The annual tree hunt!

In search of the perfect tree.... egad that boy is getting big.

Here it is!

The big boy is good with the saw.

The tradition of heading out to the tree farm and tracking down a good tree for our small living room, is a highlight of the season that a fake tree just wouldn't fullfill. Tromping over the frozen ground trying to visualize every tree sitting in my home covered in our tresured ornament collection.... it's an odd thing, but so much fun as a family. This year Cam found the winner in record time. I prefer a Spruce because of the sturdier branches, but this Fir was exactly the right size and shape, so it's the one! I hope it had a nice life making Oxygen for the last 15 years or so... that's what I like about a real tree.... it had a chance to be environmentally wonderful before decorating my house for a month. And buying local keeps the negative impact very low too.

((( I'd show you what it looks like decorated, but Blogger won't load the picture for some reason...?))))

Full Speed Ahead

Wow, it's here, the LAST MONTH OF 2011!

I am amazed at how fast the years are going these days. I was laying in bed thinking about my boys.... in less than 2 years my first born son will be driving, in less than 4 years he will be allowed to vote and sign legal contracts! Egad, if this time slip thing continues, it will practically be tomorrow that he's leaving home! AAAAAAAHHHHH!

Good news is he seems to be happy accepting more responsibility with things. He doesn't mutter about helping out around the house and even is interested in cooking. His room is still a disaster, that's a normal teen condition. All in all, I think he will be a fine adult, he is right on schedule for maturing (in my opinion).

OF COURSE when  g i r l s enter the scene I know all hell will break lose and I'm not looking forward to that. If he takes after his father at all, jealousy will cause all sorts of unpleasant situations. But I'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Before then (and more immediately), there is CHRISTMAS 2011 to deal with: Presents to find and wrap, decorations to put up, parties to attend, baking to do, etc.

I was hoping to get out and finalize a present for my charming Mother In Law, I want to get something nice.

Merry December Everyone. Let the Games Begin!

Blindsided

I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone:

1) Let my step-dad (semi-retired handyman) build a Christmas present for the family AND 2) get a long-time project tackled for this house... namely the unfinished hole of a laundryroom.

A little bit sneaky in retrospect, I wanted to surprise my darling, hard working husband with the initiative.

BIG MISTAKE

It never really occured to me that he would be upset about having two walls drywalled while he was at work. It never occurred to me that after 12 years of us talking about it, that he didn't feel that we really had decided what that room was going to function like as a finished space (I genuinely thought we had discussed the topic into submission!). I had drawn up several plans years ago... and THOUGHT we had agreed on something a long time ago.

Well he came home yesterday from a very bad day at work, will brutal heartburn, to find the house turned upside down and his family missing (we had an appointment to get portraits of the kids that I couldn't miss). He took it the wrong way (the room progress) and then took it out on me when I called to say where we were.... it took me off-guard... COMPLETELY off-guard.

I was speechless.

When he finished his rant... I simpered "I thought it would be a nice surprise" and "Grandpa wanted to do it for us as a gift"

He apologized immediately.

It was bad timing in his day. He never does do well with change, so maybe I should have been a little more sensitive about springing it on him. But I really didn't see that coming... nope, not at all.

By the end of the evening, I conceded to seeing his perspective about not being consulted, and he thanked me for wanting to do something so helpful, we hugged, kissed and made up. And I am continuing to work on the room today.... now that we are both on the same page again.

After 17 years of marriage, there can still be surprises - who knew?

Attitude Gratitude

Well, isn't it a lovely day?

(Sure it's raining and blowing, but that's not what's important)

Since I last wrote, I feel so much better. I am confident that it's not the end of my financial world, and I am at peace with my clutter/belongings for the moment as well. Sill more clutter than I want, but it's not urgently bugging me like it was a little while ago. I'm certainly not wanting to go out on a shopping spree any time soon, but the panic has subsided for now..... approaching peace.

The kids are bleeding me dry with their needs and wants (financially and temporally) but I am so happy that they are healthy and loving boys! Glasses, dental, winter boots, growth spurts, bottomless appetites, school issues, friend issues, Christmas build up.... oh ya baby, parenting is a full time job right now. Somehow, thanks to my confidence shift that I had last week it's not causing pain, it's causing gratitude that I can deal with these things as they come.

Sure for a moment I can feel overwhelmed, angry at the seeming futility of my efforts, but it passes quickly and I can resume my quest for growth, peace and gratitude. It's small stuff.

My home is intact.
My country is at peace.
My government is freely democratic.
My friends are attentive.
My husband is supportive.
My kids are good.
My belly is full.
I have education, freedom, safety, sight, health, hope!

Really, anything else is nothing in comparison.

Here I am happy to be here right now. Thank you for joining me.

THI$ MEAN$ WAR

Financially we are still pinched... though the checks have started coming in from my mad torrent of jobs. :) It has eased my panic considerably, but I'm not out of the woods by any stretch.

I was laying in bed staring at the darkness the other night PANICKING about the money and the dark future. Wide-eyed horror about it (very unlike me) -- then I remembered -- I have the tools for success right here. I know how to make a budget (start with get Gail's budget Worksheet online) and implement it.

AND I am by nature a fairly frugal gal... I just need to ramp it up a notch. AND most valuable of all.... I believe in myself, my country, and my power to succeed if I only put my mind to it. I have forgotten that part, completely forgotten that I have the POWER to make my own future (with determination passion and the ability to open my mind to opportunities)! Of course the budget and the willingness to be frugal make all the positive thinking have genuine weight.

ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES

Focusing on the being broke is BAD. Focusing on the getting back to comfortable is GOOD

Some things are already coming together... upcoming gift-holiday headway....The secret Santa idea had mixed responses but in the end the "Yeahs" have it, so we are doing it!!!! WOOHOO! And I have enforced a $20-each limit to the niece's and nephew's presents (5 in all) if I am very careful and think hard about what I am getting, it shouldn't be too difficult. (After all they'll be getting loads of stuff, right?)


AND I have a brilliant plan for my step-dad's gift and my sister's gift....no hints here.... I don't want to spoil it.

ENERGY FLOWS WHERE ATTENTION GOES

My energy will be flowing towards gratitude for my blessings. I am blessed like crazy!
 
The money is a hiccup that will be conquered efficiently.

Feeling Terror-Pride

 I was feeling "terror-pride" a lot last weekend. It is the feeling that my children invented for when I am almost too scared to watch and still super-proud of their riding courage!

These are my kids..... my babies!

Don't their wheels ever touch the ground?

It was a local  "Hare Scramble" style dirt bike race, specially for kids. Steve borrowed MY bike for the event and didn't damage it (even with landing those gravity-defying leaps!). He came in 3rd after 2 boys with much gnarlier bikes & more racing experience. Cami (one of the smaller participants) came in 5th out of 10 total kids.

I was feeling terror-pride watching them drift around corners, overtake others and flying off the jumps. But no one crashed and no one got hurt that day....

... Sunday however during the main event, Steve participated and managed to fracture one of his toes stubbing his riding boot into a tree (my bike was unscathed).  He still came in 5th for his age category (out of 12). Monday morning was a trip to get Xrays, he says it hurt but not as bad as his sprained foot last season (ugh... BOYS!). My darling husband raced on Sunday too, and he hauled butt for someone that had a cold, he came in 2nd for his class against 15 others! I was so proud (without the terror) ... what a man!

My boys are full of danger and adventure... but with legal, skill-enhancing activities that boosts their confidence without trashing anyone else's so I cringe & grin then hug them tight when they come home tired and dirty.

Keeping my head above water

I'm still alive.

I'm still working feverishly at my big projects. So that's all I really have to talk about right now...

The good news is I got the major brochure project done in record time (no choice, the printer wanted the files TWO WEEKS earlier this year) even though it was 4 pages bigger than usual, I think I made a fine looking brochure if I do say so myself.

My mainstream client is pleased with my stuff right now too... yay! I got to do labeling, a brochure, fancy business cards and a poster for a new product launch so far.... Chinese translation to it all and a website still to go.... must be ready to go public in Mid November. TICK TOCK!

That same client has another product he wants to launch simultaneously.... I'm nervous about thisone. It involves ground-up branding for a cosmetics line. I do wear make-up... but I usually only get what my sister recommends and only when it's on sale (LOL). I've never even paid much attention to make-up logos. Time to do some RAPID RESEARCH!

There is a 40 page booklet that's about 50% completed that needs to be at the printers by next Friday. I will need up to the very last second to get all the materials from the client (ah the joy of selling ad space).

Then there is the regular client maintenance things... ads, logos, flyers, etc... it feels so GOOD to be working this much right now. really good.

Still I had time to have a big Thanksgiving meal at our house. Eleven family members in attendance (we just finished the last of the leftovers last night). I gave EVERYONE a take-home bounty too! It's too bad that I'm not really a fan of turkey. I LOVE the brussel sprouts, candied yams, mashed potatoes, soft dinner rolls, from-scratch cranberry sauce, gravy, stuffing -- AND PIES!!!! -- but not a big fan of the big bird itself. I wonder what that's all about?

Well, I thought I'd check in. Let you know I'm still treading water in this great puddle of work... I'll update later.

Things are getting soggy around here.

There is a theme in my work right now.... water.

An algae food suppliment branding, a fishing lodge brochure, a custom boat builder logo, a hot tub store advertising campaign...  It is appropriate because when it rains it pours in my business -- and right now it's torrential! I have to admit this deluge of work is a welcome change from the recent work-drought.

I'm going to be only checking in sporatically for the next little while. I still love you all.

Murf

[ "murf" is the noise my cat makes when she's been interrupted at her nap. ]

The belt tightening has been going with mixed results. My mom and sister took me out to lunch (great), but then they also took me to a home-improvement place to shop for my sister's kitchen sink... however there was a clearance table that had a nice front door lock set (ours is functional but very thrashed) for 1/2 price. Even better the brushed nickel one that I preferred was also on clearance, but the display model was the last one... I waited 15 minutes for them to take it down and saved half off again. For $32 I got a really beautiful entry door lock set. Did I NEED it - absolutely not. Did I want it - yes. Was it a great price - you bet your sweet bippy it was... So I got some "house jewelry". Not clutter perse.

I don't regret buying it, but I do feel bad about spending even that small amount on an unplanned thing.

Otherwise pantry shopping has been a smashing success! I have spent next to nothing on groceries these past few days. Other than the fresh, perishable things that my garden is not providing, I have been putting together some great meals right from my own cupboards and freezer. We aren't getting weird at all yet! Boullinaise sauce from scratch, Chicken & bacon in Vodka Sauce, Tom Yum soup stuffed with veggies on farkay noodles, classic spaghetti meat sauce with garlic bread, roast chicken and spaghetti squash.... oh and there is lots more where that came from!

