Garbage Day Redux

In the past I've mused about the lack of recycling on my street. I'm not sure why I expected Christmas to be any different. It ended up being worse than I possibly imagined.

In addition to the extra holiday waste, due to Christmas our trash collection day was pushed back. So it was closer to a week and a half worth of garbage versus just one week. While I'm happy to say that I had three overflowing recycling bins, I also had an overflowing 121L garbage can. Had we planned things a bit better I don't think it would have been overflowing, but we had thrown out the two florescent light bulbs from our kitchen that had died and they are both about three, maybe even four feet long. And then we had the ridiculous amount of styrofoam that the baby's new toy box was surrounded by. But when I compare my garbage to others, I don't feel quite so bad.

My neighbours to the left are a five person family. I quite expected the usual amount of garbage to double but I was pleased to see that it had not. It was the people to the left of them that nearly had my eyes popping out of my head.

They are a double income, no kids family. Both of them look to be late thirties to early fourties. I am generally annoyed with the woman anyway because she seems to feel the need to blast the radio of her frigging Buick Rendezvous, tuned to a horrible station in my opinion, as loud as it can possibly go. And she works shift work so she is coming and going at all hours of the day and night. I know this because I once talked to her at the superbox. For those of you that don't know, a superbox is a mailbox that the mail for numerous houses goes into. Each home has a key to their individual mailbox. There are probably close to twenty or thirty boxes in each. But I digress. Anyway, just because she is coming home at, oh I don't know, 1 or 2am, she STILL has the radio blasting at max. Seeing as she is to my left she has to drive right past my house. My bedroom is in the back of the house, probably at least eighty feet from the street and I can still make out the words to her terrible music. Very annoying!

I digressed further, sorry. The point to all this? A household with two adults, they had one recycling bin.....and SIX garbage bags! SIX! It would take my family around two months to get to six garbage bags and that is with a small child in diapers and cats. Words don't quite adequately express my shock.

And we wonder why we are swimming in garbage.

Some More Confirmation

A few months back I talked about an interesting conversation that honey had with his grandfather's second ex wife. Honey's sister was getting a divorce and was with a new guy, his mother was with a new guy and was selling her house etc etc.We had some confirmation of the information she provided when I saw the for sale sign.

We discovered that his mother has had a house guest for the holidays. The vehicle matches what she said her new man drove and the plate is from where he is from. As such we assumed it was her boyfriend. Makes sense that they would spend Christmas together. On our way home from my aunt's house on Christmas Eve, we saw a new vehicle behind her garage. It was a truck, we couldn't tell the make, but one of her garage doors was open and we could see numerous people standing around. We assumed that it was his sister taking as much of the furniture as she wanted seeing as we declined it all. We were a bit surprised that his mother never called him over Christmas, even though he told her not to bother as he was "working overtime", she generally doesn't listen to him.

Yesterday I noticed that her boyfriend's car was still there. We had sort of thought that he would have gone home by now. Then honey went to visit his cousin but on his way they saw the truck behind his mother's garage again. This time he decided to play stalker/detective with his cousin. Sitting in his cousin's rather plain and inconspicuous car in the convenience store parking lot across the street from his mother's house, they watched as a group of people tried to load a fridge and a washer and dryer into this truck.

Again working on assumptions, he identified the men who he believed to be his mother and sisters' new boyfriends. Although I guess it's not that hard to do when there is only one older man and his sister was hanging off another. But there were two other younger people, one guy who left in the truck with his sister's new man, and a girl who hung around with her. From my Facebook stalking we are guessing that they were her boyfriend's younger brother and his sister.

What does all of this mean? Well, potentially that his mother lied to him. She told him that she wanted little to do with his sister as she didn't approve of how she ended her relationship because she cheated, particularly because she was still dating and living with the guy with whom she had been caught with. She also didn't approve of the fact that she had given up(as per usual) on her hair stylist dreams and had gone back to working at a car rental place. His mother had spent a ton of money on her school and it was pretty much pissed away. And then there was the fact that after all these years, his mother had finally realized that her daughter treats her like her own personal ATM and had made her over pay for TV's and other electronics and had basically paid twice for her car. But here they were, standing around, laughing and joking, very buddy buddy. Could she be faking? Sure. Do we think she was faking? No.

Second, we think that his mother's boyfriend is still around because the two of them are going back together. Between us driving by on Christmas Eve and what honey witnessed yesterday, his mother doesn't have much left in the way of furniture. Her house is now sold and apparently the possession date is in a few short weeks. If all the paperwork is signed and she has given all her stuff away, what is keeping her here?

The sooner she moves the better. The Christmas gifts really got under honey's skin. They are all out of our house now, but I know it bothers him that she did it. I really can't wait until she is out of our lives and can't bother us anymore.

It's Begun

My applying for jobs that is. I've been hitting the job websites every few days for some time now. I wanted to know what kinds of jobs were out there so that I could get a feel for the market in which I would soon be applying. And now, after being out of the workforce technically since the end of May 2010, but officially since mid September 2011, I am applying for these jobs.

I was working on my resume for one of my classes and ended up stumbling upon a position that would be great for me. I got some good feedback on my resume from both my instructor and a friend who works in HR and I ended up applying for it. Honestly, I didn't think much of it. I was shocked when I got a phone call asking me to come in for an interview!

I've applied for a few other jobs in the past week or so as well. I'm really optimistic about these jobs. I'm really excited about getting back into the workforce. Boxing Day sales were good to me and I was able to buy a bunch of new work clothes. And I'm excited to make my own money again. Not just to ease the current burden on honey. But being a dual income family again will allow us to purchase and move into our forever home. We can expand our family. We can do what we want.

Just Pathetic

Honey's mother felt that after three years she needed to buy stuff for him for Christmas and despite never having met our daughter that she needed gifts as well. A pathetic attempt to bribe him into going to her house for the holidays and see her one more time before she apparently leaves for her new home about nine hours away. Also an attempt to drive a wedge between honey and I. It worked, kinda, at first.

We were on the same page regarding the stuff she bought for the baby. We both agreed that someone who has never met our child, nor spell her name correctly does not deserve to purchase anything for her. We quickly donated the stuffed animal and book to a Christmas charity. A little girl will at least have a nice Christmas at her expense. The clothing we returned, as she was kind enough to include a gift receipt, to purchase something else.

But the gifts for him were a different story. For whatever reason, he felt that "she was trying" and "he should give her a chance" despite knowing full well that these were basically blood gifts. That we could be liable for repaying her full value plus some ungodly form of interest compounded by the minute or something because we've been there and done that. He finally realized that it was incredibly strange that she did give him stuff, five separate gifts in fact, all but one of which was from both her and her new boyfriend. He finally got that she dropped off these gifts at his cousin's workplace because he knew that she would never be able to give them to him herself. And he finally got that he got more presents in one Christmas(this one) than he had gotten from her in our entire relationship.

So we opened them. There was a jacket that was too small and some sweaters that he would never wear. Again she was kind enough to include a gift receipt. I returned them today and realized she spent a rather astonishing amount of money. Money that we then spent on the baby and new pillows with some left over. I'm thinking new towels!

Wisdom Teeth Removal...Not So Bad

I couldn't put it off any longer, I needed my wisdom teeth to come out. It should have been done almost four years ago, but life got in the way. Life continued to get in the way so I procrastinated further. But with my migraines becoming more and more frequent and us finally having amazingly good dental coverage, I took the plunge.

I was referred to an oral surgeon again and we discussed how we could go about doing things. I had originally wanted to be put completely and totally out. But we decided on "twilight sedation" instead. Basically they would load me up with such fun drugs as propofal(yes the same drug that killed Micheal Jackson) and fentanyl. We got ridiculous lucky and we were able to book the surgery for a Monday when I would not be in school, but honey would not be at work, but the baby would be at daycare.

I was surprisingly not very nervous the night before and the morning of. Perhaps I was so incredibly annoyed about the fact that I was starving to death having not eaten anything that I didn't notice. Even walking into the room I was fairly calm. At this point I was more concerned about the fact that I have a severe allergy to acetaminophen and I am codeine resistant. I laid down on the table and I that was when it hit me. I then met the anesthetist who was kind enough to give me Ativan while we discussed the fact that I was one of two people he had ever met with such a rare allergy to acetaminophen. Due to a scheduling mixup, my surgeon was not in yet. I got bumped. Good thing for the Ativan ;) I asked for my iPhone and played Bejeweled while I waited. Nearly an hour went by and I started twitching again. I don't do lateness and my anxiety went back up. But the last thing I remember was putting my iPhone back into my purse and getting moved back into the other room.

Twilight sedation? It's awesome! I did panic a bit when I woke up as I had giant gauze in my mouth taking up all the space and seeing as I was just getting over a cold, I still couldn't breath very well through my nose. The recovery area nurse or whatever she was, was a rather unpleasant woman who grumbled about the fact that I requested my oxygen back for a bit until she could remove the large gauze. She was also annoyed with me that my biggest concern was when I could eat again. It was nearly 2pm and it had been almost 14 hours since I had anything to eat. She was also less than helpful in calling my husband. I had to text him because she refused to call him.

I walked out under my own power and we went to go get me something to eat. There was a Booster Juice nearby which was so good. We went to Costco to try to fill my prescriptions. They told me that it would be a two hour wait! We thought they were insane. So we went to a grocery store closer to home. A 20 minute wait there. So he brought me home and then went back to pick it up. This was probably the worst of it. The freezing had let go. While removing the top two had been a total breeze, the bottom one(I was only born with three wisdom teeth) was slightly impacted, so they needed to do an incision to pull it, was now really starting to hurt.

