Home Sweet Home

Here are just a few reasons why we love to call Cranston home....

Cathy

Spring has finally sprung!

Well, I actually haven't taken any "springy" pictures lately, but seeing everything jump to life around me has put me in the mood to share some lovely nature pictures we've taken since moving to Alberta.

Confessions of a Germaphobe

As a health care professional working in home care, I have the pleasure of getting to know and help patients in their homes. Generally speaking, I really enjoy my job and most of the homes I visit contain pleasant, friendly people who make concerted attempts to keep their houses clean and tidy. Granted, the people I visit are sick (and often frail and elderly), so they aren't always completely successful at the endeavor to have a clean home, but their efforts are certainly noticeable (and appreciated, if I do say so myself....).

However, I must admit that there are homes that make me cringe at the thought of entering.... homes that make you realize that shows like How Clean is your House don't exaggerate the state of some people's homes one little bit.

After 10 years of having to enter and assess patients in these ever so lovely dwellings, I've developed a little problem. I'm a germaphobe. Seriously. I never used to think about what might be living on my counter tops or under my toilet seat, but now I find myself deeply concerned. I never used to give a second thought to a door handle at the store, or the handle of the shopping cart, but now I know that some people who look very clean are, in fact, living in disgustingly dirty homes.

Not that I'm the poster child for a clean home. My home is often untidy (I do have two teenage boys living here you know), but I honestly do strive to keep it clean - free of dirt and grime. So, because of my germaphobic tendencies, acquired over years of working in, at times, unbelievable filth and indescribable odour I have a strong desire to disinfect. Everything. So, in my quest to kill all microscopic flora in my home, I've purchased some pretty strong cleaners in my day. I've also often found that I would get an incredible headache after cleaning, presumably due to the strong smell of most of these cleaners.

So lately I've been finding myself trying to come up with better, effective, less toxic ways to clean. Sure, I want to kill the bacteria and viruses lurking around my home, but I don't want to also be killing myself :o) I just wasn't sure where to start. Then, I read this post by McMama and I thought to myself - that sounds interesting.... and easy. So, I started doing some Internet research, and then I bought a book to help myself out and now I'm cleaning without all of those chemicals! I can clean an entire bathroom without getting a wicked headache! In fact, I bought some lemon essential oil to add a hint of lemony freshness to my "All Purpose Cleaner" which I use when wiping down my kitchen counter and stove after dinner. If I need to disinfect the kitchen, or when I'm cleaning the washrooms, I use my "Tea Tree Oil" cleaner. My 50/50 water/vinegar solution, when combined with my microfiber cloth, is fabulous for getting the fingerprints off my black appliances and cleaning my mirrors and windows to a gleaming, streak-free shine! Baking Soda - who knew the cleaning possibilities that existed with this miraculous white powder? My sinks have never been so clean, and my laundry so fresh smelling!

Can you tell I'm excited about my new discoveries? I'd love you tell you that I've changed because of my eco-friendly ways, but I'm not an eco-friendly guru. While I do believe that being responsible with the environment and the resources we glean from our world is important, I'm far from being an environmental junky. For me, the true benefit of the change in cleaning products is more about health. I figure it just can't be good for us to be exposed to all these chemicals all the time. Don't misunderstand though, I still believe that antibacterial and antiviral chemicals have their place in this world, but do they need to be in my home? No. Not that I'm ready to throw the antibacterial hand gel away though..... I do go to disgusting places sometimes, remember?

So for now, I will continue on this path of simplifying my cleaning. Oh, and did I mention that it's way cheaper to use these products for cleaning? An added bonus, if I do say so myself! On that note, I'll leave you to discover your own natural cleaning potential, and maybe I'll go scrub my sink down with baking soda! :o)

Cathy

What a sunny, call-free evening!

Well, I'm extremely happy to report that it's a beautiful, sunny night here in Calgary! Actually, it's quite cold, but the sun is shining and I'm not on call, so that makes the night beautiful. After what has felt like a ridiculously long and busy stretch on call, I get a break from after-hours call until some time next week, so I'm planning on getting lots of walking and other random exercising in. I might even go hill walking again Amy :o) For those who don't know, Cranston (the name of the community we live in here in Calgary) is located on a ridge, up above the Bow River and Fish Creek Park. It's actually quite high above Fish Creek Park and the river, and there is a path that takes you down to the river level and into the park. It truly is fabulous exercise to walk up and down that hill, and last summer our neighbor Amy convinced me that I should give up some extra sleep in the morning and go "hill walking" with her. Not a lot can get me out of bed at 5:30am, but knowing that my neighbor was also dragging her tired behind out of bed was enough to get me up and dressed and ready to take on the hill. I miss those walks this year with Amy and her family in Houston, but I've still managed to tackle the hill a few times since I started on my quest to get more exercise :) The only thing missing is Amy and her convincing me that just one more time up the hill is no big deal really..... :) Hope you're still enjoying your spin classes Amy, and here's to lots more sunny nights and enjoyable exercise!

