I was really excited to order Clayton’s Christmas Present on October 20th!  It is a very unique gift and it’s coming all the way from Niagara Falls, ON! I was even more excited when I got an email from the company I purchased the gift from stating that the package was to be delivered on October 29th.  Well October 29th came and went and I was starting to wonder if the Mailperson would actually deliver the Parcel Notification Card.  (Note – I currently have a case open with CP because my Mailperson has not delivered 2 of my last cards and I received 2 ‘last notice’ cards without getting the first card!).  So I started to call the Shoppers Drug Mart Post Office every day to see if my package had arrive.  By November 2nd I started to worry, so I called Canada Post Customer Service.  Now I have a major complaint, the website clearly says, “Please note that this is the most up-to-date information available in our system. Our telephone agents have access to the same information presented here.” This is clearly a lie! since I called CS and they told me a LOT more information than what was offered on the site.  So embarrasingly I was told that I entered the wrong postal code (my bad! I was on the phone with my Mom when I ordered the gift and I put *her* pc oops!) so my package was delivered to Campbell River.  Dammit!  The nice CS rep on the phone assured me that the package would be delievered the next day.  So I called the Shoppers Drug Mart Post Office the next day…and the next day.  No package.  I am convinced my little package is sitting in Richmond waiting for someone to correct the address and put it on a big truck destined for my neighbourhood Shoppers Drug Mart where my Postperson may or may not give me a notice card.

Finally on November 4th I decide to call Canada Post CS once again.  So I speak to a very nice girl who looks up the information and declares that it is odd that my package has not been rerouted and that I have not received it yet.  She says that she’ll put in for investigating and f I don’t receive the package in five (5) business days! to call back.  Seriously? Seriously!  Whyyyyyyyy? This would be a perfect job for me! I could track missing packages to their rightful owners and be a mail delivery HERO!  So I have it marked on my Google Calendar to call CPCS on November 12th to see where my poor little package has gone to.

I’ve always been good about donating used clothing and household goods to charity and from my last move the Salvation Army really got a good lot from.  I was sick of moving and decided to donate a LOT of new stuff to charity just so I didn’t have to move it lol.  Now seeing as how I am on Maternity Leave (4 months left) I consider myself to be poor (lol) and to get some extra cash, I am selling some of my good quality stuff on Craigslist and UsedVancouver.  To date, I’ve sold about 5 items but all of my pending items are cluttering up our already small dining room.  So I thought I’d spread the word and forward you the link to my Online Garage Sale!

You may not live in the area so I understand if you don’t want to purchase my lovely things but if you know of someone who is, please pass along the link.

Cheers!

So I am bored and decided to google my name and ended up on some weird site so I searched ‘entrants’ and came up with a contest I entered for funny workplace stories.  I have 11 votes.  I want more!! I can’t even remember what the prize is but you gotta help me win!

Click here to vote for me!

If you happen to be an ex coworker (I don’t work there anymore) you might know who the story is about lol.

Thanks bunches!

AfterPost comment – I just noticed that some dude has 128 votes and so unless all my readers spread the news, it doesn’t look like I’m going to win.  The other guys story isn’t *that* funny.  oh well.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when I offer [could be anything] to a friend or a family member (offer, without being asked) and I don’t get a response.  Obviously this is usually by email or text.  At least have the decency to respond with a simple, ‘thanks, but no thanks’ if they are not interested.  I’m not sure where everyone’s manners are nowadays…

in life, in love and mostly in contests!  I’m not sure what my fascination is with them.  Perhaps it’s the simplicity of filling out a little form and getting something for free.  I love free! Who doesn’t? I enter contests daily because I heard a woman did that full time and won all kinds of crap.  So I’m sitting here thinking, I hope I get luckier one eof these days and starting thinking of all the things I’ve won in the past…

1. In Grade 3 I won a bible.  I guess my Teacher [Mrs. Sauerwein] was religious and offered it as a prize of some sort.  Who knows where it went…
   
