grateful lg
This Week’s Goings Ons
First I’ll start by saying that today is one of my girlfriend’s birthdays. We’re trying to make a plan to get together, and I hope something fun happens. She’s one of the most amazing people I know, and I’ll write about her more soon. Happy Birthday, WhiskeyQueenn!
So, it’s an “easy” work week. It happens once a month… between the first (which is the worst…), regular postings and mid-month eNewsletters (I create and send 10 in total each month) it works out that this is my easy week.
Yay.
So this week’s fun includes:
- Indoor golf this afternoon and dinner out
- I’m bringing the car in for an oil change, meeting up with Billy’s boss for “old man cans” and then maybe a few girlfriends over tomorrow night
- Either Thursday lunch with girls or dinner out with the girls
- Dinner and trivia night on Friday (that should be fun, but I’m an add-on and only know one of the ladies going… I’m pretty good at trivia, but a little shy in groups…)
- Date night Saturday night – maybe bowling in the afternoon
- A couple friends are coming over for dinner on Sunday.
What a busy and fun week. I’m trying to ignore the fact that I occasionally have social anxiety… just feeling grateful for the fantastic people in my life.
Life is good.
Happiness – Weekend Edition
A good winter weekend to me includes the following elements:
Being somewhat productive
If I don’t “do something”, I feel guilty and undeserving of relaxation time. This weekend’s “do something” included:
- A little bit of online work (not much, maybe 3 hours).
- De-Christmassing the house (thank gawd that stuff is down – nice when it goes up, then it feels like the house is ‘junked-up’).
- A quick clean of the house.
- A little bit of closet organization (maybe more today, maybe not).
- Need to do some laundry today.
Doing something fun
- Yesterday we went bowling… yes, I think bowling is great fun! I’ve actually ordered a ball and a bag. Very exciting stuff.
- Made home-made pizza – okay, William made the pizza, but I cooked the bacon and shredded the cheese. It was super yum.
- Played pinball and had a few drinky-drinks. Fun!
- Watched the Canadian Juniors win IIHC Gold (although I went to bed early and missed the second half of the third period, I caught the highlights, and it was still awesome)!
- Watched wild-card NFL action – pretty happy that the Titans won, although I don’t think they’ll go any further.
Relaxing
- Relaxing is often related to doing something fun, but today I hope to get cosy and finish reading “Origin” by Dan Brown.
- We’re probably going to have golf on (It’s the first event of the season, and they’re playing Kapalua – way more fun to watch as we’ve actually played there!), and then football.
If I’m super ambitious, I might go to the mall, I have a gift card and I really need shoes.
Just trying to appreciate the moments as they happen.
Life is good.
Whole Bunch of Change
Yep, it’s me, LG, on a quiet Sunday morning. I worked yesterday so I wouldn’t have to today… but I decided to work today for tomorrow so I could attend a meeting (which will inevitably result in more work), then maybe golf tomorrow afternoon.
So, the change… well, after almost 2.5 years, we finally sold the house in TN. I will admit that from beginning to end the process was one huge, expensive, slightly stressful pain in the ass. Let me expand on that…
- I have been to TN 8 times this year. (Funny, I’m going to Nashville for a girl’s week-end next week)
- We have done countless updates and repairs. The other owner (P&J) did a lot of painting and awesome staging (she’s a designer)
- Although I sold real estate for 10 years, I felt like an idiot with regard to how it works in the states. It didn’t help that my realtor left many questions unanswered until just days before the closing (like here, each party needs their own lawyer).
- The IRS held a significant chunk of the proceeds, as I am not an American resident – although I brought up to both realtors giving P a ‘quit claim deed’ to avoid any residency tax related issues – no one answered my questions… so now it’ll be a fight to reclaim that money. Super!
There’s a whole lot I could say about the entire TN house thing… it’s the first time in 15.5 years that I have only owned 1 house… for a stretch of 1.5 years, I was part owner of 3! It’s sad, oh so sad to say good-bye… I was there when the house was being built in 1984, and have been there literally hundreds of times. The house was a major pain in the ass – I took care of everything (I’m sure neither P or my husband could name the lawn guy, the furnace guy, the plumber, etc. etc. etc.) – I really feel if those responsibilities were equally divided we wouldn’t have sold, but the fact also remains that a) We didn’t really see ourselves retiring there b) North America (and the world, really) is too big and awesome to ‘always go to TN’ c) it’s pretty expensive owning a place so far away and d) we always felt obligated to go there (‘hey do you guys want to go golfing next week-end in Michigan?’… ‘Well, if we’re going to spend $800 on a golfing week-end, we should probably go to TN and clean out the gutters while we’re there,’ – kinda thing.)
My husband and I came home from a TN vacation on July 6th, and he was back there on July 30th, and I drove separately and arrived July 31st… so we had one last great week-end there. A little stressful, a little work (going through stuff, cleaning) and some really good times.
