Side Table Side Project

Earlier this summer when we were in the midst of still creating Gage's new space in the basement we stumbled across this find at a garage sale for $2.  For reals, I kid you not.  I know it doesn't look overly pretty but the lines were clean and simple (perfect for a 16 year old boy) and the drawer pull reminded us a little of the Star Trek emblem (Gage wouldn't care about that but Eric did).  I snatched it up because it was in overall decent shape and I set out to grab some glossy paint to re-finish it for the boy.

Upon sanding it we discovered this piece of furniture was made in Quebec, here in, our lovely country, Canada.  And well, furniture made in Quebec is known to be of a higher quality.  So an even better score than we had imagined.

So Eric took on the role of the sandman and sanded it down to perfection so I could paint all that pretty wood a deep grey to match the new decor.  He also polished the "brass" drawer pull and turned it silver!  I probably should have taken a nicer photo of the table in its actual final resting place (beside Gage's bed) but now it's all cluttered with teen aged boy stuff.  I stumbled across this perfectly, complimentary lamp for $25.00 while out shopping one day that fit the space nicely.

Before finishing it all up nice nice, Eric decided to make a false bottom for the drawer.  You know so Gage has a spot to hide his unmentionables (like I'd conveniently forget we put that in there for him).   I will admit the 16 year old thought that was pretty damn neat.  Now he keeps his money in there.  Don't worry, I check the contents from time to time.  He's not that big of an idiot I would tend to believe.  He does have some of my genetics after all.

So there you have it, a quick, easy and cheap re-furbished end table.  All for less than 10 bucks!  Not a bad score at all.

Oooh, What Is This?

I read a post recently (I don't remember who by or I'd link it) that outlined 100 of the bloggers favourite things.  I had originally thought I would post 100 of my favourite things too, but it's actually really, really hard to come up with 100 favourite things in the spur of the moment.  So with that lesson quickly learned, I started making notes and in that process my train of thought shifted (not uncommon, especially in the case of shiny things) and I thought maybe I'd post here and there about my favourite things!  You know, kind of like Oprah but on a WAY, way more economic scale.  You know, like affordable and attainable.  

So I figured I'd maybe do a couple per post (or not) and maybe write about my favourite things every few months and see where it goes (but like shiny objects, I may lose interest quickly).  I thought I'd include things I like to eat, places I like to go, restaurants I like to frequent, websites I can't stay away from, causes I want to support, apparel that makes me feel pretty, you know stuff I stumble across in this road called life.  My life anyway.

So here we go!  And if you are so inclined I would welcome you to check out the links I post or maybe test the product yourself and give your own feedback and of course if I talk about something you are familiar with or have experienced yourself, please add your two cents into the comment section.  It's always best to get another opinion even if I do think what I'm talking about is Amazing with a capital A!

 Chocolate FX White Chocolate Strawberry Beads.  What?  Doesn't it just sound amazing?  There really should have been a taste button invented for computers by now, am I right?  So to be fair here, I was only introduced to this company today and out of the three products we bought, the WC Strawberry ones were by far my favourite, though Eric is smitten with the other two.  I've driven by this place numerous times in the past, but only did Eric and I decide to stop and check out their stuff, today.  We walked away with the above mentioned as well as some Triple Mint Beads and some Red Raspberry infused Beads.

Most definitely not in the same price range as a trip to your local corner store for a Mars bar, but several unique and delicious alternatives.  They have a wide variety of sugar free chocolates as well and there is a factory on site that you can tour if you wish.  Included in the tour price is a credit towards a chocolate purchase in the store.  Win-win, if you have the time and curiosity.   The down side?  They seem to be like potato chips for me, I can't eat just one.  Anywho's, check 'em out (especially if you live in the same area as me) sometime! You can shop in person or on line.  Though in person, they have an entire taste testing station. I think the concept of the FX part is that flavours are infused into the chocolate for a unique experience.  Not too sure though.  Regardless, they were pretty damn delicious and definitely a place I'll hit up again from time to time.

