Benjamin Todd

I used to spend my weeks looking at weekends as a time for solitude, my social energy exhausted from the week dealing with work. And sometimes I do still look for that; however, the last few months, my wife and I have spent weekends with family and friends whenever possible.

Yesterday, we were lucky enough to catch up with a younger couple we’ve not seen in a few months. They have both kept their schedules packed, the husband travelling with work and the wife burning the candle at both ends with work here. We finally secured a night to catch up with them and somehow blew through four hours with them at a lovely cocktail bar here in Toronto. The server we eventually wound up with (after a few rotations) was too adorable and got shots on the house for us after thanking us profusely for being so kind with her. A very nice way to end the night!

Today, we caught up with some friends we haven’t seen in years for no particular reason. Life has a way of just being too busy, especially if people live in different cities. They made it downtown and we shared a nice lunch on a patio (only so many days are left of summer!) on a quiet Toronto street. After lunch, they dropped back by our place to meet our pup, see our place, and chat. As with the younger couple the night before, the time just evaporated.

And, despite having just a very limited “me time” so far this weekend, I honestly feel so refreshed and energized for the coming week. I feel like a different me in the past few months and this feels super novel.

We live in a pretty unique configuration here in Toronto where four buildings back onto a common shared space. Our property management teams coordinated a block party a few nights ago in this common area. It was a pretty cool experience. Drinks, nibbles, and a beautiful shared space to enjoy being in the company of others. Turns out (not that it should be a surprise) we have some pretty great neighbours that we haven’t had a chance to meet before. My wife and I had a long chat with a nice couple a building over from us for the majority of the evening and talked about everything from the small differences in how our buildings are managed to where to get the best bread in the neighbourhood.

Hopefully more of these are organized in the future or other kinds of events are put together. Give that it’s four buildings in our little spot, there are a fair number of units and people who could come out for whatever is put together. Building a stronger sense of community is something I think is lacking in a lot of our modern experiences. And how better to find it than with the people you share space with?

I keep meaning to write something here and I keep forgetting.

The wife and I have kept very busy lately. Dinners with friends and family, evenings out at concerts, baseball games, and the gym. The summer is flying by.

I need to get in a better habit of taking some photos to post here. Give myself something to look back on at some point in the future.

The new job is treating me well and I’m not in a constant state of panic. I know that will end at some point. For now, I will cherish it. Things don’t always need to be a panic. Especially work.