Friday Fill In

In an effort to blog a little more, I think I might try to participate in more memes. This one is called the Friday Fill-In and you can find it here.


Here it goes.

1. Moving my body always makes me feel good and glad I’ve done it even though getting to it, is always the most difficult thing I will do each day.

2. If you look around you, the things in life that you really and truly could not live without are are free - the love of friends and family.

3. My best quality is my ability to be organized. Sometimes it is a fault, but most often it gets me through the day.

4. I love the details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I have not put on a suit and ridden the GO train to work. Over 10 years, actually. And they’ve been the best 10 years of my life.

6. A cleaning lady is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going to a friends’ house for a BBQ, tomorrow my plans include spending time with my girlies and hopefully getting a bit of scrapping done and Sunday, I want to work on my tennis serve.

That’s it for me, people. Have a great weekend.

Our First Long Weekend

Well, it was our first long weekend of the season and I have to say, it was a good one. We took advantage of the rain on Saturday and went into Toronto to . . . you guessed it . . . the ROM – again. I think we’ve gone 7 times with our membership. What a great investment that was.

We went specifically to see their new Bio Diversity exhibit. It was spectacular. I’d like to go back again when it’s not quite so crowded. Each display has its own touch screen where you can choose various videos. Some are things like ‘Animal Cams’ where they’ve attached a camera to a duck’s back, for example. There was one that showed a decomposing fox. Yuck. But they were all interesting. I’d like to have had the time to see more of them. They were all informative.

After that we hopped on the subway – the girls love the subway – and went down to the St. Lawrence Market for lunch. Then we got back on the subway and up to our car. It was a simple day, but a really fun one.

On Sunday, we got lots of gardening and chores done around the house, played a little tennis and kept the girls up way too late for fireworks in the school yard. It is amazing that we can buy fireworks at the local Mac’s Milk and the kids are all as enamoured with them as they would be if we were to go to a professional display. I suppose it’s a good thing we haven’t yet been to a professional display!! Maybe we’ll be brave enough to do that next year (or the year after).

Today, we have two very tired girls here at home. Plus, Meredith has a cold. So, we hung out around here, baked some cookies and met Dave’s mom for lunch. I managed to get my 365 page done:



Thanks for looking. I hope you enjoyed your long weekend too. What did you do?

I'm Rambling

You know what the weirdest thing is about giving up the land line (see my last post)? It has made me hyper sensitive to the phone. I carry it around with me religiously now. I worry about not answering it. I worry about missing a call.

BUT IT NEVER RINGS!!

I’ve had about 5 wrong numbers over the course of the 10 days since The Switchover – someone seems to have moved and is giving our number to contractors – but other than that and a couple of really annoying telemarketers, nobody calls me.

It’s a good thing, though. It really reinforces for me our decision to do this. I’m not a phone person. I’m much more likely to email you, than I am to call you. But I think I need to stop carrying it around so much, don’t you?

Oh, and here’s my 365 page for last week:


Thanks for looking!!!

No More Land Line

Well, we finally did it. We got rid of our land line. We ported our home telephone number to a cell phone and cancelled the home phone service. I got myself one of these cutie pies:

The best part? The phone was free. And, even with our long distance charges, our monthly phone bill shouldn’t cost us any more than it was before, in fact, it might even be cheaper.

It’s very liberating somehow to get rid of the land line. It’s weird to look around the house and not see a single phone, but it’s good too.

You can still reach me the same way, because my home number hasn’t changed, but you’ll never know where I am or what I’m doing.

Monday

I had an awesome Monday. It wasn’t anything spectacular and I didn’t do anything unusual, it was just really good. I got the house cleaned, I got the bed sheets changed and washed, I rode my bike downtown and went for a swim and I ran some errands. I watched Oprah while I folded laundry, I taught Isobel a little bit about digital scrapbooking and I got my Project 365 page done:

I have not felt very productive lately and I need to feel productive. Today I felt spectacularly productive and it’s a good feeling. Plus, I went swimming. Swimming is one of those things I really enjoy but the process of getting myself in a bathing suit usually stops me from doing it. I love the smell of chlorine on my skin – weird, I know – plus, everyone there is way older than me and they’re not interested in what I look like in my bathing suit.

I think I need to swim more often.

Spring Concert

Last night we attended Meredith’s first Spring Concert at her new school. We knew she was in the Grade 6 Band (flute) and we knew she was in the choir.

What we didn’t know was that she was 1 of only 3 girls in the choir.

Yes, you read that right – 3 girls in the choir.

3 girls in total.

No boys.

No other girls.

Just 3 girls - all from her Grade 6 class.

They sang a song thanking the volunteers. I so wish I had videotaped it, but I just wasn’t ready. And by the time I realized it, it was too late.

