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Gearing up

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 21:52:28 +0000

Yes, I’m gearing up for the end of the year (school year) madness. Even though I’m not back at work yet, I still have a bunch of stuff to do. Like tomorrow night is my school’s grad. Even though I haven’t been there for over a year, I promised the students that I would be back to announce the grads as they walk across the stage. This has always been my thing, and I really enjoy doing it. Besides they always seem to have a problem finding someone who can say some of the names. For instance Sathananthalingam is just the last name of one of our students. Her first name is still 12 characters long. I don’t seem to have much difficulty in saying these names so I’m always called upon when there’s a long name like that to pronounce. Then on Thursday is our end of the year staff breakfast. Even though I went last year, I think I’m going to beg off this year. I don’t really want to sit through all the goodbyes of staff I don’t really care about or know. Besides I anticipate it being difficult keeping a little guy who is *almost* walking still for like 4 hours. It’ll probably be more trouble than it’s worth and frankly I don’t care that much.
My mum was down for a couple of days and we had a really nice visit. This was the first time she stayed for more than one night. We decided the last time she was here that it didn’t make much sense to just stay for one night because it was all so rushed. We really didn’t do much. We managed to get out for a long walk and admire other people’s front gardens. It gave me all sorts of ideas for mine. And we had my brother and his wife over for dinner Saturday night. They left around 21:00 and my mum, dad, hubby and I stayed up till 23:00 talking about baby D and his birth. Even though it wasn’t that long ago (14 months) there were a couple things I had actually forgotten. I love reminiscing! Yesterday we went to church together and then came home and finally hung up some pictures I’ve been meaning to get on my walls. I will still have to get some more pictures as I have a humongous wall in my family room that could use some lovin’.
This time next Monday I will be at work. I am trying desperately not to think about it for fear that I will lose my mind. It’s only for 2 weeks; 9 days in fact so I’m sure I can do that. The worst will be when baby D goes into daycare and it’s a full time arrangement. If hubby was staying home with baby D the whole time as we had planned I probably wouldn’t be as nervous, but my Dad will be watching him for 3 days. I’m sure it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but he’s old-school German and tends to have his own way of doing things and criticizing mine. I guess I’m just afraid that he’ll be letting baby D scream himself to sleep or feeding him large chunks of stuff that he might choke on or possibly being too rough on him. I’ll just have to keep thinking happy thoughts that everything will go fine or I’m going to make myself sick thinking about it.

On the mend

Sat, 03 May 2008 02:15:09 +0000

It was a horribly yucky grey, cold, rainy day today. I don’t know where my brain’s been at lately, but my days are all messed up. I was sitting down to breakfast this morning looking out at the nasty weather thinking “at least I don’t have to go outside today…”. Of course today is Friday, so I have to get the recycling to the curb. DOH! Plus I had to get some yard waste out too. When we moved into the house we inherited a huge mess of branches dumped on the other side of the fence. I think we’re probably better off renting a chipper or something to get rid of them instead of following the city rule of only putting out 3 bundles per week. Especially since after all the lugging from the backyard, they weren’t even picked up! grrr
Finally baby D’s conjunctivitis has almost cleared up. The day after his birthday (April 13th) when I took him into the doctor for his yearly check-up I noticed that he was getting a cold. Hubby was really worried because my Mum had been at baby D’s birthday with serious laryngitis which she got while on a trip to Egypt. He was afraid that she’d maybe given him something exotic. We did mention it to the doctor and he thought it was probably just coincidental. After a week of a fairly bad cough, he started to get a goopy eye. I swabbed at it with a warm, wet facecloth and hoped that it would clear itself up since the eye drops I had from the last time had expired. I had finally had enough and made him a quick appointment on Friday the 25th. Unfortunately his usual doctor wasn’t in, so I had to see his colleague. She seems nice enough, but said that she wouldn’t prescribe drops. I ended up getting oral antibiotics, which the pharmacist was surprised to see I was supposed to administer 4 times a day. She thought that was pretty taxing for an infant and I soon began to agree with her. Luckily baby D liked the medication, but I found his eye getting worse instead of better. It was starting to look like he got punched in the face. The skin under his eye was red and raw. By Monday I called the office again and explained that on Sunday when he woke up he couldn’t even open his eye – poor baby! I asked to have the same drops I had had before re-prescribed. I was very happy to hear that I didn’t have to come back in to be seen or get the script as I live about 20-30 minutes from the office. They called in the prescription and I managed to get the drops after my family dinner Monday night. At the dinner my brother callously asked if I had rubbed my son’s eye in raw chicken. So tactful. But his eye did look terrible. So happily now it’s almost gone, which is great since it’s a serious struggle getting the drops into his eyes. I’ve been trying to sneak them in while he’s nursing, but he’s on to me now.

