It's Not What You Say it's How You Say It!!

Oh Please Lord, Don't Take Spring Away!!

Oh please Lord, don't take spring away. So many times in the past month
we've been led to believe that spring has arrived only to see another
few inches of snow on the car when we get up in the morning.
I promise I'll be good.
I would miss so many things if spring went away,
like the sound of children's voices screaming and laughing while
they play outside.  I snapped the two boys above in Goderich yesterday -
they were enjoying a little rock-climbing complete with yelling
"I'm the king of the castle, you're the dirty rascal"
at the top of their lungs.
They really made me smile.

I would really miss the opportunity to explore new trails and feel the
wind and sunshine on my face and body. I started out with a tank top, sweatshirt and rain jacket yesterday but peeled off the layers one by one,
even ending up with a little color on my arms and face by the end of the day. I snapped this photo while having a snack perched way way above the Goderich harbour. Happily a ship was docked waiting to get its load of salt from the local saltmines.  The yachts and sailboats are still wrapped up in white plastic at the marina but it won't be long until they fill the lake with their glorious colours and graceful sails.

This place has something to do with the salt mining, evaporation and loading of the salt to both ships and railway cars but I don't know exactly what. I'm just amazed at how it seems to float, weightless, on Lake Huron. I would love to understand the feat of engineering needed to make this little miracle happen. But that's just me and my overactive little mind :)

I would be really really sad if the clumps of daffodils, almost ready to burst open at the seams, were suddenly covered in yet another foot of snow.

Would they survive?  I would miss their cheerful yellow faces.

Personally I wouldn't miss fishing, as I don't fish, but I would miss the opportunity of snapping photos of other people enjoying this pursuit such as this young dad with his two active daughters.
Their giggles filled the air with glee!

The fearless crocus is blooming in full glory - surely they've waited long enough. My eyes haven't yet tired of drinking in their beautiful colours and I surely don't want to look at the colours of snow in all of it's yucky variants - yellow, brown and grey - blecch!

I don't know what these little flowers are called but aren't they a brilliant sight for sore eyes?

And who wouldn't miss hopping in a boxcar and visiting some new spots a little further on down the line?
Hah! Just kidding...only a little. I do get the itch for a nice, long road trip when the weather warms up! 

I call this:
"Goose with Ginormous Anchor"

I call this - the first BBQ of the season!!
Please don't bury the BBQ under the snow again....please?
Amen
Oh yes, and thanks for a wonderful dinner Michael!

Ooooooo my mouth is watering! I wonder if there are any leftovers???  Think I'll go check - see ya later!!

What would you miss most about spring??

O U T S I D E ! ! ! ! !

This is me on my bike. This is NOT me on my bike today, however, this was last fall in Bayfield. We have bikes in both Bayfield and London and will buy a couple in PEI this summer. It's my favourite mode of transportation. Notice the camera in my hand - it is never very far from reach. Except today. Today we had our FIRST OUTDOOR BIKE RIDE OF THE SEASON and I left my camera in my purse at home :(  Notice me squinting intently - today I wore my prescription sunglasses and was not seen squinting even once! 


So I didn't take any photos today (except more photos of the winning bunch of snowdrops this morning - are ya tired of my snowdrops yet, c'mon, you can be honest) but I did see some marvellous things on our bike ride to Victoria Park and back. First of all my legs felt really strong from pedalling over 900kms since January 1st so I was happy about that! There were a ton of "long-haired freaky people" hanging out in the park pounding on bongos, playing guitars, walking their rabbits, yes rabbits, on leashes, throwing frisbees, riding their skate boards and trick bikes, strolling hand in hand, sleeping on benches, juggling, singing, throwing a football and generally having an awesome time in the 14c weather and sunshine.


A simply glorious day. 


Tomorrow we are up early, having breakfast at Johnny's, then driving to the trailer. We would have gone tonight but Michael is working and we're not actually supposed to stay overnight til the park officially opens on April 20th though we have gotten away with it in the past. Once there we'll likely have another bike ride, walk on the beach, lay in the sun and read a book. 


Sounds like paradise.  How is your weekend shaping up??

Saffrons

Mmmmmmmmmm the food was soooo yummy in my tummy last night at Saffrons. This restaurant is run by staff and students (Shawn - you were a great server!!) of the Tourism & Hospitality program at Fanshawe College and is about to shut down for the season. One of my friends works there and she organized the dinner for us - thanks Troy!

I didn't overdo it too much (and I have some swampland in Florida to sell you) and I tried to make healthy choices. Michael and I started off by splitting the Greens - a mixture of organic greens, toasted hazelnuts, orange, sunflower seeds, fried quebec brie, clovermead bea pollen and honey vinaigrette - it tasted as good as it sounds. 

My main course was "melt in my mouth" salmon with rapini and dill fingerling potatoes and since it was a smallish portion (how about a couple acres of the Sahara desert...going cheap!) so I had to have dessert and I chose the apple pie with chai flavoured icecream (very spicy & unusual) but mm mm good!

