p.s.

oh, and i lost 20+ pounds between August and now doing low carbs. I swear by it. I'm switching to southbeach tomorrow because I think it's closer to something that i could do as a way of life.

Low carbing RULES!!! i haven't lifted a finger even though i need to start exercising now...

Renovations are almost done!

one more week and the workmen should be gone. THANK GOD! this contractor is a TRIP. I hate doing anything that is in a male dominated area. i don't even like going to the gas station. but, he chose to mess wif the wrong gal because we just butt heads. regardless, i'm going to get exactly what i am paying for. and that's the end of it.

everything is looking great. i'm am actually the general contractor myself. the contractor gave me a price for the whole job and i said "no thanks, just give me a price for x, y and z and i will hire the guys to do the rest of it". would you believe that i saved OVER 30 GRAND this way!! i mentioned this to him today (while we were butting heads) and he just looked at me. highway robbers, the lot of them.

i'm more than thrilled with the carpenter making the cabinets. the electrician is just following through with what i'm asking him to do and is great. my uncle is awesome and going above and beyond as well as being my plumber. the tile and most of the painting is done.

all i need now for my side of the house is the carpet for my daughter's room and her room painted. the contractor still has to put her door in, but that should be a small matter. i got home from work yesterday and he had put her door on swinging out into the hallway. he gave me a story about it being a fire hazard to swing in. ummmm... a child's bedroom door needs to be open MOST of the time and swinging out is NOT going to cut it. i guess "stupid" is carved into my forehead. THANK GOD i've withheld a chunk of money or i'm pretty damned sure he would be walking away without finishing the job. highway robber.

now i'm looking for a landscaper. this place should be looking pretty spiffy soon :-)

aaayyyyyyyyyyyy!!

Hey there! i'm still here. i've been sooooo busy with the house, the baby and work. i haven't scrapped in forever because everything has been pulled apart for MONTHS while we wait week by week for the planning permission to do renovations. we FINALLY got permission yesterday (yaaaayyyyy) but NOW we have to wait for a building permit! geesh...

so, here i am. nothing big to report. but life is great :-))

I'm still here...

I haven't been posting because i'm waiting for my great news to be finalized before i announce it. Well anyway, i'm buying a house. Well, i'm buying a house back. i sold it to my sister about 5 years ago because she had a child and i didn't think that i was going to have any kids and i thought that she would want the security. Anyhow, i now have a 2 year old and she lives in Canada, so i'm buying my house back! i only i didn't live in the house for about 6 months and have been living here since (paying rent) so it feels great to have my home back.

the details should be finalized in the next 2 weeks or so. Apparently we would have signed by now, but our lawyer went on vacation a week ago. Of course we are not important to be notified about her 2 week vacation. but, whatever... my mom and i are planning renovations and we're so excited about them so we haven't really been focused on the when and where of the final sale.

Soooooo, that's my great news :-))

Day 1 of Wk 2

okay, so in honour of the beginning of week 2 I picked up my pedal bike from the store.

The ride home took me TWO HOURS (it should have taken one) but I stopped and visited my uncle at his welding shop and smelled the roses and sat off once to read a magazine :-)) Last time I checked, it's the amount to time that you spend in active mode that counts, and that didn't change just because i took my own sweet time! And trust me, my heart was sure getting a workout as I went 1/2 mile an hour across the causeway LOL

That was fun. Tomorrow i'm going to work on setting foot into the gym that I joined last week...

My boogey is still overseas and i'm ready for her to come back. The other pedal bike already has a child carrier, so she's my copilot, not an excuse to drive everywhere.

Day 7!

ok, so i'm on day 7 of my "diet". not really a diet, more of a no-longer-eating-anything-you-want phase of my life. i'm heading into the clean eating realm: whole grains, veggies, fruit for snacks. i'm doing this gradually, i just started with cutting out the junk food this past week and eating less carbs with my meals. but i eat carbs as a snack, like crackets and cheese. but when i eat carbs for lunch, it makes the rest of my day drag.

this morning feels like a turning point. i woke up feeling "lighter". i'm not going to get onto the scale to avoid disappointment, but i do feel a change. i've joined the gym also, so now i just have to go...

i bought a new pedal bike yesterday too! now i just have to pick it up from the store ;-)

"scrap for a cure LO Challenge" part 2

and, this is my very latest layout. i've definitely gone full circle and see a LOT of black cardstock in my future. this layout makes me very happy to stare at :-))

"scrap for a cure LO Challenge" part 1

here is my first layout

confession...

i'm so bored... i have a confession to make: my mom took my daughter to canada for TWO WEEKS to visit my sister (who has a 6 year old son). they left on monday.

on the one hand, i was soooo excited to have some ALONE time. time to just veg out after work. but we MISS HER so much!! i knew that we would miss her, but i'm soooo NOT getting anything done. i'm just laying around and it's not enjoyable at all. i don't even thinking about scrapping until late in the evening AFTER she would be asleep anyway.

on the other hand, it's friday and tomorrow will be the first day in a LOOOOONG time that i'm able to do whatever. but what will i do?

