Springtime and looking for a job

Well, it's spring in Southern Ontario and the evidence is all around. There's a huge magnolia tree in my backyard - I've been watching it slowly come to life during the amazing sunny days we've been having for the past month. This picture is from last April, which was apparently also sunny! I don't remember it being this warm; but then I also didn't have a baby and the overwhelming desire to get out walking to try to keep off the weight I lost after he was born!

I'm also unemployed at the moment - I was laid off in December when my mat leave started. Because of the severance payment, I have not received my first EI payment yet. I've started to look for a new job - I wish I didn't have to go back to work so soon; but I don't have a choice! I've posted my resume and have been applying for jobs; but I haven't heard anything back yet. Part of the reason is probably that my resume wasn't what it should have been...with a few more upgrades that I'll do tomorrow while my son is napping, it should be ready to wow potential employers. I am looking for something in administration management, so I'm not expecting that to just fall in my lap. I know it will take some time; but the financial pressure is building and I'm spending a lot of time trying not to feel desperate so that I can enjoy my son during the (hopefully) little time we have left together before I go back to work.

I'm looking forward to being back in the working world...I spent the past almost 6 years managing a warehouse; and I'm ready for something with more responsibility, accountability and a higher profile in the organization. I worked in the considerable shadow of a difficult manager for 8 years, so along with the stress of finding a new job comes the relief that I will now have opportunities to shine in my professional life that I haven't enjoyed for years. I'm looking forward to the work experience, even though I know it will be a challenge to organize our life so that we still have time to spend as a family (and sometimes by ourselves). I know I can do it; but the prospect of something new and challenging can be daunting.

I know a lot of women who are stay at home moms and I wish that I could be one of them. Who knows: maybe I can bring home enough money to allow my husband to stay home with our son. That would be lovely and it's definitely something we're considering if the opportunity arises. Maybe it won't with our first child; but who knows what the future holds for us.

Vancouver 2010 - My Top 10 Favourite Olympic Moments

Well, it's over...two weeks of turning the TV on at 9am for Olympic Morning with Jay and Bev, Jeff, Seamus and Melissa and leaving it on all day, through James and Lisa and Michael Landsberg on Olympic Daytime and Brian Williams on Olympic Primetime. It was quite a couple of weeks, full of emotional moments. Here is my own top 10 list of best Olympic moments (taking for granted that watching the coverage with my brand new son tops the list). Some of these involve the news people; but I figure that's okay, since they were the lens through which many people saw the Games:

10. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir singing the anthem, with real feeling, after winning their gold in Ice Dance.

9. Clara Hughes reacting before Kristina Groves when Kristina won the bronze medal. She's a true team player.

8. Jay Onrait. Dude is funny!! Oh, and seeing Bev Thompson, serious news lady, break down into giggles more than once during the show:)

7. Sven Kramer apologizing to the volunteer he assaulted after his crushing disqualification from the 10,000m race. He was understandably upset and reacted with anger; but when he calmed down, he manned up and apologized, both privately and publicly. Well done.

6. Sid the Kid, with a pass from Iginla, scoring Canada's winning goal. How many records did we break with that game/medal? I'm sure that one of the records will be "most records broken in a single game".

5. The Bilodeau family.

4. Most honest reactions to winning gold: Jon Montgomery and Jasey-Jay Anderson (who asked Lisa LaFlamme if we could all vote to extend the Games...I guess that's what happens when your event is on the second-last day!)

3. How emotional Lindsey Vonn got when she won gold - I was expecting aloof and superior so it was nice to get soft and cuddly from her.

2. That one of our gold medal winners was Mike from Canmore. If CBC'd been doing the coverage, I believe in my heart that this would have been mentioned.

1. Charles Hamelin and Marianne St-Gelais. They're just cute.

Honourable mention: the curling fans breaking out into the anthem, and Kevin and his team waiting for them to finish, during the gold medal match, before throwing the next rock.

Oh, and I love that we all know so much now about speed skating and skeleton, cross-country skiing and snowboard cross. I guess that means that the commentators were doing a good job!

Here's a list of unfortunate things about the Games (and the coverage), just so I don't seem like I'm ignoring the crappy stuff:

1. Michael Landsberg's unfortunate puffy suit jacket thing that he kept wearing on air. I liked his segments, especially when Kelly Vanderbeek and John Kucera were on; but that jacket was not fit for TV.

