Considering Starting a Dayhome

For the last little while I've been thinking about whether I might be interested in starting my own day home. The seed was originally planted by my new friend Shannon who started one two months ago. She uses an agency (something I didn't know even existed until I heard about it from her).

Setting aside the discussion of whether or not I should do it, I'll first discuss some of he pros & cons of agency vs private. I'm in the very early stages of research right now so this is a pretty superfiscial discussion right now.

Pro: the agency handles the collection of money from the parent(s) for me, so I wouldn't have the hassle or possibility of being ripped off (a valid concern for me the soft hearted & non-assertive person).

Con: since they handle the finances they of course are taking a cut for themselves

Pro: they have families to match u to

Pro: they have some structure to help u along the way... I'm not familiar with all of it yet, but so far I know they have monthly meetings with tips & also seminars.

Pro? There might be an opportunity for sicks days and holidays with others able to cover for u.

Cons: I would be more of an employee than self-employed

Okay, so now for the discussion on whether or not this is really a good idea for me. I first started considering it for the social development side for Dexter. Shannon often speaks of how Lily & Josephine learn off of each other.

The second highest appeal goes of course to the money making side of things. It would be very gratifying to "earn" some of my own money, contribute to he household in a monetary way & not be selling something.

Some unexpected positives that Shannon mentioned to me is that the added accountability to another parent helps here to have more routine/structure in her day & makes her more attentive and involved in her own kid's activities (Shannon's daughter is Josephine, 18 months, and she watches Lily, 14 months).

I think I would want to watch one other boy aged 14 months to 3.5 years. Anything in that age range would be a benefit to have around Dexter (provided he's not a hellion of course).
Shannon says there are more boys waiting for placement as girls tend to be requested more for some reason.

The day home would be a good experiment to see and even help me prep for having more kids ourselves (and idea I have tabled for a while).

The negative is that I would have less flexibility and freedom in my day. I would certainly have to be more prepared and be more on top of my chores & daily tasks. Not necessarily negatives in the long run but definitely a challenge to the status quo.

Also, as a fairly inconsequential point that doesn't affect my decision, is that I would be able to "write off" some things such as toys, groceries purchases for kids, some utilities etc.

Again, as I mentioned at the beginning I'm still in my early research stage, but I thought I'd put it out there for some feedback from my readers (Shelley Kyla Diana - are u out there?).

My New iPhone

So for many months, since this summer I have contemplated getting an iPhone. I was mostly happy with my Blackberry but technology had come a long way since the Curve so there were a few things I wanted to upgrade on.

My first complaint was that although I had internet on my phone, there were some websites that didn't seem to load or work on my Blackberry. Secondly, while my BB had most of the basic functions (address book, calculator, mini notes), it's capabilities were limited to that - the basics.  

I was attracted to the iPhone over getting the newest Blackberry or android phones for a few reasons. I respect Apple's reputation for being a leader in the techno world and for being very user focus. I really felt that if I was going to upgrade to that style of phone I didn't want to get one of the "knock-offs"/imitators I wanted the original.  By no means do I think the other phones aren't good, I just wanted the One. I'm quite attracted to the apps aspect of the phone because I believe it makes the possibilities for functionality almost limitless and it cannot be argued that iPhone has the most apps available (250,000 according to one review). It addition to it having the most, I feel like every time I hear about an app, it's made for the iPhone so I think it would have more exclusive apps and the majority of the 'top' apps. I honestly don't think there would be an app out there that doesn't have an equal available via iPhone.

A non-neccessity but fab perk, it the amazing graphic quality the iPhone has. I find it just beautiful to share at (yeah I'm a loser).

Getting to know my iPhone will be a challenge as it operates diffently than the Windows programs I'm used to. Luckily, the Apple store offers a couple of orientation things I can go to, a one on one short session and a group longer session. I signed up for the group session on Sunday at West Ed, & if we go to West Ed on Saturday to see Kyla & family I'll do the short one then.