Shmexiest, Funniest Camper

There are so many things I want to do with my children and so many experiences I want to be able to provide for my kids.  We all wish we had more expendable cash on our hands but the reality of the situation is that most of us live relatively pay check to pay check (if not literally, then pretty damn close) and have to save up for the extras that we want in life, or venture into debt.  I remember one of the biggest things I worried about and actually cried over when my marriage broke down was that my children were becoming 'statistics' and I feared they'd never be privy to what the other kids were privy to or that I'd have to constantly apply for aid to assist in allowing them to experience life like the kids whose parents were still together and who had two incomes.  I was so fearful of them missing out that I busted my ass to ensure that hasn't happened, and now I've probably swung too far to the other side.  I feel like they get almost too much handed to them now.  A happy medium would have been nice, but I digress.  Although that being said I did have to postpone our Mexico trip this year because I refuse to go into debt in order to travel.  Whoa, first world problems, I know.  But they'll still luck out because now I'm on a mission to make sure that trip still pans out eventually.

However, despite those fears, over the years I've learned quite the lesson.  Maybe being a product of divorce isn't a terrible thing after all!  I genuinely think my boys have it made in the shade.  Between me, their dad, my family, their father's family, their step mother's family, Eric's family...well you get the point right?  So all this guilt I tried to avoid was for naught.

Back when Gage was about 8 we thought it would be good to send him to camp for a few days.  He was a very social boy and the experiences at camp would hopefully stay with him.  At the time my divorce wasn't final, and we were still swimming in debt.  My parents were living with me while I struggled to get my head above the water it was currently sitting under with this new lifestyle I was living.  So being awesome parents that they are, they paid for Gage to go to camp.  I think they did this two years in a row or at least helped out the second year, but I could be wrong.

So fast forward to this year.  I was reminded of the existence of Cave Springs Camp while I was sitting in a United church during a funeral.  I immediately thought it would be something that Roan would LOVE to partake in and, frankly, it would be good for him.  He's been keeping relatively busy with friends this summer, but something more structured with lots of activities would be perfect for him.  The catch?  I have just finished some renovations at home and couldn't really spare the $400 it would cost to send him for 5 days.  Thankfully his father agreed to cover half of the expenses and off he went.

I'll be honest, I had an unsettling feeling in my stomach all week and I couldn't understand why.  I was worried he wasn't having fun, that he wouldn't make friends (I have ZERO idea why I would think this as he makes friends with everyone), that maybe he'd get hurt, you know typical parental worries.  Unrealistic and uncalled for to say the very least.  Upon our arrival to pick him up, following his stay, he immediately asked if he could attend another week this summer and babbled on and on for hours about how much fun he had, how many friends he made, etc., etc.   So turns out things had gone well despite my fears.  Seems, according to Roan, that all the girls just loved his abs and would look for any excuse they could come up with to hug him.  He even walked away at the end of the week with the Award for the "Most Shirtless Camper".

Upon his arrival at home he was relentless in his mission to secure another week at camp so I did my best to muster up half of the fees telling Roan he was on the hook to secure the other half.  He immediately called my mother and coerced her into covering the balance.  I think she said yes because she was trying to be fair. Regardless, he was happy to learn he'd be able to head back a couple weeks later.  And again, he seemed to have a great time because he wasn't too happy to see us when we got there to pick him up and asked if he could return for another week before school lets back in (Don't push it kid!).  This time around he had a few girls fawning over him again and received the Award for the "Funniest Camper".  No wonder this kid loves Cave Springs, it's a complete ego booster.

He's decided, at this point, that he would like to get a job there when he's older, as a counselor, which I think would be great for his personality.  So we're thinking this year he should take the Babysitting Course offered through the YMCA and possibly a First Aid Course over the next couple of years.  I'm just hoping he doesn't lose interest in this idea throughout the year because I really do think he'd be an ideal counselor.

I really am quite blessed to have a good job, and a wonderful family to help ensure that my kids haven't been affected too drastically by a marriage break down.  I'm grateful my children have had several opportunities in life to experience some wonderful and different things...things an awful lot of children in the world today just don't get to do.

Roadside Ransacking

The other night we ventured off to Toronto to see a slapped together 'reunion' benefit show of the Kids In The Hall.  If you don't know who the Kids in the Hall are you should check them out on Youtube.  I truly don't think you'll be disappointed.  But basically they are a Canadian sketch comedy group formed in 1984, consisting of comedians Dave Foley, Kevin McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Mark McKinney, and Scott Thompson (my personal favourite, though it is hard to pick one).  Their TV show ran from 1988-1995.  They basically played all the main roles themselves even if they were playing women.  Sigh...so great.

Anywho, back to the post at hand.  Following the show on our way home as we neared our house we drove (slowly I might add) past another house with a ton of 'junk' piled at the curb waiting for pick up the following morning. Since Pinterest entered my life I find it difficult to casually drive past these piles without wanting to look.  This was a magnificent pile too (the largest I've ever seen), how could my curiosity not be piqued???  In those ruins one treasure simply must lay!   So we got home, grabbed the dog and off we went into the dark night to stalk through someone else's garbage.  An event I'm not terribly fond of performing I might add.
We found not one treasure but four (though one turned out not to be such a hot score, another turned out to be an amazing find)!  We rushed back home to grab the van (thank goodness for stow and go seating) and headed back to claim our finds.  Of course, I made sure to dim all the interior lights to draw less attention to ourselves as we picked through another man's garbage.  We salvaged quite a large seaman's trunk, a smaller version of a seaman's trunk, a white, wicker dresser and a square, wooden table. 

When we lifted up the large trunk to put into the van we noticed it was full of 'stuff'.  It was locked though so we couldn't open in on the spot and I'll be damned if I was standing out there any longer than I had to be to try to open it.  I told Eric to put it in the van, we'd pick the lock when we got home.  No big deal.  We loaded up our other finds and quickly, though limpingly (as I hurt myself during the process - of course!), headed home to excitingly go through this locked container.  

Within three minutes Eric had the lock off and we were getting our hands dirty.  So many little treasures and yet none of them seemed to be related to the next.  Here's a link to pictures of all the crazy stuff we found in the trunk when we opened it. http://imgur.com/a/BiUW6  Click it, it's a pretty neat-o montage.

This gave me a teeny, tiny insight into what it would be like to go through a hoarders house (which I genuinely think I would love to do!) but obviously on a much smaller scale.  The crazy old bag of weed was a fun find!  And the money and hockey cards....oh so many treasures!

What a great, unexpected way to cap off an already decent night!  I love me a good find.

You Just Got Schooled. In Dying.

I find I'm losing patience when it comes to common sense.  Well to be more to the point I'm getting fed up with listening to ignorant people offer up an opinion on a subject they can only speculate on or know absolutely nothing about!  I don't ever offer my opinion about what's right and wrong about a subject I honestly know only snippets (if even that) about.  However, I've read a few 'articles' recently relating to the death care industry about the high, exorbitant costs to die as well as the downside to pre-arranging ones funeral.  I don't think I'm being extreme here when I speculate that likely 10 out of 10 of those times the opinions are offered up by someone completely removed from the funeral industry (maybe they had to arrange a funeral ONCE) or a very disgruntled former funeral director ("who all of a sudden got a conscience?"  Puh-lease!).  So here is a little bit of my opinion on a subject I actually know TONS about, since I live it every day.  Of course I'll probably only skim the surface so if you have read this and have ANY question about the industry at all, please leave it for me in the comments.

Okay, lets take a gander at a situation that has occurred in Nova Scotia (I'll speak mainly from a Canadian standpoint because well...that's where I live and work.  Seems like a good enough reason.).  The actual article is linked up there in the sentence above if you want to make yourself more familiar with the circumstances (it's not long), but I'm just going to zero in on the comments made about the negatives of pre-arranging.

Here's a quick synopsis:
The couple interviewed for this article invested $10,000 (five thousand for each of them) into a CO-OP Funeral Home (pretty much a first of its kind, hence an experimental endeavor/investment) that has since gone belly up.  They, at the time of their investment chose NOT to pre-fund their funeral expenses/plans but rather were relying on the shareholder agreement that upon their death the money they each invested would be refunded back to them to cover the majority of their funeral expenses on top of a 30% discount.

Are we clear on what I just wrote?  Maybe this will help, so lets say their funeral upon their demise would cost $10,000 just to make the numbers easy...they would get 30% off, so that takes them down to $7,000 and then the $5,000 they invested would be returned back to offset the remaining costs, so now their estate just owes $2,000 for the funeral.  Simple right?  Yup!  Provided the Co-op Funeral Home was managed properly and was making money.  Unfortunately that was not the case and they have since gone into receivership and all the investors are out their initial investment.  Recently, the Co-op Funeral Home was sold to another funeral director who already runs four other funeral homes within this Region.  He has AGREED (though he most certainly didn't need to) to offer the investors who did NOT pre-pay their funerals a 35% discount and of course for those that were smart enough to pre-pay their arrangements, their contracts will be honoured completely.

