Decorating Guru? Not I, said the Rooster.

03Jul09

Some people have mad skills in the decorating department and some people (like me) just plain…don’t. I try. I look at paint colours but all of the options paralyze instead of inspire me. In my home, I move items around and attempt to make the space look pretty, but I usually manage to make it more cluttered or disorganized. Knick knacks and the various accessories that are meant to compliment and add character to a space tend to overwhelm or confuse me. And now that summer’s here, there’s all of the outdoor decorating paraphernalia to consider as well. For instance, when I’m standing in the store I find myself wondering, “what the heck would someone want with a wire rooster??”. But I’m sure there’s someone out there that knows the perfect way to use that rooster and have it look great and not tacky. Someone visiting their home would see that rooster and say, “What a cool rooster!”.

Seriously though…what’s with all the wire roosters? Every garden store I go into these days seems to have one. And they’re only sixty dollars or something!! Is there something I’m not getting??

Back to decorating and those who are gurus in this area…

Enter my friend, Lana.

She rents a small home that is limited in its options…from my perspective anyway. But everytime I go to her house she has some new arrangement or design. Outside is the same. Her deck is a cozy oasis. She just seems to know what to do.

When she comes to my house for a visit, if I show her a problem spot that I’ve been toiling over for a long time, she’ll say, “why not try this?”. She’ll then proceed to shuffle things about and in a matter of minutes, presto chango, I have a higher functioning, eye appealing space. This is what happened yesterday.

We have a largish screened in deck. Up until now it’s been like an outdoor playroom. My kids’ toys dominated the place. We had a bouncy horse and a playhouse and then all of the lose toys that ended up laying around. But THIS year, I want to change that. I want to transform my deck into a place where I can go to relax and read or entertain friends.

I don’t have very much deck furniture – yet – but Lana re-arranged what I did have into a pleasing and, frankly, more sensible arrangement. Just silly little things like pulling the table out to the middle of the floor instead of having it shoved up against the wall. Now why didn’t I think of that? lol It looks better and we can actually all sit at the table. Go figure.

On that note, my first desire for my deck is to get a dining set. I think it’s time to replace my cheap, rickety white plastic table. It’s so ugly that I HAVE to use a table cloth to make it presentable.

Next I’ll be painting the floor. Then I’ll have to attack the dreaded accessories. I’ll probably get some help with that. I actually have plenty of friends who have knowledge in this department. Hmmm. Maybe it’s not that they’re so talented as much as I’m totally not talented. Ah well. We all have different gifts, right?

But back to the accessories. I don’t want a lot. I’m not actually a knick knacky kind of person – less is more for me. But I do like the odd item strategically placed that just seems to add a bit of character.

Anyway, by the end of the summer I hope to have a lovely before/after photo to show you. In the meantime, after just cleaning up and decluttering (as well as the recent re-organization) I’m already enjoying my deck. I love to sit out there in the morning and listen to the birds while drinking coffee. Or relax while reading my book in the evening after the busyness of the day.

I hope you all have your own place to retreat to and find peace.

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Out With the Old…In With the New

29Jun09

My next door neighbours, Don and Ruth, are moving and I’m very sad.  They were wonderful neighbours.  When we moved into our place 13 years ago they welcomed us with open arms.  Right from the get-go we had coffee visits and fire pit rendezvous.  Christmas lunches.  Sugar borrowing.  When Adrian worked out of town Don came and plowed our driveway of snow.  Our kids were babies at the time and I couldn’t possibly get out there to do it on my own.  Ruth has always been so generous with her garden.  Inviting me over to help myself whenever I wanted.  They were awesome with my kids, too.  If I had to send the kids next door with something it wouldn’t be unusal for them not return for a good hour because they’d stayed to visit. 

Hmmm.  This relationship sure sounds like it was kind of one way, and it probably was to a point, but we did have them over to our place a lot, too! 

They were just awesome awesome neighbours.  And tomorrow is their last day.  They aren’t moving far.  Just a fifteen minute drive away, but they won’t be our neighbours anymore. 

We have met the new neighbours and they seem very nice.  They were actually over to our place last weekend for our annual neighbourhood lobster fest.  And I’m proud to say that we all gave them a warm welcome.  I’m looking forward to getting to know them.

But I will miss Don and Ruth.

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Belize…again.

08Jun09

I know that Belize is old news now. And most of you (all six of you) who read my blog are also on Facebook so you’ve seen these photos. But I was reminded yesterday while Skyping with Adrian’s family in England that I have one reader who isn’t on Facebook. So, I thought I’d post these for Lin.  Hi Lin!

Here is a little evidence of the earthquake that happened while we were down there.

This was in Placentia Village.

