Got the key to my new place, phone hooked up tomorrow, looking forward to finally unpacking my suitcases (after 5 months).
Watching Dateline on TV. They're doing another sting on men who hook up with teens online and then go to their homes expecting sex. The guy they just caught even admits he's seen these sting shows before, where the predators are basically set up and go to houses where the TV cameras are waiting for them. And he didn't get the message that this is not OK?!? There are some really sick people in this world. Guard your children, people.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Enviro Cleaning
One of my friends emailed me asking what products I had found for cleaning the home that are enviro friendly. The answer, not much. I haven't really been looking, thinking it was a project I'd give more time to after moving. Which I'll do soon. So, wait and see. But in the mean time, I have been told that baking soda, vinegar, and tea tree oil are all you really need to clean a house. I also noticed that there's a cloth called the Natura Cloth which the TV ads claim is always antibacterial without needing anything more than a rinse with regular water. And the friend with the inquiry sent these links:
http://www.seventhgeneration.com http://www.methodhome.com
I did find, through a friend, a store called Lush that sells earth-friendly personal care products, shampoos, deodorants, facial masks, soaps, and more. You can check them out at their website, which you'll have to google. Or you can go to Polo Park, or see if there is an outlet in a store near you.
One more. I found a company called Irene's Soaps that makes a fantastic laundry soap. Her shaving and the one body soap I tried are also great.
http://www.seventhgeneration.com http://www.methodhome.com
I did find, through a friend, a store called Lush that sells earth-friendly personal care products, shampoos, deodorants, facial masks, soaps, and more. You can check them out at their website, which you'll have to google. Or you can go to Polo Park, or see if there is an outlet in a store near you.
One more. I found a company called Irene's Soaps that makes a fantastic laundry soap. Her shaving and the one body soap I tried are also great.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Fun for me!
Did you notice my new visitor counters and map? You have to scroll down, waaay down, and you'll see them on the right. I think they're funky. The map will change in a couple of weeks. It's a trial version, and I'm not going to pay so they'll change me to the free version. But I like seeing where the sun is shining at any givin moment.
Baby Steps
Have you ever seen the movie What About Bob? It's old. [Which reminds me. Raiders of the Lost Ark is 25 years old this week. I can hardly believe it. I enjoy Indiana Jones so much I still think of him as current and cool. And to think I can remember anything that is 25 years old is terribly aging. I guess seeing Harrison Ford age should have given me a clue.]
Anyway, back to Bob. I don't think it's as old as Jones. That's not my point. In that movie the Bob character is trying to get to a better state of mental health, and he keeps talking about baby steps; ie. the change won't come fast or all at once. And the last time I was watching that movie, a year or more or go, that concept of baby steps really stuck in my head, and I thought I should apply it to the changes that need to happen in my life, mostly connected to weight loss.
Anyway, I gave up Coke a couple of months ago, 'cause I love the stuff so much that there just doesn't seem to be any middle ground for me. Either I'm drinking it too much, or not at all. "Goodbye to Coke" was my first baby step. I soon after decided I have to give up all pops because of the sugar, and I don't really like them anyway, and for me they're like a gateway drug (leading back to Coke.) So that was baby step 2. Then I gave up MacDonald's, then most fast food burger joints (actually, just the big chains like Burger King and Wendy's. I got to have a burger sometimes, so I saved my fave spots, like George's and Burger Factory). Last week I decided eating ice-cream when I'm alone has to stop (which leaves a few loopholes I can sneak through occasionally), and yesterday eating out alone got cut. Well, in theory. I usually stumble a few times before I really adopt my new lifestyle changes. Like last week I had ice-cream a couple of times when I shouldn't have. But I'm not going to hell for it.
So I was inspired to blog about all this today because when I put on a pair of pants this morning that I haven't worn for a week or two, they fit better. And I feel good about that. And now you know.
Yeah for me! Baby steps.
Anyway, back to Bob. I don't think it's as old as Jones. That's not my point. In that movie the Bob character is trying to get to a better state of mental health, and he keeps talking about baby steps; ie. the change won't come fast or all at once. And the last time I was watching that movie, a year or more or go, that concept of baby steps really stuck in my head, and I thought I should apply it to the changes that need to happen in my life, mostly connected to weight loss.
