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Just FYI, the reason for no update on Sunday was that we took a trip to Calgary (relatively last-minute decision) to visit Jeff's brother, his wife, and their 10 month old son, and from there made a quick day trip to Banff National Park. I do have a few photos and will share them soon!
Also, we are acquiring lots of baby stuff, including a big bag plus a box full of secondhand stuff (very recently used by our nephew) that we acquired on our visit to Calgary. Hopefully next weekend I will also post some photos of our evolving nursery :-)
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Sunday, July 05, 2015
How to sell a Segway
You may recall that I used a Segway for a period of time as a mobility device, but have since stopped using it in favor of my new Travelscoot scooter. The scooter has been extremely useful, already having been on two airplane trips, many shopping trips, and more. So it was clear that it was time to sell the Segway. However, we discovered that there is not much of a market for used Segways in Saskatchewan. We were worried that we might not be able to sell it very easily, and we really needed to sell it in the summer because chances are slim that anyone would want to buy it once it was not usable outdoors anymore.
So when a guy contacted us saying he was interested, but didn't have the cash to pay the full asking price, what normally would have sounded like a crazy idea started to sound fairly reasonable. When he said he could give us half the cash that we were asking and then give us his Honda motor scooter (not like my scooter – like a pared down motorcycle), we considered it carefully. And then Jeff went to try out the scooter and decided we should take the deal.
There was a period of time where Jeff wanted to keep the scooter, but the whole point was that it would be easier to sell a scooter than to sell a Segway. Jeff illegally rode it a total of three times – illegal because he does not have a motorcycle or scooter endorsement on his driver's license. Apparently he found it to be quite a lot of fun. However, I was careful to instill a seed of fear, which grew, and the desire to keep the scooter was short-lived.
As it turned out, we found a perfect buyer almost immediately. A young couple who lives near downtown contacted us as soon as the ad went up. They needed a cheap form of transportation for short trips around town, and this was perfect. Jeff had to illegally ride the scooter to their house because the guy who's going to ride it would not take it on the streets before he had completed a motorcycle course. I liked selling to them because it was clearly going to be used well, and they are very safety conscious.
So for a while we were down one Segway, and up one scooter, but now the scooter is gone to and the only scooter left is my little mobility scooter. It feels as though balance is restored.
The past couple of days have been spent doing many baby things. We discovered a few weeks ago that the points we earn by using our MasterCard debit card were going to be extremely useful. Apparently we earn points for every debit card purchase we make, and are points had added up since opening up our credit union account a little over two years ago. We were able to trade in our points for hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards at Sears. So on Friday night, armed with our gift cards, we went to Sears and got a free stroller and car seat. Then yesterday we bought a used crib, and went back to Sears to get a free crib mattress and mattress covers. We have now used up our gift cards, but have saved many hundreds of dollars on baby things in doing so.
Yesterday we also assembled the crib, and rearranged things in our bedroom, because that is where the crib will be, at least at first. Rearranging the bedroom meant moving Jeff's dresser to the basement, which meant both of us getting rid of some clothes in order to make space in existing drawers. If we had a giant house with giant rooms we could get away with not doing this kind of thing, but as it stands we have to do lots of rearranging and purging in order to make space for baby.
Our original plan was to have the crib on my side of the bed, but it turns out that it is impossible for me to get in and out of bed safely and comfortably if the side of the bed is blocked by a crib. So the crib will be on Jeff's side of the bed, and he assured me that he will not be able to sleep if the baby wakes up anyway, so at current the plan is that he will pass me the baby for nighttime feedings. I'm so glad that we are doing this stuff now instead of waiting until the last minute, because I think otherwise I might get stressed out by it.
Today I spent a good part of the day weeding the garden. As of this week we finally have peas, Swiss chard, and lettuce that is ready to eat. We also finally harvested some rhubarb, though we probably could have done this a few weeks ago. Things are slower to get started in Saskatchewan, but it is still very satisfying to eat vegetables that come from the garden. It was also satisfying today to realize that my ability to maneuver on all fours has improved since last summer, despite my pregnant state. Today I was able to weed areas of the garden that I could not reach previously, because I could not balance well enough on my hands and knees before and I can now. So that was an unexpected nice surprise :-)
So when a guy contacted us saying he was interested, but didn't have the cash to pay the full asking price, what normally would have sounded like a crazy idea started to sound fairly reasonable. When he said he could give us half the cash that we were asking and then give us his Honda motor scooter (not like my scooter – like a pared down motorcycle), we considered it carefully. And then Jeff went to try out the scooter and decided we should take the deal.
