30... Then What?

Books and Quotes

2005-03-14T11:22:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading the book Don't Shoot the Dog: The New Art of Teaching and Training by Karen Pryor. Fantastic book, opened my eyes to a lot of things. A few things are really sticking with me and I have to shut myself up from telling others around me how what they are doing is wrong and they could accomplish more faster by reading and implementing what is in this book. I have been able to hold myself back because I don't want to be that person.

But what has also stuck with me is a quote she used from the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer:

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Although she switched the word "truth" for "new idea". So true.

Cribs and Safety Update

2005-03-04T10:03:00.000-05:00

I was looking over my posts and was reminded by my original Cribs and Safety post that I hadn't posted a follow-up post with the information I got from Health Canada. There wasn't much info on the specifics on their site, but I got a wonderful email response that pointed me to the legislation on the issue and and gave me the following information:

There were several changes in the 1986 cribs and cradles regulations. The distance between the bars being one but a major change dealt with the mattress support system. Prior to the change the matress support systems did not have to be permanently attached to the crib frame. There were before the change incidences with children being hurt or dying due to the mattress support system coming apart from the frame allowing a gap between the mattress and frame such that infants were rolling to the gaps and suffocating or falling out of the gap onto the floor.

It was wonderful to get such a straight-forward answer to my question on the safety issues concerning older cribs, and since it hadn't been available on a website that I had found before, I am posting it here for all.

My Artistic Side

2005-03-04T07:55:00.000-05:00

I have never really felt I had much of an artistic side. I never liked how I drew as a kid, there were always girls in my class that could colour better than I. But I think designing web pages has opened up my mind to my artistic side. I really like the creation part of the site. I have been thinking for about a week or two of creating a new web site, even though I have existing ones I could just update.

I have been painting my front hallway for about two weeks now. I took last night off. I'm stuck on the ceiling now, which is not nearly as fun as painting the walls orange. At least the paint goes on pink (wonderful disappearing dye), rather than white on top of white, but trying to get good coverage on popcorn ceiling is maddening.

My first year in our house I hand-painted a couple dozen ceramic ornaments. I just loved it, even if it took me a week or more to get them all done. Lately, I've started spending visiting more and more crafty sites. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm enjoying Apartmentalist, recently stumbled on SouleMama which is having me think about knitting again, and I am inspired to make small food by not martha. I try to like DesignSponge, but there is just too much going on there.

I've also been thinking about getting into scrapbooking, but I think I could get really out of hand with all the supplies I would buy for that bit of crafting.

I'm thinking that I will start cronicalling my projects as LJC has. I think it would be nice to be able to see all my before and afters or even the process I went through to get things accomplished. Well at least for me. It could be a terrible bore for anyone else. :)

Painting the house

2005-03-03T13:24:00.000-05:00

I am in the slow process of taking my front hall from white and dark pink (previous owner's paint) to rusty orange (called Copper Coin by CIL). It is just wonderful. It gives me a great feeling to just see this warm colour on the walls.

I am getting really hooked on Apartmentalist. She has some great, realistic decorating ideas that I could actually see myself doing. I am still awaiting her completed pictures of her stripped hallway.

Shopping List

2005-02-24T09:04:00.000-05:00

I'm going on a weekend away/shopping trip next month and I've just got to put together a list of what I need. I'm trying not to do too much shopping now, even though I need stuff, so I'm hoping that posting my list here will help me enumerate it and not try to buy things before this big trip.

running/cross-training shoes for the gym

pants acceptible for work wear

cardigans that wash well

comfortable work shoes

nice t-shirts that I can get away with under a cardigan at work

new purse, probably black

Why I Enjoyed Fight Club so much

2005-02-16T11:53:00.000-05:00

Apparently it is because it is the story of Calvin, from Calvin and Hobbes, all grown up. Who knew?