The three of them did a great job. An amazing job. A stupendous job.

I’m proud of them all, but as Meredith’s mother, I’m particularly proud of her for getting up there and doing it. This is the kid who doesn’t participate enough in class. This is the kid who struggled in Grade 4 to say her speech in front of her class. This is the kid who used to get nervous doing presentations in class.

I’m so proud of her, I can barely stand it. She did a great job.

I just can’t believe she didn’t tell me ahead of time.

Go figure.

Sisterly Love

Here's a quick post for today.

I overheard isobel saying to meredith one night – “I just don’t know what I’d do without you.”

I love that they love each other so much. I just hope it lasts through the teen years!!!

365

Two posts in one day? And it's my Project 365 page!! I am rockin' the blog today.

Here it is. Plain and simple. Thanks for looking.

Last Weekend

Last Saturday I had the absolute pleasure of having Nicola’s girls over for a sleepover. These 4 girls have known each other practically since they were born. They are all very much alike and they all get along so well. And it certainly helps that Nic and I are good friends too. She’s one of my favourite people to hang out with. She makes me laugh and laugh and laugh. I don’t get to see her enough.

I would have nominated her for the Sisterhood Award for sure, if only she had a blog -~sigh~. (But, she is working on a website. As soon as that's up and running, I will definitely link her up here.)

We took a short walk to the lake with the girls on Saturday. The weather was perfect. The children were perfect. The photos? Well, they’re perfect too.

I FOUND IT!!!!

I didn't post about this, but last Wednesday I lost my beautiful anniversary band that Dave bought me for my 40th birthday. We looked everywhere for it. We pulled apart the garbage, the recycling and the compost, but it didn't turn up. We had contacted the insurance company and were going to proceed with the claim. I have to admit, I didn't want to rush the claim because I was sure it would turn up somewhere.

AND IT DID.

I was making Ravioli for dinner tonight and when I pulled my recipe book out of the cupboard I heard a tinkling noise. I looked in the cupboard and there was my ring, on the floor of the cupboard. Last Wednesday, I had been making chicken noodle soup and had the recipe book out on the counter. I figure I took the ring off, placed it on the book, then when I cleaned up the kitchen, I just shut the book and put it away.

I can't fully express how happy I am. I know I could have replaced it, but it wouldn't have been the same.

Yet another thing to be thankful for.

A Poem

I just this minute read this poem on this blog and had to copy it here. I really think it says it all and sums up why I do, what I do.

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.

Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.

Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.

Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

One day I shall dig my nails into the earth,

or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut,

or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return.

~Mary Jean Irion

When Meredith was a baby and I was trying to decide whether or not I wanted to return to work, a very wise woman advised me to try the SAHM thing first. As she put it, you can always find a job, but you can't capture the first word, the first step, the first anything again. It only happens once. I am so grateful that I have been able to be home with my children. To love them, to nurture them, and to be there for them all these years. I am thankful for the advice I was given and thankful that I had the forethought to follow it. And I am thankful to Dave for indulging me and giving me the opportunity to stay home and do what is important to me.

I feel so lucky that I did not have to miss a single normal day.

I’m working very hard at keeping up with my Project 365 pages. I’ve thought about giving it up but I really like the concept. I like the idea of having a completed album at the end of the year that really shows what our everyday life was like that year.

You’ll notice that a lot of the photos in these pages are of ‘stuff’ instead of people or events. That’s because I wasn’t so good at actually taking a photo a day. I had to do a little catch up.

You’ll also start to notice that these pages are starting to repeat. I’ve decided that in order to keep it up, I can’t keep coming up with different page designs. I know I was going to stick with a basic design per month, but now I’m going to even start repeating those. There are only so many ways to display 7 photos per page so I’m giving myself permission to use previous pages and just swap out the paper, photos and embellishments. That’s the joy of digital scrapbooking.

I’m hoping that I’ll get these pages done more easily now that I’ve given myself permission to reuse older pages.

Thanks for looking.

Sisterhood Award

On Saturday, my friend Barb nominated me for a Sisterhood Award. Barb said:

Milena is a friend of mine who I met a few years ago through Scrapbooking. Unfortunately life got busy for both of us and we didn't see each other. Over the past few months we have reconnected and I'm really enjoying the friendship and "sisterhood" that we have together.

I am so thankful she and I have reconnected over the past few months. She is a wonderful woman and an inspiring friend.

I am now supposed to nominate up to 10 of my blogging friends for the same award. Unfortunately, I don't have many blogging friends. I'm going to nominate my friend Cathy of the Chicks with Inkpads Blog. She and her friend Donna who she blogs with, are both very talented card makers and stampers. The cards they create amaze and inspire me on a daily basis.