Happy Easter

Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:15:09 +0000

I hope next year I’m more into the holidays. I haven’t been for some time now maybe because my husband doesn’t like them due to his job. He delivers pastries for a high end pastry company and is extremely busy around the holidays. Now that GM is almost a year old I really have to get more in the spirit for his benefit.
Sunday I will be entertaining the in-laws. ~~I’m~~ We’re really not into entertaining. Or at least not used to it. Even though it’s not that much we have told our families that we won’t be traveling for a while to visit because we can’t afford to spend our money on gas. Once I go back to work we’ll have more money to spend of stuff like that, but for the next little while we’re going to be really strapped. So with that said his family is coming to us for Easter this year. His mom is still cooking the turkey (thank goodness), but we’ll be responsible for everything else. It should work out better anyways because this way I don’t have to lug all GM’s stuff with us and he might actually nap since he’ll be in familiar surroundings.

The Biggest Lose-Her

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:59:45 +0000

SPOILER ALERT

I must rant about The Biggest Loser (sorry – Iâ€™m hooked). I absolutely HATE Ali. I actually felt sorry for her when she got voted off and was very impressed with her weight loss efforts. That laugh of hers is totally annoying me, not to mention her standoffishness. She didnâ€™t want to team up with the women when she came back into the house and instead chose to stick with her pink team colours. Okay what really got me tonight is her totally backstabbing Brittany. I thought for one moment that Brittany might actually make it through the elimination unscathed. That bitch Ali actually said that she felt like she was forming an alliance with Brittany. Last time I checked you donâ€™t vote out people youâ€™re allied with!! Then whatâ€™s up with Dan? I mean, I guess he had a tough decision to make since Jay was his team-mate, but Brittany was right in pointing out that Jay is definitely the bigger threat. Wasnâ€™t Dan continually going on about doing whatever he needed to to get himself farther in the game? Sad to see Brittany go, it just wonâ€™t be the same.

Spring is in the air

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 01:35:09 +0000

What an absolutely glorious day it was today. I’m so glad I decided to get myself out of the house or I would never have known just how beautiful it was out. I’m not exactly sure of the temperature, but I think it was like 5 or 6°C with the sun shining brightly. Hubby called from the road (as he does numerous times a day) and we discussed how nice it was outside. He said he heard on the radio that we’ve had so much snow this year that the giant snowbergs that have accumulated in mall parking lots won’t even have melted by the end of the summer. Wow, wouldn’t that be sight in July? A big pile of leftover snow. So anyway, I had mentioned to hubby that there was an outfit for baby D at Wal-Mart that I was lusting after (yes, you can lust after baby clothes), but that the price was keeping me from buying it. He didn’t think it was too much to pay, so that was the go ahead I needed. Since we are going to London tomorrow for my Mum’s birthday celebration (it should have been last weekend but was postponed due to weather) I thought that would be a great reason to have a new outfit for baby D. Never being one to manage just going to Wal-Mart for the one thing I wanted to buy I ended up also getting him a 2-pack of pjs for when the weather gets a bit warmer and a striped t-shirt and pants.

Sick…of packing

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:12:27 +0000

So I’m probably reading into this, but… The first time I put GM into childcare during my parenting group and he comes home and develops a cold, which he promptly shares with Mummy. *sigh* He’s got strings coming out of his nose and goop filling up his left eye. So it begins. After a little over a week we are just starting to pull out from under it. Hopefully we stay healthy through the move.
Getting closer. We’ve decided a few things about the move. Like who our Internet provider will be and our cable company. We just need to get our phones set up and arrange to get our security system guy in to check the place out. I don’t remember my last move being so huge. Of course it was just apartment to apartment and this time it’s into a house, but my Dad is doing most of the work still since he’s going to be the “landlord”. So we get the keys on the 26th, and the carpet cleaner will be in that same day. That will be a big load off. That was the one thing we HAD to do before we moved in. I’d still like to get the place painted first, but am settling for what’s easiest. Without the painting, that gives us 5 days to officially move in which at least sounds way less stressful to me.
Just to give me one more thing to pack and move, I ended up buying Seasons (The Sims2) off ebay. It’s not a bad little game so far. The plantsims are a wee bit strange to say the least. They are green people that only have three needs instead of eight like the normal sims do. All they need are: sun, water and love. But they only have three life stages too which is a drag. They go from toddler, to adult, to elder. No in-between stages.
Yeah, I know just something else to keep me from packing. I’m such a slack! Back to the boxes…

