Camping weekend! Yay! I think...

So turns out I get to go camping this weekend! In a tent! I'm excited, but scared at the same time. I have this gigantic, irrational, ridiculous fear of creepy crawly creatures with more than 4 legs. I have come to accept, ants, butterflies, and ladybugs. The rest of them cause my skin to crawl. Almost literally.

So hopefully I can keep my squeamishness down to a dull roar and get to enjoy the weekend. No windows or screens to keep me safe, just a tent and a butt load of blankets. I may end up being a big butch camper by the end of this, or I'll end up hiding in the tent the whole time with my eyes closed. Time will tell.

The thing is, I love the outdoors, I love fresh air, trees, walking around barefoot. I'm just a big sissy about bugs. I also don't use bug spray, since that pretty much only keeps mosquitoes away, and mosquitoes are not what I'm afraid of.

I'll be bringing books, my current knitting project, food (not sure exactly what yet, since I haven't been camping since summer camp and at camp you don't need to bring food!), maybe some playing cards. Other than that, hoping that I will be able to venture outside of the tent and explore a little bit.

Long pants and shirts are a must-have for any squeamish hiker, as I hate the feel of bugs and spider webs on my skin. You want to see my skin crawl, watch me when I accidentally touch a spider web. Hahah, so not funny.

Anyways, so I'll be back Monday around lunchtime and hopefully will have good things to share! Maybe even some pictures! Yay!

Enjoy your weekend, lovelies who pass by here, and know that I will return.

Lots of fun and enjoyment,

-SG

Poem

Pain so immense that words do not describe
Shifting from one plane to another
Thoughts transfer and are reinterpreted
What once was happy, no longer
What once caused pain, no longer
Each new feeling is not new
Just rethought and rebranded
Whatever
Nothing can ever change the changes
They are stuck within forever
Forever

Wednesday's small step: New pastimes

Passing the time, beating boredom, is one of the easiest ways to fall into a trap. A trap where you feel like all you can do is sit on the couch, watch garbage TV, and eat junk food. You fall into the cycle, because you're tired, because you're lazy, but you're also bored.

One thing I've found, boredom can be beaten with minimal effort. Television, computer, or any type of technology is, is not needed for breaking through inertia. All you need to do is think a little bit outside of the box. Remember things that you liked doing when you were younger.

Me, personally, I love being artsy, being creative, and spending time outside. So my 'new' pastimes include knitting (right now, working on a curly scarf kind of like this one) or crocheting (which I'm not so good at, haha). I also enjoy thinking of new ways to use things that I have around the house. Such as a ripped pillowcase. Which I still haven't actually decided what I'm doing with yet, but I'm working on it.

And, on my weekends, when I have all day to do (pretty much) whatever I want, I love to do this. With my closest beach a 10 minute drive away, it's a great way to spend the day, and my daughter loves to swim. The water may not be the cleanest (we tend to get no-swim advisories every other week) but that's what showers were made for. And soap. So we go anyways. Still haven't caught E.coli, so I think we're good.

I also read. Fantasy, murder mystery, romance, non-fiction, anything you put in front of me, I'll read it.

What kinds of things do you do to disconnect yourself from technology, and from boredom, when the TV is calling your name?

Do you try to change it up, and be creative, or do you have tried and true pastimes that have stayed through the years?

I love Microsoft Paint! My first handmade blog photo :)

Peace and serenity,

Simply Me

Enjoy the Small Steps series? Let me know what you think below.

Monday Musing: Gardens

So I'm sitting here, this drab humid blah Monday morning, and I'm feeling envy.

Mel and I went up to Kemptville yesterday to meet her uncle and his partner, and they have a garden. In which they grow various foodstuff, including lettuce (which tastes like leaf lettuce, with better texture) radishes (not my thing, but cool) corn, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.

It just makes me wish that I could have one, but my apartment is facing the north, so we get like 2 hours of sunlight (if that) in the morning on our little balcony, and that's it!

If life wasn't so hectic, I would put more effort into planting my mom's vegetable garden back up, but I don't have time to go over there every day or so to pull weeds and whatever else you have to do in a garden. Plus, it's halfway through July, so it seems kinda pointless.

Just makes me sad, I can't wait to have a house with a yard so I can have my garden and learn all the in's and out's of growing food.

Peace and serenity,

Simply Me

Enjoy my Monday Musing series? Here is the list of the other posts from this series:
Happy thoughts
Automatic negative reactions
Thanksgiving
Sustainable eating
Contentment
Crutch or Reason?

To routine, or not to routine, that is the question

Sooo, yoga has pretty much fallen to the wayside, and sleeping in has taken over. I know, I know, not a good idea seeing as I'm just that much more exhausted when I go to work.

It's a vicious cycle really. I can't stop myself from falling asleep, sleeping in, almost being late for work, drinking 2-4 cups of coffee (with my reusable mug so it's really more like 4-8 cups of coffee) and shuffling through the day.

I need to boost myself up and force myself to stay awake, but it's sooo hard...

I will retry to restart my yoga routine this week, starting Monday.

Wish me luck!

Wednesday's small steps: Online petitions

I love taking small steps, and some easy ones are signing petitions. Not only is it one more name for the cause you sign, it also helps to reassure you that you aren't the only one who wants these things.

My favourite petition sites are:

Care2
Credo Action
Avaaz

So far that's it. Every now and then they send me e-mail notices of new petitions, and you can do searches for whatever subject you'd like to sign on.

Small steps, can have big effects.

Here are the petitions I've signed so far today:

Stop CNN from parroting FOX News' propaganda
Stop stoning, save Sakineh!
Protect Against New Drilling

Peace and serenity,

Simply Me

Enjoy the Small Steps series? Let me know what you think below.