Still got them November Blues....

Work has been very busy and challenging lately. Not that it hasn't always been so but this new position is even more intense. This is an industry which requires constant concentration and a keen eye to detail. The job must be perfect upon completion as people's lives could be at stake. So believe me when I say that it can get hard on your head some days. Then you have the annoying co-worker who just drives you nuts, right down to their school child laugh that an adult should have outgrown years ago. Really, grow-up!

Anyway, as you can tell, I have one of these coworkers hanging around me, though thankfully, not often enough to have driven me completely insane. A real "Klingon", and not the old Star Trek kind either. I just pity the poor guys who have to deal with him/her every day. YUK. Thanks, I just had to vent a little.

On the plus side I love seeing everyone around me wearing their poppies. Not just on their outside jackets but on their work clothes, too. With Rememberance Day just around the corner and Canadian troops on active duty overseas I think we all realize how much these men and women sacrifice for the freedom we enjoy so much today.

Thanksgiving and Inspiration

Wow, another big Turkey dinner with all the trimmings. I spent hours in the kitchen this afternoon peeling and mixing and baking while Hubby worked away outside in the yard harvesting and digging and transplanting. A friend at work had given us a bunch of Tiger lily and daylily bulbs and we sacrificed some of the iris bulbs in the holding garden to make room for them. It’s not like we are going to run out of irises anytime soon, we have hundreds of them (another gift) but unfortunately, they are all the same colour and they tend to dominate that garden when they are in bloom. Besides, I’m sure that we can find lots of people to pass them on to.



So, while he was busy doing that I was swirling around inside doing the “Domestic Diva” thing. Yes, I made turkey, stuffing, all the veggies, the condiment tray, and pumpkin pie and lots of pumpkin tarts, too. Oh, and dishes, lots of dishes. I did five loads of dishes between breakfast and dinner. I also made some Witches Broom Halloween treat bags which I had seen in a Martha Stewart magazine a couple of years ago. Thanks Martha. It has been an extremely busy day.





Now that supper is over and Hubby is downstairs cleaning up the kitchen (I couldn’t bear to look at any more dishes) I thought I’d share a few of the “Words of Wisdom” that I keep on my desktop blotter calendar.

“When you come to the edge of the light that you have been given and are about to enter darkness,
Know that one of two things will happen.
Either your foot will find firm ground - or - you will be taught to fly.”

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”

“Vision without action is a daydream
Action without vision is a nightmare.”

“Before crazy met insane.”

“Winners quit all the time, they just quit the right stuff at the right time.”

“Teamwork: Simply stated, it is less me and more we.”

“ ‘STRESSED’ Desserts spelled backwards.”

“At God's footstool to confess,
A poor soul knelt and bowed his head.
‘I failed ‘ He cried. The master said. ‘Thou did thy best,
That is success.’ “

And my favourite:

“Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.”



Man, I hate that.
Happy Thanksgiving, all.

The New Furniture

Well, I'm going to keep this short because well I'm just too tired to post a full page. I've been really tired lately and I don't know why but I'm just feeling that way.

The new furniture arrived this week and it looks great. I really do like the RED. Hubby, I think ,is enjoying the new colour, too. The smell of new leather is wonderful.

This weekend we visited friends in the old neighbourhood including the couple who bought our first house. They're moving back to Ontario for health reasons, he is really not well. The reasons have made me think about alot of stuff, meaning of life stuff. It has been a hard week and I think that I'm just going to wait for another time to post. Hope you all understand.

Update To My Goals For This Year

I thought that this would would be a good time to udate my resolution list for the year. I'm actually making pretty good progress for seven weeks! What do you think? How are you doing with your list?

1. Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
   We have decreased the tax portion of our bi-weekly payment by about $40 while increasing the total we are paying by $30 which means that we are paying about $150 extra per month on our principal.



2. Buy skates and use them.
   I bought a used pair from the old guy at the skate shop. I felt very sorry for him as it seems that he is not very well-off. I think that I will buy him a meal sometime as it looks like he may need it. As for the skates, now that I have them I'm afraid to use them in case I fall and break something.



3. Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
   No kayak yet and that water still looks scary.



4. Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
   No poker yet either and I guess I'm sticking with the face I've got.



5. Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
   I haven't been laughing too much lately because they have been "5 S"ing my shop at work. You'll know what I mean when the program comes your way.



6. Drink more water at work and home.
   This one has been easy and I'm loving it, even though I gurgle now when I walk.



7. Try new recipes.
   We have tried a few but no real winners yet.



8. Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
   I am still just doing the walking thing, a couple of kilometers per day.



9. Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
   I haven't gotten around to getting the scale yet so I well on my way to achieving this goal (go ahead, prove me wrong!).



10. Open a TFSA account and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
    I'm proud to say that I opened my TFSA two weeks ago and maxxed it out for the year. This will be our emergency fund for now.



11. Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
    Vacation is still a long way away but it will happen.



12. Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
    This one is not so easy but I'm trying.



13. Make more time for myself.
    This one ain't easy either, always too much housework.



14. Read more books.
    I'm on my third book now.



15. Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
    Not yet.



16. Get a complete physical.
    Coming soon to an examination room near me.



17. Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
    I'm sure it can do lots but right now it's too easy to ask Hubby.



18. Continue to declutter.
    This will be an on-going process.



19. Continue to work on our basement renovations.
    These are on hold for now, there's just too many other ways to spend the money,



20. Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
    The painting will happen soon and the search for new furniture continues.



21. Tweak the budget throughout the year.
    We have done some tweaking already and we will continue to maximize our savings where possible.

Past the Middle of the Month Already???

Wow, January is flying by, and I'm glad because the quicker the months go the closer it is to Winter being over and the start of Spring. Yes, I know I'm jumping way ahead, but what the hell! Not everyone is into Winter. Believe me, I've tried to be positive about it but something about -20C temperatures and high winds just don't agree with me.


I've started to knit a scarf which I'm really pleased with so far. It is nice to be creative again with my hands. I wish I could go to community school this year but with the shifts I work I would miss every second week, so why bother. It's too bad because I went to community school for over 10 years and every year I learned a new skill. I also had alot of fun meeting new people. Man, I can hardly wait to retire to be able to do that again! I guess I didn't realize how much I missed it till now (ugh.)

Hubby and I cleaned the house from top to bottom today. All the floors were washed too. The place looks and smells great. Every Sunday is our cleaning day and then its just recreation time after that.

I made some brownies today which turned out very good. I was going to make bread but didn't have enough milk and I really didn't want to drive into town or spend any money today. I didn't get the bread done but I at least accomplished something!

This morning I wrote a response to the performance review from my job. I was happy with the overall review (much better than last year), now just SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!!! (and lots of it would be nice). Anyway it will be what it is and with the times ahead I'll be happy with any amount I actually get. It will probably go towards the mortgage, anyway. It's all about getting that paid off in FIVE years so I can retire or move on to something I will enjoy working at more.

This week I'm training another person in our department and we are having a 5S revision done in our shop. Oh Joy!! You don't want me to start on that.

We went shopping in the Big City on Saturday I made a great haul at Value Village, thanks to my Christmas gift certificates. You just gotta love them. The spirit of Christmas just keeps going and going. I'm planning a day trip across the puddle sometime in Febuary and I'm reallly looking forward to it. Maybe I'll spend the rest of my stash then!

New Years Goals for 2009

Happy New Year to you all!!!!!

We have been stormed in for two days and just finally got our main road plowed out at around Noon.
Hubby has been out twice using the snowblower to clear the driveway just to stay ahead of the blowing snow. The drifts were 6' in some areas and out on the road they must be 10' or more.
Welcome to another New Year of storms. The same day in 2008 was also a storm. Weird.

We had a few friends over on New Years eve before we all went to the Community complex for the dinner and dance. Fun times were had by all and the New Year was officially rang in. YA HOOO!!! I'm hoping for 2009 to be the best year ever. Now that's positive thinking.

Goals for the New Year are as follows:(no particular order)

Continue paying down that mortgage as fast as possible.
Buy skates and use them.
Buy a Kayak and try and get over my fear of the water with a life jacket of course.
Learn to play poker and get a good poker face.
Smile more often (maybe that will be my poker face).
Drink more water at work and home.
Try new recipes.
Exercise more often, and use my hand weights.
Lose 10 pounds (I have to weight myself first, so I may need to buy a scale).
Open a TFSA acount and try to max it out if the rates are worthwhile without those darling bank fees attached.
Take a real vacation somewhere in the Maritimes.
Try to let go off the past and learn to live in the moment.
Make more time for myself.
Read more books.
Have more dinner parties and play some game boards.
Get a complete physical.
Learn more about my computer and what it can do for me besides surfing the internet.
Continue to declutter.
Continue to work on our basement renovations.
Paint our t.v room and maybe buy some new furniture for it.
Tweak the budget throughout the year.

Yes this list is long but surely I can accomplish some of these goals and even if it is just a few , I think I would still be pleased.

How about you? Any goals or dreams you want to share.

Take care and all the best to everyone in 2009.

Only Four Days 'til the NEW YEAR!

The New year is always about hope and promises , BUT WHAT ABOUT GOALS????

Resolutions, just forget it, everyone breaks them and then feels guilty and stressed. Goals are easier. If you don't achieve them, well, there is always the next day, week, or month.

The stress we put upon ourselves is just that. These are our goals and maybe they can't be achieved when we expect them to be. Just keep a positive attitude and move ahead every day.

I have lots of goals to post and I can hardly wait to unveil them, but right now they are all on paper and in my head so you will have to wait.