Update on October goals

October felt like a super long month. It started with a whirlwind trip down to see DS. I came home immediately to  parent teacher interviews and then it was volleyball tournaments each weekend until the end.

It truly felt like it was about 8 weeks long.


Here were my goals for October and how I felt I did:

:

• tuck money away for DS's college

I continued to put money away for college. The dollar has been sliding a bit so its just in a savings account until the dollar improves, or I have no choice.

• track the US dollar everyday to see when it is high enough to buy 

It was close to 80 cents but is now hovering at 77 cents

• decide on a plan for xmas - gifts. holidays etc

Not a clue. DS plays hockey on the East coast before New Years and I waffled with the idea of no presents and using that money for the trip. It's his last year and it would be nice to see him play in person a few times before it's all over. 

• stay on WW

I was doing well until a week after we returned from the US and then it all just fell apart. Winter came. It was cold. I stopped walking. I stopped tracking. I avoided the WW group posts on Facebook. I am working on getting back on track before I blow all my progress.

• continue with the other jolie blog for my weight loss journey

The posts have been sparse but I think of those great folk often, who follow me and cheer me on. I need to give them something to cheer about.

• fingers crossed 4 lb loss

It was 5 lbs of loss before the wagon falling off fiasco. If we go by the calendar, I ended October with a 3 pound net loss

• squeeze in as many walks outside as I can before it's too cold

Done. I miss it already.

• buy a new winter coat 

I actually found 2. That I liked! That was rare. Usually its 'because I found one that fits'. I was in the city for my infusion at my plus size ladies store. I had a $100 gift card from my sister for my birthday along with a $25 reward card. I found 2 coats I liked and as I entered the store there was a flash sale. Everything 2 for the price of 1. I bought two new lovely winter coats ( one black and one a light grey) for the price of 1 and then deducted my $125. It was a great feeling.

• read one book for pleasure

Done. But barely. It's hard for my brain to focus on reading during the school year.

• don't go hog wild on spending when I head down to the US to see DS

It really was gas, hotels and dining out. I did find a lovely plus sized store down there with so many dif options than I have up here and spent some money there. Was also a sale on there so that helped.

• keep tracking steps on my fitbit

I have religiously been using my fitbit and daily I am between 10 and 20 000 steps

• try one new recipe

Fail. Really should get on that.

And........that was October.

Vacationing in a big city

The bills and  charges have all come in from our trip to watch DS play hockey in Chicago.

You can definitely tell I am from a small town because the costs related to the size of the city and the transportation were a steep learning curve.

Most of my pics are personal ones and DS doesn't wish those on here so I will stick to generic.

The biggest costs for the journey was the airfare. $1800 for the two of us plus the costs associated with it. Driving to and from airport here at home  $70. Parking at airport $75. Luggage fees $120. The bonus of having colitis is that you can't eat while travelling (at least I can't) so there were no drinks or snacks or meals during all those airport ways and layovers.

One of the next biggest costs was obviously the hotel. We stayed near the airport the first night as there were no rooms in downtown C that were less than $500 US. The team and one of the moms, who works for a hotel, was able to negotiate some pretty decent group rates. We spent one night near the airport and four right on the waterfront downtown at the hotel where the families stayed. We were about 6 blocks from the team hotel so not a bad walk at all, even in the wind.  If we had had to pay the regular price for the downtown hotel it would have come to just under $2000 CAD. We paid much much much less than that.

The hotel was a modern design one. Lots of black and white and glass. This was our room. It faced a city view, which, for a small town girl, was fascinating.

This was the view from the windows by the elevator just across from our room. You can see it's on the other side and right on Lake Michigan with an upclose look at one of the beaches and the Navy Pier.

Transportation was big. Except for walking to see the boys, to the Pier, or to the restaurants close by. everything was cab. Cab from the airport hotel to the downtown hotel was 55 minutes long in what the cab driver said was medium traffic. The same journey the day before was 95 minutes during rush hour and rain, according to the very nice driver.  We could have taken the train but honestly DH was super nervous about it and our time lines were tight. Getting lost could mean missing time with the boys. One family did get lost. I hate it when DH is validated LOL.   Cabs  to the hockey arena, cabs to the meeting place before the game. Cabs to the Aquarium.  Lots of the parents Ubered. When you don't have wifi in another country, wifi isn't a possibility.

Shopping could have been an expense, but we didn't shop. I don't have a body that enjoys shopping and I don't have  a bank account to support it. That was a painless decision.

Food was another expense, even though I could only eat in certain windows to allow for...............safe long cab rides to destinations. We did two nice breakfasts, both within walking distance of the hotel.

Yolk was about four blocks away and super busy. We had to wait about 20 minutes. Really good food and lots of it. We were lucky to have a big window view point to people watch.

One of our afternoons/evenings was spent at the Navy Pier. The boys did autographs there and there was an awards presentation. There are lots of shops and restaurants along the way. During our downtime we walked there and people/ship watched.  DH was super excited about a Bubba Gump's restaurant. He loves seafood. Me...not so much. We waited there 30 min for a table in the very noisy restaurant. He was in heaven. I had a drink, some fish and chips and the best key lime pie I have ever had.

