Saturday 29 September 2018

Now Parenting: Week 15

Turned off the AC yesterday. Woke up just before 7am, was with the wee one from 7:45am through to 10:30am - no snooze. A couple attempts, and four ounces of food. Mom brought Alexandra to lay on our bed briefly before going to be weighed. She turned on her side towards me - then the mattress caused her to end up on her front! Only reaction was an expression that said to me 'that had not been my plan'. Brought her off for her weighing; arrived just after 11am, half an hour later they wiped down one of the two stations (it was very busy). Gained 150 grams/6 ounces. (Yeah, that doesn't convert. Weird.)
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Home before noon, made soup, did dishes, took little one back for a bit as we itemized a list for the train, then at 2:20pm had a nap while Mom and Alexandra went for a stroll. Woke 3:10, went to clean up the yard/porch, called my parents, then Mom went to pick up her prescription. Wee one chose that hour to have a messy diaper change, very amusing. It was around 6:30pm I got the phone tree call - no school anywhere Monday due to tornado. From there, went to have bath in actual water, another milestone.

Kiddo was TIRED. We transplanted her from Mom to me at 8:40pm, and back just before 9pm, and (with soother) she stayed asleep. Usual dinner a bit after 10pm, everyone in bed except me by 11pm; I did more quiz marking, networking and junk to past midnight. Woke up 7am naturally (no alarm), had the wee one for six hours from 7:45am. Included two naps (9:15-9:45 and 12:10-12:40), a respite to shower (11:05-11:25 before Anne-Lise's bus to dentist) and the realization that Alexandra turns 90 degrees in her crib because she likes to smack the bottoms of her feet against things (to push off).

Tried to assemble playpen at 2pm, the "change table" part was messed up because if you put one thing in wrong, you can't undo it, and there's no warning. Frustrating. Went to calm down. Around 4pm as I was taking Alexandra back, she went from her side onto her front (with an arm trapped)... I untrapped the arm, and she held her head up like a boss. Mom had her most of the time in the afternoon though; quizzes were finished, a new math puzzle of the week was found, and some OAME was written up. Bed at the usual time.

Tuesday was... not great. Teaching was fine, then had to prep stuff, make a phone call, handle Cappies, stop at the store, and didn't get home until close to 4pm. Had wee one from 5pm to just after 6:30pm, when she was crying for sleep but couldn't manage it in my arms. (Though I got an extra star jumping around, which had temporarily helped.) Discovered I'd have an on-call, solidified being in a mood. Bed at regular time, she was in her crib until 6:20am.

Wednesday was long but much better. Teaching, test, Cappies, 10 minutes for lunch, on call, prepping 3M task, handling other items, stopping at store, home a bit after 4:30pm. With Alexandra from a bit before 5pm to a bit before 7pm, including a half hour snooze that took some effort to attain. Then making supper and marking. Break to put the wee one to bed after 10pm (drank almost 6 ounces, whoa), then finished 11:30pm. Wheee. Stayed off social media the whole day too.

Thursday woke up at 6:20am, used bathroom, changed munchkin and brought her to bed. Didn't end up falling back asleep, to school a bit early, handled things there including duty. Home by 12:45pm, learned that an hour ago Alexandra had been rolling over from her front to her back via her side. (Wee one was more concerned over a mirror than that, more a nonplussed 'so that's how that works'.) Anne-Lise caught video the third time. Was with munchkin for a bit over two hours total, split by about ten minutes in the middle. Included a 30 min snooze right near the start. They went for a walk at 3:30pm, I headed back out soon after.

Math social from 4:30pm to 7pm went well enough, got to talk to some people I hadn't in a while and got some affirmation that I have good writing and my FB posts about wee one are nice to read. Also, Marian Small. Would have been home for 8pm except for lineups for gas and Harvey's. Comic chat, then bedtime routine. Friday there was a fire drill, and I'd been made a warden a couple hours previous without being officially notified, so that happened. Anime club was fine, home before 2pm to get to Doctor's appointment. And kiddo's SIN card arrived!

Alexandra is almost at 5 kg. With the 15 minutes before leaving, and 45 minutes after getting home at 3:30pm, I face-planted after an hour with her. We need to implement a good snooze policy, maybe the bassinet in her room? (Saturday edit: No, she's not a fan.) Didn't really sleep. Did some grading, took her back just before 8pm for around 100 minutes including a sleep at the end, so saw my show. Bottle and bed after I managed some supper, then stayed up later for reasons. Woke up a bit after 7:30am.

Had wee one from 9am to 2:15pm, minus 40 minutes or so around 11am before Mom left for her class. We went out for a walk for part of that, also fit in a half hour snooze. Then some grading and writing, then munchkin from 5pm to 6pm, then out for RP. Got home 10:15pm in time for last bottle, which required two diaper changes - then she seemed very proud of herself and a bit wired, awkwardly. Too tired to properly finish my next part, but September hasn't had any day over 10 views, so fine.

