Day 155.........Keeping the Pizza warm.

Day 155.........Keeping the Pizza warm.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

With the frigid temperatures outside, I was a tad concerned about the walk to and from the Pizza Pizza shop, to bring home our dinner. Of course, there were ways around it like, having the pizza delivered or having Chinese food instead but Jen and I eventually dismissed the idea of Chinese food and got well-wrapped up to brave our sub-zero walk. It was still daylight on the way there, which was a bonus because the sun does give off some warmth, even in these temp's but the wind was appalling. My neck disappeared as I shrank into my jackets turned-up collar and I pulled my hat down to below my eyebrows to try to reduce the area of stinging on my face. I must have looked a very pretty sight.
The walk home was not nearly as bad because the wind was behind us and I was glad to be holding the hot pizza for half the walk. My arms get tired about half way home and Jen takes over....it's quite the wee routine we have got going. Ali came in from work just behind us and I was amazed that the pizza was still piping hot. I know that I have said that before but we haven't tested it in such cold temperature before. Triple bagging really does work a treat.
Our Pizza movie was Blended with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore and if you have not seen it yet.........don't bother. We were hoping for another 50 First Dates but it was a very poor relation to that.
If I backtrack a wee bit in the day, I had a wee panic to myself when I went to pay the rent into Veras Bank account. Her bank shut at 4pm (I got there at 4.05pm) and it was not going to be open today. EEK because the rent is due for 1st of the month and I didn't know how I was going to get that done. I raced home to check whether there were any branches open in Toronto on a Saturday, after emailing Vera to see whether she may have a local branch. Just as I located the one and only branch that was going to be open and checked my route there, Vera got back to me offering to pick up the cash and pay it into her ATM. Fab. Panic over. She even offered to give me a receipt, which I refused. I think a wee bit trust goes a long way-right. God love her, she actually sent me an email confirming that she had received Februarys rent, as proof for me. I wonder if she has perhaps had a problem in the past. I am the model tenant, me thinks.
Silly Bank. My bank is open till 7pm Fridays and 10-4pm on Saturdays. What is hers like!
The streets look very pretty with the snow and someone had even salted our sidewalk so we haven't had to shovel. There is a wee worry about a bit of a storm for tomorrow (not me) and I won't hold my breath.
Right, no more to add. Yesterday was a quick but quiet day made brighter by a wee skype session with my man.
Love to all,
Lxxxx

Day 154.........some snow but too cold to play in it-honest.

Day 154.........some snow but too cold to play in it-honest.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Whilst we did get some snow yesterday, by the time it amounted to much, it was dark. This morning, the mercury is heading quickly in the wrong direction and, simply standing at the door to take a snap of the blue sky has made my legs feel frozen. Brrr. Poor Ali. The wind is nasty and already we are already down to minus twelve but feeling like minus twenty-three. And it is to go lower and stay down there for the next week. So, I am pretty sure that there will be no snowman building in our garden, in the near future. Sorry folks. The pictures of our snowman may never materialize because he refuses to be built.
it was definitely warmer yesterday and got up to zero mid-afternoon. jen and I didn't leave the house though but now I am wishing that I'd gone for milk because it is getting pretty low. We will have to brave a visit to the bank later as the rent needs paid plus Ali needs to pay her last two pay cheques in. She is now solvent and saving for her mac air or applemac or whatever it's called. The pound is really good against the Canadian dollar just now and so the price of the laptop will feel less, especially if we buy it on the British credit card. I know that seems silly but it's the kind of logic you employ when budgeting in two countries.
If anyone has thought that they might like a trip to Toronto, my hoose is for rent in the summer and the exchange rates may make it a decent wee trip. I am hoping that the airfares will also drop, with the low fuel costs. Bizarre that the moment I typed that last sentence, Bill posted on FB that Toronto was the fourth best place in the world to live.
Not a lot of reporting to do about yesterday.
Last evening, the girls were editing Jens book. It was awesome to see them working together and listening to each others suggestions. I wasn't asked my opinion unless it was with something that they couldn't agree on and that was not much. I am very proud of the way that they communicate and, of course, their talents.
I sat and knitted and watched some Elementary, which had been building up on the planner. I love Johnny Lee Miller......so funny.
And then it was bed and then it was morning and now it is eleven twenty-seven :-)
Happy Friday Folks,
Lxxx

Pictures are to show you how deceiving mins 23 can be. x

Day 153........a wee jaunt tae the shops, in the sunshine.

Day 153........a wee jaunt tae the shops, in the sunshine.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

There seems to be a good routine going, at the moment. I get up at 6.45 and wake Ali at 7. She seldom jumps out of bed so I usually shout downstairs at 7.20. She gets herself organised and out the door, just after 8 and I have breakfast then meditate.
My meditation has been nearer an hour long, these past few days because I am giving a bit extra focus to these 'peepers' of mine. Glad to report that they are improving by the day and, apart from the one wee panic about getting numbers right, I have left my specs in their case since Sunday.
Even this morning, with the expected snowfall-darkened sky, I am able to read and write with only a bit of strain to focus. Yippee, I say and I will be perhaps having to write a wee booklet about it, to help othere to do the same. More on that later.
The snow has finally been released by the sky-woohoo. Supposed to go on all day. More about that later too.

Back to yesterday and the daily routine.
I spend somewhere between three and four hours, in the morning, on my own before Jen appears. It's fantastic and lets me spend time with me.
Do not ask me where that time goes because I am surprised daily by the speed with which it passes.
I do my meditation and my inspirational reading and the blog usually goes into that time too, as does breakfast. Today, however, we are into the afternoon and I am just getting around to typing this now.
I have turned into a bit of a hermit and love it. I know that I can feel energised around the right 'other people' but yesterday it struck me how much i feel like I just want to spend time with the kids and myself. And that feels okay.
When Jen finally came downstairs yesterday (she went straight in the shower) I was watching for the temp to be above feeling like -8 so that I could walk down to the grocery store. I have made that my acceptable limit and it hit, pretty much like always, around 1.30 so we pulled on our layers and marched down the road in the beautiful sunshine. We didn't pick up too much due to the carry-home but we did have a couple of bags each to tout back up the road. On the way home, Jen was feeling so warm that she peeled off her coat and was happy to complete the trek in her sweatshirt. It was perfect ski-ing weather and if we had sat outside with our sunglasses on, we could have got one of those really cool goggle tans-lol.
Jen is really motivated with her writing just now and it inspires me to keep going. I still jump around a bit with ideas but they will all tie up into some kind of order when the time is right.
Last night saw us watching the last episodes of the 4400 and I was again saddened that they had cut the series at thirteen episodes. So naughty of them because I want to know what happens next. I am very excited at the thought of X-Files being restarted. Did you all know that I am a huge sci-fi geek?
Which is probably why I was dreaming about having 'special-abilities' last night. I am not sure why invisibility was a definite theme but I thought that my ability of being able to connect people with their Guardian Angel was pretty cool.
I drank an extra glass of wine last night which led to me forgetting to put my coffee machine on....note to self-two is enough because you can't even finish three. What a lightweight I am these days-lol.
Righty ho and off I go, into the world of writing whatever comes into my head.
Jen is investigating agents.....oooooo we are getting close.
Much love,
Lxxxx

Day 152............back to the library.

Day 152............back to the library.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

As yesterdays blog mentioned, Jen and I went to the library, to see if we could be more effective in our writing there. Just as well I am on Beech (for tolerance) and Willow (for resentment) because the place was hoaching with noisy teenagers. I am most surprised that they were allowed to make the amount of noise that they were making but know very well how much noise a few excited teens can make. I think they were all meant to be studying but, whilst there was some small quiet pockets of them, the majority seemed more intent on chatting than studying. It reminded me a bit of the noise the kids used to make whilst waiting to go into their exams, when I was invigilating. No point in trying to hush them because we made more noise trying to make ourselves heard through the noise.
We didn't get round to the library till the afternoon and today looks like a similar scenario, if at all.
We definitely were more productive, being out of the house and it was so much warmer in the library that I even had rosy cheeks. It was great having Jen there because I could go to the toilet without having to pack up my valuables :-) Oooh, I do love a library to myself.
There's not too much to offer about yesterday. Some days are just like that. I did get a letter, yes-an actual letter-from home. I had just finished saying to Jen that I would really love to get a letter and the postie dropped one through the letterbox. Instant communication is grand but there's nothing like a good old hand-written letter to put a smile on my face. I am not complaining, really. I don't send much snail mail because the postage is $2.50 and I grudge it. I shouldn't really grudge it because a letter can get from Canada to Scotland in three days and that's pretty awsome.
My letter was from my pal Sandra who is not online-so, some bonuses for not being able to chat to her any time I want to.
I am hoping that the forecast for several centimetres of snow tomorrow is accurate and that we may finally be able to build a snowman. New York really messed up with their closures for the storm which did not arrive so perhaps we'll get the opposite and have a huge dump that the city isn't prepared for.
Well, I won't whitter on.
Love to all,
Lxx

Day 151..........yet another lovely visit with Ross.

