Moving Day!

Finally, our office is moving. Long story short is that at the end of March I moved into a newly formed department. With all the employees scattered around in different buildings, some a long way from one another. My boss was a 10-15 minute walk (depending on construction) from my office. On Tuesday, we'll be across the hall from each other.

I can't wait!

I am not, however, looking forward to unpacking the multitudes of boxes I've just spent the last week packing up. I'm kind of hoping that most of the stuff can actually be tossed or sent to archives or something.

And it's a long weekend. This is perfect. Now if only the new office had a room for afternoon naps!

Hello?

So, I have the opportunity to do a bit of a give away, but first I need to figure out if I still have enough to readers to hit double digits. That's right. I just need ten of you. So, if you're (still) reading (I know I lost a lot of random readers when Facebook exploded) and especially if you're reading through some kind of a feed service (like Google Reader) pretty please could you click on the blog and leave me a quick comment. If we hit double digits, well, next week there will be a fancy-schmancy give away...

It was the teeth

Well, it turns out that the angst of last night was (almost certainly) cause by the rather slow appearance of some two year molars. J's been fussy and whiny and complaining about her mouth for a while now.

And this morning, well, we'll get to that, but she let me put my fingers in her mouth to check the situation out and she definitely has one, if not two, great big huge honking molars ready to erupt.

And she's still on holiday schedule which means staying up a bit later and sleeping in. That will change since we're back on daycare schedule this week. So hopefully she'll go down a bit easier too.

This morning was what you could call a challenge. A BIG challenge. I was happy to get a little bit of food into her and her diaper changed. We did not brush hair or teeth. She was wearing her pjs and rain boots when I dropped her off because some days the battle just isn't worth fighting. It just isn't. PJs out in public on occasion won't kill her or cause horrible, irreparable damage to her future abilities (to do anything - make friends, talk, go to school, find a job, etc etc etc). I'm sure of it.

So tonight I'm ready! I'm getting some popsicles on the way home. We're going to the library and maybe the park after dinner and she's going to get to stay up a little bit later than usual. And if all else fails, we'll go for a walk again.

But not to the seawall.

I'm a bit afraid that this time we might really get skunked!

74 minutes, a few kilometers, 23,495,392,487 deep breaths and one skunk encounter later...

we're home.

J is refusing to sleep. And she's demonstrating that she has almost figured out how to get out of her crib. BAD combination.

So just before 9:00 tonight I packed her into her stroller and we went down to the seawall. And she yelled "MommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommyMommy" for a while and then listed off her body parts at the top of her lungs before returning to "MommyMommyMommyMommyMommy" interspersed with "I want cake." Except she's not quite that articulate yet. So it was more "Jocie deet cake. MOMMY. Now."

And then the bugs started eating me. So I decided it was time to move away from the water.

That's when the skunk came sauntering down the sidewalk. And we were stuck. Bushes on one side. Parked cars on the other. And no where for the stroller to go. And I froze. And the skunk freaked out when it smelled us and backed, this is key, backed into a bush with its tail up and ready to spray. It missed us. Because it backed into the bushes not us. And I might have run a bit. Maybe. But I don't run. So don't tell anyone. And that means the skunk missed us. Although there is a slight musky smell that has been lingering since.

And then we walked up and down the block in front of our house. Much to the amusement of the cat on the leash who wasn't sure what to make of us the first time we strolled past, let alone the fourteenth or sixteenth time.

J is now asleep in the bathroom. It's the coolest room in the house at the moment and I want to wait a bit before I transfer her to her bed. And I have tons to do. But I'm so tired.

Dear insomniac daughter, please sleep until at least 6:00 tomorrow morning. PLEASE.

That's all.

Really? No, really?

So, in this day and age of green, I was surprised today. Very surprised.

It's time for potty training at our house. So I went on a search for the thick cotton training panties.

And no one had them. I went to three department stores and one everything store.

And the reason no one had them? Because people use the underwear type diapers now. I did buy some for J with the plan being we'd use them if we had to go out for the first little while and gradually fade them out.

They're expensive. And wasteful. And yes, we used disposable diapers, but I wanted to use cloth or G-Diapers, but the G-Diapers didn't fit and I didn't get on the cloth fast enough...but I really don't want to use the underwear diapers.

So I put it out to my mommy friends on Facebook. Looks like there are two more places I can check out - a toy store that sells lots of baby stuff and the big everything store that I hate. But will go to if I must.

Sigh.

Changing it up

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

(written Tuesday)

Changing it up in two ways…

I bought a kick boxing DVD to try. I did a kick boxing boot camp last summer with my sister and I loved it. Since I’m stuck at home at night, I thought I’d try to do something other than yoga.

