One day less to go!  Down to 86!  Ole!

I thought my status on facebook today was quite clever.

"Planet organic prenatal supplements, midwifery, cloth diapering; oh my! Violet may just be turning green."

It has been a spendy spendy day.  Noelle's dance year 2014/2015 is paid in full.  It would seem Scotiabank charges $0.80/check, so to do post-dated payments in that way is ridiculous.  We have incentive, too, for excellent attendence this fall, in spite of a new baby ;)

A few extra purchases were returned this morning, to make way for paying off somebody's speeding tickets!  To boot, at today's midwife appt. I was recommended some fancy schmancy prenatals (Baby and me by megafoods, as well as floradix iron supplement).  It would seem buying proper prenatal vitamins is an investment, but necessary one to we who have difficulties digesting the chemically manufactured counterparts.  My egg and spinach omelets were not all successful in keeping my iron levels where they need to be.  This baby is demanding and totally unforgiving!

I have decided that my diaper stash for new baby is in danger of becoming a vanity project.  The apple cheeks are so very cute and collectible.  At this point there is no telling whether this will be a smart idea or an abject failure.  I have to cloth diaper for FOUR months to pay off my investment at this point. 

Anecdote for the day;

I was just coming home, when my very sweet neighbor said "hello!  I see you have a small basketball;" to which I replied "I thought we were missing my daughter's ball!  Oh wait, yes, expecting in September".

That is today.  

It's happened!  Yesterday, my first day of blogging, MISSED.  I am sorry, we got very busy.  We are at 87 days to go ;)  Happy Canada Day to one and all!

Monday was about cleaning, consolidating, and making some more sense of our space and life.  I tore apart the kitchen, Phil disemboweled his desk.  The end result is closer to the order we seek than the chaos that will prevail.  In our adventures, two notable, if not distressing changes took place.


1) We adopted out Tiki Tiki.  She is a BIG BIRD and we were hardly able to give her the bird-psychiatric care she needed.  We found a lovely lady and her granddaughters that had the space, time and capacity to help her in ways we would not.  When we found her last year on kijiji, she was cage-bound, skittish, and plucky.  Today, she is uncaged, shy, loving, and a little plucky.  I would like to think our busy little household was a good coda for the little squawker, but that she has ended up in the best place.

2) I was called in to work.  Afternoon of relaxation had to be rescheduled, needless to say.  It was just fine in the end, though.


As per my usual give and take, I picked up lots of baby socks.  With Noelle, and myself to be honest, socks are an achilles heel.  I spent $12 on ten pairs of awesome Disney Baby socks, and there are only two styles which means my little gentleman will not have to endure the mismatched chaos as often as his big sister.  A coworker looked surprised that anyone could need more than 7 pairs of socks.  Little does she know of the laundry monster and closet elf that inhabit our world.

Perhaps it can be said that I have not been on my best behavior...  Whoopsie Daisies.  I bought dinner too, as I hardly had the time and presence of mind to pack food for work.  It was $6.05, which does not seem so bad; when this happens I call it a surprise work tax.

Sunday night I had the loveliest dream about cloth diapering.  On Saturday, Phil found me some garage sale diapers suffering from some laundry bleach, but otherwise in great condition.  $2 each.  Yes, please.

Perhaps today we can get the camping washer together, and take turns plunging the bucket for optimally clean clothing.  I would expect to continue large household laundry in the machines downstairs... for $2 A LOAD.  Hanging to dry is going to have to be a habit.

Perhaps tomorrow there will be more to say, but that is enough, all for today.

89 Days!

Pooped from work, church, and the day.  I haven't the foggiest idea why.  Maybe tomorrow will be better.  Noelle made carrot muffins with me today.  Phil is juicing, so Noelle and I are eating separately.  She was pleased with strawberries. 

Too many insane people on vacation today, relaxed, messy...  So very busy and messy, but at least we contained the happy...

Ninety Days!

The beauty of economics is when you can find the true value of consumer goods.  If one is able to determine the worth of what they are buying, it then becomes possible to control and beat the established economic system (to a degree).  In some instances it is in the interest of the consumer to pay more.  A perfect example is food; farmer's markets with a selection of fresh, often organic produce do come at a premium, but the possible gains in longevity and health make the 5-30% premium cost negligible.  To contrast, it is almost always best to buy things like clothing, fashion items, and shoes at the lowest possible price point, filtering for quality and perhaps preference.  It can take years of careful observation, or a simple following of the instincts to determine the strengths and weaknesses in a particular market.  One very quickly learns how and where the groundwork for finding value exists.

