tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91659853365328990312024-03-05T05:18:46.447-06:00All About the Chaos BabyA bit about my chaotic life as a mom, a wife and student.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-58095335542650015082012-02-18T22:06:00.000-06:002012-02-18T22:06:49.458-06:00Life -Over a Month LaterMuch has happened since I last posted. And I do apologize, I was just so busy.<br />
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I graduated school. I now have a piece of paper that says that I know how to do what I did for a living. In order to get that piece of paper, I had to do a practicum. I was put at pretty much a prime spot with a great possibility of employment. After a week off and two interviews later, I was hired at my practicum placement! It's only a term position for the time being, and a rather short one at that. And it's very entry level. But I'm in. We are again a two income family. We can buy our house, I can get a new car. I can move up in the corporation.<br />
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We're good, we are finally good.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-88207428244010640452012-01-16T00:24:00.000-06:002012-01-16T00:24:33.583-06:00What Is With the Lack of Sleeping?On numerous occasions in the past, I've lamented about the sleep habits of my darling little girl. About how she wakes up a hundred million times or she wakes up at unholy hours and all that nonsense. Well I had a reprieve. Her sleep got better. And I didn't even say anything about it for fear of angering the sleep gods.<br />
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Then it all went to crap. For no good reason! Well maybe it was a good reason as she was cutting molars. Of course this occurred during my mid-term frigging exams. Insert sigh here.<br />
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Then it got better again. Sure there was the occasional 4am wake-up but it was something that we just dealt with as it came up. She was getting up fine for daycare and napping well and going to bed easily. So we tried not to mess with a semi good thing.<br />
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Then we regressed...again. This time there is no good reason. There are no teeth coming in, she isn't sick, she isn't hungry because she can almost out eat me. She isn't cold because unlike our meat locker of a master bedroom, hers is warm. Plus she is in fleece jammies and has a mink like crib sheet that is so soft, warm and rather luxurious that I would get one for our bed if they made them in queen size. She.Is.Fine.<br />
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This translated into a week of utter disaster. Including the uber fun night where she screamed and carried on for nearly three hours despite both me and honey taking turns holding her and offering cuddles, water, milk and pretty much anything else that usually soothes the savage beast. She did finally end up falling asleep in my arms, likely from sheer exhaustion. I don't remember transferring her back into her crib although I'm sure we did. After some discussion and seeing how well she did with the late holiday nights, we moved back her bedtime an hour.<br />
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Then it got good again. Then this week started and trouble cropped up again.<br />
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So I write this now at 12:20am. Why am I still awake, much less sitting on the computer blogging this late on a Sunday? Because I expect that sometime in the next 40 minutes, she is going to squawk. She will stand up in her crib and whine until someone rescues her, I offer her a snack and then she is happy. Insert the sigh again.<br />
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So I wait. Really wish that I didn't have to.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-91698804262924745792012-01-14T14:07:00.000-06:002012-01-14T14:07:38.245-06:00At Least She's Now GoneHoney got a nasty phone call from his mother. She wanted him to drive a u-Haul truck for her to her new home. Needless to say he refused. And then he asked why his sister couldn't do it. Well I guess her and her new boyfriend will be driving his sister's SUV with a trailer attached and his mother will be driving her car. Why the boyfriend or his sister can't drive the u-Haul and the other drive the SUV we have no idea.<br />
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But anyway, after a whole big argument over the phone, he owes her money again, we are terrible people, etc, etc. He asked her about the money that she claimed she was going to give to the baby for her education. Well, because honey has a good job and I have a good job(she doesn't know I'm in school) we can pay for it ourselves. His sister doesn't have these things, she needs money more than we do. So their little fight? Definitely over. Odds are seeing as his mother does not need the proceeds for a new house, will be handing over a significant sum of money to his sister. Zebras don't change their stripes.<br />
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On my way to school yesterday I saw his sister's SUV with a small u-Haul trailer attached sitting in front of his mother's house. Today as the baby and I drove by on the way to the bank, it was gone.There was a bunch of garbage behind the garage, no tire tracks leaving the garage in the snow, and no visible furniture in the living room window.<br />
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She's gone.....God willing for good.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-64870108350489770552011-12-31T13:36:00.000-06:002011-12-31T13:36:53.845-06:00Garbage Day ReduxIn the past I've <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/08/garbage-day.html">mused</a> 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
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And we wonder why we are swimming in garbage.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-25411507550691799972011-12-28T11:05:00.000-06:002011-12-28T11:05:06.847-06:00Some More ConfirmationA few months back I talked about <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/10/interesting-conversation.html">an interesting conversation</a> 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 <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/11/maybe-just-maybe.html">the for sale sign</a>.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-84234756387332047742011-12-27T19:09:00.000-06:002011-12-27T19:09:23.121-06:00It's BegunMy 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.<br />
