my simple life to date

so it has been a while since i updated all of you reading about my 40 bags in 40 days project.  things are going well.  i have posted some before and after pictures of some of the rooms, with the last being the little man's new toy story bedroom.  the kitchen is now done including the fridge and the living room is almost done.

 i have the liquor cabinet/hutch to do but i might keep that until our annual may party to clean it out (oh and that really isn't a pictures of the inside my my liquor cabinet) - aside from the hutch, toys have been donated, the art supply drawer has been cleaned out and the play kitchen has had it's own clean out job including the donating of excess dishes, cutlery, pots pans 

so far the project has been a great success.  one thing that i will pass along to you if you are doing this - give everything (that remains) a place.  the spot where it lives and let everyone know where its home is.  this way, when you go to tidy things up or someone else tidies up (does that really happen) anyhow, it is easy to put away because there is a place for it.  kitchen clean up has been really easy now that things are sorted and i haven't yet had to spend an hour looking for a lid for my lunch container.  

another thing that i recommend during a clean up is to have a basket - which i have yet to do myself but i read it on a blog and it is such a good idea. do your tidy up with a basket under your arm and collect things for each room, one at a time.  this may not apply to everyone but having two boys under six i find that if i don't do this way i am walking around in circles putting toys and clothes back in their homes.  i typically collect the items in my arms but the basket is such a better idea. i think that the gutting of the house so far has been such a great time saver.  it is easy, rather...  simple to do a clean up now a days.  and in most instances it has been a month since i have done that room so it is still working so far

with less time wasted on cleaning up i have had a chance to spend time                      

                                                      doing literally nothing 

- well not nothing but enjoying my free time.  i have been reading, playing the iphone app games that i have downloaded, which hubby doesn't like so much but he is the one that wanted me to get an iphone and an iphone only.  it's funny too because i have read on a number of sites to cut back on your cell phone games, internet and online use to help simplify life and while i no longer read the news - be it world, national or local; i do go online quite a bit from my phone and play lots of games but i am enjoying myself.  i think they are really referring to those who have it attached to their head and are constantly working when away from work.

i have spent a lot of time outside since the weather has been nice and it has been so great.  i am not stressed out as much about how cluttered the house is - granted a lot of stuff has been put to the basement in the "meantime" which is clearly a broken rule i set out for myself in the cleaning project.  

rule that was broken: don't move stuff from one place to another in the house - deal with it at that time you touch it - donate it, throw it away or give it a home.  well, i am afraid to even take before pictures of the basement.  it is a complete embarrassment on my part so there may not be posted pictures lol

i will completely admit that life has been stressful lately, my grandpa has been in hospital and my daycare arrangements for the boys flopped but i have to say that if the house wasn't as clean and orderly as it was it would have had a far worse week for me than it was.

so, i have the bedroom and bathroom and the big guy's room yet to do which is a whole lot of toys and books to go through.  the yard has been started since the weather today was a beautiful 23 degrees and sun on march 18th!  it is going to be a cruel mean joke if mother nature decides to bring the white stuff back again this year.  yard raked, sleds put away, deck cleaned off, leaves burned, deck chairs washed off.  the shed has to be cleaned out, garage cleaned out but that is relatively easy since over three quarters of it is our tent trailer.

once the house, yard and garage has been purged and gutted i will begin to tackle the home improvement projects i have - starting small - like painting, new blinds here and there, putting trim along the carpet's edge and some dry walling.

another project that has started is simplifying our finances.  i am really thinking of getting rid of the satellite or downsizing our huge plan.  i am finding i am watching less tv and really not caring so much about seeing every episode of shows i have been watching. i mean there are many i still watch but that is what the pvr is all about.  

i am working on a budget where i am setting up payments online for each pay day, that way the bills are being paid when they should be and i don't have so much to worry about.  i have gone through the bills and whatever the monthly amount i am spending is, i divide it by 4 paychecks and have the amount of one quarter of the bill being put on the bill with each paycheque.  this makes it simpler for cash flow and i know bills are being paid.  when it comes to the mortgage i divide that by 4 as well and then put the money into another account until the day it is due.  i have set up 3 months worth and i know what is going where and when.

