Sunday, July 08, 2012

The One Where You Hear the Shooting Star Story...



I'm a week into my summer "vacation", and so far have been able to cross 2 things off from my list. One, Thing 17, was from a few weeks ago - our school's end of year class trip was to Medieval Times. I'm not sure I had the most enjoyable experience going there with the school, as I spent most of the time walking students back and forth from the bathroom, but it was fun to experience, and I think will be a great place to visit with family in the future. Thing Done!
The next thing I accomplished was a complete fluke. I actually had gone back and forth changing this thing, Thing 57 on my list several times, from See a Shooting Star, to spend an evening star-gazing, to see a constellation other than the big dipper, lol! But on Friday night, after one of the more perfect days in my memory, I finally saw a shooting star!!
This story is one for the books IMO...
I've been going up north with JR every few weeks since we started going out. In the last 2 months, he's made it his mission to help me see a shooting star, since I haven't ever seen one before!
Unfortunately, the time when he decides to look up at the sky to find one is when I'm using the Outhouse before bed, and he's holding the door up, having his last cigarette of the night and facing away from me...lol! (It is very dark, especially now that the outdoor hydro has all been taken down - no way am I risking a night-time encounter with a live animal by myself ;))
So, for maybe 2 or 3 nights we've done this, I'll be finishing my business and he'll go "Holy shit! A shooting star! Did you see that?!" And I, of course, will say "No!!" So the last few times we've been up north, he's been given strict orders to stare straight ahead, and nowhere near the sky - it's only fair, right?
Well, Friday night he looked up. And so did I, mostly because he said "I'm finding you a shooting star!" And I said (or shrieked) something along the lines of "DON'T LOOK WITH OUT ME!!" And then it happened, right in front of both of our viewpoints, a shooting star flew through the sky, lighting a path as it went, and disappeared as quickly as it came. AND WE BOTH SAW IT!!! :D
It was the perfect ending to a perfect day!
So - as for the rest of my list - I'm hoping to complete my out-of-province road trip this summer - hoping to camp my way to New Jersey where I'll eat at the Soul Kitchen and hopefully touch Jon Bon Jovi ;) That would knock 3 things off my list, so cross your fingers folks ;)
I'm also hoping to go zorbing or treetop trekking for my A-Z List if funds permit, and hopefully squeeze in a waterfall walk or two!
The next few weeks will be busy with my move (yup, apparently I move every year!)*, but I'm hoping to keep progressing on my List, because the summer is the best time to get things done! Oh yeah, I even wrote a page of my novel. At this rate it might have the chance to be published in the year 2052, but it's something ;) I also changed Thing 48** to Only drink water and morning coffee for 4 days. I feel this is akin to drinking 8 glasses of water a day, without feeling like I am going to drown myself again.
Think that's all for now!
Until next time...
~Katy

* Looking for moving helpers and volunteers, and painters too :) If interested, msg me - dates are July 15-19 - food and alcohol provided - Have I mentioned how much I love you? And how thin and beautiful you have been looking lately? ;)
** For the life of me, I can't remember my Things numbers...I apologize deeply with any mix-ups and incorrect cross-referencing - numbers ain't never been my thang ;)

Sunday, June 10, 2012

You Learn Something New Everyday...

And sometimes you learn a few things!
The past couple of day have had some eye-opening realizations for me...
Well, to be perfectly honest, I think if you're trying to, you probably could have eye-opening realizations everyday. This seems to be a time of introspection for me though, and here are a few of the things I've learned or am pondering:

1. This is a bit of a silly realization, but when Venus was in Transit earlier this week, and I was listening to all of the radio announcers talk about how you shouldn't look directly at the sun, you need special glasses, etc. I realized that the reason you shouldn't look at the sun is that, well, you just shouldn't EVER look at the sun! When I was in grade 6, or thereabouts, there was a big solar eclipse when we were at school, and the teacher struck the fear of god in me about looking at the sun during the eclipse. So, naturally, I just thought there was something different about the sun during the eclipse that made it so you couldn't look at the sun. Turns out, you just shouldn't look at the sun, and the only reason they warn people not to during eclipse is because they are curious enough to try!

2. Lately I've realized that I tend to be greatly affected by the thoughts and sayings of other people (or horoscopes as I wrote about earlier this week). I kept trying to come up with a word for this quality, and yesterday, as I explained this to someone they said "Oh, so you're very impressionable!" And I though, that's it! I'm not sure if this is a quality that I've always had, or developed over time, but there you have it - impressionable! I don't really like this realization, because I've always thought I was a pretty contrary person - you say it's blue, I say green - but maybe I am both? I know that over the past 4 or 5 years I've developed a lot of insecurities and lost some confidence, and I just hope that this impressionable thing hasn't shown up to stay.

3. In terms of friendship, I've realized that there are "Planners" and there are "Acceptors". This came to me while discussing with Janey Canuck about how ridiculous it is that we hadn't seen each other for over 3 months, and some of our other friends even longer! Then I realized that I have been so busy over the past school year with 3 different grades, with a boyfriend, with a super small bachelor apartment that doesn't lend itself to hosting, etc. that I haven't been planning anything! I'm a "Planner" you see. Nobody else is. :-P It can be frustrating, because when you don't see your friends very often you think, gosh, do I have even any? Especially when you are dating someone who has hundreds of them (pros & cons of living where you grew up!), and you are always stuck for finding friends to go out with yourself! I realize I made a big decision moving to Hamilton a few years ago, and maybe I haven't made a huge circle of friends here, but I have made some, and the reality is that as you get older you make friends who have families and can't drop everything at the drop of a hat, like us unmarried, childless ladies can! So I guess if I want things to pick up, I need to put my planning hat back on!! ;)

4. In terms of relationships, I've realized that I have some complicated trust issues (which I knew), but hadn't realized what a long process healing them takes... As I was talking with my intuitive friend who labelled my "impressionability", we discussed trust issues in relationships, and she gave me a great analogy for it. It's all about going from control to commitment. When a relationship starts, it's a power struggle for who has control, who controls that control, and you wade your way through those murky waters as you get to know each other. At some point though, you lessen your hold on that control, and your relationship develops into a commitment. (I'm so glad I had this conversation! CandassP, thank Bev for me!!) Anyways, I know that I am still in the control stage in my relationship, but I think we are approaching the commitment area, which means a lot of give and take right now, and dealing with my trust issues. It isn't pleasant, and it hurts because you need to let go in order to trust, but I am determined to figure them out because I know that what I've found is worth it :)

I'm really looking forward to the summer ahead, and getting into some of my 101 things a little more actively! I am hoping to complete my "Wear dresses every day for a week" very soon. It will definitely include skirts as well if it happens while the school year is still on, because I don't think I own 7 "work" dresses, although I am getting close!
Still plucking away at my 50 Book Pledge, and getting the occasional colouring page in too ;)
Until next time~
Katy








Monday, June 04, 2012

P.S.

Book #24 in my 50 Book Pledge sucked. Seriously sucked. I could write better than that, and I should!
Also - 2 posts down in June so far... well, 3 now...
I'm on a roll!

No Horoscope Zone

So, at some point during January I started to realize how much I was letting my horoscope dictate my life. It sounds pretty ridiculous, but whenever I was reading my Astrology Zone monthly horoscope, I would start to get stressed out any time it referred to relationship trouble, bad days to travel on, Mercury in retrograde, career troubles... you name it, I stressed about it.
Stress comes pretty naturally for me... but when you start to fear upcoming dates because your horoscope said to watch out, it gets a little ridiculous.
Oh, did I mention that on top of the huge monthly horoscope, I was reading FIVE different daily horoscopes?!?!
So I quietly went on a detox. No horoscopes, at any time.
Of course, sometimes I slipped - like for my year ahead horoscope on my birthday. It must have been memorable, seeing as I can't remember it at all. Maybe I didn't read it after all...I could be stronger than I think!
One month, maybe March, I browsed through Astrology Zone, but stopped when I started getting anxious. This month, after Susan Miller tweeted that June was a good month for Aquarians, I took a deep breath and read it all. So far, so good.
Still no daily horoscopes though.. I am way to susceptible to suggestions from other people...
I'm not sure how long I'll be detoxing myself. Maybe until I feel a little more confident in the anxiety department.
It feels strange not reading my horoscope, but there are already so many things to consider and weigh and worry about in life, sometimes you have to take control over what you actually have the ability to take control of!
Yes, I'm an Aquarius with Gemini Rising, and I believe full moons make everyone (especially kids) a little unhinged, and eclipses like to throw dodgeballs at you when you aren't looking, but so do a lot of things in life...
Do you read your horoscope everyday?

Sunday, June 03, 2012

Oops!

I promise you, dear readers (if you're still out there), that I write blog posts every other day in my head... If only I could mentally type them and post them here as well!!
It's been another 2 months since I last blogged... Yup, I suck.
Moving on...
I added a few more things to my A-Z Challenge, and I'm up to 23 books read in my 50 Book Pledge! Hoping to make it to 28 books by July. :)
I finally completed "Get Rid of 100 Things", and dropped off a box of 100+ things (I added more last week) to the back of Value Village - if you're shopping in Stoney Creek you might end up with some of my old things ;)
I also started to colour in a colouring book. Shocking confession: I'm not very good at staying in the lines..who knew?! (It's not as easy as it looks ;))

I'm off to live in report card land for the next week, but hopefully will get things accomplished this summer - provided things work out career-wise, I anticipate lots of my Things getting started & finished this summer!



Monday, April 09, 2012

Slow but Steady...

Well, I keep making some progress on my 50 Book Pledge, so at least I feel like I am accomplishing something from this list! Up to 14 books read now, not too shabby for only being 3 1/2 months into the year :)
I just went through and read some of my first blog posts from when I started this blog last year, to hopefully give me some motivation! I definitely need to get my diet back on track - so long carbs & sugars again - it's always fun, but definitely not necessary!! I added one more activity to my A-Z Challenge as well - Aquafit!! I went to my first class of it last week and it was pretty fun! I also felt like it engaged my core, which is a tough thing for me to do when working out, so that was pretty inspiring. Hopefully I can keep going back to classes regularly! I don't have much else to say for the moment, I am feeling pretty tired still, but I am only 5 days in to my vacation, and this was the first day I actually got to sleep in! The week ahead is looking fun, but busy - hopefully I get to squeeze a couple of fun activities from my list into my plans as well!

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Almost 365 Days In...

So, my first month of Thing 10 has not gone well. In fact, it passed by without a single post! I really don't use my laptop at all outside of work, so the nights of sitting on it, with blogger open and ready to go, do not come often!
I have also spent the last month feeling extremely exhausted. :( I have my Passover holiday starting later this week for 10 days, and it can not come soon enough! I'm hoping, like last year's break, it will be a time of rejuvenation and renewal. That is when I started this blog & challenge, and it really set my life off on a new and exciting path :)
I have updated 2 of my things on here - Thing #69 - I added my weekend trip to Quebec to meet the "Q" part of the challenge, and I have read quite a bit this month as well, so I'm up to 11 books read in my Thing 90 - 50 Book Pledge for 2012.
That's all for now, but I'm hoping for some progress on a few things over my holidays, so stay tuned!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

A Few More Things...

Apparently there is a new, updated Blogger interface for me to try out - has anybody given it a shot yet? I am hesitant to click on it, because I am reluctant to experience any and all change ;) Seriously though, I am still getting used to the changes to my Gmail Inbox from 3 or 4 months ago!

If you see any references to a "Thing 6" page for my blog, ignore them - that workout plan never really went anywhere, so I decided to free up some space along the top of the page. :)

I have updated my 50 book pledge page and you can click the link to see what I have read in 2012 so far - I have read 5 books so far, and have thoroughly enjoyed 3 of them! Not bad odds...

I also went through and updated my A-Z Challenge. I feel like there are probably a few more things I could put up there if only I could remember them!! ;) We'll see if anything comes to mind.

Anyways, if there are any new readers out there, welcome! For all you old readers (figuratively), thanks for sticking around!

I'm off now to do some writing for one of my things...maybe...or maybe I'll just play some Plants & Zombies for a little while ;)

~Until next time...

I have a blog? I mean... I have a blog!! ;)

Greetings dear followers, 
I apologize for my lack of blogging prowess in the last few months. I could get into all of the murky details, but I will try to spare you from them. To get positivity, you need to give positivity, so that is what I am going to try to do here... for today anyways ;)
I haven't given my list much attention lately, and for that, I am sorry. I love the idea of the list, and I love that blogging gives me a chance to write, something that I love but I always forget to make time for. 
I have made numerous changes to my list over the last 10 months, and I am sure that the changes will continue, but for now I am going to take a look at my list in general and comment on some of the new changes and adaptations that I made today. Hopefully it will entice you to keep coming back to read, and hopefully it will give me the kick in the butt I need to get back on track!
** Bolded entries are either started, in progress or about to be started, Crossed out entries are completed!

1. Get my debt under control
Realistically, I probably won't pay off all of my debt in next two years, but I think I can reduce it quite a bit. I have working on a budget with the help of the fabulous Janey Canuck, and so far 2012 is looking up. My main goals here are to reduce my debt load and to get out of overdraft. I think these are reasonable goals that I can achieve well before the end of my 1001 days!


5. Find a full-time job with benefits
Ideally this will be a teaching job within a public or catholic school board, but at the moment I am just thinking that a guaranteed, full-time job with benefits would be nice. 


6. Reach goal weight (128 lbs)
Apparently as I get older, I stop eating when I am stressed out. This resulted in losing another 7 pounds in the last few months, without regularly going to the gym. I am hoping to keep those pounds off, as well as lose the last 15(!!) I have to go with continued exercise. I love walking and can't wait for the spring to fully get here (daylight wise), and I have started going to Yoga/Bodyflow at the gym 3 or 4 times a week. This is helping both my physical body and my mental health, and so far, 3 weeks in, I am thinking it is something I can keep up with :)


9. Get rid of 101 things
My box of 101 things to get rid of has been sitting outside my door for 6 months. Oops! I am hoping to actually get rid of the things, and maybe add a few more things, on my holidays in April, so wish me luck!


10. Blog 2 times a month (minimum)
I need some incentive to remember to get on here, so here goes nothing!


12. Organize & back-up all computer files
I made some good headway on this when I got my new laptop in August, but it is starting to suffer again. Hoping to reach this goal by the end of 2012.


14. Go horseback riding
My students are starting a social skills/equine assisted learning program in a few weeks, and I am going for an introduction session this week. I am pretty excited about working and being around horses, and I hope that by the end of the program I get to ride one! If not, then I hope I can talk myself into some discounted lessons :)


15. Learn to play an instrument 
I have been going to a ukulele group a few times a month that my co-worker runs, and while I am awful, and hardly ever practice outside of class, it is fun, and I hope to be able to keep improving. I am getting used to reading music again as well, so I hope to pull out my keyboard again one of these days too :)


16. Take over my Dad's LOC in my own name
My Dad is amazing. No lie. The amount of times he has helped me out financially is ridiculous, but he always does, no questions asked (well, hardly any) Unfortunately I am worrying that this is taking a toll on him financially now, and so my first and foremost goal to complete in the next few months is to get the LOC I used and am paying off into my name. Cross your fingers!!


17. Go to Medieval Times
I am so excited! My school found out that they now offer kosher meals at Medieval Times, so we are going to go for our end of school year trip!!! I can't wait!


19. Research my family tree as far back as I can
I am debating whether or not to keep this on the list. We'll see...


20. Finance a new car
This may be a bit of a cheat, but hey - it's one of the big things that happened in my life in the last few months, and it's so nice to be able to drive around freely without worrying about the km's I am using!! 


21. Go on vacation with John
I felt this was a good thing to aim for. Plus, my new favourite past time is to look on the internet for places to go visit because I NEED A HOLIDAY!!! :)


23. Travel somewhere I need to learn 10 phrases in an different language 
There is just no way I am going to learn a new language in the next 600-odd days. This is way more realistic... for now, anyways ;)


26. Buy and wear a pair of stiletto heels
Remember those beautiful red stilettos I bought last summer? Me too... Will work on wearing them this summer!!


28. Get up when the alarm goes off every day for a week
This is a grand idea. Someday I will do this! I think about it a lot :)


29. Phone or visit my Grandma and Nonna once a month
In an ideal world, I'd visit or call lots of family members a lot more often. Someday maybe I'll do this, when I can afford the long distance. For now, I am just going to work on staying in better touch with my Grandma & Nonna :)




34. Learn enough yoga to be able to do it at home on my own
I am hoping that all of my yoga and bodyflow classes are going to help me with this goal! 


35. Write all my bad memories on paper, burn this paper afterwards
Someone recently told me that with the moon in Pisces this is an ideal time to do this! Hopefully I can reach this goal soon, I think I need it.


40. Become a regular at a Pub Quiz night
I gotta get back into this! 


49.  See 1 live music event a month
I did so well on this goal in 2011! 2012...nothing so far!! Need to get back on track soon!


50.  Create a nut-free version of Reese's Pieces for myself 
I attained this goal with soy-nut butter and mini chocolate bars, but I want to figure out a baked-type of version of this... 


55. Go to bed before 10:30pm for an entire work week (that means lights out!)
I may have attained this when JR was getting up at 5:30am for work in the Fall, but I didn't keep track... someday...


64. Plant, grow & eat an edible plant
I combined 2 goals into 1 for this... Will definitely need to move for this goal to happen, as I wouldn't want to grow anything outdoors where I am living now!


65. Get a job interview with a public/catholic school board Hamilton/Burlington area
Please, Please, Please, Please! Tell me how!!! 


70. Donate 1,000,000 million grains of rice
I really need to bookmark this website!!


77. Go on vacation with friends
Yup, I've got vacation on the brain!


86. Keep a plant alive for 6 months (unrelated to Thing 64)
I'm thinking about a peace lily, I liked the one I used to have in my house... again, need a nice apartment for this one. Basements are no good for plants!!


90. Complete a 50 Book Pledge in 2012
91. Complete a 50 Book Pledge in 2013
If I could do this in 2011, why not 2012 & 2013 too? :)


92. Eat or volunteer at Jon Bon Jovi's Soul Kitchen in New Jersey http://www.jbjsoulkitchen.org/
Hopefully this well help with Thing 18 ;)


101. Save $25 for each completed thing 
I will do this... I will!!!
I've completed 9 things so far... $225 won't be hard to save...right?! 




Stay tuned for February 2012's 2nd blog post... :)