Litha (Summer Solstice): '...summer solstice, or midsummer, is a time to spread warmth and enjoy the sun's energy. The sun is at its highest point in the sky. Everywhere you look nature shows her bounty; praise
the opulence and abundance available to you for the asking. This is a day to celebrate your gifts of healing, whether they are intuitive or use plants. Make peace with the impermanence of life and changing
relationships, knowing that you are always guided and watched over. Bloom where you are planted. Respect male energy, honor your light, hug yourself. You are one with the infinite sun...
Looking around my garden yesterday, I could see that things were definitely starting to grow, but whether it's because of the cooler temperatures lately, or the fact it has rained almost every single day for the past
month or so, I did notice that my baby plants (especially the annuals) are all struggling to survive. I planted a veggie garden with neat rows of little peppers, pumpkins, cucumbers, tomatoes, chives, various herbs,
etc. and thanks to the hail and the rain, and the lack of sunlight, the plants seemed to almost shrink, some even disappeared, and weeds are starting to take their place. Hmmm. I'm thinking I'll have to turn that
corner into a nice shaded bed next year as it doesn't seem to be a good place to grow sun-loving plants (my elm tree hangs over it which is a problem).
At least I did have enough sense to keep three tomato plants and a large planter full of herbs up on my deck where they have received more sunlight and are starting to grow quite nicely now. I just finished a
book called 'The Birth House' by Ami MacKay (here's her website: www.thebirthhouse.com. Throughout the book, various herbal remedies (centered around childbirth of course) were mentioned, and in the back,
just for fun, they included what was in her 'willow book' - a list of various herbs, remedies, and 'spells' that midwives would use. It was a neat book, not quite as indepth as I thought it would be, but still a nice
read... Anyway, it got me thinking that I still would like to continue my study of herbs and their uses. There is a book that I'd love to have, called: The Herbal History of Plants by John Gerard - originally published
in 1597 and then revised in 1633, it's full of original herbal remedies, medieval folk-lore, and interesting facts about hundreds upon hundreds of plants. It's on my wishlist, but it's $100 so I'll have to save my
pennies. ;)
Anyhow, on to other things - last night, I took what was probably my final walk through my grandparents' house. They bought the farmland back in the early 70's (I believe) and built their house there. Throughout
my life, as my sister pointed out, that was one of few constant places that we always came back to. It's sad to think that the one home that we hadn't yet lost is now going to be owned by someone else, and
they've already applied to sever the area around the house from the rest of the farmland below, and then to divide the 'cow field' and the orchard, where two more homes might be built. I have to admit, I regret being so quick to say 'no thanks' to my aunt when she asked if we were interested in the farm. Of course, the reason why I said no still makes sense - it sold for over $500,000. There is no
way (especially since we already own two properties) that we were ever going to afford that!! But walking through the house yesterday, with its old (but perfect) wall-paper, original curtains, gigantic brick fireplace,
and that old familiar smell that was always 'the farm' (somewhere between a cool, damp basement and clean fresh powder). I was fine until I walked into what was once my mother's bedroom, and then became
the room that I often slept in when we visited. There was the same heavy orange curtains (circa 1960-something). I gently pulled one back from the window that used to scare me, and I felt a sense of cool
sadness come over me. I always swore that room was haunted (and later in life learned that my great grandmother had passed away there). Call me wacky but every time I walked into that room, the same sense
of sadness was hanging in the air. At the risk of sounding kooky, it felt as though she was there.
What probably hurt the most though, was looking at the fields and trees and barns that we loved so much. Each was 'so old' to us, filled with 'treasures'. We'd build forts out of the wood in the woodshed, tease
the chickens in the chicken coup, play for hours in the old horse stalls (that still had hay and straw from when Mom was a teenager), and creep through the barn, to the back where grandpa had built his airplane.
Looking at those buildings, I got a supreme sense of sadness, and while part of me wished I could take one last walk through, another part of me was thankful that the car was moving and we were moving on.
I would have loved to own that house, to fix it up, but carefully preserve some sense of my grandparents within it. I had a thought that, perhaps once the lots were sold, if that house ever went up for sale, I'd buy
it, but then I wonder if the new owners would have gutted it, removing every last shred of what was once sacred to my family.
Sigh...
Anyway, my mother had said to me yesterday that I should see the house empty to 'bring a sense of closure'. At the time, I told her I'd actually prefer that I remembered it full, and that still rings true. So I will try to
forget leaving it, empty and sad, and try to remember all the times we left it, with grandma and grandpa standing on the front steps, waving, dogs barking, cousins running around. Much better. :)

Woohoo! So life is going pretty well for me right now. :) I've been keeping to my goal of trying to incorporate more artsy, girly activities in my life (to counter-balance the boring tech job that I'm so fortunate to have - money talks!)... So I've been helping to make lanterns for the lumiere festival, and so far it's been going very well. I've been building symbols to represent quintessence (the fifth element) as this year's theme is the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Quintessence). The fifth element represents (in the eyes of the Lumiere Festival creators) the 'magic' that holds everything together, drawing people in and making the event a wonderful success. :)The lanterns themselves are made out of bamboo (taken from dissected bamboo blinds) and tissue paper, with a mixture of water and glue which serves to tighten the paper so it's smooth, while making it flame retardant. The girl who runs it is hoping to have 2000 lanterns done in time for the festival, and so far we have about 500. I'm actually quite curious to see how we'll do this considering the fact only about 7 or 8 volunteers showed up last time, and the first day, I was the only one besides the two organizers who showed.
I guess we meet throughout July as well, and we also will have the public come in to make jar lanterns with the kids and paper lanterns themselves, but I believe they take those lanterns home and bring them back to carry through the festival.
Anyway, so that's an exciting event that I'm really looking forward to this year. In addition to the lanter part of it, people also dress up. Jenelle, if you read this, you'll know that it's one of my favorite guilty pleasures, ha ha. :) Any excuse to get into some wacky costume is welcomed in my life... :)
The other thing I've been helping with is the Maple Lawn Gardens. Basically, it's two or three hours on sunny Sunday mornings, spent surrounded by plants, flowers, and people who love plants and flowers, which I think is wonderful. It's so nice to hear people talking about the garden with so much knowledge and passion. :) Finally people who understand me! Ha ha! :)
There are other things I was hoping to 'inject' into my monthly routine, but it's been a bit of a challenge to squeeze them in. One thing was shopping for all our food at the farmer's market in Ottawa. I had hoped to start a spin-off blog with recipes and traditions for preparing our locally available food. I still might do that one of these days, but I find right now, by the time I manage to leave the garden at noon on Sundays, I'm covered in dirt and mud and am looking forward to lunch, so the idea of driving downtown to the stadium where the market is kind of goes out the window. I also want to go berry picking sometime soon (before they're all gone!) but I'm not sure when the next available weekend will be for that...
In the mean time, I'm going to try to add one special thing to my routine that has nothing to do with eating (hard to believe but it's true)... I went to see the Sex in the City movie on the weekend, and while I do find that "Kerry" needs to do something with her hair, wanders around with some of the most hideous clothing on, and uses a cell phone that is duct taped together, every so often she (or more-so her friends) had some awesome shoes and accessories and outfits on! That kind of grabbed my lesser-exercised fashion-loving side by the ear and gave it a good shake. So yesterday I headed down to the byward market, where all the trendy boutiques with local (and some more prominent) designer clothing, and found myself in heaven (just like last time I was there at xmas). I found shoes that are incredibly similar to the blue pumps that Kerry apparently spent $525 on in the movie, for $59... :) I found a sweet little grey satin dress with black lace ribbon around the waist for $59, I found an uber trendy white patent purse for - you guessed it - $59!! All this was found in my favorite little boutique 'frou frou' (I hate the name though, makes me think of little old French ladies but anyway). I also found a neat store called Karma, that makes their clothing from recycled rubber and canvas, as well as from natural like bamboo, salvaged wood, etc. There's also a designer knits store somewhere that I haven't managed to find yet, and of course there are many other little boutiques, each with its own treasures for your home, your wardrobe, or just for fun. :) So I'm hoping to start going there, one day a month, grabbing myself a yummy coffee and strolling through to see what deals I can find. SUPER fun. :)
So that's all for now I guess - keeping busy, and happy (finally!)
xoxo