Tyler's Mini Getaway

Tyler's brother, Tyrone, is housesitting for their Dad as their Dad & his wife went to Mexico for some months. The house is on an acreage about 1/2 way between Red Deer & Rocky Mountain House so Tyrone is a little bored. He invited Tyler (well technically all of us) to come visit whenever we want. Tyler found out that Owen was going there this Tuesday night so Tyler wanted to plan a visit to coincide with Owen. However, since I have a dentist appointment tomorrow plus Dexter's swimming lesson on Thursday it didn't really work for me and Dexter. Tyler really wanted to go, and honestly deserves some "alone" time as I get it much more often and since he's still not working it makes sense for him to go now (as he'll hopefully be getting a job locally any day now ~fingers crossed).

I was a little bit excited for some time to myself sans Tyler just because we've been around each other pretty much 24/7 since Thanksgiving. We have little breaks here & there when I went to Red Deer for my appointments or when I make Mommy playdates but its not really a large break. BUT I have to admit that I am really nervous for having Dexter all to myself for the whole time. Tyler plans to come home around noon on Thursday so it's not a huge amount of time, but I haven't been great at being patient lately so it could get ugly.

Truthfully, my brother is staying with us at the moment, so I won't be completely alone and Cody will be watching Dexter during my dentist appointment tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep my cool and enjoy this extra bonding time with my baby. And hopefully Tyler will come back from his boys' sleepover jam packed full of video & board games, fully recharged, appreciative & missing Dexter and I.

Mini Rant

I love sharing things that I love with people. For instance a book or series I've read that was great or movie or TV series on DVD. The problem for me, is when they don't give it back.  Then one of two things happens, either I forget who I lent it to, or a ridiculous time passes so that you feel really weird about asking them if they still have it.

I am currently missing seasons 1 & 2 of "the Office" one of my favorite shows, and I have no idea who I lent it to. Whoever has it has either forgotton it wasn't their's or forgotton it was mine. It makes me sad because that is a fair chunk of money down the drain.

I guarantee I have at least 10 books & DVDs out there that belong to me but I don't know where they are. It sucks because I love sharing stuff with people, but at what cost?

My Christmas

I don't think I really blogged about my Christmas holidays so here it is. We travelled to Grimshaw on the Tuesday before Christmas, following my parents on their way back from Las Vegas. That was a mistake LOL They took 16A instead of highway 16, causing us an extra hour of driving, my dad's speed fluxuated ridiculously (90km/hr to 120km/hr) for no reason other than he was sleepy and their pitstop at Taco Bell inWhitecourt caused Dexter to watch up and he didn't sleep again for the rest of the trip. That being said, Dexter was fairly well behaved the whole way there with the help of Tyler & the VHS player we have in the van.

Once there, we had a ton of plans for the whole time. Thursday night was my friend christmas get together with Melody, Vanessa, etc. We played a ton of board games and Dexter stayed home with my parents. We took advantage of this by staying up until 5:30am! Bad idea considering we still had to get up with Dex in the morning.  Oh well, we had lots of fun and it was probably worth it.

Friday night, Christmas Eve, we went to my Uncle's (my mom's brother's) for supper, a Chinese gift exchange and 3 poker games. Dexter got spoiled by my Uncle and that was the night that he opened his first present all on his own...two days before he had to idea what to do with a present. That night, he managed to open one without us even noticing as we ohhed & awwed over another gift. LOL Pretty funny. Poker was great too, I came in 2nd in all three games :-)

Christmas morning we were at my Mom's and I had Dexter dressed in a cute elf pj set from Walmart. I felt so spoiled that morning. I knew all my gifts from Tyler as we just went to Walmart and picked out a bunch of DVDs to complete our sets, and although I had given my mom & brother my wish list, it was still exciting as I didn't know what if anything I would be getting. Some of the stand outs:

-Tassimo 1 Cup Drink Brewer: reasonably priced at $100, its the one on the market with the "bar code reader". So far I have tried Cappachinno, Latte & Hot Chocolate which were okay, and Chai Latte & Earl Grey tea which are great. I recently got regular coffee & though I haven't had one yet, my mother-in-law drank three this morning so they must be satisfactory.  It's a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to them coming out with more specialty drinks for it. Starbucks has three plain coffee types you can get, but I'm hoping they'll do caramel machiatto or something fancy like that.

