January's over

Ok, I can't believe it but I blogged EVERY SINGLE DAY in January!! Wow, I'm in shock! I'd really like to keep going, it's nice! ;-)

Thanks to breaking my camera, I couldn't keep with the one pic a day challenge, though, but I'll get back to it as soon I can buy a new lense. Still have to make some arrangements for that.

My goals for this month are only half reached:

• Collect all my loved ones' birthdays dates and prepare cards for the first trimester.

I sent cards to all those that I knew had birthdays in January, and I'm still working on the first trimester's cards. I also got mom's file with all the family's birthdays and I've been adding them to my PDA to have everything in one spot.

• Get back to exercise: work out at least 15 minutes 5 times a week.

Mmmmm... NO! I totally messed up with weight loss this month, I gained a lot (still have to figure out how much, even if I'm not sure that I want to know!)

• Collect informations about the different options I have for my career: classes, exam, etc.

I had a nice chat with my friend Lydie who's a great professional and know a lot about our status (as state employees we've got different careers than people working for normal companies). There will be some major changes next month(s) with 3 new people joining the team, so I need to see what this will bring. My boss really sucks at planning and communicating about changes, so I don't really know where we're going right now... We'll see.

• Collect informations about financial management (blogs, books, etc.)

I read several blogs about this topic, and I will set up a plan next month.

• Get back to my routines, think about giving them a twist if necessary.

I've been improving this really nicely. The only routine that I still have a hard time with is my evening routine: I keep doing the basics like brushing my teeth but I need to improve the little extras that help a lot, especially as I plan to get up earlier to workout.

Stay tune for next month's goals!!

Animator vs animation - The sequel

A very inspiring quote

"What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?"










Think about it!

Image found through I can read... great site, and great quote!

A terrific site about organisation

Today I have a great site to share: OnlineOrganizing.com. Every time I browse it, I find new treasures to help me get organized. They have a great "blog channel" and fabulous tips. They also have lots of organizing products if you need to buy something, but even without that the free stuff is worth several visits on this site!

My favorite magazines

I usually get 3 magazines every month... I know, I know, I should get a subscription, it would be cheaper! LOL One of them is Biba, the second one is Glamour and the last one is Cosmopolitan. Glamour and Cosmo are quite similar, Biba is less "trendy" and has more articles about relationships and psychology, but I really like them all.

What's your favorite magazine? Why do you like it?

I had a great day!!

I attended my first crop ever... It was really fun! I created a mini-album about my loved ones, and even though it's not finished yet, I think it turned out great! I still have some pix and embellishements to add, and I'll post pix then.

Fun movie, and getting ready for tomorrow

We have been out of TV (and sometimes internet too) since Friday noon, but the VOD is working... Weird, I know! Anyway, we took advantage of this situation to watch Madagascar 2. I liked the first one, even if it's not my all time favorite cartoon, but the sequel is even more fun!! I especially loved the old woman and the penguins: too funny!!

Today I prepared a scrapbook meeting I'll join tomorrow. I can't wait to meet the girls I've been chatting with for several months now! I printed some pix at a mall nearby and I was really pleased with the quality. It was the first time I used this service but I will definitely get back there, even if it's a bit pricey. We will do a mini album... my first paper project! Gasp!! I also tried to print pages for a bracket album I want to do, but my printer isn't working! Grrrr! I have this album (Basic Greay Bracket Album) since forever, but I've never managed to get to it. I guess I'm scared that there's no Ctrl+Z in real life! And now that I finally felt brave enough to get started, I can't because of this stupid printer! Bummer!!!

I'll be back soon with pix of the meeting and of my mini album... Hopefully it'll turn out ok! LOL

A very fun blog

You have... I mean HAVE to have a look at Dawn's blog here. She's so smart and funny, I love how anything looks enjoyable through her way to tell the story... even being a mom to 6 kids! Yep, SIX!! She's my hero! LOL

Late post...

