I can look back and see where and how  I made some of the major choices in my life. I can see how I felt about people in my life in very uncensored ways that bring joy and reflection. I can see how I felt about the birth of my child, that very first night at home. I can see my anguish as I went through divorce. I can see so much that is inside me by simply picking up one of my journals.

Want to get into journaling? This is all you need

• a good hard book that will last
• a good pen
• time

Journalling helps you to deal and learn what is really going on in your own lives. For me I also am able to track major life events. For me when I journal I date my entries. I also take the time to let the words flow. For me I write about the details and about non details as well. For me as I reflect on what I have often just put to paper it allows me a better glance at what lies at the core. My journal is my place of utter honesty. It also is a real legacy of who I am at the core.

So my challenge to you is why not journal? Now after writing this I am off to my friend at Rocks in My Dryer to see what works for everyone else!

Monday- Leftover Roast Beef with Barbq sauce, rice, carrots

Tuesday- my once a week breakfast for dinner- Omelettes, with veggies and no cheese

Wednesday- Fish Cakes, mashed potatoes, peas

Thursday-Roast Chicken (whole)(got 2 for $10), potatoes, and carrots

Friday- Homemade Chicken Soup, crackers, celery sticks

Saturday- we are eating out

Sunday-Glazed Ham( got 3 for $15 this week) , baked potatoes and corn

For breakfast I have oatmeal, corn flakes, Rice Krispies and yogurt on hand.

For lunch we soup ( chicken noodle, calm chowder, mushroom), or pb and j sandwiches, or grilled cheese

Snacks: fruit( apples 3 bags for $4), clemtines, bananas, popcorn or pretzels

While shopping and menu planning I shop flyer’s much of the time and then do my planning from there. This week I got great buys on pork, and chicken in the meat aisle. In produce the buys were apples and potatoes. I also got great prices on cereal, crackers, and soup. Here in Atlantic Canada prices are higher then further west here in Canada.

I am now off to see what everyone else is cooking this week. Why don’t you check out Organizing Junkie’s blog to see what is cooking elsewhere.

This was something I was planning on attacking this year. My health and my fiances are top priority right now. On Thursday as I laid at home I turned on the TV and turned on Oprah who was in the midst of her Best Life week. Her guest was one of my favorite Money coach’s Suze Orman. Guess what? Suze is offering up her newest book for 2009 in a FREE download that you can find here. This offer is only good till Thursday.  I just downloaded it and as I rest at home this weekend will be giving it a read.

So who is your favorite money coach?

So what am I using because most of you know I am a frugal mom. I love Sparkpeople. It is a get website that not only helps one live healthier. It is also free! No need for paying for a program with the diet and exercise suggestions that come from Sparkpeople. I really enjoy the community on it, the recipes, the journals :all will help me get a handle on my weight and lifestyle issues.

Roo and I both weighed in this week. My daughter does not need to lose any. She weighs in at 82 pound, 4’11 at age 11. So she is doing just fine, but I think she really wants to encourage her mom to get healthy. I am walking every day even if it is just a little, but this is where I need to do more. I need to exercise more.

Now I am off  again to see what is working for others this 1 st Wednesday of 2009. Why not drop by Rocks in my Dryerfor what are usually a great array of posts on what works. I will also be blogging this year on the challenges of losing pounds frugally and trying to have fun doing it. So check back ok!

Last January I did make 10 goals and made a map of how to get what I wanted and of the 10 goals I set I got 7 1/2 done.

What did I accomplish in 2008

• a new job with good benefits
• a new place to live with double the floor space
• I did earn or win over $300 in free stuff
• I read 8 good books
• I started getting dental work done
• I did enter lots of contests
• I did pray every day

How is that for goal setting?  What didn’t I achieve? I didn’t give up diet coke and I didn’t lose the weight I wanted off. What goals am I setting of 09? Check back tomorrow and I will tell you about them.

Right now I am off to one of my favorite blogs to see what one of my fav writers says! Can we say yeah to the end of this year please!  What not visit Rocks in My Dryer with me this year?

Christmas Day after the prezzies were all open and dinner was cooking, my sister and I took a walk. We started talking about how we feel about Christmas. In years past we were excited, we had the “Christmas spirit” but now we are actually glad to see the day behind us. No longer is there the sense that the day has meaning, or significance. It just isnt there. Infact Christmas Day we ended up at the movies because we wanted something to do. It just isnt the same anymore for me. I really dont buy into the notion that I need a special day to spend time with family, or that I need presents of any sort to enjoy life, or that I need a special day to remember Christ and his birth. So here I sit asking the question have I turned into a cynic?

The other question I am asking what is the sign of a true friend? Would a true friend at least wish you a happy birthday or merry christmas. I had what I thought was a great circle of friends in the big TO, since I moved here to Nova Scotia there has been little effort to stay in touch. I have called as my phone bills will prove yet since I moved here I can count on a few fingers the number of calls I have recieved. To be honest it has nade me a little sad. It seems these days people come and go in and out of our lives quite quickly and if you arent in the neighbourhood you are easy to forget. So how easy is it to forget old friends?

As I contemplate the end of 2008 I am feeling so many things. This year brought many changes to my life,some good, some not so good. What I feel is that I need a good kick in the pants to get some of me back. So how do I do this? I feel cynical, discouraged and plain ol frumpy. How do I get back the Hollie that loved life? How do I make the changes I feel are so needed?

My mom will be here in about 30 min to pick up my dear daughter Roo

Roo and mom are going to my sisters today and I will travel tomorrow after work.

This is my first Christmas here in Nova Scotia in 12 yrs!

I am excited to have time with them. So for Christmas this year there is 10 of us instead of the normal 2.  Well time to get things to the car!

Across Canada it is either cold or snowing today. Here we are to get a storm. Lots of snow is headed our way. Toronto is to get its 3rd dumping of snow in 5 days! That is what I call coming in with a bang!

Okay so what is good about winter?

• sledding
• sipping hot chocolate
• the beauty of nature after a fresh snowfall
• snow angels
• snowmen
• skating
• skiing

Those are just a few things that I enjoy in this my least favorite season, they are what makes it bearable for me. What don’t I like? What makes it my least favorite?

• slush and muck
• freezing rain
• ice storms
• layering clothes
• cold bedrooms
• the flu that always seems to go around
• blizzards
• winter drivers
• winter winds
• shovelling

So for me it is a trade off, I will choose to concentrate on the good as long as I can. What about you?

This week has been busy and yes I have been dreaming of sugarplums…actually I have been missing old friends. I am sending out lots of emails this season, trying to reconnect. 

I did get to get my hair done on the frugal side of things. I love having a sister who is a hairdresser, and what makes this better she is a good one! My color cost $7! She also gave me a trim.

Roo has been coughing all week long so this mom has also been a nurse. No fever though, and no flem so that is the good side of this.

The child isn’t sleeping, she is much like I was at this age, the snoop, and the child with eyes full of Christmas wonder still, but as I wrapped my almost 11 yr olds presents this year I was thinking this is probably the last year she will ask for toys. This makes me a wee bit sad because it means my daughter has reached another milestone.

So this mom is ready for a mug of hot chocolate as I read some blogs and get caught up.

Now some major changes for those who knew the days of cheaper then cheap..well I still try to do things for less. But there is much more to me then just doing it cheap. There is the spiritual side, the mom side, the working girl, and then political commentator but then we all have many roles in life right?  So here I am and will now stay here my my little world. Please feel free to come by often and I will try to visit friends and family in blogland as well.