It Was All In My Attitude

I had an off day, where I was playing catch up all day... from the moment I woke up, it took me nearly twenty minutes to finally roll out of bed.  I jumped into the shower and proceeded to spend an hour of my morning drying and styling my hair.  I had no idea how much it had grown in the past month (it seemed to have gained inches overnight, lol)... time to get it  cut a bit.. an hour is a bit much to spend on my hair in the morning. I didn't get my housework done on Saturday and I don't do any housework on Sundays, so because of this, I was completely unorganized with cooking lunch and getting clothes ready.

I actually left the house in plenty of time for the bus, which ended up being very late... which in turn made me miss my connection.  I stayed on that bus thinking I would just connect to any bus that was going across the bridge.  This was not to be, there was some sort of accident on the bridge and the bus was not able to go anywhere... by this point I was beginning to think the Universe was against me, lol. 

The bus was finally able to go over the bridge, however; my next transfer was no where in sight, I decided to take any bus to my next stop, which then had another twenty minute wait.  Did I mention it was cold this morning, beautiful but very cold.  I finally made it to work ten minutes before I was to start... I left the house at 7:10 am and I reached work at 8:50, what normally takes me a little over an hour, took me nearly two.

Work went really well though, the clients were funny, I was able to help solve most of their issues... it's always a good day when I come away from work smiling. It means I had a productive and happy day.. more and more of these lately.  Anyhow, I decided on the way home that no matter how tired I was and believe me I am exhausted, I was going to make sure the dishes and laundry were done... I can say it, they are done... so happy.

I am glad that I shook off the nasty morning I was having and started the day with a smile and it only got better as the day went on.  Tomorrow I will be more prepared and the day will be even better because of it, can't have two bad bus days in a row...

The highlight of my night was when Valentina and I went through all of her photos I have posted on Facebook, we laughed so hard and I told her the many stories behind each picture of her. There was one where she was eating cake and she was full of it... and ones where she was making the funniest faces, she is a beautiful girl but she can make the funniest faces that make us both laugh hysterically.  I'm going to post a few of these so you can smile like we did.

 Valentina and her first birthday cake

 Valentina and her many cute faces

Valentina at a year with her new fuzzy slippers

I am off to bed now, I want to start the day out on a good note and take it through the day... the best thing, I don't have to wash and style my hair, so I get an extra hour of sleep... starting off on the right foot.

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥

A Picture From The Past

Ever since I wrote about my mom the other day, I have been on a memory lane kick, I probably have too much time on my hands and my pictures are too close at hand.  I saw one of me when I was  23, my life changed greatly after that picture... that night I went out dancing and I ended up meeting Tony.  He was to become a huge part of my life for over 20 years.

When I look at that picture I see a girl who knew very little of how her life was to be shaped in the future.  Andrea was 5 years old at the time... I had just completed a year of college and I was unemployed.  I remember thinking back then, wondering how my life would ever change...  I was on assistance and there were many people around me in the same situation.

I knew I had to get out of the area I was in, it fostered the same situation for each family and their children that followed in their foot steps.  I did not want Andrea to follow on the path I had taken... I made changes after that move, I worked, and I went to school to upgrade myself.  I know I sounded like a broken record with Andrea as I am sure she would recall it that way; but I so wanted better for her.

Life is never easy but some paths are a heck of a lot harder than others, I really chose a way that wasn't simple, though I am grateful that I could be a stay at home mommy a lot of the time Andrea was little.  She and I had many days of fun where we would bake, play games, go to movies...  I am a much busier mama with Valentina because I am working and away from home from ten to eleven hours per day.  These memories of Andrea reminded me that it is really important for me to make that time with Valentina too.

Before Valentina comes home in a few weeks, I am going to dig out all my old board games and play them with her when she gets home.  Although Andrea was a sore loser while playing games, she learned to be a gracious loser.  Plus playing these games will give us a chance to talk about important things. Not that Valentina and I have issues talking as neither of us have that problem...  quite the opposite.  What I think it will do is have us set aside time to just be her and me.

One of the activities that Andrea and did a lot together was walking, we would just pick up and go for the day, we would be exhausted by the time we got home but we would have had fun going to the park and feeding the ducks or seeing some great site that Halifax has to offer, we are a tourist city with lots of interesting and inexpensive sights to see.  I had already decided that I was getting back into walking and taking Valentina with me, just more time to spend together.

It's interesting how a picture from the past can help you make changes in the future.

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I took a trip down memory lane last night when I pulled all my paper photos together to find a couple of my mom.  I found all kinds of memories, some when Andrea was just a baby... I usually only took special occasion pictures  because of the cost of film and developing.  I find I rarely get a picture in print anymore due to having a digital camera and my phone.  I have my pictures half sorted, I am going to finish up the sort this week and I am going to go through my digital pictures to see which ones I want to get prints of...

I used to have a wall of pictures for Andrea from the time she was a baby and as she grew through the years, I am going to do that for Valentina too.  I have lots of frames, I just never took the time to organize them.  I want to complete this little project while I am off work, I know once I am back to work, my time will be limited again.

I loved looking through all the old pictures of myself when I was a little girl, I remember how I felt in some of those photos... it depended if Ruth was around or not.  She could dampen any party mood where none of us could enjoy.  We would be sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if we looked or said something wrong.  No child should have to live that way, never knowing if what they said was right or wrong.

Once I have my income tax return I am buying myself a new computer, I have not had a new one since 2001 and that one lasted until 2011.  I then plan to scan a lot of my old favorites onto Facebook and here, as well I will have an organized box of pictures in order, so that Valentina can enjoy going through them.  I am sure she will have a great laugh at some of the hair cuts I have had over the years, not to mention some of the fashions...

I am going to make a more concerted effort to take more pictures of Valentina and I am going to have prints made of my favorites.  Digital pictures are awesome but nothing beats having a handful of pictures in your hand that you can look at one after another. 

I also am going to take an hour or so each day and go through my room.  When I did the massive clean up a while ago, I never made it in to my room.  Basically there is just the closet and some shelves I have to empty out and organize.  I have already started with a few things, everything should be in place before the end of the week.  I want to make my bedroom a peaceful place to come into at night so that I can have a restful sleep.

Do you have boxes of pictures in photo albums or loose ones?  If you can find a half hour or so, you should sift through them... go down memory lane. 

I cherish my past, I accept my present and I dream for my future ♥