i need a new title.

Well the universe isn't lining up quite as nicely as I thought a month ago but it's still alright. I'm having a little bit of a hard time finding a full time job. Apparently there is a hiring freeze in effect at the moment so there hasn't been much for job postings lately. Of course when I email to ask about the status of the jobs at AHE that I already applied for I get a letter back saying that they are "reorganizing" as opposed to a hiring freeze. Needless to say, I haven't heard back about those positions. I have however applied for four or five others and had one call back (from a nursing home in the Fort) so I'm trying to remain optimistic.
Besides stressing about work life is good. Our Vegas trip has come and gone and it was a good time. Jimmy Buffett didn't disappoint :D Plus we went to see Tom Jones and he was fantastic. Total dream come true- JB and TJ in one weekend!
Mallory is getting so big! She learned how to pull herself up at our little bench/ottoman thing yesterday. If only she would crawl she would be on the go. She seems so tall now, it's amazing that this time last year she hadn't even seen the outside world yet. I can't believe she is getting close to being a year old, it's so strange. I don't miss her being a little baby but at the same time I know that I won't ever get to see her that little again and that seems sad. Time went by so fast.
This month is shaping up to be a busy one. I have my nurse's ed day this week, we have portraits next week (well Mallory does- she's going to be part of the Cutest Kid Contest through Picture Us There Photography), a stagette, a retirement party, mom's birthday... busy busy busy.
Well I should go read my book and get some sleep. Six am comes awfully early.

Ha ha, once again I'm not spending my free time doing anything I should be doing like laundry, cleaning or stitching. Instead I'm playing online and dreaming up how to decorate Mallory's new room.
 Our bank appointment went way better than I ever anticipated with us being pre-approved for a mortgage big enough to get the house but small enough that we can still make the payments. The only condition is that I have to have permanent, preferably full time employment to get it. I've already put in an application with AHE on an adult psych unit so I'm hoping to hear back from them. If I don't get full time then we have to look at either Trev finding full time and me working part time and Beaner going to daycare or both of us working part time and figuring out what exactly to do for childcare.
 I have decided though that the universe has decided that we should do this as all signs point to go so I'm not worrying anymore. I even went with Sandi yesterday and picked out paint for Mallory's new room- it's a girly girl pink called Puppy Love. In my head I'm picturing pink and black and white and a chandelier. Too much? I'm thinking modern princess. LOL Her super fun blue furniture won't fit in her new room so it will go down in the playroom to hold toys and assorted kid junk. Her table and chairs will go down there anyway so it kind of makes sense to have all her fun furniture in one place.
 Can you tell I'm beyond excited? There are things I'll miss here, I really enjoy our playgroup and have come to quite like some of the ladies and thier kids there but I'm sure the Fort will have something similar. Plus I'll be back at work anyway so it won't be like I would be going to playgroup all that often anyway.
 Alright, I've shared my excitement and now I should really go throw some laundry in so that I have a clean bra to wear today.

I'm killing time. I should be working on my cross stitch as Shelby and Chris' wedding is in just over two months and I still have to get the stupid thing framed eventually but I really don't feel like doing it. I will do some later. I've been trying to work at least an hour a day on getting it done but that hasn't always happened. It does look nice though, and I think I'll like it when it's finished.

It's been an interesting week, Mallory had her first cold. She woke up Wednesday morning with a fever and now thankfully just has a bit of a stuffy nose. I feel bad for her, it must suck to have a cold and not be able to do a darn thing about it. I totally drug myself when I get a cold, I can't imagine just suffering through. I'm glad it's passed quickly.

Not much new on the moving front. We have an appointment at the bank on Monday to see if we even would qualify for enough of a mortgage. I'm naturally a little worried about the finances part of moving but everyone else on earth makes it work, why couldn't we? I honestly think it would be perfect, the house would work so well for us. I'm already moving in furniture in my head and painting Mallory's new room pink. I'm trying to be cautiously optimistic but it's hard not to get carried away sometimes.

Not too much else is new, it's been a quiet week. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut and coloured. I have no idea what colour, actually I just hope mom booked me for a colour, I can't remember. I wanted to get myself all gussied up before we go to Vegas. Two weeks from now I will hopefully be sitting on the patio of Margaritaville wasting away and searching for my lost shaker of salt. I can't wait! I'm going to miss my little bean but it will be so much fun!

