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!