Stick Art

For the longest time (ok 3 years or so) I've wanted art to put over our bed. We have a king size bed and any art that would look decent behind it was WAY over my budget. I have spotted pieces at art shows and furniture stores and yes, even Ikea...and I always hmmm'd and hawwww'd and then would walk away knowing my budget couldn't take that kind of hit for something only T & I (well, really only I) would care about.

Then one random day while browsing Pinterest. I came across what I call 'Stick Art'. I loved it, well with the exception of the tacky frame. I loved that it brought part of nature inside and could be made relatively cheap.

See Pin HERE.

Off I went to Ikea to find a frame for over my bed, you know thinking Ikea would be cheap. Wrong, well right kinda - I spent $50 on the frame.

Next I thought I'd venture out into the woods and find some sticks. Easy enough, there is a ravine behind my house - but there are snakes in that ravine. Plus, what am I going to do with G while I find sticks? The ravine is not stroller friendly. I could wear him but the constant bending would be a nightmare and well my baby monitor does not go that far if I wanted to venture while he was napping. So abort plan venture into the woods.

Then while sitting eating dinner I spot my tin bin of gathered sticks, ironically also from Ikea bought a long time ago. I wasn't going to miss a few of those from the gathering so I yanked a few out and chopped them up.

Putting together this art was a nightmare - because I'm indecisive and clearly not a forward thinker when it comes to working with sticks. First to mat or not to mat? Then to place backing or leave wall color? Then a million little bits of stick stick to the plastic etc. A trip to the dollar store provided me with cheap backing (bristol board) and I thought I was finally done.

Wrong. I had tossed the hanging equipment that had come with the frame, and with the sticks not being flat the backing and hanging was getting akward. There is always a time for duct tape my friends!! I duct taped the back on, then drilled screws into the frame and hung with some sort of plastic wiring.

And TAAAAA-DAAAAAA done.

Here is the stick art in our living room. It looks much better in our bedroom, but T is sleeping in our bedroom right now and would not take well to being woken for a picture of my art.

So all in all, this could have been done cheaper IF I had found a frame at a yard sale, but ain't nobody got time for that.

Sorry EVERY time I use that phrase lately I think of this and die laughing.



Food bank

Next day of charitable giving... right here!

I had seen a barrel in the LCBO with a sign asking for donations.

LCBO = wonderful glorious place (ah.hem over priced) that provides me with an amazing selection of wines from all over the world, baileys for my morning coffee, Crown Royal for family events, and even the cheapo girly wine that T loves. Basically the only place you can buy liquor and specialty beers in Ontario as we Canadians can't buy booze in grocery stores or corner stores. Just in case any of my American readers were confused.

I had heard a news story on the radio one day that my town had a huge shortage for non-perishable items going into the holidays. They gave the numbers of people who required help last winter and stated that the number had increased this year. 

I couldn't imagine going to bed hungry, going to work hungry, going anywhere hungry. If I'm hungry there isn't much on my mind other than where and when I can find food. This often backfires as I'll get caught up doing something and not realize I've missed a meal and then get so hungry I want to gnaw off my arm so I end up grabbing fast food because it satisfies the need immediately without me cooking or making a mess in the kitchen. I can't tell you how many times over the summer I ate two Mediterranean chicken snack wraps and drank a large diet coke (Yay! Dollar drink days!) from McDonald's  I also ate those in the car as it was easier to eat and drive back home than it was to try and eat once I got home with G all over the place. I'm a multi-tasking pheen. 

Ok, back to my donation - here it is:

I know there is not much variety - but there are different kinds of pasta, lots of different kinds of side dishes, and organic Heinz ketchup - only the best stuff on earth. I thought it was funny that I donated American groceries to the Canadian Food bank. Not really supporting the local economy - but I could get more for the  money in the states, and the amount of food is what mattered. 

I looked pretty funny carrying this box in and placing it beside a few random items in a barrel, but oh well. I did my part. I am perfectly happy looking funny carrying this in as I'm hoping the others walking in empty handed felt a bit guilty and decide to donate another time. 