Day 151..........yet another lovely visit with Ross.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

My Monday mornings are a lovely way for a week to start and I even managed to get my meditation done yesterday before I headed up to see Ross. Reading the small print on my daily morning reads, is a bit too much first-thing, without the help of my specs but the focus is good once daylight is shining through the windows.  I managed to disregard the specs altogether yesterday. This morning, I had a wee panic about giving the wrong Social Insurance number, over the phone and so I used them but I intend not to do so for the rest of the day.
It was a cold trip up to Lawrence Ave, feeling like -20 in the wind. Apparently they were expecting a huge storm over the Eastern seaboard but it hasn't been as bad as anticipated. Toronto continues to offer pitiful snow-flurries adn frigid temperatures. At least the sun is shining brightly. Too cold,yesterday even for our wander around the car-park to look at the car models, Ross and I looked at some of his photography instead. He has taken some stunning photographs in his time and it is obvious how much he loved it. I was telling him about my experiment with my eyes and he got quite a kick out of my positive thinking. He is a wealth of knowledge about many many things and I just keep asking him questions, which he can always answer in a hugely interesting way. I do love my Monday morning. My wee lady, up there, seems to be brighter these days and I always get a laugh from her, if I stop to make conversation.
I just missed my bus home, yesterday and I took it as a sign that I was to nip into Starbucks and treat myself to a Hazelnut Latte-YUM. It helped keep my fingers warm whilst waiting on the bus.
Did I mention that I want an Audi?
It's the car of my dreams and I've decided that I would quite like to have one now. Since I have made this decision, I see them all over the place-lol and I find myself learning all the North-American car-emblems as I scan the cars for my Audi. I think that I will get an image of one and post it as my screensaver.
My knitting is growing and I am going to add in the crochet, today, before it gets dark. I can knit in the dimly lit house but I would find it difficult to do my 'conversion-row' in that light. I am quite excited to see how it will look.
The laundry basket is now empty-woohoo. No more laundry till the weekend unless i decide to wash Ali's bedlinen one evening, which I probably ought to. It is very nice to have clean piles of underwear again but I think that some of our socks have left home.
Ali has been heading down to school at eight, to do some Math revision with a friend. It makes it a long day for her, by the time she gets home the back of six but she is coping grand. Her Math is still giving her the same difficulty that it did at home but she's still managing to keep her marks up, despite that. She went off this morning bearing a box of chocs for her tutoring pal.
Not a great deal to report. Jen and I are round at the library but it is stuffed full of kids who may just be on their lunch or perhaps there are exams going on in some of the schools. No tables or seats with trays, we may not stay here if they don't move on. I had forgotten that I hadn't written this, till we were on our way here and won't be able to post it till I get home due to the laptop still not having any wifi. The noise levels are a bit high for me in here and so I may find that I have to bail. We shall see and I will let you know tomorrow.
Much Love to all,
Lxxxx

Day 150........a busy day out and about.

Day 150........a busy day out and about.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

The two hours I spent in Tim Hortons yesterday morning just flew by and before I knew it, I had to go meet Ali from her class. The building that the drama school is in, is beautiful. It is relatively small but has 4 floors with a glass roof that you can look up to from the plant filled foyer. The inside of the building is brick and looks like it should be the outside of the building-it's a really great effect with big double glass doors making the fairly small foyer feel larger. Ali's school is just one of the businesses in there and some of the other units look pretty cool, like the recording studio opposite.
We nipped home for some lunch and then headed to the Sherway Mall which is a bit different from the one that we've been going to on a Sunday. It doesn't have a grocery store and so I shopped with the girls for a while and then headed for the food-court to read my book.......without my glasses. The food court is like a big circus tent except that it's not canvas but you get the idea of the design. It's always busy up there but I found myself a little table and plonked myself down. If I had thought about it, I could have just sat in one of the many comfy seats that are dispersed around the mall but I was there and so just stayed there. I was joined by the girls, the best part of an hour later. We were all hungry as it was after five and so we decided to eat from a place that had decent burgers. Except, yesterday they were awful. I'm sure that Macdonalds would have been nicer and I almost took them back....but I didn't. Jens hot dog was okay and we all felt at least semi-fed but I will NEVER risk a burger from there again. YUK and probably Karma for eating out when we could have headed home.
One of the reasons we did eat out was that we were having to go grocery-shopping on the way home and so it was going to be seven-ish before we made it home. Those of you who know me well know that I do not do well when I am hungry so next week, I will try to remember to put three granola bars in my bag.
Next weekend I am going to suggest we head to a new place. That was always my plan, to do a new area each weekend but we have become a bit complacent. There are so many areas we have yet to explore. Oh, and in case you think that the girls must be spending a fortune, most of the time they only come home with a couple of items between them. Yesterday Ali managed to get a beautiful wee skirt which she is going to team up with a fancy top, to wear to her semi-formal at the end of next month. None of her friend wanted to go but Ali managed to persuade one of them and now there's five of them going. It's down at Ontario Place and will be a great experience for them. Maybe she'll find a date and make it an even six. They are allowed to take a boy who is not at ESA but where would she meet one of them. Mmm? Oh yes, maybe on the subway. She had a moment, with a young man, going both directions to Drama class. Going there, we had a 'crazy' lady screaming and yelling and swearing at everyone near her in the subway car. A handsome young man got on and sat down very close to her, not knowing that she was terrorising the passengers. He soon found out and looked hugely awkward. Alison indicated to him to move to a seat that was empty nearer ours (also out of view of crazy lady) and he picked up his bag and moved, giving her a grateful nod. I told her she should have asked for his number and told him he owed her a date to the semi-formal-tee hee. Her trip home found her laughing with another young man (also handsome but blonde about the fact that nobody understands what the announcements are, on the TTC. All communication was done through expression and action in a 'what are they saying?' fashion and she got a goodbye nod from him. She perhaps needs to begin carrying around pieces of paper with her phone number on-lol.
The grocery store was en-route home and so Ali came with us which meant that we had three pairs of hands for shopping. The heaviest things are the juices and sodas we buy and so having a third pair of hands is very useful for dividing the weight up. The only casualty was a kiwi which came out of the shopper with a huge leaking dent. Not bad for a first ever casualty and I simply peeled and ate it and enjoyed it a hundred times more than the burger.
Laundry time again and I happily emptied the airer to make space for another dark load. A lovely big pile of clean dry clothes went to Jen, a medium pile to me and hardly anything to Alison. I think the bulk of last nights wash may be hers.
I hate to talk about our weather yet again but the mercury has done a nose dive to minus double figures again and the breeze is a much bigger verion of 'Fresh' The house felt cold last evening and I had to use fluffy (my dressing gown) for additional warmth overnight.
Brrrr.
I hope that your week is off to a great start, Folks.
Mine is,
Much Love,
Lxxxx

Day 149.......I do love to do laundry.

Day 149.......I do love to do laundry.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Happy Sunday Folks.
Yesterday was a busy day, full of laundry and cleaning bathrooms but I had a ball. Like a pig in sh*t, I happily worked my way into the mountain of clothes, sorting and breaking it down into manageable mole hills. I only have one clothes airer and so I was forced to stop  washing once it was full. Bed-linen, however I managed to do extra because it can go straight into the dryer. The clothes could actually go in the dryer too, I suppose but I like to snap and fold and detest the wrinkles that this particular dryer adds to my lovely clean laundry. Not having an ironing board (although I did purchase a cheap iron for emergencies) I don't relish wearing crumpled trousers and tops. The dryer can also be a bit dodgy for shrinking stuff and I don't have enough clothes to risk it :-)  I will continue to eliminate the laundry mole hills tonight.
Sunday mornings find me in Tim Hortons waiting for Alison. I could let her make her own way but it's nice to spend time on the train with her and then I do all that I would be doing if I was home anyways. My meditation gets done on the train and I get this (and more) written.
Yesterdays meditation was longer than usual and I think that I mentioned that I was going to stop wearing my specs so much. Well, I only put them on once yesterday and plan to try to continue with that today. There have been previous times that I felt my eyesight improve but then I got impatient and started to use my specs more and more, rather than wait for my eyes to focus. The cells in your eyes renew themselves rapidly and my thought processes lead me to question why they don't just give you perfect ones with each renewal. I have read a little bit of the science but am trying out a wee experiment (yes, I do like my experiments-they keep me curious) and trying to use my conscious mind to influence my subconscious which in turn will influence the cells. Bonkers? Maybe but I will let you know. Already, I am able to focus more clearly on the keypad on this phone....and it's only been a day. My angel cards were a bit tricky to read this morning and I didn't even attempt the wee book of explanations but tomorrow is a new day with new eye cells :-)
The day flew by yesterday and I spent a fair bit of time writing out a big list of how I was going to get the projects in my head to come to life.
I even began working on one of them which ties in with my book and involves my little hand-drawn angels.
Another watch-this-space moment.
Last night, after dinner, we watched "Lost in Austin' which was a very cute and funny story about a modern girl finding herself in the reality of Pride and Prejudice. LOL. But we Denham ladies do like all that romance-stuff.
And so I went to bed feeling happy and grateful. Even though you may wonder how a romantic movie could make me feel happy, in Bill's absence, it reminded me of how lucky I am that we found each other and how we now can use humour and communication to keep our sense of romance alive despite the distance.
And on that soppy note, I will say ta ta for now.
Much love,
Lxxx

Day 148.........Titanic-what a great movie.