2. Sometime later I won a Coleman sleeping bag, it was no surprise as I was waiting for my Mom in the line up of 7-11 and I filled out about 20 forms.  My Mom had to pretend she was me when she went to pick up the prize because I was under age.  Hehe.
3. In 2002 I won a trip to Jamaica from working at Staples.  I didn’t do much for it, my ’store’ had won it and they picked my name out of a draw.  It was the same day I got picked ‘Super Person of the Month’.  That day was a good day!
4. That same year I won a cheesecake from Cheesecake Cafe in Edmonton.
5. I’ve also won a ton of things from the Georgia Strait including a Team Canada Hockey Jersey, which I proudly gave to my Dad as well as an Elmo DVD and tickets to plays!
6. Last year I won tickets to a baby fair along with a baby bib and teething toy.
7. As well as a free photo for Kevin James Day Photography which  is kind of tricky because I spent $400 to get it!
8. Last week I won the ‘Familybook’ from Urban Mommies.
   
9. Last night I won a $25.00 gift card to Off the Wall.

I’ll keep adding to the list if I keep winning and all I have to say is “you can’t win if you don’t play!”.

My favorite contest site is www.saveland.ca which has users post all the *best* (ie legitimate companies) contests! Saves me from having to search myself and use less trusting sites.  I created an email just for contests so I don’t care if they spam me!  From entering these contests I have yet to have anyone call my house.  And because I work for a market research company, I simply state that when they want me to ‘answer a survey’ because it automatically disqualifies me! haha.

Hershey is our dog, in case you are wondering why a chocolate bar need a gift.

Hershey is a 4 year old Lab/Sheppard cross SPCA puppy who Clayton adopted as a pup.  I’ve been his doggy Mom for almost 2 years now!  Since I’ve been on Maternity Leave, Hershey and I spend a *lot* of time together.  We also have a kitty, Linux and they both get along quite well.  However I don’t think Hershey realizes that Linux is a kitty.  Anyhow, a few years ago Hershey had a sibling and was often very protective 0f his food dish and created a trance-link eating habit that still is around now that he’s the only puppy in the house.  Clayton has trained Hershey to not start eating until he is given the okay to do so.  The dish of food is placed on the ground and Hershey sits and looks at you until you say ‘Okay’ and give him a pat on the head.  It’s a great thing! He’s also trained Hershey to not be jealous if someone takes his food away from him, which came in real handy when Mason started to crawl.  Mason *loves* anything silver and shiny and that pretty much describes the doggie dishes!  The water dish has been dumped endless times (on our cork floor no less) and the kibble is always in Mason’s little paws (he doesn’t eat it, I think he just likes to play with it).  Oh right, back to the trance.  So when Hershey is finished eating he will bob his head up and down and pat his food down and continue to ‘pat’ the air around his dish.  Clayton says he’s ‘burying’ it to prevent the ‘other dog’ from getting it.  It’s funny at first to watch, but gets highly annoying after a while because his dog dish has traveled 5 feet down the hall and bits of kibble are everywhere.  Not to mention the clanging of the dish against the wall.

In the summer, I visited my cousin Sara in Port Alberni and she also has a doggie! Mischa (probably spelling that wrong).  In her house I saw that she had this awesome dog dish ’station’ made out of an old wine crate, it was super fancy! So I said to Clayton, this is what we need!  Upon returning home and consulting Mr. Google, I could only find these things in the US and they were well over $200! Add another $100 or so for shipping and it’s a wee bit out of my budget.  So I did the only logical thing a girl does, I called Daddy.  My Daddy is an amazing woodmakerguy and has created tons of awesome heavy duty machinery out of wood! I’ll upload pics one day!

So I did some research, got the dimensions and asked for a box (didn’t have to be a wine box) with two holes (one for water dish, one for food dish) and a lid so we could store the food inside (stored in a cheap Ikea plastic bin).  Some hard work on my Dad’s part and voila! a new dog eating station for Hershey!

The great thing about this box is that Dad used recycled wood! The wooden slats *used* to be dark wood paneling in our bathroom LOL

In use!

Hershey took to it right away, took the cat a few hours to discover her water dish was ‘up higher’ and it took Mason 20 seconds to realize that he had a water play dish at his level! We are now trying to ‘teach him’ that he’s allowed to stand and watch Hershey eat however NO HANDS IN THE WATER!