*IF there are ANY McDonald's people reading this - bring back the mediterranean chicken snack wraps and keep dollar drink days on all year and no one gets hurt, umkay :) *

Good Will

Hello Again!

As mentioned in the previous post I have been gathering clothing for good will. And here is what I came up with!

This is AFTER I took 3 bags already. Two of my clothing and one big WHOOPS of T's. During this process I discovered that my husband is hoarder of pants - khaki dress pants hemmed to his 29 inch pant length. Some relatively short man is going to be very well dressed. With the pants in that pile, plus what is in his closet, and a few that are still in storage I bet the man had close to 70 pairs of pants. Now tell me...WHO has the shopping problem?

I went on Good Will's website to find out where to take my items locally and found this great calculator telling you what an impact your donation will make. Here are my results:

           *I counted the dress pants as suits as there wasn't a dress pant option*

I tell you this feels great! Not only am I giving to people who need it, but I'm also creating more space in my house.

Next up will be the foodbank. I've started seeing donation boxes at the LCBO, stories on the news, and articles in the paper. I've got a lot of stuff here from my 'the baby is coming and I must buy everything in bulk' era and my '10 for $10 cross border must buy everything grocery steals!' era. Plus, I'm going to grab a few things that they have listed as needing.

These days of charitable giveaways feel amazing!

Mission Services

The weather has changed here recently. It is cooler, the skies are gray, and the leaves have turned amazing colors. It is beauitful to just go for a drive for the views (and I do this often so G will nap). It is also Thanksgiving weekend, and while I should be running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to attend every family Thanksgiving dinner going, G has a contagious eye infection so we are stranded.

As much as I will miss the people, the conversations, and the food, I will hopefully get to spend some quality time with T and G and get more items sorted for my upcoming Good Will donation. Speaking of which in true J9 style when spring cleaning on minimal sleep in the early months after G was born I seem to have donated all of T's winter clothing! Oops!

I've gone through bins labeled 'too big' or 'too small' and couldn't find 'winter' - why? because it doesn't exist. I'm not sure how I did this? But I also lost a box of cheques and supposedly a set of T's work keys.

So now I seem to have piles of clothing that T doesn't fit into and none that he does! This could be one expensive fall/winter as he sure is one picky dresser.

So..back to Mission Services. My original plan was to put up for sale some kitchen items we were no longer using (toaster oven, platters, glasses, etc), but decided to donate them instead. I just haven't had the time to take pictures, upload, post, and then schedule pick up or delivery.

However, a friend mentioned needing a desk to replace one her son had ruined and I just so happened to have a spare in my basement so I sold it for $30. $30 bought 9.66 Thanksgiving meals for men this holiday :)

I hope those men enjoy their turkey while G & I eat KD & cheerios :)

CBCF.Org

Today was the day. The day I jumped back up on the horse and ran a race and it felt amazing. Unlike the last race I fully participated in fundraising for the cause as The Canadian Brest Cancer Foundation has become near and dear to my heart lately.

As you are aware T started a new job about a year ago and has met some great new co-workers. It was one of these co-workers who shared that his wife was fighting breast cancer. Through out the year T would update me on the situation as it was progressively getting worse, and last Monday she lost her battle. She was trying to hang on to meet her first grandchild (due this week) and didn't make it. My heart aches for her family and the battle they had to fight, and my hope is that they find strength in the amount of support that has been pouring in and the success of today's event.

Team Tough Titties (myself, G, & a friend) raised over $800! G wore pink pants with a ruffle on the butt & I ran and sang my heart out (under my breath of course) and beat my personal best time.

I know G is too young to understand what was going on. But I am sure one proud mom to add this picture to the adventures of his first year and I hope that as he grows I can instill a passion to help others.

12 days of charitable giveaways!

You read that right. The holidays are approaching and I’m feeling thankful and generous this year. I have been blessed to have a year to learn and explore with my son and I feel like this year I finally have time to donate the way I would like to instead of the half ass way I’ve been doing it all these years.

Do you ever do this? There is a knock on the door or the doorbell rings and you aren’t expecting anyone. You automatically assume canvasser and mute the TV, muzzle the children, and hide. You hope that they go away and you can avoid having to turn down another charity looking for a donation. I’ve done this. I don’t even answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number.

