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Jan 28, 2010

Things I Love Thursday



Coffee, Chips and Dip, Family, The boyfriend, the puppy and kitty, sleeping in, Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans, crokino, Bacon And Eggs, inspiration, ideas, making lists, exercise, feeling stronger, fun dreams that I actually remember, getting rid of things, laughing, getting mail, giant squid, Honey Bunches of Oats (especially the kind with strawberries), Lounging around in PJ pants, finding working pens randomly near my desk (Hmm...where did that come from? Wait, who cares it works!), top hats with legs, entering contests - even though I never win, signing up for free samples, listening to music in the morning, light grey, new projects, continuing projects, finishing things, old weathered signs, That Thursday is almost Friday and Friday is almost Saturday (and then I get to sleep in again!).


Jan 25, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Hello and Happy Monday to all! This week, the plan was to get a lot done. Go go go, no procrastinating. I failed. I did very well Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Then I got nothing done Thursday, Friday or Saturday. I mean nothing. At all. Meh, what can you do, right? Move on, I guess. I also didn't get anything done yesterday, but I had a good excuse. Plus, it was sunday, so I don't usually get much done.

Best thing I read this week (from the police report of our local newspaper):

Two Wolfville residents reported missing wallets. One indicated he might have burned it in his wood stove, but thought he should report it missing just in case it turned up.

Alright, links time!

This sandwich on This is Why You're Fat is apparently a BLT. After staring at it for awhile, I did manage to see some lettuce (did you find it? on the left hand side, near the bottom?), but I do not see any tomato. Also, eating a pound of bacon sounds like it would be one of those things that seems like a good idea at the time, and then you actually do it and it's not. A good idea, that is.

Top 9 Easy Ways to reinvent yourself  That reminds me, I need a haircut...

This is what happens when you combine lolcats and xkcd. Brilliant!

10 Dead-of-Winter Fitness Motivators I know I could use a little motivation. How about you?

I'm not sure if I love this tattoo, or if it's horrifying. I think it may have scared me for life.

ffffl*ckr is my new favorite way to look at flickr photos. Way better then Explore or random searches, for sure. Basically, you sign in and it lets you see a few of your favorites, and when you click on one, it shows you some of that person's favorites, and on and on into infinity, Or untill you get bored or have to eat before you starve to death or whatever. It rocks.

Looking forward to this week, I think I'm going to focus on fitness. I've been feeling really blah recently. I've been eating too much junk, which is only a big problem if I'm not doing any exercise. Which I haven't been. Not enough, anyway. I've been feeling completely exhausted, which is in part because they've added a half hour too all our shifts (which doesn't seem like much, but it adds up at the end of the week), but also because I haven't been moving enough. So, this week I am going to do Week 4 of the hundred push ups challenge (last week I did day one, and that was it..) and I'm going to make a big effort in exercise.

Jan 22, 2010

Head Tilt


Head Tilt, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Pets


Pets, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Jan 21, 2010

Things I Love Thursday




Coffee, Wide Eye Cherry Bomb schnapps (with cola),  The Sims: Castaway for PS2, Pay week!, brand new notebooks (even if they're just dollarstore ones), getting things done, stretching, exercise, Ham, Kraft Dinner, grilled pork chops, apples, pink, blue, orange, green, dreaming of warm weather, purring kitties, Day Dreams, block letters, sushi, dangley earrings, low ponytails and buns, beagle snuggles, new hair elastics (for weeks all I had were old stretched out ones that didn't work well and I kept forgetting to buy new ones...it's so great to finally have them!), East Coast Creamery Celtic Coffee Ice Cream ("a delicious combination of rich coffee and smooth irish cream flavoured ice cream with chunks of sweet chocolate." it is so incredible), My new Betta Fish - Jackson (once again, Rip Parker Fish),  The Boyfriend, sparkly-ness, singing really loud when I'm home alone, clearing things out of my closet, sales (and the weekly sales flyers), m&ms, stripes.


