I wanted to start this post with a photo. The above photo was taken by my friend Sharon who is living in California. She took it (I believe) while on vacation with her family in Yosemite National Park. (It is a National Park, right?) Anyway, it's one of my favourite photos and is far too beautiful not to share.

Anyway, on to today's post.

Purpose.

Did I tell you my word for the year was going to be PURPOSE? I know it’s already 3 months in but at least I figured it out before December!

I find if I wake up in the morning without a clear idea of what I’m doing, where I’m going or what needs to be accomplished that day, I don’t do so well. I flounder around trying to find things to do. Don’t misunderstand, there’s no shortage of things to do around here. Some things I really want to do, some things that just need doing and a whole bunch of things I’d really rather not do. But if I haven’t got that all worked out in my mind, I put off the things I don’t want to do, don’t feel like doing the things that need to be done and have a hard time giving myself permission to do those things I do want to do. Am I the only one?

That’s where my lists come in handy. I love my lists. They keep me focused and on track. They give me purpose.

So that’s my plan for the rest of the year. Each day, I need to have a purpose. That can be as self indulgent as finishing a new book, or as laborious as steam cleaning the carpets or as boring as making sure I get to the gym and put food on the table.

Today I certainly succeeded in living up to my word. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a weekend of scrapbooking. I’m very excited. Today was spent getting ready to go. I had a ‘to do’ list as long as my arm and I am proud to say I crossed every last thing off that list and managed to meet a couple of friends this morning for a lovely cup of tea.

In case you’re wondering where I came up with this idea for word to live by, look here.

Purpose. That’s my word.

Meredith's Current Fave

Here it is for you all to see:



I hope you enjoyed it!! I know I did.

Manic Monday

Two new posts back to back! How exciting!!!

This is known as Manic Monday. Click here to join.


1. Do you screen your phone calls? Well, we do have call display but, generally, I answer the phone if it’s someone I know. I don’t answer for telemarketers or if it’s an appointment reminder. I guess I don’t answer it if I’m walking out the door. But I will call back while I’m out on my cell phone.

2. When was the last time you lost your temper? I don’t lose my temper easily and I really can’t remember the last time I lost it. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly get upset about things and go off on a bit of a rant sometimes – perhaps more often than I should – but I don’t really lose my temper.

3. When you’re lost do you ask for directions? Absolutely. I get lost easily and don’t mind admitting it at all. Most often I get lost while I’m driving somewhere and just not paying enough attention to where I’m going. I need to get one of those GPS thingies for my car with the lady that tells you exactly where you need to turn.

That's all folks.

I'm Back

I was on a bit of a posting frenzy for a while there and then I got hit with March Break and ground to a screeching halt. Well, I’m back.

We had a great March Break. I think I finally managed to achieve the perfect balance of activities outside the house and hanging out at the house. We went to the ROM, had friends over to play, did some shopping, played some Wii, did a little camp and the babysitting class and generally hung out together. It was awesome.

Now we’re back to reality and the laundry is calling me, the dust around here is taunting me and my computer is feeling neglected.

I’m off to get some stuff done. Happy day to you.

Sunday Stealing

This is another meme know as Sunday Stealing. You can find it here:

1. Did you date someone from your school? I never dated anyone from my high school. I really didn’t do much dating in high school and those I did date were from other schools.

2. Did you marry someone from your high school? Nope. See above.

3. Did you car pool to school? Nope. I grew up in Toronto and took the TTC.

4. What kind of car did you have? I didn’t have a car. My mom had a white '81 mustang and then a red 89(?) MR2 - she still drives the MR2!

5. What kind of car do you have now? 2007 Ford Explorer

6. Its Friday night...where are you now? At home, with the hubby and the kiddies.

7. It is Friday night...where were you then? Probably working or at the movies with my friends or a school dance.

8. What kind of job did you have in high school? My first job was McDonald’s, after that I worked at a donut shop in Eaton’s at the Eaton Centre then I worked at Simpson’s in the Stationery Department.