Thanks to my wonderful Daddy for making this for us!  He has plans to build another (with an antique box) and sell it for a reasonable price.  If you are interested in purchasing one of these awesome dog eating stations and you live on the Island or in Vancouver, please add a comment!

So a few weeks ago, my friend Jody told me about an online promotion through Facebook to receive a complimentary box of chocolate dipped fruit.  FREE! I love free!

All I had to do is log onto Facebook, fill out a form on their website and choose when to pick up my frooties.  They did not offer delivery to my areas however in talking to Jody (who lives down the STREET) he said he was able to get delivery, for the small charge of FIFTEEN DOLLARS.  So I decided to drive out to West Van to pick up my tasty treats.

Googlemap lead me through a ton of residential blocks to get to the main downtown (is there such thing in West Van?) area and then finding parking was a bitch.  I wanted the space right out front but I was on the wrong side of the road.  Circling the block, for oh 10 mins I finally gave up and parked down the hill and carted Mason in his carrier UP the hill.  The store was small and the desk clerk was friendly, he asked if I wanted a gift card in which I replied, “I drove all the way from North Burnaby, I’m eating these suckers myself!”.  Hehe.  He placed the beautiful gift box in a bag and away I went.  I wished him more business with the free offering.

First bite into the white chocolate strawberry was great! I had put the box in the fridge so the chocolate was a bit hard but yummy nonetheless.  I had another darker chocolate strawberry after dinner and you could tell the chocolate was higher quality, however the strawberry was a bit mushy.  The rest are to be devoured today!

Thanks to Edible Arrangements for the treat!

Afterpost note: The box suggested the treats be eaten within 4 hours of delivery.  I had the remaining two the next day and the fruit had already started to go soft.  Best to eat them immediately

We had a jammed packed weekend!  Yesterday was a bit more mellow!  I got up super early as Clayton had the night shift and took Mason to swim lessons while Dad had some time to himself.  I am an okay swimmer (only made it to ‘Red’ in swimming lessons in the 80’s) and I really enjoy swimming in lakes and the ocean (warmer water of course) but I’m not a huge fan of the chlorine swimming pool.  If someone asks me to go, I beeline for the hot tub.  I endured a whole pregnancy with only dipping my toesies in while I woefully watched Clayton enjoy the heat.  So this was my first experience swimming with a little guy whose life is solely dependent on Mommy keeping us both above water!  I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about going in my new bathing suit (a mismatched bikini set – top from my Mexico trip and a pair of $10.00 black/rainbowish shorts from Walmart).  I lost some weight during pregnancy but the weight definitely shifted.  I was also concerned about the stretchmarks but they have faded and oh well, what really can you do about those?  I figured I’d be more comfortable once my squishy mommy body was under water.  Mason and I bobbed around for about 20 mins solo before our class started.  A few times I lost my footing and we moved forward but I pulled back so Mason wouldn’t be dunked.  He was a bit tired and wasn’t really interested in splashing about.  We joined the group and sang ‘the wheels on the bus’ which I clearly did not know all the words to lol.  Then all of a sudden a lifeguard started shooing everyone out of the side pool because some kid barfed in it.  Not to worry, we all got ushered into the main pool which I unpleasantly learned was a few degrees colder.   Brrrrrr!  The Instructor said it was time to take some underwater pictures.  FUN!  But by the time it was Mason’s turn, her batteries were dead.  Booo!  Mason will have to wait til next week   Then she announced the parents would ‘drop’ their baby off the lower diving board (to simulate an evacuation of a cruise ship) and I was like UH NO.  I’ll watch.  I found my avoidance kind of interesting because I’m a bit of a dare devil and I don’t usually back down on new experiences (not to mention I’ve jumped out of a plane at 12,500 feet and free fell for 60 seconds).  So all the parents suited up their kids (okay..) and once the first kid was ‘dropped’ into the waiting arms of the instructor, it didn’t look all that bad but I still didn’t want to do it.  Save Mason from some surprise water confusion.  He’s not a fan of being torpedo dunked which I know he should get used it but that’s something Clayton can work on!  Anyhow as much as I love spending quality time with monkey, swim lessons aren’t for me!

