Thoughts about my vacation as it winds down

Today's my last vacation day before I head back to work.

I feel that a two-week vacation is perfect. It's not too long. It's not too short. I feel well-rested and relaxed. It's great.

I am not looking forward to reading and sifting through a bunch of work e-mails. We'll see how crazy all of that is when Monday comes.

In the meantime, I'm listening to some relaxing music before I hit the sack.

I am a winner!

I attended a virtual event last night. There was a giveaway at the end of it.

Normally, I don't win a thing when it comes to these draws. For some reason, I had a good feeling about it. Sure enough, my name got selected! Yay!

I get to virtually watch an orchestra play down the road. I'll have more details later, but I am absolutely thrilled!

More thoughts from my friend's funeral

My friend organized her entire funeral. We are similar in that we are natural planners. She wasn't a control freak. She simply wanted to take care of it without burdening others. It was just who she was.

She made sure that everyone had a bagged lunch after the service. It made me smile. It was so her.

She left a voice message to all of us. She said that we were her miracle. Her daughter let out a sob. I lost it there as tears trickled down my face. It felt good hearing her voice.

She chose the music that was played. I have the list, which is now a part of my playlist and will always remind me of her.

At the end, Amazing Grace was played. The Mayo Clinic managed to record her heartbeat. Her heartbeat was then used as the beat for the song, which had guitar as the melody. It was unique and I felt connected to her -- as if she were saying to everyone that they would be okay.

I managed to grieve at her streamed funeral. I felt a lot better today. It was a lovely service celebrating her life. She somehow managed to reassure us that things were going to be okay. I am healing one day at a time.

Grieving and celebrating my friend's life

On Saturday, I attended my friend's funeral online. It was my first experience attending a virtual funeral. I am grateful that the funeral home offered this service.

It allowed me to attend when the Canada-US border continues to be closed due to COVID-19. It's also nice for those who can't travel or want to stay safe to attend remotely.

It was a beautiful celebration of my friend and her life. There were many parts of the service that made me smile. Essentially, my friend organized her own funeral and made sure that we were all taken care of. She was always that way, including right up to her death.

I may write more about what was said and share in another post. Right now, I am simply reflecting and appreciate her even more.

I didn't write the previous day. On Friday night, I decided to grieve in my own way. I played music that she loved. It brought back fond memories of both of us attending these performances live and enjoying these songs together.

Music and spilled drinks

This morning, my music transferred successfully from Google Music to YouTube Music. The downside is that my Mac mini had such a workout that it's not booting up. It's currently taking a break.

Yesterday wasn't a great day for beverages. I spilled both my green iced tea and black cherry pop. I mean at least half of it poured into two different carpets. Ugh!

Transfering music from Google Music to YouTube Music

Plans for Google Music to become YouTube music have been in the works for at least a year. I have been a fan of the former for a while and have a subscription. I like that I can upload my entire iTunes library to Google Music and storage is free.

Yesterday, I got word to transfer my music from Google Music over to YouTube Music. I have a lot of music. It has been transferring for over six hours. It's down to the last task, which is to transfer uploads and purchases. This final task also happens to be the largest.

I started this task on my work laptop. I stopped it and it's now running on my Mac mini. I'll have it run overnight and see how it's doing when I wake up.

My Tuesday started early. I had a conference call at 7 am that lasted four hours. It was nice calling it a day just past 3:30 pm.

The downside is that I'm ready for bed now.

Donuts and the wait

Last night, I slept like a rock. It was great.

It's a long weekend. I have been craving donuts for a couple of months. I went a bit crazy on Saturday. I ordered six donuts from Tim Hortons and a dozen from Krispy Kreme.

I waited for nearly three hours to go through the Krispy Kreme drive-thru to place my order. Yes, these donuts are that good.

I don't consume donuts often. This pandemic has made me want some badly.

The wait truly didn't feel that long. Mind you, I am pretty patient to begin with. However, I ended up reading, listening to music, and writing. It certainly made the time pass by faster than I had anticipated.

I am pleased with my donut haul. I will be pacing myself!

Three pairs of the same headphones

Here's to the weekend!

I have spent the last two hours rearranging items on a shelf. I'm now uploading music to my Mac mini.

