Thanksgiving in Rosalind

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Alberta, Calgary, Camrose Alberta, Canada, children, daughter, Diana Schwenk, driving, family, friends, fun, generosity, grateful, growing up, laughter, living in the moment, love, parents, Relationships, Rosalind, thankful, Thanksgiving, turkey

Just how great was Thanksgiving in Rosalind, Alberta?

Glad you asked!

I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about driving to Rosalind by myself on Saturday because many of the roads I needed to travel on are so barren and have no cell service. But in spite of the cold, fog with iffy visibility and snow, it was a rather pleasant drive.

Seeing as this was my first visit there, Michaela met me at the Rosalind School parking lot so I could follow her on the gravel secondary highway eight-hundred-and-something to hers and Werner’s long driveway about 1 kilometer from the school.

We turned the corner on the driveway at around 4:30PM revealing the cutest little farm-house and property. It really is too bad that it got cold and snowed so early this year, I would have loved to have walked around the property a bit. But it was that wet kind of cold, you know? The kind that chills you to the bone in just minutes.

Anyway, after settling in, enjoying a nice cup of coffee and playing a few rounds of Macke Been, Werner drove us to the Brew House in Camrose for dinner. After dinner, we headed back to the farm-house, played a few more games, chatted about this and that and turned in early. I slept like a baby!

The next morning, Michaela made us a wonderful breakfast before starting all the food prep and cooking for the Thanksgiving dinner. We all helped out here and there, but for the most part, Michaela had it all under control. There would be five for dinner. Me, Michaela, Werner and his mom and dad, Claudia and Manfred, who I would be meeting for the first time.

It was fun.

Lots of laughter, lots of story-sharing and playful banter.

And what a feast it was, especially since this was the very first dinner party, Michaela had ever hosted!

So just how great was Thanksgiving in Rosalind, Alberta?

it was so great that I forgot to take pictures!

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

And how did you spend Thanksgiving? And what did you non-Canadians do this past weekend?

How To Distract People From the Fact that You Did Not Spend a Lot of Money on Their Gift

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Canada, friends, fun, funny, humour, Hump Day Chronicles, living in the moment, memories, Relationships, Travel, visitors

Imagine my delight when I found out in a private message via Facebook that my favourite Canadian, Scottish, Israeli friends were coming to Alberta, Canada for a visit!

I was beside myself with joy, eagerly anticipating their visit.

They arrived last Thursday and are staying with friends in Olds, about an hour’s drive away.

My favourite Canadian, Scottish, Israeli friends; George and Annie, contacted me on Sunday to let me know they were coming to Calgary on Monday.

Maybe I should explain why I call them my favourite Canadian, Scottish, Israeli friends before going on.

I’ve known George for 24 years. He met Annie who was born in Uganda, moved to Scotland with her family in her teens, went to school in England, then moved to Israel where she was working as a nurse, when he visited some years back. That’s where they met and they just clicked.

Are you still with me?

I met Annie when she visited Canada and her and George worked at Mountain Aire Lodge together just outside Sundre. George and Annie were married in Scotland and that’s where they currently live, close to Annie’s family.

Anyway, I was beside myself with joy, eagerly anticipating their visit and wanted to surprise them with a unique gift.

The trouble is I currently have more time than money. Luckily, I found a gift that was unique and would give them and others the giggles for years to come.

Although I chose a brilliant gift (I have to be careful here not to break my arm, patting myself on my back), it’s not an expensive gift. So what on earth could I do to distract them from the fact that I did not spend a lot of money on their gift?

Well fortunately, I currently have a lot of time on my hands to plot and be creative and I thought it might be helpful to others for me to share my technique.

What to do when you want to distract people from the fact that you did not spend a lot of money on their gift

Turn the Giving of the Gift into an event.

GET A BLANK CARD or make one with the cardboard from an old cereal box or something, whatever… and fill it to the hilt with lots of words. Just go on and on about nothing in particular.

I chose to ramble on about my thought processes at the time of purchasing their gift and ran through all the gift options I had considered and why I scrapped each, one-by-one, until I found THE gift that was now wrapped and on the table in front of them.

Next. Make them read the card out loud before opening the gift. Annie had reached past the card for the gift and I said, “Hey, hey read the card first!”

Hint: It is more fun for you if you write with small letters and present the card in a place where the lighting is poor.

GIFT PRESENTATION. Wrap the inexpensive gift in plain paper. Paper grocery bags work. Decorate the paper with drawings, clever words, stickers, buttons, uncooked macaroni, or left over Christmas bows. Let your imagination run wild!

Just look at the amazing results I got below using a white grocery bag and 4 dry erase markers!

Art and words on the front of the package

I have actually been drawing that guy with the big nose behind a wall since I was a kid. I’ve drawn him at the end of letters. I’ve drawn him on the back of sealed envelopes when posting letters, I’ve drawn him on furniture – you name it.

I took this picture and texted it to my daughter and she texted back, “Hey, I remember that guy, you put that on all my birthday cards!

But I have never – and this is where it gets exciting – I have never drawn Mr. Big Nose from behind! Great idea or what?

Fortunately for me, the wrapped package had two sides, so when I was done with the front, I flipped it over and…

Art on the back of the package

I took a picture of the back of the package and texted it to my daughter. She texted back, “Bahahahahahaha!”

Well there it was on the table in front of them. Annie started to unwrap it and I said, “Hey, hey look at the back!” So they looked. And they laughed. Annie unwrapped the gift carefully. She wanted to keep the paper. And they even loved the gift that I didn’t spend a lot of money on. In fact, I think they thought it was expensive, like $800 or something, whatever…

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

When did you last set aside some time to be creative? Let your imagination run wild? Do you have friends that you don’t see often because they live far away? When you do see them, do you just pick up where you left off?

