by Tish MacWebber | Jul 4, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Hello to you all, and thank you for your patience. I am a little off schedule this week, because as I expected, life got in the way of the weekend. Not to fear, I will be back on schedule for the upcoming week, and plan to post my next Trust Your Gut on time and on schedule.
I am going to keep this short as it is now Tuesday. Canada Day was Saturday, and there were festivities all over the country. There were public events, and house parties from one end of the country to the other. I wore my red summer top and Nova Scotia Hoodie with the Cape Breton patch I sewed onto it myself.
Sunday was my birthday. I turned 43, and it had a few little surprises. I was with my family, and that in itself was really special. There are 5 of us, my parents, and my two sisters and myself. My sisters have their families with them. We live in different parts of Canada, and we have not all been together in the same place at the same time in 4 years. I am getting ready for another family gathering tonight, and I had some help today making deviled eggs and big mac salad for the evening.
Pete Luckett’s Phone Book White and the bottle of Bodacious Smooth White wines were lovely at the gatherings we have been to so far.
I will say that this past weekend was another win for me, and I am still working on winning the whole week long! I am taking the time I have this week to be thankful for my family and friends, and enjoying the memories I am making. What did you do this past weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 24, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
It’s here! The first official weekend of the summer! I am gearing up to run errands and host a BBQ today. I have been working hard at my Spring Cleaning Challenge, and I am literally at the finish line! I have made it to the Master Bedroom and Bathroom.
Last weekend, I worked really hard to have the floors done, the guest room ready, and the main bathroom was cleaned. When I did this, I had to move things out of the way. I moved them into the master bedroom. A pile gathered on my bed. When it was time to crawl into that bed, the only logical place to temporarily store these items was in the sunken bathtub in the master bathroom.
This means I made a lot of progress in most of the house, but not all. Today I plan to work on that. The word purge is now in my weekend plans again, and it does not refer to food in any way.
I have been working on this project since last fall. I started with my clothing. I then went through the kitchen and didn’t have a lot to purge there, but rather spent time cleaning and organizing. I have purged my makeup to make room for new makeup. I am still in the middle of writing about that experience. Today I plan to purge and organize my craft supplies.
I have decided that I am not going to do this alone. I have asked a friend to help me with this chore. It is not going to be a hard thing to do, but it may prove to be difficult. Remember when I wrote I had purged my makeup? I gathered it all up and then was unable to throw it out until I bought the new makeup. I wanted to start with a clean palette, but I was very worried that I would not be able to afford to replace everything, and I decided to not throw it out until I had done the shopping so I would not be left without a critical item for my new makeup collection.
As I wrote, I am working on that story, and I plan to have it published sometime this week. If the zit I treated that promptly decided to cause a skin reaction to the treatment and blew up over my face would kindly heal and let me feel like I can safely try my new makeup on, that would be fantastic.
When I went through my clothing, I did it all on my own. I reduced my wardrobe by 50%. I donated it to a friend who upcycles fabric. So far, the only items I have really missed were some of the more lightweight tank tops that I gave away. One of my errands today is to replace those tank tops. I have some, but I have not had a clothing shopping budget regularly for many years. We have been working insanely hard on our household budget, and we are making some changes to that. I am looking forward to the days when I don’t feel guilty about buying a new article of clothing to wear. Or about buying a new book or magazine. Things I like to buy from time to time. Mostly beading magazines, and more recently, a writing magazine. It will also be useful to know what I have on hand for craft supplies, so I don’t purchase items that I don’t need because I don’t know what I have in my stash.
The last area of my house that needs TLC is my office, a corner of my living room. I have been building up to getting this area ready for spring cleaning. It is where I plan to do my writing, and a fitting final task for all of the cleaning I am doing to prepare for writing. I have organized the desk several times since I moved here, and it is long overdue. Time to fire up the paper shredder when I am ready to tackle the last big area. I am really proud of how much I have accomplished this year with my cleaning projects, and although I still have some smaller areas to work on after my deadline, the larger, more complicated projects will be done and over with, so I can feel confident about my home not falling apart when I start writing my book. Maybe I will even be able to make time for more creative projects after it is all finished.