I know the world has fallen on hard times lately but I’ve decided this year I’m going to do my part to help out.

Ever watch Ellen? You know her 12 days of giveaways? She dances around singing and being all cheerful and making everyone happy leading up to Christmas? Well, I’m sure she probably feels amazing over the holidays that she got to be so giving. So I’m going to take from that and make this Christmas one of the most memorable by giving what I can to who I can on my…….

12 Days of Charitable Giveaways!!!!

Here, in no particular order are the charities that I will be donating to over the next three months:

1.       Canadian Brest Cancer Society (running 5K and have raised over $800)

2.       Humane society  (knitting blankets for kennels and donating pet food)

3.       Koats for Kids ( boys & girls club of London) Donating winter coats for children

4.       Mission Services (Selling kitchen items and donating the money to provide thanksgiving meals)

5.       Good will (sorting bins and bins of clothing and donating)

6.       London food bank (filling a grocery bag of non perishable food items)

7.       Operation Christmas child (putting together a shoebox of school supplies)

8.       Toys for tots (donating toys for children for Christmas)

9.       Textbooks for change (Donating textbooks to help with the cost of getting an education)

10.   Ronald McDonald House (purchasing items on their wishlist)

11.   Sunshine Foundation (donating my HBC points to help children fulfill their dreams)

12.   OSPCA (purchasing a cat appointment for someone who can’t afford one)

I would encourage you all to jump on board with me. Do what YOU can. Do as little or as much as you can. You won’t be disappointed afterwards, I promise.

Of course, I’ll keep you updated and post pictures on this wonderful journey, as you know…it’s the most wonderful time of the year!!!!!

Intermission

I've been busy lately.

Busy rocking, singing, kissing, chasing, reading, running, laughing, and generally being in awe of watching my little man explore the world. I thought my life was busy before, I knew nothing.

My sisters's wedding has come & gone, I've lost 25lbs, escaped to Niagara Falls for a night away, and attempted to spend every moment possible with a friend who was only here for the summer (blog post on that pending).

I've had zero time to read, write, take long baths, watch television, keep up on fashion, but he's worth it.

I've got another bucket list in the works and a list a mile long of things I want to get done, and blogging is on that list.

So....here's hoping the crickets don't last around here long.

Now gotta run, the kid is sucking on a cell phone charging cable....that is plugged in!!!

Pink

The color pink has been haunting me recently. It started with the hot pink bridesmaid dress that did not fit. The dress has been hanging on the inside of my closet door taunting me every time I enter my bedroom. The annoying ‘Final Countdown’ song by Europe would play in my head as I’d make a mental note of just how many days were left before I had to wear the dress. There were back up plans in place to have a seamstress alter the dress or even a plan to cross border shop for an entirely new dress.

With 28 days left until I have to wear the dress, the dress fits!

Remember my ‘I’ve joined weight watchers’ post? Well, 10 weeks in I’ve lost 17.5lbs, am back in all my pre-pregnancy  clothes, and am 9lbs from the lowest weight I recall in the last oh say decade. But I’m not stopping now there is more pink!

Check out these beauties:

These are NIKE lunarglide +4’s and they are the best pair of running shoes I have ever owned. Sure I find them a little flashy, but who cares – they are beyond comfortable. These shoes along with the new jogging stroller from my previous post and a child who wakes me up between 5am & 7am most days have allowed me to get back to running 5k each morning!!! I run 5K most mornings before T even leaves for work.

And there is still more pink!

On September 30^th I have decided to do the ‘Runfor the Cure’ for The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation – you know because my pink shoes will fit in there J I may even dress G in pink and bring him along for the run? I felt so amazing after my ½ marathon a few years back and don’t have the time to train for anything that large, but I think a fun 5K, and maybe even a 10K in the fall might be do-able. A friend and I will be participating as a team – which is still nameless, but if you’d like to donate shoot me an email: neener19@hotmail.com

And just for shits and giggles here is Aerosmith’s ‘Pink’

Hoarders: Stroller Edition

I have a problem, admitting it is step one. How many strollers do you think one 6 month old needs? If you are anything like the people I have asked this question the response is one or maybe two. How about four? For a combined total of about $1,000. That is JUST on strollers people?! You want to know how expensive kids are? Well, there’s a start. I won’t even get started on the accessories to go with the strollers and the baby carriers (where you strap your kid to you) that I have also purchased.

