Tuesday, 31 January 2012

WILT #13

Cloud Cult is a band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. And yes, a Minnesotan first introduced me to their music. This song in particular has been in my head since last night when I was painting. I am in kind of a mellow mood today, so I thought this would be a good song to play for What I'm Listening To. It is called There's So Much Energy In Us.

By the way, it is just a song, there is no actual video, so don't think something is wrong with the player. It's an interesting song though, so take the time to listen to it. My favourite part is "Then lights they fill the air, or were they always there?  I finally see it. I finally see it. And I heard the captain say, I heard the captain say, 'You were always close to it, so very close to it.'"

Thursday, 26 January 2012

The New - Week 8 (Lub dub)

So this week's New may come as a bit of a surprise to you since it is not in the range of the typical 'New' stuff that I do. I also can't exactly say that this was something I 'chose' to do. However, it is a first for me and so I thought I would blog about it nonetheless.

About a month ago I started having heart palpitations. Not the racing heart kind but ones where it felt like my heart was pounding way to hard. At first it just happened sporadically some nights when I lay down to sleep. Then it started to occur more frequently and during the early evenings. Sometimes it would even last for a few hours. Imagine having your heart pounding loudly and feeling it in your chest, your neck and having it occur when you aren't doing anything except relaxing on the couch...it is very strange. It is also a little disconcerting, being that it is a favourite organ of mine and all.

So I went to the doctor and she asked me a bunch of questions and listened to my heart. She said she heard a couple of dropped beats. I have since learnt (thank you google) that it is not entirely uncommon for a person's heart to skip a few beats now and then (and not just when you are in love either). What I don't know is how many skipped beats is too many. The doctor did what all doctors seem to do when they don't have a quick and easy answer - she ordered a bunch of tests.

Now at this point I should also mention that I have hypothyroidism and I'm currently taking medication for it, though we are still trying to figure out the right dose. When I started having the heart palpitations I thought it might be related to my hypothyroidism or maybe my medication was too high. All the tests that came back seemed to suggest that the latter at least is not the case.

So in the quest to find out what is going on with my little ticker - the doctor also ordered a holter monitor for me. A holter monitor is a mini ECG machine that you wear and it measures your heart rhythms over a 48 hour period. 3 weeks after seeing the doctor and today I finally had my appointment to get mine...hence the something New I was talking about.

So I go to the cardiologist's office today and they hook me up with a holter monitor. Basically they put 3 electrodes on my chest and one to the right of my belly. These electrodes are hooked up to a bunch of wires that lead to a little ECG machine that I have to wear around my waist. It is somewhat bulky and admittedly the surgical tape holding the wires and electrodes on me is somewhat itchy, but otherwise I don't feel a thing. I was also given a paper on which to keep a diary of my activities for the next 48 hours, along with any symptoms I'm feeling.

One of the biggest nuisances about wearing this thing is that I can't get it wet, which means no showering for the next 48 hours. I'm also hoping that it is not too uncomfortable to sleep with. I have to wear it until Saturday morning at 10:30. Then I remove the electrodes myself and throw out the sticky tape. The ECG machine has to be returned to the cardiologist's office by 9:30 Monday morning or be charged a $100 late fee! Crazy! 

Then the waiting begins again, because obviously I will have to wait to get my results back.

I wonder what they will discover about this little heart of mine?

Wednesday, 18 January 2012

WILT #12

I was so excited yesterday to learn that my favourite band is going to be on tour and is coming to Toronto on March 24! Tickets go on sale next week. Needless to say I have every intention of going :) They also recently released a new album. This week's song is from their new album and is called 'These Times'.

The cool thing about this video is that they asked their fans to submit videos for it. Fans were asked to write down in one sentence on a piece of poster board why times have been hard for them. Then on the other side they were to write 'They will pass'. The results are a pretty amazing video with real people and their problems and a positive message. Still gives me goose bumps when I watch it...

Saturday, 14 January 2012

The New - Week 7 (Adventures in Paint)

We have been making some serious progress on our home renovations and a few days after Christmas the new rooms were ready to paint. Now, I'm no stranger to painting walls - I've not only painted my own walls, I've painted my parents', my in-laws', my friends', pretty much anyone who will let me near their naked walls with a paint brush and a can of paint. Needless to say, my New for this week is not your basic wall painting. However, I'm always looking to try new painting techniques. Thus far I have done sponging on, sponging off and stripes (vertical and horizontal). This time around I thought I would try something different - colour washing!

I have a book from Home Depot called Decorative Painting 1-2-3 and I used that as a guide. First step was picking out paint. We opted to go with two colours that matched our new bed comforter. Based on the wisdom of the paint store attendant I bought 2 gallons of the base coat (WAY more than I needed), a quart of the top coat and 2 quarts of glaze (that's all they had left).

