Now It's My Turn!

Three noon hour walks accomplished!

I can walk down to the Big Grocery Store way down the street, shop a bit, and get back to work in just about an hour, if I walk with real purpose. Adds about 7000 steps to my pedometer, which means I have reached over 12,000 steps on each of my walking days - WOO HOO!!!!

Today I bought some ingredients for making a cauliflower and potato soup this weekend in my slow cooker. Two big and beautiful heads. Also bought some celery, carrots, a kabocha squash, brown arborio type rice, kefir (more about that later)...somehow it escaped my mind that I would have to haul this all on my shoulder on my way back to work. Funny how my selections did not seem very heavy individually when I placed them in my buggy....but man did they add up. I almost bought a 2 kg bag of dried black beans too. For some reason, THAT I could figure out would be too heavy to carry, with all the rest of my loot.

I did manage to bring my haul to my office, though, with only one casualty (besides cutting off the blood supply to my arms). My kefir popped!

Introducing my new addiction:

Kefir is a fermented milk product that is kind of like drinking bubbly yogurt. I love it poured over cereal. Yum Yum.

When you buy kefir the inner seal on the container should be bulging. This is the sign of good kefir. A bad sign for all other foods...but GOOD for kefir. Trust me!

But because of the buildup of gases causing the bulging aluminum inner seal, the container is under pressure. Expecting kefir to duke it out with a bunch of heavy fall veggies in a bag and emerge unscathed is asking for it, I found out. Luckily I only lost a little of the kefir and the bag didn't get soiled, just the packaging on some of the veggies, so all was still good!

And I didn't get any kefir on my new source of inspiration, Tosca Reno - the lovely lady telling me that it's NOW MY TURN on the cover of the magazine. Which is apropos, because I only got turned on to kefir from reading Tosca's book: The Eat Clean Diet Recharged!

Tosca is Canadian, my age (and a fitness model/cover girl!), and just flat out gorgeous and gorgeously healthy and strong-looking. She is also of Dutch background, like me, and has the same educational background: a B. Sc. and a B. Ed.! When I look at her, I see the Me I could be.

I've never bought Oxygen Magazine before, but I have 3 of Tosca's books and am really feeling inspired to Eat Clean and dust off my dumbbells! Sometimes everything just clicks and the next thing you know, you are on a whole new path. I feel that is happening to me now.

When I saw the lovely Tosca beaming and pointing at me at the checkout magazine rack, I knew I had to bring her home for even more inspiration. I think I will make me a new vision board with Ms. Reno front and centre....

Who Needs the Gym....

...When you have a house and yard to look after? See above for this year's mountain range of leaves, raked the curb for the annual pickup by the City. See also bags of cut up branches peeking out from behind the light pole. Just a few this round, adding to the total of about a dozen so far this fall....

However, I do not have leaves to rake and shrubberies (is that a word? Sounds vaguely Monty Python-ish somehow) to cut up every day. Which is too bad really, because I find yard work strangely soothing. Years ago, a good friend gave me a decorative plaque that reads "Find peace in the garden", and I do!

Now that the wedding is behind me, and we are not quite ready to move over to JD's place, I am thinking of taking one another project, specifically Project Me, and about time too! My goal is to be in ready shape, by Spring 2011, to start seriously training for another half-marathon. Which means it's time to get more active and lose me some poundage. Yeah, the poundage I was supposed to lose for the wedding....yep, those pounds are still hanging around and they found a couple of friends too since then....fast food, eating late, and being inactive have taken their inevitable toll on me.

I was eyeing up the gym next door to my work last week as I was percolating the whole Project Me thing, thinking I should rejoin. My husband (I still thrill to use that word!) suggested I start out more simply, by taking walks at lunch. A cheaper option, needs no special equipment, gets me into the fresh air, will clear my mind etc etc. All good things. So I will start there and see where it takes me.

My goal for this week is to get out for a noon hour walk at least 3 times this week. I'm strappin' on the pedometer once again and will aim for 10K steps on those days.

Switched Gears

For the past coupla years, whenever I had some down time (or was ill, a favourite time to...ahem...sprout my couch potato inclinations), I inevitably gravitated towards one of those Life Channel or TLC Wedding shows. I just couldn't get enough of Rich Bride, Poor Bride, Wedding SOS, Bulging Brides or Say Yes to the Dress. I'd grab my knitting, or my dog, or both and settle in, eyes glued to the 13 inch screen of the only TV in the house.

