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New year, new routine!

Lots of changes for us in this new year- I’m back at work!  Wesley is in daycare full time. He seems to really like the opportunity to get to play with other kids and other toys, and seems to do well with it. All these things have meant some changes to our daily routine.  Overall though, things have been going really well.

I’m really enjoying being back at work. There has been a lot of growth and change on my team while I was on leave, but lots of things have stayed the same as well.  I’m working from home one day a week and taking some time off here and there as well to ease the transition, which is nice. I’m liking going to the office, I like my new desk (lots of growth means lots of moving around in our office space!), and I like having a reason to wear a lot of my nicer clothes and rock the corporate-Jenny look. 🙂 Here’s what my new desk looks like:

desk

The work itself is still super great.  I’m getting to know the new people on my team and trying to introduce some organization that we will probably need more and more as we become a bigger team.

In the evenings, we don’t get a lot of time to hang out with Wesley before it’s time to put him to bed- in fact, this past week, Trevor and I were so busy that our whole family wasn’t all awake and home at the same time for more than a a couple hours the whole week. This coming week should hopefully be a little bit calmer.  On evenings where we don’t have anything else on though, we all eat dinner together and then spend time playing  in the basement- playing blocks, watching tv, doing whatever.

In other news, I’ve decided to learn to cross-stitch. I made a little project (one that’s meant for kids, but it was the perfect size to start off with). I really enjoyed it! I am going to try making some bigger things next.  It’s pretty satisfying actually, pretty simple and not quite as fiddly for me as knitting or crochet. Here’s the little penguin I made:

penguin

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.

Summertime

It has been a while since I wrote a post here, there is a lot to catch up on! It’s full on summer now. The weather has been hot, dry and sunny for a bit, which is nice, but we could use a good few storms to catch up on our rain.

My last post here was a few months ago, so the biggest new development isn’t reflected here yet- I’m pregnant! I’m about 14 and a half weeks along now. The first trimester was okay to me- a little rough at times, lots of nausea but I never threw up. I feel pretty good nowadays, but I’m still pretty tired here and there. Things seem to be going well- I’ve had a few ultrasounds, and have gotten to hear the baby’s heartbeat and things. I have a hard time sleeping at night, but overall, things aren’t too bad.

I’ve been enjoying an increase in free time- I’ve been paring down my volunteer activities, and it’s been great to get more time to myself again. I’ve cut back on theatre, and I’m not sitting on the board of KWLT anymore, which frees up some time, and I’m not singing with the Phil next year, so that frees up some time as well. Work is busy, but I hardly notice because I get to go home in the evenings, heh.

Having more free time also means I can devote some time to those around-the-house projects that have been backburnered for a long time. We got the walkway weeded over the weekend, did some cleanup, and next weekend, I’m planning to paint the front door and garage door (if it’s not too hot).

I saw the final Harry Potter movie over the weekend, and it was good! I definitely bawled my eyes out over Snape’s story. It might be the hormones, but that was a tear-jerker! It was pretty awesome overall. We also hit up the ribfest in Kitchener on Friday evening and had some nice bbq. It was pretty great.

Life and other things

Lots of other things going on for me right now- so continuing in that sort of “blurb” format!
Back to the Future Poster
Enjoyable Outings: I went to see Back to the Future on the big screen at the Princess Cinemas on a couple weeks ago. It was awesome. That movie was such a huge part of my childhood, and it was awesome to see it in the theatre- I was too young to have done so when it came out. Aside from the big screen and sound, the audience and experience was awesome. Everyone clapped when George McFly decked Biff, and at the end! I haven’t been. in a theatre that applauded in several years, it always adds to the magic.

Last weekend I went to a ceili for the first time, which was so much fun. For those not familiar, think of like, Irish square dancing, I suppose. The music was great, and the dancing was fun (I actually remembered some of the dances from years past) and I totally want to go back again. It was near Robbie Burns day, so I got to try haggis! It wasn’t bad, but I probably won’t seek it out int he future. 🙂

Both of those outings were in relation to friends’ birthdays- so yay friends for having birthdays!

Yoga: I was taking yoga classes at my work, from a co-worker who teaches at GoodLife gyms in the area. She’s stopped giving classes at work, so I was kind of looking for a new place to go, because I really enjoy it. I thought about just going to the GoodLife classes, but couldn’t seem to get out to do it, and I was looking for something with a little more to it than just the exercise/physical aspects. I tried out the community class at Queen Street Yoga last night (after Stacey recommended it), and it was pretty awesome. Definitely going back. I might add in some classes from GoodLife as well, but Queen Street has a great space, and the approach is a lot more body/mind and not so much just exercise.

