When all signs point to the obvious

It's either about time I booked me a trip to New York city or I shut up about it already!

Check out what I got in the mail yesterday.....

I've got a pretty darn cool friend!

Sitting Still

This is not something I am very good at which is not really a good thing since my job involves me to be sitting at a desk 8 hrs a day,5 days a week.
Of course I manage, but I swear if I was in elementary school right now the teacher would be calling in my parents recommending some sort of drug for their child to help me sit still and concentrate....hhmmm, funny, that's what they did when Daniel was in grade 5.
Nobody comes into my cubical and tells me to sit still, to stop fidgeting. Nobody comes to me to tell me I am annoying them with my constant stand up nice and tall on my tippy toes stretching I seem to be doing allot more of lately (could be the window).
I guess if nobody sees you then you don't have a problem.

I am so glad the water cooler is not near my desk any more, I drink allot of water.
Time for another cup.

Team Up Thursday-Shapes

I had the honor this week to again join forces with Michel for Team Up Thursday over on her fabulous daily photo blog.
Today we did shapes.
This one was harder than I first expected. Everything has a shape. Interpretation plays in a big roll in what you see in the shape or what shapes you can see in various objects.

More and more as I dip my toes into the world of photography I am finding a passion seeping out of me from somewhere deep down that I feel was always there waiting for just the right time to show up.....waiting until I was ready to see.
Ready.
Time to take the leap into the world of DSLR and get my whole foot wet.

Love it or List it

Ever see this show on TLC? I catch it occasionally and can totally relate to the home owners on this show.
We have lived in our house for about 5 years or so. When we found this house we thought it was perfect for our family dynamic and our crazy go go go life of busy kids and full schedules.
My husband and I work full time and the three kids are all involved in some activity or other that seems to occupy every available spot of the day. The kids also live one week at their Dad's house and then the next week at our house then back again, week after week.
With this kind of situation we have placed our homes about 5 blocks from each other where the kids can easily make it back and forth for the forgotten item of clothing they must have for the next day of school or that video game they just gotta play.
They were all attending the same elementary school which lies right between our homes...the perfect situation.
Well now the kids are older and only one of them is left in that school while the other two are off to their own separate junior and senior highs at completely opposite ends of our hamlet. There really is no need for us to be located where we are for convenience purposes anymore with the little one being driven to an in school before and after school care every day and the other two getting to school on public transportation from both houses.
When we moved in we had big plans and bright ideas for our 1969 home....we started on it right away replacing the roof and windows and a new water heater. Tore down a wall to open up the upstairs, gutted the old bathroom and made it brand new, my very talented husband created an amazing ceiling and built the best deck ever....well, we stalled out both in money and time. Did I mention we work at full time jobs and have three busy kids? Even when they are with their Dad for his week we all still see each other, their schedules are just too much for one soul.
Here we sit, just wanting to relax and enjoy our precious down time when we are at home but unable to do so with the ever daunting unfinished renovations around us.
We have decided to sell our house as is, maybe doing a few minor touch ups, knowing that no matter what we put in anymore we will never recover it. We will sell it and move into a house that is all done. There. Decision made.
Turns out that we have pretty high expectations for what we are willing to dish out. wow. every house we look at is either way out of our price league, but finished so nicely for us, or is in need of upgrades. Back to square one....who needs the hassle of packing and moving and cleaning and....renovating?!? Not us, we are looking for slow down time not adding to our to do list.
That's it then. We are staying. We will get quotes and have people to come in and help us get this thing done once and for all.
"I'm sorry? How much will that cost? what?! You have GOT to be kidding me?" Every time we turn around there is an issue....oh, you want to replace your front door, UMMM yeah, if you want to do that you have to have all the glass blocks removed because it is all one unit then replace that with a window and...and...and...but we just wanted a new door. yikes!
Love it or List it....we want to love it, but is it in the budget? List it? Too much trouble.
Not bad problems to have really. I wouldn't call them problems. We appreciate our life like you wouldn't believe. Sometimes we just want to sit down.
No problem, that duct tape on the floor is still holding up pretty good, I say we take it easy for a little while longer. Whats the rush anyway?

