The Best Thing Ever!

For those of you who know me well, you will remember that I am a 'germaphobe'. I am a bit uptight when it comes to things being clean and germ free (just ask my husband). :)

So, you will understand when I tell you that the thought of potty training Rebekah, and having to take her in a public washroom in the imminent future, was enough to make me lose sleep. I actually prolonged beginning potty training because of this fear. It totally grossed me out.

Well my friend, Audra, put my mind at ease when she told me of a portable potty seat that folds in four, fits in a large Ziploc bag, has handles for the child to hold onto, and fits over any public toilet seat (even the oval ones!). I promptly ordered one online from Leaps And Bounds. I tell you, I have been relaxed in public restrooms ever since!

I just had to share my 'find' with all of you other germaphobic mothers of little girls out there!

Can You Believe This?!

Warning: I am about to go on a rant! If you don't wish to hear my complaints, please DO NOT read any further!

I would have never guessed that moving to the USA could be as challenging as it has been...in a bureaucratic-red-tape-kind-of-way, that is.

I have posted before about the challenges....see this post about getting a SSN, if you need a refresher.

Once again, we are finding that unless you are 'on the records' in the USA, they don't want to know you!

When we first moved here, we bought a house and got approved for a mortgage because Kevin's employer has an arrangement with a mortgage company who gets all of their international relocation business. If it hadn't been for that arrangement, we would have been up a creek because we didn't have a US credit history.

Despite the fact that we own a home, have a mortgage, and have perfect credit, and numerous investments in TWO other countries, we could not qualify for credit cards in the USA. We are Canadians moving from Switzerland (banking capital of the universe...and one of the most secure banking countries in the world. Guess what? We had no trouble getting credit cards in Switzerland!)....it isn't like we moved here from Tibet!

The only way that the good old Bank of America was prepared to give us credit cards, was if they were secured credit cards. Meaning, I give them $300 of my hard earned money for them to hold, without earning any interest on it, and they will give me a credit card with a $300 limit. It's ludicrous. They didn't even bother to check what kind of assets we have, or what our credit ratings are in Canada or Switzerland, because quite frankly, they don't care.

So we lived on cash alone for the first 6 months that we were living here. Not necessarily a bad thing, but credit is a very important thing to have too. After 6 months of living in the USA, and paying the mortgage and utility bills on time every month, Kevin finally qualified for a credit card with a measly limit. In order for me to get a credit card though, we finally had to just get the secured card.

The credit card issue wasn't even the worst.

Kevin recently applied for a SAVINGS ACCOUNT with the Bank of America (you know, the kind of account where you put money IN and leave it there?!). Guess what the result was?

You guessed it............request DENIED!

Can you believe that?!

California - Part II

Day two of my trip started out by driving across the Golden Gate Bridge. So cool. As you can see from the pics, the weather was fabulous again.

This isn't my best photo ever....it looks like there is something weird going on with my neck. There must be a shadow or something because it looks like there are rolls there or something. Trust me, in real life, I don't have rolls on my neck! Anywho, it is the only pic of me and the Golden Gate, so it will have to do! :)

Kristal's photo turned out fabulous! (I think it has to do with the skills of the photographer. hehehe)

I picked up this handsome sailor at the Golden Gate Bridge.....

After our Golden Gate stop we went on to Muir Woods. It is a national park where you can go and walk amongst the Giant Redwood trees. It was stunning. I absolutely love this kind of thing. These trees are hundreds of years old. To think of the fires, storms and disease that they have survived is just amazing. I also purchased a Giant Sequoia seedling while I was there. They are guaranteed for life, and there was a photo album full of success stories and pictures that people who have purchased these trees in years past have sent from around the world.

Below: tree hugger........ (shhhhhhh, don't tell anyone I strayed off the path)

So tall......

Imagine that, a tree almost big enough to live it!

Maybe I was missing the hugs and kisses from my family, because I took the opportunity to cozy up to this bear too.......

