August 31, 2013

Jamie

The celebrations continued for Justin's birthday! We started the day out for crepes. I was amazed to see they had one with lemon and sugar - just like a Killaloe Sunrise! You know I ordered that. Then we went to see Man of Steel. I know a lot of people didn't like it but I loved it. I mean, really loved it. We also stopped downtown for a pint and a snack and then some jerk chicken! It was quite a food-oriented birthday, LOL! We'll be getting back to running, like, immediately!

Suzie

I took this photo a week ago so it's a bit of a cheat. I didn't take any photos yesterday. I was shaken up. Normally I would embrace everything going so fast but it hasn't felt right and is taking a huge toll on me. Last night the left side of my scalp went numb. Anyway, it looks like we will be here for Halloween. The program Reg wants starts next September and he might have found a way to do it since it is not a two-year program. It's a long story but despite having to get through another winter here, I am relieved. My body is relieved. We don't want to rush and do a crap job selling our house and getting it done in a couple of weeks would be too brutal. I hope we leave in "spring" when there is snow on the ground here and flowers growing in BC. Still, it's hard to keep up. Things could change back again so we will continue on but hopefully at a less intense pace.

August 30, 2013

Jamie

We decided to start the celebrations for Justin's birthday early and spontaneously headed down to one of our favourite restaurants, Kalendar, We enjoyed getting back to the neighbourhood where we first dated, eating a great meal and sharing and creating wonderful memories.

Shannon
This is from earlier in the week, but I couldn't resist including it as how often do you get to see an elevator with the option to go SIDEWAYS instead of up? Totally cracked me up.

Suzie

I felt physically horrible yesterday. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the eye doctor for a check up and new glasses. They had a "deal" on and I just could not find frames I liked. I thought I was going to go for black frames but they just did not suit my face. I had selected the frames on the left and was all ready to go (hence the smile) but then I saw the photo of me wearing them, I hated them. I hated how dowdy they made me feel. By the time we found the grey and silver frames on the right, I was so done and now I am worried they don't look very good. It doesn't help that I hate how my hair looks too.

I wanted something that had character and an artistic element. I am glad I went with cooler tones because browner tones just washed me out. Ugh! So do you think I made a good decision?

August 29, 2013

Jamie

Yesterday morning as I was writing in my journal, I caught a flutter outside and went to have a look. It touched me that a mourning dove stopped by precisely two months after Mom's passing.

Shannon
I popped out yesterday to get some milk, but this row of flowers upon flowers all leaning over the sidewalk together into the sidewalk stopped me in my tracks. Pic is taken with my phone, and is a good reminder that even when you are popping out for milk bring your CAMERA because you never know when you will find a treasure of a moment to capture.

Suzie

Yesterday we recorded Hexed (woot!) but then the home stager arrived. She was awesome. She was here for three hours and basically told us we have to hide everything we own. The worst offending room? The kitchen. I should have minimal stuff in my cupboard and zero on my counters. I kind of lost it (enthusiasm) when we got to my little island and she told me to only have a few pots and pans on it. I realized, there is no way I can food blog and show the house at the same time. Maybe if I did product reviews but that is it. We have so much work ahead of us, I am completely overwhelmed. Reg is talking about moving later, moving earlier... Woke up with major migraine this morning. I just want to hide.

August 28, 2013

Jamie

I just love this picture! On the way home from the bank yesterday, I met this little boo I'm calling Shorty (because he has a super short tail!) I sat right down on the sidewalk and we had major cuddles.  He walked right under my legs, my arms, curled up beside me. A total, total sweetie!

Shannon
Okay, so I'm re-using a pic from a few days ago,... but I'm still absolutely loving my henna tattoo. I look at it all the time and it makes me think of the awesome memories of the Ex, about art, about design, about drawing and more.

Suzie

I think of this photo as cheap thrills! One, I am thrilled that I got Burn Notice Season 3 out of the library yesterday (thank you again Shannon) and cheap because we got all sorts of coupons in the mail. We are really struggling right now, still haven't gotten the money back from the flights yet and paint isn't cheap. So we will probably be going to McD's tonight for dinner. Hey, at least it isn't yet another photo of my crafts room!

August 27, 2013

  Jamie
On Sunday I had this thought that it would be fun to do short in-the-studio videos to say good morning and greet everyone. I had a lot of fun giving it a go yesterday!

