a peek inside the fishbowl

Archive for the ‘Misc. life’ Category

16 Mar, 2024

new habit?

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Misc. life

It’s Saturday morning and I’m writing this with no specific topic or goal or purpose in mind, only that I want to start a Saturday morning writing habit and to sit down and do it is the only way to start. If I’m really honest with myself, this is the time I am just wasting […]

04 Sep, 2023

it got me

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Misc. life

I’m writing this from the sofa as I recover from COVID. I feel like my brain hasn’t quite been restored to full capacity but on the whole I am ok. Recovery has been two-steps-forward/one-step-back but I think I’m finally on the mend.  This was my first time getting Covid. Honestly, I can’t believe I managed […]

25 Jun, 2023

What is the point of complaining?

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Misc. life

I don’t know why I’m so riled up about this. Yesterday was the final day of the garden centre at the Carlingwood Loblaws. Not that I knew that… I had just pulled up and was reviewing my grocery list when I noticed a dearth of plants and green stuff in their usual caged-off spot in […]

How was your weekend? This question is a traditional part of Monday mornings at the office, or on the weekly Zoom call. And honestly, I’ve felt a bit weird asking it lately. What used to be a fairly innocent question became more complicated after the pandemic. Or is it just me? How was your weekend? I don’t […]

17 Sep, 2022

September is a good time for change

Posted by: andrea tomkins In: Misc. life

I went on a power walk around the block this morning and I tried my hand at doing some intervals for a certain stretch of it that has evenly-spaced blocks. So my 45-minute walk looked like this: warm up walk, awkward run for one block, huffy puffy walk for one block, run for one block, walk […]


Archives

Me and my pet projects

Ottawa Bucket list

Subscribe via email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.


  • Gretchen Humphrey: I had a beautiful bee& birdbath filled with a solar fountain and dozens of antique marbles that were suddenly disappearing. At first I thought my
  • Jinjer: I am sobbing reading this post. And you're right, companion is not enough. Little furry treasured gifts that they are. Thanks for sharing cutie-pi
  • Karen: Dear Andrea, Mark and your daughters I am so very sad for your family xxx Piper was/is my favourite Instagram post. You shared with us so intimately
  • Christina Banuelos: Thank you for sharing Pipers life with us. Your posts of Piper brought me joy. Every time I see your post and see what kind of mischief Piper was gett
  • Carla Slocum: I am sitting here yet again crying at your loss. We have known that loss with Asta the WFT our first pup but now have the enormous gift of Stryker the
  • Janelle Brown: Dear Andrea Thank you for sharing Piper’s story with her followers. I empathise with your grief and emptiness as I lost my 14 year old Westie last
  • Natasha McReynolds-Nicholl: My god reading this is heartbreaking. December 1st was the as you describe longest day of my life, we lost out beautiful WFT hazel. Pipers final momen

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in the Westboro area of Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Piper who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. We also have two human offspring: Emma (24) and Sarah (22). During the day I work as a writer at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you'd like to contact me, please use this form. If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here. Thank you for visiting!

 


Connect with me at these places too!

Still calling it Twitter