Sticking to the Plan with a Creative Approach

Day 3

Sometimes there is not much to do but to catch up. That is the whole goal of this day, catch up with things still pending. Things like those you always put aside for later, for when you have time or for when you finish this or that that is more important for you at a particular moment. Well, it looks like today is THAT day.

Important things to be organized ASAP:

Small Home Office.- We call it the home office, even though is not really to perform any job that would be remunerate, completely the opposite, home office is for all that job that nobody pays you to do but that must be done anyways. Those activities that involve running the house and the family members on float are handled I the small corner home office. We usually through invoices, envelopes, payments, school grades, minutes of meetings at school, medical documents with the intention of classify them “one day” when “we have time”. Usually we lie to ourselves saying that we will do it one of these weekends.

Getting the documents for Taxes.- We are getting close to that time of the year when we have to do the presentation of Income Tax. And here we go catching up with our memory searching where is that we were putting those receipt for the Metro/bus, medical & pharmacy reports, that donation document from church. I know you will understand the feeling.

Putting away winter clothes.- It’s almost March and for those who has to face a long winter, we start feeling optimistic that by St. Patrick day we will be able to get rid of winter clothes. I know, I know it’s the silly illusion of spring, especially in Montreal where last year we had snow even in May. But still, we always hope for the best and are prepare for the worse. So, we start using only one pair of boots, no matter what  and we try to put away the rest of them just to make us feel prepare for upcoming spring.

Well, let me continue with this funny job and we’ll see you tomorrow.

Snow, rain and then more snow in Montreal, but it’s not that bad, Lady Spring might be on her way.

Enjoy your day,

Teresa Flores, direct from Montreal

How do you stick to your plans?... you have to practice, practice, practice.

Day Two

You have the impulse; you feel the energy rush, you have your resolutions simple and clear... what do you do the next day? You sit down and expect everything will be done by itself. Let me tell you this one tip: It doesn't work. You, my friend, have to work it on.

This is  day TWO, let's see how it goes.

There are a few things to do around Montreal today, but it is so cold that you will need to be really persistent to go out on a day like this. Let's look for indoor options, like start planning for possible activities for this summer, just the thought of it will make you feel warmer in a minute. 

I'm looking for options for fitness and stress release to start later this spring. I am looking specially for activities that do not involve marathons, tennis or badminton, I'm not the most sportive person around.  If you share the same type of fitness activities and you are looking for some zumba, pilates, hot yoga, latin dances, etc let me tell you this, those classes can be a little expensive in Montreal, around 15-20 dollars per session. If you are planning for instance on taking 2 classes per week you will be paying around 120-160 per month. One good idea is to look for Gyms that include classes as part of their memberships. a Gym membership is around 40 to 60 dollars per month, which is not too bad. 

Another plan for the summer is to do some voluntary work to be done at least once per week. In my particular case, I would like to do some activities to improve my french which is moving from bad to worse. So I would like to be involved in an activity I master but that requires French conversation. If you are interested in voluntary works a well, there are a couple of websites that are fantastic for this job. you can browse the type of activities, institutions, frequency, and so on. You can try some of these organizations below:

• Accès Bénévolat
• VolunteerBureau of Montreal
• Volunteer Canada

I'll let you with these couple of ideas for the day and we'll see what tomorrow brings to the blog. It's freezing cold today in Montreal, a hot chocolate with cinnamon and a nice blanket will do the trick. 

Stay warm, see you tomorrow,

Teresa Flores, direct from Montreal

How do you get back on track? One day at a time

DAY ONE:

You plan, you manage and you make sure everything is according to the map... And then, life happens. That is something you cannot change, in life it is what it is. Where you actually have an incidence is on how you react, what do you after, how you move forward. 


Now going back to the original question, how do you get back on track? Make the decision and start working right away....one day at a time.

Hence, this morning is the beginning of the 30 days trial of getting back on track. The plan for the week is just one: keep on working / keep on moving.

Let's see what's going on in Montreal this week:

1. You can put in your agenda the new exhibition to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, POMPEII which will be open until September 5th.

2. The GodFather will be presented at Place Des Arts the 27 and 28th of February at the Salle Wilfred -Pelletier. Where you will be able to watch the movie while listen to live background original music from Nino Rota which will be interpreted by Justin Freer. 

3. I have found very difficult to find online sales that can be shipped within Canada, therefore I am always open to new Canadian online stores. One good suggestion for today is Zulily, which also has a mobile application. You can find daily interesting sales for clothes, shoes, jewelry and details for the house. 

The weather in Montreal today is not too bad, -7 C degrees which feels like -14 C with the wind factor. Stay warm, have some hot beverage and we'll see you again tomorrow.

Teresa Flores, Direct from Montreal