Where has the time gone?

Really, January 3rd was my last post? What the heck happened to the last month and a half! I seem to have started a new pattern- go to work, get home, eat dinner, go to bed. I don't know if I entirely agree with people who say that you have more energy in your second trimester. I am certainly less nauseous, but still just as tired.
This last month and a bit have caused us to rearrange and reorganize a bit. Here are some of the highlights:
We listed our condo in Edmonton for sale.
We decided to move in April to a new place in Victoria.
We went to Edmonton and Palm Springs for some family time.
Jon was laid off and is searching for a new job.
I was featured in a magazine article for giving awesome customer service.
Our cats have switched personalities.
Jon has started to do all the cooking (and most of the cleaning) so I can relax when I am home.
I have become addicted to the library and am checking tons of stuff out.
We cancelled our cable so we spend more time on other activities.
I am still doing the 52 week challenge and have been making my own cleaning products, purging extra possessions and spending more time outside.
Work has slowed down but all our lines have new products so I have product knowledge meetings almost every morning which makes for a 9.5 hour workday.
I started playing the Sims on Facebook and now remember how addictive it is.

Ok wait a second. Looking at that list I can see where the month went. It's been insanely busy and I am often too tired to function by the time I stumble in the door. I will try to do a pregnancy update tomorrow (now that I am in my third trimester and we know the sex....) I still read your blogs, but usually on my cell phone while i'm on the bus so commenting isn't as easy. I will be back in full force soon!

Question #12

Wow, I got off track with these questions!!! Time to get back to work on the project!

Day 12. Write about what wears you out as a woman.

There is only one thing that I can think of that really wears me out. Women are mean. Especially to other women. Especially when looking at other women's appearances. Society is so based on visuals that we judge instantly based on looks. Even quick trips out of the house require a shower and a decent outfit. Work requires a ton more time to get out the door. Days at the spa sound relaxing but the only reason i'm there is to look nice.
My workplace has a semi-formal to formal dress code so most days i'm in dress pants, a dress shirt and heels. 8 hours a day in heels on walking around on cement is just mean. But even they can't really help it. Our store sells medium and high end products- we have to look the part. It would be hard to convince people to spend $5000 on a sofa while wearing grubbies. Since finding out about the baby I have been wearing flats (self preservation at it's best) and I have picked up some maternity dress pants but I still have to dress up.
Men have it easier in this one (as I've learned living with Jon) They will leave the house in almost anything. They will hang out with their buddies in their comfy clothes and not care. I think we should learn from them.
We have to be willing to look at people and see past their outfit. We have to see past their hairstyle. We need to see them. We need to learn to connect with people and embrace them for being themselves and being stunning inside. Maybe that's why I like blogging so much. I can connect with people while I am in my pj's (like today). I can start conversations with people that I may not ever talk to in person. I can get advice, criticism, kind words and honest answers without worrying about that that person thinks about my hairdo or outfit. I don't have to pretend to be anything other than me.
Can that happen more in our day to day lives?

Breaking Even

We have been in Victoria for a bit over a month and are just starting to get up onto our feet money wise. Moving cost way more than I was expecting and then the span that we weren't working took a bigger toll. We were just getting to the point that we can catch up on last month's bills and this month's arrived. I am freaking out a little bit. Actually, I shouldn't say a little bit. I should say a lot. Sleep has become a novelty for me this last few weeks.

The thing that drives me the craziest is that I am so scared of the voices saying "I told you so". Leading up to our move we were told that we would fail, that we would move back to Edmonton and that we would beg for the life we had before we left. I am too stubborn to let that voice win. We will make this work and soon it will all be ok. I know it will. We sold a bunch of stuff that was going to collect dust in or storage locker downstairs and have been really careful planning out meals so we have food to last until cash flow improves. And in the meantime, the lack of sleep just gives me more time to re-list the items we're selling and respond to emails!

Uneventful yet busy days

I'm sorry about the lack of blog yesterday. I sat here in front of the computer for about 20 minutes and just couldn't think of the words. I had a busy day and apparently my brain was done for the night.
Yesterday was spent at work and nothing eventful happened. The warehouse and I managed to stay in our own corners, so no more battles. We were just busy enough to stay occupied but dead enough to take our normal breaks and for my Mom (the boss) to leave early. As soon as I told the warehouse guy to shut down the lights I had 2 couples come through the door and so we got out of there later than normal. Thankfully they both bought things, so my extra 15 minutes there was worth it.
Jon picked me up from work and we went to Accent European Lounge for the interVivos Holiday Mixer. It was a great event with two speakers running a debate regarding Municipal taxes. Surprisingly, the person advocating higher taxes, Scott McKeen, won the debate. He is the former Edmonton Journal's civic affairs columnist and was a candidate for ward 7 in the last election. Here is his website if you want to read about his ideals and policies. His challenger, Scott Hennig is the Alberta Director and National Communications Manager for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He had good points but he was unable to counter McKeen's harder questions. It made for a really interesting topic and people had some great questions after. We ducked out early because we are too polite to make the hors d'oeuvres our dinner. We chatted with a few people, and then ran to Chili's for dinner. Once again, I was excited to discover that they have a special gluten free menu. I was diagnosed celiac 3 years ago, and at that time most waitstaff looked at you like you were crazy when you asked if the sauce was gluten free. Now they cheerfully grab me a special menu and laugh about how excited I get. Once our tummies were full we headed home for the night. I framed some of our wedding photos that we finally got printed, then bedtime!
Today was supposed to be errand day so tomorrow could be relax day. It turned into another work day when our full time guy called in sick. He called my Mom on her cell phone when she was at the store and her purse was put away. My phone = always in my pocket or on the desk next to me. My Mom's phone = the last number that any of us call to get in touch with her. I got the phone call at 9:50 that he didn't show and got there at 11 to cover the day. We were fairly busy all day, lots of Grandparents coming in to grab little things for Christmas stockings. We also spent a ton of time figuring out our Boxing Week specials and getting the tags made and hung. We are closed on Wednesdays, open 8 hours on Thursday and then have a short day on Friday and then we are closed until Monday (which has short hours for my cousin's wedding) Getting the tags up today saved me a ton of headache on Friday!
Jon did a bunch of my running around for me, so after work we were able to head to the mall, completely finish the shopping and head home. I have a ton of wrapping to do, it will happen tomorrow as I think my brain is tapped for tonight.
See, busy, but pretty boring. What had your week been like?