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Miscellany Monday




miscellany monday at lowercase letters

Linking up with Lowercase Letters today :) 


1.  Today started out awesome.  Nora slept from 10pm-2am, woke up for a diaper change and then slept from 2:30-8:30am.  It was fabulous.  And then she and I snuggled in bed together for another 2 hours (aka took a nap lol).  

2.  But then I got a bad news phone call - the job that I know I said I didn't really want to get - well I didn't get it.  I didn't even make it to the second round of interviews.  All because I'm not bilingual.  They didn't advertise that when I applied.  They KNEW I couldn't speak French when I went in for the first interview.  Why bother interviewing me if you KNEW you didn't want me?  I'm kind of angry about it.  Especially since they wouldn't have had to train me, I know the job.

3.  I went through Nora's dresser and closet today and packed up all of her little clothes.  She is now officially in only 6 & 9 month clothing - no more 3 month stuff.  I have a friend who is having a baby girl in a month and she was looking for some used stuff so I took pics and posted on fb - it feels weird to be doing that.  I kept the cute cute stuff though, and the memory outfits - like the dress Nora wore home from the hospital :)

4.  My baby is 10 months old.  I can't believe it.  Time is flying by WAY too fast.  I'm starting to plan her 1st birthday party.  AGH.  I want her to stay little.  She's starting to pull herself up on furniture, she crawls no problem now - no more army crawling.  She gets into everything, she claps, she waves, she signs all done when we finish eating.  She pretty much tugs on my heartstrings every day.  I love her to pieces and I want her to stay little just a bit longer so I can soak in every second of it.  Happy 10 months baby girl!

 

5.  I'm going to several home business parties this week - it's a busy week.  Wednesday night is the Pampered Chef Hostess Luau - if you were a hostess this year, you got invited for a night of prizes and fun.  Saturday is a Lia Sophia party - which is jewelry I think.  And then on Sunday I have an Arbonne party - which is makeup and skincare.  Add to that a playdate tomorrow, a church meeting on Friday afternoon, a Baby Sale on Saturday morning... it's shaping up to be a VERY full week.

6.  I did my grocery shopping yesterday - for the next TWO weeks!! This is the first time we've done 2 weeks of shopping.  And we only spent $120.  But that includes A LOT of food that isn't actually going to be used in the next two weeks.  I think the only thing we may have to buy next week will be eggs (but that's because we go through a lot of eggs lol).  And if there are any great sales next week I may stock up on stuff but probably not.  YAY ME :)  Lol. 

Project 365 - Week 17






Linking up with the lovely Laura from Between The Lines for week 17 of Project 365!  This week wasn't too busy for us, but we did get dressed up for a couple of days :)

Day 113 - We went out on Sunday and got all dressed up.  Both of us are wearing our new dresses from Old Navy.  They were on clearance - I love a good sale :)

Day 114 - Someone came into our bed with us and then took over the entire thing.

Day 115 - Nora's newest trick... she can stand up on things now.  It's crazy. 

Day 116 - Nora and Bella had a good game of tug-o-war together.  Bella plays differently with her than she does with everyone else.  She knows that Nora is little and doesn't have a lot of strength, it's super cute.

Day 117 - We had our Catholic Women's League Celebration for Our Lady of Good Counsel today.  It was also the Mass where Josie took over from Heather as our new President and Father Michel's 4th anniversary as a Priest.  So Nora got all dressed up in her cute brown dress again :)

Day 118 - I found this pink Giraffe chair at Homesense... I really wanted to buy it for Nora's room - but we are on a budget.  And the chair was expensive lol.  $79.99.  But it's so cute though!


 Day 119 - We went out for dinner to Milestone's to celebrate Paul being done 3rd year at RMC.  We went with 5 other couples and had a great time.  And that's my new hair cut!  I chopped all my hair off yesterday - it feels awesome.  


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Letters for A Friday





Dear Teething:  Can I please have my happy go lucky baby back?  I'm kind of tired of this grumpy one.  I just want her little teeth to appear fully so she's not miserable on a regular basis.  It seems that you're trying to get 3 teeth to come through at once.

