Taking steps toward career advancement

One of my goals for 2016 was to advance in my career. I love my work. Toward the end of 2015, I was feeling a bit stagnated in my role as I have been in the same level of position for just over 3 years. Over the past few months I've been taking definite steps toward advancement and while I don't have a new job or a promotion, just taking steps toward advancing my career by looking for ways to grow in my current role, taking advantage of professional development opportunities, networking, keeping my eye on opportunities in my field of work, and improving my work wardrobe has made a huge difference in my outlook. Here are some of the details on things I've done since Christmas:

Look for ways to grow in my current role
I've been trying to focus on the benefits of my current position. Seeing different tasks as opportunities to gain new experience, skills, and as opportunities to prove my capabilities to my manager and employer. I've been asking for and taking on new projects. I've also been taking advantage of all the opportunities I'm offered to attend workshops, meetings, and conferences.

Professional development
Earlier this month I wrote my professional exam! I likely won't hear back until June whether or not I passed but I'm feeling pretty optimistic. My manager also approached me about taking a one-day course this Spring which I'm looking forward to. I'm also interested in attending the annual conference put on by our association later this year. My employer only pays for a limited number of staff to attend this conference. I was fortunate to be able to attend for one day last year because others who committed weren't able to go. However, I've decided to pay my own way this year if that comes up as a barrier as I found it to be a valuable development and networking opportunity last year. I also volunteer in a capacity related to my field of work. I will have served the maximum volunteer term at the end of this year so I'm also trying to take advantage of all opportunities for development and to make connections through this avenue as well.

Networking
The biggest tool I've been using for networking has been LinkedIn. I've had a LinkedIn profile for a number of years but wasn't really using it until recently. I took advantage of the free premium membership for a month and grew my contacts from around 100 to over 400. I've been connecting with many people from previous jobs and those who I've met at workshops or conferences through work. I try to send personal messages thanking people for connecting me and in some cases, reminding them how I know them if it has been a while.  I receive connection requests somewhat frequently from people I don't know. If they are in my industry, I check out their profiles and our shared connections in deciding whether or not to accept the request. I've also been endorsing my connections for the skills I know they have. In turn, I have also been getting endorsements (win!).  At some point I'd like to get a professional head shot taken.

Keeping my eye out for job opportunities
Once or twice a week I check a couple of job boards for current opportunities. I've saved postings for jobs which sound appealing but that I am not yet qualified for. I do this for a couple of reasons.. 1) to identify experience gaps and try to find ways of developing those skills in my current role; and 2) to refer to when I'm preparing my resume in the future so I can use similar language to frame and highlight my experience and skills. While I'd prefer to stay and grow with my current employer, this may not be possible so I'm still keeping an eye out for other local opportunities. There seem to be a fair amount of opportunities, however, most of them would be a much farther commute than my current 15 minute commute. There are so many benefits to being close to home like reduced travel costs, time, opportunity to go to medical appointments on my lunch hour or pick up groceries, and to be close to the boys school to help out on occasion.  The limited increase in pay to move up to the next level wouldn't be worth the difference economically or convenience-wise, however, I may have to consider this option at least for a couple of years in order to advance.

Boosting my work wardrobe
I find I do my best work when I feel good about my appearance. Over the last year I've been growing my work wardrobe by shopping sales and consignment. A few times a year I've been evaluating my closet and taking clothing to the consignment store to sell at the same time as I look for a few new pieces of clothing to boost my work wardrobe. I was reading an article somewhere about business fashion which mentioned having clothing tailored for a perfect fit. After my first pregnancy, I took a bunch of clothing to a local seamstress to have them taken in. I had lost a fair amount of weight post-pregnancy. I spent about $50 and had several pieces of clothing done. I still wear a few of them! Post-babies it has been really difficult to find articles of clothing in the stores that fit nicely. There are some things in my wardrobe that I really like but that don't fit me quite the way I'd like. This Spring I'm planning on making a trip to have a few pieces tailored and a broken zipper fixed.

I'd love to hear any tips/experiences/resources on career advancement that others would be willing to share :)

2016 Goals

In 2016 I've discovered adult colouring books

Between Christmas and New Years I took vacation time. It was the longest stretch of vacation I had taken since I started in my new job a year and a half ago. Right now, I get 11 days of vacation each year. Any overtime or evening meetings give me some extra lieu time I can use for additional time off which I've used to attend the boys school events or other appointments. I can also use a few accumulated sick days for medical appointments but I tend not to use them unless absolutely necessary since I haven't accumulated all that many and I'd like to bank enough in case anything unexpected were to come up.

Coming up to Christmas I was starting to feel burned out. I'd only really taken off a few days here and there aside from my 5-day Chicago trip in September and I've had a steady increase in responsibilities and workload at work. I found taking a day off here and there required just as much preparation as longer vacations like ensuring tasks were wrapped up, letting people know I'd be away, and getting back up to speed on anything I'd missed.

Originally we were planning on going on a vacation to visit my mom in Florida for Christmas but when my mother-in-law passed away in October, we decided this Christmas wasn't the best time. So most of my vacation was spent at home decompressing. I plowed through a stack of library books on parenting (mostly on parenting boys - separate blog post on that) and work/life balance, worked on one or two projects around the house per day, ate glorious and slowly prepared dinners each night, watched tv and movies with R after the boys were in bed, slept in a few days, and spent lots of time with family. I also gathered inspiration from reading other people's 2016 goals. A big influencer of my own goals this year was the book the Power of Less. I found myself going back to it over and over again. It was a quick, easy read. In particular, it made me think of some overall guiding principles for my 2016 goals:

Less multi-tasking, more single tasking.
Having less big "goals" but working harder and smarter to accomplish them.
Focus on doing the things that only I can do and delegate or streamline the rest (i.e. cleaning) - this idea actually came from Anne-Marie Slaughter's Unfinished Business.
Keep our finances under control.

2016 Goals

Aim for 8 hours of sleep consistently - no ifs, ands, or buts.

Take time to transition and unwind before bed. It can be so hard to switch off at night. The boys have a routine and I'd like to implement one myself. Taking a hot bath or reading a book immediately before bed improves my sleep.

Keep on going for monthly massage sessions. 

Prioritize eating and drinking. I know this sounds crazy as a goal but I'm often so busy multi-tasking that I'll put off eating or drinking or eat while doing something else. A lot of people eat more when they're stressed out but I actually eat less. I felt so much better over the holidays when we were preparing good home cooked meals. Single tasking should help with this.

Find ways to nurture our individual and collective family interests. Some examples, B's best subject at school is Drama so we signed him up for an Improv class, I'm a skier but I'm taking snowboarding lessons this winter so we can snowboard together as a family, R is going on a fishing trip with his dad this Spring, and we're taking a whole week off this summer to spend as a family at our trailer.

Celebrate more and work on being empathetic.  I've been trying very hard to listen, acknowledge, and give praise and encouragement more as a parent, wife, friend, and colleague. Even little things like celebrating the boys having a good day at school or stopping what I'm doing when one of the boys has something to show me or tell me and taking the time to acknowledge has made a big difference in how smooth and positive our days have been.

Progress in my career. I've been at the same level in my career for the past three years. I've been taking on more responsibilities at work for a while now and in 2016, I would like to advance.

Go on a weekend trip as a family this winter. 

Go on a weekend trip without the kids. 

Blog more than 2015 :) 

Learning how to snowboard! Bring it on 2016!

Noah and motherhood at 6 months

This update is a little late but I can hardly believe Noah has been with us for half a year already! It seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. Last Thanksgiving we were sharing the news with friends and family that we were expecting and here we are this year as a family of 5. It's hard to remember life before him.

At 6 months, Noah is:
- Nearly 18 pounds and eating solids! We started him on brown rice cereal at 5 months but it just wasn't sitting well and then he flat out refused to eat it. Our doctor suggested we try oatmeal instead (we started big brother N on oatmeal). Noah loved his oatmeal and has since tried sweet potato and squash. We're going to keep the train moving with introducing new veggies every 2-3 days from this point forward.
- Still nursing but can get pretty distracted. I still come home from work at lunch and even though he isn't eating a ton when I do, he is still happy to see me and to nurse. I think it is definitely helping to keep up my supply and I don't feel ready to stop yet. It feels pretty special getting to see my two littlest guys even for 25 minutes mid-day. It has also been nice not having to pack a lunch.
- Sitting! Around 6 months, he started being able to sit on his own for a few seconds here and there when he was occupied with something in front of him. He can now sit and play with toys for a bit longer periods without toppling over or getting fussy. He still loves to jump in the jolly jumper and to go in his exersaucer. He loves touching, grabbing, and holding just about everything.
- A mega drooler. I keep expecting to see a tooth any day but both of his brothers were late to get teeth so they could not show up for a while. He constantly has his right hand in his mouth sucking his fist. I've been trying to get him to use a teething toy since his little hand is getting a rash from all the sucking.
- Back to sleeping for about 10-12 hours at night. We put him down around the same time as his brothers at 7pm. Then I wake him to nurse before I go to bed around 10pm and he'll sleep until about 6am.

This boy!

Couldn't contain his excitement his first time having veggies - banged his tray excitedly between bites

I'm finally feeling 100% like my old self physically and mentally. Physically, I actually feel stronger than I have since before having kids. Skating for just an hour and a half once a week has made a big difference in how I feel.  I still cringe when things touch my abdomen but not because it hurts, just because it still seems tender or extra sensitive to touch. Sleeping through the night I think has been a huge factor in why this time around I'm feeling much happier and am able to cope with stressful situations. I also think having a job I love, feeling secure financially, and rather than giving up the things I enjoy doing, actually making the time to do them (like skating and volunteering) has made the work/life/family balance and settling into life as a family of five much easier than each of the last times we expanded our family.