*yawn* It's 11:00 pm and, once again, here I am, sitting at my desk, still on the computer... Why is it that I can't seem to go to bed even if I know that I need it, even if I keep yawning and I feel tired... Oh, and the other mystery of my life: why OH WHY am I so awkward??? I keep bumping in walls and hurting myself, making things fall and break, forget my stuff everywhere. If anyone has some tips to be more... normal!, I'll take them! TIA!!

What a day!

I was so moved and proud of the American people!! This is the United States as we love them!

When being a robot is good...

Sometimes, acting like a robot is good. No, I'm not only talking about some old fashion dance moves here... LOL (And I won't show you!!! ROFLOL) For chores the robot-like approach is great. I mean, if you stay a thinking human being, with things you like and other that you dislike, there are some tasks that will never get accomplished. It's sometimes necessary to "unplug" your brain, if you know what I mean, and just do it! I don't know about you, but if I'd have to wait until I "feel like" cleaning the toilet... uh, oh, that wouldn't be pretty! So when I have to do it, I just try to stop thinking and let my body work "by itself", without involving my brain in the job. It's not needed anyway! LOL

I know it's easier to say it than to do it, so here are some tips to help you:

• put your favorite music on and focus your thoughts on the music.
• listen to an audio book
• chat with someone, either face to face or on the phone
• tell your shopping list / menus to someone that can write it down for you (I love to do that with DBF). Extra bonus: 2 brains are better than one and the other person might think to something that you'd have forgotten otherwise!
  

Please share if you have other tips for helping get those booooooring tasks done, I'd love to know what you do!!

A new LO

For SSD’s January 11th SAL.


Credits: scraplift of Junebug’s Simply Adorable LO,
Dani Mogstad’s Tropical Punch,
Andrea Burns' Color Pop & Black and White Photo Action @ TDC
Stitching by Chirpi (Mum’s the Word),
Font is Traveling Typewriter.

Yummy!!!

We went to see our friends Anne and François and their adorable 3 boys Clément (8 1/2 years old), Lucas (5 1/2 years old) and Jules (2 1/2 years old) today. François is a chef so he made a delicious meal for us... The best part was definitely the dessert: a melting chocolate cake. It's a half-cooked cake, in which the center is still melted... My all time favorite! Too bad I couldn't take pix because I had no camera!! :-(

Trying to keep up with my project 365

Despite the fact that my camera is broken, I try to keep up with my project 365. I use all opportunities I can: scanning some memorabilia (parking ticket to remind me of a trip to Strasbourg, for example), using DBF's phone (he has a 5 megapixels camera), using my work's camera... but still, it's so much more complicated than having my own camera! UGH!!! I still have to update and edit my recent pix and post them, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it this weekend (we're going to visit some friends tomorrow). In the meantime, they are sleeping on my EHD! LOL

Amazing animation!

There's also a sequel, and it's even more elaborate!

Happy new year... still?

Tonight my boss, the mayor, will have a little ceremony to wish all our partners a happy new year. That made me thinking: until when can you (or have you to) wish a happy new year? We still have people everyday coming at the townhall desk and wish us a happy new year. Nice, but 15 times a day... it's getting boring now!! I know you it's commonly admitted that you can wish it until the end of January, but I think I won't stand it until then! LOL

On the other hand, since I took the "it's the New Year, let's make resolution and try to keep those for more than 2 days" challenge, I think it's time to review the goals I posted here:

• Collect all my loved ones' birthdays dates and prepare cards for the first trimester.

DONE for the month of January. I still have to ask Mom for her list (more complete than mine!) and do the 2 next months

• Get back to exercise: work out at least 15 minutes 5 times a week.

HALF DONE so far... Gotta keep working on this!

• Collect informations about the different options I have for my career: classes, exam, etc.

I'll take the opportunity of seeing my friend Lydie this Friday to ask her some advice

• Collect informations about financial management (blogs, books, etc.)

I discovered some good sites... will post those for next "Tips Tuesdays"

• Get back to my routines, think about giving them a twist if necessary.