S

(Some Karma clothes!)

Wow, so for some reason, I have been lucky enough to find someone in the world who has a fabulous knack of sending me the right messages at the right time to help pick me up. I have no idea how she does it as the messages obviously aren't for ME (she sends to over 5000 people a month) but it's uncanny how what she writes seems to speak directly about whatever it is that I'm currently stressing over.

Today I tried to write an entry, and later erased it as it had turned into a complete whine/bitch fest (nothing that I would want to read again) about my life. I am not sure what sparked it, but a general sense of boredom with my career, frustration with my lack of organization and time-management skills, and the fact that I got to feast my eyes on some more travel logs from Jenelle and heard that another high school friend was taking some time off from life and moving to London, England, all finally collapsed on my head and I was fairly and completely depressed.

A lot of what I often feel stems from the fact that something is missing from my life (perhaps just a general FOCUS?), and trying to fill it up with volunteer activities, classes, work projects, etc. isn't helping, infact, it's just making me tired and stressed out. I am starting to come to terms with the fact that I am never going to be one of those people who can handle doing 15 different major activities every week, plus juggling friends and work and family and still managing to clean the house and walk the dog. It won't happen, it makes me miserable to try, so I might as well give in and relax a bit. The part I haven't figured out is if I'm supposed to sit in my yard like an old maid forever or if there's some magical "thing" (interest, talent, club, activity, what?) that once I find it, will fit into that hole, and everything will fall into place. I'll be surrounded by a few very close friends who share my interests, I'll have time and energy to devote to my "family life" and relationship, I'll do the laundry and wash the dishes and walk the dog and still have hours to spare..

Anyway, so as I was feeling low, and once again hitting the same brick wall with regard to fixing it (surfing the web on house-swaps to Australia only serves to compound my sense of 'grief' over living in Gatineau suburbia), I got my message... The theme of it was judging for yourself, what is enough in your life. Not as a whole, but really, if you break everything down - do I have enough to wear? Do I have enough to eat? Do I have enough space, a big enough home? What about my view of success? What is enough success? What is enough in my relationships?

When I start to think about it, and she mentions this as well, for many of the 'categories' I go through, it seems that instead of thinking I don't have enough, I reach the opposite conclusion: I have too much. It's quite a profound thing for me to really ask myself if I have "enough" because I often fall prey to the 'grass is always greener' syndrome, especially when it comes to looking at what other people my age have or are doing.

I do have MORE than enough to eat - we throw out and compost almost half of what we buy, I have, for the most part, too much to wear (I know this because there are items in my closet that never get worn at all), I have too much art stuff - I never create anything because there's just too many options and too many unfinished projects sitting around, I have more than enough space in our house (we have one 10x20 room that we have one shelf, one table and the dog bed in - crazy!), and finally, I have too much to worry about right now, so much that I can't focus on any one thing and see it through, or enjoy it.

On the side of not having enough, I think a lot of my 'shortages' are a direct result of the overloads elsewhere. If I had a more lenient schedule, with a relaxed lifestyle, I might have more time and energy for friendships and my relationship. If I threw out the old ugly clothing I no longer wear, I'd have space in my closet to see the things I do own that I forget to wear, and I'd know better what to buy. If I bought less groceries for specific meals, and had the time to make them, I wouldn't have a shortage of good food and money to pay for it.

The other part is success. That one is tough for me. How much is 'enough' when it comes to my success? In friendship? In relationships? In my career? Family life? I don't know... That's where I'll have to do some thinking.

Anyway, the point was that, as I've often ranted, we live in a consumer-based society. Waverly quoted that if we were to go back to what we were consuming 17 years ago, we'd only have to work an average of 5.8 hours a day. If we went back to the 40's it'd be even less. Apparently, we now consume 12 times more than we did in the 20's. Back then, they were just figuring out how to trigger a desire to buy more than what you need. And in perfecting it, they created me, ha... It's up to us to figure out how much is enough and stop when we've reached that. Only then, I think, will we find peace and happiness in our free time. :)

Anyway, thanks again to Waverly, she's an angel in disguise...

