A Day Off isn't always a Day Off!

Hi everyone!

I was granted a very lovely day off today from my boss. Yesterday, I spent some time figuring out what to do with my time. My work buddies and my family had all sorts of ideas, from staying in bed all day to going to a spa, treating myself to a shopping spree, or going for a drive in the country. 

The truth is, I could do all those things any day but to have a day to myself to complete some tasks that I can never get to, without any other obligations, without any disruption and without anyone else around is pure heaven to me. So that's what my day off ended up being!

I started with going back to sleep after my dh left for work. Waking up to a silent house was wonderful. Traipsed downstairs and spent 2 hours reorganizing the kitchen, then the family room, the laundry room and then my office, all in my jammies (thankful no one came to the door). I then dusted, swept, washed baseboards and floors, and put away all the construction/reno materials into a corner, out of sight until our next round of work on the weekend. Started some laundry, then headed up for a very long, leisurely bath. Dressed and headed over to my office for a quick meeting with the other tenants about the previous owner's attempts to get all of us to pay some rather costly repair bills for repairs that never happened. Great meeting, we bonded and after the business part was over, we all decided a summer bbq was in order. Love this building! 

Stopped to pick up something for dinner to bbq and found a great sale, so I bought extra for the freezer. Came home to have some lunch, watched a show, then did more laundry, did some long, over due writing and then spent a couple of hours sorting paperwork and receipts. Tonight, I did more and now I'm heading off to bed, satisfied that my "to do" list is a lot lighter. More sorting tomorrow and a chance to work with my teachers for a while after two counseling appointments with clients.

A good day all around. For someone else, this may not have been an idea day off, but for me, it was worth the work and the time!

Are you ever granted a surprise day off?

What would you do with your time?

Blog Goals.

 

Hi everyone!

I've decided to make some basic blog goals to see if I can get my blog "out there"! Love my faithful and dedicated readers but one always likes a bigger audience when putting effort in to a project that is valuable. To keep it simple and manageable, I'm starting with just 4 goals:

 

1. I've decided to write a total of 280 posts for the year. As this is my 80th post for 2014, I now have a challenge to write another 200 entries in the 174 days left (or 25 weeks, if you're counting) in this fine year. That's 1.15 per day. Not sure how I would do that and I know I won't write each day so there may be a few times where I'll do a few additional posts to stay on track. Sounds like a huge number to achieve but I have lots to say!

 

2. Increase my followers by becoming more engaged in the blogs I like to read. My hope is that I'll then attract a few more readers to become followers. Not an easy task and I'm not a salesperson at all, but I'll give it a good shot!

 

3. Research options for bringing more readers my way. I'm not convinced that inviting companies to advertise will bring more readers, so I'd like to find other less complicated avenues to become linked to those who are fellow writers and comrades in the game of life!

 

4. Post more pictures and write more interesting entries. Find my niche. Write from the heart. Share what I know. And love the whole process!

 

And that's the plan! Tell me what you think of my ideas.

 

Did you or do you have blog goals?

10 Things Tuesday!

Hi everyone!

 

I'm linking up with Carla today to participate in "10 Things Tuesday". Hope you'll enjoy and maybe even join in!
 

1. Builder meeting: happening today at 3:00 p.m. Looking forward to chatting with the two main men in my life today, builder guy and my husband! We're stuck on choosing the front door and hope to come to an agreement today. The beauty of custom building is getting to explore what is out there and making the change to what we want, especially for the front of the house. Fun!

2. Grief meeting: happening today at 7:00 p.m. with the support group I lead for families who have experienced the loss of a precious child, at any age, for any reason. A small but mighty group of individuals who have all bonded together as they journey thru this unimaginable grief. My heroes for sharing their stories and their shattered, broken, aching hearts with each other!

3. Boxes, boxes! All over my house, in my office, in my other office, in the garage, in the back of my car. I've never seen so  many boxes. And all donated by kind and caring people for us to pack up the house. Some are being used to cart items away to the thrift store. Others are for the things we want to keep. Can't wait for the day when all the millions of boxes are gone from my sight!