-Purology Shampoo & Conditioner: I swear by this brand of salon shampoo & conditioner and my mom got me the latest version.  The jury is still out if its the right "formula" for my hair, but it definitely makes it smell pretty!

-Morrocan Oil: another hair product. My mom's been using it recently and says it helps to keep her hair soft & non-greasy, allowing her to wait longer between hair washings. I'm waiting for the dust to settle on my shampoo/conditioner transition before I test drive it too much.

-the Office, calendar: a must for me, a great Office fan.

-knit slippers from Grandma J.

-"little" things: good cookie sheets, a 4 cup glass measuring cup, and a potato masher. All on my wish list & much appreciated.

I feel like a total douche because I can't think of what else I got that was awesome. Obviously I got way too much to appreciate it fully.  Some of Dexter's fun gifts:

-Toy Story 3 mini car/bike thing. I don't know what you call them, but the things they can straddle and ride

that have wheels.

-a LARGE blanket with his own face on it.

-a "rocking horse" turtle, that is a learning toy. He goes crazy on it.

-a "Little People" farm. It's staying at my parents place.

-Cookie Monster remote control.

-a monkey toque.

-one of those recordable books where you can record your voice reading the story. My parents got it for them, however they still have it cuz they procrastinated the recording part.

-a little leather chair. we just got it today but it's awesome.

-money for his RESP.  He also got clothes of course, some books, and my Grandma is knitting him a monkey. Excited to see that.

Anyway back to the holidays, we went to my Grandma J's house for Christmas supper (my dad's mom). It was so amazing. We had: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts, fresh buns, stuffed mushrooms, cabbage rolls, perogies, cauliflower with cheese sauce...YUM. We spent the night just socializing, which was okay.

Boxing day, my mom had two of her good friends and their husbands come over: Cathie & Wally, Sandra & Brad. Leftovers for supper, visiting, and some games.

On my "off" days, Wednesday & Monday, we went to visit my old high school friends Robin (with her two boys Kagen, 2 1/2 & Quinten 2 days younger than Dexter), and Allison (with her two kids Sophie, 2 1/2, Callum, new baby boy about 2 months). It was fun for me & Dexter cuz he got to play with some kids around his age. However, I feel that he is too rough sometimes, experimenting with hitting, grabbing cheeks into his fists (very painful) and pulling hair. Everytime we say no, and take him away from the situation but the damage is already done - and I don't want to be the mom of a kid like that. Any help??

The Tuesday after Christmas we headed back home. Then for New Year's we spent the weekend at Mary's for our Christmas with them. Kim, Kira & Tehya joined us, Mary, Tyrone & Dean (mary's boyfriend) joined us for some of the weekend. We had a Chinese gift exchange as well, played games and socialized. On the Sunday, Kim, Mary & I went to Goodwill and did some shopping. I found a slow cooker (to replace mine that had just broke that week), some books and the Nightmare Before Christmas on VHS. I thought I did pretty good.

Well that was my holidays in a nutshell.  Very fun, but also very exhausting. I'm glad we're done until next year...

Numerology

During our Christmas with Mary (Tyler's mom), we talked a bit about numerology and how she started following it. In this instance, numerology is based on Louise Hay's book and uses a formula to figure out a personal number for each day. Then, once you have your number for the day it gives you a color (of which you try to wear) and a focus for the day. You also have a number for the year, which gives you a general focus for the year...your background.