S

So, I am now the proud owner of a genuine trucker's tan. :) We have had a couple of beeeeeautiful weekends, working on the yard, cleaning up the dead leaves, tearing down ugly mismatched plastic lattice and broken bamboo fencing that the previous owners had put up around their horrible raspberry bramble patch, making a compost pile, and pruning the trees. Luc has been feverishly trying to make the lawn grow grass, which seems to be a losing battle at our place - we thought it was patchy last year, now it's downright endangered - so our yard is a maze of flourescent pink tape (a futile attempt to keep Tigger and I off the lawn), and we rejoice when we see the microscopic blades of grass almost nearing 1/2 an inch long... ;) It's fun, we're enjoying the yard so much more this year.
We bought a BBQ too, and a patio set, and I hung my solar lanterns up in the trees above the deck. Speaking of trees, we got a great quote from a local guy who will take down our three ugly juniper/cypress trees that are growing up against the house, and also, they'll be 'felling' the huge pine tree in the front, whose top half broke off in the ice storm. (It's hideous). It's sad to me, as it was once such a big, solid tree, and I'll miss having that blocking us from the street. That said, I do plan to do some research into what kind of tree to plant there in its place. I'd LOVE an oak tree, but they're so huge, I'm not sure it'd be a good idea in our relatively small front yard... Maybe a flowering/fruit tree to feed the birds would be a better option.
Anyway, we decided to focus on the back yard this year, and then we'll work on the front yard next year.

So, I was reading the newspaper on Friday (which I never do), and noticed there is an abundance of doom and gloom stories about food shortages on the rise. So much so that Walmarts in the US have imposed rice rationing, as people have begun hording the available rice, in expectation for the price hikes to come. People in BC have started this as well. I wasn't aware of it before, but it seems that all over the world, countries are suffering from severe food shortages, and Luc was telling me that in Haiti, they've resorted to baking cookies out of clay and eating them, in place of any grains or rice. Sad. :( Here, smaller stores have already begun to see the effects. One store in Ottawa says that over the last few weeks, his bags of rice went from $15 to $30, and another merchant says that where she used to sell her rice for $40 a bag, she now has to buy it for $50, so she's trying to take care of her customers by not making any profit off it, and selling it for pretty much exactly what she paid for it.
Then there were various conflicting articles, one stating that global food shortages are a symptom of rising gas prices, as it's costing farmers a lot to produce grain products, and those farmers who use the grain products to feed livestock have similarly been impacted as they now have to pay more to keep their animals. From this persepctive, bio-diesels or other renewable fuel sources seemed to be a possible answer. However, another article was poo-pooing Ontario's recent decision to invest $600,000 into bio-diesel farming, as it entices farmers to divert land from their agricultural production over to the production of crops for bio-diesel. It seems a vicious cycle as you can't lower prices of crops and solve food shortages if the fuel prices are sky-rocketing, but if you have to sacrifice agricultural production in order to lower the price of fuel, you still won't be able to produce as much food. Hmmmm...
Seems either the media is being typical and blowing EVERYTHING out of proportion (along with companies who are inventing new crisis situations in order to benefit from the fear-based consumerism they spark) or, we're truly facing the 'Age of Scarcity' as the paper put it. Even today, I saw another ad on the internet for Go Blue.org, a group focused on conserving Canada's apparently dwindling fresh water supply. So now, in addition to not consuming excess energy, food, products made in environmentally unfriendly ways or with similarly destructive materials, and conserving gas, we are also being told to cut back on water. According to the site, http://www.goblue.org/en/, our fresh water is in limited supply, as it comes from age-old glaciers that are now melting at a rapid rate. If we don't cut down our consumption now, we will apparently be faced with water shortages, as the fresh water doesn't renew itself. Canada is apparently guilty of major over-consumption of its water supply, compared to countries in Europe. That surprised me as we really don't have a huge population.. Maybe we're just as bad as our Southern neighbours afterall.
Hmmm. I'm confused a bit on this one though because doesn't it rain? I mean, I know we've enjoyed a LOT of fresh water, maybe, because of the glaciers, but I mean, the water doesn't go away when we use it, it continually gets released back into the environment, where it falls back onto the Earth, and if it happens to land on ground that filters it (and doesn't contain salt) voila! You have fresh water. Where I'd see a problem is if we're busy polluting any of the fresh water that does recycle itself back into the Earth (and yes, I imagine we most certainly are poisoning the heck out it).Anyway, just to add another layer to the multi-cyclical growing pile of issues, the site states that things such as nuclear energy (touted in one of the articles I read as a wonderful source of renewable, clean energy and another possible remedy to our fuel issue) comes at a cost as it depletes the fresh water supply.
Can we ever win? Apparently not, if it's true that the population is expected to rise between 40 and 50% over the next 50 years... And they hit that little 'annoyance' spark within me by showing a picture of one of the new suburbs that are all going up at an alarming rate. With cookie-cutter (ugly), cheap-material houses, sandwiched together with their postage stamp lawns and row upon row of dismal, blasé paved, treeless streets. Gaaaaghh!
Yet one more reason why I think I need to go find an island where idiots aren't allowed, and furthermore, where we need to slow down on the reproducing - surprising too since the avg family has like 2 kids (so they only replace themselves)... That's one more excuse for me to become a crazy dog/cat lady instead of a 'soccer mom' anyway... :)
S

Spring is finally attempting to push its way into our region, however futile the effort.. We still have two feet of snow on the ground, huge snowbanks, and slushy roads, but there are pockets of warm air that carry a faint scent of fresh ground, that every now and again surprise you as you battle your way through the gusts of wind and icy rain. Sounds marvellous doesn't it? I realized just how desperate I was for some sign of an end to this winter when I caught myself getting excited that the air no longer freezes my nose, despite the wind rushing at me with enough force to blow my hair around and flip my umbrella inside out.
Inside, I have started my first wave of seeds (this year, despite not having any dirt for the gardens and still being unsure as to how I'll get dirt since I own a cavalier, not a truck, I've decided to plant seeds for a variety of annuals, perrenials (and grasses too!) and veggies). It's exciting to see the little baby green plants all poking up from beneath the earth in the sunny basement window, but I'm starting to wonder where I'll keep them all as they grow, considering the ground won't be ready for another month and a half. Hmmm... I might have to break down and buy some grow lights for my 'babies' as our house doesn't have a ton of windows that offer strong natural sunlight (note to self: must ensure the next house we buy is not facing NORTH)...

So lately I've found myself drawn more and more into this 'eco' thing going on in the world. I first discovered it, not all that long ago, as something that Earth-friendly Pagan circles and new-age psychologists were constantly talking about on the web and in books - this whole return to a simpler life, consuming only what you need, living 'green', as a means to reconnect with the Earth in both a practical and spiritual sense. For me, it started as a spiritual thing - trying to simplify my lifestyle so I could appreciate more the things I have and free up time for things that matter, like the people in my life. Now everywhere I look I see more and more 'green' furniture (that costs twice the price but hey, it's made with bamboo), organic clothing, eco friendly cars, 'straw bale' houses, organic foods and a major push to properly label and hopefully market local produce. It's confusing - I'm having a hard time differentiating between keeping things simple and environmentally friendly and being lured back into the consumerism game with products that claim they're 'green' but are actually laden with toxins and were actually produced in a smoke-belching factory where a forest once stood.