For most of our stay we were in the resort, but we went into the village on the last day. Which was wonderful because it gave us a chance to see the real Belize. Sadly, we had a very short time there so I just snapped like crazy. I was a total tourist.

We were walking down the “street” and this is what I saw when I looked to the left. Is that not gorgeous!?!?! Wouldn’t you like to walk outside your front door and walk out onto this? Again, I wish we’d had more time to mosy down there and just soak in the view.

We bought a drum from the lady on the left. Her name is Alex and it’s too bad her eyes are closed. She was a reluctant photo subject in the first place so I didn’t dare ask for a re-shot. Anyway, this is her home. I was struck by the simplicity, but guess what? She doesn’t worry about organizing closets during her free time. And hello! That ocean photo above is what she sees right through those windows. Gotta love that.

She was explaining to me that they just don’t have the house culture that we do. They spend all of their time outside and spend their money on other things.

I loved the buildings. The colours were so cool.

This is just a cool faucet in a bathroom in the hotel.

The beach in the resort.

We went on a helicopter ride to view the property.

View from the helicopter.

That’s the dock where we had supper each evening.

This is the resort. Our building was on the far left there.

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Gotta Get a Life ;)

05Jun09

I have no idea why I have such an apathy towards my blog. I love to write. I love to talk about myself. I used to love to blog, but these days? Bleh. Whatever. Every once in awhile I get the bug, and I think the flame is lit again but then just as quickly that flame dies. Ah well. I won’t make an official “I’m quitting” announcement because it’s nice to have it sitting here when I feel the urge to write, but don’t hold your breath for a regular posting. Not that you have! And I do appreciate those of you have kept me in your blog readers. I’ll keep popping into your’s now and then, too.

In other news, I’ve gone a little cuckoo for Twilight. Sigh. I feel like I’m a silly teeny bopper! I read the first two books to and from Belize and I’m working on the third. They’re nice quick reads. Not the best books I’ve ever read, but still highly entertaining. Watched the movie which is also quite good and Edward’s character was intriguing. And then. It started. I thought I’d do a little research into this Robert Pattinson guy and whew. I’m hooked. He’s a cutie patootie that guy. His accent is alluring. His smile is divine. He seems very sweet in his interviews. He’s a pretty cool singer, too. It’ll be interesting to see what he’s like as an actor in ten years or so.

It’s kinda funny because I don’t usually go ga-ga over actors. Eh hem. Especially ones who are so young. Sheesh. But it’s interesting. Why DO people get star crazy? They’re just people who happen to act in a movie, right? Is it the part they play and then we put those attributes onto the actor? For me, it’s when I watch them in interviews (which still isn’t real life, of course) that I get interested. If they seem genuinely kind or funny it makes them look better.

But why am I interested in the first place? And why, for goodness sake, am I plastering this embarrassing bit of news on here anyway? Because I know I’m not alone. And I know I’ve gotta get a life! Lol.

On that note…

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Bitter Sweet

29May09

Tonight I suddenly miss my kids.  This is the longest I’ve been away from them.  I know.  I know.  It’s not that long.  And, apparently, it’s good for us all to have a break from one another from time to time.  But I miss them!

We had a rocking karaoke party tonight.  So, it could be that I got back to our room late and I’m tired and I just read an email from them expressing that they miss us.  Or it could be that I’m a little (just a tad)  drunk at the moment from mohitos.  Hmmm.  I have no idea if I spelled mohito correctly.  Annnyway, it could be a number of things.  But I do know that while this morning I was very sad that we just had a day and a half left, right now I’m very grateful that’s all we have left.  I’ll be seeing their sweet little faces again in 48 hours.  And I’ll get to smell their hair, and kiss their cheeks, and hold them close. 

In the meantime, I’ll enjoy myself.  Tomorrow morning, I’m going to hang out in the pool.   A couple of other ladies and I are also going to brave swimming in the ocean.  I say “brave” bacause tonight while looking over the side of the dock we saw a barracuda swimming around.  So, are we wise?  I’m not so sure.  Hopefully I’ll be alive tomorrow to tell ya the story of how it went.  And then in the afternoon we’re going to the nearby village.  At least there were no earthquakes last night. 

There are also no pictures today because I’m too drunk tired to bother.  G’night!

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More of Belize

28May09

2:30 in the morning, and I was awakened by the rocking and rolling of the bed. And no it wasn’t Adrian gettin’ frisky! It was an earthquake. And it went on for a little while, too. How weird to feel the ground moving beneath you like that. After the movement stopped, Adrian and I just said, “wow, THAT was interesting.” Then rolled over and went back to sleep! This morning, though, we learn that most everyone else was out on the balconies, or scoping the ocean worrying about a tsunami. All while Adrian and I were blissfully asleep. To be fair we’d only had about 2 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours from all of the flying. But it certainly added to the excitement anyway. Apparently they hadn’t had an earthquake in 10 years. And not as big as this one. 7.1 they say.