Today our first outing was to Coquitlam to buy a Cuisinart Mini Food Processor I bought off Craigslist for $15.00, this will get me on track to make Mason some baby food!  I’m starting to get addicted to buying and selling on CL!  I sold an old digital camera and our chair mat and made $75 today.  Not bad!

Then we were off to drive to the other side of the world, okay to the end of the mainland [to UBC] for the 2009 UBC Apple Festival @ the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research.  Entry was $2.00 and Parking was $5.00 with a free shuttle to the grounds.  The event as split up on either side of Marine Drive so you had to take the underground tunnel to get to and from.  We arrived a bit too late and most of the food wares were sold out.  It started at 11am and we didn’t get there til 3:30pm.  The kids section was aimed at older children (say 3+) and had face painting, story book telling and little games.  The food section didn’t have too much options.  There was a ‘military style’ soup kitchen which ran out of soup by the time we arrived so no idea what kind or if it was vegetarian.  We had a slice of homemade apple pie $4.00 and a cup of apple cider $1.50.  I never was a fan of booze cider and assumed it was the same but I thought it was very yummy.  Clayton said it was a bit too sweet.  We were also out of luck for the apple testing booth as all the tickets were sold out.  I was able to enter a draw for free organic delivery service (yay) and that was about it!  We walked through the grounds and took pictures of the veggie & fruit gardens (the food is donated to the homeless) and headed for the other side for the rest of the apples.  Again, once we got there 75% of the variety of apples (most of which I had never heard of) were sold out.  Clayton bee lined for the ‘fudge booth’ and bought a piece of apple flavored fudge for $4.50 (small piece!).  I bought a bag of dried Royal Gala Apple Chips which were $4.00 and DELICIOUS!  They were made by Golden West Farms in Summerland, BC.  I just googled the farm to see if they had a website.  I couldn’t find one but I did find a rave about the chips!  Apparently I’m not the only who thinks they are great. AND doing a little more research, I found out they are going to be at one more Farmers market before the season ends.   Here is your chance to get a bag!  We might need to get more, I just ate most of them while blogging about them.  Oops, sorry honey.  There were a few more booths still open selling pickled things but the majority of the apple booths were full of empty boxes.  Including organic pears I snatched up a bag of organic Rosetta? apples for $7.00 for 9 small apples (well they are organic).  Since the event was almost over, we took the ’special’ bus back to the parking lot (the parking lot we use to go to Wreck) and headed downtown for the…

