Tis the Season to Hurkle-Durkle

0:07  
Hello. Welcome to the jannArden Podcast. I'm here with Caitlin green. Sarah Burke, how you guys doing? We're all in Toronto. What?

0:14  
My gosh, yeah, I feel closer to you than ever

0:18  
closer to you. Yeah, it's a beautiful day. Chris just came back from walking the dog. I have a day off from the tour today. What is new in your lives? What's happening? The news is depressing, but maybe you have good news.

0:31  
I feel good. I have a really busy week. I went out to an event last night with one of my very favorite people, one of our very favorite people, Meredith Shaw. We went to a very like fancy event for fancy perfumes by a jewelry brand called bulgary, which maybe you've seen some of their gorgeous jewelry. I didn't know until fairly recently that they make some stunning perfumes. So they did a cool thing where you pair the smells that they're showing you with a little snack. They brought everyone out, like these little boxes of snacks, and you pair it, and everyone's having champagne, and Meredith and I were just laughing. We're like, feel so fancy. And then we went for Korean after and had, like, Bibb and Bop like, was a real antithetical moment. And then tonight, I'm going to an event with Allison Roman. I don't know if you guys follow her. She's a kind of like a chef, like, I shouldn't say chef, she's a cook, and a cookbook author who got her start up on a petite, and then kind of became like a public figure, and then I have a karaoke birthday party for myself on Friday. Wait, you're 40, still, right? I'm just checking. I'm 40 forever. I won't ever get older. What's the date again? November 27

1:39  
Okay, so we're seven days away Jen. We have seven days to wish her happy birthday proper. Listen,

1:42  
have I ever forgotten her birthday? I mean, she might have gotten it early. Yeah, I have had it six months early. Sometimes I think that's it's okay to wish people a happy birthday like they have it sometime in the year. Well, that sounds like an action packed day. That's a heck of a lot more than I'm getting up to. How about you, Sarah,

1:59  
it's also been an event heavy week for me. Like, I have not been out this much in so long. I was like, oh, jeans and bras with wires? Like, I just don't know, but I went to support a girlfriend of mine getting like a Woman of the Year Award through this glory media event. And last night, I went to, like a harbor front Christmas kickoff event for the miracle bars. They're pop ups where everything looks like it's thrown up Christmas like everything's tin sold. The drinks are themed like, so that was fun. And it's right near, like the skating rink at Harbor front center, and it opens today. The skating rink with harbor front opens, I think, the 26th or something like that.

2:39  
Lots of pop ups in this town. Hey, yeah,

2:42  
Toronto loves a pop up. The festive season is here because distillery had their tree lighting, and then last night, the Fairmont Royal York did their big Christmas tree lighting, and I think they have a holiday cocktail bar. Type of everyone does? Everyone does. It's a real Christmas City. I'm surprised we don't actually have a second Christmas market, because the distillery is so inundated that we could, we could, we could handle

3:02  
too. I'm looking forward to my scenic river cruise even a week. And it is a Christmas market cruise, and I'm doing a show for everyone, which is why I'm there in the first place in Vienna. Oh, that's

3:17  
so beautiful I've seen that'll be very Christmassy, I think, oh yeah. Follow a lot of the European Christmas market content on social, because it's, I, it's on my wish list to take. Will one day they do some beautiful, they do some really beautiful Christmas markets. That's so nice. And you, I mean, and you're on like, a Christmassy tour right now, Jan, like, you're kind of our Canadian queen of Christmas I dare say, oh yeah. Well, I oh gosh,

3:44  
maybe I think there's quite a few artists out there that are doing Christmas stuff, or at least one off Christmas specials. Listen, I like it. The world needs some some damn joy. I mean, this week, we have seen the circus that is Donald Trump Just continue to spiral out of control. And I just have to say, as a woman, for the President of the United States to look at the only female journalist on Air Force One and call her a piggy while she's asking him a question. She was in the company of a bunch of male journalists. The patriarchy is alive and well, none of which said a word to admonish or stand up for President Trump, or say, hey, that's completely unnecessary crazy. She was asking a question that he felt was beneath him. He really is a runaway train. He thinks he is beyond any kind of laws, any kind of human decency. He answers to no one and does exactly just what he wants. It's it's so appalling, and to see that unfold without anyone coming to her side or standing having any kind of Solidarity was pretty sad.

4:53  
I saw that same clip. It's been disturbing so many people all over the world, and I think if. If you're an American citizen, I would just be so embarrassed and disturbed by the fact that this has become normalized from the leader of your country, the elected leader of your country, because it is so deeply abhorrent to like everyone else is just like, it's absolutely shocking. I saw a bunch of people commenting on this on social obviously, as you can expect, and if there's an account called St hoax and Jan, if you're not already following it, you really do need to, because they do some really funny stuff with some dark content. But someone said that quiet piggy should be on his tombstone.

5:33  
Is a person well that does that he knows he's being filmed, but that this is the audaciousness of this man. Yeah, is that he really, he knows that his ardent followers will back him up no matter what he does. And I've said that many times. I just, I guess, for me, the biggest takeaway is that her male counterparts, who are in the press corps, you know, journalists trying to do the job in media that we so desperately need right now, of saying nothing, just moving on to the next question, I just don't get it. Yeah,

6:08  
do you think they're scared? Yeah, there's got to be some, I would imagine, percentage wise, who don't take issue with him treating people that way. Maybe they even like, you know, support it. But I wonder too, if like, are they in that moment, scared of being, like, not getting access to him, but then exactly, but like, I guess I'm like, at what cost to you and like, your and I wonder too, if, like, you know, in two weeks following, if someone was to interview them and say, like, Do you regret not saying anything? Like, how do you feel about this, and looking back and what they would say? Because it is, it's the kind of thing where it would like it took me aback, but you'd have to assume, like these are, like you said, seasoned professionals, and you feel like they would be able to say, hey, like, in What world do you think that that is the appropriate response to a female journalist asking

6:53  
a question? Well, I read an op ed piece, and they were talking about how what a hard fought battle it is to get on Air Force One and to be one of the journalists that do travel with the President and his entourage, either very, very carefully picked. So at some point she was deemed someone appropriate for the President, someone that wouldn't, you know, poke the bear, as it were, so she had passed this kind of screening. So, yeah, I don't think they want to lose their spot, Caitlin,

7:21  
I know. And then I also then kind of get these, like shower thoughts in my head where I'm like, do I want any sort of coverage that comes from journalists who are deemed approved by someone, whether it's like they're going to toe the line, like, does this then not water down the value of their coverage? Because you know that they might be willing to placate him to such an extent that they wouldn't have stepped in and said anything like, do I feel like they have the same journalistic integrity as somebody who he is deeming not safe to fly on Air Force One for him in terms of business? Yeah, so I don't know. It was a real bummer. You're absolutely right. That's why we need jannon a Christmas market.