*
Item counts run Sunday (Sept 23) to Saturday (Sept 29).

Step Count 2016: About 62,500
Step Count 2017: Over 65,500 (14 stars).
STEP COUNT 2018: Over 63,500. 10 stars.
Monday at home was under 7k.

FROM 2016:
-Had an eye appointment, queued T&T for all Oct, started playing Sakura Dungeon.
FROM 2017:
-School reprieve, sort of mending; became Time Travel Nexus writer, bought pants.

SchoolMail 2016: 74 (2 sent)
SchoolMail 2017: 131 (19 sent)
SCHOOL EMAIL 2018: 128 New (20 sent)
We have completed DAY 19-1. (That's 18, due to tornado.)



TEACHING RELATED ITEMS:
 -Grading rest of 4U Tests
 -Dealing with Cappies registration, issues
 -Designed new task for 3M
 -Worked out pre-task for 3M + Desmos
 -Loaded in students/assigns for marks program
 -COMA Social (Marian) and meeting
 -Started grading 3M Tests

WRITING + ART RELATED ITEMS:
 -OAME Recap Day 1
 -OAME Recap Day 2 + Board PD
 -Thursday stArt Faire Comic Chat
 -Wrote half of "Chanced Erasures 7"

OTHER ITEMS:
 -Post-tornado tidy of yard, swept porch/garage
 -Doctor's Appointment
 -RP "Tales from the Loop"
 -1+ Chapters of “Raising Your Spirited Child” (pg 458-end)
 -Paw, "King's Quest V" (original & NES) and "Retrospective".

UPCOMING FOR SURE:
 -Staff Mtg, Cappies Mtg, Train Trip, Thanksgiving

STILL FIVE TOPICS TO DO:
 -Recap for Math Social 2019
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk


RH Stress Level: 4 (Accel Shooter)

Saturday 22 September 2018

Now Parenting: Week 14

Step counter bracket is breaking, darn it. Breast pumping has resumed for more enzymes. Crib sleep seemed to go okay! Anyway, had wee one from 8:30-10:30am Sunday (including half hour snooze). Started quizzes after lunch. With Mom on the mat, she flipped from her front to her side (not right over). Finished quizzes before dinner. Late bath at 8:30pm, and (after all the shrieks) she was a lot more verbal for the evening it seemed. Also didn't want to go to bed at 10:30pm without a bottle (routine) despite four ounces at 9pm. Then had five ounces at 3am, and spit up a bunch just before 7am.
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Monday was teaching, talking to a student, being a client for students, and library duty involving a print and a checkout, all before noon. Then some prep, shopping, and home later than intended, close to 2:30pm. Two hours with Alexandra, including the usual snooze. She wouldn't go to sleep easily after 10:30pm, we traded off. Similar issues after her feed at 3am. Tuesday was less busy but still delayed in getting home until after 1:30pm; did three month photographs. Two hours was from 4:15pm to 6:30pm. She fell asleep about an hour after that... it does take over 30 minutes to put her to bed, what with the waking and feeding and calming back down.

Wednesday morning there was Flames hockey in China. Though I was teaching (former student came to ask me a logs question at lunch), then duty, then prepping, then the pickup was scheduled for the movie theatre at 3pm. Had wee one from about 4pm to 5:15pm, then marking quizzes, etc. Alexandra slept with Mom right through to 9:45pm though. A little hard to settle her down after, and brought to bed with us around 4am. Thursday morning she had a long stretch of sleep in morning.

Got home Thursday after 3pm, a bit later than hoped. Spent about 3:30pm to 6:15pm with Alexandra, though 45 minutes of that was a walk with Mom as well, up to the nearby viewpoint offroad. (Step counter officially broke then, looped belt around it.) Only the last 20 minutes was a snooze. Then tried to cut nails a little after 8pm, and cut her finger. I'm terrible! Bleeding stopped after over 20 minutes. ^_^; Was consoled by Mom. Bottle and bed was after 10:30pm. Still into bed with us at 4am.

Friday was looong. Teaching, anime club, little things like a call, COMA twitter, talk of student walkout, prep work, uploading files, getting shirts and lights (and duct tape to fix my pedometer). Yet home for 2pm, with Alexandra from 2:15pm to 4:15pm including a half hour snooze by her (and a longer one by Mom). Handling emails, then made dinner, as the lights flickered over weather. Back with wee one 6:45pm to 8pm. Finally ate dinner and Wynonna, and COLLAPSED, vaguely aware there had been a tornado.