First step (the easy part), was painting the walls with the base coat, twice. This was of course done after we put primer on the walls. Can I just say that painting walls without trim and with plywood as the floor is AWESOME! No need to tape, no need to put down drop cloths - my kind of painting!

Now for the decidedly hard part: the top coat, a.k.a. colour wash.

I started by mixing 1 part latex paint (in this case, 1/2 quart) with 4 parts of the glaze. Armed with my trusty paint brush - I was ready!


Now, according to the 'authors' of the book I was to start by cutting in the corners with my paint. (If you have no idea what that means, don't worry, neither did I - hello google!) Cutting in the corners is basically how you paint a line where two edges meet. To 'cut in a corner' you paint out from the corner using several brush strokes one after the other and then you smooth them over with a long, smooth stroke.

From there you make random crosshatch patterns with the glaze paint. Crosshatch is just a fancy way of saying "make x's". And you continue making x's and try to complete one section before drying lines appear. (ha ha ha ha...ugh) Okay, so my first attempt at colour washing was not a success. The glaze which is supposed to help keep your paint from drying too quickly, did not seem to be doing what it was supposed to. I managed to finish 2 walls before it got too dark for me to see and I was not at all happy with the results!



Great thing about painting is that if you totally mess it up, you can always paint over it and start again...which is exactly what I did.

Regroup - new plan. Find a better book or video that shows how this method is supposed to work successfully. Youtube was not super helpful. I sent my hubby to the library to get 5 different books about faux finishing and NONE of them said anything about colour washing! Then by some fluke, in my random searching I stumbled upon a video that clearly showed how this technique was supposed to work. Back to the hardware store to get some new tools and some more glaze.

For this new technique, I again mixed up 1 part latex paint (the other half of the quart) with 4 parts of the glaze. This time however I was using a mini roller and a damp cloth. Basically you roll the glaze onto a small section of wall and then you use the damp cloth in a circular motion to wipe off some of the glaze. You are supposed to end up with a beautiful colour washed affect. I ended up with my base coat walls and small bits of the lighter glaze. Seems this colour wash effect doesn't work so well when your base coat is darker than your glaze coat.

After my second failed attempt, I played around a bit and the results were a little better.


But in the end, I liked the plain walls the best - so once again I painted over the effect. As you can imagine, I was glad that I had the extra gallon of paint after all.

The "finished" product
The moral of the story: Not everything you try is going to work out. The fun is in the experimentation and the journey. Don't be afraid to fail. What are you going to try "new" this year?

Friday, 13 January 2012

Home Renos - The White

Day 14

The windows arrived today! One small glitch...it seems that Bobby our builder was under the impression that I wanted all the windows to have grills (the white bars that go through them) and I was actually wanting the bay window to be clear. I can't even say it was a miscommunication since neither of us communicated about it in the first place - ha ha. The good news is that the new windows have been ordered and should arrive in 4 weeks. In the meantime, they put the grilled windows in to keep out the cold.

Our master bedroom window

Our temporary Bay window
Today they also drywalled the dining room ceiling.


Day 15

Today some strange men in special suits and masks rolled up with a big truck, laid out a long hose and proceeded to spray foam into our attic. Cool.

Day 16, 17 & 18

Mudding! Mudding! Mudding! (need I say more?)


The mudding guys finished off all the mudding on the 23rd of December and just before they left, the guy turns to me and says "So, you know we are coming back tomorrow to do the sanding right?"

Me - Um, no, I don't think so! That's Christmas eve day! And I'm having people over for dinner!

The crazy thing is that the guy actually gave me a hard time about it! I told him he was welcome to come back the following week, say the Tuesday and he told me that they probably couldn't get back in until Wednesday. And that's how we left things.

But wait...the story gets even better...

We had our wonderful Christmas eve dinner with family and Christmas day festivities as well. on Boxing Day we relaxed and enjoyed some family time. We were planning on going up to my parents' house on Wednesday to visit with some of my relatives, which would have worked out perfect because if the mudders came on Wednesday like they told me, then no one would be here while they were sanding.

Day 19

Tuesday morning.

I just get out of the shower when I get a phone call from Joe saying that the mudders are on their way! What?? I scramble! (and no, I'm not talking about eggs) My hair is still wet when they show up. I quickly dry it and then the boys and I make our way down the hall past the upstairs rooms where the mudders are busy sanding already. I find it unbelievable that they are wearing these industrial air masks and aren't in the least bit concerned that my children are walking around trying to cover their mouths with their hands. As quickly as I can I get the boys dressed and out into the fresh air. We opt to go to Home Depot to pick out lights while we wait for the mudders to finish and the dust to settle (pun intended). 

