Toopy and Binoo

Mikey is obsessed with Toopy and Binoo. He calls it "be-butt" and I have no idea why. But they are a great little cartoon. There are a billion episodes on YouTube, so Mikey can watch different episodes all the time on the iPad. Keeps him entertained to say the least.

Why am I mentioning this?

Toopy and Binoo are coming to town! As soon as I saw this, I rushed to the website and bought tickets for the show in town. $111.75 for three tickets, but I know Mikey will love it to the extreme. The show isn't until October, so it's a while yet. But I am super excited because I know he will have a great time. And I probably will too.

Canadian elections were yesterday

Well the Canadian federal elections were yesterday, and it was full of surprises. This magazine has a great article summarizing the results.

On a personal note, this is the first year I didn't vote in the election since I reached the age of majority. It was a result of a few things: our recent move made showing ID and proof of address very difficult; I'm really not into politics; and my riding always votes for a certain party, and it isn't the one I'd vote for, so it feels like a waste of time and energy.

With all the changes that have happened, and will likely continue to happen over the next few years, I will definitely make more of an effort to keep semi-up-to-date and vote next time.

New hair cut

Here's a quick little shot of my new haircut. I love getting it straightened at the salon. It's the only time it's that straight.

Treats

Today I had my manicure/pedicure appointment. Fabulous!

No pics, but my fingers and toes are looking great. A nice blood red on my toes and a pale pink on my fingers. You can't really tell I even have polish on my fingernails, except that they are shiny. The pale pink makes them look so healthy.

The best part of the whole thing is the massage chair during the pedicure. I love those chairs! I totally need one for my house.


The worse part is the cuticle work. Ugh. I always find it slightly painful, and very gross. The worse was the baby toe on my right foot. I smashed it the other day, and completely splintered some of my toenail off. That hurt to have it worked on. It looks great now, but not fun.

I am getting my hair cut tomorrow. I am excited about that because it's been quite a while since I had it done last, over a year at least. I don't plan to have too much done, basically just a trim, and get some style cut into it.

Yea for pamper sessions!

More interviews

I am very excited that I had another interview this morning. It was a follow-up from a phone interview yesterday. And it went great! I should hear back this week either way. The only downside is the 40 min commute. Ugh. I just got away from that. But the job has great potential, and some risk as it's a new company.

Tomorrow I have my third interview for the job I mentioned last week, and the week before. This is such a slow process with this company. And it appears to be mainly the HR person's fault. When I had my second interview last week it was with the hiring manager. Who hadn't been told I was available immediately, or that a whole week had went by since my first interview. He was not overly impressed. My interview tomorrow is with the HR person, so we'll see.

Between the two jobs, I'm not sure which I want more. The first has so much potential. The second is with a large international company who will likely have much better perks and benefits. Besides being a secure job that won't go belly-up.

I guess I will just have to wait and decide if I am offered either one.

Where is the time going?

I can't believe it is already Thursday. This week has both flown by, and seemed to take forever. This being at home thing is driving me crazy. I totally need to go back to work, like yesterday.

Luckily, I do have an interview tomorrow morning. This will actually be my second interview with them as I did a phone interview with them last Thursday. Hopefully it goes well.

Mikey is enjoying me being home. He won't leave me alone for even 5 minutes. Even as I type, he is sitting on my lap with the iPad. I am not used to this constant companionship. I love being with him, but I am definitely working-mom material.

But I'm not complaining. I just forgot how hard and stressful job hunting is. And how easy it is to fall into a lazy routine. My weight loss goals are totally being blown. It is just too easy to snack when I am at home. But at least I can nap some days.

Electronic family

We are such an electronic gadget family. We have way too many, and the list keeps growing.

We have the essential computer.
We have multiple video games systems with a PS3 and a Wii.
We have smartphones that can do almost everything except housework.
We have an iPad that Mikey seems to claim as his own.
And the newest addition: I have a Sony eReader.