It all started with stroller envy, and at that point I didn’t even have my kid yet. I’d go for a walk and see these fine pieces of art strolling buy and think “I need to get me one of those, one of those will make having kids easier”.

Then started the research – amazon reviews, mommy forums, resale values – where I learned types of wheels, and weight, and cargo space required, and what fancy features each had and here is where I began.

Picture if you will me bored at work (not even pregnant yet) browsing kijijiji (Canada’s craig list) for baby items – you know just seeing what was out there. When I came across a woman selling a barely used peg perego stroller that had good reviews I jump on it. I sneak over one day and pick it up on my lunch and realize it takes up the entire trunk of the Jetta (ok, maybe not the entire…but 85%). It seems huge to me, and I realize it just isn’t what I’m looking for… you know for my un-conceived child. BUT, I decide it is something that I would take to my mother’s so that she can use it for all her future grandchildren. I then proceed to sneak it into the house and hide it in the spare bedroom closet as if T saw it at that point he’d probably have crapped his pants.

When I really started to look for what I wanted – light, colorful, adapts to a car seat etc, I remembered a stroller friends of ours had on vacation previously. It went through sand and on trails and packed up pretty small, so I looked it up - $700. Ouch. My dream was to own an Uppababy vista. (SHOULD NOT have gone to the site to link it for you, I just saw the G-Luxe and G-Lite and now want one of those!!!)It has a bassinet so when my conceived child at this point was born they would be able to use it inside the house and out. It came in yellow – perfect for spotting in large crowds. It turned on a dime and took up less space in the Jetta and it was oh so light! I stalked mommy forums until someone posted a 4th of July sale and scored it for $500. I told T resale would be awesome, and I could attach a second seat for a future child, etc. It was mine – well, Banditt claimed it as his J

For the first five months or so of G’s life I had the uppababy and loved it. Then one weekend I wanted to go to a market that was in an old building – plenty of stairs, no elevators, and I didn’t want to strap him to me because I was having some back issues – so this situation started the hunt for an umbrella stroller.  I had gone cross border shopping with my mom and aunt and found a lovely Graco umbrella stroller – technically it isn’t an umbrella that it just folds up – I went for the $70 deluxe version that has a basket, canopy, and cup holders. It takes up a tiny bit of room which is what I need when I have other purchases and I needed the basket for said purchases. T kinda got upset when this one came home.

This is my aunt assembling it IN target with a hammer from the hardware dept.

The final stroller and the one I’m likely to get in shit for is my new jogging stroller. I went back and forth with do I want one or need one, can’t I just be happy with a low quality one, will it motivate me to jog more? Again I searched reviews, forums and discovered the stroller I wanted was a BOB Revolution. So I started hunting kijiji in hopes of finding one used. It was like searching for a unicorn. Then it happened – first thing one morning I see an ad for one – never used still in box and the ad had been posted for 8 hours (seriously, who posts stroller ads at midnight?). It was 2 hours from where I live, and had over twenty something hits. I responded with “I will take it, have cash, can be there ASAP”, and got no response. I checked my email eighty zillion times. Nothing. I check the ad and the price had gone up $100. Now I was walking away – I could find a deal on a brand new one from the store. The seller emails and asks if I want it for $100 more. No….and I sulk for long enough to forget about it and tell myself I just wasn’t meant to have a jogging stroller. Then today an email pops up “I still have it. $300 and it’s yours”. Unlike shoes I can’t hide this from T under the bed. This one might be living in the trunk of the Jetta.

Ahhhh....... I'm having an ah-ha moment. My expensive purse addiction has been replaced with strollers!...well, not really. Maybe just put on hold.

Also – if you’re in the stroller market and want some reviews, I got plenty!