Jan 20, 2010

Weather Denial

When I'm looking at the weather, I usually check on the weather network. A lot of people say that it's not accurate, but then again, what weather report is? Anyway, some days (like this morning), I check the weather and I do not like what I see. 15 cm of snow?! No thank you. So I head over to the Environment Canada site, which a lot of times has a completely different report. Then I pick which ever one I like better, and believe that one. Weather Denial is how I get through winter.

Sadly, today this tactic didn't work. One site says 15cm, the other says 14cm. In the grand scheme of things, one centimeter is not going to make any difference whatsoever. Add blowing snow and wind gusting 30 to 50 km/h, and you've got a mess of a day.


A storm is coming, and that makes me unhappy.


image by kamoda

Jan 17, 2010

Out in the Snow


Out in the Snow, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Hello Sunday! This week, I was off to a bit of a slow start...I didn't even get my Week in Review, Week Ahead posted untill Monday, and that's pretty much all I got done Monday. Tuesday, though, I kicked my ass into gear and actually started getting some things done. Do it Now, Don't Wait, right? This week I completed Week 3 of the One Hundred Push Ups Challenge (yay me!), I applied for a job, I cleared and decluttered my desk, I got all my photo editing up to date and I did a bunch of other regular mundane everyday things that needed doing. I feel pretty good about what I managed to accomplish this week.

How about some links?

How to Make Olive Penguins - Totally adorable, incredibly easy and your party guests will be mega impressed.

100 Games Cupcake Game - Can You guess them all? (I couldn't!) These are very awesome.

I know Christmas is way past over, but Santa's Little Goths from Awkward Family Photos is too awesome not to pass along.

25 Ways to Program Your Environment for Success Having trouble getting going on your goals? Get your physical space in order, and the rest will fall into place.

This Comic is Too Funny: 80s Celebrity stalked by killers on Twitter.

10 Competitive Eating Records The mayonnaise one totally grossed me out. The butter one too, but not as much as the mayo one. Eww.


Sad news

My betta fish, Parker died this morning.


RIP, Parker fish.








This week, I'm going to keep up the momentum of last week and get a lot done. Actually, I'm going to get more done. No procrastination, no excuses.

Jan 16, 2010

Newfie Duck


Newfie Duck, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Jan 15, 2010

Sushi


Sushi, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

The Boyfriend made me Sushi with the stuff I bought him for Christmas. Yay! (ps: It was AWESOME)

Woman's Hockey Quarter


Woman's Hockey Quarter, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Jan 14, 2010

Things I Love Thursday



Coffee, Burn Notice Marathons, Nachos, clearing off and cleaning up my desk, hot chocolate, my purple hoodie (it's just a $12 wallmart front zipper hoodie, but I love it to pieces), finding lost things, rings, More Nachos, Green Tea, getting things done, reading, New Episodes of Chuck & Grey's Anatomy & Bones & NCIS, This Newspaper Clipping, And this one too("half Appaloosa, half Labrador retriever" lol), perfect big fluffy snowflakes (is it possible to love snowflakes while hating the snow? Yes, as a matter of fact, it is), waffles, bacon, breakfast sausage, sausages in general, breakfast foods at supper time, feelings of accomplishment, scarves, Cream Soda, everything skulls and crossbones related, writing, blue & orange M&Ms, really cheep pens that put out too much ink, poster prints that say things like today is awesome and Today I Will Be Happier The A Bird With a French Fry (mega cute!), applying for jobs, clean sheets, darkness, organizing my world, dragons.


Jan 11, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

Welcome to...Monday. I didn't post this yesterday because I was either not at my computer, or playing this Sims. So yeah. Anyway! This was my first full week of work since way before Christmas, which was tough. I found myself Monday morning thinking things like, "Oh my god, 5 whole days before I get to sleep in again?!" and "I don't wanna go to work!!!!!" These kind of thoughts don't fit well into my happiness plan, so I started thinking about how great it is that I have a job and that it's pay week and all those type things. I don't know if it helped, but it couldn't have hurt. The biggest obstacle (and it's been a doozie this week) has been procrastination. Do it Now, Don't waitis one of my commandments or whatever, and I've been ignoring it. A lot. And that's not good. That means I get less done, I feel lazy and lazy is not a happy feeling! I need less lazy and more happy. I pulled together and got a whole bunch of stuff done on Saturday, which is better then nothing, right?