The DVD I bought has a warm up and cool down and then six or seven intervals that have two sets of four exercises each. I decided I better take it slow and just did the warm up, two sets of intervals and the cool down. Good thing I decided to go slow. My legs were very very sore today! But tonight I’m going to try to do three intervals and the warm up and cool down.

The other change was yoga today. I was really looking forward to it. Because of this, that, and the other thing, I ended up working at home last week so there was no yoga, so it’s been a week and a half since I’d been to a yoga class (which is many times better than a video) and my body wanted yoga. And I was sore.

Our usual Tuesday instructor was away, but the sub was amazing! I’d love to have her all the time and I like the Tuesday instructor. The sub taught a more flow style of yoga and it was challenging in new ways. My arms will be sore tomorrow. I loved her style and her voice and everything about this class. I know it was one of the best yoga classes I’ve been to in a while.

Change is a good thing.

Really!

The way summer should be...

Eep...it's been one of those weeks and we're going away on Friday...and...and...and

But.

Well, this weekend was perfect. The way it should be in the summer.

I grew up and didn't realize how spoiled we were. My mom stayed home with us and we lived two house lengths from the beach. So we spent a lot of time at the beach. We had a yard, so when we weren't at the beach we were playing in the yard. We faced East-West, so at least part of the yard was in the shade all day. We had cousins who lived in town who we saw regularly - actually I'm pretty sure that all of us would probably say our first friends happened to be related to us.

Anyway.

This weekend we got to spend Saturday at Alex's parents' house where J got to play with her cousin Isabella.

J went in the pool for the first time this summer

guess who loved her cousin's slide?

J and Isabella licking the icing from the box

waiting for the dog (see him at the back of the car?)

those blurs are J and Isabella - running!

And Sunday we went to the beach with my side of the family - my sisters, Jared and our cousin Chelsea and her daughter Pippa. Who J loves. Who J calls Peepa.

Auntie Rebecca took J in the ocean for the first time...

and J loved it! She didn't want to get out of the "pool"

Sigh.

This weekend was bliss.

Mama

Today is Mama's birthday.

Mama and J

For those who don't know, Mama is my absolutely wonderful, one-of-a-kind grandma.

I think everyone should have a Mama.

Mama makes sure you get at least one back rub a day.

Mama calls just to chat.

Mama sends all kinds of interesting literature - books, articles, newsletters - in the mail. And Mama has read them all so that she can discuss them with you once you've read them. Even if it's a topic she has little or no interest in.

Mama makes the best soup and the best dinners and the best pie (although she doesn't make pie very often anymore). Mama figures everyone should learn how to clean, cook, can and freeze.

Mama stays on top of current events so that she can discuss(or argue or lecture) with her grandchildren (and children too).

Mama has been known to subscribe to newsletters from opposing sides of an argument so that she can be informed in her opinion and warn her grandchildren of the propaganda the other side might try to trick them with.

Mama knows all of her grandchildren's names and birthdays, but it wouldn't be a conversation with Mama if she didn't call you by the wrong name (or stream of names) at least twice.

Mama lives far away. Well, not far away, but somewhere that is not as easy to get as if she lived in Kelowna.

Mama made sure I knew about periods and hormones, about female circumcision, about evolution, about creationism, about myths, about brainwashing, about the dog in the manger, about the cycle of human life, about the benefits of eight glasses of water a day, the importance of choice in all matters of the body, how to knit when I was seven (even if I promptly forgot until I was well into my 20s), how to stand up for myself, to greet everyone when entering a room and to say goodbye to everyone when leaving and the value of a thank you.

Mama, the matriarch of our large family on my mom's side, taught us that family is important. That yes, you can choose your friends, but that doesn't mean that you can't chose your family to be your friends. That you should have more than one good friend. That you should always try everything on your plate. You may be surprised at what you actually like. That all kinds of healthy stuff can be hidden in soup that even the pickiest eater will eat.

I could go on and on. But I won't. I know that Mama helped me become who I am today and that she's helping J grow into a special little person too.

See. Mama is a very special person!

Happy Birthday Mama! I love you!

Thank yous...

EDITED: Scroll directly to the bottom to get to the point. I kind of rambled today.

I write thank you cards. My parents always emphasized how important it is to thank people for gifts and kindnesses. I get some grief from *some* people (ahem, no names here...) for writing thank you cards, but I like doing it. And it's nice to receive them occasionally too. Especially when they're unexpected.

My dad has a story about how he started (as an adult) writing thank you cards. I don't remember it exactly, but it involved a speaker at a conference he was at who wrote ten a week or something. Anyway, I don't write ten a week. I don't write one a week. But I try to thank people when I need to.

