by Tish MacWebber | Feb 6, 2017 | His & Hers
It struck me funny today when we went to a local hardware store for some home improvement items and odds and ends that by the time we left, we each had our own shopping carts. My husband had a short list, of exactly what he needed for his project. He is working on the man cave, and it’s his thing, so I have no worries about it at all. He is installing a shelf between two bookcases for the TV to be on the shelf. It is not a large TV, and it shouldn’t be too heavy for what he wants to do. He thought we would be only gone for an hour.
I wanted cube storage shelves. It was another weekend where the gumption wasn’t there to keep working on the cleaning, and we just got the new headboard installed yesterday. Bye bye milk crates, I’m a grown up now. It is curious to me that it is designed to be an inch or so above the floor. It is nice. When my room is all clean and neat, maybe I will take a picture.
So off we went to the hardware store. His list involved getting wood cut to his required lengths for his project. I wandered. One of the employees saw me going up and down the middle aisle, and asked if he could help. I replied, “Nope. I just hope my husband comes back to find me at some point.” He hoped so too. I don’t think he really knew what to say. I get that reaction from people sometimes. It’s OK, I am used to it.
I found my shelving unit, but it was too heavy for me to get into the cart. I found collapsible fabric cubes, but they weren’t exactly what I was looking for. Then I found the cutest plastic bins that have an aqua pattern on them, with white. And they were on sale! That sold it for me. While I was wandering, I found the sliding cupboard drawer inserts for organizing the cupboards, and one for pots and pans. We can’t afford everything all at once, those are on a wish list. We may find a more affordable solution if we keep looking.
I also found a wall art display for just clipping pictures on. It is exactly what I have wanted for YEARS to hang various postcards on as an art display. It found its way into my shopping cart. At this point, I found my husband, and he had his supplies. I showed him what I was able to find, and he lifted the white 9 square cube shelving unit box into my cart.
By the time we were done, I had decided to go to the next store also. I wanted a cleaner they carried. I also got a desk drawer organizer, which I am in desperate need of, it is scary in there. I got a magnet stick from the canning supplies to fish out the mason jar lids that vacuum seal to the plug in my kitchen sink, and the cleaning product I wanted. He had time to go to the dollar store for a pop and the frame I needed there for something I printed earlier that needs a frame.
We then ran to two different grocery stores to pick up a few things, and then to a restaurant for take out. Our one hour errand was three hours long. It was Superbowl Sunday, after all. I am not the biggest football fan. I watch it every year, and I enjoy the commercials and the halftime show. My friend is the biggest Little Monster I know, and he wasn’t going to be able to go to his other friend’s house to see the halftime show. So I recorded it and drove over to get him. Nobody enjoyed it more than he did, and we had fun watching it. More than once. We discussed the song choices, all great, and the outfits and the whole presentation. We agreed that it was an awesome halftime show, and Lady Gaga did a phenomenal job. I loved her entrance, and the exit was perfect. I did sense a Bowie influence in her first costume, and that was fitting for her to still pay him tribute in that small way. He was a big influence in a lot of musicians lives, and she has performed his music in remembrance to him. I liked that choice. My friend also pointed out that in the last song, the group of dancers moved to be in the shape of a football. I saw the helmets, but that never dawned on me, until he said it. Overall, I think it may be one of my favourite halftime shows, and they are always good. Here is a selfie with Lady Gaga, my friend, and me.
It was a close game, and the Patriots came back to win it in overtime. So for the fans, I am sure the game was a big hit this year. Whomever they choose to play the Halftime show next year has some mighty big sparkly boots to fill.
All in all it was another productive weekend. We got some chores done, even if it wasn’t progress on the kitchen, it is progress. Sometimes you need to take the detour to get to where you really needed to go in the first place.
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 22, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
I have made some progress in my kitchen and in my health. These are things that are important to me right now. I am getting my environment ready to write a book. I am preparing myself to be healthier when I write. So tonight I plan to sit back with a nice glass of wine for a mini celebration of my progress.
