Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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When we renovate our bathroom we’re putting in a digital shower

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The other day I mentioned that we were starting to think about finally finishing our home renovation projects. Well, as a result of this new interest in sprucing up our home I’ve been looking at home renovation sites and checking out new products.

It will be quite a while before we renovate our upstairs and basement bathrooms, but I definitely have some ideas as to what I’d like to do when we do work on them. For instance, I had no idea that such a thing as a digital shower existed! When we redo the basement bathroom I want to put in a whirlpool bathtub and have a separate shower enclosure, and now I’m pretty sure that the shower controls will be digital!

Have you ever heard of a digital shower? If you haven’t and you’ve been thinking of redoing your bathroom, you should look into this new technology. A digital shower allows you to start the water flowing in your shower from any room in the house. Not only that, you can program the temperature that you want the shower water to be set at and you’ll have the perfect shower.

No more adjusting the temperature over and over again as you start your shower. That’s one of the things I hate about our shower. I start the water and it’s always too cold at first, so I add more hot water and then it’s too hot so I spend a few minutes trying to get it just right. I imagine I’m also wasting quite a bit of water as I try to get the temperature just right. If we had a digital shower I wouldn’t be wasting my time or all that water anymore.

You can apparently program a digital shower for each family member. So if one person likes a cool shower and another likes a hot one (I like warm – not too cool or too hot) everyone can program in their personal preferences.

How does it work? Well you turn on the shower and when the desired temperature is reached it will beep or give some kind of visual signal. Some of the units will even even keep the water temperature consistent even if other members of the household are flushing a toilet while you shower.

I’m going to put a digital shower on my wish list for when we get around to renovating our bathrooms.

Does anyone already have a digital shower? If so, what do you think of it?





PC Mac and online games for Christmas

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My husband and I will be starting our Christmas shopping this week. We aren’t going to be going all out this year, simply because we can’t afford it, but we’ll still get some gifts for the kids in the family and a few close relatives. One idea that we came up with was to possibly buy some PC, Mac or online games as gifts.

I haven’t played many online or PC games in the last few years, well, with the exception of an online puzzle and a Mahjong game that I play every once in a while. So I’m trying to figure out which games would be good for teenagers and younger kids? Any suggestions?

I was looking online and games such as Princess Isabella – a Witch’s Curse, City Lights, Zuma’s Revenge, Luxor Adventures, Trapped and Campfire Legends seem to be interesting games that I think my nieces and nephews might like. They’d certainly make good stocking stuffers!

Another idea that I had was to possibly buy some memberships at an online game website, that way the recipients could easily play online games or buy games that they like for a discounted price. They could even download games right to their computer – games like Amazing Adventures The Caribbean Secret, Avenue Flo or Big City Adventure.

Have you ever thought of gifting someone an online gaming membership? I think at least two of our nephews would love that as a gift.

I spent way more money today than I should have!

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Do you ever have one of those days when you go out to do one thing and end up doing several – not to mention spending a lot of money?

Yeah? Well that’s the kind of day I had today.

Chris had the day off work, so, since we both needed haircuts we made appointments in the afternoon. I got my hair cut first and then while my husband was getting his hair cut and was busy chatting away with our hair dresser I wandered through the mall.

My niece is getting married at the end of December. She was supposed to get married next June, but her fiance joined the armed forces and they are going to have to move to New Brunswick in January … hence the early wedding!

So I was wandering through the mall trying to get some ideas for a gift for her bridal shower and of course a wedding gift idea. She’s registered at the Hudson Bay company, and lucky for me, there’s a Bay store in the mall where we were getting our hair cut.

I did manage to get some gift ideas but I decided to hold off on buying anything until this weekend. I want to talk to my sister about one of the items I saw first. Anyway … if I could afford to buy her everything that I thought about buying she’d definitely need cross country movers come January! LOL I love buying gifts, but I seriously can’t afford much. Our finances are so bad.

I was also looking around for some clothes. I dug through my closets this past weekend and found a nice dress that I might wear to the wedding, but I discovered that I needed shoes. Can you believe that just about all of my dress shoes are opened toed? That won’t do for a December wedding! I’ll freeze my toes off. LOL

So I guess I concentrated more on buying things for me today rather than for my niece and her fiance. I ended up finding a great pair of high heels. They were 30% off! I also bought a nice pair of winter boots.