Honey got home with my pain killers, one of which I was quite skeptical about, seeing as I had only heard about it in passing and had never had it. Being allergic to acetaminophen, it severely limits your choices for pain killers. Most of your well known drugs, your Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, they are all derivatives of acetaminophen. And as I mentioned earlier, I am one of approximately 10% of the population that the enzyme to convert codeines, so I may as well take a sugar pill. This means that there are a small handful of pain killers that I can actually take. What they gave me worked almost instantly. Pain was gone, it was wonderful.

It's now been two days since my teeth were pulled and I'm doing quite well. The top two, if I didn't know any better, I would never have guessed that I just had teeth pulled. The bottom one, the pain comes and goes and there has been some minor bleeding. There is also a bit of swelling in the area but nothing super noticeable. I'm also very pleased with the fact that despite me being a very fair person, there is no bruising at all.

So as it turns out, I was pretty much worried and freaking out for nothing. I have a bachelorette to go to on Friday and of course Christmas dinners. I can go to these and enjoy them and not look like someone beat me up or like a chipmunk. Maybe this will learn me to panic less?

Trying to Do the Impossible

I've become I guess the resume expert according to my husband. I tweaked his some time ago and it got him his dream job. I've since had lectures in school about how to create a good resume. With this new knowledge I reworked my own and it's at least gotten me an interview for a job that I would be perfect for. And I really don't think that my previous resume incarnation would have done so.

But with my resume as well as my husband's, I had something to work with. There was experience and education. Hard and soft skills, both applicable and transferable. But what he wants from me now I think is beyond any capability that I have. Actually, I think it would be a difficult task for a HR professional to create something out of nothing. What my husband wants is me to create a resume for his cousin. My problem? Where to begin?

Honey's cousin is 30 years old and for the past ten years or so, he has been a professional pizza delivery boy. he has no drive, no initiative, just doesn't care. How can I make that sound good? I almost can't.

Ugh, this sucks. All we are trying to do is help his and his girlfriend have a better life, not for them, but for their newborn baby girl. I don't even think his cousin will follow through anyway. He never has in the past. I just don't think, even though he now has a baby, that this time will be any different.

Been So Long

And I'm very sorry about that. It's just with school and everything I don't have a ton of time to get online. The little time that I do get is generally done via iPhone. And iPhone blogging is less than fun.

Things have been crazy with school. I have had lots of assignments in the past couple of months and this is my second exam week. And it seems for the second time, I have a teething baby during exams. She just cut three molars and I get the feeling that the fourth is coming in as we speak. Her sleep is terrible. Like she is freaking out right now and has been for about an hour. Plus she has a cold...that she gave to me.

To top it off, we have my father with us. He's been here for nearly two weeks now and when he is in town he stays with us. It's been pretty difficult. It's been kind of annoying having someone always be here and I feel almost judged. Like his comments about how "the baby must have had a bad night" Do you really think I need someone else to tell me that? Cuz I really don't. I can only imagine what he is going to say tomorrow morning. Man can't hear his name being spoken from right next to him but he can hear the baby having a hissy fit. At least he is leaving in a few days. Because I'm not sure how much more I can take.

Something of a Fearful Countdown

In approximately one year from now we will by trying to have another baby. We want at least one more child and both of us feel that baby girl will make a great big sister. So why am I so afraid?

1.) Not having enough time for both children. This is probably my biggest fear. Right now I spend nearly all my free time with just one baby. I'm afraid that trying to split time between two children just won't work. I'm afraid that because we will likely only have baby girl in daycare only part-time, that our second child won't get the same one on one experience for the entire first year of life the way she did. And then once the second is a year old and I'll be back to work there will be even less time.

2.) Not getting new stuff. Seems trivial I know, but when we have another child, all the stuff from our first baby will go to the new one. This is particularly true if we have another girl(which I am positive that the baby will be as I feel we are only destined to have girls). My first babe, I made her into a little fashionista and all her things are in good shape. But I kind of feel bad that when both my daughters grow up and look at baby pictures, they won't be able to tell which one is which as they will both be dressed in the same stuff.

3.) The pregnancy itself. I had a great pregnancy with my first. I gained little weight, felt good, looked great and had no complications at all. I don't know if I can deal with a worse pregnancy and a toddler all at the same time.

4.) The birth itself. On paper, my labour and delivery looks fantastic and like a textbook. But when I go over it in my mind, there are many large problems. I absolutely do not ever want another hospital birth. But while I live in a city with a birth centre, there is a midwife shortage. No midwife will equal hospital birth.

5.) A breech baby. Where I am, a breech baby equals a c-section. A c-section is obviously a hospital birth, so like a doubly bad situation. Major abdominal surgery and separation from my baby and then possible sleepy, jaundiced baby with nursing trouble. I actually had a dream that I had a c-section for our second baby. I was discharged immediately after I was stitched back up and I never even got to see my new baby. We went back the next day only to have to fight to see her. Once we did, they were feeding her whole milk. *shudder, shudder, shudder*

6.) The baby. My first was a combination of a difficult baby and a dream. I don't want to compare my children but I know that it's all but an inevitability. I also have the morbid worry that my second will have health complications. I have one healthy, happy baby. For some reason, even though I have no reason to think this, I worry that my second will not be.

It's all so irrational. I have no reason to think these things, but I do. And it makes me sound like I'm trying to find an out so that I don't have to have another baby. But that is so not what I want. So frustrating that my brain thinks these things.

A Journey Ended

I feel compelled to post about this. If you look down to the blogs I follow, you'll see I am one of thousands that followed the journey of baby Anaya, a beautiful little girl with a rare illness called Infantile Krabbe Leukodystrophy, a terminal brain disease. Yesterday, she lost her battle and she passed away in her mother's arms at the tender age of two.

I've followed her story for about a year now. I first heard about it on a wedding/baby forum that I belong to when they were looking for donations of breast milk. I was not a pumping mom so I was unable to help but I do know someone who did. Hers was the first blog that I actually followed. In the past year she had her ups and downs as the degenerative disease progressed. She had been doing seemingly well the past few weeks. I felt so blindsided when I read on her Facebook page that they had been admitted to the hospital with what they thought was pneumonia. She had beaten it before, she still had some fight. I had hope for a little girl I had never even met.

Unfortunately, it was not so. With the advancement of her disease, her lungs kept collapsing. Without life support, she would die. They gathered the family and they let her go. I can't imagine having to make that choice. The pros and cons. Everyone wants just one more moment with the ones they love, but nobody wants to prolong their suffering. What a horrible decision to make to set her free when you so want her to stay.

I can safely say that I've never been so effected by what is going on in another family and to another child. I spent most of yesterday checking Facebook for constant updates on my BlackBerry. Such despair from thousands of others all across the world who had also never met the family, the number of followers went up by the minute. All joined together in grief for this family.

If there is one thing that I've learned from this amazing family, is to be ever thankful for my beautiful healthy little girl. To cherish each day with her, to love her just a little bit more, that life is extremely precious. So hug your own babies a little tighter. And remember baby Anaya and her struggle, but remember that she was pure love.

Maybe, Just Maybe

Honey's grandfather's ex wife was right. In this post I mused about the interesting conversation they had. Well on my way to school on Thursday I noticed that there was a for sale sign on the lawn of my mother in law. I could barely believe it.

I quickly sent a text to honey, letting him know the news. Then I hoped onto the internet to check out the listing. Well the listing is laughable at best. For starters, the price it's listed at? It is a pipe dream, even our city's hot housing market. Like anywhere between ten and twenty thousand over what it's likely worth. Our guess is she is trying to cash in on the fact that it's likely overvalued by the city itself. I have to pass by her house twice a day and there is no avoiding it so I will know when/if it sells and I will contact our real estate agent friend to find out what it sold for. Gotta see if I'm right.

Second, the pictures are terrible. Now, real estate photography is generally not high quality anyway, but that's not what I'm talking about. It's what the pictures are of that is the terrible part. I'm a nomad and my parents have bought/sold houses, honey and I sold a house and we attend numerous open houses and check out many listings online. I know what listing pictures should look like. These aren't it. There is clutter all over the place. Random boxes sitting all over the place in the bedrooms, junk in total disarray in the storage room that kind of thing. And I was annoyed to see on her fridge, a picture of honey that was taken about 12 years ago. This is a new fridge, so it's not a case of forgetting to take it down after our wedding fiasco, she would have had to purposely put it on there. The outside picture has snow on the ground meaning it would have been taken in the past couple of days, so presumably the indoor pictures were taken at the same time.

Now why do I care about all this? Well if his grandfather's ex wife is correct, honey's mother is moving outside our province. This means that it will become highly unlikely that she will bother to call him. We can finally be rid of her. So if she is gone, add that to the fact that we don't think his sister lives in the city anymore, our lives can be like those of normal people. You know, people who don't worry that their family will see them and cause a scene? I could deal with that.

How Wrong Was I

Well for the most part, I was completely wrong. I really don't know how or why I was almost completely wrong, but I was. She was an angel. So this makes another person for whom my kidlet is Dr. Jekyl and I get Mr. Hyde. What.the.hell.