Wonderful Responses to Unwanted Advice

2005-02-09T09:36:00.000-05:00

I have come across some wonderful non-confrontational responses to unwanted advice that I wanted to share/remember.

That's certainly something to think about.

I'll remember that.

I wonder what my doctor would say about that?

I'll have to tell my husband about it.

Got any more?

Baby Names

2005-02-09T07:52:00.000-05:00

Last summer, when my husband and I started thinking seriously about having kids in the near future we started talking about names. He is stuck on family names or even names of close friends. I am not interested in having a bunch of people with the same name running around at Christmas.

I hadn't really thought about kid names before that. I know a lot of women have ideas for their childrens names for years before they have them, but I always thought that it would be selfish of me to have predetermined my childrens' names before I even met their father. My husband is of the other camp and has had his heart set on a name for his first son way before I came along.

Now that we are actively trying to get pregnant I've been thinking about it more. I'm liking J names. Jackson and Julianne specifically. I came across a blog called The Baby Name Wizard today and find it terribly interesting.

Cribs and Safety

2005-02-08T13:27:00.000-05:00

I wish I had written down where I found this tidbit, I think it was a crib manufacturer's site. It stated that for safety their bars were less than 2 3/8" apart.

Apparently there is some huge problem with cribs made before 1978. The distance between the bars seems to be what I've heard most about. Before this, I hadn't been able to get my hands on what exactly the magic number was.

This info is quite important because my mother has held onto the crib she had for me and my siblings, which was definitely built before 1978, and plans to have her grandchildren use it. Of course I haven't spoken to my husband yet about this. I don't know if it would bother him or not, but then again, I'm not pregnant yet. Better to be prepared with the necessary info.

Perhaps I'll try to do some more research on this.

Keeping Up with Technology

2005-02-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

I have been pretty lax in keeping up my own websites over the last year. At my last place of employment I had access to update them from my desk during my down time and kept them fairly up-to-date. Unfortunately I don't have this kind of access from my current place of employment. I'm actually pretty lucky that I even have access to Blogger from here.

But someone I run a website for has requested an update and a small change in the look. I am trying to take this opportunity to implement CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). This is going to take a little time though. Really unfortunate that my home PC is on the fritz right now.

Hopefully this will spur me to create my own look for this blog as well. Not that I'm not fond of this layout, I just see it all over the place as it is one of the main ones offered by default by Blogger.

Anyone got any good online references to implementing XHTML and CSS that isn't too deep?

Breastfeeding

2005-01-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned I'm aiming to get pregnant this year?

It has really made an impact on the sites I surf during down time at work. I've been reading Selkie a couple of times a week. She is currently pregnant with her second or third child and a breastfeeding advocate. She may also be a lactation consultant.

Anyways, she is frustrated that the first result in a Google search on WHO Code is pointing to a Nestle site (Nestle being a major manufacturer of baby formula) and would like to change it. So I'm trying to do my part. Searching the entire text at google (World Health Organization International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes) does indeed bring up official non-commercial sites discussing the code, but how many people using such a long search string?

I had never heard of the WHO Code before, and hadn't thought much of the World Health Organization before either. Wouldn't it be better to ensure that search terms such as feeding your baby, healthy baby feeding, infant feeding or similar were pointing to sites advocating breastfeeding rather than formula. Isn't someone who knows the short form WHO Code already fairly well informed that a Nestle site isn't going to sway them? Regardless, I'm behind Selkie and her breastfeeding advocacy and am trying to help here.

Happy Happy Joy Joy

2005-01-13T07:29:00.000-05:00

I've been pretty darn happy lately. I ran into an old colleague at the grocery store last week. He asked me how things were and I said "Great!" with a big grin on my face. I didn't have much else to say. He kind of looked at me to expand on what I had said, but I was just so happy.

I have been getting exercise almost everyday. Either going to the gym and using the cardio equipment, going ice skating, going swimming, or going to Pilates. And starting to try to get pregnant has really put me in a good mood too.

