Help!

Nej... I can't comment on your blog... I tried... I really, really tried! :)

{"Real" post will be coming soon. I have a lot to say, I just don't know if I have the time/energy to type it all.}

WTF?!

"In the March 12 edition of Maclean’s news magazine, Red Deer was ranked the eighth-highest city for aggravated assaults and 23rd most dangerous city overall in Canada. Toronto placed 26th while Calgary came in 33rd place out of 100 cities over 50,000 people."

I repeat... WTF?! Red Deer is a more dangerous city to live in than Toronto?! On one hand... I agree. On the other hand... that is really screwed up! Apparently the Mayor and Police Chief don't agree. But, there is a very large drug-scene in Red Deer which goes hand-in-hand with crime, and especially aggravated assaults. Downtown Red Deer is definitely not safe... contrary to what the local politicians try to tell you - I'd like to see one of them walking downtown, alone, at night. Wouldn't happen. And there's no way I would ever do it.

~ ~ ~

Well, I may as well share my not-so-good news with the masses. LJ already knows this, but I won't be able to make it for her wedding (*sniff*). I'm really sad about this, but the money just isn't there right now. I was so looking forward to seeing everyone again. I will try to save up so that I can come out for a visit maybe next summer (2009).

I just took a peek at the NHL standings for the playoff race... very interesting! It's looking good for us Habs fans this year... and not so good for the Leafs fans out there. ;)

My volleyball season is over... and we won the year-end tournament! We kicked some serious butt! Now, bring on slo-pitch.

~ ~ ~

Logan is 6 months old on Saturday! Holy cow... where has the time gone?! So, next week is a little crazy with pictures, needles, and maybe a doctor appointment. He is such a crazy and lovable little munchkin! He rolls over with ease now (he's rather quick, you have to keep an eye on him) and is trying his hardest to sit up on his own. No teeth yet, but definite signs of teething (which means nothing... it could take months for teeth to appear). He's been eating cereal for a little while now, but since he's at the 6 month mark I will now introduce more foods and more texture (not pureed) for him.

The poor little man had a chest/ear infection (stupid weather... warm, cold, warm, cold... cold, warm) but that is all cleared up. Logan had his 6 month check-up yesterday (it was supposed to be this coming Tuesday, but I wanted to make sure the infection is gone). He's 19.5 lbs! Little porker! We have his next carseat ready for when he hits the 22 lb mark, but I'm delaying the switch as long as possible (his infant carseat is more convenient). My doctor is sending Logan to see a pediatrician to make sure he doesn't have Hydrocephalus. He doesn't think Logan has it, but because of his *huge* head, he just wants to "make sure." I don't think he has it either, as he doesn't have any of the other symptoms of it - just a large head and his fontanel (soft spot on the front of his head) isn't quite closed yet. But, better to find out sooner rather than later.

We have a bunch of stuff keeping us busy these days - 2 more swim lessons, an infant sign language course coming up, Wednesday's playgroup, Friday's Mom's Group, Mother Goose story time starting up at the library soon. Fun, fun, fun!

And, to keep me even busier, I'm going back to work on a very part-time basis starting next week. I plan on working 4 - 10 hours per week, but I will only get paid for 4 hours and the rest will be banked so as to not to affect my EI-maternity payments. This way I can get a little extra income coming into the house (this is JB's slow-time of the year... breakup even affects his new job), keep in the loop at work, and keep working towards my P.Eng. (still undecided as to if I want to get it, but I may as well keep working towards it). So, the plan is to go into work Monday mornings (with the exception of next week, when it will be Thursday morning as my boss is away until then) for half a day and then take some work home with me for the week. My boss and the office manager worked so hard to find a solution that worked for everyone in this case... I really feel like my company values me and wants me to keep working for them. It's a good feeling, especially considering how I felt at my last company.

Well, I should run... my house is a disaster and I would like it to be a little tidier before I start work next week. Plus, I'm planning on making some baby food today - apples and yams. Yummy!