We spent $70 US going to the aquarium for admission. It was alright but crazy busy with kids everywhere. DH really enjoyed it but I found the one I saw in New Orleans so much better.

Aside from a couple T shirts for hockey and drinks with the parents that was the extent of the money expenditure.

A lot of money? yes.  Pretty sure people go to Mexico for less at all inclusives.  I guess this was my Mexico. Definitely a chance of a lifetime to experience it.

Now back to our regular programming of life.

Indulgence

(post title inspired from Sharon at Midlife Mom Musings)

I set aside money each month tagged 'household'. It's not much. $50. Quite frankly it often goes to something else. It's one of my least successful categories.

I actually spent money from it this month ( ok last month).  I ordered a new comforter set off amazon.  I have looked at this set for over a year and finally just hit 'order'. 

It arrived yesterday. The blue isn't as blue as the picture shows. Almost has a greenish tinge to it. I am ok with that, mostly.  And we burned the box it came in as we had a fire in the firepit this afternoon.

I haven't had a new comforter for our room since July of 1999. It was a dark blue with all those celestial symbols that were so popular at the time. I don't think it cost much. It certainly has had it's money's worth.

I figured that after 16 years I could let myself have something, instead of just for the kids.

this is the pic from amazon. My room isn't nearly as nice.

DH said "It looks like a hotel in here." I am going to take that as a compliment.

Finally used some air miles

I don't think I have ever successfully found seats on a flight for somewhere I wanted to go and been able to use my Air Miles.  

Between DS, myself and DS's GF's mom, we wanted to send her down to the US to spend her 'reading week' in November, with him.

As I said before, flights are ridiculously expensive from Canada to the US right now. It would have cost me/us $1100 to send her, with 1 stop  to a city about 2 hours from DS. He would then drive in to get her. If I wanted to send her there all the way, $1800.

On a whim, I checked seats for airmiles. I can't use them to get her all the way there...no flights to that little city, but if they were going to drive to get her from the bigger airport anyways....

No return flights.

So I explored one way tickets there, and one way tickets home. Score. She has to go through Toronto on the way down, but she would have anyways for the $1100 ticket. Oddly, there is an airmiles seat straight home.

I sure hope I did everything right to book them. Did it online. Tried getting phone call assistance for airmiles but they will only help if the flight is in less than 5 days. I tried the 'online chat' but was 2nd in their queue for 40 minutes. So book myself I did.

Two 1 way tickets for 3500 air miles and $160 cash. Score.

Again, fingers crossed I did this right. It felt good to actually be able to use them.

Money on me

I took a bit of time to spoil myself today, and take care of something that was long overdue.

I got my hair permed today. I know, you're thinking, perm??? who gets those these days besides my great aunt Tilda? Well, now you know two people.

I have been getting perms for most of my life. I have ridiculously thin hair that goes flat flat flat and won't hold curl from a curling iron. I look terrible with flat unbodied hair.

I remember getting a 'Tony' perm when I was young in my mom's kitchen. My older sister did it.  The curling rods used to be kept in one of those purple velvet Crown Royal bags :-)

I remember how tight those curling rods were and the smell of the solution.

I go to the salon now.

I went today and realized it had been a year since my last perm. What was more frightening was that it had been a year since I had my hair cut, to the best of my recollection.  Yikes.

I save a bit of money each month to go towards salon visits, because I know how costly they can be.

I was surprised, when I went to pay. I seem to recall that my bill last time was over $100 before tip.

Today, with a perm, a hair cut and some product to take care of this dry brittle (from the steroids) hair, it was $80 (before tip).  I wonder if their prices have dropped for perms.

Onwards to unflat hair :-)

Endings and beginnings

Well it's an empty room. I leave the room as I entered it all those years ago....well almost. The big shelving unit at the back came with me, but stays. The lockers on the right came with me too, but they will stay (and eventually get recycled as they are in rough shape)

I arrived yesterday morning around 7:30 and packed the remaining 20 or so boxes. The caretakers and I moved all my stuff out to the hall to await the movers. The new resident of the school came and dropped some stuff off (that you can see on the counters and shelves at the back).

I stood here from the doorway for several long minutes. There was a lot of living in this room. A lot of learning. SO much laughter. I knew every nook and cranny of this room (and the school). Every sound. I grew as a teacher, a colleague, and a person. The hours I spent here...nights...weekends.

There was a few tears and then I made myself leave. It really don't feel quite real yet.

I headed over to my new school and got my keys. My new room is empty. There was a LOT of shuffling of teachers around as people were bumped from room to room. They worked hard and I appreciate it.  My new room is a lot smaller, and I do not have control of my own heat and AC. My hot flashes will miss that. My new room windows do not open. I will miss that too.  Now I just have to wait for the cleaning staff over there to do their summer cleaning, and for the movers to take my stuff over, and then the unpacking begins.

When I moved into the above room I spent a LOT of my summer there, unpacking, settling in...getting comfortable in my new dwelling. I expect to do a fair bit of that too.  That will have to wait for a week or two I am told.

So for a week or two, I have summer. Time to rest..to let the vibrating in my head stop.