The trick is to keep going. A small celebration is OK, but it doesn’t mean I am done working on my projects. Far from it. The old me would have stopped, because I got something accomplished. The new me that wants a more productive life, wants to finish it all. So I am taking a break. Having a treat, and then getting some prep work done for lunches this week.
It looked like I missed throwing out expired bottles of salad dressing and the like last year. That makes sense, as a year ago I was under medical restrictions concerning movement. I was fighting a knee infection, and not able to move around as much as I like to. It was a scary experience, being told to stay as still as possible to prevent spreading the infection, and it was hard to comply. Yet here I am, working on a deep cleaning project of my house, a year later.
I am back to normal (as close as I get, anyway) and focused. My end goal is a book. Then another. It will take three to write a trilogy. However, if I didn’t start with my cleaning projects first, they may never get done. That’s not OK. I have to be healthy to be productive, inside and out. So I am not procrastinating about writing, not at all. I am being realistic. If I don’t make myself do this first, it won’t get done. I know myself. I will get sucked in to my imagination, and not come up for air for days. Maybe weeks or even months. The point is, I am doing it. Working on my home, and working on making myself healthier also.
It is hard to sit at my desk, and not work on the immediate area. I am creative, and would rather make a mess than clean it up. I have to focus on the kitchen now, and another project will be my living room/office cleaning. As my husband and I generally do work on the living room together, I will have help in that room. Which is good. I am not living here by myself. I sent my husband out for groceries while I got ready to tackle the fridge. I wish I could say I was ready when he got home, but I was in the middle of it. So he put the freezer things away, and helped a little here and there. He made me a kaiser roll with ham and swiss. A regular roll is not on my plan, but sometimes if someone offers to make you something to eat, you have what is offered.
Another reason I do not want to start working on the living room/office right now is that I won’t finish either room. I get distracted easily, and if I am working on multiple projects simultaneously, chances are one won’t be completed, maybe more than one. So I have my reasons for working on things in order. Once the whole house is clean, then I will begin a maintenance routine, something quick and efficient.
In terms of my health, the scale was nice this morning. I am working harder to stay on plan, so I can start losing weight. It is so much easier to be lazy about everything. Last year I decided that what I was doing then was not working, and I decided it was time to make some changes. Trim Healthy Mama was in an ad on facebook one day, and I thought it was worth a shot. I am still working on it, and have lost weight. If I stick to it, it works, and I do try. This year I am trying harder, and this will show me more results.
My snack for my celebration will include cheese, turkey pepperoni, some pickles, and that glass of wine. I have a bottle that has been open a little too long, so I am going to have a glass from it. Then I will have to go back to the kitchen. I am not going to finish tonight. I am going to finish up some dishes, and find some order in the chaos that happens when I clean. Things move to where they are not in the way until I find a place to put them to stay. And when I go to bed tonight, I will have a restful sleep after such a productive day.
As long as I continue working on my projects, I can have little celebrations along the way. And chocolate. 85% cocoa chocolate IS on plan, and something I am also happy about! Celebrate the little successes along the way, and keep going. Whatever you are working on, do it. It will be a giant snowball of positivity when you finish, and when you are on a roll, it’s easier to keep going than to stop.
I wish I had gherkin pickles. Oh well, another grocery run in 2 weeks will fix that for me!
I made my husband look at the completed fridge. Hearing him say, “Nice!” as he looked at the way I have organized our food was validation. I did a good job.
A Kind Word Goes A Long Way
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 21, 2017 | Poetry
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Copyright ©2017 Tish MacWebber
All rights reserved
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Grace has its place
in my everyday life
I need it because
it grants a respite
If you allow
yourself some grace
it lets you be human
in the daily race
for perfection
The unobtainable goal
can taint you
deep inside your soul
By letting a little
grace in your life
It removes the guilt
that causes you strife
Stop looking up
at the bar over your head
Grab on and pull
look over the top instead
Take that dose of reality
and swallow it down
Learn how to float
rather than drown
Take a break; catch your breath
it will be okay
Don’t worry yourself to death
tomorrow is a new day.
by Tish MacWebber | Dec 31, 2016 | Coffee and Stories
Coffee in a pretty yellow cup and saucer.
