[June 7/19 fun fact: I wrote this post two years ago. It’s been sitting in my blog drafts. Until today. So it’s kind of like a throwback post. Enjoy.]

I’ve been working hard to up my video editing skills. To limited success. I’m definitely not an expert but I’m having fun messing around with the editing tools in iMovie.

I edited this video easily in iMovie – and was able to add the title slides, etc.:

I created the video below using the iMovie app on my phone – which was an okay experience. Can’t seem to add titles to videos using that app as far as I can tell. Not sure the app is all that valuable.

Here’s another video from a while back that I recorded in portrait mode. The reasoning for this approach was that I was going to post a clip from the video to Instagram, and at the time, it was easier to record in portrait mode for that reason.

Well, I then decided to edit it in iMovie and unfortunately, iMovie completely stretched the video – I couldn’t figure out why. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out how to fix it. Nothing in the iMovie help menu or Apply support forums to give a simple answer on how to fix it.

How to use iMovie to switch a video recorded in portrait mode to landscape mode

I found the solution in a comment left on this blog article on how to fix the portrait mode issue. Interestingly enough – the article wasn’t helpful but a commentor named Lindsey sure was. Her tip:

For anyone who wants an actual working solution… If you accidentally shoot an iPhone video vertically and want to add it to iMovie, when you go to import your video file DO NOT Optimize Video. It will import vertical without distortion or stretching your subjects into oompa loompas. Aside from the black boxes on each side it looks fine.

And there you have it – my limited video editing skills on show.

That song was such an earjam for me “back in the day” (circa 1995).

It’s a funny and self-deprecating story of how Skee-Lo wishes his life was different. It’s interesting how in the song he wraps (raps –  ha-ha) all of his wishes around getting taller. Something he can’t change. Ah but if he was taller, he’d get the girl, he’d be a baller. He’d get more respect and be more successful too.

That kind of “I wish…” thinking can really stunt a person. We’ve all done it though. Wishing for something that can’t be changed. I wish I was taller too! I wish my husband didn’t have MS. I wish I could play the guitar riff in Dire Straights’ Money for Nothing like a rock legend.

Placing a “then I could…” statement after these kinds of wishes… well, that line of thinking results in logical fallacy. Well, if I could play Money for Nothing like a rock legend then I’d be a rock legend. Ya, right.

But sometimes, those wishes are a bunch of nonsense excuses to not go after something you want. To give yourself a pass for not changing.

Yes, some wishes will always be wishes

But not all of them.

“I wish I had more free time.”

“I wish I had a better relationship with so-and-so.”

“I wish I loved kale more than chocolate.”

All excuses to not try. To not change.

And I’ve easily succumbed to that line of thinking. And changing this thought pattern can be is hard.

Being ready to go after a wish and make it happen isn’t always an easy thing.

Case in point: It took me a year to get my ass to a crossfit gym

Partly because of some back troubles that needed to heal first but mostly because I needed to be ready to turn “I wish” into “I will.”

I knew crossit would be hard without really knowing how hard it would be.

Talk about a reality check.

Being the least strong, least coordinated person in the gym is humbling.

But I’m not competing against those other people in “the box.”

My goal is to become the strongest version of myself – inside and out. I don’t need to compare my progress in crossfit to anyone else but me.

Am I going to make it to the Crossfit Games? Maybe…? That’s not my priority right now.

With everything going on in my family life, I need to go after a wish a make it a reality. And it’s all about small wins, like this one:

If at first you don’t succeed…try again. Got my first wall handstand today thx to Coach Kate @crossfit613! . . . #crossfit #wallhandstand #workhard ??

A post shared by Mel Gallant (@melgallant) on Jun 18, 2017 at 8:39am PDT

And this one:

Breaking big wishes into small wins…

I’m still learning how to break big wishes down into realistic goals. And being mindful not give myself a hard time for not doing more, working harder. I am working harder than ever before. That counts. Every time I show up to crossfit, it counts.

That’s it really.

Take blogging. It’s about giving yourself to others. An act of generosity as Jean-Luc Boissonneault writes. Because trust happens “when you’re generous.” (Nicely said, Jean-Luc.)

Well, that kind of generosity can be hard. Giving myself to others (in that way) is not something I’ve been willing to do. For many reasons.

Here’s one: it means people see me. They may be sympathetic. Judging. Disinterested. I don’t know. They may even commiserate or empathize.

It’s a risk though.

Letting people see me, letting others in, is hard. I don’t like it.