Alright, I'm going to go stitch. Or play Farm on Facebook. We'll see.

Oh LJ why must you piss me off? Why won't the italics stop? Why why why?!

It's hard to believe I haven't posted anything yet this year. I would like to say I've been exceptionally busy but I haven't really. So far 2009 has been a good one.

We started off the year with Trevor's mom coming up for a visit which coincided with Mallory's first stomach bug. Yay, Grandma got to be the first one barfed on, lucky her! Unfortunately the weather stunk while she was here so we didn't get to do much but it was nice for her to be able to spend some time with us. February's excitement was going down to Calgary to visit Liz (next year I'll make a smaller cake so she doesn't have to eat it for an entire week!) and somehow convincing Trevor that a trip to Vegas to see Jimmy Buffett was a good idea. Tickets went on sale the same day we visited Liz so that was a pretty excellent day all around!

Trevor's parents officially moved back to Canada a few weeks ago so that has been nice. I like that Mallory will have a chance to see them more for the next little while before they move out to Ontario. T's dad will officially be retired at the end of the month so they are going to be putting their house in the Fort up for sale and heading out east as soon as they can. We are looking into possibly buying/renting their house, it's a bit overwhelming for me to start considering house selling, mortgages, new jobs and whatnot as it's pretty new to me but I would LOVE to get the heck out of Ponoka and get closer to the city. I guess we should really go and talk to the bank and see what's up before I get too excited though.

Mallory is doing fantastic. She is such an amazing little girl, granted I'm biased but I think she's pretty cool. She is sitting up beautifully on her own now and is working on feeding herself finger foods. She still isn't crawling (only one end will go up at a time, it's either head or bum but not both) but I'm reminding myself to enjoy that. The two of us have been going weekly to a playgroup in town that she absolutely loves. Miss A that runs the group is great and Mallory loves to squeal at the top of her lungs during the "slippery fish" song. She is full of personality for such a little person.

There isn't too much new with me personally. I got approval to extend my maternity leave until August so I"m very happy about that. The plan is that we have Shelby's wedding July 11th (Mallory is going to be her flower girl!) and then we are heading out to Atikokan to see my Grandma for her 95th birthday later on in the month. I'm really looking forward to going out there, it has been far too long since I"ve seen Grandma and Carrie, Dave and the kids. Otherwise the only real excitement is that a month from now I will be in Vegas! Wuhoo! It has been years since I've been down there so I"m looking forward to see the changes and I'm psyched for the concert. It's going to be incredibly hard to leave Mallory but she'll be in good hands here with my mom so I'll get through it. Oh yes, one other thing is that Charlene's birthday plans have already begun to take shape and we are officially going to see the Lion King on opening night in Edmonton. We got amazing seats and with Jenn and Liz both coming into town for it it will be a fantastic night! Not to mention our seats kick ass- row two, center, on the aisle. Yay!

I better go and see what beanie is up to, she's been napping for awhile now.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

• had a baby
• went on a cruise
• cooked Thanksgiving dinner

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't think I made any resolutions last year, I don't normally because they never get followed through on. However, this year I want to lose all the baby weight (ha who am I kidding, there's no baby weight, it's all ice cream weight now!) before Shelby's wedding. Besides that I want to be the best mom I can :D

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Well I did and I'm pretty close with me. I gave birth to Mallory on July 29th.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Nope. Thank goodness for that

5. What countries did you visit?

The U.S. and Mexico

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

Oh gosh, I don't feel like I really lacked anything in 2008, it was a pretty amazing year.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

July 29th- the birth of my daughter. Otherwise I'm pretty bad with dates!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Wow I'm going to sound like a broken record but my biggest achievement was having Mallory.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Ugh I gained WAY too much weight! It was all for a good cause so it's not really a failure. I sometimes feel that my inability to breastfeed was a failure but I'm not sure I could have controlled that

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just some unpleasant stitches and a gross case of sea sickness

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Mallory's furniture! I am so in love with it- I <3 Ikea

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Really? This is too hard

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

And this one could just get a girl in trouble!