I firmly expected her to be fine on the way there, at least for the most part just as long as she had something to play with, snacks and water. Which she did. But they got there around nap time. She should have thrown the hissy fit a the century. Did she? Not even close. She should have thrown a hissy fit about lunch time. Again, not even close. I can say that while Subway would not have been my first choice for a lunch for a young toddler, it's better than the McNuggets that honey's friend suggested. At least her chicken was a roasted breast with cheese and veggies versus deep fried by-products. Course he gave her apple juice when water is her drink but I guess I have to take the fact that he stuck his ground on McDonalds.

She should have gotten annoyed that she was back in her car seat for nap time. Nope, she slept the whole way home. They didn't make it in time to pick me up from school so it was a very quiet boring bus ride for me. But at least I was right about something.

So I'd like to know, who is this kid and what has she done with my daughter. I guarantee you, had I taken this trip, my doomsday warning of this post would have come 100% to fruition.

Why Oh Why Won't He Listen?

Honey is currently on his way to a town about two hours away from here. On a highway. After a substantial amount of snow. With the baby. And it's currently lunchtime. And she is eating Cheerios. And it's half an hour away from naptime. But she isn't going to get to nap. Because he is going to stand around at some stupid auction with his best friend who feels it necessary to buy either more trucks and/or engines. Does anyone else see a potential issue here? I sure do!

I told him not to go. I told him that it would totally mess with her routine. But did he listen? Of freaking course not. The intelligent thing to do would be to listen to his wife. The mother of said non lunch eating, soon to be non napping baby. The person who knows this kid and her very edgy personality better than anyone in the world.

He is in for a real treat. I can already tell you it's going to be a disaster. She has been in her car seat since 8am when they dropped me off at school. He then drove to his friends place to pick him up. She never got out of the car. They are now on a two hour trek, which is taking longer than it should because the roads are terrible. A quick check of the government highway information website shows that at least half of the highway there is at least partly covered in ice with slippery sections. So this is not an easy cruise at 110 km/h.

I called him at noon(so about half an hour ago) to ask him if she was eating lunch. No, he answers, she is eating Cheerios, they haven't gotten there yet. So that means that she has been in her car seat, not sleeping he added, for about four hours now. That spells trouble. Serious trouble. Who knows how long this auction thing will last. She'll be sitting in her stroller, not moving for even lets say an hour. Good frigging luck. Seriously. I can't stop in the mall for 15 minutes to talk to someone before she gets pissed off. And he thinks he can stand in one place with a now likely tired toddler? Hilarious.

And what did I just realize? If it's taken them this long to get there, and if this auction lasts an hour(it could be longer I really don't know and neither does he), there is a distinct possibility that they aren't making it back in time to pick me up from school. More just great. It's a damn good thing that I brought my bus pass. Too bad my iPod is dying. I didn't bother to charge it. Really wishing I had now. It's a long hour home. And I wanted to go pick up my contact lenses. Guess that's not likely to happen now.

I told him not to go. I told him it would likely be a disaster. But did he listen? Of course not! He's smart! Right. Stay tuned for what ends up happening. I guarantee it wasn't pretty.

But Then Again Maybe I Don't

I've done a lot of thinking in the past few weeks, mostly about what I was going to do with my life. I realized that there was something that I was good at but I hadn't given it much thought. I assumed I would finish this course and go live out my life as an administrative assistant for some government office. But I don't think so anymore.

I happen to be very adept with accounting. Surprisingly so actually. I think that once I'm done this course, yes I'll go to work, but I will also slowly work on a CGA. I've done some looking into it already and it looks like there are many transfer courses between the program that my college runs(not for the actual designation, just a certificate) and the designation program. And my current course will actually offer a couple of credits. I'm really excited about this prospect.

I am however, annoyed that it took me this long to figure this out. I could have been done by now. But then if I didn't get into the workforce and into my admin position with accounting responsibilities I doubt I would have learned this is actually something I like to do and can see myself working towards.

It probably won't be until around this time next year that I can start this as we want to pay for the courses outright and I'll need to build up the bank account with a few months of working full-time. And it's likely going to be interrupted by the pregnancy, birth and first year of our second child. But that's ok. I have a plan and honey is on board. In the next week or two I'm going to get in touch with the people who run the program at my college as well as the CGA program for my province to get more information. But I'm feeling good about this.

Finally, a goal is in sight.

I Want to Go Back to Work

I never really thought that I'd get to this point. But I really want to be back in the workforce. I want to have a purpose. I'm bored. I see the professionals coming out of the office buildings downtown on my way home. I should be one of those people.

I always felt very safe in school. And for the first few weeks I was quite happy with that safe feeling. I want more now. I have a family to support, so I can't be safe. It's just not enough anymore.

I have the ability to have a good job. I have the need to have a good job. I want some place to go every day and do something important. I want to be able to look at my bank account every two weeks and see the fruits of my labour and then spend it on clothes for me, toys for my baby, and a new car and a bigger house. I feel like I'm standing still and it's not a good feeling. I feel incomplete right now, like I'm not doing anything. I want to do something.

Well at least there is one month done, just three to go.

Boo at the Zoo Family Fun

Our city is one of many that puts on Boo at the Zoo for Halloween. I had always wanted to take my kids there once I had them. We didn't go last year as she was still really little, but this year we figured that she would actually get something out of it.

She had more fun that I even though she would. At the entrance they had a setup a local wildlife rehab organization with some birds of prey. They are unreleasable for whatever reason and are used for education. When I was a kid, my dad volunteered for this organization and he was a handler for their great horned owl. I zeroed in on the owl they had and I got a great picture with it and me holding the baby. We also saw a beautiful falcon.

We get inside the gates and we are greeted by volunteers in animal costumes waving and dancing around. The baby was on her daddy's shoulders and I could see just how excited she was. She was up high with a great view of all the sights and sounds around her. The lights were just so amazing to her. Her eyes were wide and she was making her happy noises with the biggest smile on her face, just taking it all in. Even on our long walk back to car she was laughing and enjoying herself which was a huge plus because it was baby bedtime by then.

This is probably my favourite part of being a parent, watching my little girl experience her world with her mom and dad at her side. She just gets so excited about what is going on around her. It's so much fun to watch.

A Local Giveaway

A Sophisticated Mommy is running another great giveaway. This time she teamed up with Playful Peanut to offer this wonderful giveaway. One of the neatest things about this giveaway? They are local to me! I have actually purchased from these ladies from a festival last summer.

I bought a toddler belt and it's great quality and I received wonderful service. I'm hopeful that I will see them again at one of the local craft shows this holiday season as there are a few more items that I'd love to buy from them.

An Interesting Conversation

You might remember my hysterical laughter about my sister in law's separation from this post. Well I have a bit of an update on that and I'm unsure what to think about it.

Honey ran into his grandfather's second wife last night. Yes I know his family seems to enjoy divorce. Both his parents and grandfather, as well as my father have all been married three times, a trend honey and I wish to buck. They hadn't seen each other nor spoken in well over five years so it was a bit of a random chance encounter.

Well I guess she had either seen or spoken to honey's sister, or maybe even his mother. We got further confirmation that his sister and her husband are split up, and for far longer than we thought. She says it happened in March, we thought it happened in or around early July. We found out the reason, apparently he caught her cheating on him with another guy. Now we had assumed that she had "done" something to be the cause of the divorce as honey's mother had called him asking him to get a gang of guys together to go break down the door of his sisters house because her husband wasn't letting her in. While I may never have been divorced before, my understanding of divorce law(from grade twelve and my own parent's divorce) is that there are only certain circumstances in which one spouse can legally not allow the other back into the marital home. Needless to say honey refused this request. Well his grandfather's ex told him the name of the man his sister cheated with and is apparently now living with.

Now I don't generally believe anything that anyone in his family says without independent confirmation. We've been lied to far too many times. So back to Facebook I went. I found a person on her friends list with the same name of her so called new boyfriend. I checked him out. A fairly locked down profile, but I did see that he has at least one sister and at least one younger brother. The younger brother's profile was fairly open. He just graduated this year, honey's sister was at his grad dinner. So yes, his grandmother's ex seemed to be correct in her information, his sister and this person seem to be together.

She also mentioned that his sister had tried to write off two vehicles in one fell swoop awhile back by running them into each other. The insurer for all intents and purposes told them where to go. This not being the first time that she tried to defraud the company. That explains why we hadn't seen either of these very unique and noticeable trucks in months.

To top it off, honey's mother supposedly has a new boyfriend herself and is planning a move about five hours from here with said new boyfriend. She's been "moving" for years now so we'll see if we see her house up for sale anytime soon. It's right off the main road that I take to school every single day so we'd know almost the second it went on the market.

So it was a very interesting and eye opening conversation to say the least. His family is never without their drama and seeing as we no longer speak to most of them we aren't usually kept in the loop. So it's good to know the latest happenings. It's all just so weird.

Cookie Cutter Houses

I'm sure you all remember the saga that was the sale of our house. Well now we are looking at moving again. We knew that this was going to happen. Selling that house and moving here was a stop gap. Very few people can say that they sold something small and old, got something larger and newer and end up in better financial position. Well honey and I can seeing as we did it with our cars a few years back. Not something I recommend to everyone though, but it seems to work for us.

So where do we want to live? Well we are torn. There is part of me that would like to stay where we are. It's a nice little suburb. Close to bus routes and walking distance to a library and shopping, two schools too. But this area has some issues. For one, we don't like the schools and I'm not sure what busing would be like or if it would even be available to the kind of school we want our children to attend. It's also very hard to find a house in this area that has a garage, even a single. Many that do have a garage have no yard left or they are further south in the slightly newer area. Buying a house like that, we may as well go new build and in the area where our preferred schools are.