Besides the eathquake, the trip has been aweseome so far.

We’ve met some wonderful people. This is on the dock where we have supper.

This is supper the first night. OMG, it was so good!

This is where we’re staying. Our room is on the bottom right there.

This is it tonight. I’m sitting out there on the porch on the lounge chair while I type this.

This is where we have supper. So beautifullit up at night. I’ll try to get a decent non-flash photo but don’t hold your breath!

The pool where we spend our afternoons. Love that pool bar.

Took a boat tour this afternoon to a nearby island that Ringo Starr used to own.

And this was his house!

Adrian and I inside the house. Oh yeah, we’re sweaty!

The residences from the pool. Our’s is the on the left.

That’s it for now. Gotta run.

This is where we have breakfast.

You can see Adrian there on the right in a blue/white shirt.

 

My view from my seat at breakfast.

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Belize…the adventure begins

27May09

So, I guess it takes going to Belize to get me Blogging again. Who knew? Anyway. It was our intention to Skype with the kids (who are staying with my parents) while we were away. BUT. Skype isn’t working here, for some reason. We think it has to do with security issues. We’re going to look into it, but in all likely hood we won’t be able to do it. So, instead I’ll blog so that the kids (and y’all, of course) can see what we’re up to.

So, here are photos. They’re not touched up or picnicked or photo shopped. They are as they are.

Gotta take photos of clouds when you’re in a plane, right?? Just gotta.

Adrian humouring me.

Also had to take a photo of the sunset from the plane.

Cool food court in Sanfrancisco Airport. With the real friendly woman’s voice coming over the PA I kinda felt like I was in the movie, “The Island”.

Adrian eating his supper.

We started in Edmonton, then went to Sanfrancisco, then Houston, then Belize city, and THEN we had to take this little plane to Placentia island. I won’t lie, it was a little scary. But the pilot was friendly and the plane made it obviously.  My fears just came from being in a small plane.  The view was stupendous.

Adrian on the rickety rockety plane.

Belize city from the teeny plane.

Now we’re at Placentia and we had to take this bus down a bumpy jumpy road to the resort. Some of it was paved and the rest was…an adventure.

These are people we’re hanging with on the trip.

Houses we saw on the road. Some were real beaten down and very very sad while others were pretty cool.

There will be more tomorrow. Now. I must sleep. I’ve had about 2 hours of sleep (squished up on a plane) in the last 24 hours.

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Spring Clean-Up

03May09

We spent most of yesterday in the ditch beside the highway during the annual Alberta Highway Clean-up project.  This is the first year that our Junior Forest Warden club participated, and I’m not sure that we’ll do it next year.  If we do, we definitely need a smaller section because it was a lot of highway for such a small club.  We had 7 families come out to help which made for a total of 9 adults and 15 kids.  One of those families had the duty of driving up and down the highway making sure that we had enough garbage bags, water, and snacks.  That meant that we had six families with which to divide up the approximately 7 km of highway (both sides) that was assigned to us.  And it was a main highway too which meant a LOT of garbage in some of the sections. 

When we started we were lead to believe that it would only take a couple of hours - three tops.  Well, four and 1/2 hours later in the blazing sun we still had two big sections left to do.  If the kids in our group were older or even if we had more of them we might have persevered, but since the average age of our kids is between 8 and 10 we (pardon the pun) ditched the last couple of ditches.  It was just too much for us. 

We did make a difference though.  We can drive by our pretty stretch of road with pride.  And the kids learned some great lessons.  Firstly, the value of helping the community.  Secondly, NOT TO LITTER!!!  Thirdly, to appreciate the hard work it takes to keep our communities clean.  Fourthly, NOT TO LITTER. 

They never littered anyway.  They’ve heard me enough times going on and on about how wrong I think that is, but yesterday’s experience cemented it for them.

You know, though, while we were out there grumbling about the idiocy of some people who throw their drink containers out the window, we also got plenty of encouragement from those driving by.  Many people honked and waved thanking us for our efforts.  I won’t lie.  It made me feel good.  And it spurred the kids on, too.  One lady even stopped and gave them some pop.  So, next time you see people cleaning up your roads, give ‘em a honk.  They’ll like it. 

When we wearily arrived home, all I could think about was the shower and my bed, but the first thing I noticed was our messy yard as we drove in the driveway.  We’d just spent five hours cleaning up trash along the highway yet our own back yard is a mess.  That motivated me to think about our own overdue spring cleaning.  But not that day.  That day I had the shower and collapsed with my book and then promptly fell asleep.

