Looking Back at 2022 – Part Two
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So Jan told me to do the in here. I guess this is my first time. This is the Jan Arden podcast. It's our best of 2022. Thank you for the honors, Jan. Sarah, I just feel like I talk too damn much.

I've enjoyed it. Well, ask Adam. You know, he's been here for... The whole time. Two years, two and a half years, and I just, I talk too much. I'll ask him a question and then I cut him off. It's okay. It's also why they gave you a podcast, so it's okay. We have had so much fun. It's been fun getting to know you guys. Love it. It's been fun asking you questions about favorite this and favorite that and dating and, you know, just all the stuff that I always make you guys put you on the spot about school lunches and favorite gifts and, you know...

I don't know. It's, it's just been really great now that we're kind of coming out of COVID and seeing each other in person a little bit more, but I, I don't know about you guys, but I really, I have been so inspired by the opportunities that,

to talk with people that I have admired for so long. Like Brian Adams, perhaps? Yeah. And you know, Brian is a household name. He's the backdrop to all our lives. So let me ask you this before we, you know, do a throwback to Brian Adams being on the show a few weeks ago. Um, what was the, like, how did it go when you were asking him to be on your holiday special Jan alone for the holidays? Was that an easy ask?

I knew I was going to face a little bit of opposition just because I knew he was in the middle of touring. We have the same manager, to be honest. Bruce Allen has looked after Brian for 45 years. Brian walked into his office when he was 16 years old and said, I want to be a rock star. I want you to manage me. I don't want anybody else. And he does tell us a story about his mother and

And when he decided to, you know, go out of school, it's such a great story. But anyway, I just, I asked the office cause it's the right way to go. I don't want to put anybody on the spot that I have a personal relationship with. It's harder to say no if you can't do things. So Joe said, uh, it's doubtful. I will get back to you cause he's in the middle of a tour. A couple of days went by. I think you and I had talked. I'm like, I haven't heard anything yet. And then I think it was like the day that we were talking about it. They did get back to me.

And we just had to figure out how to get him there to fly him in and spend three hours. Can you get it done in three hours? That's what Bruce Allen said to me today. I'm like, I have never seen anything in TV take more than like 40 hours, but we'll try. We will work on it. But when Brian heard what it was, you know, he's familiar with the show. I don't think he's ever seen it, but he's familiar with it. And he said, yeah, I'll do it. Can I sing my new Christmas song?

I think that's what maybe got him into this because he's going to tell us like a wonderful story about how one of his daughters inspired the song that he sings on the special, right? Yeah, we'll let him tell it. And he doesn't talk about his kids that much. He's super private. I have never seen a social media picture. I've seen a few photos of...

Well, I guess his ex-partner or his partner. Nobody even knows. I don't know. I'm not going to make any guesses. But his children, I guess, are adorable. I've never seen pictures of them.

I always ask him about the kids and he's always really pleased. I'm like, how are your girls? He said, they're so great. They're just so curious. One's so into Christmas, she just can't help herself. And then the story proceeds to unfold. But it was a real treat having him on the show. And he was pretty damn great to everybody. He left that building and everyone felt like they were floating on air.

Now, talk about work ethic, too. This guy joined us for the podcast backstage moments before going on stage in Austria. Like, come on. Yeah, he was just sitting there. It was funny, guys, because do you remember him pointing the camera at the ceiling? Yes. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Because he was like, he was getting in his zone. He was, he didn't want to be, he was probably multitasking and doing stuff. And then like at the 14 minute mark, I'm like, oh, God, thank you so much for your time. Yeah.

I can keep going. I know. Keep talking. And I just, cause Joe at the office are, are her name is Joe Faluna. She said, you know, be mindful of the time he can give you 20 minutes. Cause he's going on stage. Yeah.

And so we were trying to just ask things, but he just kept telling us stuff and talking about his mom and talking about the girls and talking about touring. Let's let him do the talkie-talkie. Let's just shut up. See, Adam? There I freaking go again. Okay, this episode is just a few weeks back, and if you want to go listen to the full episode, there's more than what you're about to hear. Here is our little visit with Brian Adams.

I have to tell this story because Brian very graciously said that he would fly in on half a day off, do the Jan Christmas special and fly out to his next gig, which was in Toronto. He's doing a brand new Christmas song called Let's Get Christmas Going that is still stuck in my head. It's just one of those songs. No, but when you, yeah, you should be sorry, mister. But when he came into the studio,

I'm like, well, really excited about you doing the song, Brian. You had your guitar and everything. And you're like, I don't know it. So I just wrote it, just recorded it. So we need to

write this down. And everyone was scrambling to write on the back of pieces of cardboard so that you could sing the song. Well, you know what? You put the pressure on when this camera's there. You want to make sure you deliver. So I just needed a little bit of help. If I could have just put it on the back of my hand or something, I would have. But there's just too many damn words. It is a very wordy song. So when did you write this song? You literally said to me, I just wrote it. About three days before. Holy crap.

Crap. What sparked the song? Because, you know, a lot of people cover the classics, but it's, you know, it's an original. Well, it was funny because I have a nine-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old daughter. Both of them love Christmas, but my nine-year-old really loves Christmas. And the year before, she said to me, it was around September, she'd say, you know, let's just get Christmas going. Two months early. And I'd say, well, it's September.

You just got to hang in there. But I just want Christmas. Let's just get Christmas going. And I thought it was such a funny thing to say. I just remembered it and decided to make a song out of that. Well, it really is infectious. It's one of those things I keep telling people after the special airs, you guys are either going to hate me or love me because you're going to have this song stuck in your head forever. By the way, I really want to see the video we did together.

I'm sure it's going to be great. Brian, it is so funny. When we get off of this podcast, I'm going to send you the Jan Alone for the Holiday special. It is such a funny bit. I don't want to give too much away to everybody because Brian is trying to sing his song and I'm just being a jackass behind him. But when you see the footage, I hope it makes you smile as much as it made me smile because...