After I was off work I went for lunch with a friend (whom I used to work with before, and will, now, again). She treated. I hit the library for  a few books and I went to the recycling depot to take bottles in. I now have $30 to add to my mini goal. Woo hoo!

I came home to an odd feeling of no pressure and nothing to do. Don't get me wrong. My house is  a disaster...there is lots to do.

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DS2 and I worked on thank you card for his two academic awards from Grad. $500 total. He graduated with a bilingual diploma with High Honours. I am very proud of him. We had mass in the morning, then the awards in the afternoon.  We went for supper as a family along with my parents, my aunt and uncle, my three sisters, 3 cousins and his scout leader and his wife. (I had saved for this :-) 

This pic is almost a duplicate of DS1's grad hat toss, except that DS1's class did balloons too. They threw their hats before we even  got out there so I stole this pic from one of his teachers.

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Last night we had a fire around our little fire pit. It seems a bit sacriligeous given the incredible number of forest fires in the north right now, but it is  a family ritual. Just the four of us, and the two cats. It was our last night as a family of four all at home.

 DS2 left this morning for his scout camp. He will be home now and again during the summer, but won't really even be home to stay, again. I now have both my boys on rented time with me. I was glad it was dark. I cried a little bit. DS1 sensed it and turned to his brother, "She's doing it isn't she?"  DS2, "Of course she is. Are you new?" They laughed together.

(The are you new is a joke between the three of us meaning 'are you new to the family?' ....did you expect otherwise?)

And so the day begins (albeit at 11:15 as I type this)  and so does summer.

As I sit here sipping my coffee, in my housecoat. Time to plan for the summer.

Survived Prom

Well it was definitely a different experience for prom with DS1 than DS2 for prom, but we are through to the other side.

DS1 was definitely a social butterfly and considered 'popular', for those who find that classification important.

DS2 has a small group of friends, but is definitely not popular and considered weird and different by the 'popular' crew.

DS2 seems to be ok with who he is, and has no patience for dramatic and superficial people but there are a few things he says here and there that make me wonder how he feels about where he fell into the social groupings.

I was somewhere in the middle, in high school. I think.

DS2 wasn't going to go to prom but a friend had broken up with her boyfriend and asked him to be her escort. It was good for both of them. She got  her escort without worrying about dating and all that goes with it, and he got to be a white knight.

Don't get me wrong. He could have cheerfully missed the whole thing and been seemingly content with it all.

He stayed until about 12:30 AM (It goes until 3 AM). He did the pre prom pics with his escort, the grand march, danced with her, with his mama and a few in the middle where his escort and another girl dragged him up. He hung out with his friends and won one of the prizes (hello toaster oven) and then they were ready to go.

Then we came home, he changed and went to meet his friends at a house (with parents home) and they had a fire and enjoyed each other's company.

He looked great in his suit. I am sure glad I didn't have a girl. Listening to some of the other moms talking about the dress cost, alterations, shoes, practice hair sesson, picture hair session, prom hair session, make up, gel nails, TOE gel nails,  pics... it was staggering. More than one mom quoted numbers in the $1800 to $2000 range as I .......overlistened to conversations. And these are not kids of doctors or lawyers or those kinds of big income jobs. Sheesh. DS can wear his suit again for weddings or funerals. Those girls will never wear their dresses again.

We are just nicely back from the facility where we cleaned up and took down decorations and such.  The next big event is at the end of June for the actual graduation. Cap and gown.

Spending my points

It was spend your points day at Shoppers Drug Mart today.  I had acquired some with all the meds I have had to get over the past month so I went to redeems.

Usually I take pics of my free stuff, but DH was home all day and  he gets seriously weirded out by blogging and such so I didn't :-)

I have to say I am much more careful than I was a couple years about what I buy at Shoppers. I recognize  their prices are higher than our only other real choice, Walmart. There is something to be said for being able to zip in and zip out of Shoppers. Now that we have a 'super' walmart here, it is a bigger time commitment to go there and have to run to the far reaches of the planet to get things I need. Some days I am up for it and others, not so much.

I went with a list of a few things (and I just realized as I typed this I forgot Q tips) I needed. I got most of what was on my list, but I have to say I don't feel the woo hoo I usually do with these events. My little cart just felt empty given I was getting $100 of product for free. (For those in the US, our prices up here are so much more than you have down there so none of this will probably seem like a great deal :-)

The first two things on my list were Huggies and wipes. No, I have no deep secret news for you. My friend at work was having a baby shower for her daughter (and new granddaughter). They are a young couple with little money and I well remember the days of trying to stretch out the diapers to make them last. Prices have gone up in the 18 or so years it's been since I bought them. go figure. A case of diapers and wipes set me back $40 of my free dollars.

After that the list was short with most of the items I got, on sale. "you've saved $25.30" my bill says.

I got 1 box of Fibre 1, five boxes of Kleenex, 1 covergirl foundation, 1 loreal shampoo, 1 eye make up remover, 1 container of Life brand laundry detergent and a pack of K cups. My splurge was a trashy book by an author I enjoy.

That's it. That all cost $100. I paid $6.44 in taxes out of pocket.