7:58  
Well, apparently the Epstein files are going to be released now that the Justice Department has said they're going to release them. But I think we had a conversation. I've certainly had conversations with my friends that I'm traveling with about things are probably redacted at this point and, you know, heavily edited, so I don't know if we'll ever get the real thing. But he was talking about, yeah, Jeffrey Epstein. I kicked him out of Mar a Lago. I thought he was a creep. I thought he was a piece of crap, and I kicked him out of Mar a Lago so fast he's preemptively putting out this very fake story because we've seen many, many, many clips of him standing with Epstein, laughing, talking. There's so many emails, but here he is in the last week saying, Oh yeah, he was one of the worst people I ever met in my life, and I had him physically removed from Mar a Lago. I thought, Do you not hear yourself? Are you that fucking crazy?

8:55  
No, he is. He is that crazy, and he's, I guess, when you have a bunch of, you know, such a rabid fan base that, you know, you can just jerk them around and say one thing and then say the complete opposite, and they follow like blind but like they'll excuse away so much of his very obvious shortcomings when they're, you know, up in arms about, you know, think back to the scandal around the disrespect of Obama's brown suit. Like, what a world to be occupying. And so when it really feels like the there is no bottom, yeah, it's, it's like it is tiring.

9:28  
Hillary's emails,

9:30  
yeah, oh my god, right, yeah,

9:33  
that they weren't on a secure server. It's gone so bananas. Anyway, that's all the time we're going to dedicate to this today. I love this talking about daily hacks that people use to get through life. And you probably do hacks guys without even really knowing what kind of hacks that you're doing. One of the ones for me that really resonated, and I'll let you guys list off some of these great hacks that people have. But. Somebody was saying that they put things back in the same place all the time, and that is a huge thing for me. So how about you? I mean, I just want it to be where I left it, so I'm really cognizant of this goes in that drawer. Here's where that goes. And I so far it's worked

10:15  
for me. Yeah, ADHD is a beast, and that is very helpful for ADH. It is helpful, but I've only started doing it recently. I feel like going to my half living at the cottage, half being at home like for the last, you know, four or five months makes that very hard, because I I almost want to keep something on the counter just because I'm leaving in three days again, and I want it to come with me, and I don't want to forget it. So it makes it hard to put things away. But here's a hack and Caitlin will laugh at this because of Kyle, but just keep your things that you need all the time in the trunk, like the golf clubs.

10:49  
As someone who is constantly tormented by the sound of my husband's golf clubs rattling around in the trunk of our car the second that he I know he has his last golf game of the season, I'm like, tick tock. Let's get those out of there drives me crazy.

11:03  
What other things are on the list? Again? Big bomb.

11:05  
Haven't heard that in a while. Well, some of them were, take the first parking spot that's open, like, don't go to the mall, especially this time of year. And I've talked about parking during the holidays, and it's a nightmare at Chinook in Calgary, but don't circle and circle and circle and circle. If you see a spot that's, God forbid, 200 yards away, park in it and walk, yeah, save yourself a lot of goddamn grief, of really people playing like musical chairs in in parking lots, you know. And then everyone's fighting, and there's just shit happening. So I like that one. And using timers for everything I do, I'm not going to say, I'm not going to say Alexis, his name too loud, because she's here. I time out everything. Like, if I put like, sometimes I'll top off my pond at home in the summertime, it's obviously it evaporates. And if I do not put a timer on it, I'll be like, No shit. The water's been like, on for 70 minutes, and I literally want to put it on for 10, yeah. So I put timers on everything cooking. I'm timing everything

12:14  
the number of times that we have. My husband and I have started running Will's bath and then gone to do something else, and we forget. And it hasn't overflowed yet, but the last few times we've gone in there and it's like a like meniscus level, like it's just at the very tippy top, and we forget. So I think that's, that's one Kyle is really good, and I see him do it all the time, and I've started stealing this is that he asks, I have to cover her up because she's listening to, okay, okay, Siri to he asks her to remind so sad, I know he'll say, like, remind me in an hour to call, for example, yesterday, call Dr Hoy's office right when they open so that we can get the first crack at appointments the same day, appointments, so stuff like that. He's good at one that I saw on here, that I really, really liked was, if it takes less than two minutes, do it right now. Do it. Do it. Just do it now. Get it in your head. I'm just like, Okay, it's gonna give you

13:08  
an example Caitlin of something that you're that just gets put off that literally is a quick fix. Is it unpacking the dishwasher, like things like that

13:17  
takes longer than two minutes these days. But I will say that, like, it's anything to put away, putting things away for sure. For me, if I have the hurdle of it takes a phone call to do it, like, if I have to phone somewhere to make an appointment, I just don't do it. And I procrastinate. And, like, I'm telling you guys, I have, like, over do, like, 10,000 medical appointments because I just I can't book online. So I'm like, I know now I have to break it down where I'm like, Call Dr so and so today it's gonna take two minutes. So I'm just like, do it. And this ties into mine that I stole from someone on Tiktok. Never touch and try to avoid. Don't touch anything twice. So if you're, if you have a coat and you like, come in and you take it off, you toss it on the couch, you then have to touch it again to get it back in the closet where it's supposed to belong. So keep in your head like, am I going to have to touch this twice? Because, if not just put it where it needs to go right now? Okay, so that's a good one

14:11  
for me. The hack that I find the most useful. So like a lot of the ADHD thing, is like, you need to feel the pressure and the adrenaline to get things done. So

14:21  
Sarah, I have it. Sorry. Anyways, yeah, yeah. Happy

14:25  
to Dr Burke, this for you. But for example, if I'm making myself scrambled eggs for lunch, and I know, you know, it's going to be maybe three to five minutes before put the toast in whatever in that time I'm emptying the dishwasher, it needs to be done by the time the eggs are done. So like using something, even like a song, you know, like putting on a song and being like, by the end of the song, I need to put all the coats and vests away in the closet, versus wherever they end up. I love having a deadline, which is why, until the deadline of like an essay, back in the day, it's like, Well, I'll start it at 4am and it'll be handed in my. Am, it'll be fine. Why

