Day Fifteen - Popular Renovations Chronicle

A few days went by and things are slowly, but surely, getting more completed.  This morning a cute guy came by to measure everything for the quartz countertops.  If only the men who came in and out of this place lately could be like that one... he was clean, cute, polite and fast!  

Overall I'd say the work is progressing fine.  We are both tired to not have our refuge to ourselves.  Not only do many people come in our bubble but they leave it dirty, and we both hate that.  We are also both tired of having to get up early, as neither one of us are early birds.  It's been rough. I told a friend today that I'm a night owl, and don't do well with early birds, and if this keeps up I will turn into a bird of prey!

At times I feel like telling them to stop with the noise, the banging and all... but I keep reminding myself it's for our comfort in the long run, and it will end.  ...eventually!   Hubby is really not a happy camper, as we are basically camping in our home... He's been cooking using either our slow cooker or our air fryer in the garage.  At first it was on a folding table, but the last few days, it's been on top of our new kitchen sink box... It is getting old really fast...

BUT, I'm happy to say that one thing is completely done!  Check it out:

 Our new bookcase is the basement!  I love it!  I had it made deep to be able to contain all my scrapbooking albums, photo albums, our books, and the bottom section will be for our games and such.  Starting to fill it up as soon as I can find the right boxes!

Now, if you'll excuse me, boxes are calling my name to be unpacked!

Tourlou!

Don't need a test, I know I'm allergic

Hello blog friends, and talk about a way to start a post, but hey, since this blog is all about me, why not!

Sorry for being MIA these past months, life and Postcrossing are taking up much of my time.  In general all is good on this side of the screen.  Can't complain too much, except for the stupidity that affects so many of us.  We have friends (yes, we do, really!) from Zurich, who will be staying with us for a week.  It's a good thing they come over once in a while, it forces us to do a major house cleaning.  It's ridiculously crazy how much stuff we can accumulate, even if we live in a fairly small place.  Granted, I will admit being responsible for a part of it with my scrapbooking and now my Postcrossing, but it's not all my shit.  We have a Murphy bed downstairs (which we bought not long after we moved here, because of those friends coming over) and there was so much stuff in the room that we couldn't pull the bed down.  Hubby and I have been sorting through boxes, and reorganized the area.  It's always a good thing to clean house, I say.  We got rid of things we haven't used in a while, like old computing equipment Hubby was keeping for whatever reason, some old books, and since we were in a cleaning mode, we also went through our clothes and filled up a few bags that we brought to a fripperie (goodwill store) not far from here, with other goods that we either didn't want anymore or haven't used in over a year.  Let's just say, that as of now that room has never been this empty.  I love it!

I'm realizing that I have an addictive personality. Don't get me wrong, I'm not addictive, but tend to get addicted to things.  First example, when I bought my first charm on my Chamilia bracelet (similar to Pandora's) I had thought it would be all.  Four full bracelets later, I still look at charms and find some to like!  Second example, when I started scrapbooking I thought I would do one album with all my cards from birth until my 40th birthday.  I don't know how many albums I have now, and I'm not done scraping either.  I love it and keep finding things to scrap about, a trip there, a show there, I scrap about anything and everything.  Third proof, when I joined Postcrossing I had a little box with about 30 cards in it, and some stickers and tapes I use to decorate my cards. 

At this moment, I have 5 mini mailboxes (stamp dispenser) on my desk (you must admit they are cute!), my little box of cards when to a big size box with hundreds of cards, a cigar box full of stickers and so many tapes & pens...  yep, I'm an addict!  And I love it!

Just this past week, I've reached a new level of "satisfaction" - I'm actually combining two of my addictions into one.  That's real I'm a real junky!  I've started making art mail or scrappostcards, and I'm enjoying it.  I was particularly proud on Friday when I went to the post office to mail a bunch of cards when the postal employee commented on my hand made card, that I was sending to a guy in France.  He was really impressed and even showed it to the other two employees working the counter with him.  He then proceeded to ask me to show him whatever else I would make because he thought it was really interesting.  It felt good, especially since I wasn't sure about the end result.  I liked it, but not as much as he seemed to.

Today I've met a fellow Postcrosser in town for the weekend, and while having breakfast with her, talked about postcards (of course) so I showed her the three I had made the night before. Among the lot, there was one I wasn't sure of.  I had started with an idea and then went a different way and finally ended up with something that was quite loaded.  That was the card she preferred, so I gave it to her.  My only regrets is not having scan it before doing so.