Everyone was so excited to have you there. It was crazy. I'm dying to see it. I can't wait. Can I ask a few dumb Christmas questions, if I may? So, favorite Christmas movie, Brian, and your favorite Christmas classic song? Favorite Christmas movie would have to be Elf. Yep. Nice, nice. Favorite Christmas song. I like that Paul McCartney one a lot. Really? Yeah.

That one, I just, I want to drive off the road whenever it comes on. Why? It's like, oh, maybe it's... Don't do it, Brian. I'm telling you right now. Wonderful Christmas time, by the way. Simply having... See, I can't even sing any more than that because we'll have to get a license for it. Okay, I'll choose a different one then. No, no. Favorite Christmas song. No.

I don't want to mention anything from our colleague at the roster because he'll hate me if I do that. Michael Bublé does not mind. Listen, the man has amassed a fortune. Let's think of something else. Favorite Christmas song. It's probably one of my Christmas songs. I'll tell you my favorite all-time Christmas song. Run, Rudolph, Run by Chuck Berry. Oh, yeah. That's a good one.

They've been playing Christmas music here in Calgary since November the 1st. Do you like Christmas music, Brian? And why are you the only artist on the planet that's never dedicated 10 tracks to a Christmas album? I'm kind of working on it. I've got quite a few now. I released one last year called Joe and Mary.

which is quite fun. Oh, that sounds like right up my alley. Sounds like blasphemous. You like it, Jan. Over the years, I've recorded a few funny songs. I recorded one called Christmas Time and I recorded one called Reggae Christmas. I used to do songs for my fans at Christmas time and that's what those were. They were never released officially. We printed some 45s and sent them out to people. 45s. And somehow or another, the songs had a life, which is pretty cool.

Before I let you go, and thank you very much for spending time with us from Austria backstage, as the crowd waits outside for Brian to get out there, he's talking to us. Your mom is an extraordinary person, and she's been a huge influence on you. And I remember a time, and this is going back a few years, but your mom was following the tour buses. She was driving her own car.

I just wanted you to speak to how your mom has supported you, what that has meant to you over the years and how she's doing. Well, first of all, she's 94 now and she's always been really supportive. Even back in the time when I was 15 and I told her I was leaving school and her reaction to me was just, well, if you're going to do it, make sure you do a good job.

And I told her I was leaving school to join a band. And that's when she said, yeah, if you're going to do it, do a good job. All the way through, she's always been really up for it. Even though we didn't know what was going to happen. You don't have any idea where your life is going to go. You don't know if it's going to work or it's not. No, you don't. You just follow your gut and you have the best intentions and you do the best work you can and

Try and surround yourself with the best people. But it starts by having support somewhere. Because as you probably will agree, Jan, no one can do this on their own. They have to have a team.

And so in the beginning, my mother was my team. And so when I finally could start paying my rent for making music, we would just look at each other and smile because back in the 70s, there was nothing in the fridge. So I had to go to work. Wow.

You know, we went from having a lot to having nothing. And my mother was working two jobs. We were living in Ottawa at the time. It was interesting. And we talk about it now. What would life be if I hadn't taken the path? I know there's so many unknowns. What would life have been if you hadn't said yes? And she told me a story recently, which I didn't know, which was that she went to the principal of my high school and said, listen, I'm letting my son...

go and follow his stream to make music and I'm taking him out of school. He said to her, "You know what? You're a bad mother and you're going to regret this." I said, "Ma, you should have gone back and given him a copy of the record." She said, "Yeah, I know." But imagine having that lack of support with just listening to her son in her ear and just letting him go.

It's beautiful. There's something so magical about encouragement. And it brings up so many memories for me, Brian, when you talk about your mom, because I had that kind of a mom too that was just cut from a different world. She's just like, why not you? Why not? Well, all you can do is try.

I mean, what's the worst that can happen? But my mom was my true north. But anyway, your mom has, she's just been such a force in your life. And I'm glad that she's still here and still able to revel in your successes because they've been so numerous. But I just want to thank you for doing the Jan show alone for the holidays. Brian joins us, brand new song, Let's Get Christmas Going, inspired by his daughter, which is, thanks for telling us that story, Brian. Thanks for taking time. Jan, I love you. I love you guys. Thanks for having me on the show.

I wish you all a really happy Christmas. And to everyone listening out there, Jan's just having a laugh. Wow. Well, Adam, I'm going to let you bring us into this next section because I owe it to you. I owe it to you after 4,000 episodes on season one. So that was Brian Adams. What's happening? What have we got to look forward to tonight on television, Adam?

Well, it's the second airing of the Jan Alone for the Holidays on CTV. So that's tonight. 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. Thank you. And you said that you would let me take us out because Sarah brought us in. I sure am. I'm not. I'm backing away. I'm off this mic. I'm muted. Mute. Okay. How's this?

You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. I'm here with Jan Arden, Sarah Burke, and we'll be back with George Strombolopoulos right after this. Unmute for a round of applause. That was great. Welcome back to the Jan Arden Podcast. We are doing our very best of.

And one of our best of was George Strombo. I don't even need to say his whole last name. He's one of those guys that goes by Strombo. Everybody knows who he is. He's a staple of Canadian television, the music scene, sports for a while there in the NHL. Didn't you call him Brittany in the middle of the episode? Remember? I did. It's just like, you're like Brittany. You're like Cher. But I remember all hell breaking loose when he was going to be one of the commentators for the NHL.

And I don't think people realized just how much about hockey Strombo knew and knows. I love everything about Strombo, except for his love for the Habs. Can't do. Well, he and I have that in common because growing up, the Montreal Canadiens were my thing. What about the Flames?