I got it for my birthday from my husband. Mostly because Mikey won't let me read books on the iPad. He tends to wander by and hit the Home button while I'm reading. Then climbs up and picks a game for us (him) to play.

Apparently Mike contemplated just getting another iPad, but they are so expensive. My little eReader is portable, and an adorable pink. And of course I needed a cover with a light in a matching pink. Overload of pink to keep the boys away.

Happy birthday to me!

Happy birthday to me! Today I turn 29.

My day has been pretty quiet and uneventful. Up at 6:30 with Mikey like usual. We cuddled and played like usual. Mike got up much later and gave me a card that he got Mikey to sign, and a word puzzle book, and a pack of 3 Cadbury eggs. They are my favourite!

Mike went out just after lunch, and Mikey and I planted some flower seeds in an indoor pot. We made brownies with chocolate chips sprinkled on top. Then we played play dough. He didn't want to nap until 2. And unfortunately, it is now 5:30, and he still hasn't woken up. This does not look good for his usual 8 pm bedtime. It might be a late night.

During his extended nap, Mike came home, and has since gone out for the evening. How did he get the night out on my birthday?! I finished my book (One Day), and started the next one (Smuggled). I have read a bunch of blog posts, almost caught up, only about 100 left to go. It is amazing how many there are if you take a day or two off.

I should find something to make for supper. It is hard to be motivated though when it's just me and Mikey.

My mom didn't even call. Maybe she will later tonight. My sister did text, and we are going over for birthday supper later this week. A very uneventful and quiet day indeed. 

100 Followers!

I reached 100 followers! That is awesome! Thanks so much to everyone for reading my ramblings.

I will definitely need to host a giveaway to celebrate. What I should giveaway, I have no idea. What would you like to win?

Treat myself

This morning I decided to treat myself to a Starbucks hot chocolate. I am loving the milk and cocoa version, as oppose to my old favourite of water and milk chocolate versions a la Tim Hortons. Of course, my treat comes via a gift card from Christine at The happily ever after as a win in the In Death reading challenge. (Thanks Christine!)

I was totally impressed with the service at my local Starbucks. I have never been through a more polite drive thru.

I wasn't greeted with "Can I take your order?", it was "Good morning. How are you?" After my response, she asked "What can I get for you today?"

After I ordered, she gave me my total and told me to "please come on up", not the usual "drive up", or "first/second window please".

When I gave her my printout for my e-card, she had to check with a few other people, since only one of them had seen this type of gift card before. But she was polite, and quick. And someone else mentioned that "someone must love you to treat you". Yes, someone does.

All I can say is thank you Starbucks for starting my morning so pleasantly. It makes up for having to pay almost $4 for a hot chocolate.

Vacuum maintenance

Have you ever changed the belt in your vacuum? I did last night, and let me tell you, the vacuum is the most disgustingly dirty appliance ever! I totally needed a shower afterward.

I also changed the filter, which is a whole story onto itself. Not the actual changing, that takes 5 seconds. But getting the filter? Here's my adventure:

I have a Dirt Devil upright. Good, solid machine. Takes an F1 filter. Which really needed to be changed, because it was starting to stink really bad whenever I vacuumed. So I checked at Walmart, but the filter cost $50! I am not spending that much on a vacuum filter. I only spent $75 on the vacuum in the first place!

So I started looking online. First stop was the Dirt Devil website. It's only $20! Much better. But look a little closer, and they don't ship to Canada. So no good.

So I started looking at Canadian sites. Staples has it for $25. Still good. Until you factor in the $15 shipping charge. Plus taxes still brings it to $50. Grr...

This lead to Amazon, where the .ca still let me down. The .com though, I found it for just under $30, shipping included. Much better. I only had to wait 3 weeks. But to save $20, I can wait. And I did. And it was great.

For comparison, the belts cost $4 for two, picked up at any hardware store. What makes the filters so special?