So on to that option. We've been considering building for some time now. We've been attending the Parade of Homes and we know which builder and plans we like. We also know which area we prefer. One is pretty walkable to shopping and our first choice school. My cousin and his fiancee live there. We're not fans. Despite a corner lot, once their deck went up(and it's not even that big a deck) there is no room left for a shed, small garden and/or a swing set. All of which are very important to us. And there seems to be no street parking. We've had a few family functions at his place since he took possession. Last one was in July and as I was the last one to arrive there was no room left in his driveway and I had to park a very long way away. The spot I did get was in front of house still under construction. Not something we really want to have to deal with.

Second area is slightly less walkable, but still close to grocery and gas station. It also happens to be walking distance to my aunt and uncle's house as well as my grandparents' condo. Lots are a bit larger here with better street parking. But the bigger lots are mostly backing onto a busy street with truck traffic. Honey and I lived on a major truck route and it's not something that we really care to repeat.

Our first choice area is by far the least walkable. In fact there isn't much that is close by. The lots are the largest and the least expensive. It's probably the least pretentious of all the new subdivisions in the city much less our target area. This really appeals to us.

So what is the problem with all these sub-divsions, both new and older. Well, the houses are all cookie cutter copies of each other. On my street alone, there are fourteen! Yes fourteen houses that share the same floor plan as my own. Some are mirror images and there are a few that have slightly different elevations and of course different paint colours but at the core, they are all the same. If we move to any one of the new sub-divisions, we are more than likely to be hit with the same problem. I'm not sure if that is what we really want. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

So Busy

So much for keeping up better with my blog even though I can get marks for it. I've just been so busy that I don't get a lot of time online these days. Here is a rundown on why I'm so busy.

My days start at 6am, but I usually don't get out of bed until 6:15. Bad idea as it puts me far enough behind that I don't usually get to eat breakfast. The baby also gets up around this time, but sometimes as late at 6:30. While she is having her breakfast I get dressed and put on my makeup and everything. Then I get her dressed and ready for the day. Honey's alarm goes off at 6:30am and I usually have to yell at him to really wake up. He only has about ten minutes before I need to leave to catch the bus.It takes two buses to get from my suburban home to campus near the edge of town and I need to be at school for 8am. I didn't wake up at 8am to get to work but I'm doing ok.

I'm then in school from 8am until 4pm with an hour for lunch in between. There are a ridiculous amount of stairs. I've only found one elevator. The university I went to had oodles of elevators and they even had an escalator. Thankfully I'm in good shape or I think those stairs would be the death of me.

My trip home as of late has been challenging. I need to time it right to get on the first bus to downtown. There are many options to get to the south end of the city. But there is a specific bus I want. There is an express and regular route that go down the street I need. But both these are via different ways. The one express via doesn't even remotely go where I want it. And the other way, I have to walk about ten minutes. It's not that long as I walked there all the time in the summer to get to the grocery store and Starbucks. But in the cold and rain and soon to be snow? Not my idea of fun. So essentially the express route is out. The regular route's stop is actually three houses away from mine. Perfect! One takes a very long and winding detour that adds about fifteen minutes to the trip. So what does that leave me with? Just one, and it's been giving me trouble. It seems to be getting later and later every day. When you are standing at a bus shack that for whatever reason has no walls despite being a major stop, even extra seconds to wait is far too long.  When I first started, if I got on the right buses, I made it home no later than 5pm. The past few days it's been closer to 5:45 and my husband has been preparing to send out search parties.

The second I get home, I have a minute or two to say hello to my baby bunny. Then it's time to start dinner. Everything is home cooked in this house. It took me a long time to figure it out, but it's cheaper! 6:30 is baby bath time, 7 is baby bed time. Then it's homework time. I always have questions and readings to do, like an hour or twos worth. So my TV and internet time has severely languished. Probably for the best anyway, but it's a good thing we have a PVR. I do make a point to watch the news and then I'm asleep only to have to start all over again about six hours later.

So that's my life. Was it as exhausting to read as it was to type? Now you know why I don't blog a day like I did. Again I promise to try to do better!

Another Giveaway!

The lovely Stacey of Not Just Baby Brain is running another great giveaway!

Here you can read about Milk Nursingwear, a great company that sells everything from nursing bras to nursing dresses. I am a huge fan of nursing tanks and they have a great variety on their site.

I'm Quite Likely in Trouble

We skipped Thanksgiving this year. My family decided that nobody wanted to cook this year, even though my dad and his girlfriend who are staying with us this weekend offered to do it. So they chose to eat at a hotel with a buffet instead, at 6pm. My kid goes to be at 7pm, give or take no more than ten minutes. And the hotel is located a good twenty minute drive from our house. Does this sound like a recipe for disaster for you too? Because it does for me and hubby.

I told my dad I didn't like this plan. I told him it really conflicted with my rather regimented schedule for the baby. But they didn't either A) want to order it in from the hotel, B) eat at 3pm, or C) cook themselves. I told him I made no guarantees we will be there. We didn't go.

Instead our family of three spent the day in a beautiful small town about two hours from here. We walked along the water, looked at the boats and just enjoyed the wonderful weather, just our little family. We had a simple dinner of spaghetti at home and the baby went to bed easily and right on time.

My dad called me wondering where we were. He was rather shocked when I told him, even though it's not so far fetched. We are known to take the baby out for mini road trips to new and exciting places. But I could hear the disappointment in his voice when he realized that we weren't coming. I told him we never said for sure that we would be able to make it, and that I was very unhappy with what time it was.

So this is pretty much the first time that I've done this, skipped a family meal I mean. I'm anticipating some serious fallout. I'll likely be hearing about this until Christmas. But I'm not worried. I come from a very small family. My dad has one sister who only has one child and then I'm an only child. Other than my daughter, the last baby to be born in our family was me. So they just don't get that she has a schedule and we stick to it like glue. Having her eat supper and then go to bed late is among the worst ideas in human history. I can safely say that all the other diners would be giving thanks that we stayed home. Kidlet isn't thirteen weeks and super portable, will sleep anywhere, only to wake up every few hours to eat. Nor is she thirteen years with bedtime of 10pm and easily adaptable to change. She is thirteen months, so very dependent on her routine. I will defend our choice to the end and I will not feel badly that we skipped a restaurant Thanksgiving.

Utterly Miserable

It seems that something is getting the kidlet down. I'm not sure if it's her molars, her eye teeth, or if she has a virus or something. Maybe a combination of all of the above? Her sleep last night was atrocious. She woke up and stayed up at 3:45am. After an hour she went back down only to get up and stay up around 6:30am for the day. Now getting up at 6:30am has been part of her routine as of late so I can't say I was totally surprised about that. But she just didn't want to nap. She slept for maybe 20 minutes on the way to the bank. Considering that she sleeps for 2-3 hours at daycare, this was a total fail.

Not sleeping equals very angry baby. She was in a near constant state of freakout for most of the late afternoon. The good kind of freakout where she only accepts being held by me whilst standing. When you are trying to show your dad's girlfriend the floor plans for the houses that you and your husband are looking at for next year and holding a twenty some odd pound baby don't really mix.

So we put her down for another nap attempt. Amazingly, she fell asleep. Too bad it was soon supper time. Decision time. Wake her up for dinner? Let sleeping baby lie? We went with the wake up route. She ate maybe one third of her meal before she threw a huge fit and I took her to bed for the night where she is now peacefully sleeping.

We are set to have Thanksgiving dinner(at a hotel, don't ask) tomorrow. I really hope that she's feeling better. My grandparents will be crushed if we are no shows. Here is hoping.

My First Week

Well it's now finished. My first week of school that is. It's been busy. It's been frustrating. It's been tiring. But I know that it's worth it.

One of my classes is that on business communication. What a perfect fit for the girl who doesn't use text speak whilst texting and uses(mostly) proper grammar even for her blog. One of my assignments is to keep a journal. It doesn't have to directly relate to the class, or even to school. We can write about what we want, how we want. This includes my already existing blog. So good news everyone! I will get marks for blogging! So it also means that I will have to be diligent in updating even though I was originally concerned that I would have time.

As for the rest of my classes, many touch on what I already did for a living. I've strangely missed accounting. But I can tell you something that I haven't missed. Math. I know what you're thinking. Isn't accounting math? Well yes...but no. My big math issue is that I was never allowed in high school to take consumer math. You know, useful math. Because I was pegged in grade nine as a "high achiever" or something to the like I was instructed to take per-calculus and then in grade twelve calculus. I can safely say that I've never used anything I learned in high school math in real life. Maybe if I was a physicist or something I would care about limits and sin and cosin and all that nonsense. But I'm really, really not, so I've sort of been soured for life on mathematical concepts.

Accounting, bookkeeping and payroll is useful math. Numbers make sense and you don't have ridiculous equations to try to solve for, it's all applications. Plus I like payroll, weird I know. It was probably one of my  favourite parts of my job. I got to co-ordinate with one of my closest friends and I was solely responsible for the tech times for ten guys. I was the go-to girl for my techs. I was young, but I was respected. A very good feeling to say the least. I can only hope that at my next job I can find the same thing.

Update on School

I finished my first day of actual school today. Monday was orientation and was when I discovered that I was likely in for hell. Great.