- Sincerely - Stressed Mama

Dear Nora:  Mama knows that your teeth are hurting you, but could you please stop pulling my hair out?  You don't need to pull it to fall asleep, just snuggle Giraffey and all will be well.

- Sincerely - Mama who lost a fistful of hair last night

Dear RMC:  Thank you for my husband back.  3rd year is complete and I may actually see him for more than one evening a week and he won't be holed up in his office or at the college studying.  

- Sincerely - One Happy Otter Wife

Dear Body:  Can we try to cut out the caffeine again?  I know it's hard and that it sometimes causes headaches, but I don't think the sugar is good for my teeth.  I only had two pops today...which is a lot I know, but we were out for TGIF at the Officer's Mess.

- Sincerely - Lady who's trying to get healthy

Dear House: Once again - do ya think you could clean yourself?  I'd greatly appreciate it.  With the lack of sleep caused by teething baby (see above letter), I have no energy to clean.

- Sincerely - Lady who's house looks like a Tasmanian Devil ripped through it

Dear Husband:  I know you don't really read my blog (or at least you claim not to lol), I am beyond proud of you for finishing 3rd year at RMC and I'm SUPER pumped about your history paper mark (87%!! - Way to go!!).  Love you lots and I'm excited for this journey to be almost complete and getting ready to start the next leg of you career!

- Love - your super proud wife!
 

So What Wednesdays :)






This week I am saying SO WHAT to the following things....

- If I wear yoga pants on a regular basis.  They are comfortable, I am a Mom.  And I dress up to leave the house most of the time.
- If my little girl is little (yes, we are STILL on that topic - it came up again today with some other people who tried to tell me something is seriously wrong with my child).  She doesn't weigh a ton.  But she sure eats a lot.  Between still breastfeeding and eating solids, that kid packs away a bunch of food.  And I'm not going to worry until A DOCTOR tells me to. So there.
- If I don't want to go back to work full time.  It's my decision (and my husband's).  NO ONE ELSES.  SO BACK OFF. 
- If I use caps locks a lot.  I like it.  It gets my point across.
- If I don't want to pay for a new blog background - it made me finally get up off my butt and make my own header... whatdaya think??


Also this week I'm linking up again with Mrs. K and Captain J (I always want to say Captain K...  technically you should be a rank higher than your hubby anyways, cuz you're more important - or at least that's what me and my momma always joke about lol) for DRAW SOMETHING Wednesdays.  I only have one picture this week (I forgot to take more lol)

Here is my FABULOUS and very life like looking......WINDMILL :)  - Also please notice - I finally learned how to watermark my pictures :)  Or at least I think I did it right hahahaha.

 












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

GRRRR




So I had a pretty lazy Monday one would say.  We had a rough night last night with the little Norabear - she was miserable most of the night, not too sure why.  So she ended up spending the entire night in bed with us... it's amazing how small a Queen sized bed feels when there is a miniature person taking up the entire middle of it lol.  We ended up sleeping in a little bit because of it this morning.  Luckily for us, Paul's only exam this week is on Friday morning so he was able to spend some Daddy-Daughter time with her while I kept sleeping :)  I like having him at home like this.  Too bad it won't last much longer lol. 

On the job front, the interview on Friday went really well.  BUT I did have a few issues with some things that happened.  First of all, one of the positions that I interviewed for was for a bilingual person.  That wasn't stated up front and I only found out about it halfway through the interview (and honestly - it was for the position I would have wanted).  Also, I was told that they would prefer a bilingual person for both positions.  If I had known that, I don't know if I would have gone for the interview.  BUT (yes, I know there are a lot of but's in this paragraph lol), if I hadn't gone for that interview I'm not sure I would have realized that I'm just not ready to go back to work full time yet.  I'm still not sure how I'm going to work even part time either.  I guess I just need to figure things out.  I was also offered two more positions at a DIFFERENT job.  I must be popular or something lol.  Maybe one day I'll figure out what I want to do.

