ta da....

Right before your eyes you will see my first painting. Yes, it is upside down. If I could figure out how top rotate it, I will...but for now, it doesn't look too bad the way it is.  I was with some friends admiring a picture in a store. The one friend agreed with me that it look really nice. The other friend said to us "you could paint that your self." To which we replied, after pausing a bit, with a "get out of here!".  No, she said, just take a photo of it and copy it yourself. Better yet, buy the original one, copy it by painting it, then return it. Since the picture I was looking at was a mountain scene with trees and snow..I thought I wouldn't be so keen on trying to copy that. She decided she will be our painting instructor and start us up small with this simple leaf design.
  I have to admit I am NO artist. Can't draw to save my life!  But, this was so fun to do. I was covered in paint, cause that's how I roll. Whether baking or whatever..I seem to wear whatever project I am working on. That's the fun bit. It took us one Sunday afternoon to paint this and I am so impressed. She said it helps to have some music in the background to set the mood. We had African tribal music going. I have chosen some opera music...ahh chosen it..have yet to actually have it playing in the background
  Since this leaf painting, that I have named The Fall Leaf,  I have tempted to paint a winter scene with trees.  Notice that picture isn't on display here??!!  There is a good reason for that. Good grief!!! But, I am not giving up on this. I have such a good time doing this and have some ideas of what to paint next..besides my arms, easel, clothes and whatever is handy to my brush.

just wondering...

Here I sit at the dining table playing a game on Facebook. Yes, I like to play games on Facebook. Mindless, time killing games. In my defense, I do play scrabble with several people and would love to challenge my over seas friends, but scrabble won't share.. They have a separate game for North Americans and another one for Europe.  Haven't a clue why?!! Do you Europeans have strange words that it won't accept on our board game?  We have the word "Zen" that it rejects all the time and, for future reference, no matter how many time you yell at your computer saying "it's a word..hello..anyone there?", it still won't accept it.  Anyway, I am playing a mindless, highly addicting, game (candy crush) and I am running out of moves. Suddenly a notice will come on informing me that for my real $, it will give me 5 extra moves.  My question is, just how desperate do you have to be to pay real money for face money or turns or points. What would drive you to actually pull out your credit card and say "hey, what a great deal I have going here."  If you have a spouse that goes over the bills, what would be your reasoning as to why you just had to purchase 5 more moves for 99Cents.  I can just imagine the blank stare I would get from my husband. Hmm almost tempting to give it a try. Almost..not quite.  Hey time has passed, maybe I have earned more lives while doing other computer things. Yipee!!  Game on people!

I am in love...

I walked into my magazine store with anticipation of bringing home my usual wad of British magazines. They seem to be the only ones I buy. I am not even from the UK, but I got addicted to them while living in Switzerland.  Addicted might seem like a harsh word, but anyone that knows me will say I have always been crazy about magazines. Only once in a blue moon do I actually throw some old ones out. Anyway, while I was there, I noticed a new style of e-reader.  Hmmm do I dare look at it. I knew it would cost the earth to buy cause it had just come out. Doesn't cost anything to look! Funny how I say that so often, and yet can't seem to follow that when in certain store. lol (Ikea being one of those stores!). I was with my son and the two of us began playing with the new e-reader. He was pressing all kinds of things and swiping his fingers along the screen. I stood there like some old nervous Nellie and kept saying "don't do that, you don't know what it might do". "It's ok mom. It won't hurt it.". I kept expecting the lights of the city to dim from all the things he was doing. Technology these day, you never know.  It would be cool to own one of these tablets, I thought. BUT I was not prepared to pay that amount. I have my e-reader that still works fine. I went on my merry way to fetch my magazines. Yes, they cost a bit here.  But, I think they are worth it.
  Skip a few months ahead and it's mother's day. My son got me that e-reader. Holy crap!! I told him that was very generous of him and way over the top. He said I deserved it and he now had a job and could pay for it and he really wanted to!  Awwww.  Frankly, I got spoiled by everyone this mother's day!! Gush gush!  anyway, back to the new fancy e-reader..now knows as my tablet! This thing is amazing!  I got free games to play, I can check emails and the most important discovery is that I can download my British magazines for half the price of what I pay. No way!!!  I text a good friend of mine that is well advanced in this technology thing, and I knew she downloaded magazines on her ipad. I asked if it was just like having the magazine in your hand. Does it really include everything from the magazine. She confirmed it was indeed the real thing. Whoopee!! So, now I have 3 magazines that I buy for my tablet. Think of how clean and de-cluttered my house will be without magazines hanging around for months on end. This will leave me with some empty shelves that I think can easily be filled with "stuff" from some of my favourite stores.
  Not only can I read my magazines, but I can join the kids in games. We are hooked on a great golfing game right now.  So, yes, I am in love. I am looking forward to having a dr.s appointment and bringing this tablet with me to keep me entertained. I realize most of everyone had one of these tablets..I always seem to be slightly behind the times. All I can say is Thanks, Child for buying me this new "toy"!!  Anyone want to challenge me to golf??!!

morning after a long weekend..