So today, as with apparently every other morning, was spent in the computer lab. First was my computer course. Oy. I really hope it gets better as we get more into things. I can't handle three hours starting at 8am of how to create a new folder and how to save Word documents. Seriously, I "learned" that today. Then I had to sit through an hour of keyboarding. Again with the seriously. To pass that course I need to type 40 wpm with 3 errors or less. Uh, on simple lines I can do twice that, but my general average is anywhere between 50-60. I've been told that I should be able to complete the test within the next couple classes. I honestly hope so. I might blow my brains out if I can't.

Afternoons are spent in classroom. I actually had homework. Easy reading, but assignments are coming. I'm looking forward to these classes as I feel they are truly relavent to the work that I've already done and they will really help in the future.

So that's the update. Buses suck, my locker is a million miles away, and I feel like an elementary school student eating my bagged lunch. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to update, but I'll try to keep it up as things go along. But don't be surprised if you don't hear from me unless it's a holiday ;)

Tomorrow a New Begining

Tomorrow I start school. Back into the rather frightening swing of things and hope to god I don't screw it up like I've done pretty much everything else in my life.

I have my lunch made and in my fridge, backpack containing some pens and notebooks ready by the door and my iPod charged and synced.

At 9am I get to try to find a room in a building that only has a letter for a name, that I'm not really sure where it is. Then I'll get my schedule and learn where else on the face of the earth my classes are and just what the hell I'm supposed to do with the nearly thousand dollars worth of books that measures nearly two feet tall.

This course is so short, only til February. And there is a three week practicum and almost three weeks off in December. This is an insane amount of stuff to learn. I must be crazy.

And Then Start the Issues

Sadly :(

I got an email from our DHP today telling me that her brother who is getting married in two weeks will be needing her and the rest of the wedding party to help out with the final set up on the Friday. So there we go, my first "oh dear god what are we going to do with the baby because the DHP can't take her" incident.

Luckily my dad will actually be in town, at least in the morning and my mom can take the afternoon off. *sigh*

It's so hard for me to accept that the person who I actually really like and trust to care for my baby because I can't isn't honestly and truly 100% reliable. If she was a centre she'd be totally perfect. I knew that stuff like this was inevitable, I just hoped not to have to deal with it ever. Silly eh?

So Happy With Daycare

After all my daycare troubles, I'm so happy with the care we've found. She's energetic and fun. She provides healthy snacks and lunches and outdoor time. Plus she doesn't think we are crazy for wanting our baby to still be rear facing despite being a year old, in fact she kept her own children rear facing until age 2 and she even has her 3.5 year old still harnessed and her 5 year old in a high back booster. That's nearly unheard of! Not to mention she follows our philosophy of not being helicopter parents and she lets her do her thing. Even if she falls down, she lets her pick herself back up all on her own. And her own kids are very well behaved.

Finding a daycare provider, was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was truly worried about what we were going to do with her once I went back to school. It's such a weight off my shoulders to know that someone is looking after my baby and she really cares about her. Every time this week that I've gone to pick her up, I'm told about how great of a baby she is and how much she is enjoying having her. Now sure you can feign happiness and say whatever you want, but I can tell she's being genuine. I can see that the baby is happy, fed and clean. And when we are saying goodbye, the DHP is interactive and always with a report on the day. You can't fake that kind of thing.

It was incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye to my little baby on her very first day. But knowing she is in a fun, safe environment with a caring person watching after her really put my mind at ease. Knowing that an impartial observer sees my child as a well adjusted, happy, playful, independent little girl makes me feel so proud of her and I know that she will thrive there. It really is a relief.

Another Great Giveaway!

This post from the fabulous Stacey at Not Just Baby Brain outlines her latest giveaway from a fantastic etsy store called Lil Punkin Creations. I'm very pleased to say I've purchased from this store before. I bought some wall decals for the polka dot border in the baby's room and I've bought a birthday banner with a photo progression banner. I proudly displayed them at girlie's birthday on the weekend and got tons of compliments.

Highly recommend her store so check out this great giveaway!

Updates on the Weekend

The birthday party was a huge success. Lots of friends and family joined us at our home for a fun BBQ. We had a very spoiled little girl. It was tons of work and lots of stress, but it was all money well spent and everyone had a good time. But thank goodness she only has one birthday a year. It was pretty exhausting.

Then yesterday, she started daycare. She was up pretty early but did pretty good. Hubby said she didn't cry at drop off. Then I went a bit early to pick her up. She was sitting eating a rice cake and barely looked at me. Our care provider said she was great! She napped well, ate well, had tons of fun playing and was very independent for a 12 month old. I was overjoyed to hear this. I had been so worried that she was going to have a really hard time with everything. Girlie surprised me!

Seriously Bad Blogger

I've been so busy I've sorely neglected my blog again. Here is a rundown of why:

Girlie's birthday party. It's tomorrow. I've spent far more than I'm willing to admit on food, drinks and decor. My fridge is packed full of hot dogs, drinks and fruit and veggie trays. We spent the entire day cleaning the house(and I still need to tackle the kitchen) and started to decorate. I also made the cupcakes, which will be iced tomorrow. I gave up on the bunny cake. I just couldn't get it together so I bought a cake. I'm expecting around 30 people. I must be nuts, I know my mother thinks I am.

Appointments, appointments, appointments. Her 12m appointment was oodles of fun. Her doc is always behind and the stoopid medical assistant insists on getting weights and then leaving you in the weighing/changing room for another 5-15 minutes. That's maybe all fine and dandy when babe is itty bitty and doesn't know any better. But for a mobile 1 year old? You've got to be kidding me. So she was already annoyed with the fact I wouldn't put her down and then once we finally got into the room I took away a book she was trying to eat. That set off WW3. Oh.my.god. She SCREAMED. Screamed solid for a good 10 minutes, full on shrieking, tears, ugh it was brutal. Then she fa-reeked when her doc tried to measure her and freaked even more when she got her 3 shots. Oy.

Daycare. After my never ending saga and finally finding someone we are happy and comfortable with, we are now just in the final planning stages for her transition in. She starts Monday and I'm really not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I'm thrilled at the prospect of someone else dealing with her all day. But ask me how I really feel Monday at oh say 11am.

School. The countdown is really on. I'm still waiting for one of my books to come in the mail and the other I'm going to have to pick up at school. I'll be headed down there sometime this week to get my student ID as well as purchase my October student bus pass.

So that's been my life for the past week. Crazy and I think it's only going to get worse.

A Bit of Regret

For as long as I can remember, I've loved rock music. When my elementary school friends were gushing over Britney Spears' Hit Me Baby One More Time, I was listening to Americana by The Offspring and I couldn't wait til I turned 18 so I could check out all the crazy little shows that were being played in the clubs.

Then came high school and I met my best friend, a fantastic guitar player who was as into punk and alt rock just as much as me. We went to so many shows together. Then I met the man I would marry a few years later. I still went to shows with my BFF, but not as many as I was trying to spend more time with honey. And I kinda lost the part of myself that loved a live show.

In an effort to introduce this part of my world to my hubby, I thought it would be nice to go to a concert together. It was only our second time out alone since having the baby. I saw that they were selling tickets to a Canadian band I've loved since they started out over ten years ago. It was a special acoustic set. I practically salivated and purchased the tickets as his anniversary present to me.

So last night we went. I had a great time, hubby not so much. He didn't think his voice was that great(uh, I SERIOUSLY beg to differ) and that it wasn't worth it. :( I was pretty crushed.

I then found out via Facebook that my BFF was there too, the person I should have apparently gone with, still there too in the bar having fun. I was on my way home.

I was trying to share a piece of my life with the person whom I share everything else. And he didn't really seem to care. So I'm pretty upset. It's on the third concert I've ever attended with him. The first was a club show. We left early because he had a headache. The second was an area show that by the time he agreed to go(even though it was his idea -figure that out) we were in the nosebleeds. I thought that maybe because this was a far more intimate setting and it was a special night out for us it would be different. Not so much.

Another Giveaway!

This link will bring you to a fantastic giveaway from A Sophisticaed Mommy. She reviewed the Ultimate Back to School label combo. I have purchased this combo and I love these labels. I agree with every word that she wrote in this review. They really are great labels!

And it's DONE!

I got the email today, I have a spot for my girlie for daycare that I am comfortable and happy with! YAY! She starts on the 26th. In her email, the DHP wrote that she would be happy to have her and was surprised at how comfortable she was in a new environment and thinks she'll fit in well.

I'm so pleased, and so relieved. Now to put on my big girl panties and break up with yet another DHP before I'm even scheduled to start!

The Waiting Game

We are presently waiting for the dayhome we visited Wednesday night to get back to us. She said she should by Sunday. I'm hoping she is a yes. She has a nice home with good space and is pretty convenient. Here is hoping.

I also visited another home yesterday. Pretty close to our house and includes meals and snacks. But she cares for two 3 year olds(one is her own) as well as a 17 month old. The 17 month old seems so far behind my newly 12 month old. He doesn't walk, is very shy and quiet and seems so very attached to her. My kid is wandering all over the place, is chatty as can be and is quite comfortable playing without me. I don't think the DHP knew how to deal with a young toddler with such independence. We are pretty free range parents, she wanted to hover. I'd worry that she would regress with someone constantly wanting to "help" her when she really doesn't need the help. So I think we'll be scratching her off the potentials list.

My Baby is ONE!

Today my baby girl celebrated her first birthday! We had a wonderful breakfast with a treat of chocolate Cheerios. Then we went to visit my mom and my very old boss. Then we had a surprise edible arrangement show up at our door! So we shared some fruit while I made dinner of spaghetti. We then went to visit a potential dayhome. Then back at home we had cupcakes and hubby and I gave her a Little Tikes princess car!