I haven’t confessed much here

I named this blog Confessions of a social media junkie and yet, when I look back on what I’ve written…I haven’t confessed much. Not truly. (Except for this one time…)

The reason I haven’t truly shared here is because I’m a big chicken.

I don’t want you to see that I don’t have it together all the time. I struggle. With parenthood, couple-hood, adulthood. All the ‘hoods, really.

My life is good and blessed in so many ways. And these burdens, their weight is no heavier than yours. They’re merely different.

I have so much to be grateful for. So much so, that sharing what isn’t working and what is a struggle feels like an ungrateful act.

I also haven’t confessed much here because my life story is intertwined with the lives of others – and their stories are not mine to share.

So do I tell the half story? The split truths that aren’t lies but are more like stories with missing chapters?

I’ve come to realize the answer is yes. Because I need to. My brain is so full of words and thoughts I want need to dump them out even if they don’t make sense to anyone else but me.

So here’s a confession

My husband has multiple sclerosis (MS). It sucks.

That’s not the confession part though.

What is difficult to admit is how hard it is to watch my husband battle this disease. How exhausted he is from the simplest of tasks. Walking a few short steps is like running a marathon.

You might think I’m exaggerating. But I’m not.

That fatigue is the hardest for people to understand. Me included.

My husband is a guy who had natural athletic ability. He basically took to any sport he played.

I’ve always found it equally impressive as it was annoying because I’m uncoordinated and have to work hard at developing athletic skill at the most basic of levels.

It is incredibly difficult to watch my husband lose not just his ability to play any sport he wants, but to lose the ability to stand more than five minutes. To have difficulty writing a sentence. To no longer physically participate in the maintenance of our home.

While many people know MS exists, they don’t know a lot about it.

How this disease attacks each person differently. How the pace of that attack can come in spits and spurts or in a slow, steady creep of decline.

My husband is on that slow, steady creep of decline.

Kind, well-intentioned people in our lives will ask – well, what if he just exercised more? Ate the right kinds of foods? Tried that vitamin or this medication?

It is an unfortunate truth that he is doing all that he can and this disease is still coming out on top.

And so we adjust. We modify our lives and our schedules to accommodate and enable my husband as much as possible.

It means I need to lead the running of our house and family. From errands to school pick up. From house maintenance to sports commitments and playdate fun.

I’m tired. But I’m also grateful.

Because as much as this disease is stripping a lot away from our family, our family is still here. My husband still contributes in many ways. MS has not ripped away his humour or intellect, his love or patience.

We are still a family. Intact. We’ve merely adjusted to a new way of being.

And being open about this journey is something I’ve learned is incredibly important.

Zoom! Zoom! ???#familytime

A video posted by Mel Gallant (@melgallant) on Jan 16, 2017 at 5:44pm PST

So today, my confession is that life is not easy with this disease. But we’ve learned a lot from it. Acceptance. The power of humour. Perseverance. And patience.

There. I’ve shared a piece of me and my life here on this blog. I hope you see it as an act of generosity like Jean-Luc suggested. And that from it, you take away some feeling of goodness in your heart.

My morning meal is primarily oatmeal with fruit, almond milk and protein powder (VEGA, which I highly recommend).

When I want to live it up a little (whoo!), I make a smoothie instead. Or I’ll do peanut butter on toast with sliced fruit. Like strawberries. (A co-worker once told me that was weird. Ya, because fresh strawberries with PB is sooo out there compared to PB and strawberry jam.)

Ya, you could say I’m crazy-wild like that when it comes to breakfast.

Habits are good…ish

Habits like this one are good in lots of ways. That sense of comfort, continuity and satisfaction garnered from the routine of it all.

But…and there’s always a but…you can give up opportunity and experience too. For example, one of my co-workers eats avocado with lots of salt and pepper on toast for breakfast. It looks delicious and I tell myself I’ll add it to my breakfast routine…but I never do.

It’s kind of like this blog. I used to journal in it regularly and I lost the habit. The ritual. My last post is from May 2015 and it speaks in subtle and veiled ways of a need to step back. To slow down.

I promised myself I’d get back into it when I had more time. That I would find that time once I figured out what I wanted this blog to be about. That I wouldn’t publish another article until “I FOUND MY NICHE.”

Well, it’s been over a year and that niche has not comes to light. And I’m losing the opportunity to write – which anyone who writes knows is how you keep the skill and passion for writing alive.

It’s also how you find your niche!

F***k perfection!

Ugh, with the excuse to have my little corner of the Internet be perfect.

It’s not perfect. Which is perfect, because neither am I.

