Blood, Sweat, and Toil

 Don't read this the wrong way. I am not suffering this summer. I am grateful that I can sleep in. Just this past week alone, I have been able to book medical appointments and have lovely lunches with friends (thanks Michelle!). The title of this post refers to three other things I did this past week.

1) Donating Blood

On Friday, July 21, I went to the new Scarborough location of Canadian Blood Services and gave blood. It was only my third time doing it. I'm not a big fan of needles, but I'm O positive, which is nearly the universal donor type, so my blood is very useful. I'm inspired by my Peterborough pal, Lisa Noble, who has donated dozens of times over the years. The recent radio commercials asking for donations may have also encouraged me to book an appointment. Here are some photos of the commemorative charm I received as a thank you, and some selfies. 

2) Sweating at the Gym

I'm still going to my Cross Fit "box" three times a week. On Friday, I used a GHD (glute ham developer) to perform sit-ups. The first time I tried this machine, it was rather uncomfortable. I felt like my feet would slip out and I'd fall. This time, I was able to do my sit-ups on the GHD with more confidence. I asked my husband to film me as proof. This is not the most complimentary angle, but don't focus on the size of the performer; check out the flexibility and use of the abdominal muscles!

3) Working on Projects

In addition to the ongoing weeding of the school library collection and the Additional Qualification courses I'm teaching for Queen's University and York University, I am back to working on a major project that I started in the fall of 2022. It means many hours sitting in front of my computer but I really hope that my contributions will be useful. I'm also continuing to work on our home gardens that we began in May. I've been able to eat some lettuce from my vegetable garden and the strawberry plants produced a single berry I was able to taste; the other fruit was consumed by furry interlopers, despite having chicken wire protecting them. My cucumber plants are spreading and I may get a sizable harvest. On the weekend, we bought three large lilac bushes and now we have to prune and trim the overgrowth at the back of the house to make room for the new plants. The nursery said that they can grow up to 12 feet, with an average of 2 feet of growth per year.  

I'm looking forward to going to the Hibachi Teppanyaki and Bar location in Scarborough on Monday July 24 with my husband, daughter, and her boyfriend for lunch. There may be a lot of blood, sweat and toil but there's also food and drink to enjoy as well!