Day 94.......a column....yippee.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Well, this is a wee bit of a late posting for yesterday but I did think that this would happen.....and it did. The power of thought, eh? I really would have been better imagining that both my meditation and blog would be done before the shopping got underway instead of thinking that they'd have to wait.
I am beginning this whilst Ali is trying on clothes and will finish it whilst she gets her haircut. Our appointments are two hours each because they are in the Aveda school. The students are volunteering their day off to raise money for a Hairdressing school in Uganda. Seems like a good cause to me....plus we need haircuts.
Yesterday saw me at the library for the afternoon but instead of working on the screenplay on weekends I have been doing other bits of writing and yesterday found me setting up an account on a website which allows you to write your own column and then get subscribers who will pay $4/month to read them. I wrote my first column last evening and I had a dreadful deja vu when the laptop froze just as I was approaching the end. FLIP-will I ever learn? The thing is, it hasn't played up since that last time it did it when I was writing that article I lost. Luckily for me, this time there was at least a third of the column had automatically saved. I took some Gentian whilst the laptop rebooted and resisted the wine (hadn't had dinner yet) and I was okay to resume the writing when it came back up. I feel sure that I liked my first draft better but the Universe, yet again, had a different idea. Hopefully the Universe knew best and there will be lots of people find my columns. The site is www.MindMarket.com or maybe it's .ca? I have named it 'Hands up if you want to feel less stressed' (I think. That's the problem with doing this blog on my phone, all the info is at home so all this information may be 'nearly correct') I am writing the column under my own name though, so go see if you can find it and report back.
The column will be about daily life and everyday situations that Bach Flower remedies and a wee bit mindfulness can help take the stress out of.
I am very excited to be writing it because, even if nobody were to subscribe to it and I made no money, I will still be able to say
that I write a column which sounds so much more 'accomplished' than my up till now, 'I write a blog.'Lol. I hope that my head won't get too big for my hat
Please spread the link far and wide and who knows where it'll end up. Thanks.
Ali and I hadn't watched a movie in ages but I spotted one that Bill and I loved called 'Accepted' and we both guffawed our way through it. I am pretty sure that it wasn't called that in Scotland but it starred Justin long, Blake Lively and Jonah Hill and was hilarious.
Brr. Must go back inside as the temp seems to have dropped. Will finish up here because that means that I can just copy and paste I when I get home rather than trying to add anything.
Happy St Andrews day Folks and Happy Sunday.
Lots of love to all,
Lxxxx
Sunday, 30 November 2014
Friday, 28 November 2014
This is actually Day 93........a wonderful chat with my hubbie on skype to show him the new hairdo.
This is actually Day 93........a wonderful chat with my hubbie on skype to show him the new hairdo.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I had a lovely chat with Bill, this morning via skype and that, in itself tells me that the Water Violet is gently balancing out my hibernation tendency. Normally I wouldn't suggest that we skype-he would just have seen the photos with the rest of you. It wasn't till afterwards that I realised how easy it had been to suggest that we video chat. VERY interesting folks.
Flippin heck-the amount of times I have to retype because I get two letters mixed up-lol.
After our chat, I headed to the bank, to pay the rent. Did I tell you that I take it out of one bank, walk two minutes along the street and deposit it into another bank. I feel very rich for those two minutes.
Headed to the library via Starbuck for an Americano to last me my four hours. I have discoverd that it tastes just as yummy cold. The same cannot be said for an Eggnog Latte.
This morning I was feeling a bit like JK Rowling, when she was writing her first Harry Potter, spending the whole day with a black coffee and refills......except I don't get any refills.......and I'm in the library and not a cafe. Not really similar at all, then, especially since I'm writing a screenplay and not even a book........tee hee.
The library was lovely and warm and it was quiet-yippeeee. I had a table to spread out on and nobody to disturb with my snack. The snoring man was either doing it quietly or he wasn't in (perhaps he slept in?)
I cheated a wee bit this morning by answering a quick email or two, when they came in but, for the most part I concentrated on Dibs. For pretty much the whole 4.5 hrs, I was doing writing of some sort. I even managed to post a wee note on the Bach FB page about Water Violet and I hope it goes some way to describing how my heid works.
It's very CRISP outside at -4 which is feeling like -10 but it's supposed to warm up to 11 degrees by Sunday. Very strange this up and down temperature.
I decided to write this, this evening before Alison and I settle into a movie. We didn't do Pizza tonight for the first time. We had left over lasagne instead and there's enough to do tomorrow night. Not a bad buy. Three good sized yummy meals for $10-I'm sure it's probably supposed to feed eight to ten!
Saturday mornings can be a bit of a hit or miss to get a blog written. I'm still not sure what Ali is planning for tomorrow. She's been invited to go shopping with a school pal but she thinks she may not go. If she goes out, I may give Marie (with little baby Noah) a call to see if I can visit, if Jason is working. It's not that I don't want to see Jason-just that it's nice for Marie to have some company when he's at work.
So, that's it for today folks. Much love to all, as ever.
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I had a lovely chat with Bill, this morning via skype and that, in itself tells me that the Water Violet is gently balancing out my hibernation tendency. Normally I wouldn't suggest that we skype-he would just have seen the photos with the rest of you. It wasn't till afterwards that I realised how easy it had been to suggest that we video chat. VERY interesting folks.
Flippin heck-the amount of times I have to retype because I get two letters mixed up-lol.
After our chat, I headed to the bank, to pay the rent. Did I tell you that I take it out of one bank, walk two minutes along the street and deposit it into another bank. I feel very rich for those two minutes.
Headed to the library via Starbuck for an Americano to last me my four hours. I have discoverd that it tastes just as yummy cold. The same cannot be said for an Eggnog Latte.
This morning I was feeling a bit like JK Rowling, when she was writing her first Harry Potter, spending the whole day with a black coffee and refills......except I don't get any refills.......and I'm in the library and not a cafe. Not really similar at all, then, especially since I'm writing a screenplay and not even a book........tee hee.
The library was lovely and warm and it was quiet-yippeeee. I had a table to spread out on and nobody to disturb with my snack. The snoring man was either doing it quietly or he wasn't in (perhaps he slept in?)
I cheated a wee bit this morning by answering a quick email or two, when they came in but, for the most part I concentrated on Dibs. For pretty much the whole 4.5 hrs, I was doing writing of some sort. I even managed to post a wee note on the Bach FB page about Water Violet and I hope it goes some way to describing how my heid works.
It's very CRISP outside at -4 which is feeling like -10 but it's supposed to warm up to 11 degrees by Sunday. Very strange this up and down temperature.
I decided to write this, this evening before Alison and I settle into a movie. We didn't do Pizza tonight for the first time. We had left over lasagne instead and there's enough to do tomorrow night. Not a bad buy. Three good sized yummy meals for $10-I'm sure it's probably supposed to feed eight to ten!
Saturday mornings can be a bit of a hit or miss to get a blog written. I'm still not sure what Ali is planning for tomorrow. She's been invited to go shopping with a school pal but she thinks she may not go. If she goes out, I may give Marie (with little baby Noah) a call to see if I can visit, if Jason is working. It's not that I don't want to see Jason-just that it's nice for Marie to have some company when he's at work.
So, that's it for today folks. Much love to all, as ever.
Lxxx
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Day 92.........a new me. 3 Girls and 4 Suitcases. Well, the scary thing that I was going to do today? It was a trip to the hairdressers, for the first time since arriving here. All you women out there will know how scary that can be, a new hairdresser. I have gotten much more relaxed about my hair as I've gotten older and less obsessed with the way I look. Let's face it, our eyesight diminishes for good reason.....it's so that we can't really see the old wrinkly person looking back at us from the mirror-lol. But wrinkles don't hurt.....and neither do new hairdos. My visit today would have been scary had I not sent some Reiki to it ahead of time and you all know how much I believe in 'everything happens for a reason' so, with that in mind I headed off downtown to meet my new colourist. I had answered an advert which said FREE highlights and was off to meet Manusha who, it turns out, was sitting her exam in the Aveda Hairdressing school downtown. Boy, what a place! It was like santas grotto in the movie Elf but with lots of little hairdressers instead of Elves, at their work stations. I had an absolute blast making up a screenplay in my head about a hairdressing school, with all the different characters that surrounded me. Manusha was lovely and eighteen years old. She was kind and attentive and not only did I get lowlights and my roots covered up but she gave me a hand massage and a shoulder/upper back massage whilst my colours were doing their thing and I got a head massage during shampooing. If it hadn't been for the balancing effect of the added three mugs of coffee, I would have floated home........three hours later. The school are doing a fundraiser for a Ugandan hairdressing school, on Sunday and Manusha is volunteering so I booked both Ali and I in for a haircut, from her. We really only need the ends trimmed so how wrong could it go. I think that I may have found my new hairdresser and whilst my hair is darker than I had planned, I really like it and so does Ali. Manusha says she'll call me when she has another exam....hopefully in the spring for some highlights, right? The Aveda products are lovely. My hands smelled really nice after the massage and my hair smells great too. I'll be able to leave it till Sunday for washing, when I get my cut and blow dry....Yippee. I had planned to take Ali to the bank to deposit her pay cheque but she was starting work early at three so I didn't make it back before she went. So we went after I got back from her parent interviews at six fifteen. The bank is open till seven on Thursdays and Fridays. The parent interviews were great as expected because did I tell you that she got a great report card? I had put a huge lasagne in the oven before I went down to the school and it was almost ready when we got back from the bank.....yum 'cause we were both very hungry. Alison has been told that she can work whatever extra hours she wants, in the daycare, over the Christmas holidays. She's very happy about it and is looking forward to spending her extra money. I haven't had any replies back about the couple of wee things I've applied for but on the plus side, I did get asked to do an email consult from the Uk-yippeee. It is writing and it is about Bach....perfect combination. Anyhooo. I am going to close by telling you that, apart from this blog, there has been no writing done today-oops. Looks like I'll have to hit the library on Saturday again. On the very big plus side, I saved a fortune today! Much love to all, Lxxxx
Day 92.........a new me.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Well, the scary thing that I was going to do today? It was a trip to the hairdressers, for the first time since arriving here. All you women out there will know how scary that can be, a new hairdresser. I have gotten much more relaxed about my hair as I've gotten older and less obsessed with the way I look. Let's face it, our eyesight diminishes for good reason.....it's so that we can't really see the old wrinkly person looking back at us from the mirror-lol. But wrinkles don't hurt.....and neither do new hairdos.
My visit today would have been scary had I not sent some Reiki to it ahead of time and you all know how much I believe in 'everything happens for a reason' so, with that in mind I headed off downtown to meet my new colourist. I had answered an advert which said FREE highlights and was off to meet Manusha who, it turns out, was sitting her exam in the Aveda Hairdressing school downtown.
Boy, what a place! It was like santas grotto in the movie Elf but with lots of little hairdressers instead of Elves, at their work stations. I had an absolute blast making up a screenplay in my head about a hairdressing school, with all the different characters that surrounded me.
Manusha was lovely and eighteen years old. She was kind and attentive and not only did I get lowlights and my roots covered up but she gave me a hand massage and a shoulder/upper back massage whilst my colours were doing their thing and I got a head massage during shampooing. If it hadn't been for the balancing effect of the added three mugs of coffee, I would have floated home........three hours later.
The school are doing a fundraiser for a Ugandan hairdressing school, on Sunday and Manusha is volunteering so I booked both Ali and I in for a haircut, from her. We really only need the ends trimmed so how wrong could it go. I think that I may have found my new hairdresser and whilst my hair is darker than I had planned, I really like it and so does Ali.
Manusha says she'll call me when she has another exam....hopefully in the spring for some highlights, right?
The Aveda products are lovely. My hands smelled really nice after the massage and my hair smells great too. I'll be able to leave it till Sunday for washing, when I get my cut and blow dry....Yippee.
I had planned to take Ali to the bank to deposit her pay cheque but she was starting work early at three so I didn't make it back before she went. So we went after I got back from her parent interviews at six fifteen. The bank is open till seven on Thursdays and Fridays. The parent interviews were great as expected because did I tell you that she got a great report card?
I had put a huge lasagne in the oven before I went down to the school and it was almost ready when we got back from the bank.....yum 'cause we were both very hungry.
Alison has been told that she can work whatever extra hours she wants, in the daycare, over the Christmas holidays. She's very happy about it and is looking forward to spending her extra money.
I haven't had any replies back about the couple of wee things I've applied for but on the plus side, I did get asked to do an email consult from the Uk-yippeee. It is writing and it is about Bach....perfect combination.
Anyhooo. I am going to close by telling you that, apart from this blog, there has been no writing done today-oops. Looks like I'll have to hit the library on Saturday again.
On the very big plus side, I saved a fortune today!
Much love to all,
Lxxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Well, the scary thing that I was going to do today? It was a trip to the hairdressers, for the first time since arriving here. All you women out there will know how scary that can be, a new hairdresser. I have gotten much more relaxed about my hair as I've gotten older and less obsessed with the way I look. Let's face it, our eyesight diminishes for good reason.....it's so that we can't really see the old wrinkly person looking back at us from the mirror-lol. But wrinkles don't hurt.....and neither do new hairdos.
My visit today would have been scary had I not sent some Reiki to it ahead of time and you all know how much I believe in 'everything happens for a reason' so, with that in mind I headed off downtown to meet my new colourist. I had answered an advert which said FREE highlights and was off to meet Manusha who, it turns out, was sitting her exam in the Aveda Hairdressing school downtown.
Boy, what a place! It was like santas grotto in the movie Elf but with lots of little hairdressers instead of Elves, at their work stations. I had an absolute blast making up a screenplay in my head about a hairdressing school, with all the different characters that surrounded me.
Manusha was lovely and eighteen years old. She was kind and attentive and not only did I get lowlights and my roots covered up but she gave me a hand massage and a shoulder/upper back massage whilst my colours were doing their thing and I got a head massage during shampooing. If it hadn't been for the balancing effect of the added three mugs of coffee, I would have floated home........three hours later.
The school are doing a fundraiser for a Ugandan hairdressing school, on Sunday and Manusha is volunteering so I booked both Ali and I in for a haircut, from her. We really only need the ends trimmed so how wrong could it go. I think that I may have found my new hairdresser and whilst my hair is darker than I had planned, I really like it and so does Ali.
Manusha says she'll call me when she has another exam....hopefully in the spring for some highlights, right?
The Aveda products are lovely. My hands smelled really nice after the massage and my hair smells great too. I'll be able to leave it till Sunday for washing, when I get my cut and blow dry....Yippee.
I had planned to take Ali to the bank to deposit her pay cheque but she was starting work early at three so I didn't make it back before she went. So we went after I got back from her parent interviews at six fifteen. The bank is open till seven on Thursdays and Fridays. The parent interviews were great as expected because did I tell you that she got a great report card?
I had put a huge lasagne in the oven before I went down to the school and it was almost ready when we got back from the bank.....yum 'cause we were both very hungry.
Alison has been told that she can work whatever extra hours she wants, in the daycare, over the Christmas holidays. She's very happy about it and is looking forward to spending her extra money.
I haven't had any replies back about the couple of wee things I've applied for but on the plus side, I did get asked to do an email consult from the Uk-yippeee. It is writing and it is about Bach....perfect combination.
Anyhooo. I am going to close by telling you that, apart from this blog, there has been no writing done today-oops. Looks like I'll have to hit the library on Saturday again.
On the very big plus side, I saved a fortune today!
Much love to all,
Lxxxx
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
Day 91.......the library was roastin'....and busy.
Day 91.......the library was roastin'....and busy.
3 Girls and 4 suitcases.
I think that folk must be having the same idea as me about going to the library to keep warm and save on heating bills because it was very busy today. I even had a guy sitting opposite me for most of my four hours which meant that I was Hank Marvin when I got home because I didn't like to crunch my snack at the table, in case I disturbed him. My last half hour was none too productive due to the growling going on in my stomach. I also must make note to self about not wearing a vest under a wool cardi' because I was roasting and didn't want to traumatize anyone with my unwaxed armpits.....so I stayed roasting-ugh.
Ah well, perhaps I will need to rethink my timings and go round there for 9am so that I get home at a decent time for lunch. It may even inspire me to write for another couple of hours in the afternoon but my book-writing tutor taught that we shouldn't write for longer than four hours each day because our creativity needs to replenish. Mmm.....I'm not kidding Billy Denham, she did.
I seem to have spent a fair bit of time doing extra writing today. I had a Bach consult from England-yippeee. I love email consults because it gives me the chance to write and to chat about Bach Flower remedies....my perfect job. So, spread the word folks. Anyone who knows anyone who's struggling....let's get them happy.
Alison had a giggle at me tonight because we were chatting, at the dinner table (we like to sit at the table) about my having sent off a couple of little job applications and also an email to enquire about some therapy room-space. Alison got her financial hat on and told me that I would have to make sure that I had clients, to pay for the room and I was busy telling her the pros and cons when I mentioned that I was feeling selfish for.....................................
keeping all my healing gifts to myself and not sharing them. Of course, she laughed and said she had not been expecting the sentence to end like that. I knew that she had thought I was going to say 'making dad pay for everything' and we both laughed. After I had gone on a bit about loving helping people and that I really ought to get out there and help she almost choked 'you don't like people' and I said 'I know but I do love helping them' and she nodded that she knew exactly what I meant. I think that I have been in a VERY negative Water Violet state for most of my life and I have chipped away at it with the remedies but when I am under stress or ill it's where I go to......hibernation, retreat mode. Needless to say, Alison and I both have Water Violet in our new mixes.
I may have to write a bit more on this on Bach pages rather than bore those of you who only tune in to see what's up in Etobicoke, not what Mrs Bach is saying. The gyst of it is this, though. I find it really excruciatingly difficult to approach people....unless they need me. Even friends, good friends, great friends even. And on that note I may close because those of you who had me pegged as a social butterfly will be shaking your heads in disbelief at this point. I may have to give you all a day to recover-lol.
I am actually writing this at 10.30pm because Vera (landlady) is coming round at 9am with someone from the bank, to value the house...something to do with updating the mortgage, I think. That's often my meditation time so I will have to move the meditation to the blog-writing spot thus the early posting of Day 91.
I am also doing something a little bit scary tomorrow but I will tell you all about it after the fact.......and I'm not talking about Alisons parent interviews although they also are tomorrow-lol.
Love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 suitcases.
I think that folk must be having the same idea as me about going to the library to keep warm and save on heating bills because it was very busy today. I even had a guy sitting opposite me for most of my four hours which meant that I was Hank Marvin when I got home because I didn't like to crunch my snack at the table, in case I disturbed him. My last half hour was none too productive due to the growling going on in my stomach. I also must make note to self about not wearing a vest under a wool cardi' because I was roasting and didn't want to traumatize anyone with my unwaxed armpits.....so I stayed roasting-ugh.
Ah well, perhaps I will need to rethink my timings and go round there for 9am so that I get home at a decent time for lunch. It may even inspire me to write for another couple of hours in the afternoon but my book-writing tutor taught that we shouldn't write for longer than four hours each day because our creativity needs to replenish. Mmm.....I'm not kidding Billy Denham, she did.
I seem to have spent a fair bit of time doing extra writing today. I had a Bach consult from England-yippeee. I love email consults because it gives me the chance to write and to chat about Bach Flower remedies....my perfect job. So, spread the word folks. Anyone who knows anyone who's struggling....let's get them happy.
