What will you do with all your free time?

This year, the kids are both at school full time, and I'm figuring out the new routine.

Everyday after I drop them off, I come upstairs to the office, and take care of my "administrative duties": fill out school forms, research products (my miele hermes vacuum bag coughed up debris again, killing the motor, I want to know why this keeps happening), shop online for the perfect Halloween costumes (race car driver and minion), print out recipes (focus on anti-inflammatory foods), book appointments with contractors and doctors, look at hundreds of bathrooms on pinterest, and update our calendar with book fairs, art shows, class schedules, and pizza lunches.

For the rest of the day, I might read, workout, walk somewhere, buy groceries, comb my hair, open all of the windows and close them again, sniff things to find out where that smell is coming from and blast the stink with vinegar or baking soda, collect half empty cups (mostly mine) and do dishes, change garbage bags, fold laundry, windex fingerprints, water plants, mow the ratty clover, put away toys, wash floors, cook, meet a friend or thrift for books.

I would like to do more than play secretary, keep house and feed my family. I want to use some of my energy beyond our circle of four people. Things will hold together, even if I spend time at class, lectures, volunteering or free events.

I've booked a continuing education class at University of Toronto and enrolled in a follow up drawing class (which starts today!). I've considered applying for a degree program, and decided that the time, stress, and scheduling conflicts are not worth a second diploma. If I already knew what second career to pursue, I would use school as a stepping stone. Self study for now - I think I can guide my learning better than an institution!

I'm looking for opportunities to volunteer in Toronto. I've searched the listings on volunteertoronto.ca but haven't connected with anything. I don't have a sense for how the volunteer market works (common positions, where people are most needed) or where I fit in. Selfishly, my goal is to enjoy the time I spend helping out. I'm interested in environmental causes - perhaps cleaning up or planting. Two organizations that caught my eye are clearcause.ca and evergreen.ca. I would volunteer to rake leaves (shovel sidewalks) for seniors, if such a cause existed. I put my name forward to help at my children's school.

So that's what I'm doing, what I want to be doing, and what I am doing about it.  From the moment I told my former employer I was stepping out of the workforce, I've expected this day, but never made a plan. Now a month in, I'm still grasping for the right answer. I want to establish a routine now that lasts until the children take their independence, then I can dive deeper into whatever not-for-profit cause, hobby, or learning path.       

The Office

Here's the office, the smallest bedroom. 

I pulled the desk away from the wall so I could face the door while I work or surf. The monitor is probably too large, and the other computer stuff too ugly for my petite leggy desk but since it's not making me crazy it stays. I spent a week with the desk pushed against the wall and it was only OK...

Anyways, I stole my ZiZi plant from the foyer, but the plan is to get a larger fluffy wild messy plant for the marble top table in front of the window. I feel like it will help distract from the big bad computer box.

I didn't put much thought into the art placement. I hung whatever on existing nails. I am going to ask our contractor to build a picture rail around the entire room. I am hoping for a whole lot of WOW from that picture rail!

And now? I don't think the room needs accessories (CLUTTER!)...a jumbo happy plant, new light fixture (the old one from the upstairs bathroom is waiting to be installed) and picture rail should be enough!

Two more weeks

The start date for the house renovation was supposed to be the last week of March. It was pushed back to the third week of April (two weeks from now). Our contractor is finishing up another job, and waiting for permits. 

In the meantime, I cleared the office. The desk and computer were relocated to the master bedroom, the tallboy to the hallway, and the brown chair to the boys room. The room is sad.

As for the new bathrooms, I am thinking white square tiles on walls, large slate tiles on the floor. I collected examples in my pinterest board. That's all I got for now! I will make most design decisions on the fly. 

Design/decor dates so quickly. How do you pick something timeless? Impossible!



ps. when we put up the shelves, I thought they were forever! sad. 
pps. I think (feel free to disagree) that whenever we TRY SO HARD!!! to pick things that are timeless, we end up dating ourselves. The stuff that everyone is so damn certain about today has a pretty good chance of being called hideous in a decade or two. You know? And if you try to go against main stream on purpose - good luck! things will get a little weird! So I am going to pick the best of what I find out there. Not the most expensive (I hope) but whatever appeals to me. The plan is to keep it simple, make sure things follow the right lines and everything makes sense. Blah blah blah opinions or something...

New Art! The Supremes, by Charles Pachter

By Charles Pachter. Number 19/100 limited edition silkscreen of "The Supremes",1985.

