by Tish MacWebber | Mar 27, 2017 | Coffee and Stories
Coffee is Here
I decided to get back in action yesterday in my Kitchen Cleaning Challenge. Well, it continued today! I have gotten to all the countertops and cleaned and organized my 3 sections. FINALLY! I had lost my gumption somewhere after Christmas, and I am getting it back!
I realized that the dishes not being finished before I got started, although it is a logical way to plan the cleaning of one’s kitchen, it was HOLDING ME BACK! So I dove in and started cleaning and organizing one section of the countertop. I decided that it was time for me to revamp the countertop organization, and get caught up with the rest of the world. I needed to redesign and organize a new coffee station!
I have a Keurig. I have an electric tea kettle. I have a tiny little space of countertop.
This is what I did!
Tish’s Coffee Station!
I have continued all the way around the countertops. The rest of the kitchen progress will be added into my next Weekend Warrior story, but I couldn’t wait to share this! I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel like I have made progress, and that will inspire me to keep going. Well, that and the coffee! 😉
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 25, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Well, look at that. I made it to another weekend. It is unplanned, as of yet, and that could be dangerous. In terms of making the most of my weekend off, that is.
Looking around, I can get overwhelmed at the amount of work I still need to do. But just looking at it won’t fix that.
So I have to make a list. It will be for both days, as I never seem to finish the list I make in one day, so I’ll be realistic. Then I will pick some small things to get me going. It is motivating to cross things off of the list.
Eggs and Avs (THM) A nice filling breakfast. I love poached eggs, but you can fry them if you prefer. I love this quick, healthy breakfast on weekends.
We do have to run errands today. So I’ve filled the Overthinkin and Coffee Drinkin mug to sip my coffee while I Brunch and write. Tomorrow I’ll need to prep cook, and my husband doesn’t know it yet, but there is a package of bacon for tomorrow’s breakfast. He wouldn’t eat this with me, but he loves bacon and eggs.
I am still struggling with the cleaning challenge. I feel like this weekend might be when I get back on track. I set the goals at the start of the year, and I intend to keep them. But where to begin? I am overwhelmed by a number of things to do on an exponentially growing to do list and underwhelmed with the energy to attack it. How do I fight my way to doing instead of dreading?
The lists and music are the answer. Even if I take an hour to make the list, it is a start. Do I write down everything, share it with my husband, and tackle it with him? Will we bicker if we tackle the same thing together? Sometimes that happens. If we are both working in the kitchen, there is not a lot of space when we are doing the dishes. My kitchen is deceptive. It looks spacious but has very little cupboard space. I have had to be creative in what I have and where I store things. I have a bookcase, an open pantry, and a large standing shelf with a door on it.
This is the final result of the only thing I really accomplished in the first year I joined the Cleaning Challenge. I need to tidy it up this year, but for the most part, it is still in good shape, and just needs a good dusting job. It is my Open Shelf Pantry.
We have often talked about how to get more efficient storage in the kitchen. We are planning to get some furniture “someday” at Ikea. It will be mostly to set up the living room, but the kitchen will get a boost too. It will happen, it is hard sometimes to make do and stay motivated, but it is what it is.
This afternoon we went to get our taxes finished up. Done for another year. We then made an afternoon trip of going to two local SPCA animal shelters. We are starting to think about getting our first dog, and saw a lot of cats too. We will get another cat too, someday, but we needed a break, after having been a cat only home for so long.
This evening we went to visit some friends. It was nice to get out and socialize as a couple with another couple that we are friends with, but haven’t been to visit in quite some time.
Another productive day outside of the house. I will have to work really hard tomorrow to catch up. It can be done. It will be done. It has to. I hope the energy is still with me tomorrow. The house needs a bouncing!
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 25, 2017 | Events
When I press the publish button, this becomes my 50th blog on this website. I give myself a gold star! I had no idea back in November when I decided that I wanted to get my lyrics out for exposure to a possible collaboration, that I would be writing this today. I didn’t even know I wanted to start a blog. But here I am.
