Blue-Photo Challenge

Jodi Anderson over at The Women's Colony is hosting a blue-photo challenge.  Here are my shots.

The first two shots are of a sculpture called "Neighbours" by Joe Rosenthal on the University of St. Michael's College campus.

This is also on the St. Mike's campus, but I'm not sure what it's purpose is!

This shot is of part of the building is at 39 Queen's Park East, part of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

The roofline above the chapel at Old Vic, Victoria University at the University of Toronto.

This is a mosaic on the wall at the Wilson subway station here in Toronto.

Clutter Diet - Week 2

As I mentioned last week, I have joined the Clutter Diet for some online coaching in getting problem areas of my house in order.

This weeks task were partially completed, but I did two large unscheduled tasks to make up for it!

The easy ones were buying Hallowe'en candy (I had to do this twice, LOL) and getting a snapshot of my computer in the event of disaster.  The two I didn't do were getting rid of old computers (I located it, but it needs to go to the special waste depot), and getting my credit report (this is easy...it's on my list).

The main task was working on my home office and I got this partially done. The two areas I worked on were the kitchen ledge and the filing cabinet.

Kitchen ledge before: mail, papers, craft supplies, some moon cakes, and all manner of junk gets deposited here.

Kitchen ledge after:  Ahhhhh...

Filing cabinet before:  Note bottle of Chinese rice liquor is sitting just three feet from where it belongs in the liquor cabinet.  There is also a stack of financial and other paperwork, most of which is filed in binders in another room and doesn't belong there.

Filing cabinet after: Ahhh...nice and clear, with just a piece of artwork

But the other two big unscheduled tasks this week were the fridge and the master closet.

The fridge was LONG overdue to be cleaned and we got rid of half a garbage bag of take-out boxes, old rotting sauces and condiments, and moldy leftovers (which we don't normally have, with a teen boy eating them at 10 pm most nights).  The fridge itself was also rather filthy, so it's now gorgeously white, decluttered, and sparkly.

I was able to get Z to focus on the master closet this weekend, as he has been setting up his new office in our recently departed-for-university son's bedroom (sorry, Alex!).  We got rid of 2 bags of clothing that will be donated at the monthly St. Vincent-de-Paul Bundle Sunday coming up next weekend at our parish.  Everything is dusted, spacious, and tidy, with nothing on the floor except for some shoes and the laundry basket.  It's quite a small closet for two people, so tidying it up really makes a difference.

So while I didn't get all my proscribed tasks done, I believe that the decluttering mindset is rippling through the household, and we're getting some other long overdue projects out of the way.

Thanks to the Clutter Diet people for spurring me on to accomplish these large tasks.  It's great to have a resource like that to give you a list and make you accountable.  They have message boards where you can compare notes with other declutterers and get advice from the pros.  I hadn't been able to motivate myself on my own, so the small subscription fee is definitely worth it to me.

Blue-Photo Challenge

Jodi Anderson over at The Women's Colony is hosting a blue-photo challenge.  Here are my shots.

The first two shots are of a sculpture called "Neighbours" by Joe Rosenthal on the University of St. Michael's College campus.

This is also on the St. Mike's campus, but I'm not sure what it's purpose is!

This shot is of part of the building is at 39 Queen's Park East, part of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.

The roofline above the chapel at Old Vic, Victoria University at the University of Toronto.

This is a mosaic on the wall at the Wilson subway station here in Toronto.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Click on the post-it to read quick takes from other participants!

--1--

Z and I have been invited to Atlanta to have dinner with his old boss and colleagues.  Atlanta in early December sounds like fun, so we'll make a weekend of it and see some old friends.  By then, my brother and his family will be in town so Michael can bunk in with them for a couple of night, I'm sure.

--2--

Michael's custom-sized gig-bag for his tuba has arrived.  Now he can get to his lessons on public transit.  What started as a 30 minute drive each way has become 40 minutes, and for an hour lesson, it was writing off my whole evening. I can drop him at a subway stop and then he can make his way there and back on his own.

--3--

I finished a second book by Lori Lansens, The Wife's Tale.  It's set in the same fictional Ontario town as her previous novel, The Girls, and just as compelling reading.  I highly recommend both of these books for their gorgeous prose and excellent story-telling.  Lansens is a Canadian now living in Los Angeles.

--4--

Our US tax issues from 2007 are finally resolved.  We had to file and amended return because  I forgot about the sale of some securities.  The IRS received the amendment from our accountants and wanted to tax us on the full value of the sale, and not just the capital gains.  It's been four months of communications between us and our accountants and the IRS, and it's finally settled. No money owing for complicated cross-border reasons.  Now I'm worried about the ripple effect through our 2008 return, but whatever.  We don't owe anything more at this moment!