So this is a major change in my life (talk about #firstworldproblems #isoldmyvacationhousewahwahwah)… it’ll be nice to not have those expenses (it really sucks to buy a washer and dryer, it sucks more to buy a washer and dryer that you hardly ever use!), it’ll be nice to not feel obligated to go to TN, and it doesn’t hurt that the Canadian dollar is at an 11 year low (we won’t be changing all the funds over, as we do travel to the states so much and we’d lose on exchange…).
So that, is that. Let’s look at some pics!
Bye Grandad’s piano… I left you there, but no regrets (yet, lol).
My room
Big bedroom.
My grandmother’s/great – grandfather’s table… it’s coming home with us (it’s in PA right now…)
Front/side view.
My favourite place to hang out.
That’s about it for now…
A Reminder of ‘G-Us’
Whoa… a blog from LG? Was she hacked? Oh no, it’s me. Wiser, older, slighter fatter…
I just read a Facebook post from one of the first bloggers I ever started reading – it was a link to an post of hers from 2008 (2008? Indeed! I remember I found her by searching something like ‘punk golf clothes Canada’ – I found her blog and the rest is history) … an amazing chick from BC, who in so many ways I totally relate to. Anywho…
So it was either shut down the computer for the night, or pour (another) glass of wine, try to remember my log in and say something. Anything!
I probably ‘think’ about blogging every day. The fact is I spend way too much time online working, a lot of which is writing blogs (is that irony?).
I loved documenting my life and thoughts online. It was a good release. It was a creative outlet. I enjoyed the community. (Yes! I still miss Vox!)
So… maybe I’m back to blogging. Maybe I’m inspired once again to re-connect with my community (only 2 guys really, you know who you are…). Maybe I’m ready to become a good ‘neighbour’ (damn I miss Vox) again.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Let’s have a pic…
There ya go… random pic from my wedding (me and my mom) – 13 odd years ago.
See ya soon. (Maybe).
Thanks for reading.
Crunch Time
My one ‘boss’ says something like, ‘if you want to see how productive you can be; book a vacation’. True dat.
It also goes with the idea of, ‘do all your working hours of the day have the same level of productivity?’ Hells no.
Preparing for a getaway makes me need a vacation even more!
- Arranging for garbage pick up and mail.
- Water plants
- Have someone water the garden
- Move flowers to my moms for her easy access to care for
- Have someone check on the pond
- 1.3 million work stuffs
- Dog stuff to MomG’s!
- Pack (prolly should do that!)
- Do I bother cleaning my nasty golf clubs? I should at least clean out my golf bag
- To the bank! Again!
- I need another golf shirt (dang, none fit since my recent weight gain!) arg!
The list at this point appears infinite – and I will be working for 2 clients while away – rats! (But at least they’re all set up until Saturday morning – yay!)
Better get to it! It’ll all be more than worth the effort – adventure! New things!
I better golf well…
Life’s good.
Lucky LG
I am one lucky girl, with a hard working husband.
It’s been a darned good year for us – lots of adventure, lots of travel and lots more upcoming fun.
We are now Browns season ticket holders (bought before Manziel was drafted… that had nothing to do with our decision). So that means a few Cleveland trips this year (the first being the home opener against the Saints. Woo hoo.
Very soon we’re travelling to PEI on a golf trip. I haven’t been to that area of Canada since I was about 7 or 8 (With my parents and one brother – it was a convention), we stayed at St. Andrew’s By the Sea in New Brunswick and ventured into Nova Scotia. I’ve never been to PEI and Billy has never been to that area at all. We’re going to stay the first night in Old Quebec City – it’s like North America’s only true European city – looks pretty cool. Oh, and we’re driving. Expected travel time is 20 hours – yikes!
I think the drive time would be significantly reduced if we could cut through Maine.
But that would require roads… which there aren’t any of.
Oh well, the point of driving is to see the area (plus it costs less to fly to Hawaii than to PEI, and they don’t have a lot of car rentals available).
I know the Canada US border is messed up in areas (like one tiny blip in BC – seen at 3.51 in this funny video discussing the US – Canada border), but it would make more sense to me that everything south of the St. Lawrence be US, and everything north, Canada. But whatevs. Not important.
PEI is known for being a) small b) the home of Anne of Green Gables (required reading for any girl under the age of 11 in Canada) c) a culinary/seafood tourism d) having red beaches and e) good golf.
In early August I’m also venturing to Pennsylvannia for a business planning retreat for my ‘main contract’. So let’s review my past and upcoming adventures…
Within about a year… I have (or will) have stayed in…. Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Quebec, PEI, Tennessee, Florida, California, Hawaii and Nevada. I have also visited, New York, New Brunswick, Kentucky, Georgia and Utah.
Cool! Lucky LG.