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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!<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-90362483340668911602011-12-26T21:20:00.000-06:002011-12-26T21:20:19.098-06:00Just PatheticHoney'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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-53673598469617426012011-12-21T13:52:00.000-06:002011-12-21T13:52:57.566-06:00Wisdom Teeth Removal...Not So BadI 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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?Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-24994758194159455792011-12-18T20:24:00.000-06:002011-12-18T20:24:18.567-06:00Trying to Do the ImpossibleI'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.<br />
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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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-60962618261925973052011-12-13T20:19:00.000-06:002011-12-13T20:19:57.857-06:00Been So LongAnd 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-72329332286896178572011-11-19T20:42:00.000-06:002011-11-19T20:42:42.924-06:00Something of a Fearful CountdownIn 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?<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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*<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-62772060673660331042011-11-14T21:16:00.002-06:002011-11-14T21:18:20.425-06:00A Journey EndedI 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 <a href="http://healinganaya.blogspot.com/">baby Anaya</a>, a beautiful little girl with a rare illness called <span class="Apple-style-span">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">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.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span">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.</span>Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-9995516225100783762011-11-11T20:43:00.000-06:002011-11-11T20:43:09.240-06:00Maybe, Just MaybeHoney's grandfather's ex wife was right. In <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/10/interesting-conversation.html">this post</a> 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-279417134430804782011-11-09T09:20:00.000-06:002011-11-09T09:20:14.195-06:00How Wrong Was IWell 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/11/why-oh-why-wont-he-listen.html">this post</a> would have come 100% to fruition.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-87353626271193546912011-11-07T12:45:00.000-06:002011-11-07T12:45:34.076-06:00Why 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!<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-68000878052268316212011-11-04T21:35:00.000-05:002011-11-04T21:35:53.680-05:00But Then Again Maybe I Don'tI'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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Finally, a goal is in sight.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-1017917523950917852011-11-01T09:04:00.000-05:002011-11-01T09:04:52.096-05:00I Want to Go Back to WorkI 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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.<br />
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Well at least there is one month done, just three to go.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-19445350845578290292011-10-29T21:20:00.000-05:002011-10-29T21:20:25.731-05:00Boo at the Zoo Family FunOur 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-16241433234615918032011-10-26T21:08:00.000-05:002011-10-26T21:08:13.024-05:00A Local Giveaway<a href="http://asophisticatedmommy.blogspot.com/">A Sophisticated Mommy</a> is running another great giveaway. This time she teamed up with Playful Peanut to offer this wonderful <a href="http://asophisticatedmommy.blogspot.com/2011/10/playful-peanut-review-giveaway.html">giveaway</a>. 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.<br />
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I bought a <a href="http://www.playfulpeanut.com/product.php?id_product=26">toddler belt</a> 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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-52140052813654410052011-10-16T14:15:00.000-05:002011-10-16T14:15:24.506-05:00An Interesting ConversationYou might remember my hysterical laughter about my sister in law's separation from <a href="http://allaboutthechaosbaby.blogspot.com/2011/08/bwahahahahahahaha.html">this post</a>. Well I have a bit of an update on that and I'm unsure what to think about it.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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. <br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-27461152328494065092011-10-15T20:21:00.000-05:002011-10-15T20:21:54.162-05:00Cookie Cutter HousesI'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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-17840898879808282252011-10-13T21:16:00.000-05:002011-10-13T21:16:10.593-05:00So BusySo 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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 <i>that</i> 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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!Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-20757619102628046202011-10-13T20:48:00.000-05:002011-10-13T20:48:04.928-05:00Another Giveaway!The lovely Stacey of <a href="http://notjustbabybrain.com/">Not Just Baby Brain</a> is running another great giveaway!<br />
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<a href="http://notjustbabybrain.com/2011/10/milk-nursingwear-giveaway.html">Here</a> 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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-55661660048329795132011-10-09T20:16:00.000-05:002011-10-09T20:16:04.090-05:00I'm Quite Likely in TroubleWe 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9165985336532899031.post-31738218392749878412011-10-08T19:47:00.000-05:002011-10-08T19:47:17.527-05:00Utterly MiserableIt 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.Caitlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08231727498887983804noreply@blogger.com0