Arbonne

My sister recently had an Arbonne party. This isn't the first Arbonne party I've been to. In fact, it's the second. This second one was about ... a lot better. I'm still skeptical.

The first time I bought Arbonne I bought the baby lotion - both my kids broke out in rashes. I didn't know how/what to do to return it. I suppose in hindsight I knew it could be returned but the consultant lived FAR away and I didn't think it would be worth the hassle. :/ Hence - it is best to support local and family when it comes to these things.

That being said, my cousin and my cousin's wife ... er ... the first cousin's sister-in-law both sell Arbonne also. So does my step-sister (ish) in-law. I feel like everyone is selling Arbonne.

Anyways - I hate pushy sales people.

Onward, so I understand believing in your product but I get really irritated when I say - my kids had a reaction and people are just bewildered about it. Obviously I must be lying. I'm not. They broke out in insane rashes. Perhaps they are allergic to the fruit inside I don't know. Whatever. I'm just stating my kids were allergic or didn't react well to the baby lotion. That is all.

I had also bought the cooling foot creme that I hardly use ... ever. But when I did use it ... it did work.

So this time I bought the shampoo/conditioner to try it on my gross, dandruffy hair. Head and Shoulders is only pissing me off. Trust me,  ya'll will know if it works because I'll be super excited that it worked!!

I am intrigued in the big RE9 set but I don't have 400$ nor the patience to wash my face that many times or do that many things to my face. Seriously, I only wash my face if I put makeup on or if I smeared food. Grossed out? Don't be, by washing your face you are stripping it of the many good things on your face. Or something much fancier. Ask the Arbonne consultant - although ... I don't think she'd suggest not washing your face.

Wait. I guess I kind of do rinse it in the shower ...

........ I should shave my legs .....

Preaching to me about how healthy Arbonne is doesn't work for one reason - everyone says it about everything - except perhaps aspartane ... and drugs ... but people on drugs think it's all fine. Although I am turned off my putting baby oil or mineral oil on anything because it's gross. It is. That is a fact. Fresh, clean ... that's nice. So we'll see what the shampoo does and I can't WAIT to try it.

I also sampled a chew that is supposed to kind of help cravings (okay seriously I would be the worst consultant in the universe for this stuff because I can't remember half the things she said) after chewing three seconds I didn't want it anymore. I was full lol. But ... it didn't really stop me from snacking ... I think the cheese dip was just that awesome!!!!! GO EPICURE DIP!!!

OMG I want more of that cheese dip. GAYLE you should bring it to Lynne's on Wednesday!!! Do it. Oh ... but it might not be good anymore. That makes me sad.

Sigh. What else.

I really dislike pushy consultants.

Gayle's consultant wasn't pushy by the way. Well ... no she wasn't. She even gave Amélie the polka dotted bag. and put up with TWO kids just yelling and spilling water all over the place. It was interesting lol.

I should do some work or something.

I don't really want to ...

What could I do?

I  hope my boss never, EVER finds my blog. I'm so serious lol.

If he's reading this. I just dated this to be posted while I'm at work to fool you. FYI. Just sayin'.

Teacher strike

As per the way it's supposed to be, I was the last to realize that the teacher's were on strike study day. So I was bewildered when my boss told me there was no school/students today (he told me this last night by calling my cell phone, which is weird because I have a home phone but maybe he doesn't know that, I will remind him tomorrow). Today when I got to work it was eerily quiet, like when I used to get to work before other people .... my boss gave me this little task, that I completed in like ... 20 minutes THREE HOURS ...... and then I did some other phone call work that took the rest of the day.

Crappy fact : I just realized that I missed a meeting I was supposed to have at 1:00 pm. Crap.

I could go on about how teachers should be paid more, but to me it's just a fact. They just should be paid more. If you don't think a teacher should be paid more ... teach your own kids .... for 30 minutes. Go on. Go ahead. You just said no problem. Let's see it. FAIL!

But this blog post isn't about teachers or their strike despite the title that I just now remembered I put up there. This is what happens when you try to blog and do other web surfing at the same time.

Interesting fact : I REALLY want a laptop and an ergonomic chair ... or better someone to clean my basement so I can stop using this exercise ball as a chair. Or if you want to go all out for my birthday (which is on Monday by the way) I'll take a house.

Random annoyed thought : I really don't like those 'post this as your status if ...' statuses. They really get under my skin. Not for a particular reason, but I'm sure by the end of this little thought I'll think of something. They really annoy me. My status ... is just my status ... we're all proud of the people we love (in general) and we've all lost someone to something (of some sort). That doesn't make me less of a person if I don't post something, you know?

