Category Archives: Family

Learning to live with anxiety

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I live with anxiety.

It’s something that I really didn’t have an understanding of until I considered that I may be living with it, researched it, and the pandemic, plus some brewing personal situations that I needed to resolve was really the impetus for me figuring it out.

I think, when people think about anxiety, they think of the stereotypical suburban housewife in the 80s and earlier, taking Valium, not able to cope with things; which does a real disservice to women and stigmatizes what anxiety is, and how it can be treated.

We’ve come a long way since then and while mental health is still misunderstood, the treatments, compassion and care that exists today versus what I’ve seen friends go through, say, in the 80s is night and day.

NOTE: This blog entry discusses my mental health journey and while aspects here might help you, I am not a mental health expert and I advise you that if any of what I have written resonates with you, do consider speaking with a therapist.

Consider being in a situation that involves someone else where your mind is racing trying to figure out all the angles, possibilities and outcomes of the situation in advance so you’re prepared to get through any variant of the situation – a perpetual what if machine.

You’re nervous about saying the right thing in the right way because it’s super important to you, you have often been misunderstood in life, so you want to make sure you’re heard and understood. It consumes you and takes up valuable cycles you could be using to focus on other things in your life.

You become irritable, emotional – you want to do the right thing- you want to do the right thing for yourself, you also want to be considerate and do the right thing for the person you need to talk with and open up to, but you can’t because you’re trying to find the perfect way to meet your needs, their needs, to be sensitive to the other person and true to yourself.

You agonize over it.
You beat yourself up.

At least, in how anxiety has been showing up for me, this has been a common scenario. I recognize that anxiety shows up in a multitude of different ways for different people. Overcoming and learning to live with anxiety is a unique journey for everyone.

There are a few approaches I figured out for myself that seemed to work

  • I write it out as it helps to get out of your head – a theme – and allows me to collect and organize thoughts. I can spin so hard, its very hard to keep thoughts organized.
  • I talk to others to get out of my head – starting to see a theme? Mainly because I have the sense to say, “I need help!”. I know I’m stuck inside, and need to check in with someone else who is outside the situation to get a reality check, to be challenged and ultimately to help stop that spinning so I could do what I needed to do – which was to talk the person I really needed to.
  • In some situations I’m able to talk directly to the person, which really is how it should be, but it’s not as smooth as it really should be, and even in those moments, when talking things out, my head can be spinning hard.

That spinning is not kind, it will pull in other baggage, and it’s very hard to dig out. I knew that if I talked directly to the person involved about the situation I’m spinning about, it’s not going to be pretty. At least, that’s what I thought at the time.

In all honesty, no matter how weird or meandering or even ugly the path to the resolution to the situation you’re in is, dealing with it straight up is actually better. The people that can and do see past your baggage will be the ones that will help you figure things out and support you in seeing through your anxiety and triggers.

The character of Anxiety in Inside Out 2, a recent movie from Disney-Pixar, anthropomorphizes a great representation of anxiety. I really feel that if I had this story growing up, it may have given me some good food for thought or at least planted a seed where I could have realized earlier what was happening and lessened the impact on my life.

I’m not going to talk here about how I was able to connect the dots that lead to me learning how to mitigate my anxiety as it did involve some unconventional methods. The parts I will talk about are

  • it did involve looking at situations that were triggering me. At the time I was dealing with triggers constantly going off from multiple sources – I am surprised I kept it together. For me, this was typically the starting point for where anxiety starts for a given situation.
  • I had the sense to take the time to understand why I was triggered – what in my past is trying to inform me that I’m in some form of “danger zone”? This part of my looking inward journey was huge and I had to build courage to go there and face my interpretation of the past, and heal from it. I had to go back and deal with my past.
  • I spent time with my therapist to talk through what I was seeing and experiencing.
  • Most importantly, I have some amazing family around me who gave me:
    • a safe space for me to be able to deal with whatever I was dealing with in real time as things came up,
    • while they called me on my shit, it was clear they had my back and loved me and stood for me being a better Iain, and they were invested in being part of my life just as I wanted them in my life,
    • the space to make mistakes and learn from them,
    • reminders that I was worthy of that support and love,
    • a voice, that would be listened to, where I felt heard, and people took the time to understand me and what I was dealing with,
    • where I could get reassurance and learn to trust that reassurance,
    • where I could express emotion and not feel locked up, that i was wrong for just feeling and expressing that emotion – that my emotions are real and valid,
    • challenged me in a good thought provoking way – during that whole period I was constantly hearing “Get out of your head, Iain”,
    • giving me the love and respect that I really needed to get through such a weird space that I happened to get into, that I needed to dig out of.