Vancouver Home + Interior Design Show

Thanks to Terry, Clayton’s Real Estate Agent who gave us free tickets!  We parked at the u/g in my work building as it was walking distance and I was reminded of premium parking prices for events…they wanted a lovely $20.00 for us to park for 2 hrs as the show ended at 6pm and it was just after 4.  I looked around for a parking patrol guy and decided to risk by not paying.  I’d pay $6.00, maybe even $10 but I am NOT paying $20 for 2 hrs, that’s just insane.  I should have looked for legit parking because I spent the entire time walking around the event praying that there wasn’t a $60 ticket on my windshield.  Which I would have kicked myself for because the stuff I sold would have paid my fine! We are famished so we head to the little food court area to get some grub and grub it was.  Two veggie dogs please.  Clayton forces his down but I throw the rest of mine away.  I dislike veggie dogs.  Well at least the ones at GM Place.  Yuck!   So we get into the show and it’s a mish mash of all kinds of vendors from home reno, to house maintenance, to food.  I didn’t see too much that I wanted to check out without having a million bucks in my pocket ($12,800 Sub Zero stainless steel fridge would be nice…).  We got suckered into watch two (2)! demos on a Swiss hand held food processor which was very impressive but had even more of an impressive price tag $250.00.  I probably would have bought it for $100 (it DID whip skim milk in 30 seconds and made ‘ice cream’ out of frozen fruit).  I’m sure it was worth the price but we aren’t rich!  We quietly slipped away when some people wanted a test of her demo ice cream!  We wandered around and around checking out gas fireplaces that we couldn’t afford, dream kitchens and other gadgets that weren’t worth a second look.  I stopped at a booth that was selling $40 hose nozzles that were designed by a firefighter in the US.  Super cool and would have been a great present for my Dad but a bit too expensive.  Oddly enough they didn’t have a website I could order from after the show.  Now that I’m home I kinda wish I had bought it but oh well, their loss!  Then I walk past yet another demo.  And finally I walked by a nice buddha picture at the Wonderbucks booth but Mason was having a meltdown in the babybjorn attached to Clayton and I figured it was time to go.  Magically Mason fell asleep and I got to check out the price…$14.00.  STEAL OF A DEAL!  Then the dude working there announces that *everything that is not furniture* is an extra 50% off cause the show is now over.  OMG that’s a $7.00 art piece.  SCORE.  So I turn into super shopper bargain hunter and meander through these tiny spaces to see what else I can get my paws on.  I grab a candle for my mom, 8 placemats made of some sort of wood, another canvas picture that Clayton picked out of a lamppost and a tray for breakfast in bed and WOW it comes to $30.  Now every bargain seeking woman is behind me at the register and the lineup is now down the ‘hall’.  I quickly scan around me on what else I can add to my pile (there are also Xmas deco’s and other living roomy type things).  I leave happy with my purchases!  And I am even happier when I return to my car (chanting “please no ticket” over and over in my head) to discover that the parking Gods have given me a free pass and there is no ticket on my windshield.  Thank you thank you thank you!.  We drive home and our little sleepy boy is completely passed out, 5 hours of being carted around is hard work!

It’s back to home, everyone is tired and hungry.  Okay Clayton was exhausted and Mason was tired and hungry but not me, I’m on FI-YAH…I start unpacking like a mad woman and can’t wait to hang my new pictures!  So happy, so happy!

If you know me well, you’d know that I’m a bit of a retard when it comes to directions and getting from point A to point B.  I always ’seem’ to know where I’m going but somehow end up in the wrong direction, late or both.  Today I had a lunch date with Alice at the Cactus Club on Broadway, a location I know well.

Option One:

* drive to restaurant, pay at least $5.00 in parking (IF I can find parking at lunch) and drive 20 mins

OR

Option Two:

* take skytrain to restaurant, pay $7.00 in transit costs, be kinder to the environment and get some fresh air as well.

I leave the house at 11:00isham so I can pack up Mason.

• Car Seat
• Stroller (to be disassembled in two pieces to fit in the car
• Diaper bag
• Formula & lunch
• Toys
• Mason

Make sure I take the dog to pee and we are gone!

Start to drive and then realize that I”m not sure which Skytrain to take.  I *think* Metro-town goes right downtown with no transfer and Brentwood requires a transfer.  So I do the math in my head.  More driving for a direct route or short drive and take a transfer.  I take the latter.  Get stroller set up, sunglasses on, Mason buckled in and away we go!  Fare is paid and we wait for the skytrain.  I am correct, there is a transfer.  So we get to Commercial, transfer to downtown train and I look at the little ‘transit map’.  ‘Funny’ I think to myself, the new Cambie line isn’t on the map.  I think maybe they haven’t put it up yet.  I then question how the skytrains actually connect as the Cambie line goes up Cambie and the skytrain I am on goes across the city.  I make a decision to get off between Burrard & Granville.  This was the wrong decision as the Skytrain goes right downtown.  Duh.  I get off at Stadium and realize that I was supposed to take the BUS at Commercial.  The BUS, there is a novel idea.  So now I am right downtown, very close to my work and realize that I somehow need to get to Davie street.  SO I start jogging with the stroller.  It is 11:48, I txt Alice to say we will be there at 12:10.  I figure that will give me enough time to walk 1.3k to the Yaletown – Roundhouse station.  So we hop on that Skytrain (another $2.50) and take the skytrain up to our actual destination.  As we are getting off the skytrain, Alice calls, she’s at the table.  I tell her we’ll be another 5 mins and Mason and I jog down the street to the restaurant.  I arrive at 12:14.

