Spending with Intention - Part 1

Part of my theme for 2012 (Live With Intention) is to Spend with Intention.

Part 1 of Spend with Intention is to spend our money in OUR country in stores that are Canadian owned and operated.



I feel very strongly that we should not shop in other countries and especially in the US. Living close to the border to the US, many of my friends spend a great deal of time shopping in the States.

I hate that they are supporting another country's economy.

For me, the worst part of watching my friends spend their hard-earned Canadian dollars in the US is that if the roles were reversed and US residents were coming up here to work, my Canadian friends would not have jobs. By shopping in the US, their money is creating jobs in the US.

And I understand that prices are cheaper in the US. I get that. Still, is saving money that important? Really? And how much are you actually saving? It takes time to drive down to the US. And of course there are the border line ups you have to wait in. And now you need a passport to go into the US, even if you are just driving across... And then there is the expense of the gas you burn to go down there. Is it REALLY worth it?


A while ago, I went for coffee with a wonderful friend of mine. As we were catching up, the conversation turned to using coupons to assist with the family grocery bill.

She said, "Have you ever shopped in the States?"

I said, "Well, I have a 'thing' about spending my money in my own country."

Just then a man at another table leaned over and said, "Thank you for saying that!"

He went on to explain that he sells tractors locally. He has found that many of his customers are now shopping in the US where the prices are cheaper. This means that he, a hard-working Canadian, is losing out on income made from commission. So his family is doing without because he is not making as much as he used to.

And THAT is why I believe we need to keep OUR money in OUR country supporting OUR people and OUR economy.

Recently, I was chatting with a lady about keeping our money in Canada. She said she agreed completely! But as she was walking away, she turned around and said, "But I do find I do most of my shopping in the US."

REALLY???



I also let my actions SHOW that I want to keep my money in my country. My children asked me to take them shopping in the States before Christmas and I said no. I told them they could ask their Dad if he would take them... But that I would be doing my Christmas buying and spending in Canada.

So, there it is... I hope this gives you something to think about, to ponder before you take your next trip down to the States to do some shopping - be it in your vehicle or on-line.

Living (and Spending) With Intention,
Nic

The "Theme" for 2012

Here it is!! A brand new year, full of possibilities...

I try very hard to learn from the past, but not dwell on it.
It happened.
It's over.
Time to learn from it and move on.

Last year at this same time, I decided not to make any New Year's Resolutions.

Life is good. In fact, it's very, very good. And although I AM making some resolutions for 2012, my "theme" for 2012 started back around Thanksgiving.

You see, I was shopping and I saw a calendar that said "Live With Intention." That's it. Those three small words - "Live With Intention" struck me to the core.

And so it began... It was nothing really at first. Just small changes. Spending more time with the people I love. And way, way less time in front of a computer screen. I stopped checking Facebook every day.

I stopped replying to e-mails instantly. BUT I started calling (yep, on the PHONE!!) friends who e-mailed me and needed an answer. Sometimes, I would even stop by to see them!!! No texting. No e-mailing. Not even a phone call! An actual face-to-face meeting!!

I also deleted e-mail subscriptions... No more Swarm Jam or Deal of the Day or Groupon e-mails. No more updates from local stores with their weekly amazing deals!

And I am trying desperately to STOP procratinating!! If I don't have time to do a good, thorough job though, I won't even start it. It will get done... I just need to have the time to do the job properly.

I've been trying to organize our home, declutter and unpack - from both the move here 4.5 years ago and from the flood in the fall of 2009. And although it drives my hot husbanno crazy, my answer is not to throw everything away! I now make weekly deposits of good, clean, used clothes and shoes in the charity donation bins located throughout our area.
After Hallowe'en, I sent a box of dress up clothes to my niece. She immediately dressed up as a fairy princess! I also sent a costume sewn by my step-Mom, worn by many of my brothers to one of my brothers for his son to wear. We always thought it was a green dinosaur, but once it was received by my brother, we found out it was actually a frog costume. Who knew? And yet another bag of costumes went to our great-nephew. I know all will be reused and loved! Way better than throwing them in the garbage! Or donating them to strangers!

