Trolls, Trophies, and Piles of Crap

It's done. I have just (like 5 minutes ago) left the floors in our unit downstairs to dry before our new tenants, and good friends, move in today. Even though we haven't moved very far - just upstairs to our second & third floor apartment, it's been a slog. Here are some thoughts on moving, from a preggo freshly settled (hardly - see above photo) into a new place.

I will preface this to say that we have done one of those long move-ins. Our previous tenants moved out at the beginning of August, and we took a month to slowly move upstairs. We thought this would give us ample time to go through our things and bring only what we really needed. Optimism at its' finest! Okay, thoughts/reflections away:

Moving while pregnant is not fun. There are many reasons why, but for me the most salient is that I just could not (and just should not) do the things I usually can. No lifting heavy things, no breathing in toxic cleaners (sorry baby, I may have done that a couple of times), no painting (I definitely did that, oops), make sure you put your feet up (ha ha). Thank goodness for family and friends and very strong-endlessly-patient husband.

Toronto is very dusty. I prefer windows open to air conditioning, but the smoggy film of the city coats just about everything.

No matter how well-prepared I think I am for a move, most of the work will happen last minute, and I will become cranky in the final hours.

I should clean my floors more often. Seriously, they were gross.

Natural cleaning products do not work on ovens.

Trying to stay on top of work-related stuff while moving is a "fun" challenge (read: sarcasm). Listening to mixes for the new album wasn't so bad - I could do that while I worked, but checking emails and meeting up with people was stressful with time ticking. Thank goodness I also have incredibly patient bandmates.

If feels very good to sit down. Often.

There's that point, at the end of moving, where you stop trying to organize. You just throw everything that's leftover in a box (I like to call this the "shit box"), and carry it into your new space, where it will likely sit for weeks untouched.

There's no use cleaning anything until you are totally done. It's just going to get dusty and dirty anyways. I wasted so much time cleaning up and then cleaning up again. No use.

After moving from a unit with ample storage to an apartment with two closets (one of which is in the baby's room, guffaw), I have some new rules: If you don't know what it is, throw it away. If you haven't used it for over a year, get rid of it. If it means something to you, consider taking a picture and storing on your computer rather than in your basement. I was pretty ruthless. Although I cannot believe how much stuff Colin and I still have piled in storage. And that's even before baby!

Lastly, one of the joyous parts of this move has been going through my old "gummy" boxes, full of letters and keepsakes from my last 30-odd years. I was able to sift through pictures of my favourite trips - Europe with my little sister, Greece with Colin, Cross-Canada with my family. I also found some hysterical keepsakes: some trolls, a whack of softball trophies (including my favourite - the "personality award"), and my keychain collection (nerd! double nerds in fact, turns out Colin had one too!). At the same time, my Dad was cleaning out the family basement in Whitby, Ontario, which led to even more "discoveries." Piles of old stuffed animals, now being sent to reuse stores, will hopefully find new cuddles.

Okay, I off to organize my life (I'll start with the pots and pans). Til next time.

Did anyone else use to cut their hair super short?

"Personality Award" = crap baseball skills

Poor Humpty goes to Goodwill

Waddling into the last month

I am sitting in my kitchen, performing my morning rituals. A prenatal vitamin, some oatmeal, checking email and half-listening to CBC radio one's The Current. It's a perfect late summer Toronto day, the sun warming up the house after a fresh cool night. The cicadas are singing, and the construction trucks are beeping in the alley. It's - dare I say it - lovely.

I'm thinking about peace, not the worldly kind, but the kind you find within yourself - that peace and quiet if you will. It's easy on calm mornings like this to feel peaceful. Still, these days I'm constantly trying to quell the anxiousness that sits deep in my belly. There's so much left to do before this baby comes.


Officially, the shows are done, and the Good Lovelies are now on a break from the road until December. While we're working in other ways, it's strange to think that we won't be performing for a full 3 and a half months. This is the longest we'll go without playing a show since the band started in 2006. We have been so wrapped up in our identity as a touring band that this break is a bit of a shock for me and even though I am preoccupied with other things (like how many onesies will baby go through?), performing is always on my mind. The time off is necessary, and has been a long time coming, but it's still bizarre not to be strapping on a guitar every night and singing my heart out.

So I find myself looking for value in my life outside the band. And like my bandmates, I am channelling my energies into other expressions of creativity (this blog, new tunes), as well as the practical stuff that makes up day-to-day living. Like putting up shelves (don't worry, I'm not doing the heavy lifting), and setting up crib, and painting baseboards (with non-toxic paint).

Husband and I are moving and we are purging our house. Nothing like the threat of a crying baby to get your butt in gear! This is, I think, what they call "nesting." We needed a second bedroom, so we're moving into our apartment upstairs. In the process, I have been going through piles of old files, pictures, letters, and books to "trim the fat" if you will. While doing so, I've been reliving the years up til now. In a way, it's a perfect thing to be doing - remembering and honouring where I've been helps me understand where I am going and what got me here. I'm not talking about the baby in particular, but the choices I've made that have led me to sit in this very kitchen, to marry my sweetheart, to start a band with my best friends, to quit my day job and be a touring musician. I am one lucky lady.

