Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warriors, I kept things low key this weekend. I had Thursday & Friday off. I also had today off. My weekend is going to align with the real weekend, starting next weekend! I am only really having today as a real day off. It is late, and almost tomorrow.

I relaxed all day with my computer. I worked on social media, and I also played with designs for my first book cover. I did a little work on the website last night. Another category, Trust Your Gut has no more duplicated posts, and they are all there. One large category all set up. I have to go through each category and do the same thing, I think. Any missing posts were in the uncategorized list, so I have a way to find them.

I made a significant decision this weekend. I am going to change the way I do things. I started this category, Weekend Warrior, as a way to keep track of my spring cleaning challenge, and any fun things I had going on. Well, I am severely lacking in the accomplishments, both in what I need to do, and what I want to do. It is time to change my tactics.

I still need to do the cleaning, and try to plan fun activities. I am going to make a significant change this year. Last year, I planned 6 months of cleaning and 6 months for writing. I got as far as I could with that plan in 2017. This year, I am aiming for Success. What that means is in a previous post. Treasure Seeker Tuesday #11 has a list of what I am going to do to succeed in 2018. It doesn’t say how. I am going to be working on that throughout the year.

I have realized that just like I need to work on my cleaning challenges, I also have to work on being creative. I am still figuring out how to implement the plans I am coming up with. I just know that inaction is not helping me to get things done, and I still have a lot of things that need me to do them.

I did laundry today. No big deal for most people. But it is the clothing that I have to hang up, and not just put in the dryer. I have a clothing rack, so everything is hanging to dry. I have been putting off that laundry load for 2 weeks. It’s going to be nice to have my sweaters all clean to wear again. It’s not that I don’t know what I have to do. It’s that there is so much to do that I get overwhelmed.

Remember the Overwhelm Elephant I wrote about in Trust your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 32? Well, it had been giving me a stress headache for the last few days. I had been putting too much pressure on myself to get everything done. I can only do so much. I am working on a plan to get things done reasonably, and effectively. I need to fit in the creativity, or I’ll have a meltdown. Those are never pretty.

I also have to learn to go with the cleaning bug when it strikes. Although if I wait for it, that may never happen. I have to start somewhere. I know I am going to have company in June, so I have a deadline. I do not want to leave it that long, it is too hot and uncomfortable to clean in June. So I am trying to get myself started by working on the house for an hour every day. Then I need to focus on being creative for an hour every day unless I am having a productive cleaning day, in which case I will keep going. It isn’t rocket science, but on the days that I don’t want to clean, I can time it, and still get it done.

I am really glad that the living room furniture rearrangement is done. I still have tidying to do, but there is a lot less to do because we worked in this room already.  My office is also in the living room. So it has double duty. I still haven’t finished organizing my office, either. It is a lot better than it used to be, and I have done a little here and there, but the finishing touches have not all been applied. It is something I am waiting to feel like doing.

Tomorrow after work, it is time to reclaim my living room. I have Christmas decorations to unpack and store until next year. It is time that I took that step. I can then create my Launch Pad in the living room, by my front door again. I need to reclaim that space. Then I will start in the kitchen. I still have 4 lbs of ground beef to cook up. I just wasn’t feeling like it today. Tomorrow is a new day. And next weekend is a real weekend! Yeah!

#WeekendWarrior

 

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior #48

Hello Weekend Warrior readers! This weekend was again your Thursday and Friday. Things will be getting back to normal for me soon, and I will be really glad for that. It has been a learning curve with training for the new position. Thankfully, I know a lot from my previous position, so it is not ALL new, but I am finding it drains my energy because it is still new to me.

This weekend I had a lot of goals and zero gumption. I think my seasonal depression is starting to kick in. I will be adding some more vitamin D asap. I live in Canada, and that is the one vitamin that came as a recommended one when I saw a specialist a while back. I do take multivitamins, but I think I might need a little boost. No, it is not an official diagnosis by a doctor, but it does seem to be a pattern that I have seen the last number of years. I just keep doing what I can.