I tried to do this a few days back and somehow it just wasn't the same. The shows that absolutely held me rapt in August now made me yawn and channel surf. The wedding has passed and with it, the TV wedding show mania.

Now I find my focus being directed towards home renovation/design shows and the Cooking Channel (Alton Brown, where have you been all my life?). I believe this is called "nesting" and quite understandable for a young bride to be interested in. But me? I've been creating my own nest for about 30 years now. It's not exactly new to me.

Yet, when I have a moment and sit down, I surf my way over to HGTV these days, or Food, or the design shows on W.

Hmmmm....to be continued....

Wedding Planning Update and Random Assorted Ramblings...

Lookee what I found on eBay!Swarovski dragonfly hairpins!!!!!

Not sure how they will be er....implanted...in my wedding 'do, but that will be for the marvelous Suzie at Essence Salon to figure out. I am pretty much hair-stupid...it takes all of my hair dressing skills just to scrape it offa my face and and anchor it with a clip. I think it's a matter of patience, of which for hair, I have none. Three hands would be a plus too.

Invitations were either mailed out or hand-delivered this week to all of our guests. Mizzus K did a fabulous job on them. What a wonderful gift these were!I do hope all of our guests can make it, though I am thinking some might not, for various good reasons. Some have even hinted that travelling to the wedding is not going to be a viable option, but I sent them invites anyways, to let them know we consider them to be our honoured guests regardless of whether they can actually make it or not.

New Topic

Random shots of daylilies from my sadly neglected but thriving somehow anyways front garden:

The first was a gift from my daughter, the second a gift from my son. I've split them once already, and am going to be taking some to our new home at JD's place. And the third? A "volunteer" who magically appeared one season in the front garden from somewhere, most likely from the ones in the backyard.

I leave you with this, to ponder:

I see this truck every once in a while, parked at the golf course that JD is working at this summer. Hard not to forget a pickup with a scrotum. I would love to know what kind of person feels the need to give his motor vehicle balls. Does he love his truck so much he wishes it would reproduce? (I am assuming it is a guy and perhaps that is sexist of me, but really...would a woman decorate a vehicle in this way?) Maybe I just don't get it. Thoughts?

Serenity NOW......please!

Bless me Mother, for I have sinned....it's been over a month since my last pedicure, since I last intentionally exercised, since I've taken anything more than the most cursory care of myself.

I said I'd never go back to Crazytown (I say that every time) but I found myself there once again.

The refridgerator is almost empty and the cupboards are getting bare. The house is neglected. My dog is a scruffy shaggy mess. The yard is an embarrassment. I have no friends anymore and my family doesn't remember who I am.

JD and I have been busy with a capital B on a large accounting project with a deadline outside of work and it has taken its toll on us and our surroundings.

But now the worst is over and I am ready to rejoin the life currently in progress, which includes matrimony in about... !!!!EIGHT WEEKS!!!!!!
How did that happen?

Already, the anxiety dreams are happening. You know the ones....where you suddenly realize it's the day of your wedding and you're getting married in 20 minutes and you haven't picked up your dress from the store yet. In fact it hasn't even been altered yet. Then your eyes open and you realize it was just a dream and there's still time...

But not a whole lot of it!

And not a whole lot of time to post to the blog either, at least not till I get somewhat caught up at home. When life gives you an empty fridge, don't make lemonade - at least not until you clean the darn thing inside and out....which is what I plan to do tonight.

Chore List 4 2Night: The Negative Space approach - like the art exercise of drawing the negative space around an object instead of the object itself, only the housework version
(oh goddess, I'm punchdrunk from lack of sleep....)

1. Empty fridge (should take less than 3 minutes) and formulate shopping list from items that are NOT being removed from fridge.

2. Clean fridge.

3. Go shopping for the edible essentials of life.

4. Fill up sparkly clean fridge with purchases.

5. Feel less insane

Have a good night!

Quick 'n Dirty Post

No, not THAT kind of dirty. Tsk tsk!