Best things I ate this week:
 1. Ice Cream (strawberry, mint chocolate chip, udderly divine...Yum!)
 2. Waffles and Breakfast sausage at supper time.

Hey, look! Some cool links to click on!:

Want to add more sparkle to your life? Yes, please! Here are some tips to help you do just that.

Some things tagged 'surreal'. I love the ice creams the best.

Why I'd Rather be Enthusiastic then Confidant at the Happiness Project is a good read.  Enthusiasm is awesome and contagious. Let's all cause an outbreak of enthusiasm!

How long could you survive chained to a bunk bed with a Velociraptor? If it's not long, don't feel bad - I'd only survive 41 seconds.

This is possibly the awesomeist bathroom accessory ever: Bacteria Assassin Ninja Toothbrush Sanitizer Tiny ninja, killing your germs. SWEET. I think I needs two (one for me, one for the boyfriend) to hang out with my penguin. And Memo. (via this post on Mental_Floss)

20 Things that Happen every second

Photographer Jasmine Star Says, "I love laughter. I love the way it looks, I love the way it sounds, the way it makes the soul shine. [...] As a photographer, when I'm able to document laughter, I feel like the luckiest person alive. Based on the following selection of photos, 2009 has proven to be my lucky year." Check out her fabulous laughter photos here.

Got a waffle iron and want a hamburger? Try a new and innovative burger: (Recipe) Waffleburgers. I totally want to try this. Best line from the post: "Garnish with the condiments of your choice. Revel in the triumph of the ridiculous." Indeed.

This week, I'm really working at not procrastinating, getting things done, and Doing it now. Not later, now. I exercising more, and sitting around less. I'm also finding more reasons to smile, laugh and be happy.


What are you up to this week?

Jan 7, 2010

Things I Love Thursday

Coffee, ice cream, purple, hoodies, reading, pay week!, oatmeal with a dash of vanilla extract (so good!), ninjas, This adorable photo, Getting back playing the sims 3 (The Boyfriend got me a new video card for Christmas, and now my sims look incredible! I've also got more ram on the way, so soon it'll actually play smooth like it's supposed to!), sleeping in (and dreaming about sleeping in in the future), Zooey Deschanel (I have no idea why, I just find her incredible), orange, excelling, warmth, good deals on rebuilt washing machines, the prospect of once again having a working washing machine in my house by the time I get home from work (YAY! Laundromats suck), bonus cash on my pay check ($200 extra dollars after taxes!), all the inspiring new year-new decade-new everything posts all over the internet, mushrooms.

Jan 6, 2010

Colorful Inspiration: Orange

Here in Nova Scotia, it's winter. Very winter. January is a pretty miserable time of the year, weather-wise. Snowy, cold, dark, windy, drizzly, slushy gray mess. Depressing.  Yellow might be the go to color of happiness and hope, but in times like these I turn to orange. Orange combines the happy cheerfulness of yellow, with the heat and energy of red to create a happy vibrant color.




 Orange is warm. Orange is upbeat. Orange will help with January miserable-ness. Go ahead, add a little more orange to your life.

What's your go to color to lift the winter blues?

In the Bag


In the Bag, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

Jan 5, 2010

Building a Habit: 30 Days of Breakfast

One thing I keep reading all over the place is that it takes 30 days to build a habit. Do something for a month, and it'll become a habit. So I thought I'd put that theory to a test. I'd been trying for months (years?) to eat breakfast every day. Back in November, I decided that I'd eat breakfast ever day that month, and take photos of it to hold myself accountable. Here's my set on flickr. I only missed two days and it was because of...lets call it self induced sickness. Eating breakfast would have been a waste of time because it was not going to stay down. Otherwise, I did really well. I'm one of those people that starts a lot of projects, but doesn't finish very many, so I was pretty pleased with myself.