The challenges help, when I get around to doing them. I feel like I am close to burning out, though, because I am just blah. I am still going through the motions, but I am capable of more. It is hard to just get the little things done, some days. When you combine the time of year, the new position at work, and the amount of things I have accomplished in the last 14 months working to build my Author platform, and writing books, keeping up with the blog, and trying new things all the time, eventually I was going to need some downtime. I think I am smack dab in the middle of my downtime season. Which is tough, because I have goals and deadlines. I have things to do that need to be done.

I am starting to wean off from all of the challenges I was doing. I need to focus on applying what I have already learned to my advantage. It is hard, though. I see the new ones starting up, and it would be so easy to lose myself in the challenges again. A part of me feels like I am going to be missing out on some important things. Another part of me is more sensibly saying to take a break. I can learn more after I have worked through all of the information I did learn already.

I did some volunteer work yesterday. I was unable to attend the event today, but I helped the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada team set up the booth for the event last night. I was only there an hour, and then I decided to get groceries. After that, it was time to pick up my husband after work and get ready to start my work week. The good news is that a friend is taking me to see Pitch Perfect 3 tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to that. My husband is not interested, so we are going to leave my car for him, and my friend and I will take his car to the movie. It is nice to have a night out on my Tuesday with a friend. Tomorrow. Your Sunday. I will be so glad when things are back to normal.

I am not holding my breath because things tend to change at work if you get used to them. If things go as they are looking, I will be back to my regular hours so that I can do the new job, and get back to Zumba very soon! I miss it, and I hope that it does work out. I am liking the fact that I can listen to my music at work again. It really helps me to stay positive. Music is my jam, people!

I had an underwhelming 2 days off. I did very little, and that means the weekend has its second win already this year! I plan to get that fixed asap. I need to feel like I am in control again.

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior #47

Hello Weekend Warriors! I am writing on time again! It has been a busy week, and well, it is your Sunday, but for me, it is Tuesday. I was off on Thursday and Friday instead of the weekend, this week.  No wonder I am a little behind, with all the changes happening in my world!

I had a change at work that allows me to do something different. I am liking the change, and it came with a new schedule. I am still going to write this category on the real weekend, and likely recap my 2 days off, whenever they occur.

Thursday started slow. I had errands to run, but I got sidetracked, more than once. I have been participating in a jewellery brand makeover challenge, and I have a platform that I am constantly building. I have made some huge decisions this past week. I am going to save some of them for Treasure Seeker Tuesday, as they are better suited for that category.

My plans did not work out on Thursday. I was supposed to start cleaning for the big spring cleaning challenge on my weekend. I was supposed to get all the errands finished so that I could focus on cleaning Friday.  As you might have guessed, things didn’t go as planned.

I was ready to start my errands in the late afternoon Thursday. I got in the car, and my first stop was to get gas. Which I did. I left the gas station, and the car was making a loud noise all of a sudden. It seemed to be related to the tires. It is winter, so I thought it may just be ice rubbing on a tire. I got to my next stop, and pulled into the parking lot, away from the other cars.

I got out of my car and started to look for the source of the noise. It was so loud, and I thought my car was going to shake itself apart! The driver’s side was OK. I walked to the other side.

I had my own screaming Kevin moment from Home Alone. I didn’t scream, but what I saw made me want to. The front tire on the passenger side was flat. Like a deflated balloon. Pancake style.  My mind started racing. I was at a strip mall.

I asked the first person I saw for help. This man looked like he wanted to bolt, but something made him stop. He saw the shape that the tire was in, and realized I was in need of a rescue.

It was mild, he and I went through the trunk of my car, and found what he needed to change to the spare tire. This man worked with what I had, and thankfully, it wasn’t raining. He changed the tire. The car slipped off the jack before he was done, but the spare tire just needed to have the lug nuts tightened at that point. The Good Samaritan warned me to go straight home and to not drive more than 50KM/hr. I listened, of course.

When I got home, I left messages for the friend I was supposed to be visiting to let her know what happened, and that I would try again Friday.