School is off to a great start with the boys (what a relief) ... 2 weeks down!
Steve made this AWESOME plant cell model out of green jello. The golgi apperatus was folded blue licorish, the chloroplasts were green scoth mints, the rough endoplasmic reticulum were cut straws standing on end, the vacoule was a little ziplock bag, the lysosomes were craisins and the nucleus was a plum... super-cute idea that he came up with on his own. It looked great with the little toothpick flag labels. I gave him a ride to school to protect his masterpiece from highschool bus ride mischief. (I wish I had remembered to take a picture). The best part was, after he got his grade, he and his buddies ATE it! That was so much better than trying to "keep" a paper mache model or something like that.  No leftovers to clutter up the house. The whole thing cost about $5 worth of food, and he got it done in time too!

Another thing. I waged war on iTunes the last couple afternoons while waiting for clients to get me changes on things.... and I think I may have won! I went through every folder on my computer that was hiding music and consolidated it all into one massive folder on my external drive. I removed duplicates and back ups of my back ups and then went into itunes and deleted my library and started from scratch. Then I spent another couple hours selecting what I wanted on my ipod and finally synced. YAY! It fits! And I only cursed and swore a little bit because I expected it to be long and painful before I got going. Any onf you veteran i-folks are laughing at me right now, but this is a MAJOR thing for me. It's good to have that finally done... like going to the dentist.

Belt Tightening Time!

Confession: The Slow spring for my income has finally caught up with me.

I am now Miss Frugal-Supreme until the Fall Graphics contracts begin (I have just confirmed 2 annual bread and butter October jobs back for another year)

The thing is I am kind of panicking.... I'm already pretty darned frugal!

No cable, ubber-cheap cellphone (that we all 4 share for emergencies), fairly local camping is our vacation of choice (and we pick low cost sites), we eat vegetarian several dinners a week, I grow as many veggies as I can fit in my little plot, I line dry the laundry, no car payments and T does all mechanic-ing here at home, we accept hand me downs for the kids and myself for clothes, I buy discount-near-expiry meat to freeze, no air conditioners, no booze, very little restaurant patronage (and then it's for lunch not dinner), no consumer debt to pay down, no student loans... where else can I cut?  Where else can I scrimp while still feeding my growing family decently, and keeping house and home and body and soul together?

Seriously! I need tips and I need them fast for the next little while.

There are 2 options... find a way to trim expenses or find a way to boost income.

Two mom's at Steve's highschool suggested I tutor Math on the side. But I already have my side jobs... could I make the time I wonder?

Maybe I should flog my business harder? Now that school is back in I could do that more easily... but there is the immediate problem of cashflow to deal with there is the gap between NOW and the client building, new work and invoice payments received, y'know? AND I know October will see me SWAMPED already, so why pile more on and alienate my family?

Back to ideas for cutting costs.... anybody?

For the first time, I am SLIGHTLY relieved we didn't get the other house because  moving  costs  money. Period.

I need to calm down, face my fears and find a solution PRONTO

Camping Bliss Still

*** August 31st would have been moving day if we had got the other house, I am a little sad still but life moves on... ***

We went CAMPING!
Our trailer (which we have affectionately named "Alice" after her former care giver) was dragged down an hour of terribly undignified logging roads to spend 5 nights in my favourite spot on the planet -- Nixon Creek in the heart of central Vancouver Island.

I went in 2007

And again in 2007

And 2008

And again in 2008

But that makes it 3 years since we last saw thins beautiful place -- It's been too long! I missed the gravel shore and deep forest, my heart has BONDED with that place.



our spot



our spot from another angle



my favourite place; on our little private beach




Cam's favourite sunny spot



Cam's favourite shady spot



Steve's favourite thing to do



The boy's spent a lot of time chasing fish...

 

Max's over-looking the lake most of the time


Of course there was time spent chasing local foods. Though my boys got skunked fishing (close calls but nothing brought in), another camper shared his catch with us one day. That evening we had fresh, campfire-smoked trout served with wild onions (from a nearby beach) and chantrelle mushrooms that I had found that afternoon in the woods. Salal, Saskatoon, Thimble, Huckleberry, Brambleberry sauce on yogurt for dessert! Yummy, indigenous, extremely local goodness!!!!

There were beautiful sunsets.
There was a campfire every night with marshmallows, hot cocoa and even popcorn. There was good conversation around the flames and then when things were super-quiet we would go down to our little beach and look at the mind-blowing amount of stars (that we can't see within our city limits due to light pollution).

There were misty mornings and windy afternoons, long walks in the deep forest and fantastic wildlife.
There were NOT any noisy people, sibling squabbles, pesky mosquitos (though I did get a few wasp stings out in the woods when we accidentally disturbed a nest in the woods) nor electric devices demanding attention.
It was wonderful... really really wonderful.

This time, with the trailer I wasn't prepared to leave when it was time to go... sniff sniff.... till we meet again Nixon Creek!

Camping and Socializing

We went to my friend Wolgrrrl's 15th wedding anniversary party up-island this Saturday. I thought it was the  perfect excuse to book us into a campsite nearby on the lake for the weekend.