--5--

I recently signed up to become a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson.  You choose from a small selection of books, they send you the one you choose, and you review it on your blog and on one of the popular e-commerce sites (amazon.ca, barnes and noble, whatever).  Once you've posted the review, you can choose another book.  My first book is Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership
by Tim Irwin.  If you'd like to find out more about this opportunity, click on the box to the left (I don't get a commission or anything!)


--6--
The Pioneer Woman (aka Ree Drummond) Cookbook is available!  Her recipes are my go-to ones for parties, family dinners, potlucks, and are full of fat, sugar, and all the good things in life.  Her backstory is hilarious and her recipes are dee-lish.  I've preordered one and it should be winging it's way to me shortly.  It's called The Pioneer Woman Cooks and you need it!  In stock now!

--7--
Z has started taking Wilson, our hyperactive terrier, on 3km walks once or twice a day.  It's fabulous, as he's calming right down and seems much better behaved with less barking.  He's also had a chance to meet some new dogs and is leaning to be less anxious (read, aggressive) in the process.  We were already walking him three times a day, so this has added a fourth walk and probably doubled his total exercise distance.  I hope Z can keep it up through the winter.

Clutter Diet - Week 2

As I mentioned last week, I have joined the Clutter Diet for some online coaching in getting problem areas of my house in order.

This weeks task were partially completed, but I did two large unscheduled tasks to make up for it!

The easy ones were buying Hallowe'en candy (I had to do this twice, LOL) and getting a snapshot of my computer in the event of disaster.  The two I didn't do were getting rid of old computers (I located it, but it needs to go to the special waste depot), and getting my credit report (this is easy...it's on my list).

The main task was working on my home office and I got this partially done. The two areas I worked on were the kitchen ledge and the filing cabinet.

Kitchen ledge before: mail, papers, craft supplies, some moon cakes, and all manner of junk gets deposited here.

Kitchen ledge after:  Ahhhhh...

Filing cabinet before:  Note bottle of Chinese rice liquor is sitting just three feet from where it belongs in the liquor cabinet.  There is also a stack of financial and other paperwork, most of which is filed in binders in another room and doesn't belong there.

Filing cabinet after: Ahhh...nice and clear, with just a piece of artwork

But the other two big unscheduled tasks this week were the fridge and the master closet.

The fridge was LONG overdue to be cleaned and we got rid of half a garbage bag of take-out boxes, old rotting sauces and condiments, and moldy leftovers (which we don't normally have, with a teen boy eating them at 10 pm most nights).  The fridge itself was also rather filthy, so it's now gorgeously white, decluttered, and sparkly.

I was able to get Z to focus on the master closet this weekend, as he has been setting up his new office in our recently departed-for-university son's bedroom (sorry, Alex!).  We got rid of 2 bags of clothing that will be donated at the monthly St. Vincent-de-Paul Bundle Sunday coming up next weekend at our parish.  Everything is dusted, spacious, and tidy, with nothing on the floor except for some shoes and the laundry basket.  It's quite a small closet for two people, so tidying it up really makes a difference.

So while I didn't get all my proscribed tasks done, I believe that the decluttering mindset is rippling through the household, and we're getting some other long overdue projects out of the way.

Thanks to the Clutter Diet people for spurring me on to accomplish these large tasks.  It's great to have a resource like that to give you a list and make you accountable.  They have message boards where you can compare notes with other declutterers and get advice from the pros.  I hadn't been able to motivate myself on my own, so the small subscription fee is definitely worth it to me.

Seven Quick Takes Friday

Click on the post-it to read quick takes from other participants!

--1--

Z and I have been invited to Atlanta to have dinner with his old boss and colleagues.  Atlanta in early December sounds like fun, so we'll make a weekend of it and see some old friends.  By then, my brother and his family will be in town so Michael can bunk in with them for a couple of night, I'm sure.

--2--

Michael's custom-sized gig-bag for his tuba has arrived.  Now he can get to his lessons on public transit.  What started as a 30 minute drive each way has become 40 minutes, and for an hour lesson, it was writing off my whole evening. I can drop him at a subway stop and then he can make his way there and back on his own.

--3--

I finished a second book by Lori Lansens, The Wife's Tale

.  It's set in the same fictional Ontario town as her previous novel, The Girls

, and just as compelling reading.  I highly recommend both of these books for their gorgeous prose and excellent story-telling.  Lansens is a Canadian now living in Los Angeles.

