The write stuff

So once again it is that time of year when people reflect back on what they have accomplished in the last year and make plans and goals for the next. I have spent some time looking over the last year and have been very happy with positive changes I have made in my life and tough challenges I have faced. It wasn't an easy year by any means, but it brought many neccessary changes in my life. This year I want to continue that trend and work on one of my weaknesses. Tne biggest weakness I think I need to work on is my lack of consistency. You see I tend to be very good at starting things, often too many things at a time, but I lack the discipline to carry things through. I tell myself I'm going to write down all of my purchases and track my spending...yeah that plan lasts about two days before I toss it. I say I'm going to do my exercises every day...but really it ends up happening very randomly and not nearly as frequently as it should. So this year instead of making a huge li

So recently I took a risk by doing what I love in front of others. I have always loved to sing but due to my lack of confidence the only places you'll usually hear me perform are in the shower or in my car. When my singing teacher first asked me if I would consider singing a set during Koi's open mike night I felt a mixture of terror and excitement. I started practising extra hard and was cautiously optimistic that it would turn out to be fun. Unfortunately the day I was supposed to sing also happened to be the day that Jonathan died and so I cancelled. I couldn't see myself up there singing "Stormy Weather" and maintaining any semblance of control over my voice. I was thrilled when I was invited to another open mic night just over a month later. It was nice and slightly unnerving to have my good friends and my sister there to hear me. For some odd reason I find it harder to sing in front of people I know than in front of strangers. Koi ended up being a very warm

Like many of you, I have had an interesting few weeks trying to deal with the snow, icy road conditions, long waits in traffic, and car problems. It was bad enough having my car stall on occasion and getting stuck in at least five snow mounds, but now my car has died. It fizzled yesterday and so I got to spend one of my vacation days out in the -30 weather trying to fix it and then drive it in a state of sheer terror to the nearest Certigard. I woke up this morning to find out that there are numerous issues that have piled up due to my car being treated like a work horse over the last few months. The breaks are pretty much non-existant and my battery too dead to even bother recharging. The mechanic paused a little when I asked for an estimate of the things they would have to do for my car to be safe to drive. He said with as perky a voice as he could dredge up, "Uh, that will be about $995 ma'am." My mouth opened up slightly and the room spun a little before I could f

Money has been a concern of mine since I was around 6 or 7 years old. I remember my Dad, indignant of the way that the large faceless insurance groups treat people, decided to start an insurance company of his own. Though well intended, this plan did not sail. Actually quite the opposite...we ended up in some pretty bad financial trouble. My Dad could not go back to the companies he had challenged so he became a free agent and soon landed in the world of Catastrophe Claims which promised more money and trips to more exotic places than Calgary. It did deliver on its promise, but there was a heavy price to pay. This kind of work meant a lifestyle of almost certain bouncing between feast and famine (especially if one could not resist the feast and was not wise enough to save for the famine). Also this meant he spent a lot of time away from home, often months. I grew up in this unstable financial environment and learned some rather bad habits. I have developed this addiction to the warmth