15:01  
do we all do this? I know so many girlfriends that have this, and I have to now, do I break the cycle in the opposite way where I don't like the race the anxiety it gives me, it makes me anxious. Okay, so now I have to do the piecemeal timer thing that jannwas talking about, where I will set aside today is 45 minutes during this time to do this, and it might be something that's not due or I don't have to worry about for two weeks, but I've, in my head, figured out, usually, with the help of chat, G, P, T, like, hey, how long would you think it'll take me to do this? And it'll be like, guessing, guessing. It'll take about three hours for you to do, like, whatever this editing is, or whatever it looks like. Write this article, base it off of a three hour estimate, and I'll break it into like, 20 minute chunks. And, yeah, that like, I'll have to do a little bit of

15:46  
but between appointments, like, sometimes, you know, if I'm leaving to go into Toronto, which is not always an easy thing, right? Bringing my laptop big I'm going to an appointment. The next appointment that I'm staying in town for is maybe an hour and a half after, in that hour and a half, what am I going to be able to complete before the next appointment, right? I love that type of shit that'll get me going. If you

16:05  
guys have any suggestions or any hacks that you guys do at home, please leave us a voice note, because I'd love to know, but a timing thing resonates with me, like fitting something in around something else, like when I go into town to do errands, it's usually benign things like going to pick up more makeup wipes at shoppers, and I make sure I don't know why, this is a huge issue for me. I have a mailbox there because I live in the country. It's not always reliable to and that box has been broken into so many times out there. It's just easy pickings for people. I never check that goddamn mailbox. Like, walk up to the mailbox, put the key in and grab the stuff, and I'm like, it's going to be so loaded with junk, and then I'm going to have to take that and put it in the garbage. That's over by the lady that I talked to. And I don't really want to talk to anyone today, like there was just so so stupid things. But I'm like, the dry cleaners is close. So I'll make sure that I do that, and then I try and figure out a way to treat myself. So it's either like a Starbucks pink drink, which has a drive through really close, or a Diet Coke from McDonald's, because McDonald's has the best fountain Diet Coke on the planet. So I try and add rewards into my tasks, which gives me incentive to go, if I go into town, I can get a Diet Coke, and literally, that will get my ass off the couch. Yep.

17:25  
No, it works. That's a proven like CBT therapy thing where they, you know, Joy stacking, or whatever they call it.

17:31  
Oh, there's kettleman's Joy stack right beside the grocery store. Kettlemans,

17:36  
I do so we, jannknows my love. We've discussed this a million times on the pod over the years, but of the Starbucks sugar cookie oat latte, oh yeah, she's back. She's back. Although I can only do two pumps, no topping to all you can do two pumps, four is like, I feel like I'm gonna launch into space. It's crazy. And so I just do, I just do two and the other week, because now we're in cold and flu season. So Will is home with me like half the week, either avoiding being sick, because I know there's an outbreak of something at his daycare, or he himself is sick. So he was home sick with me the other week, and we went to an indoor play place, and they have a really nice staff there, so I see them a lot, and we were the only ones in the whole indoor play place. So Will and I are just going crazy, and they have these special take out, like a travel mug. So you can make coffee there for free, or if you bring your own, you pour it into that, and you can bring it inside to the play place. So I get a venti sugar cookie oat latte, and I bring it in, and I transfer it into one of their big, you know, vats for coffee for all the tired parents that are there. And one of the staff members smelled it and came up to me and was like, What did you put in your mug today? I was like, Oh, it's a sugar cookie oat latte. And he yelled to one of the other staffers, it's a sugar cookie oat latte. And they popped their head over the wall, and they're like, oh my god, it smells so good. The whole kitchen smells amazing. I was like, yeah, so that's another Joy stacker.

19:01  
Life is it's not the big things. It's these little things. Like you brought so much joy to people that smelled a sugar cookie, oat latte. We're not going to say those words again, folks on the podcast. That was our fifth time, but yeah, you got to add little fun things into the day. And I it's, it's amazing how things add up. I was saying to my my wonderful dog babysitter, Angela, shout out to Angela, who is saving my life right now because Poppy's at home. He gets to stay at home and I'm getting videos. Angela's got the flu right now. No, I was saying to her, gosh, you know, when I get home, I don't know if you're up for this, but I get overwhelmed with a bunch of little things. Like, sometimes I have eight, 910, things on a list, and for some reason, it kind of buries me. Yep, I feel a bit overwhelmed. And I don't have kids, you guys, I don't have anyone that I'm, you know, looking after, or, you know. I don't, my girlfriend is in Iceland, you know, half the time, so I'm not, you know, doing her stuff, but it's Angela's like, Yeah, I'll help you. I love it. She said to me, okay, there's people that love this stuff. And when she said that, it sent something through me. It made me feel like crying. Like, how can you love this?

20:20  
Yeah, yeah. But Jan, like, you are like, when I see janngo on stage or, like, in a room with people, you're very like, you have an ease, obviously, because of years of being on stage and performing right. But I often am struck by the fact that that is many people's worst nightmare, is to have to be on stage and to have to engage with people and to just be that focus of attention. I think it gives it makes people really uncomfortable. And I think they would say, like, Oh my God, how do you do that for a living all the time? And then for other people, like, you know us, probably I'm like, Yeah, you're right. How do you do how do you enjoy all these little tasks? Because they do overwhelm me and they build up. They like, stack up.