I've forgotten the entire purpose of this blog post.

Well ... I had a good day today. I really enjoy talking with people who share some of the same 'ideas' or who can at least have a really good discussion about something. You know the people who can admit a good point when they see one and all that. I really have to learn to contain my excitement and wait my turn to talk. I'm SO horrible at interrupting ... I blame Corey. (shrug) He talks too much so I HAVE to interrupt him.

But seriously, what was this post about anyways? I'm not even going to reread it and correct it. You get what you get.

You're SO welcome.

Also, when you are having a down day you should go to Hyperbole and a half I just spent 10 minutes laughing my ass off and now I REALLY don't know what this post was about.

How I missed you dear Heroes

Finally!!! Netflix got Heroes working again so I can finish watching Season 4. I was literally freaking out. AND on top of that the Star Trek book I've been wanting to read since January 22nd came out for my KOBO (I already finished reading it) I was ultimately disappointed. :( Speaking of books, I'm SUPER pumped that the George RR Martin series - Game of Thrones is not only going to be a HBO series on TV! BUT he has a new book coming out!! .... in 2012. 8/.

Okay. Not the end of the world, and in fact positive thinking makes me happy for all those things to be happening/have happened.

AND I'm super happy that Scentsy is going so well. I just LOVE it. Alright, I also enjoy making spreadsheets, crunching numbers, color coding my agenda, putting sticky notes in my agenda and saying things like 'oh I'll just write it off', even though I have no idea if I will be able to write something off.

Work is going well, busy as always, going for my first massage on Monday, have two basket parties going out over Easter weekend ....

All this good stuff makes me super nervous. Why you ask? Because ... I don't know how to just be happy, really, truly happy about good things happening. I always expect 'the other shoe' to fall. Maybe my kids will get super sick, or an accident or ... other horrible things. Even though, those are things I can't actually control ... or predict ... it puts a dirty cloud over my sunshine.

It's so hard to cover all the corners, get all the bases ... or whatever that saying is.

Random note : I need to buy more ink.

I've also been majorly slacking in my 101 in 1001 days ... yeesh. Time to revisit that soon. Maybe do a start over, reorganize my goals.

Anyways, that's my blog post for the morning ... my bad ... afternoon.

Work

Back to work.

It wasn't that bad. Actually, my boss was very cool and easy going about my immediate need for extreme flexibility. In return I work very hard when I'm there and am getting a lot done.

And, of course, being my mother's daughter and not being able to only have one job, I saw an opportunity and jumped at it. I applied for a short term job with Census Canada. Going back part-time is cutting into my funds and I won't be able to collect EI so I needed to supplement.

So far, Will has been great. The first day was a little tough but I was only gone for about 6 hours total. Now I pump after lunch and have been getting less and less every time so my body is adjusting. Will still nurses in the morning and all night.

In other fun things, I've been doing great with Scentsy. I'm SO enjoying it!! So far a lot of basket parties, only one home party, but the basket parties are neat too :) They involve someone taking my supplies and visiting their friends. It is less work for me, but then I don't get to practice giving my little spiel haha. Alright, I'll admit, it's still fun!! I'm looking forward to doing more parties basket AND home parties that is.

What else is there to catch up on? I need to get my hair dyed again. Badly. Yuck. Haha. When people notice my grey hairs (and I'm only 28 yrs old) I think it's safe to say it's time to start dying my hair regularly Bahahaha!

Oh yes, and one more thing, we will be having a big Linfitt Birthday bash on May 7th. Since Will's 1st birthday is May 2nd, Amélie's birthday is May 5th and mine is May 9th (my official 28th birthday) and mother's day is in the middle, we will just have on party.
That's all for now!!

Back to work on Monday

I'm horribly nervous. I've had two AMAZINGLY understanding bosses and now I have a new boss and I'm walking into a major to-do list. Last I heard I didn't have an office. My last communication with my new boss had him wondering why I wasn't at work today, but I have the email that says that Monday is my first day so ... what the hell ...

Also, we talked in January that I wanted a flexible schedule and right off the bat, I want a REALLY flexible schedule. Like working 4 hours, then 4.5, then 5 ... (I work 22.5 hours a week and my job requires it to be pretty flexible on the days that I'm actually needed/have work to do) I'm really hoping he's okay with that.

Normally, this would be like ... no big deal. At all. Why is it then?

I'm still breastfeeding my 11 month old little guy. I don't want to quit. He LOVES breastfeeding and it's saving us money. Being gone for 7.5 hours right off the start will do two things to me : MAJOR engorgement and probably major stress. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't go well so I'm hoping my boss will be open to some flexibility while we all adjust.

