2013: You're OK after all.

Hey 2013, hope this finds you well.  Sorry I missed getting this to you before you left, but, well, I'm pretty much behind on everything at the moment, so don't take it personally?  If you recall, we got off to a rough start, but I think we really recovered nicely don't you?  I'm still not much for playdates (well, except the kind where you trade kids) but I think we grew together.

The big highlight was the house, of course.  It's hard to believe we actually did it, putting the second story on.  Early on I kinda hated to talk about it, since we'd been kicking this around for so long, but you saw us through and it seems like a distant memory already.  We'll need to work with your successor to figure out what to do with our time and mental energy, but I'm thinking that won't take us too long to sort out.

You hooked us up with some other cool stuff too - last time I was at work, albeit nearly 2 weeks ago, I was feeling pretty good with the situation there.  It's been a lot of churn, as always, but I finally feel like I found my place there.  Glad I stuck around, having regular access to the bazillionaire who owns the joint is pretty cool - thanks for that.

You were great to the kids this year too - after nearly freezing out that first week that is.   They really flourished, living in the camper.  Something about forced independence and what not.  Of course, you had Norah start school this year, which was huge.  The timing was great - she's such a curious sponge and was totally ready emotionally.  Thanks for making sure she made so many new friends - but do they ALL need to have birthday parties??

I must thank for for the end of all forms of disposable waste collection - no diapers of any kind have been used in the new house.  Having Rod transition almost seamlessly was a nice touch.  I also love how you've made him mama's boy this year - the kid tells me he loves me non-stop, but again, I've got a request for your successor - it'd be nice if he could let Matt share the load once in a while also. 
Lastly, 2013, thanks for wrapping it all up with a much needed vacation.  We had some busy time together and those of us that live here in the new house needed some time to recover and reset before we tackle 2014. Good thing too, day 1 was ok, but he's sending us a big-ass storm over the next two days.  Doesn't give me a warm fuzzy, but you turned out ok, so I'll just roll with it.

So, thanks for everything, and enjoy whatever's next for you!  We'll be here if you ever want to visit.

2013: Off to an Inauspicious start!

Dear 2013, can we just start over please?

I know some superstitious folks may find your 2 trailing digits to be unlucky, but I’m not one of them.  Even after how things went these past few days, I still think we can do great things together!

We started off well enough, with a fun party with the neighbors while we waited for your arrival.  Sure, we may have had a few drinks, but nothing crazy (the kids, you know) and I came home 20 bucks richer after this year’s round of left, right, center.  The kids, Norah especially, were excited about staying up to see the ball drop on TV, and those fireworks outside as we carried them home in the cool night air?  Very nice touch!

But that’s when things started to go a bit downhill between you and I… early in the morning, as I was trying to rehydrate with a cup of coffee, there was that call for a playdate…who calls for a playdate at 8:30 am on New Years Day???  I thought, what the heck, we could use something to do today, and why not start off the new year with some new friends!  But 2013, the playdate, oh the playdate!  I didn’t know the little one was coming too, and why didn’t they bring snow gear for the outdoor play we talked about?  No matter, let’s make the best of it.. oh, but they’re staying for lunch… which would usually be fine, but since I had put off cooking (and, it turns out, shopping) until your arrival after the cooking fest that accompanies Christmas, all there was to eat was PB&J…. oops, or not.  Mostly Jelly as we scraped out the bottom of the PB jar… good thing I happened to take a loaf of bread out of the freezer!  Did I mention the kids were up past midnight last night?  Cause now it’s 2:00 and if I don’t get them some down time soon, it won’t be pretty… oh well, it was only our first day together, 2013, and the people were nice and the kids had fun, maybe I’m just not a playdate person.  Plus the kids slept the rest of the day away….

So what was up with the 1-2 punch?  Like it wasn’t hard enough, going back to work after a glorious 12 days off, but did you have to cut the heat on the coldest day of the year?  My bad – it was only day 2 of the year, but it was the coldest day of the season!  With all the news coverage about the upcoming cold snap, it didn’t occur to me immediately when it was a little cool in the morning that there was something wrong with the furnace.  With temps approaching zero (that’s Fahrenheit, seriously, 2013??) it really could not have been a worse day.  No matter, we swallowed our anxiousness about the return to work and called the furnace guy.  They sent a fresh face kid named Cam, who quickly diagnosed a bad controller.. crap, what’s that gonna cost?   Six hundred bucks and you can have it tomorrow?  Great!  That’s manageable, and 2013, we had only just gotten together, so I took this as a positive show of faith.  Yeah, it was cold, but the up-side of living in a small space is that a couple of space heaters can do a decent job of making it comfortable.  It was great that Matt was able to stay home that afternoon and get the house up to temp before we got there, but then we got the call about Roddie…

I mean, I guess I should thank for you having it happen when Matt was only 5 minutes away.  I guess I should also be happy that he likes his teachers so much that, in his excitement to show her his tower of blocks he tripped and fell flat on his face on the slide.  And I am definitely thankful that after that trip to the ER he seems to be fine…so, I guess alls well that ends well on that one eh?  My poor boss, he wasn’t sure what to say when my response to a late afternoon “How’re things going” was met with “well, my furnace is broken and my kid smashed his face and is on the way to the ER, so I gotta go home and tend the space heaters since it’s 10 degrees outside”  tee hee, it’s funny in hindsight, I guess.