20:57  
Well, it's true. Since when Cynthia loist was visiting me. She She was there kind of after you left, Caitlin, and I just when she came, I was kind of like, you know, up here, anxious. And she goes, like, Is there stuff you need to do? I can help you do stuff. Because I said to her, I got a lot of shit that I probably should do while you're here. She goes, I love doing stuff like that. She's another one of those people. I'm like, God, help you. But I need to go to the UPS store, and I got to send these three packages off. And if you guys can remember, we had winners from our live podcast that got swag boxes, yes, T shirts, candles, hats. And so it had been about, like a week or so after that, and I'm thought, I'm like, I gotta get these out. And she came with me to UPS, and it was such a debacle filling out those forms, and that's what keeps me from doing it. I'm like, UPS has the longest forms to fill out, but I needed to expedite these things. And Canada Post has been so unpredictable this year, and she loves it. So that is not my jam. Once again, send us a voice note if it's how do you do your errands? How do you keep from getting buried by the minutia of just life? And I feel like as I'm getting older, it's not getting easier, it's getting harder. I

22:14  
got a new computer. There's some backing up and some things that need to happen before I can even switch and transfer my life over there. It's been in the box for three days. I'm like, I'll get to it

22:25  
soon. I'll get to it. Oh, I'm telling you, it could turn into a month. Sarah,

22:29  
I know my dad did that with a phone. He had finally got a new phone. He was using a Huawei that I think doesn't exist outside of China. Like, I was like, How did you even get this model the phone and Huawei, it made sharing videos and photos with of will with him really hard, and we couldn't FaceTime. And I was like, figure out your phone. He's like, Oh, I have a new iPhone. It's been sitting in a box for a year. It happens. It truly happens. And you need someone else to, like, make you do it. It's the same way that when I was a little kid, I would get anxious about trying new stuff, so I always needed to do classes or summer camps with a friend. But I think it's the same way, it's the same thing in life. Like, if I have a friend to come do my like, errand day with me, it's immediately a, more enjoyable, and B, like, I'm more likely to do it and to complete everything. And it's just like, it's, I don't know the stuff is universally annoying. Okay,

23:20  
hear me out. I'm just talking about a service. Somebody out there who's entrepreneurial, offer yourself as an errand buddy and show up at people's houses like they can call you and you will go with them, either in Yeah, in their car, or you will pick them up in your car and take them for errands. I'm telling you, I would hire you in a second, and it's a

23:41  
personal assistant too, right? Like, and if you have friends, like, I have some friends, but I don't want one all the time, exactly. That's what I was going to say. A personal assistant, you have to have them, like, on salary all the time. You don't use them as needed. So it's a on demand personal assistant, because, like, I have friends who are, like, big, fancy executives, and sometimes, when they've had to, like, make travel arrangements, or we're booking time with them for something, it's through their assistant. But that assistant is, like, paid for at work. It's different than, like, needing it, you know, yourself all the time. So I love that service idea.

24:13  
Yeah, I just think it would be helpful. Aaron buddy. I would show up for you guys. I would be your Aaron buddy. I a

24:27  
little bit of a topic change, and this is because I am in hotels quite a bit this next five weeks. Caitlin, this is a great story that you brought us. I'm not sure where this comes from, but this really struck a chord in me, and I had to think long and hard. Have you ever taken stolen things from a hotel room?

24:49  
I'll be right back. Oh, Sarah's going to get what she's taking. I totally have, yeah.

24:53  
So I'm going to admit to one thing that I did take, and I'm I'll tell you why, because I had to. And I didn't know what to do. So this is a little bit of a, it's kind of gross. So is this the period story? It's a, it's a bit of a period story, but it's not that bad. So I had to use a face cloth. It was, it was a wreck. I was in the throes of menopausal hell. And as hard as I tried, I could not, you know, clean up this face cloth. And I had used it to whatever. I put it in a little baggie that I had had my shampoo and my conditioner in, and I took it with me. I took the face cloth with me. I was so embarrassed, I didn't want to leave this face cloth it looked like, I I don't know what it looked like. There was just part. I mean, this was, this was 10 years ago, and I took the face cloth and I didn't say anything to anybody, and I have felt bad about that ever since it looked

25:45  
like you killed a teeny, tiny person and then, like, cleaned up the mess afterwards.

25:50  
Yeah, if someone took one of those light things in there and looked at the bathroom, they would have been absolutely mortified. I would have been incarcerated.

25:57  
I actually think you did a nice thing rather than saving that for someone in housekeeping to deal with, like, what do they care about? A face? I

26:04  
was just embarrassed, but that's the only thing I have never taken. They're listing things off here,

26:07  
like, house codes, oh, the robes, like you gotta

26:11  
toiletries, I don't think is stealing anything. No, I leave those for you. Yeah, many little soaps and little shampoos and the and the sewing kits. I've taken those. I'm sorry. I do not think that

26:22  
they want you to. I think they want you to.

26:24  
Okay, well, the thing with the with the house, like with the robes, is they'll charge you for that, so it's like you're not really stealing it, because they do it, they do an assessment after the fact, and they just put it on your bill. Oh, I

26:34  
didn't get charged. Are you sure?

26:36  
Did you take a house coat?

26:38  
Yeah, I think a lot of people don't check their actualized bill that gets emailed to them, like days later. It was because I have

26:45  
cozy little Yeah, it was like a Weston, actually,

26:48  
so much for that sponsor. No, we had Weston by the tail, and now they're gone. Now they said that's it. No, just statistically, 26% of the people surveyed confess that they take something every time they stay in a hotel.

27:03  
Towels off the list,

27:04  
yeah, 79% of people helping themselves to the towel. I've never done. Would I be under the towel category with my face?

27:12  
I think so. Yeah, I think so. This has

27:14  
never happened. Then bathrobes were next, followed by hangers, which like, again, if you're traveling, if you're taking like, 10, then that's weird to me. But if you happen to find yourself in a jam where you need one hanger with like, but they're wooden hangers, I know, and like, but, I mean, it depends again, on the place you're staying, like, like, a not as nice hotel will have the hangers that don't have the hook. It's like they you slide them onto the ring that's permanently fused to the bar. Yes,

27:40  
that is so smart, because you this is not useful in your own home. A little nub

27:46  
that has the nub, I feel like it's a bit down market, because I'm like, well, they have, like, they wouldn't have the nubs The Four Seasons, like they would give you a real you've got a real hook. The only thing that I've done, which is sneaky, and I don't, I will call some places if I can't find out in advance what type of, what brand of toiletries they carry. So I want to know what their brand of, like shampoo, conditioner. I know I'm that person, because with the liquid and gel restrictions, if I have to pack my own, I want to know, but if they have really good stuff, then I won't pack my own. Okay? And sometimes I'll find out that they have really good stuff, and if they I know they have, like, like a great brand of shampoo and conditioner and, like, a great smelling soap and like, shower gel and cream, I will sneaky, even if I haven't used all of it, I'll like, clean it out the first day so that housekeeping restocks them full every time. So I