Just a quickie (no, not THAT kind of quickie! Really....) before I head home to my cyber-spaceless world for a weekend of tasks, more tasks, JD's b-day, and a funeral for an old family friend. RIP Tante Willy. Your laughter and joy in life echoes in my memories still.

Here's what I've been up to lately:

April Salad A Day challenge has gone well. Most days I did have salad and some days even twice! Like this day (above) - a breakfast spinach-avocado-mango smoothie (AKA Salad in a Glass) in front of my supper (black bean salsa chicken in the slow cooker). And here is lunch for the same day:
My goddess, is that healthy or what?

For my May Challenge, I am going to do the 30 day Shred DVD by Jillian Michaels. I am fully expecting to be hobbling and groaning for at least the first week. Can't wait! (insert dripping sarcasm here)

I bought a new toy...er...kitchen time and money saving appliance this week. (Yes. I can save money by buying stuff. I have that talent. More sarcasm to be inserted here.) Behold:

I finally caved and bought a rice cooker after pondering and researching them for months. I mean, a rice cooker? Why not just use a pot and the stove? I've made perfect rice this way for....for...well, a heck of a long time!!!! This was a tough one for me because, although I love labour and time saving appliances as much as the next gal, they have to be real work horses to justify the expense and the room they take up in the kitchen, in my opinion.

Let me tell you, this lil' baby does everything but knit socks. It cooks porridges, puddings, soups, all kinds of grains (barley etc.), legumes, rice (all kinds - some of which I have never heard of), risottos, it steams (veggies! eggs! fish! chicken!), it slow cooks...it even makes tofu. Which I doubt I will ever do, but never say never. I do like to cook from scratch....but TOFU? I rarely even buy it. Oh well.

This week I made basmati rice at 730 am (to pack into JD's lunch meal), then left it on (Keep Warm function) till supper, and the rice was still hot, tender and fresh at 7 pm. I've also woken up to perfect cinnamon and raisin steel-cut oatmeal. I heart my new rice cooker! The only appliance one would need when travelling...or on a desert island...well, if it had an electrical outlet. Mine even comes with a cute carry handle for "making and taking".

Other news: we have found a wonderful potter to make wedding favours. Wife of a co-worker. Ta-Dah!

I won't tell you which one we picked. Gotta leave something for a surprise.

More stuff next week....gotta run now....have a good one!

April Challenge and Various Musings/Updates

I have decided that (amongst other things) April is SALAD A DAY month. I do love eating salads, but am not always organized enough (read: too darn lazy) to prepare them for my meals. Above, behold my ginormous Tupperware bowl (a popcorn bowl, courtesy of Blockbuster Video many, many years ago) which holds enough salad for JD and I for at least 3 days. I want to make it a habit to eat more veggies and SAD is a good habit to start.

So far so good with the SAD challenge....well, except for the day we dropped into Burger King with our coupon for Whopper combos (2 can dine for $8.99!) and they were OUT of salads. That day the salad was of the fried potato variety...sigh. (And it was actually kinda tasty....I am not a fan of french frys or usually even potatoes....but I did enjoy these as they were not too salty and I was HUNGRY.)

Here's my backup plan for this challenge - formerly known as a Green Monster, I now re-christen you: SALAD IN A GLASS:

This particular SIAG was comprised of about:

4 cups spinach, steamed to a little pile of concentrated leafy green goodness

1 cup skim milk

1 cup frozen raspberries

1 scoop Whey Gourmet protein powder (vanilla, of course!)

So delicious. So guilt-free. So all about cramming in that much fruit and veggies before noon!

Picture a Day Update

During my recent bout with the respiratory virus from hell, I was less diligent about hauling the camera out every day. Though I did take snaps on most days, I am now so far behind on posting them on this blog I am going to start over - tomorrow....yep, not even gonna try to get caught up. Forward, onward, never look back...rah rah...and all that (said with a plummy British accent). Because it's my blog and I can.

Menopause on Pause?

My little seconds-long (minute-pause?) tropical moments, which have been on hiatus for several months, seem to have returned over the past week. Is it possible for this to happen? Menopause to go in and out of remittance? Or is something else going on? I guess there is nothing to do but wait and see what my body decides to do next.