Recently, I bit the bullet and spent just under $300 at the used clothing store and mall. I bought mostly active wear and business attire, and a pair of black pumps for work. Up until this point, I was wearing many of the pieces I'd bought pre-kids along with a few I had bought in between pregnancies. Most of my wardrobe in general is well-worn and I haven't been feeling particularly attractive in my clothes lately since my body went through so many changes with all 3 pregnancies and I wore the same clothes while nursing and through about half of my pregnancies so they are stretched in some places and don't fit the nicest. Eventually I hope to replace most of my wardrobe but at this point I'm still nursing so I'm going to try to make due for now with my few new pieces. I hate looking or feeling frumpy!

A favourite fashion accessory

Remember when I blogged about my wardrobe returning to work? Well, September is coming up and I'll have to get a little more formal at work. I used to wear these a ton but forgot about them until recently:

I love a good broach. I think they totally class up an outfit and make it feel more formal. The green oval was my grandmothers. I prefer broaches to wearing other cheap accessories like necklaces and bracelets. I am extremely sensitive (especially ears) so don't tend to wear much jewellery since the inexpensive stuff sometimes causes an allergic reaction and I don't own very many more precious pieces. I've seen a lot of articles floating around lately about toxins in cheap jewellery. I like that even a cheap broach doesn't rest directly on your skin all day.

Do you have any tricks for upping the formality of an outfit/appearance?

The first week and getting into a routine

Last week I started my new job. So far, I'm liking enjoying it. My first week was a bit overwhelming also being B's last week of school for the year so this week with the holiday mid-week has been nice.

A big change in the past 3 weeks has been Noah sleeping through the night (!). He has slept consistantly 8-9 hours at night in his crib in his own room. I thought for sure he'd wake up at night again once I went to work but he hasn't. I've been worried about my supply taking a hit with the 8 hours overnight and the long 5 hour stretch in the mornings at work. During the work day, I've only been pumping on my lunch break which isn't until 1pm when I come home most days. When I'm not working, I feed Noah frequently. He has been nursing for longer or cluster feeding in the evenings which I've loved since it gives us a chance to reconnect after being apart all day and builds my supply back up. 

Here is a peek at my new daily routine:

4-4:30am Noah wakes up. I'm usually pretty uncomfortable so I feed him while pumping on the other side. R also gets up around this time to go to work.
5-6:30am Breakfast/Prep bottles and lunch (big boys usually wake any time between 5:30 and 6:30)
6:30am Feeding
6:45-7am Load everyone in car to pick up my sister
7-7:40am Get ready for work
7:40am Feeding/pump
8-8:10am Leave for work as rest of crew is heading out to bus stop (during school year)
1-2pm Come home for lunch/feeding/pump - with travel time I usually have about 25 mins at home
5pm Arrive home. Feeding/pump. Dinner.
6:30pm Showers for boys if they need it - this has been nightly lately since they are so dirty from playing outside
7-7:30pm Bedtime for big boys. R usually handles this. We've been reading to the boys together lately which saves some time.
7-8pm Feed Noah and put him down for night in his crib. Most nights I'll shower after Noah is in bed.
8:30pm Bedtime for me and R.

As far as nursing and pumping goes, I nurse Noah at least 6 times/day. 4 sessions of which I also pump at the same time. He'll have 2-3 bottles in the mornings (2.5 oz each) and 1-2 in the afternoon while I'm at work. One day there was a staff potluck at lunch so I stayed at work and pumped on my two 15 minute breaks instead. Legally, I don't have to use my breaks to pump but I have chosen to. On the days when I come home for lunch, I have been taking breaks with other staff or picking up one or two items we needed at home from the grocery store around the corner. On the days I haven't been working, I've only been pumping once or twice/day.

I've really been enjoying having a schedule in sync with R.  I feel like we get to spend more time together laying in bed chatting after all the kids are tucked into their own beds and seeing each other before he heads to work in the morning while the big kids are still sleeping. Despite working full-time now, I don't feel nearly as stressed over work/life balance or sleep deprived (still amazed I have a new baby that sleeps 8 hours) as I felt with the older boys. I'm hoping I'll continue to feel this way.

Post-partum wardrobe

Definitely not my work wardrobe

10 weeks...postpartum

Apart from being nervous about leaving Noah to go to work next week, I've been worrying about what I'll wear since my wardrobe for the last 10 weeks has consisted of nothing but pajama and sweat pants and maternity casual clothing. Anything remotely tight around my midsection was uncomfortable either due to sore abdominal muscles or my incision area.

Recently, in the past 2-3 weeks, I've been able to wear leggings again and last weekend I tried on a pair of size 4 Lulu Lemons that have been hanging in the closet for a year and they weren't terrible! I'm still about 5-10 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight which I'm not at all complaining about but my body shape is just different. Up until this week, none of my non-maternity dress pants were close to fitting. While I was pregnant, I let most of my work shirts get stretched out to get the most wear out of them. I planned on buying a new work wardrobe post-baby rather than buying new maternity pieces that I wouldn't wear again.