What have I learned so far? I still love creative writing. Whether it is about serious topics, made up things called Tish-isms, Zumba classes, or me vs the weekend, I am really enjoying this blogging thing. I like sharing my thoughts here, and since I am Always Thinking…they will continue to accumulate. I hope I never need a shovel for them because the snow in New Brunswick has that covered.
While I am not a fan of numbers, I have started following the stats for this project. I am somewhat speechless at times when I am reviewing the results. It is growing, slow but steady, in the right direction. The likes and comments I have been getting are very encouraging, also. This has been a positive experience.
I have written a poem, as one entry. The lyrics page has 20 songs on it, two of which I have written this month. They do not count as separate blog posts, they are not in the 50 count on the blog itself, but they are here also. Since a few of the 50 are shared from another blog source, they balance that out a bit. I can’t write this without remembering I wrote my first guest blog that was shared on another person’s website. I never even dreamed that I would write from my heart, and that other people would read it, like what I wrote, and tell me they want to read more. How great is that?
In the blogging world, I am finding my way. If you are reading this, thank you for doing so. If you are following my blog, I am following yours too. If you have seen the tweets and facebook page, you are getting a little more of me through those different locations. I have one story on Medium, and that is just for fun. I hope to write more like that, and I will likely share between this blog and my medium account as I expand it.
I hope to keep growing the blog as I prepare to write my books. I am definitely having a lot of fun, and this is good. As long as it continues to be fun, I will keep writing. I am certain that I will have slow times of dealing with life in the real world or the dreaded writer’s block. It is a challenge I will have to face when that time comes. Until then, I will keep up the positive stories, and expanding my horizons.
Thanks for reading.
Tish MacWebber
Always Thinking…
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 23, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
This week I am pleased to share the story of another friend. It is written in her own words, and she submitted it earlier this week with her permission to share it as a part of the series.
Here is Trust Your Gut: Bonnie’s Story
My story begins all the way back to when I was five years old. I was always small for my age until then, when my parents got divorced. All of the changes and upheaval that happens with that sort of thing, is what seems to have contributed to me eating more and gaining weight. Still, I was only chubby as a child. I wasn’t truly overweight until my preteens. I believe I was about ten years old when I realized that I was bigger than most of the kids my age but other than some minor teasing from other kids that usually went over my head anyway, I did not feel bad about it. At age twelve, I weighed 180 pounds and that’s the age that I really started noticing how heavy I was and feeling body conscious.
I never did anything about it at that age though, except maybe some walking for exercise. Other than that, I did a lot of wishing and dreaming that I would just wake up skinny one day and everyone would like me because I wasn’t a big girl anymore. I remember feeling bad about being overweight, not being able to wear the types of clothes my friends were wearing, and receiving some teasing or comments here and there.
When I was sixteen, my mom and I joined a women’s gym together. There I learned about exercise and how beneficial, as well as fun, it could be. The first workout left me so sore I could barely move and I didn’t want to go back, it hurt so much. However, I did go back a few days later and started to realize a love for exercise I never knew I could have! The trainers there, one I’m still in touch with to this day, were so kind and really involved. They provided me with so much quality guidance that I really needed. Due to a move across town, making the trip to the gym too far for me to go, I stopped going once our one year was up there and turned to walking more for exercise. Slowly the weight I had lost from exercising at that gym for a year crept back on.
Another few years went by where I tried various things but never stuck with anything consistently, until 2009, when I was twenty. I started a weight loss journey by cutting back my calories significantly, exercising five or six days a week, and drinking Slim-Fast and changing my eating habits to include more vegetables and fruits. Soon I joined the SparkPeople website where I received support, information, and resources I needed to keep losing weight. I lost over 75 pounds during the seven months I was on there and actively working to lose weight. Right around my twenty-first birthday though, I ended up suffering from gallstones and pancreatitis, spending a whole week in the hospital and having my gallbladder removed. After that and some dramatic changes in my life that happened directly afterwards, I pretty much gave up on losing weight. I mean I tried, but my heart wasn’t in it anymore and I wasn’t consistently working on it any longer.