I just, Calgary didn't even have a hockey team. I don't even, they had the Cowboys for a while, but that wasn't even until the 70s, I think. The Calgary Cowboys, it was a WHL team. Okay, so you're talking like original six. Yeah, I'm talking, you know, going back to when I was watching hockey in the 60s. I loved the Montreal Canadiens.

Nobody had teeth and nobody wore a helmet. And men were men. I'm surprised they didn't have cigarettes hanging out of their mouths when they were skating around. Seriously, I'm surprised that on the breaks they didn't fire up a demurrier and, you know, start skating around. Listen, I watched hockey at a time, and I'm only 60 years old. I'm young. But I remember a very brief time the goaltenders did not have masks on.

Wow. I remember seeing, was it Esposito? Was he one of the goaltenders? He was a goaltender. He had his brothers, the Esposito brothers. There seemed to be a lot of brothers. Anyway, this is about Strombo. Yeah.

He made us laugh, but he also made us very reflective. Hey, guys. Yeah. If you go back to the episode, we're reminding you that over the holidays, if you need to take a trip down memory lane, go revisit some of your favorite episodes too. You guys had like a 40-minute discussion about music and what music means to both of you. But he also opened our eyes to a lot of other things. We're going to hear one of those clips now. He does a lot for the world. Let's just put it that way. I'm going to hand it over to Strombo.

He took a trip to Syria. He has seen so much injustice. He has seen so much heartache on this planet. And he's a person that puts himself on the front lines. He doesn't just...

look at the news and talk about it and make comments from, you know, a kitchen table somewhere. He actually puts his butt on a plane and he goes places and he meets people and he shakes their hand and he hugs them and he hears their stories and he comes back and he tells us their stories. And that's what great journalism is about. And, you know, it's, it's, I think it's a very musical part of him. It's a very musical part of his heart, a very creative part.

artistic part of his heart to always want people to tell him their stories. And he's so good at getting those out of them. This is George Strombo on the Jan Arden Podcast. The World Food Program in Syria, we've all seen, or most of us have seen clips of you in Syria, which has been in civil war for seven and a half years. I'm just going to let you take it and just tell me about

the World Food Program, what your role is in it, and some of your observations this past several months, and how difficult it's been or how jubilant it's been to meet these people. I'm a huge believer that in any country in the world, Canada as well as the United States, anywhere in the world, the number one issue facing everybody, climate change, of course, is it, but it's connected, is poverty and hunger.

poverty and hunger. And you can build a foundation to fix a lot of the challenges in the world if you address hunger and poverty. Gender, sexuality, political, environmental, it's all connected to this. I believe this thing. So when the World Food Program first approached me to be a part of their journey, which is I think

maybe 12 years ago. And all they asked me to do was raise awareness and raise some money. I don't think, I don't think they knew what they were going to get by bringing me on board because I am hyper, hyper passionate about the full journey. So whenever we, and Julie Marshall, who is the one who the WFP person in Canada brought me on board, I love working with Julie and she is,

She had said to me, like, where do you want to go? What do you want to do? And I think she realized very quickly that I don't have a lot of fear. So I'll always say, let's just go to the place where we can be. Where can we go that I can be of most help? Where is the area of most need? And where are people not going?

Right. Where are they not going? Because that's the kind of thing that I want to do. So I don't have an adrenaline. There's nothing like that. It's just where can I be of most need? But what I was not prepared for, Jan, was when I got to the old city of Damascus, I was not prepared for how connected to what I was going to feel.

My father and my grandparents are from Egypt. They're all born in Egypt. So that part of the world and the Greeks across the Mediterranean. So that part of the world is my heritage. And I had not been to Syria. I had not been to that part of the world. And I was not prepared to feel so at home.

And Damascus felt like home to me. Is it pretty much in ruins? The old city of Damascus is not so bad. Aleppo, half of Aleppo is flattened. Like half of Aleppo is... And the old city of Aleppo has a market that's thousands, goes back to the Middle Ages, thousands of years old, absolutely flattened. So it is heartbreaking. It is devastated. It is... I don't know how you bounce back from this. And then you have to remind yourself that there...

Aleppo and Syria in general has been built and destroyed and rebuilt for millennia in a way. So like there are countless battles there. You're talking about the cradle of civilization. This is the oldest continuous inhabited place in the world. And so you just believe that it'll be okay. But,

It's it's devastating like it is devastating and the Syrian people are a whole other class of people I've been all over the world I have and everybody was would tell you no matter you from sure you felt this no matter where you go Everybody says oh you're gonna love the people the people are the best and that's true generally But everybody kept saying no, it's different in Syria and when I got to Syria I thought Wow, they're right. This is a whole other level and

Like the relationship, the way the people are. Yeah, I had an enormous, I want to shoot a movie there now. I want to go back, not just with the WFP, but I didn't feel unsafe. Is there a lot of food insecurity in Syria still? I mean, obviously much of their agriculture has been annihilated. Their workforce, the young men have been annihilated. There's been massacres.

millions and millions of people that have left Syria to find, and rightly so, that have been refugees, are placed all over the world. So what is the job of the WFP? And how did you, is it like literally bringing food in? Or what was your role within that?

so there are millions and millions and millions of people there who don't have enough to eat every day millions and millions and you're right i think it's something at one point up to six million people fled the country um so there's an enormous amount of food insecurity there's a lot of factors right so you there there is food

Like on most food insecure places, that's not a famine. There are, there's food, but no one can afford it. Then you have the inflation rate, like the inflation rate in Lebanon when I was there was somewhere near 250%. Think of that, right? It was like, so you have, so people can't afford to have the war happening.

Yeah, the war, the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So that affects the commodity prices. So there are a bunch of factors that are contributing to food insecurity in Syria. And then you have, it's not, you have the remnants of conflict. You also have an enormous amount of emotional trauma. There are a lot of people missing. A lot of people died. I can't, the kids died.

that are parentless, grandparentless, have no siblings, that have... It really is hard to... The depth of, like you said, emotional trauma. It's not even having an arm blown off when that's the least of your problems. Think about that. What you have to do is...