Quick note for Nej...

...Stargate: Arc of Truth is really good and well worth purchasing! JB and I watched it yesterday. I can't wait for Continuum to come out in late summer/early fall.

Wizard's First Rule... the TV Series!

Oh my goodness... I am so excited for this series to hit TV this fall!!! Here is a news release from the author, Terry Goodkind. In somewhat related news, I am 99% done reading Phantom by the same author, which is book 10 in the Sword of Truth series (Wizards First Rule is book 1) - I was up until 1am this morning reading because I couldn't put the book down!

*Sigh*

Well, even with all the grumbling and supposed unhappiness with the province's leadership... the people of AB handed the Tories yet another majority... and an even bigger majority than they had going into the election. Oh well, what can you do.

I heard a couple interesting things during the election coverage last night: voter turn out tends to be really, really low in AB (the lowest in the country, I believe) and the analysts brought up two reasons:

1. In a province where the Tories have been in power for 11 terms / 37 years (most of which have been very crushing defeats for the opposition), many people do not see a point in going out and voting as they feel their vote has no power (I can see where people are coming from... the person I voted for last night came in dead last in our riding).

2. There are a lot of people that move to AB for work and thus are from other parts of the country. These people haven't formed an attachment to the province and thus don't vote.

If the people in both those groups had voted last night, the results may have been very different. But, that's life in AB.

~ ~ ~

Logan and I have a bunch of running around to do today - including swim lesson #2 and possibly a visit to cousin Ava (Logan has the sniffles, so I'll call first and see if my sister wants me to come over or stay away).

Oh... in other news... my Dad got a promotion. Involved with this promotion is getting a driver's license for Saudi Arabia and driving from rig to rig supervising. I really hope he is careful when he's driving. Basically, if you hurt a native of the country your ass will end up in jail no matter who's fault it was because you're a foreigner. Be careful Dad!

Has it been a week already?!

Hmmm... seems I've been slacking on the posting front (but not as much as LJ... we want a post, girlie!).

To answer C-dub's question... swimming went really well. Logan was a little cranky near the end, but that's because he would have been sleeping at that time last week (nap times vary from day to day right now). Logan and I both had fun and he did so good! He went under water and we went down a little "waterfall" slide together... good times! I used to love teaching parent & tot lessons - being a "student" in the class is different, but fun.

My sister is doing really well with Ava. The one thing I worry about is that she isn't resting enough to recover from the c-section (it's easy to do too much, too soon). She was telling me some things she plans to do and I hope they aren't until April... otherwise she may end up hurting herself. Ava is such an angel... I love her to pieces! I really hope that my sister can keep her life on the right track and take good care of that little girl... I really do...

In non-child-related news: today is election day in Alberta. The tides may be changing here in a province that has been Tory-blue for 37 years. Frankly, I think a change is needed. Stelmach has done things to piss off a lot of people... the question is whether or not Albertans want to risk giving power to anyone else. The analysts are saying that a minority gov't is a possibility... and that could be a good thing right now - then the Conservatives would have to "listen" to the other parties more and they wouldn't be able to push ridiculous bills through at 3am (seriously... this happened recently). Anywhoo... for the first time, I will not be voting Tory-blue... though I'm not making the switch to red either. ;)

I love my niece!

First off... Ava is so adorable... she is a little angel with a head full of hair! I am completely smitten with her and it really, really makes me hope that I end up with a little girl as Baby Bee #2! I'll post another picture or two at the end of this post.

