This is June?

I woke up this morning to a temperature of 12 C, and rain.... it's hard to believe that last week it was 32C and we were sweltering in the heat.! I'm not sure which is the lesser of 2 evils, but I think I actually prefer the heat and sun to this. This is kind of depressing for mid-June.
My leg is slowly getting better. I went to Physio a few times last week, and the girl I saw was amazing. She diagnosed me with a bad hamstring AND calf muscle pull. I am pretty sure just one of those would be painful, but the combination is pretty agonizing. I've been working on some exercises, and combined with the torture massages she's given me, it seems to be working. She did warn me it will take weeks for it to get back to normal, but right now, I'm just happy that I can actually walk again. I had an MRI done on my knee last week, just to make sure there's nothing wrong there, but I won't have those results until Wednesday.
And my son's leg was a minor thing- seeing as he's not old and decrepit like his Mom, he has healed up fast and is back to normal. ;p

I got an email yesterday that completely made my day. A few of my Aussie  friends have gotten together to form this group, and it makes me very happy to go over there and see some beautiful clean pages. No frou-frou, no misting, no excess of product... just simple, well designed layouts that highlight photos and a story, which to me is really the basis of it all. In honour of their little group, I will leave you with a layout I did last week about my Father. It's not rosy, and there is not a lot of product on it, but I think it's one of my most favourite layouts in a long time, because it's a really honest account of how things are.

Please head on over to their blog and check out their beautiful work!

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Make that two bum legs please

As I was trying to compose a new post just now, I got a call from the school telling me that Bobby hurt his leg in gym class. He apparently heard that lovely popping sound, and hubby has just left to pick him up. I don't know how badly he's hurt it, but this is NOT good. Maybe I can just take him along with me tomorrow and get a 2 for 1 on the MRI I'm having. If anyone knows any voodoo to get rid of this black cloud that's been hanging over our house, please come on over and do your thing.
I'll be back later with a layout...

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Feeling sorry for myself.

I've been trying to get back into shape after being fairly sedentary for most of the winter. Apart from walking the dog and being on my feet at work, I haven't done much in the way of exercise, and have put on some unwanted pounds, mostly in the gut area, which is mucho non attractive. And with warmer weather comes bathing suits, we all know how that is. I've been working on getting rid of the spare tire by giving up soft drinks and snacking at night... it seems to be working, little by little.
 At the urging of a friend, I decided to try Zumba, which at first I didn't like much, but it grew on me.  Before last night,I hadn't been for a few weeks b/c of other commitments, and was anxious to get back to it.  So last night, in the midst of sweating, lunging and spinning, I felt and heard something POP, somewhere in the back of my leg. I don't even remember what I was doing, but the shooting pain was excruciating. I immediately sat out the rest of the class and iced where it hurt, although I can't really pinpoint where exactly it hurts- kind of weird. Anyway, I was able to drive myself home, ( I drive a standard) and could walk on my tiptoe, but I can't put any pressure on my leg at all. Today, it is much worse, probably b/c the muscle has cramped up. I just got off the phone with the Orthopaedist, and I feel very lucky that I will be able to get in to see him tomorrow... the secretary says it sounds like I've just pulled/strained something really badly, and I doesn't think I need xrays. I am hoping and praying that I don't have a torn ligament or worse.
Right now, hubby is out getting me crutches b/c it is killer to put any pressure on my leg, and let me tell you, I feel like an invalid, not being able to get around or go up and down the stairs in my house. I'm angry with myself, because I knew my leg wasn't stable after hurting it last week doing The Shred. I overdid it one day with lunges and weights, and could barely walk the next day, but I figured it was normal, seeing as I was so out of shape. So there's a good lesson for anyone who takes on a new exercise routine... contrary to what they tell you, DO NOT push yourself so hard that you incapacitate yourself!!!
Wish me luck for tomorrow...

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Redecorating fever

We had a lead on a great house this past winter, but unfortunately, it fell through. The sellers were acquaintances of ours, and decided at the last minute that they were going to stay put for at least another year. I'm pretty sure it has to do with the hot market here right now and them wanting to get more for the house than they quoted us. Whatever it was, I was so disappointed, because I had my heart set on that house. The location was IDEAL- very close by, on a quiet street, a huge yard, and much more square footage, which is what we desperately need. We're so jam packed in here.
Once we found out they weren't ready to sell, we kind of put our house hunting on the back burner, still hoping for that house. We decided to use this time to our advantage in order to fix up our house and get it ready for sale, but we're still looking at other options.
So far, we've done a big fat zero on that end, due to my husband's crazy schedule, and me working weekends. It's hard to coordinate chores and renovations when one of us is never home when the other one is. It is a huge drag, a big disadvantage, but it enables me to stay home during the week for the kids.