There were a few items sent to the donation bins and unfortunately I did have to throw a couple of things away! :-( I really, really hate to throw ANYTHING away because I truly believe in reusing items; that someone out there could really use it and we have more than enough garbage in the world right now!! We don't need to create any more garbage!

And it continues... I am trying to use up all the extra "stuff" that what we have, get rid of what we don't use and organize what we are keeping - all at the same time. It's very gratifying! I am loving it! It's not easy; it's emotional sometimes. Like sending that homemade costume. I remember my children wearing that costume. I think the greatest moment was hearing the emotion in my brother's voice once he received it; as he remembered wearing that costume himself and thought of his son wearing it in the future.

Now I am attempting to do the same thing with Christmas - our ornaments, home decorations - inside and out, the Santa & Mrs. Clause who light up and move (that our children have outgrown, but we are all having a difficult time letting go of them...), the stocking that says "Tessa" from our dog that passed away in 2009, and on the list goes...

And I am procrastinating. :-( I know I shouldn't; I should just tackle this project. But I digress...

I have a friend who is trying to "Simplify" in 2012.
And another who is attempting to be more "Healthy" in 2012.

I am just going to stick with "Live With Intention". I can hear it, feel it in my very soul. And although, there are very few outward signs of change; there is a whole lot of change going on inside.

Here is the full poem by Mary Anne Radmacher:

Live with intention.
Walk to the edge.
Listen hard.
Play with abandon.
Practice wellness.
Laugh.
Risk love.
Fail with enthusiasm.
Continue to learn.
Appreciate your friends.
Choose with no regret.
Stand by your family.
Celebrate the holidays that make sense.
Lead, or follow a leader.
Do what you love.
Live as if this is all there is.


I feel each sentence, each line deserves a moment of our time.
A moment to contemplate.
A moment to think about how you can change your own life in order to "Live With Intention".

A very blessed 2012 to you all,
Nic

Taking Down the Grow Op....

If you have ever visited our home during the late spring, summer or early autumn, it would not be ridiculous of you to think we harbour a marijuana grow op in our home. Why? Well it's the tin foil that covers most of our east facing windows.

The first summer we bought this house, we suffered with the heat! And I mean suffered!! We had yet to install good window coverings and the heat in the house was unbearable!! By the second summer, we had most of the window covered with good window coverings (By good, I mean keeping the heat out during the summer and keeping the heat in during the winter.), but still the house heated up! And I was unable to sleep in! EVER!!!


So the second summer we covered the east facing windows in our room and although it wasn't completely dark, I was finally able to sleep in.


AND we covered our front doors and sidelights with tinfoil also.

As you can see from this photo, there are LOTS of windows in our front doors and the sun shines directly on them from the time the sun comes up (around 4:00am to 4:30am) until noonish ALL summer long! The change in the temperature of the house has been drastic!! In fact this summer, even when it was smokin' hot outside, it felt like our house had air conditioning!!

So it was with humour that we received the news from a neighbour that a parent from her children's school, who also lives in our neighbourhood, told her that she had a grow op across the street.

"Why would you think that?" she asked.

"It's the tin foil that gives it away." <- At this point, I was pretty much laughing out loud that someone would even think our home could harbour a grow op!!

Our neighbour, who is also a very dear friend of ours, was also pretty much laughing at this point.

"Uh, yah, no. I can pretty much guarantee there is no grow op in that house. I've been in that house many, many times and there is no grow op."

"Oh."

As funny as I think it is that someone would seriously think that either my husband or I would have a grow op in our home, I am seriously rethinking covering our bedroom window with tinfoil. In fact, I actually took it down for the fall, winter and spring when last year I just left it up... We might have to invest in some serious light-blocking, heat-blocking cellular blinds for next summer!

Or maybe not... Sometimes you just have to live dangerously!! Ha ha!!

Blessings my friends,
Nic

It's Those Tiny Moments....