Which I did. I brought coffee and made a visit with my friend at her Yarn store. It looks lovely. Every time I go there, I see a different layout, and there are beautiful colours of yarn everywhere I look. It was a good visit.

I ran my other errands and came home. I had a relaxing evening Friday night and started my work week Saturday morning. I think the weekend won this one. When I was sidetracked with the flat tire, my plans kind of deflated. Sometimes, you have to let the underdog win. Next weekend, it’s on again!

How was your weekend? Have you ever had a flat tire knock the wind out of your weekend plans?

#WeekendWarrior

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior #46

Hello, Weekend Warriors and Weekend Warrior readers! I am writing today because I have to squeeze my whole weekend into one day. I am changing positions at work, and the transition starts tomorrow. I will have some different days off, and I don’t know yet what my regular schedule will be like. I am just happy with the change and willing to do whatever it takes to make it work.

I missed a few of my regular weekend facebook posts last weekend. I am going to fix that up starting today. I will be working really hard to catch up on everything today so I don’t fall behind. That being said, I have quite an extensive list in my head, that I should really take the time to write down. That will be next.

I am starting a different challenge this upcoming week. (Several, actually). The one I am really excited about is going to help me move Tish’s Treasures to this website the correct way! I am so excited. I never even stopped long enough to think about branding the Bling page for the website. I SO have to do this! (Guess what Treasure Seeker Tuesday will be about this coming week!) I am already thinking that the easiest way to start is to make it under my pen name, as it is a name I completely made up and therefore will make me stand out from anyone else using the name Tish’s Treasures. I have found at least one other business with that name. Expect that to happen on the Facebook page asap!

Which means new designs with my website colour palette, and that is going to be a bit of work. I will have to get back to the thought process before I update the website, but the good news is that I am working on a blank page. I can start however I want to, and build from that. I have a few parts already conceptualized, and they will be a part of what is to come when I am ready.

I am also helping friends at suppertime. I am getting the bonus of supper with those friends, too, and that is great!  I like that I have to make time to help people that I care about, and I don’t have to figure out what to make for supper. Which also helps me with another weekend chore.

I am starting the new year with two challenges I have done before.  Both are for cleaning and organizing. One is a 10 minute a day challenge for January, and today is my catch up day. If you want to check this cleaning challenge, check it out on youtube, Day 1 of 2018’s #31Days2GetOrganized Challenges. It is hosted every January by Peter Walsh, who used to be on the TV show Clean Sweep. I used to watch him on that show, and it is why I do the challenges every January since I found them. The other one starts Monday, and it is the spring cleaning and organizing challenge. I need time to prepare for it, and that time is today. So that is also what I am doing today. The surface clean before the deep spring clean.

I will have to figure out a grocery list today and get Roy to get the groceries tomorrow, while I am at work. It is a lot to do in one day, but I can continue things tomorrow after work if I have to.

First, I need to get ready to make this week’s coffee review video on my facebook wall. I have done this on Saturdays but may have to film on a different day of the week until my schedule settles down.  Then I will have to walk away from the computer to get some other things done. That is the other reason I am writing it early this weekend. I have to get other things done and crossed off my list.

What are you doing this weekend?

#WeekendWarrior

 

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior # 45

Hello Weekend Warriors! I know I am a little late posting this, but I am happily writing this for my new website location. My Blog has moved, and although I am in the process of organizing the new website, I am happy to be able to post my new stories from the new location.

OK. My weekend was busy, and I did more than just launch my new website, and close the old Blog with an invitation to join me here at the website.

Saturday started with a late breakfast out with friends. I like Skillets for breakfast. They consist of hashbrowns, grilled with onions, or deep fried, with scrambled eggs, sometimes veggies, choice of breakfast meat, and cheese. If you order one that is an Eggs Benedict style, then it will have Hollandaise sauce. I fell in love with them years ago at a Restaurant called Smitty’s. They no longer have a Smitty’s here, but there are other places that serve Skillets for breakfast.