While only I could do the work, having that support network was what I really needed to sort myself out. Definitely a gift the universe has given me.

Today, I can say my mind is the quietest it has ever been, ever. I cringe thinking about the times it lead to awkward and explosive situations. I’m not comfortable with it, and all I can do is accept that it happened and where required clean it up. learn from it and be a better person.

Anxiety has shaped my life for an incredibly long time. I can go back to my childhood where it started. I have no idea if it’s something that I’m predispositioned towards or a learned behaviour – I suspect a combination of both.

I certainly recognize what I went through, and the situations that made me a pro at the spin and keeping things to myself. My strong independent streak because I couldn’t rely on or didn’t even have the support I should have had when I was younger, and keeping things to myself as a result, among other things, all this adds up, and I am not surprised at how this turned out. It was a perfect storm.

I am proud of the man I’ve become, I’m proud of the hard work I’ve done on myself to be a better human. The true me has always been upbeat, personable, hardworking, someone who wants to do the right thing, make the world a better place and an introvert-leaning ambivert willing to look inwards,

The people that matter, I know, are also proud of me. I would not be where I am without them.

The end of an era

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With the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, I thought I would share a story from my childhood.

One of a handful of memories of my time growing up in Newfoundland was the visit of The Queen and Prince Philip to St. John’s. One part of their visit was the turning of the sod for what became the Queen Elizabeth II Library at the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

My family was in attendance for a few reasons. Mum was quite a monarchist (along with my grandparents), and Dad taught at the university in the Department of Biology.

I was four years old, standing at the side and along come Her Majesty and Prince Philip and, don’t ask my why I thought this, I thought they were my grandparents.

See, my grandmother and grandfather looked very much like Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. My grandmother being shorter and a similar build to Queen Elizabeth; my grandfather being tall and thiner like Prince Philip.

I know at times I’ve felt silly about it growing up, but it’s become a fun memory to think about in my older age.

I had a chance to see The Queen on a visit to Toronto, my grandmother insisting I take a day off school to attend.

As i’ve grown older, I’m aware that the institution of The Firm is an extremely flawed organization, how it treats certain members of The Royal Household, how it has contributed to colonialism around the world, etc.

While it can be argued that The Queen leads this organization and has a say in how things are run, it is not as simple as that. You can see in series like The Crown the position the Queen or King is in.

Things such as The Queen being against Apartheid in South Africa and wanting the release of Nelson Mandella, yet Margaret Thatcher not willing to speak publicly to condemn Apartheid. The monarch has to traverse a fine line, but there are ways they can make their wishes be known.

You can see in recent years that the Monarchy does support self determination as countries in the Caribbean seek to become republics such as Barbados.

The Queen, as I understand her, was very much a diplomat of an amazing kind behind the scenes. I think it’s easy for others to dismiss her impacts, but if you read between the lines, you can see the importance of her role in the world.

Given some of the crap she’s had to deal with from her children too…

I wish the new King good luck in his service to the United Kingdom, Canada and other realms where he is the Head of State.

Thank you ma’am for your hard work behind the scenes, your duty and service.

Castaway Cay 5K

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From the Disney Castaway Cay 5K.

From the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

In 2007, Scott and I jogged our first 5K.  It was the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon 5K.  Scott entered for a fundraiser, as a way to celebrate 100lbs lost, as a way to reclaim exercise, and I joined him.  We finished in 42 minutes, 30 seconds, hand in hand in relatively cool September weather.

Last year, 10 years after running that 5K, I had set a goal of running a 10K, myself, in Q1 2018.  I had asked, for Christmas 2016, the Learn to Run course from The Running Room.  I enrolled and started in March 2017, but with 130 days on the road for work, sadly, I really could not keep up with the course.

 

As a result of non-stop work travel in 2017, I knew I was not in any shape to run or jog a 10K.  I do know I can easily walk 10K for sure.  Walking around Stockholm and New York City this past summer clearly showed this to me.