She then went to sleep, her first day as a toddler over. Many more fun days to come.

Or Maybe Not?

In my search of kijiji, I came across two dayhomes that might work for me. One near our house, the other near honey's work. The one near his work intrigues me. I'm meeting with her Wednesday night. I'm so frustrated by all this nonsense. I just want a place for my baby that I'm comfortable with.

Daycare Redux -It's Over

Unless I get a miraculous phone call, I'm SOL for finding a different daycare space. The 3rd home, one which I really, really liked...well she took a 16 month old so that the 15 month old she also cares for will have a friend.

I'm crushed right now and I honestly want to cry. The more I think about it, the less I want to send her to place #2. But it seems I either send her there or I don't go to school.

So any Canadian readers of mine, please think of me the next time you go to the polls to elect those who will run our country/province/city/municipality. Ask them what their stance is on daycares. I'm not asking anyone to pay for the care of my child. I'm perfectly capable of that. I'm asking for a place that I'm comfortable with that I will pay to care for my child. Is that too hard to ask?

Cake Fail

So I've had a few attempts at making a bunny cake for the baby bunny's first birthday. First I made cupcakes, they were fine. Then I made a cake and it was decent. Then I tried another cake. It was fine, a bit sticky, but eating it the next day it sucked. And now we come to my most recent attempt.

My springform pan didn't seal and started to leak cake batter on the element. I knew it was clean but still smelled burning. Took out the pan and then I discovered it. *sigh*

I think I'll make the cupcakes and I'll buy her a bunny cake. I'm going downhill with the cake making.

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger these past few days. Everything has just been so crazy. In a nutshell here is what has been happening.

Daycare- Still haven't heard from the 3rd place. I'll be calling her tomorrow actually. I almost wonder if I should give up hope that I haven't heard back from her yet. *sigh* If not, I still have the 2nd place to fall back on and I've added my name to more lists in the hopes of getting her somewhere else sooner rather than later. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't use her due date as her birthday and add my name onto lists when I was still pregnant.

Appointments- We have her first dentist appointment in about 1/2 hour. Hopefully it goes well. Then we have a one week reprieve before doctor's appointments for both of us.

School- I've paid my tuition in full and purchased all my textbooks online. I bought them from the college store as well as amazon. I have shipping notices for two of three orders. Just waiting for a shipping notice for my new purchases from amazon, but the used from amazon and the books from the college store were both shipped yesterday.

Other than that, my mat leave officially ends tomorrow and in less than a week, my baby girl turns one. Where the year has gone I have no clue. It's a good thing we are so busy this month or I think I'd just obsess over the fact that my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Daycare Redux Part, I Dunno Fifteen?

So girlie and I went to visit a home daycare today. I was very pleasantly surprised. She had more toys and space, both inside and out than the other two dayhomes I have seen combined. We talked and the baby played for about an hour and a half, again longer than I had spent at the previous places. I didn't leave in doubt about what she said or what her home looked like.

She still has some people to talk to. I really hope she takes us.

Giveaway #2 For September

A Sophisticated Mommy is also running a giveaway. She reviewed OnlyGreen in this post. They are a small Canadian company selling eco-friendly items. This particular giveaway is for hand and foot cream but she also sells cloth diapers, cosmetics and even pet care products and coffee. I don't think I've seen a company offer such a wide range of products. Very cool.

Giveaway!

This post from fellow Canadian mom blogger Not Just Baby Brain is running a giveaway from Seventh Generation. While I've never purchased from them, I've long been interested in their products. I don't know why I've never purchased.

I joined the Seventh Generation nation and printed out a coupon for free wipes with purchase of diapers. Coupons and being more environmentally friendly, perfect!

It's September

And that means that my little itty bitty baby girl will be turning one before I know it. Although she's not a baby anymore. As I type this she is walking over to the couch to visit one of the cats. She is a little person.

September also means the end of my maternity leave and the start of daycare. It's also a busy month in the sense that I have four appointments set up for us. She has a dentist appointment and a doctor's appointment and I have two doctor's appointments. So lots going on. Then at the end of the month we have her birthday party and hubby and I have a date night planned. It also means that I should be hearing from my college for payment and my schedule and ID. Busy, busy.

So busy, that the month is going to fly by faster than the eleven previous to it and then I'll be back in school. Wow. I'm not ready for this.

Newest Daycare Dilema

So I thought I had it all sorted out. As it turns out, possibly not so much. I got a phone call from a DHP today. She might have a spot for the baby, but it depends on whether or not she chooses to take two pre-schoolers or one pre-schooler and an infant.

She basically called to find out what I meant by the fact that I'd need late care. I really, probably don't. As long as the place is near enough to hubby's work, he could have her picked up between 4-4:30. This place is actually less than 5 minutes away from the yards.

But this would be my 3rd dayhome I'd be going through. I feel so conflicted on what to do and I don't even know for sure if I could get the baby into the 3rd place.

I went from having no place to put her to apparently too many places.

Swimming Lesson Registration Gong Show

This is my second session registering for swimming lessons. First time was such a mess. I had pre-registered myself for online registration. After about two hours I was finally able to access the online registry. The I found out that they only added me and not the baby. So I had to go in person and wait for another hour because I couldn't get through via phone.

So I knew better this time around. It still took nearly an hour to get online. And almost every weekend class was filled. I was able to get my name on the wait list for a few of them. I do have her registered in a class, it's just not ideal. But I guess it's better than nothing.

Family Fun

Today we took a family trip to the local Children's Museum. They have just recently renovated and re-opened with all new exhibits. There were two in particular I wanted to see, the train and the tiny tots area.

We first hit the tiny tots area. It's a little section specifically for those under the age of two! There is a little gate and the floor is totally padded and all the toys are the perfect height for an older baby or young toddler. Sensory toys are a big hit with her any day of the week so she was enthralled by some little bells. Much fun for a little girl just exploring her world. And just as fun for us to watch.

Next was the train. Hubby happens to work for the same rail company that this refurbished locomotive ran for and is apparently now a walking train encyclopedia. I got a mechanic lesson whilst the baby got to enjoy touching the valves and walking along the side. She also go to sit in the conductor's chair. I was a bit sad to see that the former dining car has been transformed into what I'm not sure. But the locomotive itself was still for the most part the same as it was when I was a kid. Except this time I went with someone who fixes them for a living ;)

There were still many parts of the museum that aren't fit for little kids. There is a large play structure, some water tables and a building area that are too big for her. But soon enough she will want to play there.

It was $20 for the three of us(with girlie still being under one she was free) and while some may think for only being able to use about 1/4 of the museum it wasn't worth it. But we disagree. It was a chance for us to do something as a family. And it's a place where she could explore and experience things she's never experienced before. We don't feel we can put a price on what our kids learn. We have a very adventurous little girl and we don't want to stifle that.

An Almost Full-Time Walker

It's been a few weeks since our no longer a baby baby took her very first steps. Took a bit, but she is getting more confident every day. While she still prefers to crawl as it's faster, she is toddling around without even thinking about it. Pretty cool!

But now I'm concerned for how much longer I can keep her confined in a stroller or shopping cart without her wanting to get out and walk on her own. If we are in a baby clothing store, she wants to get out and play not just sit. The logistics of grocery shopping with a toddler who would rather walk than sit in the cart escape me.

Frightening how fast she is growing up.

Busy Days

Today we went to a festival in the country. I figured it would be a good change of pace for us and it was somewhere I wanted to go anyway. SO MUCH FUN!

All the people that the baby was able to see and hear, it was really good for her. We were able to buy some fresh corn and we checked out the petting zoo. Our girlie loves animals so I figured she would enjoy it. Well not only did she enjoy it, she cried when we had to leave. She got to see lambs, goats, chickens and bunnies. Love that she loves animals!

Summer is coming to an end, so I'm really glad that her and I are able to do things like this together.

Is It Illegal to Sell an 11 Month Old?

I really want to.

I'm on my last nerve with this kid. She's whiny, won't nap and ever so clingy. I'm in desperate need of a break.

And now I'm seriously concerned about how she is going to do with daycare. She is a super fun and adventurous little girl, but at the same time, she is really demanding. I've heard stories of dayhome providers giving their two weeks notice to parents because they just can't deal with the child. If that happened I don't know what we would do. Or after two weeks it's just not working for us and we pulled her out.

I've tried calling the two daycare centres that I would love to get her into. No spots for the foreseeable future. And not only is that annoying in an of itself, but I feel so misled by these places that seemed to think I could get in within a few months.

So stressed.

Toy Giveaway!

Every little girl needs her own person. In this post here, fellow mom blogger Not Just Baby Brain is running a giveaway for pink toy purse. She notes that this toy has an age of 3 months and up. But you can see in her pics that both her girls (5 months and a two year old) both like it. So it's one of those toys that can really grow with a little girl and even though it's a "baby" toy, toddlers will enjoy it as well.

Check it out!

So Much to Do, So Don't Want to Do It

I have a lot to do today. I need to at least get the baby laundry done and I want to go down to the Legislative Building to sign the book of condolences for Jack Layton. I also need to get rid of an area rug in the dining room, empty the dishwasher and clean up the kitchen. I should probably vacuum and do a load of adult clothes as well.

But I just don't want to. I'm burnt out. I've been making sure the world didn't come to an end for nearly eleven and a half months now. Cooking, cleaning and watching a very busy little baby. I'm just tired. But I slept fairly well last night. This is a different kind of tired I guess. I'm just done. Motivation is gone. Everything is just such a big chore and my body doesn't want to do it anymore. And I don't feel like a very good mom. I don't like this.