Adventures in D-Land

First up, what you are looking at is the remains of a batch of Choco-cado pudding (Mar 2 POD). JD and I love this stuff - but it is extremely filling because of its richness. I add even more cocoa powder (3 tbsp) for more chocolatey goodness! A lighter but still awesome modification I made was Choco-nana pudding, where I substitute 2 ripe bananas for the medium avocado. Just as tasty, not as filling. Cut back on agave nectar somewhat when you use bananas, unless you like things really sweet.

March 3 POD - still on a high from the Olympics and the closing ceremony, I decided I HAD to have Michael Buble's latest. I have some of his other albums, or at least I thought I did (Mizz J, I am looking at you, you Michael Buble lovin' CD snitcher!). While I was browsing the CD racks I also decided I had to have the above dance compilation CD. Both CD's could have a place at our wedding. The first, definitely for ambiant music...the second in case people actually do want to dance. Although the 3rd track....Hotel Room Service by Pitbull....I dunno....

Here is a sampling of the cleaner lyrics: "two, two, two, I gonna undress you; three, three, three, you gonna undress me; four, four, four, we gonna freak some more." Mr. P-Bull also discusses a whole lotta other stuff in his song, most of which I don't understand and sounds kinda innocent but I am sure it is some kinda slang for raunchy stuff, given the general...ahem....theme. I don't see our guests particularly enjoying this number. Just saying.

March 4 POD - JD and I went with my matron of honour and her hubbie to see David Francey in concert. A real troubadour and a great story-teller. A lovely evening with this particular singer-songwriter and Craig Werth and Jeff Sommers, who accompanied him on various instruments.

March 5 POD - I had to take a pic of this plant. Mistah K (my son) gifted me with this lovely for my birthday and I have to say it is doing fantastic in my office. It really likes it there (along with my orchids, only one of which is really thriving). The plant has easily doubled in size since July and the number of "blooms" (I don't think anthuriums really have flowers, but whatever you call them, they're beautiful)....well, it just keeps shooting out more and more.

That's all I have time for, for now. More news later...dress drama, reconnecting with my Dutch cousin, and whatever else I get up to this weekend. Have a great one!

Valentine's Day Inspiration

Yesterday it was finally time to say good-bye to Christmas. A last look at this years' Swarovski before it got packed away (Feb 14th pic).

Some may think it strange that we keep the tree and decorations up this long afterwards, but one year they stayed up till Easter. Which was just a bit too long, even for me. It felt like the Christmas decor was preventing Spring from coming!

JD's mom (who passed away shortly after we started dating in 2002) used to keep a little tiny tree up all year long, as a reminder for her family to keep the Christmas spirit in their hearts every day of the year. I wouldn't mind doing something similar after the move to our new place. JD's dad still keeps her tree up, as well as buying her a single rose every week and placing it next to her urn on the mantel. Very sweet.

As I was dismantling the tree and packing the ornaments carefully away, I was inspired by the colours in one box of ornaments:

These are the colours I would love to have incorporated into the wedding decorations, flowers and invitations. Soft pinks, creams, gold, silver...even some lavender. Now I have a definitive colour scheme and my artistic and crafty friend Mizzus K and I can go shopping for invitation-making supplies!

Catch Up, Yet Again

My oh my, where does the time go?

In my own defense, I have been rather busy - working, wedding planning (OMG - about time!), and helping my mom and stepdad with their move to the house from the condo.

It has been a tough move for them (she's 74, he's 80) but they are settled in now and hopefully can rest a bit. My painting clothes came home on the 30th (POD) which means the kitchen, computer room and bathroom are DONE! You may not be able to see from the photo, but we painted the kitchen and bath a lovely creamy shade (dripping down the B in CIBC) called "Fuzzy Mitten".

Remind me someday to show you the pic of the peeling paint in my own bathroom at home. Sigh.

Triptych or Troika - you pick

Third (and final ) installation, as I get caught up in my blogging and picture taking.

January 22nd photo: Sun going down behind me. I looked up from the parking lot of our building to see the church on the hill next door. It looked especially pretty and I was especially happy because here it was 5:30 at night and still light out! Yay!!! Spring is coming....in another couple of months....but still...progress. Yay Mother Nature....way to spin the planet closer to longer days and better weather!

January 23rd: spied these arrangements in the cooler of our tenant (and florist). White orchids and hydrangeas! Looks like fireworks exploding in flower form. I love it. Something like this for our wedding would be wonderful. Hope the florist doesn't tell me this is for a funeral. Doesn't look very funereal to me? Does it to you?