Day 148.........Titanic-what a great movie.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

I haven't seen Titanic for years and it was a quick three and a half hours, spent last night watching it. Alisons homework, for drama school this weekend, is to learn lines from a scene in Titanic and so we thought it a good idea to watch it. She hadn't seen it.
 I have caught snippets of it, over the years but I think that I may only have seen it once, since I first saw it in the movies in 1998. The film said that it was released in 1997 but I am pretty sure that I went to see it at the beginning of 1998. Mm? Jennifer Denham senior or Bill may be able to correct me on this but I am sure that Jen was expecting Holly, at the time of her viewing it. I remember because I think that she found the length of it a bit challenging. I also remember the theme tune making me think of the young widow that was left by a friend of ours, when he died that year. His funeral was on the day that my niece was born. Or perhaps it was the Con Air theme......was that movie the same year?
Anyway, doesn't really matter except that I do like when events help you to remember dates of things. I otherwise would never have believed that Titanic was made seventeen years ago. It's older than Ali.
My day had been spent indoors until Jen and I went to collect the Pizza. The lady there now knows what our order is and that is both very cool and frightening in equal measures. Well, maybe the coolness wins. I love, in the movies, when someone is asked if they want 'their usual' and now we have 'a usual'
Our triple bagging really does work a treat. A twelve minute walk in sub zero temps plus five minutes to get organised at home and it was still piping hot. Jen treated us last night and I must say that the Pizza was even better than usual. Was that because it was 'free'? Jen wasn't feeling great all day so we didn't go for a walk in the sunshine. I could have gone myself but decided to plod away with my book instead.
My washing machine got fixed yesterday which was an unexpected event because he wasn't supposed to come back till Monday. My Angel card had said to accept any help that was offered but I was not expecting it to manifest like that-lol. It was the motor that had packed in and, now that there is a new one, I realise that the old one must have been on its way out when we moved in. It used to take at least five minutes for anything to happen but now it kicks into action instantaneously. My landlady is glad she had a warranty and it's great for her that the new motor was covered by it and will hopefully last for years. As I type, I hear the beautiful sound of the washer downstairs, doing a huge load of dark laundry-yippee. I did the towels last night and I will get the bed-linen done this afternoon. Oh, Bliss. Clean knickers and towels at last. Simple things, eh?  I never did go to a laundrette.
How the heck did they cope with washing bulky items before washers appeared? Well, I know how they coped but HOW DID THEY COPE?
I did a fair bit of editing yesterday and also a lot of knitting. I have decide that stocking stitch looks very boring and I plan to knit up another ball and then switch to crocheting around the knitted square. I promise to post a picture when it is done. I told Jen that I have no clue what it will look like but that it is being made with love.
Ali has loads of work for school just now but she's plodding her way through it without getting too overwhelmed. Her grades are great and I am very proud of her.
I feel great this morning, which is a lovely change from the mornings earlier in the week
My meditation this morning was fantastic and whilst I know that I really ought not to grade it, I can't help it. It was insightful, peaceful and emotional and has me seeing more clearly than I have for ages. So, with that 'clearly' in mind, I have decided to give up wearing my specs, as much as possible which will lead to wearing them not at all.
I have typed this without them on and hope that I have hit the correct keys most of the time. Apologies, in advance if it's gobbledy-gook......some days it's been like that even with my specs on, though-lol.
Much love to all and hope this weekend is going great for you,
Lxxx

Day 148.....a bit more productive.

Day 148.....a bit more productive.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Yesterday saw me putting a bit more effort both into life and into my writing. Jen and I walked down to 'No Frills' in the beautiful sunshine and it was great to spend time outside. I had said to her, that if it got above feeling like -8, we were going and it made it to -7 just before 1pm, so off we went.
I put a double coat on and was really warm by the time we got to the store, which is about twenty five minutes away. I had removed my gloves en-route and was wishing that I had only worn one coat. I opted to wear just one of them, back up the road but we were greeted by a rather cold wind, blowing in our faces which made the walk home not quite as pleasant as the walk there. But the sun was still shining :-)
I forgot to mention that we stopped into an open-house, a few doors down from us. The house was not too different from this place but everything was a bit old and would need replacing plus the basement was needing fitted despite the fact it was clear. They are only asking $745, 000 for it (I say that 'only' in an 'I-don't-mean-it' manner) and the realtor mentioned that she felt a builder would buy it, knock it down and rebuild. What a waste of all those lovely wooden features but she is probably right. The house across the street, which was knocked down in the fall, is almost rebuilt. It'll likely be worth a couple of million once it's done-EEK. This is a bit of an expensive neck of the woods we have found ourselves living in. I wake up to the economic news every morning-I still haven't changed the channel on my radio alarm-and they seem to think the economy is going to go downhill. Housing prices are one thing they keep saying is unsustainable and I wonder if there may be a wee crash coming. If it's soon, it would certainly help us, when we are ready to buy.
After we warmed up when we got home (I had some soup) I set about editing my book. Lost in the process, I only realised the time when I couldn't see the keyboard in the dark. It gets dark around five-thirty and so it was like a wee alarm-clock reminding me that I needed to  make dinner.
Jen had picked up a disaster movie, at the library and we decided to watch it. It was a very B movie, with the main characters being recognisable from other movies and the special effects/extras were naff. However, the actual plotline was interesting and I like to see how things play out in disaster movies. This one was fairly predictable but it did have some good acting that made us both cry. Ali has loads of homework and so she was not involved in what turned out to be a 2 part mini-series, not a movie. I got a fair bit knitting done :-)
This morning it's bright and sunny again and so I think we'll go for another walk, later. It still needs to warm up a couple of degrees but I am hopeful.
I wish I'd kept some of the photos I shared yesterday, for today rather than bombard you with them all yesterday, leaving today quite bare-oh well.
Love to all,
Lxx

Day 147........wanted to stay in my 'goonie'

Day 147........wanted to stay in my 'goonie'.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Having written the blog early, yesterday, I fully planned to head to the library, as mentioned in said blog but then I didn't

. Reflecting back to the moment that I lost my wifi, it was just after I had made that plan. Is the Universe trying to tell me something? Perhaps I am to work at home? Perhaps I am to work on my book which requires no wifi. Or maybe it's just telling me that I spend too much time being distracted by online prompts via email and FB?

It turned out that it didn't matter
yesterday anyway because, if Tuesday was a Blah day, yesterday was a Blah, Blah and Blah again day. Did I write that yesterday? Did that make yesterday and Blah, blah, blah and blah again day? Lol and I am actually smiling because I know that today I am feeling better. The sun is shining and it looks like a beautiful day out there. I know that it's freezing, still but I may actually go out for a walk today. My exercise is almost non-existent just now and that's probably a bit of the reason for the Blah-ness. I do love walking but it's impossible to stay outside for long in these freezing temperatures. Still, at least with all the sunshine, I am unlikely to get SAD.

I didn't do any writing yesterday except for two blogs. (I put the other one on my Bach website) I feel like my whole being is rebelling against moving forward and doing what must be done. It's like it's pulled a blindfold over my head and I can't see where I'm supposed to go. What is that all about. Jeez.

As I look around this house, I am struck by how much it feels like home. It doesn't take much to make a home does it. Starting from scratch and having just a few things around me, I notice the things I have used to make it feel like home: The box of a desk calendar with 'Today is going to be a great Day'; The front of a Christmas card with 'Today choose Joy'; a Love-heart cut from a Christmas card; Jens Pine-cone family; A basket full of stationary and craft stuff (gifted); My Bach Flower remedy box; 2 green plants (I plan to add a $10 large Walmart one); strings of little hearts on the windows and staircase; A picture of Edinburgh ; A ribbon, from a gift, tied around the banister; A tartan basket with bits and bobs in; A tile saying 'All things grow with Love'; a heart-shaped tile at the foot of the stairs and much more.

