a peek inside the fishbowl

This post is about how we went for a walk and bought a bed (!) but I thought it needed a bit of backstory first.

When I first moved in with Mark (keeping in mind this was 20+ years ago) he had a terrible terrible bed. It was a double, with a mattress that sunk in the middle so no matter how you started out sleeping you somehow both ended up in a hollow in the centre. A new bed was our first purchase as a couple, although now that I think about it, it may have been the second. I recall that Mark’s sofa was about as comfortable as a park bench, so that had to go as well.

Anyway, buying a bed was a big deal. We ended up at Van Leeuwen’s in the Byward Market. This was my dream bed: a queen-sized wrought iron four-poster like something out of Bedknobs and Broomsticks. We had the option of customizing the colour of the frame so we chose dark green, which was a popular colour at the time. In hindsight, I wish we’d chosen black or white, but, whatever.

Friends, we’ve had that bed ever since. It travelled with us to Westboro when we moved from that one bedroom apartment in Hintonburg, and when we renovated it moved with us into our rental apartment and then back again.

We’ve been looking for a new bed for a while now but never really committed to the idea. I think this is partly due to the fact that it took us several years (!) to buy a new couch for the family room.

Not too long ago I found myself in a neighbourhood furniture shop called Suede and I spotted a bed frame that I actually liked. It was solidly built with a cushioned headboard and no footboard. And it was on clearance because it was a floor model. SCORE.

I texted Mark a few photos and for some reason, we dropped the idea until a couple of weeks ago when the two of us decided to walk to a bank appointment and window shop in Westboro Village along the way. As an added bonus, it was further reduced in price.

Long story short, we bought the bed! Here it is:

I wasn’t sure if our nightstands would be a good match at first, but I think we’ll keep them for now. As I look at this photo I realize that our bedroom isn’t a glamorous lair that’s worthy of a home decor magazine – and maybe not much to brag about – but it’s comfortable and I like it.

In the interest of keeping it real, here are a few things you may be interested in knowing as you look at that photo:

• The wooden chest at the bed is full of teddy bears and stuffed animals but it’s a handy place to toss my gym clothes and/or PJs. (Usually both.)
• The bed is NOT perfectly centred under the windows. Would this bug you? We can’t centre it because of a heating grate on Mark’s side of the bed that interferes with the nightstand there. This was poor reno planning on our part, as was the placement of some light switches for the side lamps. (Don’t ask.)
• Speaking of which, I would like a new reading lamp because I hate the one of my side of the bed.
• Mark has one of those “light up” alarms on his side. The idea is that the light goes off before the alarm sound so make your awakening a little less jarring. Mark is not a morning person and has had mixed success with this. (At least the alarm sound is gentle.)
• That busted laundry basket is full of mismatched socks and I really wish the sock pairing and mending fairies would just come over already and take it off my hands.
• I’m thinking of adding a big area rug in this room that would go under the bed and stretch out the sides.

Also worth noting, Mark hates piles of pillows but I kind of love them and would like to have an abundance of pillows but I don’t think he’d tolerate this idea. There are already two on each side, plus one decorative one in the middle, which is MORE THAN ENOUGH by his standards, I’m sure. That big one on top of the laundry basket actually needs a pillow cover. It’s down-filled and can be pokey at times! I use it when I need an extra big pillow for reading.

Well, considering that I’ve written about almost every other one of our youngest daughter’s birthdays, I couldn’t help but share a few details here…. keeping in mind, of course, that I don’t want to infringe on anyone’s privacy TOO much. :)

In the past, we’ve hosted parties at home, sleepovers, pool parties, parties at Funhaven (TWICE), parties at restaurants, at an art studio for children, at the Ottawa Gymnastics Centre. And I’m sure there are some I am missing!

This baby turned one in 2002 with a party at home with friends and family:

… and today she turns 17.

Birthdays are different when you hit the teen years. This year it’s about birthday cash, a couple small gifties and a card, a manicure with a BFF, and sushi dinner with the family and the BF. Although to be fair, sushi has been part of the birthday narrative since very early on:

Not that I’m complaining, of course. :)

How is it that my baby is 17 already? Honestly, it boggles my mind.

Edited to add the most recent birthday sushi photo:

On April 2 I posted an update with the gleeful news that we’d finished the Whole 30 dietary reset and that I was feeling pretty good AND hit my goal weight. Well, I couldn’t let that be the last thing you heard about our Whole 30 because what happened afterwards deserves a mention.

It was Easter weekend when we finished. We went to a wedding and ate some Easter chocolate. We decided we’d enjoy the weekend and then go back to our “regular” family meals and reign in the extras, such as chips, beer, sugar. Well, imagine my surprise when my weight bounced right back (let me rephrase, right back UP) within a couple of days.

I did not eat several pounds worth of Easter chocolate, I swear.

In my wrap up post about Whole 30 I shared a screenshot from MyFitnessPal about the weight I had lost so it’s only fair that I update it here now:

You can see the upswing there, right? What also returned is that bloaty puffiness that had disappeared during the Whole 30 regimen. Also worth noting: Mark’s weight went back to what it was before he did the Whole 30.

So, something is amiss, that’s for sure. I’m certain there are issues with sugar and sensitivities to gluten that have not been officially diagnosed. Maybe you’re also wondering what is it about the foods that we eat that creates all that extra padding?

I recommend you watch this short video. It pertains to IBS but it explains the idea of gut inflammation really well and illustrates what’s actually happening when the body can’t absorb certain types of carbs.

It’s left me wondering: what if *everyone* has those issues with carbs, but some people don’t actually feel the pain of the inflammation that’s occurring? What if what we’re carrying around isn’t actually extra weight, but water and inflammation due to us eating too much of something that doesn’t agree with us AND WE CAN ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT that doesn’t involve becoming a gym rat?

If I can feel better, and get rid of my muffin top by cutting back on some foods, I’m all for it. So, what we’re doing now is a modified Whole 30 for a week to see what happens. We’re still eating meat, veg and fruit, dairy, and a few whole grains (like oats) and legumes. We are temporarily cutting out, once again, alcohol, gluten, and sweet treats to see how we feel.

The question is, is it enough to scale back, or will we need to cut things out entirely? This will require some experimentation.

This was my lunch today:

… a kale Caesar salad with Whole30 style dressing, fried Prager ham, grape tomatoes, a sprinkle of Parmesan, and a fried egg on top. Thankfully, I like veggies enough that this kind of meal is a treat for me, not a hardship!

Dinner tonight is eggs, sausage, veg and fruit.

Once upon a time I read about someone who only ate superfoods, and designed crazy “menus” of meals around them. So for example she’d eat a handful of blueberries, a slice of fish, bunch of walnuts, and a serving of swiss chard for breakfast. She ate foods that didn’t even go well together just for the sake of eating the “best” foods possible. She saw food as fuel and as medicine so she could live a long and healthy life. A part of me understands what that lady was getting at, but I want to live a life in which food is joy; something to be shared with loved ones. Food is not just fuel, it’s life too, isn’t it? So although I don’t want to get too mired in all of this, I do need to figure out what foods make us feel good, and which ones don’t.