Mishmash

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

Things that irked me today

• Intersections that do not have the street/road name listed
• Too many commercials on the radio
• Idiot drivers.  Because the guy who has no lights is going through the intersection on MY green and when I want to proceed he decides to gun it and fingers me as I drive through the intersection.  *I* have the right away jerkface!
• RBC.  I hate this bank and only deal with them because Clayton’s accounts are there.  I drive there to deposit money only to find that they are closed at 3pm when the sign clearly states they are open until 4pm.  WTF!?
• Idiot pedestrians.  The little white guy on the signal control means WALK.  The flashing orange DO NOT WALK means keep your ass on the sidewalk until the little white guy shows up again.  This isn’t a hard rule to follow.  I wonder why there are so many pedestrian accidents?

I think that’s it for today.  Thanks for reading my rant.

RIP Danby

2007 – 2009

Died peacefully in the morning September 10th of unknown causes.  Will be missed and replaced.

You were a good microwave

A bit behind…

So we took advantage of another long weekend to take a trip…to where? you ask…you guessed it, back to the Island…the good ol’ Riv.  My Parents generously booked us a getaway on Quadra Island which allowed them a full overnight visit with Mason without the parents around!  We invited my Auntie Carol to join us on the ferry ride over so she could visit Mama & Papa, the car was definitely full!  The ride over was fairly quick even though we had to take the Tswaassen Ferry because the other one was fully booked up, weeks prior!  We got into CR around midnight and quickly unpacked and headed to bed.  The next day we relaxed until it was time to pack up again (Doggie too) and take yet *another* ferry over to QI.  The Resort we stayed at was Seascape Waterfront Resort and the pictures from our stay are posted here.  Upon arriving, the property was quite large.  We checked in and noticed they had tons of DVD’s for guests (yay) but charged a rental fee (boo) 2 for $5.00 which isn’t expensive but most resorts offers books, videos and magazines for free!  Guess times are tough on QI?  We got the key to our chalet and once I’m out of the car I decide to take tons of pics, much to the disappointment of Clayton who is busy unpacking the car (sorry honey!).  We get into the chalet and are a bit disappointed, it’s very plain and not as cozy as I had hoped.  The view however, it amazing.  I was hoping for at least a nice bathtub but it was a ‘cabin’ tub and there were holes in the wall!?.  We climb the very steep and dangerous stairs to the beds and realize there is no bathroom upstairs.  I’m concerned about falling down those stairs in the middle of the night (and if you know how *klutzy* I am, this is a worry!).  We unpack and head out for dinner.  Once again we go to Niko’s Sushi because there aren’t a lot of restaurants open for dinner! And because it was yummy the first time!  We had a fairly early night because it isn’t often we get to sleep uninterrupted through the night!  The beds were very low quality/old and we tossed and turned all night.  Eventually at some point we tried the other bed (there are 2 doubles and 1 single) but it wasn’t much better.  I also woke up every time Clayton got up to go pee and said ‘be careful’ because I had this awful fear that he was going to trip down those stairs and kill himself (there is only one railing and they are SOOO steep).  We woke up before our alarm and packed up and went for breakfast at Cafe Aroma which consisted of Eggs Benny (because that’s all they serve) but it is AMAZING!   After breakfast we talked about going for a hike but the weather was iffy and when we decided to head back to CR, the downpour came upon us.  Luckily the ferry took on passengers early and we were able to head back to see our boy instead of sitting in a ferry lineup for 45 mins.  I was a bit reluctant to tell my Mom how our stay was because it wasn’t cheap and it wasn’t that great.  But I did anyways and offered to type a complaint letter to the owners.  She sent it off the other day and got a response quickly.  They are offering for us to stay a night for free in one of their cabins which is a lot more cozy and romantic and has a hot tub in the living room (complete with ocean view!) I’m excited to stay there again.  That is customer service!

