Apparently A Little Education On Canada Is Required...

Alright. For the sake of those who have never ventured to the Great White North before, I've decided some clarification about how we do things up here is necessary. There needs to be more of a mutual understanding of one another.

- Travel via dogsled...  While I'm sure there's somewhere you can do it in this vast country, it's definitely not the main source of transportation. Can you imagine how much dog poo would be around?? YUCK!!!

- The Queen isn't in charge of the country. Come to think of it... Is she even in charge of her OWN country??? haha.. I have no idea. All I know is that we have our own government. We have a Prime Minister who's in charge, not a President, even though it's basically the same thing... just a different term.

- While there are some different stores up here, we can't escape the world domination of Walmart. However, our Walmarts are not all open 24/7 and aren't even all Super Centers.

- We get the same movies in theaters that America gets. Thank goodness too, because we get some channels on cable TV from the States which means that they show American commercials. So if I was seeing movie trailers for movies I couldn't see.. I'd be upset...

- It does make me upset however, to watch the American commercials for food establishments just because it makes me jealous. For the most part Canada has the same restaurants, but there are some places there that we just don't have up here. Sonic is the first one that comes to mind. No happy hour for me... It also upsets me to see how cheap food is in America. The whole $5 footlong thing at Subway doesn't exist in Canada. Sigh... So I have to be extra careful when I see a commercial for a sweet deal at some food place to make sure it's a Canadian commercial.

- Snow does not magically appear once you cross the border. No, Canada is not one big white landmass.

- One thing that is true about Canada though is our love of Hockey. Everyone has their team and as we Edmontonians prove, even two years straight of our team, the Edmonton Oilers, ending up placing dead last in the NHL won't deter us from cheering for them... EVER.

- Not all Canadians use the term "eh" in a over repetitive and obnoxious way. Most of us don't even have discernable accents.

- Canada does have two official languages, English and French. Quite frankly though, I think that's dumb. The only people in Canada that speak French all the time are in Quebec, which in comparison to the rest of the country is small. But because of this singular part of Canada we ALL have to deal with French being on every single product label as well as all the signs in our National Parks. The National Park employees have to be bilingual too. Also, almost all French Canadians know English anyways, reaffirming my previous statement of the two official languages thing being dumb.

- Not all of our Police dress up like Mounties. Mounties are comparable to State Troopers and Sheriffs. Each city has their own Police force which is unassociated with the Mounties, and they don't have to dress up in the silly hats and puffy, red pants. Also, not all Mounties ride horses. They have cars too.

- Summer actually DOES exist in Canada. It's not very long, but it does get hot!

- We don't live in Igloos. I'm sure there are some people that build them WAAAAAAY up North to preserve their heritage but not to LIVE in. Canada as a whole is way beyond that. Our buildings are just the same as anywhere else in the continent.

 - There are slight differences in some word pronunciations... But it's kinda hard to write out how they sound different. Ask my husband, and he'll tell you. haha. There are a few different terms we use though. For instance, you say garbage disposal, we say garberator. Don't ask. That's just how things are up here.

- We don't hate America. I promise. We just like being Canadian.

I think that's a good start. If you have any other questions about life in Canada, ask me. I like proving that we Canadians are well integrated into modern society. haha... :)

The Great Bedroom Cleaning of 2011

I've kinda been living in a mess of a bedroom pretty much ever since I moved back home after Ray had to go back to Colorado. First I was too sick to go through all the boxes, but then as I started getting better-ish, mom was on my case to clean up and organize things to make moving to the States that much easier when the time comes. In theory, that's a great idea... But in practice, it sucks. Alas, I finally got around to it today. It was a huge deep clean and I'm quite proud of myself for it. I should get a #1 Wife sticker or something...

Here's the before...

And the after...

It's so much less disastrous! And I also realized that there actually isn't that much left over stuff that I'll need to bring with me when the big move to the States finally happens. That's a relief.

Now the trick is keeping it that way... Maybe this will help motivate me...

In other news... The lack of Diclectin has turned out to be an utter failure. As the day progressed, I started feeling worse and worse, so I gave in and took the remaining pills and called to get my prescription refilled... Sigh...

Wish Me Luck...

