A Space Of One's Own

It has been hard to blog recently because it hasn't been easy to get onto my computer. (And blogging from the tablet is super annoying.) When we started to redo 'the office' to make a nursery it meant getting rid of the spot that I would use my laptop. Jason's work station was moved into the spare room/laundry room and there wasn't space for my chair and little table. For a while I used my laptop on the coffee table downstairs (as I am doing at the moment) or sometimes in bed. However, it was a strange phenomenon where it was either in the way or too out of the way. If it was in the way then it would get moved and tucked away somewhere and that made it harder to pull it out again later to use.

This has meant no blogging, but also my emails are piling up and I haven't done my banking. I have stopped playing WoW, which I have pretty consistently been involved with since Fall 2019. There is also jobs to apply for and more cafe stuff to finish up. Basically I need it to be easy, and comfortable, to work on my laptop. Didn't know this was an issue since I haven't really had or used a desk in a while, but I guess I did always have some type of set up that made it convenient. 

We do have plans to rearrange the living room soon, for baby proofing now that Cigi is becoming more mobile, and that will have some ripple effects for the dining room. I think I will try to set up in there. So fingers crossed you will start to see more posts soon!

Phone Photo - Rainy Day Selfie

City Tour of Cape Town

Jason and I, photo with my phone

Cape Town, South Africa, 2018

Phone Photo - Saw Penguins!

African Penguins at Boulders Beach
Photo with my phone
The Cape Peninsula, Africa, 2018

It was a fast paced day, I could have watched these guys for hours but we got only about 20 minutes. This photo doesn't do the cuteness justice.

2 Months - 5 Pounds

I mentioned back in June that I was starting the Curves Diet again. I hope that combining that with spinning will help me lose weight. It is working, but an an insanely slow pace!

At the end of June I bought a fancy scale that could measure body fat and muscle mass as well as weight. I think it could also tell me my BMI but I find that BMI is a problematic measurement, since it is completely tied to weight. Muscle weighs more than fat, it is much better to have muscles and less fat, just looking at weight is missing some key results of the difficult lifestyle changes I am making. I much prefer to monitor my body fat percentage and try to lower that number, while also watching my muscle mass percentage, trying to raise that one.

So, in the two months (June 26 to August 28) that I have had the scale and been tracking (each Friday morning) my body's reaction to eating healthier and exercising more I have noted the following changes:

Lost 5 pounds
Lost 1.5% body fat
Gained 0.5% muscle mass

The time period includes my trip with Teri for two weeks along the west coast of the USA. The numbers are moving in the right direction but it is not going as quickly as I would like.

Event Today

The Trick Is To Be Regular

I have decided that in order to meet my goal of posting every day in 2014, then it would be best to have some 'regular features' on a Always Standing. I have had these things before, for instance: Salad Club became a Thursday feature for a little while, and whenever I go away themes pop up naturally.

The one's I am thinking about right now are:
Mid-Week Update - I was thinking that I mention friends off and on Always Standing and I could provide some little updates about what people are up to, where they are now, etc. I don't have 52 friends, so this can't last weekly for the whole year, but could get me started for the first few months.
Caterday - A post about, or from the perspective of Two every Saturday. Or maybe just a picture of her being adorable, she is pretty easy to take pictures of because she is adorable all the time!
Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

Money Challenge - Week 5 - Update

MY CHALLENGE 

Time Frame: Two weeks. Monday April 22 to Sunday May 5, 2013
*Transportation: No cabs, Autoshare, ZipCar, or Car2Go for a week.*
Update: It went well - I was successful, though it was very hard on a couple of mornings and I was late for work once. I am continuing on and trying to keep this going for a second week.

Money Challenge - Jason's Week 5 - Update

JASON'S CHALLENGE 
Time Frame: One week. Monday April 15 to Sunday April 21, 2013
*Loose Change: Gather all the coins lying around the multiple locations of the apartment (desk, bedside table, bookcase, table by the front door, coin jars, etc.) and take them into a free coin counter at a Bank of Montreal.*

UPDATE:

Money Challenge - Week 4 - Update

COUPLE CHALLENGE
Time Frame: One week. Monday April 8 to Sunday April 14, 2013
*Dinner: No ordering in, getting take out, or going out to eat.*

UPDATE
Chris: Technically made it, but had a work dinner last night, which was eaten out but I didn't have to pay.
Jason: Made it through the week - ordered pizza for dinner tonight, couldn't even make it past Monday.

Going To Bed

It isn't even that late... but I am tired and want to go to bed. I am getting better about actually getting myself into bed and sleeping once I get tired in the evening instead of staying up even when I know it is a bad idea. (However, this did mean I went to sleep at 9:30pm last night, though tonight it looks more like 11:00pm.) I will see you all tomorrow! Sleep tight.

New Series - Two's News

I was thinking I wanted to start using Twitter from the perspective of Two, I thought it would be cute to write Tweets in her accent, about her life.  There are a couple of Twitter accounts that do similar things and I usually find them pretty funny, as I previously posted on Always Standing The Honest Toddler is hilarious and The White Squirrel, who Tweets from Trinity Bellwoods Park in Toronto is pretty good.

I wasn't planning to make a new account for Two, just switch over my main one for a little while. Then I thought it would reach a more appropriate audience on Always Standing since I still haven't figured out how to get my Twitter feed to show up nicely alongside the blog and pretty much everyone who reads my blog knows about and/or has a relationship with Two.

