i made some changes to the look of the blog. whaddya all think?

i especially like bloggers new blogroll feature. you add your blogs and then when they are updated it shows up in the feed. check it out!

ps. i'm pretty sure there won't be a blog post tomorrow as i am going to be busy and then probably too pre-occupied later on to post anything. see you all tuesday.

my perfect saturday morning consists of a little cleaning, a little surfing, a little crocheting, and some great tunes. it also helps that you go to bed at a reasonable hour and that your child sleeps until 7:30 AM (which is the latest he's slept in months)

i just finished an apple, i've got my water, the wyrd sisters CD is playing, dishwasher is running, the counters are clean and i'm thinking about tackling the living room next. the hardwood is in need of a vacuum.

father and son are upstairs playing video games. i can hear andrew squeal with delight every so often. they're plaing an old bowling game from the 80's on the computer and andrew seems to be better at it then steve (considering he's 3).

before steve goes to work this afternoon we're going to check out a large garage sale at a local church. andrew needs a new pair of sandals to finish out the summer but i don't want to spend a load of money.

which brings me to the jar update. this week we went back on the jars. there's enough allocated for gas (enough to fill up the car), enough for food (we went 1.94 over budget, i could have put something back but i didn't want to cause the line more grief), enough for clothes, enough for the LIFE stuff...except...there's never enough for entertainment. apparently we need to be entertained quite a bit. it seems that our downfall is eating out and eating in. is a large part of our relationship to go out for supper and enjoy appetizers, entrees, desert and drinks. it's hard to develop other aspects of what we can do together as a couple. it's tough but it's happening. sometimes it's as easy as going out side to sit for a few minutes. let the consumption urge pass. lol. we're going through withdrawal from our addiction.

the big test is tonight. my best friend is supposed to be coming over tonight. she wants to go for supper and i don't have any of my allowance left and i don't want to use the entertainment money from the jar b/c i want to save that for steve's day off. in the past i would have just put the meal on my credit card...but now i don't want to do that. i want to suggest that we just stay in. i have the fixin's for pizza and this way andrew can run around. but i know she likes to go out for supper. so we'll see.

i'm off to get ready for the garage sale now.

cheers!

this week at life....

life has been very stressful. i want to write something witty and funny, but reallly all i can think of is sad and scary stuff. i don't want to write about that. so this week i'm going to write nothing.

that's right. you read that correctly. i'm already starting to think about christmas. but it's not just christmas that i'm thinking about, it's the presents i'm thinking about. it's excitement and worry at the same time. how will we afford it? will people like what we give them? who should we buy for? who should we not buy for? what can i make this year? what can i make that people will actually like, enjoy, and use?

while, i enjoy christmas and all the extras i do confess it is very easy to be swept up in the consumerism of plstic. i've been reading about something started by a group of mennonites called Buy Nothing Christmas. it's a very powerful idea summed up in their FAQs as:


What is Buy Nothing Christmas?

Buy Nothing Christmas is a national initiative started by Canadian Mennonites who offer a prophetic "no" to the patterns of over-consumption of middle-class North Americans. They are inviting Christians (and others) all over Canada to join a movement to de-commercialize Christmas and re-design a Christian lifestyle that is richer in meaning, smaller in impact upon the earth, and greater in giving to people less-privileged.
Can I be a part of Buy Nothing Christmas even if I buy a few things?

Definitely. We are all going to have to buy some things. When you do buy things, we encourage you to remember principles like buying locally, fairly-traded, environmentally friendly packaging, recycling or re-using, buying things that last, and so on. The main aim of this campaign is not to save money (although that can be a side benefit), it's not to slow down the pace of Christmas (although that can be a side benefit), it is to challenge our over-consumptive lifestyle and how it affects global disparities and the earth. So, even though you might buy a few things at Christmas, it's important to think in these global economic terms.

religion aside, it's an interesting concept. i've been seriously considering particpating in this event. i know that i will buy some things (ie. housekeeping services for my parents) but my fantasy is to either make something that the receiver will love and cherish for years or that the receiver will use in real life for years. in short, i don't want my gifts to end up in a closet, in the basement, or in a landfill. also, andrew is young enough that he doesn't really understand christmas and 1 present is as good as 12 to him. in the end he always ends up playing in the box anyways.

some simple and easy things that i can do in support of the buy nothing christmas ideal

1. make handmade christmas gifts (& all year round gifts too!)
2. stop using wrapping paper. this year i will not buy wrapping paper! newspaper works wonders or i will make all my own reusable bags to put the gifts in.
3. buy handmade or free trade when neccesary to purchase a gift
4. buy local as well when purchasing a gift (ie. housekeeping services for my mother)
5. agree to not exchange gifts with a) co-workers b) adult friends & c) adult cousins (really, it would be much more fun to all go see a movie or go for supper anyways...)

it was a such a tough day today. i'm too tired to even write anything.

sorry.

at my work we don't really have a lunch room. we have a small room that someone has put a table and fridge and microwave. there is no sink and no drawers and no cupboards. we do however have plastic everything. plastic cups, plastic plates, plastic cutlery. i've been working really hard at not using the plastic and have my cup and my plate and bowl there. i even bring cutlery in to eat with my lunches and snacks. all the disposables make me feel ill.