So what have we learned from this dear friends and readers?  Well I'll sum it up for you in a couple sentences.  Investing is risky.  Entering into a legal binding contract (such as a pre-arranged funeral agreement) is safe.

Now lets look at a couple of the ignorant comments that readers of this article felt they needed to share. One suggested that a pre-arranged funeral is similar to buying extended warranties which end up being, frankly, worthless (in his opinion).  Except that a pre-funded funeral is legally guaranteed and protected financially, by the governing bodies of all funeral homes (if the funds are mishandled).  Which basically means that the consumer is protected 100% of the time.  There is also no time limit on pre-paid funerals.  You don't have to die before you are 75 to get it (like term life insurance), you don't have to use it within 5 years (like car warranties), it doesn't matter if you die from an accident, suicide, murder, natural causes, an undiagnosed illness, etc., there will not be some loop hole you have to dance through to get it (again, like life insurance). You just simply have to die!  It really is that easy.  AND, holy shit are you ready for this?  It can be transferred to any other funeral home, like anywhere!  Whoa!  So if you move, you aren't tied to that original location.

Another reader followed up with, "Why bother paying everything years or even decades before your death when you could be investing the money and making a profit?  There will always be cash when you keel over to put you in the ground in some manner."   Oh you stupid, ignorant man (I don't really know that it's a man, I'm just presuming.).  Let me educate you a little.  Funeral costs tend to double every 10 years.  So again, for the ease of math, lets say the average cost to die is currently $10,000 (I can assure you this number is not the real average for a funeral in Canada, it's actually much lower - but that's an entirely new blog post).  That means, for those of you who failed math, that in as little as 10 years (I know I plan to still be around in 10 years, don't know about you.) the same funeral will be more like $20,000.  If you pre-funded your funeral when it cost $10,000 in 20 years you/your estate will have only paid $10,000.  But for Joe Blow who thought pre-arranging was dumb, he's gonna pay $30,000 for the same thing!  Who's dumb now Joe??

You know how that works?  It is because once you pay for your arrangements the prices get LOCKED in at today's costs and your money is invested in an account/policy in your name until the services are rendered.  The funeral home doesn't get the money until you die.  The reason funeral homes practice this is because it secures future business.  The interest that accumulates (and it's quite small) on your invested money is used to offset the rising costs of funerals.  That being said though, if there is excess money in the invested funds than what the funeral costs at the time of death the excess is refunded back to the estate.  On the other hand (which happens more often than not) if the funds come up short, the funeral home absorbs the costs and the estate is not asked to pay anything more on what was pre-funded originally.  Why would a funeral home do this you ask?  Cost of doing business and a chance they are willing to take.  They would rather take a $1000 hit than not do the business at all.

Now since I mentioned the constant increase in funeral expenses, does your life insurance pay-out also increase every ten years to cover these rising costs?  Nope!  Not ever.  So I've heard the old rebuttal of "my insurance will cover my expenses" many times, but if you only have an $8,000 policy it won't (Remember folks, if you make it past 75 years, your term life is kaput)!  Or, the longer you live the less you are leaving for your family after they pay your expenses.  Also, did you know that most funeral homes require a substantial payment up front at the time of your death as a deposit or to cover their out of pocket disbursements they'll conveniently make on your behalf?  Not all do, but most.  It's a sound business practice.  (You wouldn't drive a car for a month before you paid, or use your fridge for three weeks before you paid.)  So who's going to have that extra cash laying around to put out until your insurance money comes in?  If it's pre-paid, the funeral home works directly with the investment company to secure their guaranteed funds. One less thing for your family or executor to worry about.

I am also eager to challenge the comment about there "always being cash around when you keel over to put you in the ground in some manner."  I call complete and utter bullshit!  In today's economic times and the high costs for EVERYTHING, not just dying, more and more people are dying without funds to bury themselves.  More and more pressure is being put on our Regions and tax payers to cover these expenses and more and more funeral homes are taking a great loss on these funerals because the Region will not pay the full expenses.  The funeral homes absorb the remainder of the cost.  A thankless gesture I might add.