I think anyway, and I think everybody has their own way of getting through it. My role was to try to raise awareness and money and tell stories. And so I would go there, film some stuff, talk to a bunch of people. And then some of it is public. Like I would post it on my social media. I would go do interviews about it. Some of it would be stuff that the World Food Program would use. And some of it would be, I would just send it behind the scenes to politicians and people who make decisions to say, hey,

this really matters. This really matters. And there is an enormous population of Syrians in Canada, big population in Montreal. And honestly, I don't have to feel personally connected to an issue or cause or place to want to be a part of it because I kind of think our borders are arbitrary and we're all generally the same. So I feel like I will do whatever I can to help out.

George Strombo, what brings you joy? We're going into the holidays, whether that's... I mean, I don't celebrate anything religious myself, but I love eating food with friends. What brings you joy? I love Christmas so much. What were your traditions? Christmas Eve with my family is probably the most important part of my life. To see my mom on Christmas Eve and all the things...

I've been lucky enough to be a part of the one thing that will never, ever, ever, ever change is I will never not spend Christmas Eve with my mother. Like that is Christmas day in our family is whatever, like, but Christmas Eve, my grandmother's gone and sitting at my grandmother's house with my family on Christmas Eve and

I have never felt, I've never felt better than when I get to do that. So the only year I didn't see my mom for Christmas was that first COVID year. And I spent it by myself in this house in LA. And I, I cannot wait to see that. What brings me joy is making my mother laugh because we don't have a lot in common politically, spiritually or any of that stuff. My mom is, we do not have anything in common in that respect, but making my mother laugh

makes me really happy. It's magical. Laughter is pretty, it's pretty damn magical and it, it transcends everything much like music does. You can have absolutely no political affiliations, but you can love the same song and you can both love oranges and you can, you can, you can both love, you know, a television show. And that's, that's pretty cool at the holidays. Now, will you come home to, is your mom in the States or is she in Canada?

My mom's in Toronto. My mom has never visited me here in LA, but I'll be back in Toronto. My mom's a gangster, right? Right, Jen? Like my mom doesn't mess with, like my mom,

I can't get a hold of my mom. First of all, she doesn't have a cell phone. She doesn't have a computer. She doesn't have email. My mom does not want to be tracked, has no interest in being found. My mom is so hard. I have to call my mom twice, let the phone ring a certain amount of times as a code, then hang up, then call back a minute later so she knows it's me calling. My mom is a super thug. She's badass.

Oh, dude, my mom's job is what she, she, she was a nurse's assistant at some point. She quit that job because she, I remember this is late eighties. She came home to me one day. I was in, I was still in high school. And she said, doctors here are over prescribing medication to the patients. And I, I know we need this job, but on principle, I can't be a part of this. They're killing people. This is my mom's view at the time. So, so my mom left that job. What she became is,

Ultimately, I think for the last maybe 25 years, if a refugee comes to Toronto, they get my mom's number somehow, they leave her message, she'll call them back, and then she finds them. So I'll come home and my bed is missing.

because she'll take it and she'll give it to a family who needs it. So, and now families give my mom furniture and things, but she then is a broker. She gives it to people who have nothing. And my mom's full-time job is to be a guerrilla missionary for people who come to Toronto the very first time. So my mom is the scene. So yeah, so I can barely see her. A lot of times I'll get back to Toronto and she's like, I'm too busy. Which Toronto West End neighborhood, by the way?

So we grew up in Jane and Finch, Jane and Wilson, Rexdale, and then Malton by the airport. Now my mom lives in Vaughan. And I think the older she gets, the more she wants to move to, my mom wants to buy a church and move where there's no, my mom feels like I think the technological advancements in the world have left her behind. So she doesn't feel like she's of this. And I think a lot of people can relate. So my mom is, my mom just turned 70. She's still young and fiery. Yeah.

I cannot believe, I cannot believe what she pulled off in her life. You know what I mean? Like I cannot believe the life she carved out for herself and for us. The life she's still going to carve out. 70 is the new 30. That was our little piece of our conversation with Strombo. Like Sarah was saying, if you want to go back and hear these entire episodes, you can check it out on iHeart. You can go on wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Um, yeah. And wow, this, this, this story about his mom. That is why he is the way he is just like you are the way you are from your mom. Yeah. You know, I don't think we realized just what he went through as a young guy. No, he doesn't. His mom being on her own and, but the opportunities and the support that she gave him, he seems like such an old soul to me, honestly. Yeah.

He's just 50, and he did talk about in the episode of being 50 and kind of what that means to him. But he's one of those guys that's going to really go into this next part of his life, I think, with so much grace. We need men like him in the world. We do. Adam, you know that. You know, good men. We need good men like him in the world. We do. And anyway, that was our conversation with him. Coming up...

Guess who we're talking to? Our old pal, Caitlin Green, who's been on mat leave. And we miss her. And she's been tuning in week after week. And she loves you, Sarah, so much. Oh, my God. I don't even know her. And we've been having like 40 minute phone calls when we catch up. It's so funny. That's so great. I love her, too. I think, you know, she she loves she still interacts with everybody. I see her on Twitter responding to people and and, you know, retweeting the podcast stuff and being really supportive of of

of the show, but we, we really do miss her, but she's gonna, we're going to catch up with Caitlin holiday. Yeah. Holiday tradition. Sarah's got so many great questions and, um, we're going to, we're going to force her to answer all of them, whether we have to, I don't know, we're going to make her answer them. How can we make her answer them?

We'll figure it out. Adam, you figure it out on the break. You got it. Don't go away though. Caitlin Green is going to be with us. Will might be there too. We don't know. I think Will will be there. He hasn't been sleeping. I know that. I know. She's like, do you have time for a call? I can call you between 1013 and 1017. What?

