15 Days And Counting...

I have 15 days left before I go back to work. I'm officially back as an employee February 8th, but I took that week off with my overabundance of holiday time that I've racked up. It's meant as a transition time for me and Hubby, but what it's turning into is a week of me trying to get last minute stuff done.

BabyL is growing by leaps and bounds. He's crawling faster each day, and is pushing himself up to sitting, kneeling, and if the prop is low enough (like my legs when I'm lying down), pushing himself on his feet. I don't think it'll be long before he learns how to pull himself up and starts cruising around furniture.

What I'm not looking forward to is not so much taking the bus to work, but the fact that I've chosen to go back to work at the beginning of Olympics. Where I work is actually an Olympic venue, so I really have no clue how nutso traffic will be taking the bus. We'll see what happens...

Book Review - Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

I think I like this book more than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (PPZ). Like the predecessor, the author of Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (SSSM) takes a well knows Jane Austen novel and puts his own twist in it. I felt that the book's altered universe was better woven into the main plot of the story than PPZ. Certainly, despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of SSSM, the altered universe was much less awkwardly inserted into the story.

Sense and Sensibility is my least favourite Jane Austen novel, mostly because I can't stand Marianne's character.I still didn't like her very much in this novel; in fact, she was equally as annoying as her original. But that just meant that Ben H. Winters kept somewhat true to the characterisations in the novel and has a pretty good grasp of the novel's nuances and themes.

My only complaints about the novel are:

• beyond a vague mention of a sea witch, we never find out exactly why Colonel Brandon received his affliction
• Sub-Marine Station Beta is London, so mentioning that there is a city of London in the story makes it a tad more confusing. Why is it that people would want to go to London when there is Sub-Marine Station Beta?
• Eliza William's ordeal, though the author tried to make it shocking and humourous, I actually thought it was sort of a let-down. I mean, I didn't find it all that villainous as compared to the events in the original book. Which made

If that wasn't exciting enough, Quirk Classics had also released a book trailer...

Tax-Free Savings Accounts Explained

I ran across this series of articles written by a Financial Planner explaining how the Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSA) work. He goes into some depth with explaining misconceptions and reality of TFSAs and talks about different scenarios in which best to use the TFSA. I actually learn some things about TFSAs, so they are worth the read.

TFSA - Part I: Misconceptions

TFSA - Part II: Best Uses


TFSA - Part III: Strategies

My kid is 9 months old!

Hard to believe that I have a 9 month old baby! My kid is growing into a really neat and fun little man. He loves jumping, jumping while being held, playing airplane, babbling, screeching and plain looking and touching EVERYTHING! One thing about BabyL is that whenever he's in a new environment, or encounters a new person, he will just sit there quietly and take everything in, process it, then get comfortable being himself.

So far he:

• Can roll from back to belly and belly to back
• Has four teeth
• Can get on all fours, but only pushes himself backwards, so no crawling yet
  
• Eats a lot of different types of solids foods
• Babbles a lot
• Screeches a lot
• Is still teething like crazy.
  
• Is a pretty good sleeper (so far, fingers crossed)
• Loves bananas

It's neat to see the world from his point of view, but parenting is exhausting at the same time, and I already have lots of help. One of my biggest pet peeves when talking with other parents, especially when I want support and/or ideas of how to deal with something relating to BabyL is I get the response, "It's a phase, it will pass like all things." Yes, I know that, but I don't find that helpful at all, and I do find it extremely frustrating when told this. I need a sympathetic ear, and I would like ideas as to how to deal with it now. Telling me that it's a phase, just means, to me, that I need to to tough out. What I typically do is take in all the information and try to figure out what works best for us and for BabyL. Not having any good ideas as to what may work just makes it harder for me to make good choices as a parent, and makes me more frustrated and tired. A tired mama makes for a cranky mama, and not a very good parent to BabyL. Anyways, rant over.

Happy New Year!

So I've been quite busy the last few weeks, hence, the lack of posts. 2009 has been quite busy, and 2010 will be even busier. To recap the last couple of months:

• BabyL has been growing leaps and bounds. He has 4 teeth, and is still teething like mad, drooling and chewing everything. Last weighed in at 17.5 lbs and measured 68cm.
• BabyL also has been a solids eating champ, has a repertoire of food he can eat (but still a short list of foods he can't eat yet, boo), and has graduated to lumpy food.
• Christmas came and went. Gifts given were pretty much 99% for BabyL
• Bought snowshoes, hopefully will get the rest of the gear soon so we can go snowshoing this winter!
  
• FLIB-ur-tee-jib-it turned 4 on Dec 27th.
• I still haven't found any daycare for BabyL. Will start to panic sometime early March.
  

I normally don't do resolutions at the beginning of the year. Instead, this is a list of goals I wish to achieve by the end of this year. Hopefully these will actually come to fruition.

• Read the bible every day
• Go to the gym at least twice during the weekdays, and once in the weekend
• Blog at least once a week (I need a hobby after all!)
• clean the toilets weekly (sounds easy, but more challenging than you think!)
• eventually cook half the meals during the week - Hubby is really looking forward to this one!
• Continue greening my household
• Other than the exercise thing, take care of my body, both inside and out
• Redo my wardrobe, it's just stuck. Sigh.
• Get some regular couple time with Hubby, and without BabyL, at least once a month.
  
• take up knitting (maybe)
  

Some things to look forward to in 2010:

• Returning to work in Feb 2010
• BabyL will learn to walk
• BabyL will turn 1 in April!
• Trying to achieve a good work/life balance, especially with BabyL in tow. Yikes!
• Look for daycare.
  

Happy New Year Everyone!!