For basically the entirety of my pregnancy, I have been heavily dependant on medication to help with nausea. Diclectin has become my best friend. An expensive best friend, but still, it's always been there for me. I have one more refill left before my prescription runs out, but I've decided to stop taking it and see how I do. That way, if things don't go as well as I hope, there's still a prescription there to save me.

Yesterday was the first day of no meds, and I did pretty good I think. Today's the real test though. Last time I tried to stop taking my drugs, by the second day it just ended up teaching me why I was on them in the first place.

Needless to say... I'm a tad apprehensive today...

There Really ARE Things Worth Blogging About!!

I'm 23 weeks pregnant now. This is what it looks like.

It's strange to realize that I actually LOOK pregnant now. Like... It's totally apparent, and I guess I forget that sometimes. That's not to say my body doesn't remind me on a CONSTANT basis that it's not in it's normal condition... ie. Suddenly having back pain all the time?? I feel like I'm 80 sometimes. Also, having an increasingly more difficult time getting up from the couch. Also, not being able to bend over to pick things up off the ground. Also, having to hold on to something to help me pull myself up when I have to squat for what ever reason... Being pregnant is... Something else... that's for sure. I have a brand new appreciation for all mothers.

Speaking of Mothers... SUNDAY IS GONNA BE MY FIRST MOTHER'S DAY AS A MOM!!!!! Well... Kind of a mom... Almost a mom. haha.

As if that's not significant enough, Sunday is also Ray's and my FIRST ANNIVERSARY!!!!! We've almost been married a whole year! That's nutso! And also terribly exciting.

Even more terribly exciting is that I get to go visit Ray in Colorado in TWO WEEKS! I get to stay for a WHOLE month! Thankfully I'm not driving. haha.


View Larger Map

This month is just looking to be the best ever. May seems to agree with me quite nicely.

Breaking The Monotony

So this whole being pregnant and not working thing has gotten kind of old.. haha. Mostly just because I'm not so sick anymore so I'm not spending every single day on the couch waiting for the next time I'll throw up. Now I actually get to DO stuff!! ... But that's the thing... What stuff?!?!?! haha. I'm suffering from a severe case of monotony, and I'm trying to figure out what I can do to fix it.

I conducted a poll on Facebook and got a bunch of suggestions. Mostly crafty things... But I'm not a crafty person, and as much as I appreciate the ideas to create mosaics, or take up scrapbooking, or paint, or do fruit carving (haha I heart Randi), that's just not something I'd be good at, nor do I have the patience to try to acquire the talent. That left me with the suggestions of puzzles, coloring (as in coloring books of awesomeness) and gardening. Sorry Sarah, but gardening is just not gonna happen. Gardening appeals to me even less than crafty things. haha... Puzzles are a possibility, and I've always loved coloring, so maybe I'll be investing in a couple coloring books for myself in the near future. Don't judge me.

Then it dawned on me. Duh. Just keep track of the random things I see that make me happy every day. Someone had suggested blogging to me, but I immediately dismissed that idea with the thought that I need to actually be doing things worth blogging about. My epiphany was this. It's true that there are few exciting events happening in my life these days, but there are definitely things I stumble upon that stir up my thoughts each day. Why not document those things. My posts don't always need to be about some incredibly exciting event in my life that takes two hours to write out, resulting in a ridiculously lengthy blog post that in all reality few people would ever even bother finishing to read. I credit this epiphany to my friend for unknowingly reminding me that blogging can keep me occupied as well as fulfil some sense of accomplishment. I've also started following a couple other semi-popular blogs that have new posts daily. None of them are terribly significant or recount life altering events, but they're interesting and short, which I've come to realize I actually appreciate and kinda wanna try to emulate.

In saying this, I realize this whole explanation in itself is kind of a lot long winded... Give me a break though. I'm just starting and I still need to learn. My talent for long windedness dates way back. In junior high and high school, I always had a hard time keeping my essays under the required number of words because I felt compelled to explain every little detail... in detail... because if I didn't I'd feel like I didn't get the message across clearly enough. Obviously this is still an issue for me and I need to overcome it...

Challenge accepted. Let the random thought documenting begin!

Half Way There!!!

It seems like an appropriate thing to celebrate, don't you think??? I made it half way through my pregnancy!!!!! WOOT!!! My celebration was intensified by my newly restored ability to eat! REAL FOOD!!!! A WHOLE ACTUAL MEAL!!!! YAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!! I'm finally becoming normal again!!!!!