Anyway, I gave up Coke a couple of months ago, 'cause I love the stuff so much that there just doesn't seem to be any middle ground for me. Either I'm drinking it too much, or not at all. "Goodbye to Coke" was my first baby step. I soon after decided I have to give up all pops because of the sugar, and I don't really like them anyway, and for me they're like a gateway drug (leading back to Coke.) So that was baby step 2. Then I gave up MacDonald's, then most fast food burger joints (actually, just the big chains like Burger King and Wendy's. I got to have a burger sometimes, so I saved my fave spots, like George's and Burger Factory). Last week I decided eating ice-cream when I'm alone has to stop (which leaves a few loopholes I can sneak through occasionally), and yesterday eating out alone got cut. Well, in theory. I usually stumble a few times before I really adopt my new lifestyle changes. Like last week I had ice-cream a couple of times when I shouldn't have. But I'm not going to hell for it.
So I was inspired to blog about all this today because when I put on a pair of pants this morning that I haven't worn for a week or two, they fit better. And I feel good about that. And now you know.
Yeah for me! Baby steps.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Back to Life
It's been almost 5 months now that I've been living out of my suitcases, literally. It's been good actually. I've learned a much truer definition of the word "need". Everything, and I really mean everything, I need to live fits in my suitcases, with room left for extras. Not everyone I need to live is in there, but they're probably grateful for that anyway.
In a week or two I will be out of the basement and into a suite I hope to call my own for a long time to come. In 7 years I've lived in eight different places (just in Winnipeg) and house sat a couple. I am so sick of moving around I could scream. However, I will kind of miss this particular basement. I've found some friends that are good to live with (not all friends fit that description). But I want to have a place I can decorate with my things and fill with my friends, basically a home. Right now, lovely as it is, I'm in someone else's home. So I'll leave the basement, even if it is comfortable.
I am looking forward to taking all the things I've collected, many of them gifts attached to memories and love, and turning them into objects of art, or at least using them to make the suite feel like a home. And, I'll have an extra bedroom, so y'all can come visit and stay if it strikes your fancy. (not at the same time)
For about 5 months, I have felt like I'm camping. Even now, my new job is new enough and my time is free enough that I don't feel like I'm into any kind of routine. I'm thinking routine and a new place will make me feel like my nomadic existence has come to an end.
Yesterday I had my first bellydance lesson. We mostly stretched. The instructor warned us that we'd find and use muscles we never knew we had. And she wasn't kidding. Who'd have thought a few stretches and a little wiggling could make a person so sore! But I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
In a week or two I will be out of the basement and into a suite I hope to call my own for a long time to come. In 7 years I've lived in eight different places (just in Winnipeg) and house sat a couple. I am so sick of moving around I could scream. However, I will kind of miss this particular basement. I've found some friends that are good to live with (not all friends fit that description). But I want to have a place I can decorate with my things and fill with my friends, basically a home. Right now, lovely as it is, I'm in someone else's home. So I'll leave the basement, even if it is comfortable.
I am looking forward to taking all the things I've collected, many of them gifts attached to memories and love, and turning them into objects of art, or at least using them to make the suite feel like a home. And, I'll have an extra bedroom, so y'all can come visit and stay if it strikes your fancy. (not at the same time)
For about 5 months, I have felt like I'm camping. Even now, my new job is new enough and my time is free enough that I don't feel like I'm into any kind of routine. I'm thinking routine and a new place will make me feel like my nomadic existence has come to an end.
Yesterday I had my first bellydance lesson. We mostly stretched. The instructor warned us that we'd find and use muscles we never knew we had. And she wasn't kidding. Who'd have thought a few stretches and a little wiggling could make a person so sore! But I think it's going to be a lot of fun.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
The girl who loved Sniff
My last entry drew a comment from an old friend I haven't heard from in a while. She found me via the blog of another old friend who found me online. So I am definitily motivated to keep up this blogging thing. Anything that attracts friends is a good thing.
Anyway, Rachel is the latest old friend to show up. She can explain this entry's title on her blog, if she so chooses. She brings a lot of joy and laughter in to people's lives--great sense of humour. She probably doesn't know, but is about to find out, that she is one of the people I most respect in the world for her wonderful, sincere heart for justice. And she's not just wishing for world peace, she does what she can to bring it on. She also introduced me to the Winnipeg chapter of Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity (isn't that their name? I may have it wrong.) Beautiful women, oozing Jesus. I should have kept in touch with them. Anyway, nice to "see" you Rachel. Hope you don't mind if I link to your blog.
By the way, check her blog out. It's got some great quotes, and it's still small enough at this point that it won't take long to check out.
Anyway, Rachel is the latest old friend to show up. She can explain this entry's title on her blog, if she so chooses. She brings a lot of joy and laughter in to people's lives--great sense of humour. She probably doesn't know, but is about to find out, that she is one of the people I most respect in the world for her wonderful, sincere heart for justice. And she's not just wishing for world peace, she does what she can to bring it on. She also introduced me to the Winnipeg chapter of Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity (isn't that their name? I may have it wrong.) Beautiful women, oozing Jesus. I should have kept in touch with them. Anyway, nice to "see" you Rachel. Hope you don't mind if I link to your blog.
