Well my resolutions this year are many. It is a new year and a new lifestyle. These have been a work in progress and ever evolving. I have decided to purchase nothing new (except for consumables, hygienic objects, socks and underwear). Everything I will buy this year will have to be used. There are two main reasons for this, the environment and saving money. I will take advantage of second hand stores and sites such as E-bay, Kijiji and Craigslist.  I’m certain I do not need to describe the ways this helps the environment.
This year will also be spent discovering. We spend so much of our time doing the same things. We are creatures of habit and corporations love this. When there is a menu item we love we go from city to city, province to province and country to country eating in the same establishment digesting the same foods. I want to break this cycle and discover new things. I don’t want a Hell’s Kitchen Chicken, a Big Mac or Mrs. Submarine’s husband’s foot longs. I will discover new foods by not going to the chains. Sorry Tim that means your coffee is off limits also (unless someone buys me one then I will drink it). But with that also comes the second half of that one, I will avoid eating out at all costs! Lunches, prepares suppers with left over’s for lunch. Buy and toast my own bagels at work! Make my own coffee and tea. As you can see all of these are to spend less and enjoy life more, spend time doing these fun things. Enjoy each other’s company while preparing a meal.
Beer and Wine – Make my own (start at a place to help me then start doing it at home)
When I do require things to be purchased new I will only buy things on Sale whenever possible and this included groceries. I will get a freezer and when things are on sale I’m going to buy and freeze them.
A garden! I will grow a garden at my dad’s place and incorporate some technology for watering etc. I’ll be developing this plan over the winter as to the best way to grow this garden and what are the best items to plant. I will also take up the art of canning both fruits and vegetables and also learn to make jams and sauces / Tomatoes etc.
I will keep a journal of all of my purchases and how much approx I saved per purchase. I will put down recipes of the great meals, how much they cost when I can figure that out. I would like a total at the end of the year as to how much this has saved (if in fact it does).
I will turn off lights; computers attach objects to a power bar and turn it off. Do you realize your TV is always consuming power as is the computer and the cell phone charger left in the wall with no charger attached to it? All this is going to stop!
No Facebook. I have taken care of this, if you are reading this you have realized my profile is deactivated. I need to reconnect with my friends, my real friends. Need to unplug to reconnect. Spend less time online and more time with the important people in my life, my kids, and my family and go see my grandmother. In the spring I will purchase a used motorcycle and cut down on my gas for commuting. It would be nice to take my car off the road in the summer and rely just on the motorbike but it’s kind of hard to get 4 girls on a bike.
The commute to work! I will no longer take my car when a bus or a train is possible. I will spend the time on the bus and train reading and drinking my prepared coffee. Again the time I’ve spent sitting in my car in traffic will be spent on a train reading.
This is my year to reconnect with all the things that matter most. Family, friends and loved ones.

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Well Dodie and I made our way down to NY City for the weekend and had an amazing time. There aren’t to may photos and the reason is simple! As she said, to busy living instead of taking photos. We had an amazing time. Friday night after arriving made our way to an awesome Blues Club “BB King” and ended up spending the night there and admitedly I drank a bit to much beer. Having not eaten much all day didn’t help. I had a slice of pizza and a McD’s Hamburger and about 5 chicken wings. Spend great deal of time just relaxing in the room, realized that the running is causing some problems hahaha and also had the most amazing dinner… We found a great place called Angelo’s and had the most amazing table. There was no need to skate in Central Park, no need to visit Serendipity, no need for anything to prove anything. The moment and the weekend can be summed up in the “Table”. Thanks to Angelo’s! Also great walk in Central Park and made our way to Strawberry Fields and got a look at the Dekota!

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Well why do I run? That became the question this weekend in NY City as I awoke Saturday morning to head out for my “long run” a day early as we were expecting a storm. I just couldn’t wait to run Central Park and it was going to be a great training ground. It didn’t really work out that way. I came to realize that I just wasn’t enjoying it like I used to. Don’t read into this as I don’t love running, I love running but I’ve been running for the wrong reasons. All the training wasn’t bringing me the joy I’ve been accustomed to from running. In the past I was running I’m sure to try and not think about what ailed me. In doing so I was concentrating more on my speed, how my body felt on adjusting my running because I was sore all over. Much of the discomfort was related to stress and I have noticed in the last few months that my speed and pain has gone down as my stress has come down. Well I was watching so many runners in Central Park having a fabulous time running and realized I was not. I should have been. Finally after almost 7 miles I pulled up and said “enough”. I’m not going to be running the Hyannis Port Marathon as I had planned. I’m going to let my body recover. I’m going to fall back into love with just running. 1 hour runs and discover new running areas. This winter I’ll run inside when ever the weather isn’t great and just maintain. I’m going to help some loved ones fall in love with the sport of running. Is it a sport if I’m running for pleasure? I’ll help them fall in love with the “passtime” that is running. Here are my stats from the Central Park Run.

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