So, did it work? I made it 30 days, but did it stick? Well, it's well over a month later and I'm still eating breakfast most days. And that's something. I'd call that a success. My only real tip for anyone else who's working on this particular habit is to have a variety of easy breakfast items on hand, otherwise you'll try to make the excuse that you just didn't have time. Instant oat meal can be ready in a few minutes, and cereal and milk takes even less time then that. If you don't have time to dump some cereal in a bowl and add some milk, then you aren't giving yourself enough time to get ready in the morning. Or you're lying to yourself. Also, leftovers are awesome for breakfast.



Got a habit you're trying to build? Give it 30 days. It really does help.

Jan 3, 2010

Week in Review, Week Ahead

The first Sunday of 2010! New week, new beginnings. This is the last day of my second 3 day weekend in a row. What a great start to the year! Thursday was new years eve, which went great. We went out, we had fun, we kissed at midnight And New Years Day was spent recovering. I'd like to do less recovering in the new year, I think.

Two new things I learned this week:

  1.   The okapi has a tongue long enough to lick its own ears (via this mental_floss article)
  2.  An ounce of pickled ginger can temporarily raise your IQ by as many as 10 points. (fact found via Factropolis)

Need something cool to look at/read? Here's what I found this week:

It's day 3 of the new year, but if you're still grasping at resolutions and whatnot, check out Getting Organized for 2010 over at iCiNG. It's a great read, for sure!

5 Toys with Dark Histories Note to self: do not go to kite festivals in Pakistan.

Top 10 Tips for Dynamite Digital Photography

Awesome funny bacon quote.


Looking to the Week ahead, I'm going to do some push ups. I'm going to work on my happiness project, especially keeping in mind Act how you want to feel and Look good, Feel Good and Do it Now.

What are you up to this week?

Jan 2, 2010

Crows


Crows, originally uploaded by deedoucette.

From One to One Hundred: Part Two


For anyone not familiar with the One Hundred Push Ups Challenge, it's a six week program designed to, as the name suggests, train you to do 100 push ups.

What's This all about? Check out Part For anyone not familiar with the One Hundred Push Ups Challenge, it's a six week program designed to, as the name suggests, train you to do 100 push ups.

What's This all about? Check out Part One.

The days below are all training days, not actual days.

Day 9
On to Week 2. Today I need to do 4, 6, 4, 4 , Max (6). Which is kind of scary and inconceivable. My previous best being 5 push ups and all. Well, I'll tell you, not only did I do it, but I managed to get 7 done for my max set! I have a feeling I'm going to be sore come tomorrow, though.

Day 10

Surprisingly, I was not all that sore after my last training day. Today, I've got 5, 6, 4, 4, Max (7). I'm feeling pretty good going into today, after the last one. That is, until I do the first set. Oh my god, the first 5 were killer. The other sets were strangely not as bad. My max set was again 7, and that's not bad at all. 

Day 11

I kind of got lazy and went a week without doing any push ups. At all. Yeah, I know. Not smart. Today I'm supposed to do 5, 7, 5, 5, Max (8). This should be fun. The first 5 were not as awful as I had imagined. I mean, they were no walk in the park, but I managed. I pushed through the set of 7 without too much cursing. The two last sets of 5 went fine, although each one was getting a little harder. Now it was time for my max set. I needed to get at least 8, and that number seems incredibly large for a single digit. I made it, but just barely. I was really shaking on the last one. 

Day 12 - October 1st, 2009

Week 2, Done. Now it's time for another exhaustion test to see if I'm ready to move on to week 3. I need to get a minimum of 16 push ups to continue. When I got to 5, I thought, so far so good. At 10, I thought, there is no way in hell I'm going to get through these last six. At 15 I thought, I just might die here. Then, I pushed out that last, shaky push up, before collapsing onto the floor. My tile floor. It was painful (both the push ups and the collapse), but I was triumphant! I made it to 16, and that's what matters. I'm kind of on top of the world right now.

