Virtual Choir 3!
The final video of Virtual Choir 3 is up!
I have been looking to see if I can see me anywhere in the video, but I haven’t found me! My name is in the credits at about 6:31.
TEDx Waterloo
On Wednesday, I went to TEDx Waterloo. I applied this year thinking I’d either not be accepted or not be able to go due to needing to take care of Wesley, but I was accepted and a friend of mine was able to watch Wesley during the day, which was awesome.
If you don’t know what TED is (how could you not!), it stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design” and has become a format for conferences that are held around the world. Talks are on a huge variety of subjects- speakers are charged with giving the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less. You can see a ton of examples at TED.com.
I got to the Centre in the Square just before the first round of speakers started. I particularly enjoyed Scott Chantler and Krister Chalm of the first set of speakers. One of the really cool things about the day was Mr. Chantler’s project- he spent the day working on a representation of the day and the speakers in comic form.
I also enjoyed Taylor Jones of Dear Photograph, from the second set of speakers, and Jean Béliveau, whose story of his walk around the world was super compelling.
My favourite speaker of the day was Karen Morris, who gave a really well done talk about love, connection, and innovation, which is hard to describe but it really spoke to me. Overall, it was a great day. If there’s a TED in your area and you haven’t been, you should go!
Virtual Choir 3
I mentioned a while back that I recorded a track for Virtual Choir 3, a project run by Eric Whitacre where huge numbers of people record tracks of themselves singing a part of one of his choral pieces, and they’re all mixed together to make this huge choral recording. It’s awesome. Anyway, I missed out on Virtual Choirs 1 and 2, but managed to make a recording for the 3rd by the skin of my teeth (they extended the deadline and I got my recording in that day)!
The actual video/recording is going to be released on April 2nd, but today they released a huge photo of all the members of the choir, and I found myself! Click on the picture to see everyone. I’m in the 4th row from the bottom, 25th from the left.
Spring is coming!
And is seemingly already here, with the lovely weather this week. Yesterday and the day before, I took Wesley out in his carrier for a long walk (about a mile and a half, but that’s pretty long carrying the dude in my non-ergonomic carrier, but I have an ergonomic one coming shortly!) It was fun and the weather was gorgeous. I hadn’t gotten much sleep at all though, so I kinda regretted it later when I was exhausted and cranky. Yesterday Wesley was pretty cranky, so I guess it’s contagious. 🙂
I’ve been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer lately, and it has been pretty entertaining. I never watched it at all when it was originally on, and since there are so many episodes, it has been a good one to watch during feedings and naps during the day in order to relax. I’m in the middle of season 3 now. It reminds me pretty strongly of a magical girl anime, only live-action and in English.
This morning, a band of thunderstorms has come through and it has been all thunder and lightning! A little early, maybe, but real thunderstorms! The temperature is supposed to top 20 degrees today and for the next several days as well (20° C is sort of a big spring milestone- it’s the beginning of “seriously, no jacket” weather, haha). It’s starting to clear up now, but it was pretty crazy to hear the thunder and see the lightning flashes out our window this morning.
I got one.
So I totally got the mom haircut. My hair has been pretty much a disaster for several months now- I’ve been scraping it into a ponytail or a bun, while wet, pretty much every day. I had a bunch of shorter hair as well, that had grown in while I was pregnant, and I wanted the length of my hair to be a little more consistent, instead of having a ton of short hair and a ton of longer hair and having it all look ridiculous.
And I get why moms get the short haircut. The kid pulls your hair all the time (or spits up in it). You have zero time to do anything with it. You don’t want to do anything with it. Getting rid of the extra length solves a lot of things!
So I got a haircut finally! And it is a short bob, as is typical, but I don’t care, I’m just glad my hair isn’t the huge mess it was before. It’s not unusually short for me- it’s about as short as I generally go though. I got a shampoo and style and everything. It was awesome.
Leap Day, and March comes in like a whatever.
So yesterday was leap day, and I didn’t post, but I figure leap day doesn’t count. I watched 30 Rock last week and they had this whole crazy episode basically building up traditions around leap day, including having a bizarre Santa Claus-like character called “Leap Day William” who gives candy and cigarettes to crying children, haha. A clip!
Anyway, the whole concept behind the show was that leap day was a day that didn’t count in your real life, so you should do something crazy! I did not.
However, the day itself was a little crazy, because around 2:15 or so in the afternoon, the power went out. The power almost never goes out here, we have underground power so bad weather doesn’t drop lines, and in general, service is pretty great. But nonetheless, yesterday, no power from about 2:15 til about 5. Our house started to get a bit chilly (especially the family room where I spend most of my time- it’s above the garage and has a huge window, so it’s not the best insulated of rooms). Wesley and I moved up to Trevor’s and my bedroom where it was warmer and hung out up there, I read my book a little.