One stray San Francisco picture from day one that I missed in my earlier post..........

After Muir Woods we were on to Napa Valley....the wine region (one of them, anyways) of California. In the valley, I bought some wine for Kevin here (and tasted some for me!). I also learned more than I ever wanted to know about olive oil too! It was at this establishment that I learned about, and purchased my olive oil!

V. Sattui Winery........

This day was also Kristal's birthday (32 years!). So we finished off the day with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Yuummmmmm!

What more could a girl ask for?!

Going Green(er) - Part II

Since I was away in sunny California (yes, I am gloating!), I have fallen down on my 'green tip of the day' posts. So, once again, here is a catch-up post.

- Replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescents. They last 10 times longer and save up to $30 per year in electricity.

- Don't litter! The reasons are numerous... Besides the obvious environmental reasons, litter also costs a lot of money to clean up. Alabama spends $5.3 million dollars a year on the effort!!

- Install a programmable thermostat. Warm your house to 68 degrees on winter days and 55 degrees at night or when you will be out. For every degree you lower the heat, you can save 3 percent in energy costs.

- Set up a program at the office to reuse perfectly good office supplies that are routinely tossed. An internal employee exchange at Eastern Illinois University reclaimed more than 9000 pounds of computer equipment and 25 000 pounds of coated paper office supplies, saving the university about $7000.

- Lose less energy through your stove top (gas or electric) by applying the simplest of expedients - a lid over a saucepan to contain heat and warm food faster.

- Your furnace will work most efficiently if you keep it clean. Change disposable filters monthly, and wash reusable filters with the same frequency. Also, vacuum the vents and registers to promote good airflow.

- Use the back of blank cash register receipts for note paper.

- Before replacing the toner in the office printer, remove and gently rock the toner cartridge when it runs low - you may get several more prints from it. Also, select 'draft' printouts under your computer's 'print' command when possible. These prints use less toner and extend cartridge life. Millions of cartridges are thrown away needlessly each year, so buy from a supplier who reuses and recycles them when their useful life is ended.

Feel free to share any 'green' tips that you use in your households too. I would love to hear them!

I'm Back!!

I am officially back from my five day hiatus as a wife, mother, housekeeper, chauffeur, cook, nurse, coupon clipper, boo-boo kisser, hug giver, dish washer, shopper, etc, etc, etc.

It was a welcomed break. And, I must say, that while I spent five days in California with my childhood friend, Kristal, Kevin did an amazing job on the home front. He even cooked, cleaned and did laundry too! :) Since he did so well, I am already planning my next getaway......

I took so many great pics on this trip, that I am going to have to break up this post. So today, you get to see "day one".

I arrived in San Francisco around noon, to a smiling face and a big hug from my old friend, Kristal ('old' as in going back a long time, not 'old' in a chronological way! We've actually known each other since kindergarten!). We spent the rest of the day sight-seeing in the big city.

Our first stop was Fisherman's Wharf. From this vantage point, we had a great view of the infamous Alcatraz.

We then walked over to Pier 39, where we had fun watching the smelly sea lions basking in the sun. :)

Next, we went on a mission to ride on one of the city's cable cars. The line was long, and not moving at all. The ride wasn't looking too promising, as we still had lots to see before dark. We saw a couple of empty cable cars sitting, with men from the Transit Authority working in the area, and we started to take some pics. One of the fellows called out to us that we couldn't take pics unless we were in them. He then came over and offered to take our photos on the cable car. It was great fun, and we got better pics than we would have been able to get while riding in the car.

The pic below is one of the two cable car 'turnarounds' in San Francisco (click the link to see a video). The cable cars are actually designed to go one way only. As a result, they must be manually turned using the turntables/turnarounds.

Above: one of the many streets with a 'crazy steep' hill! It is much steeper in person too.......hence, the need for the cable cars!