28:39  
hack. There's a hack life that's under the hack category,

28:43  
okay, good, because I yeah, it's just those. And I'm like, you can afford it if, but like, if you have by radio in your hotel, I regret to inform you, I will be taking it all

28:53  
for a few years. I had the band, this would have been sort of the early 2000s hotel rooms every night, every night, every night, every night, and I had them take all their toiletries, which they never did, so the little bar of soap. Most hotels now have gotten a little better than that. Environmentally. They have the pump and they just refill your pump hand soap. But back in the day, they did have little bars of soap. They had little shampoos. Most hotels have a pump shampoo and conditioner and a body gel in the shower now, but there used to be individuals at the end of a tour, like at the end of six weeks, we had a hockey duffle bag filled with stuff that we would drop at a woman's shelter. Oh, I love that. Amazing. The guys really loved doing that, and we always felt good. And it just for women coming and going. The little individual containers so helpful. Yeah, and you can't do it so much anymore, like I said, it's good and bad, but most hotels are now providing you with a glass bottle to refill your water bottle. They're not leaving plastic bottles and everything's a pump and refill. Yeah, even the nice ones, like I stayed in a four seasons. Last summer in London, and they had beautiful products, but they were all pump and load stuff four seasons. Does buy radar sometimes lovely. I mean, it's great products, but I don't mind that. I don't mind having to do that, although I miss having a bar of soap. I'm a bar of soap

30:15  
girl. I'm a bar of soap girl too, and that's easy to travel with. It's not a liquid you just put the bar in so

30:21  
I will, I have those, and I'll if I have a big bar of soap that I really like, like a brand, sometimes

30:27  
I won't cut a piece of it. You got to do what you got to do, man,

30:31  
because I just, I hate it, like and some you know what? The thing is, the inconsistencies on the liquid and gels issue really grinds my gears, because you get a rather chill person at security. And they're like, Nah, I don't care. And then you get someone who's new or training, God forbid, and they will go through your measurements in their little fine tooth comb. This is 52 mils. I'm like, Okay,

30:54  
I wouldn't even know what a millilator was. You

30:56  
know, the bags that they have, like at the airport, right? Yeah, just always grab an extra one of those, because then next time you're packing for your trip, you just put them in there. And then I find that that makes it go faster. They're like,

31:07  
Oh, great, you're prepared, and it kind of measures for you, isn't it? Sarah, yeah, so, and they're like,

31:12  
it should be able to close mine never cares.

31:15  
Well, here's Okay, here's a hack, here's a hack. Okay, great. I have asthma, right? So I have all these extra medications, but I will put those in a separate bag, like, also the Air Canada bag or whatever, and then I'll just slip in a few other extra things, even if it's like, tea tree oil or whatever other things I might be using, like, I'll just be like this, this bag is medication, okay? And then they go, okay. I kind of like, get by with

31:37  
that. The funny thing too, that I realized was so there was a point we were traveling with will, and it was when he was still, like, exclusively combo feeding, so breast milk and formula, okay? And formula keeps babies fuller longer. So on a flight, great to have. So we were going through security, and we had a bunch of formula with us, and will was having a meltdown, and they were, they were going through my bag. I got called for extra, like, look through your bag. So Kyle's like, I'm taking will downstairs so he can, like, walk around and we'll, like, get him a snack. So I'm like, okay, so I go to the thing, they're looking through. They're like, it's what's all this? And I was like, baby formula. And they're like, Yeah, where's your baby? I was like, he's down there. Do you want to look down? We're up Pearson, and Kyle's gone down the escalator. I'm like, he's down there. They're like, We got to see the baby like, wave to Kyle the middle of Pearson. I was like, bring will back, show up with a baby. We're like, Here you go. That's

32:27  
our view. Yeah. I mean, everyone's different. It's different everywhere you freaking go. I've had to take my bracelets off before that. I've had on. I've had to take these goddamn gold necklaces off slide on my neck. So I spent the whole trip without my necklaces on because I didn't have anyone to help me put them on. There's a few I can put on, but some of the latches are so

32:48  
those little, teeny, tiny, Oh, they're so tiny, and it's so

32:51  
frustrating to even try, like I feel just on the brink of an anxiety attack trying to put my jewelry back on. But boy, when they are just nitpicky to that degree. I'm, like, this is not setting off anything, no. And I'm still beeping when I'm going through even after the necklace is off. And then, like, what else do you have? Then they pat me down. So I'm, I must have something going on with me. Wait, do you have something in your heart head? Do I remember I got a Teflon cable, but it shouldn't set it off. Traveling.

33:24  
Caitlin, you are going where you have a trip coming up, don't you? Oh

33:27  
yeah, well, we're going to, well, we're going to out east to Pei for Christmas. That'll be coming up in December, but nothing until then.

33:34  
Okay, nice. That's something to look forward to. Just to finish off, this last thing, everyone takes hotel pens. I take them all the time. Oh yeah, they're great. Think they I think that's part of their marketing plan in the little pads. But their other items stolen include artwork, blankets, glassware, coffee makers, blow dryers and even TVs, like I just I gotta know who's walking out of a hotel with a TV.

34:01  
There's a former real housewife who just got arrested for stealing $11,000 worth of something from a furnished Airbnb.

34:08  
Oh, come on, yeah,

34:10  
there's entitlement for you.

34:19  
One thing I know that we did want to talk about, I've had lots of wonderful feedback. Thank you from the CBC television show, oh yeah, called the assembly, and I'm interviewed by, well, there was probably 30 neurodivergent on the spectrum of Asperger's autism. How did that come very agrees, I don't know. It was. It's a it's a British show. And obviously the franchise is something that traveled across the pond, and Cbc was interested in doing it. And I just was fortunate enough to have my hat thrown in the ring to be one of the, I think it was six Canadians that they interviewed and but thank you so much everyone for your beautiful comments. There's been. Lots of clips that I've put up on my Instagram of questions they've asked me, and they were tough questions, everything from, you know, my brother with the, you know, the murder that he allegedly committed over 30 years ago. There was, yeah, sobriety questions, there was love questions, there was it just ran the gamut. And the interesting thing is, it was a half hour show, but they interviewed me for over two hours, so it would be great to know, you know, if CBC ever plans on maybe putting some of the other stuff up on jam, because I think people would watch

35:35  
it. What was your favorite moment from taping, even if it didn't make it into the

