a peek inside the fishbowl

WOAH. In honor of the 40th anniversary of Voyager 1 & 2, NASA made these amazing posters. https://t.co/whrvX6t6zZ pic.twitter.com/hH1mQRKTh8

— Emily Calandrelli (@TheSpaceGal) August 30, 2017

• Summer of love 50 years on – London then and now, theguardian.com
• Adding a Baby to a Family Tradition, nytimes.com
• Our Favorite Stuff From Europe’s Biggest Gadget Show, wired.com
• The Single Most Powerful Visualization Of Harvey’s Impact, fastcodesign.com
• Who Knew? The History of Baking Powder Is Incredibly Dramatic, jezebel.com
• The Radical Copyeditor’s style guide for writing about transgender people, radicalcopyeditor.com

On the nightstand: Into the Water

To review: every other Tuesday is my day off and I’m trying to use this time to recharge my batteries. No work, no meetings, minimal errands. Last time, I visited the Aquatopia Cafe and caught a movie at the Bytowne Cinema.

Interesting fact about the word doldrums. It’s actually a sailing term which refers to a stretch of sea that is calm and utterly windless, which, as you can imagine, makes for challenging travel circumstances at best. So if you say your ship is stuck in the doldrums, it means you aren’t going anywhere fast. This is where I am right now; where I’ve been all week. I have been finding it very hard to muster up any enthusiasm for most things. I haven’t exercised for ages or done my daily treadmill time. I have stopped caring about making meals. Frankly, it’s too easy to drain the hot water tank when I’m in the shower these days. Oh, and I’ve gained a few pounds too. Blarg.

I knew that I wasn’t going anywhere on my day off on Tuesday. I did what I pledged not to do on my days off: stay at home and do nothing. When this happens I call it a lost day. I try not to be too hard on myself, but what I hate most is knowing that one day I will want all of them back.

Sidebar: Mark bought me a lovely birthday gift, a very pretty Kate Spade smart watch which I thought I wanted. It tracks your steps and will vibrate if there’s a notification, but since there’s no digital screen I’d need to check my phone. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I no longer want to be digitally connected to the world 100% of the time. My iPhone is enough of a distraction, and at least I can leave it in a different room and forget about it for awhile. Do I really need to be “on” all the time? I don’t think it’s good for my brain, my patience, my sense of calm. I often feel so scattered that I hardly feel whole. It’s been causing me some anxiety, actually. Should I really be wearing a gadget that feeds those feelings of anxiety as opposed to making them better?

Thankfully, Mark was understanding about the return. The sad part of this story is that I have yet to tell him what I want for my birthday instead. I can’t even think of anything that I want. Isn’t that weird?

It’s Friday now, and I’m feeling a bit better now, but Tuesday was rough. Perhaps I should blame my low mood on hormones. (That nugget is possibly TMI. If so, I apologize.) Maybe it’s because my eldest is leaving home for the first time and the day is drawing near. Sigh. More on that later. :(

It’s not QUITE September yet, but it’s on the horizon. Surely I am not the only person who feels a surge of excitement and energy this time of year. There’s something about it that signals change and renewal. For me, it’s a stronger feeling than New Year’s in terms of resolutions, and for many of us it’s not just back to school, but back to fitness, back to work, back to favourite routines. So of course, I was pretty excited when I got to talking with Fishbowl patron, terra20, about a giveaway regarding lunches. Because we can all use some help getting back to lunch routines, am I right or am I right?

I was at the Pinecrest location yesterday and spent a LOT of time looking at what is now termed lunch solutions. It’s the whole middle part of the store! Honestly, I don’t know of any other place in Ottawa that has this great of a selection.

We’ve had many years of experience with litterless lunches. Here are a few things that really worked for our family, and let’s be real, saved my sanity:

1) Large lunch containers with multiple compartments that are all covered by ONE easy-to-remove lid. No plastic baggies, or lost containers and lids! We didn’t have Planetbox, which is shown in the video below – we had Goodbyn – but the general idea is the same. (ONE container. ONE lid. Which the kids washed! #bonus)

2) Reusable baggies for dry snacks are perfect for cookies, crisps, and Goldfish crackers.

3) A really good thermos. We’ve gone through a bunch. The cheapies never last and don’t work. Spend a bit extra and it’ll last forever.

Of course, it’s not all for kids at terra20. There were MANY things I was coveting for myself during my visit:

And I wish we had thought to buy the eldest this mug. She’s going away to university and will be living in residence:

In the end, I decided I needed a bit of fun in my life so I bought myself a new insulated lunch bag:

Isn’t it cute? They had lots of plain gray, black, and brown bags but I wanted something a bit more lively. (Why do kids get all the colourful stuff??)

Anyway, I digress. I have a $50 gift card to give away to one winner. He or she can use it for lunch gear or something else. (Hey, it’s YOUR gift card!) Interested? Please read the fine print before you enter:

• This giveaway is for one $50 gift card and will be awarded to one winner.
• In order for your entry to qualify, have a look at the litterless lunch section of the terra20 website. Let me know in the comments below what catches your eye, and why!
• One entry per email address please!
• If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder.
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law.
• I will draw one name using Random.org at noon EST on August 31, 2017. I’ll contact the winner via email, who can pick up the prize at one of the terra20 locations: Pinecrest or Wellington West. The name of the winner will be posted here as well. So please check back!
• Did you know that terra20 is on Twitter and Facebook? Following terra20 on social media is not a requirement of this giveaway but it’s a great way of keeping up with great deals and special events.

Over to you. Good luck!