Decluttering has been good. I realized that I have three pairs of Beats headphones. Two are wireless and one is wired. I have no idea what possessed me to buy them three times. One will be a nice gift for a friend, as I haven't used them.

Looking back through external drive files

I have spent a good hour looking at files on an old external hard drive. It's interesting looking back at a snapshot of my life.

I looked at files from 2007. There were photos that I had taken. Music that I was listening to. A resume that was developing. It was cool looking at me back then and how much I have grown since then.

Things seemed so simple then. I wasn't heartbroken. Then again, there was so much drama at work that perhaps things weren't as simple on the surface.

Life is definitely mine to discover. I wouldn't change a thing from my past.

The ex-guy strikes a text conversation

A few posts ago, I wrote about my ex-guy sending me a short e-mail after realizing that I had not sent him any birthday greetings this year. He had included a picture of two purple birds. Purple is my favourite colour. I read that the two birds represented us.

Well, unfortunately, I was correct.

When I was writing yesterday's blog post, he texted me. I fought through putting that post up, as I was upset.

Ever since he has broken up with me, I have not shed a tear over him. I cried on and off yesterday. The hurt and painful feelings came flooding back.

I had not replied to the birds e-mail. Last night, he texted me and asked whether I was ever going to write back to him. In my head, since he ended our relationship, my first thought to that question hasn't changed. I told him that he broke my heart. I had nothing to say to him.

He wanted to chat over the phone or meet. I said that I wasn't interested in the former and that I needed to practise physical distancing from COVID-19.

The annoying part of this text message exchange was that this jerk decided to negotiate terms of a relationship with him. What? He said that it would be the same, except that we'd take out hotel stays and trips together.

I told him off. He claimed that he misses me and the fun times that we used to have. If he truly wanted me back, I would expect him to not take away aspects of our relationship that we once enjoyed as a couple.

I got a number of points off my chest:

• I wasn't interested in talking to someone who broke my heart and has caused me so much sadness
• I let him know that he treated me like dirt and that his needs have always superseded mine
• I pointed out that his conditions and restrictions cited in this new set of relationship terms was nonsense and stupid
• I had no problem telling him that if he had a heart, he'd understand that he was upsetting me by contacting me
• I stated that I wasn't going to settle for these stupid relationship terms
• I dictate the terms -- he doesn't
• I didn't want to talk to him because things aren't the same between us

Yeah, it's sad that he ruined the start of my long Easter weekend. Although I am intermittently sad right now, I am proud that I stood my ground. I'm stronger than I realized.

In the meantime, I am listening to a lot of music to make me feel better.

Trying out my Google Nest Mini

I have been chipping away at little projects around the house that I have put aside. It was a combination of not spending a lot of time at home and not being motivated.

Two months ago, I got a Google Nest Mini for free. I received in the mail and kept it in its box all this time.

Last night, I decided to give it a whirl. It plays my music fine. I can ask it to play my music and tell me what the weather forecast is. It works like my Alexa speaker.

It would be interesting to pit them together and see if they can converse with each other.

Packed and ready for the weekend

I'm all packed for my mini staycation. I am going to a concert tonight. I am so looking forward to the next couple of days!

Have a happy, safe weekend, everyone!

Life has its ups and downs

Life works in mysterious, wonderful ways. With sadness comes a silver lining.

I found out yesterday that my junior kindergarten teacher had passed away recently. She was musical. I remember singing in her class all the time and I loved it. It's likely one reason why I love music.

I posted her obituary on a social medium platform. A friend of mine revealed that we were likely in the same junior kindergarten class, but didn't know it. It's crazy to think that we have known each other since we were four years old! We forged a friendship in high school She switched elementary schools. Yet, we still have memories of truly knowing each other as four-year-old kids, but didn't make the connection until now.

Perhaps it's just a sign that our teacher's passing has sparked a new perspective on our friendship. Pretty cool!

I'm going to break your heart

Last week, on the plane going to Minneapolis, I watched a documentary called I'm Going to Break Your Heart. The documentary spotlights the relationship between Chantal Kreviazuk and Raine Maida, who have successful music careers and have been married for over twenty years.

