Hobbit-ish Potpurri: Milli Vanilli Edition

That's right Humble Readers, I'm blaming it on the rain...

I have been feeling so blah for the last few days, it's pathetic.  The first long weekend of 'summer' (yeah, right!) is behind us, and other than a nice time at the first farmer's market of the season, it was a bit of a dud.  It started raining on Sunday morning and didn't stop until sometime early this afternoon.  I'm just thankful that it wasn't snow.  And hopefully the rain has been helping the wild fire situation in the north of our province.

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Even my cooking skills have been affected recently.  I burn things, recipes flop, the produce I buy goes bad overnight... who am I if I can't cook a decent meal?

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As much as I am not enjoying the prolonged rain, it may be a good thing for me physically.  I think I have developed a bit of an allergy to the sun.  It took me a while to connect it (like more than four years) but everytime I go out in the sun for more than 15 minutes, I end up covered in little red dots.  My hands, my arms, feet, legs, and chest.  Anywhere that my skin is uncovered.  The only place they don't show up is on my face, thank heaven.  They take a few days to clear up and are slightly itchy... hmmm something to ask Dr. B about next month when I see him. 

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Poor little Ginny is teething.  She's been drooling like a tap for more than a month, but the last couple of days have been rough on her.  She spent all afternoon today clinging, whimpering, and full on bawling.  She's now sleeping off her first ever dose of tyl.enol. 

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We've been having to re-evaluate our financial situation.  That things are tight is an understatement, and when my mat leave benefits run out in October things could get ugly.  We have been working through what we can trim from the budget.  (Somehow, we need to come up with an extra $600 a month over and above what my Beloved makes each month in order to make things work with our current bills.)  Sadly, one of the cuts is going to be our diaper service.  I love the company, the product, and that we have been able to use cloth without having to deal with the mess.  This will be our last week.  At least we made it to 6 months...

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We just found out that the owner of the unit next door to ours has purchased another unit in our building.  There are only 6 units in the building, and now she has two votes.  This wouldn't be an issue except that she is a busy-body, nagging biotch.  She's the one who held out on the vote for us to change the by-laws for the building to allow small dogs.  Oh, did I mention that her daughter & boyfriend who live next door constantly have knock-down-drag-out fights at least once a week.  The cops have been called several times for domestic disturbance.  Ugh... one more reason to think about finding a new place.  Oh wait, we're broke... can't afford a new place. 

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I honestly do have a post that is less whiny coming up.  And I have a recipe for a salad that I think a lot of you will like coming later in the week.

May ICLW - True Confessions

Howdy Humble Readers...

I honestly didn't mean to leave such a gap of time between my last post and this one.  Every day I thought about posting, but of course we all know what thought did.  Anyway, I've decided to pull my head out of my butt and join in with ICLW this month, in hopes of maybe finding my bloggity mojo again. 

I thought for this month's ICLW intro, I would do some true confessions... nothing earth-shattering, just some random crap about me that I don't think most of you know.  Honestly, it's just a chance for me to talk about me...

1 - I don't use Twitter.  I don't get the point.  But then, I didn't get the point of FB for the longest time, and now I'm a FB junkie.  (BTW, if any of you are on FB and play Gardens of Time, please let me know.  I need more neighbours!!)

2 - I have only recently discovered the wonders of sugar scrubs.  I don't know when these became popular or if they even really are, but I have fallen in love.  I particularly love the ones from Bath & Bo.dy Wor.ks. 

3 - I used to dog-ear pages in my books to mark my place (gasp!)

4 - I don't like bacon (the smell of it cooking is nasty) but I regularly put simulated bacon bits on my salad or baked potatoes.

5 - I'm obsessive about cleaning my ears.  I know you shouldn't put anything other than your elbow in your ear, but I keep the cotton swap companies afloat.

6 - I'm honestly not a sports fan of any sort, but I admit I find myself very excited that the Vancouver Canucks are doing so well in the playoffs.  I have actually been enjoying watching the games (but don't any of you dare tell my Beloved!)

7 - I can't keep a plant alive, and yet every year I attempt to grow an herb garden.  Every Year... futility in action!

8 - I have a love hate relationship with socks.  I love me some stripey socks, but I can't handle wearing them for very long.  I much prefer to be barefoot.  (Perhaps it's part of my hobbit heritage?)

9 - I don't hold a pen/pencil like a normal person.  When most people write, they anchor the pen on their middle finger.  When I hold a pen, I anchor it on my ring finger.  This caused my elementary school teachers no end of angst. 

10 - I have yet to take down my outdoor Christmas lights this year.  They aren't plugged in or anything, but they are still out there... mocking me...

Okay, I think that's enough totally random crap about me.  If the world doesn't come to an end today, then I will do my best to be back with another post tomorrow.  I do have some marginally interesting things to share with you all.