Day 13 - November 3rd, 2009

So, it's been more then a month since I've done a single push up. I have a million reasons, a few of them being thanksgiving, laziness and being sick three times since the beginning of October. I'm still sick, actually, but I'm getting back into it anyway. Since it's been so long, I've decided to do an exhaustion test to see if I should redo week two, or move on to week three. I gave it my best go, but I only made it to 11. Looks like I'm redoing week 2. That what I get, I guess.

Day 14

Today I need to do 4, 6, 4, 4 , Max (6). I did 4, 6, 5, 4, 6 by accident. I don't think doing more then I'm supposed to is really a problem though, do you?

Day 15

Today's requirements: 5, 6, 4, 4, Max (7). Done and Done. It was way tougher then I thought it would be. Like, four times as tough as the last day. Maybe I'm still a little sore. I don't know.

Day 16 - November 21st, 2009

I was going to do Week 2, day 3 on Friday (yesterday) and then do my exhaustion test Sunday (tomorrow), but I skipped yesterday, so I decided to just go ahead and do the exhaustion test today. I need to do a minimum of 16 to move on. Part of me is all, No sweat. I can totally do this and the other part is all SIXTEEN?!? Are you insane? So anyway, lets get to this. And...I did it! Sixteen exactly. I barely pushed out the last one, but I did it and that's all the matters.

Day 17

Week Three. Here we go. Today I need to do 10, 12, 7, 7 Max (9). I had a crazy headache that mostly gone away, but it throbbed with each push up I did. Yuck. I almost threw up (ew!) when I was doing the set of 12. I thought about giving up and trying again tomorrow, but instead I took extra long rest between sets and I got through it. I was so glad when I finished that ninth push up on my max set. So glad.

Day 18

Today: 10, 12, 8, 8, Max (12). Well, at least I don't have a headache this time. This week is really kicking my ass. Really and truly. I did the required sets, but just barely.


January 2nd, 2010: It's been more then a month since my last push up. Yeah, I know. I'm kind of beating myself up over it. There is no way I'm going to just be able to pick up where I left off, but I don't want to go backwards either. So, I'm going to take this week and do 4 sets of 10 push ups for my three training days to get myself back in the groove or whatever, and then start again at Week Three, Day one the week after. And then I'm going to keep up with the plan from there on out and get this over with as fast as possible because I'm tired of push ups.One.

The days below are all training days, not actual days.

Day 9
On to Week 2. Today I need to do 4, 6, 4, 4 , Max (6). Which is kind of scary and inconceivable. My previous best being 5 push ups and all. Well, I'll tell you, not only did I do it, but I managed to get 7 done for my max set! I have a feeling I'm going to be sore come tomorrow, though.

Day 10

Surprisingly, I was not all that sore after my last training day. Today, I've got 5, 6, 4, 4, Max (7). I'm feeling pretty good going into today, after the last one. That is, until I do the first set. Oh my god, the first 5 were killer. The other sets were strangely not as bad. My max set was again 7, and that's not bad at all. 

Day 11

I kind of got lazy and went a week without doing any push ups. At all. Yeah, I know. Not smart. Today I'm supposed to do 5, 7, 5, 5, Max (8). This should be fun. The first 5 were not as awful as I had imagined. I mean, they were no walk in the park, but I managed. I pushed through the set of 7 without too much cursing. The two last sets of 5 went fine, although each one was getting a little harder. Now it was time for my max set. I needed to get at least 8, and that number seems incredibly large for a single digit. I made it, but just barely. I was really shaking on the last one. 

Day 12 - October 1st, 2009

Week 2, Done. Now it's time for another exhaustion test to see if I'm ready to move on to week 3. I need to get a minimum of 16 push ups to continue. When I got to 5, I thought, so far so good. At 10, I thought, there is no way in hell I'm going to get through these last six. At 15 I thought, I just might die here. Then, I pushed out that last, shaky push up, before collapsing onto the floor. My tile floor. It was painful (both the push ups and the collapse), but I was triumphant! I made it to 16, and that's what matters. I'm kind of on top of the world right now.