It turns out the campsite was PACKED and we reserved the very last trailer-accessible space. Not our ideal camping scenario, but it was still fun on the lake. After all, a campfire and roasted marshmallows is what it's all about, right? It turned out we were right next to one of Cami's buddies (small world) so he had someone to chill with. The dog was great the whole time, Stevie was busy with the inflatable rowboat or his bicycle, T and I hung out together amazed at how much easier it is with a real trailer compared to tent trailer.... our lake-side view from the trailer...

At first light Saturday morning, Cami got up and decided to make a monument.... those are BIG sticks, the tallest is taller than me!

Saturday's party was marvellous. The backyard decorations were magical - white paper lantern globes, red squid wind socks, colourful fish cutouts on the fence and dozens of paper birds fluttering overhead on a spiderweb of strings with a fantastic castle playhouse/staging area at the end of the yard. Creative, colourful, fluid, kinetic decorations that were somehow still simple and elegant. You can tell I was impressed?

Then the FOOD came out! The smell teased us all for hours before we finally got to dig in. Everything made from scratch... humus, tzatziki, babaganoush (sp?), brihanni, greek potatoes, greek salad, spanakopita!!! One delicious garlicy, perfect, taste after another. mmmmm.....

It was wonderful seeing all these people that I haven't seen in years. Wolfgrrrl's family was MY family for 4 years during my childhood. I saw more of them than my own family for those years! And I loved them all, they were consistently kind and generous to my raga-muffin child-self and still so after all these years.

We left them as it got dark, and the outdoor movie had started projected on a sheet draped over the castle... the rain had started and we didn't want to come back to the campground too late. What a nice time it was.

...paper flock fluttering in the sunset....

The next day after we had packed up camp and checked out of the site, we went back to wolfgrrrl's for a left-overs brunch. (I pigged out on the greek potatoes) Then we checked out a street market taking place a few blocks away. That's when it rained enthusiastically on us.... oh well, it was a great excuse to try the gourmet, chili-hot-chocolate! Wolgrrrrl's husband made sure we didn't leave without an arm full of leftovers (much appreciated beleive me!) and we made the drive home.

My tomato plants missed me more than the cat.

It was a nice weekend.

Peace and Fear

Okay. I'm finally reaching some peace with the idea of staying (it's not hard really).

And I celebrated the idea with taking an uncharacteristic risk.

You know how the market is being "volatile" right now?

Well I decided it was time to get in on the action (on top of our very "conservative" investing we have done thus far). We never seem to have the money to do more than the token monthly RRSP thing... NEVER have maxed out the contribution room for any one year. Oh I'd love to, but there are always more pressing things to pay for. But yesterday I made a major contribution to our RRSP mutual funds. EEEEK it's so scary for me! We did what so many people do (and there is so much debate about) and borrowed it. [[[ gasp, wheeze, clutch chest]]] I'm frightened out of my skin, but still SURE that it had to be done --like ripping a band-aid off.

So if we can't have a yard with a shop, we CAN have more shares in a huge assortment of mysterious fluctuating numbers -- oh boy. They say the secret is NOT to look at the market and just keep it there for as long as you can. So that's what I'm going to do... I will have a look at it again on my 60th birthday to see if it needs to be moved somewhere more stable at that time... ya right. Okay, I'll watch it but not TOUCH it for a long long time....

I do feel better about our long term savings numbers now. Of course I feel worse about our debt load, but then again it's not as bad as starting from scratch with another 20 year mortgage either.... So I guess we could say that how I am feeling about it is fluctuating as wildly as the Dow Jones at the moment!

Temporary insanity?

Desperate need to make a change?

Or spark of inspiration?

I don't know, but it's done now.

Lakeside House is Gone

It's official, the Lakeside house is sold to the other people.

Now is a tricky thing.... do we continue to keep our house listed? It's really been no trouble at all (because nobody comes for viewings!) and the house is kept within 15 minutes of publicly presentable (which T is LOVING). Keeping the house listed just means keeping this up. It also means that digging into projects like painting the dented up foyer and finishing the retaining walls on the North side can't really be tackled.

And if by some miracle somebody wants to BUY the house, where do we go? There is nothing on the market in our neighbourhood that I would even consider.... makes the idea of moving kinda silly.

BUT if we take our place off the market and continue with "PLAN A" by continuing to live in this house with the intention of staying (finishing the side yard retaining walls, painting walls, maybe even finishing the laundryroom), then what if another great place comes up?! We may lose it again because of the "subject to sale" issue.... what am I saying? That's like living in fear, I can't let myself get paralyzed by the "what ifs". Really I should just NOT look until we are really ready to sell. HAHAHA I know I have to look, it's just who I am.

I need to follow my usual philosophy that things happen for a reason, then I shouldn't be concerned that the other house is gone. It's just that this time feels different. It feels WRONG losing that house. I am not feeling the usual relief that I won't have to pack... I just feel disappointment that I won't be moving my furniture into that house. It's silly really because that other house needed kitchen re-do, new windows and other changes to make it nice.

I have to relax and let it be.

I have to live in the moment by accepting that it's not an option anymore.

But that still leaves the decision.... do we stay "for sale" and roll the dice or do we just stay here? There is no obvious answer. And just being content here is getting harder with the garage stuffed to capacity, the driveway full of our trailer and my Mother in Law's MS making the stairs and steep driveway a serious obstacle for her visits.... in 2 short years Steve is going to likely be adding another car to the driveway, and I can almost guarantee that it will need work, but the garage is not set up for cars anymore (it hasn't been for years now because of all the 2 wheeled things in there).