Shannon

I did lots of paper work ish stuff yesterday, so much so that I didn't take many pictures but I had to stop and take this one of the current Kobo contest which is all about book-to-TV.  I've gotten 9 out of 10 right, and anxiously awaiting their last daily question on Wednesday.  In fact, this is a bit of a cheat as I took the pic after midnight (so I think that's the answer to today's question!).

Suzie

Feels like my life is so boring! It's all the same, LOL. Well actually, after fighting with an old paint can and cutting open my hand a few times to get in I realized that the "egg shell white" paint was actually cappuccino! So... I could not start painting/cutting in the downstairs bathroom. Instead I moved stuff in my crafts room and used polyfill on holes in the wall and then I sandpapered the walls. I much prefer painting I think. Which will begin today!

Photography note: I took this on "low light" and it was the best out of all the shots I took. Progress with my camera, yay!

August 26, 2013

Jamie

Wow, looking at the pictures from yesterday at The Ex it felt impossible to choose something to represent the whole day. I mean, there was sand sculptures, horticulture, food demos, jewelery buying, the Cat Show (of course!), miniature horses, perogies, free cake, henna tattoos, the farm and Shannon and the turkey! So I thought I'd share this "promise of the day" photo when we just arrived, anticipating a great time of familiar treats and perhaps a few surprises! I'll do a post on the whole day at my site soon.

Shannon

It was so much fun to go to the CNE yesterday and the Cat Show for the umpteenth year (I accidentally did the math...bad idea!).  It was not easy to pick just one pic, and I'm sure I'll be creating and sharing a whole album over on Facebook for lots to enjoy!

Suzie

I did it! I finally finished putting away the stuff that was on top of my crafting table and most of my personality is hidden from the room now too. I am two days ahead of schedule since the stager is coming Wednesday evening. That was a ton of work! We will have to paint it next. I wish we had more time.

August 24, 2013

Suzie

I waited all week for yesterday! It was toonie day at my Thrift Store. I thought it included dresses but I read the ad wrong, it was dress "pants" but I got 3 skirts for $2 each! Yoga pants and a beautiful shirt too for $2 each. I only spent $18 and got a ton of stuff.

The reason I was looking for dresses is I want to go as a zombie bride for the zombie walk since it is the day before our wedding anniversary. So far, I haven't found one for under $40 and that one was filthy! It was only good for a zombie walk. But, it didn't fit. The quest continues but I can wear my new skirts as I look for it.

August 23, 2013

Jamie

I spent the whole day out yesterday and a part of my outing was a coffee with my dear friend Annabel. We hadn't gotten together since Mom's passing and so she brought me this lovely care present filled with creative play. It was just right considering that sitting down and just colouring has been one thing that's been helpful with my grieving process.

Shannon

Okay, this might not be the most exciting pic, but after about  a WEEK without internet I was thrilled to finally have it back.  It's kind of unbelievable how much a part of everyday life being online, or having access to being online, has become.  Now, ... I have to go watch a bunch of shows online, download stuff and y'know...catch up with Facebook, YouTube, etc...oh my.  This might take a while...

Suzie

I don't have a photo for yesterday because my camera battery died so I thought I would show this one from the other day instead. I got a gift box from PC and I returned 2 empty water bottles and got $20 back in deposit! I have another one to return too. We had so many for when Reg was deployed but since that isn't going to happen, they just take up floor space. I feel like nothing is getting done but I am working so hard. At least returning the bottles had its reward!

August 22, 2013

Suzie

It is getting there but wow, my crafts room has been way harder to depersonalize than I thought. There are so many little bits, all the paperwork to go through, what should I keep..??? I need to clear off that long table today so I can put it away. Then this might be the next room we will tackle painting. It's been two weeks and I am just finishing off the laundry room doors today! Moving is hard enough but selling a house? Way harder than I imagined.

August 21, 2013

Jamie

Jinx absolutely loves the Full Moon because that means it's dreamboard time! As soon as I sit down to put those pictures in place, she steps in and steps on! I get a Jinx blessing for my dreams every month.

Suzie

I actually had a pretty good day yesterday. I found a dye for my hair I didn't hate (chestnut brown) that hopefully will stay that colour. Did some vlogging including the recipe reveal for the next Cooking School for Delinquents class and a mystery box unboxing video. It was nice to get back to some fun. We got zero accomplished on the house though, both Reg and I were too overwhelmed and tired. I may have hurt my back carrying too many groceries home so I think it is just as well, to take a break.

