2017 in review

As so often happens, I started the year with the best of intentions, but it kind of got away from me along the way.

I did a reasonable job of stepping out of my routine, but I had so many things I'd planned to do that never happened (axe throwing, arrow tag, a class in something interesting, etc.).

The main culprit was the basement - that took a lot of time and, in fact, there's still stuff that has to go away. Still, I did some cool stuff.

In January, I went down to the Ottawa women's march.

In February, it was Crashed Ice. 

By May, parts of Ottawa were flooding, so the dinosaurs and I went to take a look. 

I went down to see the Canada 150 exhibit in the market (and cannot for the life of me remember what it was called).

 I went to Grasslands National Park and saw the prairie dogs.

I went to a family reunion, held in 2017 since that is the 100th anniversary of the year my great-grandparents built their barn (and the year my grandfather was born).

 I went downtown for Canada and luckily did not try to get onto the hill.

I went down for La Machine, which was awesome.

 Family came to visit in August, and we went to a number of Canada 150 events including Mosaica.

 I rented a cottage for Labour Day.

 The basement was finally finished (except for the aforementioned stuff I still have to put away).

 I went to Fort Fright in Kingston.

 And I went downtown to see the Christmas lights on Parliament Hill.

2017 Resolution

Late in 2016, I started thinking that I should maybe leave the house more. In 2008, I was pretty good at getting out and doing things around town, and, since this is the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation, there are going to be a lot of things going on this year.

And then I saw a post on the internet of someone who went on vacation and took pictures with toy dinosaurs in them, and thought "why not combine the two?"

So this year, I am going to do something outside of my regular routine every week. (I realize it may not be achievable every week, but that's the goal.) And then I'm going to take a dinosaur picture of it.

The rules:
- it doesn't have to be something totally new, just something I don't do on a regular basis. So building a rocking chair wouldn't count, because I regularly build things, but sitting in a giant rocking chair somewhere would count.
- it can be solitary/with people I see all the time OR it can be in the house/yard, but not both.

I had considered going out and building a snowman today, but it's cold and dry, so the snow's not really suitable. Instead, I took a walk over to the local playground, since I've never done that in winter.

It was a really small thing, but the sun is shining and I found my mood improving as I walked.

Cooling off period

In the middle of November, I got home from work and walked into the kitchen. The floor was cold - so much so that I thought "wow, I'd forgotten how cold the tile floor gets in the winter".  A half an hour later I looked at the thermostat, and noticed it was 10.5 degrees Celcisus in the house. I called the furnace company, and they came out and fixed it.

In December, I woke up one Sunday and noticed it was cold. I checked the thermostat, and the furnace had stopped again.  (Well, it was still working, it just wasn't heating).  I called the furnace company, and they got it working again.  At that point, I knew it wasn't fixed, but they couldn't figure out what part was broken, so they couldn't fix it.

I was worried about leaving it, but I warned my house sitter and got on the plane. I was lucky - it didn't stop at all when I was gone.

I got back on Wednesday, and Friday night it stopped again.  This time, it started spontaneously working as the guy from the furnace company arrived. By the time I went to bed, the house was warm again.

Saturday morning, I woke up to a house that had dropped to 9 degrees.  The guy from the furnace company came out again and had a lot of trouble getting it going. (The one thing you don't want the guy fixing the furnace to say to you at 11 am on a cold Saturday is "Do you have enough firewood to make it to Monday?") Luckily, he got it going again, and he figured out what part needed replacing.

Saturday afternoon, it stopped again. I started calling around borrowing heaters from friends, and it spontaneously started working again.

Sunday, Wanda and I bought (and carried) a lot of firewood.

Monday I stayed home so they could fix it, and they had trouble getting the part. It wouldn't be in until Thursday.

Amazingly, the furnace continued working, and Thursday they came out and fixed it.

Now I just hope they replaced the right part.

* * *

My new years resolution was to change the temperature in my car to Celcuis. I figured it out on January 2. That's two new things in a row, and January 3 I started wearing my new orthotics.  I even considered trying to do a new thing every day, until the furnace went out and I was more focused on not freezing.

* * *

Here's a picture of the many things I got from our family friends who are downsizing.

Year in review

 Well, it's getting a little late to do this, but ... I didn't do it earlier, so here we are.

Here are my 2012 resolutions:

1. Be employed for at least 10 months of the year: Done. 12months, actually. Yay!
2. Come up with a workable, challenging exercise schedule. Done. I'd actually forgotten about this one, but it happened when I moved from contract to full tie & got access to the gym at work. And anyone who saw me Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday of last week would have to agree that the schedule is challenging - I was so sore. I could barely walk. It was embarassing.
3. Reconsider home phone service, reduce the monthly cost. Another one I forgot about.  It's half done - I reduced the cost, but I still think I'm paying too much.
4. Increase my emergency fund by $8000. Done. And then the car needed repairs. Sigh.
5. Organize/clean the sewing/Sparks room.This is another half done one - it's a lot better, but there's still work to do.