Anyway, I thought I'd show you my new  (to me) dining room set that I lucked out on finding a few months ago. A friend of a friend inherited her Dad's house in Alexandria, Ontario, which is about 1 hour's drive from me. Our mutual  friend and I drove up one snowy day in February to help her clean and pack, and get the house house ready for sale. It had been empty for a few years, and it was a major mess- lots of ugly furniture, mice turds and nasty dust and dirt. So imagine my delight and surprise to find this beautiful set when I walked  into the dining room... I nearly fainted! Remember this layout from a few months ago? I made it not long before I struck this deal, so it must have been fate. Anyways, long story short, we agreed on a price, and I'm now the proud owner of this mid-century teak table and chairs:

 Don't mind the dirt, it hadn't been cleaned in a very long while when I took these photos, and it's in need of a bit of tlc. The table comes with 2 leaves, and when they're both in, measures over 9 feet long. Now I need to find a house with a big enough dining room. ;) It's only got 4 chairs, but I can live with that, since there's only four of us here.  And I like the look of mix and match chairs if the need arises. 

There also happened to be 2 sideboards, one large one, ( didn't get a photo, but you can sort of see it in the back of the table in the 1st photo above)  and this smaller beauty: again,  ignore the years of dust and dirt accumulation, it will clean up just fine:

So, yeah, I bought those too. :) In a flash.  And when I got home that night, I spent a few hours on the internet, searching for similar ones. They were marked 'Hugo Troeds,' which it turns out, was a Danish teak furniture house back in the 50's & 60's.After a bit of searching, I came upon a few websites with these exact credenzas I bought, and was excited to see them for sale for much, much more than I paid.
 I did good. :)

 I'm looking forward to picking everything up in a few weeks, or as soon as my friend's house sells. In the meantime, I'm emptying my dining room, ( where I scrapbook,  so you can imagine the mess...) and looking at paint samples to paint said room before the furniture arrives.  I'm thinking of a taupe/putty colour, but if you have any suggestions, feel free to send me some...  choosing paint intimidates the heck out of me, and I never seem to get the colour I want. I'm also on the lookout for the fixture below, in white, which I think will complete the look I'm going for. I've been pinning things to my Pinterest 'home' board like crazy lately, and there are so many lovely rooms that it makes my head spin with possibilities... I just need some time and a lot of extra cash. :) Maybe I won't want to move after it's finished. I'll have to come up with an idea about where I can store my scrapbook supplies, as I want this room 'paper-free'. ;)

I'll be sure to post some before and after photos once it's all done- hopefully in the next few weeks!
Then it will be on to tackle my '70's kitchen....

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A new venture

I'm pretty excited about this:

 

I totally ADORE all of Kaitlin's products-these are just a sampling of some of the very cool things she's got in her shop. Pretty nice huh?! :)  I applied very last minute after I read about the call on Ali Edward's blog, and really didn't think I'd have a chance. I'm not one to avidly seek out these types of things, so it was a really lovely surprise to get an email back from Kaitlin a few days later, inviting me to join the team. If you have a few minutes, be sure to check out her shop, there are some delicious paper goods that you won't be able to resist! I used a few of her tags in my DD album this year, and I love how they just make the pages pop.
Congrats to all of the other talented ladies on the team, can't wait to see what we come up with!

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Sorry for the drama...

 I like to blog, really, I do. But I've never really been comfortable writing about my life for the entire www to see. I'm not a paranoid person, nor am I easily scared off by bullies.  Many of you who know me personally know about my neighbourhood situation- it's been pretty grim for a long time now, but it's recently gotten worse.  For those of you who don't know, I'm sorry- I can't go into great detail here, but suffice it to say that I need to keep some semblance of  privacy here, as ours has been invaded for a long time now.
We've kind of 'unofficially' started house hunting, and so far, nothing has caught our eye. And we definitely want to stay in this same neighbourhood, so it will probably be a long process-we actually quite like our little home, and if it weren't for this situation, we'd happily stay here. Very frustrating, and really, I'm just sad about the whole thing.


Thanks for sticking with me! I will get a post up tonight with some recent layouts and maybe a more normal update. ;p

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peace cranes

 

If you're wondering what you can contribute to help Japan after the horror of the tsunami and earthquake, here's a project that I think is amazingly uplifting, and something you can definitely do with your children to try and explain the enormity and severity of this heartwrenching disaster.
I took this photo last fall after receiving this paper crane from a dear Flickr friend, but I'm definitely going to make a few of my own tonight with my boys and send them in. I think this is very worthwhile cause, and something we can all contribute to. And yeah, I'm sure that many of you have a lot of pretty paper sitting around that would be perfect for this. ;)
Here is a link ( the PDF they mentioned won't open for me) to an animated tutorial of how to fold Origami cranes:  
http://www.origami.org.uk/

What else to do if you're all thumbs at folding paper? A Flickr contact of mine, Ali, is in the process of setting up a shop called 'One Thousand Wishes', where you will be able to purchase handmade Japanese papers, fabrics & washi tape, as well donated artwork and photography. 100% of the proceeds raised will go to the
Canadian Red Cross Earthquake and Tsunami  relief fund. Please consider making a small donation, purchasing an item, or donating something pretty that you've made. You can read more about it here on her blog:
http://thedottedline.typepad.com/the_dotted_line/

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