a peek inside the fishbowl

September is my favourite time of year. The days are a little cooler but just as sunny and welcoming. Darkness starts to fall a little earlier, and throwing open the windows to let in the cool air makes for excellent sleeping. I wrap myself in a sweaters again and breathe deeply, freely.

I feel so much more energized in September, don’t you? It’s the best time to start new projects, recommit to old ones, and kick-start those familiar routines again.

September is also the best time for a family hike. Pink Lake in the Gatineau Hills is, in my esteem, pretty close to perfection. Let us count the ways:

1) It’s not a far drive from Ottawa.

2) It’s a relatively easy walk that is almost entirely groomed (and by that I mean there are man-made stairs instead of rocks to scamper up)…

3) The trail goes in a tidy circle around the lake. It’s a comfort for those of us who fear getting lost in the wilderness. Not that anyone is nervous, nope, not here.

4) There is some cool science going on here too (if you’re the kind of family who takes advantage of this kind of thing). The geology and er, lakeology (okay I made that word up) is pretty interesting. There are signs, stop and read them! I don’t think I’ll be giving anyway away by revealing it’s a meromictic lake. (Go look that up.) You will also find evidence of an old mica mine on site too:

5) The views are stunning.

Would you look at that riot of colour? Here’s an experimental panorama too (it’s best seen full screen).

We walked, we looked, we picnicked, and then we went home, happy to have rediscovered this little treasure.

Have you ever been to Pink Lake?

There is always an influx of back-to-school related articles this time of year, isn’t there? I’ve read a lot about back-to-school fashion, school supplies (Ha – I wrote one myself), study habits, and healthy lunches, but I want to take a moment to look further down the timeline with the help of Fishbowl patron Tradex.

As parents we are often worrying whether our kids are doing their homework and wearing their rain boots, but there are bigger things we need to think about too, namely the issue of paying for our children’s post-secondary educations.

Mark and I figured out that RESPs are the best way to save for this inevitable expenditure. For two big reasons:

• It’s a great deal that includes FREE MONEY. How could we say no to free money? The government kicks in a percentage of the amount you contribute. And if this free money is invested early enough it starts to earn interest. And you know what that means, more free money. Woot!
• It’s a forced savings. And although I’d love to spend that money elsewhere it’s far better than coming up with the cost of tuition (and everything that comes with it) the day after high school graduation.

My friends at Tradex wanted to make sure you knew about a couple important things about RESPs.

Starting early is key. It means you can reduce your contributions and let time do the rest. Over a 10-year period, an annual $2,500 contribution along with the maximum government grant of $500 (see previous about free money) entirely invested in a Canadian Equity Mutual fund compounding at 8%, will grow your RESP savings to $43,459.69. This can be achieved with monthly contributions of about $200.

And here’s something that many people don’t consider: Tuitions go up. And increases in tuition tend to be much higher than the general rate of inflation. AND there’s more to it than just tuition, there are “Compulsory Fees” for example, athletic fees, student association fees, etc. And according to some recent Statscan numbers these averaged $820 in 2011/2012, up 5.5% from 2010/2011. This is more than pocket change for many of us.

Some parents start saving money without having any actual idea of how much they actually need. Guess how much the average Canadian undergraduate student in dentistry paid per year of schooling?

Just guess.

Read the rest of this entry »

As I mentioned in my last post about the saga of the ongoing reno, the tiling is now being done in the family bathroom (which is, in case you haven’t been following this story, a very large compartmentalized bathroom so theoretically four people can be using it at the same time).

The family bathroom has turned out beautifully. It took a lot of soul-searching and design work and re-design work but when I see it coming together I realize how amazing it’s going to be.

Can I talk tile for a moment? This is nitty-gritty stuff but I do have a question for you at the end.

The floor tile in the main area of the bathroom is dark grey colour. (We picked it up at Olympia by the way.) It goes all the way into the commode. The floor of the walk-in shower has a 2 x 2 version of the same tile. This area is separated by a white/grey marble-topped step and a frosted glass shower door. The grey floor will be finished with a matching charcoal grout.

The walls in the shower area are floor-to-ceiling classic white glossy 3 x 6 subway tile. The subway tile is going into the commode area as well, but only partway up the wall. (Click to enlarge the photo above.) Topping it is a band of two 1 x 1 polished grey glass tiles, running in a row across the top. This is continued in the shower, at which point it acts as a bit of a “belt” if you know what I mean. I’ll upload a photo as soon as I get one.

My question to you is this: what colour grout do you think we should use on the subway tile? White? Off-white and slightly darker? Or dark grey? The white would blend in and make it look like a sea of subway tile, and anything darker would create separation and make the individual tiles stand out. I’d love to hear what you think!