And now, this is my office space on the main floor!

It’s small, but functional. Since it has a shelf for your tower if you had a desktop computer, I have a space to keep a small storage bin with some of my papers and a few pens. I also shove my headset in there when not needed.  I am already hugely appreciating the separate keyboard, which is much easier on my wrists than constantly typing on the laptop. My”breathe deeply” yoga block is there for both inspiration and as a reminder to do some yoga already! It works too, I just did a video with triangle poses and I feel great!

So what do you think of my little office away from office?! I’ll have pics of my also improved bigger basement office maybe next week. I’m sorting through and cleaning it up to work with some new storage stuff I bought the same day as my new desk.

My kids keep getting older and of course number three has been a part of the mix for over two years now. With two in school it keeps getting easier to manage my schedule, but when I read Work from Home Tips by Kim (MetroMom), I realized I still have some improving to do to better manage my time. Her tips #1 and #2 (searching for lost items /paper chaos) are not a problem for me. I’m pretty organized and am actually mostly paperless with a good setup on my computer for finding things.

Number three though? I do read email too often – it seems like every time I step away from my computer and email for an afternoon I miss something important, so I prefer to err on the side of caution and check regularly. I like to work on projects in time blocks and I don’t check email in the middle of a task, but I do check it a lot otherwise. And I check it practically upon waking and right before bed. I just can’t let go!!

Number four is something I definitely need to work on this year in particular. I like the idea of scheduling my days with certain tasks at the forefront. Maybe if I set a “cleaning day” I’ll actually keep my house in some shape too!

What is creativity to you?

This is a boundary-less and limit-less prompt. You can write what you believe creativity is, or where it comes from, or post a nonsense poem. It’s all creative in my book.

Creativity is a hard to achieve thing for me, kind of like a dream that is on the tip of your tongue when you wake up but gone by the time you finish making coffee. I feel like I’m full of ideas and thoughts sometimes. Then I sit down to write. And then it’s gone.

One thing that inspires me and lets my creativity flow is mother nature. Talking a long, quiet walk outdoors can allow my mind to focus and relax all at once, so that that wellspring of creativity flows. My noisy, busy household often dries that creativity right up though – I can focus on work and tasks with my boisterous boys around, but to truly feel inspired I need peace and quiet. Sunshine helps too!

Two days ago I mentioned to my husband that I wanted him to set up the toddler bed for our 2yo. I didn’t know if he was ready for it, but I wanted to introduce it to him. My husband misunderstood what I wanted and not only set up the toddler bed, but also took apart the crib. The crib that has been the bed for all three of my children in their infancies. The crib I have leaned into so many nights, to pat a back gently or to beg a baby to please, please, please go back to sleep. The crib my mom bought for us when we just half-way through our first pregnancy, and we set up with such anticipation. The crib we no longer need, and cannot even give away, as it is a drop side rail crib, no longer considered particularly safe.

I thought it would be exciting to move my baby up to a big boy bed, but I find myself tearing up as I realize the baby days are truly over in my house. Well, you know, other than that my “big” boy at 2 years old still is addicted to his soother AND still has a bedtime bottle AND still wakes regularly at night! And don’t get me wrong, I have no desire to have another baby, I am more than happy not to start fresh with all that comes with newborns. It’s just a little bittersweet watching all of my babies growing up so quickly on me – just like everyone told me they would.

Well, let’s mark the end of crib days with a picture shall we? Bye, bye crib, you served us well.

Little Boy In The Crib

The first year of being a laptop mama, I loved the mobility! I could sit on the couch and surf the web, while nursing the baby, while the 5 yo watched tv and the 3yo played on the floor. I could take the laptop and hide in my bedroom while DH managed the kids. I could take the laptop on vacation to grandma’s house – perfect!

Then I started my business. At first everything continued to work just fine. I didn’t work that much, I opened up my computer when needed and put it away the rest of the time. Then I started getting busier, plus got hooked on Twitter, and now my laptop is on all the time. Most of my work doesn’t require paper (”real” paper anyway!) but I do use a headset frequently, and I do keep a small amount of paper for notes, and a stand for when I do transcribe from physical documents. I have ended up working from the kitchen table more and more, instead of the couch and now I realize I need to change something about my setup.

I do HAVE a proper home office setup. I just don’t like to be in the basement, which was where it fit. I store my files and paper there, I have my printer setup down there (and print wirelessly from the laptop), I keep my business books down there. Shhh, I even have two desks down there. Both are big though, and neither has a keyboard tray, and my wrists are telling me I need a more ergonomic setup. Most importantly, I want to be working in the heart of my home, near the kitchen and the living room. In short, I want a “mobile” office on my main floor that doesn’t take up much space, but is easy to work from! I tweeted about it last week actually, and my lovely friend Tamara shared that even though it’s tight she put a desk into her dining area for the same reason.

So for this week, my plan is to search for a decent and suitable small desk that I can somehow squish into my dining area or living room. Hopefully on wheels so that it can be easily shoved away into a corner when I have company.  I am thinking a trip to Ikea may be in order….(mmm, Ikea, love their meatballs!) Oh wait, stop thinking about food Laurie!

If you work from home I’d love to hear about your setup. Do you have an office? Do you use it? Do you sit at the table and pray no one spills juice near your computer?!

Your car breaks down on a major highway during a cross-country trip. What happens next?

Been there…done that! And let me tell you it was an expensive and exhausting experience, lol!  A long, long, LONG, drive from Edmonton, Alberta to Las Vegas. In June. In the heat. With a 2.5 year old while I was 7 months pregnant with #2. Yes in fact, we were crazy!

