October 26, 2026Monday, October 26, 2026

Just a thought… We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. [Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture]

Well, my fears came to fruition in our BC provincial election Saturday. The numbers show that a great many voters stayed home (either ticked at David Eby calling an early election, turned off by the rain, or simply complacent) and the ones who most wanted change made a point of being heard, plus votes on the left were split between NDP and Greens. So now we get what we get. I’m just so sorry for those who are already marginalized and will likely be pushed further to the sidelines.

Many eyes are on municipal elections today. BC had ours a week ago; seems to be the season. Oh, and it’s officially time to start wearing our poppies, too. Dig out a used one if you wish, but please don’t forget to make a donation if you can to the Royal Canadian Legion.

Looking ahead, this Saturday night and Sunday morning, Rob and I will be watching closely to see what our devices decide regarding BC not changing time with much of the rest of the country.

If I thought I was confused (and confusing others) when it came time to Zoom meetings and appointments in other time zones, oh just wait for it! “What do you mean, you’re two hours behind? I thought BC was three?” I can hear it now. And I have enough trouble with time math as it is! This is going to be a massive goat rodeo, and the people of this province who voted for clocks not to change – in my opinion – picked the wrong season in which to stay put. I feel for the kids going to school in the dark this winter. May they stay safe.

Okay, I need to brighten things – and myself – up here today! This Thursday, Lisa Brandt and I are celebrating our 200^th episode of Gracefully and Frankly with a few memories, 10 coffees (thank you, Mali!) and at least one fun voicemail, but most of all, we’re celebrating you listening – for free, thanks to enVypillow.com – every week. Talking with Lisa is a high point in my often pointless week (“pointless” in the best ways, of course) but she said something the other day that really stuck with me.

When we were talking with Kim and Wanda, the dynamic duo you are emailing with questions for our AMA Waterways river cruise next November at hello@weshouldgotravelco.ca, we were discussing how many guests to realistically expect, what we can do to make the river cruise especially memorable for our Queenagers, and so on. Lisa and I made a special wee video celebrating our upcoming milestone episode, and it includes a few last-minute river cruise discounts that expire this Saturday. I’ll add a link below to the video.

I confessed to being the kid in the backyard jumping up and down yelling, “We’ll get costumes! We’ll put on a show! Everyone will come!” while Lisa’s the one saying, “And what if it rains? What then?” It sounded like I was calling her a Debbie Downer, but the truth is, when you’re a cock-eyed optimist as I am, then the one looking at the possibilities and likelihoods can be seen as the pessimist. But Lisa is a realist. Just like Rob. Sometimes I need a little ballast before my hot air balloon flies straight into power lines. And thank goodness I have both of them in my life.

Some days it’s a bit of a miracle that I even have balloons anymore, when you look at what life has handed us, and so many others. But I won’t stop believing there’s something amazing coming around the corner: an opportunity about to land in my inbox, or a surprise that’s being delivered to the condo. I may be a PITA (pain-in-the-arse) sometimes, and I could promise to work on it. But at this point, I’ll take my rose-coloured, half-filled glasses. Sometimes things get messy when my cup sploshes over, but I will always stick around for clean up. Does that count?

Good luck to you today if you’re voting with all your heart. It doesn’t always work out the way we hope, but that’s why they keep holding elections, I guess.

Have a great week, and Lisa and I will talk to you Thursday at gracefullyandfrankly.com. And if you missed last week’s, there were a lot of laughs. We need them these days, don’t we? Enjoy this special video (click here) and thanks to Rob for an awesome production job!