Sunday, July 26, 2009

moving

So I think I've decided to move over to KCL. It seems more like the old JS and I'm getting more response over there. I think I'll still keep this login as I haven't figured out KCL yet and I'm not sure how to add to my faves list for blogs not on KCL.

Either way, come check it out. If you're an old JS'er you'll know what I mean right away....

silvertag.keepconnectedlive.com

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

bank screw up

I stopped to get a drink to bring to work this morning and had to use my debit card. No big deal, I do it all the time, we have unlimited transactions. And the message comes back, card not set up. Huuuuhh? I ask the lady to try again, maybe I picked the wrong account. It happens again. I use another card and leave.

I, then call the bank to see wtf, as I just used that card last night and I KNOW there's money in the account. They ask if I got my new chip card in the mail. I say no. He then tells me, oh yes it looks like it was returned to us. So, then I ask. OK, so you just told me that the bank sent me out a new card, it was returned and my old card was still cancelled....? Um, excuse me?!

We check my address on file and it's the old address - from a year ago! However, get this...Chris and I have a joint account, our monthly bank statements come to our current address, why did my new card go to an old address? Well apparently even though our account is joint, and we updated the address "under his card", we still had to do it under mine as well. Stupid.

He asked me then if he could help me locate my nearest branch and could I possibly go in and get a new card. I said, I know where a branch is, thank you very much and I guess I have to go in and get a new card, as mine doesn't work and I can't just wait for up to 2 weeks for a new debit card to come in. Hmmm... I was polite to him, but seriously, there are some things you don't learn off a computer.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

sigh...

I can see how this job would stress someone out. It’s pretty common knowledge that when you start a job, your going to have to clean up a mess left from the person before you. Either they were fired for not doing the job properly – leaving a mess behind, or they quit because they had enough – and they left a mess behind because they didn’t care anymore. Either way, I realized when I was starting I’d have a mess to clean up, but I had no idea it would be this bad. Or take this long to clean up. I have about $30,000 in claims that are too old to re-submit or to try to get payment from the customer on. And to get them removed from my warranty schedule, I have to justify each claim as to why it’s not been paid, why we can’t bill the customer, or why it wasn’t removed earlier. Luckily, I can still claim the person before me, even though that really was the case. It’s still stressful.
Every time I find something that is a mess left from the person before me, I have to justify it to a ton of people who all think this girl was great, an amazing warranty person. However, in my mind, if she was so great, there would not be this mess. I’m frustrated and I have no one to help me. It’s going to be a long month until (hopefully) I can get some of this cleared out. For now, I just have to focus on trying to keep current and trying to clean up the mess and hope that after that month, I still have a job. *sigh*

Monday, July 6, 2009

ouch

In other news:

I dropped a sharp knife into my toe this morning before work, it stabbed me, bled all over the freakin' floor, my kitchen towel, my foot. It hurts like hell still and I can't get shoes on.

I'm working the late shift today.

Chris is back to work - yay!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

sheesh

I can't believe I haven't written in weeks. I've been so busy! So, I can't seem to find out how to view blogs when I'm not a member at KCL or wordpress. So irritating. And I can't even post a comment to people to see if I can be added to an "allowed to read" list. Anyone know how to fix this?

We've been working around the house, more painting. It's starting to look really good. I was off yesterday for Canada Day and today feels like Monday all over again. My mom is coming up tomorrow for the weekend and Chris is still home. I'm hoping for a nice relaxing weekend.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Grouch

I’m cranky today I think. I’m tired and I’m trying to clean up the mess and small things that need to be cleaned out today. I’m out of the office the rest of the week at a Cat engine course in Edmonton for 3 days. Part of me is looking forward to it, but part not. I hope it’s not all technical, that would be dry and boring. I also need to review all my service bulletins today sometime too. I think this afternoon will be likely mostly reading. Dull.

I’m starting to resent that Chris is still off when I’m working. He’s been off for 3 months and I figured it out a few weeks ago that I work more hours in a year than he does. I definitely work more days too. When he works, he works 12-hour days and usually 14 days in a row. But he’s been off for 3 months and on vacation basically. It irritates me that I have to leave him a to-do list for the house and that half the time it doesn’t get done. He always has an excuse, something took longer than it should have, or whatever. But after almost 3 months of being broke, with barely any income from him, I’m tired of it. I’m sick of leaving every morning while he’s still in his pj’s or sleeping, I’m sick of the house not being super clean when I get home or supper made. I’m tired of being the one to make lists of things to do.

Like I said, I’m cranky today.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

runaway train

It’s like a train ran through the service department today. The Service manager from Calgary was here today and seriously, it was rough all around. The service advisors got crap for stuff, the shop foreman got crap for stuff. I didn’t get crap for anything, but he picked apart my schedule (accounting schedule) and why was this and that. I didn’t get a chance to go for lunch until 2:00.

It’s a stressful day.

And it’s 3:00 now, thank goodness, coffee break and soon time to go home. What a mess. I have things to do, but my head is spinning and I need to stop thinking.

The thing that gets me is the warranty guy in Calgary is the big hero, but he’s not. He’s never in his office and won’t call me back. When I ask him for help, a lot of the time he say’s he’s too busy. Thanks.

I’m glad tomorrow is Friday.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

back and forth

I swear somedays I'm not sure where I started and where I end up, or if I really made any progress in 8 hours. Maybe I just sat here and the world passed by me and I didn't move...

I had 12 claims to do today. That's it, just 12 and I'd be totally current. Well I've been busting it all day and I still have 4. WTF? I know I put through more than 8 today. Warranty is a never ending circle. No matter how many you get put through in a day, they still keep adding more. Unless you work a Saturday or something, but that's not likely to happen.

Although I have discovered the wonderment of radio online. Sweet. I wasn't allowed to listen to radio on the net before. I think I like it. If only I could get the bounce to work...

Tonight we are painting closet doors, putting the breezeway back together, cleaning the spare bathroom. My parents (Dad side) are coming to stay on Friday and Sunday night with us. I need to make sure that part of the house is a bit cleaner.

I'm thinking I need to plan a BC trip. My niece is not going to know who I am. I'm also thinking I need to buy some summer pants. I'm not allowed to wear shorts, skirts or capri's at work and I'm hot in here already.

This post is boring. One more hour until I can leave. I'm going to try to make that 4 to 3.

Monday, June 8, 2009

A new week

It’s been a busy day. Funny how in my old job I had tons of time everyday to do nothing, I was bored. Now I’m behind from the old person leaving and no one doing this job for about 6 weeks and I’m really busy. It’s actually coming along pretty well that I’m catching up. My goal is to be current by the end of this week. I think I should be able to do it.

I have a list of things to do daily amongst submitting claims for 5 different manufacturers. The bulk of it is truck side (versus engine) and is the easy stuff to code and claim. The other 4 are all engine related and have to be claimed through a different manufacturer. Anyhow, I had a TON of engine claims to code, claim and close. I did about 17 of them on Friday – which is a lot! Anyhow, I have some that need to be checked on to see what their status is, some that need to be submitted and others that I just need to code the credits. It’s coming along, but I swear I had over 100 claims that were waiting to be processed when I started. And they were keeping all the claims and work orders in my office. I swear on my one shelf alone I had about 2000 pages.

Either way I’ve been clearing out the excess paper and trying to get it all cleared up to current. It’ll be much, much easier to keep up once I’m current and I can maintain the schedule they want me to do. For right now I’m just winging it, hoping that eventually I can keep up and get to working on some other stuff – as in changing a few processes to make it easier. For right now, the days are going by very fast and I’m always busy.

We had a good weekend. The weather was crappy and cold so we stayed inside and watched CSI on DVD. My Dad and my step-mom are coming to stay with us on Friday night and Sunday night and I have a party in the city on Saturday night. So, Chris is finishing painting the breezeway and the spare room closet doors. Once the doors are painted that room is completely finished. I’m looking forward to that. We are considering starting a new project in the spare bathroom. It’ll be pretty easy and way faster than the spare room. We’re still planning on scraping the stippling off the ceiling, removing the joiners on the walls, painting the ceiling and painting the walls. But because of how small the room is, I mean it IS a bathroom, it should be done quickly. However, sanding will of course get dust throughout the house. Again. I guess it can’t be avoided.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Summary

I used to blog almost everyday during the week. Then my job changed and I wasn’t able to access it online. Now I have a new job and I’m so busy I don’t have time to blog.

However, I miss it, so I need to find a way and some time to do it. After JS ceased it seems harder and harder to keep track of where people are and due to my lack of time lately it’s even worse.

Enough of that.

So….break up is almost over – thank goodness! I love having my husband home, but having no influx of a regular paycheck sucks. We finally were approved for EI, but it took 9 weeks to come in and they owed him 7 weeks of back pay. Things were getting tight. We finally got a payment, and built our fence with it, lol.

We also got a tax bill stating that we owe 2 years of taxes – grrrrrr! Stupid lawyer didn’t take care of it. So while Chris is not working, we now owe $1800 of property taxes that is not in our budget, and it’s accumulated a full year of interest. Nice hey? I need to call our mortgage company and see if they can help us in some way. That lawyer was the dumbest guy and he messed up several times on our file and it annoys me we had to pay him so much!

The new job is great – I love it. I miss the guys I used to work with, but I love the new and the challenge of something better. I’m still training, or learning so it takes me awhile and I’m massively behind as no one did the job for 6 weeks before I started, but I’m working steadily and getting closer to catching up. If only I could get what I have on my “to-do” list done today I’ll be pretty current. Although I’m not exactly sure I’ll be able to do that, but I’m working on it.

I’m exhausted and so ready for the weekend. We’ve been working on the fence all week and last weekend, and it’s pretty much finally close to being done. We had planned a BBQ with our neighbors tonight, but they said they’d come if it wasn’t raining. It’s snowing/raining/sleeting this morning. *sigh*

Well better get to it and see what I can accomplish this morning.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The great reno of 2009

I hate that I haven't been on here in forever. Life is crazy. Training for the new job and all kinds of life stresses. I know that blogging would be therapeutic for me, but I can't find the time. Either way, this is our spare bedroom. We've been working on it for weeks, and it's finally done. I can't find a before other than how it looked the day we moved in, so we'll start there...

Ta-daaa! Here is the after. I LOVE how it turned out!!!!!

And of course the super cool light I found at Ikea.... I love that place! The picture looks a bit crappy, but the light is white and it was hard to take. But picture it white, lol.


What do you think?



Friday, May 8, 2009

busy week off

I can't believe this week is over! I've been off work for a full week now and I can honestly say it's what I've been needing! I feel great. I've been sleeping in, we've been working around the house, I've done a few Epicure parties.

We planted part of our garden, but it wont stop raining so the rest will have to wait. It's not continual raining, but it's cloudy and overcast and spits a bit then dries up again. Crazy.

We tore apart the spare bedroom (front room). We both absolutely HATE that popcorn ceiling spackling stuff, so we decided to scrape it off. Looks great - what a freakin' mess though! Then we've been priming the walls and ceiling and put the first coat of paint on this afternoon. We are going to wallpaper one wall as a focus wall too. I'm excited for the finished project, I think it'll look great. We're aiming to get most of it done this weekend - as I start my new job on Monday!!

I'm really looking forward to starting!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

moving on *updated*

I’m a bit grossed out and annoyed by sexist pigs today. They have been interviewing for my position this week and it makes me a bit sick. Seriously.

I fully understand that appearances matter in some jobs and depending on what you do. But not in my position. Not to say that I think I’m unattractive. Or attractive for that matter. I’m ok with my appearance and how I look, but that’s not the focus of this post. My annoyance stems to a comment that was just made by the hiring manager. (Same said manager that is the main cause of my leaving the company).

He has been interviewing a lot this week. 5 on Monday, 2 today so far and 2 this afternoon that are 2nd interviews. One girl just left this morning. Her interview was about 10 – 15 minutes shorter than all the rest have been, but when she left his comment to my office-mate was “I can see why she was recommended”. Are you frickin kidding me????!!!!!

Ok, she was small, cute, and blonde. I’m cool with that. I know what I am and what I’m not, and I’m ok with that. But seriously? Her interview was shorter I’d guess not because you had a lot to talk about, but rather because she’s not right for this position – for whatever reasons. But to come down here and make such a rude, sexist comment – right in front of me, was totally uncalled for!

It’s been a strange experience to sit here and watch the girl’s parade in and out of here and to listen to him describe my position. (I can hear him upstairs talking when I’m in the shop and it’s quiet). The most ironic thing is that he has no clue what my position entails. He might say that he knows what needs to be done, but for how to manage your time to get it all finished and whatnot, he has no clue. I digress.

I know he’ll hire based on the brain in his pants rather that above his shoulders. You can see a trend since he started the hiring in this company. All young, all pretty girls. Most inexperienced and all ass-kissing yes girls. The ones that say yes to everything he asks or whatever he wants them to do.

Why does this bother me?

Because I spent the past 3+ years making this position. I have worked very hard and developed a routine to make this all happen. I’ve worked with customers and learned who they are, what they want and their needs. We’ve developed relationships and respect among colleagues. I hate the feeling that a yes girl who is going to sit here and kiss ass and mess it all up. I care about the work I’ve done and all the effort and frustration I’ve put into this place is going to be a complete waste.

I’m sad about leaving the people that have made the past days enjoyable and something that I’ve looked forward to in all the crap that I’ve had to deal with.

One tech this morning thanked me for all my work with him, for training him, for helping him, for being someone to confide in, for trying to help him. He told me he was going to miss me and what was he going to do without me. Another sent me an email (from the field) telling me that I can’t leave and what was he going to do with me gone and that I need to stay. I’ll miss them a lot and it’s going to be hard to walk away tomorrow.