Yeah. Hey, listen, are you up for a call? I can call you between 701 and 703. Okay. Yeah, that'll work fine for me. No, no, literally. Do you have one minute? Yeah. So, but anyway, it's getting better. He's getting fatter and she's learning a lot and it's just, it is a, it's a

Beautiful love story. Everyone knows what Caitlin and her husband endured with the loss of their son, Sam, a couple years back now. And it was just shocking and gut-wrenching. But boy, did we find out what a common story and what a thread of heartache it was through thousands, tens of thousands of families in Canada and all over the world.

of women that lose babies after full term, whether it's crib deaths. There's a litany of things that can happen. It's still precarious business having children. And we think that those times kind of left us at the middle ages. And every mom will tell you that that is not the case anymore.

You know, even getting pregnant is difficult. And Adam can attest to that long story. So Caitlin's going to fill us in on all that stuff. But I would be remiss if I didn't kind of give you a little backstory on just how special and, you know, what a miracle baby he is for Caitlin and Kyle. And yeah, we're going to talk to her about holidays, how they split it up. He's got his family. She's got her family. Her parents are divorced. So we got two families going on there. We got grandparents coming out of the yin yang. We got stuff going on.

So Caitlin's coming up. Don't go away. You're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast with Sarah Burke. Adam Karsh, don't go away. We are so excited to welcome another new sponsor, our friends at Cove Soda. Have I pestered Cove enough to come and join us here at the Jan Arden Podcast? I love them so much. They are Canadian, first of all. They are a natural, certified organic, zero sugar soda, which includes, get this, one big

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Good morning. Good morning, Caitlin. Good morning. I was just telling Dan how nice your hair looks so great considering that it's so early in Vancouver. Whose hair? My hair? Yeah. It's very tousled. The check is in the mail. I'm just putting a tea bag into, what do I got here? Vanilla bourbon tea?

Oh, no. This one, the hotels have vanilla bourbon tea. I don't want that. No. There we go. We're going to sit down. We're going to get into position. As they say. Into the tea bagging position? Sorry, I had to. Oh, my God.

I don't even know what that is. I don't know what teabagging position. I'm so behind in my positions in what the kids are doing out there in the world. Caitlin, tell us everything. By the way, everybody, you're listening to the Jan Arden Podcast. Sarah Burke is here and Adam Karsh. And everyone's in Toronto. And Caitlin Green, who has been rearing a child.

And I know you have a million stories. I'm just going to hand it over to you. Tell us everything. What's up? What's up? Well, I'm on my third coffee of the day. Yeah, have been just putting Will down before I got to join you guys. And I missed everybody. And I've missed talking to adults. If I slip into a baby voice at any point today, just accept that that's what happens to me now because...

That's my love language. Is it? Okay, good. Baby voice. How are you, Jan? What's going on? Do you want another little cracker? That's how I talk to people now. And the other thing you notice, too, is if somebody, like, yawns or stretches, now, because I'm so used to dealing with a baby, you're like, oh, big yawn. Big stretch. I know. I know.

Out for dinner with a girlfriend. That was a big yawn. Yeah, exactly. She yawns. I'm like, oh, who's having a big yawn? Anyway, so this happens a lot. Is it as difficult as you thought it would be? Yes. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah, it is. The first few months, I'm not going to lie, are really tough. Anyone who has children, I think will tell you that it's a really difficult transition and newborns like they just, they need so much and they don't give back a lot of feedback. It's just crying.

They kind of don't interact with you like in any other way. Babies can just communicate through crying, but then they get a little older and you start getting the eye contact and the laughs and they recognize you and they hold their little arms out and they smile when you see them. And so those things make it, you're like, oh yeah, this is the stuff people talk about. Cause for the first few months, you're kind of like, this sucks. Do you hate me? Do you love me?

Yeah. And you're like, what did I do? I traded in sleep and doing whatever I wanted, whatever I wanted to just get screamed at by this little alien that came out of my body. What is happening? Okay. Now how helpful is your husband? How is Kyle doing? He's the best. Okay. Good. Yeah, no, he's wonderful. So it's, it's very, very 50 50 and we both handle night stuff and he's very, very supportive. Um, and so I think that's been obviously quite helpful. Um,

But even still, you're both looking at each other in the middle of the night like, what the heck is happening to our lives? Have you learned anything new about this man you've been with for so long? No, not really. It's just more reinforcement of the same, which is that I chose the right one for me. Aww.

Yeah, we have the same sense of humor too. So like we have kind of a dark sense of humor. So when things start to go sideways, we can laugh at it, which I think is important because lots of stuff goes mega sideways and everything is so concerning at first. Like every time they do a huge throw up, you're like, is this normal? They eat a lot. Is this normal? They don't eat enough. Is this normal? It's just 50 million questions a day and a lot of guidance from other people that have children. And of course, like the pediatricians and you just, you need everyone to tell you you're doing just fine. Yeah.

So this is baby's first Christmas. Yes. And how is that going to be? Like, do you and Kyle run around and visit all the in-laws and the outlaws and the grandparents and the blah, blah, blah? You guys have so many people going on because your parents both have different partners. Yeah. And then there's Kyle's side of the family. So what are the holidays looking like for you guys and traveling with your little bundle of fat? Because I've seen him. He's a chub-wubber.

And I don't know if a chub wubber is an English word, but I just made it up. He is so freaking cute that I just, I want to put a little bit of salt and pepper on his toes and just take a little nibble. Yeah. See what happens to you. You do the baby voice. Even when you talk about it, you can't help it.

I think if you don't have a baby boy somewhere inside of you, I don't know, there's something wrong. But yeah. So yeah, it's his first trip on a plane this Christmas. So we're going to go to Prince Edward Island. My dad is actually from Prince Edward Island. So I have family there and my brother-in-law and his wife and their three children just moved there from Bermuda.