35:40  
show? I have to say for me. At the end, the very end of my interview, I was quite tired at the two hour mark. I just felt emotionally. I felt good, but I felt tired from concentrating. They sang good mother. So one of the young gentlemen had taken the time to learn it on the guitar, and when they all started singing, all I could do not to start balling my head off. And I just thought, don't cry. Don't cry, because I felt like that. Just puts it on them that they might think that I'm feeling bad. I don't know. So I just started singing along, and it was probably one of the most special moments of

36:18  
my life. There's clips of that Roman around, yeah,

36:21  
one of my friends, it's so funny. This is funny timing today texted me and was like asking me for details. He's like, What is this all about? And I said, Oh, it's the assembly on CBC. And he's like, wow, it's been so great. I can't believe how much they know about her. And I'm like, yeah. I was like, but I think, you know, that is one of the superpowers of, like, neurodivergent people, is that they just become so engrossed and so passionate and then so knowledgeable and so, I mean, yeah, it's been a delight to see that's such a great series. I'm really pleased with that initiative.

36:54  
And they're not worried about, like, the way that they're asking something, like it's coming from, like, a genuine curiosity

37:00  
without a filter, nothing was off the table.

37:02  
Yeah, was there a question that surprised you?

37:06  
Whenever it's about my brother and the murder, it's a difficult time for me, because I just, I feel like it just kind of subsides, and then I'm faced with it again, which is just part of my life, and we can do hard things. But I think the question was, did I did? I think he did it. I think was the gist of the question. And there's a big pause that they left in on the broadcast, because, of course, they sent me the entire show before it aired. I'm looking at it, and they asked me that question, and then I'm like, I mean, I won't do the pause as long as I paused on the podcast, but it was so I don't know what they must have thought, but I had to. I'm thinking, what do I think I said? I don't know, and it's not up to me. Like I can't tell you. I have to care about him no matter what. Nobody knows. He's the only person that knows. And does he even know at this point? Can humans talk themselves in and out of anything they

38:11  
can? There's, oh, I forget what it's called, but there's like a term in crime where people talk themselves in and out of this stuff.

38:19  
Does he even understand what's at the heart of what happened, but yeah, it's, it's terrifying for the victim. I feel absolutely devastated for this young woman's family. I don't know, yeah, I don't know. But that, yeah, they just asked me everything. And they asked me if I was, I think, was I in love? Or did what did I was I in a relationship or something? And it was very early days with thortis. When did you tape it? And I want to say, early August, okay, oh yeah, so, but I, I can, I'm looking at, I don't think that question is, has came on. I think it's in the footage that they didn't use, but I just felt my face going so red, and I'm like, do I answer this question? Because I hadn't done anything publicly?

39:09  
Yeah, it must have been earlier than August, because in August you were talking about hand holding in Banff already. Okay, must have been a bit earlier.

39:15  
You talked about some stuff on here, but maybe you weren't doing it in like, true find our paywall, because there wasn't there wasn't. There was a Patreon reveal prior to the the general public reveal, so the only Jans got a sneaky sneak peek, yes. So there was that sort of like interim period, but it is like inner I've recently read interviews with some people and public figures, and they said the same thing as you and they didn't even have to go through a two hour interview where they're being asked to, like, you know, what do you think about your brother, violent criminal history? Like, yeah, so and, but they talked about how depleting it was and that they find press incredibly difficult, and it's weird to talk about yourself, and also to know that, like, once you say something on record in an interview or on. Video that even though you change, anyone can go do a story about you 10 years later, and they can dig up this one clip, and you're like, God dang it. I wouldn't have said that the exact way and

40:10  
misinformation is still an issue. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow. You know there's stories that just they'll say things to me, and I'll go, that's not actually true, and I'll do a correcting. And they're like, Well, I read it in but it's a funny it's that game you played as a child when you whisper a sentence into your little pal's ear, and by the time it gets back around, the red banana suddenly turns into the cow jumped over the moon. So it's human nature. It's

40:38  
the, like, Wikipedia flaw, you know. And you'll hear, there'll be like, one, you know, fact given on Wikipedia about someone, and I can't think of an exact example right now, but I've seen it happen over the years to a ton of public figures, and they'll be asked the same question about the same piece of misinformation. They're like, yeah, yeah, you saw that on Wikipedia. Not true. I don't know why. No one's taken it down yet, and I'll hear it on podcast interviews over and over again. It'll be like a little grain of truth, but then it'll have been spun out into something else. Into something else. So what a strange Yeah, being interviewed seems like it would be quite odd.

41:07  
Well, on Wikipedia, they've got my name down, and I don't know how to change it as jannAnn Arden Richards, oh, where's the Anne? There's no, there's no Anne in my name. It's jannArden Richards, but I don't know who put that in there. I have no clue, but it is we change it. Let me see, I wish we could. If you can change, you can,

41:29  
like, request things. I'm pretty sure. I've just never done that,

41:32  
yeah, but anyway, I do want to thank everyone for your kind, kind comments, for supporting the show. These kids are magical. You know, just to give them the opportunity to show the world how intelligent they are, how empathic they are, that they really make the world better, that's and, yeah, there is something with their brains, how wonderful to have kind of an unfiltered not like Trump, where you just are sick and a vile human being, but young people that go into life with such an authentic innocence and a curiosity and an amazing imagination and creativity and genuine love for you, like I felt so loved and when they came and hugged me at the end of the show, and I'll never forget it as long as I live. And it's something that I hope I can be involved in again somehow. Yeah, I would do it again in a second.

42:30  
Yeah. I was just gonna say on the heels of that too, like coming up with the holidays. Like, sure, it's like a feel good and wonderful story. I'll put the link in the show notes if you want to watch it. Jan's episode, I think is number three, right? Because there were other people involved. But you know, we never really know, and I certainly have been in this situation before where you don't know, like it's sometimes you don't know if someone's on the spectrum, right? So kindness is a big thing, and if we can bring that into the holidays, I just wanted to say that I used to, I used to work with an autistic girl. Met her when I was a day camp counselor, and she needed some like, after school care, and I started doing some of that stuff with her parents being in the like, it was a broken family. It was really hard. But I worked with her from when she was six to 14, and it was still to this day, one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. Wow. She was nonverbal. Yeah.

