5 Things, Friday the 13th

by Tina on January 13, 2012

You know, I only just realized that it’s Friday the 13th. Good thing I’m not particularly superstitious, or I could be in trouble. But hey, they day’s been good to me so far [it's payday!] so I’m not going to knock it. I will have to keep an eye on my kids though, you never know how it might affect them…

On that note, here are 5 things I’m loving this week!

1. Martha Stewart’s Home Office collection for Staples – I’m a sucker for office supplies, but especially cute and/or pretty ones, and these are exactly that. It’s a good thing I’ve put myself on an unnecessary buying diet, and that my birthday money is pretty much accounted for, or I’d be in some trouble. Though, apparently they’re not available on the Canadian Staples website, so I guess my bank account is safe, for now. I especially love the labels and notebooks, they’re lovely.

2. My morning and evening quiet time – I have about a half hour in the morning before my oldest gets up, and about an hour and a half before the little three are up. So I get up, make coffee, step outside for a cigarette [bad smoker, bad!], pour my coffee, do my morning pages writing, then either knit, work on blog posts, read my RSS feeds, or randomly surf the internet and wake up. In the evenings, I’ve been playing a lot of video games [Skyrim on the PS3, if you're interested], but also knitting and more random internet time. I value the little bit of child-free time I get, so I make a point of trying to do work during the rest of the day, so I can take full advantage of the peace to do things I can’t when the kids are about.

3. Star Wars: The Old Republic – I’ll admit, I’m an RPG junkie, and MMOs are pretty much the best ones out there. This is a new release, having only come out at Christmas time. Alex preordered it for me, but I haven’t been able to really get into it until a couple days ago, since it was running really badly. But, I figured things out, and now I can play and am enjoying it immensely. The best part? Because I play it on my laptop, I can play while the kids are up!

4. McDonald’s Deluxe Angus burgers – I realize that fast food is awful for you, but dang, these things are good!

5. Netflix – Have I said recently how much I love Netflix? There’s a ton of great kids shows on it, so many we cancelled our cable awhile back because once we got our PS3 and could stream it on the TV, there was no need for it. There’s also a lot of great adult shows and movies, and new stuff is being added all the time. Here in Canada, we pay $8/month for streaming access, and it’s worth every penny.

I hope you have an amazing weekend!

 

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My Planner for 2012

by Tina on January 11, 2012

I love planners. Always have. When I finally got old enough that I didn’t need to use the school supplied one, I was in heaven – I could use the one I wanted! So I would of course find a really pretty one, and put it to use. Well, after I got out of university and stopped working, planners became less necessary. I still used them, but I rarely got one that really worked for me, and I’d abandon it after awhile. I then switched to traditional to-do lists instead, but those never really worked either. I’d load them up with tasks, and get discouraged and worn out trying to do way more than I reasonably could.

But of course, when the new year hit and I was getting ready to make some small but necessary changes, I wanted a planner to go with them. I knew a daily planner broken into hours wouldn’t work, and I knew a traditional weekly one would bother me, too. Then I found this one, and nearly did a dance in the stationary aisle at Dollarama. It’s exactly what I need: laid out month-by-month, each day is lined for easy writing, with a space for general reminders on the side. The limited space given means I won’t overdo the number of tasks I give myself each day, so I’ll be less likely to get overwhelmed, and I’ll feel more accomplished and productive.

Now, I don’t write down everything I do each day. There are tasks that are part of my daily routine, that would be silly to include, because I shouldn’t need to remind myself of them – I do one or two loads of dishes every day after my kids get up, so why would I suddenly forget, or just not do them? I’ve also switched it up a bit for completed tasks. I dislike scratching things off, I find it looks messy, so I went with highlighting finished tasks [I love highlighters!] and scratching off incomplete ones. This encourages me to finish stuff, so I can make my pages colourful and fun. I write down what needs to be done each day, either well in advance or the day before, then mark off at the end of the day what I did or didn’t do, and adjust as necessary.

A good planner is a great way to keep organized, and keep track of what’s going on and when. Whether you use an app or program, or a physical paper planner like I do, learning to use it well in a way that makes it work for you takes a huge load off your mind, because you have less to remember and you can keep better track of what’s gotten done. Here’s to a productive 2012!

