Last Week's Photos and Page

Here are my photos from last week:

 Dave heading off to squash on Sunday morning. Do you think his bag is big enough? He plays every Monday night through the fall and winter and almost every Sunday morning, plus at least once or twice through the week. He's very committed to his sport.

I took a walk by the lake on Monday morning then came back along the Lakeshore and went to the library, the bakery, the bank and the fruit market. I really enjoy doing my errands this way and wish I made the time to do it more often.

My current knitting project. I wonder if I'll finish it. Better yet, will it actually fit anyone?

I was out Wednesday night and Dave took this photo of the girls enjoying their dinner and sent it to me. They do enjoy their PBnJ dinners with Dad!!

I was back to the Retinal Specialist on Thursday again. The appointment took 2.5 hours!!! My eye and my vision is getting better but I'm still scheduled for the shot on April 11th. There's a chance I won't need it if the vision has improved more. Cross your fingers for me!!

I've started running again. I do miss it so. I'm going to be diligent in my stretching and take many Epsom Salt baths to drive away my aches and pains so I don't quit again.

Isobe had a birthday party over the dinner hour on Saturday so Dave, Meredith and I went to Whole Foods for dinner. I really liked this sign and thought it would make a great cover page for my 365 album next year.

And here is the resulting page:

Thanks for looking!!

365 Pages

I'm so glad they're done. Here are my most recent additions to my project 365 album. For anyone out there considering doing something like this I highly recommend it. It is a lot of work and it is a big committment but the payoff at the end of the year is so worth it. I love that I've managed to capture a picture of what our life is like from day to day.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful day.

Note: See the page that says 'february 30th to march 6th'? Don't worry, I've fixed that. It only took me 3 times to get the dates right!! Geesh. No need to comment DAVID.

March Break Update

Whew. This blog thing is sometimes hard to keep up with. I’m hoping to get some of those pesky (but oh-so-satisfying) 365 pages done soon and posted but until then; I’ll just give you a bit of an update of all that’s going on around here. Plus, my 365 photos from last week.

March Break was a good one. Sadly, we did not manage to get away but we did manage to cram a lot of fun into one week. I think both the girls feel they had a good sampling of hanging out at the house and ‘touristy’ activities.

Last weekend we hung around the house. We walked downtown; we got stuff done around the house, friends dropped by. It was very relaxing.

Then on Monday we were off to the Ontario Science Centre where we saw the Grand Canyon Omnimax movie. The girls and I all thought it was great but unfortunately it left Dave feeling a little ill. It’s usually me that gets hit with motion sickness, not him. Weird.

Tuesday and Wednesday found the girls and I at the Fallsview Indoor Water Park in Niagara Falls. We enjoyed the Water Park a lot and managed to trawl Clifton Hill and ride the Skywheel, visit the Funhouse and the Guinness Book Museum. Plus we managed to make some purchases at both the Fudge Factory and the Hershey Store – yum yum. You can’t go there and not look at the Falls so we did that too. Niagara Falls is one of those places that you can always find something to do. In fact, there were lots of things we didn’t do, so I’m sure we’ll go back.

Thursday we met grandma for some brunch at The Sunnyside Grill then wandered through the downtown area. We went to the bakery and the library then took a detour and spent some time at the park by the lake. It was a lovely relaxing day and I’m so glad we got outside and enjoyed the sunshiny spring-like weather. The temperature that day was 19 degrees Celsius. Just glorious.

Friday we went to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid then hit the mall for some shopping. Meredith does not like shopping and while we got a couple of things, we didn’t manage to get all that we needed. When is it that girls start to enjoy shopping? It hasn’t happened here yet.

We’ve tried to just hang out at the house this weekend and relax. There have been playdates and walks and more trips to the library. And Meredith did a little babysitting. Here she is on her way there. Wow, she's getting very grown up.

That’s it for our March Break. How was yours?

FINALLY. February's 365 Pages

Here they are:

Thanks for looking. More later. Have a great day!!

Thursday Thirteen

I haven’t been doing a good job of updating the blog lately so I thought I’d rely on a familiar meme to get something on here.

 

Here’s a list of thirteen things we will be doing on March Break (next week!!):

1. Sleeping in.
2. Eating sugary cereal. 
3. Going to Niagara Falls. 
4. Going to the Fallsview Indoor Waterpark. 3 acres of water fun!!
5. Going to a wax museum.
6. Going to the Science Centre.
7. Eating lunch out.
8. Shopping in Buffalo.
9. Watching movies.
10. Watching TV.
11. Crafting out.
12. Reading books.
13. Staying home.