43:20  
Oh, wow. No good for you. I have an autistic nephew who's verbal. He speaks a little bit, but yeah,

43:25  
special, just seeing the world through those other anyway, we do have some voice notes. And we have, do you want to start with voice notes? Or ask Jan? We have an ask janntwo

43:36  
holidays. Ask Jan, can we start? Oh, god, yeah, let's do it. So a disclaimer to be even begin as this conversation and this question, as I learned in radio,

43:45  
Oh, I did that on air one time. It was terrible. Yes. So how do you feel about maintaining the idea that Santa is real

43:55  
as kids grow up? Um, I think kids are so savvy and they have the internet now, so it's probably not the same as when I was a kid and I wasn't too upset when I found out that Santa wasn't a guy. It seemed like a really gradual thing. I'm not, you know what? Don't I think that is for 234, year olds, and then after that, you can absolutely say, you know, mommy and daddy are Santa, and they just don't worry about that stuff too much. I think it's a little embarrassing when you're 10 years old at school, in like, fourth grade, and you know, you're telling your friends, Santa is real, like, give your kid a leg up. You know what I'm saying? Don't let him go like that.

44:34  
The parent I counter, you know, never burst the Christmas bubble prematurely. There's so such little like magic in the world that let this magic go for as long as humanly possible. But yeah, I think whenever that bubble does burst, don't worry about it. Because, like you said, Jan, it's it does not, in my experience, does not at all take away from the magic of Christmas, I think. And. Like, I want to keep it going for a long time. I don't know if this is accurate. I've actually never asked my parents this question. I kind of feel like, from the time that I can remember, I don't think I did believe the whole thing.

45:14  
I can feel you sniffing that out when you were three and being like, Do not lie to me. Like it

45:18  
just didn't feel it felt really great and exciting. I was happy to write the letters. But I remember a feeling of like that I was playing along. I remember a feeling that, like I thought, that it made my parents feel better to think that I believed in a lot of that, yeah. And so I would do it and be like, Oh, maybe. But I remember being like, Come on, we all know

45:38  
what. When I was 25 mom said, from Santa. And

45:41  
I'll still do that. Like, sometimes, like every even, like, just between Kyle and I pre will, we would write, we would give each other gifts. And then there would be one there that I would be like, Oh, this one's from Santa. And it would be like,

45:51  
one thing, Office, Office party, Secret Santa.

45:53  
Yeah, yeah. I actually remember being like, seven or eight, and like, standing at the window and waiting for Santa and being like, Why doesn't he come to our house? I know, okay, but very quickly, I do have to tell you, now that we've played that disclaimer already, yeah. I mean, Caitlin worked on, like, top 40 radio. Moms are the target demo. I worked on rock stations for most of my life, for sure. So there I go, talking about some Santa, oh God. Like, I know Jan's face says it all,

46:21  
but I know where this is going, and it's already breaking my heart. A caller

46:25  
called in to tell me off. As soon as it happened, I was mortified, and I'm still so sorry I learned a big lesson that day, but that's why I was like, You know what? Because their

46:35  
kids were listening. I remember too that we would have guests on the show around the holidays, and one of them would say something that alluded to bursting, said bubble, and like Marilyn and I would launch right in, and we'd be like, Well, you're not getting any you're getting coal this year from Santa, who's undeniably real, like staring at them. Shut up.

46:57  
Okay, the second follow up question, these two ladies are Miranda and Morgan. Eminem. Eminem,

47:03  
we were just asking the question about when family matching and using air quotes when I say family matching, but when family matching became a style and a pressure and a pressure that everybody needed to adhere to on Old Navy and in other brands where you can choose a matching out for you, your kids, your dog, your parents,

47:26  
but the only thing I ever love matching with my family, and I will admit this is Buffalo plaid, but that's a classic plaid, and you know how I feel about it, but buffalo plaid, when it's cold, just hits differently.

47:39  
Listen, as somebody who owns buffalo plaid dog collars, or my dogs, but the two of them do match in Buffalo plaid collars that have little bow ties on

47:48  
them. I feel like friend theme matching is appropriate and fun. Like, pick a theme and then everybody knows that the vibe so you can pick your comfort level, but like you're with the vibe couples matching is gross. Everybody already knows you're together. You don't need to match like, that's too much.

48:05  
Last time we're at the airport, my husband looked at me and he was like, she is definitely making him wear that he does not look happy. And I'm like, 100% it was for that one picture that they took.

48:18  
I think matching airport outfits are cute matching outfits, yay or nay and getting the whole family dressed

48:27  
well, thortis and I have t shirts and shorts for Christmas already. Did you buy them? I bought plaid, and there might be little tiny Mickey Mouses interspersed in the plaid. We also have t shirts that we might be revealing on the cruise. Well, we'll see, we'll see how we're feeling. Okay.

48:45  
What about Kyle and will,

48:48  
oh, if I could Kyle, Kyle will never, ever be seen in the matching anything. I know I couldn't get it to happen. I mean, he like, we're not like a pajamas house, so that's the first place to like, where it's like, not, you know, we're not all in, like, pajamas regularly. Anyways, okay, so I think I am down to get holiday attire. I don't know that it would match. I would be happy to do it, and I certainly don't mind. I think it's cute as hell when other people do it. I love it. I love so love when I see especially I love matching bathing suits. For some reason, I love when, like, I see a dad and a little boy in matching with the boxer, like the little like, board shorts are the same, it melts my heart. And then, like, a mom and her daughters have the same, like, frilly one. I love that. So I'm down for it. I just don't think, I think, like, I can't see Kyle doing it. Kyle doesn't even really like, as you guys know, he doesn't even really like to be photographed. He doesn't really even like being on my socials. Like he

49:41  
doesn't even like saying hi when he's in the room and we're podcasting. I have to hand

49:46  
him the microphone and he'll be like, Oh yeah, no. Sports thing is whatever goes Yeah. I drank now once on the Marilyn Dennis show, and I watched him, I watched him mentally unravel, like I watched him have a full nervous breakdown on camera. Laura. And then afterwards, I realized that he was so, like, shaky and uncomfortable. And I was like, Oh no. I was like, I thought you were just putting this on. He's like, I hate it. I was like, okay, okay, you don't have to do the next rest of the show with me. Like, go. I feel like