Life’s good.
My mother-in-law: A short story by LG
I’m going to start by stating that I hit the jackpot when it comes to my mother-in-law. She’s pretty much the nicest, kindest most thoughtful person you could possibly meet. She helps us out so much with the dogs and is just so incredibly thoughtful. Thoughtful occasionally bordering on hilarity – like in December when she went to Costco and bought us 48 rolls of toilet paper, ‘just because’.
Along with all kinds of wonderful, she is also a little… slow on the uptake, let’s say. Now, my husband claims she is a very different person since she had a brain aneurysm about 15 years ago (surgery, coma, rehabilitation – the whole 9 yards) but I never her knew her before. I think like many aging parents, there is so much in her head, occasionally thought processes aren’t as clear as they once were.
Am I being harsh? I hope not. Anywho… now a little more back story.
I get up early – like really early. My most productive time of the day is from 5 or 6am until 11am. No phone calls, the dogs are mellow and few emails mean I’m taking care of business left and right. After walking the dogs and lunch, maybe 1 – 2pm-ish, I’m pretty burnt out, as I usually fall asleep around 11pm, so I like to take an hour and just chill. If I fall asleep -awesome!
I come from a family of nappers. My father napped every afternoon (self-employed) as did his father (politician, funny but true), so that and combined with my work habits and sleep patterns, I really don’t beat myself up about this hour of afternoon luxury.
It seems like just about everyday someone calls during my moments of down time. It’s usually either my mom or my mother-in-law. I swear that they have some sort of ESP when it comes to the worst time to call.
So… now the story. To set the scene, I’m a little groggy as I had just fallen asleep… and the phone rings.
LG – Hello?
MIL – Oh hi Liz, I’m not bothering you am I? (see, like I said, seriously nice. If she knew I was indeed napping she would have felt terrible for days and might try to make up for it by buying us tomatoes or something).
LG – Nope, just working away. (at napping, damnit!)
MIL – (laughing) Oh, okay good. I’m just wondering, can you get right to I-75 off the bridge now? (The bridge to the US had a major change a few years ago, FYI)
LG – Yep, coming off the bridge you have two options, just take the option for I-75.
MIL – You don’t have to go around anymore to go north?
LG – (ummm… you never had to go around to go north, only south… through a sketchy neighbourhood – Hotel Yorba anyone?) Ummm, nope.
MIL – So you can get right on I-75 north from the bridge?
LG – (ummm… well known fact if you live where we live… you take the bridge to easily go south on I-75, and the tunnel to easily go north on I-75… it saves merging 4 times through downtown Detroit…) Yep.
MIL – Oh, that’s good because I’m going to Ann Arbor.
LG – (ummm… Ann Arbor is nowhere near I-75 north or south) Oh, well then you’d want to take 1-94 west.
MIL – I-94?
LG – Yep, like you’re going to the airport, but just keep going. It takes you right near Ann Arbor.
MIL – Ohhh.
LG – It’s easy to get to right off the bridge.
MIL – Oh, that’s good.
LG – Whatcha going to Ann Arbor for?
MIL – Me and Elsie are going there for lunch. (I look at the clock… it’s 2:30pm…)
LG – Today?
MIL – Oh no, maybe in a week or two. I might be going to London next week.
LG – (Oh, I understand the immediate need for directions then… ) Oh, what’s in Ann Arbor?
MIL – There’s a great fish and chip restaurant in the south, I forget what it’s called, but in Michigan it’s called The Chop House.
LG – (Well, that makes perfect sense… a fish and chip place that sounds like a steak house). Well it must be pretty good to make that trip (Ann Arbor is about 1.5 hours away, plus any time delayed at the border).
MIL – It really is. Plus I’m thinking about it now because I’m hungry because I’m on a diet.
LG – (Ah… it all makes sense now!) That sounds good. Howabout next time I’m over I pull up Ann Arbour on a map so you know where to go.
MIL – Great, thanks! Okay, well, I’ll talk to you later then, have a great day.
LG – Thanks, you too.
Yep… just another day in the life. Honestly I appreciate the entertainment, however poorly timed!
March 2
Today is our 12th wedding anniversary (silk, if you must know). Yay us!
Kind of interesting to note… I was looking for an appropriate card. Now, I don’t expect one to say everything or express my feelings perfectly, that’s what the big blank spot is for… but as I sifted through cards, there were many that simply were missing the mark. As example:
‘You’ve been there with me through all the tough times.’ While true, we’ve had some tough times (his father’s death, the loss of a great pooch), but let’s focus on the positive here. Those lines and ones similar make it seem like ‘we’ve came from the brink of divorce and back and we’re still together’ Ugh… not even close.
‘We’ve made this wonderful family together.’ Ugh… we’ve adopted dogs. We had no part in their making.