My Inseparable Connection With Seniors

Things thankfully have calmed down since I last posted. I came up with my own solutions to cut down on the drama, and I am beyond grateful it worked. Now I'm just trying to focus on things that make me happy and trying to stay active so that I at least have some strength. But I've noticed that the more I try to do things, the more I realize that I'm not necessarily as capable as I used to be, which is to be expected. What I didn't expect was that my limitations would place me in the same categories as old ladies. Case in point. I went "running" a few weeks ago. By running I mean I went to a track and walked around it a bunch of times. I felt silly though because I was getting passed by all these people who are my age, and they're huffing and puffing, while I'm leisurely strolling along. It wasn't until an old lady with the typical old lady white-haired perm started walking around the track too that I felt semi-okay with my own performance. I didn't feel as ridiculous being the only one walking, but I still kinda felt silly for doing the same thing as the lady. At that point, I didn't even look prego. I'm sure had I been showing more then, I wouldn't have felt as silly because then the reason for my walking would have been more obvious. I'm showing now though, so when I go back to do it again, I'll prolly have more confidence with the whole ordeal. haha.

Other things that I've noticed which show how I'm inseparably connected with seniors is parking lots. There's the Handicapped parking stalls, the Senior parking stalls and there's Expectant Mothers parking stalls. I still haven't used one. I haven't felt the need to yet, but I'm sure it'll happen soon.

I've also found myself going to malls during the middle of the day just to go for a walk. There's a significant influx of seniors in malls during the day, and they seem to all disappear in the late afternoon and evening. I'm following the same trend... avoiding large crowds and noisy places.

Also, I've recently discovered the art of aquajogging! It's exactly what it sounds like it is. It requires a floaty belt, so you just go in the water and start... well... jogging! haha. The floaty belt keeps your head above water, so you just have to figure out how to move forward. Going with a friend makes it even better because then you can just do it side by side and have a conversation while you're doing your thing.  Aquajogging is mostly geared towards old people because it's a completely non-impact workout and doesn't strain your body or make you move in ways you don't normally move. For me, it's perfect, because I can't really swim laps anymore because my body won't let me. I also LOVE being in water, so this helps me to be able to do more than just sit in the kiddie pool and watch other people do their thing. I've also decided that I need to take my Grandma Olive aquajogging. She has terrible rheumatoid arthritis, and complains about how her feet hurt all the time because of these nodules that have formed on the bottoms of her feet so she always feels like she's walking on big ol' pebbles. In her prime, she used to spend all day at malls in high heels, and her job was working in the Operating Room as an assistant, so her life has been on her feet. Not being able to do that anymore is hard for her to take. My thought with the aquajogging thing is that she'd totally be able to do that for way longer than she could ever walk, and it would help her feel more fulfilled. My task lately has been trying to find a pool that's easily accessible for her. I may have done so, and I'm excited to bring her with me one day soon.

I can't really say I'm embarrassed by all this though. I've loved seniors ever since my mission. My last job was working at a Denture Clinic, so clearly old people were a part of my daily life until just a few months ago. It's only appropriate that my lifestyle now is basically the same as them.

Being well enough to leave the house now is such a ridiculously amazing thing. I've seriously taken my past freedom and mobility for granted. I still have to try to remember that I'm not as agile as I used to be though. I've found that I get really lightheaded sometimes and it puts me at the brink of fainting, so I have to be super careful when I'm out walking around. Just today, I was getting some food and waiting in line to pay, but things started getting fuzzy and I knew that I'd conk out on the ground if I didn't sit down ASAP. So I left my tray of food that I still had to pay for there in the line, and I went to a table and sat down and put my head on the table. It was a close call, and I definitely got some weird looks, but the cashier asked me if I was pregnant when I came back, and she was really nice and understanding. haha. I'm scared that one day I'll have the same experience as my mom did. When she was pregnant with my big brother, she was standing in line at a bank and she fainted, landing on the dividing ropes and taking them down with her. She woke up to a whole bunch of strangers hovering over her... haha... It's definitely an experience I have no desire to recreate. Here's hoping.

The adventures of pregnancy have definitely started now that I'm not bedridden. All of this stuff makes me marvel that the human race has even made it this far. haha...