There was a period of time where Jeff wanted to keep the scooter, but the whole point was that it would be easier to sell a scooter than to sell a Segway. Jeff illegally rode it a total of three times – illegal because he does not have a motorcycle or scooter endorsement on his driver's license. Apparently he found it to be quite a lot of fun. However, I was careful to instill a seed of fear, which grew, and the desire to keep the scooter was short-lived.
As it turned out, we found a perfect buyer almost immediately. A young couple who lives near downtown contacted us as soon as the ad went up. They needed a cheap form of transportation for short trips around town, and this was perfect. Jeff had to illegally ride the scooter to their house because the guy who's going to ride it would not take it on the streets before he had completed a motorcycle course. I liked selling to them because it was clearly going to be used well, and they are very safety conscious.
So for a while we were down one Segway, and up one scooter, but now the scooter is gone to and the only scooter left is my little mobility scooter. It feels as though balance is restored.
The past couple of days have been spent doing many baby things. We discovered a few weeks ago that the points we earn by using our MasterCard debit card were going to be extremely useful. Apparently we earn points for every debit card purchase we make, and are points had added up since opening up our credit union account a little over two years ago. We were able to trade in our points for hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards at Sears. So on Friday night, armed with our gift cards, we went to Sears and got a free stroller and car seat. Then yesterday we bought a used crib, and went back to Sears to get a free crib mattress and mattress covers. We have now used up our gift cards, but have saved many hundreds of dollars on baby things in doing so.
Yesterday we also assembled the crib, and rearranged things in our bedroom, because that is where the crib will be, at least at first. Rearranging the bedroom meant moving Jeff's dresser to the basement, which meant both of us getting rid of some clothes in order to make space in existing drawers. If we had a giant house with giant rooms we could get away with not doing this kind of thing, but as it stands we have to do lots of rearranging and purging in order to make space for baby.
Our original plan was to have the crib on my side of the bed, but it turns out that it is impossible for me to get in and out of bed safely and comfortably if the side of the bed is blocked by a crib. So the crib will be on Jeff's side of the bed, and he assured me that he will not be able to sleep if the baby wakes up anyway, so at current the plan is that he will pass me the baby for nighttime feedings. I'm so glad that we are doing this stuff now instead of waiting until the last minute, because I think otherwise I might get stressed out by it.
Today I spent a good part of the day weeding the garden. As of this week we finally have peas, Swiss chard, and lettuce that is ready to eat. We also finally harvested some rhubarb, though we probably could have done this a few weeks ago. Things are slower to get started in Saskatchewan, but it is still very satisfying to eat vegetables that come from the garden. It was also satisfying today to realize that my ability to maneuver on all fours has improved since last summer, despite my pregnant state. Today I was able to weed areas of the garden that I could not reach previously, because I could not balance well enough on my hands and knees before and I can now. So that was an unexpected nice surprise :-)
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Enjoying Summer
We had a week that was relatively uneventful, but enjoyable. Work is work, and the next month to month and a half will be fairly packed for me in terms of stuff I have to get done, so I've been working on making a list and setting arbitrary dates for finishing things. But by mid August or so, I expect to be all done with major work things, and getting ready for baby full-time.
On Friday evening we had a new colleague and his partner over for dinner, and we intended to barbecue but there was an unexpected thunderstorm. It wasn't major, but just in case there was giant hail like the previous Friday, we ordered pizza instead. On Saturday during the day we did some baby shopping, and although going out shopping did not result in any purchases, we did make some purchases online. Then on Saturday evening we had friends over for dinner.
Today we drove about an hour and fifteen minutes to a provincial park that has a big sandy beach on a lake. We spent the afternoon swimming and reading on the beach. This is something we could never really do in Oregon, since all the lakes there are either mountain lakes and extremely cold or dammed rivers and extremely cold or muddy-bottomed and full of salamanders. Before moving here I have not really had the pleasure of really good lake swimming, and it turns out that it's tons of fun :-)
We are doing our best to enjoy summer now as much as we can, since I'm not sure how I will feel by late summer, and this is our last summer just the two of us. Most of the people at the lake today were families with children, and I'm sure that we will continue to do lots of the same things that we do now, but it will definitely be different. So it makes sense to enjoy what we have now, and look forward to what is to come!
On Friday evening we had a new colleague and his partner over for dinner, and we intended to barbecue but there was an unexpected thunderstorm. It wasn't major, but just in case there was giant hail like the previous Friday, we ordered pizza instead. On Saturday during the day we did some baby shopping, and although going out shopping did not result in any purchases, we did make some purchases online. Then on Saturday evening we had friends over for dinner.