A Sad Day for My Country

NDP leader, and the Lead of the Official Opposition, Jack Layton passed away this morning. He lost a battle with cancer at just 61 years old. I'm a hard-core NDP supporter and I'm so saddened by this news. He worked so hard, not just for those who would vote NDP, but for those with all political stripes.

This is a sad day, not just for me, but for all Canadians.

Shoes

So we went shoe shopping today, the baby and I. Everyone needed new shoes. I need a new pair of black heeled boots for winter, hubby needed runners and my girlie needed rubber boots(and any other cute shoe I might come across)

First stop, for the baby. Seeing as she is now a walker and adventurous at that, I figured it would be best to have some rubber boots for the fall. But I looked pretty much everywhere and even online. I found some online but they were SO expensive for something that was only going to be worn for a month of two. I had all but given up actually. But I ran into a store and happened to come across them, on sale to boot. At first I thought they were probably too big, but nope size 5! Super cute leopard print with pink trim. Love em!

Then for hubby. I found a cheap pair of runners that were also on sale. He doesn't need anything fancy and he's not that hard on his shoes. They'll work.

Then there is me. Store after store there was nothing. The one pair that I eventually found that looked right didn't feel right. So I go home empty handed. It's apparently too difficult to ask for a pair of black leather boots that go up at least an inch over the ankle with at least a slightly chunky heel with either a square or pointed toe.....sigh

(Mis)Adventures in Cake-Making

I've been instructed that for my little girl's first birthday, I must make the cake. Ya I don't really bake, brownies here and there, but an actual cake? You've got to be kidding me.

I successfully made cupcakes using cake mix. So I thought making a cake with cake mix should be just as easy. Well it wasn't. It took far longer than the box said to cook and the middle sunk in a bit. This just wasn't going to work. It tasted ok, but not enough taste and the sunken middle won't ice well.

I talked to a friend who makes cakes as a hobby. Apparently the cake mixes are too light and airy which is why mine sank, so she gave me a different recipe to try. It will weight the cake and give it more flavour. I think I'll try it sometime this week. I really want to get it right. Even if that means hubby has to take a whole bunch of cakes to work so that I don't eat them all.

Dreams and I Know My Kid Better Than You

Since having a baby, my dreams have gone incredibly weird. Not only are they weird, but they seem to have various elements of the truth to them. People I know and situations that have or very well could happen. Cue my dream last night.

We(mostly me) have some very different ideas and philosophies on parenting. And we know we have a very capable little girl. We know when she needs us. But in my dream, my grandmother was throwing a fit because I hadn't gone to pick up the baby from her crib. Then she had someone go get her against my explicit instructions.

So my point to this. Every time we have some sort of family thing we(I) get questioned or second guessed. I'm really not a fan of this. The last baby in the family was me. Lots has changed in well over twenty years. The next family gathering(barring someone dying) will be our little girl's first birthday. I'm already in a small panic over what we could end up with in terms of birthday presents. I'm worried about what might be said about how we parent in our very own home. 

I know my kid better than anyone in the world. I know her strengths and her weaknesses. I know when she is hurt and when she is just crying from shock. And I don't like when people concern themselves about it. And I come from a family of sort of busy body type people. Should be interesting.

Giveaway!

Fellow Canadian mommy blogger Not Just Baby Brain is running another giveaway. This post outlines her t-shirt review from Costume Squad and subsequent giveaway. With Halloween coming up faster than I'm sure most people think, a gift card for a cool costume or a sweet t-shirt would go a long way seeing as I won't be working ;)

Busy Phone Day

This morning I mostly spent on the phone trying to get things organized for September. It's going to be a busy month with lots of appointments and starting the baby at daycare. I already had an appointment booked for my IUD and I already had an appointment booked for her 12 month shots. But her appointment was at a time that I intend on having her in daycare so that just wasn't going to work for me. So I changed it.

Then I wanted to have her first dentist appointment as well. It's free until the age of three here. I have hugely massive issues with dentists. I honestly terrified of them and it stems back to when I was 3-4 years old and I was told point blank that I would need surgery because my jaw doesn't line up. Very scary to me, and it's stuck with me 20 years later. We have a kid centred dentistry practise here. While they are 20% more expensive than a traditional dentist, even one who accepts children like my own does, it's worth it to me to have someone who just, and as such knows, how to deal with kids. Booking that appointment went well and there won't be any conflicts with other appointments or daycare.

Then I had to send an email. I needed to contact the original dayhome that we were going to send the baby to and tell her we would no longer be needing her. That was interesting, "breaking up" with someone who we've not used. We'll see if she emails me back or not.

The rest of August is just going to disappear. Then September will be so busy, October and school for me starts. Then the snow will fly. Then it will be 2012! Time just flies by.

A Giveaway for Mommy!

A Sophisticated Mommy has had more great giveaways than I can count for cool stuff for baby. I've been lucky enough to win one of her baby related giveaways. This time she has a giveaway for the sophisticated mommy. In this post she did a review of the Canadian cosmetic company Mistura Beauty Solutions. As someone always on the lookout for natural looking and easy to use makeup this is for sure a line that I will be looking into.

Corn!

In and around my city, there are some great corn growers. In our climate, it's not usually ready until mid-August, so until them if you want corn on the cob, you need to buy American. There was a side of the road seller trying to pass off American corn as local. It was met with quite the hullabaloo.

I love going to the Farmer's Market, at least on Saturdays and I try to go on Wednesdays as well. Today we were able to make it and the first thing I see is it's pretty busy for a Wednesday. Why? Fresh local corn!

I picked up some to BBQ for dinner tonight. I've never BBQ'd corn before so it should be interesting. If it goes well, I'll be picking up some more on Saturday. Yay for fresh, local produce!

Temptation to Shop

There seem to be some wicked sales lately that I desperately want to buy things from. I've picked up some fun things from A Children's Place and Old Navy to get me through fall and winter but I know I don't have quite enough yet. My mom keeps telling me not to buy anything else for the baby because her birthday is coming up. But it's just so hard to resist buying cute jeans and tops for her.

In the past week I've kept myself to one pair of 18 month jeans and one 18 month bathing suit. But I was just on some online sites and it was nearly impossible to resist a buy one get two free t-shirt sale! Only a month and a half to her birthday party. Hopefully I can make it that long.

And a Month it Is

So I took the spot with the dayhome that we went to see today. She had a big yard for the kids to play in, friendly dogs and a patient cat and seemed like a nice lady. Hubby thinks that the house is a bit run down. Well so is the house that we were originally going to send her to. Older homes with kids running around, you expect some wear and tear. So it's not something that worried me.

It's only temporary. And it will work for now. The baby responded to her and seemed happy. I don't have any gut feelings of badness and she is licensed by the province.

September 19, daycare here we come.

Or Maybe a Month?

So the lady with a spot in two weeks has yet to email me back. Instead I got an email from a licensed provider who has a space September 18(well 19). Reading through her profile on the licensed child care search she seems like a good fit. Not sure what she charges yet but provides lunch and two snacks. She has pets(dogs I believe) but we have a dog so that's not an issue. Her hours are good, course we don't know what days she takes off. She is walking distance to my mom's house meaning that she is only a touch out of the way for hubby to take her or if my school schedule co-operates I could take her, leave my car and bus it the rest of the way.

We meet tomorrow afternoon. I think that it could be a good option for us until I get us into a centre. Fingers crossed for a good meeting tomorrow!

Garage Sale Success!

Despite a few silly people trying to haggle with me(on quarter items no less!) my sale was a rousing success! I made about $150 and got rid of a whole bunch of junk. My dad brought everything upstairs for us and my mom took care of the baby. I don't even have to set up tomorrow! All we have left is two boxes of random stuff that was up for 25 cents anyway that will be going to Value Village or whatever and a bag of books, also being sold for a quarter that will be donated to the Children's Hospital used book sale.

Now hopefully the bank tellers won't hate me when I bring in $18 worth of twonies and lord only knows how many quarters ;)

Another Cool Giveaway!

I love books. I'm not much into reading for myself very much these days, but every night before bed I snuggle with my little girl and we read a book. Well I read aloud, she turns the pages every once and awhile. So that's why this giveaway from Ashley at Tales of Mommyhood is so cool to me. She did a review for Little Green Books. Not only are they printed on 100% recycled paper, but their books are about recycling and endangered species and how to be eco-friendly. Awesome!!

Two Weeks?

I posted an ad looking for daycare in our area last night. I got a response. I'm not sure where she is located yet, but a quick canada411 search of her last name tells me that she might be walking distance. In her email she states that she will have a spot within two weeks. Two weeks!

Course I haven't met this person yet, nor do I know her hours or rates or whether or not we will be comfortable with her. But it seems surreal that I could be dropping off my little baby in two weeks! I'm not ready for this. She's too small, too reliant on me. It's just too soon.

Daycare Troubles

So I have a daycare spot, I suppose I should be grateful for that. But now that we've moved and hubby has a new job it's just not that convenient anymore. It's close to our old house, which is nearby where I'll be going to school so what is the problem? Well I don't want to have to drive. It will cost us an extra $350 a year in car insurance and at least three times more in gas. Plus I'll have to pay to park on campus, assuming of course I can even get a parking space.