WW

As I am brutally honest I will tell you I’ve joined weight watchers. The oh so little bright pink bridesmaid dress showed up and it didn’t fit and I’m not about to go spend another $235 on a bigger dress that I’ll only wear once.

I was looking for something that will hold me accountable and that doesn’t rely 100% on exercise as walks with G is about as far as I get, and even that hasn’t happened lately because it’s too damn hot outside. The program is a little pricey (Over $100 for 6 months), but the software is amazing, and the app for iphone and ipad is great.

I’ve been on weight watchers for 6 weeks and have lost 13lbs. I’m one size away from my pre-pregnancy weight 6 months after G was born. I’m about ½ way to fitting into the dress, and just under 2 months to get there. I will.

I’ve learned my portion sizes used to be WAY too big, and I paid too little attention to what was in the food I’ve been consuming. I didn’t eat enough fruits or veggies, and drank too many calories as I lived on iced tea my entire pregnancy.

What I love about weight watchers (crazy to relate that word to a weight loss program)? I love that you can still eat whatever you want, it just tells you how much of it you can eat. If I want something like popcorn or chips or fast food I have to plan for it.

I drank a ton of liquids while pregnant so it has been pretty easy to keep that up, but prior to that I’m sure I was dehydrated more than not.

The hardest part has been finding the time to look up products or finding the time to record every single thing I’ve eaten, but it has been worth it.

I signed up for 6 months of weight watchers, so I’ll keep you posted on the final results. As much as I find the Jennifer Hudson commercials annoying, it is true. If you don’t think you can lose weight – you can.

Ok, so I may have a problem……

I believe I’ve mentioned before my love for Pinterest. I can lose precious minutes, oh who am I kidding…..hours looking at everything on there. I find room ideas for my future dream cottage, and outfits I want to buy when I can justify the money and might be able to look good in them again, and arts and crafts, and tons and tons of recipes.

Last fall it started with arts and crafts day with my sister when I saw this wreath:

And decided I wanted my own:

Turned out great you think? Well, the wreath lasted one season as I believe the hot glue I used wasn’t hot enough? I didn’t know hot glues had different temperatures. Oh well, the wreath is no more.

Lately I’ve decided to make the recipes and went a little hardcore.

Thursday nights are golf widow nights at my place so last week I attempted pizza balls and cheesecake strawberries. Both turned out great! The strawberries don’t look as beautiful as they could have but I only have limited time when G naps so it had to be quick. If you are going to make the pizza balls creating the balls without getting pizza sauce everywhere is time consuming and if you’d like to make the strawberries, the bigger the strawberries the better.

Here is pizza ball info:

Here are my pizza balls and cheesecake strawberries:

Next was the breakfast casserole. This recipe was tricky as it is an American recipe with American ingredients you can’t find here so I had to substitute as I didn’t have time this week for a cross border trip. I am assuming the sausage crumbles in the recipe are maybe spiced as I found the casserole to be bland and opted for cereal instead.

For father’s day dinner I prepared mixed berry cobbler– I have never had cobbler anything before. I was concerned when I cooked it as instructed and it still seemed very watery so I cooked it an extra half hour.  To my surprise everyone loved it!

So, I’m all ‘cooked’ out for a while as I’m going to eat nothing but air for the next 2 months so the bridesmaid dress fits. I’m also going to spend my spare minutes doing lunges and push-ups and power walks…..

If you’d like to follow me on Pinterest I’m ja9

J9 & Gman’s Favorite things!!!

It is kind of like Oprah’s list only this stuff isn’t free L. Here I give to you a few things that have saved my sanity, provided me with more sleep and generally kept Gman happy. If you are pregnant, or thinking of getting pregnant, or have a baby gift to buy for someone I highly recommend these life savers (also ironically all can be bought from Amazon).

1.       The happiest baby on the block. This book/movie saved DH and I numerous times over. It taught us how to calm Gman down in mere seconds using the 5 S’s instead of hours of rocking and walking and bouncing. Also the swaddle technique gave us extra sleep time or extra time to watch a sleeping baby because they are too cute not to.