January 24th photo: this is what my dog looks like when she knows she is going for a walk. Note the flying ears. Flying because she is bouncing up and down on full alert and joyousness mode.

This is why people own dogs. They are the embodiment of the word JOY.

Oh yeah, plus loyal and always happy to see you, no matter how bad of a day it has been (for you or them). Why can't we all be more like dogs?

The newly shorn Lucy must now wear her coat when outside (according to me, not her). This pic is a stand-in for January 25. I actually took it last winter. For some reason I did not take a picture yesterday....the memory....ah, she is pretty bad these days.

I am finally feeling a bit better, after last week's 24 hours from Hell, and the resulting days from the outskirts of Hell. I am going back to the doc this week (after yet more blood work) to press for something to be done to restore me to my old self. I haven't felt this bad since I was severely anemic. I doubt I am anemic, though the doc was quick to point out that my iron levels were normal alright....LOW normal. Still, anemia or thyroid....who cares?! Just fix me.

And finally: today's photo.

This book arrived in the mail for me today!

I am a FAN of this woman's work. I already have two of her other books: Time Management from the Inside Out and Never Check Your Email in the Morning. Sometimes I wonder if I should read less about organizing and actually do some organizing instead. But then I get distracted and the feeling passes....tee hee.

Part Deux

January 16th photo:

More Glee. Finished watching entire first season. Want more. Now.

Being under the weather is a perfect time to catch up on TV, doncha think?

Well, lest you think I was a total couch spud on Saturday, I must tell you that I also (also, stupidly...see January 15th for more superhuman stupidity) walked my dog to the groomer and back. The groomer is a 1.5 hour walk from my house, along the river trail. So that was 3 hours walking total, plus 1.5 hours waiting for the dog to be groomed. Not something to be done when recovering from the total body...er...cleanse...I had just experienced two days prior. While waiting for milady, I headed up the street to a local cafe, read the paper and tried to eat some breakfast. I pocketed the bacon for Lucy - her treat for enduring the indignity of the grooming process. Once we got back to the house, both of us retreated to the couch. She didn't get up again until it was dark. Methought I had finally wore her out.

January 17th: the new and much improved Miss Lucy.

Jan 18th photo: My mom and stepdad bought a house and are in the process of moving from their condo. On Sunday, JD and I went over to help them at the new place and my mom gave me this little porcelain statue that had belonged to my dad's mom. People tend to want to give you stuff when they are moving, I have found. Packing up/unpacking your stuff tends to bring forth the following exclamations: Why do we have all this stuff? And: Here, do you want it? Yes, actually, I do.

Nothing special about it - your basic dollar store trinket - but my Oma loved it and I have very few things from her except memories, so it is precious to me because it was precious to her.

January 19th photo of a box on a shelf in my bedroom. It also says: Live and Love on the other sides. Cannot for the life of me remember why I wanted to take this picture. I do know I was still feeling rotten, and perhaps I needed a LAUGH!

January 20th photo: Organizing. Remember that resolution? Hmmm. Tonight I took a few moments to take all my makeup brushes from their various homes and put them all in this beautiful Queen mug. I loved this mug from the moment I saw it (black and pink and pretty writing, oh my!) but I wouldn't buy so a friend bought it for me. I didn't want to take it to work lest my staff and co-workers took offense (it's OK to be boss, but QUEEN??? Really! Some people....) so it now lives in my bathroom. Proudly proclaiming my status as the Queen of my domicile.

That's enough for this post. More soon.

Oh dear, where has the time gone?

Eleven days since I posted last!

Well, since then I went away on business, got terribly sick, recovered slo-o-o-w-ly, tried to get back to normal, and tried also to get caught up.

I think I might have to make multiple postings to get all the daily pix in nicely, but let's see how we make out, shall we?

First up: January 11th photo. Trying out my new contraption for changing skeins of yarn into nice balls of yarn. Yarn is Dream in Colour Smooshy Sock Yarn with real silver shot through it. Since I don't have a yarn swift to coordinate with my ball winder, I have looped the skein around a kitchen chair. Tedious, but it works! This yarn is going to be knit into a cowl, eventually.