I decided to do some crafting tonight - Paul is playing video games and Nora is fast asleep in his lap.  I started a baby pink tutu... and I ran out of tulle halfway through.  And my tulle is from Syracuse... which is a 2 hour drive.  So that kind of really sucks.  I'm not sure when we will be back down there to get more.  I can't really justify going down there right now - it's not in our budget (especially if I'm not going back to work lol).

Anywho, that's all that is happening in Otterland tonight :)

Project 365 - Week 16!






Linking up with the Lovely Laura at Between the Lines for WEEK 16!!  Can't believe how fast this year is flying by already.


Day 106 - Someone tried waffles for the first time today.  I think she may have liked them... this was all that was left lol.

Day 107 - Our haul from Buying Day for Carter's Oshkosh :)  Someone is totally set for the summer, and fall, and next spring and summer too, oh and our winter vacay to Jamaica lol.

Day 108 - Park time with Daddy, Mommy and Zachary.  She went down the slides (with some help from Daddy) and absolutely LOVED it.

Day 109 - Wii remote or phone case... which do I want??

Day 110 - I like remotes.

Day 111 - Nora got a Wubanub from her Auntie Danie today.  She loves that thing - it helps that it's a giraffe too. 

Day 112 - Cosmic Bowling with Daddy and "Auntie" Laura and "Uncle" Bill.  It was a little bit too much for her we think, we bowled for an hour and then all came back to our house for some bevies.

Letters for Friday





Linking up for some Friday's Letters :)  My first time ever!!

Dear Job Interview - I totally rocked you.  I know I did.  I'm sorry that the position might not be the right fit for me right now.  I think I need to stay at home with my baby - I'm not quite ready for full time work yet.  But I had a blast!


Dear Nora - Don't worry, Mommy's not going back to work yet.  We can still play ALL the time and have snuggles on the couch and pyjama parties after Daddy leaves for work :)


Dear Husband -  Thanks for supporting me no matter what I decide to do on the work front.  I appreciate your love and support every day.

Dear Universe - if you could kindly be with my sister this weekend, I'm sure she would appreciate it.  And if you could help things to go smoothly, I'm sure she would also appreciate that.

Dear Kitchen Dishes - Could you please wash yourselves?  Thanks so much.

Dear Laundry - Like the dishes, can you fold yourselves please?  I would kindly appreciate it.

Dear Blog Land -  Could you help me figure out how to make my blog look prettier?  I want a new look, but I'm not sure what, and I'm not sure how and well, now that I have no money coming in, I would like something either very cheap or free.  Thanks muchly :)

Dear Friday - Although you started off rough, thanks for giving me a wonderful afternoon and a great evening.  Now if you could make sure my baby sleeps all night, that would be SUPER awesome too!!  Thanks :)


Oh what a day!







Linking up with Shannon at Life After I Dew



SO WHAT......

- if I cleaned as my "relaxing" night


- if my little girl is little... she eats lots and is quite happy and healthy


- if it took 9 months for my baby to get her first tooth!!  Yup that's right folks, she finally has a tooth!


- if I have an obsession with pens, I just bought some new Papermate gel pens, they rock.


- if I don't want to give my baby formula yet, I'm just not ready.


- if I'm doing 2 link ups in one post lol, it's my blog, I can if I want to lol.




Onto link up numero deux... (that's number two in french for those who were wondering).





MrsKandCaptainJ
I'm also linking up to Mrs K and Captain J for Somethings Drawn... I love Draw Something... it's my newest game obsession.





This is my rendition of Quarter.  I drew all of my Canadian change - this was for my sister, so she knew what the moose on the back of the money meant lol.





That's my x-ray - looks not bad :)



And this was my sis-in-law's attempt at Nemo.  I can kind of see it... but I was looking for fish first lol.

Um Tuesday??




I can not believe that it is only Tuesday.  This week has been very tumultuous so far.  Hmmm, I like that... Tumultuous Tuesdays.  This is my week in a nutshell:

Monday afternoon - email from my mom about a possible job position on the base here.  It's working for the same company I worked for BEFORE we got posted here, the same one that didn't have any open positions for me when we moved, now they have 2 positions.  My old co-worker (who is now the boss lady) emailed my mom, and asked her if I would be interested.  So I emailed her back and said yes, possibly and that I needed more details.

