Party Season

This week Doug and I are going to be going to our company Christmas Party. Gabby will be spending the evening with her Auntie P at an ugly sweater part, so we spent the day listening to Christmas music and making these...
I am still getting used to my post baby body. I enjoyed the attractive baby bump I donned but, now that it has gone, I am left with a strange roll that cannot find an attractive article of clothing anywhere to be under. So I am going to have to really psych myself up for this party.

I went for my 6 week checkup and forgot to ask the doctor if I am now cleared for exercise. But I will start now anyway. I feel fine and I believe you are supposed to be able to work out after 6 weeks. If there was an issue, I'm sure he would have brought it up! Too Bad the Christmas party isn't in a few weeks when I show this roll who's boss!

Douglas is so cute! He has been proudly showing me off since the day we met. Today he seems to think I have only gotten more attractive. So he's set for the party. He's got a great outfit to wear and me on his arm! The only issue it that he works that day and the following day, so we may get there late and will definitely be leaving early (YES!!).


Today, I need to prioritize! I have started a new schedule to try to give Gabby and I more productive days. I have taken a lot of tips from other moms, and am hoping that by using the products of their trial and errors I will avoid my own. I am multitasking right now as I type, thanks to my Little Precious who is napping on my bed without me in the room! Hurray for small milestones!

Wish me luck!

A Drunk Blessing

It's funny how it doesn't really matter where we are, people love to stop us for an up close look at her. Most people comment on how beautiful she is, noting how much she looks like her father, or has my ears, or "is just so mini!" A lot of them are shocked that she isn't actually a doll or "one of those porcelain figurines". But a few people like to leave her with a little blessing. Something sweet and all encompassing like, "I hope you stay beautiful inside and out!". One man actually called her "Hope for mankind". Doug and I show her off proudly and gratefully accept all of these blessings.

Last night we went to visit my dad before he left to go up north. He was waiting for us in his hotel lobby and we chatted with him and a friend there for a few hours. As a few stragglers passed by they would stop to look at her and make the usual remarks at her.

Just as we got ready to leave, a slightly tipsy man asked to see her. He was taken by her sweet little face and gave her this 'blessing', "Four times, before her 17th birthday, she will look into the eyes of a racist and change his heart." As he was giving his prediction all that was running through my mind was, "...and before her 16th birthday, she shall prick her finger and die!". But once he had finished, I was touched and thanked him.

I'm sure that all parents have grand visions for their children and, like them, I hope that Gabby will be a true humanitarian. I would love to see this 'blessing' come true and one day witness peoples lives changed by the life of my child! Only time will tell.

A New Us!

Well an extraordinary amount of time has past since my last post!
I am not sure I can fill you in on all of the trivial and monumental developments along the way, but the major news is Gabby.

This little girl has entered our world and changed our lives forever!

As new parents, we are learning how to rearrange our lives to accommodate a new center. Thanks to Gabby, Daddy has changed where he works twice so far, and Mommy is now on maternity leave. That sweet little black Ford that I love is now a cramped space with Gabby's big bulky Diono car seat, and has become our only vehicle. Our bedroom is over crowded by her bassinet, change table, crib (still in it's boxes), toys, cloths and general stuff that comes along with a baby. My diet has been altered again because of the many foods that give young tummies gas.

We are so happy!

We were happy and excited when I first started this blog. Coming to Alberta was the best thing that has happened to us next to Gabby! But having her makes us happier than we ever thought possible! We were united in our goals when we first arrived here. We had drive and vision and our hard work and determination paid off in the funds that we needed to continue on in our pursuits. But having Gabby has changed our team dynamic. Now we are one. For the sake of a nurturing family environment, we have had to change the way we disagree, and overlook the flaws in each other that used to isolate us as individuals, so that we can be united in our efforts as parents.

I know many people fight over their children, and I can see why! It is hard to suddenly have to confront different parenting styles and upbringings to find a common ground that your children can sit on, but I think we will be alright. Being as stubborn and pigheaded as we both are, we should be able to boldly build a safe future and family environment for the little drop of Love that we both built!

Gotta go pick Doug up from the airport!

Namaste...

Good Start To A Great Year

Over the holidays we had some trouble finding and switching our internet providers, so there were a lot of people who we had to wait to contact via Magic Jack. But I am happy to say that Doug got us up and running again.

Doug and I enjoyed our Christmas break, but it's back to work with us. Just like the Durham Region houses Ajax, Ontario on the edge of the GTA, our home in Sherwood Park is in Strathcona County, on the edge of Edmonton. Doug works at a refinery on the border of Edmonton and Strathcona County. You may remember that I work for the same company, but at their head office in Edmonton. Well, just before Christmas I started doing work for a project up in Fort Saskatchewan about 45 km away. We both have to be at work for the same time, so having only one car was a bit of an obstacle.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary to me!!!! I got a new car!
The 2010 Ford Focus has it all! A wicked sound system, heated leather seats and side mirrors, sunroof, Bluetooth, and a dash full of light up buttons for things!

Much as I have been enjoying the car, I have been feeling a little guilty that Doug has barely had a chance to use it. The Buick has a large engine, and even with gas prices bumping between 80 and 90 cents, it is just more cost efficient for me to use the Ford.