And if I’m completely honest, making this blog perfect is an excuse. The real reason I stopped writing is because I didn’t want to.

For a while, that was a hard truth to acknowledge.

There’s been a lot going on with the Gallants over the last few years. Life happenings taking us on a journey we didn’t expect, nor were we ready to accept. (I don’t mean to be cryptic. More on that tidbit another time).

Point is, some habits get dropped in the rush-rush of life.

I want to make writing an intention again. A habit (and ritual) worth my time and attention. Because putting words together is a feel-good exercise for me. I kind of just remembered this fact.

So here I am kick-starting my creativity in the hopes of finding a new routine. Maybe I’ll switch up my breakfast options too.

Because breakfast rituals can be good. Change can be too.

I’m sure you know from experience how difficult it can be to just be. It can take real effort.

So I’ve been practicing.

And in that practice of being in the moment I’ve discovered something key.

That I’m exactly where I need to be. Right then.

And that realization is such a peaceful one. And so gratifying too.

This year has been challenging in a number of ways I won’t bore you with. And yet, those challenges don’t stop the world from moving forward or the needs of my daughter for the time and attention of her parents. They don’t stop my need for self-discovery, self-nourishment. Or those same needs of my husband.

Life craps on each and every one of us in its unique, special way. None of us are impervious.

There are lots of things I cannot control. But I can chose to be present.

Funny, case-in-point story:

I went for a hearing test last week because I found myself increasingly unable to follow conversations. I can hear people talking but I can’t catch every word, especially in noisy environments.

Well, turns out I don’t have a hearing problem. I have a listening problem.

I can’t hear you because I’m not listening.

The hearing specialist gave me some tips to help me focus on conversations with others. Which is terrible and terribly funny all at once.

Essentially, this woman was politely giving me tips on how to pay attention to other people.

I’m working on it. This being present mindset. My reward is a sense of well-being and gratitude.

Gratitude and acceptance. That whatever I’m doing…

• Yoga and workouts scheduled in my week
• Pretend-play, trampoline time, etc. with my daughter
• Reading
• Time with friends & family

…I’m right where I need to be.

We made crazy hats yesterday. Best craft project ever.

So when my girl’s teacher put out a call to parents asking if anyone could help make pretend food for the children’s Chinese Restaurant, I jumped at the chance.

Wondering what this restaurant is all about?

My daughter’s Senior Kindergarten class has what’s called a dramatic play area. Every month or so they switch up the theme: from a veterinarian clinic, to a birthday party to a costume dress-up place, etc.

The cool thing about this dramatic play area is that the children decide together what the theme will be. For January and February, the children decided they wanted it to be a Chinese Restaurant.

[Confession time: So yes I’m waaay late in writing about this post as the dramatic play area has now turned into an airport. But enough about my lapses in blog writing…]

It was surprisingly easy to make the felt food…but time consuming.

Felt pot stickers

The felt pot stickers were the most difficult but even then, it was only because it had the extra step of adding the poly fil then folding and gluing. Here’s the end result:

Thanks to Craftiness Is Not Optional for the felt pot sticker tutorial!

Felt stir-fry food

I also made some stir-fry options and some noodles. Here’s a sampling of what I created (noodles not shown):

I got the step-by-step on the above from Munchkin and Bean. Note: I also made the teriyaki chicken and beef skewers shown on Munchkin and Bean – super easy!

Felt fortune cookies

The fortune cookies were tricky like the felt pot stickers because of the folding but once we got in the rhythm (I recruited my husband to the assembly line), it was easy enough:

Treasures For Tots deserves the kudos for providing the simple felt fortune cookie instructions.

Felt spring rolls

Truly though, my crowning glory are these spring rolls:

Aren’t they pretty? They make me want to whip up the real thing! Thanks to Let’s Go Fly a Kite for the inspiration!

More felt food ideas

In my felt food tutorial search, I also came across this list of ideas from ApartmentTherapy.com – I want to try making the felt fruit!

I wouldn’t call myself a seasoned crafter by any stretch but I can say as a result of this felt food project I’ve become a glue gun-wielding pro! It was also fun to do, and the kindergartners loved playing with the pretend food in their restaurant. So yay! Win-win all around.

Have you made felt food before? If you haven’t, fair warning…it’s an addictive craft project!

Peppermint tea is my coffee mug’s best friend. I wear slippers like they’re a runway fashion.

Scarves and woolly sweaters adorn my neck and torso like a koala baby to its mom.

Oh and the soup. I savour a hearty a bowl of soup almost daily.