‘Through all the laughter and tears.’ Honestly the most tears in our marriage have been a direct result of cutting onions, or when I’ve touched my eyes after handling hot peppers. Honest.
Anywho… suffice to say the last 12 years of our marriage (we’ve been together just under 13 years total) have flown by like a perfect summer day. He’s not only the best husband I could imagine, he’s a genuinely generous, funny and truly good all round person. I’m lucky and I acknowledge that.
Life is good. Cheers to us.
Big day tomorrow!
Yep, February 14th – big day tomorrow!
Ah… Valentine’s Day… a day to celebrate love with jewelry, flowers, chocolates and most importantly romance!
Ohhh… ahhhh.
So obviously when my husband said to me, ‘Howabout on Friday when I’m done work, you meet me in the city for a few beers and watch the Canadian men’s Olympic team play Austria, and maybe grab a pizza on the way home?’
I was like, ‘Woo hoo!’
Perfect! Of course he’ll be dirty from work and I imagine a few of his friends will be there too – sounds good to me.
Although I’m not a huge hockey fan, I love Olympic hockey. It means so much to us Canadians!
Molson Canadian (yep, the beer) is doing an awesome job of expressing our spirit:
Yep, us Canadians love our hockey and beer. In case you haven’t heard, we’re good people too…
So those are our plans – looking forward to it (and of course quality time with my husband – I could totally use some chocolates too though…).
Luxury
What’s your definition of luxury? When or how do you feel indulgent?
I think I’ve used (mostly in my head) the word, ‘luxurious’ more times in the last few days than I have in my entire life. Am I at a five star resort with a personal butler drinking specialty cocktails, looking out a pristine beach while receiving an incredible back massage? Nope, I’m at home. Working even. The usual.
Preface/disclaimer: I know my definition of luxury might be different than yours and that’s cool. I do know what it’s like to be pampered, stay in schmancy resorts and eat fine food surrounded by attentive staff… but this post is about little everyday goodness.
So why the luxurious feeling?
Well! 4 reasons really.
1) Lotsa socks. Yep, I’m talking about socks again. Do you know how nice it is to reach into a sock draw and randomly pull out a pair of socks that a) match b) don’t have holes c) are awesome. I’ve been battling worn, missing, ugly socks for years, but no more! Since I’ve purged my sock drawer I bet I’ve saved 5 minutes a day. That’s not much time, but those five minutes were really annoying.
2) A duvet that fits our bed. In the summer we bought a new king sized mattress, which was a damned luxurious purchase. Comfort (less back problems!), space… ahhh! Well, we only had a queen sized duvet and duvet cover until just this past week-end. Why? Because it’s not often William and I get into the city together, and ‘let’s spend the day shopping for duvets’ is not that appealing. So for the past half year, and during the coldest months, I’ve been going to bed in the equivalent of a snow suit. Most nights Shank hops into bed between us sometimes and I’m left with the king sized sheet – no blanket. I’ve even kept an extra blanket on the floor beside me in case I need it and many times Halia is on that one!
No more! We now have a wonderful, thick duvet. I got it for half price and feel like the luckiest person in the world. Having covers at night is damned luxurious.
3) A power cord that doesn’t need adjusting every 5 minutes to stay powering, yep, that’s luxury. After a meeting today I zipped into the city and bought a new power cord for my laptop, and I think it’s one of the best things I’ve ever bought for myself. I’ve been struggling with this power cord (ugh… because this laptop’s battery only lasts about 20 minutes and I refuse to buy a new battery for a 3.5 year old laptop – the new power cord, a $60 investment has changeable inputs for any AC adaption – yay!) for nearly a year. This morning it was so bad I had to hold the cord with one hand and type with the other – that really affects productivity, let me tell you! I plugged the new cord in and ahhhh…. it works awesome. Not struggling with that stupid cord is an enviable luxury, you must admit.
4) Lotsa silverware. Last month I broke down and bought another set of silverware. It’s not expensive, nor particularly pretty, but my my, how nice! We don’t eat out a lot (especially in the winter, I think we’ve eaten out twice in the last 4 months!), we go through a lot of spoons (yogurt) and knives (canned dog food) and I can’t stand to wash silverware 5 times a day. We were constantly running out of silverware after only 2 days and the dishwasher (another luxury!) was only half empty (or half full, depending). Annoying! Needing a knife, digging through dirty silverware to discover it’s crusted with dog food, yuk. Who knew spending $10 on a new set of silverware would completely remove this annoyance? I wish I did it years ago! Not to mention that we have people over for dinner (more than 8) several times a year, and I would borrow silverware from one of the moms. Not anymore! I was like, ‘hey, I’m 40 years old. It’s acceptable to have more than 8 butter knives. Oh yeah! I’m all grown up and living large!
I’m busting stress and annoyances left and right and it feels so good!
Life is good and (my version of) luxurious!
LG 