and so it continues ~ this huge project of simplifying my life but i am so happy with the progress so far.  i have had time to do what i want to in a day and on the weekends - granted i need to get back to my running but today's enjoyment included a 5.5km walk with the boys in the wagon to see "spring happening"  as my eldest put in.  

i will have to share with you some of the things we have been doing in our joyous free time from hikes to playing at the park, beginning our rock hounding season to exploring the old nipissing trail this past weekend.  tomorrow night i begin my photography course at the local college too.  

life seems to be simply good these days

~ simply  me ~

ode to wine drinkers

for some reason i seem to associate drinking wine with images of relaxation and tranquility. for these reasons i would like to be a wine drinker but my taste buds just aren’t up to the sophistication of my brain…. yet

i remember learning from my mom that your tastes change as you age, the childhood sweet tooth fades and many of the taste buds on the roof of your mouth and on the sides die and your sense of taste fades, so things that are spicy or bitter when you are younger tend to become more pleasant tasting as you get older.

i think i may agree but am still not entire sure. i may be liking the taste of wine more and more but i admit that i am still a fruit flavoured wine or wine cooler type drinker of wines. maybe i haven’t found my wine yet. a friend of mine told me i have to start trying wines until i find "my wine". i may become an alcoholic in the process but it may be my new endeavour….  

to find the wine that takes me to that place of relaxation

to find the wine that leads to my imagined tranquility

or how about just ...

to find a wine i can sip without shuddering like my little guy
does drinking anything carbonated

heh or maybe i just stick with beer

i remember my aunt, uncle and parents sitting at the cottage drinking wine - sitting at the beach, or after dinner, or when we would hold a “just for the sake of having a party” party. their wine was so enjoyable they bought it by the box – or maybe that was because it was cheaper in bulk (insert chuckle).

maybe what i have in my mind is that there is something adult about wine. at family get togethers, my grandma used to let us have wine with apple juice in it. i am sure it was mostly apple juice, but still still, the kids were having wine in mini wine glasses that she had bought for us. just like the grown ups.

sometimes i look at myself and wonder how am i an adult? how am i a mom of two boys, who rely on me as onw of their parents when some days i really don’t feel very grown up? or maybe i don’t want to feel grown up. i make these two little people meals, pack a school bag, clothe them, bathe them all the while i still don’t quite get the fact i am the age i am.

i think it is mostly because my family is relatively young – at play, at heart and in all the things that we do. you would never guess my parents’ ages in all the things that they do – they were climbing the pyramids not too long ago, hiking “the crack” (if you have ever been to killarney), "roughing it at the cottage" and now keeping up with 5 grandkids under 6.

i am pretty young at heart too i think. with the boys we love to go play in the snow, toboggan and go tubing, play video games, play fight, colour, play playdough, build sandcastles and play on the playground equipment with them. my brother and his family are very much the same.

when i think of wine drinking right now i immediately think of cougartown and big joe (rip 2007-2010) and now big carl. too funny!  jules and the gang can always find a reason to drink wine and some of the funniest moments of the show take place around the kitchen island or the couch during a wine session.  also, there are many great drinking games that come from and can be played with wine drinking .....

penny can

and so, to start living the life stemming from the imagry i have with wine i guess i need to get myself a wine glass, a big wine glass that is, give it a name and start trying some wines. i mean, i know i will be in good company reading the world of online quotes about wine drinking …..

"wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."                                                             --- benjamin franklin

"wine is the most civilized thing in the world."

                                   --- ernest hemingway

"wine is life."

       --- petronius, roman writer

"clearly, the pleasures wines afford are transitory - but so are those of the ballet, or of a musical performance. wine is inspiring and adds greatly to the joy of living."                                                                            --- napoleon

"wine cheers the sad, revives the old, inspires the young, makes weariness forget his toil."                                                                    --- lord byron

"if food is the body of good living, wine is its soul."              --- clifton fadiman

"wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized."

                                                                                                           --- andré simon

"wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic, and the serious smile."

                                                                                             --- homer

"when there is plenty of wine, sorrow and worry take wing."

                                                   --- ovid, "the art of love"

maybe i am still not convinced though lol.  i like beer...  maybe i pour the beer into my wine glass

~ simply me ~