Spring? Already?! (Also, the apps that keep my life organised)

I am late with this entry, but at the very least it's still March!

It would appear that spring is definitely going to happen sometime around the spring equinox (Friday March 20 this year)!  Last week temperatures began to warm up, and the amount of melting that has happened in that week is simply amazing.  Mind you, we have less snow this year, and the frost went deeper into the ground because there were very cold days as usual, but the snow has melted dramatically.  In just a single day, we went from small, random patches in the backyard to large swathes being completely uncovered.  Even the front lawn is giving up its snow cover quickly.  While being undeniably glad to see it go, I'm also hoping it doesn't go too quickly, because flooding of basements is always a concern at this time of year.

Flipping the page back to my February Goals and Notes, I see that I did well on several of my goals for the month.  Having hit a 30 day streak on the Headspace app, which I am using for my meditation and mindfulness training, I decided to go for the gusto and hit a 90 day run.  I decided to mark off each day in 15 day increments in my monthly planning book, and it kept me in good stead all through February.  February ended with me successfully two-thirds of the way to the 90 day mark.  If it takes at least 84 days to successfully make something a habit, I am on my way to meditating daily.

February also featured financial goals, including:

1.  limiting incidental spending to cash only, 
2. paying down the balance of one of our smaller credit cards while keeping the others current with just-above-minimum payments (the goal being to eliminate balances one at a time in this fashion), 
3. keeping my spending overview app Spendee up-to-date instead of waiting until weeks (or even months!) have gone by to look back at my income/outgoing comparison, 
4. setting aside some savings using the 52 Week Money Challenge (click this link for a .pdf template), and
5. bringing my own lunch for work daily, rather than buying it.

Aside from still being lax about updating Spendee (I only got to it twice in February), I managed all the other goals.

I started a "gratitude practice" in February.  This involves writing down three things from the past or current day that I feel grateful for.  This has become a sort of preliminary to my meditation practice, to set the frame of mind for a period of mindfulness.  At times I feel almost apologetic about the things I feel grateful for, they can seem so trivial, rather ordinary and mundane.  

Gratitude for the fact that I have a less rigorous workout on Friday mornings has been a recurring theme.  Lately, I have so little motivation to get up in the mornings (see last year's rant about daylight saving time) that knowing all I am required to do is twenty minutes of yoga and 3 sets of 5 reps of one-arm dumbbell rows is all that gets me out of bed at the end of the week.  For the rest of the week, Bodbot schedules my strength training workouts, and I have been learning the basics of yoga from Rodney Yee's excellent Beginner's Yoga DVD (link to his website here).

My work week right now includes Saturdays, as I am trying to get in as many hours as possible at my seasonal job.  There's about two weeks left in the "peak period", so my manager tells me, and then we will "coast" for the next four weeks to the end of the season.  On the one hand, I will have more time on my hands, on the other I will go back to a single income stream.  For now, I am making the most of things by paying down what I can, so that when we are back to the lower income level there will be less it is required to cover.  

I can now go to Trello, and move writing this blog from both "To Do" (last week's card) and "Doing" (card for the week before that).  I felt quite guilty as it sat undone on the Weekly Planning board, in two places, for two whole weeks, let me tell you.  I find that visual reminders work very well with me, so lately I have taken to putting things where I can't avoid seeing them.  I am learning to utilise Trello as a sort of "big picture" viewer, whereas when I want to plan a specific activity such as my housework day or a day of doing G's bookkeeping, I prefer to use Evernote, if only because it has a cleaner, more utilitarian feel, when compared to Trello's decidedly creative feel.

In spite of all this reliance on technology, I haven't given up pencil and paper.  I still carry an agenda: this year's is a smaller, pocket-sized Moleskine (I don't know how to pronounce it, either) Daily/Weekly agenda, complete with handy labels.  Looking back at last year's agenda, I see I used it mostly to record hours worked, and the odd event, so I didn't mind graduating to a smaller size this year.  There's a lined page across from each week where I can put a checklist of things I need to do or remember, and I update Trello from this list if necessary.  And, of course, I have my "day book", where I record my monthly goals and anything of note that comes up (registration keys for products, for example), and keep a copy of each month's calendar once past, so I can see how many days I worked out for the month.