So there's a whole big gathering at their place. They've just built this really great new spot on the ocean. We'll see some of my extended family. We'll see Kyle's mom and dad, his brother. And we are bringing with us not only an infant on the plane, but Kyle's 92-year-old grandmother. What is worse? You tell me. What is more challenging? I would rather take a baby than a 92-year-old grandmother.

So she like, cause like Air Canada is very good about stuff like that. So we have a gate service where we basically check in with her and then they take her right to the gate because we're going to be dealing with Will. And, but I just think about what other people are going to be looking at us like when we show up to board the plane, like who are these two people who are carting an infant and a 92 year old woman onto the flight? Thankfully it's only two hours. Yeah, it is. It's ridiculous. It's

It's objectively ridiculous. But you only get so many Christmases with 92-year-olds. So we were like, you know what? We're just going to really throw caution to the wind here and make it happen. Well, I think the nice thing about visiting family, it's going to be past the baby. That's going to be the game of the day. It's literally like there's going to be outstretched hands and people are just going to want to take over from you. And I hope that you can lean into that and let people –

just plunk him around and that the first sign of crying that you don't race over there and say, no, I'll hang on to him for a while. You know, it's good. I think, but yeah, I think your instincts have been so good all along just with, you know, the, all the stuff that you guys have been doing. That is the luckiest little boy in the world. I wish I was your baby. I'm going to say that publicly. I know it sounds a little weird, but,

But so how's it been being off work? You have to, you know, you are a workaholic. Like you are a person with a work ethic that's just out of this world. How's it been? Hard at first, I would say. Again, now getting more into the swing of like being off a bit. But yeah.

It's difficult because you're, I, you know, obviously talk for a living. So talking on the morning show, talking to you and going to like media events and doing stuff and then everything changes really overnight. And so you miss talking about things. Like I just recently was watching White Lotus, the HBO series and,

Loving it, addicted to it. And I just thought to myself, I miss talking about this. Like I miss when something big happens on the internet or in the world, like all the crazy stuff happening with Elon Musk on Twitter. Like you just don't have anywhere to talk about it.

Yeah, exactly. So and I like doing that. I really love what I do for a living. And I love talking to you. And I love talking to all the listeners on Chum. So yeah, you miss that. It's a whole such a huge part of who you are. Think about how many hours a day you spend working. And then all of a sudden, the tiny baby arrives. And it's like, hello, now you change 30,000 diapers, and then just over and over. It's mega repetitive. Babies are repetitive. Yeah.

So yeah, that is hard. I am looking forward to transitioning back to work for sure. That'll be nice. So what does that look like for you? I mean, I don't know how this works. So the mom goes back to work, your husband works. Do you have someone that comes in and stays in the home with Willem? Walk me through that. I have no idea what moms do, what they're

families do? Well, it's lots of daycare. So I mean, that'll probably be the plan. We're already on wait lists. Like before he was even born, you're on a daycare waiting list in Toronto. That's nuts. It's crazy. And it's still, you know, you're still uncertain about a spot. It's very hard. You know, are they opting into the $10 a day plan or are you going to be spending, you know, $2,000 a month on daycare? It's just so, it's ridiculous.

So it's daycare for sure. And then my husband is going to be the one who is stuck doing mornings every morning because I leave to go to work before 5 a.m. And no daycare is open before 5 a.m. So he'll have to do the drop off. Maybe you could leave the baby at Starbucks. Yeah, they like that over there. That's what they told me. They have the staff. Surely to God, they can stick him with a little headset on by the window as a goodwill ambassador. Yeah.

Get it? Goodwill. Did you see what I did there? I did. So yeah, Kyle will be doing that in the morning and then I'll do the pickup and you just kind of make it work. I know some friends recently because of all the issues with daycare and so many kids getting sick and then being sent home, blah, blah, blah. They've actually pulled their kids out of daycare and some are doing nannies now or they're doing a nanny share where they share a nanny part-time with another family.

But yeah, that will hopefully be the plan unless something else crazy happens. And now in this weird day and age, I feel like you can't count on anything. So that's just what we'll do. Going with the flow. Yeah. It's a lot of challenges, but I think you must have realized by now, Caitlin, how strong you are, how adaptable you are. And I'm sure you guys can imagine, really, when you think about your life before Willem,

It's like, did we have a life before? Honey, what would we do? Would you and I just sit here and look at each other and hold hands and eat Uber Eats and look at Netflix? What did we do before this child arrived? We were on a walk the other day and I actually said, I feel like it's such a different person that has been completely replaced with this entirely new life.

And so that is very much how it is. You feel like he's just only been here four months, but you don't even really recall what life is like without the baby now. It's bizarre. So yeah, it is really life before baby, then life after baby. And then from what I hear from other parents is that you slowly come back more and more to kind of who you were beforehand. As they fall into a schedule, you get more freedom. There was another morning show host. She has a daughter as well. And we were messaging after

Will was born and I was like, how the heck did you do it? How did you go back to work with a baby? Because there's still one when they go to daycare and then get up at 4.30 in the morning. How the heck do you do it? And she just said, you know what? It just happens. It just falls into place with time. And all of a sudden you're going to blink and you'll be sipping a latte at the office, scrolling through emails and on Twitter, and your kid will be babbling away at daycare, having the time of their life. And it just falls into place.

So I think that's what you hope for. But you don't recognize your life before now. It couldn't be more different. It's wild. I think it's also really important for new moms to stay connected to that before baby life. What have you been doing to stay connected to those things that you love?

Definitely carving out time alone, I think. Going out for a couple of dinners. I'm a nail addict, so I insist on going to get my nails done. And my husband's good, encourages me to try to go to the gym. And my dad and his partner are wonderful. Even though they live in London, Ontario, they'll drive in and help us with childcare. That's great.