Migraines and stress

I went to the doctor's this morning to discuss my headaches. I have been having migraine level headaches every day for two weeks. Sometimes they happen while I am sleeping, sometimes during the day. I couldn't think of any one thing that has been different, so I wasn't sure of an exact trigger. So off I went.

My doc says they sound like cardiovascular headaches, which are typical for migraines. It means they are caused by blood vessel constricting in my head. Painful and annoying. After discussing my life for the past month or so, he is certain they are caused by stress. I'd agree, especially after he made a list of everything I mentioned. Here's the list:

- car accident on Dec 29 - 2 days before headaches started
- the company I work for has been purchased, and is effective March. This was announced the week before Christmas.
- Christmas
- bathroom leaking water in large, smelly, messy quantities. This started (again) Christmas Eve. And is still continuing. Apparently someone is supposed to come today. We'll see if they show. They were scheduled for last Thursday and didn't come.
- my husband is still working as a temp. He has his hours in, and is just waiting to hear if/when he will be made permanent.
- my son has been on and off sick for the past month. He is just getting over a cold, so he is still not eating well. And not sleeping through the night. Although he did sleep 12-6 last night. The first time in a long time.
- I am struggling with my schooling. I can't seem to get into it, probably because I have no time. I looked at dropping the course I'm doing right now, but I missed the deadline. And I don't want a zero or failed attempt because then I have to pay to retake it.
- my husband really wants to try for another baby. I would like to have another one, and have them relatively close together, but I have been waffling a bit.

Sound like a long list? It is. I think the doc may have hit the nail with the stress bit. His recommendations?

- take Tylenol every 4 hours to try to help prevent it.
- take Advil if I feel a headache starting. I have so far only been doing this. And it is working, with time and preferably some sleep.
- try to reduce some stress. Yea right.
- try to get as much sleep as possible. Already trying, thanks.

My son has a check-up next Friday, so he'll check me at the same time. If I have less headaches between now and then, we'll continue with this. Otherwise, he will look at migraine-aimed medicine.

I still plan to go have my eyes checked in the next little while, both to rule this out as a cause, and to address the contact issue I have been having. Although, my contacts have been comfortable and working great without problems for the past two weeks. Go figure. Hopefully my headaches diminish and I'm feeling better soon.

Happy New Year

Just a quick post to say Happy New Year. I just got back from my trip, and it's always great to visit, but just as great to get home. Hope everyone had a great New Year's.

Friday night leftovers Dec 31

It's Friday already. This has been a fast week. And not really a great week. Here are my leftover random thoughts at the end of the year:
 
My son and I are going to visit my mom for the weekend. It's a 6 hour drive there. We are splitting it into two parts since my grandma lives half way. So we are going to my grandma's this evening, and then the rest of the way tomorrow morning. But we are coming all the way home on Monday, with a break for lunch at grandma's. I am so happy we got a DVD player for the car. Otherwise, the drive is horrible.
 
I am excited to drive a new car this weekend. And one that is automatic. My car is a standard, and it is killer on the legs when driving for hours. My knees get so sore. I have been thinking about selling my car and getting an automatic, but the money just isn't there right now.
 
Our bathroom is leaking again. Oh yea! Not from the hole in the ceiling though, the water is coming from above the sink. Through the wall. Noticed the light was making sizzling noises last night. This morning there is water running from the corner of the wall/ceiling, along the seam to the door frame, and dripping down there. Hopefully this gets fixed as fast as the last drip. Not likely since there is a hole in the hallway ceiling with a bucket collecting water. And it's been there all week. I think our water is coming from the same source.
 
Work has been super quiet with most people on holidays. And chilly! I keep forgetting to bring a sweater. Brrr. I'm kind of looking forward to everyone being back next week. It's creepy when it's too quiet.
 
I think that's everything! For the year! Can't believe how fast the year went.