The next few years after that I continued to try to lose weight at different points, but it never lasted and I never stuck with it long enough to make a significant difference. Finally in May 2014, I started my final and last weight loss journey. This was it! I was going to lose the weight and keep it off! I had gained all of the weight I had lost in 2009 and then some, as it often goes. I was a whopping 309 pounds at this point, when I had sworn I would never get over three hundred pounds! I was shocked and appalled, and I knew I had no choice but to make changes so I could lose that weight. By August of 2015, I was in what is often referred to as “onederland,” finally breaking into the 190’s. It took quite a while after that to get into the 180’s, but my lowest weight was 181 in April 2016.
Enter this past summer that brought issues with my grandparents and their health, a big cross country move, having to leave behind my siblings and their kids when my parents and I moved, and so much more, I just let things go. I had just completed my first ever half marathon in May of last year, which was one of the most rewarding and invigorating experiences of my life. It was so much fun that I’m doing the same half marathon again this May. After the half marathon, the summer was full of all of these huge, and very stressful, events that kept the next few months super stressful and overwhelming. I started gaining weight back because I just felt too overwhelmed to devote the attention and dedication to my nutrition that I had before.
Even with the weight gain, I am still 60+ pounds down from my highest weight, but it has been a huge struggle to get back on track and the weight has kept creeping on due to my struggles. I know I can do it, as I proved it to be the case before, but it seems harder. I lost that momentum, I stopped being consistent, and I guess I gave up. However, I still had a huge passion to help others, and had restarted a blog for the purpose of helping other women find a way to not only lose weight, but believe in themselves, find their inner strength, and practice self-love. Still, at some points in the past few months, I have felt like a fraud because I had been struggling so much. It is all a part of my journey, so even though it felt horrible and disappointing all the same, it has been a learning experience and has made me stronger!
A positive thing that has come out of my struggles is that a little over a month ago, I made the decision to join Beachbody as a coach. Using the container system, Shakeology, and workouts they have in their programs is truly making a huge difference for me both physically and mentally. That doesn’t mean that it is easy or that the changes are instantaneous, and I am still slowly getting my nutrition back in check in addition to working out more consistently again. I am also drinking Shakeology everyday and noticing how much it makes a difference in my energy levels. I never realized how beneficial it could be! Besides that, I also have a huge support system with the coaches that are part of the team of the coach I signed up with. As a friend, she is someone I trust, feel comfortable talking to, and know she will help me the best way she can which is a huge deal to me and made the decision that much easier!
I have complete faith that I will lose the weight I’ve regained. I felt so skinny at 180-190 pounds, even though I still wanted to lose 30 more pounds. Now I glance at pictures from that low weight and wish I could be that small again. However, I can’t live in the past and I can’t beat myself up anymore. I am ready to continue moving forward, working on improving my healthy lifestyle, and helping other people do the same thing in their lives. The greatest reward for me is to help others realize how they can really live the life they dream of living, whether it be to lose weight, go after their dream career, or whatever else represents happiness and success in their lives. On SparkPeople, helping others and providing feedback was more than just helping them. It helped me to stay on track too!
Bonnie McConaughy is the owner and founder of Inspire the Best You (www.inspirethebestyou.com), where she writes about healthy living and personal growth, and provides health and wellness coaching. She is also a freelance and ghostwriter (www.bonwriterfreelance.biz).
Thank you to Bonnie for sharing your story. You have inspired me to try harder, because like you, I know I can do this, I just have to stick with it. Although we are travelling on different paths, there are some similarities in our journeys. Keep working on your goals, and you will achieve them, I know it! Something that resonates with me after reading is that you are not alone, you have a support system, and you are building your own skills to help others. This is really a great thing, to take what you have learned to help you guide others in their journies. I wish you all the best, and have faith that you are going to be a success.