We had a nice long weekend and had great weather! Everyone in the family had their own plans. Some were home for a night, some were not!  It is always a surprise who is at the dinner table at night. Quite rare to have everyone here for dinner. This weekend was just like that. My husband was away and the kids were coming and going all weekend. All the fun ends when last night we had to try and get back into the groove of things. I set my alarm to get up at 7 am. This was in part for me to get ready for getting up tomorrow at 5 am. Ease myself into this early morning rising. Since I managed to stay up late, I reset my alarm for 8 am. My kids are good at getting up for the school bus. My alarm went off at 8 am and I eventually got out of bed. Worked my way out of the room, stood in the hallway and saw my youngest also standing in the hallway. Whoa!!  What day is this? What time is this? 20 questions raced in my head thinking I clearly missed something and maybe I didn't have to set my alarm.  I am always first to question myself over and over before I realize it isn't quite as it seems. I looked at him then said, "You missed your bus?"  Now, this kid hates mornings. Not the hate that lasts for a minute or two. It is a full on miserable, not talking to anyone for a long time, kind of hate. So, he looked at me and nodded his head. Ok,  My morning started with feet hitting the ground running! I grabbed a protein bar and got in the van and took him to school.  Decided while I was out, I may as well go work out. Starting the day that fast, usually leaves me with a foggy head all day long. I sound like a princess don't I.  Gee, unless I have my hour of morning leisure, then I just can't cope. lol
Hope you have a great day!!

A comedy of errors!

    Sometimes when my husband is talking away, I tend not to listen, I zone out and think of other things. I have learned that, when he was talking about the hoses for connecting to the water tank, I should have listened. He is away this weekend and it was up to me to make sure the garden got watered. We have a large garden so it takes a lot of water. We are lucky enough to live near a canal, so he hooks up the huge water tank to the tractor and goes helps himself with some water. They did say there would be lots of rain this weekend, so I really didn't think I would be needed to deal with the garden. Well, we all know how accurate the weather people are. We got maybe a sprinkling of rain..so..ugh..I had to water the garden tonight.  A simple task for the person that listened to what their husband was saying about the hoses...not so much for me!  There are 2 rows, along our spruce trees, that have green hoses. The one does have a nozzle, so I knew that would be my end hose. Surely it would be long enough to reach the water tank. Ya right...I can dream!  So, I rambled away moving those heavy hoses trying to figure out how one connects them. The dog was amused and watched me with great interest. I think, I heard her snicker..but couldn't be sure! My rambling was getting louder and louder. How hard is it to connect these stupid hoses and why do they weigh so bloody much!! I decided to hook up the one with the nozzle to the water tank and see what that would do. Well what it did was nothing. It wasn't long enough!  Sigh. Ok, I am a grown women, how hard is this?  I got the extra hose and brought it to the hose I was using and unhooked the nozzle end and got sprayed with a lot of water cause I didn't turn off the water! Arggg.
    Finally, I got everything all sorted. For future reference, turn water pressure off when changing hoses, wear rubber boots (cause water added to dirt turns into heavy mud that stick happily to sneakers), and above all...listen to my husband when he describes the newest things he buys for objects around the house. You never know what you will need to use them.

you get what you paid for..

Never has this saying been true!  A few months ago, I went to Las Vegas with my husband. Now, what says Vegas better then a t-shirt with glitter on it. Not tacky..just sparkly. The step for a hint, that I purchased a cheapie shirt, should have been when I unpacked it and saw my clothes covered in glitter.  Oh what the heck..it's vegas baby! So what if a few more items of clothes have a bit of sparkle on them. Who cares.  Who cares? Well, I do now.  I washed it recently and you guessed it, everyone's clothes are now covered in glitter. We are not in vegas and my son has recently complained to me that his military t-shirts are covered in Glitter.  It's hard to look tough and intimidating when you sparkle in the sunshine. Oops. My husband's uniform for work has pretty, gold glitter on it as well. I know in time it will eventually work it's way out of our house..that is, until I wash the t-shirt again!
   Just thought I would share that bit of laundry fun!

Introducing....

 Here is my dog, Emma!  She is a silver labrador!  Not sure why her left eye (her left, not ours) is so wonky..probably she is squinting in the sunshine.  She is 8 years old and spoiled rotten..nothing wrong with that!  When we got her, she was 10 months old and scared of anything or everything that moved. Poor girl.  We had to train her to walk on a leash, play and even go do her outside business.  Many cold winter days, we stood at the doorway saying, over and over.."go pee!" in fact, we can still be heard saying that. But, she has come a long way.  She loves going for rides in the van, loves walks and mostly, loves playing tug of war with a tennis ball.
Just thought I would share her with you. Now that I have figured out how to put photos on this blog, I just might add some more.

keeping fit...