Next... I am addicted to FreeCycle - the one for my town is a Yahoo Group! I check it every day and I've found some good stuff on there for my sister/niece. I plan on putting some stuff up on there when I get around to spring cleaning... I know there's stuff in my basement that could find a new home other than the local landfill. :)

Logan is too funny! I've been trying to start introducing baby cereal into his diet. Until today, he hasn't been too impressed. However, it should be mentioned that before today I was trying to feed him "plain" cereals - be they rice cereal or oatmeal. No flavor... tastes like wet cardboard... really - I tried some! Well, today I gave him "Mixed cereal w/ fruit". First off, it smelled yummy (it has peach, pineapple & orange I think) and it tasted not too bad. He inhaled it! I had only mixed up 1 tbsp to start... he ended up eating 3 tbsp... and got quite mad each time we ran out! So, plain cereal is yucky... flavored cereal is yummy... got it!

Logan and I start parent & tot swim lessons tomorrow. I am very excited!

I need to get some laundry done before volleyball tonight. Gotta run...

Details (sort of):

I don't know many details regarding my new neice, but here's what I do know...

Baby Ava made her arrival sometime close to 5:30pm. She was 6 lbs 12 oz and looks healthy! She has a head full of dark hair!

I'm going to go visit my sister and Ava today, as I didn't really get to talk much since we visited right after she was brought back to her room. Thus, she had to be introduced to breastfeeding and checked by the nurses, etc. I should be able to get some pictures today.

Edit: The official details... Ava was born at 5:33pm on Feb. 20/08. She was 6lbs 12oz and 18.75" long.

Oi!

My sister is at the hospital... I will have a new niece or nephew sometime today!

Too much Diet Coke with supper = insomnia for me!

I really, really want to be sleeping right now... but it's not working!

So, I'm slightly less annoyed with the gov't right now... though not 100% over today's events. I did get things straightened out and I will be getting paid by Thursday (with my re-payement of the over-payment also being taken care of... though I have a sneaking suspicion they messed that up... though only by a few extra dollars to me for the time being).

I had to deal with another gov't department today as I went to get Logan's SIN (so we can set up an RESP for him). That actually went pretty smoothly. They told me it would be an hour wait, but it only took 40 minutes (I like it when people over-estimate the wait time, as opposed to under-estimating it like my doctor's office always does). My son now has a SIN and soon (perhaps next month) we will apply for a passport - for our trip to Ontario, as we are likely going to drive through the States... and although it's not required until Jan '09 (I think), we would like to have them to minimize any issues at the border.

I have to call the gov't tomorrow, as they F-ed up my T4E (my T4 while on maternity/EI) form (surprise, surprise). It really amazes me how difficult it is to get money back from the gov't when they owe it to you, yet if you owe them... they demand it immediately. Go figure!

Anywoo... enough of that!

I signed Logan and I up for "Parent & Tot" swim lessons... I am super excited! :) They start next week.

There's an AB election in March and I need to figure out who I'm voting for. I, like a growing number of Albertans, am not happy with the leadership of the provincial PC party (King Ralph's successor is losing the support of people who are normally 100% PC). Political analysts are saying that one reason an election was called so soon - it didn't "need" to be called until fall 2009 - is so that the Wildrose Alliance Party doesn't have a lot of time to get fully up and running. The rumor is that Stelmach is worried he might lose. If you're a "true-blue" Albertan... and thus wouldn't vote Liberal (no offence, LJ) until hell froze over (not necessarily my opinion, just the way a lot of Albertan's are)... and won't vote Green (too much oilfield influence)... then there is really just the Wildrose Alliance Party left. I have to do some reading on them before the election.

In other interesting election news... the riding that has the best chance for Alberta's first Green Party member to be elected... is my riding! The man running is very well known... very influential... and has a huge following after he led the group that prevented a controversial high-voltage powerline from being run through central AB. That will be very interesting to watch. He has said that if he is elected, "there will be a lot of uncomfortable men/women in the parliament."

One final note... the Blogger spell-check still isn't working... I appologize for my horrible spelling! :)

*&%!

I really *hate* dealing with the government 99.99% of the time... almost all government agencies are filled with ineptitude and idiocy.

