I don't wanna work, I just wanna...

...relax. Yesterday was my last day at work for the next year and I am happy! As much as I've tried to take everything in stride, the stress level was beginning to be a bit much. Working at a financial institution during December is normally a cake walk. People tend to be more concerned about spending their money, not thinking about their retirement savings. This year was totally different than years past. Many of our clients were moving their RRSP money around like crazy, plus all of the 69 year olds had to convert their RRSPs to RRIFs by December 31st, or the last business day of December 30th. Long story longer, this plus half the office being away on holidays, made for an incredibly busy latter part of December.

I have mixed feelings about being away from the office for the next year. I get along really well with a handful of co-workers and will miss them quite a lot. We get some really good banter going on and I'm certainly not going to get that from the dogs or the baby! A Mom was telling me that she realizes some days she won't have had a single conversation the entire day! Of course then her husband comes home and she wants to talk his ear off and he wants everyone to keep it down because (understandably) he's probably tired of hearing people talking to him. What a dilemma. I suppose the key is to take everything one day at a time rather than my classic approach of worrying about it before it's even happened.

I've had a bout of bad luck as of late and I'm hoping it leaves my side soon. I seem to have some negative energy, man (said in the voice of Tommy Chong).

Good news is the latest Doctor's appointment went smoothly. My blood pressure is up a bit, but after the day I had at the office it was bound to be up. The baby is fine, his head is still facing downwards which makes me wonder if he's just waiting for his exit. I saw a funny shirt the other day that read, "I went all the way down the birth canal and all I got was this stupid shirt". Yes folks, I am going to dress the wee'un in oddball clothing from time to time, so get ready. I figure I might as well dress him in funny stuff now because there will come a day when he will be able to protest and even choose his own clothing. I would really like to learn how to sew because I think I have better ideas for clothing, at least the pattern of the material, than are currently available in baby's clothing.

Who says we have to dress our babies in ducks, puppies and teddy bears? Now that conjured up an image! What I meant to say is, why is all of the baby clothing emblazened with ducks, puppies and teddy bears? I imagine if I dressed the baby in actual ducks P.E.T.A. would be all over me! I like the idea of more retro materials such as funny cartoon space cowboys or why not a Ramones t-shirt. He's no more into ducks than he is the Ramones, society just tells us to make everything cutesy.

My parents bought some really cute and verging on outrageous madras plaid pants that look like they should be on a 70 year old man playing golf in Florida - now that's what I'm talking about! I guess I'm not really into looking like everyone else and that is coming out when I think about how our child will dress. Funny thing is, at the same time I am still a sucker for the ducks, puppies and teddy bears...go figure.

Onto something a bit more thought worthy. My Doctor's appointments are now on a weekly time frame, with the next one being the dreaded internal exam. For those of you who have had it, I'm sure you're feeling my anxiety and for those who haven't had one, I won't get into the gorry details. The good thing is after the exam I will know how my cervix and pelvis are coping with the baby and how far along his head is. The even cooler thing is, this will help Dr. Lemke determine if my February 1st due date is accurate.

Happy new year everyone! I hope it's full of happiness, good health, love and excitement.

- the McKinnons