Cue Tuesday morning - heard back from her.  There are two positions, one term position for 5 months for posting season (it's the relocation department), and one permanent part time position that is full time for 5 months and then 20 hours/week until posting season rolls around next year.  Then I freak out.  Because that means if I got EITHER position, Nora goes into full time daycare for 5 months.  And cue the Mom Guilt.  That means I miss out on SO much, her first steps, her first real words, ugh, it makes me want to cry.  But it also means, making quite a bit of money - enough money to make childcare worth it.  And enough money to pay off our car.

Tuesday afternoon rolls around - Nora had her 9 month well baby check up today.  And she failed.  Or I failed.  Either way, it didn't go well.  Nora only weighs 17.2 lbs.  She was 16.6 at her last appointment 3 months ago - and she is now in the 9th percentile for weight and the Dr. is concerned.  So Nora is being referred to a pediatrician.  Cue more Mom Guilt.  We feed her when she's hungry.  She eats quite a bit.  She's a very normal baby, she's ahead of the curve on several of her "milestones".  She's just little.  I was very little.  Paul was little.  But they are worried.  UGH.

And then we talked to Paul's sister and got more bad news (but I'm not going to discuss it on my blog because it's her personal life, not mine to talk about).  

On a perk - I spent $63 at the grocery store today, and that's for 2 weeks worth of groceries including buying a bunch of jarred baby food meat.  Which smells gross and I don't blame Nora for not wanting to eat it.  I wouldn't eat it either.  We mixed it with applesauce lol.  

Another perk - I was visiting a friend of mine this evening on my walk with Nora and she offered child care to me.  Which is AWESOME.  She would charge me less and be flexible with our weird schedule because in June/July, my parents and Paul's parents are both coming out for approx 1 week and they probably won't be the same week, so Nora would be out of daycare for that.  Also, Paul has the month of August off of work, so Nora would stay home with him then.  So really we need childcare for May, June, July and September if I get the job.  I'm SO TORN... I really don't know what to do.  Any advice blog world????

Project 365 - Week 15







Linking up with the Lovely Laura over at Between The Lines for another round of Project 365.  I can't believe we are halfway through April already!!  Only one month left until I go back to work :(  Sadness.
Day 99 - Happy Easter!!


Day 100 - We went to Golf Town for Paul to check out some golf clubs... somebody else really likes golfing too.


Day 101 - I tried this.  I saw it on Pinterest.  Cut off the bottoms of your little green onions, put them in water and let the regrow.  It actually works!! 


Day 102 - Showing off some blocks in a picture for Grandma. Plus she's wearing her super cute giraffe skirt.  My daughter KIND OF likes giraffes.


Day 103 - Picture time with Daddy!!  They don't look alike at all... nope... not one bit lol.


Day 104 - Went for a drive down by RMC.  With only one year left here, we decided that we need to start taking advantage of the beautiful opportunities we do have. 


Day 105 - My laundry helper.  :)


And one extra from Day 105 - somebody was just waking up from her nap and was so snuggly cute, that I had to take a picture of us :)

 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Um Friday?? Really??




Holy cow.  Where did this week go??  I can't believe that it's Friday already.  This week has totally flown by.  We've been busy.  Let's do a little weekly re-cap, shall we?? :)

Sunday - Easter :)  We went to church in the morning, Nora started crawling forwards and we had our friend Billy over for dinner because his wife was visiting family back home.

Monday - Paul had Easter Monday off of work so we had family time :)  It was awesome.  We went to Golf Town so he could try out new golf clubs and then he took me to Fabricland so I could buy some fabric.  I spent $50.  A bit more than I wanted to but I got quite a bit.  I'm trying to save my pennies so I can get more fabric next time we go down to the States.  It's way cheaper in Watertown at JoAnn's.  

Tuesday - Watched Zachary, had a Catholic Women's League meeting.  I'm the secretary.  And I found out that a member from New Brunswick is moving to Kingston this summer and she's younger like me and super nice, so I'm pretty pumped about that.