(Aside - while purging old docs, I found pictures of my trip with hubby to Greece from 2004. While flipping through we came across a photo of me in my bathing suit. He said, without thinking, "look how skinny you used to be!" Luckily, I was in good spirits and we laughed it off - that foot in mouth moment could have been his demise. HA!)


I have officially entered the last month of my pregnancy, and I'm really starting to feel it - that sluggish heaviness, the slow waddle. Tasks I have never given a second thought to are now a great challenge. Cutting toenails, tying shoes, chopping food at the counter (my big belly gets in the way!). Bending over, quite frankly, sucks now. Standing up from a squat is a full body workout. But the baby is moving, and even though it's making me uncomfortable as hell, I am happy each time it kicks me in the ribs.

Til next time,

Caroline

Photo Credit: Sara Moody Veldhuis

Simcoe Ontario Rotary Fest, August 2012

Travel Insurance Odyssey

In deference to my hubby and unborn baby, I did not post this last week, as I headed into OHIO for my last shows pre-baby. Read on, and you'll see why we were feeling "superstitious" about this particular blog. I on home soil now, so it feels safer to post.

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I travel for a living and there is nothing like the dreaded cost of American Health Care to scare you into the best travel insurance you can find. We've all heard the horror stories. And because I spend a significant time outside of Canada, it's a no-brainer; get travel insurance so you don't go bankrupt when you get the flu (or break a leg jumping off-stage doing flying jump kicks!).

At the end of this week, I am headed to Ohio for my last shows pre-baby. I will be 34 weeks pregnant. What I didn't learn until recently is that my travel insurance will not cover me for pregnancy-related "complications" within 9 weeks of my delivery date (31 weeks). If I get into a car accident, it'll cover me, but if - God FORBID - I am to go into labour prematurely, the insurance company forgoes any responsibility.

My attitude? Ask and ye shall receive: I set my sister, an insurance broker, to the task. She called over 20 insurance providers asking about my specific case, exclusions, and possible one-trip insurance - and lo and behold no one will cover me. I called my husband's group plan provider (Manulife), CAA (recommended by my doctor), and even called some US travel insurance providers, and they won't touch my case with a yardstick (do Americans use yards?).

Check out how most policies in Canada work here.

So my question is, how does this work for women who travel for a living? Am I the only one out there who needs to be out of country 9 weeks before their due date? I hear words like "high risk" and "prior condition" and I feel bashful: I have never thought of it this way before. How can you call pregnancy a "condition"? I am not sick, and it is not a disease - pregnancy is a completely natural state of being. It's hard to reconcile it with these terms.

I am not entirely naive, and I do understand the strain that pre-term labour causes to the health care industry (for World Health Organization stats on this, click here). However, I do feel that insurance companies are so afraid of having to pay out claims that they won't touch anything that will potentially cost them money.

Some might say that I am crazy for going to the US this week. Someone even suggested to me that I should transfer the ownership of my house to my husband, in case anything goes wrong. We could loose everything. That makes me feel worse about my decision to go. But go I will. As they say, the show must go on.

These concerts were booked many moons ago, before baby was in the picture, and it's a good pay day for the band. My doctor says that she is not concerned, but did ask how far from the border we will be at any given point. The answer? 4 hours. So hubby and I will travel separately from the band van. And if anything goes awry, we fly to the border and beg for a long long long labour. Who ever begs for a long labour? Desperate Canadian sans-health insurance does. Eeek.

Stay in there for at least another week, little baby.

CB

My pants don't fit.

One of the great challenges of being on the road is nutrition; pregnant or not, touring musicians have control issues when it comes to food. For those of us who are control freaks (me? Ha!), it is hard to give into the road "diet". At first, it's all fun: road trips for shows in Ottawa = dish rag sandwiches at Arby's in Kingston. Dinner pre-show? How about a burger at The Works? Breakfast - give me a breakfast sandwich from Tim's. However, when touring becomes a full time adventure and more routine (do not read less fun), the appeal of fast food wanes quickly.

Here are the basic challenges with a Touring musician's diet:

1. We eat at restaurants a lot. This equals extra calories. Enough said.
2. Good, healthy meals tend to cost more. I am an indie folk musician, so this sucks.
3. We stay in hotels. Breakfasts at hotels are usually abismal.
4. Variety is the spice of life, and catered meals, if you are lucky enough to get them, they lack variety. See # 7.
5. There is rarely a space for us to make our own meals, so we have to buy them made. This also equals extra calories.
6. We get bored in the car, so we snack on stupid things from gas stations.
7. Long stretches of highway and most airports lack colourful, healthy foods. Home-cooked meals are a rarity, and a welcome break from bland restaurant food. (That being said, a few years ago, the Good Lovelies did a house concert tour of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Each day, for two weeks straight, we would go to a new home, set up our gear, eat a homemade dinner, and do a show for friends of the homeowner. It was a wonderful way to tour, but after our third concert experience we realized that home-cooked meals may be the death of us. In three days, we had been served vegetarian lasagna, caesar salad and garlic bread three times. There was a knock at the door. It was Mr. Ten Pounds. I first met him when I moved out of my parents' house, and he wasn't very nice.)