Hormones, hormones everywhere

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 14:53:09 +0000

I have either been attached to a very cranky baby, or else lying in a heap on the couch crying this past week. I don’t know if it’s post-partum, me ovulating, or my period making it’s way back. The only thing I know for sure is that I’m not pregnant. I’m almost sad about that. I’ve managed to pack on at least 10lbs, have a wicked sweet tooth and just feel … off. Two pregnancy tests later I guess I have to admit that there’s another reason I’ve porked up. I am supposed to be packing, but can’t seem to find the time (holding my cranky son doesn’t leave a lot of time) or the motivation to get much of anything done. This is definitely not the time to be having an emotional breakdown! My DS is having difficulties nursing, but my public health nurse says that it might be a case of my milk changing with the hormones and he’s just not used to it yet. Sounds feasible. His doctor’s appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday, so I’m really hoping that his weight is up considerably. He’s in something like the 10th percentile which I’m certainly not happy about, but besides this cranky week, he is a very happy laid-back kid. Today he turns 5 months old. Not sure where all the time went. Wow. If his weight isn’t better than we may have to start him on solids early. Not thrilled about it, but whatever helps the kid is best.

Everything’s going swimmingly

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 01:14:38 +0000

Sunday I ended up going to church by myself. Okay correction, without Retard. In usual form he started telling me the night before that he would not be going. Why does it have to be a constant struggle every week?! So of course I was running late, and when you’re running late of course that would be the time when it’s packed and tough to find a seat. Mostly it was an enjoyable service except that I felt I had to keep my little guy quiet (he’s really starting to babble these days) during the sermon. So I kept trying to put a pacifier in his mouth, something he’s definitely not used to since I basically refuse to use them. The lady next to us (who I didn’t know) kept trying to get him to hold her hand. Not sure exactly if I thought this was just nice or kind of creepy. Don’t people usually ask instead of presuming they can just put their hand in my son’s car seat and touch him? I’m sure I’m just over-reacting.
So after church I had to go bathing suit shopping. Nothing more interesting than buying a swim suit for a 4 month old. Once again our family motto of “everything happens for a reason” crops up. Saturday I had Goober Monster in the bath with me and decided to try on his suit for his upcoming very first swim lesson. The pool is very strict about the diaper being tight around his legs so it retains any foul things that might emerge from his backside. Thank goodness I tried it on him (I was sort of saving it for that day) ahead of time as it ended up being too big! I wouldn’t have imagined that it would be. It’s a size small from 10-16lbs and he’s skinny sure, but he still weighs over 11lbs. So I was all in a panic because according to the class guidelines I was to have either Kooshies or Little Swimmers. I figured the ones I bought were so cute because they were actual trunks instead of the diaper style. Plus I hadn’t been able to find Kooshies (though I didn’t look that hard) and Little Swimmers didn’t come that small. I did manage to find a place downtown and drove all the way out there only to be told that they didn’t carry small sizes. ARGH! Luckily (again) I had jotted down 1 other place that was said to carry the Kooshies and called them. They did in fact have small in stock and boys ones to boot. YAY! They really are cuter than I figured they’d be, so now I’m all set. The Kooshies fit 6-14lbs so there shouldn’t be any reason that they won’t fit. I haven’t tried them yet, and will before his lesson Friday, but it’s a diaper style so I can easily cinch the tummy smaller thus making the legs tighter too. I have been looking forward to getting the little boy in the water since he was born, so I’m definitely not going to miss this!
I managed to find my little guy a boy doll (Little Eddie) for when he gets a bit older and it just arrived.

I’m so impressed. I bought it off ebay and it’s nearly mint! You wouldn’t believe another kid ever played with it and it even has all it’s little parts. Um, not the way that sounded. He’s wearing a removable backpack that contains his friend the frog (don’t know his name) and a little comb, because apparently Little Eddie is a little vain. hahaha

Priorities

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 22:32:23 +0000

I can’t believe all the stuff I have on my plate at the moment. When I stop to think about it I get all uptight. Of course there’s Goober Monster. He always comes first, but then there’s this website I’m working on for my Dad’s curling club, and finally the big move & all the packing that goes along with it. The hardest part with the move might just be getting my hubby to actually part with some of his old crap. He is a serious pack rat and just looking around our apartment gives me a panic attack. I mean, we only moved here nearly 3 years ago, yet it must’ve been so awful that I blocked it out of my mind because I don’t remember any part of it. Since we’re now in an apartment getting rid of stuff (garbage) is really simple because of the dumpsters. But if we drag crap that we don’t want to the house, then we have to dispose of it at the other end on a weekly basis. Retard seems to think that we have LOTS of time. He figures a week should do it, but I think he’s insane. I’d rather have everything done and be sitting on boxes than to have to scramble at the last minute.