Alison had a giggle at me tonight because we were chatting, at the dinner table (we like to sit at the table) about my having sent off a couple of little job applications and also an email to enquire about some therapy room-space. Alison got her financial hat on and told me that I would have to make sure that I had clients, to pay for the room and I was busy telling her the pros and cons when I mentioned that I was feeling selfish for.....................................
keeping all my healing gifts to myself and not sharing them. Of course, she laughed and said she had not been expecting the sentence to end like that. I knew that she had thought I was going to say 'making dad pay for everything' and we both laughed. After I had gone on a bit about loving helping people and that I really ought to get out there and help she almost choked 'you don't like people' and I said 'I know but I do love helping them' and she nodded that she knew exactly what I meant. I think that I have been in a VERY negative Water Violet state for most of my life and I have chipped away at it with the remedies but when I am under stress or ill it's where I go to......hibernation, retreat mode. Needless to say, Alison and I both have Water Violet in our new mixes.
I may have to write a bit more on this on Bach pages rather than bore those of you who only tune in to see what's up in Etobicoke, not what Mrs Bach is saying. The gyst of it is this, though. I find it really excruciatingly difficult to approach people....unless they need me. Even friends, good friends, great friends even. And on that note I may close because those of you who had me pegged as a social butterfly will be shaking your heads in disbelief at this point. I may have to give you all a day to recover-lol.
I am actually writing this at 10.30pm because Vera (landlady) is coming round at 9am with someone from the bank, to value the house...something to do with updating the mortgage, I think. That's often my meditation time so I will have to move the meditation to the blog-writing spot thus the early posting of Day 91.
I am also doing something a little bit scary tomorrow but I will tell you all about it after the fact.......and I'm not talking about Alisons parent interviews although they also are tomorrow-lol.
Love to all,
Lxx
Day 90........our first baked potatoes.....How did that happen?
Day 90........our first baked potatoes.....How did that happen?
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
It was a late start at the library due to my having forgotten to write yesterdays blog, till I was just a bout to leave. It still stuns me that the time whizzes by so fast. For example, I have been up for an hour and a half and am on my second cup of coffee and apart from going through my emails and FB, I have done NOTHING.
When I was in my teens and early twenties, I used to be up and out in 20 minutes-lol. When the kids were wee, I was up at my mums by 7.30 am with them. Now, it seems like my 'go-faster' button has disappeared and I can no longer roll out of bed and out the door......or is it just that I choose not to?
I enclosed myself in the group-study room, for the first time because the desks all had someone at them. (that's the room those two whispering girls should have been in on Saturday) Unfortunately, it seems like that room doesn't get the best wifi but I didn't know that at the time. So, I presumed that the wifi was down (we had very high winds on Monday night) and read a little then went on to writing some other work that I'm doing. My screenplay-writing requires internet connection for some strange reason.
An hour in and a young guy came into my wee room and sat at the next desk and then an old guy came in and did the 'Excuse me Miss', then proceeded to tell me that he had the room booked from 12.30-2-30 but that I could stay if I wanted. I declined because it was obvious that they were going to be chatting and I moved out to a now empty desk in the main library. And lo and behold, the wifi was working.........had it been doing so (out there)all along?
Well into the writing I was doing, my screenplay took a bit of a back seat and I didn't work on it till the last hour, after I finished the section I was working on. I have several bits of writing going on but my library time is usually the screenplay, so this was a wee bit different for me. I try just to go with the flow, though and the flow said to keep going with, what can be described at this point as, my search for love. It has crossed my mind to put it online, chapter by chapter to see what folk think but 1. There are no chapters as such. 2. I'm too scared-lol.
Mary Wemp asked me on Monday if I was finding enough to do, during my daytimes. She enquired whether I was doing okay after I mentioned that I had been here for 89 days. She initially thought that I must be finding things hard if I was counting the days but was reassured when I told her that I knew exactly how many days because of this daily blog and not because I was unhappy. I guess her reaction is the one I'll get from most folk if I quote the number of days I've been here to them.....I will observe.
Oh yes, the title was something about baked potatoes and we did indeed have our first ones since being here and they were very, very yummy. Ali had hers with tuna and I had mine with cheese and onion. It will not be another 90 days till we repeat the experience, let me tell you.
Our diet has been pretty much pasta, pasta, pasta, a pizza, pasta, pasta.......... but this week we have had chicken wraps, baked potatoes and chicken with rice. Alison stated, quite rightly last night, that it would be better to have pasta alternated with something different rather than three nights of something else and three nights of pasta.....clever girl. We shall have to try it, now that I have actually made some different dishes.
Ali is on another late start today and so I am behind schedule......again. Great to have excuses, eh? Tomorrow are parent interviews and they start them in the afternoon so the students get off at 1.30. She and I have a visit to the bank to make, to pay in her first pay-cheque.........to my account. She will be solvent by Christmas-tee hee.
Okay folks, I am off to get organised, fed and then I'll be ready to do my meditation when Ali heads off to school.
Much love to all. Did you know that it's nearly December?
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
It was a late start at the library due to my having forgotten to write yesterdays blog, till I was just a bout to leave. It still stuns me that the time whizzes by so fast. For example, I have been up for an hour and a half and am on my second cup of coffee and apart from going through my emails and FB, I have done NOTHING.
When I was in my teens and early twenties, I used to be up and out in 20 minutes-lol. When the kids were wee, I was up at my mums by 7.30 am with them. Now, it seems like my 'go-faster' button has disappeared and I can no longer roll out of bed and out the door......or is it just that I choose not to?
I enclosed myself in the group-study room, for the first time because the desks all had someone at them. (that's the room those two whispering girls should have been in on Saturday) Unfortunately, it seems like that room doesn't get the best wifi but I didn't know that at the time. So, I presumed that the wifi was down (we had very high winds on Monday night) and read a little then went on to writing some other work that I'm doing. My screenplay-writing requires internet connection for some strange reason.
An hour in and a young guy came into my wee room and sat at the next desk and then an old guy came in and did the 'Excuse me Miss', then proceeded to tell me that he had the room booked from 12.30-2-30 but that I could stay if I wanted. I declined because it was obvious that they were going to be chatting and I moved out to a now empty desk in the main library. And lo and behold, the wifi was working.........had it been doing so (out there)all along?
Well into the writing I was doing, my screenplay took a bit of a back seat and I didn't work on it till the last hour, after I finished the section I was working on. I have several bits of writing going on but my library time is usually the screenplay, so this was a wee bit different for me. I try just to go with the flow, though and the flow said to keep going with, what can be described at this point as, my search for love. It has crossed my mind to put it online, chapter by chapter to see what folk think but 1. There are no chapters as such. 2. I'm too scared-lol.
Mary Wemp asked me on Monday if I was finding enough to do, during my daytimes. She enquired whether I was doing okay after I mentioned that I had been here for 89 days. She initially thought that I must be finding things hard if I was counting the days but was reassured when I told her that I knew exactly how many days because of this daily blog and not because I was unhappy. I guess her reaction is the one I'll get from most folk if I quote the number of days I've been here to them.....I will observe.
Oh yes, the title was something about baked potatoes and we did indeed have our first ones since being here and they were very, very yummy. Ali had hers with tuna and I had mine with cheese and onion. It will not be another 90 days till we repeat the experience, let me tell you.
Our diet has been pretty much pasta, pasta, pasta, a pizza, pasta, pasta.......... but this week we have had chicken wraps, baked potatoes and chicken with rice. Alison stated, quite rightly last night, that it would be better to have pasta alternated with something different rather than three nights of something else and three nights of pasta.....clever girl. We shall have to try it, now that I have actually made some different dishes.
Ali is on another late start today and so I am behind schedule......again. Great to have excuses, eh? Tomorrow are parent interviews and they start them in the afternoon so the students get off at 1.30. She and I have a visit to the bank to make, to pay in her first pay-cheque.........to my account. She will be solvent by Christmas-tee hee.
Okay folks, I am off to get organised, fed and then I'll be ready to do my meditation when Ali heads off to school.
Much love to all. Did you know that it's nearly December?
Lxx
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Day 89.....almost forgot to write this.
Day 89.....almost forgot to write this.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I was just about to get myself organised for the library when I suddenly realised that I hadn't written a blog. I do know that I don't have to write it in the morning but it usually is just part of the routine. What happened this morning that it got missed? ah, yes, I wrote a decent sized email, first thing and my brain must have clocked the writing and imagined that it ws the blog. That'll be it...right?
So I am all set to go to the library for my usual four hours. I am looking forward to it and am hopeful of not bumping into anyone who heard my swearing on Saturday, when I dropped my laptop.
Did I tell you that I could hear snoring guys snores all the way over the other side of the library.....wow. Good job that I can tune it out from that distance. The librarian, on Friday, actually got up and went to silence him-lol.
Yesterday was Ross-day and we had lots of giggles as usual on our Monday mornings. He has another massive bruise and I was teasing him about giving lessons on how to obtain the perfect bruise whist reassuring him that he's a really quick healer........which is just as well.
After our giggles and organising, Mary took us out to the Golf club for lunch-yum. I had a couple of little, delicious quiches with salad, unfortunately eating the most delicious one second and not having room to stuff it down. I hadn't realised that they were both different. Oh well. Mary gave me a little gift from her trip to South Africa, a little set of four beautifully beaded christmas trees for my christmas tree. I laughed that they were my only christmas decorations and she smiled an 'I know'
She is a lovely lady. Very kind-hearted. I had a really nice time being with her, for and after lunch, when she drove me home.
I threw on my jeans and raced down to the grocery store to see if I could beat the schoolkids but alas, they piled onto the homeward bound bus and I scooted to the door before they trapped me in my seat, standing for the 5 minutes up the road. I get off at the stop before the subway station and the kids all go into the subway station so the move to the door was so that I wouldn't end up in the subway station with them.
Ali had got a lift home.....I do not know how that wee lassie manages to fight her way on to a bus.......and we arrived at the path simultaneously. Unpacking my groceries, I discovered that I was missing an ingredient for my carrot soup.....the carrots-lol.
I may have to go to the store today and pick some up or perhaps I will make potato and onion soup? Doesn't sound very nutritious or appealing, does it.
Alison has a ton of schoolwork due this week so she spent a large part of the evening grumbling about it. I simply try to ignore it and not nag all the usual 'digs' like 'if you'd spend less time online' and 'why didn't you do any on Saturday'.......I often fail at the latter but I am trying, Ali-honest! In her defense, she did clear away all her stuff from the main floor on Saturday..........but I was away at the library for four hours.
Don't worry Ali', Jen's back next week so she can take a turn being in here.
Okay dokay, better run now...the library beckons.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
p.s. forgot to mention about the tremendous winds we had here last night and the power was off in several places across the city. Andrew sent a text to say that his was off...then on...then off....and on. x
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I was just about to get myself organised for the library when I suddenly realised that I hadn't written a blog. I do know that I don't have to write it in the morning but it usually is just part of the routine. What happened this morning that it got missed? ah, yes, I wrote a decent sized email, first thing and my brain must have clocked the writing and imagined that it ws the blog. That'll be it...right?
So I am all set to go to the library for my usual four hours. I am looking forward to it and am hopeful of not bumping into anyone who heard my swearing on Saturday, when I dropped my laptop.
Did I tell you that I could hear snoring guys snores all the way over the other side of the library.....wow. Good job that I can tune it out from that distance. The librarian, on Friday, actually got up and went to silence him-lol.
Yesterday was Ross-day and we had lots of giggles as usual on our Monday mornings. He has another massive bruise and I was teasing him about giving lessons on how to obtain the perfect bruise whist reassuring him that he's a really quick healer........which is just as well.
After our giggles and organising, Mary took us out to the Golf club for lunch-yum. I had a couple of little, delicious quiches with salad, unfortunately eating the most delicious one second and not having room to stuff it down. I hadn't realised that they were both different. Oh well. Mary gave me a little gift from her trip to South Africa, a little set of four beautifully beaded christmas trees for my christmas tree. I laughed that they were my only christmas decorations and she smiled an 'I know'
She is a lovely lady. Very kind-hearted. I had a really nice time being with her, for and after lunch, when she drove me home.
I threw on my jeans and raced down to the grocery store to see if I could beat the schoolkids but alas, they piled onto the homeward bound bus and I scooted to the door before they trapped me in my seat, standing for the 5 minutes up the road. I get off at the stop before the subway station and the kids all go into the subway station so the move to the door was so that I wouldn't end up in the subway station with them.
Ali had got a lift home.....I do not know how that wee lassie manages to fight her way on to a bus.......and we arrived at the path simultaneously. Unpacking my groceries, I discovered that I was missing an ingredient for my carrot soup.....the carrots-lol.
I may have to go to the store today and pick some up or perhaps I will make potato and onion soup? Doesn't sound very nutritious or appealing, does it.
Alison has a ton of schoolwork due this week so she spent a large part of the evening grumbling about it. I simply try to ignore it and not nag all the usual 'digs' like 'if you'd spend less time online' and 'why didn't you do any on Saturday'.......I often fail at the latter but I am trying, Ali-honest! In her defense, she did clear away all her stuff from the main floor on Saturday..........but I was away at the library for four hours.
Don't worry Ali', Jen's back next week so she can take a turn being in here.
Okay dokay, better run now...the library beckons.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
p.s. forgot to mention about the tremendous winds we had here last night and the power was off in several places across the city. Andrew sent a text to say that his was off...then on...then off....and on. x
Monday, 24 November 2014
Day 88.........a wee tiff.
Day 88.........a wee tiff.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday didn't have an awful lot to tell you about. A couple of loads of laundry done and the dishwasher run (meaning that I was drinking coffee out of an old Time Hortons cup because my two cups were in there-lol)
There was a bit of house-cleaning done as well, courtesy of a wee tiff with my little girl. Hands up if you cope the same way as I do and stomp around cleaning whatever doesn't move? Not the most sensible way to deal with conflict but it certainly is productive.
Most of the time I can deal with Ali's teenage (borderline) comments but she got through my armour yesterday....not anything big but that one straw idea. Now that's about me and not about her and so I found myself downstairs, doing an extra ten minute meditation to see if I could get a handle on what emotions were at play. Again, it seemed to come back to my not getting what I wanted, which was for her to simply say sorry, rather than 'attack' me.
Now, in no way, shape or form did she 'attack' me but that's how it felt and so I have to ask myself, what's going on? My remedy bottle is almost empty and what, with the not sleeping well (good suggestion with the White Chestnut, Ashley) and the personalizing things, I will meditate on what to put in my refill today. Likely, the tiredness from not sleeping well was a player in my response yesterday and so I need to get that sorted. Last nights dreams involved navy blue curtains that were too long and too wide for our Mountcastle bedroom. They also involved kirby grips and an escape route down what can only be described as a hollowed-out carrot......groan. I probably ought to begin writing them down, in the middle of the night and see what they're trying to tell me......maybe tonight.
This blog is short because it's Monday and I have work....yippee. I am being taken out for lunch afterwards by Mary and Ross and so it'll be later when I get back online. It's pouring outside and I'm wondering why I bothered washing my hair......oh, yes, I'm going for lunch.
Much love to all and I hope that your week is off to a fabulous start.
Lxxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday didn't have an awful lot to tell you about. A couple of loads of laundry done and the dishwasher run (meaning that I was drinking coffee out of an old Time Hortons cup because my two cups were in there-lol)
There was a bit of house-cleaning done as well, courtesy of a wee tiff with my little girl. Hands up if you cope the same way as I do and stomp around cleaning whatever doesn't move? Not the most sensible way to deal with conflict but it certainly is productive.
Most of the time I can deal with Ali's teenage (borderline) comments but she got through my armour yesterday....not anything big but that one straw idea. Now that's about me and not about her and so I found myself downstairs, doing an extra ten minute meditation to see if I could get a handle on what emotions were at play. Again, it seemed to come back to my not getting what I wanted, which was for her to simply say sorry, rather than 'attack' me.
Now, in no way, shape or form did she 'attack' me but that's how it felt and so I have to ask myself, what's going on? My remedy bottle is almost empty and what, with the not sleeping well (good suggestion with the White Chestnut, Ashley) and the personalizing things, I will meditate on what to put in my refill today. Likely, the tiredness from not sleeping well was a player in my response yesterday and so I need to get that sorted. Last nights dreams involved navy blue curtains that were too long and too wide for our Mountcastle bedroom. They also involved kirby grips and an escape route down what can only be described as a hollowed-out carrot......groan. I probably ought to begin writing them down, in the middle of the night and see what they're trying to tell me......maybe tonight.
This blog is short because it's Monday and I have work....yippee. I am being taken out for lunch afterwards by Mary and Ross and so it'll be later when I get back online. It's pouring outside and I'm wondering why I bothered washing my hair......oh, yes, I'm going for lunch.
Much love to all and I hope that your week is off to a fabulous start.
Lxxxx
Sunday, 23 November 2014
Day 87..........me, in the library on a Saturday?......A first.
Day 87..........me, in the library on a Saturday?......A first.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I got a crazy notion to go and write, yesterday and so I did. I left Ali with the house to herself and a plead to have her suitcase gone by the time I returned, which was four hours later. Absolutely amazed again at the speed time passes when you are absorbed in what you are doing.
No absorbed enough, at one point though, as some of you read on FB yesterday. For those of you who missed the post, it went a little bit like this:
I was sitting happily typing at a 4 seat desk. I had already shared it with a really nice guy who I'd had a wee chat with when he was having problems with charging his laptop, so I wasn't being totally anti-social (as is sometimes, actually as is mostly my want)
A young adult female sat down opposite me and was texting on her phone. Not a problem. 5 mins later, another young adult female came through the library door and bounced over to the table, peeled off her coat and plonked herself on the chair and her laptop on the desk. Now, I've made that sound like she was noisy but, in her defense, she wasn't......just distracting. She the proceeded to excitedly whisper about how well she'd done in some exam and how her parents were really chuffed and they 'high-fived' ......my concentration was wavering. From their conversation, despite it being whispered, I gathered that the first girl was ther to tutor the second girl for an hour-ugh. Whispering is every bit, if not more, distracting than just talking. Something about the pitch of it.
Admittedly, the library was busy (really! Busier than any weekday I've been there) but there were rooms where they would have been able to have put a bigger distance between themselves and other patrons. My change in posture and looks in their direction didn't give them the hint that they were disturbing me (or perhaps they didn't care) so I got up, wandered to the back of the room, saw that there was a free window seat (the ones I curl up on sometimes with the swivel table) went back to table, picked up all of my stuff pointedly, turned to walk off and CRASH, my laptop was on the floor. A loud sh*t, later (which got everyones attention) I was unwinding the charger cable from the arm of the chair, picked up the laptop, forced a smiled 'I couldn't concentrate with your talking' at the two females and marched to my new, quieter position.
My laptop needed rebooted and when it was up, I discovered that the two hours of writing seemed to have gone-ugh.....Karma for my intolerance. For those of you thinking 'she needs a Bach remedy', I am already on the one for tolerance which is a good job or those girls may not have got off so lightly-lol.
The universe must have been testing me because as soon as I posted on FB (in a light hearted, I thought, manner) I found the changes that I had been making to my 'About me' page on my Bach Flower remedy website.....phew and yippeeee.
Another couple of hours were spent getting that page finished and, if anyone is up to the task, it can be read at www.bachflowerconsultsonline.com
My lunchtimes get messed up with my library visits and yesterdays was non-existent except for the granola bar I chomped whilst waiting for my laptop to reboot. So I was peckish when I got home at ten after five. Alison however was not because she had been snacking all afternoon.....one of the perils of being at home during the day.
So I had a cuppa and a slice of left-over pizza and we didn't do our chicken-wraps for dinner till after seven. By the time I sat down in front of the tv , it was eight thirty and midnight was with me before I knew it.
