Inspiration for this Saturday

On Friday, I turn 30. On the one hand, it's just another birthday. On the other hand, it's a milestone as I enter a new decade. I'm not upset, but I'm bewildered at how quickly my 20s went by.

But I am using this milestone as a reason to have a big birthday party on Saturday. I have invited my closest friends. Surprisingly, all the out of town friends are attending, but not all the friends who live in the same city. It's usually the opposite!

I want the "theme" to be CELEBRATE, and I want glitter and sparkle everywhere. It's such a festive time of year that I think it's only appropriate. Here's what I'm thinking:

Top left, clockwise: Snippet & Ink, Project Wedding, Style Me Pretty, http://www.skywallpaper.com/, Style Me Pretty, The Sweetest Occasion, The Sweetest Occasion, The Sweetest Occasion, http://www.twilightseriesfan.deviantart.com/, and The Sweetest Occasion in the centre.

(See a theme?!)

What are your thoughts?

Birthday

I have a birthday coming up in 2 weeks. I decided recently (probably too recently) that I want a party. So I'm throwing myself a party. Why not?! Okay, I'm giving my husband things to do, but basically I'm taking the lead.

I just decided I want bunting. Something like:

(Etsy seller Bevany)

(Etsy seller Ooh La La Company)

(Etsy seller stephlovesben)

(Etsy seller JacWhippet)

(Etsy seller nice)

(Etsy seller Unicorn Parade)

Since I'm pressed for time, I'm going to try making something inspired by the above. I will be going to Michael's to take a look at what it will cost to make myself, and try to figure out how much time it will take me. Wish me luck!

Baby Pressure

First, let me say, I am not getting baby pressure. My mom and mother-in-law don't put any pressure on us.

But I have a friend whose mother got her a subscription to some baby magazine. I won't pretend to know what the magazine is called. Maybe it's Babies or Baby Parenting, or something like that. And this friend isn't planning on babies until next year! Hinting, much? She's been married 6 months.

I understand how parents want to be grandparents. They want to enjoy their grandchildren while they're still young-ish (50s) and mobile. My generation is mostly putting off having children, which is IMHO by-and-large a good thing. I know people who had children younger (22, 23, 24) who spend their adult lives somewhat looking forward to when their kids are grown up so they can travel and do things they love to do. While they love their children - and they truly do - it seems odd to spend 20+ years waiting for your child to grow up in order to resume "living".

Why not do some of those things before children? Why feel like your children made you put your life on hold? Aren't your children supposed to be a big part of your life? Albeit, not the only part of your life. Oh, and why even wait until your children are grown up to travel? Marie-Eve and others have proven you can travel with kids, but for some people it's a matter of money.

I won't get it until I have kids, I get that. That's what everyone tells me. I can imagine that it's a life-shift. I can imagine everything changes - priorities change, how much you have to pack up in the diaper bag just to run an errand, free time decreases. I get it. (And yes, I got the message that I won't actually get it until I have kids.)

Study after study shows that having children in a marriage tends to increase the stress in marriage, so in marriages that aren't very strong, the divorce rate goes up. I don't mean to say children cause divorce, but rather, marriages that aren't strong are more likely to fracture if children are introduced. These are the marriage would have fractured under any signficant stress. (And study after study show that getting married younger, typically defined as under the age of 24 or 25 has a higher likelihood of divorce.)

So why rush? If the biological clock isn't screaming, take the time to solidify your marriage? Six months of marriage, about to turn 30, and has been purchased a baby magazine. Sure, they've been living together for a couple years, but somehow I feel that time was building the relationship, now I feel it's solidifying the marriage. On the day-to-day stuff, there's no difference between living together and being married, but yet somehow it changes everything in your mindset.

Things Wade says

I speak a bit of French and a bit of Spanish. I like to make Wade learn words in both languages. He's good in French, but not at all in Spanish. He usually guesses what he considers to be Spanish-sounding variations of a word in French.