14. Where did most of your money go?

Pampers and Formula LOL

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Our cruise, the 3D ultrasound, Mallory's birth (d'uh!)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Ha, all I listen to is baby music lately!

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a) happier  b)fatter   c)richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Spending time with family and friends

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Worrying! It seems like I've spent far too much time worrying this year

20. How will you be spending Christmas?

Christmas was spent with Trev, Mallory, my mom, Scott, Don, Di, Shelby, Mark and thier significant others

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Well I was already in love with my husband. I totally fell in love with my baby

22. How many one-night stands?

Zero.

23. What was your favorite TV program?

Mad Men and Two and a half men. I love them both!


24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No.

25. What was the best book you read?

The Book of Negros was fantastic, and Charlotte's Web reminded me of how special friendship is :D

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?

LOL Bob Marley Lullabies

27. What did you want and get?

Good times with the people I love, a happy little family, my cute little car, a new coffee table, Wii Fit, time to spend with my family and time to waste doing nothing, a nice holiday in the sun

28. What did you want and not get?

the dining table I wanted

29. What was your favorite film of this year?

I really enjoyed "The Dark Knight" and "Burn after Reading"

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 30 this year. I don't think we did anything, I was waiting very impatiently for Mallory to be born

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Honestly I can't think of anything. It was a satisfying year

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

Stretchy maternity pants.

33. What kept you sane?

Trevor

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

Don Draper- did I mention I love Mad Men?! I can't even think of his real name but he is the dreamiest!

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
I wish I could say our election but really the American election was far more exciting. Especially because we were in Texas when it happened, if only I could have voted!

36. Who did you miss?

Everyone! I live too far away!

37. Who was the best new person you met?

Mallory :D

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.

Sometimes you just have to let go and stop worrying. I can't say I always remember it but it is something I'm working on. And that I love being a mom more than I ever would have guessed- good lesson to learn :)

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

You are my sunshine,
my only sunshine
you make me happy
when skies are grey...

Phew, am I glad that Christmas is done for another year. It was great, but like all Christmases it was insanely busy and tiring. Because of the obvious difficulty of transporting two adults, a baby, two dogs and a truck load of gifts we ended up doing a ton of driving this year. It was worth it but it was a lot. Trevor worked nights Christmas Eve Eve so he spent the day on Christmas Eve sleeping while I tried to get everything organized for the schmozzle that was to come. When he got up we drove in to Leduc to visit my dad as it was (a) Christmas and (b) his birthday. That was a nice little visit, Mallory played strange for a little bit but then snuggled in for a nice nap on Grandpa. After that we piled back in the truck and headed off to pick up mom and then over to Don and Di's for our usual Christmas eve visiting with them. I love that part of Christmas, it's so good to see them. Oh and we visited Grandma because we had to deliver gifts and she wanted to see the baby too. So that was one very long evening of visiting followed by a drive back to Ponoka. Trev and I opened our gifts to each other when we got home- I really should have got him better stuff because he got me a beautiful Scrabble board and Dance Dance Revolution for the Wii.
Christmas morning we got up and packed up and headed back out to my moms. By nine my brother was phoning telling us to hurry up! I told him we are running on the schedule of our little dictator :D and to have the Wii ready for some Dance Dancing. So off we went again cruising up the good ole QE2 back to St.Albert. We opened gifts there and then spent the afternoon just sitting around doing nothing in particular. Supper was at Don and Di's which was fabulous as always. Then Trevor came home to the dogs and Mallory and I stayed at moms to save driving yet again. Poor baby gets sick of being in the car- can't say I blame her.
Boxing day was spent visiting at Auntie Barb and Tracy's. It was strange without Uncle George there, I can't imagine how hard it was for them. Sadly it sounds like he doesn't really recognize anyone anymore so hopefully he didn't know the difference.
The last couple of days have been nice, yesterday I didn't even get dressed I just bummed around the house in my new Christmas pj's and played Animal Crossing (another Xmas gift, it's strangely addictive).
I'm looking forward to New Years, we're just having Charlene, Steve and Lucas over for dinner and probably playing DDR or something. It's sort of nice not to have the pressure of having SUPER FUN on New Years. It was always kind of stressful trying to make NYE as exciting as it seemed it should be. This year its just going to be totally mellow. Well except for the cooking dinner part, that may freak me out a bit but how hard is it to cook a turkey really? If it sucks I know the number for Perry's 2 for 1, pizza is always a good substitute :D

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and got spoiled at least a little bit! Happy New Year!