Wednesday - Tea Morning with the Otter wives at our house.  It involved a lot of cleaning and baking for prep work lol.  

Thursday - Slept in :)  Then in the afternoon Nora and I went to Stars and Strollers to see Mirror, Mirror and I must say I LOVED IT.  And Nora was really well behaved for the entire movie (which is nice since she is SO much more mobile now lol).

Friday - went to Home Depot this morning to buy 2 ceiling fans.  They were on sale for $39.99 instead of $89.99, I was pumped to find that deal, especially because we want to put a fan in Nora's room and in either the office or the spare room.  It helps cut down on hydro during the summer because we can use those instead of the air conditioning.  And then we came home.  Nora and I went for an hour long walk this afternoon - we walked to the library so I could return my books and then stopped at Bennett's to pick up ham for our pizza tonight.  She slept for almost an hour, straight.  It was awesome :)  And we also stopped at our friend Kyshna's place on the way home for a little visit too.  It was nice to see her.

And I have some great blog ideas for the next couple of weeks.  A lot of stuff has been happening around our neighborhood and I definitely need to sound off about it.  Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Friday!!

Project 365 - Week 14







Welcome to another week of Project 365 :)  I'm linking up with the Lovely Laura at Between The Lines.  It's been a busy week for us filled with playdates and lunches and Daddy time.  I love the long weekends right now while Paul is in school because he had Friday, Saturday, Sunday and he even gets Monday off too :)

Day 92 - Chilling with Mom in bed.  She was a very happy camper, we may have slept in :)


Day 93 - Getting ready for school with Daddy.  She was all prepped and ready to go.

Day 94 - Sitting on the bed while Mommy was getting ready in the morning. 

Day 95 - Easter Brunch with the babies from our Prenatal class.  This is Nora and her pal Stella :)

Day 96 - Bath time!!  Nora loves her letters :)

Day 97 - Daddy was outside with one of his buddies on our deck, Nora was a teensy bit upset she wasn't with them, so she scooted her way over to the door and pounded on the window until Paul came and got her (and a blanket) and snuggled on the deck with her.

Day 98 - Easter prep :)

And just for fun - one from today - Nora in her pretty Easter dress with her fun bunny ears.  She actually crawled forward for the first time today - to reach her Easter basket.  It was so cute.  I hope everyone had a wonderful day today.  We sure did.  We went to Church this morning and then had a friend over for dinner tonight. 

Meal Planning




What do you do for fun on a Friday night?? Me, well, I peruse my weekly fliers and make my next week's meal plan.  I know.  Writing that makes me feel like I'm kind of lame lol.  Oh well.  It brings me happiness :)

Karen 1 - Budget 0
 
So I've decided to share with you people out in blogland - what a weekly meal plan and grocery list looks like for our little family of 3.  Now remember - Nora is mostly still breastfed but eats solids now too, and we have 4 packages of cereal, a jar of applesauce and some homemade baby food in the freezer so we don't really shop for her on a regular basis lol.

The calendar I use starts on Mondays - so we meal plan from Monday to Sunday.

Monday - Leftover Ham with Asparagus and potatoes.
Tuesday - Baked Chicken Bacon Ranch Tacquitos a la Six Sisters' Stuff (I highly recommend their blog for recipes - they have some AWESOME stuff!) This one we actually made this past week and froze the extras so it's a "free" meal lol.
Wednesday - Sweet'n'Sour Meatballs with Rice.
Thursday - Shrimp Alfredo Pasta
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - BBQ Steak, Potatoes and Corn
Sunday - Slowcooker Ribs and Rice with salad.

Shopping List:
Pineapple (79cents/can)
Mozarella Cheese (97cents/ball) (limit of 4)
Asparagus ($1.97/lb)
Eggs (4.29/30 eggs)
Ham ($7.99/double package)
Steak (approx $20 for 4 steaks = 8 servings for us)
Ribs (approx $20 for 2 racks = 2 meals + leftovers)
Sour Cream ($1.99)
Salad ($1.99)

Total: Approx $ 70 after taxes.  