It's natural to have life's changes change the requirements for a house... it may be time.

Finding Focus

Thank you for following me here. I think it is a great place to be!
I have noticed there seems to be 2 kinds of posts I make.... the personal updates, and the decluttering journal logs...

So I am separating the two now.

If you like keeping up with my daily ramblings and photos then stay right here

If you are more interested my metamorphosis from Pack rat to Minimalist come on over to ...happyshinyme...

Frame of Mind

My sister is working out of town this month and coming home on weekends. So she has been finding ways to have her kids looked after during her custody days (custody: it sounds so mean, it was an amicable and equal sharing of time with the kids between daddy and mommy after the split really).

Anyways this week was MY week to have her two precious little blonde kidlets from Monday to Wednesday. It was easier than I thought it would be, the kids were well behaved and mellow. I was very worried that the 6 year old girl would get all "princess" on me and be demanding and whiny like she is for her mom, but she was actually very reasonable! The 9 year old boy? I knew he'd be fine because him and my Cami are best buddies.

I did have to change my routine a fair bit though. And adjust my cooking a bit, and set my doddling tolerance levels a lot higher to accomodate the younger one. I'm BEYOND that phase, and I thought I could move on... LOL... how soon we forget! But all in all it went very well.

With my house streamlined it was not as utterly chaotic as I expected it to get. (Hooray) and my little neice spent a lot of time reading her cousin's books. (hooray) and the boys just made noises in their own universe - away from my office (hooray).


We spent a few hours at my sister's house today for a change of scenery (and clothes) for the kids. I brought my work laptop and did 3 hours of off-line work (no email or blogs to distract was amazingly productive!). Her home is decorated like a magazine... albeit a busy page of the decor magazine. She has a clutter tolerance for decorative items that is MUCH more than my new saturation level preference. I think it's a very pretty and well put together space visually, but within a few hours of being there I find it over-stimulating and slightly claustrophobic. I USED to prefer spaces like that and longed for my own space to be layered and coordinated like that... not anymore. My mindset has changed to a "less is more" or "quality over quantity" aesthetic, and I like it.

As the afternoon wore on. I packed up my computer and the kids, left her lovely candlesticks and knick-knacks behind and we walked back home to my echo-ing livingroom.
By the time daddy had come to get his sweet cherubs, I was in a calm space of parenting for 4. Three days was just right though. I was dreading the thought of having to do banking or grocery shopping with all of them in tow.... I ran out of milk this morning, tough luck.

If she asks me again I will say yes (of course! they are my neice and nephew!) but I'm sure I will still be nervous about it.

Sorry Erin

I didn't get as far on the mystery storage bins as I would have liked. I did got through A LOT of bins, but apparently seasonal clothes and clothes that boy#1 outgrew that boy#2 is waiting to grow into takes up a lot of space! But I can't be too hard on myself because I managed to take a large bag to charity by going through that part of the room, and any progress is good progress for me.

We had a showing scheduled for Monday afternoon, but they "changed their minds" and cancelled that morning. Meanwhile my husband and I had already made the house sparkle (it must have needed it anyways, right?). I guess the market is telling me it's not my time to move.... stupid market.

The house that is the object of my affection (aka: obsession) right now had a little accident Friday. A car rolled out of the driveway above the house and across the yard, then piled into the corner of the garage! It took out the support in one corner so now the garage has an amusing tilt. I'm not sure if house insurance or car insurance covers that one, but I am sure it will be fixed before the current owner leaves -- I am hoping this little incident will frighten the other buyer away so we can have another crack at it.... not that it matters because nobody is even LOOKING at our house!

But back to this house.... I will continue to attempt to clear the laundryroom one bin at a time. It is my goal to remove all but relevant seasonal and truly functional items by the end of this year. I must say "adios" to aspirational clutter such as archived memories, stagnant craft projects, outdated toys and truly forgotten possessions.... I'm thinking that should clear out at least 1/3!

Mystery Bin Decluttering

My mission (because I chose to accept it) is to look in the opague mystery bins in my laundry room and pare them down.

And today I dedicate this mission to Erin at unclutterer.com.

I've been avoiding the bins because:
a) they fit in the shelves
b) they are opague and therefore look organized
c) there was so much more obvious stuff to declutter first!

With the rest of the house in show-home condition there is no time like the present to tackle this hidden hoard... man that's a lot of storage, and man oh man thats a lot of "stuff" that I don't use everyday!

My mantra for this mission:

Will my life LACK without this?

Odds are -- for most of this -- the answer will be an easy "NO". And for the rest of it I can ask "Am I honouring this item?" "Is this the best place for this?" and "Why is this in a bin?"

I look forwarding to posting the results soon.

The house drama

The other offer was accepted.

What that means is they have invoked the "24 hour clause" for us to remove all subjects by tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:00 AM or lose the house. All the subjects are already removed except our subject to sell our house... so that means if we don't find a way to come up with the money to sustain our house AND buy that house in writing by tomorrow morning (but effective August 31st), then the decision is made for us.

I feel sick with wanting that house and yard and location.

But I just got off the phone with the bank. Between what we owe on our home (small) and what we owe on our rental place (more) we do not qualify for the full amount of the other house on top of it. They don't include very much of the rent as income (it makes sense to save people from stupid borrowing)... so the decision is made without us. We can't have it.

