Jan 31 - 21 Again

Today is my mom's birthday - happy birthday mom! Or grandma, lol, depending on who is singing along. I tried a new gluten-free wheat-free cake mix (I was getting tired of the chocolate) but it was a bit of a fail. Jama found some candles and I love how it looks like a Dr. Seuss cake. And my mom turned 21, of course :D

Jan 30 - A Reluctant Photo

Coram's is still really uncomfortable with photos these days. However, he does like to see scrapbook layouts of himself, and he does want to support me on my daily photo, so today he reluctantly posed for a photo. You can tell by the look on his face how much he didn't love it.

Jan 29 - So Sunny

Some time in my later high school years - or maybe early university - I decided to start collecting suns. I like how many sun motif items have a sort of beaten up grungy looks. Gold, burgundy, forest greens, bronze, maybe or the frames, candle holders and other trinkets I found with suns on them were covered in my favourite colours. I don't officially collect them anymore, in that I don't actively seek them out, but I still love my suns - and their often close companion, moons :D This photo is take in my batrhoom, where I also have some scent diffusers LOL.

Jan 28 - The Truth

We like to make cute little scrapbook kits and layouts called 'a boys room'. The truth is there is nothing cute about many boys rooms. They are cluttered, beaten up, covered with pictures of things like Lego, and very likely a fire hazard. We clean Lucas's room fairly thoroughly once a month, and hes supposed to spend 10 minutes a day pickup up in there.

Jan 27 - Tea for Two (or more)

I went to make myself my 4th or 5th cup (yes I lose count) of tea today, when it struck me that my tea cupboard would probably be a good photo. After all, it captures something that I do every day without fail.

I usually start the day with something caffeinated, then move on to herbal for the rest of the day. Right now I am loving Decaf Bengal Spice by Celestial Seasonings. It's nice and spicey and has a bit more body than an herbal tea. Usually after dinner I move to something fruity - my current favourite is blueberry - then on to something relaxing like chamomile or peppermint towards bed.

You can see some mocha powder on the side, too. I had a heck of a time finding hot chocolate mix that isn't primarily milk powder, and I don't like making it from scratch. So I was happy to find that the mocha powder from Starbucks is dairy free. I mix it with warmed soy milk - but only very occasionally as it ends up being a rich drink. But when the kids have hot chocolate I don't have to feel all left out LOL.

Jan 26 - Yummy Muffins!

I have had muffin envy lately - Steve and the boys have been making them lots and it's such a nice snack to have. SO, I tracked down a basic muffin mix that is gluten free (yes I know I could make one from scratch but I'm lazy what can I say). Then I picked up a bag of trail mix a carrot and some frozen blueberries. When I got home, I chopped up the trail mix, grated the carrot, and folder them in with half a cup of blueberries into the basic muffin mix. The end result was not at all bad. I think next time I'll add more carrots and more nuts. But having not had a muffin in half a year, it was so nice to have them around again!

Jan 25 - I only turned away for a minute!

Look what these naughty kitties cam in and did - I swear I was only gone a minute!

Jan 24 - More Hubby

Steve seemed to quite enjoy being my photo of the day yesterday, so I decided to snap another shot of him today. He wanted to smile this time, and we took 5 shots (still couldn't get the odd shadow to stop happening because of kitchen lighting) so here his is with his shy smile. Sigh ... he's so cute. And yes his shirt is an advertisement for 'Amazing Beer Goggles'. LOL.

Jan 23 - The Hubby

I snuck up on Steve while he was playing music, so he wasn't really prepared for this photo. After I took he he asked if he should go shower and shave and then we could take it again. But I didn't want him to be posed - I wanted to catch him being just who he is. A little scruffy with a guitar under his arm.

Jan 22 - Cuddly Cute

I think I was supposed to be a cat. I really do. I can't think of anything I would rather do than curl up on the bed with them and just enjoy. They don't think I am a cat though, so when I try to snuggle in there with them, inevitably one or both of them leaves. I guess I don't smell right or I'm just not furry enough.

Jan 21 - Birthday Girl

My little sister turned 15 this month. I remember so well when she was born, and when she learned to walk, and when she used to love playing dress up, and would run into the room saying 'I got my kitty face on!' with a huge grin. She was beautiful then, and she is beautiful now.

Jan 20 - Love

I didn't go anywhere today. And I'm about done (for now) with photos of my laptop work area. So I took my camera around my house and looked for something to snap a photo of.

What I landed on was the favours I made for my wedding. Because of the lighting where it is, the flash wanted to go off, but when that happened you couldn't read the tag on the favour. I had to set the camera to low light in order to get a photo that was bright enough where you could still read the tag, and it actually turned our pretty. The gold ink on the tag is really gold! My dear friend Jane wrote out all the tags for me. She was living far away, and asked what she could do to help - and this was perfect! I didn't need to send any supplies, and she could mail the tags to me quite easily. Plus it made the favours that much more special to me because of her handwriting on them, making me think of her :)

My wedding was amazing. It wasn't traditional, I wore black and burgundy, our kids were the ring bearers, and I bought my bouquet from Safeway the morning of the wedding. But it was absolutely wonderful. It was a joyous celebration of our relationship, what we had gone through together, and how much we loved each other. Everyone had a wonderful time, and I want to do it again sometimes, a vow renewal, just to celebrate like that again!

