Saturday, March 5, 2011

A Number of Things

Self Portrait - circa 1988

I'm getting sick and tired of posting snow pictures, hence I went a completely different direction with this post by including a self-portrait of myself back when I was taking photography at university. Oh, the good ol' days...when I had zippo money, no daughter yet and I was happy living on my own, albeit in a rental apt on the main floor of a house where I encountered my first BAT!!
And I'm pretty sure the upstairs neighbour was selling drugs out of his apartment as I'd hear people clunking up and down his staircase at all hours of the night.

What I LOVED about my apartment was my huge treed back yard. I used to spend a lot of time back there - it was peaceful and very full of green growing things. There were tiny little violets that grew wild all over the lawn and since then I've always loved the colour combination of green and violet. I dug up a square parcel of grass and planted more flowers. It really was an oasis of calm for reading my huge and expensive textbooks and studying for exams. Isn't it wonderful that for everything bad in a situation (drug dealer, BATS) there is something equally good.  It's a good reminder to always look for that silver lining because it IS THERE. We might not see it right away, but we will find it if we make the effort.

Interesting how one photo can evoke such powerful memories. I must revisit my old photos more often. I look back at the skinnier me and feel proud of myself.  I suffered a lot by choosing to hang out with the wrong boyfriends but what I made out of my life gives me hope for my daughter's future. My dad used to say that what he admired most about me was my "spunk". In the moment I didn't really understand what he meant, but looking back over my life I get it. And I can see examples of that feistiness in my daughter's life as she deals with working at a nightclub called Jack's here in London. (more about that in a future post)

I've been getting away from talking about MONEY lately in my posts. I am finding that with my balanced budget things are pretty much looking after themselves. I have automatic payments set up for everything - bills and savings and we are managing quite nicely to stay within food, gas and misc budget amounts. I think NO SPEND FEBRUARY has really given me the discipline I need to control my spending.

Yesterday Michael and I went to see "The Adjustment Bureau" with Matt Damon and Emily Blunt and it was soooooo good and soooooo applicable to our own relationship that we just stayed in this "movie buzz" for the rest of the evening. I'm still feeling the after effects today - it was one great movie with it's main premise that LOVE can conquer all. Go see it! We used our gift cards and sat in the VIP section - very comfortable:)

Today my spending will be limited to a $3 newspaper and a Timmy's coffee. The only other money I spent this week was $20 for an ink cartridge for our printer.

Life is good.

8 comments:

  1. Love that picture ... more please!

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  2. Beautiful Jane simply beautiful. You are an amazing person and I'm deeply honored to have you as a friend.
    Hugs

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  3. We're going to see that film tomorrow aftenoon...now I'm really excited!

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  4. Love that picture.
    I love your reflection posts. This reminds me of something I just heard about only being able to connect the dots after your dots are made. There are reasons that we experience the things we do, if only to paint a bigger picture.

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  5. Beautiful photo Jane. I too could use some time away from snow pics (not yours, mine, I feel like it's all I talk about lately). Can I just say your resolve to take care of your budget has been inspiring. I'm not terribly excited by numbers on any given day but hearing about your work has been a positive influence for me and thinking about my own bills.

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  6. Great pic!!!

    and just so you know - I am loving the snow pics you are posting too ;)

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  7. Great photo and really enjoyed this post... :)

    Hoping that soon there will be no more snow to snap photo's of.. lol!!

    Glad you enjoyed the movie.. it's on my "to see" list! Looks awesome!!

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  8. Jane,
    I love that you have your finances on autopilot. I hope to have the same soon!
    I just saw the trailer for the Adjustment Bureau...looks good! Maybe it will be a future date night movie.
    Thanks for your kind comment on my blog. I've missed you too! :)!

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Thank you for your comment - it means a lot to me that you read my post and are leaving a comment - you just made my day!