So, It's *THAT* Day, Eh?

Greetings Humble Readers...

Well, it's finally here. 

Mother's Day.  And I am now a mother, for all the world to see.  I have been asked numerous times in the last few days if I'm excited about my first Mother's Day.  I know they are being kind and expecting a happy smile, but...

After the years of sadness,grief, and longing, I have what I wished, hoped and prayed for.  A child to love... A beautiful. precious girl who stole my heart long before she drew breath.  So I'm left pondering why this particular Mother's Day which, on paper should be the happiest ever, is feeling rather anti-climactic. 

I'm sure that part of it is some of the lingering PPD (which is slowly getting better), but I have a few thoughts about it...

The biggest thing is, I don't consider this my first Mother's Day. 

Throughout our lives, we add to our personal labels, our mental credentials.  I'm a daughter, sister, wife, former-majorette, dyslexic, wannabe-writer, friend, Believer, plus-sized woman, lousy housekeeper, pretty decent cook, and an avid fan of boy bands.  And yes, a mother.

I added 'mother' to my credentials long before Ginny was born.  The first time I saw those two pink lines, the title of Mom took root in my heart.  Since that sunny July morning, I have been a mother, and when that pregnancy ended far too soon I made the choice not to give the mom-title back.  There were many (far too many) days when I was certain that I would never be a mom to anyone but my angel-babies. 

But through all of it, I never relinquished my Mom credentials. 

And I think the same can be said for you, my IF sisters.  From the first time you prayed, hoped, dreamed of a child.  From your first round of IUI or your fourth IVF, from the first of your homestudy paperwork or your 100th blood draw.  Whether you hold your children in your arms or in your hearts... YOU ARE MOTHERS!

By the way, I don't think Mother's Day is only a day in May.  At least for me, it's not. 

It's that sunny day in July, the heartbroken day in September.  It's when the two pink lines showed up, and when the ultrasound screen was blank. It's every remembered day of loss, and every missed EDD.  It's the day we first saw Ginevra's flickering heartbeat and the day I first felt her move.  And it's a dark snowy evening in November when my sweet wee girl made her first appearance. 

Those are my Mother's Days.

Bad Mommy

Good evening Humble Readers...

It's confession time.  Big dark bad confession time.  Earth shattering, life-altering, outting-me-as-a-bad-mommy confession time.   **sarcasm heavily implied**

I let Ginevra suck her thumb. 

In fact, I encouraged it.  Ok, so obviously I'm being sarcastic about the bad mommy thing.  Although, some of the reactions I get from people when they see her sucking her thumb, you'd think I was letting her mix cocktails in the cleaning supply cupboard. 

When Ginny slips that thumb into her mouth at church or a family gathering, the ladies around me start raising their eyebrows.  Then come the stories of so-and-so's kid who sucked their thumb until they were 12, and needed thousands of dollars of dental work. 

I knew that I would be getting a lot of unsolicited advice once I became a parent, just like I did while we were trying to get pregnant.  I mean, if my mother told me one more time to stand on my head after sex, I was certain that I would throw a fit (not to mention the ick-ness of having that discussion with my mom). 

So, my baby girl sucks her thumb.  What's the big deal?  She's five months old, not five years old.  I'd rather she suck her thumb than get addicted to a pacifier/binky/sucky.  I'd rather she be able to soothe herself, than need an object to provide comfort.  I think there's also something to be said for the fact that it's something she could have done in the womb.  But that's my opinion.

If she's still sucking her thumb in a year's time, we'll be working on breaking her of the habit.  For now, I'd like to let her do what comes naturally to her. 

But according to the biddies, I'm committing the cardinal mommy-sin.  Who'da thunk it?

Ginevra @ Five Months

Hey Humble Readers!

I cannot believe that our wee little girl is already five months old.  I know I say it every time I write one of these posts, but how is this possible?  Where has the time gone?

Yummy fingers!

She's almost 15 pounds now, and solidly in her 6 month wardrobe.  Not much of the 3-6 month stuff fits any more.  We have to do some shopping for her because the majority of what we were given for 6 months was winter clothes and won't work now. 

Peek-a-boo!

She has had an extreme turnaround in how she views tummy-time.  Where she used to scream and cry when we put her on her tummy, now she loves it.  She still hasn't gotten the whole rolling over thing yet, but she's getting there.  She will often turn onto her side, but just not go all the way over.  I will confess that I felt the competitive mommy come out a couple of weeks ago, when we were visiting little Thor and he was rolling from his tummy to his back like a pro at only 3 months old (and this with him being a preemie).  She can sit for a few minutes at a time, but she tends to tip over forward if she's left sitting for too long. 

