December 365

Boy have times changed.

I’ve been sitting here in my comfy chair for far too long, happily engrossed in my final pages of last years’ 365 album. There was a time, not too long ago, when that would not, could not, have happened. Today, Dave was at the gym, Isobel was at a friend’s house, and Meredith was happily working away in the kitchen with Ally on a science project. (There were knives and hot glue but I left them to it – aren’t you proud of me?)

And now, Dave is sitting next to me reading a book.

It is positively peaceful. I never thought this day would come. Back when the girls were little, it was a constant cycle of feeding, playing, soothing, helping, changing, pacifying and entertaining. Even the smallest task was monumental and required a great deal of thought and planning. There are certain things I miss about those days. To a certain degree, I miss being needed. I miss the playing and the interaction. But it’s all good. Life moves forward.

And on that philosophical note, I am officially done my P365 for 2010. I can’t believe I made it another year. There were times when I was very far behind. There were times when I was short photos and there were even times when I just didn’t want to do it anymore. But I am so glad I did.

Here they are:

I’ll be doing it again for 2011 with a slightly different format, but I’ll post more on that later. 

Thanks for looking.

Too funny

I saw this on a friend's blog and just had to repost. Too funny!!!

November P365

Do you ever feel like life is just flying by, but when you try to figure out what you've been doing, you can't really put your finger on it?

Well, that's what's going on with me. I feel like I'm busy, busy, busy but I'm not 100% sure what I'm busy with.

Here are my November pages. I'm working on the December ones but I'm 5 photos short so, I need to figure those out before I can complete them.

Thanks for looking and have wonderful day!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Well, it’s a New Year and time for a new face on this blog.


Happy New Year to all of you. I hope 2011 brings you nothing that you can’t handle.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. Things have been busy around here. I always find that period from September to December to be the busiest time of my year. We’ve got back to school, birthdays and of course Christmas and all the busy-ness that comes along with it.

I’m hoping to get my November 365 pages completed shortly and up on here plus some Christmas and New Year’s photos too.

So, check back when you have the chance!! I’ve been missing for a while but I’m optimistic that I’m back!!!

October Pages

While this season’s first bout of the common cold makes its rounds through our house, I decided to take the down time as a blessing and get my P365 pages for October done. That’s the great thing about being able to scrapbook digitally. You can do it anywhere. I particularly like that I can sit in my comfy reclining chair with my computer on my lap and get pages done. I could probably even scrapbook in bed if I was so inclined! Perhaps if I’m still under the weather tomorrow, I’ll get some non-P365 digital pages done and posted. Wouldn’t that be great? Talk about putting a positive spin on being sick!!

Thanks for looking. Here are the pages for October:

September P365

I'm rocking now.

As promised, here are the September P365 pages. Let's hope I can get the October ones up here closer to October!!

August P365

I was over here looking at the blog and I realized I did not post my August 365 pages. Or at least if I did, I can't find them, so here they are. The September ones are done too, so they'll be up shortly.

Where Have I Been?

I’ve been around, just not here. I’ve been blogging but not for myself. I’ve been busy setting this blog up for Anne. I’m happy with the way it turned out but it has got me thinking I really need to spruce this one up a bit. There’s so much I could do to make it look better. In line with that, I took this class and am hoping to put those skills to use shortly.

I feel like not much has been going on lately however, somehow I’ve been too busy to update my own blog. I always find that September thru December is a busy time of year and this year is proving to be no different.

We’re definitely back into the routine of school. Isobel is enjoying walking and Meredith is enjoying the bus. I have to admit, I’m also enjoying getting out of the house every (well, almost every) morning and walking Isobel to school. And at the same time, given that the girls are at two different schools, it’s also nice that Meredith takes the bus. I think what I like about it is that I don’t have to get into my car at all. I do find that because I walk to the shops downtown , I walk to the grocery store, I walk to the library and I walk to school, the car will sometimes sit on the driveway for a couple of days without moving. That makes me feel good.

I’ve also been catching up on all those things I let slide over the summer. I’ve been sorting and organizing all the photos I took in July, August and September and getting scrapbook page kits ready for them. I’ve been trying to categorize all my digital supplies because I keep losing things on my hard drive. I’ve been doing those things around the house that don’t seem to happen in the summer months – cleaning closets, windows, drawers, etc. I’ve been looking for a job but haven’t managed to make much headway there. Plus, I’ve found myself knee deep in some books that I just haven’t been able to put down. The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich and the Stieg Larsson novels. Add to all of the above my commitment to move more and I haven’t found myself with much free time.

It’s all good though. We’re all healthy and happy and that’s what matters the most.

Part 3 of The Muddiest Vacation Ever

I guess I still need to post about the last leg of our trip this summer.

From Hopewell Cape we drove to St. Andrews-by-the-Sea where we stayed at the Hotel Algonquin. On our drive we passed through Alma while the tide was out. The boats sitting on the ocean floor are a great example of the magnitude of the tide.

{fishing boat at low tide - Alma NB}

By the time we arrived here, we were tired and really ready to relax.

Well, this was certainly the place to do that.