Card the postal worker liked; showing map of our neighborhood, and local stamps.

Just enjoy Happy Bunny, so came up with this one.

I guess I felt somewhat twisted on this one.

These a my latest creations, what do you think?

About Time

Just watched this movie... I loved it.  As we're about to enter April, not that it looks like it outside,  far from that.  We had yet another snow storm.  Winter just doesn't want to go away.  I know that Spring is on its way though, since on Saturday while running errands I've noticed that it smelled like Spring, you know, that smell of melting poop?  Yep, that is one sure sign of Spring, way more reliable than that ground hog, if you ask me.

Wouldn't it be great if we could travel back in time?  Having the possibility to just go back in our lives and do-over some of those bad days we've had?  I would love to.  I'm not one filled with regrets but there are a few moments that I'd like a do-over of sort.  I don't think I'd like to come back to my twenty years old self and change my experiences, those made me the person I am today.  I've worked (on myself) to get to this point.  I would love to go back and share some special moments again... like in the movie, go back to a day I could share again with my father, or with my favorite aunt, or friend.  A simple moment in time I could relive, just because for the pleasure of it, not necessarily to change it, but more to feel it again, to cherish it fully.


Already three months of 2014 have slipped by, at vertiginous speed or at least it felt like it at times.  I've been trying to take it a little more easy since we came back from our last trip.  It's not always easy or even possible, but I'm trying.  I've scheduled myself and try hard to follow it.  I've been good at avoiding work on weekends, and that's a very good thing.  I don't even answer emails anymore.  I take time for myself.  I've been scrapbooking some, working on our wedding album, at night. It forces me to be elsewhere than the office plus I'm away from the computer; bonus.

I've also been quite active with Postcrossing, especially since the prices of stamps are increasing as of today: $0,22 more for local stamps, $0,10 more for the States and $0,65 for international.  That one hurts, since most of the cards I'm sending are outre-mer.  Last week, I went shopping with a friend, at Ikea, and came back with sixty cards.  I'm a postal addict!  The next day I was receiving a little parcel from Poland with sixteen cards in it.  I'm fully loaded, I'd say, and yet, I'll always land on a profile that requests something I don't have; like a postcard of a dog.  Strange but true, I have no cards of dogs. Oh well.  Curious about some of the cards I've received and sent?  Check out my Flickr album, here.  They're not all there.  These are the ones that weren't scanned by the sender that I scanned myself, and they're only the ones through Postcrossing, nothing from the personal ones I've been getting (since 1978), too many to scan.  I still love sending postcards, and receiving them, it's fun to exchange with people from all over the world.  I've been doing it since high-school, with letters, then with blogging and now with Postcrossing and Bacefook.  Hours of fun, I tell you!

Look at those cuties!

Look what the mailman left me today.  I was so happy PLUS he didn't leave one bill, now that's a very good thing, as Martha would say.

Seven lovely postcards plus one (early) birthday card.  The Eiffel Tower card (on the left) actually came from another Postcrossing meet in Paris.  Two other cards came from France as well, from a Round Robin I've signed up for. The other four cards are because I won a little draw on a local Postcrossing group page.

Since I was the winner of that draw, here are all the cards I've received so far, I'm still missing a few, but I'd say so far November has been a good postcard month!

Because my profile on Postcrossing says it's my birthday month, I've been getting some birthday wishes on most cards I've been receiving this month - cool!

Also because of my profile, people noticed that I liked cats.  I must say that gray cat with the amber eyes is too cute.

Yesterday, while at a client who owns two cats, I had a little cat fix.  It felt good to pet them and hear them purr, but it did not fill the emptiness in me.  It will be five months next week that we're catless and I will say that some days I miss my fur ball A LOT.  I guess I really am a cat person...  

First Meet

Tomorrow I'll be meeting some people who, like me, enjoy sending and receiving postcards.  It will be the first official meet of Postcrossing - Québec Chapter.  I have no real idea what to expect, not whom I'll meet, all I know is that we share the same interest.