I really haven’t had a nice pair of winter boots for quite a while. The ones I do have are more like outdoor walking boots (but for winter) and they aren’t very comfortable at all! Luckily, when we do get snow here in Toronto it either melts fast, or the streets and sidewalks are cleared fairly quickly, so I’ve been able to get by using the boots I just mentioned and running shoes most winters.

Still, I wanted a decent pair of boots. You see I’ve been walking our dog more lately and I can see our walks getting longer and longer. I wont be able to keep that up every day through the winter if I don’t have a decent pair of boots … so that prompted me to take a serious look at the boots that were also on sale in the store.

In the end I saved over $60 on the boots and shoes.

I wish I’d saved even more, or that I didn’t need to get the shoes and boots. So much for just getting a hair cut! The money I spent will really put a dent in our finances. Not to mention the wedding and Christmas gifts I still have to buy!

My favorite dog grooming tool is on sale! The Furminator

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I just discovered that my favorite dog grooming tool is on sale. It’s called the Furminator and I’ve been using it for over a year and a half on my Labrador Retriever Midnight.

As you can see the Furminator is on sale for a very low price right now. When I bought mine -about a year and a half ago I paid $60 for it. Currently the large FURminator deShedding Tool is listed at 59.95, but right now you can get almost $43 off the price! Yes that’s right – it’s only $16.99!

The Furminator deshedding tool has been designed to reduce shedding better than any brush, comb, or rake. This tool works effectively for all shedding breeds of dogs and cats, both long- and short-haired.

What I like about the FURminator deShedding Tool is that it’s meant to be used as a way to thin and detangle the undercoat on dogs and cats, while leaving the top coat intact.

The undercoat of fur on dogs and cats tends to be the major source of shedding and the allergies and cleanliness problems that come with it. It’s said that using the Furminator will decrease shedding by 60 to 80% for about four to six weeks! I’ve found this to be true. A few good grooming sessions when my dog starts to shed and TaDa she sheds a whole lot less over the next month or so.

I have to admit that the tool looks a little brutal – but I’ve never had a problem when using it with my dog. She sits patiently as I run the Furminator through her fur and seems to enjoy being groomed. The tool itself utilizes a unique 4-inch stainless-steel edge that grabs loose undercoat hair and quickly and easily removes it, without damaging the topcoat.

Like most good grooming tools it helps to bring out your pets natural oils and leaves a shiny and healthy topcoat. Many of my readers have commented how shiny my dogs coat is and I think I have The FURminator (and her diet) to thank for that!

Another item that I use when I’m grooming my dog are a rubber grooming tool called the Zoom Groom For Dogs which helps to groom loose hairs, stimulate the dogs skin so it produces natural oils to help create a shiny coat AND it’s also a great tool to use when giving your dog a shampoo!

I often finish a grooming session by spritzing my dog with Miracle Coat Spray-On Leave – In Conditioner & Lusterizer for Dogs. It contains vitamin E and Tea Tree Oil for her skin and makes her smell great!

Other great Pet Products that you might be interested in:

Have you used the FURminator or any of these other products when grooming or caring for your cat or do? What do you think of the FURminator and the rest of the products I’ve mentioned?

Healing Jewelry

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I just remembered something. Back when I was about to have my first Thyroid surgery (and hopefully only, but it’s not looking that way right now) I was a jeweller.

The Jewelery trade here in Toronto is like a close knit family and once people new I was sick and that I was going to have to have surgery they sent their best wishes and suggested several thing that would help me heal.

One of my Jeweler friends game me a choker necklace made with a stone that was said to promote healing and ward off cancer. The stone is called Carnelian and it’s beautiful. It’s a warm orangish brown and the necklace is composed of stones that have been shaped into beads.

I think I’ll go upstairs in a little while and dig through my jewelry box and find that necklace. Hey, it can’t hurt to wear it for a while. Maybe it will help. It certainly won’t hurt to try.

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