9. What kind of job do you do now? I’m a SAHM.

10. Were you a party animal? Nope.

11. Were you considered a flirt? Sometimes.

12. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? None of the above but I did have a major role in the school play one year.

13. Were you a nerd? I don’t know if I’d say I was a nerd, but I certainly wasn’t one of the popular kids and I did like to spend time in the library.

14. Did you get suspended from school? Never. But I did get caught skipping once or twice.

15. Can you sing the fight song? I think that must be an American thing. I don’t even know what it is.

16. Who was/were your favorite teacher? Mrs. Peccorella my french teacher and Ms. Messiah the drama teacher.

17. Where did you sit during lunch? In the cafeteria with my friends. We would eat french fries or bagels and play euchre very loudly.

18. What was your school's full name? Easter High School of Commerce.

19. Where did you party the most? Someone’s basement, most often with a deck of cards and no alcohol.

20. What was your school mascot? I can’t remember. Maybe a bulldog? Hmmmm.

21. Would you do it again? Only if I had to.

22. Did you have fun at Prom? I did. I went to two proms, one for grade twelve and one for grade thirteen. I had a date for grade twelve and went with my girlfriends for grade thirteen. I think I had more fun the second time with my girlfriends.

23. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? Not the one from grade twelve but I went to dinner just a few weeks ago with two of the girls from grade thirteen. I still love ‘em both.

24. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? Nope.

25. Do you still talk to people from school? Only the two I went to dinner with.

26. What are/were your school's colors? Black and Red.


Wow. I don't remember being a boring dweeb in high school, but this really makes me sound that way.

I am glad it's over, that's for sure.

Project 365

I have been a bad Project 365er. I was two weeks behind in my pages. So, here they are. I got both of these done today. Hopefully, I'll have the time to post and do this weeks' page tomorrow. (Was that a confusing sentence?)

Here they are. Thanks for looking.


Just click on the image if you'd like to see it larger

Another Video

This little gem was forwarded to me by my mother and I just had to share it here. It's such a cute and touching story. Enjoy.

Words of Wisdom

I found this video on this blog today and thought it was well worth sharing. We all need to remember this more often.

right outside my back door

Yesterday when we opened the back door for the first time, this little treat was waiting for us.



It’s from a raccoon, in case you’re wondering. A medium sized one, I’d say.

What exactly would prompt a raccoon to decide that our back mat was a good place to drop his load?

Crazy.

no title

It’s been a rainy weekend here in southern Ontario. It’s nice to see the warmer weather move in and the snow melt away, but it does leave me wondering what’s to come. It’s too early to be this mild!!

We’ve spent the weekend just hanging out. Last week was our last ski lesson and while I miss being out there on the slopes, I’m certainly glad we didn’t have a lesson yesterday with the mild temperatures and rain!

Yesterday we went to Dave’s moms for a little lunch. It was so nice to be able to walk there. Meredith had a friend sleepover last night and now Isobel has a friend here this afternoon. It’s been a nice weekend hanging out at home.

Again it is striking me that our lives are changing. When one of the girls has a friend here, they just go off and do their own thing. No directions needed. They know what they are allowed to do and what they don’t and I think we’ve done a good job of raising them to know and do the right thing. This afternoon, we even left Isobel and her friend here with Meredith while we went for a walk. It’s so nice to be able to spend time together again, even if it is for something as simple as a walk to the local Starbuck’s and back. I’m going to enjoy this period of our lives. Everyone is happy and gets along so well.

I wonder what the next phase will include.

Mr. Rogers

Yesterday morning when we woke up, Dave put the little TV on in our bedroom so we could watch the Weather while we got ready. It’s always good to know what the weather’s going to do, especially when you know you’re going to be outside most of the day.