I will share some pictures from around the house. Some of you may see something you recognise.
Yesterday was a bit of a non-day, in respect to activity. I began looking at local real estate and think that a place with a rentable basement may be the way to go. We could use it either for summer and holiday lets or for full-time let. I was looking for properties with stores attached but didn't have any luck. There is a double fronted store around the corner which would make a great little healing centre BIG SMILE-better get this book finished and published in quick time.

I have decided that my favourite meal of the moment is chicken rice and veg-yum. It is a weekly happening for me. Jen does the chicken and rice and Ali opts for a chicken wrap but for me, the veg is the best part. Yesterday was broccoli and last week was sweetcorn and peas. YUM.
See how easy it is to please me :-)
On that note, I am off. Oh yeh, the title of this blog was that I wanted a day in my 'goonie' and I did so feel like that. But, I got showered and dressed, mainly because I really can't stand the electric shocks. I actually saw a spark from my fingers when I unplugged the laptop-lol....and OUCH.
Love to all, (it looks a wee bit busy with all these pictures-oops)
Lxxx

 

Day 146.........washing machine still not working.

Day 146.........washing machine still not working.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

So, the washing machine guy came and went and my machine is still not working. He has to order a part and it will likely take a week to get here. Do you think I could hand wash a towel or two?
I think I will have to nip to a laundrette, just for clean towels. If I had known that it was not going to function for more than three weeks, I would have spaced out my towel exchange a bit better but, because I do the laundry on the weekend, I usually gather all the towels over a fortnight and do them in a oner, leaving only two clean hand towels till the rest dry. Luckily, the girls had just taken a clean one each and are surviving. Me......well I am just smellier than usual-lol. Perhaps I will go visit someone and use their washer but who?
I have to share with you that, whilst I love my new fluffy dressing gown which keeps me all warm and toasty, I do turn into a walking electric shock when I am wearing it. OUCH. Especially if I leave the cosyness of being curled up under one of the fluffy blankets. Fluffy pulled away from fluffy and you can almost hear the charge being emitted. Double OUCH.
So, as some of you noted yesterday, I was not in the greatest frame of mind and it did persist a wee bit despite the huge giggles I had at some points in the day especially whilst 'talking' with Chrissie. She and I share our sense of humour and I had tears rolling down my cheeks at the ridiculously funny facts of life we were commenting on. Definitely a women-thing and I may have to create a new facebook page to share our fun.
My frame of mind must be catching and Jen was happy to slouch around with me all day. Today we are planning a trip to the library to do some serious work. There are too many distractions in the house for us to be as effective and we both know that the work is not going to do itself. I also drink far too much coffee when I stick around the house. My morning pot has grown from it's initial six cups to ten cups (approx 3-4 mugs worth) but I am still not bouncing with it.
The bad news this morning is that my wifi went off again a few minutes ago-groan. I see no point whatsoever in wasting more hours in trying to fix it and so I will just wait till it decides to work again. This means that I will not be online whilst at the library and online a lot less from home. Perhaps the universe is actually helping out because the less time I spend online the more time I am likely to work. I still get wifi through my phone and so can still be contacted should anyone need a virtual hug in a hurry but I don't browse on my phone or become tempted to check things out therfore an increase in other productive activity is guaranteed.
Not a lot to report from yesterday that will hold your interest, so this is short. The temperature has dropped severely again and there is still no snow. I feel a bit short-changed in the snow department after a promising start. Ah well, never mind.
Love to all.
Lxx

Day 145..........Sometimes I wonder why I am bothering.

Day 145..........Sometimes I wonder why I am bothering.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Last night I went to bed wondering why I am Blogging at all. My life has little going on in it, at the moment and I am sure that some days it reads like a Bank Statement, or maybe not even that exciting plus, who wants to actually know most of the stuff that I write anyway?
Just a hiccup? Who knows. Here I am writing about potentially giving up writing and shaking my head in the process.
I have been reliably informed that my grammer and spelling need proof-read and that irritated me because I don't like to re-read my stuff. I know that the keypad does not always pick up my finger-pressure, the laptop wants to spell in American English and I ought to wear my glasses when I type the blog on my phone but I don't really care whether anyone is judging my presentation.......or do I?
Big sigh, concluding that I must, otherwise I wouldn't be mentioning it. Maybe it's just something to type?
Boy, I wish that I could stop sighing. Smile Linsey, it is only grammer after all.
Yesterday will distract me :-)
 I had a lovely visit with Ross and I do so love getting all his stuff put away neatly. We sat in the wee library for our coffee and I asked him about books and cars and we then talked about Bach remedies of all things. I made him laugh, telling him my little stories of how I know when I need certain remedies (I think this feeling I have this morning needs Gentian) and he gave me a 'tutorial' on how to do cold-calling. He is such a lovely learned man.
There is a Burns supper on Sunday afternoon that I may pop up to enjoy with him. We shall see what Sunday brings. I don't even know if he'll be there because he often goes to church and then out for brunch on a Sunday.
My wee lady was in her usual spot and I gave her the duplicate of a Scottish postcard that I have. She laughed a couple of times and seemed to remember who I was. I told her that every time she looked at the card she was to remember to 'breath'. I had gone out twenty minutes early, to get there sharp to talk to her but I just missed the bus and ended up sitting for that time, getting a cold bum. Silver-lining was that I did my meditation whilst waiting.
It was very icy and I almost lost my gravity-pull at one point. I had on my trainers and wished that I had worn my hiking boots, for both warmth and tread.
After some lunch and housework when I got home, I went around the corner to meet the girl who runs the health shop for a coffee. Her treat, which made the wonderful chat we shared even better. We talked about lots of things and have similar spiritual beliefs which always makes for great conversation. Like me, she would love to open a healing centre and has thousands of ideas in her head. Like me, she needs to pick which one to start with. But to materialise, projects have to thought up somewhere, right? So, why not in my head?
My Wild Oat and Sleranthus are not working as quickly as I want them to. (probably need to add something for my impatience into that mix-lol) I want crystal clarity about my direction and it is still clogged with too many notions of what I can do. It feels exactly the same as when I was in Edinburgh and ended up doing several different things whilst waiting for the 'lightbulb-moment', which never came.
Andrew came for dinner last night and left a present of a big black mark on my staircase wall. Not his fault, he slipped coming down the stairs whilst bringing down the chair from my room. Luckily, he seemed not to hurt himself despite the loudness of the thud which sent me running to the hall. I got him to squirt some rescue remedy into his mouth, to help with the fright, if nothng else. My attempt to remove previously mentioned black mark follows this blog.
Andrew and I Skyped with Bill, when the girls disappeared to get Ali some Starbucks hot chocolate, half way through us watching Peter Pan (yes, we are all very young at heart) The conversation ended up being a bit of a discussion/debate about our future plans and caused some tension across the wavelengths. The time is looming when we will have to make decisions about whether to sell Mountacastle or not. Looking at options, for the next couple of years, it seems to make the most sense and yet us girls are resisting. More on this subject will likely follow at some point....but not today.
Andrew was later in leaving than I think he'd planned (due to the longer-than-planned skype) but he left happily, with his small haul of Thorntons toffee.
Even though I went to bed in a discouraged state, I still did my 10 finger gratitude exercise easily and now that I have taken some Gentian, it's onwards and upwards and the writing will continue........for now.
Much Love,
Lxxx

Day 144..........Jen babysat at our place.