Scott and I had booked our February cruise to the Caribbean so that we could get into sun and warmth after a particularly grey winter.  We’re both prone to the winter blahs (aka SAD).  Our trip included a stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge on both ends, and our cruise includes a stop at Disney’s Castaway Cay.

One of the ‘excursions’ at Castaway Cay includes the Castaway Cay 5K.  If I wasn’t going to be able to meet my goal of running a 10K, I can easily do a 5K.  I had to do this.

I’ve known about the Castaway Cay 5K for many years after my friend Stephen had run the Walt Disney World Marathon, and then after also ran the Castaway Cay 5K.  Since then, it’s always been one of those life milestone things I’ve wanted to do.  Don’t ask me why, it just is.

Before, I get to the Castaway Cay 5K, our overnight stay at Walt Disney World actually coincided with the runDisney Princess Half Marathon weekend, and in particular, the 5K held on Friday and the 10K held on Saturday.

I have to admit, sitting down in Boma, Saturday morning, I was quite blown away at the people who were wearing the participation medals for the Disney Princess Enchanted 10K.  People of all shapes and sizes.  This helped break stereotypes I’ve held in my head.  I kept coming back to my mind that running, jogging and participating in 5Ks and 10Ks Isn’t just for “crazy super fit thin people”, that there is a place for me and Scott, that people of all shapes and sizes run and jog and can participate.  This took it to a whole new level for me.  I was inspired and excited about the Castaway Cay 5K and figuring out how I could do a 10K.

What was coming up for me is, this IS something I can do.  This IS something that a big person can participate in.  I don’t have to hold on to the previously held notions of what a jogger looks like.  I can break that stereotype for myself, and maybe I can break that image for someone else just as others have inspired me, without realizing it.

Unfortunately, after boarding the Disney Fantasy, I started to realize – Damn it all, I’m coming down with a cold!  That’s NOT going to stop me from registering, and that’s the first thing Scott and I did, headed to Guest Services and got ourselves registered.

Map of the Castaway Cay 5K

The Castaway Cay 5K is meant to be a fun 5K.  You start out at the Bike Rentals area, you proceed down the Castaway Cay Airstrip, around a path that leads to the Castaway Cay lookout tower, back around and then down to the end of the airstrip near Serenity Bay which is the adult beach, and then repeat backwards.

You have 90 minutes to finish the 5K and you can run, jog, or walk.  Essentially, do it on your own time.  You’re not given a tracker that tracks your start and end time so it’s not a formally tracked event.  You won’t find your results on the runDisney website.  Again, it’s meant to be fun to do, on your own terms.

Here’s a tip – if you register for the Castaway Cay 5K, you’ll be some of the first people off the ship. I’m not saying just register to be the first person off the ship.  Register and do it!  You’ll have fun!  Seriously!

Why again, would I want to do a 5K as part of my holiday?  Okay, part of it may have to do with wanting the really cool participant medal that’s given to everyone.   Look at it to the right – there it is in all it’s glory.  *GRIN* Oooh shiny!   Seriously, it’s a very nice incentive, and way cooler than any participant ribbon you received in elementary school.  Why wouldn’t you want a piece of coveted Disney magic like this?

Scott and I both wanted to walk and jog the route.  For Scott, it was about being active and sharing in the experience.  For me, it was about taking what I had learned from the Running Room, and seeing how fast can I do a 5K, pushing my own boundaries.

While I was able to get through most of the cold and was well enough to attempt the 5K, Scott picked up the cold from me, starting a few days later.

While we picked up our bibs and pinned them to our shirts on the ship, once we walked from the ship to the Bike Rentals shop where the 5K starts, Scott had decided, smartly, that with the cold, the heat and the humidity he would not run.  Even I was a bit nervous about how I would handle the course, but I seemed fine on the long walk to the starting line.  I was going to proceed.

I tried to do a 1 minute jog/1 minute walk routine I had learned from The Running Room, however it probably ended up being 1 minute jog/2-3-4 minutes walking.  I kept my head up, my mind was positive, I picked up three cups of water at different times during the course to stay hydrated, I had some great tunes playing streaming from my watch to my headphones – no need to carry a bulky iPhone.  Despite the heat, humidity and the strong sun, I was feeling good.