Yeah, we went to a holiday party. And I think it's just planning stuff in advance. You know, even if now we can't really go out on a whim and meet friends last minute, but we'll say, hey, let's plan something two weeks ahead. And just remind yourself, oh, yeah, I'm still in there. I'm still going to come back to kind of who I was. I'm not just, you know, a diaper genie as a human being. Yeah.

Whenever I had friends call me to babysit their kids, and I'm not talking about six months. No one in their right mind would leave me in a room with a baby baby. But my friends had four, five-year-olds. My friend Patty did. If I got the phone call on a Friday night...

If I could come and watch the kids, I knew they had exhausted every single person in their phone book and their Rolodex. And I'd be like, sure. And I would throw those kids into bed like at quarter to midnight after playing Mario Brothers. And I'd be like, you pretend that you're going to be asleep or I will never be allowed to come here.

Patty said her kids talk about it to this day that I was like the greatest babysitter they ever had. So consider that in three or four years. If I'm in Toronto, I would be willing to come and play Mario Brothers with your child. I was going to say, so if you get the text from me, then you know it's dire straits because I'm pulling in the last resort Jan option. Yeah.

Listen, we're talking to Caitlin Green, our beloved co-host of the Jan Arden podcast. We are going to be back. Sarah has a whole bunch of really great holiday questions prepared for you that I am dying to know what your answers are. Don't go away. You're listening to the Jan Arden podcast. Caitlin Green is here. We'll be right back. Ho, ho, ho. Welcome back to the Jan Arden Christmas Eve podcast.

Sarah Burke, Adam Karsh, and our wonderful co-host has returned from baby land. Caitlin Green is here. And, you know, I do want to talk to you. I'm going to launch right away into, and you brought me this story, Caitlin, as you always do, about Drake. The, is it the 24 engagement rings that he? 42. No. No.

Yes. Okay, take it away. It's kind of tis the season for engagements as well. A lot of people actually get engaged around Christmas. So I have to wonder how many of these rings Drake considered buying around the holidays. But he went public with this necklace that is huge. And it is made up of 42 diamonds that he says represents each time he wanted to propose to a woman, but he didn't.

He's only 36 years old, so how do you have 42 women who you considered proposing to? That's one every two weeks from the time you're 24. It's like 2.3 women per year since he was 18. So how would you feel as a woman? The specialness is erased.

If Drake's getting down on one knee to propose to you, but this is he didn't make the proposals, right? Yeah, he didn't. I mean, that's what we, I don't think. It's supposed to be symbolic, but I'm like, I don't think this is healthy. Like we all have that friend that jumps in. You know the filter that you need where it's like, maybe I shouldn't share this to social media. That's where I feel like this is missing right now.

Yeah. And like you said, Jan, this is someone who you would think at some point wants to maybe get married. Clearly, they're considering proposing 42 times. So I'm thinking to myself, the person who you finally do propose to, what is she going to think? Like, am I number 57? Like, what is happening? It's a very strange thing. I feel like I still have a chance. Yeah, you do. You do still have a chance. Totally do. To propose to you this Christmas. Yeah. I think I fit the bill. I'm only...

What, 25 years older than him? How old is Droke? He's 37, you said? 36. Did you just call him Droke? Yeah. Did I call him Droke? I didn't mean to call him Droke. But you know what? It's kind of cool. I like it. I'm sorry. Droke. You totally said Droke. Did I say Droke? You did. It's amazing.

He sounds like a Russian villain. Well, it's early here. I'm in Vancouver and it literally is four in the morning. You guys are like up. What is it? Noon in Toronto? Yes. Sarah, ask Caitlin. I want to hear about Caitlin's holiday things. You have these great questions and I want to know what they are. They're coming to both of you. Okay. So first I want to know the best and worst holiday gift that you've ever received. I say holiday because mine have been Hanukkah gifts. And I'll start. When I received an electric toothbrush for Hanukkah one time...

And I was like, you know, in my preteens, I was kind of disappointed, mom. That's my worst. That's not a Hanukkah gift. Thank you. Yeah, that's like, you don't want that. I mean, I would want that now, but you don't want that when you're young. No, no. Now I'd be like, yeah. Yeah, exactly. I love my electric toothbrush now, but I think the worst one would have been when my parents gave me gerbils.

What the effing F? No, I wanted a puppy. I wanted a puppy and I got gerbils. They weren't even hamsters, which are like cozy and you can hold them. Gerbils are like little mice rat combos that bite you. And they thought they got two girl gerbils and they got a boy and a girl gerbil and they proceeded to have like 10 million babies. And it was one time we went on vacation and they chewed their way out of their cage and the, the, all the babies were in the venting system of our

house. Like, I'm not joking. It became a catastrophe. So I think we all regretted them buying me gerbils in the end. It was definitely the worst Christmas present ever. That is a very sad Christmas tale. It's just, it was terrible. It was terrible. Everything that could go wrong. Honestly. What about you, Jen? Worst? Worst one? I don't know if I was even, I can't, I can't think of a worst gift that I got. I mean, I

Or weird. I got luggage. Mom gave me luggage once and I'm like, is this a hint? And then I got pots and pans and I was still living at home. I think that was a hint too. Here, I got you some pots and pans for when you get your house. Just like shoe. But any kind of... Lots of weird Avon stuff. Lots of weird...

uh, Avon things that were in the shape of like a man's pipe that had lip gloss in it. I mean, I'm just making that up right now, but Avon had a lot of weird, weird ass shaped stuff. Um, but my mom did pretty good for the most part. Yeah. I feel really fortunate. What's our next question? Uh, best, best gift that you've ever received. Caitlin.

Definitely remember getting the Fisher Price kitchen as a kid.