Anyway...this isn't really about thank you cards. It's about a site I found by clicking. On other people's blog rolls. Then someone else's. And repeat this over and over again. And when I found the site, I had no clue where I had started (I have a habit - it's debatable whether it's a bad or good habit - of opening all links in a new tab, so I can't just hit the back button to figure out where I came from).

Ugh.

Rambling.

Go here. It's awesome.

The kid, she won't eat pizza

Can you believe it? I thought all kids loved pizza.

But not mine.

We tried take out, restaurant pizza, authentic Italian restaurant pizza, frozen pizza and homemade pizza. We tried cheese pizza and pizza with the works.

Then I got smart. Two nights ago I made pesto and cheese pizza for her. She loves pesto and this week she loves cheese. Well, loved cheese.

Not anymore.

She peeled the cheese off. Then she licked the pesto off. The she gave me the soggy crust and told me daddy could have it.

I shouldn't complain. Pizza isn't the world's healthiest food, but I'm a bit surprised.

Oh well.

That's all.

Eating Like a Toddler

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

(written yesterday).

So, I’ve discovered if I stick close to my toddler’s diet, I feel pretty good…hmmm…I wonder why!

Well, in all likelihood it’s because I don’t want to feed her junk. Which is good and makes sense. But then I wonder, why, if I won’t feed my baby junk, would I think that junk is a good thing to feed myself?

After that light bulb went on, I thought maybe I should try following J’s diet. So, for the past few weeks that’s what I’ve been doing and I feel a lot better!

J and I have been having breakfast together since she was born and since I started back at work, most mornings we eat oatmeal cooked in milk with all kinds of yummy things in it – raisins, cinnamon, other dried fruit. We also typically have dinner together because, well, I’m home by then and Alex is off to work.

Which meant the biggest challenge for me would be lunch.

Because I HATE lunch.

Most days J gets a sandwich or some leftovers, a few little containers of fruit and I try to give her at least one vegetable – usually peas, beans or avocado. She usually has a homemade mini muffin or a home made (piece of) granola bar and a yogurt or some applesauce for her snacks and she always has a juice box with a mixture of about 1/5-1/4 juice and the rest water and one that is plain water. Those are accessible to her all day and get refilled with plain water by the sitter when they’re empty. J gets milk to drink at lunch.

I didn’t know where to start with my lunches. It’s my least favourite meal of the day and sandwiches, the lunch staple, are at the bottom of the list (I also don’t eat mayonnaise which makes sandwiches a little more difficult). Most days I take my whole lunch – usually leftovers or maybe salad (bean and quinoa or coleslaw are my favourite these days). Then there is usually a container of cut up veggies (usually I eat them plain, but sometimes I take some hummus), an apple and some other fruit and usually a yogurt or a hard boiled egg and a mini muffin. It seems like a lot when I write it down and often I bring at least a piece of fruit home. If I skip the egg or yogurt, I find my afternoons are super sluggish. If I only take part of a lunch it I pick up the “main” part of the lunch somewhere. And lunch places on campus are somewhat scarce. Healthy lunch places are pretty much non existent.

But amazingly (well, not really amazing but anyway), eating this way I feel better. I just need to make my lunches more interesting.

Any suggestions?

Veggie dilemma

Over the last three years our grocery bill has soared from about $350 a month to $500 a month. Part of that is the addition of a young lady who is still in diapers. Her diapers run about $40 a month on average (we go through a case every three weeks or so and they are about $30 each). And yes, we have to feed her, but her food does not equate to a $110 a month.

It's driving me nuts. I know part of it is because the cost of food has gone up dramatically over the last few years, but I hate it. I've started searching out coupons whenever I can and we plan a weekly menu using the fliers from the two big grocery stores in our neighbourhood. When we lived in the Blue House, we only had one grocery store but we had a produce store that we shopped at. I've started planning my trips to one of the grocery stores around the hours of the produce store across the street, but quite frankly, on my last two trips I think I spent almost the same amount, ±$1.00, as if I'd bought the same things at the grocery store. And it took longer because I had to go two places and wait in two lines.

I'm not sure what to do to bring our bill down. I stick to my list. We don't eat a lot of meat. I buy the store brand whenever I can. We don't eat a lot of prepared food - some fresh pasta, occasionally perogies and in the winter fish and chips as a treat (fresh fish is so much better!) but no tv dinners or that kind of thing.

And I think it's the veggies (and fruit too) that are eating up the biggest chunk of our bill. And for obvious reasons I'm not eliminating them. I feel guilty not buying them at the produce store because they're less likely to be local, but I just can't afford it. We try to only buy things that are in season too....And it used to be so much cheaper to buy food at the produce store.

Any suggestions? Anyone else experienced such a large change in their grocery bill?