Do you think we’ve got enough to do? I do. I hope you enjoy your week too – wherever you may be.

If you'd like to participate in the Thursday Thirteen, just click here.

 

Go Canada Go!!

THE I AM CANADIAN RANT

Hey,

I'm not a lumberjack, or a Furtrader,

and I don't live in an igloo,

or eat blubber

or own a dogsled.

And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,

although I'm certain they're really, really nice.

I have a prime minister... not a president,

I speak English and French, not American

and I pronounce it About, not A-boot.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack,

I believe in peacekeeping, not policing,

diversity not assimilation,

and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque is a hat,

a chesterfield is a couch,

and it IS pronounced Zed,

not Zee... ZED!!

Canada is the 2nd largest land mass,

the 1st nation of hockey,

and the best part of North America.

My name is Joe...

and...I......AM......CANADIAN!

Thank you.

It just needed to be said.

The past couple of weeks have made me feel very patriotic and very proud to be Canadian. Last night's hockey game was AMAZING - and that's saying a lot as I am not one to watch, let alone enjoy, hockey.

I am sad the Olympics are over but am very proud of my country and our athletes and am hoping to get to all the laundry and house cleaning that has piled up!!

Congratulations Canada.

Finally. An Answer.

Today was my visit to the Retinal Specialist to find out exactly has been going on with my left eye. Last week I was at Credit Valley Hospital for an Optical Imaging Test where they seriously dilate your eyes, and numb them and then take a series of photos while injecting you with a dye. The point of the test was to see the dye flowing through my eye to determine the extent of the bleed. (It turns out I’m allergic to the dye and I came out in hives but only on the side of the injection and they went away very quickly.)

Here is a photo of my test results.

I know it looks like a giant boob but it is actually the inside of my eye. I apologize for the quality of the shot but my eyes were dilated and I took it with my phone. Here it is close up.

See the area there that I’ve circled in black? That is my bleed. The darker part in the center is pigmentation and the area around that is the blood. The increased pigmentation is caused by a retinal scar that I’ve had for more than 5 years. I don’t know how or when I got it but it’s there. This scar caused some extra blood vessels to form inside my eye and for some reasons, they burst causing me to lose the centre of my vision in the left eye. Essentially, the blood was blocking my retina. It turns out I have an occult bleed (I may not be spelling that right) which means it is bleeding slowly, as opposed to a classic bleed which is like a fountain.

The good news is the first time I went to see the Retinal Specialist I could only read the very top and largest line of the eye test chart. This time I could read it plus 3 or 4 below it. I did notice yesterday that I could see a little more through the centre of my spot than I could a few days ago.

The bad news is if it doesn’t clear up on its own, I will require a needle directly in my eye. The will freeze it for me first, but . . .

This is now a weak spot and may happen again and my vision may not go back to 20/20 but I’m so glad to finally have an answer. I know there are so many people out there with more serious issues to deal with, and my heart goes out to them. I’ve been dealing with this for a few months now and didn’t realize how much it was weighing on me. Now that I know exactly what it is and know what needs to be done about it, I feel as though a weight has been lifted. I'm almost looking forward to that needle!

I’ll be sure to post a photo of myself when I have my eye patch!!!

I Think I'm Developing A Problem

Have I blogged about my new Log Your Memory Logbook yet? I got my first one just for December 2009 to see if I liked it, and I’m not embarrassed to admit I absolutely loved it. I’ve since ordered myself the 2010 edition and I use it every day. I haven’t quite managed to become involved in the online community as much as I would like but I do check the website frequently and have acquired many new ideas there.

I love to write in it about what has happened to me during the day. I particularly like to write with different coloured pens and do a bit of doodling and even do some key words or phrases in different colours. It makes me feel very creative. Plus, from a scrapbooker’s point of view it is full of great journaling/page ideas. I haven’t quite managed to keep up with them all but I know I will go back and create some pages from the journaling challenges I have managed to complete.

It accompanies me around the house along with my ‘basket of books’.I think I’m developing a bit of a problem here. I will admit I do have a thing for Moleskine notebooks. I just love them and am hoping to get a large one in pink one day.

Anyway, here they are. I’ve got one for my shopping lists and one for my digital pages. And one that I write down ideas for projects in.

Then there are my other notebooks. One for blog ideas, one for interesting stories I want to remember (I’ve never actually used this one!) my to do list and one for note writing.