Friday night leftovers Dec 24

Things have been crazy this week, so no posts other than the book reviews I wrote up and scheduled on Monday. Here is a snapshot of my week:

Had an oil change scheduled for 8:30 Tuesday morning. It would make me up to 30 min late for work, but that's no problem. But did I remember? Not until I was at work, waiting for my computer to sign me in. Then I glanced at my calendar, and saw the appointment. Oops! Ran to my car and to the mechanic where they laughed at me, and got me finished within 30 min. I love my mechanic!

I have had a bad cough all week. It started Sat, and got progressively worse. On Wed I called my doctor to get an appointment. Thursday afternoon was the soonest, so I took it. I have been waking up at night to cough, choke, and throw up. I get slightly dizzy when I cough too hard, and it is beginning to hurt. I was worried I might be getting pneumonia. Luckily, I don't. I do have a prescription for antibiotics, and a cough that cough medicine won't touch.

Finally figured out what Buckleys tastes like. Vicks Vaporub! Yuck! And it's not working, so I'm not going subject myself to that torture.

I took my son with my to the doctors because he had a cold last week, and his eyes still are gunky, and sticking shut when he sleeps. He started fussing when we pulled in the parking lot. Threw up a mouthful in his carseat (note to self - must wash carseat cover). Kept fussing in the waiting room. Wished I could reason with him and reassure him we weren't there for him. Then he threw up all over the carpet. The new, 2 month old carpet. Fabulous. It least the waiting room was empty.

My son now has eye drops for his yucky eyes. I am not looking forward to trying to get them in his eyes. He freaks out, scrunches his face, and grinds it into the floor to avoid me wiping his eyes with a warm washcloth to unstick them in the morning.

Amazingly, his eyes were clean this morning. Not a drop of yuck.

Our bathroom ceiling started leaking yesterday morning. Yes, the ceiling that was just fixed. The toilet above us has been running non-stop since people moved in 2 weeks ago. And it was obviously leaking in addition to running. Water started leaking out the vent, the edges of where the ceiling was repaired, and out the door frame. But, the plumber was there by 1 pm. And had the leak fixed by 2 pm. Apparently, they don't want to deal with us for more problems. Yea!

Found out last week that my company has been sold effective March 1. We are being reassured that everyone still has a job, and they are excited to have us. Sure, we'll see. I'm not worried though. I can adapt to change. And I really expect (and hope) that there will be big changes.

The new company gave everyone a present for Christmas. An iPad!! Yes, they are definitely trying to buy our love, but I can go with that. Most definitely...

That's about it I think. My week so far. Merry Christmas everyone!

Exciting night

I am so excited about tonight. For the second time since my son was born (almost 19 months ago), my husband and I are going out by ourselves. Yes, two dates in over a year and a half is pretty sad. But we're going out again next Friday for my company Christmas dinner, so that makes 3 times out, with twice in one month!

The vice president at my work owns a box suite to the Kitchener Rangers OHL hockey games. Earlier this week he offered to give a pair of tickets for the game tonight to anyone who was interested. So I jumped all over that! A chance to do something cool without spending a fortune?! I'm on it.

So I lined up a babysitter and tonight will be a hockey good time! Go Rangers!

Losing myself

Somedays I feel like I'm losing myself. I no longer have an identity of my own. I am simple mother, wife, a faceless worker in the world of business. What I do doesn't really matter, who I am doesn't really matter. Do I do anything for myself? Or just what is expected and demanded? How can I tell?

I wrote my exam last night, and I think I did okay. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I'm not sure if it's a good sign or not. Last time I thought I did great, I barely passed it. This time, I didn't put nearly as much effort into the course as I could and should have. I just don't feel the motivation. What am I doing it for? Not for my current job. And looking for a new one, everyone wants experience. Your education is secondary. So how do you move up and around without that experience? I know that theoretically doing my schooling is a good thing. It should lead to big and better futures. But it's hard to feel that some days.

I go to work. Get through the day. Some are good days, today was not. When co-workers treat you like a child who can't do anything right, it's hard to be motivated to be cheerful and productive. When your boss has no voice, and no presence, how can you expect to get anywhere, receive any recognition, feel like an important team member?