2.       Fisher Price’s Rock n Play – This is worth every single penny and I do not know how we would survive without it? If your child is only sleeping/napping in short intervals this little rocker will pretty much double that time right off the get go. Plus its height is perfect for having it beside your bed and it folds up nicely for traveling with the little one. I don’t know why or how this works so well I think the hammock style of it mocks a mother’s arms and the incline helps babies with any kind of reflux, and the rocking allows you to transition your baby into it keeping some motion. Absolutely love it.

3.        The winkel – I was given this toy as a gift and as soon as Gman grasped the concept of grabbing and holding things this became his favorite toy. It rattles and is brightly colored and there are many places to hold onto it. Now at four months old you can’t stop him from trying to eat it.

4.       Fisher Price's Rainforest Jumperoo – Gman just started using this at four months old and he can’t get enough of it. It lights up and makes noise and he can spin around and look at different things. We get dizzy just watching him bounce. This sucks the energy out of him and often I’ll pick him up out of it and he’ll pass out in my arms immediately. I do believe this is a must have.

5.       The Waybuloos – Say what you will that babies should not watch television, but when mommy needs to eat or shower or return a phone call or email, this program out of the UK works wonders. They are creatures that float around and do Yoga and the episodes are 20 minutes long and my kid loves it.

Check back in another 4 ½ months as I’m sure this list will grow.

Mother's Day

Hey, remember me? I’m about to celebrate my first Mothers day and you know what I asked for? To sleep in and take a 3 hour bath. I’ve been dead tired, have had some serious back pain, and have been attempting to plan a wedding shower, a bachelorette, and getting all Martha Stewart crafty with DIY wedding projects.

Oh, and throw a trip to Myrtle Beach in there too (that deserves its own blog entry).

So you ask – how is it being a mother four and a half months in? Coming from someone who always thought I would never have children here is what I have discovered:

1.       You will miss yourself. I know this sounds odd, but you will. I miss my spur of the moment trips, my lunch dates, going to late shows, reading a good book for hours on end, cranking the tunes in the car, getting dressed and doing my make-up and hair every day, staying up to watch late tv shows, solo time with T, etc. I miss who I used to be, and hope that as my kid gets easier I’ll get some of those things back.

2.       Your kid screws with your body. Your hair falls out, and not just a little bit, a lot. So much so you are afraid to wash it for fear of going bald. Exercising sounds like a good idea, but A – I have no energy and B- would require 15 sports bras and C- have some pretty intense back pain caused from having/lifting/rocking/said kid. Long walks are as good as it gets these days. So at least I'm off work to go on those walks in beautiful parks.

3.       You will never sleep well again. I remember at the beginning I slept so little that when I actually had a dream one night I was excited that I had gotten that far into a good sleep. Sure you can go to bed when your kid goes to bed but when will you get any solo time for yourself to do anything or spend any quality time with your husband? I find the moment those eyes close I’d be running around frantically doing whatever I could because it can all be done so much faster if I do not have to watch Gman or carry him around with me. He now sleeps stretches of 6-8 hours at a time – but still what I would give for uninterrupted sleep.

4.       Baby bodily functions are not so bad. Right up until I had Gman thought spit up/puke/dirty diapers were horrid. Well they are, but I have never been so concerned with my child’s bodily functions to tell me he is healthy. I have become the baby wipe master! That being said if another person’s kid were to spit up on me, I would still be disgusted.

5.       Going and doing anything is difficult. It is time consuming and requires lots of planning and in the end you might not actually get to do or go where you had set out. If I could shop online and have everything delivered I would.

That is just a few, as I’m exhausted – 10pm on a Saturday night and I can’t wait to sleep. All things aside, there is nothing in the world I would not do for this kid. As much as my life has completely changed he is worth it all. Watching him learn new things and change every day has brought me so much happiness. He is the best thing I’ve ever done, and eventually he’ll get a brother or sister.

How could you not love this face? Yes, my child hangs out naked beside the tv remote all the time :)

Never thought I'd see this day....

I’ve had an addiction I never knew I had. I buy books, read them, and then never read them again. I have shelves, and bins, and boxes of books all in perfect condition just collecting dust. I finally answered the question I’ve been asking myself for years – “where does all my money go?”, you know besides clothes,…. and shoes.