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 21, 2017 | Cooking Adventures
Where’s the Beef?
I just put this massive Beef Stew in the oven. The beef is on the bottom. Then I cut up cabbage, turnip, carrots, onion, mushrooms, and radishes. You read that right. There are radishes in my beef stew. It is a new thing for us, and as I am on the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) plan, I have tried this once before, and I liked it. The husband did not like the radishes as much as I did. Last time he said, “Fewer radishes and more potatoes.” There are no potatoes this time. That’ll teach him. Just kidding. He bought a bag of potatoes, and he will have mashed potatoes on the side. I can bake a sweet potato if I want a potato.
I added a carton of beef broth. I was thinking about adding some red wine for flavour but decided to save it for Thursday. TGIT and I have plans that involve wine and popcorn. It’s our thing. So I added a carton of mushroom stock instead of wine. Then I hit the spices. Some bay leaves, garlic, onion powder, dill, parsley, and a little Montreal Steak Spice for that little something unexpected.
I have made homemade baked beans in this roasting pan. They cook all day. I have made turkey in it, of course. I have made a ham in it; and boiled dinner which is a ham with vegetables, like the stew above. I usually don’t add mushrooms to that one. Or spices, the salt from the ham is amazing with those veggies.
If you have lasagna lovers in your life, you can make a many layered lasagna in one of those roasters. It is absolutely amazing, especially if you have the right flavour combination. I have been hit or miss with regular lasagna lately. Or as I call it now, his lasagna. With noodles. I make the THM Lazy Lasagna for myself when I want a lasagna.
THM Lazy Lasagna Recipe
I have also made Bangin Ranch Drums in this roasting pan. I eat them with sweet potatoes and green bean fries. I add nutritional yeast flakes instead of onion or garlic powder, when I make the green bean fries. I finally like frozen green beans, but only if they are cooked this way! 😉
THM Green Bean Fries Recipe
Bangin Ranch Drums THM
The cooked stew
I hope it tastes good, or I’m going to have to go off plan and top it with ketchup!
Update: The stew was really tasty. My husband told me it was better than the last time, even though he was dubious about how it smelled. He said the radishes weren’t even so bad this time. I ate the stew by itself for my lunch today and paired it with baked sweet potato for supper. He made his own regular boiled potatoes to go with his supper. Ketchup was not necessary, but a pinch of sea salt and a light sprinkle of pepper would be the only change I would make next time.
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 20, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
It is Monday. I got up, went to work, then I went to Zumba. I got a surprise when I was getting ready for class.
Someone anonymously had a Heartrate Monitor Smartband delivered to me before class started. It was such a nice surprise! When I say the Zumba Crew Rocks, I really mean it!
It didn’t turn on when I tried it on. But I am glad I did because I had to learn how to take it off! I took it home and plugged it into my computer. It didn’t take too long to charge. I have 2 days to get used to it before I can try it out in class.
I don’t know how to set the time and date on it yet, I will have to google that, I am sure. But it is already measuring my heart rate, steps, distance and calories for me. That is so neat!
I wear a pedometer in Zumba class, that is how I know that I had 3531 steps today. It will be interesting to wear both in class Wednesday to see how they compare for the steps. From what I see here, my resting heart rate is 67. I hope that is OK. When I exercise it will be a more important number to watch, I am sure. The good news is that it is not capable of sending or receiving text messages, so I don’t have to take it off at work. It is going to take some getting used to. I will have to figure out how long the battery runs before I need to recharge it. I am hoping there are some tips online for it, as I am interested in seeing what else it does. I don’t know why it buzzes and vibrates, but I know it does. That could be entertaining.
To whomever this gift is from, THANK YOU! I need all the help and encouragement I can get in this journey to be a healthier version of myself, and it really means a lot! I will take good care of it, and in turn, it will help me take better care of myself! What a wonderful surprise! 😀
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 19, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Today started with Scotch Lick and grab and go. I had scheduled my morning to help a friend look into setting up her own blog. I am in no way an expert at blogging, and I don’t claim to be. But as a few friends helped me get this Blog up and running, I decided to pay it forward.