For example, today for me was the number 3 and it's corresponding color was yellow, my focus was suppose to be on joy.  I don't own much color but I did my best with a blue & yellow dress (luckily I didn't need to leave the house today) with yellow underwear.  I believe the idea behind it is, that if you wear the appropriately suggested colors and focus on the appropriate thing then your energy will vibrate at its best and you will attract more positive emotions, things, etc to yourself.  I've decided to give it a go for myself & for Dexter. It will be a fairly easy & fun experiment to see if it affects our moods, luck and behavior.  Since my personal year is 9, my focus for the year is suppose to be Completetion. Closing doors on old opportunities, etc.

To figure out your own personal number each day, here is the formula...it sounds a wee bit complicated, but if you stick with it, it's not so bad.

PERSONAL YEAR

The universal year is 4...to get your personal year, add 4 but the digits of your month & day of birth.

Example (me): 4 + 9 + 23 = 36 (then reduce it to a single digit by again adding these together)

=9 (It doesn't matter how you add then when you reduce to a single digit, it always works out the same).

PERSONAL DAY

To get your personal day number you add your personal year plus the current month & day.

Example (me & today's date): 9 + 1 + 12 = 4.

*A little trick I learned early is that any number plus 9, ends up being it's own number again, so 9's just get cancelled out. So for me this year I only ever have to add the month & day to get my personal day number.

Then each number corresponds to a certain color & focus. Remember when I told you to reduce to a single digit? Well, apparently you DON'T do that in instances of 11 & 22 because they are special.  In those cases, I recommend adding everything today first, and if it's 11 or 22, leave it. You'll see it also says 11/2 because when you add 11 together it is 2 (same for 22/4).

So here are the numbers/colors/focus'(there are also jewels/stones but I am too lazy to type that too):

1: Red, I open new doors to life (Beginnings).

2: Orange, I am kind & considerate to others (Cooperate).

3: Yellow, I radiate joy & share it with others (It's Party Time/Enjoyment).

4: Green, I am organized & productive (Time to Work/Practical).

5: Turquoise, I welcome change & regoice in the new (Change & Surprise).

6: Indigo (navy blue), My home is a peaceful haven (Adjustment Time/Responsibility).

7: Purple/Violet, I look within & receive answers (Look Within/Faith).

8: Beige/Brown/Pink, I am powerful & prosperous (Successful Business/Achievement).

9: Pastels, I am one with all of life, the whole world is my family (Humanity/Completetion).

*I'm not into pastels & I just googled this...gold appears to work too.

11/2: Black/White/Pearl Gray/Silver, I follow my inner star (Follow Your Inner Star/Intuition).

22/4: Coral/Copper, I joyfully bless & prosper everyone (Give of Yourself/Greatness).

If you're up for it, why not give it a try. It's kind of fun and I don't think it could really hurt anything (unless of course you are wearing unflattering shades of colors & have your photo taken & put on facebook, ha ha ha).

If you are into the idea of this, I have also heard of Clothing Fung Shui where you wear certain colors/materials based on the elements: water, fire, air & earth. 

12th Session

Tomorrow is Wednesday and for the "first" time in a while, I am not heading to Red Deer. I say "first" in quotations, because realistically I had taken a break during Christmas and one week when I was sick. 

Anyway, last Wednesday was the final session of my 12 week program, so I should be 100% cured right? Well...not quite. Think of it as a journey, and while I am no longer at the beginning of my journey, and I have moved many steps forward, I still have a ways to go before I reach my destination. In fact, think of it like a deep sea dive, where I am submerged underwater but still have many levels to go before I reach the goal of the sea floor.

Since I had paid for the group sessions, I now have the option of joining any group for only $149 (a fraction of the original sign up cost). I have two issues with that. One, would be that I would need to continue driving to Red Deer to participate. It worked out fairly conveniently that Tyler was off work for the entirety of my program before and thus I could easily and guilt-free live Dexter at home and spend the day working on me. However, Tyler should be returning to work as soon as he finds something appropriate so I would need to secure a sitter either in Leduc or Red Deer both with their own pro's & con's. I also feel that the 3 hour round trip commute could be applied to other avenues of my goal such as working out, self awareness work, meditating, etc.