50:13  
my sister's family, they have, like, thrown up matching outfits every single year for so many years that I'm just like, but that's me, so you're over, okay, I'm over. Okay. Now some voice notes, Yes, yep, okay. Here we go. Good

50:25  
morning. Caitlin, Sarah and Jan. Jan, I went to your festive concert on Friday night in Markham. I brought my mom, and it was so much fun. You were radiant. You're energetic. It was so magical. And thank you so much for that. I have a question for you, though, behind you projected looked like two window panes, and on the left, from my point of view in the audience, it looked like a silhouette of a woman, and I was wondering if it was thortis anyway. Just a little quick question about that. Have fun with your holiday tour. Thank you, ladies for the wonderful podcast each week. I look forward to listening and laughing and crying along with you. Bye,

51:14  
thank you so much. No, it's definitely not thordis. There's no that must just be like an illusion of some kind, but that is so adorable that you kind of saw that, but I don't, I think it's just random lighting and stuff. It's kind of like a Rorschach window pane, apparently, and but yeah, thanks. She'll be touched that you thought that. And you know, maybe that's something that we should incorporate is just to have her profile everywhere.

51:43  
That would be romantic, romantic as all hell. Okay, here's another one.

51:47  
Hi, Jen. I just saw your show at the Markham theater, and I wanted to tell you how amazing it was. You are such an incredible entertainer and storyteller, and I really wish there was just more people like you in the world. Your podcast is amazing, and I love listening to the three of you, and I was beyond excited to get to see you in person tonight. So thank you for coming to Markham.

52:14  
Thank you so much. I mean, I don't know what to say. I feel very undeserving a lot of the time. As you know, I'm someone that stumbles through life, and I've made an inordinate amount of mistakes, but I truly have a great time with the band and to be able to bring a little bit of joy to people. And there's nothing like the holidays, like no matter what your religious leanings are or your political leanings, you know, hundreds of people sit in a theater and for two hours of time, you have a common commonality and everything. It's like the gloves are off, the knives are down the there's just this camaraderie, and we feel it, and it's really, really lovely, and I'll always remember it. What a great way to have made my way through the world. So thanks for coming. I just appreciate more than you know. I love

53:06  
that. Okay, next one,

53:08  
Hi, Jen Caitlin and Sarah. It's Kelly calling from Peachland, British Columbia. You were talking about staying in bed longer than you need to. And there's a Scottish term for it, and it's called herkle. Durkel. And I do a lot of herkle derkling, just love staying in bed on a cool morning. Also love your podcast. Thanks for bringing a smile to my face so many times. And I've just joined the book bag and look forward to reading some books with you guys. Thank you. Have a great day. Bye. Bye.

53:42  
Welcome Kelly. Okay, and one more

53:46  
herkle. Dirkle, though we have to comment on her, someone else sent me this. A listener sent it to me via DM. And so I wonder if that was Kelly too. I also love that Kelly is from peach land. That's the cutest thing I've ever

53:57  
heard her. I'm gonna fucking hurtle myself into oblivion.

54:04  
That's a t shirt. I think there was one more. I think. Okay,

54:08  
Hi, ladies. This is Monica from the other London in the UK. I just wanted to leave you guys a note about music playlists. Years and years ago, when I was at university, I did an exchange overseas, and I met someone, and we had a great few months together. And when all was done in, the placement was finished, I made him a mix CD, and one of the songs that I put on it was jannsong, waiting in Canada. Fast forward two years later, and earlier this year, I was talking to a friend about that mix CD, and I said, let me play this song for you. And as I did a quick search on YouTube, what came up was this podcast. So I immediately became an only jams, and I've been listening to you guys every week, and love it, and look forward to my. Weekly dose of Canadian. And I just wanted to just say, there you go. There's the power of music and the power of a mix tape. It brought me to you guys. Have a great week, and thanks very much. Oh and for Caitlin and Sarah, check out Fred again's boiler room performance. Oh yeah, all the best.

55:17  
Thank you. That's amazing. And that is, there's so many connectors. There's so many connectors. You go down that rabbit hole and all of a sudden you're at the jannArden podcast with Caitlin and Sarah.

55:28  
So that's bizarrely full circle. I absolutely love it. I also want to add, I was invited to the Friday again show on Saturday night. I was invited to go and offer herself one ticket. I was offered a single ticket, and I was like, I we've

55:43  
talked about this Caitlin, about going by yourself to shows, okay?

55:47  
And I if it was, if I was going to see Sigurd Ross again at Massey Hall and could stay seated. No problem, no problem. But I said to myself, a 40 year old woman dancing alone at an airport hangar rave

56:01  
crisis, like it's a it's a different

56:04  
crisis. Yeah, you fucking ding dong.

56:08  
And I asked all of my dance music friends, I'm like, Are you going? Are you going? Are you going? And they're like, we couldn't get tickets. And then I saw the friggin footage from Saturday night's show, and it is just unbelievably epic. So yes, I have seen his boiler room. I'm obsessed with him. Maybe he'll come back to Toronto and I can get more than one

56:26  
ticket. Yes, yeah, yeah. Would Kyle go to that? Or no? Maybe

56:30  
he likes Fred again, but he's less inclined to be in a large group of sweaty dancing bodies than I am. Okay,

56:35  
got it anyways.

56:36  
One last musical note. ANNA friend, one of the Abba girls. The dark haired girl just turned 80. I want to wish her a happy birthday, and thank you for bringing so much joy to not only my life, but millions and millions and millions and millions of people. She went to the show in London. You know, they have that kind of hologram crazy AI Abba show, and she was there and kind of waved from the balcony from her birthday, and people were freaking the hell out, if you haven't had a chance to see that, I know it's a bucket list thing, but they've extended it. They've extended it. They've extended it. Go to the Abba show in London. London. It's the you take the, literally, the Penny Lane train, and you get off at Penny Lane and you go see Abba. And it's, it's reasonable. It's reasonable. It's like 125 pounds or something. Well, that's not reasonable, but you cannot decipher what's real and what's not real anyway. Thank you for listening to Jen Arden podcast. However you find us, wherever you find us, we appreciate it more than you know. We're rolling towards the holidays. We're having a great time. We've got lots of holiday content coming up and some great guests coming up, but in the meantime, look after yourselves. Thanks for the voice notes. You guys are impressive and the Ask Jan, very impressive. We will see you on the other side and Patreon and eat dessert first. We'll see you next time. Totally do. You.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai