Change is Good, Right?

I did it.  I did the one thing that I thought I would never ever (ever!) do.  Not in my wildest dreams.

I gave my employer notice that I was leaving in two weeks.

I thought I would be at my employer, SB, forever.  I have been working there since the day I graduated from Trinity Western University (I graduated on Saturday, April 29, and started working on Monday, May 1st).  I have been there for eight and a half years, and that is coming to an end in two weeks.

It's time though.  I've seen the company go through huge changes - starting in a new province, starting overseas in two different countries, and then merging with an American company.  I was there at the beginning when our CEO would suddenly come into the work area, stand on a cubicle desk, ring a bell, and announce whatever exciting news he had to share.  The company was small - like a family of sorts.  It's now a corporation, and so things are different.  Not different bad, but, just different.

I was content to work in this 'differentness' though, because I don't like change.  I love my job.  I love knowing my job and doing well at it.  I love the independence of knowing exactly what I have to do each day and not having to be told what to do.  I absolutely love the people I work with.  I've been working with these ladies since the day I started in accounting and so they know me well.  They know I am sarcastic and thrifty and have lame jokes.  And I think they like me too.

Anyways, my contentedness with working at SB all changed when there was a message on my answering machine on Monday when I got home from work from my brother-in-law asking if I was interested in an accounting position at his company.  All of a sudden, there was an opportunity outside of SB.  My head was spinning that entire night.  I'm not a huge fan of change, especially when it's unexpected.  I started weighing pros and cons.  I called my boss at her house that evening and told her about the offer, and to see if they would counter offer to try to keep me.  I was working my required 20 hours over three days, and I only wanted to do it over two days.  Two days away from my kids is plenty.  Three days is too much.  I didn't want to have a reason to leave.  I wanted them to want me.  She spoke to our CFO the next day and then informed me that nothing would be changing since my part-time status was an exception already.  I had a huge decision to make.

A quote posted on Instagram caught my eye that evening, "Everything you've ever wanted, is one step outside your comfort zone."  It may sound corny, but I think it was meant to be posted, it was a sign.  I'm so very comfortable in my bubble that I often miss opportunities just because I'm scared to try new things.  Over the next couple of days I accepted the position with my brother-in-law and wrote my resignation letter.

Today, I met with my boss and handed in my letter.  I already had to fight back tears today just over the thought of leaving (and I'm not even an emotional person!), but I know it's for the best.  I'll look back someday and will see that I did the right thing (hopefully!).  For now, I'll enjoy my last two weeks of being comfortable and then I will start all over again, outside of my comfort zone.

Our Saturday

Matthew and Kayla walked into our bedroom this morning at 7:20am, and when I woke up I said, "Mom and Dad are still sleeping," and so they left the room.   I didn't think anything of it as I laid my head back down on my pillow, but when I woke up again at 7:40am I thought I better go check on them.  I peeked into their room and they had nicely climbed back into bed and were silently waiting for one of us to get up.  So sweet.  I brought them downstairs where they climbed onto 'their spots' on the couch and were ready to watch Little Bear (more specifically, the 'Rain Dance Play' episode, as per their request - you know your kids love Little Bear when they now the names of the episodes...).  I went back upstairs to shower and get ready for the day, and then peeked in at Nathan at 8:00am who was silently just standing in his crib, waiting for someone to take him out.  So sweet.

At 10:30am I dragged Matthew and Kayla out of the house with me and headed to Toys 'R' Us.  They were having a Lego "Make and Take" event starting at 11am where kids ages 4+ could make a Lego car/jet and then got to take it home (I figured Matthew and Kayla were close enough to being four and good enough at Lego to be able to do it).  I assumed there would be some keeners arriving early, so my plan was to be there early too.  Note to self:  I should have been earlier.  There were probably about 30 kids in line ahead of us when we got there.  Matthew and Kayla nicely stood by my side as we waited in line.  They were so good.  The event ended up starting late, at 11:15am, and so we didn't get to the front of the line until about 11:40am.

The kids each received a bag and then dutifully walked along the table taking the required number of each type of Lego piece needed out of the little containers.  Before dropping them in the bag I inspected their selection to make sure that they had not over-taken or under-taken on anything.  I decided to not make the car/jet there because Matthew and Kayla were tired of being there, so we left once we had everything.  

I then dragged Matthew and Kayla along to Superstore, where I had to hit up the sales and items I had PC Plus points for and then we headed home.

Nathan nicely napped for 2.5 hours, and during that time we had pancakes for lunch (thanks, Jon!), created our Lego jets, and tidied up.  When Nathan woke up the kids quickly had a snack and then we bundled up to walk to our nearest polling station to vote.  Matthew asked what voting was...how the heck do you explain that to a kid, especially when you're as politically dumb as I am?  I said that we were voting for people to be leaders in the city and make decisions and rules.  I then asked Jon who I was supposed to vote for :).