A few weeks ago, I had breakfast with my husband at Cannon’s Cross Pub. Their Skillet pleasantly surprised me, and I quite enjoyed it. Since then I have had one at The Coffee Mill, and this past weekend, at Porter’s Diner. The last two did not impress me nearly as much as the first one.

If the onions are not cooked, it takes away from the meal. If the potatoes are fried and almost burned, it’s no good. I will not order a skillet at either of these two places again. They have other items on the menu, and I have liked other meals in both restaurants. I will not go back for a Skillet, though.

Smitty’s has a Texas Skillet that I make at home. It is like nachos on hashbrowns. I love it, and make it frequently for us as a supper, without the eggs-at his request. So there is taco meat, tomato, green onion, (eggs – I scramble them when I make it with eggs) cheese, salsa, and sour cream. It is delicious.

Saturday after we got home, we didn’t do too much. I worked on my website, and he watched tv and occupied himself on his computer.  Typical night home for us, we do this a lot.

Sunday we got our candy wrappers together and cashed them in for 2 free admissions to go see a movie. We went to see Star Wars. I do not want to spoil it here, and it was good, but there were some things that didn’t seem to fit with the Saga. It was bittersweet, seeing it so close to the anniversary of the deceased Carrie Fisher, who played the iconic role of Princess Leia. It was nice to see it, but sad knowing that she is gone.

Sunday night we went to a house party to ring int he new year with friends. I had made deviled eggs, and we also brought cheese and Triscuit crackers to share. There was chili, but the chili there is always too spicy for my taste. There was a table full of food, and we ate, drank, and played Toto’s Africa almost on time to wish the Blessings of Rain to Africa (a line in the song) at exactly midnight. There was a 5-second delay. I hereby declare that it was an unintentional Broadcast Delay, like the one for Live TV. 😉 I really tried, but the whiskey caused a delay in me getting it to start on time. Yeah, that was it, the Whiskey Broadcast Delay. LOL!

I had the Gibson’s Finest Rare Canadian Whiskey ( there is an age verifier on their website…) which I mixed with both Pepsi (OK) and Sussex Golden Ginger Ale (amazing) which you can only buy here, in the Maritimes. Canada Dry is my 2nd favourite Ginger ale. I do drink Zevia Ginger ale when I am trying to be smarter with my choices, but not on New Year’s Eve.

I had also brought the bottle of Pollen Angels Scuttlebutt Mead made locally here. I brought that one to share, and a couple of my friends sampled it with me.  Now I know that sounds like a lot of drinking, and I was a little wobbly after midnight. However, I have a secret weapon for surviving a night of partying. I make sure to have water, and an electrolyte drink before going to bed. That usually does the trick for me and since a hangover is basically a major case of dehydration, I have found this to be a trustworthy cure for the avoidance of a hangover. It is never good to drink in excess, of course, and you should be mindful of snacking while drinking of you are a diabetic like me.

We rang in the new year with friends, and as my husband is not as fond of drinking as I am (I am from Cape Breton, it is kind of a requirement) and also because he had to work on New Year’s Day ( I am so thankful that I didn’t have to!) he was my designated driver that got us home safely. I am also a strong advocate for planning ahead, to make sure that people travel safely. Better safe than sorry. It is too bad that people still think it is OK to drive after drinking, I don’t. If you ever wondered about it, try having a few and playing a racecar video game. Unless you are some kind of unique person, you will see why it is never good to drink and drive. On a video game, you can start over. Not in real life.

Monday was still the weekend for me as I had the holiday off. I spent the day doing laundry, running the dishwasher, and building my new website. I am happy to be able to share it with you all and look forward to watching the stats climb here like they did for the blog, on the old blog site.

How did you ring in the New Year?

#WeekendWarrior

 

 

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior # 44

Merry Christmas Weekend Warrior Readers! I am writing a day late as I am off today, and Christmas day just happens to be on a Monday this year. Which means New Year’s Day will also be on a Monday. That means 2 three day weekends, and 2 four day work weeks. Yahoo!

Friday night was spent shopping for coffee, and liquor. My husband wanted a bottle for Christmas, and I got him what he wanted. I also bought 2 bottles of wine (1 a week is my usual wine shopping plan) and I wanted a little something extra.  I looked really hard at the Writers Tears Irish Whiskey bottles. There are three kinds, a Writers Tears Copper Pot, a Writers Tears Red Head, and a Writers Tears Cask Strength. I have tried the Copper Pot, and it was very good. I want to try the Red Head next, as the expert at the store recommended it as his favourite. When I am a Best Selling Author, maybe then I can splurge to try the Cask Strength. It is the most expensive of the trio.

I bought a new to me kind of wine. I had never heard about Cabernet Franc. I purchased two bottles, and they were $13 and $30 respectively. The less expensive bottle was enjoyed last night, and it was good. I am curious to see if the more expensive bottle is a different quality or not. I will be making a Facebook live video when I try new wines now, as something I am learning about as I try to find THE ONE. At that time, I will make my own in that same style. Roy said I wouldn’t be able to keep doing my videos and reviews if I did that. I enlightened him. I will then switch to white wine. 😉  Champagne will have to wait for me to be able to afford it. But there are always options.

This morning I decided that it would also be fun to do Facebook Live video reviews of the different coffees I try. I love coffee too, so why not? People seem to like these ideas so I will start with the one I bought on sale Friday night. Jingle Java. It sounds like fun!

Saturday we did a bit of grocery shopping after I joined some friends for a breakfast at Houlie’s. It was a ladies breakfast, and it was nice. I then joined one of the ladies for a trip to the mall. I went for the walk. She had a few things to get, and I had fun hanging out and commenting on the fun things we saw. I rarely go to the mall anymore, and it was fun to just go hang out at the mall. It is not something that I did as a teenager, like a lot of you would have done. It was an hour drive each way to go to the smaller mall of the two cities I had a choice between in Cape Breton, growing up, so it wasn’t a regular thing we were able to do.

Saturday was also the day to get groceries. In the two different stores we went to this weekend, they were sold out of turkeys. (I had to think of how to spell that one, -ies or -ys) By the time we finished, the weather had turned a little nasty. Freezing rain is not pleasant to walk or drive in.

Sunday involved a quick run out to the store for a few missed items, and that was all we did. I watched some tv and movies. I had my wine. It was a nice relaxing day.

Today is my bonus day off this week. I am going to make some veggies to go with the chicken I cooked last night, and get the kitchen back into working order. I cook, the food is great, I don’t like cleaning it up.

I dressed up and played with makeup again. You should expect a second Makeup Monday story soon. It may not be long, but it will have makeup and a pic of me in my new dress as well. 🙂 Merry Christmas, and keep on winning the weekends, folks. You make the best use of your time, and you will win them all, too!

What did you do this weekend?

#WeekendWarrior

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior # 43

Well, another weekend is coming to a close, and I have hibernated for as much of it as I could. Winter is here, and it has been cold outside. Sleeping in was on my list, and I can say that it happened indeed. I woke with no alarm clocks being set for 2 days in a row. It was glorious. My favourite thing about the weekend is sleeping in. Sometimes I have to get up and go do things, but not this weekend. I stayed home and did things here instead.

Friday night I didn’t even go get the car. I came home after a day of Christmas Cheer at work. I had to decorate my pod for Christmas, and I did it up right!

Christmas 2017 at work

I don’t know why the pic is squished, and I had to add a little bit of graphics to hide the photo bomber. 😀 The wall on the left had a lot more Christmas balls hanging before I was done. My taller Santa is on the top right, and there were 2 gingerbread people behind where my head was by the time I had finished. I had fun, and I am hoping that my efforts earned me a prize.

I had to pack it all up at the end of the day and brought it all home. I have just encouraged Roy to clear a space for the Christmas tree and village in the living room. Since it is a small tree, I will set it all up in the little spot I had him clear. I will share pics of that next weekend after I have time to set it all up. There is just the two of us, so no need to make a big production. I do want to set it up, though. Tis the Christmas Season, and I am wanting to take a pic with it after it is all done.