My second reason, one just as strong, is that I would be literally REPEATING the program. While I see some benefit to repeating some of the lessons (as they are not yet ingrained), to me it seems somewhat of a failure to repeat it. Also, knowing myself, I would be way less passionate about my committment the second time around. I expressed my concerns to the business owner (and my coach), Jen and suggested that they could possibly come up with different "levels" for the program. Like I would be interested in repeating some of the self work, but I don't need to repeat the nutrition info, and other physicological aspects.

I feel the coaching part is vitally important to success so I don't really want to lose that.  I'm in the process of trying to work out what I would like to get from the program and what Jen can offer me with her right now. No news yet on how we are going to move forward.

In the meantime, I have 3 daily goals for January, to help me continue moving forward on my health journey:

-5 minutes of exercise,

-1 glass of water,

-and in bed by 12:30am.

So far, I am failing miserably. My psuedo-break from routine from being sick and the holidays have really thrown a wrench in my ambitions. I need to re-evaluate my goals and what obstacles are getting in my way.  However, I have to admit that my aspirations are leaning a little more towards spring cleaning and organizing at the moment...and I have been doing fairly well at that!

I still really want to go to New York and I received some compliments from others (my masseuse, my Grandma, Tyler) about my body lately and how I seem to be losing weight (possibly emotional weight), so I am still motivated to continue applying myself.

One more note, at the very beginning of this program - actually before the program, when I went in for my first consultation - I confessed to the girl I met with that I wasn't sure that I was ready to begin this journey. I wasn't sure if I was mentally prepared to apply myself as I had spent the last 2 years-ish running away from any sort of structured program focusing on weight. Looking back to where I was in September to where I am now, I am really glad I took that leap of faith with MindBody FX. While I still don't 100% agree with it's entire philosophy, I am very grateful for what it has done for me so far :-)

Christmas 2011

We have spent the last two Christmas' with my parents so the Christmas this year is for Tyler's family. His mom's side of the family has a Christmas together every two years and it coincides with this one as well (mostly a good thing). I was excited when I found out his Uncle Roger was hosting this year as they live in Calgary, to my dismay we got an email this weekend announcing that they are having it at a resort in south Saskatchewan...a mere 6-7 hour drive from here. Boo!

Our options are to stay in a one bedroom cabin for $125/night or a two bedroom cabin for $140/night. Tyrone, Kim & the kids asked us to share a two bedroom cabin with them and Tyler said yes. I am opposed to this for several reasons:

1) there is only one bathroom,

2) the kids & Kim will likely drive me crazy over the course of the 5 days & 4 nights,

3) Four adults, 3 kids & 2 dogs seems like too much for a likey, tinee tiny 2 bedroom cabin,

4) right now Dexter really needs his down time from other people.

I am allowing it to happen anyway because $600 is a lot to swallow on our own and it's Tyler's family so he can orchestrate it how he likes. Dexter will also be 2 by then so he may be different.  We'll also hopefully be having a common area for all the families to hang out in, so hopefully won't be spending too much time in the cabins. I am going to try to have fun no matter what, but right now I am irritated.

My IV Sedation Dentistry Experience

A lot of people have anxiety when it comes to the dentist. For me, I am usually okay with the drilling part, it's just the needles that are necessary for freezing that get to me. So when I started getting a pretty brutal cavity on one of my front teeth, I started to dread that work that needed to be done. It is even worse when one of your front teeth need to be worked on as that requires a needle in the roof of your mouth (a much more sensitive area as the cartalidge is tougher and takes more pressure to get through).