Hanging out with Gramma

Her schedule is ever evolving.  She wakes between 7 & 8 most mornings, eats, naps for anywhere from 20 minutes to 3 hours... then wakes, eats, plays, and naps again.  She has her fussy time right around when we eat dinner, of course, but she's usually dopey by 7:30 and asleep by 8.  We get her up at around 11pm just for a diaper change and a small bottle to hold her through the night.  Some days she'll sleep for hours at a time, and other days she has a multitude of short little cat naps.  It makes planning pretty much anything a challenge, but that's life as a mom, right?

Asleep in a sunbeam

The biggest development this month has been the emergence of her personality.  It's always been there a bit, but honestly in the last few weeks she has really come into her own.  She makes the funniest faces... her most recent one is a crazy gorilla type face with her nose scrunched up and her lips puckered.  Hilarious!  She's become so much more aware of her surroundings, including us, and how she can have an impact on those around her. 

Blowing bubbles on Easter

Hopefully the next month won't go by as fast as the last few have.  Rolling over, sitting up, and eating solids are all on the horizon... things that big girls do. 

People I Wouldn't Want To Be Today

Hey Humble Readers...

I know it's been another bit of a stretch since I posted, and I will give you a personal update soon, but there are some things that I have rattling around in my head today that I really want to talk about.  I have scheduled an Ginevra's five month update for you guys for tomorrow, some come back to see some pics and hear how our wee sweet girl is doing these days.

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From tuning in to some of the news agencies based in the US, I know that certain recent events are taking up most of the air time.  And due to this, I'm sure that many of my friends south of the border aren't aware of some major changes in the Canadian political landscape that came to fruition last night. 

Now, I'm not really that into politics.  I vote my conscience, and pay attention to the major decisions and changes coming out of Ottawa, but that's about it.  So my opinions are just that... opinions of a curious hobbit.

Yesterday was our 4th time going to the polls in 7 years.  Our government has had to run federal elections pretty much every two years since 2004.  This has been due to the fact that no one political party has won a clear majority of seats in the House of Commons.  So, whenever a major issue comes up, like the annual budget or whether or not to bring our troops home from Afganistan, the other three official national parties would threaten to bring down the government with a no-confidence vote.  You can imagine how difficult it has been for our elected officials to get anything done in that sort of climate. 

Well, finally, that's all changed.  Stephen Harper and the Progressive Conservatives won a clear majority in yesterday's election and are chomping at the bit to get back to work.  But it was an historic election for more than the first majority government in 7 years.  Not the least of which... Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party has won her party's first EVER seat in the House of Commons. 

Here are the people I wouldn't want to be today... and the reasons why...

Michael Ignatieff - (former) leader of the Liberal Party, the man who called for the no-confidence vote in parlaiment at the end of March, that triggered this election.  This morning he woke up to the knowledge that not only did he not win his own riding, and thus lost his seat in the House of Commons, but that he lead the Liberals to the worst loss in this country's history.  Since 1867, the Liberals have either been the governing party or the official opposition.  Now they are just a small group of 32 men and women, who are shaking their heads and wondering how it got to this point.  Iggy has stepped down from party leadership, and it's unclear what his future will be.  Not only has he lost his seat in the House, and his job as party leader, but he also has lost his house in Ottawa. (In Canada we have an official residence for the leader of the Official Opposition.)

Gilles Duceppe - (former) leader of the Bloc Quebecois, the Quebec Separatist party.  He also had a really rough night last night, losing in his riding, and watching his party lose official status on the national level due to the loss of all but four of their seats in the Commons.  This is a very significant event, as it has been almost 20 years since the Bloc first entered the national political scene.  The fact that the vast majority of Quebecers have voted for national party representation rather than their regional independence-seeking party marks an amazing shift in thinking in Quebec. 

Jack Layton - leader of the New Democrat Party.  (In Canada we vote differently than the US.  My ballot yesterday only had four names on it, the four candidates that were running for Parlaiment in my riding in central Alberta.  The party which wins the most seats becomes the governing party, and the leader of that party becomes our Prime Minister.  We vote more based on the party rather than on the individual representative.)  Layton's NDPs effected a huge upset yesterday, gaining more than triple the number of seats in the Commons than they have ever had in the party's 50 year history.  They are now the Official Opposition.  The thing is, five weeks ago, no one, not even the NDP themselves, expected this kind of an upset, and they've been caught off gaurd with their incredible success.  As of this morning the NDP has a ton of new seats, filled by a lot of very inexperienced Members of Parlaiment.  Heck, four university students, including one young man who's only 19 years old, were just elected!  And considering how much of their inroads were in Quebec, not all of these new MPs speak French... YIKES!  And let's not even talk about parlaimentary procedure.  Talk about scrambling to get everyone up to speed! 

All in all, it was the most interesting election day we've had in a long LONG time, and we are going to be seeing repercussions of this for a long time to come, good and bad.