I have to live with my pretty house and tiny mortgage and NOT pay atrocious fees and taxes and lawyers... awwwwww.....

(Actually I can still have a tiny spark of hope that the other deal gets broken somehow between now and closing, so we will keep our house listed until we know for 100% sure that it's no longer on the market)

Fingers Crossed... for what exactly?

Well... I'm not sure what to say. I feel very apprehensive. Someone else is submitting an offer on the house T & I want to buy. Emotionally I have already moved in, so this is heartbreaking to me. My BRAIN says "it's okay, you are fine in this house", but my heart is saying "waaaaah I want the other house!"

Maybe it will be a low-ball offer and we are still the best deal on the table?

Maybe the others will get cold feet?

Maybe the open house will go AMAZING tomorrow and we can rescue our offer on the other place in the required time period?

It's beyond my realm of influence at this point, so I just have to relax and let the chips fall where they may.

(If it all falls apart, we will have wasted quite a bit of time and the cost of the inspection, but the projects around this house are done and we know where we stand here.... not a total loss by any means.)

OPEN HOUSE ON SATURDAY!!!

We have an open house on Saturday!


But EEEEK.... I had the garden outside my bedroom 1/2 ripped up and literally a tonne of gravel that I forced my husband to get last night in the bed of the pick-up..... a whole storey down and 50 feet away from the destination. What to do?!

Well, hiring youth is the way to go! My 14 year old, Steve, called a couple buddies and they had it all unloaded and up to the garde -- DONE  -- in 2 hours! Other than directing buckets, and moving plants and paving stones, all I had to do was offer sweet beverages, a bag of chips and some pizza from Little Georges.

I wish I had taken "before" pictures but it all happened so FAST.

(new view from my bedroom window....)

(new view from the deck...)

(new view from the North...)

 (new view from the gate that leads into the yard...)

I simply couldn't be happier with the results.... now that part of the yard looks "on purpose" instead of like a dead zone. One less thing to do for the Open house HOORAY for Steve and Friends, and the power of teens!!!!

Navel Gazing

House is ready.... nobody is looking.

Summer is here... the summer weather is not.

Cat pooped in an open office drawer last night ... WTF??? (Good thing it was full of paper things I should have decluttered already!)

I have big plans for a pretty gravel garden in the backyard by my bedroom... no grass grows there anyways... but no truck to get the gravel, T has the big wheels today.

We need to get a "letter of consent" notorized so that my kids can go cross the boarder to Seattle with their grandpa to see the sights... it means organizing documents and getting T to meet me at the notary's (he will whine).

I love reading financial blogs... but I have a complaint. They are always about reducing debt, minimizing debt impact and fast-tracking debt payments... but what about those of us that don't have crippling debt? I want to know how to boost my savings and maximizing my returns with minimal risk and finding ways to cut taxes, and where the best interest rates are hiding for TSFA's.... boring, yes. But it's what I want. Just because my debt isn't out of control doesn't mean that I don't have money stress too.... day to day expenses and my fluctuating income keep me plenty worried.

My dog is a good dog. But he sheds, and he stinks and he tracks grit from one end of the house to the other... oh how I am tired of that. But he is a good dog.

Steve had the same migraine that I suffered in April at least is seemed the same... thundering head, violent vomiting, short gulping breaths, etc... after his stomache had emptied, I gave him some Gravol, Tylenol and tucked him into bed with 2 cold magicbags for his eyes and skull. Oh my poor boy, I am so very sad that he suffers these!

Photo Op.

This is a first for me. I've never seen a Garter snake in a tree before... he looked very content., laying in tidy coils, taking in the rare sun about 4 ft off the ground on this dense shrub. He was very accommodating letting me take his picture!

(Good thing I'm not frightened of them anymore)

I found his colours juxtaposed against the bright green of the tree very pretty.

I'm getting anxious

(picture source)

What can I do?

Nobody calls for showings, nobody is calling to see (let alone buy) my house!

The realtor says we have done everything right, the house is clean and decluttered, we priced it sharply compared to others in the neighbourhood -- we even got the pre-inspection done so there would be no surprises. However, the crappy weather seems to be making a dull market. It's not just our house, all price-points are sluggish.  The only good news is no one is looking at the one we want to buy either, so there is little chance of them enacting the "24 hour financing subject" by getting another offer.

BUT I'm going crazy with anxiety! I feel in flux and it's uncomfortable. Everyday we do a little more to improve our house (trimming unruly ivy yesterday) but what's the point if no one comes to see?

There will be an open house next weekend.... if anyone comes...

It could be worse.... we could be peskered night and day for showings with no offers... well I think that would be worse but I have no frame of reference do I?

On a side note: I feel sorry for the kite festival, silly boat race and sandcastle competition going on this weekend, yucky yucky weather. Heavy rain and so dark its just eeewwww.... never seen this particular weekend so ick before. I have no desire to go to any of these fun events with the rain, I want to just stay home and sulk by the phone.

Your Money or Your Life Rant

I follow some finance blogs. I find them grounding and they help me stay on my goals. Right now the poor dears are fretting about the slow recovery of the "economic downturn" and ways to combat the losses.