The rest of the trip went by fast!  We had good visit with Grama, Mama & Papa, were spoiled by my parents (the relaxing, the food) and my Dad was the superhero and changed my brakes for me (which were really in need of replacing) and also made a ‘poo box’ for Linux (our kitty).  It consists of a little cabinet (two doors and a drawer) and he cut a hole in the side for Linux to enter/exit and the litter box is inside.  This keeps the odor (and the dog) out and not visible.  Awesome!  We headed back to Nanaimo around mid afternoon as we had a quick stop at my best buddy Tim’s new house in Parksville.  Beautiful house!  Congrats to Tim & Jenn!

The ride back seemed longer since we were on a 2hr ferry leaving at 8:15pm.  Got home, unpacked and off to bed.  Good thing it’s a short week!

Yummy frozen foods?!

I just bought Healthy Choice Gourmet Steamers and I give it two thumbs up!  Sooo yummy!

http://healthychoicecanada.ca/en/healthy-products/

Bought em at Thrifty Foods

Ever have one of those ‘body’ days?

The dreaded words from a female, “I feel fat.”   What do you really say to that?

Absolutely.nothing.

And if you are having an extra special day, you can add – ” I feel [ugly, tired, pudgy, pale...].  Sometimes no matter what clothes you wear, make-up you apply, mood you try to get into it’s no use.  I am having one of those days.

Let’s exterminate litterbugs!

Clayton and I live in North Burnaby, Capitol Hill to be exact.  It’s a nice older neighbourhood which was developed in the early 70’s and still has a lot of trees in many peoples yards.  We take our doggie, Hershey for walk every single day (sometimes 3x) and have a path that we walk to Capitol Hill Elementary which spans an entire city block and includes two playgrounds, two fields, an outdoor wading pool and tons of room for Hershey to fetch his ball.  So what’s wrong with that picture? Look down…at your feet and while on the 5 minute walk, you will come across insane amounts of garbage!  It’s not one or two pieces, it’s a lot!  I try to pick some up while I’m on the way to the school however I need a trash bag!  It’s bad enough that people toss trash while walking, another thing they throw it out their vehicle window (so much for the fine warning, it’s no use!) but when I go on the school property it’s covered in litter.  Aren’t we teaching our children to toss the garbage where it belongs and keep recycling in the bins?  I was pretty annoyed when I realized there was only one trash can for the entire lot (which is enormous) and it was right near the road, where most parents do not want their kids wandering off to.  It also is found full on most occasions which leads to overflow and I’m sure fuzzy little rodents like to cart the leftovers all over the place.  I did notice during the summer they did add another can to the property however it wasn’t anywhere near the garbage.  I think one day soon, I am going to spend an hour picking up the trash I find and have at least one day I can look at a nice natural space however I know it won’t last for long.  School will be in soon and the garbage will be out.

I *was* having a good morning

Hello mirror mirror on the wall (as I walk into the bathroom naked).  Oh my, don’t you look good today? Maybe you’ve lost some weight?  Very nice….the trip to the swimming pool with Mason shouldn’t be so painful! Might look good in the new bathing suit shorts you bought last night!

So I think, well if I ‘look’ better this morning, perhaps I’ve lost some baby flab.  Onto the Wii Fit I go.

“Good  Morning Jodelene”, it welcomes me.

“Did you know that you need to lose 30lbs to get to your healthy BMI?”, it happily states.

Hmmm I wonder if Clayton would be mad if I threw the Wii Fit off the balcony?  I think 30lbs is a bit much, might leave me lookin’ a bit anorexic! Onward I go with my weight testing.

“Oh! it looks like you’ve gained 2.5lbs since last week!”

F’n lovely.

I turn the Wii Fit off.  So much for my happy morning.