I finished the run in about 39 minutes and 45 seconds.  I don’t know for sure because, as I said earlier, there isn’t a tracker to track when I crossed the starting and ending line.  What I do know is that the clock just flipped over the 40 minute mark, and I crossed the starting line at about 25 seconds after the start, based on video Scott took.

Despite the changes I’ve made to my body, losing the weight I have, despite working on my health, I still have this weird relationship with jogging, that some how it’s not for me, that I hate it.  Yet I jog during spring and summer and I’ve enjoyed it, seriously enjoyed it.  I do this thing and I feel accomplished, like I’ve overcome something and I want to continue challenging myself – and it’s solely about challenging myself and not comparing myself to someone else.

You have no idea what a huge win this is for me, and how much it actually moves me to tears every time I think about it.  I don’t understand the shift that’s happed in my thinking, but  I feel proud of the accomplishment, that I’ve been able to push past self imposed baggage.  It feels really freaking good.

I’m really looking forward to doing another 5K and a 10K.  Is a half marathon in my future? Let me get through the 10K first, but it is a possibility. (Yes, I just said that and it’s in writing).

Even more magical though, was Scott.  One of the cruise staff had noticed he had his bib on, but was not jogging and she asked why not.  He explained that he had picked up a cold and was doing the smart thing by not doing the 5K.  For being smart, he was awarded a Castaway Cay 5K participant medal.  While he refused to wear it because he didn’t feel he earned it, as far as the cruise staff and I are concerned, he did.  Something like this needs to be recognized.

And there will be an opportunity to do it again in the future, together.

As you can see below, I finally put the medal on him. 🙂

Our next step?  Scott and I are going to do the runDisney Virtual Running Shorts this summer.

 

Things I learned during a Disney Cruise

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The second in my series about cruising with Disney.  In the first blog, I talked about things we learned prior to going on our cruise.  We learned a lot more during and after the cruise!

Culture, Entertainment

  • There is definitely a unique culture on board, especially on the WBTA (West Bound Transatlantic) cruise.  People were so friendly and gregarious.
  • You have a lot of repeats cruisers who have done this cruise before, regardless of the destination, i.e. to Miami or New York City, via Canada or Castaway Cay, etc…  And they truly love it for various reasons.
  • For Disney, you did not see a lot of people wearing ears on board.  I was definitely not in the norm, wearing my Stitch hat I picked up at TokyoDisneysea, and my Stitch slippers.
  • I was expecting the cruise to be primarily just North Americans, and while Canadians and Americans did make up a significant number of passengers on the ship, there was a significant presence from France, Germany, Austria, The United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia; and all who appreciated Disney whether it’s the characters, the level of service, etc…
  • On the longer cruises, the are two must-dos (among many)
    • The Officers Deck Party – This surprised me
    • Do check out the kids areas when they have the open houses.  It’s your chance to experience what they experience.
  • Normally I am not one for shows on board and deck parties.  Have to say, I was pretty blown away by the shows and the deck parties.  Okay, some of the deck parties can start out a bit hokey, but there are some really really cool elements to each of them.  I don’t want to ruin the element of surprise, but you can definitely see videos of the experiences on YouTube.
  • Did I say, do the shows?  I say, do the shows. They are fantastic and the things Disney does with the stage is pretty amazing given we’re floating at sea.
  • Do see a movie in the Buena Vista Theatre.  Probably the best 3D screen I have seen.  When watching Finding Dory at an angle, we still had a prefect 3D image with the glasses on!
  • Characters will roam about the ship.  This one afternoon, I kept on running into Belle and we finally chatted about the book she was reading (Winnie the Pooh).  You can even get advice from Rapunzel on the conditioner she uses (Disney H2O for sure!).

Activities

  • As an adult, you will not be bored!  There is a lot to do:
    • Character meets – If that’s your thing
    • Chocolate and wine pairing, tastings
    • Cheese and wine pairing, tastings
    • Mixology classes
    • Karaoke in After Hours
    • Game shows in After Hours
    • Learn to draw characters
    • Bingo
    • Deck parties
    • Use the pool
  • The kids won’t be bored either, there is a ton of stuff for them to do.  Interestingly, on the Disney Magic all the kids areas are on deck 5.  There was a point where I had to go to Deck 5, stepped out of the elevator and wondered, “Where am I?  I don’t recognize this deck.”  Of course!  It’s the kids deck, where the Buena Vista There is also found.