In order to prepare for this, since it is customary as far as I understood, I will be sending a bunch of cards that would be signed by all present.  All cards written that day will be mailed together.  There was a meet somewhere in Europe and seven people sent over hundred cards.  The organiser for our meet tomorrow is aiming for more than that being mailed.  I'll be mailing eleven cards through  Postcrossing, plus one more to a fellow postcrosser from whom I've received a card (from Russia) who was willing to do direct swap.  Since I don't usually do direct swap, I thought it would be fun to ask her if she wanted to and she agreed, plus since she's open to handmade card I thought I'd send her a homemade card made from a thank you card made with a picture a relative took.  I cut out the card, kept the gorgeous picture so typical of our area this time of year, and decided to send that to my Russian pal.

I'm sure she will enjoy it. Don't you think?  I love the colours and seeing the geese is an added bonus, I think.

A while back, a fellow postcrosser asked, on her profile, to also get a picture of her card being mailed since she was also collecting mailboxes pictures.  The day I've mailed her card, I took a picture of it (me) being dropped in the box. 

I will say this, I did get a few looks from people walking by, especially since I was having a hard time holding the card and the box open while holding the camera in the other hand, but I did manage it.  I did email the picture to the postcrosser and she was so happy.  Something so simple made someone happy, go figure.

Last night, while I was preparing (choosing cards according to the profiles, addressing and scanning) my postcards, I actually got a first timer.  I'll be sending a card to India! I'm also sending a card to Lithuania, Czech Republic, Australia, Finland, Taiwan, Ukraine, China, Netherlands, WI (USA) and Germany.  I wish I could be a postcard and go to all those places... *sigh*

In the meantime, I'll be walking to our meeting place and see how that goes - tourlou!

Call me tacky or hoarder

In the 70's was when I've received my first post card, that I remember (anyway).  I was staying at my grand parents for the summer, and received a card from my parents who had decided to take a trip (without me, the nerve of them!).  That was the beginning of a long time love affair with post cards.  I've been accumulating them, over the years, in a box.  At some point, I made a scrap album with all the cards received.  Since they are only cards I've received (except a few that I've purchased myself as souvenir), I don't have thousands of them, but over a hundred for sure.  We have friends who travel lots (the lucky bastards!) and they all know how much I enjoy postcards, so they indulge my collection. Whenever we've travelled I've always made sure to send a bunch of cards.  I would prepare address labels before hand and only had to write the cards on location.  I could easily spend an afternoon writing cards.  In June, while in Punta Cana, I didn't send any because I thought it was outrageous how expensive everything was.  Besides the cards and the stamps, they wanted to charge me $15 USD for two post cards - so I left everything there, and didn't even buy a card as souvenir.

Over two years ago (already) I've joined Postcrossing.  The idea of exchanging postcards with people from all over the world was interesting, plus I love to write.  (I used to have eight pen pals in high school, and that not counting the people I kept in touch with via letter.  To this day, I still love to write and will by nice writing paper on occasion.  I think I would have loved to be in times where they used feather and ink and wax to seal their letters.  I've tried that, but by the time the letter gets to destination the wax seal is broken.  I still enjoyed the look of it all.) - wow, that was a long parentheses!   Since I've joined I've received 157 post cards to date.  I've sent 162, but only 152 have been received so far. Mail does get lost, still.  And also, some recipient don't register it when he/she got it.  Since I scan all cards I'm sending, I know I have sent 162.  At the beginning I was only sending cards from Montreal and the area.  Getting cards wasn't always easy, especially outside touristic areas.  I guess because my liking was "travel" based, I thought the receiver would enjoy seeing my town as well.  Over time, I've sent some with animals (Canadian ones, of course!) and sent a few from our travels (like Napa, Memphis, Vegas) but it doesn't feel right to me.

Recently I've joined a group on Bacefook, for QC postcrossing people, and decided to attend their first meet-up in October.  I figured it would be an occasion to meet other people enjoying post cards, like when I go to a scrap meet-up.  I get to scrap and meet other scrapers.  This time I'll get to write post cards with other post card freaks, like me.  While looking around on the site, I can't believe some people have thousands of cards.  Those babies do take up space. Some people will cover their walls with them.  I guess we all collect different things.  I used to collect pens, pins (I still do for lapel pins), key chains and match boxes.  I still have lots of matches, and it does hurt a little every time I use one box from my collection, but it was taking way too much room so I've decided to go through them slowly. As I look around our office, one could also say that I collect plush animals... the WWF ones (it's for a good cause!).

Maybe I'm a hoarder in the making?!  Oh no, what to do?  What to do?!