Anyway, he accidentally put the TV on PBS which runs kids shows on Saturday mornings. Mr. Rogers was on. It was so funny to watch Mr. Rogers. He was vacuuming his couch and showing the children in television land how to vacuum and how you can sometimes find things that have gone missing under your couch cushions. Then a neighbour came by who wanted to borrow the vacuum. They both sung to us then went outside to talk to Trolley and some of their puppet friends.

It is amazing to see how much children’s programming has changed over the years. Do children still find Mr. Rogers vacuuming to be interesting? They’ve got so much constantly thrown at them and it’s all so fast and so high tech and colourful, it’s nice to see something so simple. It’s also nice to know it’s still on TV and has stood the test of time.

Whatever happened to the Jolly Green Giant?

Our Last Day of Skiing

Today was our last day of skiing lessons.




We managed to get up and out of the house and were at the ski hill shortly after 9am. It figures that we’ve finally figured it all out and it’s the last day!! LOL

Anyway, it was an awesome day. In spite of brutally cold weather and a wind that froze my fingers inside my mittens, we all had a fantastic time. It is amazing to me how far both Meredith and Isobel have come in 8 short weeks. Both of them are more confident on the hill and can manage getting their skis on and off by themselves. They can handle whatever chairlift you throw them on. They can go down the hill without running into other people or cutting them off. That’s more than I can say for some of the adults learning to ski!!




Isobel, of course, is very interested in the snowboards and is already asking us about racing. She screams down the hill so fast, there were a couple of runs where Dave had a tough time catching up to her. But even though she’s going fast, she can stop when she needs to, is considerate of others and still does her turns. Meredith is her normal cautious self. She takes her time and gets to the bottom when she’s ready but she does it with terrific form and a great deal of control.




I think we’re all going to be lost next Saturday without our skiing, but I’m sure we’ll get out there at least once more before the snow leaves us.

This is known as the Friday Fill-In. I’ve never done one of these before but have seen them on a couple of blogs including this one and this one.

1.I'm happy its Friday, I'm going to head outside soon to pick up all the dead branches on my lawn left by the storms this winter and recently revealed by this unusual thaw, I am totally pumped about surprising my girls after school today.

2. Why do I have the ability to see the good in other people and not see it in myself.

3. How does this iPod thing really work, anyway?

4. Every morning, I put BioSilk anti frizz on my hair.

5. I consider myself lucky because I am still in love with my husband.

6. One day we’ll see this recession end.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to picking my girls up early from school and surprising them, tomorrow my plans include skiing lessons and family skiing and Sunday, I want to relax and enjoy my surroundings – and maybe do a little scrapbooking!


Enjoy your day and your weekend.

No Title

This is a very quick post since I haven’t posted in so long. This week was a blur of activity. I’ve been neglecting a number of things around the house and I tried to really focus and get it done. I was successful.

Isobel had some teeth pulled on Wednesday.




She was a trooper. And now, it’s like it never actually happened. Kids are so resilient. I’m not sure I would have bounced back quite so quickly.

I got caught up on my 365 pages. Here’s the two I did this week:




The layout is basically the same as for January with just a couple of little changes.

Since I don’t have much to say, I thought I’d share this page that I just completed (digitally) for an online challenge:



Then there’s these pages that I did (again, digitally) some time ago but really like:




This is a paper page from 2004 that I got done one Tuesday afternoon:



That’s it for me.

Hopefully I’ll have more to say tomorrow, or the next day or even the day after that!!

Rock on.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Love Day, Everyone.



You have to watch closely.





Meredith is the girl in red that comes at the camera with her arms in the air and Isobel comes after, dressed in pale purple.

This video was for you, Mom. Unfortunately, I shot it with my cheapie little Fuji camera and it does not have audio. What you don’t get is my girls saying Happy Valentine’s Day and they go swooshing past me. Aren’t they turning into terrific skiers?

This was the first day we have all skied together after lessons. I think they are both doing tremendously well. Being able to ski together is something we’ve been working toward all season. This is how we’ll be spending our Saturdays for the next three weeks! I am so looking forward to it.