The ship

  • Disney Magic is a gorgeous ship.  Upon walking on the ship, I was looking at the ship and, despite being from 1998, it is very very well maintained.  Now, it went through dry dock renovations in 2013, but the ship is constantly being repainted on the outside (saw this in Halifax and Ponta Delgada) and fixed where needed.  It’s all part of making magic and the high bars that Disney sets.
  • We got talking to a couple of contractors from an engineering company that were working on the ship.  They had told us that Disney had quite a few redundancy systems on the ship unlike any other cruise line they had worked with.  Think backup, to the backup, to the backup, to the backup.  Given the history of other cruise lines and the challenges the industry has had, it’s clear that Disney takes the safety of their passengers seriously, as well as the investment in their ships, the cruise industry and even their stockholders.
  • Not every ship in Disney’s fleet is the same.  Despite Magic and Wonder, Fantasy and Dream being sister ships and similar size categories, the design for each is different.

Dining, Drinks and Service

  • Dining is an experience on DCL.  Each dinner had some form of entertainment, so you want to stay until the end if you can.  Now Scott and I noticed that people would often leave before the entertainment began and wondered why, however I just realized, if you’ve seen it before…  For a first timer, definitely stay and experience it.  And often, they’re short surprises.
  • The serving team is fantastic and get to know you.  With Princess we had anytime dining, so didn’t get to experience that level of service.  With Royal Caribbean, we had specifically timed dining, and the degree to which the staff got to you know you wasn’t there.
  • Disney is also the first cruise line where our stateroom host specifically introduced herself and was quite visible.  If we needed anything, she was there.  Fantastic.  On Princess we never met our stateroom host.  We did on RCI but didn’t seem as approachable as they were on DCL.
  • On DCL there is no drink package required. Pop, water, coffee, tea and hot chocolate is included in your stateroom fees.  We did order a bottled water package as we missed having water on our cruise in February on RCI.
  • That said, if you want wine with dinner, there is a wine package available.  You can order this in advance or in one of the dining rooms when you board.
  • If you could not get that elusive Palo Brunch dining reservation, you can order it on board when you arrive.  In the case of Magic, go directly to Lumiere’s and line up.  The line does go quickly.
  • If you want premium coffee, for adults there is the Cove Cafe, and for Teens there is Vibe.  At Cove Cafe, you pay for these, I’m not sure about Vibe since I’m not a teen.
  • At Cove Cafe you get a buy 6 get one free card for coffee.
  • The coffee in Cabanas and at the drink station is kind of lacking in flavour. LOL.  It looks dark, but, yeah… I won’t say skip it as I need my coffee fix in the morning, but, yeah…
  • Tea offerings were from Twinings.  Awesome!
  • Get yourself a water bottle to fill during the cruise.  The cups at the drink station are small.
  • Disney has a rotational dining concept, so on Magic, you go between the three restaurants – Animator’s Palate, Carioca’s and Lumiere’s with their various themes.
  • The restaurants all serve different meals every night.  That doesn’t mean you’ll miss a particular meal because, again, rotational dining.
  • Palo is fantastic and the service is top notch.  You will be stuffed after so heed everyone’s advice – Do not eat at Palo for Brunch and Dinner in the same 24 hour period!
  • Palo beats out Princess’ Sabatini’s for best Italian at sea, hands down.
  • I can’t talk enough about the service we received from the staff on the ship.

Shopping, Photos, Excursions

  • If you are a Disney Vacation Club member you get 10% off at the stores on board for when your order is $50 or more, and they were offering spa treatments at a discount all cruise long, not just on port days.
  • Depending on the price of the excursion booked, we found Disney’s pricing to be a bit cheaper than some other cruise lines.  I figure you pay a bit more upfront, and hence excursions are a bit cheaper  That said, while you could pay for your own local excursion, you get the guarantees that you’ll be back on the ship on time and if there is an issue with an excursion, that the cruise line will help out.
  • There are a LOT of photo opportunities, every night with or without characters.  For the WBTA, the Photo package was $399 for digital photos only.  Add $100 for printed photos too.  We ended up with 163 photos and didn’t hit each of the stations each night.
  • Staff are more than willing to take photos with your camera just like in the parks, and do get into the spirit.

