Snow Season

I've been appreciating this star right outside our living room window.  We can see it from our couch.

It has once again been snowing most of the day with a couple inches piled up.  The temperatures lately have been hovering around 0 degrees or as Eric likes to say, there has been no temperature in Saskatoon for the past weeks.  We heard the snow plow budget for this year has already been used up, as there usually isn't this much snow before Christmas.

Beautiful hoar frost (per Eric's knowledge of frost identification) for the first Sunday of Advent.  The service was full of music, the choir sang Breath of Heaven, and Annabel jumped and flailed her arms and legs to the band the entire service!  She was so exhausted afterwards, she took her first ever 2 hour daytime nap! (but, now it is past 11:30 pm and she has yet to go to bed.  She's not crying, but nothing seems to be working tonight.) 

Knowing that few people will see our decorations and the fact that we won't be here for Christmas made it a bit hard to find ambition to put up Christmas decorations, but I put them up and felt better afterwards.  I just love sitting in the evening with Christmas lights in the house....I'll have to make hot chocolate some night to enjoy the scene even more.  We have one main living area with our living room and kitchen all in one, so all of our decorations are in the same space.  I had a bunch out, but felt it was a bit of red and green overload, so I put some away.  One day we'll able to put up a full size tree and get all of our ornaments out of the box.

The mall was offering a chance to see Santa where we could take our own photos.  I thought it was a good option because we weren't sure how Annabel would react.  She hasn't been afraid of strangers (or "making strange" as they say here), but we just didn't know about a man in red with a big white beard.  But, the line was so long we had to skip out.  I imagine we will get another chance since Santa doesn't have as far to travel from the North Pole.  He could probably manage to make a couple stops before Christmas Eve.
 
We have been Skyping quite a bit lately and Annabel is just starting to react to the screen by smiling and seems to be recognizing some voices and faces. 

It's helpful to have a sister who is an infant teacher so she can give me cute craft ideas.  Eric really enjoyed this Thanksgiving birthday gift from Annabel:

There is a neat one for Christmas using the baby's fingerprints as Christmas light bulbs and Chelsea said she wants to do a penguin one with Annabel when we are home for Christmas.  Fun stuff.

 

Victoria Day Weekend

This weekend is Victoria Day weekend or "May long," as they refer to it.  Every month there is a long weekend due to all of their recognized holidays.  Tomorrow is a holiday, so most people are off work and many went to their lake cabins up north.  I'm taking my turn on working the holiday and to get more hours in and Eric is going to work for the heck of it.

This weekend was beautiful and we had an impromptu date last night.  We ate outside at restaurant/bar; trying to hit up all the places in town that do not allow kids.  We also went & saw "What to Expect When You're Expecting."  It was our first time at the big theatre downtown and it was packed.  I had to ask people to move down just so Eric and I didn't have to sit apart.  We've done that at concerts before, but this movie in particular would have been a bit sad to sit apart for.  Obviously the movie was very relevant to us.  We enjoyed it.

Eric got our garden planted.  Last year we arrived here too late to put in a garden.  We also have an awesome raspberry bush that I cannot wait to enjoy again this summer.

 Tonight we spent some time bringing out the 5th grader in us and watched the solar eclipse.

Wonderful calm weather for supper out on the porch!

A great refreshing drink for me as a treat while Eric enjoys a beer.

Happy Earth Day!

Growing up, my dad would often take us to pick up garbage on Earth Day.  Littering is one of his largest pet peeves and he cannot stand to see all the garbage left behind after the snow melts.  His truck always has some empty pop bottles or other items in the back that he has picked up.

What do you do to try to protect the Earth?

We could always do more, but a few things we have been consistent with are:

1. Shutting off lights.

2. Recycling

3. Using reusable grocery bags or not taking a bag for a small item

4. Using refillable water bottle, reusable lunch containers, and travel coffee mugs

Our grocery store has really been encouraging using the reusable grocery bags, in fact, the city is working on a plastic bag ban.  I would say we now use reusable 80% of our trips.  I've also been trying to carry a couple of pouch bags in my purse (the really thin bags that fold into a 2x2 pouch).  Eric got me a nice Dekalb one at a farm show this winter.  (It has a flying ear and everything!)  That way, if I forget our big bags or just stop after work, I still don't have to get a lot of plastic bags.  I reuse the plastic bags as garbage bags if we do get them.    I love using the reusable bags....easy to carry & can fit more into each bag.

A few goals to work on:

1. Use less water (take shorter showers).  Maybe the baby will force me into this anyway.  But then I'll be doing more laundry so it might just even out.  But the water usage per person might be better!

2. Maybe hand wash dishes more often as our dishwasher at our rented apt. runs for 97 min and it is as loud as a diesel engine!  It has to be a water waster.
3. When we get a house someday, I would like to have a rain barrel for watering.

