All Gassed Up

Two challenges I have been working on in 2018 are 1) use as little gas as possible and 2) eat as little refined sugar as I can. So far I'm doing pretty good, especially where gas is concerned.

Since replacing my truck with a Honda Civic at the end of Sept. 2017 I have been lowering my monthly gas budget line - from a high of $200.00 (when I was driving Dougie the Dodge truck) to $60 now (driving the Honda).  A nifty savings of $140.00 per month! Yahoo!

AND... for the past 4 months I've only been filling the Honda once a month at a cost of $45.00 so I think it's time to reduce the budget line for gas even further - from $60.00 to $45.00 a month. Since buying the Honda the monthly amount I spend on gas has decreased by $155.00/month ($200 - $45). My car insurance and house insurance amount to $156.00 ($124 + $32)!! So by switching from a V8 truck to the Honda I am saving enough in gas to pay for car and house insurance!! That's amazing and has put a big smile on my face!! 

As most of you know I was thinking about going car-free so by driving something a lot more economical and lot more "green" than the truck goes a long ways to making me feel better about still driving.

Once it warms up a little (right now IT IS FREAKING SNOWING!!!) then I won't even be spending $45.00 per month on gas because I'll be biking most places within the city. I have met Goal #1 👍

GOAL #2 - the struggle continues...
I would estimate that I have decreased the amount of refined white sugar in my diet by about 75% (or more).  Which is great! I no longer spend time browsing the candy aisles at Dollarama (there are TWO Dollaramas within a block or two of my house though with me not shopping there as much as I used to I'm sure one of them will have to shut down due to poor returns!!) Since the beginning of January I have intentionally made purchases at Dollarama twice. Once was to buy a little somethin somethin for Valentine's Day which I shared with Kazi. And then one other time when I had a craving for chocolate covered almonds.

Zero Easter eggs consumed this year though I noticed a chocolate bunny on the kitchen counter :) and yes, I had a nibble. But the rest I'll take up to Kazi's room where I won't see it. I'm on the See Food diet, I'm sure you've heard of it - "if I see food, I eat it!"

It's not that I have stopped eating snacks - I have had a few bags of salt and vinegar chips and I have been baking oat scones on a regular basis. In addition, when I have a craving, I eat a few raw nuts which of course are high in fat and calories. BUT, the fat is good fat so they say. We've also turned to avocados (again good fat) and very satisfying. I tried (and failed) to eat one or two squares of dark chocolate a day as there are many health benefits but I couldn't stop at one or two so have had to give that up.

But I'm not giving up wine and beer - you have to draw the line somewhere! Besides...both have health benefits if they are consumed in reasonable amounts!

I've had to face the fact that I can't control myself around sweets. So I try to provide myself with sweet stuff that is somewhat healthier. My scone recipe spreads 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar throughout a yield of 12 scones. I use whole wheat flour instead of refined white flour, large oats, soy milk, butter, one egg and a half cup of currants. They are delicious and filling and use mostly healthy ingredients.

This isn't a diet about losing weight though I have lost 5 pounds over 3 months. It's more about trying to make healthier choices. It's hard though, I admit it. Menopause means I have to eat a lot less to maintain my weight as opposed to when I was a teenager and could eat as much as I wanted without gaining an ounce! NOT FAIR! 

I found a site that calculates your BMI but uses your age as well as gender, height and weight in their calculation. Yippee - on their site I am within the "normal range" - the loss of just 5 pounds and inputting my age (61) and gender has moved me from straddling the line between normal and borderline over-weight. I am going to save the results and look at them everyday for the rest of my life!!!

If you want to check your BMI go to https://www.smartbmicalculator.com/

Brace yourselves.....

.....for some late-breaking news!!
This was the scene (of the crime!!) at the Harrison household today!! In the middle of the afternoon!!

But, but... isn't that a newspaper???
On a Tuesday afternoon???

What is happening? Is society crumbling...the rules thrown by the wayside?? What next...a glass of wine at 3pm?? 
Well...ahem...yes, there it is.
Jane's rigid lifestyle is disintegrating - there will no longer be a newspaper only on Saturdays...
NO, I am throwing caution to the wind!! I just read...a TUESDAY newspaper for the first time in YEARS!! ...I tell you - YEARS!!
What on earth will tomorrow bring - ANARCHY??  MAYHEM??  A NAP?? OH THE HORRORS! 
Stay tuned....

Lazy Day

I keep thinking I should be doing something...

I get upset with myself because I don't feel like doing anything...

But my puritan upbringing doesn't let me rest easily...

Ok, got THAT off my chest. Onwards and upwards. My alarm went off at 7am. Do you think it's strange that I set my alarm on the weekend? Well it's a little game I play with myself. If I get up early then the days of the weekend seem looooonger;  I guess they are longer or at least the amount of time I'm awake is longer. It's all psychological.

I treated myself to a Timmy's and a newspaper today and enjoyed both while keeping one eye on our women's curling team. THEY ARE UNDEFEATED!! Did you know that curling is the second most popular "arm chair" sport? After hockey? I LOVE watching curling - I love how we get to hear them work out their strategy and the loud cries of HARD....HARRRRRRRRRD!!! from the skip. I love the overhead shots showing where the rocks lie and how they can each make their throw curl this way and the other way making seemingly "magical" take outs - I think it's amazing.

YES, I am CANADIAN! And I really wish I had one of those Molson Canadian beer machines in my kitchen! Errrr.....maybe beside my recliner would be better!

Isn't that cool?? I have a passport - do you think I could get a beer?

Perhaps after I'm finished my glass of wine!