When we got home, I couldn't believe how dusty it was in the house! It was like they barely tried to cover anything up and had they come on Wednesday we would have been more prepared.

Bobby, when we told him, rushed right out to clean everything up. He was beyond apologetic and actually made a point of calling the mudding guys (who later called to apologize - leaving a message on our voicemail). My biggest beef wasn't even the mess, it was the fact that they didn't even care to wait until the boys and I were out of the house before starting.

Check out all the dust on the floor...and this is just from the dining room

Our upstairs bathroom. And in case you are wondering - no, the bathroom counter is not naturally white, it's a dark brownish-black normally!
Day 18

The workers are gone (at least for the time being) and now it's our turn! Joe and I together primed both new rooms (I did the walls and he did the ceilings) and Joe also primed the bathroom and dining room ceilings.


After so much white everywhere, (except outside of course, because it still hadn't snowed), it was time to add some colour!  What colours you ask?? Well...you'll have to wait to see the finished project :)

Sunday, 1 January 2012

New Year's Resolutions

January 1st 2012 - I'm back from my holiday hiatus from blogging.

Guess I should start by saying "Happy New Year!" I am assuming that if you are reading this it means that you at least had a safe New Year's and I can only hope that it was a happy one as well!

Before I completely say good bye to 2011, I wanted to share with you a video by DJ Earworm. Every year since 2007 he compiles a list of the top 25 songs of the year and then he mashes them together into a song and video. He really is quite talented. If you like this one, you should check out some of his other ones. My favourite is still the 2009 one "Blame it on the Pop". One of my favourite parts is trying to figure out what the songs are. See how many you can get right!



Now back to the year at hand.

2012.

New Year's resolutions.

Admittedly I've never been big on making them, well at least not the traditional kind. But I know lots of people who do. I also found it interesting last night to note the number of Weight Watchers and Nicorette commercials on TV as we were watching the Niagara Falls NYE ceremonies (featuring Our Lady Peace and Simple Plan). Some businesses thrive on our New Year's resolutions - just think of all the exercise clubs who make a killing off of one year memberships that most people don't end up using past the first month. I heard somewhere that people often try to make too many resolutions and that they should only choose one to increase their chances of keeping it.

I think what we are all really seeking is just a fresh start, a way of wiping the slate clean of past mistakes and being given a second chance at getting at least something right. I like the idea of not being tied to your past and I think it is admirable that many people want to better themselves.
For me this year, I have decided that my resolution is going to be a more general one. This year, it is my goal to be happier. I'm going to make a concerted effort to wake up each morning and smile and be grateful that I have another day awaiting me that is just bursting with possibilities. I want to laugh more, and not just those little chuckles, but the full on belly laughs where you are left gasping for air. I want to judge less and empathize more. I want to speak kinder words and listen with an open heart. I want to take things in stride and appreciate and enjoy what I have. I want to relish every hug, every kiss, every high five, every precious moment (even the little ones) and when I lie down to sleep at the end of the day, I want to do it the way the day began, with a smile and a feeling of gratitude.

Unfortunately this morning I woke up with both my head and my stomach yelling at me (SO not the way I wanted to start off 2012). The sad part is that yesterday I only had 3 glasses of wine the entire evening and barely had a buzz. Of course, the chips and chocolate I also consumed probably didn't help ;) I am happy to report that I did not spend the entire day in bed feeling like crap. No, shortly after waking up I was greeted by two very excited little boys who proceeded to jump on the bed and attack me with cuddles (totally the best way to be attacked). And the day just got better - a lazy afternoon playing Wii with Theo and Joe while Isaac napped, followed by dinner at my in-laws' house (love not having to cook) and an evening curled up on the couch with my hubby...2012 is shaping up to be a great year so far!

I have also decided this year to undertake a project of sorts. Even though we moved into our house in 2006, I have never really took the time to make my home look the way I want it to look. (I guess I was kind of distracted by having kids) But now that we are putting an addition on our house, I think it is finally time to make some changes. So this year, I am going to go room by room and paint, decorate and organize it the way I want. And when one room is finished, I will move on to the next one and do the same thing, until every room in the house has been transformed. I will declutter! I will throw things away! I will find better storage solutions! And yes, it will probably take me the whole year to do it - but I WILL do it! I am of course going to start with the new rooms (once they are ready) since that is the most logical starting point. And I have to admit, I'm excited about it! And don't worry, I will document my progress as I go so you can see the changes I'm making (I love before and after photos). What are your plans and projects for the new year?

I am going to sign off of my first blog of 2012 with something that a friend of mine posted as her facebook status last night - I think it is just brilliant:

"Every year you make a resolution to change yourself... this year make a resolution to BE yourself!"