Woke up at 2am during the feed and put on my pyjamas. Gave wee one a bottle at 7am, but officially started play time at 8:20am. (She does like her Mortimer moose.) Went through to 10:35, including a half hour snooze, and surprise diaper download (so soon after yesterday afternoon). Brief handoff, then Mom was off to her Zumba class. Time from 11:20 to 2:25pm included two snoozes (of 20 min and 35 min) and her smiling at me as she fell asleep which was so beautiful. Using a blanket buffer was such a good idea.

Rest of the afternoon/evening was marking tests/quizzes while observing things online, giving a bottle a bit before 8pm. Can you tell I put these things together in the evenings? There's no way I'd remember otherwise.

*
Item counts run Sunday (Sept 16) to Saturday (Sept 22).

Step Count 2016: About 67,900
Step Count 2017: Over 61,500 (14 stars).
STEP COUNT 2018: Over 57,200. 10 stars.
Weekends were under 6500; counter will no longer clip to PJs.

FROM 2016:
-Felt like I’d be busy until end of year. But with writing, etc. not teaching.
FROM 2017:
-Daily injections, cutting back on everything to deal with tech, stress level 8+.

SchoolMail 2016: 76 (1 sent)
SchoolMail 2017: 138 (22 sent)
SCHOOL EMAIL 2018: 103 New (17 sent)
We have completed DAY 14. Twitter spammed me a bit (COMA account).



TEACHING RELATED ITEMS:
 -Went over quizzes for 3M
 -Figured out new sequencing and quiz for 3M
 -Went over quizzes for 4U
 -Figured out new test and level 4 for 4U
 -Drysdale awards (posters, announcement, emails)
 -Grading most of 4U Tests (no totals)
Library duty twice, actually kind of busy to start the year with printing there, etc.

WRITING + ART RELATED ITEMS:
 -Finished recap for “Bill & Ted Save the Universe”
 -Thursday stArt Faire Comic Chat

OTHER ITEMS:
 -3 Chapters of “Raising Your Spirited Child” (pg 385-458)
 -2 Mharz "Mark of the Ninja"
 -Lotus Prince’s "Resident Evil Gaiden" (end) & "King's Quest VI"

UPCOMING FOR SURE:
 -COMA Social, Doctor Apt

STUFF THAT’S IN LIMBO:
 -Recap for OAME 2018
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk


RH Stress Level: 5 (ACS Stand by)

Saturday 15 September 2018

Now Parenting: Week 13

Based on the weigh-in, we should be passing 10 pounds during this week. Alexandra was then left with Jose, and Anne-Lise and I went to the “Back to the Future” tour of Beechwood Cemetery, as well as finding sleep/shower time. Everyone was back by 6pm for dinner, and after Alexandra ate, she was chill in her rocking chair for over half an hour. Then bath, and she was zonked out after the 10pm feed. (Though awoke early.)
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Teaching resumed, wasn’t too bad Monday. Got home, cut lawn partly, munchkin play, then COMA meeting. Off to Kyra’s for birthday, arrived 6:45pm. Left 7:30pm with Alexandra to drive around in car, she stopped screaming after leaving house. Fell asleep 8:15pm when I stopped the car and gave soother. Surprisingly still asleep 30 min later when relieved by Jose, and an hour later when brought inside. Semi-awoke while departing after 10:15pm. Managed to get her in bed a little over an hour later; looong day.

Tuesday was long at work: Teaching, then photo day, then duty, then prepping courses, then staff meeting, home just after 5pm. Out again an hour later (after feeding wee one) to Jose’s for final dinner, home again 8:30pm. Crashed 10:30pm. Alexandra slept until 4:30am! When Mom made a discovery, she ate 3 ounces, but then couldn’t get back to sleep - apparently needed more, hungry enough not to sleep but not so hungry as to complain.

Wednesday was short at work, to get home just after noon, to pick up Jose and get her to the train station (for her bus). After making lunch, me and Anne-Lise traded naps. Then a nice walk after 5:30pm; wee one still didn’t sleep. Yard care was done, marinated fish was made, late night bottle fussing was peculiar. Thursday was much the same, to pick up Anne-Lise and wee one from an appointment, except I didn’t nap. Instead dealt with messed up phone (removed/replaced battery) and hot water heater (used said phone to service call), then later on gas for car and comic chat.

Friday was eventful. School included the first real anime club, by the time I called home at noon, the gas valve had been replaced on the water heater and the house was tidy. Arrived just after 1:15pm in time for an hour of crying, where nothing seemed to work. Finally soother in the basement helped, then spent time in the crib as Mom went to get a prescription filled. More crying after a half hour nap ended at 3:45pm but brief. Much extended crying and not eating at maybe 5:30pm.