Last night I had THE most amazing dinner with my friends Troy, Julie and Susan. We went to a Thai restaurant and had quite the decadent meal - I had a strawberry smoothie with a double shot of rum, DEEP FRIED spring rolls and seafood pad thai. Oh my goodness! I'm sure I exceeded my daily caloric intake with just the smoothie! And I've never had deep fried spring rolls before - they were to die for. Needless to say most of the pad thai is in my fridge (just a regular fridge though I think there are a couple of Bud Lights in there :) 

Then off to see "Monuments Men".  Being an Art History major I really enjoyed the story and I wondered frequently how much work it must have been to duplicate all of those paintings and statues or is that all done with computers?? I thought the dialogue was not the greatest in parts and it jumped around a bit but overall it was enjoyable though the real loss of some major works of art made me sad. There were some funny spots like when Matt Damon's character was standing on an unexploded land mine - yes, that might not seem funny but it all worked out...in a funny way...

Happily this is our Family Day long weekend :) :) so I still have 2 days left to enjoy. I think I'll load up my plate with leftovers, feed the cat, and treat myself to an episode or two from the new season of HOUSE OF CARDS!!! And tomorrow I must cheer on our Canadian men's hockey team as they play against Finland. YES, I lead the most exciting life!  

Home from the Bahamas

Someone is coming home tonight.....

 a special dinner for two...

a bottle (BIG) of wine....

candlelight...

 Now, if only I could find two chairs.....

in this mayhem (saluting Sonya for my new word of the day!)

 ain't gonna happen...
I guess we'll have to eat in bed!

C'mon Baby One More Day!

The school year continues to whiz by at a frantic rate of speed. My friend Christy is already on March break as they start theirs today instead of Friday, lucky duck! She's already cracked open a bottle of wine to celebrate :) It's funny in that so many teachers have mentioned looking forward to putting their collective feet up and sipping a glass of vino - in fact one friend said to me on Tuesday that she had already opened one up the previous night! She was sort of embarrassed because she said that she and her husband usually make it til Friday before uncorking one and there they were on a Monday night - stressed out and impatient - getting into it!  I can now LAUGH in her face because Michael and I made it all the way til TUESDAY BWAHAHAHA!!

Yes, I  can admit to being tired out but I'm hopeful that this year I won't be sick over March break like I usually am. That's the incredible thing about stress and colds - they seem to go hand-in-hand HOWEVER I can almost always WILL the germs to wait until I'm on holidays before they strike me down. I don't like missing days of school because my class isn't the easiest one to leave to a supply teacher. So I am somehow able to wait until the time is "right" before I surrender to some dastardly disease.  Since I just had a cold though I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll be able to get to my chore list everyday instead of  lounging on the couch with a box of kleenex.....though the lounging part does sound tempting!

Unfortunately the stress of labour unrest is also affecting most teachers in Canada this year as our contracts expire and our unions begin to battle with the government and school boards over new contracts. It ain't gonna be pretty! I'm very OK with a zero percent raise and even with a two year contract instead of four but there are other issues that will need much negotiation. But I try not to think about that stuff as I'm not much into unions and politics (though I admit to closely following the race for top Republican!!) - it's just so crazy interesting!

Well, I'm going to toddle off to the kitchen now and see what I can whip up for supper....oh yeah....there's LEFTOVERS, my FAVOURITE!! Have a great night y'all!

Brighton, Ontario

The second stop on my cycling journey is Brighton, Ontario. My friend and fellow teacher, Christy, told me about some of the best stops along my route.  So, before I arrived in Brighton I stopped near Colborne, ON and this is what I saw!!

 It's the world's biggest apple!

 Holy moly - that's a lot of apple!

So of course I had to try their very own apple crumble - you know it takes a lot of energy to peddle away down in my basement on Hwy 401!! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!

Fortified for my journey I continued on to Brighton and spent some time enjoying beautiful Presqu'ile Provincial Park - you know how much I LOVE the great outdoors and this park is also a bird sanctuary!

 Isn't it gorgeous??

 Barred owl - so cute! So serious...

And a lighthouse!!
Now into Brighton itself!

 If only I had the time and $$ for shopping - I would definitely check out The Clan Shoppe!

 A very quaint Main Street! Much preferable to the usual mall experience!

 I'm the sort of person who LOVES museums - I checked out the Memory Junction Railway Museum and...

the Proctor House Museum.

Of course by then I was hungry (again) so on Christy's recommendation I dined at Dougall's by the Bay so I could sit by Lake Ontario and drink in the booze errr view! Yes, the view!

 Brighton's harbourfront.

Dougall's by the Bay restaurant.

And this is what I saw:

Simply divine!

Of course no visit to Brighton, ON would be complete with a visit to our very own Canadian financial guru - Gail Vaz-Oxlade!! I asked her if she had any tips she could pass along for the Christmas season and here is what she said:

"Do you buy expensive wine because you think they taste better? Save yourself some money: $20 is about as much as you need to spend to get a great bottle of wine. And there are $10 bottles that taste great too! And if you’re going to be drinking all night, start with a more expensive $20 bottle, and then switch to the cheaper stuff later in the evening. Most people won’t notice."

Heh, heh - "drinking all night"...she's MY kind of gal!!


Funny that! I recently read in the National Post about quite a few red wines that cost less than $10 and taste great!  So far I've tried two of them and they each cost only $6.95!  I found them very palatable:)


Here they are: (in the Italian red section)

• Citra Sangiovese T Di Chieti
• Casal Thaulero Merlot Cabernet Sauvignon

So, after Gail and I shared a bottle of each (ha ha no we didn't.......................we each had our OWN bottles!!) I got back on my bike and wobbled on down to Hwy 401! 

Next stop - Trenton, Ontario!!