I'm just so happy right now!

Losing Weight?

2005-01-06T07:53:00.000-05:00

So Tuesday night my husband and I discuss dinner. We settle on pizza, so much for losing weight right? Then last night, after we have a workout, we finish the leftover pizza for dinner. I say I'm going to have a few potato chips to finish off my dinner as I only got two slices and he had five. Then he goes on to tell me how bad that would be for me, especially after a workout.

WHAT?!?! We just had pizza for dinner two nights in a row and a handful of chips are going to apparently put me over the edge? Unfortunately I had no good response at the time. Tonight I don't think I'll be joining him for nachos for dinner.

This ridiculousness may be the push I needed though to start taking responsibility for what I eat and not default to what others are eating. We'll see.

New Year... Resolutions?

2005-01-04T11:54:00.000-05:00

So last night my husband says he wants to lose weight - that is his New Years Resolution. He planned to wake up early and hit the gym before work. Now I have never been a fan of New Years Resolutions. I have always thought that if you want to do something, you just do it. I bought my gym membership two weeks before Christmas. It wasn't spearheaded by the new year, but by facing no Pilates classes for three weeks over the holidays and wondering what I would do for exercise on Tuesday nights and realizing what a sloth I had become since cycling season had ended.

So I like the idea of losing weight, I'm not sure I'm personally ready for the diet change that it requires though. I'm all for the getting in shape and exercising regularly, but a diet change? We'll see.

My husband actually slept in this morning. He ended up having a hard time falling asleep. So we'll see how long his New Years Resolution goes and see if I tag along or not.

No Santa for Christmas

2004-12-29T11:17:00.000-05:00

Whoa. I like the idea behind Santa, but never liked the lies. This really got me thinking.

I hated finding out that my parents had lied to me or held something back from me no matter what it was or what their reason. I had thought that I wouldn't be perpetuating the Santa story myself when I had kids, but hadn't sat down and worked out how I would get it done.

At a friend's place a little while ago, I was told "Santa will be making a visit this year!" The original grandpa who played Santa had passed away about a month before, and this was the host's way of telling me that someone was going to step in to play Santa for her two grandsons this Christmas. No one in my family ever played Santa, and this may be why I thought it was an odd tradition at first. I thought that having a relative play the role would expedite the process of bursting the myth.

I have no idea how I will be handling all of this once kids come around. I don't want to mislead them, but I also don't want to have them bursting anyone else's bubble. I'll be googling this for more views for sure.

Christmas is done

2004-12-29T07:12:00.000-05:00

Wow - I am so tired. After my aunt arrived, her son, my cousin, decided to fly across the country and surprise everyone on Christmas eve. Whoa - that was a surprise. We set up a blow-up mattress for him, but it couldn't seem to keep air in it for the whole night. I hope it was just the missing cap, because I need to use that again this summer.

I had a good Christmas, but it was very full. Hosting a dinner for twelve and having our first out of town overnight guests took a lot out of me. I had hoped that having gone to bed at 9 last night would have gotten me back up to my old self, but I still need a nap. Hopefully I'll get one in time for New Years Eve!

2 days until Christmas

2004-12-23T08:08:00.000-05:00

I am crazy. I should have taken the couple of days before Christmas off as holidays, but thought it would be slow enough at work that I would be wasting my vacation time. I stayed home from work yesterday due to too much holiday cheer the night before. Thank goodness I did. I got a call around 10am that my aunt was coming to town for Christmas that day. The same aunt who I had offered to have stay at my place two or three weeks ago and she said she would be staying at home.

So yesterday I ran around trying to get everything done. I got the oil changed on the car, bought gravy and various groceries, borrowed an extra chair for my aunt to put her stuff on in the spare room, bought nightlights for the hallway and bathroom, bought a Christmas gift for said aunt, and bought a Christmas gift for my sister from my uncle. Not quite the relaxing day at home that I envisioned, but boy I was glad I didn't leave a bunch of other things to the last minute.