Day 144..........Jen babysat at our place.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Yesterday morning, whilst I was sitting in Tim Hortons across town, waiting for Ali, who was doing her drama class (I repeat some things in case you're one of the folk who dips in and out of the blogs and din't read yeaterdays-lol) Jen was  babysitting for wee Noah, who must be five months old now. He's the little guy, who made an early appearance, just after we got here in August. he must have been around for around the same number of days as this Blog. I will have to check with his mum, to check his date of birth.
It was Jens first time, on her own, with such a youngster but she rose magnificently to the occasion. She could be a mother herself and Alison was asking how we know what to do, when we become a mother? I basically told her that we 'wing-it' in much the same way that Jen did yesterday. She knew that she was capable of looking after the little guy and she just had to work out the specifics by herself.......as parents do. It was only for three hours, yesterday and she found that simply holding him and chatting with him was the best thing to do. How great is it that she was comfortable enough to multitask with him in her arms, whilst knowing that he was an important little person who she wanted to make feel safe and happy. Gold Star Jen and I can actually wait to see her in action with her own kids some day but I do look forward to seeing the great job she will do.
Ali was joined by five classmates yesterday who arrived pretty close to start-time. She was not as bubbly afterwards as last week but still really enjoyed it. She was trying not to compare feedback from the two weeks where one is great and the other lacking in quantity. We can get into trouble if we make comparisons like that because you can never really know why a person does or says what they do and it's best just to take the situation at face value. Fantastic feedback. Not a lot of feedback either positive or negative. If we start to worry about why there was no feedback (was I good, was I bad?) then it will spoil the rest of our day and out peace-of-mind.
Next week, they are going to be acting a scene from Titanic and so I can see the movie in my future, this week. It's three and a half hours long otherwise we would have watched it last night. Instead we watched 'A series of Unfornutate events' which was fab and made me remember how magnificent Mr Jim Carey is.
I wasn't on FB much yesterday, in case anyone was concerned. Sunday seems to have taken on the position of being our day for being out.
Ali and I came home, had lunch and then we all went to the Mall. Girls went off to browse the shops and I did my usual grocery shop. Jen got a bargain grey hoodie for $6. She had wanted one for Christmas but hadn't found one so when I saw one, on a doorway rail, I sent her a text to check it out. It said 50% off on the rail but she must have got nearer 75% off.
Sunday is definitely not the best day to shop for groceries because the shelves have big gaps...a bit like at Christmas. But, I make do and it simply meant a trip down to our local No Frills whilst Ali made dinner. Jen and I ran for the bus going and we an for the bus coming home. The whole trip only took twenty six minutes.
Last night was the first in many that I ddn't pour myself a glass of wine. I had three glasses on Saturday night and was aware that I was not 100% yesterday morning. I have been having one or two glasses most evenings and it doesn't seem to make any difference to how I feel in the morning. I am hopeful that my knitting needles will replace the glass of wine-lol.
Okay, Monday morning and I better get ready to go up to see Ross. I wonder how my wee lady will be today?
Happy Monday Folks.
Lxx

Day 143......side by side by side, writing and editing.

Day 143......side by side by side, writing and editing.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Sunday morning and I find myself in Tim Hortons for my waiting-stint for Ali' whilst she is at her drama class. She was really looking forward to it but I just got a text to say that she was the only kid there and the word AWKWARD. Perhaps she will have a wonderful one to one session with the 'Boys'
I have a book to read and a notepad and so I am all set for my two hours, which have flown by the past couple of weeks.
Yesterday was a quiet day, with not a lot of going-ons for the three of us. We had to be home in the morning because the water meter was being replaced. A lovely young man, with a deep sexy voice, did the job within the twenty minutes expected but he left a bit of a mess on the floor in the downstairs bathroom. It is now shiny and clean, for the first time since we moved in-lol.
Jen worked on her writing and Ali worked on doing some editing for her which gave me the nudge I needed to open my manuscript. The time flew by, sitting side by side by side on the sofa and it was 6.45 when we decided we should really make and eat dinner. I know that it's a sign of loving what you are doing, when time disappears like that and so I plan to try to disappear into my editing for at least a couple of hours, daily.
I finally got started on Jens blanket and decided to be boring and just do it in stocking stitch. I have cast on 175 stitches, as a guess and each row is taking quite a while to complete. Like crochet, I am not a fan of the first few rows but once I get going, I hope that it will knit up fast. I almost brought it with me, to do here but thought better of it, with it being white wool and all.
I actually was last into bed last night which is a first for a long time. I went as far as checking out movies but was lucky to come to my senses and went to bed by midnight. Great news and far better idea than sitting up till 2am with a high probability of falling asleep on the sofa.
On that note I will wrap up with a piece of Toronto Trivia.
Did you know that you can only park facing the way that you would be driving? You can't park facing oncoming traffic, like you can in the UK.
Much Love,
Lxx

Day 142.........Twilight is done, what will we watch next?

Day 142.........Twilight is done, what will we watch next?

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Well, last night saw us watching the last film in the Twilight saga and I did feel a little 'pang' at the end. I do love a Good versus Evil, to myself and it was all the better that the Good was a perceived Evil. I have never read the books and likely never will. I am more of a movie person. My reading is mainly confined to inspirational reading, these days.
Yesterday saw me popping in to see the Lady who owns the health shop, to give her a hug and organise to meet for a coffee next week. She had let me know that her mum passed, last weekend and it will be nice for me to be able to offer my support to her at this difficult time. I didn't spend long with her, just the time it took Jen to nip to the library and back.
It's the first time Jen and I have been together for a wee wander for ages and it was lovely. We popped along to the bakers-I hadn't realised she hadn't been in there and she was impressed by what they had on offer. A potential Birthday Cake, next month perhaps.
I picked up one of their cranberry scones, which don't even need butter to make them tasty and then we popped into Second Cup (in between a Starbucks and a Tim Hortons) to complete my mid-day snack with a Hazelnut Latte. YUM. Heaven in a cup.
I kind of faffed around on the laptop, looking for flights for the girls, for the summer. Not that I booked them but it does take a lot of looking which makes the day disappear.
Ali had a good experience with her volunteering at school. She even made it home for a quick stop, before heading off to work, which was unexpected. She said that the amount of students auditioning was half the amount of two years ago. I wonder what that's all about?
Jen and I walked along to pick up our Friday night Pizza and it was FREEZING. It was however still light at 5.45, which I found very strange. Aye, the nights are fair drawin' oot :-)
Ali sp
lept in my bed last night because someone is coming to change the water meter today between nine and one. It's downstairs and so I said I'd sleep down there so that she didn't get wakened by the noise, should they decide to appear early. It's now ten twenty-nine and no sign. It's not supposed to take them much more than twenty minutes-we shall see.
Okay, off I go. Have a great weekend Folks. Lxxx

Day 141........an irate yours truly.

Day 141........an irate yours truly.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

I had big plans for getting a whole bunch of editing done yesterday but changed course and decided to write a resume (CV) instead. The adult education people were asking for one and so it felt better to just get it done and mailed and who knows, I may soon be leading some adult Ed' classes in mindfulness.
I googled for sites that did free templates for resumes, seeing as how I hadn't done one for years and found a few. I happily spent hours, reliving my working-past and trying to remember exactly when it was that I worked where. Completing the resume, I went on to complete a cover letter, which they also require (plus a proposal which I am just going to copy from my original letter to them)
On completion of my hard days work, I was horrified to find that I had to pay the site money to download, print or indeed simply email the flippin' thing to myself. Grrrr. I was a very angry elf although the anger was quickly replaced by a need for justice. (perhaps I need some Vervain)
I did a Live chat with the site and she was apologetic but said that it clearly said on initial page that it was just a free trial to try out the templates. I told her that I was unimpressed and that I would be warning others of the misleading information of the site, concluding with my acknowledgement that it was not her personal fault and wished her a great day.
Still burning with a need for my day not to have been wasted, I posted on a couple of consumer complaint sites, my concerns about the misleading info and my silver lining was that I discovered that some other folk had given credit-card details and had great difficulty in getting the site to stop taking payments. I had no intention of paying for the resume and so was never in danger from that point of view but I can see how people, after investing a lot of time and effort into creating their resume, would just bite the bullet and pay to have it.
I have the text, that I used but it is just a mish mash of words now and so today, I will try to format it myself.
Yesterday, yet again, disappeared. Alison was (and has been) very tired readjusting to school and work. She was exhausted on Wednesday night and was in bed by nine-thirty. When I woke her at seven, yesterday, she groaned as usual. twenty minutes later she sent me a text (yes, from the basement) to ask if she could skip first period. I am so glad that I don't worry what folk will think, these days or confine myself to the strictness of societys rules all the time. The old me would have forced her out of her bed, spouting how she could spend less time on her phone, getting homework done earlier etc, etc, etc but nowadays....not so much.
I don't want her to get sick and tiredness leads to sickness. Missing a 'Film-class' is not the end of the earth. I think that she was probably stunned when I asked what time she wanted reawoken (is that a word?) This morning she got up far more easily. I had put Olive into her remedy mix on Wedneday morning and I'm sure that it will be helping, as well as a wee bit more time in bed.
She could have had today off but she is helping out for 'Audition-Day'. It hardly seems like a full year since she auditioned for her place. She will get credit for volunteering. They have to do a certain number of volunteer-hours to graduate and today felt like fun for her.
We watched the second last Twilight movie early, so that Ali could get to bed sharp. Last one tonight and then I ought to get knitting that blanket for Jen.
My thermometer is heading in the wrong direction.......again. It'll be colder by this evening than it was this morning. Brrr. Currently I am curled up under my blanket with Jens hot water bottle. I hear her getting up and I will give her both to coorie with, when she appears.
I will close now and get on with that CV. Wish me luck,
Lxxx

Day 140.........like clockwork, it did go.