After voting we walked over to Extra Foods, picked up a Delissio pizza for dinner and a Starbucks for the walk back.  It was a nice surprise to find out it was a 'buy one get one free' day at Starbucks today for all of their Christmas-y drinks.  Yay!  One drink doesn't go very far when you have three kids that want their equal share of it (yes, even Nathan likes coffee!).

We got home and I put the three kids in the bath while Jon cooked the pizza.  I usually try to give Matthew and Kayla a bath on Saturday evenings so I can wash their hair for Sundays.  If they don't get their bath on Saturday evening then I have to get them in the bath Sunday morning which makes for a busier morning before church.

We quickly ate our pizza, and then watched Shrek on "Jon's" tv.  The only time Matthew and Kayla watch tv on Jon's tv (super large screen) is if we're having a pizza/movie night, so it's really special for them.  Matthew and Kayla have just 'learned' how to sit through a movie, so over the past couple of months we've been trying to make our way through a lot of the Disney/Pixar movies.  So far we've watched:  Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, and Snow White.

As soon as the movie ended at 7:30pm, all three kids headed upstairs to bed, and were asleep within moments of turning the lights out (which is the norm for them).  And so here I set, uploading my October pictures to Picaboo so I can work on my photobook (yes, I actually got caught up again!), loading pictures to this blog and writing this entry (as boring as it probably is!), checking mtv.ca on Jon's laptop to see if there are any episodes of the Teen Mom series that I haven't seen (the sound on my laptop doesn't work), and procrastinating doing anything productive, such as housework (thanks Colin, for pointing out my fingerprint-filled tv) and working for BLG.  

And that, my friends, was our Saturday.  A day in the life of us :).

Halloween

Jon hurried home from school on Friday (Halloween) so that we (and by we, I mean he) could quickly carve a pumpkin with the kids.  They wanted nothing to do with it.  Kayla said that she, "didn't want to get her hands dirty."  They just sat around the table and watched him.

I wanted to have the kids 'match' or follow a 'theme', but I didn't want to buy a costume for Nathan because I already had a lady bug and bumble bee in his size (from Matthew and Kayla's Halloween when they were 1.5 years old).  So, my starting point was bumble bee.  I also did not want to have to buy anything new, so I hunted around Craigslist and my facebook swap group for a month.  This is what I came up with...

Matthew was a "Sider" aka Spider.  I had a difficult time finding him a spider costume (most bug costume are ladybugs for girls or bumble bees, which he already was).  I originally had bought a size 12-18 month spider costume off of my swap, which fit him, but the legs were short looking.  A few weeks later I came across this one on Craigslist...but it was just the body.  My mom suggested I put Matthew in a pair of Kayla's black leggings (as opposed to the black cargo pants I originally had him in) and that I use the headpiece from the 12-18 month costume.  I always do what I'm told, and moms know best, so voila!  Matthew the Spider.

Kayla was a butterfly.  The skirt is a hand-me-down from her cousin Annika, as is the shirt.  I bought the wings (brand new) from Value Village (they're so cute and sparkly), and I made the antenna by adding a pipe cleaner to one of my headbands.  Voila!  Kayla the Butterfly.

And Nathan was a bumblebee.  He wasn't too impressed to be put in his costume, as it wasn't very big on him.  Poor kid has a somewhat large head, so it took a little wiggling to get it through the neck of the costume.  He eventually came around and stopped crying.  Voila, Nathan the Bumble Bee.

The kids did great trick-or-treating.  Kayla was very confident and actually lead us from house to house to house.  There was no stopping her.  It gets quite busy in our area, and so Nathan could not be left to walk on his own or he would be run over.  Luckily, he was pretty content to be put in the stroller once we got tired of carrying him.

The kids have been really good about the candy, too.  Jon and I, not so much.  The candy just sits on the coffee table, and for the most part, they ignore it.  The only time they ask for something is if they hear us trying to sneak something.  Matthew will say, "I'm hungry," and Kayla will say, "Did you hear something?  What was that wrapper noise?"  It's quite cute.  Not that we sneak candy all the time...we mostly eat it at night once they're in bed.  Don't look at all the wrappers in our garbage can...

Fighting a Fever

Nathan's been fighting a fever today.  I managed to get about 1/2 tsp of children's tylenol in him this afternoon which gave him a much needed break from the fever...which led to some napping on me on the couch at 4:30.  I wasn't complaining...Jon was cooking dinner so I could enjoy the cuddles while wasting time on the internet.