It was really neat to see someone else put their own creativity into action! We started with some basic conversation, and she figured things out. She has some work left to do and is capable enough with her own experience and training to move forward on her own. I am only a message away if she needs any more help.
I am fighting to stay awake. Waiting to find out the plans for the evening. If it is a Game night, I will have to start preparing snacks and get done what I can here in the meantime. If it ends up being a guys gaming night, I will work on the cleaning challenge. Either way, I will be busy. I have the kitchen to clean, a grocery list to make, and general cleaning to do.
I have had 2 cups of coffee with breakfast. I am having a sugar free vanilla iced coffee now. I AM STILL TIRED! So I have cranked the tunes and will make 1 more coffee. Soon it will be too late to have any more coffee, but if I am busy enough, I can still tire myself out enough to sleep tonight. I need the help today. I am a night owl with a day job. So I tend to be more active in the evenings. Sometimes a little too late. I struggle with it, but my health is better with the 9-5 schedule, so I try to go to bed early when I need to. Sometimes I even make it to bed early. Not on the weekends, though. That is the problem I am having right now. So I am going to make 1 more coffee. A power snooze might have to happen, though. When my body wants sleep this desperately, I have to consider if it is necessary or not. A power nap may just what I need, followed by that one more cup of coffee. Then I’ll head into the kitchen, and unload that dishwasher, that I ran last night. I need to focus, and that is a good place to start.
Had the nap. Never found any energy. I have spent some time on Linked In today. It was time for an update, and it is another way to share this Blog. I am disappointed that I did not get more accomplished around the house today, but the networking has to be worked on also.
My Linked In Profile
Tomorrow is a new day, filled with possibilities. And a new To Do List! Enjoy your weekend!
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 16, 2017 | Trust Your Gut
The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name. If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story. The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors. I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.
Here is the next addition to my own story, Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 5
Emotional Eating Epiphany
Today’s Trust Your Gut story is brought to you by alliteration, and the 5th letter of the alphabet, the letter “E”. It is the fifth entry in my own story.
You don’t generally get to be hovering between 299 lbs and 301 lbs by eating healthy, drinking lots of water, and exercising regularly. It doesn’t work that way.
I love food. Not only am I addicted to sugar, but I centre a lot of my thoughts, moods and feelings around food. I never thought about it too much before this past week. I have had a doozy, but the point of this story is not to focus on what is happening in my life, but rather how it affects me in terms of my weight issues. That’s what the series is about.
So I’m going to break it down real simple. If I am bored, I eat. If I am hungry, I eat. If I am moody, I eat sweets. Sometimes I can keep myself to the small sample of one of each type. In candy, this can be reasonable. If it is a box of doughnuts, that could be a disaster. I have cravings. I do obsess about food sometimes. If I am lazy, I eat fast food. If I am gearing up for a real honest to goodness attempt at not having junk food in the house, I will eat it all and then it is gone. That is what I tell myself, I can really work on that plan after the bad food is all gone. Not thrown in the trash, but devoured.
I am working on it. All the time. I find if I give into a craving when it happens, I can have what I am telling myself I need to eat, and then I can move past it. The problem is, the damage is already done. I have to take extra medicine for my sugars when I am not behaving. I have recently discovered, the hard way, that if I eat too much sugar, not only does it make me sleepy, like narcoleptic, but I can now feel sick to my stomach if I eat too many sweets. Does that stop me? Not if I am mad, or sad, or bored. Not if I know in the back of my mind that there are cookies in the kitchen or that box of chocolates, well it is empty because I ate those a tray at a time so it was gone from the house faster. And doing damage to my health by being in my belly.