Well I've been trying to write this entry for a few days, it seems like I just keep getting distracted...

Things have been really busy lately. Mallory and I went down to Texas to visit her grandma and grandpa (the inlaws) for two weeks at the beginning of the month. We had a good visit, Trevor's mom really likes to be out and doing things so we get along well in that regard. I think we had something to do every day- we shopped, visited some friends that just had twins (they were so tiny- 4.5lbs and 5lbs), took a drive to Galveston to see what was left post-Ike, went to the Texas Renaissance Faire, went bowling, all sorts of things. It was strange to go without Trevor, and I really missed him, but it was a good time. My sister-in-law and neice also came down for a few days while we were there. That was really good. We really hadn't ever spent any time together before (except a very brief time before my wedding) so I was nervous but we got along really well and I enjoyed having someone else to talk to. My neice Mia is completely adorable! I enjoyed finally getting to meet her, she is such a smiley funny little girl.
Since we've been back we've been doing some Christmas shopping and yesterday we got the house decorated. I'm not that into Christmas but Trevor is, and he did a great job decorating. I did the tree but he put up lots of garland and whatnot around the fireplace. He really wanted to make it special for Mallory's first Christmas.
Mallory is growing like a weed. We had a doctors appointment yesterday and she is 15lbs 4ozs already. She seems to grow and change each day, it's totally amazing. She is starting to use her Jumparoo, she seems to have fun standing in there. I can already see a change in how strong her legs are since she's started in there. The only concern right now is that she has a fairly significant flat spot on the back of her head. When she was smaller she was very stubborn about always laying with her head to the right so she's a tad flat over there. Our doctor sent her for an X-ray yesterday, it was very nerve wracking but I'm staying hopeful. The other thing noted on the requisition was querying a possible small soft spot. I'm not sure how concerned I should be about that but she is developing right on schedule so I'm trying not to worry. Besides all that she is wonderful. I'm amazed by her every day.

A few new pictures :D



Pondering the Jumparoo



first time at the beach- Galveston Island, Texas



almost caught a smile... almost!



My little Tigger

I cooked Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. I even had people at my house to eat it! I rarely enjoy having people over especially in large groups, it tends to make me anxious. I blame Martha Stewart- she has given me a complex about my home economic skills. All that being said, I really enjoyed myself. We had my mom, brother, other-brother Kurt (my little bro's best friend since they were 6 or 7), Auntie Barb, Tracy and Auntie Betty plus us. I even bought fabric napkins, it was a pretty class act LOL. I did turkey and all the trimmings and Trev baked what looked like a nice pie (I don't eat cooked fruit so I couldn't tell you if it was good or not).
On Monday I went into the city and mom and I went to visit Uncle George. He has been living in a seniors home for a while now and I hadn't seen him since he had been at home. I didn't realize how hard it would be to visit him there. I thought that because I work with patients in a similar situation I could go in and remain clinical but it just didn't work out that way. I was okay while we visited but I was really close to tears when we were leaving. Its so hard to see someone you care about living in a place and not sure why they are there and convinced that no one has come to visit them. I think it's an experience I'll take with me when I go back to work, I may just empathize a bit more with patients families than I did before. It breaks my heart thinking about it :(
In happier news, Mallory and I are taking her first holiday to Texas November 1st-13th. I'm a bit nervous about it but I think it should be fine. I'm actually pretty excited because Tricia (my sister in law) and my niece Mia may come down for the last few days we're there. I haven't met my niece yet so I'm looking forward to seeing her. She'll have just had her first birthday on the 9th so I plan on buying some super cute gifts for her!
Alright, I've been saying this for days now but this time I mean it... I'm going to bed early. Good night!

