Benjamin Todd

Managed a few personal records tonight at the gym.

On my trap bar deadlift, I pulled 505 three times in one set. Previously, I had only managed two sets of one at 505 pounds.

On my angled leg press, I have previously only just pushed over 800 pounds. Tonight, feeling pretty good, I did three at 906, two at 996, and one at 1006 pounds. 🏋️‍♂️

Each weekend, I make it a point to reach out to one of my parents, if not both. Some weeks are a miss and I know that’s bound to happen. Life gets busy on both ends of the phone.

This weekend, I had a chance to chat with my father for a few minutes before a friend of his showed up to his workshop, so we had to cut the chat short. I fathom we’ll make up for that this weekend.

Last night, I chatted with my mother for just over an hour and a half. The conversation meandered through a lot of our normal topics — what we’ve both been doing, how we’ve been feeling, and things that have been keeping us entertained. I mentioned to my mother that I make an effort to listen to a new album every day after she started telling me about Django Reinhardt, whom I wasn’t too familiar with. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but in that distant way where you know you’ve heard the name in conversation, but failed to commit it to memory.

She was shocked that I listen to so much music and asked a question, which I found fairly amusing. “Are you allowed to listen to music while you work?” I responded that I am, of course, allowed to listen to music. Working from home predominantly has some perks, after all. When I’m in the office, I am sure to make use of headphones, but at home? Should I remind you I have several stereo setups in my office? Music is really important to me.

So, today, as a treasure and gift from my mother, I have been listening to Pêche à La Mouche on Apple Music. It’s been fun. The sounds are a wonderful background texture for sure, but I will have to take a proper listen on some headphones when I get a chance.

All this to say, it’s amazing to me what you will find out when you spend a few minutes talking to a person. It’s obvious, obviously, but sometimes forgotten. I appreciate where things I don’t know or am not aware of will surface.

So, thanks Mom. I appreciate the music recommendation.

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.