Mushroom in New Zealand

Happy Earth Day!

Back to the real world...

I am pleased to announce that I will finally be starting a job on Jan 3, Jan. 15, Jan. 30, Feb. 13th!  My start date has been changed three times due to work visa delays, but now I am good to go!  I am so thankful that my job was willing to wait for me....well, I think it is either wait for me or have no one, as OTs are in a shortage here.  Either way, works for me.

I'm starting at one of the three hospitals in town in orthopedics, temporary covering a maternity leave. Perfect!  In the health region, OTs are hired by the region & then placed temporarily where the need is, at any hospital, clinic, or other center within the region.  There are other private companies, like clinics, but the main hospitals are in the "region."  Eventually, once a health care worker is in the system, one can see what positions are open internally & apply for a place to work more permanently.  I think this system is really interesting, as it makes for very flexible workers & you get a taste of a variety of areas/departments.

My process towards work was extremely long & draining, as I had to take the Canadian certification exam, similar to what I had to take post college in the U.S.  It was nerve-wracking to review everything again, but some things were well worth the review & a few topics "came together" in my head better than before.  I remember walking out of the U.S. exam in 2006 & saying " I am so glad I never have to take that again."  I could not believe that 5+ years later I was sitting in a room taking another board exam!  Anyway, I was so relieved to have passed!!   I also had to have my degree checked to ensure I went to a legit university and that process was way longer than I would have liked, but it is now done.  

I am looking forward to working again and to see how the Canadian health system differs, even though I will barely get started and have to leave for my own maternity leave.

Eric continues to really enjoy his job.  Last semester he taught a grad class on agribusiness research.  He had a grand total of seven students, all women.  This semester he has a 100 level agriculture course with 230 students (not all women).  He told them on the first day that he felt he was running for mayor, as the town he grew up in only had a population of about 230.  I think he is relating to the students well, adding a lot of real-life examples and YouTube clips, etc.  He generally throws in a few jokes or other stories to break up the lecture.  Sometimes the stories relate to the topic, sometimes they don't.  He teaches a lot about food and understanding marketing and packaging in relation to farming.  I even think it sounds interesting.

Enjoying the Small Things by Kelle Hampton

I want to share this as I really enjoy reading this blog and this post is especially inspiring.  This woman is an excellent writer, beautiful photographer, easy to relate to, and seems very honest.  In this most recent post, she talks about a few things that I had mentioned from The Happiness Project.  Especially about 'using the good stuff.'  I also really like her line "I'm old enough to understand that grown-up life can sometimes come with a sort of dissatisfying monotony."  She talks about ways to break this up in life.  I love that line, as I believe a lot of adults expect some major excitement in their lives all the time & are repeatedly disappointed or "searching" instead of just living.  Please click on the link below & enjoy......

Enjoying the Small Things

The Happiness Project

I just finished reading this awesome book called  
The Happiness Project. see at Amazon
It was so fun to read....I took away a lot of fun ideas & thoughts.  It's a quick read, as you can skim a few areas of lesser interest, but I loved the content!  It made me really excited!

Jane posted about this book awhile ago; I was somewhat interested, but at the end of 2011, she stated that her favorite book of the year was this book.  She reads a lot; so if this was her favorite, then I knew I had to try it out. 

Happy people are more forgiving, helpful, & charitable, have better self-control, and are more tolerate of frustration than unhappy people, while unhappy people are more often withdrawn, defensive, antagonistic, & self-absorbed. .....from research done by Gretchen Rubin

I love that it's not for people who are unhappy or depressed (although those who are could definitely take something away), but ways/insights for everyone to learn from to make each day the best it can be.  You can be happy right now & still learn from this book!!
 
This certainly won't ruin it for you, because everyone will take away different things, but my favorites were these:

• We tend to think that we'll be slightly happier in the future than we are in the present.    

• Aggressively expressing anger doesn't relieve anger, it amplifies it.

• It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery, and as much happiness as possible.

• We presume we act because of the way we feel, in fact we often feel because of the way we act.

• One lady's advice:  On sunny days I think, "great" a good day to be outdoors & on gray days I think "great" a good day to be indoors.

• Avoid (or at least limit) eating fake food. 

• Always use the good stuff.   What are you saving it for?  

There were so many great examples, and at times I was thinking....I've done that, or that is so true, or has this woman read my mind?  I do the last one all the time.....save the good lotion, save the good food (& then it spoils), save the nice dishes, etc.  I have a set of Christmas dessert plates with cute reindeer I received from Eric's aunts years ago and I love them.  I thought I was so special for getting them because they are from Pottery Barn, but have never used them, as I am saving them for something.  She has a section on spending and budgeting and the relationship with happiness.  Spending money wisely on things you love, what a concept, can increase happiness.

Overall, a fun read.