--4--

Our US tax issues from 2007 are finally resolved.  We had to file and amended return because  I forgot about the sale of some securities.  The IRS received the amendment from our accountants and wanted to tax us on the full value of the sale, and not just the capital gains.  It's been four months of communications between us and our accountants and the IRS, and it's finally settled. No money owing for complicated cross-border reasons.  Now I'm worried about the ripple effect through our 2008 return, but whatever.  We don't owe anything more at this moment!

--5--

I recently signed up to become a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson.  You choose from a small selection of books, they send you the one you choose, and you review it on your blog and on one of the popular e-commerce sites (amazon.ca

, barnes and noble, whatever).  Once you've posted the review, you can choose another book.  My first book is Derailed: Five Lessons Learned from Catastrophic Failures of Leadership

by Tim Irwin.  If you'd like to find out more about this opportunity, click on the box to the left (I don't get a commission or anything!)

--6--
The Pioneer Woman (aka Ree Drummond) Cookbook is available!  Her recipes are my go-to ones for parties, family dinners, potlucks, and are full of fat, sugar, and all the good things in life.  Her backstory is hilarious and her recipes are dee-lish.  I've preordered one and it should be winging it's way to me shortly.  It's called The Pioneer Woman Cooks

 and you need it!  In stock now!

--7--
Z has started taking Wilson, our hyperactive terrier, on 3km walks once or twice a day.  It's fabulous, as he's calming right down and seems much better behaved with less barking.  He's also had a chance to meet some new dogs and is leaning to be less anxious (read, aggressive) in the process.  We were already walking him three times a day, so this has added a fourth walk and probably doubled his total exercise distance.  I hope Z can keep it up through the winter.

Toilet Paper...the research.

Seriously.

I don't know this young woman, other than to read her blog, and I just started at that.  She hosts the Ten for Tuesday questionnaire that I participated in this week, and one of the questions was "Do you have a toilet paper preference?"  She noted that she was VERY opinionated on this topic, which I found intriguing and perhaps....odd.

Today's post just cracked me up.  It explains all.  As a former market researcher, I found this brilliant and hilarious at the same time.  An excerpt and just the beginning of the story:

The year was 2005. The month was August. The city was Austin, Texas. I am the main character. It was the beginning of my junior year of college and it was my second year in an apartment. One afternoon I went to HEB to get groceries and other necessities. All seemed to be going well until a dark cloud came and ruined an otherwise cheery grocery trip. I found myself in the toilet paper aisle surrounded by countless types of toilet paper. I realized that I was lost. One ply, two ply, three ply, ultra, super, extra, soft, plush, single roll, double roll, triple roll, with aloe, quilted, printed. It went on and on. I needed a map.

I read the packages and quickly became overwhelmed. I was stressed by the immense pressure to pick the perfect roll. It was just too much, I couldn’t handle it. I was two Charmin bears away from a complete breakdown. I was about to walk away paperless when I realized that the problem will not go away. I would face this dilemma often, until forever. Right there, standing in front of those Charmin bears, I came up with a brilliant idea. I would try them all! Yes! Yes, I would try them all! And then I would decide which one is the best and I’d never be confused again! .... 

Read the rest!

Toilet Paper...the research.

Seriously.

I don't know this young woman, other than to read her blog, and I just started at that.  She hosts the Ten for Tuesday questionnaire that I participated in this week, and one of the questions was "Do you have a toilet paper preference?"  She noted that she was VERY opinionated on this topic, which I found intriguing and perhaps....odd.

Today's post just cracked me up.  It explains all.  As a former market researcher, I found this brilliant and hilarious at the same time.  An excerpt and just the beginning of the story:

The year was 2005. The month was August. The city was Austin, Texas. I am the main character. It was the beginning of my junior year of college and it was my second year in an apartment. One afternoon I went to HEB to get groceries and other necessities. All seemed to be going well until a dark cloud came and ruined an otherwise cheery grocery trip. I found myself in the toilet paper aisle surrounded by countless types of toilet paper. I realized that I was lost. One ply, two ply, three ply, ultra, super, extra, soft, plush, single roll, double roll, triple roll, with aloe, quilted, printed. It went on and on. I needed a map.

I read the packages and quickly became overwhelmed. I was stressed by the immense pressure to pick the perfect roll. It was just too much, I couldn’t handle it. I was two Charmin bears away from a complete breakdown. I was about to walk away paperless when I realized that the problem will not go away. I would face this dilemma often, until forever. Right there, standing in front of those Charmin bears, I came up with a brilliant idea. I would try them all! Yes! Yes, I would try them all! And then I would decide which one is the best and I’d never be confused again! .... 

Read the rest!

You Capture - Autumn

This was a surprisingly difficult assignment, to find the essence of autumn without using just swaths of pics of coloured leaves.  Which I probably did.  But anyway, here goes.