In home news, Mitsy and I had a small falling out, when she decided to pee on my white sheep skin rug! I have no idea what that was about, but I will be scouring Pintrest for a cleaning solution! 

I have been going to the gym after work. It has been fun and exciting so far, but I am looking forward to working out with Doug. He's a little concerned that I will try to kill him, so he's waiting until "the novelty wares off". It's a shame that none of my friends here live in Sherwood Park. Sometimes it would be nice to workout with someone other than the voices on my MP3 player!
One of the locations by my house has a Jacob's Ladder! I had never seen one before, but it is a conveyer style wooden rung ladder. It's my favourite toy there right now.

Speaking of the gym, I have a date.

Bye!

Sherwood Park, Alberta

We have had an interesting time out here so far. We went out to Candy Cane Lane and Maisie's House with some friends and their little girl. Doug is looking forward to a bachelor party in a Chalet in BC, and I am looking forward to a shopping trip to an outlet mall in Calgary with some friends. They have a Coach outlet and a Michael Kors Outlet there that we are excited to hit!

But lately all of our adventures and misadventures have been in the car. The snow here is intense! I used to work down to road at our head office, but now I have to drive up to Fort Saskatchewan every work day. The first few times I tried to find my way up there I was lost thanks to the snow caked over all of the road signs. Since then I have swerved off the road, fallen into snowy ditches, gotten locked out of my car, gotten frozen out of my car, run out of gas on a desolate highway... The list goes on and on. Doug and I have both been spoiled with company trucks a couple of times, and are now looking into getting one ourselves.

But much as the snow is a menace, it is beautiful!

~*~

 At the end of November Doug and I moved to Sherwood Park. Sherwood Park is a hamlet on the edge of Edmonton. Our new apartment is about 10 minutes down the road from our old one, but in a well kept building in a quiet neighbourhood. There is a plaza with a Homesense right behind me, as well as a Superstore, and a great gym walking distance from our patio. The Sherwood Park Mall is literally down the street and has a La Chateau outlet in it, that I have been enjoying. one of Doug's friends lives around the corner, so he has been enjoying some much needed guy time!

The apartment has a great deal of storage, thankfully, as we still have about 20 totes en-rout from Ontario.I miss my artwork. But I am looking forward to getting my easel and painting some new pictures for our poor white walls!

Doug was the first to be bitten by the Christmas bug this year! He reminds me of Scrooge on Christmas day sometimes!










I have two Christmas trees in the attic in Ajax, but none here. Douglas bought me a little guy to put all of the decorations that arrived on. Moo Moo has been helping me decorate in her own little way. She loves to snoop in the boxes of things, and play with whatever she can get her paws on. Today, as always, she "helped" me wrap a few gifts by pulling off the ribbon and chewing up the ends, and crumpling as much of the wrapping paper as she could. At least she leaves the tree alone, for the most part. She likes to sleep under it (I wonder if she remembers that she was a Christmas gift when she was a kitten.), and chew on the candy canes, but to my relief, she leaves all of the glass ornaments alone (one bonked her in the head once, and she's been holding a grudge), and only occasionally tail flicks the others.

Well, its time to bake cookies. I will write again soon.

Merry Christmas

This Is Why We Came Here

Most of you know about Doug's experience the first few weeks here. He has had more work than he knew what to do with! He's been ecstatic that, not only has he had to turn job offers down, but he has also gotten to choose what he wants to do here. Unlike Ontario's job market that held a thumb on his aspirations and played a part in breaking his spirit, Edmonton has done nothing but help him expand his horizons.

He is so happy! Not only was he able to land the job he wanted, but they bent over backward to have him! His training was paid for, his compensation is remarkable, and he is looking forward to every weekend off.

Edmonton has not only helped Douglas. I transferred from my Costco, in Ajax,  to one here for an easy transition. At first I was hoping to stay with Costco for a few months for some added stability, but the job was getting to me. I was bored, and agitated there. After two weeks it became clear that I would need to start looking to get back into an office. One week later, I had three job offers, one of which I accepted with gusto. It was everything I was hoping for! Challenging daily problems to solve, researching, invoicing and accounting, with plenty of multitasking, await me every weekday. Weekends were always free to live my life! But then, a day later, I was called back in to the company Doug is now working for. Apparently they had a sudden opening and I was the only person the lady in HR could think of who had had the experience to do it! Now I work at Head Office as Cost Control.

So here we are, working for the same company, making an exciting contribution to our future everyday, and looking forward to all of the quality time we will be able to spend together!

This all happened on October 1st, exactly 32 days after we arrived in Edmonton. After struggling for decades in Ontario's miserly job market, we have never felt so valued, or charmed or as grateful as we do now!


Doug told me yesterday, "Every day, when I wake up, I feel like I'm on the first day of a vacation! You know that anticipation you can hardly contain? The other days are great, but nothing beats the anticipation of that first day!"

A Stunned Silence

Please excuse us while we experience our stunned silence. 

I am sure there will be much to say when reality returnes and we are numbed by the pinching.

Thank you