Team Up Thursday

Today I am directing you once again over to my very good friend Michel's blog Wishful Thinking, not only because she is a super incredible photographer and the fact that her blog is growing leaps and bounds and the fact that she posts a daily photo with captions that really help you look at things from other angles, but this time because I am on it today sharing her in her daily photo blog.

She has started a new collaboration segment today called Team up Thursdays which she found through a flicker group and supporting blog. I had the very big honor to be her first collaboration and I am thrilled like you wouldn't believe to be a part of this.

We picked a theme and set out to take photos which related to it. I had so much fun always on the look out, camera in hand with purpose. What a great way to make you stop and take notice of life around you.

Thanks for letting me be a part of your wonderful world of photography Michel. I think I may have officially caught the bug.

There they grow again

I am proud to announce that not one but two of my children are now legitimately employed. Money will start rolling in at any time....well, as much as delivering flyers and working at McD's will have money rolling in.
Tayler and Daniel.
I can' t even explain the excitement of these two. They have yet to deliver the first flyer or flip the first burger. They are still both blissfully basking in the unknown world ahead of them. So full of glamour and money and feelings of Independence.
I love seeing this side of them. The world as they know it is about to change. They have no idea.
They are still left imagining all the fine things their new found riches will buy. Spending the money before they have earned it. Really, why should they be any different from the rest of us? LOL
We will be sitting down with them doing the money talk before they see their first cheque...get them on a plan and set a path now before they get carried away.
I sure hope it works.
Tayler unfortunately starts her job with a pre existing debt to pay off.
The reason she went job hunting in the first place. Next year the grade 11 & 12's at her school are off to New York for spring break. The Fine Arts program at her school are going to be taking in Broadway plays and wonderful concerts and workshops for 7 whirlwind days with out parents. You can imagine a trip like this costs a bit of money, so she agreed to pay for one third of it as well as spending money on top.
Welcome to the working world guys.

Oh what fun

Thanks to the generosity of someone at work I received free tickets to last nights Oiler's final home game of the season. Seriously though, these tickets are not hard to get these days, nobody seems to want to go see a 30th place team at the end of a season.....*sound of record scratching* Ah. Yah they do!
Sure all the seats were not completely filled but it still was a packed house. People were cheering and full of energy and excitement. The jerseys were still worn with pride and you could still feel the love. With the Nay Say-ers and Negative Nellie's sitting in their bar stools grumbling into their much cheaper beers, it left for the real fans, the real support system, a moment to share with our home team our belief and positive outlook for the coming season.
Doing their part to show their appreciation for those of us still up in the stands, they went out with an overtime, come from way behind win for us. Fantastic!

We'll get em next year.

Thanks for coming and sharing this fun night with me Michel.....I'll let you catch the t-shirt next time! LOL

Weekend Escape

Here we are back from our mountain get away. It is still toque and mitt weather in the mountains but you sure don't seem to mind much with the breathtaking 360 views and the wonderfully clean crisp air invading your lungs, rejuvenating your soul.

I am more in love with the thought of moving to the mountains then ever before. Mountain Donna is a relaxed, happy Donna. Seriously, I get sore cheeks every time we are there from the natural perma grin that takes over my face.

I said out loud on the drive down to Terry, just to make it for real, that I was giving myself permission to eat anything and as much as I wanted. We are usually so careful, watching what we eat and portion control...not this weekend, I went a little nuts!

Sushi, beef tenderloin, potato chips, pizzas and bagels....never watching the time, or eating at 'normal' intervals, just eating when ever I felt like it.

I could NOT believe how fantastic everything tasted. EVERYTHING. Was it the mountain air or just the fact that I said it out loud and gave myself permission to be bad that made it all so good? Who cares! We ate in so many different bistros and cafes, tasting and drinking what ever they had to offer.

Back to the daily grind, old habits and routines, it wasn't hard to get back on track but I think I still feel full. It may also be called bloated. No matter, it was all so very worth it.

We did other things besides eating of course, we also had the bonus to be in the same mountain town as our very good friends who were skiing for the weekend so we were able to spend a couple of fun evenings sharing drinks and mountain adventures.

One step closure to the dream.