Phase 2 will be starting when I am settling into writing my book. With the larger cleaning projects being finished, I will have to switch gears and get the maintenance cleaning done, to keep my home from ever becoming a disaster like it was when I decided to start the spring cleaning for real this year.
I also hope that this weekend is a start of more entertaining at my house. I am feeling good about it, and not too embarrassed when I look around at the progress I have made here, the last 6 months. Time to get going and finish this stage, so I can close the chapter of Spring Cleaning 2017, and open a new book to start writing it.
I hope my friend enjoys bouncing the house with me this afternoon, I need the extra push when it comes to purging craft supplies. She is invited to stay for the BBQ as a thank you for her taking the time to help me out. What are you working on this weekend?
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 17, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Egads! I am up REALLY early on a Saturday morning. There must be a reason. Oh yes, there is. A friend wanted to go Yard Sale Shopping today. It is a bit rainy, so we may not do a lot of that, but we have errands, and he doesn’t have a car. I am trying to make more time for my friends, as they are important in my life.
As soon as we are done, Operation Spring Cleaning is going to be completed. I am expecting guests this month, starting tomorrow! I will still have some to do, but today will be the day for the final push. I need to be ready. My parents are coming, and I have not seen them in two years. I am over the moon excited to see them.
I have a plan. I thought it up when I was supposed to be sleeping last night. I will start in the guest room, then the bathrooms. After that, the floors will need cleaning. All of that will take time, and I hope I have more time when I finish all of the chores I have for today.
My Makeup Blog story is in the draft phase. In the next 2 weeks, I plan to publish it. I know it has been taking a really long time for this, but I am writing it without pictures. When I have everything organized after cleaning the Master bedroom, I will then have a place for all of my new makeup, and then I can try it out. See, I DO have a plan, and I have been buying bits and pieces of organization supplies along the way. Maybe today I will find something to help with that.
I wanted to write this early this weekend so I can focus on what I need to do. I am taking on this weekend with a full, running start, and fueling myself with coffee. Lots of coffee.
I hope you are all having a productive, fun-filled, happy weekend! I am going to give it my all, and then some. What are you doing this weekend? What do you do to prepare for guests that visit? Let me know! Maybe I can learn something new!
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 14, 2017 | Tish-ism
It happened again. I was in the car today, with my husband. We were having a conversation, and I completely lost him. And that is when it happened. I discovered a new Tish-ism. I had to Tishsplain how I connected the things we were discussing to my husband. Unlike mansplaining, Tishsplaining is something only I can do. It is not restricted to men or women, and it is never done in a condescending manner.
I am used to this concept, but it is nice to finally put a name to it. Thanks to all of you mansplainers that planted the seed for this Tish-ism in my head.
So what were we talking about?
“Look. It is summer now, and that cloud is saying piss on you as it is raining on us.” My husband started this whole ball rolling with that sentence.
I mentioned an uncle’s name, and his father’s name, and my uncle’s grandmother also. Well, that completely confused my husband. He asked me the question I have been asked numerous times before, and likely will be asked millions more times in the future.
“How does this relate to the rain?”
The answer was quite simple.
“My uncle’s grandmother was known to point at people and say “Piss on you.” ” Luckily, I never made her point that finger at me. If I remember right, it was about losing at card games or bingo.
Now I have a name for that thing I have to do ALL THE TIME.
Tishsplaining.
by Tish MacWebber | Jun 13, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
The Zumba adventures continue even while there is no class for two weeks. I have found another comparison between Zumba, my body, and a musical instrument. First, though, I want to take you back to my pre-Zumba university days. Back to when I lived on campus and went out dancing quite often (who am I kidding, four nights a week) to party when I really should have been studying. When I started university, moving away from home was a big deal, and I was in control of my life for the first time ever. I made new friends and shared rooms with roommates. One, in particular, comes to mind in relation to this story. We were in different programs, and at times, there were personality conflicts. It happens, and it is a part of growing up.