Then there's the 'serious' side to the issue - where I am seeing numerous books, tv shows, and even college courses, that address the future and the economic and social impacts we're bound to face when we finally do run out of non-renewable energy sources. Someone recently said 'it's the end of the 'Age of Oil'' and it really hit me - you read about that stuff in history books, where one era ends abruptly and out of the ashes comes another, even more revolutionary era that changes the way society as a whole thinks and functions. I'm fascinated to know what's next. Apparently 'renewable energy' and small-scale living is the key to long-term success in the future. Just hearing that kind of freaks me out because so many people out there can't do anything for themselves anymore - they've become so reliant on paying someone to do everything for them, from producing and preparing the food they eat to cleaning their houses to getting them to work, to telling them what choices to make.

Of course with all the 'hype' that has been generating over the environment, people are starting to climb aboard the "treading lightly" movement, and with the people comes the booming commercial industry. The same organizations who tell you that you 'need' to buy their products in order to be 'happy', are now telling you to 'live lighter, buy green' - then putting pretty signs filled with crisp green foliage and bright blue sky around their toxic chemical-laden products and jacking up the price (whether this is to make more money or to drive you to the cheaper non-eco friendly stuff is something that I still haven't figured out). In one jewellery store (Claire's) they had done this with wooden jewellery - setting it up on a big fancy 'fresh' looking display in the middle of the store that had a sign about 'going green'. I'd love to see where exactly that wooden jewellery was produced, and where the wood came from. To me, cutting down a tree so I can put a wooden bangle around my wrist seems counter-intuitive to the whole 'green movement', no? In my opinion, people who are eating this up (and okay, I admit they do a great job of making it look so damn pretty!) are going against the entire idea of living a self-sustainable lifestyle, where you consume only what you need, and make conscious choices around the products that you buy. I am starting to wonder if people are still going to miss the point as they are once again flooded with a barrage of 'eco-friendly' garbage from the oh so savvy commercial world. It might be 'biodegradable' but did a factory mow down trees and belch out polution in order produce this product? Do you even NEED this product?

On a different note, I found this book recently and think it will be a fascinating read (if and when I ever get around to joining the library): Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (And Doesn't Seem to Care). It's stuff like this that really gets my goat. People are people, and many of them just don't care. It's the rest of us (who aren't raking in the profits) who have to live with the consequences. And yet, while I'm ranting away, I do have to admit that I am being just a wee bit hypocritcal as I too am still a slave to the idea of 'quick and easy' - if it is too much of an effort, I still take the non-eco friendly option.

On a positive note, I can't wait for the Ottawa Farmers Market to open in May - they even have local produce, baking, beef, pork and chicken there, so you really don't need to look outside the region to find what you need. And as for the rest of it, I'm taking small steps - to me, it comes from everyone making those small changes in their daily lifestyle, coupled with a 'paradigm shift' toward local, simplistic living, that matters. This weekend I'm going to try cleaning my mirrors and windows with 1/2 vinegar to 4 cups water and a squeegie. (As opposed to using harsh chemicals) and I'm hoping to replace more of my lightbulbs with energy saving ones.

Ta ta for now.

Weee! So we just got back last weekend from 8 days in Jamaica. The water was beautiful and warm, the sun was hot, and now my body is sorely disappointed that I've returned to the frozen North to have some 60+ cms (at least that's what they're expecting) of evil white stuff dumped on my head. We are all actually facing the problem of not having anywhere to put the snow. People are complaining that throwing heavy snow/rain/ice mix over their heads onto 5ft high snow banks is now causing them chronic back and shoulder pain, and poor Luc spent FOUR hours out in the driveway yesterday, creating a network of pathways and hills across the front yard, our only space left to pile it.

So, I am ignoring it and waiting patiently for Spring. Talking to my mother the other day about the fact I have very little interaction with other people at ALL in my life anymore made me realize that there is so much out there to do (once the damn snow goes away) and that I have tons of planning to do for my gardens, etc. Suddenly my empty planner filled up with days of cleaning, planting, buying seeds, buying things for the yard, building decks, removing stain and repainting our patios, and working on the kitchen, etc. Added to that, I've decided to volunteer with the Maple Lawn Gardens in Ottawa, one of Canada's last remaining walled gardens from the 1800's, and as well with the Ottawa Lumière Festival, a beautiful event that takes place in August. I went last year and fell in love with the idea of a soft summer's night lit up by hundreds of glittering paper lanterns, little kiddlets running by with fairy wings on, and fire-breathers and freaky people on stilts wandering through the crowds.

So yes, I have lots to look forward to OUTSIDE of work. Now I just have to work on bringing more work-related activities into my daily schedule when I'm stuck here in this grey ugly cubicle. I have to give my Recruiting presentation three more times this month, and it's a true test for me because I really did feel that it was a horrible presentation the first time, and my limited public speaking skills were really really rusty. Here I thought it was over and done with and now I find myself having to give it again, and again, and again. Ick... But that's okay. Someday soon (hopefully) I'll be able to go home and unwind with a drink on our patio, with my doggy (who is still stuck at my Mom and Dad's because of the snowstorms), while Luc BBQ's something yummy on our new grill on the upper deck. Here's to dreaming!! :)
xo

S

So we people riding on the left side of the bus today got a nice treat on the ride in.. The trees were absolutely stunning! There was a mix of trees whose trunks and branches were almost black, contrasted with their tops which were frosted in a strikingly beautiful white, even the ever-greens were completely coated with a thick layer of frost, so that they looked like they'd been sprayed with a thick crust of silver sparkles. Then every now and then we'd get a patch of trees that had perhaps been warmed by the sun, just enough that their frosty whiteness had melted into a dark silvery coating that caught the sun and sparkled like jewels as we passed by. I know I'm being totally cheesy about this, but it was really such a nice thing to look at after days and days of cloudy grey skies and mountains of heavy snow everywhere.
And I wasn't the only one enjoying it, I noticed about four or five people ahead of me were all taking in the 'view' as well, and many of them were smiling to themselves. It was nice to see. :)
So, it's Valentines day, and my message from the Universe (www.tut.com) was:

Love where you've been.
Love where you're at.
Love how you think.
Love the power you pack.
Love all that you seek.
Love all that you feel.
Love your rocking emotions
and the thoughts you make real.
But mostly, amazing Shelley, I really, really love you in this very moment.
What?
Loving you from every angle - The Universe

P.S. Far be it from me to tell anyone what to love about themselves, Shelley, I'm too busy loving YOU.
:)
S

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday... :)
This day marks the starting day of the first time I'll ever have given something up for Lent. I had heard of doing this before, and remember pitying those friends of mine who were busy turning down things like chocolate and sweets, or giving up TV, for forty days. However, I now realize just how refreshing and enlightening it might be to really challenge myself... I was reading on Lynn Jericho's blog (a beautiful blog - if you ever want to indulge in some thought-provoking spiritual discussions, without the whole fire and brimstone aspect, check it out)...