I was searching craigslist and kijiji for "art" and "limited edition". This print came up in the results. I will admit I wasn't familiar with Charles Pachter, but google told me everything I needed to know! He is a Canadian legend! The guy who made the 'mooses' (remember the moose statues that were all over Toronto?), and the mural at College Street Station (the hockey players). He has been described as the Andy Warhol of Canada.  I want to visit his gallery, the Moose Factory, and see his other works and learn more.

The seller purchased this print directly from Pachter in the 90's. It is of the supreme court judges. We have nothing to do with the law around here (um, besides obeying it...and being called for jury duty - I got my notice a week ago, I dutifully filled in the form and returned it - I hope I don't get called!). I like it because it is crisp and graphic, and 100% Canadian (without apology)!

Score!

ps. I found an online auction result to help determine the value and negotiate a price we both accepted.
pps. The seller also provided us with a post card that Pachter sent to him after he made the full payment for the piece.    

Tuesday at Goodwill - 50% off books

For a couple months now, at least, goodwill has been having 50% off books on Tuesdays. No more Friday fever (when everything in the store is 50% off and the place is chaos), now, each day of the week has different items marked down.

This morning, I bought a tower of books and two pictures.

I bought the print of a bunny bottom for the frame, but, on the way home it got dinged (top right corner)...still worth my $5! It is a print by H. Cady. This could mean Harrison Cady, who illustrated books and a comic strip about Peter Rabbit...I'm sure we aren't looking at art that is too important here, but it's a cute bottom, and I love it next to my naked chickens (bunny bums and naked chickens!!)    

I also bought a $3 vintage frame with an old photo of the windmill. Pretty sure that this was taken in Amsterdam. I will have to get out my wikipedia to figure out what park, but I am pretty sure, if you don't want to take a train out to the countryside, you can go to see this one petit windmill in town**
 ...Anyways, I like the fact that I could have taken the exact same photo as this anonymous person (but didn't...or maybe we did? I will check)...Is it odd that you can feel sentimental towards someone else's photo? How many people through the decades have the exact same vacation experiences?*

*I assume the photo is old, the photo is faded, and the burgundy paper is faded, but there is nothing to date it

**Cancel all this...it is not one of the windmills near Amsterdam (according to Simply Amsterdam)...I remember seeing a small windmill on a hill near a river, but I guess I was wrong... so much for sweet memories!

New Art!

I wasn't going to buy this. I was walking home from Bloor, carrying a heavy stack of books...

I walked into the consignment store...paused in front of this print for a while...then looked around the rest of the tiny shop...left...came back, snapped some photos...left again, thinking I could come back on the weekend...this time I got a few blocks away before I turned around to go back and buy it (I had texted Janice, who told me to go for it!)

I hung it in my office, where I can see it from the hallway.

The artist is Arthur Louis Piza, here are some details. His work is in the Guggenheim in New York!!

I bought this from "...of Things Past" on Yonge for $131 (after tax). It had been reduced twice already! It is a signed and numbered Lithograph Print. On this website, his lithos start at 300 euros... Surprise!

It really is gorgeous...each of the dabs of colour puff off the page. The dark background is crowded with scratch marks...Green and blue are my colours! I love it!!

Litho "Green Abstract", By Piza, Small Silver Frame, 71/99

Moved the books downstairs, let the milk glass spread out

I have room to collect more!

ps. the giveaway for the photo of the garden will be open for a few more days!

New Art Upstairs

Last Thursday, I picked up the framed photos and paintings from the Nikola Rukaj Gallery.  They did a fantastic job!

When we worked with a designer (four years ago now!), she had several pieces of art framed using warm silver wooden frames. The gallery told me this is called germanic silver.  I went with germanic silver on the salvation army water colour (now hung in the office) and the open book photo (hung in the master bedroom). I used white frames to display my son's splashy square painting and the more subtle blue and yellow water colour (hung in the office below the bookshelves).

The abstract print (green, blue and yellow; below the water colour in the office) is a page taken from a book and stuffed into an ikea frame.  I want to hang more of these "Abstract Art Patterns and Designs" (that's the name of the book). Vintage (well, 1988) and fantastic!  Hmmm...maybe too much of a good thing? Perhaps I should list some of the best pages on Etsy? You like?     

ps. this is a two-part post! You could say I want to stretch this content for all it's worth (I do!), but mainly, I don't feel like taking photos in the basement today. 
pps. Added back the polar bear pillow onto the lucite chair ...for Tim, Natalie, Cathy Ficsher, Rosa Pearson, and Michelle!!

Foggy Memory

I hung a set of framed leaves on the floating bookshelves in the office. The leaves are at least 12 years old. I remember thinking that I wouldn't be able to forget the day I picked them. That's why I put them under glass - to hold on to whatever feeling I had in that moment!