Right now, a new work wardrobe isn't in the budget but I did need some new pieces to wear since many of the ones I own still don't fit. Also, my new work environment is more business attire than my old workplace which was more business casual. Thankfully the summer at my new workplace is more relaxed so I can get away with business casual for a few months.  I'm planning on using most of the clothes I have in my closet and slowly replacing them over time as my body continues to change and things get worn.

As a thank you/going away gift, I received an $100 gift card for Mark's Work Wearhouse from my old boss. I was able to get a few pieces of clothing on sale or clearance so that I have enough items to mix and match with my existing wardrobe and make it through the summer months at work. Shopping at this point didn't make me feel great about myself. A lot of the pants and dresses didn't fit nicely or were very unflattering around my stomach. I also had to think about ease of pumping/breastfeeding. I had the most success with tighter shirts and cardigans but did buy a pair of black capris with a stretchy waist. I'm fairly happy with the few items I bought. I'll be able to definitely wear the cardigans long after my baby weight is gone and I plan to make accessories my best friend to feel more attractive and put together.

New work clothes (approx. $90)

Nursing and Working

The part I am most nervous for about going back to work in a few short weeks is maintaining the breastfeeding relationship I've worked hard to establish with Noah even with a major bump along the way in the beginning. With Nicholas I went back to grad school full time when he was 4 months old which had me away 2 days/week and with Brendan I took a couple of evening courses, also at 4 months.

Here in Canada, parents can collect up to a year of maternity and parental employment insurance benefits. Most do take the entire year off. This means that most women stop breastfeeding by the time they return or only continue to nurse in the hours they are not at work. Consequently, breastfeeding and the workplace isn't an issue that comes up a lot so I'm anxious to broach the subject with my employer, especially since it is a new employer. I guess I don't want to look like I'm high maintenance or demanding special treatment. Kelsey's posts on breastfeeding and working have been such a go to resource for me.

My goal is to maintain breastfeeding for at least 6 months and ideally to 12 months. Right now I've started pumping once in the morning and once at night using my Medela Freestyle Advanced (double electric) pump to try to build up a bit of a freezer supply. Noah takes a bottle no problem but I've only ever been away from him for 3-4 hours at a time.

My plan for the first month is to come home at lunch time when I can to nurse and pump. Taking travel into account, I'd still have 30 minutes at home. Another alternative would be to meet the boys and my sister (who watches the boys) at my mom's house on occasion which is 5 minutes from work. This would give me more time. Since I'll need to pump at least one additional time, that'll have to be done at work. For that I'm planning on bringing my hand pump and cooler bag like I did when I was at grad school. I found when I could control the suction and frequency by hand I was able to pump a lot more. The manual pump is also light weight and can be used anywhere. I don't have to worry about plugging in. We introduced cereal at 4 months with both of the other boys once they showed signs of readiness. If Noah is the same, that should help since we can replace one bottle feeding while I am away with food.

Working Mom Again

I almost can't believe I'm even writing this post. One of my goals for 2013 AND 2014 was to find meaningful and secure employment. Now I can finally check that off my list. My new position is 15 minutes from home, exactly the same distance away as my old job, and is a permanent position with pension, benefits, paid vacation, etc. 

My new job will be about 50% of the same work I was doing before, only in a different setting, and 50% work I don't have much, or in some cases any, experience with but am eager to learn. I am especially excited for the learning opportunity. The pay will be less than what I was making at my old job initially but there is lots of opportunity for growth in salary and within the organization. I'm also looking forward to staying a while somewhere and putting down roots. In the past I've never made my office or desk "my own" so it is something I'm looking forward to. 

Me landing a permanent job is a huge deal for our family and brings much much more financial security. I would normally say I'm very lucky or blessed but one of my best friends who also happened to be waiting to hear back on a job opportunity said to me - "you deserve a full-time permanent position"- and I do. Ever since I was a student in my undergraduate program, I'd say for the better part of 8 years (when I really got serious), I haven't stopped working hard toward securing a full-time position in my field. 

I know I will be sad leaving Noah at the end of the month so the timing doesn't feel ideal but at the same time, the timing in many ways couldn't be more perfect since we're done having our family and I'm ready to hit the ground running with my career. 

On work/family balance and leaning in

Because baby update posts can get a little tiring...

Two of my truths these days:

I love my kids.
I miss work.

Recently I picked up two books from the library: Lean in: women, work, and the will to lead by Sheryl Sandberg and Overwhelmed: work, love, and play when no one has the time by Brigid Schulte. Note: when I'm looking for books I might like I always look at the "frequently purchased together" titles on Amazon.

Over the last year and a half, I feel like I finally achieved a decent work/family/life balance. It hasn't always been perfect but we definitely settled into a good routine. R and I have also grown in to better partners in shared parenting and housekeeping. With a third baby on the way I became even more interested in work/life balance and wondered about the challenges of adding just one more child to the mix with their own needs and demands. I feel like the odds are especially stacked against you if you have a "big" family as you are seen as tipping the scale toward trading off career for family life.

