by Tish MacWebber | Dec 5, 2016 | Weekend Warrior
Well, here I am, on day one of my staycation. I know, it’s not a real word; but it is in my world. I am prepping for my only Christmas Craft Show this year, Christmas In The Dobie; I am going to be working on my blogging and I will be working on this site as well. I have joined a couple of writing groups, in the hope of fulfilling one of my dreams to write a fantasy trilogy. I am now trying to get serious about this writing thing. Having this week off to work on projects that matter to me is going to be very motivational when I have to get back to work in a week’s time.
I have just started here. I have gotten feedback and help from strangers. That is something I have to say is great. I am a pantser which refers to me flying by the seat of my pants, not a plotter that plans things out and works in a structured format. Both styles are successful, if applied properly. So I am here, blogging, from the seat of my pants, and hoping to have others come along for the ride.
The feedback was constructive. I am working with advice from someone in another country, and she is showing me how to make this site more user friendly, and to attract more followers. In the land of blogging, this is what it’s all about. More hits, more followers, and more opportunities in the land of the internet and beyond.
The comment was very kind. Having a stranger take the time to read what I have written and quote a part of it in the comment was really cool. It gives me the courage to keep going.
It doesn’t only apply to the blog. I have been working at getting healthier too. When someone notices, and it is real, by that I mean I am losing weight, it feels wonderful. When someone says that I look like I am losing weight and I am not, I don’t feel good about the compliment. So it depends on me sometimes to be in the frame of mind to accept a compliment in the way it is intended. It is hard to not feel bad inside when it isn’t a real one, no matter how the intended comment was given. We have all had them, those compliments that people give because they are trying to say something nice and it backfires because it isn’t true. Until this year, I have never really felt like I had earned any compliments about losing weight. Because it wasn’t true, not since I went through Weight Watchers with my mom in grade 11&12.
Here’s the thing, though. Those comments aren’t being said to hurt me. They are telling me that I am looking better, whether it is about the weight or not. Maybe the clothes are fitting better because my body has changed since the last time I wore that outfit. Maybe I am happy and as an emotional girl, that shows, and that is what the person is seeing. Whatever is said, it is being said to encourage me to keep trying, and that is what I have to focus on.
It has taken me a LONG time to realize this. I have never been good at taking compliments to begin with, and I think it is because I don’t always feel like I have earned them. That boils down to me being way too hard on myself. It is the way I am. I don’t know how to be any other way.
So, I am trying to learn. It is not easy to change how I react to what people say. Taking the meaning behind the words is how I will be able to grow as a person, and thrive on the positivity. I have to filter out the feelings and run with the good stuff. I am getting better at this. It is something I have to consciously work at, though. Everybody isn’t out to get me or be mean. Some people are. I am going to encounter negative comments and feedback also. It will happen. But that is a different struggle. Those have to be released into a black hole somewhere in outer space, as far away from my heart as I can get them. Otherwise they will drag me down, and that isn’t where I want to live my life.
When I do something creative, like design a new pattern for earrings that is mine from concept to finished product, I feel genuinely accomplished. Proud of what I made, because it is my work, with my own pattern. When I get on the scale, and I don’t want a hammer because it is showing that my hard work is paying off, I shout out loud for everyone to hear, and then if someone says something nice, it does what it is supposed to. It makes me feel good.
Words matter. Choose yours carefully, and make the world a better place because of them. If you can help someone today by being kind, please do. It might be the only good thing that person hears all day, or even all week. It is nice to have something good to remember that tells you to keep going, and that you matter. We all do. If your words come from your heart and are meant to be nice, then go for it. It’s the thought that counts, and for some people, it will mean more than you will ever know.
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 26, 2016 | Weekend Warrior
I live in Canada. Black Friday was not always something that happened here. We used to only have the Boxing Day sales every year. But, with the world being more socially connected, Canadians decided to try this Black Friday thing. We have sales. The purpose in starting it here was to help the Canadian economy by giving shoppers the opportunity to find deals and sales here at home, and in theory it makes sense.
The timing is good. If you are able to get your Christmas shopping and major household purchases done on Black Friday, you stand to save a good amount of money. There is a lot of hype about Black Friday. Now it is going through right until Tuesday. Sure, I like a good sale as much as the next person , but when you live on a budget, it is hard to plan for such things.