Several more hours of driving to San Francisco. Cool winds and a much happier pregnant lady. Driving up Pacific Coast Highway to take a scenic route home to Edmonton. Made it as far as Petaluma and truck ground to a screeching halt. Bonus: 3 more days in San Fran waiting for repairs to be completed. Actually got to see the sights.  Bad: mega bucks in repair bills – ouch!

Tired, cranky and late for work, we sped through the beautiful petrified forest, not even stopping for a picture. Barely checked out the beautiful ocean and beach view that was flying by. Got lost one last time before finally making it home!

Today though I put the older boys on the bus, dropped off the toddler, grabbed my Starbucks (and p.s. skinny cinnamon dolce latte since they were out of sugar-free vanilla = very disappointing) and came home. I was able to pound out some work, plan our summer vacation and chat on the phone with a friend. I feel like a different person on days like this, someone who is not a screaming, tense and overwhelmed mom. Someone who can actually concentrate and drink a coffee before it is cold. Nice feeling, too bad I have to wait a week to do it again!

Teach us something. How do you flirt? Make a smoothie? Achieve balance in your life? Step-by-step instructions please.

It’s ever so easy to drop your two-year old off at his once-a-week dayhome. First, make sure it’s finally Tuesday – wouldn’t want to get over-anxious and take him on Monday! Next, pack his bag and talk to him about how much  fun it will be at Sarah’s house. Drive over and comment on the buses passing by. Get to the dayhome. Listen to him start wailing in the backseat. Take him into the house where Sarah shows him the cute puppy she’s dogsitting for her mom. Give him tons of hugs and say “No, mommy doesn’t need her coat off, mommy will see you later.” Listen to more wailing and you make your exit, feeling guilty but also grateful.

Hit the first Starbucks you see – you deserve a latte now.

I don’t know how other people feel who’ve moved so much in their youth. I know how I feel though – I feel rootless, almost lost and like I have no security. I wonder what it would have been like to have some stability instead of lacking attachment to almost any of my homes. I can’t stand to have things change – I leave my furniture in the same spots year after year. I have never bothered to decorate my homes or even put up pictures much of the time. I guess I always expect to have to move on again shortly, so why bother? My sister is almost the opposite that way – she is so used to the constant changing and enjoys it enough that she re-arranges and updates her home constantly. She makes it look homey and inviting almost instantly too.

Today, for my first ever Memory-Lane Monday (a theme of my own making that I hope to continue all year), I thought I’d share some pictures and some memories from just a few of the homes we have lived in. These pictures are all from the general area of that first small town where I was born, I haven’t looked for any others yet.

This is one of the earlier houses that I remember, although it’s a pretty fuzzy memory to be sure! I know that I lived here when I went to kindergarten as somewhere in my baby book there is a picture of me on the front step in my first day of kindergarten outfit. I remember the park across the street, where my little sister kicked out one of my teeth “by accident” when we were on the monkey bars. I remember walking a few blocks from there past Grandma’s house, to catch the bus.

After that house we lived in a couple of different towns for a while (and another few houses of course).  I think this next house is the first one we lived in when we moved back to the hometown, but I’m not at all sure of that. I know I was around 8-9 when we lived here and in Grade 3. It’s where we lived when I first got glasses.

This is an apartment building where my parents were property managers for a short time. I remember helping vacuum what seemed like endless stairs and I know the wraparound balcony was a favorite playplace.

After the apartment building we moved to the house below, it is probably one of my favorite childhood homes. We actually lived in this house for about a year and a half (I think, lol) and while it may not look like much if you look at that window on the far left that is up higher – that was my lovely bedroom, full of built in bookshelves and lots of space. My sister and parents had rooms on the main level and there was a spiral staircase to the lowest level which had a pool table! Even better, the house is a lake house, just a few minutes from Thunder Lake Provincial Park, and I have so many good memories of our time there; waterskiing and swimming in summer, snowshoeing and ice-fishing in winter. I was in grades 5 and part of 6 when we lived here.

This was the first home my parents actually bought, rather than rented. It was a lovely house (not quite as pretty as the picture though – it has been updated by more recent owners!) and I actually can even remember my bedroom quite well in this house. It was in the basement, with beautiful dark wood bookshelves on two or three sides. I loved the privacy (being around 12 that isn’t surprising!) I remember living here and getting my period for the first time. I also remember sitting on the steps to the basement the day my mom told me she and my dad were getting divorced. Goodbye house.

My mother went to spend a few days with a friend after her and my dad decided to split up. While she was gone, grandma moved us lock, stock and barrel to a duplex. Bonus points go to this house just because my very best friend at the time, Karey, lived in the other half. It was also nice and close to school for walking.

Unfortunately this house was the scene of disappointment yet again. We lived there for only a few months, finished out grade 7 in school and then moved to the big city so my mom could upgrade her education. It was a good reason to move, but I was not at a fun age at all for moving so far away from my friends and my grandma. Up to this point we’d mostly lived in small towns, but for her schooling my mom moved us to Edmonton. It seemed so overwhelming, but I did eventually adjust. I don’t remember the first two or so houses in Edmonton though, and I wonder if that means much? I was 13 when we started living there, but they are just blurry images in my head.

Now, I’m happy to say, that I’ve lived in the same house for 4.5 years (and no plans to move!) and before this my husband I owned our very first house together for 5.5 years. This was our first home (can’t seem to find a decent one of where we live now!):

Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me – and I’d love to hear what your house experiences were growing up, either in comments or a post linked back to here!