Today we drove about an hour and fifteen minutes to a provincial park that has a big sandy beach on a lake. We spent the afternoon swimming and reading on the beach. This is something we could never really do in Oregon, since all the lakes there are either mountain lakes and extremely cold or dammed rivers and extremely cold or muddy-bottomed and full of salamanders. Before moving here I have not really had the pleasure of really good lake swimming, and it turns out that it's tons of fun :-)
We are doing our best to enjoy summer now as much as we can, since I'm not sure how I will feel by late summer, and this is our last summer just the two of us. Most of the people at the lake today were families with children, and I'm sure that we will continue to do lots of the same things that we do now, but it will definitely be different. So it makes sense to enjoy what we have now, and look forward to what is to come!
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Many things
1. Our only shower is in a state of disrepair. I have two grab bars in the shower to help with balance, and a little over a week ago Jeff was washing his feet off and used one of the bars to help stabilize himself as he swung his feet out of the shower. As he pulled on the bar, the bar, the tile, and the wall behind it started to pull away. At first he was concerned that he had done something to break it, but right away it was clear that there was something serious wrong – he shouldn't have been able to break it even if he tried. There was definitely water that had gotten behind the tile, possibly a long time ago, possibly beginning before we even moved into the house, and in order for it to be even minimally safe for me to use the grab bar it needs to be fixed. We had one guy come in and take a look, and his "estimate" of how much it would cost to fix (which he said was not really an estimate, and don't hold him to any of it, because it could end up being quite a bit more) seemed outrageously high.
We had another company come take a look, and they gave us an exact price (assuming they do not find any additional damage) which was less than half of what the first guy said was "just a ballpark." They were very professional, and gave us a number of options for what we would like done and how, and we generally like them, so this is who we are going to go with. However, they have a backlog and so it could be 10 to 12 weeks before the shower gets fixed, and it is only thirteen weeks until my due date. Meanwhile, I have a grab bar that allows me to get in and out of the shower but not to move around once I am in, so I have to use a bath chair temporarily (which I already had for using in certain circumstances). The timing of this is not great, since my balance will just get worse and worse as I get bigger and bigger, but I suppose with all of that I might have needed to use the bath chair anyway.
2. Sleep is a constantly changing struggle, but we are adapting. Probably almost immediately after writing the blog post about sleeping on my back, it became uncomfortable to be on my back for very long. The baby has just gotten too heavy. I was lamenting that I might have to figure out how to sleep on my side after all, but my doctor suggested getting a wedge pillow to put under my right hip so that when I am lying on my back I am at a slight angle, which changes how the weight is distributed. There was not a single store in town that had wedge pillows in stock, so I had to order from Amazon and wait (I ended up ordering two different kinds because they were each less than fifteen dollars and I had to get up to twenty-five for free shipping, so I figured it couldn't hurt). It turns out these pillows are currently amazing for me. I put one under my right hip as suggested, and one next to my belly on the left side. The one under my hip changes the weight distribution just enough that it is comfortable to mostly be on my back again, and the one next to my belly makes it more comfortable to roll onto my side if I need to change positions. They are small, don't get in Jeff's way too much, and for the time being make it so that I can sleep. So I currently have five pillows either in bed with me or right next to the bed so I can access them easily if needed – one for my head, the two wedge pillows, one to go between my knees and ankles if I do roll onto my side, and another one to hug with my arms if I end up rolling onto my side. It is working for the time being, but it seems that things constantly change related to this!
3. On Friday we had the biggest hail I have ever seen:
You can't really tell from the video, but the diameter of each hailstone is about half an inch, maybe more. There was damage in the garden, but it seems like most of the plants will recover.
4. Koshka may be wary of how things are changing, but Maddy appears to like the new size and shape of my belly:
5. Yesterday we went to Regina's pride parade. It was bigger than Jeff thought it would be, much less crowded than I thought it would be, but a good time. I am a big fan of parades :-)
6. Yesterday evening we went for a walk at a park that is about a ten minute drive from our house. I had never been there before, and Jeff had only run/biked past it. It turned out to be a very lovely park and a nice walk.
I was reminded that when the conditions are right (the ground is reasonably level, there are no huge obstacles, the sidewalks are not deteriorating) going for a walk can be very nice in the summer (always while holding Jeff's hand for stability). The winter is always rough because it is so icy, and our neighborhood has patchwork sidewalks that mostly slant toward the road and change materials (concrete, asphalt, deteriorating concrete, gravel, concrete with big rocks in it, etc.) about every 10 feet. Going for walks can be something of an ordeal, so I had forgotten how nice it can be. With this reminder, I'm going to try to get out on walks as often as possible!
We had another company come take a look, and they gave us an exact price (assuming they do not find any additional damage) which was less than half of what the first guy said was "just a ballpark." They were very professional, and gave us a number of options for what we would like done and how, and we generally like them, so this is who we are going to go with. However, they have a backlog and so it could be 10 to 12 weeks before the shower gets fixed, and it is only thirteen weeks until my due date. Meanwhile, I have a grab bar that allows me to get in and out of the shower but not to move around once I am in, so I have to use a bath chair temporarily (which I already had for using in certain circumstances). The timing of this is not great, since my balance will just get worse and worse as I get bigger and bigger, but I suppose with all of that I might have needed to use the bath chair anyway.
2. Sleep is a constantly changing struggle, but we are adapting. Probably almost immediately after writing the blog post about sleeping on my back, it became uncomfortable to be on my back for very long. The baby has just gotten too heavy. I was lamenting that I might have to figure out how to sleep on my side after all, but my doctor suggested getting a wedge pillow to put under my right hip so that when I am lying on my back I am at a slight angle, which changes how the weight is distributed. There was not a single store in town that had wedge pillows in stock, so I had to order from Amazon and wait (I ended up ordering two different kinds because they were each less than fifteen dollars and I had to get up to twenty-five for free shipping, so I figured it couldn't hurt). It turns out these pillows are currently amazing for me. I put one under my right hip as suggested, and one next to my belly on the left side. The one under my hip changes the weight distribution just enough that it is comfortable to mostly be on my back again, and the one next to my belly makes it more comfortable to roll onto my side if I need to change positions. They are small, don't get in Jeff's way too much, and for the time being make it so that I can sleep. So I currently have five pillows either in bed with me or right next to the bed so I can access them easily if needed – one for my head, the two wedge pillows, one to go between my knees and ankles if I do roll onto my side, and another one to hug with my arms if I end up rolling onto my side. It is working for the time being, but it seems that things constantly change related to this!
3. On Friday we had the biggest hail I have ever seen:
4. Koshka may be wary of how things are changing, but Maddy appears to like the new size and shape of my belly:
5. Yesterday we went to Regina's pride parade. It was bigger than Jeff thought it would be, much less crowded than I thought it would be, but a good time. I am a big fan of parades :-)
6. Yesterday evening we went for a walk at a park that is about a ten minute drive from our house. I had never been there before, and Jeff had only run/biked past it. It turned out to be a very lovely park and a nice walk.
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Ottawa was fun, scary heavy doll filled with rocks
We had an excellent visit to Ottawa. First we visited with Brandon, Krista, and Eric, then we went to our respective conferences (Canadian Psychological Association for me and Canadian Society for Brain, Behavior, and Behavioral Science for Jeff), and then visited Scott, Amica, and Rowan. We had lots of toddler time,
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| Reading to Eric |
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| Teaching Rowan about old Nintendo |
saw the sites,
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| At the Ottawa river with Brandon |
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| On Parliament Hill |
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| Video gaming at House of Targ |
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| Last day in Ottawa with Rowan and Scott |
I think I may have mentioned that I have had a couple of sessions with an occupational therapist, specifically related to figuring out what kinds of adaptations I may need in order to be as independent as possible in taking care of the baby. One of the things that she mentioned was possibly trying certain things out with a weighted doll, which of course is nothing like a real baby that wriggles and such, but for certain things might be better than no preparation. For example, figuring out how I need to distribute weight for safe carrying – whether I can carry the baby in a car seat, whether I can wear the baby in a carrier, whether I can lift the baby out of the crib, etc. The problem was that we could not find a doll that was realistically weighted.
But on Friday I went to a baby store in search of a wedge pillow to help with positioning while sleeping (an ongoing issue which I will surely blog about again soon), and although they didn't have the pillow the woman at the store mentioned that they have weighted dolls that they use for letting people try out different baby carriers. I asked where they got them, and the woman explained that they make them from dolls they buy at Walmart which they fill with aquarium rocks. I was super excited by this, and armed with the knowledge that there are instructions online for how to do this, this morning I went to Walmart and bought a doll and some aquarium rocks. It took the better part of an afternoon, but now I have a doll that weighs a little over 9 pounds, which I can use for the purposes of occupational therapy. The doll is not perfectly realistic in terms of shape or distribution of weight, but it will absolutely serve my purposes.
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| Koshka is concerned about the doll |
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