Also in this basket are my phone/iPod ear buds, some post it notes, a pencil sharpener and my glue stick.

Plus there's my pencil case and my coloured pens for my Log Your Memory Logbook.

I even have some notebooks that aren’t here in my basket. At least 3. Oh dear.

Do I need a new basket?

Or should I stop accumulating so many notebooks?

Oh, and sometimes I even carry around my pencil crayons because I’ve started colouring.

I found some very cool colouring pages online and find it quite soothing to sit and colour while watching TV or while the girls are doing their homework.

That’s just a little peek into my life for today.

I Rock.

Say it with me "You Rock Milena"!!

Hahahaha.

Here it is the 30th of January and what am I doing? I'm posting my 365 page for the week ending January 30th. Yep, that's right. It's completed, posted, printed and in the album.

I rock.

Thanks for looking.

Lots to say . . .

. . . but no time to say it.

Here's my 365 for you for last week. It's the same as the last 2 and won't change until February!

Thanks for looking and have a great day.

There was no question in my mind as to whether or not I would do the 365 for 2010. While it was a lot of work, the end result was well worth it. I think it will quickly become one of my favourite albums. The only question for me was how I would do it for 2010.

Initially I decided I would do 8 ½ X 11 pages so that I didn’t have to cut them down. They would be simpler than simple. I was going to import all my photos into Picasa and make a collage from there that I would slap on the page and include journaling. This was my first attempt:

Blah.

That’s what I thought when I looked at it. Just blah.

I don’t normally scrapbook 8 ½ X 11 and I think that was my first issue. My second issue was that while the collage option in Picasa is awesome, it doesn’t let me choose which photo is the largest photo. You know I don’t like to be in control!! Haha. Then there was the journaling. I couldn’t figure out how to fit it on the page so I put it in the collage but it’s so small you can barely read it.

So here’s what I’m doing.

In 2009 each week had 2 pages and I used the same colours/papers throughout the month. For 2010 there will only be 1 page per week. This should save me lots of ink. Each month will follow the exact same design. I’ve bought a few templates and I will use just one template per month. This should make it fast and I think, in the end, very cohesive.

So, that’s my plan. Have a great day and thanks for looking!

Final Pages 2009 365

Well, here they are. My final pages for the 2009 Project 365 album. Even though at times it has felt like a lot of work - a chore even - I'm glad I did it. It's a great album to look through and it really gives you a good idea of what the year was like for us.

Am I going to do it again?

You betcha.

It's going to be a little different but I will do it again.

Thanks for sticking with me!! I should have my first couple of 2010 pages up shortly!

Scrap Space

When we moved to this house in 2002, a corner of the basement was dedicated as my scrapping area. In the last house, I had my own room and I really felt I needed that here too. It was in the playroom but I was okay with that. It worked. I could scrap while the girls played, watched TV etc.

Then we acquired Dave’s Dad’s old hobby desk. I liked the idea of using it for my scrapping because I could stand at it, because it was old and because it had been Dave’s Dad’s. We moved all my scrapping stuff into Dave’s office and I got rid of my scrapping tables. We shared the office and each had our own workspace.

However, the table faced the wall and I discovered I don’t do well facing a wall with my back to the room. I also found the table was too tall for me to stand at and the only stool that was tall enough for it was the one I came with. I had to climb up onto it and there was a crack in the seat that pinched my bottom. Ouch.

Eventually I moved all my scrapping stuff up to the dining room. I put baskets full of supplies under the old church pew; I filled the bottom of the china cabinet. I took over the dresser that stands in the corner. It worked very well for quite some time. I found I could crop for 5 or 10 minutes at a time while cooking dinner and helping with homework. The only downside was that my dining room always looked like a bomb hit it. Plus, we got a new table and chairs that were just the wrong height for me. I found I couldn’t sit at the table for more than 15 minutes without my lower back aching.

So, I moved it all back down to Dave’s office in the basement. It all fit in and looked very neat and tidy but it was first and foremost his office. So, on the weekends, he’d be down there so I couldn’t crop. At night, he’d be down there so I couldn’t crop. I couldn’t leave things out and messy when they were in progress and not finished yet. I must admit, it drove me slowly crazy.

So, I have reclaimed my original corner of the playroom. It’s not fancy and perhaps not even particularly attractive, but it’s mine.

And I love it. I love the fact that the girls are often down there and I can work alongside them while they are crafting, gaming, playing or watching TV. I’ve got myself my space back.