You will die.  There is no debate or refusal allowed on your part.  Like it or not, it's really the only guarantee in life.  I can choose to skip out on paying my taxes, I can continue to evade the IRS, but I will die. Eventually.   When my time comes I can choose to sponge off the system (and there are a lot of people out there who are completely okay with this option - they are pieces of shit.  Don't get me wrong there are lots of people who have no other option and I can, 100% of the time, get behind the Region paying for those particular people.), I can leave my family to struggle with what to do with me and come up with the money to cover the costs, or I can prepare for the inevitable and pre-arrange and pre-fund my own wishes.

Funeral homes have made it so much easier to complete this task too.  You can pre-pay it all at once, over 1 year, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years, 15 years or 20 years.  And if you choose to pre-pay over time and come into a windfall of money, you can pay the remaining off.  But aside from that, just another snippet of information....most of the investment carriers work it similar to an insurance product.  For example, if you make your first payment and unexpectedly die, you are covered 100% completely the amount you pre-arranged.  Doesn't matter that you only made one payment.  Your estate is covered.  In the worse case scenario and you have an existing (existing at the TIME of arrangements not at some point during the payment period) terminal (long term or short term) condition, you only need to make it two years into your payment plan before that same scenario works for you.  So if you have a pre-existing condition and you live two years + a day into your 20 year payment plan and you die around the 5 year mark, the rest is paid off for you.  Extra win now!   Oh pre-arrangements you are so terrible, bad and wrong!  (I'm being sarcastic!)

I could go on for 10 more paragraphs on the many other emotional reasons one should pre-arrange and pre-fund their own funeral but I mainly just wanted to tackle the financial naysayers.  Now of course, I work in this industry so I'm more educated on the benefits of pre-arranging, but I have actually pre-funded my wishes, Eric's and both Gage and Roan's wishes.  I am walking the walk, not just preaching the benefits. A small payment comes out of my bank account every month, just like my RRSP's, my Life Insurance payment, my Car Insurance payment, my Mortgage and Home Insurance payments...you can see where I'm going here right?  It's totally feasible and responsible!  You can play devils advocate in whatever warped way you can find to twist this and suggest I'm pro pre-arranging because funeral services is what I do for a living, and while that is partially true, I preach it because it makes sense!  Stop sticking your head in the ground and pretending the inevitable outcome doesn't exist.  But more importantly be educated.  Don't listen to the naysayers if they don't have a clue what they are talking about.  Ask a professional.  No funeral home will charge you to ask questions and get information. And if they do, walk away, you do NOT want to deal with them.

So friends and readers, if you are sitting on the fence, jump off and get'er done.  If you were ignorant, consider yourself more informed.  If you were a naysayer, I hope I've educated you.  Do the right thing, don't leave it for someone else to clean up.

Got more questions that I haven't covered, feel free to ask away.  I'm an open book but if I don't know the answer, I'll find it.

Banana Split Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Last weekend we were invited to a BBQ at a friend's house and staying true to my nature (recently that is) I perused Pinterest and found an ice cream cake recipe I thought I could mimic or alter.  Not being a fan of peanut butter anything, unless it's lightly melted onto a piece of hot toast, I decided to use the gist of her recipe, but make my own (Holly) edible version.

So I bought two 12 packs of traditional ice cream sandwiches, some local strawberries, some bananas, some ice cream toppings; strawberry, caramel and chocolate to be exact and two tubs of Cool Whip (though I only needed one).

First I layered the bottom of the pan/dish with ice cream sandwiches. I had to cut them to fit properly.  Then I covered those up with a layer of Cool Whip and tossed it into the freezer while I prepped by strawberries and bananas (and by prepped I mean washed and sliced).

I then put down a layer of strawberries and topped those with a layer of bananas.  Upon completion of this I  drizzled on some strawberry sauce.  Here's a photo up to this point.

Next, I added a second layer of the ice cream sandwiches, again cutting them so they'd all fit (see diagram).  

Then I topped it with Cool Whip again and drizzled all three sauces on top (I'm crazy like that)!  I tossed it in the freezer for a few hours before we ate it, but I'm sure you could make this the night before a party and pop it in the freezer. I'd assume you'd need to leave it out for 15 minutes or so to allow it to soften up for cutting.  It's a goobley, gobbley mess, but man this Banana Split Ice Cream Sandwich Cake was uber delicious!

Of course you can pretty much use any thing for the centre.  Chocolate bars, white chocolate, peanut butter cups, fruit, flavoured Cool Whip....anything your imagination can come up with I'm sure.   Mmmm, white chocolate and raspberries would be amazing!  Maybe next time.  What would you use???