I have been taking care of a friend’s coffee mug for about three years now. She has moved out of the country for work. So I have a few of her things in storage, some of them I have promised to use carefully, and one of them is an extra large coffee mug. It holds more than 20 oz of coffee. When I enjoy my coffee out of this mug, I tell people I am having a bucket of coffee. It really is that big, much bigger than the pretty yellow one in the picture.
I am not the type of person that has to have the coffee piping hot to enjoy a cup. I like it warm, not too hot, but with some heat left in it is optimal. So when it gets cold, I have two choices. Reheat it in the microwave and wait for it to be at that perfect temperature again, or go get a straw. Today, I choose the straw.
I know, some people that read this will shudder, and think that cold coffee is disgusting. When I drink coffee, I don’t put anything in it, I drink it black. I used to dress it up, but I decided to go cold turkey a few years ago, and I convinced myself I would learn to like it. I now enjoy it this way.
I have tried bulletproof coffee. Who comes up with this stuff? Maybe I just don’t know how to make it right, but I did not enjoy my only attempt at this creation. I will stick to taking my coffee black and sometimes flavoured. Some of the flavoured coffees work for me, and some don’t. I like a good variety, and when I decide to splurge on K-cups, I try new flavours whenever I can.
I was talking to someone the other day, and he said I should drink Ethiopian coffee. He said it will keep me up for nine days; and that I will save money because I won’t be running to Timmy’s all the time. I live in Canada, Timmy’s is a reference to Tim Hortons Coffee and Donut restaurants. When I was a child, I thought it was Important Donuts. They are the main Canadian preference for coffee shops, and a place a lot of people like to spend time, cafe style. If you ask your friends if they want a Timmy’s, you usually get replies that include a double-double in them somewhere. Now, I’m all for a good cup of coffee, but to me, being awake for 9 days sounds a little extreme.
Why the bendy straw? Well, the bucket is fairly tall. I like options, and bendy straws are more fun. Why not? I am sitting here getting ready for New Year’s Eve in my mind. I have a lot on my to-do list for today. I am invited to a house party, and it is a potluck. My husband and I have gone to this party for several years now when the weather cooperated. The forecast is good for tonight, so we plan to attend. He will be working until I pick him up on my way to the party. With a big list of things to do and only me here to do them, as much as I would have liked to drink a cup of coffee at that perfect temperature, it wasn’t in the cards today. So a bendy straw it is.
I am feeling a little nostalgic today. 2016 was a difficult year in many ways. A lot has happened. I lost some weight, so that is something I would like to continue in 2017. Living a healthier lifestyle is one of my resolutions this year. It will be something I blog about, because it is important to me, and I want to share my successes. Maybe it will help another person in their struggle, and it will do some good. I started this blogging adventure in November and decided that I need to write those books I have wanted to write my whole life. So that is going to happen. Writing the Fantasy Trilogy is another resolution. I hope that the music world stops in to read my lyrics. I dream of a collaboration with musicians to make my songs audible for the world, not just to be poetry in a blog. I have had the pleasure of making new friends online through this project, and I am grateful for those who took the time to help me get this blog from an idea to a reality. I thought I was only going to make the two resolutions for 2017, but something joined the ranks in the last 24 hours. I have attempted to complete home cleaning and organization challenges for the last 2 years. Last night I signed up again, and I am not committing to finishing it in 16 weeks, but I am committing to finishing it this year. I joined two last year, as one is more for in-depth cleaning (16 weeks) and the other one is for quick organizing (31 days) so I will be working on both challenges in 2017. My final resolution is to finish them within the year.
Well, I am now making that annoying noise through the bendy straw. I have finished my coffee. Time to walk away from the desk for a while, crank the tunes, and tackle my to do list. However you ring in 2017, I wish you well and hope you accomplish what you need to do in 2017. Happy New Year!
