Old School Shaving

Recently, I got even more disgusted with the prices for replacement shaving heads.  It seemed like something would change every year, making the past model obsolete and the newer model more expensive.  So for some reason or another, I decided to regress to the style used by my grandpa, a safety razor.

These blades or DE (double edged) razor blades conjure up images of reckless sharpness and in inability to prevent spilled blood.  A scene from blades of glory comes to mind, the iron lotus. Not so!  I've done quite well for myself, with my first usage leaving me with a small nick.

I found an online store, Fendrihan, that carried a large assortment of blades, razors and accessories.  While I ended up spending close to $100 bucks, I decided I wasn't turning back and bought the 100 pack of blades.  That's enough for 2 years of shaving!  The rest of the money was for a Merkur HD 34C, brush, soap and after shave treatment.  If I average out the cost over the next 2 years, it works out to about a buck a week in shaving costs.

It's become a fun ritual to shave and I'm improving each time.  I thought I would post a few pics of my handy work.

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Big Decision... Done Deal

Dora and I were in the middle of making a rather important decision  and it involved a move.  We decided to move to Raymond, back to the town of my childhood.  While we can list several reason why we shouldn't move and why we should move, the fact is we needed to make a move.  We've been in the same house for 7 years and in Lethbridge for who knows how long.  It felt like it was time for a change.  With Logan getting close to school age, we wanted him to go to school in a smaller community and Raymond seemed to fit the bill.


With the shorter drive to work, larger and cheaper lots, family and a good school, we made the choice.  Sadly, no choice was perfect, but is it ever?


We made the decision to move to the new development of Stonegate Meadows.


The lot's are large for the money invested, getting us 0.5 acres for $52,000.  In comparison, I thought I would show you what our existing lot looks like compared to our new lot.  Our lot and house are in the blue.

We definitely have more space!  Think fruit tree, garden, zip line, obstacle course, bike jump, etc.


We're now at the stage where we're looking at house designs.  Because of the large lot, we're thinking more of a bungalow style house.  If you've got input... we're listening.  I think I'll post my top 3 later.... when I decide what they are!  I found over 500 potential plans on this one site, ultimateplans.com.


Wish us luck!

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A day with Dora

Dora and I were able to escape the Southern regions of LOMAH and venture into the Northern extremities... Calgary!

For Christmas, Dora and I received passes to Lake Louise and free babysitting!  What an awesome present!  We headed up Friday and stayed the night at Dora's brother, who was the lucky babysitter as well.  After a late start we made it to the hill and to our surprize, snow!  We had expected a sunny day of skiing and were enveloped in a blanket of light fluffy snow!

From 2011.02.Misc

From 2011.02.Misc

This was the first time at Louise in probably 8-10 years and it's a different experience as compared to Castle of even Whitefish.  A lot more people and just a different kind of people climate as well.  On the plus, some 19 year old kid gave me a beverage on the Gondola ride up.  How's that for hospitality!  We spent the day enjoying several runs, going from easy greens to blues that should have been black! (some of the signs indicated that the conditions did so)  It was a nice break and a welcome present, but sadly we prefer the more Southernly options.  In fact, I'm hoping to get to Whitefish next weekend!  Until then... come back to LOMAH.... we miss you all!

From 2011.02.Misc

From 2011.02.Misc

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Chocolate CAN be healthy!

I should probably start this post with a warning:

I am SERIOUSLY full of caffeine right now and am actually so twitchy it's hard for my brain to keep up with how fast my fingers are typing (usually it's the other way around).

I also shared a little of the magic with someone special when I got home.

I just got back from a wonderful educational experience at Lilley Wonka's Chocolate Factory. I'm not sure if she wants her name posted on-line, so I've changed it for now... It was AWESOME and not just because we got to sample chocolate that she made, but because we got to make our own! We made almond milk, almond milk with agave, almond milk with raw cocoa, hot chocolate regular and with a little kick of spice ("Mexican" hot chocolate), we also made amazing chocolates. All of this with raw ingredients - they haven't been heated or processed to a point where their nutritional value is null.

It was incredibly easy. Way too easy. Easy enough to be dangerous. But I also learned that healthy chocolate can actually increase your metabolism. Probably not enough to offset gluttonous consumption, but an increase non-the-less. I also learned about gogi berries and got to try some (thank you!). VERY HIGH in Vitamin C, and pretty tasty - nice! Got to also try some incan berries (gooseberries - also yummy), some chia (good for digestion), a REAL chocolate "seed", and some other goodies. She was SO generous with all the materials and knowledge sharing. We even got a little take home package with a sampling of the materials that we used tonight to make more at home, including cute little silicon heart moulds.

But probably the most exciting piece of knowledge for me tonight, besides just how darn easy this all is, was maca. It's a Peruvian root I believe and has all sorts of interesting effects on the human body. I'm sorry, I don't remember them all. One was being an antidepressant, others helping with the symptoms of pms and menopause. There are more (including increased libido) which I don't want to go into because sometimes my parents and Marco's parents read this and who wants to talk about libido with their folks? For me, it's the antidepressant side of things. January is ALWAYS a ridiculously difficult month for me. I've just started to recognize the changes in myself that happen in this month. I'm more withdrawn, sullen, grumpy and moody. SUPER fun to be around. I don't know how long this has been happening (I'm not asking for input here!), but know that I started to see a pattern after Logan was born. It's such a struggle for me to get motivated to do anything in January. There is a history of depression with some of the women in my family, so it worries me a bit. If I can have a little bit of extra healthy chocolate, maybe I can get through the January doldrums with a little more grace next year. It gives me hope anyway.

The caffeine buzz is subsiding...I've started to calm down a little now - phew! I haven't been that caffeinated in a long time. Extra caffeine in my system always reminds me of the espresso shakes from the Penny. I think D and I had two each before a bio seminar class. Good times.

Here's a photo of my first attempt at chocolate.

It was made with cocoa butter, coconut oil, carob powder, raw cocoa powder, sweetened with Agave and then topped with all sorts of goodies. Really, you could use anything that you liked to top these little beauties. I made these in about 20 minutes and that includes about 10 minutes in the freezer to set. So glad that I took this class and so ready to share!

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Awesomeness

While Awesomeness might be a little over the top, I love how things are slowly changing in our household. How often do you get to see your son and wife playing an old NEC?

From 2011.02.Misc

From 2011.02.Misc

I think I'll give bonus points to the first one who figures out what game they're playing!

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