Personal Lessons Learned

  • I think three days is the longest I want to go without seeing/being on land.  We’ll have to see one of these days.  The WBTA 2017 we booked is only two days at sea at a time.
  • I don’t feel like I relaxed on the cruise.  There was just so much to do.  I did say after the first sea day that I did not want to spend my full cruise in lines waiting to meet characters. LOL
  • In terms of the WBTA, definitely spend time up front by the pool, in the sun, etc… It does get colder the closer you get to Canada.  That said, I was hoping the weather would have been a lot better so the last sea day on our way to New York was spent by the pool.  Nature had some alternative plans with rain.
  • I think my tactic for the Palo Brunch is to decline any of the cooked items from the kitchen and just have the buffet.  There’s just so much there that’s tasty and awesome.  But that said the pizza and the calzone is AMAZING and a must do.
  • For the Palo Dinner, one main is definitely enough.  Have the Calamari, it is AMAZING.  Did I say have the Calamari?  It’s a must do.
  • Having done my first Disney cruise, there are definitely those “first timer” opportunities I no longer have to do, especially when it comes to dining, so I think I can effectively manage my weight better.
  • Things I need to do on the next cruise
    • Buy a cigar and smoke it.  Anyone want to join me?
    • Go on Aqua Dunk
    • Determine if, as an adult, if I can go on the other waterslide and if so, go on it
    • Chill by the pool more often, and actually swim more
    • Paint an animation cell in the Mickey Mouse Club

Rocking the Holidays

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As I’ve said many a time before, ever since Scott and I went on our Honeymoon, I’ve committed that we’ll do some form of holiday together each year.

I fully admit, I try to be frugal when it comes to holidays, but I’m also practical in that when I can, I like to kick things up.

In 2016, we’re actually doing two holidays.  Here’s why – I’ve been saving up my vacation time and I’ve been on a pretty tough work project for the past two years, and going almost a year between holidays has been pretty gruelling.  In short, I forgot or didn’t feel I was able to take any vacation time in 2015 other than the two weeks (ended up being close to 15 days of work time) off.  I still have 88 hours (11 days) of vacation time.

I’m taking a week off at Christmas – Something I wasn’t planning on doing originally as it’s a stay in Toronto year.

That still leaves me with 40 hours (5 days) of vacation time I need to take in Q1.  On top of that, I get 5 weeks (25 days) of vacation time so that means 6 weeks of vacation I need to use up.

February

For February, I decided that we needed to go to a sun destination.  Scott doesn’t always do well with the dark of winter, and admittedly neither do I.  I have wanted to get us on to a winter vacation routine to help and I’ve finally been able to do it!

We’re taking a cruise on Royal Caribbean from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas – Specifically RCI’s private island, CocoCay, which is really Little Stirrup Cay.  We then go on to Nassau, a day at sea and then back to Port Canaveral.  We’re also going to stay on either weekend days and soak up the Florida sun, possibly hitting Universal Studios and I am not sure what else.

Rocking the Points for February

We’re not going to stay at any of the Disney properties preferring to use my Starwood points!  We found an AWESOME deal at the Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort where I got us rooms for 3,000 to 3,333 Starwood Points per night at the beginning and end of our trip.

To put it into perspective, that is an insanely cheap rate for that area.  Here are some comparisons

  • We were getting hotels in Japan for between 10,000 to 12,000 points in Tokyo and 7,500 points outside.  The value per point is insane, and I typically get 2,000 to 3,000 points for a single stay at when I travel for work.  The hotel is a very short walk to Disney Springs and Walt Disney World.  Universal Studios is just a bit farther away.
  • Hilton HHonours is asking for 30,000 points for a room that’s $119/night and I’d say that earning points on HHonours is at the same rate as SPG.  It’s not worth being an HHonours member.
  • Marriott is not that great a value either.

So that saved us about US$750.