August 20, 2013

Jamie

LOL, I haven't been able to flip this photo! It's funny because we actually had this great day yesterday with Shannon coming over and making jerk chicken in the crockpot and blueberry crisp and hanging out and... no pictures! What I can tell you is that I've started reading this wonderfully inspiring book from Dolly Parton (Thanks, Shannon!). Her main encouragement is to dream more, learn more, care more and be more. It's hitting lots of just right notes for me right now in a simple, loving way.

Suzie

Rough day yesterday so the highlight was waiting for the bus and seeing that they are turning this area into a little parkland! And they added a "no smoking" notice inside the bus shelter which is awesome. Wow, I have really started to freckle! So weird!

August 19, 2013

Jamie

I bet Shannon's picture will look similar. We went to see Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters together on Saturday. What a treat to get out to the movies and lose yourself in a tale of adventure. Just what I needed!

 Shannon

And what do you do when your internet is down?  Clean your apartment of course.... I couldn't do a vs the stuff vid, but I did makes some big progress in creating some space in front of it so there is some flow back in the apartment.

Suzie

We had a very stressful weekend of taking out donations, realizing the Canadian Tire stores sell things like primer at different prices and had to go back to another one to pay $10 off a can... The only fun we had was going to SugaRush for such a nostalgic when it comes to candy and they have new ones like Harry Potter Flavor Jelly Beans! I have been wanting to try their Beep slushie, a drink that used to be sold in the Maritimes when Reg was a kid and I finally got one. Yes, best part of a tough weekend.

Rewind: August 18, 2013

Jamie

I just love this picture of Mom - and since she had it framed by her door for the longest time, I figure she must have loved this picture of her too. It's funny how your perspective changes as you get older. I look at this picture and think how young Mom looks, how young she was when she started living on her own again, starting another part of her life. I wonder if she felt that way or not at all.

Suzie

This painting being at the funeral home's bathroom still amazes me. I am so glad I took a photo of it because it takes me back to Mom's place when she had it hanging on her wall.

August 17, 2013

Jamie

Last night Shannon and I decided to treat ourselves and go out for dinner. We went to Grapefruit Moon (remember it, Suzie?) and thoroughly (I mean, thoroughly) enjoyed the crispy chicken wrap. Not to mention the great company and the story-worthy girls on the patio - straight "Desperately Seeking Susan"-esque film. One short-haired blonde with gold aviators and a young grey cat on a leash. One straight-haired brunette doing her nails at the picnic table. Both eating fresh baked breadsticks on a cookie sheet from their kitchen and dipping it into plain yogurt they brought themselves. I think they bought their juice. I could imagine a whole series of comics based on their adventures.

Suzie

Yesterday Jamie and I Skyped and it was AWESOME! But, I forgot to take a photograph. How weird of me! But I felt so inspired after talking to Jamie I finally went in the kitchen and made something. The movers won't move liquids so we have to finish off all our booze before we move. So yesterday I made the custard for ice cream and put a batch of Baileys together and Frangelico. Making homemade ice cream always reminds me of the day Auntie Laima did that for us when we came to visit. It makes me very happy. Oh and I added 2x the alcohol you are supposed to by mistake so hopefully that makes it even better.

August 16, 2013

Jamie

Yesterday I was up in the Casa Loma area and decided to walk around. I've always seen the Spadina Museum but never considered going. I noticed they had gardens too and decided to be bold and have a look around. There were apple trees and a long corridor of what might have been beans and then this kind of wild garden behind. When I stumbled across 5 kids playing amongst the beans, telling tales and having some disdain for my interruption, it felt as though I'd stumbled into a British children's novel. What a treat.

Shannon

Definitely best part of the day was chatting Hexed with Suzie, and I made the collage this time which is mostly a mess (I never pick the right purple!) but hopefully fun too :)

Suzie

Hexed was definitely the highlight for me too Shannon! And OMG, having the sun come out and turn you into a ghost, that was awesome, although not for you if it was hard to see but we had a good laugh about it. Totally loved hanging out Shannon and I can't believe you got a photo with of the Kraken! Good job. :)

August 15, 2013

Jamie

I should have taken a picture in the bank because what I spent the majority of the day doing was getting back to my executor duties and working through Mom's finances. It felt good to get things done. I also walked down to the library and picked up The Courage to Grieve. So far I'd say it's quite good but I continue to struggle with how much what we went through feels different than what's described.

Shannon

Went out for coffee yesterday. Mid-coffee-drinking realized that 'decaf' was marked off on my cup. I never order decaf. Never. Dark, yes. Decaf, no. I don't actually think I got decaf, but it was bizarre to see.