My sleep has been a bit ropey, of late, with some bizarre dreams going on and dozens of ideas burling around inside my head.......and the remedy I need is..................................
I left a gap there because I would like those Bach savvy folk to send me their ideas. I know what I'm planning but you may think otherwise.
The rain pelted down last evening and has washed away all the snow in this tropical six degrees. Tomorrow it's forecast for thirteen degrees and Alison is delighted that she will be able to wear her new crop-top......Brrrr.
Happy Sunday folks. See you tomorrow.
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I got a crazy notion to go and write, yesterday and so I did. I left Ali with the house to herself and a plead to have her suitcase gone by the time I returned, which was four hours later. Absolutely amazed again at the speed time passes when you are absorbed in what you are doing.
No absorbed enough, at one point though, as some of you read on FB yesterday. For those of you who missed the post, it went a little bit like this:
I was sitting happily typing at a 4 seat desk. I had already shared it with a really nice guy who I'd had a wee chat with when he was having problems with charging his laptop, so I wasn't being totally anti-social (as is sometimes, actually as is mostly my want)
A young adult female sat down opposite me and was texting on her phone. Not a problem. 5 mins later, another young adult female came through the library door and bounced over to the table, peeled off her coat and plonked herself on the chair and her laptop on the desk. Now, I've made that sound like she was noisy but, in her defense, she wasn't......just distracting. She the proceeded to excitedly whisper about how well she'd done in some exam and how her parents were really chuffed and they 'high-fived' ......my concentration was wavering. From their conversation, despite it being whispered, I gathered that the first girl was ther to tutor the second girl for an hour-ugh. Whispering is every bit, if not more, distracting than just talking. Something about the pitch of it.
Admittedly, the library was busy (really! Busier than any weekday I've been there) but there were rooms where they would have been able to have put a bigger distance between themselves and other patrons. My change in posture and looks in their direction didn't give them the hint that they were disturbing me (or perhaps they didn't care) so I got up, wandered to the back of the room, saw that there was a free window seat (the ones I curl up on sometimes with the swivel table) went back to table, picked up all of my stuff pointedly, turned to walk off and CRASH, my laptop was on the floor. A loud sh*t, later (which got everyones attention) I was unwinding the charger cable from the arm of the chair, picked up the laptop, forced a smiled 'I couldn't concentrate with your talking' at the two females and marched to my new, quieter position.
My laptop needed rebooted and when it was up, I discovered that the two hours of writing seemed to have gone-ugh.....Karma for my intolerance. For those of you thinking 'she needs a Bach remedy', I am already on the one for tolerance which is a good job or those girls may not have got off so lightly-lol.
The universe must have been testing me because as soon as I posted on FB (in a light hearted, I thought, manner) I found the changes that I had been making to my 'About me' page on my Bach Flower remedy website.....phew and yippeeee.
Another couple of hours were spent getting that page finished and, if anyone is up to the task, it can be read at www.bachflowerconsultsonline.com
My lunchtimes get messed up with my library visits and yesterdays was non-existent except for the granola bar I chomped whilst waiting for my laptop to reboot. So I was peckish when I got home at ten after five. Alison however was not because she had been snacking all afternoon.....one of the perils of being at home during the day.
So I had a cuppa and a slice of left-over pizza and we didn't do our chicken-wraps for dinner till after seven. By the time I sat down in front of the tv , it was eight thirty and midnight was with me before I knew it.
My sleep has been a bit ropey, of late, with some bizarre dreams going on and dozens of ideas burling around inside my head.......and the remedy I need is..................................
I left a gap there because I would like those Bach savvy folk to send me their ideas. I know what I'm planning but you may think otherwise.
The rain pelted down last evening and has washed away all the snow in this tropical six degrees. Tomorrow it's forecast for thirteen degrees and Alison is delighted that she will be able to wear her new crop-top......Brrrr.
Happy Sunday folks. See you tomorrow.
Lxxx
Saturday, 22 November 2014
Day 86.........did I mention that my Canadian credit card hasn't arrived after 10 weeks?
Day 86.........did I mention that my Canadian credit card hasn't arrived after 10 weeks?
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Sitting with my second cuppa, have done my affirmations and inspirational readings and I have sent an email, which looked like turning into a novel until I realised that I better get in here and write, before it did.
The sky is awfy black out there but there wasn't snow forecast. I have started to look online at the weather, in the mornings because it can look fingers have been protesting so I have just this past second, checked the temp and it is a balmy 1 degree out there and is supposed to go up to 5, this afternoon. Tomorrow looks set to hit 9 and Monday a tropical 12-woohoo. The sub zero is not supposed to return till next weekend. We shall see.
So, yesterday?
Library time whizzed by as usual. Seem to be getting through a scene a day, which doesn't seem like much but there's a lot involved-honest. I have started taking an extra large paper cup of black tea/coffee (stays hot longer and tastes better cold) to the library with me and it occurs to me that I may like a travel mug from santa.....the Tim Hortons reusables may not last very long but then I suppose it gives me an excuse to pop in for another of their coffees occasionally.
I know that I must sound like 'poor me' in here, sometimes but the truth is that I am really enjoying all the thought I have to put into our finances. When I lived here 25 years ago, I was totally in charge of all my own financial stuff but when Bill and I went back to Scotland I just handed it all to him and never thought about it again......that's why you lost your hair Bill-sorry Sweetie. I now wish that I had taken more of a share of the money-side of things to have been more helpful but I didn't. I do now take my hat off and salute my husband for giving us the standard of life that he has, through his fantastic money-management and selfless, uncomplaining working at a job he hates. Trying to work out Bills and transferring money from here to there and back is time-consuming and brain-hurting, for me.....but I am doing it. And I braved the bank to ask them about a bank-charge which actually illuminated other things about my account that I hadn't realised. The credit card that I wrote about (I think......it was so long ago and I don't read old blogs to find out 'cause I'd get lost in there) has never arrived, so I spoke to them about that as well. Jen and I both opened accounts and we should both now have credit cards and $400 each in our accounts, for following all the instructions of how to get the bonuses. We shall see what next week brings after their promise to check it out. Finding ways to save money is a great game. Yesterday I went for stamps (no way to save on them and the cheapest stamp to Scotland, even for a postcard, is $2.50) and I always have a wee look in Shoppers (where the P.O is) to see if there's any bargains. I came home with another 3 boxes of Raisin Bran because they were down from $6.99 to $2,50. I now reckon that I may have enough cereal to last me till the summer. Billy Denham, you have definitely rubbed off on me.
The walk to get the Pizza ws a tad chilly and the Pizza was luke warm, when we sat down to eat it. The silver lining was that the boxes kept our fingers warm on the way home.
Alison got her first pay cheque-yippee-and it will go straight into MY bank account to BEGIN to pay back the money she owes. She may be in Credit by the time 2015 rolls in-lol.
She and I watched a funny movie, with our pizza. It had Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as the 'other' grandparents....you know, the ones who hardly get to see the grandkids because their child is embarrassed by them and raises their kids totally differently to how they were raised? I said to Ali' at the end 'I wonder if that'll be me and dad?' Mmmmm? She didn't reassure me with a 'No'....perhaps because I've had them told, for many a year, that I will not be a 'daycare' for their kids?
And on that piece of info, I will close. Ali's school is having a craft fair today that I may venture down to......or not. The tired girl is still in bed. She's got NYC recovery to do, this weekend.
Love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Sitting with my second cuppa, have done my affirmations and inspirational readings and I have sent an email, which looked like turning into a novel until I realised that I better get in here and write, before it did.
The sky is awfy black out there but there wasn't snow forecast. I have started to look online at the weather, in the mornings because it can look fingers have been protesting so I have just this past second, checked the temp and it is a balmy 1 degree out there and is supposed to go up to 5, this afternoon. Tomorrow looks set to hit 9 and Monday a tropical 12-woohoo. The sub zero is not supposed to return till next weekend. We shall see.
So, yesterday?
Library time whizzed by as usual. Seem to be getting through a scene a day, which doesn't seem like much but there's a lot involved-honest. I have started taking an extra large paper cup of black tea/coffee (stays hot longer and tastes better cold) to the library with me and it occurs to me that I may like a travel mug from santa.....the Tim Hortons reusables may not last very long but then I suppose it gives me an excuse to pop in for another of their coffees occasionally.
I know that I must sound like 'poor me' in here, sometimes but the truth is that I am really enjoying all the thought I have to put into our finances. When I lived here 25 years ago, I was totally in charge of all my own financial stuff but when Bill and I went back to Scotland I just handed it all to him and never thought about it again......that's why you lost your hair Bill-sorry Sweetie. I now wish that I had taken more of a share of the money-side of things to have been more helpful but I didn't. I do now take my hat off and salute my husband for giving us the standard of life that he has, through his fantastic money-management and selfless, uncomplaining working at a job he hates. Trying to work out Bills and transferring money from here to there and back is time-consuming and brain-hurting, for me.....but I am doing it. And I braved the bank to ask them about a bank-charge which actually illuminated other things about my account that I hadn't realised. The credit card that I wrote about (I think......it was so long ago and I don't read old blogs to find out 'cause I'd get lost in there) has never arrived, so I spoke to them about that as well. Jen and I both opened accounts and we should both now have credit cards and $400 each in our accounts, for following all the instructions of how to get the bonuses. We shall see what next week brings after their promise to check it out. Finding ways to save money is a great game. Yesterday I went for stamps (no way to save on them and the cheapest stamp to Scotland, even for a postcard, is $2.50) and I always have a wee look in Shoppers (where the P.O is) to see if there's any bargains. I came home with another 3 boxes of Raisin Bran because they were down from $6.99 to $2,50. I now reckon that I may have enough cereal to last me till the summer. Billy Denham, you have definitely rubbed off on me.
The walk to get the Pizza ws a tad chilly and the Pizza was luke warm, when we sat down to eat it. The silver lining was that the boxes kept our fingers warm on the way home.
Alison got her first pay cheque-yippee-and it will go straight into MY bank account to BEGIN to pay back the money she owes. She may be in Credit by the time 2015 rolls in-lol.
She and I watched a funny movie, with our pizza. It had Billy Crystal and Bette Midler as the 'other' grandparents....you know, the ones who hardly get to see the grandkids because their child is embarrassed by them and raises their kids totally differently to how they were raised? I said to Ali' at the end 'I wonder if that'll be me and dad?' Mmmmm? She didn't reassure me with a 'No'....perhaps because I've had them told, for many a year, that I will not be a 'daycare' for their kids?
And on that piece of info, I will close. Ali's school is having a craft fair today that I may venture down to......or not. The tired girl is still in bed. She's got NYC recovery to do, this weekend.
Love to all,
Lxx
Friday, 21 November 2014
Day 85..........time disappears.
Day 85..........time disappears.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday in the library, the time just seemed to disappear. It felt like being in an exam room and when you look up, the clock has moved another hour closer to 'times up'
I get so engrossed in my screenplay that I don't move off the chair for four hours....probably not such a good thing for my bod' and when I begin to pack up, I have to run to the loo because it's like I've just given myself permission to pee, for the first time in 4 hours.
For those of you who know me well, you'll know how often I nip for a 'tinkle'.....very often, so how, in heavens name do I manage to go a four hour stretch without visiting the washroom? And beautiful washrooms, the library has. It's amazing how, when you are completely focussed on something, how the usual habits disappear.
Having just typed the information that I don't get out of my seat for four hours, I may want to rethink that and try to get up and stretch every hour. Not that my body is grumbling....yet. My left thumb is very painful.....again. (I know, it is part of my body but it is unrelated to sitting still for too long) I started taking Brufen for it, yesterday and we shall see. Over my adult years, it has given me varying degrees of pain and I am hoping that, like all the other times, it will disappear. I believe that body parts hurting contain a message for us.........hanged if I can work out why my thumb keeps playing up, though.
I had a lovely chat with Jenny Penny via text and all is good in her world. It is interesting for her to experience (again) living with another family. We all make comparisons between ourselves and others and I think that she gains great insight when she spends time away from her core unit.....something that I believe all kids would benefit from. Different viewpoints are important because parents do not have all the answers. It would be great if we did....but we don't. Jen's been so much more settled this time around. A combination of her evolving maturity and the fact that she's 'done it before'
She's home in a couple of weeks and I look forward to increasing my daily hug quota.
Mr Denham has got to be the funniest person I know. He sends us newsletters and we all LOL (and that's in capitals because we laugh a lot) I am trying to persuade him to let me share his 'Taxi Tales' but his privacy settings are set too high.......for now. I am working on him because he would be a good weekly dose of laughter for everyone.
I spent from 8.25am to 9.25pm pretty much on my own. Ali nipped in twice, very briefly but she had to go back to school, after work and so it was an empty hoose day for me....again. That does not have an exclamation mark because I am not complaining. The clothes still on the living-room floor? There may be complaining by Sunday, if they are still there after a full week-lol.
Okay dokay, she's just about to head to school-looks fab in a wee bandana-so I will close this, post it and jump in the shower because, unlike her, I will look silly in a bandana to hide my greasy hair.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday in the library, the time just seemed to disappear. It felt like being in an exam room and when you look up, the clock has moved another hour closer to 'times up'
I get so engrossed in my screenplay that I don't move off the chair for four hours....probably not such a good thing for my bod' and when I begin to pack up, I have to run to the loo because it's like I've just given myself permission to pee, for the first time in 4 hours.
For those of you who know me well, you'll know how often I nip for a 'tinkle'.....very often, so how, in heavens name do I manage to go a four hour stretch without visiting the washroom? And beautiful washrooms, the library has. It's amazing how, when you are completely focussed on something, how the usual habits disappear.
Having just typed the information that I don't get out of my seat for four hours, I may want to rethink that and try to get up and stretch every hour. Not that my body is grumbling....yet. My left thumb is very painful.....again. (I know, it is part of my body but it is unrelated to sitting still for too long) I started taking Brufen for it, yesterday and we shall see. Over my adult years, it has given me varying degrees of pain and I am hoping that, like all the other times, it will disappear. I believe that body parts hurting contain a message for us.........hanged if I can work out why my thumb keeps playing up, though.
I had a lovely chat with Jenny Penny via text and all is good in her world. It is interesting for her to experience (again) living with another family. We all make comparisons between ourselves and others and I think that she gains great insight when she spends time away from her core unit.....something that I believe all kids would benefit from. Different viewpoints are important because parents do not have all the answers. It would be great if we did....but we don't. Jen's been so much more settled this time around. A combination of her evolving maturity and the fact that she's 'done it before'
She's home in a couple of weeks and I look forward to increasing my daily hug quota.
Mr Denham has got to be the funniest person I know. He sends us newsletters and we all LOL (and that's in capitals because we laugh a lot) I am trying to persuade him to let me share his 'Taxi Tales' but his privacy settings are set too high.......for now. I am working on him because he would be a good weekly dose of laughter for everyone.
I spent from 8.25am to 9.25pm pretty much on my own. Ali nipped in twice, very briefly but she had to go back to school, after work and so it was an empty hoose day for me....again. That does not have an exclamation mark because I am not complaining. The clothes still on the living-room floor? There may be complaining by Sunday, if they are still there after a full week-lol.
Okay dokay, she's just about to head to school-looks fab in a wee bandana-so I will close this, post it and jump in the shower because, unlike her, I will look silly in a bandana to hide my greasy hair.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
Thursday, 20 November 2014
Day 84.......movies for the first time.....a real treat.
Day 84.......movies for the first time.....a real treat.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I did type the title on this ages ago and then got distracted by FB. I really must try to be more disciplined and shut FB off when I am working. I'm pretty good when I'm at the library but in the house....nightmare. And you lose so much time. Not that it's not fun and I have had some lovely spontaneous conversations, over the last 84 days but it does steal away time that I could be investigating other things. Ah well, it is what it is.....until it's not.
I didn't quite manage 4 hours in the library yesterday because I was meeting Andrew at the movies for a 2.50 showing of Interstellar.....his treat. I did however, get engrossed in my work and didn't have time to go home for lunch thereby had to lug my laptop and books to the cinema and grab a coffee and muffin in Tim Hortons en route.
When I got to the movie theatre, I was a bit surprised to see the place closed and a sign saying 'Box Office opens at 4.45' YIKES-????????
Scrolling back through my texts, I checked that we were indeed meeting at Yonge/Eglinton (an area that I frequented a lot nearly 30 years ago) and then I sent Andrew a ??????? text.
He confirmed that it was Yonge/Eglinton but that there was another movie theatre just North of where I was......who'd have thunk it? The movies I was at were the ones I used to go to. Where he was, was a beautiful shiny new place. On asking him whether or not they had just been built (there was work going on) he said that they were being renovated! Built and needing renovated since I last went to a movie up there......lol, am I a dinosaur, or what!
Andrew had already bought the tickets and we were seated in the best seats in the house-yahooo. The cinema was almost empty mind and everyone was seated within a few seats of each other. Very odd but the tickets had seat numbers (the best ones) and people actually sat in them. In Edinburgh, we used to try to sit a bit further away from other people whan the cinema was empty. Luckily nobody was crunching or slurping too loudly.
The movie was great and I can see whay Andrew was happy to see it again. There was a lot of stuff that I would pick up on better, a second time around. I won't give any spoilers.
It was a long movie and we didn't get back here till nearly 7pm. So, dinner was late and it was 10.30pm with Andrew saying goodbye, before I knew it. Alison had subjected us to numerous videos on You Tube and the time had just flown by. Needless to say, Ali's suitcase contents are still strewn all over our floor and the weekend is approaching.
The temperature is slightly up with the windchill slightly down but it's still a bit of a freeze out there. I asked Ali if she'll take some photos to post, so that you can all see the snow. It's not like the dump that Buffalo have had (Alison saw the start of that fall when she was en route home from NYC on Sunday night) but it is very pretty. I need to check the garage to see if I have a snow shovel.......but will need gloves before I can shovel snow.
The great thing here is that nobody cares about how they look when they are out in the cold. They just want to be warm.....oh, except the teens. They are the same the world over-lol.
On that note, ta ta for now.
Much Love,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I did type the title on this ages ago and then got distracted by FB. I really must try to be more disciplined and shut FB off when I am working. I'm pretty good when I'm at the library but in the house....nightmare. And you lose so much time. Not that it's not fun and I have had some lovely spontaneous conversations, over the last 84 days but it does steal away time that I could be investigating other things. Ah well, it is what it is.....until it's not.
I didn't quite manage 4 hours in the library yesterday because I was meeting Andrew at the movies for a 2.50 showing of Interstellar.....his treat. I did however, get engrossed in my work and didn't have time to go home for lunch thereby had to lug my laptop and books to the cinema and grab a coffee and muffin in Tim Hortons en route.
When I got to the movie theatre, I was a bit surprised to see the place closed and a sign saying 'Box Office opens at 4.45' YIKES-????????
Scrolling back through my texts, I checked that we were indeed meeting at Yonge/Eglinton (an area that I frequented a lot nearly 30 years ago) and then I sent Andrew a ??????? text.
He confirmed that it was Yonge/Eglinton but that there was another movie theatre just North of where I was......who'd have thunk it? The movies I was at were the ones I used to go to. Where he was, was a beautiful shiny new place. On asking him whether or not they had just been built (there was work going on) he said that they were being renovated! Built and needing renovated since I last went to a movie up there......lol, am I a dinosaur, or what!
Andrew had already bought the tickets and we were seated in the best seats in the house-yahooo. The cinema was almost empty mind and everyone was seated within a few seats of each other. Very odd but the tickets had seat numbers (the best ones) and people actually sat in them. In Edinburgh, we used to try to sit a bit further away from other people whan the cinema was empty. Luckily nobody was crunching or slurping too loudly.