{a view of the hotel from the pool}

The hotel was gorgeous and far exceeded my expectations. There was shuffle board, mini golf, a beautiful outdoor pool. There were thick white bathrobes for us in the bathroom, plus our room had a little kitchenette and a sitting area. There was even a bar within the hotel with pool, foosball and air hockey. All that and it was within walking distance of the town and the Bay.

{shooting pool}



{mini golf}

{shuffle board}



{relaxing by the pool}



{cool NB fog}

{the pier in St. Andrew's}

In addition to enjoying all the amenities the hotel had to offer, we managed to get to Minister’s Island, Kingsbrae Gardens and the Huntsman’s Marine Centre.

Minister’s Island is only accessible at low tide by driving across a sandbar and was the summer estate of a CP rail magnate back at the beginning of the 1900’s. This summer estate makes my house look positively puny.

{the estate at Minister's Island}

 

Kingsbrae Gardens was Meredith’s excursion of choice (Mastodon Ridge in Truro was Isobel’s). The gardens were filled with lush, blooming flowers and many unique bushes and trees. It was a gardener’s delight and I think Meredith took over 300 photos in an hour and a half!!

{self portrait}

{in the hedge at Kingsbrae}

Huntsman’s Marine Centre was undergoing renovations but had the cutest harbour seals that were willing to perform some tricks for us.

{Soki the harbour seal}

We were in St. Andrews for 5days and 4 nights – not long enough in my opinion. I think you could visit the Hotel Algonquin and never leave without getting bored.

We left early in the morning on the 20th and drove home through the USA. Our plan was to stop in Albany NY but by the time we got there we weren’t ready to stop but when we were ready to stop we were only about 4 hours from home so we pushed through and drove 16 straight hours to arrive home shortly after midnight.

It was a great trip, but it was nice to sleep in my own bed again.

Lake Ontario Fog

A couple of weeks ago, I went for my regular walk in the morning down by the lake. I love walking at the lake in the morning. There’s something about the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline and the geese and ducks floating on the waves that just makes me smile. If I’m ever in a grumpy mood, heading down to the lake always sets me right.

But I digress.

It was a hazy humid morning and as I got closer to the lake, the less I could see. The fog was so thick you could barely see 20 feet in front of you. It was beautiful.

I walked along the water’s edge enjoying the haze and fog wishing I had my camera with me. So, when I got home I packed the girls into the truck and raced back down there with my camera. The fog had lifted slightly. I took these photos and thought they were worthy of sharing.

I hope you like them as much as I do.

My Eyes

I’ve been getting some questions from friends lately about my eye and how it’s doing these days.


I did have an appointment with the Retinal Specialist a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately my vision at this appointment was worse than at the appointment before. I had some Digital Imaging done and the Doctor reviewed the results with me.

At this point there is not enough ‘fluid’ on the retina to warrant treatment with medication (The Shot), so we wait. My vision fluctuates from day to day and even over the course of a day I notice it changing. I notice it most when I’m looking at things close up. Details no longer come easily to me, however that could be attributed as much to age as to the retinal issue. My long distance vision is affected inasmuch as I can’t read street signs from as far away as I used to. Other than that, it’s like I’m looking through a haze and on really bad days images sometimes seem distorted or even double but I can still see just fine. Honest. It’s very hard to explain. It’s almost like seeing shadows.

So, yet again, we wait. I’ve picked up some mild reading glasses to use when I’m scrapbooking, knitting or doing anything close up. Apparently the reading glasses at the dollar store are just as good, so I bought a few pairs. I have another appointment in December and more Digital Imaging. The vision in that eye needs to remain constant and when that happens I will most likely be fitted with prescription glasses that will address both the near and far sighted issues I find myself with right now. He promises me they will be ‘cool mom glasses’, whatever that is.

The ironic part of all this (as some of you already know) is that I’ve always wanted glasses. When I was in Grade 3, I intentionally read all the letters wrong on the eye chart. Obviously I was so far off the mark the technician recognized what was going on and I did not get glasses.

The moral of the story? Be careful what you wish for.

Back to School and Some Other Stuff

Well. The girls went back to school on Monday. None of us were really ready to have the summer end but I have to say the return to some kind of routine is good. We don’t do well in chaos. And I don’t do well without a schedule. It doesn’t matter if I’ve scheduled time to read or laze about, I just need to know. I’m a little odd that way.

Here are my happy girls on their first day.

And what have I been doing you ask?

The new scrapbook store, Scrapbook Queens, opened in Mississauga on Tuesday so I met my scrapbooking friends up there and we all went for lunch. It is a lovely store with lots of wonderful space for cropping. I’m sure I’ll find myself there frequently. There was the standard laundry and cleaning that needed to get done. Plus I’ve managed to walk each morning, but I did find myself a little lost this afternoon. I wasn’t quite sure what to do. Sadly, I think the time has come for me to return to some kind of work outside of the house. A part of me is excited about that prospect and a part of me is positively petrified.

I’ll keep you posted. I’m thinking it’s not going to be easy to find employment after having been home for 13 years. Plus I can only work from 10 to 2, perhaps 3 days a week, and of course I’ll be needing summers, PA Days, March Break and Christmas Holidays off. But I’m willing to try.

One thing I did to fill my time this afternoon was another 365 page. I can’t believe I haven’t done one since July. Here it is: