dear sloane 07.09.09

dear sloane:

today i thought i lost you! we're staying in auntie em's while we get our hardwood floors redone on a futon in the basement. i was in the bathroom putting on my make-up before work while you were in bed with dad and when i was done, you were GONE! i frantically searched the basement with no luck, then ran up the stairs to find you at the front door playing with my keys. you scared the sh*t out of me! normally you wake up slowly.....we cuddle for a bit, and when you're fully awake you explore. apparently not any more!

please don't do this again.

love,
mom

Back to Work!!

so, i have officially been off work for 14 months, and i go back to work in one month! the year has flown by, and it seems like just the other day i was pregnant and counting down til my last day at work. sloane is 11 months now, and i'm starting to plan her first birthday party which is bittersweet because it coincides with me returning to work and leaving my baby for 6 hours everday:( i never imagined i could be so attached to someone! we do EVERYTHING together. somethings i don't love, like being in the bathroom with her....if i'm on the toilet, she's trying to flush it, if i'm putting on make-up or brushing my teeth, she's unravelling the toilet paper. the other day i let her unravel a whole roll just so i could put on my make-up. there are many things i DO love though....cuddling on the couch, going for walks, reading stories, rocking in our rocking chair *depending on the time of day*, and watching her as she explores our house. the last one just makes me smile. those door stopper springs.....she loves! she also loves tupperware, electrical cords and outlets, magazines, laundry.....all these boring, mundane things are interesting to her! she loves the cordless phone, but i had to take it away after the police showed up at my door saying they received a call from my house! i was making dinner and gave her the phone to keep her busy, thinking what are the odds she could call 911. pretty good apparently. i answered the door thinking it was my dinner guests and was quite surprised to find 2 police officers. good times. so many memories. i have enjoyed this year more than i could have ever imagined. i am thankful however that my mom will be watching her while i'm at work. it will be a rough transition, but we'll make it through it....my cubicle will be plastered with photos of my baby girl....and i will hurry home from work everyday to see my family:)

a cold mom

so i guess the wet cold in germany was not so bad! minus 45 is a little rough. i planned on moving somewhere warmer after i graduated...not sure what happened! sloane was not impressed when i took her out on one the first really cold days. poor girl has no idea about the climate she lives in. heated seats and command start certainly make things easier though. the command start has failed me the past 3 mornings, but it works after my first outing.

i can't believe x-mas is a week away. so far the season has been a blur of gingerbread, icing, snow, friends and family. i have 60 x-mas cards to mail out, which i was looking forward to attaching my ms word/avery labels to, but due to technical difficulties, i will be writing out everyone's address by hand! computers blow sometimes. i typed out those addresses with one finger right after sloane was born. it took FOREVER. whatever.

my starbucks is wearing off and i am tired. those tallnonfatpeppermintmochas having been a lifesaver! how else could i survive on a few hours sleep a night? starbucks and make-up. no mac make-up anymore, the drugstore kind. but it does the job! my girfriend said i look great! that's awesome b/c i feel exhausted. i can see sloanes teeth, but they have a ways to go before they cut. i just hope my sleep sich changes soon. i remember sleeping 8 hours a night in the summer...sigh.

home sweet home

after a ten hour flight from munich and a two hour flight from toronto, julian, sloane and i arrived home. i was so excited the night before we left to finally come home. i do love travelling, but i miss all my friends and family after a week or so. we came home to minus 20 weather, and fresh snow! i don't know if you have to be from winnipeg to appreciate the weather, but it put a smile on my face when i got outside. germany and england were both around zero degrees and wet for the most part. i now understand wet cold. i was freezing over there. i never understood why people would always add "it's a dry cold" when talking about winnipeg winters, and now i do! being wet AND cold is awful! i should know this from taking my heat transfer course in university. wet cold is sort of like wind chill. it feels colder than it actually is. i definitely prefer the minus 20 temps in wpg to the wet cold in europe.

it feels great to be home. i missed cooking, doing laundry, tv in english, sloane's exersaucer, eating when i want, my phone, my computer, friends, family.....the list goes on. it is december, and christmas madness has begun! i will make my to do list today.

munich

still in munich. we leave tomorrow. my first day, s and i went for a walk through a huge park and did some looking around through the shops. munich is much newer than aachen. aachen dated back to the 7th century, where as munich has been completely reconstructed post WWII. munich is very easy to get around with the tram. yesterday j had the day off, so we wondered the streets....unfortunately in the rain. we ducked into a restaurant to dry off, and had some awesome vegetarian food. it was a nice switch from the sausage i've been eating EVERY day. today we are going to walk through the park and do some shopping.

gotta run though...paying by the minute, will upload pics when i get back to wpg.

munich

i made it to munich after a drive and a long train ride. we got in, very tired @ 8 pm last night. train ride was beautiful. i really need to figure out how to pack less!! going for a walk today while j is at work. i really wish i hadn't forgotten my lonely planet! gotta go, internet is over $1 per minute and i'm typing with one hand b/c s is on my lap.

shopping II

i was much more aggressive today on my shopping trip. i even ran over a few toes! the secret is if you don't acknowledge that it happened, it didn't happen. it totally worked. people step on you or whack you with their umbrella and carry on like nothing happened. now, i am doing the same. i need to be sure to go back to my more curtious ways when i get back home to the peg.