeep is starting to show it’s age. Did rear brakes last week, and a new clock spring is on order for it. Odds are front brakes will be needed by spring. As well as this will be the last season for both sets of tires. Looks like new summers and winters will need to be purchased next year. Jeep is at 240K, and counting! The Harley got very little use this summer. time and tasks just made it tough to use it daily. It is at a whopping 1400km. Hasn’t even fully been broken in yet. I’m not 100% convinced that I’m a Harley guy at this point. Will see what next season says. And finally the Beetle missed another summer of use. Just no ambition to get it on the road this year. She still looks pretty in the garage though 😉

Until next time!