G is awake, and out of the bed, taking the dogs with him, so I can finally fold the laundry.  Aside from accompanying him to the grocery store and doing some light tidying of our bedroom, that's all the housework I am doing today, so no list for that.  I hear a book calling my name, because it will be a while yet before dinner is ready.  I don't know which it will be, but I need some uninterrupted reading time before my rest day is done.  Here's what the bed looked like while I wrote this:

Farewell, Summer, I hardly knew ye

It's Labour Day today in Canada, same in the United States.  As surely as May 24 Weekend/Victoria Day (Canada) and Memorial Day (US) mark the "beginning" of summer, so does this day mark its "end" in both countries.  Mind you, there's another three or so weeks left in the actual season as it relates to the Earth's settings, the autumnal equinox falls on September 23rd this year.

Children are either heading back to school this week, or are already there in some cases.  Back-to-school shopping is the major expense for parents around this time, and children contemplate whether they are happy or sad that their holidays are over.  In Jamaica, it is time for adults to throw around the particularly odious phrase (or, at least, it was to me when I was a student), "Free paypa bun!" (Your free papers are burnt).  It used to imply to me that school was some sort of prison your parents sent you to, one of which you were particularly deserving, if for no other reason than you were under-aged and someone else was in charge of your life.  Well, joke was on them.  I loved school, and looked forward to returning.

This particular summer was less than halcyon, though.  Aside from the two weeks we spent in Jamaica, the temperature never rose above 30 *C on consecutive days.  I found it particularly offensive this year to hear people complain about how "hot" it was.  I might have thought that two years into living in northern ON I would be immune to such statements by now, but indeed my resentment was much worse this year.  "Honestly, we have seven months of winter/cold weather, is that not enough for you?", I wonder.  I guess some people would complain no matter what kind of weather we have.  I find it alarming to realise that several days found me wearing layers, long sleeves, and even sweaters, with temperatures averaging around 10 *C below seasonal averages.

The last three days have been rainy, and grey.  I was unable to take Nipper for a long walk yesterday, as much of the day it poured with heavy rains.  Towards late afternoon the rain and clouds did clear and let in some sunshine, but this morning was heavily overcast, and the rain started again this afternoon.  We managed to get in our weekday half-hour walk this morning, but I spent a lot of it looking at the skies and hoping they wouldn't open up on us while we were still some way from home.

I am hoping that we get a late summer heatwave, the mythical "Indian summer", but I am not holding my breath.  All the signs are pointing to a swiftly-coming, long, cold winter.  Indeed, there were trees sporting fall colours by the end of July!

Fall is bringing with it new challenges for me, and I am very hopeful that meeting these challenges will take me in new directions.  I have been working on getting back into waking early, and will need this "ability" even more as the month of September progresses.  The daylight periods will continue shortening, but my "days" will be even longer, and I will need full energy and enthusiasm to take them on.

If summer was only about hot weather and wearing less clothing, I would say I didn't have much of one.  As it is also about a break from routine and getting ready for new things, then I will say I had quite the summer, short though it was.

Snow, and more snow, and New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year, to everyone that reads this (assuming anyone else does).  Wow, it's already half-way through January 2014!  How has it treated you so far?  Wait, you say, what about Christmas 2013?  Christmas 2013 was very quiet, we went out of our way not to celebrate.  We didn't put up the tree, we made no formal exchange of gifts (although we did buy things for each other).  While not exactly totally into the "Bah, humbug!" camp, we may have set up tent on the outskirts.

The last half of December passed in a blur of work, extreme cold, early darkness and deepening depression.  It's the worst attack of seasonal affective disorder I have dealt with since being in Canada.  I could not seem to shake a sense of dread as Christmas and the New Year approached, seeing the way 2013 had begun.  On days when there was sunshine, I began sitting at the picture window in the living room, eager for light and warmth.

We had a quiet Christmas, entertained by friends of G at their house.  We were well-fed, and, being people who enjoy reading, they did not mind one bit when I curled into a corner of their couch and read on my e-reader.  I enjoyed not having the stress of preparing the usual elaborate meal that comes with the holiday expectations.  On New Year's Eve, I prepared stew peas and dumplings, a very Jamaican dinner which required a bit of time and effort, but turned out as one of my better efforts at that particular dish.  We watched a movie together, fell asleep, woke close to the close of the year to kiss the new one into being, then went back to sleep.

2014 started quietly enough, for which I was profoundly glad.  I did a workout as scheduled, as I want to maintain the consistency of my efforts at building my best body, regardless of time or space.  I then sat down to what used to be an annual task but had fallen by the wayside in 2013: New Year's Resolutions.

