Beach Day Saturday

Due to our rather wet and cool weather there haven't been a lot of days that would qualify as a "beach day." But last Saturday (July 4th!) looked pretty good so I went to Port Bruce with 2 friends. Being near water and listening to the waves crash onto the shore (it was really windy) was very calming I found.  

The water was still pretty cold so I stayed in my beach chair and read a Sue Grafton detective novel in between eating BACON-flavoured chips and egg salad sandwiches! One of my friends NEVER goes to the beach without egg salad sandwiches - a practice developed during her childhood so we always eat well at the beach.

Both the sky and the lake were busy...

Well, not in this particular photo...

But here...

 And here...

etc

 etc

It was a hazy kind of day and the wind was cool but people were still getting sunburned so after enjoying the sun for a bit I sat under my umbrella. I'm no longer interested in roasting my skin. WHITE is in! Well, not really, but it is for me:) Actually I have bicycle tan hands - tanned down to the first knuckle then ghostly white fingers!

Health update: I think the medications that I'm back on are having a positive effect though it's still early days. The feelings of anxiety are gradually lessening and for that I am very thankful. The back pain has also decreased so I am back riding my hike and I hiked twice last week. So overall things are looking up. When I finally write a sarcastic post you'll know I'm back to being myself!

Happy New Year 2015!!

I want to extend to you all my wishes for a very happy New Year.  Wherever you may be and whatever you may be doing today take a moment to be grateful for what was. If you're like me and life threw you some major curveballs this past year try to reflect on what was good about 2014, even if those good moments seemed far and few between. Embrace those less than perfect moments as challenges to overcome in 2015.

I've been reading John Cleese's autobiography and love how he sees the "ridiculous" in everyday events, both good and bad - I think that's a great approach to life in general. Maintain a sense of humour no matter what you're facing. That's what I'm going to try to do though sometimes I tend to veer off into sarcasm (coping mechanism!!) that's still humour...right?

This year I'm going to make a list of my 2014 accomplishments and add them as a "page" on my blog.  Other pages will include "goals", a list of what I'm grateful for,  and of course the ever present and always important "financial budget"!! I'm also thinking about monetizing my blog for awhile to see whether it's worth it or not. No resolutions for this girl however, I plan to continue my hiking/biking and will track my kilometres in my sidebar. No diets - just trying to maintain a mostly healthy eating plan (with occasional excursions into chocolate and beer!!)

Will there be travel this year? A new trailer? That all remains to be seen - I'm sure things will unfold as they are meant to be.

Short and Sweet

That's me, short and sweet! Well, short anyways...

Jan. 2, 2014 - how time flies! Lots of challenges going on...I stayed inside today so had a 2nd No Spend day. Too damn cold for anything else. Sure hope Dougie the Dodge starts tomorrow - not that I HAVE to go anywhere but one can only stay cooped up for so long.

Completed Day 2 of my 5 day juice fast. So far so good. I did wake up with a headache in the night - no doubt withdrawal from caffeine - so I took a tylenol and had a few sips of leftover coffee and that did the trick. Today - no headache and feeling more energy so I pedalled 15km on my stationary bike. I'm keeping tabs on my total km cycled in my sidebar. Spent some quality mother/daughter time with Kazi watching Freaks and Geeks on Netflix. I'd never heard of it before but it starred James Franco, Jason Segel and Seth Rogen before they were rich and famous. Unfortunately it was cancelled after one season even though Kazi and I think it's hilarious! What do we know...?

So today was supposed to be the BIG DAY when I begin my application to retire but when I went onto the website I could only pick a retirement date up until May 2014 so boo, hiss, I'll have to wait another month or two. I guess there must be so many of us oldies but goodies retiring that they can only handle so many at a time. So that was rather anticlimactic! To make up for that letdown I got busy and sorted through a huge pile of personal papers that has been gathering for the last couple of months AND put Christmas gifts away. The fun never ends...

Money Saving Tip

I'm sure you've all heard the saying "You gotta spend money to save money!"  Well, I'm here to say that I'm going to put that old adage to the test. Just for you, I'm going to make the sacrifice and see if it holds water. Or not.

Yes, that's right. In the name of ECONOMIC SCIENCE, a well-known branch of the MONETARY SCIENCES, I am volunteering (you can thank me later) to participate in the study of "Chicken Wings: Are the Cheaper Monday Night Wings of EQUAL VALUE to the higher-priced TUESDAY NIGHT WINGS and the WEDNESDAY NIGHT WINGS and the THURSDAY NIGHT WINGS etc??" I will submit my detailed analysis in a week's time. You're welcome!

Or was that "You've gotta spend money to make money?"

Oh well...