I really enjoyed Sandberg's book. I finished this book cover to cover in two days. The book focused a lot on her personal journey and experiences. A lot of her thoughts reinforced my own beliefs about shared parenting, etc. Her book is career-oriented and offers a prescription of dos and donts for building a successful career and balancing family life.  She highlights many ways that women unintentionally hold themselves back in the workforce. Some of these were eye openers and I recognized having played into them myself. A job recently came up that I had hummed and hawed about applying for since baby N was just born but I've decided to apply anyway. If I get an interview I can always try to negotiate a later starting date and work from there rather than not applying and possibly missing out on an opportunity.

The academic in me also enjoyed the research-heavy Schulte book, though I had a hard time getting through the first part on Work before more or less breezing through the parts on Love and Play. Schulte's book is all about how women (and even some men) feel overwhelmed with work/life responsibilities. In the Appendix at the end, she provides a good summary of all of the key takeaways from each of the areas of work, love, and play. Some of the things that stuck with me from this book are:

- Busyness is a choice. It is not a brag or an excuse. By saying you're busy you're actually saying I'm choosing something else.
- Women are super multi-taskers. But multi-tasking often leaves many loose ends rather than focusing productively on completing one task. Compartmentalize.
- Learn to embrace "good enough" and stop "maternal gatekeeping". Let others help and let them do it in their own way. You don't need to serve up a 3-course meal to have visitors. Keep it simple.
- Choose to be intentional. If you can't do everything with your kids, do the ones that matter most to them. In all likeliness they don't care who drops them off at soccer practice.
- The to-do list will always be never ending. Choose to do one extra thing each day. Park the items on a list - they'll still be there tomorrow.
- Make time to play.

Read any good books or blog posts on work/life balance lately?

Not so typical schedule...

Martina over at Get Real Momma recently posted her daily schedule. I love seeing how other families do things so I thought I'd share my rather hectic schedule as I balance being a mom, F/T school, and F/T work until the end of this month. My final submission of my Masters paper is due on March 28th so there has been no fooling around since mid-February. I'm finally starting to see my paper pull together and the light at the end of this long long tunnel.

6:15 Wake up
6:15-6:50 Cuddles in bed, telephone call to Daddy before he starts work, and breakfast
7:00 Throw the kids in the car in their PJs to pick my sister up to watch them
7:15-8:15 Getting dressed and organized for the day, put on a pot of coffee, drop B off to the bus on the days he has school, and getting ready for work
8:30-4:30 Work/Working on my paper over my lunch hour
4:45-6:00 Get home, eat dinner, clean up
6:00-7:00 Relaxing with DH and the boys
7:00 Bedtime for both boys
7:15-9:00 Library or some other place with tea and wi-fi to work on my paper
9:30-10:30 Getting organized for the next day, chatting with friends on Skype or the phone, watching a bit of TV (usually PVR'd shows)

Weekends look a little more like this:

7:30 Wake up (DH usually gets up with the boys who still get up around 6-6:30, though he wakes up for work before 5am on weekdays so this is a sleep in)
8:00-9:00 Breakfast and much needed coffee
9:00-11:30 Cleaning up around the house
11:30 -12:30 Prep and eat lunch and Put N down for a nap, sometimes B too.
1:00-5:00 Prep something for dinner and retreat somewhere outside of the house to work on my paper

5:00-6:00 Get home, eat dinner, clean up

6:00-7:00 Relaxing with DH and the boys

7:00 Bedtime for both boys

7:00-10:30 Hanging out with DH - usually watching movies, sometimes having a glass of wine

I do wish I had a little more time to spend with the boys. I try my best to work around their schedules in terms of fitting school work in. I also know they're loving the daddy time. Though I wouldn't want this to be my schedule all the time, and it really hasn't been - only from about mid-February as I mentioned before. I don't find it too overwhelming. I have a wee family getaway trip planned for April, once this paper is safely out of the way as a thank you to DH and the Boys. DH was able to sneak away for a boys night at a cabin in the woods up north over the weekend so we're making it work. No relationship spats so to speak of.

Fall Routine

When I switched jobs I instantly gained 10 hours/week back from commuting time. However this meant that I lost a lot of my twitter/blogging time. I think I'm finally back and all settled in with my new routine. I have been trying to prep meals for the week on Sundays and choose easy meals for during the week. I have also been planning and setting out my outfits for the week in the closet so I don't have to think about what I am going to wear in the morning.

Here is what our schedule has been looking like on a typical day when B goes to school.

6:30am - Wake-up
6:30am-7:30am - Breakfast and getting ready
7:30am - My sister arrives at the house to watch the boys or just N depending on the day
7:35am - Walk B to the bus stop
7:40-8:10am - Finish getting ready for work and making coffee (there is no Starbucks on my way to work so $ has been saved!)
8:10am - leave the house for work
8:30am - 4:30pm Work
4:50pm - Arrive home
5:30pm-6:00pm - Dinner
6:00pm-6:30pm - Cleaning up/Preparations for next day
6:30pm-6:50pm - Baths
7pm - N goes to bed
7-7:30pm - B gets ready for bed, bedtime story

The rest of the night I have off so I have typically been catching up on emails, working on my major research for my Masters, and watching all the tv shows I PVR'd over the summer. DH goes to bed around 8:30pm since he wakes up super early for work so we generally don't get to spend too much time together in the evenings during the week but at least we have an extra hour after work now together that we didn't have before.