Seems like it’s the colic/PURPLE crying we haven’t experienced much yet? Finally settled in the sling. Then Dad gave her bottles and massages on the mat once she was calm. Last feed after Wynonna Earp, I was asleep before Anne-Lise. Then had Alexandra from about 7am to 9am Sat (including a snooze) until brunch/appointment. Home with a new OS (10.13.6) for 40 solid minutes of crying, and eventually a large diaper change. Later in the evening, she can still fall asleep in my arms. We're now trying crib only, no bassinet.

*
Item counts run Sunday (Sept 9) to Saturday (Sept 15).

Step Count 2016: About 76,300
Step Count 2017: Over 69,000 (19 stars).
STEP COUNT 2018: Over 74,900. 12 stars.

FROM 2016:
-Went to BC with Anne-Lise. Considered making posts into a newsletter.
FROM 2017:
-Many meetings, network fail as part of the CS horror show. CTP VIP.

SchoolMail 2016: 45 (2 sent)
SchoolMail 2017: 129 (21 sent)
SCHOOL EMAIL 2018: 123 New (10 sent)
We have completed DAY 9. I’m no longer being tracked on the .33 Long Term Absence list, yay?



TEACHING RELATED ITEMS:
 -COMA meeting and minutes Mon
 -Devised new quiz and revised lessons for 3M
 -Staff Meeting Tues
 -Going over quizzes for 4U
Students are interested in having me be a client for math software. I think writing combinations as an extra division to the side has been useful.

WRITING + ART RELATED ITEMS:
 -Most of recap for “Bill & Ted Save the Universe”
 -Wrote “Chanced Erasures 6"
 -Thursday stArt Faire Comic Chat

OTHER ITEMS:
 -Baby Weigh-In & Family Brunch Sun
 -“Back to the Future” tour at Beechwood Cemetery
 -Home dinner with Jose Sun
 -Niece birthday Mon
 -Family dinner Tues
 -Train station (bus) trip Wed
 -Mowed lawn, swept deck
 -Hot water heater investigation
 -Mac OS updated at store
 -1+ Chapters of “Raising Your Spirited Child” (pg 351-385)
 -Lotus Prince’s “God of Thunder” & Resident Evil Gaiden" (to 3)

UPCOMING FOR SURE:
 -...Nothing critical??

STUFF THAT’S IN LIMBO:
 -Recap for OAME 2018
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk


RH Stress Level: 5 (ACS Stand by)

Saturday 8 September 2018

Now Parenting: Week 12

Sunday showed a gain of 7 ounces plus tips on breastfeeding... and was a fairly relaxing day overall? Bath time tears was the worst of it. Monday, OH boy. After failing to get Alexandra to sleep after her 3am feed (Mom took over), Dad handled her from 8:00 to 9:30am. Then we headed to the Labour Day parade at 10:45. She fell asleep during her first bus ride.
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She was still asleep when we got there. Then she filled a diaper, so into City Hall for a change. Then the marching, and she was hungry, so Anne-Lise made a bottle and Dad got the wee one out of the stroller to eat. The mechanics of trying to have a blanket to put over her (it was humid as heck) caused a trade-off, and a trade-back. Basically, LOTS of activity, but by the time we reached the end she was asleep in her stroller again. Oy. We got our corn and headed home, arriving at 2pm just before the rain.

Then Justin Ferns came by a bit before 3pm to pick up Uncle Steve’s camcorder, and Jose and Cecile came around 4:30pm to check in. Alexandra was put to bed not long after 10pm, with the parents following an hour later. I was semi-awake overnight as Anne-Lise did the feeding (and second bottle), was up by 6:45am, took the wee one for 15 minutes as Mom had breakfast and got settled, then by 7:45am it was off to school.

Right, teaching, Day 1. That happened, plus a bit of socialization, and prep work, got home just after 3pm. Jose had taken Alexandra for a walk that morning; Dad took her after 4pm for a feed and some play, Mom made chicken dinner. Snooze-time didn’t go too well but tradeoffs worked out; Mom had also figured out that a butt wiggle can help keep wee one latched on. By contrast, Wednesday was terrible. Forgot my duty, missed an attendance, and removing files for the new semester took longer than hoped.

Anne-Lise, meanwhile, had gone to Jose’s because of the plumber still being there. I went home first, but when I tried to join at 4:30pm after the storm, the car battery was dead. Jose had to come and jump start me, then I drove for 40+ minutes, ending back at Jose’s around 6pm for dinner at this point. It was swelteringly hot, which made things awkward for the wee one too. Dinner at 7:15pm, Alexandra was almost screaming an hour later, we headed out, needed to jump the car again. She finally slept in Dad’s arms for a half hour after being back home. Everyone was in bed before 10:30pm.

Thursday woke up at 6:30am anticipating the car wouldn’t work (yup, took a cab). Teaching went better, had a massage after lunch to loosen up my right leg issues and got some stretching exercises. Then I decided to try the bus system, 30 mins to walk to Place, then a 91 bus where I got to ride up top, then a transfer immediately to a 7 at St. Laurent just after 2pm, which shouldn’t have been possible, but the 91 was early. Arriving home, guy across the street was getting out of his car, he gave me a boost (Jordan from Hamilton). So car got to the mechanic’s without CAA, and I had my daughter in my arms by 3pm.

