LONG LIVE THE VCR

Once again, it's the little things in life that make me smile.

TAKEN: JULY 11th, 2020

This past weekend, I decided to start going through cottage totes I had packed up and put away. I knew before I began that if I didn't need what was inside, the items were going to be loaded onto the four wheeler and hauled up the hill.

My project began a top a beautiful cedar closet that has been home to two black totes that had been there forever. I grabbed my step stool and hauled them cats down. 

Very much to my surprise, I discovered they were filled with VHS tapes. 

Instantly, my sexy bonus light, signaling that I'd entered the lightning round lit up. I dropped the lid, quickly sailed across the room, and opened the top drawer of an old dresser/make shift TV stand. 

Now this dresser stand is a classic faux style antique, which I will refer to as a fine crafted, wooden flat screen television stand. Vintage in nature. Traditional in design. Lawn Sale value: $5.

 

With all my might, I pulled on the swollen top drawer that probably hadn't been opened since the totes were stored, only to to discover my prize inside. (Don't judge the whole time lapse thing. Think VERY expensive flat screen television stand.)

Anyway, the drawer was full of taped movies. As a matter a fact, three of the four drawers were filled. 

VHS tapes with family home videos, television specials, kids movies as well as some of my favourite classic movies. I suddenly felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

After an amazing weekend of watching great memories, I can't help but reflect on how easily I haphazardly jumped on a new technology band wagon all willy-nilly, with zero regard for this collection.

Truth is, when the kids were in high school, I began collecting us DVD's. When they went away to college, I began scouring bargain bins to add to my collection. 

Everything I have ranges in price from a $1.99 to $4.99. I am embarrassed to share that I have accumulated hundreds of DVD's. 

With no streaming option, the last couple of summers I have struggled to pick a movie, so imagine my excitement in the moment I discovered this treasure. 

It was like finding a long lost trusted friend on social media and you unconditionally needed to catch up with them. A total breath of fresh air....Which brings me to my point. 

Rhondi Rule #908: Never discount a strong connection you've previously had by replacing it with something shiny and new.

Chances are the original will turn out to be that cozy blanket and pair fuzzy slippers that you've been quietly missing for the last fifteen years.

Give or take a change in technology or twenty two!

WILL THIS GENERATION MANAGE?

Well, I spent my morning doing the house budget for the next three months, as well as really analyzing the one I had in place for the prior three. The good news is the next three look outstanding. The last three? Absolutely, horrendous. Knowing full well there was more going out than going in, early-November I made a surprise announcement to my grown children: “The Bank... IS CLOSED!”

I should've done it this past summer and I have no one to blame but myself. Against any/all good judgement, I am the one that kept the 24 hour wicket open. It took a couple of very large dollar (hollow promised) 'I'll pay you back' incidents for me to realize they had no intention of doing so; so I finally shut 'er down.

A very necessary... But dreaded task!
TAKEN: DECEMBER 30th, 2016

When I think back, I credit my mother with a number of my character traits but there are two in particular I am grateful for as I muddle through midlife. 

She always taught me to pay myself first, which I do; and the second is that (from her wheelchair) she taught me how to structure/follow a monthly house budget. I still remember she use to make me type it out, after she passed I had a ledger book, now I simply use a formulated excel spreadsheet. Today, I offered to teach my daughter how easy it is; she agreed to try.

Budget mentoring aside, as I look at the next three months, I see some very solid savings into April. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was disappointed last fall to have to cancel my 2017 birthday trip to China. I worked extremely hard to save that money, and because I have always refused to travel on credit nor retirement savings, a change in plans was my only option. At the end of it all, I just keep telling myself that those dollars were simply needed somewhere else. Somewhere much more important. With a deep hope, that when transferred, they were truly appreciated. 

Now that my first quarter budget is officially done, I need to find my bottle of glue. Time to put that blasted piggy bank I decimated a few months back, back together. You see, many moons ago I went for the really shiny, pretty porcelain finished piggy, when my gut told me the practical purchase was the ugly plastic one with the key in its belly. Again, my own fault.

Now, where the hell is that glue!!

NOT A CREATURE WAS STIRRING…

A quiet house waiting for morn.
TAKEN: DECEMBER 24th, 2016

Well, once again, that’s it for Christmas. 

So much hype and panic that ultimately resulted in your annual giant turkey and carb coma. Oh my goodness, I don’t know about you but I felt full of holiday food until I went to bed Boxing Day night!

As much as year over year the traditions of the season remain the same, this year I found myself in much different territory. Our last child moved out in mid-December and I admit I am a tad surprised how big I immediately found the house. Not in a bad way, more a truly unexpected one.

One doesn't recall what it's like to not have a roommate until you wake up at 5:30am for work and realize you don't need to worry whom will hear you. For me, I thought that's what I missed most; then Christmas Eve hit.

For the first year ever, I didn't get together with a single one of my children on the eve. To mark another first, they all have roommates. Yup, on the eve I got up in the morn, posted to my blog, ran my errands and settled in for the day. I had an early dinner, watched a movie and headed to bed early. So early, that I woke up at 5am reminiscing on how the kids use to wake us up in the dark. Right up until they left the first time more than 5 years ago.