This roommate liked animals more than people and had a different taste in music than I did. We would take turns playing our favourite music when we were in the room at the same time. These days, that would not be a problem, because I am sure every Millenial out there has an MP3 Player of some sort with amazing headphones so the issue I ran into would not be a problem today like it was back then. Yes, I am talking about playing music on a ghetto blaster, also known as a boom box. Back then (yeah, I know this ages me some) we had cassette tapes, and CDs were still new. It was a thing for us to play the music you liked for other people, and see if they liked it as much as you did. Sometimes it was great. Other times it was overplayed. The worst was when you had to listen to someone else’s music that you hated because it was their turn to play their music.
Living with this roommate ALMOST ruined Bon Jovi for me. She played it over and over and over. My love for Bon Jovi returned after a few years, but it was iffy for quite some time. When she decided to play a different band, I was open to hearing something new. Oh boy, was that a short-lived bit of hope. The other band she absolutely LOVED and wanted to play when she wasn’t playing Bon Jovi was a band called The Who. I tolerated it the first time I listened to it, but it really wasn’t my cup of tea.
Miles and miles and miles and miles and miles still haunts me when I think of it. Twitch. There was one song that I found amusing. Squeeze Box. It is a funny little song that has more than one meaning. A Squeeze Box is another name for an accordion, but if you let your mind drift a little left of center, you know what the song could be referring to if you have any sort of a gutter based imagination. Imagine my surprise when this song popped into my head in the middle of a Zumba class!
As of yet, we have not done Zumba to Weird Al Yankovic or any of his Polka Parties. (How much fun would THAT be)? Weird Al is the accordion player that I listen to, and I really like his music. I love the humour in his parodies, and the fun he inserts into my day if I am listening to his music. I digress. The Squeeze Box reference refers once again to my chest.
You see, I am rather curvy, and just as my hips sometimes get in the way of my bowling, my “girls” get in the way at Zumba. I crack people up whenever I think this stuff up, because then I act on it, or tell someone the joke to see if it is funny. A few weeks ago we were reaching in front with our arms. Sometimes I feel like my arms are really too short, like T-Rex short. So for the instructor to see, I pretended to extend my arms longer at my sides, and then cross them in front of my stomach like she was showing us to do, holding the upper parts of my arms straight down, and just bending them to reach to the front from my elbows. I look really funny when I am flailing my arms like that. She laughed. She lost track of what she was doing for a minute.
Then, in another recent class, we were doing a move that involves crossing your arms in front of you while you make your legs wobbly and move your knees to touch each other, and back apart. I know that might not be the best description, but if you think of the funny dance when you put your hands on your knees and move your legs like that and cross your hands back and forth, it is like that, except we are standing straight up, and you are crossing your arms in front of you. So when we do this, I hold my arms straight out and cross them back and forth, but because I have short arms, the “girls” become my Squeeze Box, just like that song implies. I shared my accordion thought and got the desired reaction from the Zumba Crew that heard me. Another funny analogy brought to you by me, an old roommate, and Zumba.
As the summer time hits, and we are all working out in the heat, please remember to hydrate. And when your Zumba instructor is encouraging you to show some fire in class, remember, it is about your dance moves, even if all you really feel like doing is putting out the fire with the Zumba move I am going to call the, “Stop, Drop, and Roll.” If you decide that you NEED to try this out, and you want to deliver it with a bigger impact, throw in the T-Rex arms. Hilarious, until you get the ambulance bill.
Oh, and by the way, my ghetto blaster is still working, as is my walkman. Long live the mixed tapes and the local radio stations! I am looking forward to my next trip to The Zumba Zone!