Cathy

Note To God

If you didn't watch Oprah today..... Go to ITunes and search for "Note to God" by the artist Charice. This is a teenager from the Phillipines who was on Oprah sometime last year, and since then she has had many exciting opportunities. One thing she has done is sign a contract with Warner Brothers and she has a new single out - available on ITunes. I had goosebumps during the entire song and plan to download this single..... WOW!! That's all I can say!

Mother's Day On the Prairie

Mother's Day - a great day to take it easier than normal and enjoy your family! Both boys had to work today, so between shuttling them back and forth, Marc and I went on a great drive. We usually head west when we go for our drives because of the mountains and all of the wildlife we usually see. Today though, we decided to head east and I'm really glad we did. True, driving east from Calgary means many, many large, mostly flat wheat fields, but the sky is sooo amazing...

We also decided to follow a sign that directed us to an island. We thought it a bit of a strange sign because we were, after all, in the middle of many large wheat fields. We took the sign at face value, and we're glad we did. It turns out that the prairie opened up into a river valley and we found some things we didn't know even lived in Alberta......

PELICANS!

And LOTS of them!

We also saw some beautiful ducks!

We stopped for a little break for Buster, and saw some more interesting things

Then, in honor of the opening weekend of the new Star Trek movie, we took a little side trip to Vulcan

And then we ended the day with a fabulous dinner cooked by my awesome husband and our first fire of the year!

Hope all of you mothers had a fabulous day being spoiled by and enjoying your families!

Cathy

Life on Wheels

Once upon a time I was quite an avid rollerblader. When I lived in Moncton with Becky and Baylee there was a place that I went to on a fairly regular basis to rollerblade. I seemed to take to rollerblading like a duck to water - I LOVED it! I loved going fast on fresh, smooth asphalt. I loved the feeling of the wind rushing though my hair. I loved the awesome workout I got from it, and loved that I finally seemed to have found a passion for exercise.

Well, since moving to Calgary, I had not yet pulled out the rollerblades. Not even once. That's almost FOUR years people! So much for passion right? Anyway, inspired by a Prevention magazine I got this weekend (Walk Yourself Fit - get it people....it's awesome!) I decided that I would pull out the 'ole rollerblades and give it a whirl. What could possibly go wrong? I'm a natural right? I'll put them on and exercise all evening right? What on earth could stop me? Marc and Jeremy went to a movie so after they left I went rummaging through the basement, trying to find the little wheeled pieces of torture....err.....heaven.... Ahem.....

I decided that I would not take Buster with me on my first trip out - after all it's been four years and I figured I needed to get my feet under me first (turns out that was the best decision I'd made all day!). So, I strapped on the rollerblades (gee, are they supposed to be this tight? My memory is a bit dim....) and then I had to get my helmet on. Oh shoot.... it's behind the freezer. No problem, I'll just wheel on over there and get it. Oh... easy girl, you almost wiped out in the garage before you even left - can't admit to that one! :-)

Well, finally I had my helmet securely in place and I was ready to take off! Down the sidewalk I went.... a little bumpy, but no sweat for a natural like me. Uh oh.... there is a small child riding her bike down her driveway straight towards me. Wait.....I don't remember how to stop!!! Watch out little girl - I don't have a license for these anymore! WHEW! She saw me! Crisis averted!

So continued the rest of my little adventure. Well, obstacle course really, what with outrageous cracks in the sidewalks, surprise piles of dirt and/or grass on the sidewalk, ladies walking with little dogs and me calling out to them that I have no ability to control my movements, so please step out of the way! Not to mention other small, unpredictable children at the bottom of a hill (well, incline really, but I can't stop, remember? ) causing me great stress. Add to this my new-found fear of falling (this was surprisingly lacking in my rollerblading glory days) and I was never so happy to see my house as I was today..... now, just to make it up the incline to my garage door so I can get these crazy things off!!!

Then, with the rollerblades successfully off, I realize that I have a cramp in my left shin so severe that I can't walk normally..... sigh..... my former rollerblading self would be ashamed! :-) I have to say even though I greatly feared falling, I actually made it home without falling once. Had a few close calls, but managed to stay upright, and avoid all children and dogs!

Well - at least I got them out right? I think I might stick to the walking plan for a bit, at least until I feel a little bit more coordinated so I won't fear small children and ladies with small dogs quite so much. I'm also happy to report that the terrible shin cramp is gone and I'm able to walk properly once again!

Now, off to have some homemade hummus! Hope you are all having a great night!

Cathy