I was more exhausted than anything by 10:30pm that night. A couple hours with the wee one, cooking dinner, doing the comic chat, just flattened me. Woke up at 6am and did the dishes since I was worried about that and everything else (like toting texts for Data). Morning of teaching was okay, some anime people came by at lunch, car just needed a new battery. Got a haircut on the way home, crashed for half an hour, then munchkin time. She slept from 8pm to 9:30pm, elongating actual sleep past 11pm, oops. Also caused a wakeup at 12:15am before the 4am one.

Alexandra did wake up again at 5:30am and Anne-Lise played with her, Dad took over around 9:30am and eventually had her for two hours while Mom went to her class. He accidentally clipped her leg in the chair and there was heartache. Later Mom went to Jose’s (long walk proved better on uneven grass than gravel), and Dad tidied up his life before dinner. After dinner, “Back to the Future” at Beechwood Cemetery, though Alexandra didn’t like the crowd; Jose hung back with her in the stroller to sleep. Saw the big dipper, possibly a shooting star, and there was applause when Biff got KOed. Half asleep munchkin drank 4 ounces when we got home and (stayed?) passed out.

*
Item counts run Sunday (Sept 2) to Saturday (Sept 8).

Step Count 2016: About 49,000
Step Count 2017: About 69,800 (14 stars).
STEP COUNT 2018: Over 72,700. 10 stars.
Lowest was 8000 on Friday.

FROM 2016:
-CanCon 2015 posts, as CanCon 2016 began.
FROM 2017:
-Returned to work, spent most evenings dealing with CompSci.

SchoolMail 2016: 57 (1 sent)
SchoolMail 2017: 79 (16 sent)
SCHOOL EMAIL 2018: 96 New (14 sent)
We have completed DAY 4.



TEACHING RELATED ITEMS:
 -Labour Day Parade Monday
 -Removing/Archiving old upload files for courses
 -Devising a plan and new slides for 3M
 -Created sample Media assignment (doing it different)
No TC this year, and I’m trying to do a math puzzle of the week. Also, instead of “any questions?”, “someone ask at least one question about this”.

WRITING + ART RELATED ITEMS:
 -Summary “Summer 2018” post
 -Thursday stArt Faire Comic Chat

OTHER ITEMS:
 -Baby Weigh-In & Advice Sun
 -Tidied up home computer files (esp. school)
 -Massage Wednesday
 -Car Battery Replacement (issues Wed/Thu/Fri)
 -Dinner with family Wed
 -Haircut Friday
 -Dinner with family Sat
 -“Back to the Future” movie with family Sat
 -1+ Chapters of “Raising Your Spirited Child” (pg 312-350)
 -Caught up with AT4W + Lotus Prince’s “Q&A” (2013 & 2018)

UPCOMING FOR SURE:
 -Brunch Sun, COMA Mon, Staff Tues, Mac Appt Sat.

STUFF THAT’S IN LIMBO??
 -Recap for OAME 2018
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk


RH Stress Level: 5 (ACS Stand by)

Monday 3 September 2018

Summer’s End 2018

A year for a teacher tends to run from September to August, no matter what the calendar says. It makes buying a planner book problematic, and leads to my “summer wrap-up” posts, as done in 2013, in 2014, in 2015 and in 2017. (In 2016, I was off work.)

Last year, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go back, out of a fear of being overwhelmed. Turns out I’m pretty good at self-awareness, I had a mental breakdown in October 2017 necessitating two weeks of medical leave, and a return minus the computer science course. The one I hadn’t taught in 10 years, where many students knew more than I did. Literally, because many had taken Grade 9 robotics. Whereas I still have a working 3.5” floppy drive at home.


Am I bitter? Maybe, sorta, not sure. I was on anti-anxiety/anti-depression meds (Cipralex) from October through to the end of July. So that was a new experience.

Of slightly more interest is the new experience of being a father. Pregnancy through the Fertility Clinic in September (because you can’t plan when that stuff’s going to finally work), leading to a birth in June, the day after Father’s Day (still Father’s day in Hawaii, on June 18 at 5:02am EST). As such, life has become a bit of an ongoing marathon.

Am I ready to go back tomorrow? Actually, this year, I think so - I’ll only be on mornings until January, and I have some ideas I’m considering implementing. Now, let’s do the category roundup.