In January I updated my phone number for my EI benefits. That's right... just my phone number... I did not touch my address, as it had not changed. Well, I was supposed to be paid today but that didn't happen so I called in. It seems that somehow the computer said I changed my address to moving out of country. The woman said there would have been a screen come up saying to call in with my address because it was out of country. No such fricking screen came up. I did not change my fricking address. I changed my phone number. Frick.

This has affected a repayment to the EI office, as they gave a double-payment to most of western Canada in December. If I get charged interest because of a late payment I'm going to be even more pissed than I am right now (If that's possible).

Frick I'm annoyed.

I'm also annoyed that Blogger's spell check isn't working for me. I'm sure I spelled at least one word wrong in the first paragraph. But, oh well. I'm going to town to get out of the house and clear my head.

Fricking government.

Random Thoughts:

1. Some people are dumb. See the comments on Nej's blog... that's one example. Here's another example.

2. I hurt my back. I think it was a combination of shoveling snow (we had a pretty good snow dump Sunday night) and playing volleyball on Monday. Picking up Logan when he's in his crib hurts me the most... it must be the way I twist or something. On Friday I have an appointment with my chiropractor, followed by a 1/2 hour massage. Looking forward to it (maybe my headaches will go away too... pretty sure my neck is out).

3. I feel bad for my sister. She found out today (ultrasound) that her baby is breech. Thus, a c-section will likely be scheduled soon, seeing as how she's due on March 8th.

4. There are two new shows out that are supposed to be similar to Sex and the City. Cashmere Mafia is by the creators of SatC and Lipstick Jungle is by the author (Candace Bushnell) of SatC. I've now seen one episode of each show (just watched Cashmere Mafia tonight). Now, I know you can never create anything that equals Sex and the City, but I was quite disappointed by Lipstick Jungle. I'll probably still watch it... at least one more episode to see if it changes my mind... but I found it a little boring. I didn't mind Cashmere Mafia, but it still doesn't have the same pace that SatC had. I'll likely watch that show again. Someday I'll have to get the SatC DVD set.

5. My husband's a sweetie. He gave me my Valentine's Day flowers today, seeing as how he doesn't know what tomorrow will bring at work (it could be a long day) - a small bunch of pretty, pink tulips. He also tried to be extra sweet and brought me some frozen yogurt. I've been attempting to get back on the weight-watching wagon and as such, I've given up ice cream (I was eating a lot of ice cream lately)... also the reason he didn't buy me chocolates. Anyways, he wanted to bring me a healthier treat (it says it's low fat). I compared lables... yes, the frozen yogurt has less fat... but the ice cream has less calories and less carbohydrats (for the same-sized serving)! Well, it's the thought that counts! I had a little bit... it is yummy frozen yogurt (mango swirl)!

6. My son is grumpy boy... today anyways. He might be heading into that dreaded phase... yes... teething! :D I still love him lots... even if he's been incredible whiney today... which, coupled with my sore back... made for a bit of a grumpy me! Here are some pics (the bottom one is with his second-cousin, who is 11 days younger).

A new kitty for me!

Okay... so this post is a *tiny* bit early... but I'm excited. ;)

Last night JB asked me if I thought I could handle a third cat. I said, sure... there's not really any difference for me, just one more litter box. A friend of ours has a kitten now that her two boys are a little older (4 & 2.5 years) and so JB got thinking that when our youngest (the future Baby B, who isn't even a twinkle in JB's eyes yet) is nearing 3, we would get a kitten.

Now, I can handle a 3rd cat. I'm not sure Luna could handle a 3rd cat! Bijou will love it... I don't think Luna plays with him as often as he would like. So, a kitten would be great fun for him!

Anyways, that's a way's off.

My sister is coming over in about an hour and I want to burn a set of CDs for her before she gets here (some classical music for my future neice/nephew), so I should run. Chat you later.

Bah!

Apparently the immunity to caffiene that I worked *so* hard to develop through my university years has worn off. There is, once again, such a thing as too much coffee too close to bed time!

The new look:

Before hair cut...

After hair cut...