I really wanted to get Herbal Essence hair gel but it was $4.99 for one tube of it and I just couldn't do it. I will have to go to Walmart this week sometime.

I have to say, out of all my 'reward cards', I use my optimum one the most.

DS2 is home

Well, he had a wonderful time.

He got in around 2 AM Monday night/Tuesday morning, after travelling almost 24 hours in the last day. He was surprisingly full of energy and wanted to show me what he bought and some of his pictures, so we did that before heading off to bed.

His favourite place in Greece was Rhodes. He loved the medieval look of the area and felt it was the place he most deeply connected with.

He didn't really spend a whole lot of money. Less than his brother did, I would say. I think more of 2's meals were covered by the program than 1's were, so that is a part of it. He took 300 Euros with him and never went to a bank machine to get more.  He has  about 80 Euros left, so I would say he did a pretty great job.

He brought some Greek figurines for himself, as that is a passion of his. He bought a bunnyhug (hoody) in Mykonos, and his silver medallion that he is pretty excited about. (It was smaller and lighter than I thought it would be). He bought me a small painting on canvas. It was the one that spoke to him the most, though it probably wouldn't be one I would have chosen. That part doesn't matter to me. I know how much thought he puts into everything he buys, so that alone makes it special for me.

We paid an extra $236 Canadian for tours they were on. We will get $76 of that back since weather did not permit them to visit Santorini.

He loved the ship, though many people who cruise a lot said it was a very base kind of ship. He spent $73 over 5 days for the unlimited drink/snack package. We knew that cost was coming. |Meals were provided, but there was  lots of downtime on the ship and this would take care of those needs.  He said he  tried every fancy (non alcoholic) drink  and coffee there was in all of the restaurants and cafes on the ship. Given those drinks were $6 or $7 euros each if he had paid that way, it was a good deal.

He tried all of the different food offered, though he didn't care for some of it. He found olives bitter. He learned how to drink Turkish and Greek coffee, with the dregs at the bottom.

On the way there, they spent a day and night in Toronto. He toured the Aquarium there ($33) and said it was an amazing experience. I was hoping he would love it. The people who chose the CN Tower tour instead said they felt like they spent all their time in line, rather than experiencing it, so I would say DS made a great choice.

Would he go to Greece again? To Rhodes, yes, but otherwise, he feels he saw most of what he wanted to see. Italy would be his next place to visit, should the opportunity come.

I am so glad I was able to save up for, and give him this trip.

Heard from DS2

We were told the wifi would be impossible on the cruise ship, so I didn't expect to hear from him or his teacher, though I will confess to checking several times  a day.

Now that they are on their last two days, and in Athens, wifi is kicking in. We got several updates from his teacher (she emails the parents of the whole group) and sent a few pics. Looks like they had mostly good weather, though there was a lot of wind when they visited the Acropolis.  On the day they were to get off the ship to go visit Santorini, the winds were very high and the sea was rough and they could not dock. I am sorry he didn't get to see it.

He said they went to a market where you could have silver pendants /keychains etc made with your name in Greek letters. Being an avid scouter, he got his to say Scouting on the back and he's pretty excited about that. It was a bit of a splurge. We told him it was better to get one nice thing that was memory filled than a bunch of little things like T shirts and such that will mean little to nothing after awhile.  He has been searching for inspiration for a tattoo and this Greek letter just might be what he was looking for.

Their tour guides have mostly been good. They had one local one, who, according to the teacher email, went on and on in a droning voice with an overload of historical detail. This was keeping the kids from actually viewing the historic site. The teacher said this is the first tour guide she ever told to please stop talking and let them experience it. When she would not, our group walked away. Much nicer to actually LOOK at the Aegean Sea, than have someone talk for 45 minutes about it.

DS didn't take his phone, just his ipod. He just messaged me on facebook to say he bought me a beautiful set of worry beads so I would stop worrying about him whenever he left the house. I laughed and wrote back that I would never stop worrying about him, but was so proud of the person he has become.

It was a lot of money to save for this trip, but I am so glad I did it for him. Sounds like a life changing experience.

Quick trip to the specialist

Last Wednesday I headed into the city for my twice yearly appointment with my specialist to check up on Mr. Colitis. Things have been pretty darn stable for a couple years now (knock on wood).

Their concern is that my normal isn't necessarily 'normal' normal. So another colonoscopy is needed to see if there is any low grade inflammation that is just not showing up in my day to day.  I would need to take two days off work for it, as would whoever is going to drive me into the city. DH would lose 2 days of pay and I would  give up 2 sick days.

 They are very accommodating and agreed to let me wait until summer. Then I don't have to spend hours getting ready for a sub teacher for while I am gone, and if any medical adjustments have to be made, I have the summer time to do it without worrying how it will make me feel - and how that affects work.

The visit wasn't long, with a few vials of blood off for testing and then I had some me time.

I headed off to a clothing store - mom had given me a gift card for Christmas and I found a great new top AND it was marked down. Score!