Except, I have no idea what was so special about that day.

I have a vague recollection that the two small leaves were plucked off a tree the first time I went for a jog in the city. Except that can't be right? I remember the end of my first run. I was angry. Furious actually. I was out of shape** and had never really pushed myself in terms of fitness before. I needed a drink of water, I needed to spit. I did spit, and the spit hung from my lip...this made me even more ferocious as I grabbed a leaf to wipe my mouth. I actually recall pulling on a branch and the leaf snapping back so I had to grab at the branch a second time...

Surely these are not those leaves!

I like to think I cooled down as we walked home, the endorphins kicked in, and that's when I found the fall colours irresistible.

...but whatever I was actually thinking has completely escaped me. 

The leaves make me want to better preserve our everyday moments. I know I won't be able to recall much of the boys preschool days when they are grown men. Their baby-ness is already fading.

More important than documenting, the leaves remind me to be kind and generous to the people in my present life. More than a decade has flown by and all I have is a dusty meaningless memento. I have no contact with the people who were around then. When I look back at this time in our lives, I hope to do it by reminiscing with friends and family!   
 
   

*I was recently back from spending a summer getting plump in Bilbao, Spain.  

ps. Lately, quite a few memories of my early twenties have come flooding back. So much embarrassment and regret. I was such a jerk in my twenties.      
pps. The office is still one of my favorite places in the house! I continue to fill the room with plants and framed pictures and books and milk glass. I hung two pictures on the back of the closet door (I ran out of wall space!) and I will find some smaller things to hang around the chair. I have about 25 books I want to read on my nightstand. We are running out of space on the shelves but I think there is still enough room to cram them in!     

Unorganized Bookshelves

Grouping books by colour is a perfect way to keep shelves looking tidy. Great - until you try to find a specific title. To the Lighthouse. I know it is white. The white books were on top of the armoire. I couldn't shelve them with with other books because I needed the space for the milk glass collection. The chair to reach the top of the armoire has a wicker basket, a giant atlas, a national geographic coffee table book and a plant staged beautifully on it. That won't stop me. I grabbed the stool from my son's room and groped around up there. A brass hedgehog came crashing down. Only then did I pull down every single book in the room, arrange them alphabetically, and attempt to line them up again. At the S's it became clear I don't have enough space (this is after I removed anything businessy to store back on top of the armoire). Eventually, I mashed them all in, stacks and rows. Adams to Updike. Looks like chaos, but I promise you, not a single book is out of place!

Before:

  

Blogpodium

Yesterday I attended Blogpodium, a panel discussion on blogs and the media.  I wasn't sure what I would get out of the morning, other than the opportunity to meet some fellow Canadian bloggers.

Shame and embarassment! When the media mavens* said, 'editing is important', I felt guilt over my poor use of punctuation**.  When we heard 'be true to your brand' and 'stay on topic', I started to sweat, thinking 'what is my brand? do I have a brand? was blogging about my new boots offside?'  The final blow was 'consider a writing class'... (shame) After Blogpodium I read some old posts and thought: 'Shannon, you sound like an idiot!!!!'

Last week, you may have noticed that I started to reformat the blog.  I played with the template and took down the old dark banner.  I took the first steps to (hopefully) making the blog better!  I need to spend some time sitting at our computer trying to clean up the old, while producing more thoughtful content (do I have extra time?).  I will definitely take more care in my photos and writing!

Anyways, here are three other takeaways from Blogpodium:
1- pin your own work: I created a pinterest board called 'at home' to pin my favorite photos
2- 'There are only two types of press:  press, and no press' ... I will go for it!
3- 'Put your photo up, write a bit about yourself, show your personality' - ok!

Were you able to attend Blogpodium?  Will it change the way you blog?
How do you feel about punctuation, or a lack of it!?

*They were intelligent, funny, and thoughtful women!  I was so glad to be able to attend (with the baby)  ...the discussion was lively and entertaining...however, I couldn't help but take notice of these comments....did I really need a magazine editor to tell me that re-reading a post before you publish is a good idea?  I suppose it was exactly what I needed!
**I blushed the entire time I read 'eats, shoots and leaves'...yet I continue to abuse punctuation.

To do

Pick up toys,
Make beds,
Fold socks,
and wash the kid's laundry...

and this is just upstairs!

What messes will you tackle today?

(I am trying out the 50mm prime lens)

***UPDATE***

It's 10:13am and no more mess! When I brought the clothes to the laundry room I nearly flipped out!  I forgot we had all the little cousins here on Monday night and the basement was TOY BOMBED...with my preschooler's help, we cleaned up that disaster too!