There is no crueler and more accurate market than the grey market.  I would argue that second hand stores, consignment stores, goodwill and online sites such as ebay, kijiji, and craigslists will quickly shatter any illusions as to the value of a particular item.  I found a pair of verifiable sequins Uggs with no wear to the soles or wool for $10 at Goodwill this week, last season's must haves for $140.  Before you discard this as a fluke, or shudder at the ick factor of used shoes, think about our cleaning options available for killing bacteria; boiling water, a very hot wash, sun bleaching, or some time in a sealed bag in the freezer are simple ways of sterilizing used clothing items. 

Second-hand economics is not without a caveat, a "buyer beware" so to speak.  When using these markets, extensive and exhaustive research is necessary to protect oneself from used merchandise that has lived out its usefulness and is on its last legs of life.  In my Ugg's example, I  knew to learn how to identify counterfeits.  When shopping for  a second hand stroller on kijiji, I researched the top 3 reviewed strollers, waited for a low priced ad, scooped it up, tested it, and proceeded to resell on kijiji for a small profit (thus enabling me to progressively learn what qualities I needed in a good stroller, as well as what the true value of said item was.  I bought and resold 6 strollers before finding the perfect solution, and adequately profiting on good timing).

Clearly one risks overpurchasing when exposed to these unusual, wonderful side markets.  ;)

Please consider the retail life cycle as well.  With the important exception of specialty handcrafted goods, the malls of North America follow a new stuff price - newish stuff discount - clear it out discount - no REALLY let's get rid of this because we have new stuff coming bottom-of-the-barrel pricing strategy.  The best sizes are usually quickly bought, as are the most popular versions of classic items.  Ask yourself, honestly though; was it worth it to spend $35 on a teapot in your preferred color vs. the $5 at the end of the season in a honey bee yellow?  How much value do you place on that particular preference?  Can you function just as happily with the same teapot in a different color?

My exception of specialty handcrafted goods is important; these small cottage industries usually fail, but when they do not, they get the premiums they ask for because they produce something that cannot otherwise be replicated. 

That is enough for tonight.  And I was worried I had nothing to say ;)

27 weeks pregnant, 91 days to go!

To live up to lofty ideals is NOT easy.  Today, at Goodwill I spent $31.  I promised Phil we would discuss any purchase over $4, but I found three "Crunchy" baby books, three brand new personagirl charms (for Noelle's bracelet!) one of the fisherprice baby toys I wanted for Noelle but never purchased (it has the colorful stacking loops), as well as a roaring Rex plush the attendant promised Noelle she could have (facepalm; she said for free, but there was no precedent and it was not polite.  I regular this location and did not want to be rude).  It was a good bit of loot, but that is NOT the point; I should have gone to the library, organized the toys she has and resisted the personagirl charms.  Ah well.  My best attempt here to serve penance was to list some things on kijiji.  Every dollar has got to hurt, or we will not see progress.  Whether it is a successful exchange is yet to be seen, but clearly I need my morning coffee and routine to avoid craziness.

All that being said, I really did not want to post today.  It is my day off of work, and I woke feeling waterlogged and exhausted.  Yesterday I got some bloodtests back, and the results were not great.  I have not been taking my prenatals.  They make me nauseous.  Instead I have tried to have an amazing diet.  Of course, that did not work.  My iron levels are LOW.  I hope the midwives are not too angry with me.  I take heart in the words of my mother "babies are the perfect parasite, they WILL take what they need from the mother".

These are not heavy or important thoughts, but they are enough to be stressful.  When I am able to pray and mediate, make intentional decisions, and tick all the chores and responsibilities off my mental list there is so much more peace in the day to day operation of this machine.

The books I bought today are;

The Yummy Mummy's Survival Guide by Liz Fraser
Green Babies, Sage Moms; The Ultimate Guide to Raising your Organic Baby by Linda fASSA
The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet by Karen Knight and Tina Ruggiero

I am excited to see and perhaps review these books.  We shall see.

Tonight we are hoping to visit a farmers market, figure out fall dance lessons this fall for the almost-three year old, and find alternate iron supplements to take.  It would be great to get a kijiji bite as well, but fingers are not crossed ;P

92 DAYS?

There is a very wriggly baby doing somersaults this morning.  He likes bananas, and coffee.  He jumps at the smell of bacon.  This little person is not so little.  We are all getting very excited to meet him!

Noelle and I have been playing with her baby dolls; rather I have been playing, and she has been imitating what I do.  We cloth diaper her doll, take her for a ride in the pram, put her down for a nap, give the baby snuggles, and of course unsnap then snap up all the cloth diapers in my collection for giggles and chuckles.