This is the girls on the drive home.





I think they’ll both sleep well tonight.

Running again.

Today I ran. Outside. I haven’t run outside in such a long time and it felt so good. I think I probably did as much walking as running but with 8C temperatures, why would I go to the gym?

There was a time when I ran outside religiously 3 times a week. I even managed to run 10K. Wow. I wish I could get there again. It’s the only time in my life when I’ve been able to lose weight and actually keep it off. I had a few injuries that stopped me from running and once you stop, it is so hard to get back there again. It’s a nasty cycle. You stop running, the weight comes back and it gets harder to run. Harder from a cardio perspective but also harder on your body. Sometimes my knees and hips ached so much I couldn’t bear the thought of running.

Today, although it is warm, it is a particularly dreary day. I love dreary days, especially for running. I wonder what that says about me? Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the sun. Especially the way it was earlier this week. Something about a sunny day in the middle of winter helps to lift the spirits and reminds us that spring is coming. But for running, gray is better. No sun beating down on my head making me hot and getting in my eyes making it hard to see.

This was the view looking up my street.



Dreary, huh? Yet, beautiful at the same time.

Lots of fog in the background that made me feel like I was running in my own private world. I loved it. Remind me of that the next time I’m complaining about it, okay?

Over the past few weeks I’ve been making a real effort to get to the gym and run on the treadmill. The amounts of snow and extreme cold temperatures have made it very hard to run outside. Also, I’ve discovered if I run inside on a treadmill with a TV attached I can watch ‘The View’ or ‘Regis and Kelly’! While I’m not normally a person who watches those show, I do find it makes the run so much easier. I hardly notice the time go by.

My goal? To be able to run in the OTMH 5K in June. It’s on Father’s Day. I’d also like to be able to run 10K again. I’m not setting myself a weight loss goal. That’s not foremost in my mind right now. As long as I’m healthy and able to run, the rest will come.

Eleanor Rossevelt said “ You must do the thing, you think you cannot do.” Words to live by, my friends.

Now, I need to shower.

Some Pages, Some Stuff

I don’t know what’s going on with me lately. I just don’t seem to be able to sit down and focus on a task and actually get it completed. I’ve got all kinds of things on the go, none of which are completed. It’s leaving me feeling very undone and discombobulated. Tomorrow, I need to FOCUS on one thing at a time and actually get something done. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Having said all that, here are the first 2 pages of my Project 365 album which I did manage to get done last week. Notice all those little snowflakes on the pages? It is my intention to add them to the pages I’ve already done for January.





Now I need to get off my duff and come up with my page design for February. I may have to scraplift one of Barb’s lovely 365 pages.

This year for Christmas I made digital calendars for myself, my mother and my mother in law. I haven't included the monthly grids but here are the calendar pages:














We had a good weekend full of ski lessons and birthday parties. Saturday night was a sleepover for both the girls in Burlington. They came home tired and happy. Dave and I took the opportunity to head to the ROM in Toronto and just hang out. It’s so nice to have that time together to reconnect. Life gets so busy sometimes with kids and programs and life, it’s nice to just slow it down a bit and be a couple instead of responsible parents. It’s also nice to know that after being together as long as we have, we can still talk for hours and make each other laugh. For that, I am thankful.

This Post Is For Donna And Mary!

Don't you guys feel special? These are the pages I was talking about. If you want to see a larger image just hover you mouse over the picture and 'click'.

For those of you who are peeking and are not Donna or Mary, these are some digi pages I did of our trip out to the east coast a couple of years ago.







Thanks for looking. Let me know what you think.

I'm Back

My apologies for not posting this week. I just haven’t been in the mood. I haven’t been in the mood for much of anything. Actually, I think the February blahs are setting in. However, this is the first day of a new week and I’m going to chase those blahs away!!!