Here are the rules:

1. Put the logo on your blog or post.

2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude!

3. Be sure to link your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Remember to link the person from whom you received your award.

More later . . . (I promise!!)

Woo Hoo!!

Look what I did? Isn't it cool?

It may be a little fancy-schmancy for me, but at least I know how to do it!! I'll work on that some more over the next few days (or weeks!).

Signing off.

Project 365

I just thought I would very quickly load up the two Project 365 pages I have managed to complete. Now I’m only one week behind, but unfortunately that one week is missing a photo. Yikes. I’ve gotta get on that.

So here there are:

Now it is 10:00 and I haven’t managed to accomplish a single thing today except get my children off to school, do a 365 page and surf the net. I need to get off my duff and get some stuff done. Have you seen my list? Holy cow.

Let's Review My List

I’ve decided it’s time to review my list. You remember it don’t you? Well, if not, you can find my original post here.

Let’s see:

Project 365 – I haven’t actually managed to take a photo a day, but some days I have taken more than one photo, so I think I’m averaging out to one per day. The scrapbooking part – now that’s a whole other story. I’m 3 weeks behind on that part of the project. I am still enjoying it, though.

This blog – I go through blog frenzies and blog droughts. I have managed to add a couple of new things on the side bar (have you noticed?). I’m hoping still to jazz it up a bit and, of course, I need to swap out that winter header for a new spring one. Give me time, people, give me time.

My volunteer duties for the schools – these are ongoing and while I’m still volunteering, it is one area I’ve cut back on a bit this year.

The gym – Hmmm. Let’s not go there. I have managed to start running again. I'm doing about 3.5K twice a week. Not too bad.

ACDsee online course – I have made an effort to set aside an hour each Thursday to work on this one, and, guess what? I’ve managed to watch all the course videos. Now I just have to do the work.

Keeping in touch with friends and family – I do my best but sometimes I feel like it’s just not good enough. Just because I’m not in touch, doesn’t mean I don’t want to be in touch. Call me or drop me a line, okay?

All my unfinished paper scrapbook pages – those ones are all done and I’ve already got a whole new stack in the hopper ready to go.

Scrapbook pages for November/December 2008 – Mostly done too. I think I’ve only got to stick down the journaling on one of them.

Eating healthy – Doing my best with this one. I think I’m eating better than I was but perhaps not as good as I should be.

Organizing my iPod Nano – I haven’t even touched this one.

Books – the vamp. books are all done and I really enjoyed them. I’m actually trying to cut back on how much I was reading. There are too many other things I want to do.

I’ve also got a stack of magazines next to my chair that I’d like to read – the originals are gone, but they’ve been replaced by a whole new stack!

I made myself a scarf in the fall and would like to finish the hat and mitts to go along with it – haven’t even started this one.

Keeping the house clean and my family fed – most days!

Spending time with my family and really and truly enjoying them – always.

I don’t think I’m doing too badly. I’m doing a bit of consulting for a friend’s company and that will take precedence over a lot of these things I want to do. But I’m happy. Happy with what I’ve done. Happy with what I’m doing. And happy with the direction life is leading me.

I’ll check back with this list again in a couple of months.

Thanks for reading.

Booking Through Thursday

Okay, so I’ve been getting some attitude from some people about my lack of blogging lately. I just don’t have it in me today, to come up with something witty and engaging. So I’m doing another meme. This one is called Booking Through Thursday and you can find it here.

How often do you use your public library and how do you use it? I am at my Public Library at least once a week either for myself or for Meredith. I don’t buy many books anymore although I love to go to the bookstore. I find it easier to find good books at the bookstore so I lurk around with my notebook, writing down interesting looking titles and authors then head home to my trusty computer. I log on to my local library’s website and search for the books I’d like to read. I place a hold on the books and the lovely automated library lady calls me when they are ready for pick up. Of course, sometimes this backfires (like this week) and I end up with too many non-renewable, two week only books on my night table.

Has the coffeehouse/bookstore replaced the library? Not for me. There’s nothing quite like the quiet you find in a library.

Did you go to the library as a child? I don’t specifically remember going to the library as a child but I’m sure I did. I do remember the library at my grade school and high school. I know I spent a lot of time in both those places.

Do you have any particular memories of the library? In grade school I was enthralled with the Anne of Green Gables series and can remember searching through the old dusty school library to find them. In high school, I found the library was a great place to retreat to and get work done so that I could enjoy my evenings.

Do you like sleek, modern, active libraries or the older, darker, quiet, cozy libraries? I don’t think I have a preference. For me, a library is a library, no matter what it looks like.

And now I leave you with a photo:

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.