Theatre: I’ve made a deal with myself that I won’t do any theatre for a while. I’m planning on working on a show next winter, but between now and then, I’m going to just take some time away. I work on projects for KWLT outside of shows (specifically the website), and do so much other stuff that I wound up not having enough time for myself or my friends or family, and that’s lame. So taking a break. Should be nice!

Choir: There’s a concert coming up for choir, and I’m finding this season that I’m starting to feel a little choir fatigue. Maybe it’s just the way this season shook out, and maybe it’s just because I’ve been overwhelmed with other things, but That said, the upcoming show will be awesome, and I’m looking forward to that and the rest of the concert season. I just wish there wasn’t so much work to do between now and then.

Video Games: I started playing Starcraft II, and it’s super fun. I’m not very good at the game yet, but I did start playing a custom map called StarJeweled, and I am pretty good at that! Basically you play a game of Bejeweled and that lets you build units and stuff to beat the other players. It’s really fun! If anyone wants to give me some tips on how to play proper Starcraft, feel free. I’m good at building stuff, but not at winning. 🙂

I also bought Dr. Mario on the Wii over the holiday and that’s pretty fun. We played it like crazy, all New Years Day!

Other Games: Playing my first in-person game of Diplomacy this weekend. I’ve played online with people before, but never with the board and in person. It’s a long game, and I’m not great at it, but it should be fun!

Updates from the home front

I’m behind in posting about things, so I’m going to do a few posts to catch up! First, a catchup on homelife!

The Fuzz: Fuzz seems to be settling in. The cats aren’t wrestling and fighting as much as they were (though they still get into it now and again). They’re still not quite friendly, but I don’t worry as much about them killing each other, so that’s good.

Bedroom: We bought a bunch of new furniture for the bedroom, from IKEA. We needed to replace our dressers, and wound up getting new nightstands and a new shelf as well, and a new tv to replace the huge monstrosity that was in there. It’s really nice! Eventually we’ll probably get a bigger bed as well, but that is still a while off.

Trevor took a couple photos! They’re phone pictures, so a little fuzzy, but you get the idea.

There’s already a lot more room to move around in the bedroom despite there being more furniture, which is nice! And the new dresser is a lot nicer than the old one.

Kijiji experiences: We were able to sell our old TV on Kijiji, which was actually really awesome. I hadn’t sold anything on there before, but it’s really great for when you just want to get rid of something- people will come and pick it up, which saves a lot of hassle! Our old TV was really heavy and large, and now, we won’t have to lift it anymore and instead we have a much lighter tv. Hooray!

Next, I’ll write some more about other things that have been going on. Stay tuned!


Things that are awesome

This is just going to be a quick catch-all of things in my life right now that are awesome.

Snowthrower of awesome

Our electric snowthrower–  we don’t have a big driveway, but it’s enough that shoveling gets to be a time-sucking endeavour.  This thing makes clearing snow a lot quicker, and we don’t wind up with huge piles of snow that are hard to see around when we’re backing out of the driveway.  It’s a Toro 1800 Power Curve .

It’s pretty sturdy for an electric, and though it’s not made to eat through lots of slush and ice, it does great with all different kinds of snow.

Green Chai Tea – This stuff is awesome.  I like chai, I like green tea, and this particular combination is good.  The little tag on the teabag has a fortune-type thing!

Grooveshark–  Grooveshark is an amazing app that gives you access to a huge catalog of music you can stream- it’s basically like a huge, all-request radio station.  You can upload your own music so that you can access it through Grooveshark, and you can access music that others have uploaded as well.  You can set up playlists or use playlists that others have shared.  It’s really where I think music is going.  I purchased a VIP membership last year in order to  help support the company.

The performance is great. It’s quick, downtime is pretty rare (though not unheard of) and improvements come pretty frequently.  If you’re not already using it, you should start!

Sleep– I think one of my unwritten New Year’s resolutions is to get more sleep.  It’s amazing how much better everything is when one just gets enough sleep.  It’s one of the first things to go when time gets tight, and I think it needs to have higher priority than that.

Photo of Fuzzball, our new kitten

The Fuzz

The Fuzz– Our new cat is pretty awesome.  Even though he tends to start fights with Bumblecat, he’s pretty darn cute and hopefully he’ll calm down some as he gets older and he won’t get himself into trouble as much.