It was wonderful getting together with old friends again - we were SO LOUD and boisterous but fortunately didn't drive away the other diners (we have cleared out many a restaurant in our time).  Michael's and my bill came to $81.25 which was quite reasonable considering we also had a couple of cocktails and an Irish coffee each!

In other news my refund cheque of $1521.00 arrived today. I'm not too excited about it this year as now I will write a cheque for $1740.00 to pay for my trailer lot fee. Nothing extra for savings or debt payment or shopping this year. And this will be my last refund cheque of this size. I have stopped adding to my RSP and I will get no more tuition credits from my daughter plus I have reduced my charitable givings to make up for shortages in other areas. I will explain more about my RSP decision in another post. 

Happy weekend everyone! The sun is shining and it's mild out so I've got to get moving! We are going to visit our trailer this weekend - yahoo!

Wow - First Week of April Over Already!!

The extras are killing me this month. Nothing huge but added together they are causing a serious cash shortage. So far the extras have included $74.74 for car maintenance, $56.46 for my internet security/virus check etc renewal, $38.40 for Turbotax, iTunes (only $1.29) and two restaurant meals. Luckily for Jambalaya I had one of those "Groupons" that I purchased a few months ago - I paid $25.00 for a $50.00 coupon. The server was really cute so I gave him a big tip - thanks Michael :)


Tomorrow night is our dinner out at Saffrons. It's a restaurant completely staffed by students and staff of the Hospitality program at our local college. I've eaten there once and it was so amazing. Very professional, very classy, very good food and wine. Hoo boy! I've got to keep my spending in check somehow...once the wine gets flowing it's so easy to throw caution to the wind! I still haven't even figured out yet how I'm going to pay for it!


Other "unique" spends coming up - volleyball registration ($50), trailer lot fee for the season ($1740.00), the painting I bought from my brother ($250 - a steal!!), Easter treats for my daughter (?) and I hope that's it!!! This is turning out to be way worse than March. It looks like I need a MISC savings account for all of these once a year little bits and pieces.  What a drag! 


How's your spending going - are you on track so far??  I hope you're doing better than I am!

Cycling to PEI - Next Stop??

Thank you thank you for your very thoughtful and thought-provoking comments about the wedding post. The situation is this: the mother of the bride, a close friend of mine, is in a financial bind - she wants to provide more food and alcohol for the reception but she has run out of money. At this point the wedding/reception plans cannot be changed. She is REALLY stressed out. 


I am going to let this situation simmer on the back burner for a few days and see what develops. It is too late to suggest that things be done differently as the wedding is next month and everything has been put into motion. I'll let you know how it turns out.


IN OTHER NEWS:


I have pedalled 45km so far this week! I am fast approaching one of the most beautiful cities in all of Canada. I should reach it after four more days of biking. Can you guess the name of the city? Here are a few picture clues:

Tonight volleyball starts up again so I'm hoping that it encourages me to get out of the house a little more often. This reluctant spring has had me stuck inside much longer than usual and I'm feeling lethargic and bloated - yechhh!


IN FINANCIAL NEWS:


I'm in a bit of a bind as my misc budget line is under $20 until April 15th payday and I have a dinner to go to (fancy schmancy restaurant) this Friday night. I fully intend to go as I haven't seen some of my friends since I went into hibernation a few months ago. However, the triple eating out day (last Saturday) has gobbled up most of my spare cash!  My recent art purchase and miscalculation of my tax refund has also meant squeezing an extra $450 out of my April budget so I need to control my spending a little (lot) better than I have in the first six days of this month. 


So far I have cancelled three $50.00 automatic transfers into my EF, my trailer fee fund and my PEI property tax/home insurance fund. Hopefully I can make up these payments in the second half of April, but that isn't likely. I've also cancelled a $300.00 Line of Credit extra payment to help cover those one-time expenses and that really hurts my feelings :(


However, in the immortal words of Scarlett O'Hara "tomorrow is another day" and perhaps will provide some fresh perspective on my troubling dilemmas.


I leave you with a great clip from my favorite comedy show: "Whose Line is it Anyways"; it's a little racy in case you don't like that kind of stuff;p
Ryan is trying to break out of prison and Wayne is trying to help him escape using a helicopter. LOVE IT!!
(TURN UP YOUR VOLUME!)

Wedding Bell Blues

I just deleted a very long post about a wedding budget problem faced by a friend of mine.  She is a single parent with three children, two still living at home. The post wants to pour out of me but I don't want to take a chance that she might somehow read this so I am going to sum it up like this:

Suppose you had a daughter getting married and suppose you were paying for the dinner and reception after the wedding but you have spent all of your budget and have NO more money and yet there are more expenses that you need to pay. I know I am leaving out a whole bunch of info here but bear with me. Suppose the groom's parents were very wealthy and were hosting the wedding at their home and providing a very highclass event.  

What would YOU do?