Saturday was spent working on Social Media. I am working on building my author profile, as you know if you are reading my blog, and I came across a post by a friend asking about what word I would want to use to define my 2018. I thought about it, and 2017 was worthy of 2 words. Learning and Challenges. As I thought about it, really not that long at all, a word came right to the forefront of my mind that I wanted it to be. I then turned it into a graphic and made it my cover pic on my wall.

SUCCESS twitter

Also this weekend, I have set goals for working on my website, done 2 completely different profile pics in preparation for my Author Headshot, and also for my Blog. I am launching the monthly Makeup Monday category tomorrow. I will not be posting there every week, I have 3 weekly posts now, and if I add too much more I will not have any time to write my books! I can say that I am steeping the GGMS I wrote about making on Thursday, in Trust Your Gut and that I have 3 types of chicken cooking in my oven as I write this. Last week was more of a ground beef week, this week it is all about the chicken!

I will be sharing more about my word choice for 2018 in Treasure Seeker Tuesday this week. Which means the one I wrote for this week is now scheduled for Boxing day. What? I actually have a Tuesday already drafted for 2 weeks in the future AND I know what I want to write about this week? I think I might actually be getting a handle on this blogging thing. I would love to get ahead enough that I don’t sweat missing the deadlines anymore. But, as I have said before and will again, progress is progress.

I did not go out into the cold and snow this weekend, but my Ambivert Personality has to be balanced somehow. I found out this past week that when I do the personality type quizzes, that I am sometimes an Extrovert, and other times an Introvert. That tells me I am a little of both, which is called an Ambivert. I like being social, and outgoing, but not all of the time. Sometimes I need a weekend or two to just be at home relaxing. I can do either when I want to, but I also equally enjoy both activities.

Do you have a Defining Word picked out for 2018 yet? If you do, please share it below, and keep it in mind for Tuesday. If you are up for a challenge, I have an idea that you can participate in if you want to try an experiment with me.

#WeekendWarrior

Weekend Warrior #49

Weekend Warrior # 42

I am feeling a little stressed about getting my list of things done this weekend. I had Wednesday off, this past week, and I worked yesterday to make up the missed time. I usually have 2 days for a fun-filled weekend, and this week I was only able to work with one.  Let’s review Friday and today, then.

Friday there was a potluck at work. I was up into the wee hours early Friday morning preparing for both the potluck at work and the TGIO (Thank Goodness It’s Over) NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month – November – An annual challenge.)  So I made it through work, had a successful potluck, and rushed home to cut the cheese! I planned cheese and crackers for the party.

I was really surprised that one of my guests brought along a bottle of Writers Tears Irish Whiskey to try. I loved it. I will be buying some to put in my flask that friends brought me as a gift from Scotland. It is in a pink and purple and blue tartan holder. It is adorable, and a really good effort at matching the MacWebber Tartan I designed. 😉

The party was small, with only 2 guests. The other guest brought art supplies, and we all sampled the whiskey, listened to music (I introduced them to the Screaming Goats Christmas Album before going to my mixed tape list) and we got crafty.

I decided to make the characters of my book, the main 5 cats, for the sticky sticks. The end result of my artwork looks like this:
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

From left to right we have Dude, Lucy, Rascal, Missy, and Simba. These cats are the main characters in my book, From Where I Am Sitting A Collection of Cat Stories by Tish MacWebber. I am still writing it and will update when it is ready for publishing.

Yesterday I worked for 8 hours. Then I came home and worked on my #Momentum18 Challenge. I am getting things done, and other things are brewing in my mind. I had to creep the Facebook walls of my ideal customers, to find out what they are interested in, and to share it. Thankfully, most of them enjoy humour, sarcasm, and wit. I can keep working with that in mind, and know that they will laugh with me. 😀

Today I have spent at least another 8 hour day working on the social media platform. We ran out to the store for an hour, and have settled in for the night. I made a new Facebook Live video for my contest, and plan to film every evening this week. I have other projects on the go, but I am quite tired after a very busy and way too short weekend. What did you do this weekend?

#WeekendWarrior