Sierra: ”Dad, what does smashing mean?”
Dad: ”Its like saying something is great. ”Your outfit is smashing!”
Sierra: ”Wait, so does that mean The Smashing Pumpkins are also The Great Pumpkins from Charlie Brown?!”
I had no response as a six year old had managed to blow my mind with this revelation of my favourite band. I knew of the physical linkages between Billy and Charlie but never thought of this!
Kids are awesome.
Pulling out a small bags of bonbons that had six inside.
Maman: Combien est-ce-que tu vas prendre?
Ezra: Juste toute
Clearly I pick out really great Christmas gifts for Vero and what better year than 2021 when I bought her the 21st century equivalent exercise equipment!
Ring Fit Adventure is a video game for the Nintendo Switch that also combines the user actually doing physical exercise instead of just sitting there and clicking buttons on the controller. There is a ring I hold in front of me and there is also a controller I strap onto my leg.
How it works is that it mimics what I’m doing in real life and has the avatar also do it. I have to lightly jog in place to stroll through a forest. I need to push in on this ring I hold if I want to shoot a burst of air to hit a target. I need to really get my knees up high if I’m running up stairs.
It’s pretty easy when I’m strolling through the forest. I’m not feeling that I’m getting much of a workout.
BUT THEN I ENCOUNTER A MONSTER! Ho boy, I’m still sore the day after! If you encounter a monster you have the choice of different exercises to do (at Day 2 I’m limited to things like squats, overhead presses, and…ab crunches? I can’t remember what it’s called). Let’s say the monster has 100 hit points. Every time I do a squat I deliver damage to the monster. I didn’t realize that the better I actually do a squat, the more damage I give to the monster. It’s directly related to how well I’m doing an exercise. This was a really key point for me to learn on Day 2 because at first I was thinking “Boy, these squats aren’t too hard.” but I was only dealing 3 hit points of damage to a monster at a time. But if you actually squat really low you could take off 20 damage in one shot! I thought this was a genius gaming mechanic of tying in actual fitness with game results.
I was really invested in damaging monsters. In real life, I don’t want my exercises to take forever. So in the gaming world, I also don’t want a monster fight to last that long. So I was starting to really focus on doing the exercise in a way that delivered the most damage and afterwards I realized that it was forcing me to actually get some exercise in a proper way.
Like most fitness regimens, I’m not sure if this will stick. But I can say this…it seems to have kept my interest more than me just following a YouTube workout where the person is saying “Ok, give me ten more squats!” I can’t quit at this because the monster is still standing and the only thing left to do is actually give ten more squats to get through the game. That was the first time I had really powered through some exercises.
So…if you have Switch and are looking to have fun while getting fit, give it a try!
A glimpse into our family’s life leading through the month of December.
We hope you enjoy a few songs and a few laughs.
Joyeux Noel!
Based on the recipe above.
Want some leftovers? Double the recipe!
Might be the easiest Christmas treat to make?
1. Get a large bowl.
2. Take a box of Ritz crackers. Crush those crackers while in their bag. Crush until you cannot see any large bits.
3. Put those Ritz into the large bowl.
4. Add a bag of Skor bits (the ones we got look like a bag of chocolate chip cookies but says Skor on them).
5. Add a can of condensed milk.
6. Mix.
7. Pour into a Pyrex dish to put in the oven.
8. Set oven at 350F for 20 minutes.
9. Let sit for 30 minutes then cut to whatever size you want. If you cut before 30 minutes, it’s too sticky. If you wait longer, then they get really stiff.
After supper, hanging out in the living room.
“Dad! HELP US FIND SOMETHING, ANYTHING! Choose something we need to find!”
“How about some peace and quiet?”
A few moments pass as they are quiet.
“Dad, WE CAN’T FIND PEACE AND QUIET!”
“We had it a few moments ago, keep looking like that!”
It took me a few tries to perfect this but I think I’ve nailed it.
Recipe Ingredients
Instant Pot Beef & Barley Stew
1 yellow or white onion chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced (if I have them on hand that is)
3 plump garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, sliced
1 tablespoon oil
Add the oil, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic to the Instant Pot on saute mode. Saute for 5 minutes.
Turn off saute mode.
1/2 teaspoon each- onion powder & garlic powder
1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoon beef base. I bought “Better than bouillon” beef base.
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Add the onion powder, garlic powder, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and beef base, stir to combine with the veggies.
1 1/2 lbs beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch chunks (can be anywhere from 1-1 1/2 lbs). I have used a package of stew meat that I get from the grocery story. I’m assuming it’s around 1 1/2 lbs.
1 cup pearl barley
32 oz beef broth or stock
2 cups water if using the beef stew meat. I used one cup as the recipe states and it wasn’t enough for me. ALSO, when I left out the beef stew meat and added a can of chickpeas instead, there was DEFINITELY NOT ENOUGH WATER. I think it’s because water comes from the beef as well? I think 3 cups of water is needed if adding chickpeas instead of beef stew meat. As I type this I haven’t tried that variation yet.
Add the stew meat, pearl barley, beef stock, and water.
Close the Instant Pot and set to meat/stew mode (or manual/pressure mode), high pressure, for 25 minutes.
Do a quick release.
variation (October 2024): instead of beef I used a can of lentils and instead of carrots I used potatoes. I liked both additions. Vero and Ezra preferred the carrots. I also added three cups of water and that was great.
Sierra made a video for Kindergarten showing what costume she has for Halloween.
Super-Papillon go!!
No particular order. Too bad I didn’t record it! I would have but we weren’t planning to play with full gear until last minute so I forgot to bring along the recording unit.
It was a pretty fantastic set considering we had only played together for the first time two days before. It’s fabulous to play with great musicians.
Electric set with JF and Mike
Say It Ain’t So
Otherside
Heart of Gold
The Way
Last Dance with Mary Jane
Karma Police
Misirlou
You Never Can Tell
When I Come Around
New Orleans Is Sinking
Boots or Hearts
Squeeze Box
Blank Space/Stand By Me
My Hero
The Kids Aren’t Alright
Sex on Fire
Californication
I Will Wait
Mr. Brightside
On A Plain
Acoustic set:
Just Breathe
Something in the Way
Nothing Else Matters
All Apologies
Shallow