2. Apolo Ohno blaming his disqualification in the 500m on a Canadian judge. Not cool man. You pushed Tremblay away from you and you got caught. How many medals have you won because of other skaters breaking the rules? Don't be a bad sport - you're such a gifted athlete.

3. The rivalry between Julia Mancuso and Lindsey Vonn. You're on the same team - act like it. And if this trash talk and rivalry was something created for the media, that's even worse.

4. Brian Williams, who is a respected and experienced sportscaster, mispronouncing all kinds of names during his broadcasts. Doesn't he have an earpiece in with a producer on the other end telling him this stuff? And this was not just a French/English thing...he was butchering all kinds of names!

I'm sure that I'll post this and then think of all kinds of other moments that made me laugh or cry. These Olympic Games were spectacular and galvanizing for Canada. I wonder what observers from around the world thought?

Rest in peace, May Louisa Charles

Scott's grandmother passed away yesterday after a short illness. She was 91 years old. I'm glad that I got to know her; but it's sad that she never met her great grandchild. She saw pictures, though, including on the morning of her death. We'll miss her.

The easy silence

Callum's sleeping right now - he's done a lot of that in the last couple of days. I'm using my time wisely: blogging, laundry, filling out tax forms, eating breakfast. I was worried when my husband went back to work on Monday - it was so great having him home with me the week after Callum was born. He was a lifesaver more than once, helping with anything that needed doing and encouraging me to be easier on myself when things weren't going well. It's amazing to have that kind of support, so I was not looking forward to him not being here. But it's been okay, actually. Callum and I are still getting to know each other, so every day is new and brings new challenges and new joys. Take yesterday, for instance: Callum laughed in his sleep - it was a full chuckle with a huge goofy grin. Priceless, especially since my camera was in the kitchen at the time! I've since moved it back to the living room coffee table where it belongs, ready for the next smile. On my list of things I'm looking forward to as a mom, Callum's first real smile is at the top. His gassy smile is adorable, so seeing that directed specifically at us for the first time is going to be an awesome moment.

Callum Asher Scott Charles

A new phase of our lives started on January 15, with the birth of our first child! He's a beautiful boy, if we do say so ourselves. Although we'd been planning a home birth, we ended up opting for an elective c-section when we were told that his estimated weight was 12lbs 2oz. He was born at 10lbs 11oz; but our decision was validated when it took 3 people to pull him out. He would not have fit the natural way. We are so glad that he is healthy and have been spending as much time as possible getting to know him. It has been challenging at times (days 3 and 4 featured a very frequently crying Mommy and a Daddy who was doing his best to keep us both calm); but we worked as a team to resolve our feeding issues and have been doing much better since then. Callum is now back to his birth weight on day 10, which is great!

I have to say that I didn't think I would be an over-emotional rollercoaster rider when I had a baby - just goes to show how little we can know about ourselves before these huge things happen in our lives. I thought I knew a lot about babies, since I have lots of nieces and nephews and lots of friends with kids; but all of that knowledge did not fully prepare me for being a mother myself. During this adjustment time, which will continue indefinitely, I've had great support from my husband Scott and from countless friends and family members who have shared their stories, cooked us dinner, knitted us hats (well, just for Callum actually) and just lent their support in so many ways. We are truly blessed to have such a solid circle of friends. They say that it takes a village to raise a child and I believe that to be true! I do not know what I would do without people there to talk to, people who will actually listen as I babble on about every little nuance of my experience as a mother! I'm sure that I'll ask their opinions as each new experience comes along; and they will continue to encourage me to trust my instincts and to focus on the joys of being a parent. This is the most challenging, amazing, emotionally important thing that I've ever done!

The hiatus has ended

Well, it's been a while. But I've been thinking for a while that I should get back into spilling my brain all over this little corner of the web. There are a lot of changes happening in my life over the next little while, so I figure I'll have a lot to say about it all. Stay tuned:)

Welcome to the world, Noah!

It's official: I'm an aunt again! My newest nephew, Noah Bernard John, was born on October 18 at 8:42 a.m. He weighed in at 7lbs 1oz. Mom, Dad, big brother Ethan, and Noah are all doing well and looking forward to going home today.

Noah is named after his dad's brother Bernie, who passed away 2 years ago, and his Dad's father John.

Welcome to the world, little one! I can't wait to get to know you!