I will be out and see a book I want to read and pick it up on the spot – not once have I thought to go to the  local Library to borrow it – you know because those books come with other peoples germs. Not that I overly care about germs, but I’m weird like that. I'd have to go out of my way to get a library card, and then try and find it, and because it is new I'd probably be put on a list to read it, and so on. Also, my mom works at a library, I could have books delivered, but still no. I must buy them, read them, and then store them.

Well, I’m running out of room. While my book collection is impressive and looks good on book shelves what is the point? Decoration?

Maybe this is stemming from the fact that I have zero time to read. Zero time to sleep, hell zero time to shower some days! I’m lucky these days to read the Saturday paper by Tuesday. Other things are more pressing – you know… laundry, exercising, attempting to cook decent meals, and now ‘Operation Chuckshit’, all while doing it in 10 minute intervals that my spawn entertains himself happily.

Sure I have some quiet time while he is eating or taking a nap on me (his best longest naps), but I’m finding my books too heavy and awkward to hold while doing such activities.

So.. and I can’t believe I’m going to say this. I think it is time for an eBook reader. I’m admitting defeat out of my need for their light design and missing reading oh so much. What is even more sad is that my plan is to sell my books to cover the cost of the eBook reader.

I have 3 books sitting here collecting dust waiting for me to read them. This has NEVER happened and I have a feeling I could be done all three if only they were in electronic form.

Oh how I hate the idea of starring at another screen, and not owning the physical book, and I’m sure once the necessity for ease of use is not so demanding I will probably return back, but I’m missing reading too much these days not to.

So eBook reader users  - do you have any tips? I’m currently eyeing the kindle fire – just because it will also let me multi task with internet capabilities and because it is much lighter than the ipad – which I still love only I find it too heavy to read anything for long periods of time without having it rest on something. It’s like when I was a kid and would get ‘Nintendo thumb’, it’s called ‘ipad wrist’.

I can’t tell you the sorrow I am feeling about giving up on the traditional book, but functionality and space talks.

Getting back on the horse

Remember when I went running every night and watched almost every movie that came out and did things spur of the moment? You know when I was a DINK. (Dual income no kids). While I’m back. Mind you I run a little slower, watch movies at ‘Stars & Strollers’ viewings, and anything that is spur is planned around every 2 hour feedings….but still I’m back.

There is still dust collecting on my heels, and my hair is never blown dry or curled and make-up is pretty basic if done at all, but I’m feeling like I’m almost back to myself.

I guess I didn’t lose myself, but that is what it felt like. It felt like I lived and breathed my kid. I was a zombie. I didn’t have the time or energy to do the things that I think made me me and that threw me completely off. I wouldn’t say it was baby blues it was more like feeling like a shadow of myself. If only I could birthed a 2 month old having a baby would have been MUCH easier.

I’ve been hitting the pavement daily. If I’m not throwing in head phones, passing off G and going for a jog, I’m tossing G in the stroller and heading out for a long walk. It feels great to be back at it. The ipod still has all the old tunes and my legs seem to have gone back into autopilot and I feel great afterwards. This should hopefully make getting into the itsy bitsy bridesmaid dress a little easier.

I’m back to shopping, and not just regular pop into the city shopping, or cross border shopping, but drive 3 hours to Yorkdale shopping and survive. Mind you, it is not as easy as it used to be, but with planning and no ‘set’ schedule it is doable. I will tell you more about the recent shopping adventures in the next post.

So I’m back. I hate sitting still, and am going stir-crazy in the house. I’m not a daytime television kind of girl. Is it sad that I still check my work email account almost daily? Yup. Can’t. Sit.Still. And having a baby has brought out a whole other level of multi tasking J

It is only going to be the event of the year..

…ok maybe the event of the second half. My little (but only by 17 months) sis is getting married! Every spare awake semi alert moment I have I’m helping to plan and organize a late summer tent wedding, and let me tell you tent weddings are a b*%ch. You have to think of everything from keeping ice cold, to a dance floor, to who’s going to wipe dew off the chairs. Only the most insane person would take on this feat and this is exactly who my sister is. I of course LOVE every moment of planning and organzing but am not 100% on my game as the alien wears me out.