Speaking of ending well, I guess when it comes right down to it, we did ok on the furnace thing too, didn’t we?  Young Cam blew it, on the controller.  After we waited for the part, it wasn’t that at all, was it?  Luckily the gas company works until midnight these days (who knew?  Is that you’re doing?)  15 minutes with a guy who knows what he’s doing (but wasn’t as cute as Cam) and the heat is on!  Not only that but the controller was fine and we get reimbursed for the service call.  Nice.  Alls well that ends well!

So, dear 2013, maybe we don’t really have to start over, but if you wouldn’t mind taking it easy on us, I’d appreciate it! 

Looking forward to a great year together, Alls well that ends well, remember.

Yours always

S

Happy New Year!

Adventure Chronicles: New Years Happiness Continues

In addition to my new job, we rang in the New Year, or as close as we've come in years, at a neighbourhood party!  We were supposed to skate on our neighbour-friend's rink, but the weather didn't co-operate.  Instead, the neighbourhood gang, kids included, got together for some low-key fun.  Most folks had other plans, but our hosts, Erin and Allie's parents encouraged us to stick around.  We ended up putting Roddie to bed in their Pack'n'Play and Norah and the girls watched movies on the big screen until they fell asleep.   We played games with Erin and Allie's parents and our other neighbour-friend Megan, having a few drinks and a lot of laughs until about 11:30.  We carried both sleeping kids home and straight to bed while Megan followed with our wagon full of left overs.  It was so nice to be local and comfortable enough to just let the kids do their thing and not have to pay a babysitter.

New Years Day was cool but clear and sunny, so we took the kids to the playground.  It was a real treat, as it was virtually deserted, and it is the first time the four of us have gone there together.  Roddie is getting big enough to really play, and Norah is getting bigger and stronger (and braver!), taking on new challenges and becoming more sure-footed.

After my first week of work, the weatherman was calling for unseasonably warm weather, and I was looking forward to having everyone healthy for a change and spending some time outside with the kids. Saturday afternoon we took them to a local conservation area, that has a half mile walking trail around a pond.  With temps near 50 degrees, we were surprised to see a group of grown men playing hockey on the pond!  It was easy to forget that temps had only been in the 20's during the previous week and the pond got a good freeze on!  We walked around the pond - Rod made it all by himself - stopping here and there to look at rocks and twigs and the like.  Both kids, and Matt and I, were so happy to be spending time outside, together.  It was so warm out that we sat by the side of the trail to have a snack, and ended up beginning construction of a "tent for the squirrels".

We had so much fun, and the kids were so fascinated with the skating, that we went back the next day - to skate, and to finish the tent.  We had mixed results with the skating - Rod loved it, Norah tolerated it.  IT was Rod's first time on his double blades and Norah's first time on 'real' skates, so that may have had something to do with it.  Regardless, we had a great time again, followed by great naps, again!

The last Foto Friday pics were from these days, but here are a few more!

Here's Roddie, on his first "hike" on his own steam!

Roddie, checking out the ice on Saturday

Norah, wondering what this frozen pond is all about...

Roddie's first try at skating - he loves it!

Norah, not so sure, but giving it a go!

Norah and her squirrel tent

New Years News

The New Year started off with a bang!  As happens, the shine has worn off a little already, but things started out really, really well!  I wish I had found time to blog that first week, because I was literally smiling from ear to ear! The first big news, which you probably already know if you know me in real life, is that I started a new job!  My old job had a lot of nice perks, like the location and the ability to work at home as much as I could stand, decent pay and boatloads of vacation - but it came at a price.  The company has been constantly trimming staff for as long as I"ve been there, and I was growing increasingly unsatisfied with the position I held.  I looked around internally for a few months and had some coaching and mentoring conversations with several VP's, but I just couldn't see a place I wanted to be at that company. 

On a totally unrelated note, I got a second query from a company that I had heard from earlier in the year.  The initial call came weeks after I had returned from my extended maternity leave and while tempting, it just wasn't a good time to change jobs!  By the time the second call came, I was really starting to feel miserable and somewhat trapped at my old job and jumped at the chance to pursue something else.  The interview process took a couple of months, but I landed the job!  Mid-way through the process I realized how miserable I really was and how it was affecting me, and by extension, Matt and the kids, and that allowed me to fully embrace the possibility of change.  I began job hunting in earnest while the interview process continued, further solidifying my decision.

So, I started a new job, at a company that is hiring, and not firing!  As I near 40, I am no longer the youngest person in the room, in fact, I have a fair bit more experience than many of the employees at the new company.  I'm working in Product Management for Hardware again, which I think is a good fit for me - bringing together things I"ve done, and liked, throughout my career.  The company is growing and changing so fast that there are plenty of opportunities for me.