I forgot to hit unpause...

Earlier this week, I was talking to a web design expert (my good friend Justin over at Innovative Global Vision) about moving my blog from Wix to a different platform. I embarrassingly live and in real time noticed that I hadn't updated in just over a year.

It's little moments like that one that truly make you realize how much more quickly time moves at 42 than it does at 22.

My average week at 22 involved a few shifts at the bar, some classes, and lots of time with friends to go along with eight to ten hours of sleep a night. My average household week at 42 now looks a little more like this, and this is my personal Apple calendar as opposed to my work Outlook one.

Don't get me wrong, I love it. I love my kids being busy. I love meeting people, building community, and getting things done, but writing definitely falls by the wayside. I've been keeping up with my writing for Mom and Caregiver magazine though. As someone with ADHD, it's really easyt o stay on top of things when you have an editor emailing you each month. I hit the 25 article milestone this month, and all of my pieces can be viewed at the above link.

I've also been regularly appearing on the AM980 Thursday Round Table, and on the 98.1 Classic Rock Craig Needles Podcast Friday Round Table. I've gotten to debate important local topics with a variety of Londoners from a wide range of backgrounds, and learned a lot in the process. I will continue to add my episodes to my media page as time allows.

2025 flew by.

January through April were some of the most difficult times I've had in my field for a variety of reasons, but we brought on a new team in our program in April 2025 and we have been absolutely thriving.

In January of 2025, we lost my father in law. He was a great man, who lived with dignity when it came to Parkinson's Disease for almost half his life, and left an indeible mark on his family and all who knew him.

In March of 2025, I got to take my oldest to both her first "grown-up" concert, and to her first Grand Theatre show, Waitress. London's arts scene is criminally underrated.

In April 2025, Jameson officially fell in love with basketball, and has now completed five seasons of house league for his age group with Elite Stars Elgin. They run a house league every season, and he has been having a great time while also building a ton of confidence.

In May of 2025, I was asked to join the Board of Directors for both London Executive Association, where I am now the treasurer, and Over 55 London as well. Both organizations have been a great experience, and are doing essential work in a variety of ways for Londoners across the age and socioeconomic spectrums. It's really been eye opening to see just how kind and community-focused the owners of some of London's most well known businesses have been, when it comes to supporting the future of the youth in the program I run.

In May, Jordan completed the production "Do You Wanna Dance" with Original Kids Theatre Company, and officially became a real stage actor. SInce then, she has performed in "Oklahoma", and "Ghostlight" as well. It's not cheap, but she loves it and has grown leaps and bounds in her confidence.

In June, Joy and I got to take an overnight to Toronto to stay at Hotel X, which was a 10/10, and see Mumford and Sons at Budweiser Stage. Drinks poolside at their rooftop pool, followed by dinner and then wandering across the road to an excellent concert in an outdoor venue cannot be beat.

In the summer time, Joy and the kids did their annual camping trip with her coworkers, and Jordan go to to spend a week away at LEAP camp, a huge mega-camp ran every four years by Girl Guides of Canada. She spent a week in a tent with friends and could not have had more fun.

In August, we took Jordan on her surprise 12th birthday trip, where we spent a weekend in the nation's capital, and her and Joy got to see Hamilton at the Performing Arts Centre, a show that she had been dying to see for a year and a half, starting right after it left Toronto, and we tracked all over the world until it was within driving distance. September brought the trip of a lifetime, where we took the kids to London and Paris for ten days. That could be a post, or two, of its own.

Before we left, we got to see the biggest outdoor non-festival concert in American history, Zach Bryan at The Big House at University of Michigan, and when we returned from overseas we got to see Noah Kahan at Rock The Runway here in London.

Our two favourite music acts of 2025 sandwiched around our first trip to Europe made for a September to remember, which is both Joy and my birthday month as well.

We returned from Europe broke but extremely happy, and I then got to see Mumford and Sons again in Detroit in October with my friend Antonio.

The rest of the year was pretty quiet, but 2025 was definitely a year to remember.

2026 started off with the longest winter possible, and some of the most snow and coldest weather that I can remember, but we made it through.

Jenna had her 11th birthday party last night, and I am taking Jordan to see Nate Bargatze tonight at Canada Life Place, which will always be John Labatt Centre to me, because she is very much into stand up comedy.

Now that you've caught up with where I have been, I look forward to more updates on London, life, fatherhood, food, culture, and life after 40 to come.

if I am paying to host this blog and domain name, I better start using it.

Thanks everyone.