I never should have moved it in the first place.

Stolen Stolen Tag

I’m trying to be more consistent and regular with my blogging but I didn’t have anything ready so I took this from Barb’s blog. Thanks Barb!!!

1.Name someone with the same birthday as you.
I don’t know anyone personally with the same birthday as me so I googled it and the best I could come up with was Natalie Wood and Carlos Santana.

2. Where was your first kiss?
I lived in Oakville so I was in grade 1 or 2. We lived in an apartment building nestled together with a bunch of other buildings. A boy (I can’t remember his name) and I kissed in the stairwell of one of the buildings. I do remember kissing Tommy Sawyer (yes that was his real name) in grade 6 too!! - did you know about that Mom?

3. Have you ever seriously vandalized someone else’s property?
Never.

4. Have you ever hit someone of the opposite sex?
Yes, again in Oakville, I gave a boy a bloody nose and in grade 7 I gave a boy a black eye. Nasty.

5. Have you ever sung in front of a large number of people?
Yes, as a child, before I realized I couldn’t sing.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about your preferred sex?
Their smile.

7. What really turns you off?
Selfishness.

8. What do you order at Starbucks?
Tall, soy, caramel macchiato.

9. Have you ever hurt yourself on purpose?
No.

10. Say something totally random about yourself.
I am a homebody. If I had my way, I would stay home and not leave. I like it best when everyone is here with me.

11. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
No.

12. Do you still watch kiddie movies or TV shows?
When my girls want me too but not voluntarily.

13 Did you have braces?
No.

14 Are you comfortable with your height?
No. I’m 5’4”. I am often the shortest one in a group.

15. When do you know its love?
When you find yourself sharing things you wouldn’t share with anyone else.

16. Do you speak any other languages?
I took French all through high school. I knew my math marks would not get me into University. I think I’ve forgotten most of it though.

17. Have you ever been to a tanning salon?
Yuppers.

18 Have you ever ridden in a limo?
Yes. 3 times. My wedding and then a couple of years ago I had 2 engagements 2 nights in a row that both involved a limo. My girls thought I was very cool.

19. What’s something that really annoys you?
Not having enough time to scrapbook more.

20. What’s something you really like?
Scrapbooking.

21. Can you dance?
Absolutely not.

22. Have you ever been rushed by an ambulance into the emergency room?
No. I watched my mom go in one though when I was around 15 or 16.

There you go. That's it about me. Now it's your turn!!!

Award? For me?

My scrapbooking and blogging friend, Barb gave me this Beautiful Blogger Award. What a lovely surprise. Thanks Barb.


The award comes with the following responsibilities:
1. I must thank the person who bestowed this honor upon me. Done.
2. Copy the award and place it on my blog. Done.
3. Link to the bestower’s site. Done.
4. Enumerate seven interesting things about myself. Here they are.

- I was born in England and moved to Canada when I was 18 months old. From there I have lived in West Hill, Agincourt, Toronto, Edmonton, Oshawa and Oakville - sometimes in more than one location per city!!

- I am not a morning person. Getting out of bed in the morning is evil.

- I have to read before I go to sleep. If I don't, I have trouble sleeping.

- I love lists. I have lists of lists and numerous notebooks to keep me on track.

- I wish I could dance and sing. If I catch any of those reality dancing shows on TV, I'm filled with envy. It's not gonna happen though.

- It was never my intention to be a Stay At Home Mom. My own mother always worked and I really thought I would do the same thing. I couldn't wait to graduate from University and put on my first suit with nylons and high heels. And then I had Meredith and my life changed for the better. I love being home and I can't imagine ever working in an office again.

- My first job was at McDonald's and I ate way too many french fries while I was there.

There you go. Some of you know some of those things. Some of you don't. I'm not sure how interesting they are but . . .

5. Now I'm supposed to link to seven other bloggers I find beautiful. Unfortunately I don't know many bloggers and I can't come up with seven so I hope this will do:

My good friend Nicola who I would be lost without. She doesn't have a blog but she does have a website.

My good friend Anne who makes all my bags. She doesn't have a website or a blog but I hope she will soon.

Janet who makes me laugh on Tuesdays.

Joy who I don't see often enough on Tuesdays!

And of course Barb who makes me smile and laugh every week and has introduced me to so many other wonderful women and scrapbooking addictions!! Thanks Barb!!

UGH!!

My apologies. I can't get the video to play on the next post. Can you?

