Working Out

This work thing might not be so bad after all.

I had my first day back at work on Tuesday.  It went ok.  Things there haven't really changed, so that's nice.  It was hard to go, and I was a little teary for the first hour or so, but I did ok.  More importantly, so did Haydon.  He was a little clingy James said, and bed time was rough, but he hadn't slept well the night before, so he may have been that way anyway because he was tired.  I took my pump, pumped a bit after dinner (I work afternoon shifts, 1-9 or 3-11), and all was well.

Today's my second shift.  And, as much as I wasn't a huge fan of working afternoons and missing out on bedtime, there are definitely perks to working afternoons.  Like the fact that I've spent all day with my boys!  I was able to hang out a load of laundry, bath my kiddo, go for a walk with my main men, have a nice lunch, and put Haydon down for both of his naps.  He starts bedtime around 6, so, really, I'm only going to miss about 3 hours of his day.  AND he finally accepted a bottle, so James is able to give him milk before bed, and, there's not much to worry about!  I'll be able to spend a big chunk of the day with him, James will be able to work on school assignments while I'm around, and everything's gonna be a'ight.

That's a relief!

In other news...I've gone almost a whole week without buying stuff, kinda, sorta.  Ok, it was Saturday last week that we binged.  And tomorrow's Saturday.  And we're going to the Locke Street Festival tomorrow, so I really shouldn't be touting my success just yet.  And, the more I think about it, there have been some purchases this week.  We bought Haydon some jammies at Little Bird, 'cause sleepers are on sale right now and he's grown out of most of his.  And we bought him a winter hat, 'cause he'll need one of those (both legitimate, I'd say)...but we also bought some shirts 'cause they were just too darn cute to leave behind.  The other thing I bought was breast pads.  I've been trying not to, 'cause I have lots of reusable ones, but this is one area where I can't say I've found a reusable product that performs as well as the disposable.  I've tried.  Many times.  Like this week, the day I had the interview, when I noticed as I was heading out the door that I'd leaked through the wool pad, my bra, and my shirt.  Oh well, you win some, you lose some.  And, James really wanted pizza last night.  He bought it for us from his allowance, but it ended up costing more than he'd expected, and I'm a sucker, so I think we'll go halfsies with him.  Oh yeah.  There was also that ice cream maker James bought off kijiji.  He's such a nut.

Finally, next week I'm going join Bible Study Fellowship International again, and I'm so excited!  I went to BSF when I was in university, and really enjoyed it's approach to studying the Bible.  Really looking forward getting back into it again.

Have a lovely weekend!  Check out the Locke Street Festival tomorrow - should be a great time!  Haydon and I will be at the La Leche League's booth, helping with the boobie bake sale... :P

Spending Fast Fail

So, uh, we're not doing so well with that no spending thing.

See, we went to the CNE on Saturday.  James got a special price for tickets through work.  We're on holidays together for a week (James just finished work, I'm about to start) and wanted to do something fun as a family.  So, we went to the Ex.

And the day before, James tried on a new baby carrier.  He liked it.  It's simpler than my wrap.  Comfy apparently.   As we were about to leave Saturday morning, he said "I wish I had that carrier..."  And we stopped at Little Bird before we headed to the train station.  

I'm pretty sure we now own every category of carrier - a pouch sling, ring sling, stretchy wrap, woven wrap and a soft structured carrier.  Oh wait.  We don't have a mei tai.  

Anyway.  We went to the CNE.  With a new carrier.  Which James and Haydon both enjoyed.

                     

And then we walked around the CNE, and saw nice things.

Like books. 

I like books.

A lot.

They were 3 for $10.

I bought 9.

But seriously - 9 books for 30 bucks!?  It was a pretty good deal.  Haydon will enjoy them.  James says if we factor in our admission to the CNE and train tickets, 9 books cost $57.00.  I still say it's a great deal.

But then, there was the steam mop demo.  

And I'd been saying lately that I'd like a steam mop.  I have a kid who spends most of his time on the floor, which means I do a lot of mopping lately.  So, I had just said I wanted a steam mop. 

And then this fancy convincing guy mashed crayon onto a piece of carpet and steamed it out, and I was sold.

I made James watch.

He had just heard about "dry steam" being one of the only ways to kill bed bugs in mattresses and couches , and apparently there's a bed bug epidemic, and so, we need to steam our mattress.

So we bought it.

It was an expensive day.  Especially for people who aren't spending money.  

Sigh.

This week.  This will be the week that we actually stick to our no-spending.  

Experiment Update

So, we're trying not to buy stuff.  Unnecessary stuff.  Stuff other than gas, groceries or necessities for our growing boy.

...'cept, that's kinda hard, ya know?

It's been going ok, but, I wouldn't call this week a success.  I have bought things.  There are also things I didn't buy.  And there are things that I learned.

So, I bought some shoes for my kiddo.  'Cause I'm not good at keeping track of little baby things, and I misplaced his other ones, and he's actually starting to stand, so it's a good thing to have.  And, when I was there, there was a really cute pair of boots, and well, he'll be walking as winter gets here so that made sense too.  Both were consignment items from (where else!?) Little Bird.