Jan 12th photo: my room at the Royal York, where I was staying while away on business. Ahhhhh, so calm, peaceful and tidy....like my house used to be (and will be again someday, probably when I am retired...LOL). The colour scheme at this (and many other hotels) is classic red, green and gold. This is along the lines of the colours I am thinking of, for when JD and I make over the apartment at our historic property into our marital home, instead of what it is now: a tired looking bachelor pad.

January 13th photo: After the business meeting was over, JD and I decided to take a mini-holiday and spend the rest of the day and the next in Niagara Falls.

Some of the holiday lighting displays were still operating and I tried capture them sans tripod. A little blurry, but hey... you get the idea. Little did I know that I would end up in the early morning hours of the next day sick as the proverbial dog, not sure which end to hang over the toilet. At first I thought it was food poisioning (from the Royal York, really???) but later I read in the local newspaper about a mysterious 24 hour stomach bug that is threatening to close down the hospital to visitors....I suspect that is what I got hit with.

Jan 14th photo: After some debate as to whether I was even well enough to handle the 2 hour car ride home to the Village, I decided I just had to get home. Did not want to pay to spend another night being sick in our hotel, however cheap and off-season it was. On the way home, we stopped at Dee's General Store in Valens so I could stagger in for her unbelievable butter tarts. Peanut butter butter tarts are my absolute favourite of hers. Still, it was 2 more days before I could do more than just look at one, and luckily there was still one left for me at that time! Stupidly, I went back to work on the 15th, instead of staying home for some badly needed recuperation time.

January 15th photo: Once I dragged my sorry butt back home from work, I flopped onto the couch and started watching the first season of Glee on dvd. What a cool show.

I think I'll stop here and continue updating the blog with another posting: Part Deux.

Progress

I am continuing to make progress towards my 2010 goals a whole seven (count em, seven) days into the New Year. Yay me!
Not only am I trying to organize home, but also my home away from home (aka my office). What you see in the photo is a recycling bag full of old supplier catalogues. And I do mean FULL. As in, I have to split this into at least 2 more bags to get them to the curb without splitting open.

I've also gone through the filing cabinet in the background and come up with two Bankers boxes full of old files to store away (I still need them, just not on a daily basis) and another box of paper to shred. Amazing what can accumulate in just under 5 years!

Today I also called the Wedding Coordinator (WC) at the Village Hotel and she has tentatively booked our wedding date for us. Hoorah for that! If she had told me that our date was not available I don't know what I would have done as I hadn't been thinking about a Plan B. Now to peruse the wedding planning package she sent us and get some details down!

I feel really good about this venue. The food there is excellent and the customer service is pretty amazing. (We have a pool/fitness membership there and thus have had many interactions with the staff ). Also the WC, Tracey, seems quite warm and friendly.

Very different from the WC we met at The Highly Regarded Country Inn we had initally considered. The HRCI is in an idyllic setting about an hour from the Village - a real stunner of an old mill converted into a first class country getaway. I would have so loved to bring all of our guests there to enjoy the scenery and the wonderful food and lodging HOWEVER the WC left a bad impression on us. She was so disinterested and cold to us, that we left the HRCI with a real sense of foreboding about having to work closely with her for such an important event. Strange to have someone with that type of personality in that role, but I suppose the HRCI is renowned enough that people will book, regardless.

Anyway, JD suggested staying closer to home after this experience, to make things easier on our aging family members, and thus the theme of Wedding in the Village was born!

Twenty Ten Resolutions

After a completely crazy December at work and a food free-for-all at Christmas, I am more than ready to get back to some semblance of routine and healthy living. This will be my year - I can feel it like I haven't before.

I've made some simple resolutions (simpler = easier to remember and focus on, in my books) and so far, so very good.

They are:

Everyday I will:

- move my body in concentrated exercise (minimum time = 10 minutes)
- clean/organize something (minimum time = 15 minutes)
- take at least one photo of something that interests me that day. I will be posting these to the blog (probably not daily, but as close as I can get to that).
So far, so good.