September Check-in

Seems fitting to do a check in with my 2012 goals I set out in January. Here is how I have been doing!

• I want to continue to eliminate clutter from our lives and improve our financial security. I got a job! I started on Monday. It is in my field, 15 minutes away, and pays decently. So far I'm totally loving the work which is challenging and the people are so nice. Though the job is contract, it looks promising that it could turn into a permanent position. I think we are well on our way in terms of meeting this goal. In light of this new job, I also reworked our budget which I am hoping to share (eep!) with the world soon!  

• Continue to find meaningful ways to give back to my community. I feel like I have gone above and beyond my own expectations in this area. With all I have on the go between now and next Spring, I think I will ease back a little on my community commitments. 

• Immerse myself in my thesis research and give it my all. YES! I am furiously trying to clean up my research proposal and secure an advisor. All of this will be done in the next couple of weeks and then I'm into actually doing the research. I wanted to do meaningful work and I think I have pretty much nailed that since my research is going to be heavily based on the community in which I live. I guess this will further contribute to my previous goal.  

• Cherish the little things - The daily bests journal is back on. I really like it. B went to kindergarten today and absolutely loved it. I'm so happy I got to drop him off and I called him this afternoon to see how it went. I've also been spending extra time with the boys. Usually I am out a couple of nights/week but since DH is away on a 10-day trip with his dad, I cleared my schedule and have spent lots more time with the boys in the evenings and on the weekend. I even took B to the Canadian National Exhibition last weekend, while my sister watched N, and he had an absolute blast. 

• Act on the fact that "life is short". I have been spending a lot time with friends lately and I'm really happier for it. I've also been making an effort to put aside other work and technology and just focus on family time when I'm with the family. I really notice a difference in the quality of time spent together. And finally, I have been making time for the things that make me happy. Scheduling them in  so they are obligations rather than nice-to-do things. 

Uncertainty

I did a Google image search for uncertainty and came up with this photo. I'm finding it hard to enjoy uncertainty lately. I've been very fortunate to have some pretty great opportunities no thanks to a wonderfully supportive husband and family. For example, I was able to stay at home with the boys, go back to school for a Masters (I am always in my element when I'm working toward something and learning new things), take jobs that are meaningful and that I enjoy and not have to worry that they don't pay extremely well. Make no mistake... these came with financial sacrifices and relationship quabbles at times.

I've come to realize that I am happiest being a working mom. I am also happiest when we aren't restricted to a tight budget and I feel good when I am contributing financially to the household. I think I've mentioned before that DH's income can fluctuate depending on a number of factors like the weather and work paces (sometimes it is just slow). We're never really in trouble but there have been times where we've been uncomfortably tight for money. On the flip side, there have also been periods of time where he has worked a lot of overtime and his usual pay has increased by 50-75%. For the most part, it is steady but there are ups and downs. It can be stressful.

I love the position I'm in right now but it is a contract and will finish in two and a half weeks. Consequently I've been working on the stressful task of job hunting. The only unfortunate part - aside from being a contract - about my current position is the commute into Toronto which ends up being about 90 minutes each way with transit and walking. This has narrowed my job search considerably to only jobs in and around where we live (20-30 minute commute would be reasonable) which makes my job search even harder. I've always said that I didn't want to just take any old job to pay the bills but I think I'm at a point where I'm craving something permanent with paid vacation (!) and sadly, most of the jobs in my field right now are contract. I've been doing contract work intermittently between having babies for 5 years and I'm ready for a little stability and luckily I'm at the point where I have the 1-3 years of experience which is the minimum most employers are looking for. So - my short term goal is to find full-time permanant employment utilizing some of my skills such as communications, research, and report writing, bonus if it is in my field or something remotely related. This will give me some stability and then I can keep my eye out for full-time permanent positions close to home in my field. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush, right. I do have a few leads.. one from a prospective employer who interviewed me in the Spring for a position which I did not get and contacted me this morning to let me know that another job had come up and that she was wondering if I'd like to interview for it. Fingers crossed for some good news in the coming weeks.

2012 Goals Update

I thought mid-way through the year would be a good time to reflect back on my goals for 2012.

Continue to eliminate clutter from our lives and improve our financial security.

I need to do another purge/donation soon. I have done a good job though of sticking to my goal of being a mindful consumer. Could’ve spent a little less on the boys birthday parties but over time I’ll learn I guess. Our savings took a hit in May from a number of unexpected expenses but I do have a job for now so we shouldn’t have too much trouble building that account back up.

Continue to find meaningful ways to give back to my community.