Sun, Fun, Guilt and Dreams

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daughters, Diana Schwenk, dreams, family, fun, Guilt, Hump Day Chronicles, living in the moment, Relationships, summer, sun

Good Morning y’all!

The weather in Calgary has been outstanding!

For days now the weather has been…well it’s been like summer and there’s no rain in our immediate future.

Needless to say, I’ve been out there enjoying the sun as much as I can. For this reason, and a few others I did not post Diana’s Enormous Book of Quotes  on Sunday.

WHAT!!

Seriously, it is the first time I’ve missed a Sunday Post since I’ve started! I actually had tinges of guilt about it until I gave my head a shake and forgave myself. But even more shocking – I haven’t spent nearly as much time as I would like reading your posts!

You forgive me, right?

It’s not been all Fun and Games  though

Along with taking every opportunity to enjoy the sun, I’ve been fine-tuning content for The Other Bottom Line (soon to be launched, I hope)  and finalizing just what it is I’m wanting to do with my future.

This has been occupying my thoughts a lot and my whiteboard is definitely getting its share of action!

Family

I also eked out some time to visit my daughter in Camrose. I’m so proud of her. She’s working 2 jobs and finally found a place to live where she can be herself. She has two awesome roommates and all 3 take care of each other like a family. I could just kick myself for not taking pictures. I love you Michaela – thanks for taking me in and for our lovely visit!

Dad and Mom on their anniversary last year

I called my parents yesterday to wish them a Happy Anniversary. 54 years is nothing to sneeze at and in a world where long marriages seem rarer and rarer, it truly is something to celebrate. Way to go Mom and Dad – congratulations and may you share another 54 years together!

When I think about it, I guess I’ve been living in the moment  a bit better than I usually manage to do and that is definitely a good thing.

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

How do you ensure that you are living in the moment?

If Momma’s Not Happy, Nobody’s Happy

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debt-free, Diana Schwenk, enjoyment, exercise, food, fun, health, Hump Day Chronicles, integrity, joy, living in the moment, love, mission, Purpose, self-care, spiritual

Last week I wrote about how I’ve been procrastinating, feeling vulnerable and then finally getting started on figuring out what I want to do with my life. To read that post, click here or in a nutshell let me recap here. I bought a whiteboard and made lists of the things I love, who I am, the type of environment I thrive in, and some of my strengths and skills.

I told you my next steps would be to look for themes in feedback I’d received from previous colleagues (I didn’t get to that yet, but that’s ok)  and working on the vision, mission and philosophy of another blog I plan to launch soon. I did do this – believe it or not – and will share this with you at some point in the future.

For this post, I want to step back and talk about self-care; taking care of you outside of the job arena. It is an area I often put on the back burner however, and I thought it important to include from the get-go in this process.

~

A few years ago I attended the introduction session of a personal financial management course focussed on getting out of debt and learning to save. They did such a good job of highlighting and explaining the points we would cover in this first session that I never went back again.

I managed to pay off the debt that I’d accumulated on 3 credit cards and save $1000 in case of an emergency in the span of 1 1/2 years:

One of the most important tips in that course was YES pay your debt but also budget fun money,  and this is crucial, pay yourself!

I went on to save more money so that when I left my job (to maintain my sanity) I was able to take a year off and two tropical vacations before looking for another job!

Fun in the sun

Buying something without having the money to do so, just doesn’t make sense to me anymore.

So if paying yourself financially is a good idea, why wouldn’t paying yourself, so to speak, in self-care, while providing your services at work and taking care of your family also be a good idea?

Sadly, this is the part I often neglect.

I felt it important to take some time this week to think about the ways I can commit to taking care of myself.

After all, ‘if Momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy,’  as a past boss of mine used to say.

I want to be healthy enough to have fun and do the things that make me happy for a long, long time.

Food

My whiteboard list includes rye bread, fruit, nuts, veggies, cheese as snack foods and all whole foods for meals: all kinds of meat, potatoes, whatever even if they have fat like avocados and olives and bananas and eggs, etc. If nature has it and I like it, I cook and eat it. And yes, I switched from margarine to real butter!

I’ve heard it said that eating right is more expensive. I’ve got to whole-heartedly disagree with that. (I spend less money now than before and eating good, real food is actually more filling. I have this theory that our bodies crave vitamins and minerals and when we have our fill, we’re not hungry. 🙂

Exercise

I won’t pay for a gym membership! But on my list are walking, Pilates, light weight resistance, jum rope and a good 8 hours of sleep every night. I didn’t do all these things from the beginning. I started with Pilates and began walking to and from work. I can do all these things at home and outside for free. I hate running but who knows, I may add this to my routine at some point in the future. The bottom line is being active gives me more energy.

Spirituality, Meditation and Attitude

Also included on my list is a desire to re-introduce spirituality, faith and a good attitude into my life in a more meaningful way. My whiteboard list includes: an intentional attitude of thankfulness and gratitude, being present in the moment, intentional prayer (to say thank you and ask for blessings for the people I am in contact with).  I truly believe that God is in the Thank You inhabiting the praises of His people. Also I put meditation on the list – never done it, not sure I like it even, but have been feeling a pull to do so. I’m not sure what that will look like but start small right?

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Fun is important to me. My whiteboard list includes: traveling, socializing, dancing, reading, enjoying the great outdoors, blogging and music. I must be intentional about leaving room for these things in my life. I may even meet that man who can put up with me and all my imperfections – who knows!

~ HUMP DAY CHRONICLES ~

What are your personal desires?

How do you ensure that you make time to care for you?