Then, I headed to Indigo books and Starbucks. I had gift cards for both given to me by a student last June. I had a wonderful time wandering through the aisles, looking at the thousands of books on display. Of course my first stop was the discount section. Hardcovers? for $5? A girl has to look.  There are always more books than dollars in my wallet, so for the ones that I was r-*eally drawn to (but too cheap to buy) I snapped a pic of the cover, and then, this summer, I can search for them at my library and read for free.  On my way out, I grabbed a mocha and a slice of lemon loaf with my gift card, and enjoyed them on the ride home.

The cards had been sitting in my drawer for 7 months now, but they gave a lot of indulgent joy to me.

Cost for the day - fuel to get to the city and parking. Both receipts which I kept and tucked into an envelope to claim for 2015 income tax. I am really bad at remembering to do this.

Athens and the Islands

It was with great satisfaction this morning that I was able to make the final payment on DS2's trip for Easter with his travel club. He is super excited to be going to Greece and seeing such a different part of the world.

He could have gone last year, during Grade 11 like his brother did, but opted not to. The trip was to China and that didn't appeal to him. He knew he was taking a risk, waiting, as the next destination was not yet know, but he decided to wait.

His fingers were crossed for either Italy, like his brother, or Greece.  He is super excited to get to go tour the Greek Islands.

The trip is through EF tours and the fee includes everything from flight to hotels to transportation to most of the tours. They may decide on other day trips when they get there. I think DS's group opted for one.  The total cost was $3780. It felt good to be able to log on and make that last payment. It was due by the end of  December, but I didn't want to forget to do it in the busyness of that last week.

The trip includes Athens (temple of Zeus, Acropolis, temple of Apollo, Delphi, an Olive Farm). Then they get on a cruise ship tour the islands for four days.  Mykonos, Crete, Rhodes.

He is a big Greek Mythology buff so this is like a dream come true.

A visit to the US

We took two extra days last weekend and went down to visit DS at college.

The flight was ridiculously early so we had to leave our home at 2AM to drive to the city to catch the plane by 5:30. It was that or pay to stay a half night at a hotel in the city We weren't willing to give up that money. Some tired folks when we got to DS's city though.

It was lovely to be back there and to see him. We spent time at the rink with him, at his dorm room and at a park in the city.  We even had the chance to cook him a meal in his tiny kitchen. They don't do a lot of true cooking there.

It was homecoming weekend so there were parents and families everywhere around the city for the football team, the soccer games, volleyball, and of course, hockey. An incredible lot of college,  spirit around the community, which was nice to see. There is  a steakhouse that gives the hockey team free lunch on game days at home. I am told other restaurants do the same for the other teams.

It was not a cheap weekend. 3 flights, 3 nights hotel, rental car, $25 to check a piece of baggage every single time!!!!

It did both DS and us good to see each other. Much valued family time.

I need to put the pieces together and see how much it all cost and then cut the corners to pay this trip off fully.

Here are a couple shots from our time in a park in the city, that has it's own waterfall. The  first one has DS2 in it. I particularly loved the beautiful maple leaf I found.

August long

With the way the $ things are going I had wondered if we were going to be able to go on our annual August long family camping trip.  Not being able to spend time with the family would have been a big loss. The cabin was prepaid. The groceries were pretty much already bought. It really was a matter of just the gas getting there, so we pulled from here and there to make it happen..

I am glad we did. We have been doing this trip for a long while. I found it interesting to read my past entries for August long to see how our family has grown since then. Many of the nieces and nephews have a significant other now, and there are 5 little ones, with a surprise announcement that my niece is expecting twins in January.

32 of 34 of us were there for this August long.

DS2 had one of the little ones in awe because he is an expert in wood chopping and fire building. The little guy just sat on a chair and watched, then ran with the chopped  logs to the pile.

This was the first time our little family brought an extra. DS1 brought his girlfriend to meet the family. She had met a few of them before, but there were a lot of new faces for her. The little ones loved her. One of the nephews attached himself to DS1 and one of the nieces attached herself to his gf. It was amusing to watch them wander about with kids in tow most of the time. Good birth control :-)  She did very well and got to meet the cousins who are in the city at the same University she is going to.

It was a wonderful time of fresh air and sunshine, loons calling and waves moving against the shore, and campfires. The kids had a great time on their uncles' pontoon boats and hanging out together. We ate too much and had a great time playing Kaiser.

The more our family grows, the more I realize how challenging it is to get that many of us together, and I realize how lucky we are to have my parents still with us.

I am grateful for my sisters and their lake toys, which give my kids a chance to play. 

We will freezer and pantry eat this week and syphon the camping gas $ from this week's groceries.

Now onto the pile of campfire scented laundry.

It all began with a shower curtain

Those of you who are long time readers of my blog will know I live in a ridiculously tiny house. This decision was (lack of) income based at the time. I honestly feel like the tiny spaces contributed to this becoming a home where I am not terribly comfortable having people gather.  Self created paranoia? probably a good part of it.

After visiting the girlfriend's parents' house last weekend, I am even more aware of how tiny mine is. Theirs is by no means a McMansion. Probably 1300-1500 square feet. But it's well laid out for a house built in the mid 80s.