Will isn't sleeping his nights and I'm not making him. I don't mind, but it does make me need a teeny bit later of a start in the day.

To be honest, I really can't think of a reason why I can't have the flexible schedule I will be asking for. But we will see come Monday. Until then I just need to chill.

Anyways, I can't believe how fast they grow up.

Sidenote : Corey is going to have the RUN of his life chasing our toddler and almost 3 year old. ESPECIALLY since he got a fish tank and was ALWAYS critiquing my house cleaning abilities. HAHA. Okay but really he'll probably have the house ridiculously clean and the kids will be just playing quietly while he has supper or something going. Whatever. Beginner's luck.

Indecision, Return to work, Online shopping and bargains

Indecision. I can not make my mind up about anything. Seriously. Between what to make for supper to what to buy at the store, to what shirt to get from Gap Canada during their stock up sale. (I did manage to decide : I finally got myself a new 'Grandma' sweater. Pretty excited for such a good deal! Plus I needed one, mine has too many holes in it.)

I will be going back to work next month (booo), but only part-time ... I would love to 'top up' my hours somewhere but I'll have to keep my eyes open for a job as flexible as the one I'm returning too. One lame thing about living out of town is that it's harder to find a good paying job that you can work a few hours at a time. As it stands, it sort of has to be worth my gas to drive 30-40 minutes into town (and then back again) Know what I mean? Also, if I lived in town, it would be easier for me to babysit, so I could do that.

Lately, I've also discovered some online shops : Babysteals.com, Kidsteals.com, Babyheist.com and some other ones but since I didn't order from them I won't mention them. Come to think of it, I  haven't ordered from Babyheist but mostly because I haven't seen anything I can justify yet. I will order though because they are Canadian and it means I won't have to wait long to get whatever I order. :) Also, ebay is bringing me babylegs leg warmers! (yay)

I also browsed a Please Mum website and got a FANTASTIC deal, then I went back to see what was new and discovered 'Greenbacks' so I went through Amélie's clothes, even her baby clothes and took out things that I was okay with parting with (not so many lol) and that were in great condition. I earned 71$! worth of store credit. I will be going back because I only used 25$ (came home with around 90$retail worth of clothes). Since you can only use the greenbacks for 50% of your purchase ... I paid 27$ for my stuff. Rubber boots, fairy wings/tiara/wand, 2 shirts and a pair of pants. Amelie picked it all out herself. :)

Also, I stumbled on Old Navy Canada and they had a deal/blow out but ... I couldn't really justify buying Amelie more clothes since I still have the store credit at Please Mum, so I bought myself a new sweater and a shirt, and bought Will some pants and Amelie some sandals.

And yet, I'm still on the search for a diaper bag ... but I've been looking on ebags.com because they show you the inside of bags so it's making it easier to narrow down some brands :)

Also ... we bought a PS3. WE went to Walmart and hemmed and scratched our heads but ... they didn't have the 299$ one in stock and the 399$ came with the move bundle and TONS of space, more than what we wanted ... THEN Corey wanted to go to Future shop and we came out with a PS3 with 320GB, 3 games, 1 movie, all the cords (of course) and one remote ... for ... 343$ WHAT?! I know. THEN I went to amazon for funs ... and found BOTH Corey's games on sale. FML. Spoiled. He rewarded me by fixing the furnace AND the Septic pump. We are both happy. Also we got Netflix. I love it so far. :)

My SIL had a Tupperware party and I bought some sippy cups/lids because I'm SICK of cleaning the shitty Walmart ones. BOO TO THEM. Then there's an Epicure party tomorrow (just stocking up on Corey's dip) then my Scentsy Party on Saturday! 

I can't wait!

Maternity Leave

I still have 3 months (approx) of maternity leave left and I'm really bummed. Only 3 months? I am majorly pouting about it. Boooooo. But I simply can not stay home. Financially it makes no sense.

I was doing a bit of research though and realized that there was no one hired for my teacher's aid position. Since BOTH my positions at the school depend on student enrollment I'm a little worried. Going back for only 22.5 hours a week isn't going to pay for a sitter and bills.

Also, I'm really bummed because it means my great breastfeeding relationship will be coming to an end. I'm a shitty pumper and I guess I'll always have morning and night time feeds but still .... (lip quiver). 

I don't even have a sitter lined up. Or a breast pump.

I need a plan. Or I need to win the lottery.  Or somebody I know needs to win the lottery.

Fine. Plan it is. I sent an email to my new boss to ask about my jobs so we'll go from there. In the meantime = POUT.