My mom chewing and spitting out her food

I keep seeing my mom change these days. Her memory is on the decline. She says hi to me multiple times within a five-minute span. She has incontinence issues and often doesn't know whether she needs to relieve herself.

As of late, I've noticed that she chews her food and spits it out. I don't know if she has now forgotten how to swallow or if she physically can't swallow solid food.

She is fine with drinking fluids. The worst case scenario would be to blend her foods and have her drink shakes.

She will chew fruit and spit it out. It's more textured foods that she doesn't seem to swallow.

It has been interesting. I can see how frustrated my dad is with her. It's a challenge to say the least.

My colleague and Thanksgiving Day

Last month, my manager decided to give a task to a colleague. I had to supervise her.

This colleague is a contractor. When I first trained her, I noticed that she couldn't follow a procedure properly. She'd do a few steps, skip a few, and resume doing a few.

I didn't get it.

With this assignment, she had to write a document from scratch. She had to poke around a software application on her own and ask questions if she didn't get it.

She isn't good with self-exploration. She never asked for help from software developers. It was to the point where I had to point her in the right direction within the application.

When it came down to incorporating my changes, she couldn't do that successfully. She is not great with details.

My manager asked me to copy him on all my exchanges with her. He was not impressed.

The company is downsizing its staff. Her contract will be terminated at the end of November.

It's bittersweet. As a person, she's okay to hang out with. As a colleague, she is horrible. I have spent a lot of time making sure that she has incorporated all my suggested changes. I shouldn't have to.

The crazy thing is that I recently did a presentation where I told writers to not copy and paste everything you get from developers. What did she do? She copied and pasted everything a developer had provided to her as feedback and didn't bother to at least reword it.

One word: ugh!

It is Thanksgiving Day right now. I am thankful that I have the day off.

Yesterday, I made a Thanksgiving meal for my parents and me. They enjoyed it so much that we all took a nap afterwards... haha!

I love leftovers and look forward to using them up in creative ways.

Happy new year - almost!

It's just under an hour away from New Year's Day!

I'd like to wish you all a great 2023 ahead. Here's to a year full of joy, love, good health, and yummy food and drinks.

Errands, including package pickups and Whole Foods

On Saturday, I ran a number of errands. I had a few packages to pick up at the post office. I also had an Amazon package to pick up at Whole Foods.

I like Amazon hub lockers. You simply scan your barcode that you get in an e-mail and the locker magically opens up. You take out your package and leave. It's great.

I haven't had a locker door open up and hit my face. That's my worst nightmare.

I then got groceries at Whole Foods. Hey, I'm here anyway. I might as well. I bought four items and they came up to $36.

I always find that I'm broke when I shop here. At least I like how unique the items that I get are.

Lunar new year and more snow coming

I enjoyed having a day off on lunar new year. I went out to fetch some bubble tea, a bite to eat, and groceries.

We are going to be hit with yet another snowstorm for the next couple of days, starting later on today. We are expecting at least 20 cm of snow. Oh, joy!

Right now, it's raining. Just when the snow from our last snowstorm is starting to melt, we get more snow.

Happy lunar new year!

It's here! Happy lunar new year!

Here's to a year full of wonder, hope, joy, and good health. Cheers to a terrific year ahead, with some fun and good eats for good measure.

I have the day off. I'm so glad that I do.

Performance review with nice comments

On Friday, I had my performance review with my manager. It was held online for the second year in a row.

It went well. My manager said a number of nice things. Some of them were the following:

• I am reliable and trustworthy. If he gives me a task to do, he can sleep well, knowing that it'll be completed.
• He misses our talks about food!

It was a nice way to kick off my weekend.

Quiet day thanks to snow

It snowed for most of the day on Tuesday. I went out briefly before lunch to fetch some food and buy a few items when the snow took a brief break. As I drove back to the hotel, it started to snow again.

It was nice spending some quiet time in my room. I watched a lot of TV, took a nap, ate and drank, and had me time.

I love being on vacation. It's getting cold here, so staying indoors isn't a bad thing.

Costco

I haven't been to Costco since April 2020. I have a voucher that I need to use. I'm thinking that dropping by later on today is in order.

I generally go grocery shopping on Wednesdays. Here's hoping that I don't end up buying $200 worth of stuff that I don't need!

While I'm there, I may hit the food court and get something to eat for dinner. It has been ages!

Rare Monday night outing

On Monday night, I went out to get a free meal at a cool Mexican-Latin-America eatery. The food was amazing. I'll definitely need to return for more.