On top of that, I’ve been working on the Hertz Gold Plus points and membership.  I’ve rented from Hertz so many times that I’m now Hertz Gold Plus Five Star.  I was able to rent a car:

  • One way from Orlando to Port Canaveral for 3 days, so we can drive around to our hearts content and see more of Orlando, maybe drive around Celebration, FL (the community that Disney created)
  • After our cruise, after we do the tour of the Kennedy Space Centre.  We can spend a few days driving around Orlando.

That alone saved us about US$500.

Sweet!  This means we are pretty much out of hotel points and car rental points until I go on more business trips.

Excursions

One excursion we are already booked for, which for us is a no-brainer – Kennedy Space Centre.

For Nassau we have several options such as a tour of Nassau, or going to Atlantis.  Checking out the prices for Atlantis, seriously, while it’s such a neat place, it is ungodly expensive for very little value.  And when I say value, I admit, I’m looking for food and non-alcoholic drinks to be included in the $125-$350 price to visit the water park and the aquarium.  Nope!  So I’m not sure what we’ll do.

For CocoCay, we have so many options for things to do there such as learning about Stingrays, parasailing, a nature walk…  We’ll see.  I’d love to try parasailing admittedly.

September

We saved our DVC points from the 2014 Use Year (ending December 2015), used our 2015 Use Year points (ending December 2016), and borrowed from our 2016 use year ((ending December 2017) to book a cruise on Disney Cruise Line.

We were originally hoping to use the points for the 2016 Member Cruise, however the itinerary was not something we were interested in, for so many points (New York City to Halifax and back).  Yes it will probably be a fantastic trip from the special entertainment that will be on board and the unique gifts (it’s the 25th Anniversary), but not worth it.

Scott and I need something a bit more relaxing and, well, bigger.

If we were not going to do the Member Cruise, then I had through we would go to Alaska. Then looking at the options of what we could use our points for, the lengths of the various trips, and we had two other options also come up – Denmark & Norway, or a Transatlantic.

All three options are amazing.  I felt like we wanted to go somewhere different, so Alaska fell off the list – leaving Denmark & Norway or the Transatlantic.  I started researching Denmark & Norway, and beyond all the Frozen festivities on board the ship, it would be a fantastic trip with some neat cultural points – Trolls, food, etc…

I was surprised when Scott actually suggested the westbound Transatlantic from Barcelona to New York City stopping in the Azores; Sydney, NS; and Halifax, NS.  The romanticism of doing a Transatlantic caught his eye.  11 days total, with 7 or 8 of those being sea days.  Honestly, I can’t think of a more relaxing time rather than jumping on and off the ship all the time at ports, and having to get up early, as we experienced with our Princess Cruise.

I’ll be honest, I always thought we’d do a Transatlantic on something like the QE2.  That said, I’m not a huge formal kind of guy, so that’s kind of lost on me.  I have to admit, I’m a bit apprehensive about Disney Cruise Line from the standpoint of, will it be too much Disney?  For 11 days?  I know there are a lot of areas strictly for adults on the ship.  Comparing to what Royal Caribbean is offering, I’m almost wondering if there will be more to do on an RCI ship for me versus Disney.  We shall see.

And admittedly, I do want to try the Quantum Class ships on Royal Caribbean.

The stops will be interesting.  The routing loosely follows the route our new MINI took from Southampton, through the Azores and over to Halifax, and then the ship went on to New York City.

This cruise will start in Barcelona, sail by Gibraltar and on to the Azores, then on to Cape Breton which will be the furthest east Scott will have been in Canada, Halifax which is a great city and to New York City which Scott has not been to.

Japan and Hong Kong was awesome and I wouldn’t change this for anything.  It was a pretty hectic trip, and I know I need sometime to just sit back and enjoy myself and not rush around places.  I think Scott could use the time too.

Rocking the Points for September

I’ll save points by using them to fly us to Barcelona and from NYC.  In fact, I could use my companion fare to get Scott a free ticket from NYC.  Booking Barcelona one way is going to be interestingly tricky.  Airfares were ungodly expensive, although we’ll see if Disney can come up with an alternative.  To put it into perspective, I’m not paying Air Canada, $3000 one way in Economy on Rouge when it’s ~$895 return.  They can kiss my Elite 50K butt for that.

For the hotel in Barcelona, I’m going to try and save up points for that.  Alternatively, to help me keep my elite status with Starwood, we have several options for that.

Same with New York City which has the cheapest hotel at $328 a night.