Today, though.  The clean-up begins.

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Life List

30Apr09

It’s no secret that I’ve been trying to lose weight. Since. Sheesh. Since forever it feels like. But there MUST have been a time when I wasn’t concerned with my weight. Right?

Being a babe in my mother’s arms must have been a blissful time since I didn’t even know that there was an “ideal” weight to BE. As a toddler my thoughts would have revolved around toys and playing and whatever was within reach to touch and handle. Pre-school and early elementary I recall more playing and the making of friends. But at nine yrs old…surely not as young as that?? Yes. I remember trying on my baseball uniform with a friend at her house. My friend’s uniform was too big for her and her mom said that it’d probably fit me. Then I was standing on the scale in her bathroom and seeing that I weighed 70 something pounds and wondering if that was fat. And then that wondering never stopped. That comparing. That girl is thinner…prettier. Oh no. It wasn’t about health at that point. It was all about being as good as this or that girl. And I was never overweight.

I look fine and healthy here. Not as thin as my friend there on the left but still I look like just a regular girl. Sad to think that I was already beginning to worry here.

So, I was listening on the radio and Dr. Oz was talking with the chick who hosts “The Biggest Loser”. She was asked how to get motivated to be healthy. She said to make a list of goals with regards to your health/weight and post them where you can see them. They can be shallow or deep. Whatever. Then visualize yourself achieving them. Keep them in your mind so that when you go to make a choice you can ask yourself if what you’re about to eat or do will help you achieve your goals.

Okay. I will give this a try now…

• I want to be healthy.
• I desire energy to run and play and be silly with my children.
• I want to WANT to jump and climb and chase on the playground.
• I want to be able to shop in the regular sized clothing stores. I’d enjoy being a size 12. No. 10.
• I want to be able to wear a bikini. Not that I would, but I want the choice.
• Smooth sides of my body.
• Glances in the mirror as I pass by that bring me joy and pride.
• Peace.
• Quiet sleeps.
• A long life.
• To have energy and vigour as I play with my grandchildren.
• Meeting my great grandchildren.
• Being able to actually play with them, too.
• Hiking in the mountains with my husband.
• When we’re sixty!
• Making passionate love with my husband.
• Even at seventy.
• I want a calm spirit that is focused outward rather than on myself and my weight.

I can see her in my mind. My heart. The woman I want to be. I have some of her, but I want it all. Hmmm. I can see where this list might help me. Especially the deeper stuff. My goal of being a size 10 could stop me from eating a bag of chips but my desire for what kind of life I want at sixty might be a stronger motivation. That bag of chips seem pretty inconsequential in comparison to a long life of vitality.

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Life goes on

28Apr09

I’m feeling real tired at the moment but I’ll take anything compared to how I felt last week.  I was pretty sick.   A weird stomach illness started on Tuesday and it progressedthroughout the week.  Friday was my worst day and today I finally feel pretty much back to normal.  Thankfully, I don’t get sick very often.  Sure I get the sniffles and such but not too many take-to-my-bed illnesses.  And they suck!  What a terrible feeling to not be able to just get up and do what you want, heh?

Well, anyway I’m back to feeling like me.  Life goes on again.  I’m coming up into a super busy month of May.  We have something going on with the Junior Forest Wardens for the first three weekends.  Spring garbage pick-ups for the first two and then our year-end camp-out for our long weekend.  As an aside, I think every citizen should have to pick up garbage as a community awareness project.  Then they might not be so willing to toss their drink containers so carelessly.  And don’t even get me started on smokers and their stinky disgusting butts.  Sigh.  Okay, back to what I was sayin’.  The second week of May the kids and I are going away on a drama camp put on by our school board.  We did this camp last year and my kids loved it.  And then the last week of May, Adrian are going to Belize.  You heard me.  Belize!  Whoo hoo.  I’m so excited.  So.  Hear me, Super Bug.  You had just better buzz off.  I wanna go on this vacation and I don’t need you swooping in and being a kill joy.  Ya hear me?  Good. 

And while we’re on that topic.  Isn’t it terrifying?  This could be the Pandemic we’ve been hearing about for so long.  And I trust you all have your emergency kits sorted out?  No, I don’t either.  Another thing I’ve been meaning to do.  I started at one time buying cases of canned food, buuuut then we ate them and I never replenished my stock.  But like everyone else now, I’m thinking about how much water we need to sustain our family of four for at LEAST 72 hours.  Like I said.  Terrifying.

And as much as we think about these things, life goes on.  We go to our activities, we pick up groceries, and we files our taxes.  And plan holidays.  All the while hoping that life WILL go on.  And I’m hoping the scientists will be geniuses, perform miracles and save us.  That’s what I’m hoping.

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