Anyway, she was explaining her view of Lent. During the 40 days, from Feb 6 to March 22, the point is to try to discover and then weed out the "three temptations" in your life. By doing this, it can serve to show you who YOU truly are, or at least allow a glimpse of yourself that may normally become buried or distorted when bombarded with outside influences. These influences often take the form of one or more of the three temptations:

Prejudice: not necessarily prejudice against others, it could be anywhere in your life where you allow dead thoughts (as she calls them), that come wafting up from the past, to colour your thoughts and responses to things around you NOW. This includes prejudice against yourself, against situations you find yourself in, and/or against others. I know for me, I often find situations where I think 'gee, that would be so much fun if I could do... (insert activity)' but then quickly dismiss the thought as those old ghosts come back to haunt me 'ya, but remember that time when you did something similar, and you were horrible at it'... Or in other cases where I find myself presented with something that, if I were open about it, might be truly surprising and wonderful in life, but I write it off as 'been there, done that', painting over it with my thoughts of another similar time and place, and allowing my original thoughts and emotions to cloud any new ones I might feel. In this way, I miss out. It's about allowing your thoughts to live in the present, to discover something in your day and embrace it with a sense of 'newness', ignoring all past experiences that might ruin your perception of the moment.

Addiction: of course, there are the standard addictions that we all hear about - drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. But you'd be surprised how other behaviors can become addictive too, often because we are doing them in order to hide from something that scares us or makes us uncomfortable. For myself, one big addiction I have is the internet. Some people might think that's a ridiculous statement, because the internet is not a 'bad' thing, I'm learning all the time, I have the world at my fingertips and I can always turn off the machine and walk away... But that's just it, I can't. If I do turn it off, I'm left with a void, a feeling of 'now what?' - and this even happens when I'm at WORK. I am bored, unstimulated, unhappy, and unfulfilled, unless I'm wasting my hours and minutes surfing endless websites about what buffalo eat in June, or where the word 'mango' comes from, etc. What's the real reason I'm surfing? Because I'm bored at work, because I like to know the answer to every question that pops into my head, because I'm afraid to live in the outside world where I might be rejected or disappointed. It's like I'm on an endless quest to be 'filled up' by false, flashy, entertaining websites, instead of taking satisfaction from getting my work done and maybe then enjoying a moment of real, not stolen, 'free time' to myself. Anyway, so addictions can be to anything, often once you remove the addiction, you'll find the thing underneath that you were hiding from, and maybe by facing it, you will find you're finally able to feel peace.

Fantasy: another one of my terrible afflictions... Not 'that' kind of fantasy. I'm talking about daydreaming your life away. Again, this is done, for me, with the Internet. Any minute of the day I can be instantly transported to a small villa in France, browsing pictures of quaint country cottages surrounded by swaying lavendar fields, and in the next moment, I'm checking out aerial views of the Great Pyramids, before studying a site about being a stay at home Mom or volunteering to help animals. The sky is the limit. But in the end, am I travelling anywhere? Am I meeting people? Am I enriching the lives of children or animals around me? Nope. I'm staring, glassy-eyed at a wide LCD screen two feet from my face in my sterile cubicle environment, surrounded by endless stacks of paper waiting to be pushed around. And at the end of the day, when I COULD be doing something exciting, I'm mentally worn out from all my 'exploits' and just want to trudge home to make dinner and mope around the house. For me, by removing the Internet, I would hopefully at first find a void, a void that is waiting to be filled with REAL life. Then bit by bit, perhaps 'real life' will begin to seep in around the edges, and suddenly I might find I'm too busy to bother with the computer. :) Of course, it doesn't have to be the internet either. It can just be thinking too much. Put me on a 40 minute bus-ride home with nothing to read or listen to and I'm suddenly off in a world all my own, sometimes so deeply immersed in it that even when neighbours smile at me, I don't see them (I had one actually clap at me to make sure I was okay, lol). Yet another avoidance technique - our world is full of them, MP3 players, books, computers, blackberries, or just plain old staring into space can fill an otherwise 'boring' space of time. But what if you realized where you were, took a look at the others around you, offered a smile, or your seat to someone who needed it, would you feel better? Probably! I can tell you, letting your imagination run wild is a totally unfulfilling experience because sooner or later the bus stops, you get out, and you're back to reality. A reality that can be rather bleak if you're busy thinking your life away, instead of taking action and doing something.

So, then, to augment all this 'withholding' of *fun* things, I also want to ADD something over Lent. I have made a list of 10 things I would do, if I had all the time in the world, and nothing to stop me (including my own fears). I'm of course not going to do half of them, but I made them small, baby-step sorts of things, and I'm hoping to maybe accomplish one or two of them over the next forty days. We'll see. Once I start to go stir-crazy because I can't touch the keyboard, I might just actually finish something. :)

Anyway, for those of you challenging yourselves, I wish you all the best of luck. :) It might not be easy or fun, or even possible, but hey, it'd be nice to remind ourselves who is boss in this lifetime, and believe me, it's not supposed to be Dell Computers... ;)
xo