The place is owned by a husband-and-wife team. They were so warm and welcoming.

It was raining all night. It felt soothing driving through the rain heading over there and then home.

I did stop to get some bubble tea after eating dinner. It was the perfect way to end my outing.

Visiting a mall and a restaurant after a decade

On Saturday, I visited a shopping mall that I haven't frequented in nearly a decade. It has changed quite a bit.

I used to go to a Vietnamese restaurant located in this mall with co-workers when we all used to work nearby. We all don't work at this company anymore.

I was pleased to learn that this restaurant is still alive and kicking. I went back to get some takeout. I felt the need to support it and find out whether the quality is still there. It is!

The food was delicious. I was relieved and happy.

I will try not to wait another decade to drop by this eatery and mall.

Weekend and food

It's the weekend. Finally!

Last night, I pre-ordered some chicken pot pie samosas. They sound as yummy as I'm sure they taste. I also pre-ordered some lunch at the same store.

Here's hoping that my turkey-stuffing shopping goes well later on today.

Street market eats

I went to another street market location on Friday. I had a great time getting tandoori garlic parmesan wings. They were so good. I washed them down with watermelon lemonade. It was a small bottle, which I appreciated.

This week, I have dropped by two different street markets. Both times, the weather has been gloomy and the rain held off.

I just learned that there's a third street market that opens today. I may hold off on going because I don't want to visit all three in four days and overdo it!

Errands and a street market full of food trucks

Yesterday, I ran my usual Wednesday errands much earlier in the day. I started just before noon and ended up staying out later, returning home at around 4:30 pm. It's one of the perks of being on vacation.

We have a couple of street markets in the greater Toronto area where you can order takeout from various food trucks. One is next door to me in Richmond Hill. They were set up during the pandemic in mall parking lots because you couldn't go into a food court or hall.

It has taken me over a year to drop by. I loved it. I ended up getting a mac and cheese steak on a potato bun. It was so decadent and delicious. 

I should visit this place more often.

Food perk and a mini socialization session

I picked up a food perk on Monday. It consisted of two fancy, gourmet hot dogs and a free beverage. I also managed to run into two people that I haven't seen in over a year!

It kind of felt like pre-pandemic times chatting with people at a food event. We all have had two vaccination shots. Yesterday marked two weeks since I got my second shot, so I'm officially fully vaccinated.

I have been indulging in a lot of good food before and after my birthday. I can proudly say that I exercised every day during this period, so I don't feel bad about it. I'll get back to my regular eating habits soon.

Food perk pics

On Saturday, I got my food perk.

The first photo has my pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, cornbread, and pickle slices:

Everything was delicious. The woman who helped me with my perk was so nice and awesome!

Here's a close-up shot of my pulled pork sandwich:

I had a wonderful experience!

Break and food perk

The weekend is here. Yay!

I took a mini break from blogging. It was good. All is well.

Later on today, I'm picking up a food perk. I'm looking forward to a pulled pork sandwich, coleslaw, and cornbread. I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

COVID-19 is scary

Last weekend, I placed a food order for pickup this Saturday. I just found out that a supplier that this business works with has team members that got infected with COVID-19. Ugh! I hope that those affected will be okay.

Canada is ramping up its vaccine supply. Every adult is expected to get one shot by the end of June. It's a good sign.

The business has found a new supplier, so I'll be proceeding with my food order. COVID-19 is so scary. I can't wait for the day when we kick it to the curb.

Tacos, enchiladas, and a Nutella milkshake

Happy weekend!

On Saturday, I was out and about. I had a perk to pick up near downtown Toronto. I got a free fried fish taco, with chips and salsa. I had the taco in my car, as we are in lockdown 3.0 and dining in isn't allowed. It was so good.

I was last there over a year ago. I hung out with friends for a few hours before this pandemic. We were in a food hall, so we ordered a lot of food.

It was nice heading back. I also got a Nutella milkshake from another eatery there. I got chicken enchiladas from the same eatery that provided the free perks.

I do need visit Toronto more often. It's my hometown with cool neighbourhoods that I need to explore more.

Meeting up with a friend

On Saturday, I met up with my friend for a late lunch. It was the first time that both dined in a restaurant since the pandemic.

It wasn't on a patio or in a tent. We were sitting in a restaurant. It was great and we felt safe.

It was a bit different, but I was thankful to have spent a couple of hours with my friend whom I haven't seen since last September.