Something else I would like to share, people don't like to know that you've got Christmas under control. I had shared my joy at not having to hit the stores this past Saturday to a few friends and they were all like "Uh-huh." They just don't want to know.

4 days left

2004-12-21T07:19:00.000-05:00

Four days left until Christmas. I bought a gift for my grandmother Friday after work. It really made my weekend that I didn't have to go into a single store that last Saturday before Christmas. Especially when we drove past the mall and saw the cars in a traffic jam all around the mall. It's a Christmas victory!

Of course, having just written that, I realize that I committed just this past Sunday to pick up a gift for my sister on behalf of another relative - so I'll need to go out there tonight or tomorrow. But it's got to be better than the last Saturday before Christmas!

Wish me luck on cooking a turkey for the first time!

Christmas Pictures

2004-12-16T07:55:00.000-05:00

We have a friend who spent $200 on Christmas pictures of their baby (first child) at Walmart. They were a little disappointed in the pictures, particularly of the low-res digital file they paid $15 for, and a little of the process. Amazingly they chose Walmart as they didn't want to pay the extra sitting fee that Sears charges.

Wouldn't the sitting fee be better amortized over all those pictures they bought when they were spending so much? And the service is just so much better at Sears. They let you preview pictures and don't force you into choosing just a couple. What is most amazing about this is that this family has a wonderful digital camera, and could have taken a million pictures of their wee one in her Christmas outfit themselves and had the results printed anywhere (including for 25¢ a piece at Walmart or 29¢ at Shoppers Drug Mart).

Having just read Why Family Portrait, Why? I wonder what we will do about Christmas pictures once we have kids - or should we have done one this year? We received a cute Christmas card the other day from another couple who doesn't have kids, which included a very cute picture of their new dog in a Christmas outfit and one of the two of them. Perhaps I really enjoyed their picture/card as they live quite a distance away and we don't usually see them more than once every year or two.

And Christmas newsletters... will I start doing one of those once we have kids? And how will I write it to be short and sweet and not annoy the heck out of all who receive it? Any thoughts?

Jingle Bells, Batman Smells...

2004-12-15T07:25:00.000-05:00

Well we're down to one gift to figure out and two that are figured out that we just have to buy. Grandmother's are tough. I'm going to have to spend some serious mall time to figure this one out.

Looks like winter is here to stay. It was minus eighteen this morning when we left the house and there is significant piles of snow all over the place.

Christmas is coming!

2004-12-10T12:19:00.000-05:00

I am very excited for Christmas, and so happy that I'm well organized this year. I haven't been feeling guilty for not yet mailing Christmas cards or waiting until the last minute to buy gifts. This great mood may also have to do with the fact that I haven't spent a lot of time trolling the malls this December. I have limited the mall-crawling to the mall near my work on my early lunch hour a couple times a week when the mall isn't exceptionally busy and just a trip or two to the other malls around town. I've also worked to avoid the stores on Saturday. That can be deadly.

I've bought or figured out gifts for everyone but one - my grandmother. This is going to be tough, but I've got 15 days left until Christmas to figure out that one gift. Wish me luck!

Christmas Cards - Check, Gift Buying - Half Done!

2004-12-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

Last night my husband scurried out of the house after dinner and a Star Wars flick, which gave me a couple of free hours to wrap his and other gifts that had been building up. We've got everyone but a few covered now. We're down to four, and those four are tough ones. But the good thing is that we have 17 days until Christmas to put our heads together and figure out what we are going to get them.

The night before I wrote out our Christmas cards. I think this will be the first year where I've gotten our Christmas cards written and mailed before we received our first one.

The snow really has spurred me into action in getting Christmas things together. I've gone out on my lunch hour Christmas shopping at least 5 times in the last two weeks - I'll have to start baking soon to round things out.