I can't wave a magic wand and make mine bigger. I could buy lotto tickets til I am blue in the face and I am not going to win :-)

I haven't done any renovations/redecorating since DS was in Grade 7. We did major updating then on things that had been around since the 1950s.  That cost a boatload of  cash and that was some of the first debt I paid off when I started this blog.

So after a day of feeling down and my I am in charge of my life awakening yesterday, I decided to do some little bits.

Off to Walmart I went, which is the least expensive shopping option here in town. I have to say there wasn't a whole lot of colour variety  available. The browns are still in. I chuckled to see that my current 7 year old one and all it's accessories is still there and a good seller. Most of my house has that nutmeg brown that is just a shade or two darker than neutral. It was a big switch from a house of only white walls everywhere.  I found one I liked that added a couple pops of colour in, but let me keep all my accessories and towels etc. There are blues and greens in with this, in case you can't tell from my too dark photo.

I could have chosen new accessories but doing the math, I was nauseated at how quickly it added up.  So one shower curtain and it's cute little rings was all I got for the bathroom.

Exiting that section of the store, I came across the little mats that go in front of doors. I have needed one for inside my front door since before Christmas when the last one died. I spotted one that has so many of my favourite colours in it, and after a good long look, it went into the cart too.

The total for the two items came to about $45 with taxes. I have been tucking a small amount money away each cheque for 'things for the house' and I dipped into that fund to make it happen. I started with $400 and that brings me down to $355

I saw a few others things I would like to get to freshen up things but I need to have a long think before I just start spending money willy nilly. It took me too long to save up that money.

Bringing it home, I was really quite amazed at how those things lifted my spirits. All those TV shows of women who shop for that quick rush every day came flashing into my head and I laughed aloud when hanging up the curtain. DH was confused and I tried to explain it to him, but I don't think he got it.

While I am not likely to become a shop a holic, I can see the draw for pretty things. I have to be satisfied with this for now and plan. It did prompt me to do a ton of cleaning and tidying yesterday though. Lots left to do in a neglected house but it will happen.

I went for another walk last night and we BBQ'd the steak I bought the other day and did a few ribs. DS1 graced us with his presence.  We ended the night with a little fire in the firepit and drove to watch the Canada Day fireworks.

All in all it was a good day, and a MUCH better one than the day before.

Discovering my roots

No no, I am not talking about my hair, although, now that you mention it, they are getting quite noticeable.

I have been interested in family history for years. I am probably the only one of my siblings who has that interest. I remember times of curling up and listening to stories of our family. Some of it I remember and some of it is gone.

I remember visiting my maternal grandfather and he was actually willing to share some stories (he was very reluctant to share details). My mom pulled me aside and said "Go listen! There will come a time when he isn't around and you will no longer have that chance."  How right she was. (sshhh don't read that so loud...she might hear you and know I admitted this :-)

My paternal grandmother had 'a book' done up by a genealogist on her husband's family. It traced roots back to Palentine Germany in the 1600s and followed their trail to the US and then up to Canada.  A couple years before she passed she gave the book to me to read. Boy am I glad she did. I may not have gotten it after she passed as my dad's brother seems to have...............errr.....................appropriated all the family pictures and such.  I am not letting this book out of my hands or I will never see it again.

We have a couple books done about the regions my parents grew up in and the families that lived there.

While my mom was in the hospital in early December, her words of long ago came back to me. "Go listen! There will come a time when you will no longer have that chance."

I started asking dad stories to distract him while she was in surgery.  He remembered some and I filled in some details with what I remembered. He said "we need to find  a way to get the rest of the information" and asked me about those ads he had seen on TV for ancestry.ca

Just seeing that little sparkle in his tired and sad eyes was enough for me. I pulled out my IPAD (from work) and my credit card, and subscribed for a  year right there and then.

We started searching and it was not hard to start with the details we had. He was really interested in what I was finding.

In the hours I sat by mom's bedside as she drifted in and out of sleep, I kept exploring. At one point I was looking at a census artifact for my dad's side, and found a few of my mom's on the same page. I laughed and she asked what I found. I mentioned a name and she started blabbing, "well he was married to so and so and their kids were....and they had his brother living with him."   I said 'yup, that's all here on this document.". She laughed and said "Well you didn't need to sign up then did you? I already know all that."

In my ever loving way I said "Look lady you were unconscious and quite unwilling to answer my questions...". She smiled.  

In the past couple weeks I have had great fun following the trees up and up. I have found an uncle of my mom's who we didn't know existed. They came over from Poland.....second marriage...etc etc. I found a granddaughter of another uncle my mom just barely remembers. There was some sort of a falling out and years later, my mom remembers a reunion between the brothers. I found a picture this  granddaughter posted and without even looking at the names, I knew which one he was. He looked just like grandpa.  I have now connected with this woman and we are starting to share.

I found the links for our pirate ancestor. I knew about him for years now but found the artifacts to back it up.

I found out that one of my dad's great great uncles was hung for killing his wife...strangled her to death. Lovely.

I am locked out of databases that are in the US or UK, but I am realizing that those trails are much easier to track than my mom's side where it links into villages in Poland and Russia and those varying boundaries back then.

My cost for the year is $119. Seeing the excitement in my parents' eyes makes it well worth it. We need to start going through pictures and beginning to add. My mom wants to go to the city in the spring and find her grandmother's grave...things like that.