About a month ago, my family and I were doing respite foster care for a three year old for two weeks. At first, when our "Little Buddy" arrived, we had forgotten how crazy and busy life can be with a three year old in the house again!! It's been a long time since we have had a three year old in the house 24 hours a day, seven days a week.



One day in our front yard,
I had a moment of wonderment
as I watched this beautiful
three year old!





I was washing down the front steps and part of the driveway and playing soccer with my little buddy. He would play on his own for a while and then come back and play soccer with me.



Eventually, he became completely preoccupied with the tiny little rivers of water rushing down the driveway. He laid on his tummy, getting completely soaking wet, but he was too intent on watching the water to notice. He started floating bits of grass, leaves and flowers down his rivers.



Gazing upon this wonderful scene, I was completely enthralled!! I don't know if it was the love I feel for this child or remembering days gone by, where I was the child laying on her tummy, floating bits of twigs down a pretend river.



The most important thought I walked away with that day was that the really important moments in life are not always the great big moments - births, marriages, graduations. Sometimes, just watching a three year old float a few leaves down a make-believe river can be the grandest moment of all!!

Blessings my friends,
Nic

A Different Kind of Drug Problem

Thank you to my Auntie Eileen for sending this to me!! It is SO true!!

A Different Drug Problem…


The other day, someone at a store in our city read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining city & he asked me a rhetorical question, “Why didn’t we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?”


I replied, “I had a drug problem when I was young!!” I was drug to Church on Sunday morning. I was drug to Church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.


I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn’t put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.


I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity. I was drug out to pull weeds in Mom’s garden and flower beds and cockleburs out of Dad’s fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbours to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood, and, if my Mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.



Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behaviour in everything I do, say, or think.

They are stronger than cocaine, crack or heroin; and if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, Canada would be a better place.

God bless the parents who drugged us!

Blessings my friends,
Nic

Spring? Really?

This is what I saw out in my backyard just one month ago...

I love, love, love Spring!!

And Fall, but that is another blog post...

I love how Spring "unfolds" itself. Little tips poking through the soil grow and turn into beautiful crocuses, daffodils or tulips. I love how a small piece of green on a tree turns into a flower and then a leaf. I love how it smells - fresh and new. And I love how it feels - the sun on your shoulders, but not hot enough for you to be uncomfortable. I love Spring!



Recently, we spent the day at the beach. And we spotted this little cutie:


Those of you who know me, know that I absolutely adore birds. Birds of all sizes, colours and chirps! I love them! Part of how I tell it's Spring, REALLY Spring is when the birds start acting weird, really weird. They are mating! The other day we saw two bald eagles "dancing" in the sky above our home. They were doing the "mating" dance. It was utterly beautiful!

How do you tell when Spring has REALLY sprung? Is it the daffodils blooming? Or after Spring Break is over and the kids go back to school? Or maybe when the tulips spring forth? Or is it Easter (which is especially late this year)? Or is it when you don't have to wash your car every weekend?

For me, it's when the hummingbirds come back home to my yard. It's been cold, so I haven't hung my feeders yet. But today, today I filled them up and hung them at about 10 this morning. At around 1, I had my first hummingbird visit. Yes, Spring has sprung; the hummingbirds have come back home!!

I hope you enjoy Spring as much as I do!!

Blessings,
Nicole

The Invisible Mom

I received the following in an e-mail many, many years ago. I have kept it all these years because the message is easy to forget. Every once in a while I find this e-mail and I am once again reminded of what is REALLY important. I desperately needed to remember this message today when I stumbled across is once again.

I thought to myself, "Maybe someone else in the universe needs the reminder this message holds as much as I do", so here it is:

With my heartfelt blessings,
Nic

The Invisible Mom…

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, "Can’t you see I’m on the phone?" Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I’m a satellite guide to answer, "What number is the Disney Channel?" I’m a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone?!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on about the hotel she stayed in and the sites she had seen. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this."



It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription: "To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work. No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become."



At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You’re gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

PS: These beautiful photos are of the Westminster Abbey in Mission, BC. I find it to be a truly blessed place.