 

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First Friday of 2012!

by Tina on January 6, 2012

Wow, so I got my blog all redone and ready to go… then stopped posting. Whoops. Not very good of me, I admit. Anyway, as part of an overarching desire to be more creative this year, I’ve decided I’m going to get this blog moving, bit by bit. I have a few things planned for the next couple weeks, but for now, let’s start off simply with a round of 5 Things I’m loving this week!

1. Vacation! We didn’t go anywhere, but having Alex home after two months of being away is wonderful. He’ll be leaving again in a few days, so I’m making a point of enjoying it as much as I can – as little housework as we can get away with, planning for the future, and indulging in hobbies I have less time for when he’s gone.

2. Knitting – I’ve wanted to re-learn for awhile, having originally taught myself as a child but quickly forgot. So I picked up needles the first day of the year, and have been going every day ever since! I’m well on my way to finishing my first project, a simple stockinette stitch scarf, and using up a skein of stash yarn. Score!

3. Skyrim – I’m a gamer at heart, even if I don’t get to play often. While Alex has been home, I’ve been playing a lot more, mostly Skyrim [though we did beat Army of 2: 40th Day the other evening, together!] Though the game glitches a LOT, and I may have bugged out a long quest chain, I’m still enjoying it for the most part, and am looking forward to beating it, which will be a first – I attempted Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas and haven’t beat any of them. Whoops.

4. Our new kitchen table – we ordered it months ago, it finally arrived in November, and Alex put it together when he got home on leave. We eat dinner at it almost every night now, which is nice, the chance to chat and relax a bit. The babies eat at their own small table, and are getting better about staying seated at it until they’re finished. We don’t make anyone stay at the table til the rest of us are finished, but the little ones especially are directed to stay sitting until they’ve finished eating [even if they don't finish all their food.] It’s a much better example now that we sit at a table as well, since they want to do what the grown ups are. Plus, it’s a really nice table.

5. Bluenotes jeans – I’ve had a love-hate relationship with my jeans as of late. Most were from some period between births of babies, and a few had even survived from before I had the three little ones. But of course my body has changed, and while I’m only maybe 10 pounds heavier than my normal weight pre-babies, it still means old ones don’t fit the way they used to. With money not exactly growing on trees here, it can be hard to justify buying new anything if I already have plenty – and of course, admitting I need a bigger size is a big hit to the ego. But I recently bit the bullet, and bought two new pairs in the bigger size [and tried them on, to boot!] during a BOGO 50% off sale, then a third pair with a gift card gifted to me by my sister for Christmas. Wow! The right size and cut really does help. The new pairs are lighter and more comfortable, and the fit is much better. I feel fantastic every time I put a pair of them on, which is going a long way to making me feel better about myself.

I hope you had an amazing holiday season, and here’s to a happy, productive 2012!

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Wordless Wednesday – My Babies

by Tina on October 5, 2011

Happy Wednesday!

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5 Things, 3/9-9/9

by Tina on October 3, 2011

One thing I’m working on is being more optimistic, and happier in general. I’m trying to focus on whatever good stuff I can, which is sometimes a struggle. But I’ve decided to start a weekly post called ’5 Things’ – five things I’m looking forward to, that I’m grateful for, or whatever else happy and good that I can think of.

So here are my 5 things for this week: 5 Things I’m Looking Forward to This Week

  1. Getting back into my workout routine. I was sick last week and did practically nothing, so being able to get up and work out in the morning again will make my days so much nicer.
  2. The in-laws coming to visit. They’re coming down to see everyone before Alex leaves, and it’s always nice to have family visit, since we live so far away from everyone and can’t really travel ourselves.
  3. Going to WalMart. I know it seems silly, but we don’t have a car and it’s about 15 minutes drive to the city to get to one, so we don’t go often. But Alex’s parents always offer to take us to do errands when they visit, and I love WalMart more than I probably should.
  4. Finish handmade gifts. Mackenzie’s birthday is next week, and I’m trying to de-stash by making a lot of gifts. I’m working on her last handmade item now, then they’ll get blocked and finished and wrapped up for her, which are several tasks off my to-so list.
  5. Thanksgiving. This weekend is Canadian Thanksgiving, so we’re doing a big meal and spending as much time together as we can before Alex leaves. Holidays are particularly special, because we don’t do a lot of fancy cooking generally, so the meals are out of the ordinary for us.

I hope you guys have lots of great things in store for your week, too!

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