So, at the beginning of January, I posted about a blog I'd found (called 'The Healthy Plate') on yahoo, where every month, the author (Mairlyn Smith) will give you one thing to ADD to your life, in order to achieve a healthier body and mind. Last month, her suggestion was to add one serving of fruits, and one of veggies to your diet each day. I have to say I didn't always succeed in doing so, but I did see an increase in my eating of salads and fruits (got my apple right here for later), and we were throwing out much less rotten produce every week from the fridge. :) Always nice on the wallet too. For February, this month's 'addition' to help you achieve overall better health is... (drumroll please)... 10 minutes of walking per day. If you already exercise, add 10 minutes of walking somewhere else in your day (ex: take the stairs, take a 10 minute walk around the block at lunch, get off the bus a stop or two early and walk the rest of the way, take a 10 minute break in the afternoon for a walk to wake you up). It only has to be 10 minutes (but if you really enjoy adding this in, you could also add two or three 10 minute sessions per day), and make sure it's a good, vigorous walk. None of this sauntering around the block at a snail's pace, dragging your heels. Walk with purpose. :) I'm going to try this out, as I do have slow times in my day, when my mind is fuzzy and no amount of trying can get me to concentrate on working. It's those times that I need to grab my coat and head outside for a 10 minute brisk stroll through the 'neighbourhood' before returning to my desk, hopefully refreshed and ready to work. I'm going to try adding a 10 minute walk in the morning, and one in the afternoon, to help me wake up better. :)
We'll see how long it lasts. ;)

Imbolc

(Yes, I posted this last year, but it saves me having to go waaaay back to last February)... :)

Celebrated on February 1 or 2, Imbolc or Brigid's Day marks midwinter. Animals begin to come out of hibernation and ewes begin lactating; light is returning. This is a time to acknowledge our individual gifts and feed our talents with supportive action. Imbolc is connected to the powerful new life awakening in the depths of the earth and thus also represents the rebirth and upsurge of personal power. Now we can plant seeds of inspiration, acknoledge the returning light, invoke patience, find virtue in perserverance, and inspire others. Symbols of the holiday are: seeds, wells, and fire.
Herbs and other plants for this sabbat include angelica, basil, bay, cinnamon, frankincense, myrrh, nettle, orris root, rosemary, rowan, and saffron.

If you're open to trying a Wiccan approach to welcoming in the dawning of spring and its warming light (especially welcome in the midst of all these crazy storms we are having), Jamie Wood, who wrote 'The Wiccan Herbal' that I often quote from, also suggests a nice little 'spell' (though it's not really a spell in the traditional sense, keep reading, you'll see!)... You need three things to do this - a yellow candle, a blue candle, and some basil oil, which you can either buy at a specialty shop, or make yourself by sealing fresh basil leaves in olive oil in an air-tight jar for at least 6 weeks before using. :)
As Jamie says, 'this spell is intended to remind you of the peace and importance of relaxation during the dark times, especially if a wicked case of the winter blues hits.'.. Perfect. :)
Now, prepare your candles - carve the word 'light' into the yellow one, and the word 'peace' into the blue one, then anoint them both with the oil. As you light the yellow candle, picture the first rays of sunlight filtering back into your life - imagine how the warm sunshine feels on your skin. Know that the same light already burns inside of you. Now light the blue candle and breathe 'deeply of peace and tranquility'. Say to yourself the word 'Serenity' three times, imagining what peace looks like in your life. Know that the calm of peace resides within you. :) I like this one.

I felt a similar sense of peace (somewhat begrudgingly, but it was there) this morning while standing in the cold at the bus stop. The bus hadn't shown up again (it seems to be rather unreliable at 7:30) and as I shivered and scowled, I caught sight of the trees across the street, ablaze with golden light. As I really looked at them, I could see the sunlight illuminating every branch, every shimmery piece of bark, every pinecone, and I thought 'warmth is coming'... Yay! Bring it on Mother Nature, I'm so ready... ;)

S

So I was browsing the shelves of a nearby bookstore a few weeks ago (it was too cold to walk around outside) and I happened upon a book that some of you (who know me well) would snicker at for sure - it's called 'The Power of Kindess - The Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life'. I will admit that I was partially attracted to it because of the cover, at first, which is a basic white paperback, with a pretty green baby plant sprouting. In January, an image like that can be very inticing indeed. :) However, I also was a bit curious about the subject matter, as I have been known to feel often like I have no time for people, or friendships, or even relationships of any kind, and am often left feeling drained and frustrated when my interactions with others don't go the way I expect them to (which is all the time - people are unpredictable things, afterall)... As a result, I am often totally unfulfilled in life, bored, and perhaps a bit lonely (I do have friends, but they're mostly more like acquaintances and I tend to keep myself very closed off from others, which makes it difficult to form any deep friendships). I also have puzzled over why some people can come off so friendly and open, and instantly attract people to themselves, and EMBRACE that fact, while others (myself included in this category) come off as prickly, pushy, rushed, and basically unreachable; afraid that 'taking on a friendship' will mean having to add phone calls and chasing people around for their time to our already crowded and exhausting schedules. This, despite the fact that we (or I) yearn for more rewarding interactions with people.
So I began to read it. And what a wonderful (but challenging) set of ideas to live by!
So I thought I'd share. Each chapter discusses an element of expressing true kindess, and how that element, coupled with a shift in your life perspective, can open up vast possibilities for you, as well as making you an all-around happier person. Sounds good to me! :) The elements discussed are: Honesty, Warmth, Forgiveness, Contact, Sense of Belonging, Trust, Mindfulness, Empathy, Humility, Patience, Generosity, Respect, Flexibility, Memory, Loyalty, Gratitude, Service and Joy. Each is presented with a very down-to-Earth perspective, enhanced by interesting anecdotes, myths and stories, as told by the author, in a way that you could imagine yourself hearing them spoken by a friend, over a cup of coffee. He presents the ideas, but doesn't force them on you. However, when my mind at first resists some of the behaviours he suggests, he is quick to point out how our very make-up as humans NEEDS this kind of interaction with each other, and without it you become lost, depressed, lonely, unfocussed and ultimately dissatisfied in life, much like I've felt over the last few years..
Anyway, I thought I would maybe share each one (or an idea of it) but I'll throw it into another page (see the Sharing The Power of Kindness link on the right), as I don't want to bore anyone to tears unless they're curious. :)
Other than that, I just checked the forecast for Negril, Jamaica today, and it's a whopping +29!! Sure beats 'flash freezing', freak lightening storms, and high winds, (with rain AND snow) like we're seeing here in Ottawa today. :)
Just a few more weeks to go. :)
S

On the lighter (or darker??) side of life... :)

Ahaahaaahaahaaa!!!! According to Elle Magazine, this is one of Spring's hottest new looks... Honestly, you can tell fashion is starving if we're now ooohing and aaaaahing over an outfit that can be achieved with a pair of insane granny panties and a role of saran wrap... And one only needs to insert a metal fork into an electrical outlet and don their grandpa's oldest pair of glasses to achieve sheer sex appeal... Apparently... Owww! Smokin'.... ;)

I'd like to run through the aisles of that fashion show and knock a few heads together I think!