Oh, yeah. It was the big kitchen. It had the little table that folded out onto one arm, the microwave, and it even came with a skillet that made a sizzling sound like it was cooking bacon. My girls have that one. Like, they stand in front. I mean, they don't use it so much now, but they totally, you know. And, yeah, you put the frying pan. At 11. Yeah, no, no, no. It's just iPads now. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So that was good. And then of course have to get like, anytime you got a Nintendo, that was the best. So a Nintendo, super Nintendo and the Nintendo 64 opening those on Christmas day. That's what I was doing for the whole day. I was playing Donkey Kong. I was playing Mario cart. That was it. So I think, yeah, Fisher birth kitchen and Nintendo's. I'm a super Mario three girl. Yeah. Super Mario three. That was me. Yeah. Okay. Never done video games really in my life.

Yeah. Briefly played 007 on the tour bus, like in the nineties. Goldeneye. That's the best. I was always just left with slapping people. I'm like, I have no gun. I can only slap them. And then at one point, none of us had guns and we ran around slapping each other. It was like a precursor to the real high housewives of Beverly Hills, you know? But I think a crazy carpet, I think anything, anything to do with outside is,

Crazy carpet, those crazy discs that you went flying down the hill on, those saucers. And one year I got the plastic skates that you tie onto your shoes. So they're ski skates. And they just came in a package and you lace them onto your boots. They were so dangerous. But my friends Leonard and Dale would pull me behind a skidoo with those things on. We were winded constantly. I'm surprised I'm alive. But any kind of Christmas presents that were outside, snow stuff, were my favorite.

So, Caitlin, I don't know if you've wondered about this, but, you know, knowing how much time that you've spent with Jan, especially around the holidays recording this show, I was wondering after watching Jan alone for the holidays, which was very well done, by the way. Congrats. Congrats. How much...

Was inspired from your real life. Is there like a storyline in there that actually happened when you were growing up? No. Anything like that? Zero. No? Absolutely zero. It's absolutely fictional. There is nothing in the Jan show that has anything to do with my life or me. Which I love. Yeah. It's like I... My mom's obviously passed away and I have a mother in that. I don't have a sister. And Zoe Palmer played my sister in the first three seasons. No, I can't think of anything...

That's even remotely. I'm so not like that character. It's almost makes me uncomfortable. She's a really horrible person that's trying to redeem herself, but yeah, it's playing tonight. If anyone cares, it's the, uh, the Jan alone for the holidays plays tonight. Again, a repeat performance, uh,

At nine o'clock on CTV. So you can tune in. Caitlin, you can put Will in front of the TV, indoctrinate him. There's your Auntie Jan. Auntie Jan. Caitlin, what are you doing tonight? Well, usually there's, you know, lots of cocktails, Christmas cocktails. My brother-in-law has a golf simulator in his basement. And so I think that all the guys will be doing a little bit of simulator golf and

Can I come? Yeah, you should come. Just come fly out to PEI. I've got simulator vacuuming at my house. Nice. That's what you want to do. Yeah. Pretend to clean. You just pretend to vacuum. It's really fun. Yeah.

But I don't think we have any set Christmas Eve traditions. If we were in the city, my husband and I would sometimes go for a massage together. This was pre-baby on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve massage? Yeah, go to a hotel, you get a massage, and then we'd have a tortilla for dinner. I know. Or the spa. Yeah, or the spa. This is the kind of life you live before you have children, so that won't be happening now. And yeah, it'll just be...

Lots of cocktails, I would imagine, and snacks and going to bed extra late because you're staying up late. I love staying up late to wrap gifts. I know people are like, I did all my stuff in advance. The feeling of like being up at 11 o'clock on Christmas Eve, having drinks and wrapping presents. It's one of my favorites. So fun. I love that. Yeah. So what you're telling us is you're completely unprepared and you have to go soon. Correct. I bought nothing.

Well, I'll be curious to talk to you in the new year about how the flight goes with the 92-year-old and the infant and who does better. I think Kyle's gram will be good. She likes drinks and she likes flying. So I think she's set. You get her some wine going or she loves a vodka and Pepsi. So she'll have that. I know. It's hilarious. You know, what a blessing to be 92 and traveling and traveling

And, uh, obviously, you know, having a great grandchild is pretty darn cool. I love the fact that you're four generations wandering through the airport, you know, going and spending a Christmas. Well, I can't wait for you to

To come back in 2023, the new and improved. She's also back next week. Just so, just so we remember, we've got one more best of episode for the year. And I thought we need to revisit some of your favorite moments, Caitlin. So Caitlin's actually picked some of those best of moments that you're going to hear next week on the show. If you don't mind, that would be great. But in the meantime, I hope all of you guys, all of our listeners, I want to thank you so much for hanging out with us on this second season of the Jan Arden podcast. And,

And we're going full steam ahead for 2023. There's never going to be a lack of things to talk about in this world. No.

But anyways, thank you for subscribing. Thank you for listening. Thanks for all your great comments. Thanks for following us on the social media stuff. Sarah Burke, thank you to you for filling in and just being so incredible. Adam and I would have just been talking about, I think, his kids and his hats for six months. And food. And that he was very happy in sweatpants. And that would have been... I'm wearing them now.

So Adam and I were very grateful. Thanks for all your work, Adam and Caitlin. It's, it's great to check in and we'll talk to you next week. Yes, he will. We'll talk to you next year. Oh, I love when I get to say that every year we say it's gotta be better. Like what is coming in 2023? I give up on predicting or hoping I'm just going in neutral, taking every day as it comes the end.

And let's just leave it there. Merry Christmas, everyone. You've been listening to the Jan Arden podcast. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanzaa. Whatever it is that you celebrate. We hope that you have a healthy, wonderfully joy-filled, love-filled holiday season and look after yourselves. Be easy on yourselves. It's hard being a person.

And there's lots of information coming at you at any given time, lots of things to unpack and figure out. And just try and have a couple of days here this next week where you can just take a breath, pick up a book, you know, put a puzzle together, which I hate. And just look after yourselves. We'll see you next time. Totally do. Thank you.

This podcast is distributed by the Women in Media Podcast Network. Find out more at womeninmedia.network.