By the way, check her blog out. It's got some great quotes, and it's still small enough at this point that it won't take long to check out.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
New News
New in Manitoba. The Amish. Don't know the details, but they're coming. Am listening to the radio about them now. Will fill you in.
Also new. A white bison. Sacred to the First Nations. Brought to Winnipeg from a ranch in Montana. Currently living in Winnipeg zoo and going by the name "Blizzard". Why didn't they let the natives name him?
Ok, back to the Amish. An as yet undetermined number moving in somewhere near Gladstone from Ontario. The Gladstone area municipality had to lure them in somehow. Apparently they were looking at a few places in Manitoba. Now the reporter is just asking about their lifestyle. You can google that info. I'm not going to type it all out.
And finally, also new to the zoo, a white black bear. Yes, you read that right, a white black bear. The one that was found north of Winnipeg this spring when a car killed it's mother. It's not albino, I don't think, but some sort of recessive gene like with Blizzard, who is not an albino bison, by the way. His eyes are brown.
The natives believe a white bison represents the beginning of an era of peace....
Also new. A white bison. Sacred to the First Nations. Brought to Winnipeg from a ranch in Montana. Currently living in Winnipeg zoo and going by the name "Blizzard". Why didn't they let the natives name him?
Ok, back to the Amish. An as yet undetermined number moving in somewhere near Gladstone from Ontario. The Gladstone area municipality had to lure them in somehow. Apparently they were looking at a few places in Manitoba. Now the reporter is just asking about their lifestyle. You can google that info. I'm not going to type it all out.
And finally, also new to the zoo, a white black bear. Yes, you read that right, a white black bear. The one that was found north of Winnipeg this spring when a car killed it's mother. It's not albino, I don't think, but some sort of recessive gene like with Blizzard, who is not an albino bison, by the way. His eyes are brown.
The natives believe a white bison represents the beginning of an era of peace....
Friday, September 01, 2006
Going granola
Didn't mean to imply that all bloggers don't have lives. Sorry, rj. I did get a great laugh out of your comment though. But in defense of my comment, I'm not a person who really likes computers, so I only tend to blog when I haven't much else to do.
So I'm really getting into a "clean the house without killing the environment-or myself" mode. Did I already mention that this has been spurred on by the precautions the government is requiring my workplace to take with common household cleaners? I have found out at work that substances we use everyday are suspected of causing cancer and doing other nasty things too. I'll have to do more research to get all the details. But I feel lied to and conned. Ever since I was a kid, various chemicals have been the way to clean, and I just assumed they were safe (I know, I know, never assume, it could kill you), with the logic that people wouldn't sell stuff that was going to harm other people. (What was I thinking!? I know about arms dealers!) And of course the manufacturers would claim their products are safe, but it turns out "safe" is a relative term. Like, using household cleaners is safer than jumping out of a plane without a parachute, but not "safe" as in these-things-could-never-hurt-you-cause-they're-absolutely-harmless "safe".
So, I experimented today, and I learned something amazing. A mirror wiped with a wet cloth and then dried and buffed with a dry cloth COMES JUST AS CLEAN AS A MIRROR CLEANED WITH WINDEX!!! Who'd have thunk it. The proof is in my bathroom. Come on over and I'll show you. So why spend my money on a glass cleaner? And why risk my health?
So I'm really getting into a "clean the house without killing the environment-or myself" mode. Did I already mention that this has been spurred on by the precautions the government is requiring my workplace to take with common household cleaners? I have found out at work that substances we use everyday are suspected of causing cancer and doing other nasty things too. I'll have to do more research to get all the details. But I feel lied to and conned. Ever since I was a kid, various chemicals have been the way to clean, and I just assumed they were safe (I know, I know, never assume, it could kill you), with the logic that people wouldn't sell stuff that was going to harm other people. (What was I thinking!? I know about arms dealers!) And of course the manufacturers would claim their products are safe, but it turns out "safe" is a relative term. Like, using household cleaners is safer than jumping out of a plane without a parachute, but not "safe" as in these-things-could-never-hurt-you-cause-they're-absolutely-harmless "safe".
So, I experimented today, and I learned something amazing. A mirror wiped with a wet cloth and then dried and buffed with a dry cloth COMES JUST AS CLEAN AS A MIRROR CLEANED WITH WINDEX!!! Who'd have thunk it. The proof is in my bathroom. Come on over and I'll show you. So why spend my money on a glass cleaner? And why risk my health?
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