I have shaved this money off my jars over the month of December. A bit from gas. A bit from groceries. A bit from entertainment.

For those of you who use it - I ask - at the end of the year when my membership expires, IF I chose not to continue to pay, what happens to my tree? Does it disappear? Or does it remain in some sort of stasis, waiting for me to pay again to see it again?

An impulse buy? yup. But I do recognize that the keepers to the stories behind all these names, have less time left on earth, rather than more.

Manual Labour Sunday

Towards supper time last night I hear a beep beep beep coming from the back alley.  I look out to see a bobcat loader dropping off cement tiles just outside of our gate. Hmmm. curious. About 15 minutes later, I hear it again and this time I see DH heading out. Apparently he bought patio cement tiles for our backyard so there is a solid place for the patio set.  (as you can see - apparently we don't consult each other on big purchases which I do NOT recommend for any couple starting out. short of finding a new spouse, there is not much I can do at this point)

The hardware store who delivered it is only four blocks from our place (gotta love small towns) and they were kind enough to deliver these at no cost to us, instead of us having to load them in the truck and unload them again later. Thanks hardware store peeps!!!

The patio/deck has been a source of contention for us for years. He really wants  a deck. I really want to add to the back of the house to make a kitchen we can sit in (no dining room. If we add a deck that pretty much means no adding on. So this purchase surprised me.

The tiles were on sale for $11.21 and DH bought 40 of them...so roughly $492 including tax. DH paid for this and I let him. He didn't help with the patio set or any of the grad costs. And so the manual labour began.

The boys and I dug out the grass in a sometimes shaded area of the backyard and leveled as best we could while DH ran to the farm to get sand. When he got back the testosterone began putting down the sand and blocks and levelling it. It was HOT here. 32C for us is really hot, especially after a very cool and rainy spring. I never do well with heat. blargh. By the end of the day the job was done and we went moved the patio set back onto it. The four remaining blocks we put down just a bit to the side to set the firepit I bought at a silent auction over the winter.

Our house has no AC and it's nice to sit outside in the shade and enjoy being outside if there is a breeze. I can read out there, eat out there or just relax and recharge (fully laden with OFF, of course).

Mom and dad were bbq'ing for supper as a pre Canada Day celebration. Was really nice to just go over and have food ready and not have them mind how hot and sweaty we were. Thanks mom and dad!

Below is a pic of the patio cement area and the new set. Half of it is wet from watering the grass we edged back in on the side. Notice the hockey stick and ball that keep DS1 from going crazy, and DS2's maine coone, who loves him more than anyone else.

As you can see, it is against the one piece of fence we did not replace as that neighbour wasn't ready to do a fence yet. Perhaps next year. With the new fence, the digging out and gravel new driveway and this patio, it certainly adds up to enough, for this year.

And I ran...I ran so far away

If you're older, you now have a Flock of Seagulls in your head :-)

So when I finished paying off my vehicle 2 years early I had money to reallocate. Several of you suggested that I take that first month's $ and do something for myself instead of whapping it onto debt as I usually do.  I hummed and hawed about that, unsure of what I wanted to do.

After my doctor appointment on the 19th I had a lot on my mind and my spirits were low. I had a lot of figuring out to do, a lot of reading to do to learn about some of these drugs and a lot of reconciling to do that I will have this disease for the rest of my life. I have to tell you that a lot of the pages I read were so sad and so depressing. The stories from others didn't give me a lot of hope as they wrote about the troubles they were having with the disease, and with the medication side effects.

I decided I needed a bit of me time. I always loved driving longer distances (with no mountains or no large cities in my way - they freak me out LOL) so I decided a 2 day round trip road trip was in order.

I went away last week on Wednesday early in the morning and returned Thursday by supper. A whirlwind trip to be sure but a lot of good self reflection went on.

I decided to head to Drumheller, Alberta. The Royal Tyrrell Museum is there.

 For dinosaur lovers it is the mecca. I had gone there years ago with the boys so I knew how to get there, sorta. It was a great morning to drive the beautiful prairies, though on the way there, I felt like I was doing the 'gas station bathrooms of the prairies' tour. I learned I really can't eat and travel. Too far to the next town sometimes for safety.

In Drumheller, I felt like I was meeting ghosts of myself everywhere I went. I went by dino statues where I remember the boys posing...the ice cream shop we stopped at....the Smittys where the boys both argued over who got the blue crayon....and in the museum itself, I watched younger couples with their children and felt ancient.  I flashbacked to being there and some dad was trying to pronounce  a sign for his kids. He said it wrong and I remember him saying "sorry kids dad's not sure how to say that one'. DS1, who was 5 or 6, leaned over and said 'It's CRETACEOUS". precocious little bugger :-)

I drove by the hoodoos and remember climbing them, and then the Atlas Coal Mines, where we did our tour.

I spent the night in a  hotel, with AIR CONDITIONING (I have none in my house LOL) and a KING SIZE BED. beyond exciting and sooo comfy.