So I've been calling and emailing trying to find care elsewhere. But it's apparently optional to respond to emails these days so I really don't know what is going to happen. I'm frustrated. I'm trying to get things ready for her to go to daycare. I've got her backpack and her labels and have already started to label her shoes and jackets. I just want everything set in stone so I can really start getting ready. October 3rd I go back to school, October 4th I need to have something set up for care. If not I don't go to school or hubby doesn't go to work.

Frustrating, very frustrating.

She Can Walk!

My little girl is a big girl and she can walk all on her own! I'm so proud, she is so proud, it's just so amazing. She's still not that steady on her feet and she can only take a few steps at a time before she falls, but it's a start. Such an exciting time to watch her learn and explore.

My baby isn't a baby anymore.

Bwahahahahahahaha

There is really no point to this other than to gloat, if only to myself. My sister in law is separated from her husband, for we believe at least a month. HA!

Back story. Hubby and I don't get along with his mother or sister. They are serious wack jobs. We haven't spoken to his sister since our wedding almost three years ago and he only talks to his mother once in a blue moon. But his sister and her husband were supposed to be the golden couple, perfect in every way. They got married a year before us in 2007 after dating for well under a year.

So how do I learn this? A girl I went to elementary school was arrested for possible involvement in gangs. I was looking for her on my Facebook page and didn't find her. I thought maybe she deleted her account or just removed me as a friend. I remembered that she happens to be friends with a guy that my sister in law is friends with. Yes I know this is super obscure, but I have a strange memory for these kinds of things. I remember this guy in particular because until recently he drove a nearly identically modified truck as she does(did? we're not sure). Not remembering his name, I searched for sister in law. Page looks the same, hasn't changed her profile pic in well over 6 months. One of her friends shown is her husband, but he has no profile pic. For pretty much ever it had been a shot of him, with her but her pretty much cut off. Now nothing. I click on his page. What is his relationship status? Separated! Bwhahahahaha! I go back into sister in law's page, it's fairly locked down but I can look at her profile pics. There were a few pictures of the two of them in there, gone now! Interestingly there is a picture of herself in her wedding dress left up there, but one of the two of them together is gone. Bwhahaha

Ok, now I'm sure you think I'm a terrible person for being so incredibly happy about this. But I don't have the time to tell you all the hell that hubby and I have been through with his family. They treated us like less than people. Cockroaches got more respect than we did. And hubby and I weren't supposed to last this long. It was supposed to be us divorcing. We have stuck by each other through so much shit. We have made it through to the other side, stronger than ever.

I took a quick check of the courts registry and there is nothing there yet for startings of divorce proceedings. But, only perhaps a month into separation that's not unexpected. I'll have to keep up to date on this. I feel vindicated, and I know he does too.

Hair Cut!

I got my hair cut today! Hubby took care of the baby and I went and got my hair cut! I feel so much better. It looks better, it's lighter and has texture and shape and dimension. About frigging time!

I had been musing about it for so long as my last hair cut was months and months ago. But it was at the hair dressing school and it wasn't quite what I was looking for. But it was like $15 so how can you really complain that much?

But this, this was actually done by a very old friend. I knew she had finished school and I knew she was working at a salon that I actually used to frequent pre-baby. Wandering through the mall I happened to run into her while she was on her lunch and after a brief chat we booked me an appointment.

Two hours later and I now have a simpler hair cut with some nice red hilights that contrast very well with my dark brown hair. Red has always gone really well with my naturally dark hair. It makes the brown pop more and adds some dimension to the colour. Plus hubby loves red hair..... ;)

Garage Sale Musings

So after months I finally got around to it and priced everything in my basement for my garage sale. It took an hour so I'm really not sure why I put it off for so long. And considering almost all of my items are priced for quick sale, there was really no thinking involved. My signs are ready to be put up and my ad is online. All I have to do is head to the bank for change and I'll be all set to get rid of a small mountain of stuff that is currently lining 2/3 of one of my basement walls.

I'm really not looking forward to this sale. I fear it's going to be more trouble than it's worth. I fear people are going to haggle with me over a $2 iron or a 50 cent rolling pin. Seriously, can you get a better deal? I don't deal well with people like that. Which is why I'm concerned. Should be interesting to say the least. My mom should hopefully be able to come over to help out with the baby. Almost makes me think I should have just called Goodwill or something to come pick it all up.

Too late now. Hopefully I can make a few bucks.

The Arguement for Extremely Part-Time Work

So we all know that my husband wants me to basically be on the run 7 days a week, go to school Monday-Friday and work Saturday and Sunday. Well that sure as hell isn't going to happen, good old student loans will take care of me having to work every single weekend. But I got to thinking last night, wouldn't it be nice to work one or two days a month? Just to have maybe an extra $100-150 in my bank account for spending money?

Now I know you're thinking who in the world will hire someone to work a a few days a month? I don't even have the answer to that yet. But I am going to call up a very old friend who is an assistant manager at a sports team store and see what he can do for me. It's possible that he could use someone as a relief weekend worker. He and I have known each other for nearly 10 years and we worked together for a few of those. It's worth a shot to see what, if anything he can do for me.

The Arguement for Student Loans

So with back to school commercials and sales in full swing, I realize that my start date is coming ever closer. So much for burying my head in the sand.

I went down to the employment office as I had heard that if you were on EI(which I am for mat leave) that you can extend your claim and/or they might provide financial assistance for tuition. Well I'm on the wrong kind of EI so it was a bust. But I did learn that if you apply for Student Aid, even if you don't take the loan, you might qualify for up to $350 a month in government grants if you have a dependent.

Well I don't know if I have the grants yet because I have to go down to school to find out for some reason, but I learned that I can get a few thousand dollars in loans. Now I have the money in the bank to actually pay for tuition and books, but taking the money would make it possible for me to not have to work part-time while I'm in school. I would basically pay myself the way I had been paid before, covering only the bare essentials, then the second I get a real job, I put anything left(I calculate at least 1/3) will go right back on the loan and I start paying it back right away instead of waiting for the 6 month grace period. I also pay back as much as I can and not the bare minimum.

When we worked out our budget, hubby would be paying for pretty much everything. Daycare, food, all the bills. I would just need to cover my car; the loan, gas and insurance. Sale of our house covered the insurance, paying it til mid June 2012. So it's the loan and gas I have to worry about. To cover it I would have to work every Saturday and Sunday, probably in retail, and probably for minimum wage.

So in addition to being a mom, a wife, a cook, a maid and a full-time student...I'd also get to be part-time employee. Lovely. I know me, it just won't work. School will suffer and I really don't want that. There is no sense in me going back to school if I am not going to apply myself and do well.

I think taking the money is a great idea, my mom thinks taking the money is a great idea, some ladies on an online forum I frequent think it's a great idea....then there is my husband. He thinks it's a terrible idea. He thinks that there is no sense me getting another student loan when I just paid one off. He thinks that he was able to work weekends while going to school so I should be able to as well. I think he is nuts. For starters, we lived literally 25 feet from school. Travel time was non existent. And second, and I think this is the kicker, WE HAD NO BABY! And I know he isn't going to be able to take over caring for the baby 100% when I'm in school. So it's a whole different monster.

Begrudgingly he signed the papers on the spouse line. I'm going down to the office today to hand in my paperwork. If I am going to do this, I'm going to do it right.

Garbage Day

Today was garbage day on my street. I take great pride in the fact that I usually have a 2-1 ratio of full recycling bins to garbage cans. Today I had two full bins and one half fun bin to a half full 121L garbage can. I felt pretty darn good. My garbage can consisted of a kitchen garbage bag, a few shopping bags that had some dog poop in them and a green garbage bag that had the contents of the diaper genie, kitchen garbage, bathroom garbage and the cat litter. Really I could have not even put the can out, if I had not already thrown out the first kitchen bag, I could have had just one large garbage bag next to my overflowing recycling bings.

So what is my point to this? There are a few decently sized families next to me. My neighbors next to me are a 5 person family including a teenage and across from me they are also a five person family. How on earth does that mean they can have like 5 bags of garbage and one lonely recycling bin? You can't possibly tell me that there is nothing in those bags that isn't actually recyclable!

A quick check of the city waste collection website shows you just how easy it actually is to recycle. They don't want you to bag or tie anything together. They don't care if the window is still in the envelope of the phone bill, you can still throw it in(something I didn't know until very recently so that's even more that I am able to recycle now) and you don't even have to sort everything. It all goes into one bin that can be bought for $5 at numerous places in town. They also don't have restrictions on what types of plastic they can take. Just as long as it has the little triangle symbol on it, not matter what number is in the centre, they want it.

So with what seem to be as very lax and easy to follow "rules" of recycling, it's unfathomable to me that people can produce an entire bag of garbage in just one week.

So why am I just noticing this now. Where we lived before, we had autobins in our backlane so nobody really knew who was throwing out how much. Actually being able to see on the front street in front of each individual house how much garbage actually gets produced? Eye opening.

So please, check out your city's waste website and find out what you can and cannot put in your blue box.

Just When You Think it's All Said and Done

It's so not. The house saga continues. I got two nasty letters from our hydro company today. First one says it's due on the 16th of August. Ok it's our final bill, but it's far more than it should be. Our lawyer paid it out. I have proof in my email account. Then I got a bill saying it's due on the 22nd of August and that it's past due. WTF! I got them on the same damn day for starters. The first due date isn't even here yet and oh ya, IT'S BEEN ALMOST PAID IN FULL! I only owe a few dollars. ARG!

I'm currently waiting for a supervisor to call me back. This is beyond ridiculous.