They relationship has bumps. They are seen going to counselling. They work at their relationship, as head as it can get.

They wrote many songs together during this documentary. One of them was the title of this documentary. I lost it. I was crying on the plane.

My ex-guy broke my heart -- three times too many. We never went to counselling. Part of me wishes that we did, but he abruptly ended our relationship.

There are nights where I think of him. One part of me misses the good, fun parts of our relationship. I know that it isn't healthy to want to try it again. I do not want to be hurt by him again. I want better.

I continue to heal. It's not an easy journey. I get by one day at a time.

Packing and restoring my iPod classic

I am packing light for my trip. I am away for three days and I am in the Twin Cities for two of them. I am technically done. I'll I need are snacks.

As of late, I want to return to simpler times. I spent some time last night restoring music on my iPod classic. Yep, folks say that it looks like a brick. However, it holds my entire digital music collection.

I like it because I don't need to stream my music. I don't have the option to check my e-mail or do searches online. I am removed from plenty of distractions.

The fact that it is probably over a decade old and still works well is nice. I am contemplating getting the newest iPod touch. It would be a distraction, as it has bluebooth, wifi, and messaging capabilities.

I'll stick with my iPod classic for now.

Sirius XM is down - ugh!

I have been a subscriber to Siriux XM satellite radio since I had my first Prius just over a decade ago. I like it, especially when I am doing road trips. I don't have to worry about finding a radio station that has clear reception as I drive.

I like the Saturday night dance party, in which songs from the 80's are played. Sadly, the service is down right now. It's a minor inconvenience, though. I'm playing music off my phone instead.

I still listen to music on my iPod classic. I have my entire music collection on it. Party of me would like the latest iPod touch version. It has bluetooth capabilities, which my iPod classic doesn't have.

Canada Day and a sunburn

Canada Day celebrations in our nation's capital are amazing! I had a ton of fun proudly wearing a Canada t-shirt, walking around with fellow Canadians, and taking in the live music performances.

I spent far too much time outdoors, though. I have a bit of a sunburn on my arms and around my neck.

The rest of me is fine. I was out in the sun for a couple of hours. It could have been much worse.

Too bad my butt isn't tanned. Life isn't always fair.

Rocketman, affection, and a cold

On Saturday, I went to see Rocketman at long last at the theatre. I loved it. I love movies about music and the lives of rock stars, both fictional and fact.

At one point in the movie, Elton John is on the phone with his mom, coming out as a gay man. She says to him that she knows, "You'll never be loved properly." It was a sad moment on how removed his parents were at dishing out affection.

It made me a bit sad that I don't have a man to dish out affection these days. I also miss the companionship. They are minor for me right now, as I need time to heal emotionally after this breakup. I decided to buy a book on healing after a relationship ends. Although I am doing well under the circumstances, I still have moments of sadness when memories flood in. Having a resource to get me through it doesn't hurt.

I have a slight cough and a stuffed up nose. I am on cold medication and am drinking a lot of fluids. I hope that the extra rest that I'm getting this weekend will help.

New record player and old cell phone

I bought a record player the other day. It was on sale. It's a gift to myself.

I bought one last year in purple, my favourite colour. It was on sale, too. The problem with it is that it doesn't spin a record fast enough and maintain its speed. It's such a shame.

This new record player can do more than just play records. It has a cassette deck, AM/FM radio, bluetooth, and an aux line to connect an iPod or other music player to it.  It plays CDs, too. I can record anything to MP3. It's quite the powerhouse.

I had to make room for it. It's not a tiny thing. It's not monstrous, either.

I liked that it forced me to clean the top of my stereo system. I found a box with an old cell phone from my days in Minnesota. I didn't think that I still had the phone. It's so tiny in comparison to the phones these days.

I felt like I had opened a time capsule of sorts. It was cool to see a snapshot of my life a while back.

Weed scents in front of Best Buy

As I had written in a previous post, weed is legal in Canada. However, it depends on where you live to be able to smoke it in public.

I was at a Best Buy on Saturday afternoon. I visited a city a bit east of where I live. Roughly an hour later, I came out of the store. I smelled weed in the air.

I tend to associate smelling weed to being at a music concert. It will take me a while to associate it to my daily life.