Turning 30

2004-12-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

I haven't turned 30 yet, but I've been thinking about it since just before I turned 29. I don't know that I have much to say about it, but I found some reflections here. I particularly enjoy item 20

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty... The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. (Hervey Allen)

.

I'm not freaked out about 30, but it is definitely a milestone. I'm not quite where I thought I'd be when I thought about being 30 when I was 10 or 15, but I'm quite happy with where I am. I've got a permanent, steady job with benefits after being out of regular employment for a year and a half, I am now married to my perfect partner, we have a house we have bought to grow into, and have plans to start trying to get pregnant in the new year.

Perhaps it's that I've matured quite a bit in the past few years, or the fact that my husband turned 40 before I had a chance to hit 30, but I'm very relaxed about it. Turning 26 was the last time my birthday felt like a milestone. It might not to others, but I saw it like a gauge on a dashboard, with 20 being the low end and 30 being the high end. Turning 26 meant that gauge was now past the half-way point and I was now closer to 30 than I was to 20. 26 felt like a much bigger deal than the upcoming 30 is feeling.

More Snow!!!

2004-12-03T08:51:00.000-05:00

It is officially winter, unofficially. While whatever body that decides winter starts on December 21st might not agree with me, I declare that it is now officially winter.

The evidence:
1. We got a pile of snow the other day and we actually had to use the snowblower.
2. I started the car at least 15 minutes before I left this morning and still had to scrape ice off of the windshield.
3. I've worn my tuque at least 3 times this week and didn't care how silly I looked, just that I was warm.
4. I am totally into Christmas shopping now.

It's amazing how snow can really set the mood for Christmas, but I'm not even half way through my list yet. I have made some inroads though. I bought a big gift for my husband, we have gotten our gift for my step-father and my brother, and my husband has bought gifts for both of my sisters. So two down so far, and eight to go, but three are half done.

If there is anyone out there reading this I would love to know your gift ideas for the adult gift receivers in your life. The older they are, the tougher they are to buy for.

Snow!

2004-11-26T08:25:00.000-05:00

We got a glorious dusting of snow last night! Winter is here, Christmas
shopping will now fully commence!

Christmas

2004-11-23T07:44:00.000-05:00

I've got Christmas fever!!!

I haven't gotten down to buying presents yet, but I put up about half of our Christmas decorations yesterday and over the last two weeks probably bought enough wrapping paper, gift boxes, and bows to last until next Christmas. So I've gotten all the fun and easy shopping done. :) Unfortunately, we haven't had any real snow yet. I think snow will really get me thinking about the Christmas deadline. We're at about 32 days until Christmas aren't we?

Too much blog reading

2004-11-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

I have got to stop reading these blogs about infertility and problem pregnancies. I haven't even stopped my birth control pills yet and I am getting all worried about possibilities.

I definitely should file these away for a while, and stick to the more uplifting ones, like daddytypes.com that posts about new baby gadgets and nice stories.

Take a deep breath, and file those favorites away for a while...

30... Then What?

2004-11-12T07:49:00.000-05:00

I felt I had so much to say when I signed up for this blog. In fact I was overwhelmed at which subject I should address, so I kept it short and sweet. Today I'm feeling quite melow and less manic in my brain. So I'll share this wonderful link The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. It's a show I watched as a kid that was so weird, they would only show it as counterprogramming to kids up early Sunday mornings who didn't want to watch the church shows. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but could never remember the name of the show to talk about it with other people. Most people I described it to had no idea what I was talking about... A wolfman DJ? Are you serious?

:)

First Post

2004-11-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

So I've decided to give blogging another stab.

I've tried it out a couple of times before. First as a nifty free-form HTML table of inspired thoughts page on a GeoCities site, second on my own website. I hadn't updated it on my own website in about two years now. It may have to do with access it may have to do with lack of anonymity and what I want to write down.

So here I'll give it another go. Wish me luck!