Day 140.........like clockwork, it did go.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Happy Thursday Folks.
Yesterday was busy but it flowed like clockwork and started with a trip way East of where I am used to, to the Yarn store. The time spent there was shorter than I would have liked and I didn't get exactly what I wanted but I am positive about the result I will obtain from my purchase. Jen wants a blanket for her 21st. A reflection on the temperature here, I hear you laugh? Well, it's a reflection on her wanting something hand-made from her mum, I think.
She wanted a very pale pink but they didn't have enough of the one and only suitable yarn and so I went with white, which was her second choice. Well, first equal actually.
Now I just have to decide on what stitch I am going to use and find a pattern-any ideas.....anyone?
From the wool-shop, I proceeded to downtown Toronto and returned Jens Christmas  onesy which was faulty. They were about to make it more complicated because it had been worn, when the cashier noticed the queue growing behind me and just gave me a credit.
I next went to pick up 2 tickets for Ben Howard, from ticketmaster and tucked them into my purse for the later swap for cash.
From ticketmaster to the Aveda Hair institute, for my colour which has ended up even darker than it was but it does look better on me and has a sprinkling of highlights on top. They charge $5 per foil-eek, so it can really bump up the price, if you are not careful. It wasn't as cheap as planned due to my 4 foils but it was still way cheaper than getting my hair done in an actual salon. I wrote about the experience last time and it was a similar experience because the wee girl I get is so attentive. Hand massage and back massage whilst your colour is taking effect and then a head massage at the sink. The giggle yesterday was that she is so attentive and slower than most of her fellow students that another girl appeared to help her blow dry my hair. I had to stifle a fit of the giggles (seriously stifle them as they almost erupted) because they were both pulling my head their way as they blow dried and it looked like they were having a bit of a competition. They also kept getting in each others way-lol. My wee girl was not completely happy with the intrusion but she was very professional about it.
Straight from there, I headed up to sell my Ben Howard tickets, to Jason who had answered my ad'. We had arranged to meet at Andrews Adidas store as it's central and not as busy as lots of the downtown places. He got there just after I did and the deal was done. Lovely young man who now just has to sell his own tickets for the Monday night, which he now can't manage.
I haven't travelled at peak rush hour before and it was mind-bogglingly busy in the subway. My huge bag of yarn needed manouvered many times but I wasn't phased and was lucky enough to get a seat as soon as I got on my second train, which was the longest part of the journey home.
After dinner, I headed down for some groceries, more because I had a daypass and Ali needed rolls for lunch than any great need for the other stuff that I topped-up on.
Finally got settled with a glass of wine and an episode of the 4400 around 9pm. Contented sigh.
My selfie isn't the greatest (it's like one of those no make-up and just woke-up ones that folk were posting a while ago-right?
)and you may see no difference between it and the last colour but believe me when I tell you that it's better.
Much Love,
Lxxx

Day 139............ticket touting.

Day 139............ticket touting.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Yesterday morning, as I posted on FB, was flippin' freezing but we survived. When Ali went off to school I had my only taste of the cold air because I opted to stay indoors.
For those of you who may wonder what I get up to, when I stay at home, I can confess that it sometimes feels like 'nothing' and yesterday was one of those days. I did do a bit of editing, which is great but for the rest of the time, there wasn't a lot to report.
The title of the Blog is because I did spend a bit of time, conversing with folk about the two tickets we are selling, for the Ben Howard concert next month. Ali wanted tickets and we bought some but then she decided she didn't really rate his new album and so the tickets went up for sale this week. It's a sell-out show and so I have had a half dozen folk asking for them. Being polite, I have been replying to the several who will not be getting the tickets by asking them if they are interested in me passing their details to the guy who's buying mine because he has two to sell for the next evening. Interestingly, only two folk responded to that. I am meeting the guy who's buying my pair at 6pm today and have to go get the tickets from ticketmaster first. I also made a hair-colour appt downtown, thinking that I'll be down there anyhow and my roots are not pretty. I think that I will have to go lighter again as it hides the grey for longer. Perhaps there will be a picture tomorrow.
The washing-machine-fixers are not able to come till next Tuesday and we will have run out of knickers by then so I predict either a handwash or an underwear shopping trip. Mmm?
What else?
Ali has been leaving for school early, to do a wee bit studying before class but also to miss the packed-buses of schoolkids. Her grades are great despite the fact she still doesn't see the point in learning it all. I love that she will often come out with some random piece of information that she's learned. She does retain stuff well.
I have just finished puting bubble-wrap on the basement windows-see link I shared on FB. It actually looks quite pretty and if it helps the temperature down there, Ali will give me some bonus points. I have run out of bubble wrap or I may even have done the upstairs windows-lol.
Much love to all, this Wednesday,
Lxxx

Day 138........and I missed my 'Ah' meditation for a second day.

Day 138........and I missed my 'Ah' meditation for a second day.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Today I will do my meditation as soon as Ali goes off to school. These last couple of mornings, when I have early stuff on, I have jumped into my day and then forgotten that I haven't done my meditation. Yesterday was slightly better than Sunday because I at least did ten minutes of mindful breathing in the bus on the way up to see Ross. I even did a little bit on the bus home but I then forgot that I hadn't taken myself off to sit quietly for my usual half hour. When I say quietly, twenty of those minutes are spent singing the sound 'AH' but I have told you that before. I do love the bit that I do after, which involves my sending love out into the world beginning with myself, Bill, the kids, my brother and sister and working it out from there. If I know of anyone struggling, I mention them so, if you're ever struggling please let me know and I will add you in there. We can never have too much love coming at us.
When the radio woke me up, they mentioned that the temp was -21 and felt like -32. WHAT? I had no clue it was going to drop down that cold again. So much for getting the washer warmed up. It's now looking like very sub zero till the weekend. Where is my big snow that I can actually get out to build a snowman in? On the bright side, we have only shovelled snow once this winter.
My visit with Ross raced by and involved what may become a routine of wandering round the car park, looking at the cars. He was a car dealership owner and LOVES cars and he loves looking at and talking about them. So do I and so we both enjoy our short time outside in the very fresh air.
Yesterday, I had a wee chat with a lady whose room I pass each visit. She usually is sitting in her wheelchair, at her door and looks very sad. But she's had a stroke, which I think can give a person the look of sadness due of the lack of movement in their face. Yesterday, she looked sadder than usual and I stopped to ask if she was okay. She started sobbing and I stayed with her a wee while, holding her hand and telling her that everything would be okay. I wished that I could have stayed longer with her but she had stopped crying and was calmer by the time I headed along to see Ross. I had asked her to focus on her breath and told her that when I'm feeling like things are hard, that's what I do. I told her that Bill was in Scotland and that I was only four months here and so sometimes I felt sad as well. Hopefully I wasn't patronising. I did tell her that I couldn't really imagine how she was feeling but that, if she could, when it felt to much, she might just try to remember to breath.
I saw her again when I had to go back to Ross' room for cups for our coffee. I noticed her surname was Mackenzie and stopped to ask if her ancestors were Scottish, to which she nodded yes. I asked if they were from the north and she shook her head. I asked if they were from the south and she shook her head again and laughed. Of all things...she laughed. How big a gift was that to me, for my taking the time to talk to her. I told her that I was from Edinburgh and that I would see her each Monday and would remind her to breath. She smiled and nodded.
Now, I know nothing of this wee lady. She may not remember who I am next week but that's okay. A bit like the movie 50 First Dates but instead of making someone fall in love with me every day, I can spend a wee while each Monday morning trying to make Ms Mackenzie laugh :-)
On the way home, I stopped off at the plaza that sold the Thorntons toffee that I bought Andrew for Christmas. They still had some left so I picked up a couple of boxes for him. I then popped into Shoppers Drug to get stamps but the counter was shut for 15 minutes so I browsed. Big mistake. I found lots of bargains-most of which we needed-and joked with the cashier that I had just come in for stamps, whilst I tried to stuff all my shopping into the Thorntons toffee bag. I gingerly walked home in case the plastic bag exploded but got there with bag in tact. On emptying it I discovered that the less-than-half-price hair-colour had not made it. Checking my receipt, I hadn't been charged for it and so the cashier must not have put it through. Lucky escape? Well, that's how I'm reading it.
I am going to bring my end of Feb app't (for colour) forward to tomorrow, if I can. Going blonder may be the answer to hiding these greys because they seem to have appeared agin awfully quick.
Wow, this is a big rambly blog and I apologise to those of you who pray it will be short and sweet, so that you can get back to what you're doing.
The rest of the day doesn't hold too much anyhow, although I could spin it out if this were a shorter blog-lol.
A lovely skype with Bill, a yummy chicken and rice dinner, a few episodes of Greys anatomy (Jen is watching it from season 1) and no movie beause Ali has loads of homework this week.
My writing is supposed to get back on track today........I will let you know how it goes, tomorrow.
Much Love,
Lxxxx

p.s. one of my bargains for $3.49. Peanut butter Lindors....yum. x

Day 137......Washing machine must be frozen.