The movie was great and I can see whay Andrew was happy to see it again. There was a lot of stuff that I would pick up on better, a second time around. I won't give any spoilers.
It was a long movie and we didn't get back here till nearly 7pm. So, dinner was late and it was 10.30pm with Andrew saying goodbye, before I knew it. Alison had subjected us to numerous videos on You Tube and the time had just flown by. Needless to say, Ali's suitcase contents are still strewn all over our floor and the weekend is approaching.
The temperature is slightly up with the windchill slightly down but it's still a bit of a freeze out there. I asked Ali if she'll take some photos to post, so that you can all see the snow. It's not like the dump that Buffalo have had (Alison saw the start of that fall when she was en route home from NYC on Sunday night) but it is very pretty. I need to check the garage to see if I have a snow shovel.......but will need gloves before I can shovel snow.
The great thing here is that nobody cares about how they look when they are out in the cold. They just want to be warm.....oh, except the teens. They are the same the world over-lol.
On that note, ta ta for now.
Much Love,
Lxx
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Day 83.........and my fingers are white....then red........freezing.
Day 83.........and my fingers are white....then red........freezing.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
So, I knew that it was cold outside yesterday because when Ali went off to school I got a blast of icy air through the front door. I didn't even hang around to wave.....a first. Basically I shoved her out the door, glad that it was her and not me.
After all my bits and pieces were checked off (meditation, breakfast, bag packed) It was my turn to brave the cold. I have to backtrack to breakfast before I go out the door into the arctic, though.
I detest cold breakfast when I am cold and because I'm keeping the heating low until I see what the first month looks like on a bill, I have not been keen to have cereal.
A couple of days ago, I was running out of milk and remembered that I had frozen a bag of it, when the date wasn't good for getting through the 3 bags that come in a 4L pack. I pulled the big frozen block out of the freezer to defrost but it was required before it had fully become liquid. When I poured it into my cereal (my bananas need eaten) there were little chunks of ice and that made the cold cereal even less appealing so I did what all clever people do.....I stuck my breakfast bowl in the microwave. And I discovered a wonderful warm way to have my breakfast-yum. Don't spend money on expensive hot-cereals, folks. I am now having raisin-bran plus a wee bit granola and banana with ,milk, zapped for a minute and it is DELICIOUS. Now I won't be waiting for the spring to work my way through the several boxes of cereal I bought on sale.
Right, back to yesterday (and I did have my yummy microwaved cereal) and the cold. Our bins get picked up on a Tuesday and I had a few recycling things and a food bag to go out. Justin, the Australian who lives next door, puts out the bins, before he leaves for work (I bring them back in again) so they were already out front so I carried my little armful out to them and by the time I had put the stuff inside my fingers felt really cold. Locking our metal handled door, they felt even colder and as I walked to the library-a mere 5 minute walk, I was taken back to how they felt on a school ski-trip when I forgot to wear my gloves for a lesson. Flippin' heck. I NEED to get myself some non-fingerless gloves.
Poor Alison was like a block of ice, when she got home. She had a 20+ minute walk with no gloves or hat. At least she had her gloves to go round to work with and we will have to work on her dislike of hats. My friend Lynn who lives in Saskatchewan, where they are even colder than us, has offered to send some sweaters-lol. My first ever visit to Canada was to visit her at aged 20. When the plane came in to land, the Captain announced that it was -42 in Saskatoon. I just about stayed on the plane to go back home. I counted on one hand how many times I got out for a walk in the 6+ weeks I spent there. Brrrrrr.
No need to feel sorry for us, we'll get wrapped up. Yesterday just took us by surprise, that's all.
Andrew didn't come over for left-over lasagne, after work. I don't blame him in the windchill.
I am seeing him this afternoon and he may come home for dinner with me....we'll see.
The screenplay is a very slow process. A big lesson for my impatient-nature of wanting something finished instantly. However, I am plodding my way ever-so-slowly forward with it and trying to remember that I haven't done this before. Perhaps I will get quicker but I suspect that this first draft will need cut, cut, cut because it is already feeling too long. But it's all a process and if I want it done, I have to do it.
No other real news except that I have now run out of Once Upon a Time on Netflix. I still have several episodes of the new season taped, which will feel like netflix but once I am up to date....how will I cope? Maybe I shall read a book, as had been my plan, before we got a tv-lol.
Okay folks, the other thing I'm trying is getting up at 6.45, to see if I can get round to the library earlier but not skipping my routine. Blog is written, coffee is onto cup 2. Alison has a late start today though, so it will likely hold me back.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
So, I knew that it was cold outside yesterday because when Ali went off to school I got a blast of icy air through the front door. I didn't even hang around to wave.....a first. Basically I shoved her out the door, glad that it was her and not me.
After all my bits and pieces were checked off (meditation, breakfast, bag packed) It was my turn to brave the cold. I have to backtrack to breakfast before I go out the door into the arctic, though.
I detest cold breakfast when I am cold and because I'm keeping the heating low until I see what the first month looks like on a bill, I have not been keen to have cereal.
A couple of days ago, I was running out of milk and remembered that I had frozen a bag of it, when the date wasn't good for getting through the 3 bags that come in a 4L pack. I pulled the big frozen block out of the freezer to defrost but it was required before it had fully become liquid. When I poured it into my cereal (my bananas need eaten) there were little chunks of ice and that made the cold cereal even less appealing so I did what all clever people do.....I stuck my breakfast bowl in the microwave. And I discovered a wonderful warm way to have my breakfast-yum. Don't spend money on expensive hot-cereals, folks. I am now having raisin-bran plus a wee bit granola and banana with ,milk, zapped for a minute and it is DELICIOUS. Now I won't be waiting for the spring to work my way through the several boxes of cereal I bought on sale.
Right, back to yesterday (and I did have my yummy microwaved cereal) and the cold. Our bins get picked up on a Tuesday and I had a few recycling things and a food bag to go out. Justin, the Australian who lives next door, puts out the bins, before he leaves for work (I bring them back in again) so they were already out front so I carried my little armful out to them and by the time I had put the stuff inside my fingers felt really cold. Locking our metal handled door, they felt even colder and as I walked to the library-a mere 5 minute walk, I was taken back to how they felt on a school ski-trip when I forgot to wear my gloves for a lesson. Flippin' heck. I NEED to get myself some non-fingerless gloves.
Poor Alison was like a block of ice, when she got home. She had a 20+ minute walk with no gloves or hat. At least she had her gloves to go round to work with and we will have to work on her dislike of hats. My friend Lynn who lives in Saskatchewan, where they are even colder than us, has offered to send some sweaters-lol. My first ever visit to Canada was to visit her at aged 20. When the plane came in to land, the Captain announced that it was -42 in Saskatoon. I just about stayed on the plane to go back home. I counted on one hand how many times I got out for a walk in the 6+ weeks I spent there. Brrrrrr.
No need to feel sorry for us, we'll get wrapped up. Yesterday just took us by surprise, that's all.
Andrew didn't come over for left-over lasagne, after work. I don't blame him in the windchill.
I am seeing him this afternoon and he may come home for dinner with me....we'll see.
The screenplay is a very slow process. A big lesson for my impatient-nature of wanting something finished instantly. However, I am plodding my way ever-so-slowly forward with it and trying to remember that I haven't done this before. Perhaps I will get quicker but I suspect that this first draft will need cut, cut, cut because it is already feeling too long. But it's all a process and if I want it done, I have to do it.
No other real news except that I have now run out of Once Upon a Time on Netflix. I still have several episodes of the new season taped, which will feel like netflix but once I am up to date....how will I cope? Maybe I shall read a book, as had been my plan, before we got a tv-lol.
Okay folks, the other thing I'm trying is getting up at 6.45, to see if I can get round to the library earlier but not skipping my routine. Blog is written, coffee is onto cup 2. Alison has a late start today though, so it will likely hold me back.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
Day 82..........Monday again and everything is white.
Day 82..........Monday again and everything is white.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Monday mornings are good around here. It's my one time of doing something for others on a regular basis, so that feels pretty good. We all might want to think about doing something that makes us feel good on a day that normally isn't a favourite. To be honest, I have always liked Mondays. I was a nurse for all those years with varied shift patterns and in the latter years, I worked nights on the weekend and a Monday meant that I had lots of time off ahead. I just had a flashback to my last working year of nursing (which technically wasn't nursing) and okay, I really didn't like Mondays for most of that year when I worked Mon-Fri in an environment which wasn't conducive to my mental health. It was however a necessary year, though because of all the lessons I learned.
Meanwhile, back to Toronto and I think I mentioned yesterday that it was white when I got up? It snowed pretty much all day but just wet small flakes which didn't add very much to the scenery. I know that this is simply a wee trial run for what is coming and today I believe is to be sub-zero. It felt like that last night when I did a last run to the grocery store to buy club soda, my drink of choice with sliced lime added. Because it comes in 2L bottles, I can't carry many at a time so I had already been down for groceries (Extra points for $30 spend, Bill) but decided that because I had a day pass (good value because of visit with Ross) that I'd do another run.
Actually, I walked down there due to my lack of exercise yesterday and I got the bus back. That's how I know that there are very crunchy, slippy bits that Ali will have to negotiate with today.
The sun is shining out there but it is not going to lull me into a t-shirt-lol. I felt the chill when Ali headed out.....Brrr.
Did I tell you that Ali had a fantastic time in NYC and I will try to post some of her pics including the one where she's flanked by two VERY tall friends. She only had one scary story which involved her forgetting that she could not cross the junction diagonally and almost being hit by a car-EEK. For a kid who's spent many vacations in North America and also been living here for close to 3 months.....I guess the excitement of being on her own in NYC made her brain a bit fuzzy on road rules.
Her weather was good and she said she preferred winter in NY rather than summer. I can see her point as it was pretty hot there in July.
Her gear is still lying on the floor......Mmm?
My visit with Ross was great. We looked at google maps and he told me all about the area of Florida that he loves. He'd like us to go there this winter....if only. It was easier to leave, this week because we walked him to the big tv lounge where he got settled with a coffee before I left. It may be the routine of the future.
I went straight down to the grocery store from his and was VERY hungry for my lunch when I got home. I have decided to be healthier in my eating so the pot of soup got made and I had a spinach salad for lunch-yum. I also bought myself some grapefruit juice (which I love and only have on hotel stays) so my 5 a day ought to be easy this coming week.
I made a (ready made) lasagne for dinner which was huge. It's the same make as the one I usually buy (I can't find white sauce to make my own-will have to look for recipe online) but it was on sale, making it only $2 more for double the size. I have invited Andrew over tonight to help eat the leftovers-lol.
He's invited me to the movies on Wednesday afternoon to see a movie he loved at the weekend. Must have been really good if he wants to see it again.
Okay-need to go get myself meditated, fed and out to the library and not necessarily in that order.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Monday mornings are good around here. It's my one time of doing something for others on a regular basis, so that feels pretty good. We all might want to think about doing something that makes us feel good on a day that normally isn't a favourite. To be honest, I have always liked Mondays. I was a nurse for all those years with varied shift patterns and in the latter years, I worked nights on the weekend and a Monday meant that I had lots of time off ahead. I just had a flashback to my last working year of nursing (which technically wasn't nursing) and okay, I really didn't like Mondays for most of that year when I worked Mon-Fri in an environment which wasn't conducive to my mental health. It was however a necessary year, though because of all the lessons I learned.
Meanwhile, back to Toronto and I think I mentioned yesterday that it was white when I got up? It snowed pretty much all day but just wet small flakes which didn't add very much to the scenery. I know that this is simply a wee trial run for what is coming and today I believe is to be sub-zero. It felt like that last night when I did a last run to the grocery store to buy club soda, my drink of choice with sliced lime added. Because it comes in 2L bottles, I can't carry many at a time so I had already been down for groceries (Extra points for $30 spend, Bill) but decided that because I had a day pass (good value because of visit with Ross) that I'd do another run.
Actually, I walked down there due to my lack of exercise yesterday and I got the bus back. That's how I know that there are very crunchy, slippy bits that Ali will have to negotiate with today.
The sun is shining out there but it is not going to lull me into a t-shirt-lol. I felt the chill when Ali headed out.....Brrr.
Did I tell you that Ali had a fantastic time in NYC and I will try to post some of her pics including the one where she's flanked by two VERY tall friends. She only had one scary story which involved her forgetting that she could not cross the junction diagonally and almost being hit by a car-EEK. For a kid who's spent many vacations in North America and also been living here for close to 3 months.....I guess the excitement of being on her own in NYC made her brain a bit fuzzy on road rules.
Her weather was good and she said she preferred winter in NY rather than summer. I can see her point as it was pretty hot there in July.
Her gear is still lying on the floor......Mmm?
My visit with Ross was great. We looked at google maps and he told me all about the area of Florida that he loves. He'd like us to go there this winter....if only. It was easier to leave, this week because we walked him to the big tv lounge where he got settled with a coffee before I left. It may be the routine of the future.
I went straight down to the grocery store from his and was VERY hungry for my lunch when I got home. I have decided to be healthier in my eating so the pot of soup got made and I had a spinach salad for lunch-yum. I also bought myself some grapefruit juice (which I love and only have on hotel stays) so my 5 a day ought to be easy this coming week.
I made a (ready made) lasagne for dinner which was huge. It's the same make as the one I usually buy (I can't find white sauce to make my own-will have to look for recipe online) but it was on sale, making it only $2 more for double the size. I have invited Andrew over tonight to help eat the leftovers-lol.
He's invited me to the movies on Wednesday afternoon to see a movie he loved at the weekend. Must have been really good if he wants to see it again.
Okay-need to go get myself meditated, fed and out to the library and not necessarily in that order.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Monday, 17 November 2014
Day 81.......and Alison is home from NYC-yippee. (oh, that rhymes)
Day 81.......and Alison is home from NYC-yippee. (oh, that rhymes)
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I didn't leave the house yesterday until it was time to go meet Alison for 9.45pm and so there is not a huge amount to blog about.
I did some writing....the first ever on a Sunday and I also did some reading, some laundry, some tv watching (yep....Once upon a Time) and some colouring in. Colouring in? Yep!
My good friend Charlene gave me a beautiful (grown-up) colouring in book and I decided that I was going to use the new Sharpies, bought a few weeks ago and choose a picture to make beautiful. After I sat down, though, I decided to treat it like a mandala and colour in with my left hand, seeing what feelings came up as I was colouring.
Very interesting activity. Lots of insight into my current feelings and the quality of colouring in wasn't too bad either. Not as neat and perfect as it would have been, if I had used my right hand because then I would have simply been trying to do a perfect little coloured-in picture.
The only disappointment was that the Sharpies have spoiled the picture on the other side-boo hoo.
So, the snow began falling on a steady basis, yesterday afternoon but I really didn't think that it would amount to anything. When I got up and saw that everything was covered in white, it was a lovely surprise. It's wet stuff, tho' and it won't hang around for long unless it changes texture.
It was lightly snowing when I walked down to get Ali and when we both walked home. I wasn't mean and refusing to pay her bus fare, she wanted to stretch her legs and get some fresh air. It's lovely to have her home but my entrance hall and living room look like a suitcase has exploded in them-lol.
Admittedly, it was 10.30 before we got home and then she had to show me all of her purchases before bed, so I will cut her some slack....for now. If it's all still in here in a couple of days...not so much.
She's due in from school soon and will be tired after work from 4-6pm. I think that I may do some writing when she's at work as I have spent today up with Ross, grocery shopping and writing this. Oh and I did sneak in my lunch with a Once Upon a Time episode. It will actually be very sad when I get up to date with the show because I do love the back-to-back episode thingy.
And on that note, I'll close.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
P.S Happy Monday.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I didn't leave the house yesterday until it was time to go meet Alison for 9.45pm and so there is not a huge amount to blog about.
I did some writing....the first ever on a Sunday and I also did some reading, some laundry, some tv watching (yep....Once upon a Time) and some colouring in. Colouring in? Yep!
My good friend Charlene gave me a beautiful (grown-up) colouring in book and I decided that I was going to use the new Sharpies, bought a few weeks ago and choose a picture to make beautiful. After I sat down, though, I decided to treat it like a mandala and colour in with my left hand, seeing what feelings came up as I was colouring.
Very interesting activity. Lots of insight into my current feelings and the quality of colouring in wasn't too bad either. Not as neat and perfect as it would have been, if I had used my right hand because then I would have simply been trying to do a perfect little coloured-in picture.
The only disappointment was that the Sharpies have spoiled the picture on the other side-boo hoo.
So, the snow began falling on a steady basis, yesterday afternoon but I really didn't think that it would amount to anything. When I got up and saw that everything was covered in white, it was a lovely surprise. It's wet stuff, tho' and it won't hang around for long unless it changes texture.
It was lightly snowing when I walked down to get Ali and when we both walked home. I wasn't mean and refusing to pay her bus fare, she wanted to stretch her legs and get some fresh air. It's lovely to have her home but my entrance hall and living room look like a suitcase has exploded in them-lol.
Admittedly, it was 10.30 before we got home and then she had to show me all of her purchases before bed, so I will cut her some slack....for now. If it's all still in here in a couple of days...not so much.
She's due in from school soon and will be tired after work from 4-6pm. I think that I may do some writing when she's at work as I have spent today up with Ross, grocery shopping and writing this. Oh and I did sneak in my lunch with a Once Upon a Time episode. It will actually be very sad when I get up to date with the show because I do love the back-to-back episode thingy.
And on that note, I'll close.
Much love to all,
Lxxx
P.S Happy Monday.
Sunday, 16 November 2014
Day 80.......and a lovely catch-up with Krys.
Day 80.......and a lovely catch-up with Krys.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I have been really good about sticking to my alarm-clock whilst Ali has been away. 7.15-7.30 is an okay time to get up....even on the weekend, which is new to do. I had been lying in till between 8 and 9am on weekends but seems like you get more done if you stick to the same alarm-routine. Tempting as it is to roll over, I know that I will feel no different in an hours time.....still will want to roll over.
I don't have the heating timings good for the weekend, though. I think I set it to come on a t 8am, seeing as how I was lying-in. It was a wee bit chilly this weekend when I got up. Brr.
Both yesterday and this morning, there are flurries of snow. Nothing dramatic but perhaps a sign of what's to come in the near future. The snow arrived early last year so we shall see what our first winter brings.
I went to see my friend Krys, for the first time since arrival. I finally made contact with her last week and I headed out to Hamilton (45 mins on Go train) to see her new home of 2 years. She had lived in the same rented accommodation for the 30 yrs before, not far from where I previously lived and finally decided to purchase her own place when her long-term downstairs neighbour died.
Her house is fantastic. It's not so different in size to this one but a wee bit bigger with more rooms. In a wee culdesac with a front deck and a nice back porch, a downstairs den and upstairs bedroom, I spent a lovely 7 hrs with her chat chat chat chat chatting.
She's one of my friends who connects instantly whether it's been 2 years since our last bottle of wine together or not.
We began on the wine as soon as we got to her place but I am glad to report to Bill that we did stop and have some food and we did not progress on to a second, different bottle of wine. The memory of the hangover I had from our last catch-up, was enough to make sure that it would not be repeated-yuk. She did produce my sunglasses that I had left at her old place 2 years ago-bonus.
Several hours of chat later and I was back on the Go train Eastbound and got home just after 8pm. I was a wee bit peckish, so made myself a cheese and onion-filled bagel and a mug of tea which definitely hit the spot. My problem with spring onions is that I always crave a piece of chocolate after I have them and last night was no different. Lucky for me I had some Dark stuff in the cupboard and one big square and a cup of decaff and I was sorted for the rest of the evening which involved a couple of episodes of Once upon a.. and an early bed.
