First post of the year...

... and the month's almost over. *sigh* Anyway, it's been quite a crazy month. So much to write about...

Deep freeze
It is absolutely, ridiculously COLD here! It's supposed to get down to -38C tonight (with a windchill of -43C), and the cold snap is here to stay for the rest of the week. Why we don't just shut things down is beyond me. I mean, some schools are closed, and in some places, everything is shut down when it's not even this cold. Despite the long underwear and angora socks, I'm still cold. It's times like this when I wish I was somewhere warmer...

Ice on Whyte
I took Teagan to Ice on Whyte on Saturday. We met up with Marion and her son Alex and checked it out. It was cool to see the ice sculptures, but my main reason for going was to take Teagan down the ice slide (OK, so I wanted to go down it too). We went down a couple of times, then checked out the ice castle, and the ice maze. Some of the kids were a bit pushy (uh, where are the parents?!), and when it started to get a bit cooler, we headed out. We walked to Death by Chocolate to warm up and indulge in one of their desserts. Yum!

Work, work, work
Things have not slowed down at work. We're in the middle of our year end processes, and getting ready to get our T4's out. Not to mention the other "projects" and normal stuff that has to be done. We might have to work on Saturday, but I'm hoping not.

Car on hold
I've been thinking about getting a new vehicle for some time now, but I think I'm going to put that on hold for a while. I want to "fix up" my car a bit (ie. get it detailed, bring it for it's regular oil change, fix the minor rust problem, and get rid of a small dent on the trunk); so I can sell it. Even though my horoscope predicted I'd be getting a new car (I know, I shouldn't be basing my decision on what my horoscope says, but I got a sign from a fortune cookie too), I think I'll wait.

Spurts of shopping
I think it's safe to say that I haven't bought a lot of things this past month - 2 pairs of shoes (they were 2 for 1), some clothes for Teagan, some Christmas cards for next year (I know, I'm getting ahead of myself, but they were on clearance), and more clothes for Teagan. I really need to stop shopping for her because she has WAY too many clothes. But she's so much fun to buy for - she's like my live doll! :)

No Denver for me
In a previous post, I talked about a possible Denver opportunity. Over the holidays, I was going back and forth on whether or not I should go. At one point, I was ready to go. So I called my former boss/co-worker and asked for more details. He pointed out that the position was not in Denver, but would be based here in Edmonton. Oh (light bulb moment). I told him that if and when he needed an assistant in Denver to give me a call. Oh well, so much for that idea...

Good childcare is hard to find
It's so true. Nothing can compare to having my mom take care of Teagan. But at the same time, I wanted Teagan to be exposed to other kids, other people, and to have a routine/schedule. It was going well until Teagan's DS made a comment about the daycare. She mentioned that when it came time to eat, the workers don't really encourage the kids to eat more. If the kids don't touch their food, they just put it away. When I first signed up, I made it a point of letting them know that Teagan was a picky eater, and would need a bit of help with eating, so hearing that made me a bit annoyed. I also saw for myself that they don't really look after her. There was an incident where Teagan had spilled some milk on the table and all over her clothes. I know kids get dirty, and that wasn't my concern. My concern was, it took them 2-3 minutes for anyone to notice the mess she made (Teagan's not very vocal), and even when someone noticed, they still tended to another kid before cleaning her up. Meanwhile, she's sitting in her chair, her clothes are soaking with milk, and I'm standing outside the window watching (without them knowing), shaking my head.

The main reason for pulling her out is how often she gets sick. I realize kids are exposed to a lot of germs and will always get sick, but I don't think it's fair that Teagan is fine during Christmas holidays, goes to daycare for 2 days, and gets sick with strep throat, which means she stays home for 10 days to recover. I could be the type of parent who sends their child to daycare/school even when their sick, but I'm not. Besides, I didn't want it to get worse. And don't forget the insanely cold weather we're having. So, I've paid for a full month of child care and she's only gone 2 days. Not too practical.

What I found that was odd was the fact that, even though I spoke to the president of the daycare and told her about my concerns, she didn't really do anything to say she would fix the problem. She didn't even try to get me to stay. And they're supposed to get their accreditation? Good luck. I'm dropping off a letter tomorrow, to give them formal notice that I'm pulling Teagan out of daycare, but I still have to pay for February because they need one month's notice. WTF?!?!?! Apparently the people who are going to be giving them their accreditation will be there tomorrow. Hmmm, maybe they'll be around when I go to drop off the letter...

And if that weren't enough
Apparently, there's also an issue with Teagan's playschool. One of the parents (who happens to be the class coordinator), seems to have a problem when Teagan's DS fills in for me when it's my roster day. So, if she's already there when it's not my day to roster, what difference does it make if she's there to roster for me? The teacher has no problem with it, the DS has no problem with, none of the other parents have a problem with it, and even the president of the playschool suggested (during registration) that the DS could fill in for me on my roster days. So what's the big deal? Obviously I trust the DS enough that I would get her to fill for me. The president left me a message earlier, so I'll be having a chat with her tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see what she says, since she said in her voicemail that "there seems to be a misunderstanding with the rostering". Why can't things be simple?

I think that's enough for one post. I should go to sleep.