 Day 137......Washing machine must be frozen.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

 Yesterday I tried, like on Saturday, to do a wash and it just comes up error, on the machine panel. I suspect that there must be some frozen something, somewhere in its mechanism. Hopefully once it warms up, the machine will sort itself out and we will all have that clean underwear again. Writing that sentence, including clean knickers, I think that I already told you about the washer not working?
Is it something going on with me or with the house, that first my laptop and now the washer are refusing to perform for me?
 I am still smiling though and glad that we don't have much laundry between the three of us, so waiting till next weekend will not see me having a mountain to wash.
My skype session could have gone better 'technically' too. There was loads of noise and squealing from computers at both ends and it made a consultation a tad difficult at times. I led her through a wee mediation but think my voice disappeared several times from her radar, which is not ideal. Plus, I think that my voice went into meditation-mode and probably lowered a few decibels. We did chat about how 'it was what it was' and she seemed to 'get' that.
I really enjoyed the session and would love to help loads of folk online, like that. Spread the word folks. Perhaps the Universe knew why it made me call myself 'Online' all those years ago. Up till now, I have done consults online but mostly they have been face to face. Perhaps my moving here whilst leaving all my contacts at home was to make the 'Online' bit come to life?
That sounds familiar too. Did I write that already? Mm? Lots of deja vu or is it memory-loss?
After the skype-consult, the girls and I headed out to the shops. They did some 'shopping' and I did some 'grocery-shopping'. Don't you just love a bargain? I do and I do love to compare prices in different stores. It can be gob-smacking.
Todays example will be a tin of quality street which is still on sale in Wamart for $16 (smaller than out tins in UK and that's about double the price) It was on sale in No frills last weekend for $8. I almost bought a tin but declined.
The Mall where we went is relatively close on the subway, although there is a longer walk from subway to store than the walk from my local store to the bus stop. The mall, however has Walmart and No Frills side by side so it's perfect for nipping in to see who has what at the best price. Walmart is not always the cheapest. Sunday is a zoo-day up there, though and I was standing in the line for checkout thinking that it really was a test for my patience. It's like Asda at Christmas and can be quite funny to watch, if you are in the mood.
On the way back in the subway, Jen decided that she'd head down to our local No Frills because they hadn't had any of her iced-tea at the big one (Sunday locusts at work) There were too many bags for Ali to go with her and she helped me lug the other groceries home. Jen was very lucky with her bus-catching and was home in less than half an hour, before dinner was ready.
It's great that she's happy going off on her own, now. Girl about town.
We watched the second Twilight movie and (again) I enjoyed it. I do so love the Jacob character and that's all I will say except that he reminds me of Andrews best pal in Scotland, which made it worse when he was sad.
Okay, Monday morning is here and the snow was falling whan I got up. Not sure whether or not it still is but I can tell you that detail tomorrow. I am off to visit Ross in an hour or so and ought to get myself organised. I may even manage to fit my meditation in, before I go.
I have to confess to missing my meditation yesterday. Often, when we have such a long subway journey, I do my meditation en-route but Ali and I just chatted yesterday and I wanted to do my 'AH' one anyway and she would have been mortified had I began chanting in the subway train. I smile even thinking about her moving seats to pretend she doesn't know me. I didn't remember that I had missed it until I curled up in my bed. Thinking I could do it then was a silly thought because I woke up this morning to remember that I had tried but don't remember getting much past bringing my attention to my breath. Ah well.
My sleep is still very fitful but, as before, I can report that it doesn't bother me. I have taken to leaving one of the blinds open and it lets me see the weather because of the streetlamp nearby. Twice I woke up and it was snowing. Twice I woke up and it was not. Both times I rolled over and went back to sleep.
Interesting stuff this, right?
Okay, gotta run.
Happy Monday. Have a great week.
Much Love,
Lxxxx
p.s. must take some more photos to post. Makes these look much nicer. x

Day 136...........out of puff.

Day 136...........out of puff.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Well, I am out of puff. Ali and I left home at 0850 to get her to her drama class for 10am, which should have been plenty of time seeing as it's only supposed to take 45 mins. I knew that there was an accident on the streetcar route before 7am but had my fingers crossed that it would be cleared by the time we needed it. NOT and the shuttle bus took forever to come and then we had to run 6 or 7 minutes, from the closest drop-off stop, to get here with 2 minutes to spare. There is a $25 charge if you are late to class thus the plan to arrive very early. Ah well, exercise done for the day because I also had exercise in the subway station. Reason? At Royal York, the guard waved us through because he didn't have access to his Daily-pass drawer. Plan was to buy it at Broadview station, before getting on the streetcar. Well, we forgot till Ali remembered just as the bus pulled in. GROAN. We had been sitting waiting for 20 mins. I sprinted downstairs to discover that 2 flights down was just the subway tracks and realised that the ticket office was on ground level. EEk, sprinted back upstairs and managed to buy the day-pass and get on he bus with Ali. Luckily Ali went on to google maps and when we got off the bus, at the directions of a well-meaning fellow passenger, Ali was sure that we could have stayed on longer so she went to the front of he bus and asked the driver. He said he went closer than that stop and we jumped back on, thank goodness we did or I would be $25 less well-off. Phew.
Now I am sitting outside Alis class, recovering from the run down and then I will be going to Tim Hortons for my coffee. I didn't bring my laptop-no point with the no wifi. Typing this on my phone is just as effective and so much lighter.
I also have a couple of books with me and so the two hours will pass quickly.
I have a wee Skype consult this afternoon which I am looking forward to as it's with a young-person who I know I can help.
That's today and now I won't be able to use what's happened in tomorrows blog but that's okay.
Yesterday was a lovely day except that my washing-machine wouldn't work and is still not working. I suspect that the subzero temp has perhaps frozen the pipes, which will hopefully sort itself when things warm up. I may have to purchase extra knickers for us, if the cold weather continues as we don't have an extensive supply of those.....or towels.
Andrew came for lunch, which was lovely but his phone was not working so he spent a large chunk of time on my phone and laptop, trying to get it fixed. No joy but an appointment at the Apple store, just before his shift at work started and he sent me a text to say he had a new iphone. Great but I suppose he now has to reload all his information onto it.
I made the banana bread, with the over-ripe bananas and Andrew went off with half of them.....they must have been okay. Ali loves them also and so there are only a couple left.
She went to watch a school-pal compete in synchronised ice-skating last night and had a great time. The team got into the world finals in Croatia and it was great to hear all the skating info from Ali on the journey here this morning.
Jen and I snuggled up under blankets and watched 'Day after Tomorrow' a movie we both love. Considering our weather, we were stunned when a documentary about exactly the cause of 'Day after tomorrow' came on the tv, before we switched it off. I think she and I are all keyed up to how to survive the eye of a storm, now.
By the time Ali got home at 9pm, we decided it was too late to play the next twilight movie due to our early start so Ali watched one episode of 4400 and Jen and I did an extra one before I headed to bed.
And that was my yesterday, folks.
Happy Sunday,
Lxxx

Day 135.......and the Toilet-roll Fairy did pay a visit.