It's not *that* cold!

You sure do get funny looks (and comments) from the grocery store cashier when you buy a 4L pail of ice cream when it's -30C. Who would have thunk it?!

What can I say... they had a really good price and we were out of ice cream.

If hell freezes over...

...I imagine it would feel a lot like central AB right now! Yesterday (during the day) temperatures were around -32C with windchill making it feel like anywhere from -40 to -50C. Last night it dipped down to -38C with a windchill of around -60C. Today's not much better... -28C with windchill around -40C. Fricking cold!!! A guy at JB's work left his vehicle sitting, not plugged in, for 6 hours and the battery froze solid. That sucks. We're leaving the vehicles plugged in 24 hrs/day right now just to keep things in running order... plus, thanks to the remote start, I can start the van and let it run for 15 mins every now and then. :)

So, my son has horrible timing when it comes to getting sick. He got sick yesterday (it began sometime Sunday night after I put him to bed) and we ended up having to brave the cold and go to the doctor's in the morning (he threw up... not spit up... at least three times during the night/early morning). I packed an "emergency kit" for the van before heading out. I found out at the doctor's office (my normal doctor was stuck in the mountains!) that there is a gastrointestinal virus going around the region... in kids and adults too. So, I had to take Logan off his formula and give him pedialyte for 12 hours, then slowly re-introduce formula. Right now he is back up to 4 oz formula (his appetite isn't what is usually is - he normally takes 6 oz per feeding) and I'm still giving him some pedialyte, as he now has diarrhea (though, thankfully, he isn't throwing up anymore)... which the doctor told me to expect with this virus. Logan is definitely feeling better though - we actually got some smiles out of him last night and he's being pretty cheerful today thus far. Poor little guy. The winter cold/flu/sickness season sucks... but it sucks even more with a baby!

We've switched over to Vonage internet phone. After a couple initial bugs, everything is working great and we love it. Our combined phone and internet bills are going to be half of what we were paying before!

Is the writer's strike ever going to end? I miss my evening dramas! Though the next three episodes of House are new... so that will entertain me for a while. A person can only watch so much reality TV without going nutty!

Planning...

...for our trip to Ontario that is! We've started thinking about our trip to Ontario this fall for LJ's wedding. JB is going to check today to see if he'd be able to get the time off (I will make it a condition of my return to work) - it shouldn't be a problem. The only thing is that since he won't have been there for a year, he can't bank hours and thus it will be a week without pay... but oh well... we'll just have to make sure the bills are covered.

If JB can get the time off, we figure it will be cheaper to drive (unless we find an amazing seat sale somewhere). Plus that way it will be easier to pack all of Logan's stuff... there's a lot of stuff with such a little baby (carseat, playpen for sleeping, etc.). I'm very excited and have started putting money aside!


Edit (2:50pm): Well, we are back from Logan's 4 month shots (poor little guy) and he's fast asleep. He now weighs 16lbs 10oz (little porker!), is 25.5 inches tall, and has a big head! Here's the updates on his percentiles...

Last time... Logan's 2 month percentiles:
- Length = 33rd
- Weight = 63rd
- Head circ = 73rd
- Weight:Length = 75th

This time... Logan's 4 month percentiles:
- Length = 75th
- Weight = 85th
- Head circ = 93rd
- Weight:Length = 75th

Wanting / Needing a Change!

Okay, so I feel the need to make a change... with my hair that is. It's the longest it's been since high school, but all I do is pull it back into a ponytail/bun every day. So, I need some ideas. Does anyone know of some good webpages to look at hairstyles - for med to long, wavy, thick hair?

Feeling better today...

So, after a rough night (Logan didn't sleep so well) and a good cry at 4am... I'm actually feeling better today. I've got a load of laundry in, the dishwasher is going, and Logan is sleeping (so I'm going to clear off the kitchen table). Sometimes I just need a good cry and then I feel better. But, we'll still keep an eye on things...