stuff & things

wow - what an imaginative title that is! 

This morning's weather looks much more hopeful for the day, which is supposed to actually be warmer and not rainy at all...maybe even actually sunny. So far it is cloudy, but high cloud that might burn off.

Yesterday 'in between things' I spent time actually organizing my photos on the computer into categories, deleting junk and many duplicates.  Much easier to find what I want to see/use!  Made me feel rather homesick for the house in Cedar...  And photos of cats/kittens and puppies also really pulled at my heart.  Seem to have lost a lot of photos when I had a computer crash - or was that when I upgraded to Windows 7?  The puppy pictures of us out on the front lawn with them - showing them off to prospective new owners - seem to be all missing.  And I do know a lot of my digital photos are missing.  One of the hazards of the digital age...  I do plan on getting a separate hard drive sometime this year...hopefully that will eliminate that problem.

This afternoon I meet with Jan at the bank to discuss finances for us possibly buying the Cowichan PG franchise.  There are pros and cons to it, but Grant seems very much for it.  Tomorrow at noon we have a meeting with the current franchise owners.  And sometime today/this evening I will check out the 'profile' I received the link for - which is the next step in purchasing the franchise.  If we do - and the timing is right - then I will be heading to Moncton NB for training the week of June 6-10.  I'm hopeful that I can manage to get flights and hotel arrangements that are ok prices.  I'd kind of like to go over on the Saturday rather than the Sunday to give myself time to look around...otherwise, arriving in Moncton at the airport at almost midnight Sunday night would make for a very tired day!  But so far I've only checked the flights from Vancouver....I just thought that I could fly from Victoria and have Grant or Amanda drive me down..must check that possibilty out!

WALK

Should not be a 'big thing' but it will be if I can manage to keep it up.  After H. came home we shared some soup, then I headed out for a walk.  Initially it was going to be just 'around the block' but once I got to the intersection where Opal turns off of Tunnah I turned down there.  I'd driven down Opal - which connects to Rock City - once, but never walked it.  It is a fairly quiet road.  At Rock City I turned left, walking maybe 1/2 km total, going as far as where the Lynley Creek Trail goes off to the left.  I walked the trail a very short distance, stopping at the top of the steps which go down to the trail.  There is a by-pass trail which I'm pretty sure I could manage which goes down to the bottom of the steps.  I was definitely enjoying the walk, but knew it was time to turn around.  Now I am back home my legs are 'feeling it' and hope that I have not overdone it considering we are going to Harewood Plains for Guides tonight.  The photo to the left is what we should be seeing tonight...tho it looks a lot cloudier than that now.
Not sure how far I walked - definitely not a long ways, but not bad..short of driving it with the car I can't figure out how to measure it...but maybe 2+km return..

weight - diet - exercise....

I suspect my family thinks I am not concerned by my weight/fitness level - if so, they are not correct.  I don't know what exactly is keeping me from losing weight and getting fitter - I certainly know I need to!  Somehow it feels that every time I discuss 'the issue' it comes down to my making excuses.  There probably is a lot to my 'excuses' but there comes a time when one has to try very hard to ignore the excuses and just 'get moving'.  The more weight I put on and the less fit I am I know it will be even harder.  It has now been a little over 10 years since I started to gain weight - I can almost pick the time when it happened.  Spring 1998.  It is now Spring 2011 and I HAVE to do something. 

I know that I could always go back and delete what I write here, but I think I will try very hard NOT to do that.  It is said that if one writes down plans (like New Years Resolutions) then it is harder to ignore.  I will try to use a combination of my Blog writings and Journaling and see if I can be at least somewhat more successful.

Anyhow...this is an interesting, and somehwhat similar, blog that I found this morning:  http://everythings-gotta-go.blogspot.com/

keeping my fingers crossed xxxx

Two posts in one day!!

I've spent some today 'tweaking' my Blog - changed my 'logo' and overall the whole design.  Wanted something fresher and hopefully easier to read.  A bit of experimenting and so far this is what I've come up with.  I think I've managed that - and I do like changing the background.  Not sure how to get other 'nature-type' backgrounds but this one is nice to start.  Do like the lighter post-background so I can change the colour of the font and the font itself for different posts...
Anyhow - time to get some 'real work' done!

Spring - but doesn't feel like it yet!

My last post was February 11th 2011 - a little less than three months ago.  But most definitely a lot has happened since then.  I am no longer working with NSVS - At the end of March there were some difficulties between myself and the Board - which I will not go into here! - and on March 24th I gave the Board my resignation, with two weeks notice.  It was agreed that it would not be feasible for my to work out my notice.  Unfortunately when I received my final cheque early in April the Board had chosen to only pay me until approx. March 23rd. 

Since that time I've been looking for work, but wanting to do something that is not only enjoyable and challengng, but also something that will not reproduce the situation which engendered difficulties with NSVS.  Last week I found a posting on CraigsList for a Homestay Coordinator position with Muskoka Language Institure - I applied and am really keeping my fingers crossed.  It 'closed' last Friday, so I should hear something early this week if I have a chance.

AND - Gary finally started work on the new front entry.  He has the front wall/window up, and should get the other (door) wall done this week.  As usual it is going very slowly - but we all know that it will make an incredible difference when it is done.  First Grant wanted to re-use the existing front door, but I convinced him to get a 'new one' - so one day last week Heather and I went out to DEMXX and we found a new acquisition that had been in a 'waterfront mansion' in Victoria.  It was originally marked at $825, down to $575 - Alan gave me a price of $400.  I think Alan likes to think of almost everything they demolish as being a 'mansion'!  Anyhow it is a beautiful solid oak door and wide trim - supposed to be white oak - with a very dark stain.  It will take our existing door handle/deadbolt.  Gary will just need to do a new threshold.  I'm hoping we can still have the glass block though I'm not sure how he will manage taking that out..but keeping security in mind.  Maybe fill in with plywood temporarily?

This past weekend was Mother's Day weekend -

• Saturday we all had a dreary, grumpy day..  Grant napped a lot.  We needed groceries, and Heather finally agreed to come with me.  We got a few groceries - choosing carefully - at Superstore then came home.  She very nicely drove which helped my headache!
• Yesterday was a much better, more productive day for all of us!  When I went to make coffee I found a wrapped package by the coffeemaker - suspecting it was a Mother's Day gift, I took it to the living room and unwrapped it.  Unlike some gifts, I had not expected an actual gift for Mother's Day, and definitely had no idea what was inside the package!  It turned out to be the mailbox we had looked at and chosen at the 'Dig This' store on Rutherford when we were looking there earlier in the winter.  It is lovely, strong, and very simple in design.  The front has a tile with a dragonfly design.  We have agreed that it is permanently 'ours' and will not stay with the house whenever we sell.  Not long before noon we headed out for a 'dog-walk', choosing to head up to the  'wood lot' area at the end of Biggs Road.  As usual I was well at the end, but it did not rain, and I enjoyed the wide variety of flowers we saw.  Only one mountain biker, otherwise it was 'just us' .  As always Kasia managed to find water - several times.  The truck is most definiely the 'way to go' for dogwalks - she still barks but doesn't damage our hearing like in the van!

Speaking of the Van - which is Ian's now - unless he got lost he should be starting his first day of his two week trial period as Campground Attendant with East Kootenay Parks. Still not sure which park he is working at.  I guess we will hear sometime this week.  He may not have any internet access...  Its to bad that he doesn't have a camera - unless he actually does..???  This summer job he will have more private free time - maybe he might develop an interest in taking pictures during quiet moments.  More on his convoluted path to working in the East Kootenays in another post.

It is almost 10 am and I am very late in waking Heather up (PD Day for schools today so she does not have any kids coming to either Morrell Sanctuary or Bowen Park...)

Back again - my posting felt 'unfinished'!

To continue about post-NSVS jobhunting ~  About two weeks ago I found a posting for the Cowichan franchise of Property Guys on a Business for Sale website.  Obviously since the whole concept behind Property Guys is selling without a realtor it is a 'fsbo' business selling website.  I emailed back & forth a bit with one of the owners of the franchise - she lives in Ladysmith - and last Friday I met with her at her place to get more info.  I arrived with 20+ questions already written down, and along with extra info and a small folder she gave me I came home with plenty of information for Grant and I to discuss.  We both feel it is definitely worth taking the next step - which is approaching the bank to see if we can get a line of credit attached to the house (like a mortgage) - and if the bank says yes - then I will arrange a second meeting with both of the business partners for more info and maybe an offer.  The next 'training' session at Head Office in Moncton is early in June - so to make that training we need to get things going fairly soon.  Otherwise we would not be able to take over until the next training which would likely not be until September.
Blogging:
Last night I spent some time reading a Blog I found called '100 Lakes on Vancouver Island' http://100lakesonvancouverisland.blogspot.com/  I enjoyed the photos and the content - lots of great links also.  This morning I also quickly scrolled/speed-read thru to the beginning of his blog.  Makes me even more interested in Blogging not just for my personal benefit, and possibly the use of an immediate cirlcle of personal or business connections - but to write something of significance in blog form.  I think my small laptop might be useful there...  I can see that I might write the content on my laptop - not even needing to be online - then cut & paste the content and reformat when I have the time next....definitely an idea.


I'll either come back and add to this post or if I don't do that today will start a new one another day..