Perhaps I'll have to upload to YouTube next time. I've never done that. Wish me luck.

All About Meredith

A couple of things I've been meaning to share are Meredith's comic and her flute playing. I'm putting these on here primarily so my Mom can see them but also because I'm proud of her for working through things and never giving up.

This is her comic - The Girls of the Elements:

She started this early in 2009 (I can't remember exactly when) and she finished it in November. She worked so hard on it. I love the details showing the arms moving up and down and the image of just the feet so we know the girls are walking. Way to go Meredith. You had a vision and you saw it through to the end. I can't wait to see the next installment.

Now here she is playing the flute.

The flute has not always come easy to her and I think she finds it quite challenging. One day over the holidays she went up to her room and didn't come down until she had learned the tune. Again, she persevered and saw it through to the end.

I am proud of this girl each and every day.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I know I’m a few days late but it just had to be said.

We rang in the New Year with our neighbours. They put on a great party every year with yummy food and a lot of video gaming in the basement for the kids. This year we didn’t last until midnight. Isobel was exhausted from being up late a few nights in a row and their guinea pig peed on her lap. When we got home, Isobel had a quick shower and went straight to bed. Dave, Meredith and I watched the New Years’ Eve celebrations in New York on TV but I only lasted until shortly after 11. Meredith and Dave made it all the way to midnight!!

I hope 2010 is a great year for all of you, filled with fun, laughter, love and prosperity.

No 365 pages to post today, but I promise it is next on my “Freakin’ Never Ending To Do List”. With the girls back at school I feel like I’m crossing things off that list with lightening speed.

Give me a couple of days, and I’ll be back on track.

An Update

Wow. Has it really been that long since I’ve posted? Things have been crazy around here. Here’s a brief summary for you:

• Meredith’s Birthday Ice Cream Get Together. It wasn’t a party, just a bunch of gals getting together for ice cream. They giggled their way through the evening and seemed to have a great time sitting by themselves for a Friday night out. Meredith is certainly enjoying being 12.
• Meredith’s Birthday. We spent the day at home and enjoyed her favourite meal at lunch – ravioli – followed by chocolate cupcakes. We got her a Bamboo Tablet and she is really taking pleasure in drawing on the computer with it and using it as a mouse. That evening we went out to Niagara Falls to enjoy the light display. It was well worth the drive and I’m quite sure we’ll head out that way again, but next time, we’ll get out of the car and walk Clifton Hill.
• School Concerts. The girls’ school concerts this year were spectacular. Meredith was in the choir, the drama club and her class play. She did a great job and I really enjoy watching her up there. Isobel’s was a musical play about Melton the Snowman. All the classes did a short skit. The younger children always bring a certain enthusiasm to the stage and just love the attention.
• Roberts Sleepover. The real celebration for Meredith’s birthday came a week later. We took the Roberts girls into Toronto to the ROM, then out for lunch, and then down on the subway to see the Christmas windows in The Bay on Queen Street. After that they came back to our place and slept over. Meredith and Isobel are lucky to have such good friends.
• We took it easy for the next few days and had our big Christmas dinner with Dave’s mom on Christmas Eve. The girls stayed up late that night watching The Polar Express and were up around 7:30 the next morning.
• Christmas Day was a flurry of cooking, eating, gift opening, tidying, cooking, eating, more gift opening, etc, etc, for the whole day. Neither of the girls got out of their PJ’s.
• Boxing Day found us at the movie theatre eating popcorn and drinking Coke by 10:30am. The theatre was empty. It was great.

Since then we’ve been hanging out, putting Christmas presents and re-organizing. I always find this time of the year is a great time to get rid of the old and make room for the new. We seem to do it each year at this time.

I also have a couple of 365 pages to share. It is my intention to continue this into 2010 with a slightly different format. I’ve really enjoyed putting this particular album together and looking back over the pages to remember where we’ve been and what we’ve done.

Enjoy the rest of your holidays!

Meredith

Tomorrow is Meredith' 12th birthday and I can hardly believe it. Where does the time go? Where did my little baby girl go? She is growing up to be a beautiful girl - both inside and out - and I am proud to be her Mom every single second of every single day.

She's having ice cream with her school mates tonight then relaxing at home for most of the day tomorrow. We'll be heading to Niagara Falls Saturday night to see the Festival of Lights. The big party comes later in the month when we'll be taking the Roberts' girls into Toronto for a day of fun!!

I'll post more about our birthday celebrations later!!!