I didn't chat with any of 'the gang' yesterday so not got anything to report from their camps.
And that was my Saturday, Folks. Did I mention that it was bitterly cold outside yesterday? I haven't put my nose out there yet today but it does not look any warmer if the clothes covering the people walking by, are any indication. Brrr,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I have been really good about sticking to my alarm-clock whilst Ali has been away. 7.15-7.30 is an okay time to get up....even on the weekend, which is new to do. I had been lying in till between 8 and 9am on weekends but seems like you get more done if you stick to the same alarm-routine. Tempting as it is to roll over, I know that I will feel no different in an hours time.....still will want to roll over.
I don't have the heating timings good for the weekend, though. I think I set it to come on a t 8am, seeing as how I was lying-in. It was a wee bit chilly this weekend when I got up. Brr.
Both yesterday and this morning, there are flurries of snow. Nothing dramatic but perhaps a sign of what's to come in the near future. The snow arrived early last year so we shall see what our first winter brings.
I went to see my friend Krys, for the first time since arrival. I finally made contact with her last week and I headed out to Hamilton (45 mins on Go train) to see her new home of 2 years. She had lived in the same rented accommodation for the 30 yrs before, not far from where I previously lived and finally decided to purchase her own place when her long-term downstairs neighbour died.
Her house is fantastic. It's not so different in size to this one but a wee bit bigger with more rooms. In a wee culdesac with a front deck and a nice back porch, a downstairs den and upstairs bedroom, I spent a lovely 7 hrs with her chat chat chat chat chatting.
She's one of my friends who connects instantly whether it's been 2 years since our last bottle of wine together or not.
We began on the wine as soon as we got to her place but I am glad to report to Bill that we did stop and have some food and we did not progress on to a second, different bottle of wine. The memory of the hangover I had from our last catch-up, was enough to make sure that it would not be repeated-yuk. She did produce my sunglasses that I had left at her old place 2 years ago-bonus.
Several hours of chat later and I was back on the Go train Eastbound and got home just after 8pm. I was a wee bit peckish, so made myself a cheese and onion-filled bagel and a mug of tea which definitely hit the spot. My problem with spring onions is that I always crave a piece of chocolate after I have them and last night was no different. Lucky for me I had some Dark stuff in the cupboard and one big square and a cup of decaff and I was sorted for the rest of the evening which involved a couple of episodes of Once upon a.. and an early bed.
I didn't chat with any of 'the gang' yesterday so not got anything to report from their camps.
And that was my Saturday, Folks. Did I mention that it was bitterly cold outside yesterday? I haven't put my nose out there yet today but it does not look any warmer if the clothes covering the people walking by, are any indication. Brrr,
Lxxx
Saturday, 15 November 2014
Day 79......this'll be quick but I do have an email to paste in here which will make it longer.
Day 79......this'll be quick but I do have an email to paste in here which will make it longer.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday saw less writing getting done than a normal Friday because I was meeting Andrew for lunch, as yesterdays blog mentioned.
I did do some though, both before I met him and after I returned home and I will paste an email which tells you about the evening writing that I did........and lost.
I didn't speak to Ali' in the morning, she chatted with her dad instead telling him that Play number 2 was good which I interpret as there was no napping-through-it as per the night before. I did speak to her just before I headed to bed and she was sad :-( Now, before you get worried about her, she was sad because she's spent most of her money and wouldn't have much to spend on todays shopping trip. I won't tell you how much she has with her to spend but let's just say that we don't need to feel sad with her-lol. I did tell her that if there was anything that she MUST have, that she could put it on my credit card (which she has with her to pay for all her food/drink) Perhaps that was a mistake because if I know Ali , there will be lots of things that she sees that she will think she MUST have. Na, I trust her really.
Spending time with Andrew was lovely and he bought me lunch. The joys of having wonderful grown up kids. We started off in a book shop and I had a good old read of a chinese horoscope book which told me that 2015 will be a great year for my creative side-yahoo......and money (double yahoo, Bill) As I replaced the book on the shelf, I realised that Andrew and I were supposed to be spending time together and we were at opposite sides of a massive book store....admittedly both enjoying ourselves.
So I went to find him and told him my realisation to which he just shrugged and said 'we are' (spending time together) Maybe I was caught up in the whole, you have to be together spending time together and he wasn't? Wise man.
Anyway, after exiting the store we wandered up Yonge street. I think that Andrew had already decided that Frans was a good place to eat and we ended up there. Lunch was tasty, if a little messy. I had chicken quesidillas (? spelling)YUM.
A quick wander around shoppers and then bulk-barn and then on to the subway home. Andrew had been told that Bulk Barn had British chocolate and it did indeed $2.49 for 1 Twirl....plus tax. Needless to say, we purchased none.
Home, after nipping to the wine store for a bottle to take to my friend Krys' and I had a wee peek on FB.
After reading a post about discipline, I found myself wanting to respond to it but rather than put a wee post, which would not have said all that I wanted to, I started typing on a wordpad doc' I typed and I typed and it was a really good article and......wait-I am just going to paste the email I sent this morning. My friend had a similar experience yesterday, so this is what I sent her :
'Good morning, my friend,
I just had to send you a wee note about what happened to me last night, after reading your ipad story.
I had just read a FB post on parenting/discipline and rather than put a big 'rant' on the post, I posted that it had sparked my urge to write about it and that I would post a link later.
And so I started to write...and write, pouring out my heart about my experience of both being parented, watching/judging parenting and then finding my way into parenting. I even wrote that a new mum, very recently, called me an amazing mom......progress for someone who retreats from saying anything which may be construed as conceited.
As i got closer to the ending, I was thinking that perhaps this would be my first magazine article. After all, it was from my heart and soul, when 'poof' (your word) my screen froze......wh..a..at?
I tried several things (including banging the whole flippin' keyboard) to no avail. Jen googled Toshiba help (thank goodness my Blackberry was working and gets FB) and offered several pieces of advice. Bill was in the conversation and offered calm support but nothing worked. Not a thing I tried made the cursor appear or anything on my laptop work.
I poured myself a glass of wine and took a sip......and shut off the power, knowing that the piece had not been saved, As an invigilater, the thing you keep reminding the kids, through their I.T exams is 'Save your work'....it's the number 1 rule and I broke it and paid for it with the loss of my beautiful story.
A few tears squeezed themselves out and I (for the first time in my adult life) screamed out loud before taking some Gentian (to recover from a setback) and Vine (need to be in control) and within 2 minutes, I was giggling at myself and had let it go. I joked with Bill and Jen that the article must have been really bad if the Universe had deleted it and my higher self knew that it had happened for a reason.
Perhaps it was to show me how I still need to be in control and that wine is still a 'pull' when I feel angry and not in control? I was aware, when I poured it that it would not change the situation any. I have made such progress with my emotional acceptance and observations though and that one glass of wine lasted all evening and I didn't want or need another. The 'old' me would have punished myself, with lots more, trying to numb the anger....at myself for being so stupid as to not save my work. Don't worry, the stupid word is a past reference. I'm not stupid.....I did a non-mindful thing and will hopefully remember, in future, to save my work.......although, if it was that bad, maybe I oughtn't bother-lol.
Just thought you'd appreciate the story.....and hope that your work was saved. Mine tends to be, if my power runs out but obviously not when the Universe has other plans for it.'
And that was my yesterday, Folks,
Much Love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday saw less writing getting done than a normal Friday because I was meeting Andrew for lunch, as yesterdays blog mentioned.
I did do some though, both before I met him and after I returned home and I will paste an email which tells you about the evening writing that I did........and lost.
I didn't speak to Ali' in the morning, she chatted with her dad instead telling him that Play number 2 was good which I interpret as there was no napping-through-it as per the night before. I did speak to her just before I headed to bed and she was sad :-( Now, before you get worried about her, she was sad because she's spent most of her money and wouldn't have much to spend on todays shopping trip. I won't tell you how much she has with her to spend but let's just say that we don't need to feel sad with her-lol. I did tell her that if there was anything that she MUST have, that she could put it on my credit card (which she has with her to pay for all her food/drink) Perhaps that was a mistake because if I know Ali , there will be lots of things that she sees that she will think she MUST have. Na, I trust her really.
Spending time with Andrew was lovely and he bought me lunch. The joys of having wonderful grown up kids. We started off in a book shop and I had a good old read of a chinese horoscope book which told me that 2015 will be a great year for my creative side-yahoo......and money (double yahoo, Bill) As I replaced the book on the shelf, I realised that Andrew and I were supposed to be spending time together and we were at opposite sides of a massive book store....admittedly both enjoying ourselves.
So I went to find him and told him my realisation to which he just shrugged and said 'we are' (spending time together) Maybe I was caught up in the whole, you have to be together spending time together and he wasn't? Wise man.
Anyway, after exiting the store we wandered up Yonge street. I think that Andrew had already decided that Frans was a good place to eat and we ended up there. Lunch was tasty, if a little messy. I had chicken quesidillas (? spelling)YUM.
A quick wander around shoppers and then bulk-barn and then on to the subway home. Andrew had been told that Bulk Barn had British chocolate and it did indeed $2.49 for 1 Twirl....plus tax. Needless to say, we purchased none.
Home, after nipping to the wine store for a bottle to take to my friend Krys' and I had a wee peek on FB.
After reading a post about discipline, I found myself wanting to respond to it but rather than put a wee post, which would not have said all that I wanted to, I started typing on a wordpad doc' I typed and I typed and it was a really good article and......wait-I am just going to paste the email I sent this morning. My friend had a similar experience yesterday, so this is what I sent her :
'Good morning, my friend,
I just had to send you a wee note about what happened to me last night, after reading your ipad story.
I had just read a FB post on parenting/discipline and rather than put a big 'rant' on the post, I posted that it had sparked my urge to write about it and that I would post a link later.
And so I started to write...and write, pouring out my heart about my experience of both being parented, watching/judging parenting and then finding my way into parenting. I even wrote that a new mum, very recently, called me an amazing mom......progress for someone who retreats from saying anything which may be construed as conceited.
As i got closer to the ending, I was thinking that perhaps this would be my first magazine article. After all, it was from my heart and soul, when 'poof' (your word) my screen froze......wh..a..at?
I tried several things (including banging the whole flippin' keyboard) to no avail. Jen googled Toshiba help (thank goodness my Blackberry was working and gets FB) and offered several pieces of advice. Bill was in the conversation and offered calm support but nothing worked. Not a thing I tried made the cursor appear or anything on my laptop work.
I poured myself a glass of wine and took a sip......and shut off the power, knowing that the piece had not been saved, As an invigilater, the thing you keep reminding the kids, through their I.T exams is 'Save your work'....it's the number 1 rule and I broke it and paid for it with the loss of my beautiful story.
A few tears squeezed themselves out and I (for the first time in my adult life) screamed out loud before taking some Gentian (to recover from a setback) and Vine (need to be in control) and within 2 minutes, I was giggling at myself and had let it go. I joked with Bill and Jen that the article must have been really bad if the Universe had deleted it and my higher self knew that it had happened for a reason.
Perhaps it was to show me how I still need to be in control and that wine is still a 'pull' when I feel angry and not in control? I was aware, when I poured it that it would not change the situation any. I have made such progress with my emotional acceptance and observations though and that one glass of wine lasted all evening and I didn't want or need another. The 'old' me would have punished myself, with lots more, trying to numb the anger....at myself for being so stupid as to not save my work. Don't worry, the stupid word is a past reference. I'm not stupid.....I did a non-mindful thing and will hopefully remember, in future, to save my work.......although, if it was that bad, maybe I oughtn't bother-lol.
Just thought you'd appreciate the story.....and hope that your work was saved. Mine tends to be, if my power runs out but obviously not when the Universe has other plans for it.'
And that was my yesterday, Folks,
Much Love to all,
Lxx
Friday, 14 November 2014
Day 78.......a day in and some more flurries (in text format because I can't be bothered backspacing>)
Day 78.......a day in and some more flurries (in text format because I can't be bothered backspacing>)
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
> Meeting Andrew at 2pm, for a late lunch and some shopping, I have just realised that I forgot to write a blog. Must have been the excitement of spending time with my boy-lol.
> So, 'cause I am 10 mins early, I will type a wee 'ditty' on my phone and post it on FB later.
> Yesterday was a stay-at-home day. Not that I had planned it, it just sort of evolved.
> I had a wee FB chat with Ali, both before and after she had her breakfast and she informed me that the first play, the night before, had been boring so she and her friend had snuggled up and had a nap. The bus ride to NYC went okay and the hotel room (no surprise) is tiny so 4 girls and 4 suitcases are a wee bit squished. In the centre of Times Square, I would expect no less (or should I say 'no more') after all the investigation we put into hotels for our trip to New York last year. That's why we opted to stay in Newark and travel in. We probably got our 2 spacious rooms for the price of Ali's tiny one.
> I posted on FB yesterday about the snow falling but it didn't lie and there is only crisp cold sunshine today. The wind is brrr but nothing worse that the wind that hits Porty from the North sea.
> I am not entirely sure where yesterday morning disappeared to but I got a phonecall just before noon which required me to stay home for at least the next hour and a half. Andrew's friends girlfriends mother (a bit of a mouthful) popped by with a gift 'for the holidays'. One huge soup-pot and a 9 piece set of pots/pans. WOW. She had asked Andrew, via Liam, what I still needed and had gone and bought them. How kind are these folk. They are the same generous family who gave us all the stuff when we first moved in.
> Oops-spoke too soon about the snow-it's falling down outside and heavier than yesterday. Jeanette (the kind lady of yesterday) lives in Newmarket, which is approx an hour north of me and I saw on the subway tv screen that they have a snow weather-warning. EEK.
> She stayed for a cuppa and we had a really great chat. I probably came over as a real chatterbox because she was my first face to face conversation since Ali left. Also the first female adult conversation in a week. Anyways, I mustn't have been too scary because she invited us all for Christmas dinner. Again, kindness. I did tell her that we are anti-social and would likely decline but the promise of snow and sledging may be enough to get the girls up there.
> Andrew, as often, is late! but that's okay 'cause I can keep writing. What else for yesterday?
> So, 'cause I am 10 mins early, I will type a wee 'ditty' on my phone and post it on FB later.
> Yesterday was a stay-at-home day. Not that I had planned it, it just sort of evolved.
> I had a wee FB chat with Ali, both before and after she had her breakfast and she informed me that the first play, the night before, had been boring so she and her friend had snuggled up and had a nap. The bus ride to NYC went okay and the hotel room (no surprise) is tiny so 4 girls and 4 suitcases are a wee bit squished. In the centre of Times Square, I would expect no less (or should I say 'no more') after all the investigation we put into hotels for our trip to New York last year. That's why we opted to stay in Newark and travel in. We probably got our 2 spacious rooms for the price of Ali's tiny one.
> I posted on FB yesterday about the snow falling but it didn't lie and there is only crisp cold sunshine today. The wind is brrr but nothing worse that the wind that hits Porty from the North sea.
> I am not entirely sure where yesterday morning disappeared to but I got a phonecall just before noon which required me to stay home for at least the next hour and a half. Andrew's friends girlfriends mother (a bit of a mouthful) popped by with a gift 'for the holidays'. One huge soup-pot and a 9 piece set of pots/pans. WOW. She had asked Andrew, via Liam, what I still needed and had gone and bought them. How kind are these folk. They are the same generous family who gave us all the stuff when we first moved in.
> Oops-spoke too soon about the snow-it's falling down outside and heavier than yesterday. Jeanette (the kind lady of yesterday) lives in Newmarket, which is approx an hour north of me and I saw on the subway tv screen that they have a snow weather-warning. EEK.
> She stayed for a cuppa and we had a really great chat. I probably came over as a real chatterbox because she was my first face to face conversation since Ali left. Also the first female adult conversation in a week. Anyways, I mustn't have been too scary because she invited us all for Christmas dinner. Again, kindness. I did tell her that we are anti-social and would likely decline but the promise of snow and sledging may be enough to get the girls up there.
> Andrew, as often, is late! but that's okay 'cause I can keep writing. What else for yesterday?
I chatted with Bill on the phone, did some writing on the screenplay, had a couple of glasses of wine with Once Upon a time and went to bed.........ta da.
Well, good job I'm finished 'cause I just got a text asking where I'm hiding and I see Andrew coming out of Roots,
TTFN, see you tomorrow,
Lxxxx
Thursday, 13 November 2014
Day 77.....and the actual writing of screenplay begins.
Day 77.....and the actual writing of screenplay begins.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I usually have the previous days post still open and I just write over it but the computer did a restart and closed all my tabs, this morning so I had to search my FB to see what day I was on. 77 days=11 weeks. wow (and I still remember my 11 x table-lol)
I had day 1 of 5 on my own and it seemed longer than a usual day but not in a bad way.
I had a lovely chat with my great 'Bud' Chrissie, when I returned from taking Ali down to school for 5.30am. I think she thought I needed a hug after posting my confession about blubbering to the Abba video-lol.
Ali banned me from watching it whilst she's away so I watched the Meryl Streep version instead............and then went back to the Abba one-oops, sorry Al' but I couldn't resist.
I don't know how Agnetha manages to sing without blubbering, herself. The fact that her ex-hubbie (or soon to be) keeps looking at her, as if checking she's okay, is like watching a sad movie.....boo hoo when added to the words of the song.
Right, Etobicoke to Linsey.....come back to reality.
It must be all the writing I'm doing, making me sensitive to the Arts-lol.
I made it to the library just before 10am....a first. It was greeted by a sign on the door saying
'Fire Alarm testing at 10am. Everyone will be asked to vacate the building'
Groan..........I grinned, though and said to the librarian 'No point in getting myself settled in then?' to which she smiled 'NOPE'
10.15 found me settling in a cosy chair with my laptop open and ready for action. The first day of actually writing the screenplay.......and what a quick, fun 4.5 hrs it was. Absolutely whizzed by and the only reason that I stopped writing was because my laptop died. I had taken the charger with me but sat in a chair that didn't have a socket beside it so I took it (and the fact that my stomach was growling) as I sign to finish up.
I had yummy boiled eggs on toast and a piece of dark chocolate with a cup of tea-aahh...
.......and an episode of Once Upon a Time.
And then I did another hours worth of writing. Now, you may think that, at this rate, the screenplay will be done by the time Ali gets home. I have completed the opening scene....period.
It's going to be a long process but one that is proving to be fun. Trying to remember that you have to change scene if the action moves inside or changes rooms is very interesting. I downloaded a free screenplay-writing programme, which is really useful (I may need to purchase one) and I made some index cards for scenes with it. I kept having to slot in cards because I kept forgetting that the scene would have to change because of location. Very interesting.
So, having bored you all with that rivetting account of my writing, I spent the evening with a late dinner and some Once Upon a time, with a laundry of Ali's bedlinen done and dusted and back on her bed-actually, back on Jen's bed because she's been sleeping there.....less centipedes, apparently.
I headed to bed at 10pm, tired but content. Night 1 in my 'empty' house....check.
Love to all,
Oh, I have set up a FB page called 3 Girls and 4 Suitcases and I plan to post the blog in there because it may be easier for folk to access, comment on (and possibly) share.
Lxxxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I usually have the previous days post still open and I just write over it but the computer did a restart and closed all my tabs, this morning so I had to search my FB to see what day I was on. 77 days=11 weeks. wow (and I still remember my 11 x table-lol)
I had day 1 of 5 on my own and it seemed longer than a usual day but not in a bad way.
I had a lovely chat with my great 'Bud' Chrissie, when I returned from taking Ali down to school for 5.30am. I think she thought I needed a hug after posting my confession about blubbering to the Abba video-lol.