I’m so riled up from jogging, being late and trying to get Mason situated in his high chair that I’m all frazzled!  We have a nice lunch and Alice has to head back to work.  I say that I’ll probably keep walking and catch a bus at some point along the way.  I decide to walk all the way to the Skytrain station which is 3.4km, I pretty much had to, I have no change for the bus!!  The walk takes me about 45 mins and I feel better about this than taking transit as I got some fresh air and Mason decided to have a nap along the way.

A ‘nice lunch’ took a total:

• 3hrs duration
• 4.7km walked
• 3 skytrains
• $10.00 paid to Translink

I chose Option two.

So after reading all of the comments between Beth and I, I decide to look at Translink’s website one more time to see if the Canada Line is somewhere on there.  It turns out the skytrains do link together and you don’t need to take a bus from Commercial.  It probably is faster to, but for arguments sake…

You take the BRENTWOOD TOWN CENTRE SKYTRAIN to WATERFRONT SKYTRAIN to BROADWAY-CITY HALL STN SOUTHBOUND.

Life.  My Life.  Do we really have as much control as we think we do?  Something to ponder.

So much has been going on I am having a hard time coming up with a list to blog about.  I’ve been going through a bit of a tough time over the past few months and while trying to stay strong and keep on goin’.  While I’ll save all the stuff about being a Mommy for the other blog, I’ll just say that this ’stay at home’ stuff isn’t as easy as it looks!  It’s been hard for me to accept as I always assumed that I’d be the stay at home type Mom and I’m now into my 7th month of not working and I have to admit – I really miss it!  So with that said, I’ll move on to the other stuff…

I function best on routine.  I’m at my happiest when I can be organized, on schedule, on time and busy doing what I love!  As much as I love random life and spontaneity, I crave structure.  So as of late, I’m trying to get back on track!  This includes my health too.  Having a new baby means a lot of neglect on oneself! You become second…seriously.  And as much as that is the norm, it’s not the most ideal situation.  So I was thinking one day, how can I get back to healthy.  This is the mental list:

1. Diet
2. Exercise
3. General Health (I’ve got a bit of a defective body)
4. Mental Heath

I started by making an appointment with a Naturopath.  The last time I saw this type of Doctor was when I was in my teens, I had just been ‘diagnosed’ with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and my Mom & Grandma [Mama] thought this might be an option as there is no Western Medicine to battle CFS.  I remember her buying all these plastic containers and jars of liquid and powders (I’m assuming vitamins) which I refused to consume.  My CFS went away years later and has not returned.  I’ve always been skeptical of this type of medicine but now is not the time to be closed minded!  I made an appt to see Dr. Kristen Brown who has an office at Metrotown.  She was referred to me by my good friend Cindy.  I filled out the 3 page questionnaire and had my appointment last week.  I told her all about my health concerns and issues which include; removal of gallbladder & right ovary +cyst and kidney stones.  Fun times.  She suggested I reduce my dairy intake (don’t they all?) and start taking a Probiotic and B6 vitamin.  The other thing she suggested was to change my post natal vitamin however I hesitated as it’s quite expensive $30.00/month opposed to the $20.00 generic drug store brand which lasts 6 months.  I’m still thinking on that one…                                                                                                                                                                               I think taking a Probiotic was a brilliant idea and I really wish I had started this years ago, I definitely think it will help my tummy troubles!

So we will see how that goes! PS – Naturopathy is usually covered under Extended benefits so use it if you’ve got it!

The other thing I do for my self is regular Massage Therapy Appointments by the lovely Holli Husband at Green Room Rehab.  This is also covered by Extended benefits and I’ve only got 2 or 3 appts left for the year.  My muscles have definitely been more sore after packing Mason around (in the belly and out!) and for a treat Clayton and I will be booking a dual appt at Spa Utopia.  While the appointment is covered under extended benefits, it won’t cover the whole thing.  But that’s okay by me!

I’ve started a diary which is going to detail my moods and meals.  I have seen a lot of articles detailing the importance of keeping a food diary to track habits and thought it was too much work but I’m going to really make an effort to make it work!

Stupid WordPress.  Crashed before it autosaved my last paragragh.  Oh well, it wasn’t important!

Have a wonderful day