And then a friend invited me to browse Ottawa St. with her.  And then we met at Poco Loco, and I hadn't had lunch yet, and it was yummy.  James and I have both always had allowances - a small sum of money that we can spend on whatever and not have to justify it to the other person, so my lunch came out of that, but I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  He thinks we should each maintain our allowance through out the fast...I think that, well, it's a fast, and you don't really experience it unless you do it fully.  Although, the difficult thing is, meeting people over food is a great way to connect, and something that happens really often in our culture, and it feels weird to say "Well, you see, we're committed to not spending any money right now..." (although it does open up conversations - we're so tight-lipped about finances in our society!)

Anyway, as we were browsing, we went into Allsorts Gallery, an artists' co-op which is full of beautiful things.  And here I learned something about myself: gift giving is one of my love languages.  One of my friends was having a bad day, and I had already justified to myself buying her flowers, but then I saw this and decided to go with it instead.







So.  It hasn't been a spending-free week.  But, let me tell you, there are things that I didn't buy or spend money on.
- We didn't buy football tickets to the Labour Day classic happening next week, which would've been really fun.
- I didn't buy a whole bunch more really really cute baby clothes at that darned den of temptation Little Bird
- I think there was something else that I remember exercising restraint on but I can't remember.

Anyway, it's a good activity, and one that we'll see through to December.  I'm sure some weeks will be worse, and some better.  And I'm still not decided on whether or not it should include meeting friends over food or gifts.  What do you think?

Helloooo?

So, remember that job interview I had on Thursday afternoon, the one in which they said "You'll hear from us shortly."?  Yeah, it's Tuesday.  Does that qualify as shortly?  I'm getting a little panicky...last time I heard from them an hour after my interview, and they called by 9:15am the day that applications were due to set up my initial interview...so the fact that it's been four days leaves me worried.  And then there's the question about when it's appropriate to call...If they wanted me to work for them, surely they'd tell me that.  But, what if it's some sort of test?  Does she follow up?  What if in a personal planning meeting a parent or care provider say they sill get back to you and you don't hear from them...when do you contact them?  Maybe they're waiting to see how I work?  Oh I don't know!  But I am starting to worry.  James is done work in 6 days.  This job starts in 6 days.  But if I want my old job back I need to give 30 days notice...and EI doesn't ever get sorted out right away...gah.

Bought stuff yesterday...2 packs of drawer/cupboard latches, a book of stamps, and wrote a cheque for the deposit for our anniversary get-away.

The Impulse Buy

I'm not spending money 'til December, 'member?

Except for yesterday.

Mom and I went to Once Upon A Child to look for some stuff for her house - play pen, high chair, gates, etc.  We found a nice play pen.

We also found a BEAUTIFUL set of bedding and curtains.

Here's the problem:  Bumper pads had been on the list of stuff that was exempt from the spending fast.  Lately every time I walk into Haydon's room, if he's not sitting up, he's screaming with one of his chunky thighs stuck between the crib rails.

And this is why one should be intentional about purchases.  See, if I had gone out looking for bumper pads, I would likely have come home with one of those breathable things that can weave through the rails so your kid doesn't get stuck.  Or maybe I would've kijiji'd for something inexpensive.  Or even said something on facebook to see if anyone had any that they're not using.

But no.  I went wandering through Once Upon A Child.

And saw this:

Isn't it pretty!?  Now I not only have bumper pads, but curtains, a comforter, goofy pillows and a bunch of weird hangy things that I wasn't really sure what to do with, and don't need.  I like it, I think, although it's a bit busy.  I feel like the crib could be entered in a parade.  But it feels nice in his room now - we hadn't really done any decorating other than paint it, so now it actually feels like a baby boy's room.

And I've had a LOT of time to enjoy looking at it tonight...
(stop reading here if you're sick of the sleep-whining)

I don't know what to do with that kid!  Lately he'll go to bed ok, then 45 minutes to an hour later, he wakes up and he's up until 10, 11, even midnight one night.  He's just up and ready to go!  He giggles at us, babbles, talks to his stuffed animals, practices his standing.  He's just not tired!  I'll try nursing, we'll try walking with him or rocking, rubbing his back, just sitting in the room while he's in his crib, and nothing works.  Last night, it was 11:00 before we were able to get to bed, and he didn't sleep longer than two hours between wakings all night long.

Anyway.  He's asleep right now.  James just came out of there.

In the interest of full disclosure with the spending stuff, I also bought gas yesterday.  Tomorrow it's groceries and some babyproofing stuff - we need some drawer and cupboard clasps.

Goodnight (I hope!)

Buying Stuff

We bought stuff today.

Just thought you should know.

2 baby gates (off kijiji), and some gripe water to try to help the Anti-Sleep.