4. Hot weather! It's too hot here and I'm sweltering in the mugginess of it all. I love the sun and what it's doing for our garden but truly wish we could have a couple of days of nice weather, then a day of rain or cooler temps. The heat is too much when it goes on for days and days. Tomorrow, the rain is supposed to come but with it, thunder and lightening, a side effect from too much heat!

5. But my summer tan is great! Yup, I'm sporting quite a nice shade of golden brown. Gardening does that when the sun it out. I love having skin that retains the color and always feel like I look healthier with a bit of sun!

6. Headache ~ ouch! I think the humidity is creating this doozy. Even putting my glasses on this morning hurt. Hopefully with the rain tomorrow, it will go away and I can enjoy life again without pain!

7. Missing our little guy .... he's away to visit with his dad for 10 days. We're on day 5 now and expect a call will come at some point to pick him up early. He's never been gone this long. We'll see if his dad proves us wrong and he gets to stay for the whole time this time!

8. Quiet house! Not something we're used to. On one hand, it's kind of lovely to have some quiet but very quickly that thought disappears as we realize how much we miss his antics, his jokes, his fast quips and his giggles. I truly miss his tiny little hands around our necks for night time hugs!

9. Shopping today! I've run out of my favorite vitamin water, the only thing that quenches  my thirst in this heat and there's nothing else that I like to drink in the house, so off to the store I go, in between the meeting with our builder and the meeting with my grief group!

10. So tired! Can't wait to fall asleep tonight. It was hard to sleep last night and I'm feeling the effects today. Achy, sluggish body and eyes that want to close. I shall crash and sleep all night tonight!
 

That's my contribution to "10 Things Tuesday".

Finally, a Gardener!

Hi everyone!

 

Our first house was tiny, with a small back yard and an even smaller front yard. We planted annuals in the windbox and a few small flowers around the base of the tree in in the front. In the back, we created a little garden area along one fence, the only spot not covered by the large tree or taken up by the patio or grass. We tried to grow some herbs but there wasn't enough sun in that one spot. The following year, we tried some shade annuals and they did okay. But truthfully, neither of us had green thumbs and we were soon busy raising tiny babies. Gardening had to wait for now but I knew not for long. 

We've moved houses several times since those early years and each time, we ended up with more garden area to experiment with. But it wasn't until the last two years that we became serious. Ripping out the kids play centre, reseeding and resodding, tearing down the old deck and putting up a new one and painting all the fencing gave us a fresh plot to work with. We spent some time, in between the construction and the painting to research which plants would do the best in our yard and in our ever changing climate. Making a plan, we soon found ourselves scouring the nurseries for the right plants and then muddy from digging in the dirt. But the hard work paid off and for the first time ever, I'm starting to feel like a true gardener! We have blooms popping up every day and it's so peaceful now to sit on our deck and look out to a sea of color. Gardening takes planning, time, patience, tasks, pennies and tolerance but the rewards are oh so sweet! 

Do you like to garden?

Do you consider yourself a gardener?

Happy 4th!

Wishing my American friends and family a beautiful,

safe and healthy 4th of July!! Happy fireworks!!

Where the money goes!

Hi everyone!

Do you ever wander where the money goes after it comes into your life? It may seem like there is a lot but then all the little things in life that need to be bought in order to survive, and occasionally those things we decide we just want, truly add up. My husband and I both grew up in homes where money was always an issue. In his home, starting with nothing, his mom and dad really struggled and couldn't seem to find a way to get a head of the game. I love them to pieces but I often wondered if some of the beliefs they had stopped them in their tracks. Attitude can make such a difference! My mom and dad also started with nothing but chose a path that brought them to a standard of living that was much more comfortable. However, they also fell into the trap of spending more as they brought in more. I'm not sure in the end that they were any better off. But they had fun along the way! No stress around what needed to be paid.

We decided before we got married that we would strive to live a life that was as comfortable as possible, doing the kind of work we wanted to do, not just work to survive. It's taken a lot of sacrifice and our kids grew up knowing that they couldn't just have everything they wanted. We saved pennies (literally!), bought with intention and after much investigation, did without when the needs were more important than the wants, and learned how to live frugally but with style! It's truly paid off and although we are now at a point that we could just go out and buy what ever we want, we have embraced our thriftiness so much that it's now fun. My husband often says if we ever won the lottery, I'd still be the "deal queen". And he's right! I'd still look for the best savings.