Jan 19 - Work

Work today - just putting in time.

Jan 18 - Play?

Shortly after we moved into this neighbourhood, which was about 5 1/2 years ago, they put a new playground into our park. The boys would watch the trackers dig and ground and put up equipment. The whole thing was fenced off for weeks while they worked on it, and after it was done it needed time to settle before it was safe.

Now it looks a bit old and forlorn. The boys are far too tall to have any fun on it, and as we walked by today Coram showed no interest in it at all. But it was new once. It was exciting. And it was glorious.

Jan 17 - In His Eyes

I explained to Coram what project 365 was, because he was wondering why I'm taking so many photos. So now he's in my corner, and coming up with ideas for me. Today he said 'Oh take a picture of the FedEx truck with the arrow on it!'.

And I did.

Because I never, ever, noticed the arrow before. Shows you what I may miss that he picks up.

Jan 16 - A Little Help

So today I sat at my laptop for many hours. I worked on my moms site for 3 hours, plus did some designing. I had committed myself to doing a couple of sets of photoshop glitter styles, and one of them just seemed to drag on forever. SO I got myself a little help:

Jan 15 - Just how many do you need?

I used to be a Tupperware lady. That means I have a lot of Tupperware. Get a visual in your mind of a lot of Tupperware - then magnify it b a factor of at least three. I have Tupperware literally falling our of cupboards in the house, and i also have at least 4 moving boxes full of it in storage.

I'm not actually sure how I feel about my Tupperware collection. I was excited to acquire it at first. When I started to be really active as a consultant, I started accumulating it faster and faster. With each new product release, I needed samples for my demo kit, and I was earning pieces of it as incentives left, right and center. Suddenly I had 12 of the same blue bowl. Which would have been great if I'd stayed busy - because it's awesome to have that stuff to give away to people who host parties. But I stopped - suddenly - when I got very sick and stayed sick for about 8 months. So ya - I have a lot of Tupperware. And the bulk of it is an wrappers in storage.

I do have a fair chunk I use though. And a lot of Tupperware means a lot of lids. And no matter what you do, lots of lids means lots of clutter. And so I bring you - a collection of mine in need of attention LOL.

Jan 14 - A Wet Commute

Honk. Beep. And don't forget your umbrella.

Jan 13 - A Treat

Yesterday's photo prompt at Gotta Pixel was to photograph a treat. I had already taken the cute cuddly cat photo, so I decided I'd photograph a treat today.

Treats are tougher for me than they once were, since discovering this past summer that I am allergic to dairy and wheat. No cakes, scones, buns, cars, muffins, ice cream, cream puffs, blah blah blah ... there are a few places that make rice flour goodies, but they are often very heavy and nothing like the 'real thing'.

Someone said that most good dark chocolate should be free of milk - and really, it should be, it should be mostly cocoa butter and cocoa. Sadly, this isn't the case. I have found only two dark chocolate bars that have no milk, and last time I was in the store one of the had a label marked 'discontinued', so I suspect this is my last remaining available chocolate.



You'd think that without those goodies in my diet I'd drop weight ... no such luck. Sigh. My system is so out of wak its not even funny.

Jan 12 - Help! My cat is too cute!

I recognize some of you are not cat fans, and even those of you who are may well be tired of my cats already. But how could I not photograph this?

Jan 11 - Wiped Out

I worked all day today - my first full fay back 'in field' as they call it (I work around the city, traveling from store to store, so I dont have an office). After 8 store visits, I came home and did this:



I'm in my son's bed, because Steve was working from home - and he is a phone tech support guy, who's office is in our room, so I couldn't sleep in our own bed. Hence the giant hamster ROFL.

Jan 10 - Stolen Photo

I'm not really sure why, but Coram has a real love hate relationship with photos. OK, so to be honest, he has a real love hat relationship with just about everything. Including me. Nothing nicer than hearing your child scream 'I hate you and I want to stab you in the NIGHT!'. Right? Ya. Right. So anyways. I wanted a photo of him because I have a nice one of Lucas from the 1st, and he wanted me not to have a photo of him. Every time I tried to get one he would throw his arms over his face.

Enter my 10 times optical zoom.



He's doing the one thing he doesn't seem to have a love hate relationship - playing computer. I probably let him do that too much, but honest,y its predictable for him, it doesn't rush him when he needs extra time to process his answers, and he can feel successful with it. So where is the harm?

Jan 9 - Have Tree

So I still have my Christmas tree up. I know it's supposed to be bad luck or something, but I am not at all superstitious, and a lot lazy. If it wasn't so big I'd leave it up all year LOL. I am hoping to get it all undecorated and packed away tomorrow. In the meantime, the kitty is enjoying yet another place to sgtretch his old legs out.