So stay tuned for some little updates from my crazy cat.

Day Three

Yesterday, Monday February 18, 2013 (Family Day)

The Plan: I didn't even know! I fell asleep before everyone else on Sunday night and didn't know what the plan was for the following morning.

Reality: Slept until 10:30am and then packed up the cars. Checked out for 11:00am. Went downtown Collingwood and had a leisurely brunch with Jason, Teri, Greg, Mon, Matt, and the others. Skating and/or Cross Country Skiing didn't happen. Started to drive back to Toronto around noon.

It was a great weekend up north! Excited to do it again next year, and for our plans to all go to The Book of Mormon together this spring.

Day Two

Yesterday, Sunday February 17, 2013 

The Plan: Wake up early at the hotel and head straight to the hill. Get Jason's rentals set up before the slopes even open at 9:00am.

Reality: Slept until 9:30am and then had a coffee-shop breakfast with Teri, Greg, Mon, Matt, and the others. Went back again to the hotel to prepare and pack for the hill. Got Jason's rentals and did some practice on a tiny hill, was doing longer runs with Jason by 11:30am, met up with the others around 1:00pm.

Day One

Yesterday, Saturday February 16, 2013

The Plan: Wake up early at my apartment  pack clothes and snowboard  Go quickly to Jason's apartment  pack his clothes and our cross country skis. Head up to Collingwood at a reasonable time. Grab lunch. Spend the afternoon cross country skiing and meet up with friends at the hotel just before dinner.

Reality: I slept until 1:30pm and watched this week's episodes of The Daily Show until 3:00pm.

In Other News

Over the past month I've...
-Cut my hair short
-Gained 20 lbs
-Bought (two) new glasses

Also, yesterday it was so warm that I wore shorts and a t-shirt to walk to the grocery store.

LIVE UPDATE - # 26

I have arrived in Iceland and met up with JennB at our hotel. It was so wonderful to see her!! She has our whole trip planned out, in a spreadsheet that she sent me a few days ago. Here is what we are planning on doing...

Monday
Perlan restaurant for lunch, free walking tour of Reykjavik, city swimming pool, Oliver,s Cafe for dinner and drinks
Tuesday
Goldon Circle bus tour, History of Reykjavik Comedy Show for dinner
Wednesday
Museums in Reykjavik, Lava Tour horseback riding, night club in the evening
Thursday
Blue Lagoon spa for the day with pedicures, night club again in the evening
Friday
Final day exploring around Reykjavik

LIVE UPDATE - # 25

* Please read LIVE UPDATE - # 21 & # 22 first *

So my camera saga continues... I am, again, without my small camera. Yes, the one I just bought in Russia to replace the one that was stolen. I had only had it for 5 days!! I'm pretty sure it wasn't stolen this time. I think I left it somewhere during the pub crawl I did in Tallin, Estonia, last night. Again though, I had just uploaded my Tallinn pictures so there were only about 3 pictures on it when I lost it. This morning, when I realised it was missing, I returned to the main backpacker's info tent and talked to the pub crawl leader, he gave me a list of the bars we had gone to. I gave the list of bars to the owner of the hostel I was staying in. He is going to try to find it for me and will mail it to Canada if he does. I have some hope as Estonia is much more honest than Russia. But, it was a nice camera so someone may have just picked it up and kept it. JennB is going to borrow a small camera from her brother and bring it along to Iceland. It will hopefully have an SD card so that I can load the pictures onto the netbook. So, I am having bad luck with the little cameras this week!!

LIVE UPDATE - # 24

I'm in a fairytale...In A Medieval Alley

The Princess Looks For A Prince

Before A Prince Could Be Found

The Princess Gets Locked Into A Tower

-

As you can see, Tallinn, Estonia, is jaw droppingly beautiful!!

LIVE UPDATE - # 23

I'm on my own now. This morning I met up with the tour leader, who is the only one left in town, and we went to visit a church together and had lunch. Then we said goodbye and I was all by my self. I went on a half-day bus tour to a palace outside of town that was just beautiful. I have been chatting with a bunch of people at the hostel over the last couple of days so I feel like I have a little bit of company. I booked a ticket to go and see Swan Lake tomorrow night and I have a long list of chores that I need to get done tonight and tomorrow. (Things like booking the bus to Estonia, finding hostels in Estonia and Helsinki, shopping, going to a post office, etc.) I figure I will be fine as long as I keep busy. I have already perfected taking pictures of myself!

Sitting In The Gardens At Tsarskoe Selo

Taken by ME!

LIVE UPDATE - # 22

* I know it is long, but read Live Update - # 21 first *

I was able to last 24 hours without a little camera - I bought one this afternoon. I got the newer version of the one that was stolen, can't really remember what the old one was beyond a Nikon Coolpix, but the new one is a Nikon Coolpix S4000. I really like it and paid pretty much what I would have had to pay for it in Canada. It is 12 Megapixels and has a 4x zoom. I think this means that it might take better pictures than my SLR. The language settings for the camera menus themselves can be changed into a million different ones, including English. I have the User Manual in English on a CD. The below picture is of all the stuff that came with it, since due to luggage space issues I have had to throw a bunch of it out (the box and everything that was in Russian).