{sigh}

i know a lot of moms say that they just couldn't (wouldn't) go without their child for as long as that, but i'm tired and my mom and daughter are very close, and maybe i needed this time to really "get" that the exhaustion that goes along with parenting is worth it...

i'm bored.

still no update on my secret news. blaaahhhhh

cha CHING! life on the rock...

dag, this place is expensive! not a day goes by that these words don't enter my head. but i also never miss a day realising how blessed i am to have been born here - cuz i sure as sh!t couldn't afford to visit!!!!

for example: on any given day a one bedroom apt is listed at 2grand. if you find a 1500 dollar one, you grab it up and consider yourself lucky. it's more likely that you MAY find a 1500 dollar STUDIO. and i know for a fact that some of these young moms are taking home 300 a WEEK working in retail (for example)!! you do the math. where are they living???!! at home with mom...

well, i live at home too - but that's becuz i LUV my momma :-))

actually, it's quite common for families to stay together in some form or the other - and that's only if you're lucky. if you don't have that familial structure, you will likely find yourself working from paycheck to paycheck with an underlying sense of hopelessness. i see this too often. particularly when there are kids involved and weekend trips to the east coast are replaced by childcare fees. (New York: i'll be back!!)

don't get me wrong: i LOVE this island!

Top Secret

i haven't posted lately because there is soooo much happening in my life and it's mostly TOP SECRET!!! not really a secret, but too exciting to risk jinxing :-))

in other news: my dear daughter is going to Canada with my mother tomorrow for TWO WEEKS!!! yes, she is only 2 years old and no, i'm not an unfit mother! i know i'm going to miss her and if it were up to me my mom would only be going to a week or less, but it is what it is. my sister and 6 year old nephew live in canada and they're going for a visit. if my mom didn't take her, my sister wouldn't see my daughter for a couple of years. and my nephew is coming to Bermuda this summer. so we have that covered too...

i'm excited to have all of this spare time on my hands. let's see if i use it for good or evil :-)

i'll be back. hopefully i'll be able to reveal good news about my life!

That's my GIRL!

Her daddy gave her an egg and slice of buttered raisin bread. She ate the egg like it was going out of style, but decided that she just wanted the butter and raisins off of the bread :-) I couldn't believe it. I turned to see her licking the butter off of the bread!! She didn't even flinch while i snapped a few photos. That's my girl ;-)

Happy Father's Day Lionel

mommies united!

i was TRYING to go into a few stores earlier today and my 2yo dd stopped in the middle of Gibbons Company and screeched to the top of her lungs. so i say "come on, let's go to the toy section" and this got her moving again.

as we started walking, i muttered "i'm a hostage" and a nearby lady at a cash register said "we all are"

i feel so lonely as a mom sometimes and not sure that i'm doing the right things. and this just made me really feel like i was soooo not alone :-) it just made me feel good and i don't even know why!

just sharing...

day 1 - workout fever

yeah right @ "workout fever". i'm trying to drum up some hype in my own head LOL. well, i DID cycle to work today. that was 10 miles. and i haven't pigged out (YET - the night is still young). and for the record, i rode to and from work on two different days last week, but i wasn't eating well. so, last week doesn't count.

goals:
1. cycle to or from work at least 3 times a week.
2. keep the house stocked with good and healthy foods to eat
3. pack lunch
4. lift my little weights at home

that should keep me busy...

just titles

i'm starting to grow wary of lo's with just a title. seems like something is missing. what is the story behind the pic? that said, the lo that i've done of my nephew that simply says "star qualiity" pretty much says all that i know about the pics. i don't know the story behind the pics. i just came across my sister's picture stash and stole some.

although i will definitely head away from the "just a title" concept, sometimes it's enough to have rescued the pictures from their photo envelope dungeon.

i'm baaaaack!!!

and don't think that i was gone so long because i don't love you! i had to force myself on sunday to not keep posting new topics, and here it is TUESDAY before my next post. now that's restraint for you :-))

now, i've been analysising my new obsession with scrapbooking. i've decided to focus more on journaling so that when i'm gone and buried my great-grands can have a laugh.

i'm a little concerned that i'm going to be doing album after album until they pile up and i can't remember the story behind the picture :-( well, it beats the pictures being stuck on the computer and never seeing the light of day!

A wedding album for friends - the 1st few pages

if this slideshow is a tiny little box, refresh the page. i don't know why it does that...

I've given in...

and decided to start a blog. It's really to chronical what i'm up to today and any future plans.

I'm in Bermuda and "Chained To The Rock" is actually a very interesting book on the history of slavery in Bermuda. I've had the book for maybe 15 years and frequently flip through it as a reference or just to remind me of something or the other. It was written by Cyril Packwood and I'll link to amazon.com once I figure out how to do that...

Yup, I'm chained to the rock by choice now. It's a beautiful place to visit AND live :-))