It is easier to eat your emotions than deal with them. When you associate feelings with food, you learn to rely on it to feel good things. Food makes me feel better. In the short term. It keeps me from thinking about what is really happening, and from having to deal with it.
I have spent a lot of time eating, and a lot of time avoiding the reasons why I am eating what I am eating. I have had to start to focus more on what I am eating, instead of just grabbing whatever is quick and easy. It takes grocery list making, meal planning, meal prepping, and a plan for storing what I have made. That consumes a lot of time and requires energy and the desire to spend the time on myself and my health. To want to do better. For me.
It does no good for me to meal prep too much because it would be a waste to not have the containers to divide it into meal sized portions. I am now trying to plan different meals at times. That is more work. But my husband appreciates the efforts to make him his own food, as he has a day job too, and we can’t afford to eat out every day, financially or healthily. It is hard, sometimes, to pace myself with it, as I would benefit from having extra food made in advance so I can eat healthy with little effort on a regular basis. I go in circles, with the creative mind, and when I get on a roll, if I don’t go with it, I don’t know when I will feel like tackling the prep cooking again. I go through productive spells, and slumps. Currently, I am in a slump.
This is my second year of being on the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. There are times when I follow it like a Bible, and I am able to be strict and keep myself on the plan. The plan does have some foundation from religion, so it is an accurate description. There are other times when I view it as a guideline, like when I am dabbling with it. I like the 3-hour rule. If you go off plan, you get right back on it in 3 hours. Give yourself some grace, allow yourself to be human, and move on. Don’t wallow in it. Good in theory. I like this concept. But if I am being honest, I am cutting myself too much slack right now, and not making myself get back on plan as a reaction to keep the momentum going in the right direction.
I finally put it all together, this week, when I was thinking about writing this week’s story. I need to stand up to my feelings. It will be rough. But I am avoiding them every time I eat them. That is a bad place for anyone to be in. It is time for me to take action. I want out of this cycle. When I follow Trim Healthy Mama, I do feel better, and I do see results. Win win! It’s time to up my game, and work on myself. Nobody else is going to fix it for me, so I have to work on myself for myself and by myself.
After the week I just had, the hardest part is going to be convincing myself that I am worth the effort. I know it in my heart, but it is covered in layers of unhealthiness, telling me the easy way is the best way. Old habits die hard, and I am fighting for my life. Again. One day at a time, one meal at a time, one snack at a time. Every 3 hours, I can stay on plan, not need to get back on plan. Start with something you can do as a beginning, and ride it through to the end. I will keep reminding myself that I can do this, and the food is wonderful, so I should work harder at this. I know I will see results. I just have to be strong, and learn how to deal with my feelings.
I am also going to have to change one of my favourite sayings. I really believe that the day gets better after lunch. It means you are closer to the end of your workday after lunch. Or it means I am focusing on my food because I don’t want to think about work. It’s going to be a hard thing to get a solid 8 hours of sleep every night, but I am going to try and focus on that, for a while. Rest is important to your health, so it is a better thing to focus on, rather than food, or the next meal or snack. I don’t like going to bed, I never have. Once I am settled, it is hard to climb back out of bed. I didn’t like to have to get in the shower when I was growing up, either. Same thing, once I am in there, I don’t want to get out. I have changed my train of thought on that one, I play music in the shower, it helps me try to keep it reasonable in length of time when I am in there. And music makes my world go round. If I can change my mind about that, then I can change my mind about lunch. A new focus may be just what I need to get out of my slump.
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 14, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Well, I was hoping that if I ignored all the warnings and weather alerts and people talking about it, that it wouldn’t actually happen. Here it is, another snowstorm. I hope everyone keeps the power on. I hope people use common sense tomorrow when going to work or choosing to stay home. It is really windy out there. The snow is coming down fast, and piling up quickly. I don’t want to have to shovel anymore! The wind roared while I typed that last sentence. It is loud enough that it may keep me awake through the night.
