“If you meet up with your family over the holidays, take a family photo. Not enough families do this anymore.”
Remembrance Day
Remembrance Day will always be important to me notably because of my father (and basically everyone else in his family who fought in WWII). It's beyond my comprehension how he was able to handle something like that, but I'll forever be impressed by it.
I was very close with my Uncle Fred (my dad's brother) before he passed away in 2009, so I think of him endearingly on this day as well.
There were ten years between the two of them, but it's uncanny how they resembled one another.
In any case, I hope you stop for a minute at 11am today. And I hope that you do each year, whether you're in school or at work or even at home. It seems important to never stop doing that.
Annual Downey's Farm Trip
Heather Men
This is my nephew Romeo and my dad. And yes, the sweetness of this photo warrants an entire post.
Apple Picking at Chudleigh's
I hadn't been to Chudleigh's in years, so we decided to go recently. There wasn't a huge selection (we chose to go with picking Cortland apples), but that was mainly our fault since we went on tail end of the apple picking season (which goes from late August to late October).
I'm not sure if everyone does this, but the best part is really just eating apples along the way as you pick them. Is that gross? Is it not allowed? These answers can't be known.
“If you’re an aunt, you should totally be having sleepovers with your nieces and nephews.”
Layla's 10th Birthday
I think it's fair to say that I talk about my niece Layla a lot. Why's that, you ask? Umm, I don't know, maybe 'cause SHE'S CLEARLY AMAZING?
I could get into some specific stories and post certain photos here as proof of her uniqueness, but she's previously said that she "refuses to give consent" on everything that gets posted of her online - so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Happy 10th Birthday, my love! You continue to wow everyone around you and I hope your day's treating you right.
Robbie & Romeo
Sometimes you have to post photos of babes. Sometimes those babes are your brother and nephew.
Albion Falls in Hamilton, Ontario
It's sort of insane how many waterfalls exist in Hamilton, Ontario (often callously referred to as the armpit of Ontario) - and it's even more insane that I'm only seeing this one for the first time at 30 years old.
Here is it! Albion Falls!
Kind of gorgeous, right? And there are more! I didn't go to those, but I intend to as the years go on. One waterfall a day is all I can handle at this point in my life.
Few tips?
- Don't wear sandals. Wear some kind of running shoe or better.
- You know how you can see people climbing the falls? Yeah, don't do that. Unless you're a daredevil 'cause it's seriously slippery.
- Bring a towel.
Who the hell knew a place like this could be found only 40 minutes from Square One? Just nuts. Go!
The Heathers
My parents had their 40th anniversary last month and I did NOTHING! Why? Not because I'm a terrible daughter (in my opinion), but moreso because I don't believe in celebrating other people's anniversaries. Am I only one who finds it weird? It's their day, let them celebrate it their way, without interference from anyone else. Maybe I'm abnormal, but it also seems like such an intimate and personal thing to celebrate, so why on earth would anyone ever be expected to horn in on that? I'm not opposed to expressing a simple "Happy Anniversary, guys" - but anything more than that I find odd.
In any case, 40 years is a crazy amazing amount of time to be with someone. And since I stayed out of their celebration, I thought I'd post some of my favourite photos of them here as a way of saying, "Yeah! Good work."
Lastly, my parents are the kind of parents everyone should be envious of. I know how lucky I am to be in this family and I'll forever understand that. Maybe I should apologize for how often I talk about my family, but, yeah, that ain't never gonna happen.
(Also, if you haven't called your parents in the last few days, maybe give them a ring. You kind of owe them everything you have, so it bodes well to say a small "What's going on?" every now and then.)