Alll growed up

It all started after Clayton had his birthday on August 2nd and he turned 34 and I started thinking about getting older and my upcoming birthday (March 2010) and for a brief  minute, I forgot how old I was turning.  The real number is 33 as I am 32 right however my brain wouldn’t accept this and for a minute I was convinced there was another number (smaller) before 33 that Iwas just forgetting.  Now 33 isn’t old by any means and I kind of like the tone it has but where did all the years go?  I mean, I remember when turning 30 was a huge deal (I cried) and I really liked 29 (as it’s my favorite #).  I’m not sure what 33 means to me as far as age or how far I’ve come in life, I don’t really want to get that deep.  It’s just a number right?
However realizing that we aren’t ‘kids’ anymore and most of us are having kids and lately a lot of my friends and acquaintances are getting married.  I guess that signifies some sort of sign of growing up?  Clayton and I often discuss marriage and it’s something we think we’d like to do in the future but for right now there doesn’t seem to be a ‘good’ time to have a wedding and not to mention the lack of funds to have a wedding.  I don’t want to be pregnant/post partum when I am planning/getting married so that rules out the next two years and I’m not sure how I’ll find time to plan a wedding with two kiddies.  Right now it’s not a huge priority.  Moving would be higher up on the list as we do plan on relocating to Victoria when we are ready (aka when the real estate market improves).  So many ducks, not so much in a row.  Day by day is pretty much all I can handle right now, I’d be impressed if I could fit three healthy meals in a day and get out of the house often.

I have an overwhelming desire to plan everything, organize anything I can get my hands on and arrange all the details of my life into neat little boxes.  I imagine I would feel more ‘in control’ but I try to step back, look at the big picture and realize things will happen in time.

Childhood Memories

I decided to take Mason and Herhey on a walk today.  Destination – Pinecrest Elementary School, my first k-7 elementary school and also where some of you attended as well.

Leaving the house, my eyes wandered all over and childhood memories started to flood my mind.  The gap in the hedges in our front yard [from Mike and I cutting across the front yard to the sidewalk] is now closed.  The tree in the Mrs. Braithwait’s yard that was covered (from base to top) of roots has had them removed part way up the tree.  Guess it was strangling it? I liked them.  We also used to sneak into her yard to steal her honeysuckles.  I cannot count how many times I walked to and from this school but the neighbourhood hasn’t changed much over the years.  I approach ‘2nd field’ and immediately revert back to being a kid.  My thoughts wander to when…

A schoolmate who was a bit on the plump side was shunned by the other kids when playing baseball and it made her cry.  I accompanied her to the washroom where she declared I was her only friend.  The next day I was abandoned for her ‘new friends’ as they allowed her to play again.

Building ‘forts’ in the bushes out of branches and pinecones.

Having my best friend throw a slurpee cup at my face which happen to contain lime (for the field) which instantly burned my eyes.  I screamed and cried all the way home and my Mom threw me into the bathtub.  I’m still convinced that this is what caused me to have such bad eye-sight.

I continued to walk towards the school and ended up at the main field which had grass much more lush than 2nd field, I think this was because it was more shady.  I was shocked to see that the playcenter in the back was removed and just grass remained.  There were no play structures at all at the back of the school.  As I walked closer to the school itself, I saw that all of the hopscotch outlines were worn away and the school was in badly need of a paint job.  What happened to my school!? Where are the tax dollars going? I hope that it looks a lot better on the inside than out.  There were signs posted on every wall asking people to pick up after their dogs.  I even wondered if the school was now empty but my parents told me that cutbacks had resulted in its current state.  I walked around the perimeter of the school as I had done so many times at recess.

My thoughts wander to when…

My best friend (lime girl) had fell off the (now gone) playcentre and broke her arm (?)

Chasing boys and not knowing what to do when we caught them

Trying to remember which classrooms I was actually in

Holding hands with the recess monitors and walking with them around the school

We got to the front of the school and I was relieved to see a playground at the front of the school.  There wasn’t much different around there and we circled back to the field so Hershey could run around and play some more.  A bit saddened to see the school in such a state but at least my memories will never change and it was a good time for little Jody.