Light My Candle

We go through a lot of scented jar candles around here.  After they've burned down, it always feels like a shame to throw them out, as they make excellent candle holders.  I recently Googled 'how to get wax out of a jar candle' and discovered a super easy solution.

Step 1: Take the used jar candles and place them into the freezer for 1 hour or so.

Step 2: Remove candles from freezer. They will be frosty! Take a dull knife and poke at the wax until it loosens.

I did four candles at once, so I chipped away a nice pile of wax. It smelled great!

Step 3: Wash the empty jars in hot water to remove any remaining wax that couldn't be chipped away.

Step 4: Replace with other candles/tea lights.  One day we might try our hand at pouring hot wax and wicks back into the jar, but for now just using it as a candle holder works just fine.

Step 5: Enjoy!!!!

Weather Jealousy

The boys made it safely to Phoenix, AZ and have already sent a photo of a Phoenix sunrise.

I am incredibly jealous of their adventure.  The weather is 100°F and sun - all the time.  Must be nice!

Airport Anxiety

Tomorrow I'm driving my brother and brother-in-law to the airport as they are heading to Arizona for two weeks.  I have never driven to the airport by myself before, so I am a little nervous about it.  On our way to Guelph a few weeks ago, we practiced the loops I will be driving tomorrow so I could get a feel of what exits I am supposed to take.  I am fairly confident, but I'll be driving Dave's new car, so I have extra pressure to make sure I do everything right.

Even though I know I can do it, driving around the airport and out of Toronto is new territory for me, and the new/unknown is a good source of anxiety in my life.  Last night I had an anxiety dream about the drive.  In the dream I got to my brother's house and realized I had the wrong shoes on (shoes I couldn't drive in!).  I ran around going in and out of stores trying to find sneakers. I finally found some, but it turned out they needed shoelaces, so I was back to running around again.  In my anxiety dreams I am always chasing something.

We are heading to the airport tomorrow morning at 8am.  I must be on the list of nominations for the 'World's Best Sister' to get up that early on a Saturday!  Anything for the Bro!

Have a safe flight Bros!!

Picture Source

Time to Mow the Lawn

Yesterday I made my way out to the garden to pick some beans.  As I approached the bean patch a Garter snake slithered around on the grass in front of me and slid right into my row of beans.  Needless to say there was a scared scream heard throughout the yard and no beans were picked.  Later the beans were again approached and the Garter snake poked his head out and looked right at me!  Then he slithered into the woods.  I know Garter snakes are harmless, and can even have cute faces (from a distance), I'm just not into things that slither around in the grass.  We realized if Garter snakes were hanging out, our grass must be too long, so we quickly mowed away any places for slithery beings to hide.

The Garter snake sighting brought forth many family tales of Garter's that have crossed paths with us over the years.  Mom told me she once walked into the kitchen of the old farmhouse and saw something sticking out from the cuppord under the sink.  On second glance, she noticed it was moving (slithering, in fact).  On closer inspection it was a Garter snake (in the house!).  Luckily my dad has no fear and promptly removed it.

I was reminded of a photo dad had taken of my brother Tommy, at ten years old, grasping a Garter snake in his hand.  When questioned how the photo had come to be, Dad said he had encouraged Tom to pick up the snake, in order to teach him that it wasn't harmful. I am very glad I missed out on the nature lesson that day. 

There is also the tale from many years ago that involved John's cats.  At that time, the cats had a "doggy door" so they could come and go as they pleased.  That was until two of them, Cleo and Eddie, came back through the "doggy door" carrying a Garter snake, one end of it in each of their mouths.  It was alive.  And they let it loose inside the house.  Terrifying!  From then on, the "doggy door" was dismantled, and his family now screens what they let the cats drag in.

Do You Sleep Anymore?

I have a tumultuous relationship with sleep.  I need very specific conditions in order to fall asleep, and even if all those conditions are met, sometimes it just doesn't happen.  It seems pretty counter-productive evolutionarily speaking; I doubt I'll be taking the next leap with the rest of mankind.  August was particularly sleep deprived, with the best night of sleep resulting from three consecutive sleepless nights.  Passing out from exhaustion isn't really a reliable or relaxing sleep aid - it is actually incredibly stressful.  I prefer to get my sleep on a regular basis instead of it all being crammed into just one night.  Is that so much to hope for?

Gary sleeps anytime, anywhere, and for 16 hours a day.
Sounds like a beautiful dream.

I spent the past week trying to recharge. I actually forced myself to do nothing.  Doing nothing isn't something I accomplish easily - as my "nothing" days soon become errand running days, clean up days, or organizing stuff days.  This past week I actually managed to avoid the busywork I usually turn to and did nothing.  The most strenuous things I did this week were re-watching seasons three and four of The West Wing and playing video games.  Near the end of the week I did tidy the house, but I did it while watching The West Wing and it was surprisingly relaxing.

And the result?  I caught up on a lot of sleep and I actually feel alive-alert-awake-enthusiastic today. Which is such relief.  Being tired all the time is super frustrating and everything is made more stressful with a perspective that is skewed by lack of sleep.  Now, I just have to maintain this relaxed/able to sleep attitude so I can continue to enjoy regular rest.  This will probably involve finding the correct balance of all things in life: work/play, diet/exercise, anxiety/calm.  That should be easy enough to do, right?