Sunday is my meal-making day for the week ahead. And soup plays a starring role on my stove top.

Lots and lots of yum.

The great thing about soup is all the possibilities. Little of this, little of that. Shake in some spice and you’ve got yum.

Lots and lots of yum.

The soup pictured above is a simple chicken soup with alphabet pasta.

Funny sidenote: I went to three different stores before I found the alphabet pasta: Loblaws, Bulk Barn and Sobeys. Bulk Barn had bug-shaped pasta which I considered and then quickly dismissed as the idea started grossing me out. Sobeys had the alphabet pasta – so yay!

Here’s my recipe for Simple Chicken Soup

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion
• 1-2 stalks of celery
• 1 carrot
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 2 cartons of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 1/4-1/2 cup uncooked alphabet pasta**
• skinless boneless chicken thighs, and breast – cooked and cut into pieces*

Instructions:

1. Finely chop the onion, celery and carrot; add olive oil to a large pot and sauté veggies over medium heat until vegetables “sweat”, stirring often. Add crushed garlic and sauté an additional 1-2 min.
2. Add broth and bay leaf and let simmer until veggies are soft but still a bit firm.
3. Meanwhile, cook alphabet pasta in separate pot according to package directions.
4. Add cooked pasta to soup base along with diced chicken and peas.

Boom. You’re soup is done.

* If you like, you can add raw whole chicken thighs/breasts to the soup base at step 2. Cook until the chicken is cooked (ha. ha.) then remove and let cool. Once cool enough to touch, shred/dice the chicken and add back to the soup base at step 4. If you want to shave off some prep time, buy a roasted whole chicken from your favourite grocery store.

** Egg noodles also work well! Don’t bother pre-cooking; just dump in the pot and simmer until noodles are tender (about 6 min.).

Gently reheat if serving soup right away (don’t forget to remove the bay leaf before serving!) or let cool and freeze for future lunches/dinners.

Yum.

What’s your go-to comfort food in winter?

p.s. I purposely don’t add any salt to my soup because I don’t think it needs it. Plus folks can season with salt and pepper – and even hot sauce – at the table to their liking.

@VeronicaEye had put forth a photo challenge to women everywhere: take a photo of yourself every day for a year. This photo challenge wasn’t just in response to the anti-selfie movement, though certainly it played a part.

What Veronica invited us to do is share the many facets and layers of womanhood through our own eyes and on our own terms.

May 31, 2014

With selfies, we own our own story and identity

Over the course of last year, a lot of people asked me what the #365feministselfie project is about and why I was participating.

As see it, this project is about celebrating womanhood in all its glory and inelegance. I have met so many incredible women and every one one of them with their own unique story. What these women shared was sometimes happy, sometimes full of anger or sorrow. Sometimes it was gleeful or silly. Other times their photos expressed acceptance or rejection of the mundane, of the banality of life.

When media and society misrepresent and under-represent women of colour, and/or push a distorted message of what a women should or should not be, it’s disheartening and in the extreme, sickening. We all know this and yet, it’s difficult to stop.

The #365feministselfie project provided me a window into the lives of women from all walks of life. And the opportunity to do the same. All on our own terms.

All of these photos women are interesting! The experience? Amazing.

March 21, 2014

Taking a selfie a day is hard!

I will say that taking a photo of yourself every day gets tiring. There were quite a few times I forgot and had to catch up with multiple selfies in one day. I know, I know…woes me.

But it was important to me to take these photos – even though there were many, many days I didn’t want to take a selfie at all.

I’m proud that I participated in the #365feministselfie project because it is one of the few times in my life where I finished something I started. And that feeling of accomplishment is pretty sweet.

March 29, 2014

Celebrating the awesomeness of women everywhere

The #365feministselfie project is continuing in 2015. I don’t have any plans to participate this year – at least not on a daily basis. But there are tons of women who are continuing or who are joining for the first time.

Here are a few examples of the really cool women I met through this project:

#365feministselfie

A photo posted by Magic Wanda – #41 (@b0nstance) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:41am PDT

And…

Walking down Short Street selfie, on the way to downtown. 3 minutes after a nice tired overburdened looking lady told me , “You are beautiful.” Without knowing me at all. I think this Feminism “thing” is maybe working… Here and there! #365feministselfie A photo posted by Nan Jørgensen (@njorgy) on Feb 2, 2014 at 5:54pm PST

And…

A ride to the grocery store and Starbucks for a little work (choreographing and listening to music) @nutcasehelmets @inknburn #inknburn #minivelo #365feministselfie #nutcasehelmets

A photo posted by Steph (@stephiedub) on Sep 9, 2014 at 7:31am PDT

And…

259/365: It was a weird day at work yesterday. I’ve officially been here six months and have now watched a coworker come and go. Being a grown up, man, let me tell you. #365feministselfie #vscocam #vsco #vscogram #latergram #purplehair #alternativehair #redlips #motd #lotd #ootd #wiwt #instafashion #workflow #stolenfromsnapchat #thisis30 A photo posted by Tabatha M (@so_tabulous) on Sep 9, 2014 at 6:15am PDT

But seriously, there are so. Many. More.