Jan 8 - Loose Tea

I feel a bit like loose tea today - no sense of direction at all. I didn't even leave the house. I read the Gotta Pixel prompt, which was laughter, and I thought I'd try to take another photo over the course of the day to fit the prompt ... but everyone was so miserable around here that I couldn't get a shot of laughter. So ya ... miserable day, bickering kids, pouring rain outside. Meh. Tomorrow will be better, right?

Jan 7 - Starbucks

I remember when Starbucks was relatively new in this city. I was in first year University, and there was a handful of locations in the city. My boyfriend at the time took me for a treat, which was this really extravagant coffee place. We got a coffee that had chocolate mixed in and whipped cream on top - it was so unique, so extravagant, such a treat. I would visit once or twice a month, as a treat after an exam or as a pick-me-up to get through an all-nighter writing an essay.

When I moved to Toronto for second year university, there was not one single Starbucks to be found. I asked around, and people kept recommending Second Cup, which to me tasted burned and awful. It seemed like whoever owner Second Cup didn't know how to not steam milk until it scalded because no one in the stores was trained on it that's for sure. I was at a loss for that treat I had grown used to every now and then. (As an aside, the friends I still have from that time all still prefer Second Cup, even though there are loads of Starbucks there now. Go figure).

I moved back, and got it into my head that I'd like to work for Starbucks. I worked at the one that was closest to the University at the time, and I loved it. What's more, I loved that the company offered health benefits and stock options to part time employees! Totally unheard of! And I could get my drinks free before and after my shifts, and at a discount any other time. I was in creamy-chocolatey-coffee heaven. My employment three ended when I got pregnant with my first son - who is now 11. There is a story about how the manager mis-handled my request to go on medical leave early, and I probably could have taken legal action but was too young to know better ... but that's really a fault of that particular manager. It hasn't effected my love affair with Starbucks.

My husband worked there for a few years when the software company he worked for undertook massive layoffs in 2002. Again, the health benefits and stock options were a real life saver as we had two small children at the time. The wage was tough to live on as a family of four, but actually for a coffee shop it was a generous wage. And once again, I could get beverages at a discount through my husband.

All that is the long story about why I am currently a Starbucks addict. I spend too much money on it. I probably go at least twice a week. If I had my way, I'd go every day. It has become associated with a treat, with being cared for, with being home.

And so, today, my photo is of my current beverage of choice - now made with soy as I have a milk allergy, I drink a cafe mocha with soy milk and no whipped cream.

Jan 6 - Beauty

I live in a pretty amazing city, and to be honest, most of the time I don't pay attention to it. I drive all over the city for work and I just focus on getting it done and getting home. Today though work took me to a restaurant in the middle of one of our tourist parks. I usually avoid the area as its busy - but it being off season and rainy, it wasn't busy. Plus I wasn't feeling the pressure I am accustomed to to rush home in case they need me at the school, which was really nice. So I decided to take a few moments to look around me, and appreciate the beauty of the city.

This is the view off of 'Prospect Point' toward the wet heading out of the inlet. I was playing a bit with depth of field to get the rightmost tree in focus too. I thinks its very pretty, even for a gray rainy day.

Day 5 - Dinfast!

We love to have breakfast for dinner ... it may not be healthy, and we don't do it often, but it sure is yummy! I snapped a photo of my plate, you can see the rock hard rice bread I have to endure LOL.

Jan 4 - Just Me

There's so much help on the net getting the Project 365 done. I am running a challenge at DSDI (with rewards!) and I'd love it if you joined us.

I'm also following along a few other forums that are running challenges, offering support and community around helping us all complete the project. One of them is Gotta Pixel, where they are offering daily prompts. Today's prompt was 'You, Yourself and Nothing else…'.

So here it is, in all it's beauty, a photo of me. I am still sick, and in dire need of a cut and colour, but all in all I think it's a decent photo.



Can you see relief on my face? I had a child refusing to go back to school today, because his relationship with his aid has gone really sour (he is Autistic and has a 100% aid). I was prepared for a big struggle, meetings with the school, and lots of meltdownss over the coming weeks. But instead, we were greeted by a new aid, and my son was excited to go to school. I am so thankful that the administration listened to what I said before the Christmas holidays, and that there was someone else able to step in and work with him. I feel a big weight lifted off my shoulders, as this small battle has been won.

Jan 3 - Just kitties

A warning right now - there will be lots of kitties over the next 363 days LOL. We adore our kitties and they are just so CUTE. So here they are cuddling together in the bed.

Jan 2 - Kitty cuddles

Coram adores the cats, and the cats adore my bed. So Coram will often climb into the bed with the cats. Once the camera came out, Lucas had to climb into the bed too to be in the photo.

Jan 1 - First photo of Lucas in the new decade

This is Lucas, fresh out of the shower, with his big happy grin. He didn't want me to get any of his shoulders in because he didn't want people to think it was a 'naked' picture LOL. Oh, to be 11 again.