 I don't really have a solid list for this year. I'd like to make it out cross-country skiing at least once. I'd like to go skating on the canal. I'd like to spend a week at the lake. I'm not really ready to make a real list, though.

Sigh

Guess what I totally forgot to do yesterday?

If you guessed the exercises I resolved to do 24 hours earlier, you're right.

(I did them this morning, then again tonight.)

In which I take ages to get to the point

Back in June, my right knee started to hurt.

I had injured it years ago (back when I still was working at the big telecom company and doing Irish dance once a week), had physio, and, although it has never fully recovered, it pretty much didn't hurt unless I tried to keep it bent. (I am fun to sit beside on airplanes and at movies.)

But in June, it started to hurt again - mostly manifesting itself as stiffness after I'd been sitting for a while - and I thought "oh well, haven't been to physio in months", ... and then did nothing about it.

In July, my Monday class at the gym started doing a really painful workout. Six rounds, with one round being:

• 30 seconds shoulder presses
• 30 seconds front squats
• 30 seconds dead lifts
• 30 seconds bent over rows
• 30 seconds split squats (leg #1)
• 30 seconds split squats (leg #2)
• 30 seconds push up/mountain climbers (so as you lower yourself into the push up, you also bring one leg up towards your elbow.)

Everybody (including me) was sore the day after we did this the first time. And the day after that. And a little the day after that.

The thing is, while I was doing the dead lifts, I noticed that my right hamstring hurt, but the left one didn't. My whole  knee issue wasn't my knee at all - it was actually the hamstring.

And after I started doing this workout (3 times in July so far), my knee stopped hurting.

So, after the longest intro ever, I'll get to the point.

In order to hopefully fix this more permanently, I'm going to do hamstring exercises every day in August.

I'm also going to do some shoulder/flexibility exercises, because ... well, it just seems like a good idea.  I have no natural flexibility.

Day 1 is done. 30 days to go.

Resolving

So how did I do on my 2011 resolutions? Unlike 2010, I didn't do a 6-month recap, so it turns out I'd forgotten about some of these. Oddly enough, the one I didn't do is one I remembered, I just ... didn't do it.

1. Go to at least 3 social events at which I know fewer than 10% of the people.

This one I remembered, but I thought it was 2 events. I went to a career fair, the funeral for a neighbour's father (which wasn't strictly social, but was still anxiety-inducing), and BOLO. (OK, technically the career fair wasn't social either. Oh well, I'm still calling this a pass.)

2. Go on two bike rides. (Seriously, I haven't even taken my bike outside in three years.)

Um. Well, we all know I went on one bike ride, but that's it. It turns out I don't like purposeless bike riding. Maybe I should ride to work.

3. Patch the hole in the bathroom wall (from the plumbing debacle this fall).

It took longer than it should have, but this one is done.

4. Go through my closet (again) and actually donate the clothes I cull.

Done, mostly, although I could stand to do it again.

5. Make it to level 5 in boxing.

Done.

6. Do a first aid course. I need to just bite the bullet and give up a weekend to do this.

I totally forgot about this one, but I did it anyway.


Now for 2012:

1. Be employed for at least 10 months of the year (ideally 12, of course, but my contract is up January 30, so that may not be possible).
2. Come up with a workable, challenging exercise schedule.
3. Reconsider home phone service, reduce the monthly cost.
4. Increase my emergency fund by $8000 (which will be easier if I pull off #1).
5. Organize/clean the sewing/Sparks room. Man, that room is a disaster.
   

Wanda had a belly dance workshop this weekend. It was in a awkward spot to bus to, so she took the car.

That meant I was at home by myself.

It was one of my most productive weekends in recent memory. I made the quilt (above). I made barbie doll clothes for my friend's daughter. I made myself a flannel nightgown for my "nightwear that lives in the drawer while I wear the same pair of pajamas" collection. I sanded down the hole in the bathroom wall (but didn't get around to painting). I even cleaned the fridge.

There were a few things I didn't get to, one of which was cleaning vegetables. You see, I've decided on another challenge. Every day in March, I'm going to eat raw vegetables. I do eat vegetables normally, but they are usually cooked vegetables. It's time to stop being lazy get motivated and clean/eat raw veggies regularly.

Wish me luck ....

Resolutions New and Old

Let's start by looking at my 2010 resolutions, shall we?

1. There are currently 4 different types of body lotion in my bathroom. By the end of the year, I want there to be no more than two.