My little guy’s another story. Goober Monster’s been awful cranky the last couple of days and managed to wake up at 04:30 this morning. *groan* I have to admit he’s really an amazing kid and has been sleeping straight through the night since about 2½ months. He usually goes to bed somewhere between 19:30 & 21:30 and used to get up around 05:30, but in the last month it’s more like 07:30/08:00. I know I’m lucky and truly thank my lucky stars, but it was hard getting up this morning. I suspect we’ll be seeing some teeth pretty soon as he’s been crabby and munching on his hands more than usual. My little boy’s growing up. *sniff sniff*

Then there’s the website. My nemesis. I took on doing the website for my Dad’s curling club almost 2 years ago now and it’s been interesting at the very least. I think I’ve gone through probably 4 different people who were responsible for it and each of them had different ideas for what it should be. I am now working for the most picky and opinionated person I have ever met. While all the others had suggestions, they mostly let me be the designer since that’s what they hired me to do. Now this woman thinks she knows everything like ‘I want the text to be verdana because the type you’re using isn’t very clear…’. Great except that it already is verdana! And every time I turn around I’ve got a list as long as my arm of changes to be made. I just finished setting up a members only password protected area with 1000 members only to find out that it’s not going to work as planned. Without knowing the background and how long this has been going on (which I certainly won’t bore you with) you can’t really get a sense of the stress, but trust me, it’s whopping.

No seriously, I’m back

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 02:21:53 +0000

As the title states, yes I really am back. It’s been too long, I know and what can I say a LOT has happened in my almost year hiatus. I managed to let my domain lapse, but was lucky enough to get it back. I will be making some changes (I think) to the site little by little, but for now I just wanted to get back and blog my little heart out.

Okay, so last you heard I was pregnant. As you might imagine after nearly a year I’ve had the baby. It was a boy. He is now 4 and a half months old and the best thing that EVER happened to me. I never knew it could be this amazing! I really loved my job and found it so fulfilling, but nothing even remotely close to spending everyday with my son. I can’t even imagine going back now. I’m so lucky to have a year off with him and thank God every day for my special little guy. At some point I’m going to have to face reality and figure out what to do with him. Do I go back to work? Can I afford to stay home? If I go back, do I want daycare, homecare, Opa-care (granddaddy)? If the world were perfect, I would be able to stay home fulltime and raise my son the way I feel is right. If the world were nearly perfect, then I would have to go back to work, but my husband (yeah I’ll get to that in a bit) would get a shift job to cover the time when I’m at work so that between the 2 of us he’d be looked after. I must admit though that I’m not very realistic. I haven’t even investigated daycares and I know people who have put their names on waiting lists from the time they conceived! I’m in trouble!

So I said I’d get back to the husband bit. Yes, I also managed to get myself hitched. The guy? My son’s daddy and my long time boyfriend of 11 years. Can’t really say that we move very quick huh? My Mum threw the wedding together and was probably the smallest (next to civil services) wedding you’ve ever heard of at a grand total of 16 people including bride and groom. I think that hubby and I probably would’ve been happy enough to continue the unmarried scenario forever, but since we were pregnant (totally planned by-the-way) it was “frowned upon” to not be married, so we obliged.

And in final news, we, with GREAT thanks to my Dad, have just bought a house. Can you believe wedding, baby and new house all in one year?! Yeah, me neither. But it’s true. The house closes at the end of October, so I seriously need to start packing. I can’t believe that 2, okay 3 now, people can possibly amass so much crap. Yes, crap. Mostly my hubby’s. Though he thinks all his stuff is so important, he’s about to get a rude awakening. mwahaha

So there’s a little bit of background to get the ball rolling. Over the next little while (I hope) I’m expecting to spiff up the joint a bit and fix all the old links and well, whatever else needs doing. Oh yeah, like updating my version of WP. Since I’m home fulltime and have the blogging bug again, I’m expecting to update dailyish (what a nifty new word that is). Stay tuned.