The collection of cloth diapers is impressive, and all but one picked up through kijiji!

I have acquired:

2 travel wetbags, one large wetbag, special diaper laundry detergent + stripping formula
6 Diaper Genius newborn (brand new!!!)
27 fuzzibuns, sz. small (7-18 lbs, good used condition, may need to change elastics after this baby)
20 happy heiney's (One size, EXCELLENT condition, and as Noelle would say "so fluffy ;))
and ONE red Applecheeks size small.  I bought this one at Babes in Arms after much deliberation, but decided one extra special diaper for photographs was warrented.

Yesterday I very proudly attached a diaper sprayer to our toilet all by myself.  This morning, my bathroom had a pool of water on the floor, so I grabbed a wrench and tightened!  Good to go!  It might be a career option to be a "pretend plumber" for hire, with the idea that I arrive at the same time as the husband, show my utter lack of skill, and allow him to "fix" or "save the day".  It took me probably a half hour to figure out how to attach the hose.

In the interest of saving money, this cloth adventure needs to last for three months to offset the investment.  After that, I am saving 70-100 every month on disposables!  In all fairness I will need to do laundry quite frequently, but plan to do a presoak before using apartment laundry, and hanging to dry (as soon as I find a suitable drying rack!)  Sunning is VERY good for killing germs!  To take it a step further, I could handwash diapers in a homemade washing machine!

I mentioned muffins yesterday; does it make sense to bake almost every day to prevent snacking on the go?  Short answer YES, long answer NO, but actually YES!  In theory, we should be eating fresh fruit, veggies and nuts for snacks.  This happens, but then I get PREGNANT hungry, my daughter gets TODDLER hungry and my husband gets MAN hungry, and we buy a small snack and coffee on the go...  $8-$14 dollars later, and the fresh snacks only philosophy has not succeeded.  Since I have been baking loads, we do not buy snacks on the go and are still eating lots of fresh fruit and veg.  That being said, my gluten free flour oatmeal coconut oil banana berry muffins still have half a cup of brown sugar, and we eat 2-3 a day.  It is sobering to know exactly what goes into "snack foods" and the volume required to fuel our little family.  I will miss BOGO sushi when I close at work though ;( (still $6.00-$8.00 more or less).  And yes, I occasionally eat raw fish.  The most intelligent, and arguably healthy people in the world (Japan) do so.

Today I need to make a trip to the bank, make a money order for Boardwalk, acquire cheques and set up Noelle's fall ballet, work, tidy, and all that good stuff.  If I am feeling extra curricular, perhaps I will post some packages.

It obvious that I need to write, and to do so every day.  Words give thought life everlasting  Far too often are wonderful ideas left with a hiccup or distraction.  It is entirely true that to blog is a vanity project, wherein the order of the day is to permiss, organize, and validate the passing of each day.  I know this pretense is irritating, and has kept my blogs to date short lived.  Lately, I have read enough I like, and found enough missing in what the internet can provide, that there has been an extra push to put out some words with intention.

It is best to begin with the facts in their baldest form.  I am 24 years old.  I have an English degree.  I am a very well trained but ill suited piano teacher.  I am part time manager at a "magical place".  I am a full time mother to one rambunctious egg/spinach/mushroom eating two year old and a wife of almost four years.  I am Ukrainian Greek Catholic.  I love sushi.  I adore window shopping and get warm fuzzy feelings when I buy and sell on kijiji.

Today, this week, last month; I can hardly sum up my life.  Things are in constant flux and I embrace change.  If I must list my current "manias," they include cloth diapering, (diapergenius, cloth diaper sprayers, ubbi diaper pails), positive and careful management strategies, reading to my daughter more every day, adopting a hand washing and line drying regimen for the summer, money management, muffin recipe making, and ECONOMICS in general.  As well, building a strong social community and making socially conscious and responsible decisions, and the practice of asking excellent questions.

I think this is enough to start.  I am expecting a boy September 26th, so let's say 94 days of blogging to go~!

Tomorrow I will start taking pictures of muffins.

PS.  Apparently this is connected to my husband's email address.  I think I will leave it and see what happens...

Violet

SECOND GOOF

Well this is starting well...  the name of the blog "Virtuous Cycles" is original, to say the least.  The concept I am interested in is called VIRTUOUS CIRCLES.  Virtuous Cycles is apparently a hipster bike shop.  Ah well, better to correct an error than to give up four paragraphs into this project...