Ali banned me from watching it whilst she's away so I watched the Meryl Streep version instead............and then went back to the Abba one-oops, sorry Al' but I couldn't resist.
I don't know how Agnetha manages to sing without blubbering, herself. The fact that her ex-hubbie (or soon to be) keeps looking at her, as if checking she's okay, is like watching a sad movie.....boo hoo when added to the words of the song.
Right, Etobicoke to Linsey.....come back to reality.
It must be all the writing I'm doing, making me sensitive to the Arts-lol.
I made it to the library just before 10am....a first. It was greeted by a sign on the door saying
'Fire Alarm testing at 10am. Everyone will be asked to vacate the building'
Groan..........I grinned, though and said to the librarian 'No point in getting myself settled in then?' to which she smiled 'NOPE'
10.15 found me settling in a cosy chair with my laptop open and ready for action. The first day of actually writing the screenplay.......and what a quick, fun 4.5 hrs it was. Absolutely whizzed by and the only reason that I stopped writing was because my laptop died. I had taken the charger with me but sat in a chair that didn't have a socket beside it so I took it (and the fact that my stomach was growling) as I sign to finish up.
I had yummy boiled eggs on toast and a piece of dark chocolate with a cup of tea-aahh...
.......and an episode of Once Upon a Time.
And then I did another hours worth of writing. Now, you may think that, at this rate, the screenplay will be done by the time Ali gets home. I have completed the opening scene....period.
It's going to be a long process but one that is proving to be fun. Trying to remember that you have to change scene if the action moves inside or changes rooms is very interesting. I downloaded a free screenplay-writing programme, which is really useful (I may need to purchase one) and I made some index cards for scenes with it. I kept having to slot in cards because I kept forgetting that the scene would have to change because of location. Very interesting.
So, having bored you all with that rivetting account of my writing, I spent the evening with a late dinner and some Once Upon a time, with a laundry of Ali's bedlinen done and dusted and back on her bed-actually, back on Jen's bed because she's been sleeping there.....less centipedes, apparently.
I headed to bed at 10pm, tired but content. Night 1 in my 'empty' house....check.
Love to all,
Oh, I have set up a FB page called 3 Girls and 4 Suitcases and I plan to post the blog in there because it may be easier for folk to access, comment on (and possibly) share.
Lxxxxx
Wednesday, 12 November 2014
Day 76.....packing for NYC and 'Slipping through my fingers'
Day 76.....packing for NYC and 'Slipping through my fingers'
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I was up early yesterday morning, to join in with a world meditation for Peace. It was happening at 11.11 GMT which meant I had to Rise and Shine before 6am to get some coffee into me to prevent me nodding off instead of meditating.
I spent around 5o mins quietly sending out healing to the world and I do think that the time was well-spent. I was able to wake Ali, fully awake and I even went out to rake the leaves and mow the lawn before I went to the library to 'work'
I had to have a shower post-gardening because it was hot and very green work-lol.
The library was hot and sunny and my eyes were burning, wanting to go to sleep. I kept having to shift position, send a text, check an email, to prevent myself from nodding off and joining 'snoring man' who had taken up residence in the chair behind me.
I was well ready for my lunch at 3.30 and a quick chat with Ali before she headed round for work.
After dinner, I had to make a quick trip to the drug store because we had forgotten that travel-sickness pills were required for todays long journey to NYC.
Returning home, we got stuck into the task of double checking outfits and I was eventually allowed to pack the case. Hopefully the outfits will all stay rolled together as packed.
We did manage to get 4-5 hrs sleep each before the alarm went off at 0400-yuk. But, in holiday-mode, we managed to get out the door at 5.05 to walk down to the school for 5.30.
Walking back home (I only stayed long enough for her to connect with her friends) I was aware of how proud I am of all three of my kids. Yesterday, watching the Abba video of 'Slipping through my fingers', I felt all of my inadequacies as a mother resurface and the guilt that goes with that. En-route to the school this morning, Alison banned me from watching the video whilst she was away and her retort to my feelings about not being a good enough mother
'We're all fine' mum.'
Bless her cotton sox.
And so I watched the Meryl Streep version when I got home and cried yet again......but that's okay. Some days (or couple of days) you just need a wee cry (or three)
Much love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I was up early yesterday morning, to join in with a world meditation for Peace. It was happening at 11.11 GMT which meant I had to Rise and Shine before 6am to get some coffee into me to prevent me nodding off instead of meditating.
I spent around 5o mins quietly sending out healing to the world and I do think that the time was well-spent. I was able to wake Ali, fully awake and I even went out to rake the leaves and mow the lawn before I went to the library to 'work'
I had to have a shower post-gardening because it was hot and very green work-lol.
The library was hot and sunny and my eyes were burning, wanting to go to sleep. I kept having to shift position, send a text, check an email, to prevent myself from nodding off and joining 'snoring man' who had taken up residence in the chair behind me.
I was well ready for my lunch at 3.30 and a quick chat with Ali before she headed round for work.
After dinner, I had to make a quick trip to the drug store because we had forgotten that travel-sickness pills were required for todays long journey to NYC.
Returning home, we got stuck into the task of double checking outfits and I was eventually allowed to pack the case. Hopefully the outfits will all stay rolled together as packed.
We did manage to get 4-5 hrs sleep each before the alarm went off at 0400-yuk. But, in holiday-mode, we managed to get out the door at 5.05 to walk down to the school for 5.30.
Walking back home (I only stayed long enough for her to connect with her friends) I was aware of how proud I am of all three of my kids. Yesterday, watching the Abba video of 'Slipping through my fingers', I felt all of my inadequacies as a mother resurface and the guilt that goes with that. En-route to the school this morning, Alison banned me from watching the video whilst she was away and her retort to my feelings about not being a good enough mother
'We're all fine' mum.'
Bless her cotton sox.
And so I watched the Meryl Streep version when I got home and cried yet again......but that's okay. Some days (or couple of days) you just need a wee cry (or three)
Much love to all,
Lxx
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
Day 75...and I almost missed my bus to work-eek
Day 75...and I almost missed my bus to work-eek.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Missing the bus would not have been my fault-honest. I have a 3 minute walk to the subway station and yes, I was running a bit late in the house but I did get out the door in plenty of time. I usually have a shower/hair wash on a Monday (I am not a daily 'dipper') and it does challenge me a wee bit to get myself out the door for the 9.20 bus. Sometimes, like this morning, I have to forego the bit toast that's popped and munch a banana instead, saving the toast for lunch later and sometimes I don't.
My problem this morning was that when I got to the station, the TTC worker behind the counter had put a wee sign in his window saying 'Back in a few'. A few what? Seconds? Minutes? ......Hours?
I normally would have had tokens and could simply popped one in the automatic entrance but I ran out on Saturday and planned to buy them this morning. I knew that there was a reson for the niggle at the back of my mind saying 'what if there's a massive queue on Monday morning?' but I ignored it which meant I didn't buy any when I was out with Ali' yesterday.
Instead, I looked around, saw my bus at the stance and thought 'FLIP'
There was another guy waiting too and he was a bit more vocal than me and shouted to the said slowly approaching (talking to one person after an other) ttc employee to tell the bus to wait.
He didn't but he did get himself back into his wee booth and I asked the guy to please ask the bus to wait for me....and he did but he didn't need to because it sat another couple of minutes before it headed North.
I had a lovely couple of hours with Ross and it was very hard to say goodbye. The other times that I have been up there, he has been getting taken out for lunch just before it was time for me to leave and so he was happy. Yesterday, I kept having to remind him that I wasn't taking him anywhere and it was so much more difficult to leave him. It gives me a tiny bit of perspective on how families of alzheimer sufferers must feel each and every time they leave their loved ones and I do hope that I never have to experience a biiger piece. Good job my new remedy bottle contains Pine (for feeling guilty)
I had decided that I would walk home because it had always been my plan to do so and I hadn't done it yet due to having stuff on.
Walking South, down Royal York (I was approx 45 min walk North) I noticed that there was a dollar store and remembered a review on Amazon for earphones, which stated that the ones in the dollar store were better than the pair that this guy had just bought. Alison needs earphones for NYC and the ones we ordered on Amazon have not arrived therfore I popped into the dollar store and spent a lot more time in there than I meant to. There were so many things for up to $3 and I must remember all the things that I saw when it's time to buy them. Things like cotton-wool pads which cost a fortune in Shoppers Drug Mart-$1. How much difference could there be?
After a lovely browse and with a bag full of bits and pieces, I headed south again. As I approached the next strip-mall, I wished that I'd gone to the 'Ladies' before leaving Ross so I opted to go into Metro, a big grocery store and use their facilities. They had some very lovely little poinsettas and I went up and down the aisles comparing prices. Picked up some half price instant decaff (haven't had any since leaving Edinburgh-been brewing the pot in the evenings) and some half price Philly cheese (will NEVER pay full price for it here) and then headed home.
Lunch was my cold toast (left in the toaster in my morning rush) with some Philly cheese and some soup-YUM. I was ready for it because it was after 2pm when I got home.
And I am not sure where the rest of the day disappeared to. I do know that there was no tv watching till Ali went to bed because she had a book to finish for school today. I did have a couple of lovely conversations with Bill and Jen on FB. I love how you can type back and forward (almost always on the correct conversation) with folk. It doesn't matter how many thousands of miles there are between you-they feel close. I watched an episode of Blacklist which stars James Spader-love him, before heading to bed-Bill it was that Mumbai cartel one, which was indeed a bit creepy.
I was tempted to watch a second one but resisted because I was getting up at 5.55 to meditate for world peace at 6.11. and it was already after midnight.
And that was my day. Hope yours was great,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Missing the bus would not have been my fault-honest. I have a 3 minute walk to the subway station and yes, I was running a bit late in the house but I did get out the door in plenty of time. I usually have a shower/hair wash on a Monday (I am not a daily 'dipper') and it does challenge me a wee bit to get myself out the door for the 9.20 bus. Sometimes, like this morning, I have to forego the bit toast that's popped and munch a banana instead, saving the toast for lunch later and sometimes I don't.
My problem this morning was that when I got to the station, the TTC worker behind the counter had put a wee sign in his window saying 'Back in a few'. A few what? Seconds? Minutes? ......Hours?
I normally would have had tokens and could simply popped one in the automatic entrance but I ran out on Saturday and planned to buy them this morning. I knew that there was a reson for the niggle at the back of my mind saying 'what if there's a massive queue on Monday morning?' but I ignored it which meant I didn't buy any when I was out with Ali' yesterday.
Instead, I looked around, saw my bus at the stance and thought 'FLIP'
There was another guy waiting too and he was a bit more vocal than me and shouted to the said slowly approaching (talking to one person after an other) ttc employee to tell the bus to wait.
He didn't but he did get himself back into his wee booth and I asked the guy to please ask the bus to wait for me....and he did but he didn't need to because it sat another couple of minutes before it headed North.
I had a lovely couple of hours with Ross and it was very hard to say goodbye. The other times that I have been up there, he has been getting taken out for lunch just before it was time for me to leave and so he was happy. Yesterday, I kept having to remind him that I wasn't taking him anywhere and it was so much more difficult to leave him. It gives me a tiny bit of perspective on how families of alzheimer sufferers must feel each and every time they leave their loved ones and I do hope that I never have to experience a biiger piece. Good job my new remedy bottle contains Pine (for feeling guilty)
I had decided that I would walk home because it had always been my plan to do so and I hadn't done it yet due to having stuff on.
Walking South, down Royal York (I was approx 45 min walk North) I noticed that there was a dollar store and remembered a review on Amazon for earphones, which stated that the ones in the dollar store were better than the pair that this guy had just bought. Alison needs earphones for NYC and the ones we ordered on Amazon have not arrived therfore I popped into the dollar store and spent a lot more time in there than I meant to. There were so many things for up to $3 and I must remember all the things that I saw when it's time to buy them. Things like cotton-wool pads which cost a fortune in Shoppers Drug Mart-$1. How much difference could there be?
After a lovely browse and with a bag full of bits and pieces, I headed south again. As I approached the next strip-mall, I wished that I'd gone to the 'Ladies' before leaving Ross so I opted to go into Metro, a big grocery store and use their facilities. They had some very lovely little poinsettas and I went up and down the aisles comparing prices. Picked up some half price instant decaff (haven't had any since leaving Edinburgh-been brewing the pot in the evenings) and some half price Philly cheese (will NEVER pay full price for it here) and then headed home.
Lunch was my cold toast (left in the toaster in my morning rush) with some Philly cheese and some soup-YUM. I was ready for it because it was after 2pm when I got home.
And I am not sure where the rest of the day disappeared to. I do know that there was no tv watching till Ali went to bed because she had a book to finish for school today. I did have a couple of lovely conversations with Bill and Jen on FB. I love how you can type back and forward (almost always on the correct conversation) with folk. It doesn't matter how many thousands of miles there are between you-they feel close. I watched an episode of Blacklist which stars James Spader-love him, before heading to bed-Bill it was that Mumbai cartel one, which was indeed a bit creepy.
I was tempted to watch a second one but resisted because I was getting up at 5.55 to meditate for world peace at 6.11. and it was already after midnight.
And that was my day. Hope yours was great,
Lxx
Monday, 10 November 2014
Day 74.........bargains galore.
Day 74.........bargains galore.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday was an early start because Ali NEEDED to get some stuff for her upcoming trip to NYC. The planned time of departure came and went and I got the blame. My defense was that I didn't think that she would be ready because she'd stayed in bed an extra half hour.....but she was and I wasn't-ooops.
Still, we were on the train at 9.45 and having a god old chat about this and that and lo and behold, for the first time since we've been here, we looked up from our conversation to see that we were at the station after the one we were supposed to get off at. Tee hee-ing, we got off and wandered over to the other side of the platform to get the train back a stop.
Another lapse in mindfulness or just good conversation?
We had a great day downtown and after a wee bit of a 'nothing looks good' start, we got Ali some lovely stuff and as she got happier as the day progressed, after having found nothing the day before.
We had lunch at the same burger place as the week before and I made the correct choice of having a delicious burger and not a nasty grilled cheese. The great news for most of you who read this blog is that you have a 5 Guys restuarant coming to town very soon. GO THERE if you love a good burger. They are also going to have a wonderful coke machine which I will say no more about except to say that free refills are fab.
Our biggest bit of fun was that we found a 'Claires' which was closing down and it had 12 items for $6. We got 36 items worth over $300 for $18. Woohoo. Hair accessories, jewellery and nail polishes/transfers and we were delighted with our hawl. Alison also was delighted with her VERY christmas sweater which we found in a 'grunge' store where everything is $10 or less.
Are we the Queen and Princess of bargains or what.
It's amazing how attitude can make or break your day because once we got Ali's switched to 'I'll like stuff', it was all downhill (like in a good, easy way)
We didn't get home till around 6pm and I did my usual turnaround by picking up shopping bags and heading to the bus stop to go for my groceries.
Alison was left in charge of getting the lasagne in the oven and it was not to far from ready when I got home.
All in all a lovely Sunday rounded off by an episode of Charmed, with Ali and then an eisode of Once Upon a Time for me, after she went to bed.
A 'disturbed' nights sleep last night and I think I may have to keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks to see if there's anything that I'm eating/drinking that may be causing this. I don't get annoyed by it, I'm just curious.
So, it's Monday morning and I'm off to work. See you tomorrow, folks.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday was an early start because Ali NEEDED to get some stuff for her upcoming trip to NYC. The planned time of departure came and went and I got the blame. My defense was that I didn't think that she would be ready because she'd stayed in bed an extra half hour.....but she was and I wasn't-ooops.
Still, we were on the train at 9.45 and having a god old chat about this and that and lo and behold, for the first time since we've been here, we looked up from our conversation to see that we were at the station after the one we were supposed to get off at. Tee hee-ing, we got off and wandered over to the other side of the platform to get the train back a stop.
Another lapse in mindfulness or just good conversation?
We had a great day downtown and after a wee bit of a 'nothing looks good' start, we got Ali some lovely stuff and as she got happier as the day progressed, after having found nothing the day before.
We had lunch at the same burger place as the week before and I made the correct choice of having a delicious burger and not a nasty grilled cheese. The great news for most of you who read this blog is that you have a 5 Guys restuarant coming to town very soon. GO THERE if you love a good burger. They are also going to have a wonderful coke machine which I will say no more about except to say that free refills are fab.
Our biggest bit of fun was that we found a 'Claires' which was closing down and it had 12 items for $6. We got 36 items worth over $300 for $18. Woohoo. Hair accessories, jewellery and nail polishes/transfers and we were delighted with our hawl. Alison also was delighted with her VERY christmas sweater which we found in a 'grunge' store where everything is $10 or less.
Are we the Queen and Princess of bargains or what.
It's amazing how attitude can make or break your day because once we got Ali's switched to 'I'll like stuff', it was all downhill (like in a good, easy way)
We didn't get home till around 6pm and I did my usual turnaround by picking up shopping bags and heading to the bus stop to go for my groceries.
Alison was left in charge of getting the lasagne in the oven and it was not to far from ready when I got home.
All in all a lovely Sunday rounded off by an episode of Charmed, with Ali and then an eisode of Once Upon a Time for me, after she went to bed.
A 'disturbed' nights sleep last night and I think I may have to keep a sleep diary for a couple of weeks to see if there's anything that I'm eating/drinking that may be causing this. I don't get annoyed by it, I'm just curious.
So, it's Monday morning and I'm off to work. See you tomorrow, folks.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Sunday, 9 November 2014
Day 73........a big lapse in my mindfulness.....
Day 73........a big lapse in my mindfulness.....
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
.....happened not too long after giving Ali a bit of a lecture in mindfulness. I found an anti-hystamine on the kitchen counter that she had taken out of the packet and then forgotten to take and so I started on about how she needed to be telling herself a wee story, when she was doing things, so that she'd remember that she hadn't finished the task. She took it as she almost always does, with humour and backchat and then went off to meet a friend for a day of shopping.
Cut to me, making my breakfast after deciding to microwave the last egg in the box to have on some toast. Imagine my horror when I realised that I was cracking a raw egg on the kitchen counter.....to shell.
EEK-my brain had been on auto-pilot, thinking it was cracking a boiled egg and I did LOL when I noticed what was happening and how I had just given Ali a lecture about being more mindful. I'm still giggling to myself as I type this because luckily the eggshells here are far thicker and the egg was not all over the counter when I re-engaged with my awareness. There was just a wee bit egg-white on the counter and the rest of the egg made it into the microwave and subsequently onto my toast.
I went to visit baby Noah and his mom and spent a lovely 2 hours plus just chat, chat, chatting with Marie. She's lovely and like me at the moment, isn't having a huge amount of adult conversation. I remember the long days in the house, when Jennifer was born, whilst Bill was at work. I often would be up at my mums two or three times a week, just for the adult chat and support rather than sitting in the house by myself.
I would be much better at it now though, due to my ability to be in the present moment rather than wishing my days away like I sometimes did on hard early motherhood days.
I do love to chat about all the ins and outs of motherhood and marriage and Marie and I share lots of viewpoints so it makes for a great afternoon.
When I got home, Alison was already here and was a bit deflated that her shopping trip had yielded no purchases. Still, she was cheery enough and we had a lovely evening together. She made her now fantastic cannelonni and we watched a rom-com and then went downstairs to sort her clothes for taking to NYC on Wednesday.
Back upstairs for a couple of episodes of Once-Upon-a-Time before bed and that's Saturday, Folks.