Ah! So I missed blue Monday - which was two days ago, apparently... That was the day that I had promised myself to buy a new plant to light up snow-bound life, and to kick off the start of a new growing season (at least, inside, anyway)... I think I'll have to go buy one today! I did acquire a new plant on Sunday, a pointsettia, but it's still recovering and I'm praying it's going to 'make it'... I had noticed it sitting by itself in the living room at my grandparents' farm. Seeing as they are now residing at their 'apartment' in Kemptville, I figured perhaps it would be a good opportunity to help out the plant, and add some more greenery to my dining room. :) However, silly me, I left it in the car for the afternoon, wrapped in a blanket, while I visited my grandparents. By the time I got home, it was withered and in quite the state of 'shock'... One interesting thing I noticed was that the withered leaves were warm to the touch - so much that it felt like it had a fever! Anyway, it's now hanging from the ceiling, infront of our long window in the dining room, and I'm hoping a little TLC will revive it to its previous 'perky' state.
So the next big day coming up is Imbolc (more on that later of course!), or Groundhog Day. It marks the end of the dark quiet months, and the time when new life begins slowly to stir underground. With the weather the way it has been, I've even heard birds in the morning lately that don't normally sing like that in the winter - makes me wonder if perhaps they've migrated a little earlier this year or something... I can already feel life picking up the pace again, as we head (at lightning speed) into February. I have to get myself organized so I can take things 'in stride' this year, instead of letting it all pile up and then come crashing down on my head in regular intervals like last year. :) Work is picking up, with several potential contracts coming down the pipes for me (in addition to my full-time one here). I'm busy preparing myself to give a presentation to the Director General of the House of Commons on Tuesday afternoon. Should be fun, I'm looking forward to it. It's strange, but I feel quite at home talking about the system, and what it can do for them, but ask me to talk about the weather, or myself, or anything 'theoretical' and I get flustered as hell... Anyway, where some bigger things are looming (our trip to Jamaica, our wedding in September, residing the apartments in the Spring), which all require a great deal of planning and money, incidentally, I'm slowly catching on to the art of not sweating the smaller stuff. I've decided that our own house does NOT need a remodeling makeover, which has alleviated a lot of pressure for me. I can now be content to buy key items for each room to make it 'complete' the way it IS, instead of always fretting about the fact I want to buy an X but can't until we take down this wall, and put up that shelf, and paint it this colour, and rip up the floors, etc. To heck with all that, I say! We're young, there's two of us in a decent sized house, the best thing to do is treat it like we did our apartment, accepting it for what it is now, and making it special in smaller ways. Just deciding that makes me feel so much better. :)
I also tried Waverly's suggestion of dividing up the year into 'themes' so as to know when to focus my energy on different activities, instead of carrying the whole load of ideas in my head, all the time, and then never feeling comfortable to devote time to any one of them for fear of neglecting the next. However, my attempts at dividing the year became difficult when I started trying to figure out what exactly I wanted to do this year. Things soon became cluttered and crowded when I thought of work, social life, exercise, gardening, crafty stuff, the house, the apartments, my relationship, traveling, etc. And the crazy part is, realistically, I won't do half of what I thought up anyway! But I know that I tend to think of March as being the time when I start to come out of my hibernation and start planning for the Spring. :) That's exciting. I'll be in Jamaica for the last 8 days of February, and will come back to the dawning of another year of gardening (slowly this time!) and big projects.
Anyway, happy not-so-blue Monday (even though it's late) - go buy yourself a cute fern for your desk - it'll brighten your day!!! :)
S

So, it's Sunday evening, and I'm using agonizingly slow internet at my parents' farm - so I've given up any hope of amusing myself by surfing the web and have decided to write something instead (knowing that it will probably take half the night to actually post it).

Anyway, I'd love to be watching tv at the moment but the dogs are all over me if I try to sit on the couch. At least if I sit at the computer, the three of them pile around me on the floor. I'm on the 'GSD' shift at the moment (meaning, the three german shepherds are inside with me for their hour of house-time). Then I have to still do the four crazy Parson Russell Terriers and finally, the old guys can come back in (a golden retriever, a sheltie, and a Parson Russell who isn't old but she's quiet).

So has gone every evening for me for the last four in a row. I arrived here Wednesday with my dog, Tigger, unpacked the van, and started my adventure as a 'farm girl' extraordinaire. Let me tell you, it's exhausting, though I am slightly proud that I have managed to get through it without killing anything.. :)

My day starts at 7:40 am, when the young terrier, who hasn't yet learned the wonders of sleeping in, begins to scream. (For those of you who haven't owned a terrier before, this is akin to what a regular dog would sound like if you ran over its leg with your car, or some other similarily horrible incident... They SCREAM, and I've timed one of them at two high-pitched barks per SECOND, in two-minute intervals while I'm trying to take a much needed nap...)

So I stumble out of bed and throw my boots on to greet the day (yes, on the farm, boots and pj's are incredibly functional and fashionable, don't you know). :) Anyway, so first off, I head out to the 'dog room' where I'm greeted with various ear-splitting screetches and bellows, and I grab the three GSDs and throw them into their run, enduring a literal 'pummeling' of claws and teeth as they excitedly greet me, to open the door to the outside run. That one done, I do it again, twice more, with the various terriers. Then I find somewhere for the old guys to go outside.

I then alternate trying to make coffee, feed myself, feed the cats, and get dressed with feeding the puppies and Tigger and making sure everyone has time to do their business before I close down the runs of the smaller dogs who need to stay warm.
That done, I throw on my horse attire (ie: it's allowed to smell like a stable) and head out to the barn to put the horses out into the fields, muck their stalls, change their water, put new bedding in stalls, put hay out for breakfast, and hay in stalls for night, and sweep the aisles, before changing stallions (one out at a time) and heading in for lunch (yes, it takes about 2.5 to 3 hours to get all that done by myself).

By this time, the dogs all need to go out again, so I do that while feeding myself lunch.

After lunch, I've been taking two of the GSDs for a walk to the back of the farm, and then I spend the better part of my afternoon cleaning up after whoever has decided to poop on the floor or track shavings across the floor (myself included), and rotating them through time in the yard, time in the house, and time in their runs.

I usually just start to settle into something relaxing, like thinking about opening a book, finding some good music to listen to, or whatever, when I realize it's 4:00. That's feeding time at the ranch. :) So I get back into my barn clothes and boots, and stomp out to the barn to bring the horses all back in, give them their grain and fill up their water dishes, and then lock down the barn for the day.