As I awoke and perked the coffee Christmas morn, I wasn't surprised that it was my daughter leading the plight to head home. She's always been the holiday gatekeeper but I found myself glad that she hadn't changed. You know why?

No matter how much I hate the lack of light this time of year, she provides more than enough energy for everyone around her; it's refreshing.

For that, I will always be absolutely and unequivocally grateful.

Who needs a selfie stick when you have Goobs extra long reach?
TAKEN: DECEMBER 25th, 2016

SOME VERY SIMPLE ADVICE

Well, for the first time in I don’t know how many years, I stayed upright and officially rang in the new year at midnight last night. I didn’t get home much after that but for some very strange reason, I stayed in bed until after noon. Wait, I’ll come clean. The reason I stayed in bed wasn’t strange, it was thanks to my mother-in-law and her super special Sangria recipe!

Anyway, when I finally found myself vertical, I headed outside to shovel. I couldn't help but realize that this had been the busiest holiday season for me in at least a decade. Part of me feels the lack of snow helped make me more mobile, another part of me's resigned myself to the fact that I am just more settled. No bullshit calendars to deliver, no ads that needed to go to press; just a week of some much needed me/we time.

Like some, I’m not a ‘new year, new me’ kind of person. I am who I am and I'm okay with that. Don’t make resolutions, never have. I will admit that there are superficial things I wish I could change but the truth of the matter is that I am generally okay with the aging process. The hard reminders come via my pups. As Dot struggles to do the stairs, I know that'll eventually be me. As I sit here and admire the snow falling from the sky, my personal thoughts fall in line with, “…just please don’t let me fall and break a hip this winter!”

My perfect New Years Day office view!
(TAKEN: JANUARY 1st, 2016)

Giggles aside, I wanted to share that I drew and posted a graphic on Linkedin (that I retweeted) this morning. It read:

Follow you heart. 

Just be sure to take your brain with you!

With that very simple bit of advice forming my 2016 mantra, I DO intend on following my heart this year.

I AM going save every penny I can to travel more, and I AM going to embrace every single opportunity of adventure that presents itself. 

As I sit here writing and daydream about all the things I am going to do in 2016, the first thing on my list of things to accomplish is staring right at me in the face. I need to immediately get my ass outside and bring in the two lawn chairs I left out on the patio. 

Happy 2016 everybody. I'm truly looking forward to a very exciting year!!

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

When a coworker asked me what I was looking most forward to about the holidays this year, I gave her a very honest answer. It's not the food and reactionary weight gain that automatically occurs, because lets face it, I was heavier than I like to be in August so an extra splash of gravy behind my ears made no matter. With our children grown and having their own busy lives/traditions, I've finally conditioned myself to that. Shopping? Nope. Because I do very little (and I gifted mine to myself on Boxing Day). I told her that was so looking forward to the lights that shine bright on the tree. 

Getting to watch the lights at night is only reason I even put a tree up this year. Since I was a kid, they've always mesmerized me with their beauty. When I came downstairs this morning, I was going to take the ‘holiday tree’ down, yet decided to enjoy the lights at night a smidgen longer. As you can see by the photo I am sharing, other than a star on top, there wasn't a single decoration on my tree this year, only lights.

Thank goodness my amazing poinsettia hides my lack of decorations!
THANKS CHRISTOPHER...
(TAKEN: DECEMBER 24th, 2015)

That’s because when I finally forced myself to put up the thing up a week and a half before the eve, I went to work the following morn and left the box of decorations on the  living room floor. 

Suffice is the say the dogs puked and shat their spirit all over the house, which had me not bother to finish the task. Didn’t matter to me though, because as I said, the lights are my very favourite thing.

As you know, 2015 has been a year of personal change for me. I guess that’s why I shouldn’t be remotely surprised that the holiday season unfolded in the same manner. As one of my very favourite Facebook friends headed down the east coast to celebrate the season, I honestly wished that I could have been a Thelma to her Louise. Even sitting here now, I know that I am going to work towards renting a beach house for two weeks and taking my dogs to the ocean for 2016 Festivus.

You see, as my girlfriend and I exchanged niceties Christmas morning, she posted this message. 'Merry Christmas Rhondi. All these years I've seen your winter trip pictures and wondered why. Now I get it. There's nothing like spending the entire morning walking on the beach wishing people Merry Christmas.'

I couldn't have said it better myself.... The only thing she's forgotten?

How pretty the Christmas lights are with the sound of the ocean as their background!

MY MAD COTTAGE LAUNDRY SKILLS!

If you’re a young adult in Muskoka and working two jobs to get by, you know that the summer tourists and their spending are what keep you warm the following winter. The hard reality is that you work as much as you can whenever you are called upon, because when January hit, there's very little money to be made.

Well, Sunday evening, my daughter hit the wall. She has a full time & a part time job, and when she called me from the house completely exhausted, there were tears. Part of her heartache was a misunderstanding she'd had with her father but most of her emotion was her body telling her it was time to rest. The crux of her crisis was she’d worked 24 of the previous 48 hours (on her feet the entire time) and was in desperate need of her laundry done.