>> Back in July, I said this was done, but the resolution says end of the year. You see, my remaining container of body butter was getting low, and it goes on sale after Christmas, so I bought another container (of a different scent). I opened the bag yesterday, and ... they gave me a sample size of a third scent. Despite my best efforts, I wasn't able to use it all up yesterday, so this is a technical fail (but a pass on the spirit of the resolution, which was to stop using half a container of lotion, then changing to a new one).

2. Get a job. (This is actually more important that the lotion resolution.)

>> Done. I started my current job Feb. 23. OK, it's a contract, but it counts ... right? My contract was up Dec. 23, but I believe it has been renewed.

3. Make it to level 4 of boxing.

>> Done by the end of April.

4. Go on a road trip.

>> Kingston in September and Montreal in December.

5. Clean out my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. Drop them off to a charity that will use them.

>> Six months after the last update, I still haven't taken the 20 minutes to drop off the clothes.

6. Take a first aid course.

>> Did not even make an attempt at this one. I really don't want to do it - but I want to have done it.

7. Go camping (not counting Spark camp).

>> Done. Rideau River Provincial Park in July.

8. Go cross-country skiing twice.

>> Done. Once in January, once in December.


Now for my 2011 resolutions:

1. Go to at least 3 social events at which I know fewer than 10% of the people.
2. Go on two bike rides. (Seriously, I haven't even taken my bike outside in three years.)
3. Patch the hole in the bathroom wall (from the plumbing debacle this fall).
4. Go through my closet (again) and actually donate the clothes I cull.
5. Make it to level 5 in boxing.
6. Do a first aid course. I need to just bite the bullet and give up a weekend to do this.

Red & White

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

I worked today - in my job, we work stat holidays. The good side of that is that we can take the days off at other times.

There are some nice parts to working on a holiday - there is no traffic and the floor is quiet because our department is the only one working.

Also, my manager told us all to leave early today. I did not object in the slightest. I left 45 minutes early and drove to a local pick-your-own strawberry place. This is the first time I've been this year, and the season is almost over. I picked two baskets. Man, there's nothing like the taste of strawberries still warm from the sun. I swear they're 20% less tasty by the time you get them home.

Besides Canada Day, today marks the 1/2 way point of the year. It seems like a good time to go back and revisit my resolutions. Let's see how I'm doing (and which ones I've forgotten about).

1. There are currently 4 different types of body lotion in my bathroom. By the end of the year, I want there to be no more than two.

>> Done. As of this morning, there was one type of lotion (but two containers of it).

2. Get a job. (This is actually more important that the lotion resolution.)

>> Done. I started my current job Feb. 23. OK, it's a contract, but it counts ... right?

3. Make it to level 4 of boxing.

>> Done by the end of April.

4. Go on a road trip.

>> Um, no. Forgot about this one.

5. Clean out my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. Drop them off to a charity that will use them.

>> Half done. I've done the cleaning part, just not the dropping off part.

6. Take a first aid course.

>> Forgot about this one, too. I want to have taken a first aid course, I just don't want to give up a weekend to do it.

7. Go camping (not counting Spark camp).

>> Half done. The trip is planned, it's just not completed yet.

8. Go cross-country skiing twice.

>> I only made it out once. Maybe it'll snow before Christmas?

How are you doing on your New Year's resolutions?

The weekend update

So the anti-procrastination project is off to a slow start. I did get a few (quick) things done this weekend.

1) I figured out what type of light bulb I needed for the bathroom. bought a replacement, figured out how to remove the old bulb, and replaced it with a new bulb.

2) I took the toothbrush I got during my dentist visit a couple of weeks ago out of my purse and started using it. I had completely forgotten that it existed.

3) I fixed my toilet paper holder. You see, the holder in my bathroom works well, but as time goes on, it tends to loosen and twist. Sometimes it's an easy fix, sometimes I have to practically take it off the wall and start over. This one was an easy fix.

I also made it out cross country skiing today. It snow wasn't the best, since we've had a couple of days of warm temperatures, but if I wait for perfect conditions, I'll never go. I didn't last long - my foot started to hurt, plus I was lazy - but it was good to get outside. Also, now I'm halfway to achieving one of my New Year's resolutions.

New Year's Resolutions

(Edited to add #8.)

I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions - this blog being the obvious exception.

New Year's just seems like a terrible time to resolve anything. There's not much daylight, it's cold, and I'm usually traveling.

However, here are some resolutions for 2010. Let's see how many I achieve.

1. There are currently 4 different types of body lotion in my bathroom. By the end of the year, I want there to be no more than two.
2. Get a job. (This is actually more important that the lotion resolution.)
3. Make it to level 4 of boxing.
4. Go on a road trip.
   
5. Clean out my closet and get rid of clothes I don't wear anymore. Drop them off to a charity that will use them.
6. Take a first aid course.
7. Go camping (not counting Spark camp).
8. Go cross-country skiing twice.
   

Any other suggestions?