By the time I get back, it's time to feed the dogs. So I get all their dishes ready, then bring each group in and crate them with their supper.

During this brief lapse in animal company (minus the cats who are still following me around and throwing my stuff on the floor, jumping into the dryer when I'm loading it and not paying attention, and sitting on the dining room table), and Tigger, who eats in with me, I decide to try to make dinner. So I make some little thing for myself to eat, and scarf that down before Tigger decides he needs out again (he's having a tough time adjusting to the water so when he needs out, he means it), and so all the dogs need out.

After supper, I lock the runs down in the garage (as in, I close the doors to the outside runs, so it stays warmer in there) and I start the shifts of each group getting an hour inside with me while I attempt to relax. I just threw the GSD's out a few minutes early because they'd finally become quiet, when I heard a funny popping sound coming from the kitchen. They were in the washroom where I'd stowed a garbage bag, and were busy trying to eat a pizza box. Now the terriers are in and I am doing a fairly good job of ignoring their skittering little bodies as they fly all over the house, sniffing and nipping and getting into things... And now one of the old dogs is scratching and whining at the door.

I managed to handle this for five days. I have one more to go. I certainly couldn't do it forever though. I'd go friggin crazy... (Someone just opened a kitchen cupboard door, be right back...) Anyway, my day will end at 10:00 (I can't stay awake much beyond that, because of my helpful canine alarm clock), and will have involved one more shift of dogs coming in, and one more session of them all going out to do their business, before they all are brought in and put to bed with a cookie for being such 'good dogs'... :) I don't know how my parents do this!

Anyway, so yes, tomorrow it's back to Ottawa, back to a job that bores me to tears, and back to my own home, where I can hopefully learn to appreciate how unstressful it is to take care of just ONE dog, instead of 9...

'Night!
S

So, just in keeping with the second part of my resolution, which was to make healthier eating choices this year and restore my exercise program, here is an excerpt from Marylin Smith's blog 'the Healthy Plate'. I stumbled upon it this morning on yahoo and the refreshing thing about it is it's good old fashioned common sense, doled out in small steps. No miracle cures, or crazy birdseed diets. Her approach is to give you one thing to ADD to your lifestyle each month throughout the year, instead of taking away. So, for the month of January, if you're interested in being nicer to your body this year:

"This month all I want you to do is to add one more serving of fruit and one more serving of vegetables to your diet every day. That's it. That's all you do for the next month.
A serving of fruit is one medium-sized fruit, ½ cup (125 mL) cooked or canned fruit or ¼ cup (60 mL) dried fruit. Notice there is no mention of juice. You're probably drinking way too much juice anyway and I want you to eat the fruit not drink it. You only need ½ cup (125 mL) of juice a day which is a ton less than what most people are drinking. And when I say juice I mean 100 per cent juice. The real thing; not a fruit beverage, not a fruit cocktail, not a fruit drink. So eat more fruit, don't drink more fruit.
A serving of vegetables is ½ cup (125 mL) cooked or raw veggies or 1 cup (250 mL) of salad or leafy greens like spinach. Try to pick really deeply coloured fruits and veggies. Wash them well and eat the peel if possible. Of course that doesn't mean the orange rind, banana peel, onion skin, the list goes on. But apple peel, potato, peel, sweet potato peel, carrot, you get the idea, are all good. "

Yay, I can do this!! :)
S

Happy New Year and welcome to 2008 :)
Last year, the calendar companion I subscribed to suggested that at the start of the year, we should consider a new intention for the coming year, a quality to bring into your life. My intention for this year would be balance, across all areas of my life - friendship, work, play, thinking and doing, me and others, etc...

For example, where I have reconnected with many past friends on the internet over the past year, in the new year, I'd like to work on renewing and building on tangible friendships that I have here, the ones I've neglected for so long and are now hanging by a thread. Also, with my health - high on stress and low on time (or so I thought since my mind was racing all the time, while I aimlessly puttered around and got nothing done), I tended to opt for easy meals, canned everything, and gave up on my morning situps, my gardening, my evening strolls, etc.
Tonight I cooked a healthy, simple meal of peas, rice and pork chops tonight, and Luc and I both felt instantly better. No cream sauces, no canned veggies, no stovetop stuffing, just healthy basic foods. Also, my Mom and Dad gave me some pots and dirt and indoor gardening tools for Christmas and I spent an evening last week up to my elbows in dirt, plants and pots scattered all over the dog room, and me totally in a state of pure calm and relaxation. The next day I was in the best mood I've been in all year, and managed to share a wonderful evening with my sister, without getting tired or cranky as I normally would have. It was then that I realized I need to start doing physical things again and lay off the 'thinking and planning' that I do constantly. Also with my exercising - Luc bought a small corner tv stand and I set up my tv in the room I had originally planned to be my exercise room. Just need to find some cables for the dvd player and I'll be able to start my pilates again. :) Even simple things like doing the dishes - that used to be 'my time' where I'd turn on some music, fill the sink with nice hot water, and wash and dry the dishes by myself, which helped me unwind. Over the last few days I have returned to doing that, saving the dishwasher for only those days when time won't allow me to wash the dishes, or when we have too many to do. I'm hoping it will not only help me to find 'me time' again, but it will also hopefully help cut down on our insane electricity bill, which came in at $350 for two months - Eeeeek!
Finally, I want to strike a balance between work and non-work life... I am at a point in my career where I've coasted long enough and now have to invest a little time and energy into pushing it the direction I want it to go before it stalls altogether. With that in mind, I have to realize that for 7.5 hours a day, I am wholey 100% dedicated to work-related activities. So that if there's a 'lull' in my day to day work, I fill it with more work, so that I get things done, thus eliminating that ever growing to-do list, and I feel more satisfied with myself, instead of feeling guilty all the time. That would leave my evenings and weekends open for enjoyable things like painting, having coffee with friends, gardening seminars (I signed up for about 20, ha ha), and spending time with Luc. :)
Where does the internet fit in all this? Max 1 hour a day! To me, that actually sounds like a lot still, until I take into account that currently I spend on average 5-6 hours a day on it... :( That's crazy.
Anyway, in keeping with the theme, I have now hit my one hour limit. So I will say good night, and I wish everyone good health, happiness, a little adventure, and most of all a sense of balance in their lives throughout 2008.

Ta ta!
S