We have a bunch of these plants in our garden.  I am thinking of drying some for the winter, but have no idea how to do this.

I love the look of leaves, softening the hard lines of the gutter and drain.

I don't remember seeing these decorative vegetables when I lived in Ottawa, but I find them gorgeous.

A living garland...

Click on the badge at the top to view some other participants' interpretations of the theme.

You Capture - Autumn

This was a surprisingly difficult assignment, to find the essence of autumn without using just swaths of pics of coloured leaves.  Which I probably did.  But anyway, here goes.

We have a bunch of these plants in our garden.  I am thinking of drying some for the winter, but have no idea how to do this.

I love the look of leaves, softening the hard lines of the gutter and drain.

I don't remember seeing these decorative vegetables when I lived in Ottawa, but I find them gorgeous.

A living garland...

Click on the badge at the top to view some other participants' interpretations of the theme.

National Blog Posting Month - 30 posts in 30 days

I'm in for the first time this November.

Anyone want to join me?

For those of you who pray....

....we await a decision regarding Michael's education.  For a variety of reasons, we want the Lord's hand to be firmly over this situation and we need to know that, regardless of the outcome, His will is done.  Sacrifices will be made either way, by both Michael and us.

Lord, hear our prayer.

The list for today

Yesterday was a bit of a write-off.  I awoke feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, and worried that I was getting the flu that Michael just got over.  I couldn't even get dressed until I absolutely HAD to take Wilson out for a walk.  I didn't blow dry my hair, so it's a fuzz ball today.  It wasn't until just before Michael got home from school that the kitchen got tidied from breakfast (and to be honest, from the half of dinner that didn't fit into the dishwasher the night before).  I forgot to go to the library.  My decluttering projects didn't go anywhere.  By late afternoon, I was feeling much better, but I forgot the loads of laundry, one in the dryer and the other in the washer.

So I'm gonna write my big list for today here and cross things off as they get done.  Sort of a public accountability thing.  I'm not committed to getting the entire list done, but at least a respectable amount.

• Finish laundry and get two additional loads done.
• Clean kitchen
• Wash kitchen floor
• Return library books
• Pick up prescriptions
• Declutter filing cabinet
• Declutter kitchen counter
• Declutter bookshelf beside desk
• Organize kitchen drawer
• Remind Michael to finish moving his stuff out of Z's office
• Vacuum living room
• Vacuum stairs and upper hall
• Do sewing repairs (jeans, shirt, mattress cover)
• Make chicken pot pie for supper

Silly Haiku Wednesdays - Hallowe'en

Another silly one for Hallowe'en, that unfortunately reflects my reality!

footsteps and doorbells

drive my poor pup into fits

we hide together

Click on the image above to read others' takes on this theme.

National Blog Posting Month - 30 posts in 30 days

I'm in for the first time this November.

Anyone want to join me?

For those of you who pray....

....we await a decision regarding Michael's education.  For a variety of reasons, we want the Lord's hand to be firmly over this situation and we need to know that, regardless of the outcome, His will is done.  Sacrifices will be made either way, by both Michael and us.

Lord, hear our prayer.

The list for today

Yesterday was a bit of a write-off.  I awoke feeling like I'd been hit by a truck, and worried that I was getting the flu that Michael just got over.  I couldn't even get dressed until I absolutely HAD to take Wilson out for a walk.  I didn't blow dry my hair, so it's a fuzz ball today.  It wasn't until just before Michael got home from school that the kitchen got tidied from breakfast (and to be honest, from the half of dinner that didn't fit into the dishwasher the night before).  I forgot to go to the library.  My decluttering projects didn't go anywhere.  By late afternoon, I was feeling much better, but I forgot the loads of laundry, one in the dryer and the other in the washer.

So I'm gonna write my big list for today here and cross things off as they get done.  Sort of a public accountability thing.  I'm not committed to getting the entire list done, but at least a respectable amount.

• Finish laundry and get two additional loads done.
• Clean kitchen
• Wash kitchen floor
• Return library books
• Pick up prescriptions
• Declutter filing cabinet
• Declutter kitchen counter
• Declutter bookshelf beside desk
• Organize kitchen drawer
• Remind Michael to finish moving his stuff out of Z's office
• Vacuum living room
• Vacuum stairs and upper hall
• Do sewing repairs (jeans, shirt, mattress cover)
• Make chicken pot pie for supper

Silly Haiku Wednesdays - Hallowe'en

Another silly one for Hallowe'en, that unfortunately reflects my reality!

footsteps and doorbells

drive my poor pup into fits

we hide together

Click on the image above to read others' takes on this theme.