There are times I think about shopping. I have already written that I can be an impulse shopper. These days it applies mostly to food. I have been following a plan, and making my own meals to eat healthier. When I make food for the week it is called prep cooking. In a household of 2 with only me on plan, I do the prep cooking on a much smaller scale than I would like to. One or two recipes a week gets my breakfasts and lunches ready so I am able to stay on track and have a quicker exit to go to work in the mornings. When I work hard at it, it works. I have seen the results from the changes I have been making. It is encouraging to see it work, and frustrating when it gets stalled or goes in reverse. I have been stuck in a rut this past month. It is that time of year, when the undiagnosed seasonal depression kicks in.
I could have seasonal depression. I do get gloomy in the winter. I still go through the motions, go to work, eat, sleep, repeat, but I don’t have a lot of energy in the winter. I am also terrified of falling on ice outside. I have a lot of padding built in right now to break the fall if it happens, but it is not something I have had good experiences with. So if I could hibernate, wake up for Christmas and New Years, and them resume hibernation until the spring comes, that would be OK with me. Maybe stretch my legs and get a box of chocolates in February, you get the idea.
Did I do any Black Friday shopping today? I worked for most of those shopping hours. After work, I came home and made supper. There are leftovers, and I am trying a new recipe this weekend. There was a bit of planning in supper, because the spaghetti sauce will be an ingredient in the casserole I am making tomorrow. Right after supper we did go down the road to the grocery store. When I climbed in the car this morning, I was told by my husband to be ready to go get groceries when he got home from work. He heard a Black Friday ad on the radio while he was warming up the car, for the grocery store. There is a sale on cheese and chicken. So we got our groceries tonight. Sans list, free style. Which means there will be this or that needed between now and next payday. But the groceries are done, and a sale on chicken and cheese makes us both happy.
We keep telling ourselves, if we work real hard, and keep paying down our bills, maybe next year we can get to experience The Black Friday shopping in Canada (or get in on the Boxing Day sales). I don’t know if there will ever be a time that we will be able to do it. But we keep working hard anyway, because we have to keep paying the bills. They don’t pay themselves, and they won’t just go away.
What would I buy if I had the money? A new car, it is hard to manage with one car and two people. A new fridge and stove. A new bedroom set, we haven’t got that grown up purchase done yet. Cell phones, yes, you read that right, we do not have cell phones because it is an expense we cannot afford. Peppermint plants for every room ( I read they keep spiders, mice and bugs away). Clothes are a given. Sneakers for sure. A new purse and some new shoes. Make up. But something I really want is more of those glass containers that I could store my prep cooking in. We have some, but I was thinking today that if we could Black Friday some more of those, it would be beneficial for the days that I FEEL like prep cooking, I could do more and have some food frozen for the weeks I don’t feel like it.
At least the cheese and chicken freeze well. Would I buy more of both tomorrow? In a heartbeat. I go through a fair bit of cheese and chicken with this plan, and I have to have the ingredients on hand for when I want to cook. At least when we took the groceries in there seemed to be a decent amount. It is expensive to eat healthy, and I am trying really hard to improve my whole life. It is not easy, but it has to be done, and I am the only one that can do it. I hate coming home from the grocery store and having a fairly large amount of money spent and only 2 bags of food to show for it. It irritates the Scottish half of me. If I am going to spend money, I want to feel I got my money’s worth. Today that worked out OK. Maybe next year we can start working on the want list instead of scrambling to cover the needs list. Maybe next year.
I hope if you are reading this you were able to enjoy The Black Friday events on either side of the Canada US border that you got some deals that will make you happy because it was something practical that you really needed, or will use. The cheese and chicken were very practical for us, and will be put to good use. It will help me get back on track, and that is more important to me than any sale, because it is going to help me achieve my healthy lifestyle goals. There is no price tag on my health.
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 23, 2016 | Weekend Warrior
I do not like numbers. As a general rule of thumb. Which I wish was a greener thumb. I have been known to try to keep a pink polka dot plant and it did not end well for the plant. I do OK with African Violets, though. I still have the one from my wedding bouquet. It was a little scared for a while, but it is happy and growing again. Five years and counting.
I can do math. I have taken a calculus course as a part of my Bachelor of Science Degree. I can manage a budget. I choose not to, as sticking to a budget when there is a need or a fantastic sale completely ruins the budget, as I can be an impulse shopper. These days, I don’t get the chance to shop much, other than for groceries and necessities when a need arises. My husband does manage our budget. We made an agreement a long time ago that he could do that, and we would absolutely fight about it from time to time. What that translates to is that when I deem something has caught my eye and I want to buy it, I check and see if we can swing it. If not, then we may have an argument over the importance of the desired purchase. I was very clear that there will be times when I am really mad, but it is not at my husband. It is at the root of all evil in my house, money. Or the general lack of it.