I did contemplate just doing Sunday, now but have just made a pot of decaff and a toasted cinamon bagel with pb and jam so I have to go dispose of them.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
.....happened not too long after giving Ali a bit of a lecture in mindfulness. I found an anti-hystamine on the kitchen counter that she had taken out of the packet and then forgotten to take and so I started on about how she needed to be telling herself a wee story, when she was doing things, so that she'd remember that she hadn't finished the task. She took it as she almost always does, with humour and backchat and then went off to meet a friend for a day of shopping.
Cut to me, making my breakfast after deciding to microwave the last egg in the box to have on some toast. Imagine my horror when I realised that I was cracking a raw egg on the kitchen counter.....to shell.
EEK-my brain had been on auto-pilot, thinking it was cracking a boiled egg and I did LOL when I noticed what was happening and how I had just given Ali a lecture about being more mindful. I'm still giggling to myself as I type this because luckily the eggshells here are far thicker and the egg was not all over the counter when I re-engaged with my awareness. There was just a wee bit egg-white on the counter and the rest of the egg made it into the microwave and subsequently onto my toast.
I went to visit baby Noah and his mom and spent a lovely 2 hours plus just chat, chat, chatting with Marie. She's lovely and like me at the moment, isn't having a huge amount of adult conversation. I remember the long days in the house, when Jennifer was born, whilst Bill was at work. I often would be up at my mums two or three times a week, just for the adult chat and support rather than sitting in the house by myself.
I would be much better at it now though, due to my ability to be in the present moment rather than wishing my days away like I sometimes did on hard early motherhood days.
I do love to chat about all the ins and outs of motherhood and marriage and Marie and I share lots of viewpoints so it makes for a great afternoon.
When I got home, Alison was already here and was a bit deflated that her shopping trip had yielded no purchases. Still, she was cheery enough and we had a lovely evening together. She made her now fantastic cannelonni and we watched a rom-com and then went downstairs to sort her clothes for taking to NYC on Wednesday.
Back upstairs for a couple of episodes of Once-Upon-a-Time before bed and that's Saturday, Folks.
I did contemplate just doing Sunday, now but have just made a pot of decaff and a toasted cinamon bagel with pb and jam so I have to go dispose of them.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Saturday, 8 November 2014
Day 72........ticket-buying frenzy.
Day 72........ticket-buying frenzy.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday mornings routine was disrupted by a frantic search for tickets for a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.......next October. I'm having a deja-vu, about the rant I'm about to make, so apologies if I said all this yesterday. With doing the blog a day retrospectively, I sometimes slip up and speak about today.
My rant about tickets=the amount of interest that these companies make from selling tickets a year in advance. Most of the buyers (young folk or their parents, with not a huge amount of extra money) could do with the money being in their own bank accounts, getting the tiny bit of interest that it may aquire over the year rather than it being used to accumulate huge amounts of interest for whoever it is that gets it, selling tickets a year in advance.
Whilst I appreciate that artists need to know that their concert is going to be attended before they shell out lots of dosh to the people who will organise and make it happen on the night, by the time you reach the status of someone like Taylor Swift, who knows that her concerts will sell-out, you'd think that they could do less of a run-up to them. Give a years notice, give the kids time to save and put the tickets on sale a couple of months before.
I have just heard that Bob, sorry-Sir Bob Geldof is puting together another band-aid-like-thing and whilst I am glad that people are paying attention to what is happening in other parts of the world, is he looking at what is happening with povery in the UK? I don't know the details and perhaps this band-aid will be more than a band-aid (american name for sticking plaster) for poverty. The first band-aid was a big sticking plaster but surely there must be a way to heal rather than just cover-up the wound that is poverty. If all of these mega-rich folk employed a heart-centred, intelligent lawer/accountant/adviser, to help them give some of their millions/billions into projects that would work towards the end of poverty, gradually healing the wound so that no band-aid would be needed, would that not be better? How great would these rich folk feel? They'd still be rich 'cause they don't have to give all of their millions away but they'd also be giving encouragement to others, who don't have millions, to do something smaller but equally important, in their own communities.
When I am rich, I plan to give most of it away, if I can get past Bill-lol.
That was a bit bigger of a rant than I planned-apologies to those who were just in here to see what happened at 921 Royal York Road, yesterday.
And so I go back to my routine being disrupted. Jen was on the phone, on speaker, as the countdown to 10am approached and we had our fingers ready to press whatever buttons we needed to on our laptops, to get the pre-sale tickets. Slight snag being that we hadn't been sent the pre-sale code as they had promised-eek. 10am arrived and the wee whirley circle began to swirl and Holly (my niece in Vancouver) frantically and successfully found us the Toronto pre-sale code and we were able to plug it in and request 2 tickets.......please.
The 'loading' circle gave an indication of time to tickets and mine started at 11 mins......and that same tab, 40 mins later still said 11 mins.
Smartly, I had opened a 2nd tab and that clock ran it's time down....slowly. Holly got to the ticket sales first and they were offered two floor-seat tickets which they were just about to complete the sale on .......and the screen froze. You can imagine the noises coming through the phone but I ever-so-calmly got them back on focus to try again. Jens computer got there next and they were plugging in the credit card details when the screen began to jump around then went black and white and then......nothing. Good job that I was feeling calm because it must have been transmitted to them because they quickly pulled themselves together to dial-up again.
Meanwhile, on the Toronto end, I got through and yes folks, I got 2 tickets with nae problem for pretty decent seats on the first level (of 3)
Jen decided to keep her 'timer' going and she got through again and was given the option of floor seats, which is where Ali wanted to be and so she went ahead and bought those so that now we have 2 spare tickets. Not a problem. I have no doubts that we will be able to give some very happy youngsters a break, when they don't get tickets next Friday, when they go on sale.
By the time this was all done, it was 11am and I had yet to meditate and get organised so I had a day off from the library but did do some writing and research, at home.
I nipped out to the bank, to buy Ali some American dollars for her trip to NYC on Wednesday and I also picked up some Strepsils for her because she had a rotten sore throat. I think that it's probably the fault of those little minions she's working with, kissing her and slobbering all over her-lol. I remember having loads of sick-time when I did my sick kids training due to all those kiddie bugs that I wasn't used to.
I met her from work, to go buy pizza for dinner and we enjoyed the boxes keeping our hands warm on the way back. It was 2 degrees but with a definite wind-chill factor. It was supposed to be -2 overnight but didn't look frosty this morning and it is now raining.
I overslept this morning and must set an alarm at the weekend, especially when I've set the coffee pot. It was a half hour older than its best, when I had my first cup.
Okay folks-off to cuddle a wee bambino.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Yesterday mornings routine was disrupted by a frantic search for tickets for a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.......next October. I'm having a deja-vu, about the rant I'm about to make, so apologies if I said all this yesterday. With doing the blog a day retrospectively, I sometimes slip up and speak about today.
My rant about tickets=the amount of interest that these companies make from selling tickets a year in advance. Most of the buyers (young folk or their parents, with not a huge amount of extra money) could do with the money being in their own bank accounts, getting the tiny bit of interest that it may aquire over the year rather than it being used to accumulate huge amounts of interest for whoever it is that gets it, selling tickets a year in advance.
Whilst I appreciate that artists need to know that their concert is going to be attended before they shell out lots of dosh to the people who will organise and make it happen on the night, by the time you reach the status of someone like Taylor Swift, who knows that her concerts will sell-out, you'd think that they could do less of a run-up to them. Give a years notice, give the kids time to save and put the tickets on sale a couple of months before.
I have just heard that Bob, sorry-Sir Bob Geldof is puting together another band-aid-like-thing and whilst I am glad that people are paying attention to what is happening in other parts of the world, is he looking at what is happening with povery in the UK? I don't know the details and perhaps this band-aid will be more than a band-aid (american name for sticking plaster) for poverty. The first band-aid was a big sticking plaster but surely there must be a way to heal rather than just cover-up the wound that is poverty. If all of these mega-rich folk employed a heart-centred, intelligent lawer/accountant/adviser, to help them give some of their millions/billions into projects that would work towards the end of poverty, gradually healing the wound so that no band-aid would be needed, would that not be better? How great would these rich folk feel? They'd still be rich 'cause they don't have to give all of their millions away but they'd also be giving encouragement to others, who don't have millions, to do something smaller but equally important, in their own communities.
When I am rich, I plan to give most of it away, if I can get past Bill-lol.
That was a bit bigger of a rant than I planned-apologies to those who were just in here to see what happened at 921 Royal York Road, yesterday.
And so I go back to my routine being disrupted. Jen was on the phone, on speaker, as the countdown to 10am approached and we had our fingers ready to press whatever buttons we needed to on our laptops, to get the pre-sale tickets. Slight snag being that we hadn't been sent the pre-sale code as they had promised-eek. 10am arrived and the wee whirley circle began to swirl and Holly (my niece in Vancouver) frantically and successfully found us the Toronto pre-sale code and we were able to plug it in and request 2 tickets.......please.
The 'loading' circle gave an indication of time to tickets and mine started at 11 mins......and that same tab, 40 mins later still said 11 mins.
Smartly, I had opened a 2nd tab and that clock ran it's time down....slowly. Holly got to the ticket sales first and they were offered two floor-seat tickets which they were just about to complete the sale on .......and the screen froze. You can imagine the noises coming through the phone but I ever-so-calmly got them back on focus to try again. Jens computer got there next and they were plugging in the credit card details when the screen began to jump around then went black and white and then......nothing. Good job that I was feeling calm because it must have been transmitted to them because they quickly pulled themselves together to dial-up again.
Meanwhile, on the Toronto end, I got through and yes folks, I got 2 tickets with nae problem for pretty decent seats on the first level (of 3)
Jen decided to keep her 'timer' going and she got through again and was given the option of floor seats, which is where Ali wanted to be and so she went ahead and bought those so that now we have 2 spare tickets. Not a problem. I have no doubts that we will be able to give some very happy youngsters a break, when they don't get tickets next Friday, when they go on sale.
By the time this was all done, it was 11am and I had yet to meditate and get organised so I had a day off from the library but did do some writing and research, at home.
I nipped out to the bank, to buy Ali some American dollars for her trip to NYC on Wednesday and I also picked up some Strepsils for her because she had a rotten sore throat. I think that it's probably the fault of those little minions she's working with, kissing her and slobbering all over her-lol. I remember having loads of sick-time when I did my sick kids training due to all those kiddie bugs that I wasn't used to.
I met her from work, to go buy pizza for dinner and we enjoyed the boxes keeping our hands warm on the way back. It was 2 degrees but with a definite wind-chill factor. It was supposed to be -2 overnight but didn't look frosty this morning and it is now raining.
I overslept this morning and must set an alarm at the weekend, especially when I've set the coffee pot. It was a half hour older than its best, when I had my first cup.
Okay folks-off to cuddle a wee bambino.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Friday, 7 November 2014
Day 71........lots of new books on screenplays
Day 71........lots of new books on screenplays.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Some days I get to the library a bit later than planned and yesterday was one of them. I have become a bit of a 'slob' but my hair really couldn't wait another day to see shampoo on it and so I jumped in the shower to become beautifully fresh again. Pulling on yoga pants and a couple of t-shirts, afterwards, it struck me that I may want to think about getting dressed up more than once a week, on the weekend when I shop with Ali. And then, I have the conversation with myself on the subject of 'why bother?'
To and fro I go and it reminds me that I must be very off balance with Scleranthus, which reminds me that I have been a ditherer (HUGELY) at certain times in my life. I won't go into details here but I do feel a Bach Blog coming on.
So, late to the library (I had upgraded to a pair of jeans from the yoga pants) and guess who was back.....very loudly? That was too big a clue and yep, you got it right...the snorer. I do not know how the people facing and close by him did not get up and leave (or smack him across the head) because he sounded like he'd he was very overweight and had had too much to drink (attributes that I link to snoring loudly)
Lucky for me, my Beech is working better thaan my Scleranthus and I was able to pretty much tune him out whew.
I worked through a great handbook on writing for all sorts of publications and got some good ideas for more research. This writing lark seems to be as much about getting it to the right person and making sure that it's written EXACTLY in the format they want. Even the query letters seem to need to be formal and exact. Not much hope of getting a reply to my chatty email to a magazine editor, then-lol. I will rewrite and send a formal one, over the next couple of days or perhaps she was not the editor for me.
Everything seems to work very slowly in the literary world, as well. A big lesson for my patience...or lack of it.
I checked out another 4 screenplay books so that I have a few to work through to reinforce what's required and I am contemplating investing in some software because it seems to make the actual task of puting the screenplay in correct format.....a piece of cake. Well that's according to folk like Ben Stiller and James Cameron, so who am I to doubt them?
Last nights research was extensive, to try to find who holds copyright of the book due to the author being deceased. No luck finding that and so I may have to pay to find out. The only place I could find that may have the info was the Copyright place in Washington DC and they want $200/hr (minimum of 2 hrs) to look, for you. I would be cheaper going down to DC and doing the search myself (free) Do I feel a roadtrip coming on?
For now I will trust that the Universe would not have tasked me with this work, if it was going to be impossible to complete.
Despite the plan to have an earlier night, my research had me up till after 11pm. That's still earlier than I used to go to bed, though but I was VERY reluctant to get out of my 'kip' this morning.
You know how you think about doing something and then never do it? Well, my alarm clock is set to radio and the radio station (for some obscure, unknown reason) is on a news channel. Every morning I wake up to the news (It's not even on the hour because it's 7 minutes past) and every morning I think to myself 'I must change this to music'.......but the news comes on the following morning. Maybe tomorrow?
Right, I have a task this morning. At 10am, Taylor Swift tickets go on sale and I am responsible for helping Jen and Ali obtain tickets for her concert, here in Toronto, NEXT October. (Another subject which makes my blood boil-the interest that is made on these ticket sales. I think that they ought to have to sell the tickets a month before-not a year before. They'd still make a ton, on interest)
My instructions are to connect with Jen vis phone and both of us to simultaneously attempt to buy tickets-woohoo. A chat with Jen who will be all bleary-eyed 'cause it'll only be 7am in Vancouver.
I better go meditate and get my breakfast before the task begins........wish me luck or I shall have a sad-faced Ali' this evening.
Love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Some days I get to the library a bit later than planned and yesterday was one of them. I have become a bit of a 'slob' but my hair really couldn't wait another day to see shampoo on it and so I jumped in the shower to become beautifully fresh again. Pulling on yoga pants and a couple of t-shirts, afterwards, it struck me that I may want to think about getting dressed up more than once a week, on the weekend when I shop with Ali. And then, I have the conversation with myself on the subject of 'why bother?'
To and fro I go and it reminds me that I must be very off balance with Scleranthus, which reminds me that I have been a ditherer (HUGELY) at certain times in my life. I won't go into details here but I do feel a Bach Blog coming on.
So, late to the library (I had upgraded to a pair of jeans from the yoga pants) and guess who was back.....very loudly? That was too big a clue and yep, you got it right...the snorer. I do not know how the people facing and close by him did not get up and leave (or smack him across the head) because he sounded like he'd he was very overweight and had had too much to drink (attributes that I link to snoring loudly)
Lucky for me, my Beech is working better thaan my Scleranthus and I was able to pretty much tune him out whew.
I worked through a great handbook on writing for all sorts of publications and got some good ideas for more research. This writing lark seems to be as much about getting it to the right person and making sure that it's written EXACTLY in the format they want. Even the query letters seem to need to be formal and exact. Not much hope of getting a reply to my chatty email to a magazine editor, then-lol. I will rewrite and send a formal one, over the next couple of days or perhaps she was not the editor for me.
Everything seems to work very slowly in the literary world, as well. A big lesson for my patience...or lack of it.
I checked out another 4 screenplay books so that I have a few to work through to reinforce what's required and I am contemplating investing in some software because it seems to make the actual task of puting the screenplay in correct format.....a piece of cake. Well that's according to folk like Ben Stiller and James Cameron, so who am I to doubt them?
Last nights research was extensive, to try to find who holds copyright of the book due to the author being deceased. No luck finding that and so I may have to pay to find out. The only place I could find that may have the info was the Copyright place in Washington DC and they want $200/hr (minimum of 2 hrs) to look, for you. I would be cheaper going down to DC and doing the search myself (free) Do I feel a roadtrip coming on?
For now I will trust that the Universe would not have tasked me with this work, if it was going to be impossible to complete.
Despite the plan to have an earlier night, my research had me up till after 11pm. That's still earlier than I used to go to bed, though but I was VERY reluctant to get out of my 'kip' this morning.
You know how you think about doing something and then never do it? Well, my alarm clock is set to radio and the radio station (for some obscure, unknown reason) is on a news channel. Every morning I wake up to the news (It's not even on the hour because it's 7 minutes past) and every morning I think to myself 'I must change this to music'.......but the news comes on the following morning. Maybe tomorrow?
Right, I have a task this morning. At 10am, Taylor Swift tickets go on sale and I am responsible for helping Jen and Ali obtain tickets for her concert, here in Toronto, NEXT October. (Another subject which makes my blood boil-the interest that is made on these ticket sales. I think that they ought to have to sell the tickets a month before-not a year before. They'd still make a ton, on interest)
My instructions are to connect with Jen vis phone and both of us to simultaneously attempt to buy tickets-woohoo. A chat with Jen who will be all bleary-eyed 'cause it'll only be 7am in Vancouver.
I better go meditate and get my breakfast before the task begins........wish me luck or I shall have a sad-faced Ali' this evening.
Love to all,
Lxx
Thursday, 6 November 2014
Day 70..........and my Bach FB page has 213 likes.
Day 70..........and my Bach FB page has 213 likes.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I woke up yesterday morning to find that my phone was still dead so I had to (well, I didn't have to but I chose to) open up my laptop, to see what was happening. Usually, I don't go onto FB till later because my phone screen is just too wee for these eyes of mine to peruse but It was already open on the laptop and so I quickly saw that my FB likes had jumped up more than 20-yippee. I know that it's all a bit of a con because I had invited people to like the page and whether they liked it or not is a question that one could ask. They more than likely liked it because I asked them to and not because they looked at it, thought it was fab and pressed the like button. So, whilst I'm under no illusion of my page suddenly being thought as wonderful, it was still a wee buzz to see my likes go above the 200 mark because I've been stuck in the 180's for a while.
Writing this blog every day has really been practice for what I anticipate is coming next and whilst I don't know exactly what that is, I know that it involves my love of words on paper.
I finished the first screenplay book of exercises yesterday and got another couple of the shelf to choose to work from today. I will post a wee bit on the Bach FB page and may even hop over to my website and write a blog there. Writing=more writing=even more writing.
I was a bit behind schedule yesterday morning, with all the writing I did prior to going to the library but I still did my 4 hrs there and was home for Ali dropping in her stuff en-route to her work. My lunch is late because I have it when I get home but I do take a snack to the library to munch around noon.....quietly of course unless I want to annoy a snorer.
My routine is pretty set, though. I get up, have my coffee (which is ready to pour, from my wonderful machine) check emails on phone, chat with Ali, begin to write blog, make some FB posts, have another cup of coffee, finish writing blog, have breakfast, do meditation, go to library (via Starbucks-it gives me inspiration, Bill) write for 4 hrs, come home, have lunch (whilst watching an episode of Once Upon a Time) quick chat with Ali (sometimes in the middle of episode) prepare dinner, catch up with FB/emails, have dinner at back of 6ish when Ali gets home....yada yada yada.
Mondays are different (visit with Ross) as are Saturdays and Sundays but, for now, this routine feels right and I am smiling. Oh, I forgot to add that I am doing Deepaks meditation every night before bed so am actually meditating twice/day....for now.