Jan 1 photo, see above. New year, same old dog - desperately in need of a good grooming, I may add. Jan 1 cleaning/organizing task: creating an enclosure for Mizz L outside, so she doesn't wander onto the street anymore. JD's idea, and a great one. A little chicken wire, some stakes...eh voila...the terror of T Street is now confined to our side yard. Thankfully she is not a jumper nor terribly scheming...at least not yet. Jan 1st workout: brisk walk back and forth to our rental property and shoveling the sidewalks and 2 parking lots there.

It's the third day of 2010 and I am following these resolutions and am looking forward to getting fitter and getting more organized. Last night my fifteen minutes of cleaning/organizing turned into an hour as I went through a large shoebox (from a pair of boots actually) full of hotel toiletries and sorted them into Ziploc bags for easy grab n' go to fill up my gym bag or travel bag.
I went from this (Jan 2 photos):
To this:

To this:

Then I emptied out a junk drawer in my bedroom so I could store my nicely sorted travel goodies. I love traveling and going to the gym, so making a defined space for all those essentials is like making room in my life for more fun traveling and gym time. Getting organized/making room in my house is symbolic and hopefully synergistic with making room in my life for the things I want to do. Relieving me of physical and psychic clutter, I believe. Day 2 exercise: walking, walking, walking.

Today I am going to make myself a Green Monster smoothie and take a pic of that. I first heard of green monsters when I visited this website: Oh She Glows - the blog of an organic vegan baker I found through Spark People (see below for link). Her photos of the food she makes are so yummy looking I am seriously considering trying to incorporate more vegetarian or even vegan days into my diet.

My exercise today was Day 1 of the Spark People Bootcamp I signed up for. Daily 10 minute workout videos emailed to me for every day this month. Plus I am supposed to do 5 cardio sessions on my own. That should jump-start me!

Today, for organizing, I am planning on tidying up the Christmas wrap etc., which is still scattered about the upstairs.

Things I am grateful for today: A warm house!!! Bengal Spice tea by Celestial Seasonings. JD, for persevering through my stubbornness and baggage and wanting to marry me anyway.

Oh. My. Goddess. The Wedding! This month we must actually start booking things....it will be September 3rd before we know it. Monday morning I will call the wedding coordinator at the village hotel and get things moving in the right direction. Dress shopping is also on my agenda for this month. Wish me luck!

The Housework Game

Despite being genetically and culturally programmed to clean to a higher standard than a normal human being (I'm Dutch on both sides), I loath cleaning. I love a clean home, but I loath cleaning.

I loath the time it takes. I loath that it doesn't last for more than a few days (or hours, when the kids were little). I loath the time it takes from more interesting and productive pursuits - like knitting, cooking or watching Slice. (My vice IS Slice.) I loath that I am being judged on how clean my home is (or isn't). Did I mention I loath the time it takes?

But a clean home is so peaceful, so right, so comfortable, so welcoming, so...clean. So clean I must unless I can coerce someone else to do it for me. There was a time that I actually paid someone to clean my home. That lasted for a few short years back when the kids were teens. Now referred to as that time "Mizz D Was So Anemic She Could Have Died." Thankfully I didn't die, but IF I HAD DIED, AT LEAST MY HOUSE WOULD HAVE BEEN CLEAN. (And Dutch women everywhere can understand this sentiment. In fact next time I am going to Holland, I am going to check out the graveyards because I am sure there is a line on Dutch womens' tombstones that says something to the effect that they wish they had spent more time cleaning.)

So, blood iron levels restored (thanks to a hysterectomy and Floradix Formula), I have no more excuses for poor housekeeping (according to Dutch women everywhere) so I am coming up with ways to make it, shall we say, more sporting - and thus, hopefully more tolerable.

I came up with the Housework Game Version 2: "How much housework can I get done in an hour?" I can do anything for an hour, right? I set the stove clock and I'm off and running.

Today I managed to:

• vacuum the living room, TV room, kitchen, hallway, stairs, bedroom and upstairs bathroom
• clean upstairs bathroom
• wash kitchen floor

All with 2 minutes to spare on the clock.

Version 1 debuted a few years back - before I knew I was already a citizen of the foggy world of Anemia. It was called "How much housework can I get done before I finish this honkin' big glass of red wine?" The beauty of this game was that, by the time the glass was finished, I was ready to pour another and keep on cleanin'. Yeah, good times. By the time the house was sparkling, I was too.

Now I am an abstainer so I need to come up with other ways to get the house clean. Anybody out there got some good ideas to make housekeeping more palatable?

