Always up for a challenge.

I have realized a few things about myself in the last few years, and it seems some of my friends think one of my traits is quite amusing. I like being busy. I am not one to sit still for too long, and it seems that the busier I am, the more I get done. If I have a day where I don't have too much to do, it seems to spiral into a day of getting almost next to nothing done. It's true, give me five things to do, and I will get seven things done. But if I only have two or three things to do, it seems to be a struggle. It's like that theory about things in motion, it seems once I am moving, I just keep going.

And with Lent, I will admit another thing. My Catholic habits have remained a constant, even when I am not aware of it. Fridays seem to bring fish, and I find I still find myself giving up a few of my favourite things during the 40 days leading up to Easter. Funnily enough this year I was thinking I wanted to do something really different to challenge myself this year, but I couldn't figure out what exactly to do. And as usual, instead of doing just one thing, I will be tackling a few.

My first is something to improve my household, and hopefully my whole family will reap the benefits. A new friend on Facebook, Marlene Fargey had posted a challenge on her wall that really caught my attention, it was called, "Forty Bags in Forty Days". And it is just like it sounds, the women running the challenge gives us cluttered moms some tips to help us tackle some of the piles of papers, stuffed closets and mounds of toys. Here is the link to the page, and join along with me and see what we can accomplish over the next few weeks. http://www.whitehouseblackshutters.com/40-bags-in-40-days-2014/

And here is the results of my first day:

I tackled some of my kitchen cupboards, and the fridge, throwing out expired crackers, ziploc dishes that no longer had covers, and a few broken dishes that I have no idea why I was keeping them. And you know what? I got a little excited, and I am thinking that tomorrow I may hit up a closet.

I cannot seem to fit more writing into my day, and that is always a goal that I have, so I was trying to think of some other way to do it so that it would be fun. I will let you know how it goes. Tonight I set the timer and said I would blog for 5 minutes, and it has been 15, so if I can find fun ways to incorporate my writing into the day maybe it will get done. So to do that, I gave myself another challenge that I have been promising everyone for well over a year. And that is I am going to post random pictures of things, people and places around Fort McMurray!

The first picture is of Shayleen's school, the same ones that the boys attended when we first moved to Fort McMurray. This is Ecole St. Paul, located in Thickwood. The school where I first called all those seven years ago, and Linda LeBlanc answered the phone and sealed my decision that the boys would attend this school. Linda was from home, her Dad still lives out towards Mira I believe, and she still goes home every year. She is the secretary at our school, and she is like the epicentre of the complex, since she knows both the staff and the families that have children that attend St. Paul's. I also know that there are several people from the East Coast that work here. People that I have been so lucky to meet, like Amanda, who is a wonderful teacher from Cape Breton. I connected with her mom, Darlene through Facebook, and they are a wonderful example of how I get to stay connected with people from home, and people who live here, through this crazy writing habit I have.

And I have one other habit that a priest instilled in me many, many years ago. He said if we could all use Lent, whether we are Catholic or not to just try to do better for those 40 days, and help each other more through life....whether it was these 40 days, or any other 40 days in any given year, then the world would be a better place. I sometimes forget to practice that, but for the next 40 days I will once again commit to doing something a little extra special for the people in my life and my community. And if I get enough feedback, I was thinking maybe we could start a Facebook page so that we could all inspire and share what we could do. I know there are many groups that need volunteers, whether it be for an afternoon, or a day, and I was thinking we could share all those types of things on one page, and the rest of us could be inspired every day to just do that one extra thing, big or small. Let me know what you all think! And well, wasn't this all quite the ramble!