I was glad the power came on before it got full dark, but it made me think maybe we should have a proper emergency kit with bottled water and batteries and extra flashlights and all that. I will think about getting one of those put together. We have plenty of food stored up, thanks to our deep freeze and our pantry, but having a kit would be good, especially having a baby in the house. You know. Just in case the world ends. Does anyone have one of these? If so, what’s in yours?
The weather was a bit gross yesterday, rain and freezing rain and some snow. It’s still cool enough now that the slush is still around, and it’s heavily cloudy, but it doesn’t quite seem bad enough to say March is coming in like a lion. 🙂
Value of time…
Today, a boy of maybe 12 or 13 came to our door and asked if we’d like our driveway shoveled. I, of course, definitely did- shoveling is pretty much the last thing I want to do lately, and even though Trevor is home on the weekends, he was feeling pretty lazy too. So we jumped at the chance.
Here’s the interesting part though- he only wanted to charge us $3.
Now, our driveway is not huge, it’s maybe 20 feet by 40 feet or so tops. However, I think $3 is way too low for something like shoveling, even if it is a quick job- I totally would have paid $15 or $20. He wound up taking $10. I don’t like to see kids/teenagers undervaluing their time or their work- I think it just sets them up to let themselves be taken advantage of in the future.
Then I wondered- maybe I over-value these type of manual-labour services because I totally don’t want to do them myself? So I thought I would look at babysitting rates (a non-manual-labour type of odd job)- I figured, people probably pay babysitters about $10 an hour, right? Well, it seems not, because lots of places online seem to mention rates around $5-$7 an hour for this area.
Am I crazy? Are kids/teenagers doing these odd jobs not worth as much as I think?
Tidbits
Last weekend, Trevor’s parents came down and Trevor and I went out to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. I wanted to see it mostly because of the actors who were in it- I often like spy movies, as well. Well, this one was a hard one to watch, for me. The story was good, and the acting and costuming quite good, but I had a hard time watching the more violent scenes. I don’t know if that’s the postpartum hormones talking, but it was rough. There’s a scene at the beginning of the movie (which is revisited several times) where a nursing mom basically gets caught in the crossfire, and her tiny baby survives. Talk about difficult. Oy.
Last night I went out to help with a stage management workshop that KWLT was putting on. It was good! Nice to get out for something other than choir, and nice to go to the theatre- I hadn’t been there in ages. The workshop itself went well, there were lots of questions, which was nice. I hope it sparks people’s interest and gets them learning more about stage managing.
In other news, it’s snowing today. It hasn’t really been properly snowy yet this winter, so it’s a bit weird to have it be actually snowy outside (though it looks like sleet at the moment). I’ve gotten used to it being unseasonably warm. And I guess I don’t have to abandon that feeling, because it looks like it’ll be 5 degrees on Monday. There we go then. It’s almost March, after all.
February is the longest shortest month.
I think I’d like to write more often, and with a little more structure. So I think starting next week, I’m going to start writing a post each weekday. I’d like to avoid turning this completely into a mommy-blog, so I’m going to do my best to keep my baby/parenthood/omgpoops etc. related posts to one day a week. For now though, I’m going to do one last big roundup of what’s going on in my life, and then I’ll start fresh on Monday. 🙂
Work
I know what you’re thinking… Work? She’s not working right now! And I’m not. But I did just get properly in touch with people from my work team in the past week. I wanted to see how things were going, and get a few things that I left behind at the office, and also look toward planning a visit! It’s crazy, it’s not even been 2 months yet, and things are already seemingly quite different. There are several new people on my team, and a bunch of new projects, and I am already missing it. I am glad that I enjoy my work enough that I want to go back to it so badly.
Home, Life
Wesley and I (and to a lesser degree, Trevor) are all getting over what seems to be a second (and far worse) cold. Wesley and I were pretty miserable. I lost my voice completely on Sunday (not the best timing for that, since I was supposed to sing a service that morning) and have been pretty stuffed up. I think we’re finally properly on the mend now though. I had a couple days where I pretty much just set up on the couch or at the computer and didn’t do a whole lot other than do the basics to take care of Wesley, and he mostly slept.
Being sick has meant that I haven’t gotten back into the gym routine yet. I did find out how much child minding costs at my local gym, so I know now that that’s not at all cost-prohibitive. I’ll probably start taking advantage of that in the next few weeks.
Things are starting to get into a loose routine around the house, which is nice for me, since I like routine. I’m still not quite finding time for everything I want to get done yet, but (when I’m well) the days are a lot more enjoyable when they’re less unpredictable. I am sure once the basement project starts, there’ll be some upheaval, but we’ll get there when we get there.