Luckily as the alien gets older he gets easier and I'm becoming an expert internet researcher, budget cruncher, shrink, and my inner Martha stewart is back in action with craft ideas!

But now about the stress that is on me. The alien arrived 8 weeks ago today and for 6 of those weeks I was allowed to do nothing of the physical sort. Now that didn’t stop me from going up and down steps, carrying heavy objects, or doing two laps around the block on nice days…but these thighs and ass haven’t seen exercise since….does waddling in early November count? I was put on modified bed rest in November so you can only imagine what I look like in a bridesmaid dress right now.

Also, not JUST a bridesmaid dress. The maid of honor dress. It is different from the other bridesmaids and I get to stand RIGHT next to the bride. I’m not sure this is a great idea? You see my legs and thighs and ass are scary, the ta-ta’s are enormous, and thanks to the alien packing on weight and wanting to be held all the time my arms are getting fierce.

The dress is small. It’s short. I made sure that the ‘girls’ have coverage so they won’t be officiating the ceremony – but still the dress is still not something I would ever consider wearing if it wasn’t for my little sister. Did I mention the dress is hot raspberry? Oy.

So here we go people. When the alien naps in the morning on weekdays I’m hitting that treadmill for 45 minutes or the alien and I will go on 6k walks on nice days…come on spring! This wedding is 2 days short of 6 months away and I’ve got 25lbs that are not invited to the wedding.

So here is the dress (not this color). We have to order the dresses this week in order to have them in time so of course having dress measurements taken made me want to crawl into a hole and NEVER show any kind of skin again. There is no before picture as that would require me to get dressed and do my hair, and um shower and the alien hasn’t allowed me to do any of that today. I just got the option to blog or shower and I chose blog….so feel special!!!! I do however have a weight loss buddy, I have admitted my weight and measurements out loud, and I feel that is the first step. I WILL get back to that post ½ marathon body!

Alien Landed

I have become that person. The person I hated through my entire 20’s. The person I would ‘write off’ for all social activities.

The alien arrived January 2^nd and my life had turned completely upside down ever since. The arrival of the alien is so long and traumatic I’m currently putting together a high school speaking tour to bring an end to all teenage pregnancies :)
The shit ‘they’ don’t tell you about the end of pregnancy/giving birth/afterwards is enough to bring an end to the over population of the planet. It is a good thing I didn’t know or alien wouldn’t be here. And those who have had children can’t say they forget – because that shit can’t be forgotten, it’ll probably cause me night terrors for life!

BUT.

The alien is awesome. HE rules my world – seriously. He has taken over everything. He is within feet, if not on me 99% of my time. I am constantly thinking about if he’s hungry, if he’s gassy, if he’s dirty, if he’s breathing – Yes, I’m that mom that wakes up to watch his chest move up and down.

Watching him is my favorite thing to do. Watching his facial expressions or his hand gestures, or even watching him pitch a fit is priceless.  A month in I can tell when he’s hungry (he gives me a one-eyed pirate face), when he’s gassy (he smirks or screams), or even when he’s going to put a load in his pants (he puckers his lips).

We named the alien Grayden, but we also call him Grady. He is the reason I’ve fallen off the face of the planet. I haven’t gone to any social functions – why? Well, first was for medical reasons stating I could not drive, but if you knew me you’d know that wouldn’t stop me for long. It has been because I’ve been so  tired I don’t trust myself to transport G, and because I’m breastfeeding I’ve been avoiding caffeine (because why give something that won’t sleep caffeine?!?). When he does sleep I get precious time to sleep or eat or shower – often only one. Get properly dressed with make-up and everything? That’s a dream.

However, as hard as it has been, and the extra weight I need to lose before August (Sis’ wedding), and the complete write-off of my social life, it is all worth it. I live for our cuddles in bed every morning after T leaves for work, and his smiles melt everything and anything that could at all be bothering me. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life watching him discover his.

So, as I get time and energy back to myself I’ll be updating more, believe me I’ve got PLENTY of stuff to share.