Thankful Thursday

This is going to be a pretty boring one, are you ready?! Ha, wait, don't click the "x" in the corner. So, originally our hope was to drive across Canada this summer and then in December we said "yes" to our sweet foster daughter who will be with us into the fall.

Plans have changed and we have just a small four day trip coming up (to Kelowna–yeehaw!) but the benefit of this is twofold:

1. We save money and are doing an all inclusive trip to Mexico in March instead.

2. We get to tackle all those projects that were on our list for so long.

So today I'm going to share those things that we wouldn't have been able to do had we left on holidays all summer. Also, let me be clear that because I'm heading to work at the end of August, it has given me the push to get all this done.

This week I am thankful for:


1. Clearing out this unused area and putting in a hot tub. 

2. A trip to Green Lake. We haven't been able to visit Green Lake in the summer for years so it was great to use it at it's prime time.

3. Selling some items (honestly, I could've sold so much  more but just ended up donating wildly. Time is money, right?)

4. Cleaning out the garage. This was a huge job that took Gary and I the weekend. We've lived in our home for 12 years and had kids in the baby stage pretty much the whole time so you accumulate a lot of stuff! We are taking a break from fostering and therefore purged all baby items and extra bikes etc.

5. Finally going through the spare room closet and toy box. As I mentioned we had held on to so much through fostering. We had a lot of clothes and toys and I was able to donate boxes, sell some and then donated a whole lot too. We did do trips to the thrift store but with Big Brother able to pick up, that is sometimes the easiest. With the garage and house purge we likely got rid of 6 van loads of stuff this summer!

About 1/6th of what we purged

6. Going through the linen closet. I held on to every duvet cover we've had over the past 13 years and finally donated the ones we no longer use (three king sized ones!). There were a lot of random decorative pillows and baby blankets etc too.

Pretend this looks nicer than it does

7. School prepping for September. I want to have my whole September planned out so that the transition goes well for me! I've been subbing over the last 5 years or so but as a teacher back in 2001-2009 we didn't have everything online and now kids bring computers to class so I need to get caught up. The Science 8 curriculum has changed as well but thankfully there's another Science 8 teacher in the house ;) In regards to Biology 12, the teacher going on maternity leave graciously entrusted me with all of her PowerPoint's, labs and projects which will be a major sanity saver (three cheers for E!)

8. Kai learning how to cook. Tonight he made Shepherd's Pie and we're having him make several new meals each week. Not only is it good for life skills but we're hoping he'll be helping out a lot more in the fall.

9. Getting to other projects this summer. Still on the list are: clean out the camping closet (shudder...it's under the stairs so such a tight, tricky space), power washing the house, painting our ensuite and putting up a new mirror/cabinet in there and painting our front door.

10. Having the kids in swimming lessons and camps. They kids do not like swimming lessons at all so I only make them do it once per year and it will be happening in a few weeks. Nya is also going to Princess Ballerina Camp because I'm feeling all the mom guilt about not having her in dance or gymnastics in the school year so I thought a week of dance camp in the summer would help. Truthfully I don't want her doing extracurricular because school full time will be hard enough on her and I don't want her getting run down and sick (asthma related). 

Okay, nevermind. This was so boring. Therefore, if you are having a very boring summer, maybe this will make you feel better? I would HIGHLY encourage you to purge if that is on your list of things to do. Start with one closet. One room. Whatever works. It feels so great! If you haven't read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up it does help!

What are you thankful for today?

Love,

Louise