And because I'm such a great parent, I left the baby gates leaning against a door frame.  And then had to go out, so, I set up the stroller.  I carried the stroller past Haydon, who was heading toward the gates and muttered under my breath "Pull those down on yourself, why don't ya."  Shocking.  That's exactly what he was doing when I came back in.  He was fine, just startled.

Ya, and the gripe water.  James bought that tonight, on a walk, with our little man, at about 8:30.  Why?  BECAUSE HE WON'T GO TO SLEEP DAGNABBIT!  He was doing SO well while we were on holidays...and now.  He's still napping well.  I'm hanging on to that.  But seriously, it was midnight last night when the 3 of us finally got to bed.  Tonight he went to sleep at about 9, but has been up twice since then, and it's only 10:30.

Anywhoooooo.  It's bedtime.  Gotta get it while the gettin's good.

Waupoos Island

We had an absolutely lovely vacation.

We shared a beautiful cottage on Waupoos Island with St. James' family.  It was one lovely week.  Waupoos Island is this neat little island in Prince Edward County (I know!  Twice in as many weeks!  We had scheduled this vacay a long time ago - it was just a fluke that we ended up visiting my parents there a couple of weeks ago).  The island is small; it has maybe 15 cottages on it, no stores, no paved roads, no phone service.  It's home to a giant herd of sheep, and about 10 goats.  I have to confess I was a little leary at the idea of spending a week on an island with my in-laws, but it turned out to be great.  We had a little boat to shuttle us back and forth to the mainland, which was about 5 minutes away.  We spent some days just chilling on the island, and went across to check out some of the beautiful tastes and sights of Prince Edward County.

It was everything a vacation should be.  I rested, I played, I ate good food, I enjoyed good company.  There was no phone, no TV, no internet (although there was a computer - St. James brought his laptop to play some games on, his chosen way to relax).  There were people to share meal-making and child care.  There was water nearby (I went for a couple good long swims - so nice not to have to turn around at the end of a lane!).  And there was time. Time spent evaluating life and thinking about what's important.

And here are some of the things I thought about and decided.

Less internet is a good thing.  

I walked into this beautiful cottage, and immediately started thinking about how I could blog about it.  What pictures I could take to showcase the beautiful decorating.  Instead, I journaled that night.  And I didn't even have to think about who might be reading and how I was presenting myself.  And I was able to reflect without being on a stage.  And that's a good thing (apparently this is a Martha Stewart phrase, which I was unaware of - I say it all the time.  There was a book of hers at the cottage titled "Good Things" that was full of, well, you can guess...good things one can make).  Anyway, I have resolved to spend less time on facebook.  I'm going to aim to try to only check in the morning, maybe at lunch, and once around supper time, then put it away and not check in the evening.  I'm also going to stop charging my iPhone in the bedroom so that I'm not looking at it in bed.  James and I often are sitting in bed, each staring at our own little screen, and that is ridiculous.

Less stuff is a good thing.

It was good to be in a nice, open space that wasn't cluttered.  It was good to know that we got by comfortably with the things we had taken with us.  I am going to start getting rid of stuff, left, right and centre.  If we borrowed something from you, you're getting it back.  If I don't need it, or it's not beautiful, it's not staying.

Less spending is a good thing.

Ok, so this is not something that we practiced while on vacation, but something we decided to do.  We have toyed with the idea of doing a spending fast a couple of times before, but never actually done it.  We're going to do it this time.  Between now and Christmas, we are not going to purchase anything other than food, hygiene necessities, and any baby essentials that come up.  There are a few things that we've decided we do need to buy (closet doors and baby gates now that that kid is on the move, a carrier that James is comfortable with - he's decided he'll babywear!, I may need some clothes if I start a new job).  We'll eat out twice a month, as that is something that our friends often do after church, and time with friends is important to us.  It's going to be tough!  James and I are both pretty bad at justifying purchases with "It was a really good deal!" or "We'll use it in the future!".  I'm also horrible at not planning meals carefully, and then buying prepared food or eating out 'cause it's easier.  I'll blog about the challenge - and I'm going to "confess" everything we buy in the next few months.  By not spending, we are hoping to take a significant chunk out of our debt, and move one step closer to the dream kitchen that is percolating in my mind.


More sleep is GREAT thing!
We slept!  Haydon slept!  He's figured out going to bed - FINALLY!  He had some great naps, and went to bed easily so that we could enjoy playing games with other adults in the evenings - THANK GOD!  He's still getting up twice in the night - although, there was one night, when he only got up at 2, and slept until 6 after that, and I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.  And he's also getting up pretttty early (like, 5?).  But, it's getting MUCH better.


And now we're back to life, back to reality.  My house feels cluttered and disorganized.  I have decisions to make about jobs that are overwhelming.  I have all these things that I want to do to make life full and more enjoyable - like decluttering and all that jazz, but they take time.  Trying to balance the desire to do my best with giving myself grace in the areas I can't always excel at is tricky.  But I am inspired and motivated to tackle life in a new way, and am excited to see what's to come.  


...and looking forward to our next vacation.  St. James and I booked a B&B in Stratford for our fifth anniversary.  Bring on October 15!