Me: Wanna know what "dog" is in Spanish?
Wade: Dog
Me: No
Wade: Chien
Me: No, that's French.
Wade: chenog
Me: No. That's chien combined with dog. Good guess, though.
Wade: Cano
Me: No. Not at all close, but good guess. Wanna know?
Wade: Sure.
Me: Perro.

Maybe you had to be there, but I thought his "guesses" were funny. Chenog?!

Happy Hallowe'en from Princess & me!

Let's Try This Again

First, let me say that I’m going to attempt blogging again.

I don’t have a very good reason for a temporary absence. I just didn’t have the motivation for a while, and when I did have the motivation, I was very busy with work.

So let me just start with it and summarize where I am.

Work:
I like work. In fact, there are days where I really like work. But I also get into ruts where I can’t possibly see how I can advance my career doing what I’m doing, and depressed because I know that if I were to return to the private sector, I’d make 10-20% more money. I need to push myself in ways there are completely foreign to me, but I’m not sure I can. In the interest of total disclosure, I consult in health and safety, and I need to step out of my comfort zone and sell my company to perspective clients. I’m not going at selling things. There are lots of workplaces that need to improve their health and safety, and I’m very good at what I do. I guess I just need to convince others of this.

Self Esteem:
I used to have marvellous self-esteem. I wasn’t conceited; at least, I don’t think I was. I just knew I was beautiful. I know how that sounds – it sounds like I’m conceited. But I think I just had a healthy sense of self-esteem, something that many girls and women do not have. I still know I’m good looking, but I no longer believe I’m beautiful. But what’s really consuming me is that I’ve gained almost 30 lbs in the past 2 ½ years, and I just keep gaining. I can’t stop. It slowly creeps us, each week. I have brief periods where I go down a pound or two, but then back up it goes. I know the basics: calories in < calories out, eat healthy, exercise. But I don’t always have the energy to exercise. And lately, food feels like it’s holding a spell on me. If there’s something yummy, it just calls to me to eat it. And because I’ve gained almost 30 lbs, I’m up a size. I don’t normally discuss my weight or size, but I’m 5’8” and a little bit (or as I round up, I say “five foot eight and a half”), which I think makes me 173 or 174 cm. I weight 186 lbs as of this morning. I was around 160 lbs 2-1/2 years ago, which I was happy with. It’s depressing to admit how much I’ve gained. And every time I see an actress or person I admire who’s slender, I really feel upset with myself for gaining so much weight.

Clothing:
Since I’m up a size, I don’t have much clothing that fits. And I don’t have enough money to buy a whole new wardrobe, so I’m buying a few things each month, because I want to look good, but all the while I’m hoping that I can reverse this trend and won’t need this larger clothing much longer. I was a size 12 (sometimes 10), and now I’m a 14 (sometimes 12), but that can vary widely, depending on the brand.

Volunteering:
I do enjoy helping charities. I volunteer with a dog rescue group (doing phone interviews to find out if applicants would be good homes for our dogs), St. John Ambulance (going to an event per month to provide first-aid if required), a kidney cancer advocacy group (occasionally doing stuff to help out, but this is not often), and as the coordinator for an annual walk (“Great Strides”) to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis, a disease my cousin had. I think I do too much, but I don’t know what to cut out. It stretches me too thin.

I’ll leave it there for now. I think I’m going to try blogging a couple times a week, and see how that goes. I hope you continue to follow me along! And if you know me in real life, please try not to judge.

Love

Old dogs can learn new tricks. Old dogs rescued from puppy mills can be housetrained, learn commands, and even learn to love for the first time. Old dogs whose owner dies can be "rehomed" and love their new family as much as their former family. Old dogs need love, too.

Special Needs Pets

Did you know that dogs rely primarily on smell? Sometimes owners don't even realize their dogs are deaf! They can learn commands by a visual sign. My dog can hear, but she can sit if I say the word sit OR if I just hold my hand a certain way.

All Pets Deserve a Home

It's the fault of humans that pets are overpopulated. We bred them. We don't always spay and neuter our pets. And an intact dog or cat WILL often end up pregnant or impregnating another animal. And pets that are ugly or have been mistreated can still make wonderful pets. They have such a capacity to love.