Trevor got me flowers for Valentine’s Day, which was super nice. 🙂
Wesley
Wesley is 8 weeks this week, and he’s going for his 2 month doctor visit next Tuesday. He’s getting bigger! We took him in because of his cough last week (due to the cold) and he came in at 11 pounds (with clothes/diaper/cover on) so he’s gaining weight nicely, which is good.
With him being sick, I’ve become a snot sucking connoisseur. We had a bulb aspirator, which has been nice for cleaning out his mouth, but not really all that effective at getting snot out of his nose. So I got a Hydrasense nasal aspirator (where you suck on the one end to provide the suction, and the other end goes in his nose. It’s a ton easier to use (especially since you can keep the sucking end in his nose inbetween sucking) and really works well. There’s little filters that keep the snot where it should be. These type of aspirators are way better than bulbs for noses.
Okay, done talking about snot now. One thing that we need to do soon is get Wesley a passport- we’re planning on going down to see my family in Texas in a couple months, and he’ll need a passport by then. So that means getting baby passport photos. We haven’t done that yet, but hopefully will soon- should be an adventure.
Theatre
I haven’t actually done any theatre in ages, it has been 10 months now. I was set to work on a show this spring before I found out I’d be working on a newborn this spring instead, so I’ve been missing out on that. I just agreed to do costumes for a show in the fall though, so that should be nice. Costuming is my favourite, and it’s a little less structured schedule-wise than stage managing, which is good for someone who doesn’t always get to decide her own schedule anymore. I’m looking forward to it.
Newborn Must-Haves
A friend of mine posted a list like this recently, and I was interested to see that her list was massively different from my own. So I’m going to make my own personal list of newborn must-haves based on my own experiences.
Pregnancy wedge – Why is this a newborn must have, you ask? Well, not only is it useful during the final stages of pregnancy to make sleep a tiny bit more comfortable, but I have used it tons since- at first during feedings as a head support, and now it is under the mattress in the bassinet to keep his head a little elevated because he’s congested. It’s come in surprisingly handy.
Onesies with mitten cuffs – He lived in these things, but is too big for them now- they’re perfect for layering under anything, and the sleeves make a little mitten at the end to keep his hands warm and keep him from scratching himself. Love these.
Diaper Service – I wanted to use cloth diapers, but was a bit wary of the amount of laundry. Using a service has made using cloth diapers the best and easiest diapering option. I don’t have to go out to get diapers as they are delivered to my door, my diaper costs stay constant (and less than I would have spent on disposables), and they’re easy to use. We just have to wash covers, which means we’re doing laundry no more often than we would have been for baby clothes anyway. Awesome.
Flat Diapers – Best burp cloths ever. We have them all over the house.
Bouncy chair – This thing is awesome. He hangs out in it at various times during the day so I can keep him within reach but have use of both hands. It bounces (there are various settings) and it plays music (actually nice music!) or white noise or nature sounds. It keeps him upright, which is nice after feedings if I’m a little worried about him spitting up. It’s pretty sweet, I’ll be sad when he gets too big for it.
Baby Timer – This thing is great. It’s a good way to have an idea how long it has been since his last feed or change or nap or what have you. You can set alarms as well to remind you- we don’t have alarms on anything except the asterisk one, which reminds me to pump. It also has silent alarms that just flash a red light. It has a night light and a back light and yeah. It’s pretty sweet and means I don’t have to try and remember exactly when I fed or changed him last.
Netflix, BBC Canada, Grooveshark – Awesome for during a feeding or pumping, I can just put on a Buffy or some Brandenburg Concertos, or Top Gear whatever and Wesley and I can watch some vampires get slayed/listen to some Bach/watch supercars while he’s eating. I am in love with the Graham Norton show nowadays as well.
WIPES. We use disposable ones, and they’re definitely critical for us. We go through lots of them wiping him and cleaning up little messes.
Nursing tanks – I’m wearing these instead of bras most days. I do have nursing bras as well, but these are slightly more comfortable. I’m pumping/bottlefeeding rather than nursing, but these still make pumping a lot easier and me a lot more comfortable. I have several.
Breast pump – Has made all the difference in feeding for us, since nursing didn’t work. When the cats chewed part of mine so that I couldn’t use it, I seriously almost flipped out because I use the thing so much. Thankfully I had a replacement part.
Baby sling/carrier – makes it easier to tool around the house if he’s fussy, hang out while Trevor’s making dinner, do laundry, or go down to the mailbox, etc.
Laundry bag – This thing is lightweight and super easy to tote up and down the stairs, and cheap as heck. Perfect for baby laundry.
There are other things that are useful- receiving blankets (good to cover the change table pad, put down on the floor when we’re hanging out there, as burp cloths, etc), extra warm blankets for soothing him to sleep or for going out, the stroller, etc. But the things above are the first things that come to mind.