I got my 365 page for the week done:



I know, I know. It looks just like last week’s page. And the week before that. I’m trying to focus on the photos more than the page design and originally I was going to do the entire album with the same basic page design. As I get into this, I realize I’m not going to be able to do the same page 52 times. I just can’t do it. However, I also know that if I’m going to keep this up, it needs to be easy. So, I’m going to do a different page design each month. Today is the first of February so you’ll see a brand new page next week!! Isn’t that exciting? Of course, I still have those first 2 weeks of January to do and they’ll be the same, but, whatever.

Here are a couple of paper pages I’ve done recently:







My apologies for the poor quality. Actually they look a little wonky too. I don’t have a scanner, so I’m taking a photo of the pages and then cropping out my dining room table before posting. Unfortunately, I just can’t seem to get the edges straight. Oh well. You get the general idea, right?

Okay, I’m off now. I’m supposed to be watching the Super Bowl but I figured I watched the half time show and that’s what’s most important, right? LOL

I promise to post more this week. Guides honour.

One last thing. Are you reading my blog and afraid to let me know you’re reading it? It’s okay. That’s what blogs are for. I’d love to know you’re out there!!! It makes me feel loved.

Later, dudes.

The Weekend

Our weekends have been very relaxing lately.

This weekend on Friday night, after dinner, we had ourselves a little euchre tournament. I have to admit I really enjoy playing cards and did quite a lot of it in high school and through university. It’s funny for me to see the two of them knocking on the table and throwing their cards down. I really get a charge out of it.

We’ve got skiing lessons for the girls on Saturday mornings. Our original plan was to ski as a family after their lesson, but after careful consideration, Dave and I decided that might not be a great idea. He and I are not the most patient people, especially when we’re trying to teach our children how to do something, so we figured it would be best to let the instructors do the instructing.

I think it was a very wise decision on our part.

The girls are really enjoying their lessons and don’t feel any pressure to advance any faster than they are comfortable. This week, Isobel was on the ‘big hill’. She was worried about it when she went to bed Friday night but faced her fears head on. She came down the hill that first time with a HUGE smile on her face. It’s so great to see them enjoying something I enjoy so much. I’m optimistic that sometime within the next month we’ll get to have that Saturday afternoon of family skiing that I’m so looking forward to.

It has been quite cold hanging out around the bottom of the hill while the girls have their lessons. The wind really whips through Glen Eden but unfortunately we’ve found the chalet is too crowded to find seats to wait inside. This week I found these things in the mud room closet when I cleaned it out. I have no idea how long they’ve been in there but, boy, do I love them. I put one in each of my boots and my tootsies were toasty warm. Nothing says ‘I’m happy’ quite like warm feet.

This weekend after skiing Isobel had a birthday party so Dave and I got to hang out with Meredith. We had a lovely lunch with her. She had a science test to study for so while she did that, he and I donated the two desks in the basement and put an old tin topped table in their place. It’s looking a little less crowded down there. A little.

Sunday, Dave plays squash in the mornings while I do some chores around the house. This time it was Meredith’s turn to be out (at a friends house) after lunch so Dave and I got to hang out with Isobel. We took her downtown for a hot chocolate. When we got home, it was time to Wii. Man, I love that thing. Are adults allowed to admit that? It’s a lot of fun. I even enjoy watching the girls while they play.

It was a great weekend. And while I feel like I was totally able to relax, I feel like I was productive and got stuff done too. Plus it was a bonus to have some time alone with each of the girls.

On the funnier side of things, Meredith is studying the solar system in science right now and has been studying this weekend for a test on Monday. She’s quite fascinated by the planet Uranus and can’t help but giggle every time she reads about it. She wants to know who would give a planet such a name. You can only imagine what other conversations we have had about the word ‘Uranus’ and its connotations.

Yet another sign, my girl is getting older.

Well, I guess I’m back to my long posts. Sleep well, my reader, and have yourself a great day.