Fill it out for me in comments, and if you post it in your LJ, maybe I'll do the same for you. :-)

01. Do you have a tattoo?
02. How old are you?
03. Are you single or taken?
04. Eat with your hands or utensils?
05. What were you doing last time you daydreamed?
06. Ever seen a corpse?
07. Bob Dylan or Johnny Cash?
08. How did we meet on LJ?
09. Whats your philosophy on life and death?
10. If you could do anything with me, and have no one know, what would it be?
11. Do you trust the police?
12. Do you like Country music?
13. What is your fondest memory of fandom?
14. If you could change anything about yourself what would it be?
15. Would you cheat?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Have you ever peed in a pool?
18. Would you hide evidence for me if I asked you to?
19. If I appeared on your doorstep, unexpected, what would we do together?
20. Which do you prefer - short or long hair?
21. Do you sing in the shower?
22. What's your favourite fruit?
23. If you could bring back anyone that has passed, who would it be?
24. Tell me one interesting/odd fact about you?
25. What was your first impression of me?
26. Have you ever done drugs?
27. Will you post this so I can fill it out for you?

yoinked fromfirecrackergrrl :

[01] Do you have the guts to answer these questions and re-post as The Controversial Survey?
sure, what have I got to lose

[02] Would you do meth if it was legalized?
no!

[03] Abortion: for or against it?
I believe that a woman should have a choice.

[04] Do you think the world would fail with a female president?
That's kind of a silly question. Many countries around the world have had female leaders and the world has not collapsed.

[05] Do you believe in the death penalty?
No. I think that the way the justice system is carried out doesn't allow for the death penalty to be used as a real deterrent to future crimes, and as I understand it that should be the point. I was watching the news the other day about a man in the States that has been on death row since 1991. Wha?! For punishment to work it has to be definate and immediate. Now that creates problems too because let's face it, there have been innocent people on death row. It's a connundrum. All this being said, I do not believe that jail time should be like being in daycare. I think that jails should be unpleasant, basic rights type places, not the cushy things they are now.

[06] Do you wish marijuana would be legalized already?
I really don't know about this one. I think it would save a lot of people from having criminal records following them around from smoking a joint at a concert or whatever and getting busted. I'm not sure that it should be encouraged, the same way that smoking and drinking shouldn't be encouraged, but at the same time it shouldn't be a big deal.

[07] Are you for or against premarital sex?
I'm for it. I don't believe in taking sex lightly, I think it should be something that should be between people that care about each other, but in reality that doesn't always work out LOL All this being said, I think you wouldn't buy a car without taking it for a test drive...

[08] Do you believe in God?
I like to believe that there is a higher power of some sort

[09] Do you think same sex marriage should be legalized?
Yes. If two people love each other it doesn't matter if it's same-sex or not.

[10] Do you think it's wrong that so many Hispanics are illegally moving to the USA?
I think they come to America for a reason and deserve a chance to better their situation.

[11] A 12-year-old girl has a baby, should she keep it?
I guess it depends on her situation. I know that at 30 I still feel nervous and uncertain how to take care of my baby, I can't imagine doing it at 12, but if she has a strong support system then it wouldn't be so bad. The real question is what is a 12 year old doing having sex?!

[12] Should the alcohol age be lowered to eighteen?
Well it is 18 in Alberta but I'm guessing this is an American survey. I'm slightly baffled by the drinking age being 21 in the States when you are considered an adult and able to vote at 18. I don't know exactly how I feel about the drinking age being lower. I think that our drinking culture is strange. When you look at other countries it isn't unusual to have one or two drinks a day and its accepted. Here people drink to get hammered. That is probably more of the problem than the age thing.

[13] Should the war in Iraq be called off?
It shouldn't have started in the first place.

[14] Assisted suicide is illegal: do you agree that it should be?
I believe that people should be able to die with dignity.

[15] Do you believe in spanking your children?
As long as it's not a whooping. A little pat on the butt is fine, a beating isn't. I had a few spanks in my life and I'm not so bad.

[16] Would you burn an American flag for a million dollars?
You would be amazed what I would do for a million dollars LOL j/k. Yes I would burn the flag.

[17] Who do you think would make a better president? McCain or Obama?
Obama! It's time for some real change.

[18] Are you afraid others will judge you from reading some of your answers?
Not really. My friends that read this know me well enough to know my politics.