Day 135.......and the Toilet-roll Fairy did pay a visit.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

I am prone to leaving my clothes in the bathroom, when I go to bed at night and I do accept that it may be annoying for those I live with...and untidy. Of late, I have been draping them over the loo-roll basket. Imagine my delighted surprise when I lifted them to get dressed yesterday morning and found that the toilet-roll Fairy had paid us a visit. I almost did a p.s. on yesterdays blog but we decided (the Fairy and I) that she needed top-billing. And there she's had it. She is friends with the soap-filling Fairy and confessed that her friend had no idea that there was a big soap refill in the basement but the information will be passed along and stored for future reference.
I did a little test yesterday, which was not really done on purpose but which did give results. When I got dressed, I only pulled on one layer because I was planning a shower. Deciding that I didn't want to disturb Jen (she moved her bed and the headboard is now against the bathroom wall) I waited for her to get up. When she did, she yelled downstairs that she was going in the shower. Now, by the time she came out I had decided that the heating was now on low and there was no way I was going in for a shower till it went back up again. I spent the day feeling chilly because I was too lazy to go and get another layer on. Blankets were well-used. Having to walk along for our Pizza, I pulled on an under layer which stayed on for the rest of the evening and I was fairly warm....well, warmer than earlier. When I talk about a test, it really was just proving to myself that I didn't have the heating up too high because on Thursday I had felt quite 'comfortable' in the house. On Thursday I had that extra layer on. Todays note to self-make sure you wear two layers and put sox on inside your slippers and life will be even lovelier.
The last few times we have had Pizza, it's been a wee bit cool by the time we walk it the ten minutes home. In the current temperature we wondered how we could keep it warm at all. Jen came up with the idea of putting it into one of our shopping bags and so I took three of said bags with us and we triple covered the pizza. RESULT. It was still toasty warm when we got it home.....yum........and it was free compliments of our Pizza Pizza christmas tree.
Last nights movie was 'A fault in their stars' which was about a teenage cancer support-group. Not the cheeriest of movies at times but brilliant acting by its young stars and brutely honest at times. I had to pass my tissue box along the sofa.
I think that sums up yesterday.......oh my Canadian credit card arrived. Not the one I ordered months ago, mind but a credit card none-the-less. The bank re-ordered a different one but credited me the $ bonuses that were with the first one, which was great.  I went to take a photo of it to post with this blog and then realised what a silly idea that was, with all it's info on it-lol.
Andrew is coming over for lunch and so I need to nip up the sreet to get some milk for the cheesy pasta. (his favourite and chosen food)
Love to all and Happy Weekend.
Lxxx

Day 134........spending lots of time with my wonderful hubbie, even if it was just on skype.

Day 134........spending lots of time with my wonderful hubbie, even if it was just on skype.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Yesterday, as some of you will know, was Bills birthday. I won't tell you how old he is but he loves to cast up that he is younger than me. Being an April birthday myself, the gap in years got smaller with his January birthday. Now there is only a one year difference and so that gives his age away to anyone who knows mine.

I was able to connect with him pretty much as soon as he was up, which was not too long after I woke up. The wonders of time-difference. Bill stays on his nightshift schedule and so seldom sees a Scottish morning between the hours of six-thirty and noon. When I lived in Edinburgh, I tried to get my work slotted into mornings so that he and I could have afternoons together which meant we had a good chunk of time together, even when he was on a nightshift. The five hour time difference means that I can connect with him in the same way from here, which feels great.

Back to yesterday and we were happily typing back and forth when he mentioned that he was going to go shopping. Knowing that my sister was going to appear by 2ish, I stalled his trip to the store by asking him if he wanted to skype. I looked lovely in my new fluffy 'goonie

' and no make-up but he's used to seeing me in the morning so it wasn't too traumatic for him. Right on cue, my sister arrived with hers and our pressie for him. My first pressie had gone down like a ton of balloons -a bunch of red roses very kindly bought by my friend Debbie and left on our door-handle before 6am by her hubbie, whilst on his dog-walking duties. Deb, if you're reading this, I hope that you didn't wake up this morning to them on your door-handle because that's what he was threatening to do as he did not understand my gesture at all. I should have got you to drop off a cake.

It was really great to see my wee sister on camera but it was brief because she hid-lol. She is even worse than me when it comes to skype and that's not easy to beat. I am great, if it is a client or I am teaching but with friends and family-not so good although I am much better than I used to be. She, like Bill, found my appearance very fetching and the banter between the three of us was mainly about my terrible choosing of gifts for Bill, which did evoke a few giggles from all and some protestations from yours truly.

Bill decided to save his pressie for opening with the girls, later and when the skype session ended, I played catch-up with my morning routine. I did manage to get both my meditation and blog done before Jen appeared.

It was another day indoors and I did a bit of exploration on writing for income again. Signed up for another site which had a great wee test, to see how good your English was which I'm glad to say I passed. I only got 96% though and I'm wondering if it's because it's an American site. I will have to perhaps go with American English when writing articles. I now have to write a sample article but the categories don't fit into what I want to write about so I am wondering whether or not it was a wasted afternoon? Nah, no writing is ever wasted.

Jen got a bit of a wake-up call when her and Ali went round to the library because she had not worn a hat. Her face and ears were sore when she got home and I was glad that it was less than a ten minute walk. I bet lots of people find themselves in trouble with this weather. I know that I had a similar experience to Jen, many years ago during my first ever visit to Canada in 1983. When the plane landed it was -42c and I could count on one hand how many times I got out for a walk in my six plus weeks there. One tempting sunny day I decided to walk to the local store without a hat or earmuffs......big mistake. I had to walk along the road with my gloved-hands clasped around my ears.

Their library trip was to see if the second Twilight movie was in but it wasn't and so Jen and I settled for a wee movie called 'Sunshine Cleaning' which was not too bad. Not a Hollywood great but I like Amy Adams and Emily Blunt.

We got our $20 Pizza Pizza discount card-yippeee. That will pay for tomorrows dinner.

The toilet-roll Fairy sparked a discussion on how the toilet rolls don't need filled until the last one gets used and so I haven't refilled......we shall see what transpires.

The Dishwasher-Fairy caused a protest, as I knew she would because Jen emptied the dishwasher (for the first time) on Wednesday-lol.

I have thought of a new Fairyand she is the Hand-Soap-Filling Fairy. I buy refills for the liquid handsoap and fill up the bottles when empty. Last night, I went up to bed to find the 'pump' lying seperately from the bottle because the level was too low to get the soap out with the pump. I left it to see if the Fairy would do it overnight but nah, I will go do it after this.

And the bells haven't chimed nine yet-yippee. It's amazing what I can get done when Ali goes off to school early. She is getting some 'tutoring' from a friend before school starts, this week and so she's been out just after eight. She has a clown-workshop today with a visiting college-prof' and he is apparently very mean and rude. Her aim is simply not to let him make her cry.....wee scone. Acting is a tough business and they are just trying to get the kids prepared.

On that note, my stomach is growling and I am going to go eat breakfast. What to have? I finished the eggs a few days ago, finished the bagels yesterday, the bananas are over-ripe and heading for banana bread this evening and I don't fancy cold cereal. Mmm? Toast?

Love to all,

Lxxxx

Day 133…………..Go read my column and feedback.

Day 133…………..Go read my column and feedback.

3 Girls and 4 Suitcases.

Brrr is the best way to describe the weather but at least I didn’t have to pull ‘fluffy’ into bed beside me again last night. It’s actually a few degrees warmer today but the wind must be stronger because my laptop is telling me that it still feels like -25c out there. This could be Day three cooped up in here.

I am not really cooped up, just choosing not to brave the cold when I have no reason to go outside. We have food and until we run out, I don’t have to go out. Actually, I will have to go out on Monday-darn.

So, what did my day indoors consist of yesterday? Mmmm? Not a lot but the day zipped by as always. I did write a column and I really need to get folk over to subscribe on it. The link is www.mindmarket.com and I think that the first month is free. Spread the word far and wide because I hope that it will be a great success. I am going to try to make it like an information column about various ways that people can find happiness despite the apparent chaos in their lives and I will likely be linking it to my own life at various points but will try to keep it different from my Blogs. I’m hoping to do little bits of research to put links on the page, to help folk find what may be just the very help that they need.

It feels right and that’s why I’m asking you to go check it out and have others check it out. If I get lots of subscribers, I am hoping to be able to use a percentage of the payments to begin a wee fund which I will then use to help others. Not sure which group, or whether it will be limited to one group but I know that it will involve Mental Health.

Jen braved going to the library, to pick up some DVDs and we watched the first Twilight movie last night. I really like those movies and the message they bring. I haven’t read the books and the films are not classic but who cares.

Yet again, I made it to bed before the girls although I am hoping that Alison was not far behind me. They use the time after I go to bed, to catch up and I may have to begin disappearing even earlier-lol.

Seeing as how there’s not much to report, I will write a little bit about toilet rolls. I have a basket in both bathrooms, which contain new toilet rolls and they look cute and are great because there’s always a roll when you need it……..or is there? I think that there may be a fictional character, a bit like the Easter Bunny’ who it’s presumed will fill up the toilet roll baskets? Except, I have never seen this fictional ‘toilet-roll fairy’ and don’t really believe in her because I have to fil up the baskets when they are down to their last roll. The upstairs bathroom basket has one roll left in it (plus a couple of empty cardboard inners which the fairy must also be believed to move to the recycling) and the temptation is to not refill-EEK. I can hear the screams of ‘there’s no toilet roll’…….oh wait, it’ll more likely be me groaning ‘I wish I’d just stocked the bloomin’ basket’.

And here endeth the story of the toilet roll fairy…..that’s me, folks. Perhaps I will start on the dishwasher fairy tomorrow-lol.

Much Love,
Lxxx