Green Tea

I've started drinking green tea on my second break at work, instead of coffee, mainly because I end up drinking too much coffee during the course of a day. I've found that after my tea I have double the energy that I would have had with a coffee and I don't get the "coffee crash" which always comes afterward. This is amazing to me and I'm so glad that I discovered it right before I decided to stop smoking. Replacing coffee with tea will be an easy transition and I won't be giving up my caffeine.

My favourite green tea right now is Tazo Zen Green Tea. It has lemongrass and is really good with a little lemon and honey, or even nothing if I choose. It's so refreshing, a nice change from coffee.

Fresh Start

April 1st, 2010 is the date I've chosen to discontinue my smoking habit. I am going to use the same method as I used the last time and that is "cold turkey". There is a website called www.whyquit.com which is filled with pages and pages of information relative to a successful quit. I am reading all about how to prepare myself for this big step. It will not be easy but it will be worth it.

Fear Itself

In 2008 there was a series on TV that I was very excited about called Fear Itself. It was going to be thirteen episodes, each one written or directed by well known horror movie industry leaders. A few shows into the season, the network cancelled it. Very disappointing.

The other day I was in HMV and I found a collector's set of the show. I bought it on the spot! Now I can finally see all the episodes I missed when they pulled it off the air.

New Girlfriend

Eric has a new girlfriend. Well, it’s been over a month now. She is a supervisor at the store he works at and her name is Cindy. Susan and I hope to meet her one day soon. She was supposed to come over a couple of weeks ago but I guess plans got changed.

Eric is still doing the graveyard shift at Tim Horton’s in Langford. He is trying to make the switch to days though he tells us. That would be nice. It is so hard to work for any length of time on nights and still try to have a normal life -- I know from experience, I did it for years.

It’s so good to see Eric become such a fine young man. Hard to believe he’s going to be twenty-one in a couple of months. Time sure does fly by when one has children, or rather, young adults.

New Brakes

On my last day off I had some work to do on our car. It is Spring break for the kids and Laura wasn’t doing anything so I asked her if she’d like to help me. She jumped right in. The work which had to be done was changing the front rotors and brake pads. We went to the store and purchased the parts needed, then came back home and got to work. Laura was wearing a cute little Summer dress and I told her first that she should go change. She came back in old jeans and a t-shirt and we got busy.

I explained everything I was doing and why, as we worked on the first side. Laura helped me get tools and keep everything organized. Once that was finished and it was time to work on the other side, I got her to jack up the car and take the wheel off. I explained that when she starts driving that she should know how to do this on her own. (Laura is determined to get her licence before her brothers.) She did a great job! I gave her pointers along the way but she did it all herself. We changed the rotor and pads on that side and she put the wheel back on herself.

We still had some time so we went to an auto-wrecker to get a replacement for the broken headlight, came home and changed that together as well. I’m glad that Laura has an interest in learning the basics about cars before she learns to drive. There are so many people on the road today that don’t have a clue about the vehicles they are driving around in. Besides that, we had a great time sharing a common interest and it was nice being able to teach her a thing or two.

Alice In Wonderland

Yesterday Laura and I went to see Alice In Wonderland in 3D. It was awesome! I’ve always loved the story of Alice In Wonderland and am very glad that Laura shares my love for a good story. I have never read the book but it’s on my ever growing list of literature I want to read. We went to the 11:30am showing. In my opinion, it’s always better to see an early matinee, because the theatre is much less crowded, and I also find it easier to keep my eyes open. Usually with an evening movie I struggle with nodding off unless I have a nap before hand. I think that Tim Burton did a very good job directing this fantastic story and Johnny Depp was the perfect Mad Hatter.

I think that Laura enjoyed herself and I certainly liked spending some time with her on her Spring Break. She’s always so busy with her friends and I’m happy that she doesn’t mind being with her Dad sometimes.

Wonderful Lunch

The other day my Mom, my Grandma and my daughter all came to meet for lunch while I was at work. We went to a little Chinese restaurant in James Bay. We shared a few plates of food, some stories and made some good memories. After lunch we went to the park across the street and took a few pictures. It is so nice to spend a little quality time with family, especially when we don’t get to see them very often. I am so thankful for my family and I hope they all know how much I love them!

Shaving

I’ve often thought about looking into getting a straight razor for shaving. I know it’s expensive but so are regular razors over the long run and a straight edge is supposed to be a much better shave. Besides, I think it would be fun to try something different with a task that I have to do anyway.

Presently, my shaving routine is simple. I only shave two or three times per week, just before the itchy stage. I do not use aerosol shaving cream, rather a shaving brush and shaving soap. One dish of shaving soap will last me almost a full year -- not bad for just under four dollars! I go with the cheapest razors too, four or five dollars for a fifteen pack of blades and I get two or three shaves with each blade. I can get as good of a shave with cheap blades as expensive ones by my method of shaving. The trick is I shave twice. I get a wet cloth as hot as I can stand and hold it on my face for a moment, then I lather up and shave my face with the grain. I then lather up again and shave against the grain. A little cold water splash, pat dry and some after shave lotion. This is actually a better shave than once with an expensive blade. The best advantage of shaving like this is that I get no ingrown hairs on my neck.

The other day I went into a small shop which sells straight razors and inquired about getting a blade. He told me straight out that I don’t want one. He explained that it’s very dangerous and also a very difficult thing to do. It’s much easier to shave someone else with a straight edge than to shave one’s self. I then asked him what he shaved with and he showed me a razor with a disposable flat blade. I remember my Dad had one which looked very much the same. He told me that it would give me as good of a shave as a straight razor with more ease and much less cost. In fact he told me that if I went to a barber to get a shave, he would use a straight edge with the same disposable blades inserted into the blade arm.

I’m glad I spoke with someone who knows what they’re talking about before diving into a project unprepared and wasting a lot of money. A couple of years ago I went into a knife shop asking about straight razors and the guy was ready to sell me one on the spot, explaining that it’s what he uses. I highly doubt that, he was just trying to make a sale.

My mind is off of the straight edge and I can move onto other things. For now, I’m happy with my shaving routine and quite satisfied with the information I received. One day I might go and get one of those other razor’s the store owner showed me, the one like my Dad’s old razor.