So where does the money go? As we're building now, we thought we'd take some time to really track it. To make this work, I'll do what Carla over at My 1/2 Dozen Daily does each week ~ tracks her spending, then shows the world where the money went. I love this and will start today. Thanks Carla!

Here's our total for this "Budget Thursday" on a bright, sunny, hot and muggy July morning:

• We paid $349.03 for our property taxes. This is paid monthly and covers both our current residence, as well as our acreage. Once the new house is built, we'll go down to one tax bill each month but I do anticipate it will be about this amount or a bit higher. No savings there but our utilities will be less as we're going off the grid for water. And no home phone, just our cells. A savings of about $150 a month for both.
• We paid $125 for our cable/internet/phone bill. Standard amount, no increases, no extra charges. It was actually $121 but I like to "round" things up when I pay bills and we often end up with a credit along the way.
• We paid $125 for our cell phone plan for two phones, all inclusive. A bit higher this month as dh had a few long distance calls, which he will be reimbursed for. Again, paid out higher than the actual bill of $118.
• We paid $24.58 for groceries so far this week. Our fridge is pretty full and our cupboards as well but we needed some fresh meat and our big bag of rice was at the end.
• We paid $17.41 to our AMEX account. We only use our credit cards (MasterCard for gas and groceries and AMEX for Costco purchases) for convenience and never carry a balance. MasterCard has never been able to charge us interest and we've had our cards since 1982 ~ I'm sure they hate us but then they raise our limits so we can't be too bad in their books! AMEX once charged us because of a computer glitch that showed our payment being late on their end. They fixed it and then credited us the interest they charged. Then raised our limit! This amount paid yesterday was an odd amount but I like to keep our bank account even and each night, go in and move money either to savings or shoot little amounts to our cc's. I can sleep better cause the accounts are in "even" mode and the cc's are constantly getting little payments so that by the time we get our statement, it's small to pay off.
• We transferred $2.59 to our one savings to again, even it out! In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm just a bit OCD!!
• I bought a cranberry juice last night at the cafe across from  my office when I was meeting a client and needed a cold drink. With tip, my tab came to $2.50 altogether.

To recap, for the month of July, we have spent a total of $646.11. Seems like all those amounts aren't too bad, until you add them together. But nothing there to cut back on. Other than the juice and evening out our accounts, all of this was obligations in the form of utility payments, food and property taxes.

Do you keep a frugal budget?

Where does your money go?

Fingers crossed!

Hi everyone!

 

Twenty seven years ago, our region was hit by an F4 tornado, a surprise in a community that had never experienced one before that day, dubbed "Black Friday". Twenty seven people were killed, hundreds injured, homes and businesses destroyed, and over $500 million in damages. A scary, heartbreaking day.

Those of us who lived through the terror of that day still get antsy when big storms pop up. Tonight, we're on "alert" as the conditions are just right for the predicted storm to turn into a tornado. Please keep our region in your thoughts and blessings as we wait out what  may or may not come our way. Fingers crossed it gets downgraded and the guess is wrong!

Canada Day!!

Hi everyone!

Our community puts on such a great celebration each year for Canada Day. Pancake breakfast, an incredible parade with floats, over an hour long, with music and candy, pony rides, canoe rides, bouncy castles, food everywhere, opportunities to play, opportunities to sing and dance, opportunities to wave our flag with pride. We arrived at the park just after 9 a.m. and stayed until 3 this afternoon. We'll head out to see the fireworks once it gets dark tonight. A long day filled with activity, friends, family and fun!

I'm tired, sunburned, hot but full of love for my free country, my beautiful family and all the blessings we cherish on a daily basis. Nothing is taken for granted, even on those days when life is hard. But days like today are a reminder of how fortunate we are to live in this vast, beautiful nation!

Happy Birthday Canada!!

Hope your day was filled with love!