Been ages since I have written in this blog. I believe I said that last time. Can I use the excuse that I am busy trying to keep busy?  Works for me. I don't have a job outside the home, so I try to think of various things to keep me out of trouble...ok, off the computer playing games!  I have joined a gym that keeps me going 5 - 6 days a week.
  Did I tell you about the first time I went to this gym years ago?  I was being shown all the equipment and how to use them. One machine works the inner thighs. You have to sit and put your legs in these leg holder things...oooh such terminology there. Anyway, you spread your legs apart and have to use your muscles to bring them together again. Quite the workout. While on the way home from this work out, a thought came to me. Not, how proud of myself I was for actually getting off my ever expanding butt and going there...nope, the thought that came to me was "oh my god, am I wearing the yoga pants that have a hole in the crotch?"  There is no better way to check other then, well checking. Yup!! These were the ones. So everyone saw my granny panties while I worked out. Thankfully, it is a women only gym!! THAT was years ago, and I am happy to report I have rejoined this gym complete with new yoga pants.  I do enjoy going especially now that they have a "smart" card. You plunk this chip into the machine and it will measure the effort you put in. Complete with calories burned and it also shows you if your are improving your efforts day to day.
  So far, I have lost 15lbs and about 12 inches over all. Some areas could use some more shrinking for sure, but baby steps. Another activity that keeps me from playing computer games all day (seriously, my house is clean..I don't just play computer games..honest), is take my dog for a walk along the canal we live near. (ugh..bad grammar there). This is her favourite past time besides chasing plastic bags and eating used tissue! I take my ipod to sing along with as well. I live out in the country..who is going to hear me as I sing along?   Oh that reminds me of a story that happened to me this weekend.  I was walking along a country road on Sunday. Quiet area.  I had my ipod in and suddenly it felt like my yoga pants were slipping down. I walked a few more steps and sure enough, they were heading south!  I unzipped my jacket, ipod fell to the ground, bent down to pick that up and then hiked up my pants. There right behind me was a jeep driving past quite slowly. Oh come one...there was no one for at least 1/2 hour and suddenly when I am losing my pants some jeep full of farmer men drives past. That is my life for sure. As I headed back from my walk, the same jeep drove past me again. I seriously need to rethink my wardrobe when walking or going to work out. OR..and here's a wacky idea, why not wear pants that fit!!  Tomorrow I will be going shopping!!

The non diet..diet..

Well we are already half way through January and I decided that I would NOT be one of those people that make the usual resoultions come Jan 1st.  Cause (as my mother would say) as sure as god made little green apples, I would be binging by the 3rd.  Diets just don't work for me. The second I put the word diet into my head, I am already starving and just dying for a piece of warmed up brownie with oozing icing...yum. Instead, I decided to get off the couch, which is so comfy, and join Curves gym. The Curves I belong to is on the second floor, so I had to walk up loads of steps just to get there. Truth be told, the elevator is rather old and looks very complicated to work. Maybe they just put that sign with all those instructions there, just so the curves members would use the stairs.  Hey...it worked. I got up to the top of the stairs and pretended I wasn't out of breath by stopping to look at my phone. I had a tiny hallway to walk down and tried to catch my breath. Ugh!!  Was I ever someone that needed to join this gym!  I entered the gym and the fun began. I have been ther since the beginning of November and have gone 5 days a week. Mind you, it was closed for a week during Christmas. I get measured and weighed once a month.
     My first month was hard. There were times when I really didn't want to go. I came up with all kinds of excuses as to why I just had to stay at home. But the more I talked myself out of going..the more my other half of the brain was kicking my ass out the door.  I am at the point where now I feel terrible if I miss a workout. Anyway, I dreaded my first weigh in and measuring. I stepped on the scale and lost...2lbs. Oh good grief! (my inside voice said a lot worse..). BUT I had lost 4 inches in total. Under this roll, there is a six pack waiting to come out!  A friend of mine goes to another Curves and has lost 10lbs. But, as she said, she has been starving herself. It is so hard to not focus on the weight numbers. It was weighing and measuring time last week. Gulp, this was after the Christmas holidays and let me tell you, I did not hold back on eating baking.  I lost 1lb, but another 4 inches. Yes!!!  I was told not to focus on the numbers...cause she could read my mind yet again. She said my body is kind of in shock that I am not starving myself and from all the years of yo-yo dieting, it isn't sure what to do with me right now.  I was told, the weight will fall off soon.
     I am proud to say I have donated all my size 18 pants and have even recently bought a size 14 jeans. I still deal with the muffin top, but I now it is going down. Truth be told, I am a size 16, for now. My aim is maybe a size 12. I would be happy with that for sure. I won't even be a stick insect, but I can deal with that , no problem.
    I am into my 3rd month of goint to curves and they are offering a new diet program that says I could shed 20lbs in 3 months. Wow!  I will sign up for that, just not right now cause, let's face it, who wants to be on a diet while on a holiday! I am off for a trip with my husband and I will watch what I eat, but I won't diet.