I get through it, knowing it's a job. It's not supposed to be your life. But I love working. I want to love my job, have passion for it. Sometimes it just feels empty and a waste of time. Then I come home. And nothing is any better. I'm just the person who accommodates. Who is supposed to look after everything. It's all what everyone else wants, nothing about me. I'm just there for them. But what about me? Why am I lost in the shuffle?

Today I am not happy. Not cheerful. Sad, grey and feeling down. Throwing my vent into the wind in hopes that the feeling will leave and I'll feel better.

Fender bender

So I realized that my description of my week left out something. The fender bender.

Wednesday I had my cellphone plugged in at work because I tend to drain it right to dead. And it always starts beeping at an inopportune time, like when I am headed out the door to work. So it was plugged in. And I remembered this as I was getting in my car to go home. I figured I better grab it because (a) I don't want to leave my expensive phone somewhere overnight, and (b) I don't have a home phone anymore, so if someone needed to reach me, I need my cell.

So I needed to go get it. But it's not that simple because the parking garage is on the next block up from my work. So I figured I would drive to the back door and dash up. No problem. I just need to go around the block and up to the building.

I was waiting at the light to turn, and BAM. The chick behind me didn't stop until her bumper hit mine. Amazingly, there is only a tiny scratch on my bumper. This is the second fender bender I have had in this car where there was no real damage. Thank goodness, especially since I just shelled out way to much money in repairs this week.

Thursday I was a bit sore. I knew I would be. I didn't see the accident coming, so I wasn't tensed up, but I was standing on the clutch, so that leg was tense, and got quite the jolt. But nothing a hot shower didn't fix.

Is the week over yet?

This week has felt so long. Or maybe I have just been super tired. I feel like I am dragging myself around all week. And it's only Thursday. Ugh. But it's been busy so far:

Monday:
- Nothing special happened. Just a regular day.
- Magoo did not sleep well that night, so neither did I.

Tuesday:
- Took my car in for repairs. I had taken it in last Friday because the front corner was making bad clunking noises whenever I hit a bump. Which is often. Gotta love potholes. I had to take it back in Tuesday because the parts needed to be ordered in. Which parts? Control arm for the clunking corner and ALL 4 sway bars. Ugh. There goes $1200. Which uber-sucks because I only had $140 in my car repair fund. So much for having my credit card paid off.
- Magoo slept even worse that night. Two tantrums during the night.

Wednesday:
- Had our hearing at the tenant board about the length of time it took to repair our bathroom. It was 3 months from the day it started leaking to the day they patched and painted. Way too long in my opinion. The result was favourable for us, and confidential. But we'll still be moving at the end of our lease. I'm counting the days, and it's still over 100.
- Magoo slept better last night. Although he woke up at one point and was freaking out. Rolling around in his bed, yelling and crying, and didn't want to be picked up. Lasted about 5 minutes. Then I picked him up, gave him a drink, and he went right back to sleep.

Today is a regular day. Except that I'm exhausted. But I don't work tomorrow since Magoo has a doctor's appointment, and it always takes forever. And I have Monday off too for his pediatrician appointment, which I don't think will go great since there is still no food chewing going on. At 18 months, he should be eating normal food. Or at least chewing some finger foods. But no, super smooth is still the only way he'll eat. So frustrating.

Here's hoping I can get some sleep this weekend though.

Christmas shopping

I am so excited to be almost done Christmas shopping. I bang out most of it over the weekend. The only people I have left are my brother and my husband. My brother is likely getting tools, but I didn't want to give him the same items as my brother-in-law, so I will wait for next weekend's sales to finish him up I think. And I thought I knew what I was getting my husband, it was even on sale this past weekend, but he decided he really didn't want that item. So now I am back to trying to find something.

I have a self-imposed deadline of Dec 1 to finish all my shopping. I refuse to go into crazy mall crowds in December. I am not a fan of crowds, and I just don't need to deal with that. We'll see how it goes. With only two people left, it shouldn't be too difficult.