WORK RELATED


I made it to OAME 2018 just outside Toronto (at Humber) this year. I’m on the registration committee for OAME 2019, which is locally in Ottawa, though not much has happened there yet. I’m still the COMA secretary, and we updated our Constitution. That online video on the Cubic Formula (which I said hit 900 views this time last year) is now at 3,585 views. I’ve replied to comments there, albeit not in a timely manner. I did another Christmas parody song, performed it at the Christmas assembly, and got a mention in the Yearbook.

I managed to create some new reviews and a new task for 3U (tire swing). I learned about giving quizzes through Google Sheets and assignments though Google Classroom, which was used for CS... I kind of hope I don’t need to deal with that again, but at least I now have recent knowledge. Some MDM course info was updated with better examples, and I learned leaving the second probability unit to the end didn’t seem to help much. But then, I’m not sure about the work ethic I was getting. There was a whole parody video submitted after I was out of class due to the birth of my daughter though, that was impressive.

“Phantom of the Opera” was in the Top 5 for Cappies Musicals, so in addition to some long days at the start of March, we had additional rehearsals for the National Arts Centre in May. (The performance cemented my non-attendance at Anime North the same weekend, which was already dicey given the pregnancy, so that 20+ year streak is dead.) Only one person wrote the Euclid, maybe I’ll have time to improve contest interest this year.

UPKEEP RELATED


We have a nursery. We always sort of did, but the old boxes have been moved out, a change table and crib were purchased and assembled, plus curtains. Many things (largely clothes) have been donated to us, we created a Baby Registry in February and there was a Baby Shower over the May long weekend. Plus a tour of the Civic Hospital, and everything else you might expect with a newborn on the way - with a larger number of ultrasounds, due to the circumstances plus gestational diabetes. Also, Prenatal classes, after I renewed my library card (from 1996), and we now do weekly weigh-ins on Sunday morning at the St. Laurent centre.

The cedars outside got some good trimming, and the City chainsawed down a lot of the tree(s) on the corner of our property (I’m guessing it was bug related, but who knows). The small cedars in front of our property are dead, except the ones outside the bedroom. Oops? Put up spoon racks in January, sort of tidied the kitchen island in July.

I’ve continued tracking all my steps, and have a star streak (10 mins of continuous activity) stretching back to March of 2017. Stopped yoga in December of last year, for reasons. My leg’s been paining me through the summer, this after having had arm pain on and off from November through March. I got a tetanus shot. Carrying the wee one is possibly building up my arms now? She does like walks in the basement to doze off.

Me and Anne-Lise had a one night getaway over March Break. (A massage then revealed what turned out to be a lipoma, a benign tumour of fat tissue, on a muscle near my shoulder.) Anne-Lise’s sister looked after the munchkin allowing us to go out for a 10th anniversary dinner in August (Pelican Grill).

HOBBY RELATED


Went to CanCon in 2017 for at least a few hours each of the three days in October (despite the CS insanity). Blogged about that (10 months later), as well as ConBravo 2017. Started writing for the “Time Travel Nexus”, monthly columns entitled “Drawing on Time”, and have done nine so far (two Bill & Ted, one Paradox Girl, the rest BTTF). Related, put together some videos based on my audio cassette of Jughead’s Time Police.

Continued with my “Any ~Qs” webcomic until the end of October 2017, marking a second full year (non-consecutive) of doing it without missing an update. Brought it back for January to June, rounding out Series 9 before putting it on hiatus. In the past year that it’s now been on Tapas, I got 9 subscribers. (I started posts there every other day, eventually pulling back to once every two weeks.) “Any ~Qs” was also the selection for “Comic Tea Party” in February 2018, and I’ve attended that on most Thursdays for the past year... even became a CTP VIP last September.

I’ve participated in three art exchanges on the StArt Faire Discord channel, which led to ParaB ice skating (by Ellie), a paired Easter picture (with Tenor), and a Tangent for summer (by Rebel). Also drew a Squiddy and some CHAMPS art. In late June, ‘SinewaveSanctuary’ commented on Personified Math back on Wattpad (where I’d given up). It now apparently ranks #28 (out of 134) in the mathematics category, while Rose’s story (TGWSWA) ranks #6. The latter apparently gained some traction, in terms of being added to a couple reading lists, plus votes by ‘Sinewave’, but no new comments. On RoyalRoadL, I got a nice review of “Time & Tied” in December 2017; nothing else happening there.

My serial site continued it’s updates of once every two weeks for the year (aside from the brief hiatus when my job killed me in October). The fourth “Epsilon” story concluded in December, Melissa Virga won a vote for what to do next, and so I edited her three old case files to be four parts each. We’re now into the fifth “Epsilon” story, as of July. I participated in the “April Fool” serial exchange once again, though didn’t do a behind the scenes post. The 400th post occurred on my personal blog (a story from my hard drive), and there were also individual posts there for my CS issues and provincial election issues.