Morning routine is going pretty good, but I still struggle with the midday and the evening one! I know how useful they are, though, so I will keep working on them!

Wordless wednesday... a video!

I can easily imagine Guy in that situation with our babies one day (he can't stand the cat's poo already):



I have to admit, my favorite one is definitely the astronaut one! LMAO!!!

Getting prepared

Okay, even though I don't think I could ever need it (and even less wish I'd ever do!), I've read with attention the US governemental site about getting prepared for emergencies ready.gov. There are lots of interesting infos and, if... er, I mean WHEN I will be organized enough to take care of those extras, I'll refer to it. That's not on my top priorities list (I first want to have my kitchen and home office under control, for example!) but afterwards, it's gonna be a great resource. And you never know when you'll have to leave your home in emergency!!

We are family...

A few of my family members are artists or involved in artistic activities.

First of all, my brother organized concerts and events. I'm really glad to see him motivated about getting involved in such a project. Of course, the fact that he can party and enjoy music that he loves for free helps a lot in his commitment, but still, it's good to see his energy directed to a productive goal! Here's their myspace: Eternal Songs.

Next, my cousin Nicolas is a painter. He started with graffiti and I really love his urban style, quite cartoonish sometimes but also very graphic and modern. He's getting recognized and that's great! Here's his website nkdm.com. Just the entrance page is gorgeous!!

Finally, I recently discovered that another cousin's girlfriend Arève is also a painter. She has a contemporary graphic style, with lots of bright colors... I love it! Have a look on her site.

There you go, some inspirational materials for today!

Happy birthday Liliane!!

Today's my aunt's birthday!!

Credits:
For SSD’s January TOTM.
Scraplift of Kenna Ewing’s Joy of the Season,
Indian Summer by Eva Kipler and Scrapkitchen designs @ SSD,
Doddled square by Mikkel Paige (Doodle Me Big),
Stitched square by Jule (Acrydenkelwolke),
Andrea Burns' Color Pop & Black and White Photo Action @ TDC,
Font is Pean Whinney.

Thanks for looking!

Who stole my day??

Well, I went to 2 different shops today and apparently the broken lens isn't covered by the warranty! I'm really mad at myself!!! After that I went grocery shopping and pfffft, my day was gone! Still don't know where it went!

I'm not the worst one...

This makes me feel better for being so awkward! LOL

Call me PETA girl

Not because I got to work naked like the stars in the PETA ads, but because I "saved" a little dog tonight. A guy came in the townhall right before we close with a dog that was apparently lost. He couldn't keep it for the night, the local shelter was closed and the only possibility would have been to put the dog in a cage. The night was freeeeeezing cold, and this idea was so heartbreaking to me that I kept the dog for the night. I walked with him for 1 hour, hoping he would take me to his home... no luck. I finally installed him in my basement and a collegue brought him to the shelter the next morning. Hopefully he'll get back home very soon!

AAAAaaaaaargh!!!

I can't believe it! I broke my brand new camera... or the lens, actually! I'm so mad at myself!!! The bag with the camera fell down and it broke a little plastic piece that hold the lens and the camera together. It still works, I can still take pix, but the lens isn't attached properly and I'm afraid it'll finally break the camera! This is a BAD day!!

Handy Shopper

Okay, this is a Tip Tuesday for all you PDA users out there. Come on, I know you're there!! LOL

I've come accross a great freeware for PDA: HandyShopper. Here's a site about it, and you can download it almost everywhere.

This software was created to make shopping lists, but it's much more than that! I use it for packing lists as well (and I should have use it when I packed to come home last holidays: I forgot a sweater at my mom's home!), but my favorite use is for FLYing: I put my routines in there, as if every part of the routine was an item on my shopping list, and I cross off everything that is completed. It's sooooo useful! You can even find examples of routines on the web.

That's it for today! Take care!!

