Heather's Journal

21DJC Day 5 - Who is the Most Important Person to You in the World?

2011-11-14T13:39:00.000-05:00

Wowsers... you mean I have to choose one?!

Obviously both my hubby and son mean the world to me. I could not possibly imagine life without either of them. They both mean so much to me for two very different reasons:

My Hubby - I love him. This may seem all cliche but he is my best friend. We did that whole family thing so young that we virtually gave up all of our other friends. I tell him my secrets, we share some awesome memories and he is my biggest fan and best advisor. Life would not be the same without him. We are good for eachother - he makes me a better person and holds me accountable to myself. I crave him and look forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

My Son - I love him. For the record, he's my step son who I have raised since he was two (he's now 17). He has lived with us full-time since always and although I'm not the only mother he has, I am the only mother he knows. That said, I've learned so much from him. I am grateful that he let me into his little life during those confusing and difficult early years. Because I have been blessed with the ability to raise him I have witnessed first hand that environment is the most significant influencer on who we are. The boy is so much like me it's scary. He gives me hope that society is not all bad and he is my pride and joy. I love watching him live and dream and I'm so fortunate he shares his life with me.

I'm not going to choose - I need them both and they are critically important to me. My boys.

21DJC Day 4 - If you Are To Travel Back in Time to 3 Years Ago, What Advice Would You Give Yourself?

2011-11-14T13:21:00.000-05:00

Interesting... three years ago I don't really remember what significant events were happening in my life. I was 32, working for myself with some lucrative contracts. I was desperately trying to sell my house so we could buy our dream house (which we did).

It's hard to think about giving myself advise. Really I live in a way that I ensure I have no regrets. That may seem so pretentious and I don't mean it that way. Believe me, I make mistakes but I don't regret the mistakes I've made. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason so even when I mess up so large it seems beyond repair there is something to learn, something to gain and something positive although I may not realize it until some time later.

The only advice I would give myself is to keep doing what I'm doing. There were times when my lucrative contracts were not paying me and I was ready to dump them when they were struggling. In the end, through my perseverance, patience and understanding they ended up being great clients. I would suggest that I continue to live by the 'trust your gut' mantra and do what feels right. Everything is on track and what happens happens.

21DJC Day 3 - What is Your Ideal Diet Like

2011-11-14T13:10:00.000-05:00

So I've missed five or so entries and I'm going to play catch up really quick to see how many I can do (:

I really want to be one of those veggie loving, heart healthy eaters but the truth is I don't much like veggies...well unless they're smothered in dip. I usually just end up eating lots of junk. I love baked goods, good starchy breads and fast food. Really, it's a wonder that I don't have diabetes. I get disgusted by thin 'little girls' who gripe about how they splurged and ate a slice of cake and now have to starve themselves. That's just bullshit. There's healthy living then there's depriving yourself of nature's goodness, and yes that includes cake.

Face it, we all know what the proper diet is but food is meant to be enjoyed. Food is at the heart of the family, we celebrate with it, for it and about it. As long as it's surrounded by love I don't care what I eat.

and now...I'm going to find me a chocolate bar to enjoy!

21DJC Day 2 – If You Are To Do Something For Free For the Rest of Your Life, What Would It Be?

2011-11-08T09:44:00.000-05:00

This question has me a bit stumped honestly. I'm asking myself if it means if I were to offer services/work for free what would it be or if it means if money wasn't an object what would I do. I'm going with the latter as well, it seems more fun.

So here's the deal. The last 15 years of my life have been dedicated to my family. I love my family and we started off early - I never would have thought that at 35 I would have a 17 year old son heading off to college. Crap, my parents didn't even have me until they were 35. I have absolutely no regrets with my decision to start a family so early. The three of us are connected and enjoy being with each other. I have a strong relationship with my son that I attribute to my ability to relate to him, largely due to my young age and 'cool' factor.

All that being said, we went without a lot early on. Not a lot of money, not a lot of time. We weren't at risk of being homeless or anything but there wasn't a lot of money for extras. Not to mention, I gave up a lot of my friends...I mean, heading out to the bars on a Friday night to go trolling just didn't have the same importance to me when I was 20 as it did to them. I was paying a mortgage and had to get up in the morning with a toddler. I was quite content having a Friday night in with family watching Disney movies.

All in all, I have had a very enjoyable and enriching life. Education, work, strong family connections, good health. Really we've all been blessed in the Watson household. The one area that I feel that we did compromise was travel. I really feel that we can't appreciate what we have at home until we have a better sense of the world around us. Travel opens up the mind to experiential and cultural knowledge. It builds memories, adds perspective and is good for the soul. There is a certain local acceptance that people in these parts don't often leave the County for worldly experiences. Really, it seems that you're talking to an 'out of towner' if they start talking about places beyond Toronto.

I would travel much more if I could do it for free. I have a laundry list of places I would like to go and experiences I would like to have that just aren't available to me here at home. Given the opportunity to start cutting that list back for free... I'd be on it in a heartbeat.

21DJC Day 1 - What Would You Do If You Have 1 Million Dollars?

2011-11-07T08:49:00.000-05:00

What would I do... what would I do...

One million dollars always seems like this big gigantic number. I mean, it is a lot of money but it isn't enough to quit my job and start all over, buy expensive trips, toys and houses and be the most charitable person in the world. I would certainly be a little frivilous but in typical Heather form I would be sensible. I've always had this drive that makes me work hard, afraid to say no to work in the event I can't find any at some point in time. That fear of not having any income would probably drive me to be very sensible.

That said, I would do a few things specifically with my sudden new found wealth:
1. I would get an MBA - it's one thing that I always wanted to achieve for no other reason than to do it. Unfortunately money has always been a deterring factor.
2. I would set aside money for Briar to go to school. I worked three jobs while in college to pay the bills. I did well in school but always felt that if I had more time to focus on my studies rather than worry about paying for my studies I would have had a very different experience. I want Briar to have all that he needs so financial survival does not take away from his ability to excel in school.
3. Of course, I would eliminate any debt we have. Pay off that tractor and mortgage and be interest free.
4. Travel. It's a new bug I've developed in the past few years and there are some dream trips and destinations I would like to explore. No major travel-around-the-world kind of thing. I would just go to a few key destinations I've been hoping to discover.
5. Invest in real estate. Real estate has served us well over the years and we're at an age where long-term investing is still an option. We have always enjoyed the challenges of buying and flipping houses and I have also been interested in being a landlord. Having a few extra dollars around would allow for us to dabble in this further.
6. Charity. I would like to start a bursary of some sort. I'm not sure what for... perhaps for students paying their way.

As I think further I realize that there is no mention or place for family. It's not that I'm selfish rather they all have everything they need. Obviously I will share some of my wealth... perhaps take the inlaws on that cruise or invest in the farm. That said, I know that we all do as much as we can to support each other every day that it's irrelevant how much money I have in the bank. There would be no want or expectation demonstrated from my family and if any do it will be a very telling sign.

So, if I had a million dollars I would be me only a little more secure with a few more experiences and options.

Until tomorrow's blog,
Heather