For several of our meals we already have the meat because we like to buy in bulk at Costco when we can and I also always look for the "sale" meat.  Two weeks ago I bought chicken meatballs at Loblaws for $4.99/box (normally $6.99) and each box gets us approx. 2 meals worth of meat.  I also bought ground chicken for $3.00/pkg and chicken breasts for $5/pkg as well.  

We are doing good with our savings this month so far, I'm hoping that we continue on this path. With the extra money we save this month, we want to put it onto our car payment.  We will finish paying off our car next June (so just over a year away), but if we can put more money onto it now, we can shave time off our payment which will be great since we are hoping to get a van before we get posted next summer.  It will make the trip to our next home SO much easier with baby and dog and maybe a second baby by then (and no, I am not pregnant right now lol).  

Happy Friday to you all!!

LONG WEEKEND.




I am pumped.  Excited.  It's a long weekend.  And yes, I will be at church two of the four days, but I'm still excited.  PAUL IS HOME ALL WEEKEND.  And only has to study.  So that means, I get to relax and do crafts and clean and he will hold Nora when she cries.  YAHOO.

On a crappy note.  Our neighbors do drugs.  We live in a beautiful neighborhood, one would say that it is middle to upper class.  Houses are expensive around here, most of the ones up for sale are $300-$450,000.00.  Yet my neighbors smoke pot.  In their house.  We have these things here called HVAC systems - they are heat exchangers so they circulate air in and out of your house.  I don't know exactly how they work, but they recirculate air.  And our LOVELY neighbors HVAC vent is on the side of the house.  The side that my baby girls bedroom is on.  The side that if I open her window at night in the summer, she will be breathing in pot fumes.  Our houses are close together - that's how they are built here, but SERIOUSLY??  Grow the F up.  These people are our age, possibly older.  They have grown up jobs and they smoke pot on a regular basis.  It drives me bananas.  And now I'm worried about my daughter.  Because we can actually smell it inside our house right now - and all of our windows and doors are closed.  I don't know what to do.  Do I say something to them? Do we call the cops?   Any advice for us out there blogland???

So What Wednesdays




SO WHAT......
- if I'm linking up a day late... sometimes things get in the way lol.
- if my daughter is not walking.  She is not any other baby other than herself.  And she is fabulous.  So quit comparing her to others.  (it's not me that is doing it, or her father...)
- if I haven't done laundry in a week - other than diapers.  And I still have at least a months worth of clean underwear - yea, that's right, I own a lot of gitch.  BTW, do any Americans call underwear gitch?  
- if I have a table full of craft projects half started with none completed.
- if I took a three hour nap today... it was glorious.


That's all I got... sorry it's a day late lol.

Monday Monday





Miscellany Monday @
lowercase letters

1.  I went for a pedicure tonight.  It was a little slice of heaven.  Massage chairs, someone exfoliating and massaging my feet.  It was phenomenal.  AND I used the one of the newer OPI colours for my polish.  It's from the Holland collection and I can't for the life of me remember the name lol.  And I'm too lazy to look it up.

2. The government sucks.  They changed part of the military contracts.  So instead of Paul getting severance at the end of his service contract, it ends now.  So basically the military has screwed us out of a large lump sum of money that he should have gotten when he retired.  I'm still unsure of how it all works but all I know is that it's not a great thing.

3.  I think I was kind of offered a job today.  My old manager from Carter's is now going to be working at a new clothing store and is already seeking me out to work for her.  It's nice to be wanted, but that throws another wrench in my work decisions lol.  I hadn't decided if I wanted to work yet or not and now I have even more options.  And this one requires thinking about childcare.

4.  I'm participating in the Great Cloth Diaper change this month.  I am PUMPED.  And I have to admit, now that I'm washing my own cloth diapers - I don't know why I didn't do that right from the start.  It's easy and it's awesome.  And Nora's bum is rash free :)  Love love love cloth diapers.

That's all I got today - Nora is STILL teething and not sleeping.  It's awesome.  Really.  I swear it is. lol.