The next morning I was off on a new adventure.... Dinosaur Provincial Park.  I hadn't even known this place existed. Silly girl.  This place is a UNESCO world heritage site and the field station for where a lot of the dino excavation takes place. You are just driving along minding your own business beside fields of wheat and canola with nothing to indicate what is coming (except for a sign that says 'snakes at risk. drive slow and preserve our rattlesnakes' *huge eye roll* lol

Then out of the blue the whole topography changes and you see this magnificient sweep where glaciers carved out chunks of the earth and show all those great layers of earth. There is a lookout point where I stopped and carefully walked to the edge, watching for those snakes I am supposed to 'preserve'. It is quite amazing to look at. I was the only vehicle there when I arrived but within minutes there were a handful of vehicles. As I walked the perimeter I came across a family from Manitoba with three little ones. They were asking the mom questions she wasn't quite sure how to answer and she said "maybe that lady knows" LOL So I found myself giving a little history lesson to the family, pointing out a few of the features I had noticed from the lookout. "You should be a teacher" said the oldest of them. I just laughed.

These are a couple of the pics I took from the top.

Following the road down to the bottom, there are areas for picnics, for camping, a concession, bathrooms (yessss) and an indoor mini museum and gift shop.  There was a fee for the museum part.

Here are a couple of pics I took from inside the museum.

Outside there are all kinds of trails to take. Long ones and short ones. Ones with guides (for a fee) and ones without. There is even a bus tour for those who can't do the hiking, with stops where the guide gets everyone out to show and explain different features.  If I were to take the boys (and be in better health) I would take one of the hiking ones with your own guide. Worth the $

I walked one of the shorter trails, tagging along behind an older couple and a family of four. Just figured it would be safer in case I got sick, or met one of the dreaded 'preserved' wildlife. When I got back to the main area one of the guides was talking with another group who had indeed encountered a rattler.


Here is a pic from right below a formation:

I wandered about the gift shop and picked up a couple of rocks for my dad, who collects different specimens.I laughed beacause when  you pay at the museum they want to know where you are from. My 'Saskatchewan' seemed rather paltry when I listened to the three groups after me who were from New  York, France and Israel LOL I also bought myself the necklace here below.

After that I began the drive home. I did think of a few of my blog visitors who live in the Drumheller, Brooks, Oyen areas. I was near you :-)

I had a lot to come to terms with on the drive. That I have been massively overweight for all of my adult life. That that weight has kept me from experiencing many things in life. I have spent too many summers going "next summer maybe I can...", I am going to have colitis for the rest of my life. I can take different meds and I have no idea what side effects they are going to give me. I have no clue if the meds will work to keep the disease symptoms at bay.  I have only a couple years left before the boys are both gone - I have to make the most of them.  Did I come to terms with everything? no but it was a lot of good time to think.

Costs for the trip?

• Gas - $150
• Tyrrell Museum - $11
• Dino Park - $3
• Necklace and 2 rocks for dad - $32
• Hotel - $137
• Food - $25 (don't eat much when it comes back to haunt you LOL)

Total - $358

My new favourite treat

I was blessed at the end of the year with different gifts from students - post it notes, little plaques with sayings about cats, a wind chime, coffee cards, and a wonderful memory book where the kids each wrote something for me.

The gift I am currently enjoying is:

Sweetened Ice Tea in a K cup for my Keurig machine.

You brew it over ice, and then add a bit more after and it's wonderfully refreshing and different. I am trying to drink mostly water this summer so this is my treat. It IS sweetened so there are 70 calories (I think) in each Kcup. I dutifully jot that down in my WW Points tracker so I don't forget.

So thank you my student. I had  not had it before and I am enjoying it very much!!

Not my best purchase

In Feb of 2011, I had gone with the boys to Edmonton for a mini holiday. Just the fuel getting there, the hotel for overnight and the food, cost enough.

While we were shopping I wandered into CrabTree and Evelyn and found myself attracted to one of the lovely lotions there. I am a bit of a lotion addict and I thought that since I wasn't really buying anything at all for myself, I would get this lotion.

I don't know if I bought it  because of the lovely lemon smell, or because it was in a 'fancy' store, but bought it I did. Cost = $22 plus tax.

Fast forward to last weekend while I was cleaning. There is my lotion, barely used. What seemed like a good idea at the time, never really came to fruition. Turns out the lemon scent is quite strong. We can't wear scent at work so I can't wear it there. I tried wearing it before bed but the smell was overwhelming and  even DH complained. I couldn't wear it to most of my outings as they involve the same folk I work with who are allergic. Wearing when I was about to eat took away from the great food aromas. So sat, it did.

Now I have it and I won't throw it out and no one in my own little world wants it so use it I shall. I can wear it when I go out for my walks. Perhaps with the breezes of the day it won't be quite so strong. Or maybe, it will keep the prairie mosquitos away :-)

I guess it shows that I shouldn't buy something just because it will make me feel fancy. It has to be practical for the long term.

I'm sure there are lots of folks out there who enjoy the scent of it and that is great.  Everyone has their own thing they love.

And wouldn't life be boring if we all loved the exact same things, and disliked the same things.

It was a good reality check for me. sometimes lessons are best learned after the fact, so you can make better choices the next time around.