This is a pic of us traveling down Lombard Street, coined "San Francisco's Crookedest Street".

And, our last photos of the day (you can see it is getting dark!) are of the Painted Ladies....San Francisco's famous Victorian houses.

I think it is time to wind this up....it is getting rather lengthy! No worries, I didn't forget the Golden Gate Bridge. Those photos are in tomorrow's batch! :)

Hope to 'see' you then!

Going Green(er)

One of my goals for the New Year is to live a 'greener' life. I consider myself fairly environmentally aware already, but there is always more you can do once you educate yourself, right? So, it is with that thought in mind, that I am approaching life in 2008.

One of the things that will help my cause is a new page-a-day calendar. It is one of those calendars that you keep on your bedside table or desk, and each day you tear off a new page. The calendar that I chose for this year is about going green....a bit ironic, I know. But at least the pages are meant to be flipped over and used for note paper afterwards. :)

I plan to post some of the best tips on my blog each day, so all of you can benefit from the information too.

Since I am a bit behind (as usual), you will have a few tips to read today.

1) Maintain your appliances according to manufacturers' instructions. They'll last longer and may be more efficient. Keeping the coils on the back of your fridge clean can reduce the unit's electricity consumption 6 percent or more. Also, be sure to clean the lint filter on your dryer after every load.

2) Grow your own garden. "If we grew most of our food close to home, we'd use far less energy in the process, helping ward off climate change." - Bill McKibben

3) Print documents only when you really need a hard copy; keep a stack of scrap paper handy for use when printing drafts and personal documents.

4) Your community may be one of many that chips up Christmas trees for residents. Instead of contributing to the forest of dead trees left at curbside to be hauled off to the landfill, take your tree to a designated tree-recycling station-and carry home a bag of fragrant mulch.

5) Modern automobiles need only about 30 seconds of warm-up time to run properly in cold weather. Though it may be tempting to blast the heater before you get in, keep in mind that warming up the car on a cold morning gives you a mileage per gallon of zero.

6) Turn off the tap while you shave, brush your teeth or wash your hands. You can save 10 gallons or more each morning by doing so.

7) Install foam draft blockers behind electrical cover plates on outside walls and see lower energy bills.

8) Bring your own reusable basket or mesh bags to the supermarket instead of using paper or plastic. If you shop once per week, in five years you will have kept anywhere from 250 to 1000 grocery bags out of our landfills.

Another tidbit that I have learned recently is to unplug small appliances when they are not in use. Even if they are not turned on, but they remain plugged into the wall, they use what is called 'stand-by power'. This contributes to energy consumption and an increase in your bill!

Well, I'm signing off for now....gotta save some power. :)

Deals, Deals, Deals

At the risk of sounding like I am patting myself on the back, I have to tell you, I think I have gotten some of the best deals of the year in the past couple of weeks.

My streak of luck began with a trip to the Osh Kosh store at the outlet mall near our home. I found a snowsuit for Rebekah for next winter on a clearance rack. It was marked down by 70%, and it was one of only a few left. All of the suits left on the rack happened to be size 3...it was my lucky day! It was a two piece, with separate coat and snow pants, and it was pink. Perfect. The regular price on the set was $85...way too steep for me, but with the 70% discount and the coupon I had received by email, I paid a grand total of $21 and change. You can't beat that deal!

A few days later, I was in Michael's in order to pick up some scrapbooking adhesive. While there, I got sucked into looking at all of the reduced Christmas merchandise by Rebekah who spotted the Christmas lights and started yelling.

Now, I have a bit of a diversion to share. Kevin and I have had the same Christmas tree since the college days. It is older than our marriage, and we just celebrated our 10th anniversary this past summer. The tree has seen its better days. It is barely 5 feet tall with the star, and every year it looses more and more of its needles. It is a sad little tree. Its only saving grace is that we have great ornaments that mask the fact that it is indeed such a sad little tree. Every year we say how we should buy a new tree after the holidays when they are discounted, but we never do. We just always have so many other ways to spend that money.

Fast forward to when I was standing in Michael's. I saw a beautiful Christmas tree on display. It was a 7.5 foot Madison Fir, pre-lit with over 800 lights, and 3100 tips. It retailed for $349....yikes! But, it was on clearance for $99. I hemmed and I hawed and finally I grabbed the ticket off the tree and took it up to the cashier.

She called to the back to get a stock person to bring it up to the front for me. The problem arose that there were no trees left, other than the display model, for which they didn't have a box. Hmmmm..... I asked if there was another box it would fit in, or how would they package it for me, if I still wanted to buy it?

The cashier spoke into the phone again, and came back with the info that the display trees were 90% off..........90% off the clearance price! Yes, you calculated that correctly.....the tree was $9.90! I said I would take it....I would figure out a way to get it home for that price!

Two stock boys ended up helping me fit the tree into enormous, clear garbage bags, and they hauled it to my car for me. When I got home, I backed into the garage and managed to haul it into the basement by myself.

I told Kevin that I found the deal...so now it is his problem. :)

Mug Shot

The time has come to finally get a new passport for Rebekah. The photo on her current passport was taken when she was nine days old....I seriously don't even see the point. The photo looks nothing like her. It could be any little kid of the same approximate age.

I will never forget the day we had to get that photo taken. I have to warn you, I am about to go on a rant.

The Canadian passport system stinks. There are total inconsistencies to it. Whether or not your photo is accepted or rejected is completely subjective, and honestly, it often seems random to boot.

Kevin has actually had a photo of himself rejected when he mailed in an application because there was a supposed glare on his glasses. Neither of us could see the glare. On principal, he went into a passport office with the SAME photo, waited in the lengthy line, and the photo was accepted. Go figure.

Having said all of that, there is no slack cut for people who need photos of small children. The same strict guidelines apply. The subjects must be looking at the camera, neutral expression (not smiling or screaming), eyes open, mouth closed, and the ridiculous list goes on and on. Try getting a nine day old baby to meet that criteria!

We needed to get Bekah's passport, because we had to leave for Geneva in a matter of days. We had to pay the extra fee to have the application rushed because the moving date was approaching. The first photo we had taken was rejected because of "inconsistencies in the white background". The photographer had laid Rebekah on a white sheet (because she obviously couldn't sit up) and the wrinkles in the sheet were deemed unacceptable.

The second time around, we went to a photographer in the same building as the Canada Passport Office because they recommended him and we didn't have any more time to mess around and try and get the original photographer to retake the photo.

This photographer wanted us to hold the baby in an upright position, while supporting her head sufficiently, without allowing our hands or fingers to show on the head or neck at all. Good luck. First of all, she wouldn't even open her eyes. It was February, and we stripped her down to her diaper and paraded her in front of an open door in an attempt to wake her up. It was such an injustice! Then, once she opened her eyes, I couldn't support her sufficiently without my hand showing. Finally, Kevin was the one who was able to hold her for the magic photo.

Months and months later, we saw the photo of another Canadian baby's passport. It was taken when the child was about the same age as Rebekah had been, and I kid you not, when I tell you that you could very nearly see the father's whole hand supporting the baby's head in the photo. I wanted to scream.

Anyway, the process was a whole lot simpler this time around. This is the result.......

I guess I shouldn't say it was a simpler process until I find out if the photo is accepted or rejected.....

Go Pats Go!

First things first....I have to admit that I am not a football fan. That is sacrilege when you live in the USA, it seems! It is even more of an infraction when you live in the general vicinity of Gillette Stadium, where the New England Patriots play!

Back before football season was in full swing, Kevin came home from work and told me that he had received two tickets to go to a pre-season New England Patriots game....it was in the Gillette box at Gillette Stadium. My reaction was...."Oh, are you going to take Noah?" He promptly informed me that you have to be 21 years of age to be in the box (which means I was just old enough to attend.....hehe) and so it was clear to me that I was expected to go. I wasn't thrilled.

I honestly had no idea how big of a deal it was. I also must admit that once we got there, I did enjoy myself. The food that was served in the box was amazing....some of the biggest shrimp I have ever seen! We even got a VIP tour which took us down to the side of the field while the Pats warmed up for the game. I used my cell phone to take some pics. :)

A perfect demonstration of how die hard some of the fans are.....

This super duper large inflatable is named Pat....Pat the Patriot. He is inflated by our neighbours in the big, beautiful, green house with the expansive property every single time the Patriots play a game. He is then deflated and put away until the next game (at least they don't leave him up for the whole 16 week season!) Pat even has his own light so he can be seen clearly at night. :)

Rebekah loves seeing Pat, and affectionately calls him "the football giant". For the longest time she called him the "baseball giant" but we finally got that straightened around. She gets upset every time he is deflated, and excited every time he makes his reappearance.

I don't know what we are going to tell her when football season is done......

Skater Boy

The kids started their new sessions of extra curricular activities last week. Noah is enrolled in swimming and a learn to skate program. Bekah is taking mommy and me swimming and dance classes at the YMCA. Things are really getting busy now!

I was a bit concerned about how the learn to skate program was going to go. Soccer wasn't so much of a hit in the fall, but Kevin and I have decided that we need to expose Noah to as many things as possible until he finds his 'thing'. You have to provide them with opportunities to try new things and succeed, right?!

So, off to skating we went! Noah had been on skates about 3 or 4 times before...and always with Kevin. These lessons are 50 minutes long! The first 20 minutes is instructional, and the last 1/2 hour is free skate. I had no idea how independent these kids were going to have to be! There were only 2 teachers for about 10 kids, so needless to say, they weren't hanging onto anything or anyone most of the time! They just had to figure it out.

One of several falls.......

Picking himself back up again.........

Success!!!

Noah surprised me...he lasted the whole 50 minutes and then asked if he could stay longer. Each day since, he has asked if he can go skating again.

It is interesting, but I think if one of us had been on the ice with him, this would have turned out totally differently. After the first couple of falls, I am sure he would have told us that he wanted to leave and it would have turned into a big meltdown when we refused. But, because we weren't there, he was forced to figure things out and keep going. There was no one else there to lend a hand, so he had no choice. As the hour progressed, Noah realized that he was actually doing pretty well, and he gained a bit of confidence.

It wasn't until the last 15 minutes that Noah even figured out where I was in the arena. Once he did, he hung out right next to where I stood by the boards. Each time he fell, I just laughed and shrugged my shoulders, and he would laugh and get up again.

Noah and his cutie pie friend, B.K. And they are both still smiling!!

I couldn't have been more proud of him. He has come so far.....

Amazing, Awesome, Butthead

One of the unfortunate side effects of having a child start school, seems to be the language that they learn from the other children while there. The 'thing' to do in kindergarten, at least amongst the boys it seems, is to use 'potty language', as I like to call it. Noah has started calling his sister names....this never occurred before the start of kindergarten. I am sure some of it went on in Geneva at his french school, but maybe he just didn't understand it! :)

The name calling seems to be centered around the subject of 'The Potty'. I am hearing things like 'poo poo head', 'pee pee head', and so on. The problem is, that before I was able to curb Noah of the nasty habit, Bekah has started mimicking the behaviour. Noah has improved, thanks to losing a lot of privileges, but Bekah has been very reluctant to my strategies. She thinks it is all very funny.

Bekah's language has ballooned in other ways too. She is using words like 'amazing' and 'awesome' in the appropriate context. It makes her seem so grown up! I can't help but do a double take whenever I hear her tell Noah that something was 'amazing'! Where has my baby gone?!

The problem is, that in the next breath, she calls me a 'butt head'. Sigh.....