In the Embryonic Stages of Menu Planning

OK, so I am tired of coming home in the evening, staring at the cupboards and the fridge and going "Now what?"

Menu planning is obviously the answer.

I love to cook. Like most things I love to do, I seldom allow myself the time to do it. (Gardening, running, painting, and knitting are just a few of the things that come immediately to mind here). But I am trying to change all that. And trying to eat healthier too, so menu planning is just the ticket.

In planning to plan (how's that for dragging it out?), I am trying to come up with themes for each night of the week, to inspire and guide me in what recipes I want to make/try for the first time.

So far, this is what I've got:

Meatless Mondays
? Tuesdays
? Wednesdays
? Thursdays
Fishy Fridays
Souper Saturdays
Slow-Cooker Sundays

The middle of the week has got me baffled so far.
'Talian Tuesdays?
One-pot Wednesdays? (Hey, I kinda like this one.)
Thai Thursdays?

I'll keep thinking.

This is the first day of the next year of my life...

...which is, of course true for every day. However today IS special. This day next year I will be getting married (for the second time) to the mate of my heart and soul (for the first time). We've been a couple for seven years now (engaged for one), and he still makes me sigh...and not always with exasperation either.

My future sister-in-law emailed me today to ask my permission if she could host a shower for me next spring or summer. What?! Oh my goddess, that's right - I am a bride-to-be. At first I thought: Wow, that's nice! She remembered it is 1 year to the wedding today! Then I thought: Oh, wait. A wedding shower - for someone this old and on her second round? I don't know...it feels weird. Do people do that?

And then I remembered my mom having a wedding shower thrown for her when she married again after my dad passed away, when SHE WAS 63 YEARS OLD. Hey, I guess people DO do that sort of thing - I guess I can too. And SIL-to-be loves throwing a "do" and she's very good at it too, so I am kinda looking forward to this.

There's a lot I want to get done this next year. Some of it I should be doing anyway - and getting married is a lovely impetus, is it not? I am thinking, naturally, of losing weight and getting in shape. Been talkin' about losing 30-40 pounds now for about 4-5 years and been giving it a half-hearted effort, with the subsequent half-hearted results. I lose 5-10 pounds, then life gets in the way (don't it always?) and I lose focus and back they come on again.

I have very valid health reasons to do so, not just to look good in that special dress (which I haven't picked out yet). Heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke have already affected my younger sisters. I seem to have won the genetic lottery (in my family) so far, but my doc and cardiologist are in wait-n-see mode. So, I believe it's in me, and I also believe I can avoid or delay it coming out by lifestyle modifications.

Other goals:

Belly Dance - I want to become a better belly dancer this year. This means I am taking the route to Carnegie Hall....practice, practice, practice. In fact today I was practicing my 3/4 shimmy at work while waiting for a timer to go off during a DNA extraction procedure. Thankfully no one entered the lab at the time and thus I avoided hideously embarrassing myself.

Running - I had a goal of running a full-marathon during my 50th year however, since I haven't lost the weight yet, that goal is looking not so good. I have run a couple of half-marathons, disgustingly slow due to injury or inadequate training (see Life Gets in the Way, Lack of Focus, above) and vowed not to do the full unless in much better/lighter shape. So I think I need to re-evaluate my running goals for this year. More on that later.

De-Clutter - Part of the upcoming co-mingling involves moving from my abode to his. Also renovations and such, but that may be part of The Next Year of My Life: the Post-Wedding Year. I've been in this place now for 9 years and that, my friends, means I have accumulated a pile of unnecessary crap. So I plan a room-by-room, show-no-mercy assault on the house. Should be a heck of a garage sale this spring if all goes according to plan.

I think I'll stop here. I have a tendency to over-reach, become too scattered, too diluted, take on too many projects etc. End result: Lack of focus, thus no goals met. I am by nature a "dabbler", not a "digger" (thanks Dr. Eydt - I still remember you telling me this and it's still true today), which means I am not programmed to pursue something single-mindedly for any huge length of time. I also remember my esteemed prof telling me not to despair, for "though the diggers get the Nobel Prizes, the dabblers have all the fun".

So - this is one dabbler who is determined to have a fun year leading up to her nuptials, AND meet her goals at the same time.