PEACHES NANCY CREME
(Commission from pappomut)
“Time Untied” got kicked off! (YES!) Many of the characters have new names (too many started with “C”, I don’t know what it is about me) plus more fleshed out backgrounds. November, during NaNo, saw about 39,300 words. These were re-edited and placed into more manageable files, and the first 10k were then sent to “Ink & Insights” again. (I went for the Master category after last year’s placement, results are not back yet.) Finally in July (for Camp NaNo) another 7,000 words or so, including finishing the blasted scene with Heather that I’d been stuck on.

More passively, I discovered Lotus Prince as a “Let’s Play” person through “Fatal Frame” in late November, and have spent a lot of time watching his backlog, along with keeping up with Linkara and Nash. In fact I now do Patreon for all of them. I have bought a number of yuri manga. I saw the Nanoha movie in theatres and have some of the stickers.

MISCELLANEOUS


There were plays at the NAC with my wife (we’re taking a pass on next year), and some movies (Wednesdays are Stroller days going forwards - saw “Christopher Robin” that way). A SOAP/AC-Cubed 10 Year reunion happened in November. I tried out a new phone around December (Anne-Lise’s old phone) so have some sense of modern tech but never bought a plan, so it sits unused now.

Read key passages in the book “Mind Gym: Achieve more by thinking differently” thanks to the mental breakdown, and have read a number of Dad books; currently I’m on “Raising Your Spirited Child”. I’m still doing Roleplay with friends a Saturday evening or two per month.

WHERE TO NEXT


What’s missing out of all of that? Well, READING, for one thing. I fell way behind in my serials and webcomics, and haven’t really recovered yet. Plus there’s books sitting on my desk, where they’ve been for two years now, still unread. This was a lament last year too, seems I can’t find the time for it.

I need to update my OS, which didn’t seem to want to happen automatically, and when I downloaded manually, that didn’t work either... and unless I get this working, I can’t get my Wacom Tablet that my parents got me for my birthday working. Hopefully I can get to this in the next two weeks, before things get heavy (and while Anne-Lise’s mother is in town). I also want to get more done in “Time Untied”.

I didn’t keep up with TV (aside from Star Trek “Discovery”, “The Librarians” and “Timeless”), though my only real regrets there are “Supergirl” and to a lesser degree “Agents of SHIELD”. (Also “Steins;Gate 0” if it counts.) The faucet in the kitchen has been taped up but still doesn’t really work. And marketing has been basically DEAD, no guest posts or that sort of thing - in some sense it’s all I could do to make content itself.

Then there’s my daughter. She’s kind of a priority, and aside from vaccinations, can’t really be predicted. I am very much a “mother hen”, doing whatever I can for her, while simultaneously trying not to deprive her of her own experiences. As she’s underweight (born at 6 pounds, 6 ounces; in week 11 at 9 pounds, 8 ounces) there may be more upcoming there as well.

I guess we’ll see where this goes. For the moment, I have a vague idea of individual gags for “Any ~Qs” (which could translate better into other venues), but it’s on hiatus. I plan to continue the serials, even though I only get around 4 votes each time. And after a morning of teaching, and an afternoon of spending time with my daughter (giving my wife a break), anything else I can fit in is a bonus.

Thanks for reading this randomness! If you have any tips, either about time management or parenting, feel free to leave a comment. You can also comment with applause for any of my accomplishments. Speaking of, Gods, I have to get out of bed at 7am tomorrow. x.x At least my wife has said she’ll temporarily take over the 3am feed.

Saturday 1 September 2018

Now Parenting: Week 11

The main event Sunday morning was the weigh-in, discovering that Alexandra hadn’t gained any weight (still at 9 pounds, 1 ounce). So, disconcerting and puzzling. Then to the train station, and home (she drank 5 ounces then), and back out later to pick up a video unit for my Uncle Steve. Bath time was fine.
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Monday was a bigger day, Dad had some time in the morning, then again when Anne-Lise went to pick up a prescription. Alexandra seemed to be wanting to communicate while rocking in the chair (and she liked looking at the panda rattle, much like she’s more interested in mobiles now), not that Dad understood. We headed out to Hawkesbury about 2:30pm (then back for the bassinet, mental note, make lists), arriving only shortly before the bank appointment (oops).

In a hot office, apparently the wee one’s skin can flush red! O.o And in addition to lists, don’t change plans last minute, Anne-Lise said rather than bottles, bring the Similac itself, and then I’m at a Shoppers in Hawkesbury (it’s all French) to buy more. It was good with Suzanne though, after talking Power of Attorney, we had photos, and talked over dinner (Alexandra in the Ktan) and later Dad played with the wee one on the mat while the others chatted. WOW did it rain on the way back after 9pm though.

Tuesday’s vaccinations went surprisingly well, in less than an hour, you’d never know she’d been disrupted by anything more than my sneezing. She was up an ounce, recommendation was an extra (fourth) bottle during the day. Was able to pull together more posts that afternoon, and dishes - then there was a diaper blowout before bed (which I guess beats in bed?).