I heard they are calling for ice pellets and rain tomorrow. Yippee Skippy. I guess that’s what winter storms in March are made for.They are calling for 20-45cm of snow this time around. 70-90km winds. Half the snow of the last blizzard. Still much more than I really want to face in the morning.
I am still holding out hope they are wrong. My husband is sure they are. I am hoping for less snow than is being predicted, and he just told me they were wrong so frequently this winter he is getting prepared for 60 cm of snow.
All that shovelling. Again. The Winter Snow Scoop has been living in my kitchen since the last storm. I am glad we don’t have to dig it out this time.
I will be gladder when we can put it away until after the fall.
I have to go. The power just blinked. Time to find the flashlights.
It might be time to invest in snowshoes.
Stay safe and warm inside until the morning, people. It’s a wild one!
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 12, 2017 | Events
Tish MacWebber
Not that long ago, I wrote about Dealing With Unexpected Grief. I have lost two friends since I moved to Fredericton, and I had met them both after moving here. One of those friends died almost a year ago. She came to mind suddenly when I found out that a band we had seen live together the last time they were in town, was going to be putting on another show here. I had a bit of a moment when I had a flashback to that show, and I decided to write the story I linked above.
I shared the ad for the show on my wall and asked in my comments if anyone was interested in checking them out with me. Because of the unexpected grief, I felt I didn’t want to go by myself, in case I got too melancholy. My friend Kathy asked me to share some of their youtube videos with her, and she decided to join me. I was so relieved to have a friend with me, it was a show I did not want to attend alone.
I found out while I was getting ready to go out that the opening act was a local band, Kill Chicago. So I jumped on Spotify and had a listen. I liked what I heard. So I spent a few minutes online while eating supper and saw a twitter contest for a free vinyl from Kill Chicago for the first person to tweet back. I tweeted and was told to introduce myself and they would hook me up with a prize. I chose a CD because I do not have a record player, and while a record is a cool prize, I am practical.
Kill Chicago
We arrived while they were on stage, and had to stand back a bit. It is a narrow, long bar, and it was packed! This made me really happy because I had seen the other band, The Stanfields play here before; in fact, this is the band I was referring to seeing with my friend before she passed away. It was the biggest crowd I had seen show up for them, (with the exception of the night they played at The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival). I am sure Kill Chicago fans were also contributing to the turnout, but I was really pleased to see the size of the crowd that came to the live show.
During the Kill Chicago set, Kathy made a friend. There was a woman there with a really cute purse, and boots with bling, sitting nearby. Kathy said hi, and admired the purse. It had a Union Jack on it and was made of canvas. The lady said she loved it because she could throw it in the washing machine, and wanted us to feel the fabric. My eyes saw the purse but LOVED the boots! Tan coloured with sparkles all over them. I would SO wear those boots. Kathy is going to try and have a friend find her that purse, which the lady bought in Freeport, USA.
I happened to see Jon Landry, before the show and said hello. He was getting ready so sing in the next set, so I didn’t bother him too much. I think I introduced Kathy, but I can’t remember. I almost didn’t recognize him, it had been a few years since I saw him at the last live show I went to.
When I saw Jason MacIsaac, I said hello, introduced Kathy, and shared an awkward hug in greeting with Jason. It would have been funny to watch, it was kind of like a do si do happened before we managed a friendly hug. He is also in The Stanfields. When we were growing up in Cape Breton, we used to ride the bus together to and from school. We had a nice chat while Kill Chicago was rocking out on stage. We were far enough back, at that point, that it was a little hard to hear at times, but we talked for a good little while.
When he came in from the cold, he couldn’t see very well. It happens when you have glasses, they fog up. Kathy then told us that she has a tip for that. She told us that if you walk into a room backwards, after being out in the cold, and you give a few extra seconds before you turn around, your glasses won’t fog up. She says it works. I have not tried it myself yet. When I do, I will leave a comment below on how well it works.