Big check here. I have been involved with my usual volunteer positions. I have also been working on several writing projects (letters to the editor for the local paper and a feature story on a development issue for a local alternative magazine). 

Immerse myself in my thesis research and give it my all.

Although I haven’t focused enough of my efforts on this goal, I have decided to focus my research so that a component will benefit the community where I live. It is my hope that this will also help me to find work closer to home somewhere down the line.

Cherish the little things.

Well… I haven’t written in my daily journal since the end of March so not sure that is working for me anymore. Maybe I will try something else like generating discussion at the dinner table on the best parts of everyone’s day. B started t-ball last night and I had a surreal moment watching him immersed in the game. I am so proud of him and so happy he found something he really likes.

Act on the fact that "life is short".

I have been doing pretty well in this area. I decided (somewhat hastily) to visit my best friend in Edmonton in May when I was surprised with a decent tax return. I have also been taking advantage of most opportunities that come my way – conferences, speakers, meeting with friends, etc. and I am finding the more opportunities I take advantage of, the more opportunities that come my way. 

Happy March!

This month is one of big change for us around here. Firstly, I will be starting a new job tomorrow. It is only part-time which is perfect so I can still spend time with my little man. Not to mention it is in the my field and I will get to do some great things for some pretty great pay too. The job kind of landed in my lap through some of the volunteer work I do. It is only a year long contract which is great since I plan on going back to school this Fall if everything pans out. This also means that our plans for baby #2 are sadly put on hold for another few months to ensure I can finish up my contract. I also don't think I could manage full-time grad school, a part-time job and a new baby. School, job and Brendan are going to be more than enough come Fall.

This job has also meant that I have had to find care for Brendan. Last year he went to a home daycare for a few months and it didn't work out. This time around we are sending him to a Montessori for 3 mornings/week and having my sister pick him up, feed him lunch and put him down for his nap at home. I feel really comfortable with our choice. Expensive it is but he will be well looked after. The school also aligns very well with our own parenting philosophies such as...

- eating nutritious food - the kids only eat fruits and veggies for snack and drink water which means no sugar laden foods

- getting out in nature - they play outside every morning

- learning through play

- arts and crafts

- teaching manners

Things I particularly like are that on the child's birthday, the parents are asked to donate a book to the classroom. They ask that the books are nature books or stories about real life experiences. The parents can also send a plant with the child's name on it and the name of the plant so that they may take part in nurturing it and watching it grow. The class also sponsors a child in a third world country. Many of the philosophies are very similar to Waldorf principles. Unfortunately for us, we live nowhere near a Waldorf school but I think this environment will be just fine for us.

Brendan has gotten to do two one hour visits to the classroom and has seemed to enjoy his time there from what the teachers tell me except for the initial me leaving part. I'm sure things will get better.

Perhaps I'll find out this month whether or not I have been accepted to the program for this Fall.

Happy Canada Day!

Oh Canada!!!

From this half of the year on, I plan on blogging way more. I have been so busy with work I have little time for much else. This is part of the reason why I posted this beautiful picture of dawn in the country taken just 20 mins north of Oshawa at 6am one morning while I was driving Ryan to work at a site nearby. I have decided that unless I get the super awesome contract job I have just applied for, isn't worth it to work full-time, away from Brendan and with little time to garden, bake, blog etc. which I really enjoy. 

Latest developments with Brendan:

- Running around behind a walker is his favourite activity. Close seconds are swimming in his kiddie pool, playing in his sandbox (a birthday gift from Ryan's sister) and climbing stairs or anything else he can climb

- His vocabulary consists of - Mama, Dada, Baba (bottle), Car, and Nana (for Banana). He has been trying to repeat many words we say to him.

- He has become the biggest fan of his daddy and sometimes wants nothing to do with his mama!. See evidence below!

Limbo....

I cannot lie.. I am missing being a stay at home mom a lot. As I mentioned in my last post, I gave up cake decorating twice a week to spend time with Brendan since we only get 2 hours/day to see eachother. On the other hand...I also enjoy working and spending my days with adults having adult conversations. The two jobs I interviewed for which both sounded really promising didn't come through. For both I was the second place candidate. I guess it wasn't meant to be. I've been reading through many many job boards and sending out resumes with not a lot of luck. My contract at my current job is up at the end of this month so hopefully something good will come along before then. But I really don't know...

The wedding is fast approaching. We got our quote for the alcohol from my brother (he owns a bartending company) which isn't nearly as expensive as we had budgeted for AND Ryan's parents have offered to pay for the alcohol which is pretty nice of them. So far we are on budget. I am hoping to get a nearly complete budget posted soon. I'm getting a little stressed out from all the planning and I think I will be really happy once the wedding is over and I can relax.