Wednesday I went to work. Got documents updated and photocopied, learned somehow I wasn’t getting some admin emails, was reminded of how slow computers are (gotta virus scan, apparently :P). Got home after shopping, quick lunch, time with Alexandra; apparently things weren’t bad for her in the morning. With Dad, wee one held her head up for several seconds during tummy time, and Mom figured out she likes a moving mobile, not a stopped one. Then she had hunger pains and more about 9pm though, causing something of a rift, and I should’ve traded dinner times with Anne-Lise, derp.

Thursday went better, despite the early rising to get Anne-Lise to blood work and optometrist. She got back shortly after wails, Dad made lunch and dinner, in between of which we were at the Lego exhibition at the Museum of Science & Technology. Alexandra wore shorts for the first time. Dad did hover too much as Gillian was there. Anne-Lise bought an explorers book for the wee one.

Later that evening during pumping, Dad heard an “oh wow” for the spinning mobile, and then Mom found not having the panda face on the rattle was less unnerving. Then in the bassinet, which was put in the crib for the first time for sleeps. 3am feeding in her room went okay; she loves that mobile now “but why is it here”. Then she wasn’t zonked like she’d been at 11pm, so bit harder to settle in. Anne-Lise checked on her, then was up at 6:30am and let me sleep to 9:15am. Then to 10:30am.

I took the wee one then, and the day became a bit of a roller coaster. Monitor battery life sucks, moved to have it always plugged in, necessitating a switch back of our sides on the bed. Did get dishes, comments, tweets and card to Mom done, in batches. Also walking with Alexandra after 5pm, swinging by DQ, and sleeping my arms. But she was screaming before 8pm then again before 9pm, and I did my best as Mommy was wiped out. (She eventually got the sling going, and Dad caught the last 15 minutes of his show.)

Possibly overfed Alexandra, due to the crying? At the 4:30am feed, she took five ounces, then had a complete throw up (not a spit up) about 6am, all over her and everything, so a trip to bed with us. I missed a burp, maybe? Never got settled after, less than four hours of total sleep. Mom decrees no more sleepwear either, her legs keep coming out of the sleeves and annoying her. Alexandra was all smiles for breakfast out though, and how can you be mad at that? Dad took her for 90 minutes at home after, which included needing to deal with a scary diaper solo. In the evening, it was 2.5 hours, the last 45 minutes of that sleeping in his arms. ^.^ Somehow, writing got done amidst all that.

*
Item counts run Sunday (Aug 26) to Saturday (Sept 1).

Step Count 2016: About 57,550
Step Count 2017: About 68,000 (20 stars).
STEP COUNT 2018: Over 59,100. 10 stars.
Only Friday was over 10k; only Tues was under 7.5k.

FROM 2016:
-Posted ConBravo 2016 recaps, continued T&T rewrites, read and walked.
FROM 2017:
-Spent 4 of 5 days dealing with teaching issues, launched on Tapas.

SchoolMail 2016: 22 (2 sent)
SchoolMail 2017: 59 (13 sent)
SCHOOL EMAIL 2018: 26 New (3 sent)
The new lockers still haven’t been installed. School’s off limits this weekend.

TEACHING RELATED ITEMS:
 -Went in to school, handouts updated and photocopied

WRITING + ART RELATED ITEMS:
 -Finished ConBravo 2017 Video Production 103 report
 -Completed CanCon 2017 “Computers Don’t” report
 -Completed CanCon 2017 Self-Pub & Writing report
 -Completed CanCon 2017 Romantic panel report
 -Completed CanCon 2017 Magic & Trek report
 -Completed CanCon 2017 transcriptions/bribery report
 -Thursday stArt Faire Comic Chat
 -Wrote short PD post on Projects last August
 -Wrote “Chanced Erasures 5” (near 2k)

OTHER ITEMS:
 -Weigh-In & Train station Sun
 -Barrhaven camcorder trip Sun
 -Hawkesbury visit Mon
 -Vaccination shots Tues
 -Trip to Science&Tech Museum (legos) Thurs
 -Breakfast with friends Sat
 -1 Chapter of “Raising Your Spirited Child” (pg 280-310)
 -Lotus Prince’s “Corpse Party Blood Drive” (28 to 35/end)

UPCOMING FOR SURE:
 -Labour Day parade. BACK IN SCHOOL. Massage. Cemetery movie.

STUFF THAT’S IN LIMBO??
 -Recap for OAME 2018
 -Write a TANDQ article on Polling and Bias
 -Write a post about types of praise/encouragement
 -Catching up with web serials
 -Read some of the books sitting at my desk


RH Stress Level: 3 (Divine Buster, Extension)