The Stanfields
Kill Chicago finished their set, and The Stanfields had to get ready to take the stage. I wished Jason luck for a good show and decided to head over to the merchandise table to wait for my free cd. I had money out just in case, but I was told that it was a gift for replying to the twitter contest, and I could have it. How awesome is that? I then asked if the band could sign the cd for me, and most of them signed it. We decided that this location had a better vantage point, and stayed by the table for the rest of the show. ( No Grammarly, we were not “on” the table, but beside it. LOL)
Kathy and I had a conversation earlier in the night about the heights of different people in the room. She was feeling tall because most of the people she spends her time with are also tall, so she was realizing why people like myself think that she is tall. I am not so lucky. It amused me later on when a kind gentleman who was towering over everyone asked me if he was in my way. I laughed it off, and told him, no he was fine, because really if it wasn’t him there I would have to look around other people. It was a nice of him to ask, though.
I was approached by a different man who wanted to know if I knew the band. I told him I did, and he asked me if I had known John Walter. It took me a minute to place the name. I told him I had seen him at other shows, but didn’t know him really well. I remember the day I asked Jason what had happened. John was a good friend to the band and was at a fair number of their shows. He was the lead actor in their first video, The Dirtiest Drunk In The History of Liquor. One day in November 2015, John hit a patch of black ice with his car. He died, and I remember that it was a shock to a lot of people that knew him. Losing a friend is a hard thing to deal with.
The young man introduced himself as Thomas. He was looking for a safe place to stash the winter coats. Kathy & I had put ours on the floor by the table, and so I pointed to the floor. Thomas laughed and said, “I have never seen a finer corner to put my jacket in.” A coat check would have made money that night, for sure. He asked if he could buy me a drink, in honour of his friend. I accepted the offer, and he came back with a glass of draft for me. By the time he was back, I had put two and two together, and I told him the story of missing my friend that night also. Another friendly hug happened, the side by side kind of a hug. (You would think I was a huggy type of person, but I’m not most of the time). The drinks probably made me a little less worried about hugging people. I had a few in me at that point. He introduced me to his girlfriend. I *think* her name was Ashley, but I am not 100% certain. He told me they were both there to honour their friend’s memory because he was a good friend to them both, and he was with them the night they became a couple. When we were done chatting, they asked me to join them on the dance floor. I declined, it was a little too crowded there, and I was happy in my little space by the table. I was able to dance a little and clap and sing with the band from right where we were.
When I reflected for a moment, I do think my friend was there in spirit with me. I say this because when we attended the show together, there was not a crowd like this time, and we did watch from the sidelines a bit before hitting the dance floor together. It reminded me of that and thinking that she had cleared a special place from the cosmos to allow me to have a good vantage point for the show with Kathy, made me smile.
The Stanfields had one encore. Part of it was a favourite from their self-titled debut album, Crocodile Tears. It is quite the memorable tune, and those of us that have been fans since the beginning, know all the words and sang along. We got our coats, and I had paid Jason earlier for the new CD and DVD I wanted. They are going to be recording a new album soon. I can’t wait to hear what they do next! I guess it was the night of the one missing band member because I am missing one signature on the cd I bought from them too. I’ll try to remember to bring it with me for the next show.
Swag and Merchandise I took home from the show. Whenever I get a chance, I do like to support local talent and buy directly from the bands. They get a little more money in their pocket that way, and I am an artist who understands that this is how you keep the bands making more music, by supporting them at live shows.
In summary, it was a great experience. I always have fun when I go to see The Stanfields, and now I will try to make it out to go to see Kill Chicago when I can. I had recognized a local celebrity at the show, a radio personality, and we talked briefly while there. The next day we carried on a facebook chat about the show, and he enjoyed the show, as a fan as well. I am glad I was able to be there. I am also glad Kathy came with me, she is an awesome friend that I don’t get to hang out with as much as I’d like to. Make time to do things with your friends while they are here so that you can honour them after they are gone. Then you will have memories to smile about, and stories to share.
Thanks to Kill Chicago and The Stanfields for a fun and memorable live show.