Quickest way to complete cottage laundry? Hang it in the rain to dry!
TAKEN: AUGUST 18th, 2015

Not gonna lie, with me starting a new job in 14 more sleeps, my situation is the opposite of my daughters. If there’s one thing I have right now, it’s a shitload of time on my hands. 

So, I told her to pack it up and I’d do it here at the cottage with my handy dandy washboard & tub & homemade wringer outterer; then, I hang it all out to to dry on my very sexy state of the art yellow polypropylene laundry line that I have tied to a big honkin' tree. 

As I was working my mad cottage laundry skills this morning, I realized I had done it again. I'd said one thing and ultimately done another. You know what I mean, when one side of the mouth scolds… “You have to be more independent and financially responsible,” whilst the other side says “pack it all up, I’ll pick it up, and deliver it home the next day!” 

I guess the simplest rational is that my daughter needed some help and I offered up my mad pioneer style laundry skills. You know what? I'm glad I did. She's working very hard to take her life to the next level and for that I'm truly proud.

As silly as it reads, my only issue was promising her a 24 hour turnaround time. The rain stopped early this morning but you can cut the humidity here with a knife. It's almost eight hours later and her things are still wet. As a result, I've had to jimmy-rig a couple of oscillating fans outside to expedite the completion of my task.

I know what you're thinking, just deliver the stuff home and she can throw it in the dryer. Nope, that's NOT an option.  Why? Because this time next month I'll be bitching about unnecessarily high hydro bills!

WHAT? At least I'm honest about it!!

KEEPING MY EYE ON THE BALL

It’s unseasonably cold, as well as pouring rain outside here this afternoon. As I’ve mentioned before, because I’m living at the cottage and using my Blackberry as my only internet source, there are certain times of day that tend to tether best. Suffice is to say that by the time 3pm rolls around, I am borderline desperate to change gears.

The only minor downside to stopping early, is that there really are no rainy day amenities here. No satellite dish nor Netflixs to stream, just a bunch of well watched DVD’s and boxes filled with VHS tapes the kids use to watch when they were little. I have loads of books but I’ve read them all and the dogs hate board games. As I listen to the loud rain ping the steel roof above, I can feel myself brooding inside.

Why so glum? Well, as I officially transition, I’ve carefully selected the long term projects I am keeping and chosen which other consulting items have to go. As I slowly get my ducks in a row, I am finding myself a tad overwhelmed. Fold in my innate fear of the unknown and this afternoon has me questioning my decision to spend the next month here alone.

Just like with my Annie... Some things are easier said than done.
TAKEN: AUGUST 3rd, 2015

That said, as I confidentially wrap a blanket around myself to stay cozy, I truly feel that if I can simply stay focused and keep my eye on the ball everything will be okay.

Believe it or not, I use to give that advice to my clients/employers all the time. 

“Don’t worry about what your competitors are doing," I'd always say.  "The data doesn't lie.” 

“As soon as you turn your head to look at what others are doing, you lose your lead!”

As I hear myself typing and saying those words out loud, I'm feeling a little of the latter in my personal life. I have so much complete and total garbled bullshit noise happening around me that I’m worried I am losing my focus on what matters most; which is not even remotely an option.

So it’s official. I’m not going to turn my head and I am going to block out all the garbled noise of inconsistency, panic, unnecessary drama and overzealous demands. I am simply just going to keep my eye on the ball and knock it the hell outta the park.

Glass half full? Maybe the Jays will draft me!!

As the sun is now out and the sky is also clear…Thanks for listening.

And The Winner Is? HAPPINESS!

There are only two things in my life that are truly mine and this blog is one of them. As a result, I always try and write something every single day. Some entries are too personal to post and some just simply boast far too many curse words. All of that said, since my blogs inception, only one thing has seen and heard it all.

I’m not proud (and a little ashamed) to admit that my wireless keyboard has literally been to hell and back this past year. There have actually been times that I've had my good buddy on life support.

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” someones wise grandmother once said, which truly applies to my poor wee storyteller helper. I have been so hard on this little guy that I could imagine him slipping the wireless mouse a note, asking which day the electronic recycling truck passes, so he could hitch a ride and get the hell outta town!

I suppose I'm feeling sorry for my Microsoft Wireless 800 because last night I heard myself  utter the exact words that have eluded me. “All this time I think I’ve been looking for happiness” I said.

With arms wrapped around me it dawned on me, I am happy. The only difference between then and now are the things that make me happy have evolved and changed.  

Last night I finally realized that being happy doesn’t mean everything has to be perfect. It means that I  promise to see beyond (what I perceive as) imperfections and enjoy life one day at a time.  Close to two years later I've ultimately discovered that happiness is a choice that only I can make for myself.

As I have posted time and again, I had a really great summer. Moving forward, I have ultimately decided to stop trying to be what others think I should be instead making a personal commitment to continue my journey toward exactly who I want to be. I want to be me.

All gibberish aside, I am pleased to report that I just had a heart to heart with my keyboard. He’s relieved to hear the next thing on my list to deal with is the actual activity of downsizing. I am very excited to report that he's committed to me. He's just hoping downsizing will be far less emotional!