Go check out Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Flickr to name just a few places women are sharing small pieces of their lives on a daily basis.

Happy 2015, everyone!

Because we’re in the midst of a kitchen reno, this year’s gingerbread house was decorated at my parents’ place and that made it fun too since Grandma got to add in her artistic touch.

This activity is definitely a holiday favourite. And look how proud this gingerbread house designer looks:

Another holiday fav? The Christmas stocking

Growing up we definitely hung our stockings up by the chimney with care. I don’t know what it is about them but my siblings and I would be so excited to tear into them Christmas morning.

In our family we took turns opening Christmas gifts but your stocking was yours to plow through without delay. So waking up bird early — per the norm of young children everywhere on December 25th — we could enjoy the goodies and marvel at whatever small toys and trinkets we pulled out of it.

I think Christmas stockings are a tradition created by parents to give them time to brew coffee, rub their eyes awake until they’re ready — albeit blurry-eyed — to open gifts. Pulling surprise after surprise out of our stockings meant us children were more than happy to wait.

When I chat with people about their holiday traditions and the topic of the stocking comes up…I always ask whether or not the trinkets and such stuffed inside are wrapped or stuffed inside as is.

In my family stocking stuffers are not wrapped. In my husband’s family, 98.5% of items get wrapped.

For a person who does not enjoy wrapping gifts in general, wrapping something smaller than a muffin (yes, a food analogy) just seems crazy.

What holiday traditions do you celebrate?

I love hearing how other families celebrate the holidays. What traditions they follow, what holiday baking is baked and gobbled up each year without fail. When the tree goes up. You name it.

These traditions make me so happy. As stressful as the holidays can be, there’s a sweetness to being able to build memories around an activity you do together.

So tell me, what holiday traditions does your family share? And let me know if you wrap those stocking stuffers or not.

I know times were different back then. Like, really different. Because my daughter is five years old and I can’t imagine sending her off to school on her own. Not even at six years of age.

But the very act of walking to school? No, I don’t have a problem with that idea at all. (Although if you’d asked me when I was 12…whole different story I’d be telling you.)

Walking to school is a good thing – isn’t it?

It’s why I  find this Medium post by author daddygogy aka Royan Lee really funny. Or, not-so-funny depending on how you look at it. Royan shares how the people in his neighbourhood think it’s crazy that his three-year-old child rides her bike to school…get this…under adult supervision:

The number of times we have been asked by our suburban counterparts if we “really think it’s a good idea” in patronizing tones, implying that walking/riding to school WITH our child is some kind of abhorrent act of living on the edge is too many to count.

In my neighbourhood it’s not such an odd thing to see children walking to school. The younger ones are under adult supervision, and the older kids are not.

I’m not sure what the cut off is for when you let your child go off on her own…it terrifies me a little bit, but frankly, walking is a good thing.

As I got older walking to school helped me transition from a home to school mindset. When walking with a friend, it provided that coveted secret sharing and one-on-one friend-talk time.

When walking with a group of friends, it provided a sense of camaraderie. In all these scenarios, it provided much needed exercise.

But I will say this. On those freezing minus 25°C,where the windchill makes it feel like minus 30°C, days…no, I don’t want my daughter walking to school. No one needs to be outside for any length of time in that kind of cold weather.

The walk or not debate

This whole walk or not debate is going to be a big one for many Ottawa families in the coming months. The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority is changing the bus routes in 2015 which means families who no longer live within the new bus route plan will need to make alternate arrangements for their children. It’s part of a healthy schools initiative to get children more active.

Some schools are piloting a walking school bus program which is pretty cool. Be interesting to see how/if this kind of program takes off across the city.

Truthfully, this re-routing of the bus routes doesn’t impact my family directly but it will be interesting to see how I feel when my daughter moves on to the next school, which is just over two kilometers away from where we live.

Will she walk? Will we drive her? I don’t know yet. But I hope she walks.

If you have school age children who walk to school, at what age did you set them off on their own?