7 (Relatively) Quick Takes – About Moving, Napping, Food, Kijiji and Boots

--1--

The Brason’s are moving!

After a winter of spending close to $700.00 a month on ONLY heating (oil is soooo expensive, never EVER move into a house heated on oil), Dane and I have decided that it’s time to find a new place before the baby comes.  We spent a week looking at places for rent near where we live, but none of them would be practical for a little crawler. So after some discussions and some tears, we’ve decided to move back to the east end of town to be close to our parents.  Since Dane is now working with my dad and I’m about to go on maternity leave for a year, we no longer needed to be situated in the west end. We signed the rental agreement last week and we will be moving into a cute little 3 bedroom townhouse at the end of April.

I’m excited to be moving into a house that functions better for us (not to mention having an en-suite and walk-in closet) but I’m not looking forward to moving while pregnant.  My belly gets in the way of everything AND I’m not allowed to lift anything so I’m really hoping to get lots of help with the packing (*cough cough* sisters).  I know I will also miss our 1 acre lot, having no traffic, the country roads and the people at our parish, but I know this decision is for the best.  

--2--

 

Napping at Work

I wish they had a nap room at work.  Working full time and being pregnant is taking A LOT out of me. I would nap during my lunch break but there are not private spots for me to sleep and it’s freezing outside so I can’t go sleep in my car.

Most of the people I work with have never been pregnant before (because they are men), so I get very little sympathy for my condition AND I’m pretty sure if they caught me sleeping at my desk I would get fired.  To make matters worse, my tiny bundle of joy has decided that she likes to practice her karate moves in the middle of the night which is keeping me up. Between the kicks, getting up to take half a bottle of tums, and going to pee 8 times a night, let’s just say I’m not getting the beauty sleep I need.  I hope I find a solution to this soon because I’m about to turn into a zombie.

--3--

Salmon Cakes

Now that I’m no longer repulsed by food ( thank you second trimester) I’ve been trying lots of new recipes in the hopes of adding some variety to our boring old menu list. I think I’ve been doing a great job (though I could be biased because I want to eat EVERYTHING lately), but the recipe I’m proudest of are my salmon cakes. Dane HATES fish and so I feel bad every time I cook it because he eats it like I’m serving him a plate of worms. However, the salmon cakes I made on Tuesday night were a HUGE hit. My husband actually said “MMMM” and he ate one of my portions.  Essentially you mix crackers, 2 cans of canned salmon (bones and all) egg and onions together. Press them into patties, coat them with flour and fry them in a pan for about 10 minutes. I served mine with garlic aioli which seemed to give them the extra flavor they need.

 

--4--

 

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner

It’s Shrove Tuesday next week and that means that Catholics/Christians everywhere will be going to their parish hall and stuffing themselves silly with pancakes, sausages and syrup.  I had NEVER heard of this tradition until I started dating Dane and I thought it was so weird.  Maybe it’s because I’m French Canadian and this is just not something that we do, or it could be because I never really paid attention to the church events around me.  However, I decided to look into it and the reasoning behind the tradition makes total sense. Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday which means the beginning of Lent, a time of penance and fasting.   Apparently, everyone wanted to get rid of their rich foods (cream, milk, sugar, etc…) before Lent started and so, the Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper began. If you ask me though, I would have a Shrove Tuesday Steak and Shrimp dinner because that seems a lot more indulgent then pancakes, but I guess our ancestors didn’t have access to those foods.

--5--

Lent “Resolutions” ???

Speaking of Lent, I’ve been putting some thought into what to give up. Since I can’t fast from food I also have to think of what I should fast from on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. So far the only thing I’ve come up with is Facebook/ Twitter. I’ve also thought of fasting from smoking, drinking and casual drug taking, but I don’t do those things anyways so I don’t think it would count.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know or else it’s looking like I’m going to be MIA from social media websites (and every friend I have on Facebook is now cheering).

--6--

A Day in the Life of Boots

Boots, our cat, has gotten very clingy lately. I mean she was always clingy but the past few weeks, she’s taken it to a whole other level.  I feel like I can’t do anything without her following me. I’m hoping that maybe moving into the new house will make her more independent.

Lately, this has been her everyday routine. In the morning she wakes up at the same time as Dane and follows him around the house until he leaves. AS SOON, as I hear the door close, she is in bed with me either sleeping in Dane’s spot or on me. Then she whines when my alarm clock goes off (and doesn’t let me snooze), until I get up and go to the bathroom. I have to leave the door open when I shower, and she sits on the bath mat waiting for me. When I get out of the shower, she runs to the bedroom and watches while I do my hair, get dressed, etc… The only time she leaves me alone is when I’m blow drying my hair, because she hates loud noises. During that time she runs around the house like a maniac and when I turn the blow dryer off she comes running in the room panting and out of breath. Then she cries when I leave for work and I can see her doing those sad eyes (like Puss In Boots from Shrek) from the window. When I get home she is waiting for me at the door and follows me so closely I almost trip on her. She watches me cook supper and whines for attention and then she goes to do cat stuff for about two hours (which includes sleeping, secretly playing with her toys and flirting with the cat that lives next door). When she reappears, she tries to sit on my belly as I’m watching television and then around 10 PM she goes to the bedroom and waits for us to turn on the humidifier. (She loves the humidifier and can stare at it for hours.  We still haven’t figured out why.)  Sometimes she will get into bed with us right away, other times; she will go play and comes back within an hour. She will then sleep in our bed until Dane gets up and repeat.

--7--

 

The Kijiji Challenge

Since we are moving soon, are poor and are in need of some new furniture, I’ve been looking to Kjiji in order to find some nice used pieces.  I’ll be honest, there is lots of junk on Kijiji, but if you are patient and scroll through 14 pages, you can sometimes get lucky. So far, I’ve been able to get a nice little 3 drawer dresser for the baby’s room and a cute white rocking chair that barely needs any work done to it. I spent $30 on each of the items, and I’m really happy with what I got. Next up on the Kijiji challenge, a television and a TV stand for Dane’s “caveman” as my dad would say (because he’s French and sometimes gets expressions confused).