i bring the cutlery but i get really frustrated with the fact that my cutlery is at the bottom of my bag and loose and clinks together. i started to think how i could prevent this. & i started to wonder how i could do this in style.

some of the military people had these neat little army issue cases for their cutlery (which was army issue as well)...where could i get one? could i make one? after some internet searching i think can! Instructables has a tutorial on how to make a cutlery case and i've got the support of the hitched chicks. i've got an old pair of jeans that i'm going to use as the base for the case and i'm going to find a funky pillow case from value village for the top part of the pattern. i'm so excited! crafty mojo is back!

if my first attempt goes well, i'm thinking of making one for each of my nieces as part of their christmas present (they're teens but they also seem to be quite practical and i'm not buying them 'stuff' anymore).

wish me luck! cheers!

when clutter takes over, i can't think. seriously. i know it sounds completely doolally, but it's true. it starts so small. some junk mail comes and instead of throwing it out it gets shuffled into my important papers basket. i go to a work seminar and bring home the pamphlets and notes and they get added to the basket (i used to call it a bin...but since meeting steve i can't do that. bin = garbage can in british speak...i'd say it's in the bin and he'd go looking in the garbage). throw in some magazines, cards, receipts and before you know it you have a mountain of dead trees. the pile gets so big you need a whole other basket and eventually the paper takes over a room. you see where this is going.

it's so easy to become overwhelmed with paper and all the other 'stuff' in a house. the basement has really become a lost land. anything that we don't want to deal with goes into the basement (except for bills, even though we don't want to deal with them they haven't made their way into the basement--yet). what was once a wide open empty space is no almost packed to the ceiling in parts.

today i declare, THE DECLUTTERING MUST BEGIN! i've had it. totally had it.

i tackled most of the paper last weekend. everything paper related is in one container all filed all nicely. steve bought me a shredder and i've been madly shredding everyhting with personal information. now i've got the shredder on the kitchen counter and as things come in i've been shredding them. it feels so good to not have the mountain of paper.

THE PLAN OF ATTACK -- i'm going to identify 1 area that needs decluttering in every room in the house and go from there...

• KITCHEN - CUTLERY DRAWER: somehow all the cutlery that i had in a box stored in the basement got unpacked by a certain husband and dumped into the cutlery drawer. now it's overflowing and nothing fits. i need to get rid of about 100 spoons.
• LIVING ROOM - ENTERTAINMENT UNIT: our movies and tv shows are out of control. nothing has cases and there's CDs mixed up everywhere. got to get a system of some kind.
• BATHROOOM - UNDER THE SINK: just needs to be cleaned out and the old stuff thrown out and maybe a nice basket for everything to sit in.
• 3RD BEDROOM - COMPUTER DESK: is a crazy mess of tiny little pieces of receipts. 'nuff said.
• ANDREWS BEDROOM - HIS CLOTHES: we sort through them every couple months and still somehow they end up all crazy again days later. i hate little kid clothes. seriously.
• MASTER BEDROOM - OUR CLOTHES: need to take out old and not worn clothes. same as always.
• BASEMENT - SHELVING UNIT: it's a zoo down there. i think the animals rearranged when i wasn't looking. *sigh*
• ANDREWS TOYS - these are strewn about the house and really we need to get rid of his infant toys and only have the ones he plays with.

1. an unfinished shawl...the story of my life.

2. a naked baby eating oatmeal.

3. benders big score.

4. a naked baby eating oatmeal watching benders big score.

5. laminate floor with oatmeal on it.

what a fucking awesome movie!

this week at life has been full of drama. family drama, work drama, daycare drama, ... *sigh*

1. family drama - my parents are pack rats. before my mom got sick the pack rattiness didn't seem so bad. my mom could keep the main rooms looking okay. but since she's lost a lot of her mobility things have gone downhill. their house has reached a state of 'needs-to-be-condemned'. i've ignored the situation for quite a whilenow, but alas it seems like i won't be able to ignore it any longer. my parents want to rent the upstairs suite (where i used to live) and they want me get it ready. uh-oh. not going to happen. my anxiety goes through the roof just thinking about it. & i told them exactly that. & well...drama ensued. so, i've been dealing with that.

2. work drama - well, remember before how i barely had any work to do? well, now i'm doing 2 peoples jobs and i'm so busy it sucks. sucks big donkey balls. other staff are still wandering around and chatting and surfing the net and i'm plugging away at the work that wasn't while i was on holidays...

3. daycare drama - i won't say much about this one, but i'm the chair of the board and there is a lot of stuff happening and much to do still.

i'm looking forward to the weekend. i think tomorrow the 3 of us are going to go to the beach if the weather is nice.

sunday is a friends little guys birthday party. get to see wall-e in the theatres and i'm super excited!

other then that i'm just getting used to steve working in the evenings and it just being me and andrew after work and for supper. it's not too bad. so far we've been watching a lot of cartoons. :P