Alternatively, if I don’t have the points, I can always revert to using Hotels.com which is not a bad service. 🙂

Eulogy for Gavin

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Last night, November 8th, 2015, our cat Gavin went to the great kitty home in the sky after a period of slowing down and losing weight.  I had noticed that on the last few trips that Gavin was getting lighter, and more frail though his energy for life and the love he gave never diminished.

Gavin was adopted at the PetSmart during a time when the Toronto Human Society was visiting during a time where there were many cats needing homes in the city.  As soon as you picked him up, he started licking your nose.  I was hooked.  He had such a nice disposition, and it stuck with him for all 15-16 years of his life with us.

Gavin only hissed at me a handful of times, and the first day he lived with us, he hissed at is as he was out of his element.  I let him be and he soon came around to jump up on our futon, sit on my alp and even my laptop, sit in front of the keyboard at my desk.  He became our cat, and I was his Daddy. Scott in many respects was the Mummy.  Or was it the other way around with me being so nurturing and Scott sometimes having to be the tough one?  Who knows.

He wasn’t a fastidious cleaner, but his coat was usually immaculate other than usually regular brushings which he didn’t mind, and when he was much bigger he needed some help scratching behind his ears.

Gavin, I always said was like a dog that we never had.  He would always greet us at the door, be waiting at the door for us to come home, meow and pawa at us for attention.  I think he disliked the fact we’d spend more time with our laptops than fussing him, always wanting attention.  He was playful and jovial

Shadow, our other cat, came into our lives 4 months after we picked up Gavin.  We wanted Gavin to have a brother or sister, so that he wouldn’t be alone and they seemed to enjoy their company together at the start, sleeping close to each other.  I’m not sure what changed but some time later during the 15 years together, they seemed to only just tolerated each other, although they never got into big fights like some cats do.  They never got into big spats, but Shadow certainly asserted herself, Gavin was mostly a pacifist.  They definitely had a brother/sister bond that we’re very glad they formed.

Gavin always had Shadow’s back, no matter what.  If we were brushing Shadow, which she really hates, he would always keep an eye on her to make sure we were treating her well, which we always do.

I was hoping that towards the end of Gavin’s life, Shadow may realize what was going on and be re-conciliatory but even this weekend, she raised her paw to Gavin.  Sadly, she realized what was going on when she saw Gavin for the last time, last night and she did have a bit of a shocked reaction.

When Scott and I lived for two years in Campbellville, it was a joy seeing Gavin walking outside, going down the stairs of the balcony, basing in the sun and grass, and hunting.  He even brought back a few mice for us.  He seemed fearless in his quests for new adventures and took the three moves (Thorncliffe Park, Campbellville and the current condo in Etobicoke) in stride making each home his own.

Nothing meant more than his nose licks anytime I wanted them, and they were never taken for granted.  I loved scritching his head in appreciation, hearing his loud purr.  Even before his passing yesterday – he’d pop his head up, lick my finger or nose, and purr loudly as I stroked his coat.  This is what I will miss most.  Him wishing me off on my day at work, and then greeting me at home.

When at home, it never really felt like just the two of us – Scott and I.  It was the four of us – Scott, Gavin, Shadow and me.  Even when our condo corporation tried to tell us we couldn’t have our cats, we fought back to keep them because they ARE a part of our household, they are part of our family unit.  They’re the kids that Scott and I will never have, in many respects.

Scott and I both feel very blessed to have had Gavin in our lives.  I don’t know what we did to deserve such a great cat in our lives.  I’m not sure there will ever be another cat like Gavin in our lives, especially given the condo corporation won’t allow us to have cats.  Just birds and fish.

Gavin you will be missed and that really does not describe how any of us feel.

Gavin comes from a long line of cats in our lives.  Growing up in Newfoundland, Mum and Dad had siamese cats, Aussie and Tilley.  When we moved to Campbellville, we had Morris (Robyn’s) and Timbit (mine) who were both children of my Aunt and Uncle’s cat Beaudica.  Both Morris and TImbit were such nice and wonderfully affectionate cats, like Gavin.   Robyn had Mythrandir, Pirate Jenny which was my Aunt’s cat, and my cousins Kirsten & Barry currently have a cat named Gracie.  Of course, we still have Shadow as well.