Yes, I know that this process has come to be seen as something of a joke, given that all too many people who make resolutions fail at sticking to them.  However, I have never been one of those people, I usually make a plan for my year under some broad headings, and  use this plan as a framework for carrying on through the year.  I am a goal-setter, I like having goals and targets and things to work towards, it gives me purpose and self-direction and a sense of being in control of how my life progresses, rather than being carried will-ye-nil-ye (willy nilly, as we say it now) by whatever happens in life.  I enjoy looking back at progress achieved thus far, and plotting a course towards the eventual achievement by making any corrective or evasive maneuvers necessary.

I won't go into detail on what my actual goals are, suffice it to say they cover most of the major areas of life, and this year are written down into what was supposed to be my Game of Thrones book journal but was not necessary for that purpose.  It sits on my desk, beside my laptop, ready at hand for consultation, random brain-storming, doodling, updating, and revising.  Yes, updates and revisions will be necessary, life has a way of throwing curveballs at you, but one must be prepared to either duck out of the way or swing a bat at it and knock it out of the park.  The operative word there is "prepared".  If you don't have a plan, you're not very prepared, that's how I roll.

Just over two weeks into 2014 and already we have had more snow, and it is snowing lightly today, with more expected for tomorrow.  On the whole, following the "polar vortex" experience of the last half of December, I find myself not minding the snowfall.  At least the temperature sits in a tolerable +5 to -10 *C range.  Yes, I just wrote that I find up to -10 *C "tolerable".  Coming from someone who has spent most of her life in an annual average of about 35 *C, this is quite the tolerance, if you ask me.  Once the temperatures descend into the teens below zero, I find it too cold.  I cannot seem to get warm inside, no matter how many layers I put on, and I hike the furnace up to 23 *C or ask G to turn on the baseboard heaters.  At that point, I am past caring about the gas or hydro bills.  I just want to feel warm again.

G is doing all the driving right now.  The extremes of cold followed by snow or icy rain have turned the roads into things of dread for me.  The roads are either bumpy with new-fallen snow sprinkled with rock salt, or slushy or icy.  No, thank you, I will be a passenger again.  I realise that I can only become better at handling these conditions by actually attempting to drive in them, but my terror of causing or getting into an accident and the attendant financial nightmare of such a scenario overrides my desire for independence.  My risk-aversion is in high gear in winter, and will likely always be that way until I am more accustomed to life in northern Ontario.

In just under an hour, it will be time to head to work.  It is Friday, which always makes us happy at work.  I am looking forward to unwinding from the week with G, and spending a quiet weekend catching up on the house work.

Let's talk about...the weather

No discussion about moving to Canada from Jamaica would be complete without questions on the weather.  Of all the contrasts between the two countries, perhaps that would be the most immediate and uppermost in minds.  I have been here just under a week now, so it's about time to have that discussion.

Officially, it is spring, and the northern hemisphere's summer starts in just 9 days.  From Canadians, including G, I keep hearing how "hot" it is, and inwardly I smile.  Yes, I suppose for people used to temperatures in the minus twenties (degrees Celsius), it may seem hot now, with the sun shining and the humidity hovering around 50%.  For someone used to temperatures hovering near 34 degrees with 80% or more humidity, the weather now is simply pleasantly warm.

On my first day, it was windy and cool, say around 22 degrees, so I wore a long-sleeved workout top and yoga pants and was comfortable.  I plan to acquire some more long-sleeved shirts, knit or jersey, as I was very happy to have that single shirt (the only long-sleeved shirt I own) on Thursday.  Saturday morning was another morning to be happy for long-sleeved shirts, as it dawned cool, foggy and wet, and stayed that way until late afternoon.  On Saturday, with my long-sleeved shirt in the wash, I had to resort to a hooded sweatshirt over my t-shirt to remain appropriately warm.  Surprisingly enough, the temperature rose, the rain and fog cleared off and the evening was very fine.

People you meet in stores and on the street will comment on how "hot" it is, and try to forecast the summer's heat.  Having experienced a northern summer before, I know something of what is to come, and I am interested to see if this time it is the same or worse.  I cannot expect it to be better, although perhaps the fact that I am in the rural part of the province, as opposed to being in a city, as I was then, will make a difference.  It remains to be seen.

Today it is windy, and somewhat cloudy, which over-shadows the warmth and heat that arose earlier in the day.  It is cool, in the mid-twenties, low humidity, altogether an agreeable and tolerable temperate day.  As time goes on, of course there will be more to say on the weather, but for now?  It's quite nice.