For now I leave you with some photos of what we've been up to lately:

Working Gal

I feel as though I have been absent for a little while in the blogging world. This week was my first week in a summer job with an organization I've worked for in the past and was it ever exhausting! Unfortunately, my new position involves an hour commute to work. Luckily I am against traffic both ways which is nice and it is somewhat relaxing to have that time to myself to gather my thoughts and clear my head. Although I do not love my job in this department as I did the previous department I worked in the summer before Brendan was born, I am happy to be back in the same organization, greatful for the experience in my field and have been applying for some year-long contract positions within the building. Last week I had two interviews (my boss has been more than accomodating giving me time off work in the first week to interview for other positions). Both interviews went well and sound fairly promising but competition is fierce and in this economy I really consider myself lucky to have even secured a summer position. So many of the people I know are without work right now or as young professionals entering into the workforce do not have much experience in their field and therefore cannot find any employment in the field in which they had hoped to work.

As far as smooth transitioning, this week did not go as I had hoped. I found when I got home from work I was so exhausted that on the two nights where I usually have cake decorating, I couldn't get organized enough to make it to the class and all I really wanted to do was spend the 2 hours I could with Brendan after not seeing him all day. Note daily schedule below...

6am - Wake-up --> frantically get dressed, wash face, put make-up on, make the bed
6:30am - Brendan wakes up/gets dressed/eats breakfast
6:50am - Load up the car and drop Brendan off with my sister
7:05am - Leave for work/eat breakfast on the road
8:30am - Start work
4:45pm - Leave work
6pm - Arrive home exhausted
8pm - Brendan's bedtime
9pm - Ryan's bedtime (I usually spend that hour with him)
9-10pm- Get everyone ready and packed for the next day/shower/clean up

On Wednesday, our daycare provider gave us 2 weeks notice, saying that Brendan wasn't happy there because he couldn't interact very well with the other kids as he isn't walking or talking a lot and the other kids range from 2-5. Consequently he was proving to be a lot of work for her and she would prefer to watch only older kids.. so that SUCKED. But obviously I want the best for my son and for him to be in an environment where he is happy. Luckily my sister is not working and she said she would watch him for as long as we needed and Brendan is quite happy there. I think this will work out better for us anyway.

To top it all off.. I was sick as a dog from Mon-Thurs and now Ryan has gotten sick. We're spending our long weekend recovering. We also had a nice visit with my brother and his girlfriend last night.

Hopefully next week will be better.. much better if I get good news from one of the positions I am hoping to get!

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

The past few weeks have been particularly crazy in regard to the weather here. Ryan hasn't been working as much due to the cold, snow, and general lack of work. The economic here has really slowed the construction sector down and he was lucky to keep his job. Unfortunately, our friend got laid off which is no good. I must admit that I do kind of enjoy it when Ryan comes home early or just doesn't have to show up one day for work. It is really nice to be able to see him and not have to always work on the renovations or do regular house work. But the lack of money sure does stink and to much disappointment, Ryan will no longer be able to take the time off that we had planned to go visit his parents in Florida next month.

All the time we have been spending renovating has left me missing Brendan a little and wondering what it will be like once I start working soon. He is becoming so independent. He plays really well on his own and is taking the bottle really well (we are down to two-ish breastfeeds a day). He is also becoming a little chatterbox and says mostly ma's and ba's but no dada's yet. He can scoot around backwards on his little car which is really cute.

Progress at the house has been going a mile a minute. Last weekend we got the hardwood upstairs mostly done and all of the bedrooms painted. This weekend we are painting downstairs and tiling the kitchen and hallway. Next weekend will be the big move I think! A friend of mine, mentioned to me that she had reupholstered her chairs herself (a nesting urge!) So that is another project I am going to attempt to undertake just as soon as we get settled in. I will be so happy to finally slow down and start to enjoy our house that we've been working on for 7 months in every spare minute.

In other news, I signed us up for a food share this summer from a local community sustainable agriculture operation. I can't wait to start recieveing farm fresh, minimal pesticides, local fruits and veggies weekly. I also found a farm that offers organic beef.

The snow piles here are getting so high, we are running out of space to put all the snow that wont let up. Tomorrow.. I think I will take Brendan for a ride in his sled..and maybe get a vanilla rooibos tea latte from Starbucks for myself :)

Happy Holidays!

It has been well over a month since my last post..but there is a reason for that. I was up north at Ryan's parents place taking care of our Christmas Tree business and there was no internet. Although it was nice to be out of the city for awhile just Brendan and I, man am I ever happy to be home.

We finally finished tiling the bathroom and we even had our first bath in the tub.. now on to mudding and taping, vanity shopping and decor. Didn't Ryan and his brother-in-law do a great job!?


As for Brendan's latest developments.. he is loving his tummy time now. No crawling yet but he likes to flop down onto his tummy to get toys he has knocked out of reach and roll all over the room. Even more exciting is that for the past 3 days he has been saying "ma" or "mama" non stop. So I guess his first word is Mama! (sorry Ryan). Christmas was a hit. Brendan was spoiled rotten and he seemed to enjoy ripping the wrapping paper and playing with his new toys. I am so happy that he was old enough to somewhat interact with his gifts and enjoy getting them. Here are some Christmas pictures.