Suzie

What a disaster yesterday was. Reg had to move all the stuff under the stairs into the family room so the dishwasher installer guy could turn off the water for the house. Which didn't happened because apparently we have a dishwasher from hell, originally installed by morons. Reg is bringing up my portable dishwasher soon. Hopefully that still works.

The only good thing about yesterday is we got most of the laundry room finished. But right at the end, I screwed it up trying to remove one of my never-ending hairs from the paint and then the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. I am so glad that day is OVER!

August 14, 2013

Jamie

It was such a gentle, idyllic moment. The sun was gently lighting up the room. Jinx was so relaxed curled up in the folds of this fabric. Um! Except that Jinx is not allowed to be in the bedroom! And those are our curtains, LOL. Time to do some hemming!

Shannon
Perhaps not the most exciting picture I've shared but I was very happy to work on organizing my yarn and getting it a little up, up and away! This totally cleared up some very usable space as well as re-inspired me to get to knitting and got me energized on an upcoming project. Woohoo!

Suzie

Yesterday was an epic day for me. I got through shredding 2 years of financial documents (not easy when your shredder gets so overheated so easily) and caught up on around 2 years of paperwork. Normally I am tad more organized than that but my little filing cabinet was totally full so the paperwork has just been piling and piling. But I did it! The above photo was during the thick of it.

I also learned how to paint! And once I got started, I just kept going. This door looked so horrible before, half painted, looked so crappy. When I was done with it it looked like new and even Reg was impressed! And... our dishwasher arrived! I won't be officially celebrating until I know that it is all hooked up and fits right. Fingers are crossed.

August 13, 2013

Jamie

Sometimes, I love the way things happen. We made a great dinner and lots of it, so I thought we'd share with Shannon, which led to a wonderful impromptu coffee and a meet up with this furry friend, Suki! Visiting turned a mundane Monday into a marvelous one!

Shannon

Kicking back to the weekend on this one (forgot to take pics yesterday, I'm shocked!); and using my awesome new cutting board.  I actually didn't initially realize I could peel all my carrots, then chop them all instead of my previous habit of peeling three, chopping three, which is what my old space allowed.  Now I can do the whole dang bag if I want to!

Suzie

Yesterday I went out and got a filter for the over the kitchen and replaced it myself (something small that needed to be done that I could do on my own) and got some serious badass cleaning gloves from the dollar store. I shredded documents and also went through almost 2 years of paperwork I have been avoiding. Haven't gotten through it all yet but I am working on it. And going through my filing cabinet. Have I mentioned how much I hate paperwork? Oh and we painted the trim of the laundry room ceiling last night. Exhausted. So exhausted.

August 12, 2013

Jamie

I couldn't believe this idyllic moment. It's almost like the swans were on stage (though I would have asked them to shimmy a bit stage left, LOL). I captured this moment on our walk after going to the movies this weekend. We saw Elysium, which I didn't like at all. It just really, really wasn't a "Jamie" movie. But there were lovely moments afterwards, like these swans on stage and a nice dinner out. We even saw a bunny in this bit of parkland! You just never know what you'll see when you get out for a walk!

Shannon

This weekend I did another update on Year 2 of Shannon vs The Stuff, although now I think I've realized that I probably should have named this series something else as I'm not versus-ing anything.  Oh well, that's what happens when a title can be catchy...you keep using it even fit doesn't quite fit.  I have to remember this week to continue the process.  I wonder what I'll tackle next.

Suzie

The first room we are prepping to paint is the laundry room, mostly because the previous owners did such a crappy job, that it would be a hard room to screw up. We started with using TSP to clean all the walls. That took most of yesterday. Today, spackling and maybe even... painting! This is not a fast process and is going to get even slower with Reg returning to work today.

Rewind: August 11, 2013

  Jamie

Every day I'm trying to do a little work stuff, a little house stuff, a little Mom stuff. Today I grabbed a pack of Mom's photos and discovered a collection of her photos at Robot Sumo Wrestling at OCAD. I posted a few over at our family blog. I'm really missing Mom today.

I took this photo just a week ago so this is kind of a lame "rewind" but to be honest, I can't believe everything that has happened in just one week. I am so tired. We were still having fun back then. It is of on of Reg's guitar teacher's many guitars. I love this one. Reminds me of one of my favourite movies. (No spoilers, don't worry.) This is the colour I wanted to paint my crafts room when we moved into the house but knew that it would be a tough sell later on and would have to be repainted, so I never painted it. At all. I am looking forward to making our next place "ours" and no longer having to worry about reselling our space.