Day 13 - November 3rd, 2009

So, it's been more then a month since I've done a single push up. I have a million reasons, a few of them being thanksgiving, laziness and being sick three times since the beginning of October. I'm still sick, actually, but I'm getting back into it anyway. Since it's been so long, I've decided to do an exhaustion test to see if I should redo week two, or move on to week three. I gave it my best go, but I only made it to 11. Looks like I'm redoing week 2. That what I get, I guess.

Day 14

Today I need to do 4, 6, 4, 4 , Max (6). I did 4, 6, 5, 4, 6 by accident. I don't think doing more then I'm supposed to is really a problem though, do you?

Day 15

Today's requirements: 5, 6, 4, 4, Max (7). Done and Done. It was way tougher then I thought it would be. Like, four times as tough as the last day. Maybe I'm still a little sore. I don't know.

Day 16 - November 21st, 2009

I was going to do Week 2, day 3 on Friday (yesterday) and then do my exhaustion test Sunday (tomorrow), but I skipped yesterday, so I decided to just go ahead and do the exhaustion test today. I need to do a minimum of 16 to move on. Part of me is all, No sweat. I can totally do this and the other part is all SIXTEEN?!? Are you insane? So anyway, lets get to this. And...I did it! Sixteen exactly. I barely pushed out the last one, but I did it and that's all the matters.

Day 17

Week Three. Here we go. Today I need to do 10, 12, 7, 7 Max (9). I had a crazy headache that mostly gone away, but it throbbed with each push up I did. Yuck. I almost threw up (ew!) when I was doing the set of 12. I thought about giving up and trying again tomorrow, but instead I took extra long rest between sets and I got through it. I was so glad when I finished that ninth push up on my max set. So glad.

Day 18

Today: 10, 12, 8, 8, Max (12). Well, at least I don't have a headache this time. This week is really kicking my ass. Really and truly. I did the required sets, but just barely.


January 2nd, 2010: It's been more then a month since my last push up. Yeah, I know. I'm kind of beating myself up over it. There is no way I'm going to just be able to pick up where I left off, but I don't want to go backwards either. So, I'm going to take this week and do 4 sets of 10 push ups for my three training days to get myself back in the groove or whatever, and then start again at Week Three, Day one the week after. And then I'm going to keep up with the plan from there on out and get this over with as fast as possible because I'm so very tired of push ups.


image by obo-bobolina

Jan 1, 2010

Welcome to 2010!

It's not only a new year, it's a new decade. Welcome to 2010! I love the new year. Everything seems so fresh and so clear. It's a perfect time to set some new goals, make some changes. Even if I don't stick to them, it always feels good at the time. All warm and fuzzy like. or whatever.

As usual, I have big plans. Big, grand, life altering plans. What it all boils down to though, is that I want to be happy. Sounds so simple, doesn't it? But I find myself feeling unhappy much of the time. The problem is that we have a hard time figuring out what is actually going to make us happy in the long run. We think we know, but we're often wrong. I've been reading a lot over at the Happiness Project, so I think I have a pretty good start on making 2010 the happiest year possible.

To get ready for my year of happiness, I've already been hard at work. I've compiled a list of commandments or whatever to guide me on my way. Things to keep in mind when I'm having a hard time with this whole happy thing. (Want to write your own commandments? I found these 6 tips to be immensely helpful)

My Happiness Commandments or Whatever
  • Act how you want to feel
  • Look good, Feel Good
  • Healthiness is Happiness
  • Do it Now, Don't wait
  • Change Leads to Growth
  • Do Something
  • Never Stop Learning
  • We are what we repeatedly do

This is the first step in my journey. I've got far to go, but there are no limits. And that makes me happy just thinking about it.

What are your goals, dreams and aspirations for the new year?