Thinking ahead and preventative financing are great ideas in any economy. However, I am not a fan of the "get a second job" approach when there is a young family at home. If mom is working a full time job (and something on the side) and dad is working full time (and something on the side) then WHO is spending time with the kids? (note: I'm not arguing the merits of daycare, there is some excellent quality childcare out there, and it's expensive.)

Of course, if you have dug a hole of debt so deep that it's the only option, that is a whole other argument you gotta do what you gotta do... BUT if you want more money so you work 2 jobs, that's the issue I am talking about.

Just think about it.... One parent or the other could cut back or rotate with the other parent and then not as much money is needed - it's a tough concept to wrap the head around -- working less = spending less = more opportunities to save. (The bonus of actually seeing your kids grow would be nice too.) Some would argue that then they couldn't afford to give their kids the finer things like ipads, cellphones, video games and trips to Disneyland! To that I say "so what?". Wouldn't life be finer without having to worry about paying for all that crap? No iphone means no iphone bill! And if you are home, why do you need a cellphone? Maybe all those extra curricular activities that cost so much are more for you than for them? Twenty channels instead of over 500 isn't really that bad, especially when you don't have to work more hours to pay for the excessive bill!

I don't want to hear any whining about "I deserve it because I work hard" that's crap.
You HAVE to work hard because you WANT it. That's the truth. The whole needs/wants things is so distorted... I'm a victim of it too, I didn't NEED to go to Italy (or England) and I don't NEED about 80% of the stuff in my house either.

Maybe spending some time actually living in that house more than just dusk to dawn and using it's stuff that you are working so hard to pay for would be a refreshing lifestyle change? You may even discover that you could use a smaller house? Or less vehicles?

Working costs money too. so working 2 jobs has to cost more. There is the obvious, like the transportation costs, the wardrobe, the "occasions" that crop up, eating out, coffee to-go, DAYCARE, etc etc. Then there are the subtle increases like the cost of not having time to cook from scratch, being exposed to more advertising or shop windows, the peer pressure from coworkers to have or do things that you may not have thought of at home, not having time to keep up with home maintenance (so having to hire people), needing to "unwind" after work with entertainment or pampering, and the GUILT-presents for the kids and spouse to compensate for the lack of attention, etc, etc, etc.

I've seen it first hand, I've experienced these expenses myself!
I love making meals for the family- taking the time to chose the ingredients and prepare them the way I like it. I also love being home for my kids when they get home from school (and being able to call the teachers if I have to). I like knowing who my kids are (and knowing their friends). I like using the house every day all day. T sacrifices 40 hours a week to help give me the freedom to stay home. I sacrifice about 10 - 20 hours a week at the computer to pay for the "extras" like dirtbiking and trips. We work together to decide what is a WANT and what is a NEED so that we are on the same page about how much money has to come in and how much we will let go out. They aren't reactionary decisions because we have the time together to really think about it.

I chose to live with less and live more. And I am a pretty happy gal for the most part. Sure I drool over the occasional gadget, and I wonder at the idea of a NEW car or deluxe family vacation, but the truth of it is we have a mighty fine life and I would challenge any parenting couple working more than 80 combined hours a week to see if their life is happier more balanced or richer than my family's.

I'm blathering on all self-righteously... Is that vain of me to say? Probably.

Oh ya, it's my blog. I can blather on about how great my life is all day long!

Good side effects of listing my house.

My home is a lean, mean, decluttered show-home at the moment. I am completely amazed at how much FASTER it is to clean, and how much easier it is to find things!

And of course I HAVE to keep it clean, laundry caught up and paper piles hidden just in case the phone rings for a viewing. T has been LOVING this, it's something he has wanted as long as I've known him... I am enjoying his calmer at-home-self, and the kids seem to be enjoying the tidy rooms too.

HOWEVER there is a bunch of boxes sitting in my sister's garage with my name on them. They are things that differentiate my home from a show home... family photos, etc. This perfection of decluttering is a tad sterile to me, just a bit too much echoing upstairs, y'know?

It is a lesson in my comfort level with stuff. I am happy with the practical sides of this streamlined life. But I need a bit more "me" to show. I do have more removing to do and I can do it with the confidence that it is a good thing!

How does your garden grow?

Mine's looking pretty pathetic, I'm telling you!
The plants are stunted from the cold weather, and then when it starts brightening up and things start showing some real growth.... the DEER come along and nibble the peas, beans, peppers and strawberries to the ground! Cute but annoying... I love a good venison roast, too bad Bambi's are protected in city limits....

oh well... I had 2 good GREAT years of veggies out of it, lets hope next year (in our new place maybe?!) will be better.

On the bright side, I went out berry picking today while the REALTOR tour was on at my house, and found 3 cherry trees in behind the lake we are moving closer to! I managed to reach a few ripe little cherries on the lower branches and they are YUMMY! And of course the last of the salmon berries and the first of the thimble berries and even some tiny huckle berries were ready for my eager hands. I came home and made genuine "fruiti di bosco" (forest berry) biscuits with my walk's harvest. Yummy.

I didn't want to get my hopes up about that other place, but it's happened. I am 100% ready to let someone else live in my house and move onto the other one. Even the rest of the family is on board. Steve was the foot-dragger but now he is keen on moving too. I am ready - really really ready.

My house is online

... and the first viewing is tomorrow afternoon! EEEEEK!

Check out the pictures though... that REALTOR has some skills with the fancy camera, heck I want to buy that house!

brain full - no room for whimsy!