Don’t get me wrong, we do splurge once in a blue moon. We also try to plan purchases that are out of the ordinary so we can have the things we need, but sometimes there is a little bit of a wait on those things.We cut costs where we can, and make allowances if things happen. Because we all know things happen, and they usually cost money.
So you are now wondering, “OK Tish, where are you going with this?” As you can see, I do tend to not think or write in a straight line. I am a creative person, and I had a thought years ago about the comment we have all heard at one point in our lives, that time flies. We all notice that as we get older; the years seem to blend together, and they do seem to go faster.
To someone that likes numbers, this is probably not going to be a mind blowing concept. But the fact that I came up with it on my own, well that is a different story. I think that is rather phenomenal. I really go out of my way to avoid as much math and numbers as much as possible. However, I did stop and think about this concept one day, which does happen from time to time. Thinking. I do that more than I let on.
In the first year of your life, you live it all, 100% of your life in that year. In the second year of your life, you live 50% of your life in it, because the other 50% of your life was lived in year one. In year 3, 1/3 of your life is lived within it, and 2/3 of your life was lived in years one and two. So if each consecutive year of your life seems to go faster, if you think about it, it is. It is a fraction of the time you have been alive. So the saying is true. Each year does go faster than the previous one, because it is a smaller percentage or fraction of the time you have been alive. That’s where I was going with this post. I can think about things, and come up with ideas, and not all of them are about crafts and jokes. I do have an intelligent side too. I don’t always share it, but it exists. I always tell my husband that I am always thinking, and he usually shudders and says that it scares him. But I also tell him I am always full of surprises, and he has to agree with that from time to time. Surprise! I spent time thinking about a mathematical concept, and I didn’t have to. Who would have figured that one out? I did. 🙂
by Tish MacWebber | Nov 22, 2016 | Weekend Warrior
I didn’t want to get up. I was still tired. But I am begrudgingly at times a responsible adult, and I have a day job. So I fought my way out of bed. Stopped at my computer to check in on the way to the shower. Got dressed, packed my lunch, and ran out the door.
Rough day at work. It happens sometimes. Got through it, and was a little later than planned when I was running out the door from work to go home before catching a movie. Too short on time to have supper, changed plans, and decided to eat at the Mall before the movie.
Traffic was backed up on the bridge, so we arrived at the mall just in time to buy tickets and see a preview or two. Then the movie started. We didn’t even have time to stop and buy popcorn.
Trolls was fabulous. Singing, glittery, rainbows and laughter everywhere, fabulous. Even with the hidden morals and the necessary bad guys. I mean, there has to be a villain, otherwise there isn’t much of a plot line. The jokes were for all ages, if you know what I mean. Lots of laughs and giggles. It was a fun movie.
Finally, we had supper at the mall. I was almost hangry by the time I did get to eat. I am not usually the first one to finish what’s on my plate anymore. I always was when I was growing up, because that was how to get to your dessert faster. The most important meal for my day has always been dessert. But that is a topic for another day. I was still the last one done eating my supper, but it wasn’t a leisurely paced meal like I might have had at another time.
We drove my friend home after the movie. Too late to visit, everybody has to work in the morning. So we made our way back home. It is nice to get out of the house with friends for a movie, but we had to plan for the early show because of that whole responsible adult day job thing we all have to get up in the morning for. Unlike whomever had 2 car accidents on the bridge that stopped traffic before the movie, we all arrived home safe and sound.
So you are probably wondering what a Scotch Lick kind of a day is. Well, let me back up to this morning. My day basically started with a Scotch Lick, and didn’t slow down for very long all day. A Scotch Lick is when you take a shower, but don’t wash your hair. Because you are in too much of a hurry to make time for that extra step in the start of your day. My whole day was pretty much a rush from one thing to the next, all day long. Sure, you can be fancy and use the shower cap and not call it a Scotch Lick, but being half Scottish, I rather like the term, and it certainly applied to my whole day. I got everything done that was necessary, so now I plan to relax for the rest of the evening, and hope tomorrow is not lived in so much haste. Because I will have to make the time to wash my hair tomorrow.