Pregnancy has added some new complications to eating on the road. In the few weeks after I found out I was expecting, I felt great and was able to eat what I wanted. Then, on a flight back from a show in Malibu in January it hit me: NAUSEA. For me, this nausea resembled that uneasy sick feeling you get after an intense night of drinking, without the fun memories, or lack thereof. It lasted for about 6 weeks.

I basically ate like a teenager - I ate beige foods, the basis of curing any bad hangover; plates of fries and grilled cheese; greasy eggs and toast; chicken fingers from Safeway. And if I was feeling "healthy"it was bananas and porridge. We were touring the U.S. Midwest at the time, so it was easy to find meals void of veggies and full of the greasy nausea-quelling goodness I was craving. (The Midwest is like the badlands for food lovers. I'm sorry to paint it with one brush, but it's hard to find excellent healthy food options there.)

After that first trimester, my pregnancy became very easy. Well, that's what it seems, after talking to pregnant women bedridden and puking for weeks and ashen-faced from lack of sleep. I have felt pretty much myself once the nausea subsided, able to keep up with Yoga and Running, sleeping well enough (aside from waking up every three hours for a pee) and most importantly, having no trouble with two sets of music on my feet each night.

In my second trimester, I started craving healthy foods, greens in particular - and I'm not talking wilted iceberg lettuce garnished with pink tomatoes, the specialty of restaurants on the road. In the wasteland of middle America, we would drive miles to see only Macdonalds and IHOPs, Burger Kings and Cracker Barrels. It was more a wasteland of the gut, actually.

Whole Foods became a godsend. It was clear that any money I was saving in the beer budget department was going directly to smoothies and sandwiches. It isn't cheap, but I believe food is the most important key to my health. I heard Stuart McLean once say that he would only buy ripe, red, hothouse tomatoes; that they were more expensive, but worth the indulgence. I feel that way about food in general. It fuels me, and my growing baby. I'm not going to skimp on that! As a result, food comprises the biggest part of my life-budget (aside from my mortgage).

If you're going to spend some time on the road, here are some obvious food-tips that have made touring easier for me:

• When possible, tour with a cooler. Bring some ice packs, and freeze them at the hotel every night.
• Go to a grocery store instead. Grocery store eats are ALWAYS healthier and cheaper than restaurants. I recommend Safeway or Whole Foods if you can find one. They have great pre-made meal options.
• Carry your own cereal - in a pinch you can buy a carton of milk/milk-alternative and have a healthy breakfast/snack.
• As far as breakfast sandwiches go, know your options. Eating Well does a good health-comparison of the large chain breakfast sandwiches. Check it out here.
• Always have lots of snacks handy. This will keep you from eating crap from Wendy's when you are super hungry (I call it "HANGRY" - A combination of hunger and anger from low blood sugar.)
• Call/plan ahead. If you know where you are are going to end up that day, contact someone there to find out what you will be eating, or what your options are (particularly useful for musicians who have dinner on their rider).
• If your friends are going out for dinner and you would rather eat what you bought at Whole Foods that morning, don't feel guilty about skipping out. Your wallet and stomach will thank you later.
• Also, don't feel guilty if you want to eat crappy once in awhile. I think our bodies crave grease for a reason.
• If you like coffee, tour with an aeropress (www.aeropress.ca), or a similar set-up. You will get a perfect start to your day, each day, if you make it your way!  If you are hardcore, you can also tour with a plastic hand grinder. Our bassist does, and we love him for it.
• Ask the locals for their favourite food suggestions. Tell them you'd like to eat healthy, unless you are really hankering for a juicy hamburger. I often do. Also, you can usually judge that person's suggestions by their appearance. It's not nice, but trust your gut (get it!? ha ha!)
• Hit up a Farmer's Market. Obviously.
• If you like beer and wine, ask for local options. Being on tour is a great way to expand your pallet. Why drink Yellow Tail if you're in California? Actually, why drink Yellow Tail ever? 
• The last point applies to many foods. I love eating Saskatoon berry pie in the prairies of Canada, and tourtiere in Quebec. Your taste buds are tourists too!
• Use the Internet: There are lots of great "eating healthy" guides and maps to help you on your way. Here are just a few examples: Healthy Dining Finder, Travel to Wellness, Best Health - Canada's Healthiest Restaurants. 

So, I have two shows in OHIO this week. I am conscious that these are my last concerts before baby, and will relish them fully, watch my bandmates enjoy a post-show local brew, and cheers them with a glass of local tap water - my beverage of choice these days. I will be packing a cooler, as we are driving, and will stock up at a grocery store once we cross the border. My pants don't fit like they used to, but it's not from road food this time. Mr. Ten Pounds came and went and has been replaced by Mrs. Pregnancy Pounds. She's more welcome than the former.

Til next time,

Caroline