Photos were taken of my house last night.
I woke a 6:00 am and cleaned like a mad woman for 12 hours.
It's a sparkly model of decluttered ideal! (But we'll see how the pictures turn out. It's funny how all the things that make a garden private hinder good photo taking angles... oh well.)

The house has been on MLS(without photos) for HOURS now! Why hasn't anyone called? LOL.

* Professional inspection of the other house is happening this afternoon. A very expensive exercise that we managed to avoid with the last 2 homes we bought. A well... this house has too many variables - we need to be sure of what we are getting into. If it is a bad report, we will suck up the $500 learning experience and ask for our deposit check back. If it is the kind of report we can make the decisions to accept, then we will be wiser and ready to go.

Things are moving so FAST!

The offer on that house was accepted.

Our house is listed.

Inspection on the other house tomorrow.

We need offers on this one now!

I have just been informed that the comments part of my blog is broken. I am so sorry.
No settings were changed, so I'm not sure what's up.
IMO The blog word is just great when everything works and just plain annoying when there is a glitch.

My work has reached new heights..... literally.

I am typing this post from my new (and improved) standing desk position! I worked at it all day, and though I have to admit I spent more time on the stool than actually standing, it was really nice to have the change in position, and I felt more like working and less like reading blog after blog after blog (sorry folks, but it was really cutting into my productivity).

It looks a little bizarre when you first walk into the office, but it's VERY comfortable... and strangely I don't like seeing things on the surface (so far) so this could be perfect.

Another angle... space under the desk.... so nice!

This is what it looked like a couple weeks ago.... pretty okay, but still a clutter magnet.

And of course, the starting point. Oh man that's embarassing...

Here's to progress!

I'm at it AGAIN...

We put an offer on a house this weekend... yes, that's right, I'm once again threatening to move from my cozy home of 12 years.

After the initial viewing, I got very excited about the location, layout and yard. So we arranged a 2nd viewing. The rose coloured glasses came off for that one, time to be practical.

CONS:

It was built 19 years before my home, so of course it will have more issues.

The house is cheaply done inside.

There is only one bathtub (and it's rough), the en suite is just a 2nd toilet and vanity really.

The kitchen is not only VERY ugly, but in poor shape (and grimy too).

I don't think the house was re-roofed very well because there are places I think should have flashing that don't (then again I am no pro).

It looks like a timber in the very low crawl was replaced, why?

BUT! PROS:

Great price

It's exactly the right size for us. and I could see it working even after the boys leave home -- grandkids could be visiting us in that place.

The floorplan has nice flow.

The kitchen is ugly, but the layout is good -- huge, bright eating area too.

There is a mudroom off the back door (oh how we would appreciate one!)

Detached shop that is very nice actually, 6 years old, wired for everything, bright and insulated

Small 2 car garage attached to the house (my BMW and all the bicycles would LOVE to have a roof over them at night)

Fairly level lot, fully fenced and backing onto a forest/lake area... the birds are amazing (I bet the deer and raccoons are too)

PRIVATE backyard, the neighbours on both sides have shops and there are lots of trees so I'm sure my T's tinkering would be acceptable there.

Still well within the kids' school's catchment area and near friends.
Almost the end of the NO THRU road.

Rancher, so no stairs for my MS suffering MIL to navigate.

Enough usable land to plant things! (OMG I could have apples! plums! pears!)

The CONS are fixable (pending inspection of course) the PROS in that combination are hard to find in this neighbourhood.... I know I put offers on places almost annually, but this one has the least compromises of them all -- amazing!

A SLEEPLESS night was spent weighing the paralyzing stress of moving away from our dear home against the elation at the thought moving to a place that suits our lifetsyle so very very well. Then we rose early and at 8:30 am we met the realtor and put in an offer.... BUT not only that, we also agreed to LIST OUR HOUSE (that's a step we have never gotten to before)!!!!

There are lots of chances for it not to happen at this point.... we might not be able to sell our place in time, the inspection could be nasty, another offer could come that blows ours out of the water, etc, etc.... meanwhile I have to declutter with an intensity I never have had before and keep the house squeaky clean for the realtor to take photos, have an open house, viewings, stress, packing, stress, etc, etc, etc.....

School's Out!

This picture was taken last Friday at a field trip I volunteered to drive for and chaperon. It was to the Forestry Museum, one of my favourite places on Earth. The blacksmith shop and re-created forestry camp (that's the mess hall in the picture) are so cool! There is a train that loops around the museum, and stops at either end to get out and wander the exhibits and trails. There is also a wetland preserve on the site and they do educational tours that are chock-full of interesting wetland facts... ah yes, that my idea of a good day, even with a bunch of munchkins under my care.

That was last week.

And this week it's done.

Summer holidays have officially started.

I'd like to say my kids did wonderfully, but it seems to be a struggle for survival every single year.

No excuses, I MUST get Cameron up to grade level for math and reading.
I MUST! Grade 5 will be so very, very difficult if he doesn't have those basic of basics.
(Did you know they don't fail elementary kids in my district? So there is no threat for the kids to even try to put forth the effort, and no repercussions for lazy teaching. High school is a major shock! There are expectations and there is failure there too.)

So I will be the bad guy this summer and force my boys to work. Bad bad bad. I loathe that.

I am still trying to look forward to summer. I usual enjoy the easy rhythm. After all my sister lives close by, my boys are old enough to self-entertain and I wanna go camping!