Enjoying the Project 365

It's fun! I never thought I'd like to take photos every single day, but so far, I enjoy it! Okay, okay, I know, it's only been 5 days, but still! LOL I was even brave enough to take pix at work despite my collegues laughing at me photographing my desk and through my window! LOL

I'm back at work and back at losing weight too! I'm at my highest weight I've ever been... Or I should rather say that I was last week: I lost 200g (0.5 lbs). I'm glad to see the scale moving in the right direction, but I'm still in shock: I gained 22 lbs (10 kg) over the last 5 months... How is it possible??? If anyone knows what's going on in my body, I'd love to know!

Project 365 - Day 5

The view from my office... it snowed today!

Project 365 - Day 4

Here's my pic for today: DBF reading a book. A perfect picture of our Sundays: relaxed!

Argh, darn cat!!

My beloved Flamby, aka "The Terrible" aka "PITA" just jumped on the kitchen table and put a plate down. A big oven plate in glass... I had to vacuum the whole place and picked at least 1'589'547 bits of glass everywhere... or so about! LOL I love him but sometimes I wonder why!

Project 365 - Day 3

Just a quick one for today... I'm feeling sick! Hope it's not a stomach flu!! Keep your fingers crossed!

In the meantime, I still felt good enough to go shopping and got some t-shirts (long sleeves, V-neck) and a black sweater.

Project 365 - Day 2

DBF, FIL and DBF's nephew working in our future living room.

Inspiring positive post

Brooke, a member of SSD community, posted a very inspiring and incredibly positive post about 2008 here. So touching!! Go have a look and feel happier after reading such great words!

The stupidest gadget ever...

Look at what I found in a swiss shop (the famous Migros, for those who have ever been to Switzerland):

Yup, that's a banana cutter... How useless is this? Oh, and my favorite part: the little picture on top, just in case you didn't understand how it works:
Too stupid, I love it!!

Project 365

There's a big buzz about "project 365": taking a pic a day all year long! On of my "101 in 1001" projects is to take one pic a day for a month, so we'll see if I can manage to keep going longer. Here's my pic for January 1st:

My goals for 2009... and how to get there

In 2009, I want to

• Be a better person
  
• Be in better health
• Make my career move forward
• Manage my money better
• Be more organised
  

Those are my resolution, but they will remain dreams unless I define them more precisely and turn them into goals... so here we go!

In 2009, I will (notice the subtle difference between my 1st sentence and this one! LOL)

• Thighten my relationship with the ones I love and develop my "internal life" (creativity, personal interests, culture)
• Get to a healthy BMI, that is below 72 kg (158 lbs)
  
• Decide where I want my career to move forward and take at least 2 steps in that direction
• Get educated about finance managing, define a budget, stick to it and adapt it to big changes in my life.
• Create order, beauty and peace in my home and be able to maintain neatness without too much effort
  

Now to get to that point, I need a plan. Setting goals without knowing how to achieve them is like going on a trip into an unknown country without a map: you have great chances to get lost along the way, even if you know where you're going! Since this is a long journey (a year-long one, to be precise), I will break down my plan into manageable, monthly steps.

In january, I will:

• Collect all my loved ones' birthdays dates and prepare cards for the first trimester.
  
• Get back to exercise: work out at least 15 minutes 5 times a week.
• Collect informations about the different options I have for my career: classes, exam, etc.
  
• Collect informations about financial management (blogs, books, etc.)
• Get back to my routines, think about giving them a twist if necessary.

To help me follow this plan, I have created a reminder that I will update every month and post everywhere:
Credits: papers by Victoria Greenlees (Crafty Fall@ chirpi.co.uk), stitching by Chere Kaye (Tristan's Treasures collab @ TDC), "2009" and month alpha by Victoria Greenlees (Delicate Dreams @ chirpi.co.uk), "my goals" stamps by Michelle Coleman (Stamped Alpha freebie), swirls by Christine Smith (Flourish), fonts by Darcy Baldwin (DJB Lorraine Bold and DJB Chloé).

Happy new year!!

Hope 2009 will be a fabulous year for you and all your loved ones!