July goals

On this, my first official day of summer (for me), I thought it good to set myself a few goals for the month of July. They are not onerous at all, but it gives me a bit of a focus. July is always my unwind month. August 1 comes and it feels like 'holy crap summer's almost over'

Here goes:

• Walk 31 miles this month. I don't care if I have to do it in stints around the block where the neighbours start to question my sanity, or in stints on the dreaded treadmill, it will happen.
• Lose 6 lbs this month (and keep it off)
• Bake 4 times (on the cooler/rainier days)
• Try 2 new recipes
• Snowflake $150 (recycling, change, money left from jars)
• Read 4 books just for ME
• Read 5 books for school ( There are so many new books at the middle years level so it helps to have read as many as I can so I can suggest good books for the kids)
• Continue to drink a ton of water and eat what I can to improve my health

I will make this into another page at the top and will update on Sundays.

Monday Morning Chit Chat

brought to you by the lovely Carla

What am I Reading?  Empty, by Suzanne Weyn

What am I Watching? a lovely rerun of Law and Order - Criminal Intent

What am I Listening to? my fan running. No AC in this house. blinds are closed and the fan helps circulate things.

What am I Cooking/Baking?  Tacos for DS1. He's a hungry boy.

What am I Happy you accomplished this week? I am happy I made it through my last week of school. My health was so poor. The last morning I was so sick I just curled up in the shower and cried. 

What am I Looking forward to next week? Rest. Rest. Rest. Rest

What am I thankful for today? Coffee with a friend later. We haven't had the chance to catch up since Easter. 

Change for June

The amount of change I gathered this past month was smaller than usual because I used the debit card and credit card more.  I happily rolled change yesterday and came up with 3 rolls of quarters, 1 roll of dimes and 1 roll of nickles.  That's $37 happy dollars that I will take to the bank tomorrow to save towards the plates (insurance), which is due the middle of this month. Every little bit counts!

An Honourable Mention

I was so pleased to find me on Jeremy's honourable mention list for his Top Canadian PF blogs. He also has his top Canadian Investing Blogs as well.

Thanks so much Jeremy and to those who voted for me.

If you haven't had a chance to check out ModestMoney, please do so. Great articles over there by a man much smarter than I.

A beautiful morning

I am appreciating the simple things today. I had to get up early as DS2 is heading up to his camp for 2 weeks and leaves early. I had time for a leisurely cup of coffee on my front step to appreciate the beauty of the morning. It is a bit cool and a breeze but the birds are chirping and the air is fresh and it was so wonderful. For any neighbours who happened to be looking out the window and saw me with bedhead and jammies on my step, perhaps it wasn't quite such a beautiful morning for them :-)

It would have been a great time to go for  a walk. That cool of the morning is my favourite time. I hope I will be able to do that again soon.

Friday after school I went to a coworkers who was hosting drinks for whoever was around. It was a lovely couple hours of just sitting there enjoying the fresh air (and shade) and just winding down together. I am so fortunate that for us, coworkers = friends.

Saturday was not my best day side effects wise, so I was not ambitious. The dizziness was not conducive to driving or being upright much. I did go with DH out to my sister's to feed her cats. She is off on a solo motorcycle ride to Vancouver. She needs to recharge and this does it for her. For me, I curled up on her back lawn  on a quilt to watch the cats and few remaining kittens gambol about. New kittens are so much fun as they tumble and wrestle. A couple of the mama cats joined me on the quilt and had a nap. We had supper at my parents. Nothing fancy. Just bbq'd burgers and fixings. They are headed off camping to join my third sister and several of the nieces and nephews.

Today after DS2 leaves I am going to do a bit of house tidying, figure out my jars and money and maybe read a bit. SO nice to not spend my whole Sunday at the school as I usually do.

Cost for DS2 for this camp for two weeks - nothing. They run it.
Cost for hanging out with kitties - nothing but the gas to drive the 10 K to her place
Cost for reading - nothing

Having time to appreciate the moments of the day - priceless