And so, I am heading for breakfast, if the routing is to be followed. My stomach is actually growling this morning so YUM to the egg on toast that I'm about to have.
Love to all,
Lxxxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I woke up yesterday morning to find that my phone was still dead so I had to (well, I didn't have to but I chose to) open up my laptop, to see what was happening. Usually, I don't go onto FB till later because my phone screen is just too wee for these eyes of mine to peruse but It was already open on the laptop and so I quickly saw that my FB likes had jumped up more than 20-yippee. I know that it's all a bit of a con because I had invited people to like the page and whether they liked it or not is a question that one could ask. They more than likely liked it because I asked them to and not because they looked at it, thought it was fab and pressed the like button. So, whilst I'm under no illusion of my page suddenly being thought as wonderful, it was still a wee buzz to see my likes go above the 200 mark because I've been stuck in the 180's for a while.
Writing this blog every day has really been practice for what I anticipate is coming next and whilst I don't know exactly what that is, I know that it involves my love of words on paper.
I finished the first screenplay book of exercises yesterday and got another couple of the shelf to choose to work from today. I will post a wee bit on the Bach FB page and may even hop over to my website and write a blog there. Writing=more writing=even more writing.
I was a bit behind schedule yesterday morning, with all the writing I did prior to going to the library but I still did my 4 hrs there and was home for Ali dropping in her stuff en-route to her work. My lunch is late because I have it when I get home but I do take a snack to the library to munch around noon.....quietly of course unless I want to annoy a snorer.
My routine is pretty set, though. I get up, have my coffee (which is ready to pour, from my wonderful machine) check emails on phone, chat with Ali, begin to write blog, make some FB posts, have another cup of coffee, finish writing blog, have breakfast, do meditation, go to library (via Starbucks-it gives me inspiration, Bill) write for 4 hrs, come home, have lunch (whilst watching an episode of Once Upon a Time) quick chat with Ali (sometimes in the middle of episode) prepare dinner, catch up with FB/emails, have dinner at back of 6ish when Ali gets home....yada yada yada.
Mondays are different (visit with Ross) as are Saturdays and Sundays but, for now, this routine feels right and I am smiling. Oh, I forgot to add that I am doing Deepaks meditation every night before bed so am actually meditating twice/day....for now.
And so, I am heading for breakfast, if the routing is to be followed. My stomach is actually growling this morning so YUM to the egg on toast that I'm about to have.
Love to all,
Lxxxxx
Wednesday, 5 November 2014
Day 69.......and the noise in the library......and the Beech is (almost) taking care of it.
Day 69.......and the noise in the library......and the Beech is (almost) taking care of it.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Beginning with the fact that I was tired yesterday, after not having a great nights sleep, the noises in the library were a wee bit distracting at times despite my trusty bottle of beech. I did consider getting up and going across to ask the woman, who had her volume on, to turn it off because she must have had FB open because it kept making the noise it makes when a message comes in. How inconsiderate.....see, judgement and annoyance which will go completely....I'm just not quite there yet. It was better than wanting to slap her, though-right?
I spent more than 4 hrs in the library and only have another couple of chapters of the book to work through. Next week there may be some serious attempts made at an outline for the screenplay....oooh, exciting. Jen had a dream that we were both at a writers fair and I see it as a wee premonition....another watch this space. She did say that someone was asking me to change something and I was refusing because it was against my beliefs....sounds like me, right.
It rained all day yesterday but wasn't too cold. It's supposed to be low double figures all week so not too bad. The heating being on very low, is great. It just takes the chill out of the air but we are still wrapped up. I will know that it needs to be switched off when we begin to peel off layers-lol.
Not a lot else to report except my excitement about writing. I was feeling it build yesterday and it feels even bigger today......something is going to happen and I am curious and a wee bit nervous to see what does.
I know that I am on the right path when I didn't put the tv on to watch a Once Upon a Time episode, last night. I did however sneak in an episode with my late (after the library) lunch.
My credit card has still not arrived. I applied for it before Bill was here so I must add it to the 'list' this week. It involves Tim Hortons points and I have waited long enough.
Signing off now.
Love you all (but Bill the MOST-private joke)
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
Beginning with the fact that I was tired yesterday, after not having a great nights sleep, the noises in the library were a wee bit distracting at times despite my trusty bottle of beech. I did consider getting up and going across to ask the woman, who had her volume on, to turn it off because she must have had FB open because it kept making the noise it makes when a message comes in. How inconsiderate.....see, judgement and annoyance which will go completely....I'm just not quite there yet. It was better than wanting to slap her, though-right?
I spent more than 4 hrs in the library and only have another couple of chapters of the book to work through. Next week there may be some serious attempts made at an outline for the screenplay....oooh, exciting. Jen had a dream that we were both at a writers fair and I see it as a wee premonition....another watch this space. She did say that someone was asking me to change something and I was refusing because it was against my beliefs....sounds like me, right.
It rained all day yesterday but wasn't too cold. It's supposed to be low double figures all week so not too bad. The heating being on very low, is great. It just takes the chill out of the air but we are still wrapped up. I will know that it needs to be switched off when we begin to peel off layers-lol.
Not a lot else to report except my excitement about writing. I was feeling it build yesterday and it feels even bigger today......something is going to happen and I am curious and a wee bit nervous to see what does.
I know that I am on the right path when I didn't put the tv on to watch a Once Upon a Time episode, last night. I did however sneak in an episode with my late (after the library) lunch.
My credit card has still not arrived. I applied for it before Bill was here so I must add it to the 'list' this week. It involves Tim Hortons points and I have waited long enough.
Signing off now.
Love you all (but Bill the MOST-private joke)
Lxxx
Tuesday, 4 November 2014
Day 68......Ali started her new job.
Day 68......Ali started her new job.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I will be spending days from 8.20-6.10 pm by myself-YIKES. That's a lt of time, right?
Yesterday was a wee bit shorter because Andrew appeared around 5.30 for dinner and a lovely catch-up. Unfortunately, he's just over his sore back and now he's getting a cold. I really need to work on that boys immune system....Mmm.
Yesterday morning, up at Ross' was lovely....as expected. He's a really lovely man who is made happy by some simple conversation and a wee bit tlc. I am really enjoying my time with him and wish that we had longer because there is so much that I'd fill his day with. But for now, I look forward to my visit with him next Monday morning.
Alisons new job in a daycare, 4-6pm on weekdays requires that she have a police check and so I trotted to Police HQ to hand in her form to discover that she had to pay $50 for the privilege. It would be good if they would state that on the form because they don't accept cash, cheque, credit or debit so I had to go buy a money order from the post office which cost me $7. The Police and the Post office must have a 'deal' going because the only other way to pay was a bank draft which would also have cost money (didn't check how much)
It's like the police-check of old, in Scotland where you need one for each employment that requires it. Hopefully, if she takes on extra work, they'll just allow her to show this one.
I spent a wee bit time downtown, before heading home to give Ali the receipt, to take into work at 4pm. The stores are beginning to get Christmassed-up and it'll be no time till I'm thinking that St Nic's arrival is imminent......and it won't be.
I treated myself to some steaming home-made soup for a late lunch at 3.15 in front of the last season 1 episode of Once Upon a Time......I have stepped over the line to daytime tv-EEK.
I received some great advice, from a lovely friend, re my desire to write for magazines and so I will get cracking with a wee bit of follow-through on it, this week. With Alison being gone longer, I plan to use the extra couple of hours on 'work' of some sort. Maybe the screenplay but maybe another wee project.....watch this space.
Last nights sleep was probably my worst EVER but I still managed to not get grumpy about it. I love the word 'curious' and that's what I try to be, when situations are not quite as I'd like them to be. There was probably a part of me that was keeping an ear open for Ali getting up at 4.15 to try to buy Taylor Swift tickets. I heard her conversation with her sister discussing possible options (I couldn't hear the words but have since learned this) and I also knew that she was going into school for 8.05 for a friend to help her with Maths and wanted to make sure she got up.....which she didn't do at her planned time and ended up having to take the bus yet again. I have told her that, in the future, I am not paying for bus tickets when the reason for the bus is that she's late. Another 'watch this space'-lol. And, we have to repeat the process on Friday morning because she didn't get tickets in the pre-sale, this morning. She's gonna be a tired girlie by Saturday. I put some Olive in her school water-bottle which will help.
Okay, so I have to go meditate before I head out to the library. I am doing the Oprah and Deepak 21 day challenge (get signed up) but I want to also keep up with my mindfulness usual meditation so I ought to be well-meditated (hopefully not medicated) in 20 days time.
Love to all,
Lxxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
I will be spending days from 8.20-6.10 pm by myself-YIKES. That's a lt of time, right?
Yesterday was a wee bit shorter because Andrew appeared around 5.30 for dinner and a lovely catch-up. Unfortunately, he's just over his sore back and now he's getting a cold. I really need to work on that boys immune system....Mmm.
Yesterday morning, up at Ross' was lovely....as expected. He's a really lovely man who is made happy by some simple conversation and a wee bit tlc. I am really enjoying my time with him and wish that we had longer because there is so much that I'd fill his day with. But for now, I look forward to my visit with him next Monday morning.
Alisons new job in a daycare, 4-6pm on weekdays requires that she have a police check and so I trotted to Police HQ to hand in her form to discover that she had to pay $50 for the privilege. It would be good if they would state that on the form because they don't accept cash, cheque, credit or debit so I had to go buy a money order from the post office which cost me $7. The Police and the Post office must have a 'deal' going because the only other way to pay was a bank draft which would also have cost money (didn't check how much)
It's like the police-check of old, in Scotland where you need one for each employment that requires it. Hopefully, if she takes on extra work, they'll just allow her to show this one.
I spent a wee bit time downtown, before heading home to give Ali the receipt, to take into work at 4pm. The stores are beginning to get Christmassed-up and it'll be no time till I'm thinking that St Nic's arrival is imminent......and it won't be.
I treated myself to some steaming home-made soup for a late lunch at 3.15 in front of the last season 1 episode of Once Upon a Time......I have stepped over the line to daytime tv-EEK.
I received some great advice, from a lovely friend, re my desire to write for magazines and so I will get cracking with a wee bit of follow-through on it, this week. With Alison being gone longer, I plan to use the extra couple of hours on 'work' of some sort. Maybe the screenplay but maybe another wee project.....watch this space.
Last nights sleep was probably my worst EVER but I still managed to not get grumpy about it. I love the word 'curious' and that's what I try to be, when situations are not quite as I'd like them to be. There was probably a part of me that was keeping an ear open for Ali getting up at 4.15 to try to buy Taylor Swift tickets. I heard her conversation with her sister discussing possible options (I couldn't hear the words but have since learned this) and I also knew that she was going into school for 8.05 for a friend to help her with Maths and wanted to make sure she got up.....which she didn't do at her planned time and ended up having to take the bus yet again. I have told her that, in the future, I am not paying for bus tickets when the reason for the bus is that she's late. Another 'watch this space'-lol. And, we have to repeat the process on Friday morning because she didn't get tickets in the pre-sale, this morning. She's gonna be a tired girlie by Saturday. I put some Olive in her school water-bottle which will help.
Okay, so I have to go meditate before I head out to the library. I am doing the Oprah and Deepak 21 day challenge (get signed up) but I want to also keep up with my mindfulness usual meditation so I ought to be well-meditated (hopefully not medicated) in 20 days time.
Love to all,
Lxxx
Monday, 3 November 2014
Day 67........practice for when Ali is famous.
Day 67........practice for when Ali is famous.
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
If you read my FB page yesterday, you may have seen my little hiccup in getting my day started at the planned time. Our clocks 'Fell' back and I thought that I had the clocks all under control, when I went to bed. The TV box, I was convinced would do it's own changing correct) The clock on the stove would be done in the morning (check) The coffee-maker was set to come on at 8am new time (Clever me because I thought that's when I'd be up due to it being 9am old time) and finally, I just had to remember that the alarm clock was an hour fast so I would get up at 9am, on that......mistake. The little monster changed time, all by itself and I ended getting up at nearly 9am new time which meant that the coffee was a bit older than usual and that I was very confused initially. As soon as I saw the Rogers cable-box, I knew that something was not quite right...it's the first thing I see when I walk into the living room from upstairs and it said 8.58. How could that be....that's what the alarm clock said. The stove said 9.59......wot? Confused-I was, in my fuzzy morning fog which was probably from too much lazing in bed.
Bill assures me that, what I thought was a cheap 'does nothing but wake you up, if you set it correctly' clock, is actually a mid-range Sony decent one-oops.
So my day got off to a later start. The fuzzyness settled and Alison and I headed out for our weekend shopping trip around noon. She fancied checking out a place on FB that advertised all garments at $1. It was a new area and so fitted in with going somewhere new each weekend, so off we went.
YUK is the best word to describe the place we ended up but sometimes you can find a washable bargain in a yuk place.....not so, yesterday and we left fairly quickly, empty handed and headed to Tim Hortons across the road to wash our hands....and, of course, once you are in there one must have a wee coffee and muffin, right? We had just missed a bus, as well, so it gave us a chance to stay warm till the next one arrived-another excuse, but I'm sticking to it-lol.
Onto the bus and we took it a few stops up, to a shop called 'Winners' which is a bit like TK Max and spent a couple of hours in there mainly looking at coats for Alison but also looking longingly at things like fluffy dressing gowns and slippers....both of which I didn't bring to Toronto with me and which would make life so much warmer in the mornings. I think that I may request them from santa from the kids. Despite a couple of possible purchases, we left Winners also empty handed and headed downtown Toronto, to one of Ali's favourite shops called Forever XX1.
And that's where I got the impression that I would be doing this more and more often as Ali earns more and more money.......she loves to shop (until she doesn't)
Whilst she paraded in front of me, modelling numerous coats and jackets, I was glad that I had a seat to sit on because the store was very warm. We finally narrowed it down to 2 black (very differently styled) jackets that I carried around the store whilst she chose then tried on various pieces of clothing. Unfortunately, she didn't like any of the clothes and I think that fact made her mood plummet and she was then unsure of buying either jacket. Poor wee thing. Don't you just hate those days when nothing looks good on you ? (even when it does) After a bit of debate and re-trying on of the jackets, she decided on one, plus a scarf that complemented it. The lovely girl on the cash gave her a 20% discount voucher and so that cheered her up and she was so 'grown-up' handling it all by herself.....with my credit card. We left the store around 6.30-even on a Sunday the stores stay open till later than Edinburgh. 7.30, was closing time in that store.
Being very hungry by the end of the shopping, I didn't reckon to making it home without getting grumpy and so we ate downtown. Ali had a burger but I made the mistake of choosing a grilled-cheese which tasted and felt like it had been deep-fried and was yuk. I ate it tho' but was reminded that I had, for the whole evening-groan. I do not like greasy food. Lesson-when you go to a great hamburger joint....have a hamburger.
Dropping Ali at home, I headed down to No frill for my grocery shop. Surprised I was that I only had 10 minutes to run around the store because they closed at 8pm-yikes. I simply threw in the usual, to make up my $30 ('cause I get a bonus $5000 points=$5 for spending that) and headed home.
I managed to sqeeze in an episode of Once Upon a Time before bed (Ali says I'm definitely addicted) and I put the heating on briefly because our hands and noses were freezing. It just took the chill of the air and I reckon that as long as my hands and nose are warm....it's warm enough.
I'll close for now. I'm off to see Ross and have a lovely couple of hours and then I have to go downtown to the Police HQ to hand in a form for Ali' so that they can do a background check-for her new job.....which she starts today, after school.
TTFN-Love to all,
Lxx
3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.
If you read my FB page yesterday, you may have seen my little hiccup in getting my day started at the planned time. Our clocks 'Fell' back and I thought that I had the clocks all under control, when I went to bed. The TV box, I was convinced would do it's own changing correct) The clock on the stove would be done in the morning (check) The coffee-maker was set to come on at 8am new time (Clever me because I thought that's when I'd be up due to it being 9am old time) and finally, I just had to remember that the alarm clock was an hour fast so I would get up at 9am, on that......mistake. The little monster changed time, all by itself and I ended getting up at nearly 9am new time which meant that the coffee was a bit older than usual and that I was very confused initially. As soon as I saw the Rogers cable-box, I knew that something was not quite right...it's the first thing I see when I walk into the living room from upstairs and it said 8.58. How could that be....that's what the alarm clock said. The stove said 9.59......wot? Confused-I was, in my fuzzy morning fog which was probably from too much lazing in bed.
Bill assures me that, what I thought was a cheap 'does nothing but wake you up, if you set it correctly' clock, is actually a mid-range Sony decent one-oops.
So my day got off to a later start. The fuzzyness settled and Alison and I headed out for our weekend shopping trip around noon. She fancied checking out a place on FB that advertised all garments at $1. It was a new area and so fitted in with going somewhere new each weekend, so off we went.
YUK is the best word to describe the place we ended up but sometimes you can find a washable bargain in a yuk place.....not so, yesterday and we left fairly quickly, empty handed and headed to Tim Hortons across the road to wash our hands....and, of course, once you are in there one must have a wee coffee and muffin, right? We had just missed a bus, as well, so it gave us a chance to stay warm till the next one arrived-another excuse, but I'm sticking to it-lol.
Onto the bus and we took it a few stops up, to a shop called 'Winners' which is a bit like TK Max and spent a couple of hours in there mainly looking at coats for Alison but also looking longingly at things like fluffy dressing gowns and slippers....both of which I didn't bring to Toronto with me and which would make life so much warmer in the mornings. I think that I may request them from santa from the kids. Despite a couple of possible purchases, we left Winners also empty handed and headed downtown Toronto, to one of Ali's favourite shops called Forever XX1.
And that's where I got the impression that I would be doing this more and more often as Ali earns more and more money.......she loves to shop (until she doesn't)
Whilst she paraded in front of me, modelling numerous coats and jackets, I was glad that I had a seat to sit on because the store was very warm. We finally narrowed it down to 2 black (very differently styled) jackets that I carried around the store whilst she chose then tried on various pieces of clothing. Unfortunately, she didn't like any of the clothes and I think that fact made her mood plummet and she was then unsure of buying either jacket. Poor wee thing. Don't you just hate those days when nothing looks good on you ? (even when it does) After a bit of debate and re-trying on of the jackets, she decided on one, plus a scarf that complemented it. The lovely girl on the cash gave her a 20% discount voucher and so that cheered her up and she was so 'grown-up' handling it all by herself.....with my credit card. We left the store around 6.30-even on a Sunday the stores stay open till later than Edinburgh. 7.30, was closing time in that store.
Being very hungry by the end of the shopping, I didn't reckon to making it home without getting grumpy and so we ate downtown. Ali had a burger but I made the mistake of choosing a grilled-cheese which tasted and felt like it had been deep-fried and was yuk. I ate it tho' but was reminded that I had, for the whole evening-groan. I do not like greasy food. Lesson-when you go to a great hamburger joint....have a hamburger.
Dropping Ali at home, I headed down to No frill for my grocery shop. Surprised I was that I only had 10 minutes to run around the store because they closed at 8pm-yikes. I simply threw in the usual, to make up my $30 ('cause I get a bonus $5000 points=$5 for spending that) and headed home.
I managed to sqeeze in an episode of Once Upon a Time before bed (Ali says I'm definitely addicted) and I put the heating on briefly because our hands and noses were freezing. It just took the chill of the air and I reckon that as long as my hands and nose are warm....it's warm enough.
I'll close for now. I'm off to see Ross and have a lovely couple of hours and then I have to go downtown to the Police HQ to hand in a form for Ali' so that they can do a background check-for her new job.....which she starts today, after school.
TTFN-Love to all,
Lxx
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