I began looking into sedation dentsistry over a year ago. I picked a dentist in Red Deer that I was told did it. I went to my first session and somewhat got tricked into getting work done the old fashion way. I spent 7 months getting work done there, not including the front teeth that I needed done. Eventually after we moved to Leduc, I found a new dentist in South Edmonton (Ellerslie) and began seeing her. I got a quote for the work but found out I'd have to wait until January as my Red Deer doctor used up almost all my benefits for the 2010 calendar year. The Edmonton dentist was outraged that the Red Deer one had used up so much money and I still had so much work left to do. She more than implied that I got ripped off in Red Deer.

On January 6th, I went in for my IV dentistry experience. Although my dentist is trained to do the IV herself, there was a nurse present & hired for the day to do my IV. Lucky me, it only took her THREE tries to get the IV in.  Failed attempts in my left inner elbow area, left back of the hand and then a successful attempt in my right inner elbow. I have square inch bruises from the failed attempts and they definitely hurt during and after.

There were some negatives to the experience. For one, I thought I'd be "knocked out" but that's not really how it works. Basically you are just so relaxed that you tend to fall asleep. I did and had two naps. The sedation also isn't a painkiller, so I still had to have the freezing needles. I remember getting all of them. They were less painful than normal, but I still had pain. The dentist did 8 fillings over the course of about 3 1/2 hours. All in all, I am glad I did it because I hopefully have everything taken care of now (providing that I take better care of my teeth now). The dentist was great in that my gums are completely intact, whereas the Red Deer dentist had no respect for my gums whatsoever: I'd come home with literally shredded gums.  Once the freezing wore off I wasn't too sore other than my jaw and where the needles were...all of which are still sore today but to a lesser degree.

So I am quite happy with my Edmonton dentist. Hopefully I won't have to see her more often than the obligitory cleanings throughout the year.

MY Struggles with "God"

Disclaimer: this blog has to deal with my personal journey & is in no way meant to offend other people's
choices & paths.

The word God makes me uncomfortable. When I hear it or read it I have a physical cringe reaction. To be honest, I am not sure where it originated. That is something I want to explore this year because I have no problem with the words Buddha, Tao, Universe, Source, Mother Nature, Mother Earth...so why just "God"?

I have more recent experiences with so called religious persons who have acted hypocritically, selfishly & greedily: not qualities that govern true religious people in my opinion. But I know that my inner feelings dated way before that, so these cannot be the source of my negative reaction.

I have also had positive experiences, mainly through my friend Kyla who is more in tune with how I believe authentic spiritual people should be.

The reason I want to explore this more, is that I believe everyone has a "spiritual" component they need to fill. It need not be through tradition relgions (in fact, I am fairly opposed to most established religions. They just don't "ring true" for me), but rather through quality time with family & friends, meditation, compassion, acts of kindness & charity, pursuing & acting on your true passions & talents, and the stripping of ego based qualities like greed, materialism, selfishness, judgement, predjuice, etc.

Why am I biased against religion? Well that could fill a book, LOL

In general, I see religion as one of many paths to the same destination. A set of rules meant to help govern us to be better people. I don't choose religion because I want to choose the rules that feel right for me. I don't feel going to church on Sundays (or Satirdays) is the answer. And I don't like how each relgion presents itself as the only "true" option. I also know the history of some religions - like Christianity - and how its role as a major player came to be through fear & bloodshed. I have also experienced many false people who join religions & I don't want to surround myself with them.

Anyway, my point is that I am pursuing a more spiritual pathway this year, and in order to have some real progress I need to identify my "road blockers". Wish me luck!

Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.

Hokey Messages

I've allows found it lame & fake to write lovey messages to your partner via public facebook statuses. I often comment on some (Vanessa's, my brother's) to poo poo in their lamesness. I've decided to start posting my own in the ultimate sarcasm. However, I wonder if people think I'm serious? LOL a couple people "liked" my post last time & I'm not sure if they were liking my sarcasm or the message as is.


Sent wirelessly from my BlackBerry device on the Bell network.
Envoyé sans fil par mon terminal mobile BlackBerry sur le réseau de Bell.