I’m ready for a new job and this new phase of my life to begin. However, I’m sad to leave the people I work with everyday and talk to everyday. I’m going to miss them.

*Update*
To add insult to the mix - they let me go early and paid me out. I'm insulted. I feel like this was the last slap on the way out the door.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

room with a view

Ok more like an office with no window. But woo hoo!

Maybe I'll start over. I got a call from my new general manager today. Asking if I could come to the office and meet my new manager and talk schedule. Sure thing.

They are very nice and I'm really excited to start!! We did a tour of the location and the generalities of what happens and when.
My official starting date is may 11th. I'll work a week and then head to Calgary for training. I have to wear steel toe boots or shoes. I wear them now. I don't love them but I deal with it so no change there. Can't wear shorts or skirts but jeans are suggested. Which is great in that I wear jeans and hoodies now. Nice to not have to change my wardrobe!

The best part though is that I GET MY OWN OFFICE!! I'm stoked about this! I share an office right now with 1 person whose gone half the time. But I swear its not the same. I'm very excited to have my own space!

And I'm really ready to start there. Its going to be great!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Some Anniversary

....indeed. Chris got called into work!!!!!!!

That's basically unheard of! My show today got cancelled by an 8:30am phone call. Not enough people coming, well more postphoned. Anyhow, so we got up, made breakfast, cleaned up and headed outside to do a bit of yard work. Chris pulled out the pressure washer for me and I did a total cleaning of my SUV - inside and out. It looks awesome!

Anyhow, so we planting some bushes we got bought yesterday when a consultant that Chris works for called and asked what he was doing and when he'd be done. Chris says, oh 10 minutes or so, why? And the consultant says - I need a guy to go to Dawson Creek. We're leaving in an hour!!!!! OMG!!!!

So we run into the house, he packs his clothes, I grab him so grub to take to the hotel (good thing we've got a good supply of canned and frozen stuff!!) and away we go. I take him to the city and drop him off.

So, some Anniversary!

It's a funny thing his job. I have to mentally prepare myself for when he goes back to work. It's much harder when we get surprised like this and can't think and prepare for him leaving. It's strange. I think it'll only be a few days at most, they're on stand by. So basically sitting there waiting to see if someone needs thier help. But it still pays. And a full month into break up - well a few days $ is great. If he gets 4 - 5 days, it'll be enough to pay the mortgage for next month and few other bills. This means $ we won't have to take out of savings account! Yippee for that!

It sucks that we don't get to spend the rest of our anniversary together. And it sucks that we have tickets for a monster truck show on Saturday night that if he's not back intime for we won't get to see, but in this business you work when you can. And in this economy you don't say no.

It's a big deal to be the one out of thousands off work to get the call. Even if it is for a few days.

All I know is that Chiquita and I miss him already.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

notice

I gave my notice at work yesterday. About 30 seconds before I left the office for the day. And about 20 minutes after I cleaned out my desk and took practically all of my belongings, and erased a ton of shit off my computer.

Never can be too careful.

I know it's going to hit like a ton of bricks and they will all be shocked. But it was a bit exciting to do... hehehe

I spoke with my new boss and she is great....well emailed. And I spoke with the HR from the new company. I'm all set. I have to get a physical before hire (wtf?) and training in Calgary for 2 - 3 days. The offer is a raise of $4000/yr to start and in 3 months an evaluation (maybe sooner if I'm doing well) and a raise of another $2000 - $4000/yr. I'm pretty excited. I finally broke the salary barrier that I've been beating my head against for years!

Today we are cleaning the house and relaxing. I can't believe it's after 3 already. Yikes where did the day go??

Tomorrow is our 1 year anniversary! I can't believe it's been 1 year since we got married! Crazy. And I have an epicure show at 1pm.

Well I'm off to make a saskatoon pie!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

happy

I got the job!

They called me at 4:15 today and let me know! I'm so excited! They are going to email me a formal offer and from there I'll know what the wage is going to be. I already know that to start, it's minimum $4000/yr more than I currently make.

Oh wow, I'm so excited!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I'm so annoyed i could scream and light my desk on fire

No really. I honestly want too. What a stupid day. Arguing with the rental manager. Arguing with the manufacturer warranty department. Idiots. I'm surrounded by them!

I got a call from a friend of mine and a reference on my resume. The job I interviewed with on Friday called her today! Another reference called. They had called her too! Yay! I'm hoping that's good news! I'd love to give this place the finger as I walk out.

And then set my desk on fire.

I have another interview after work tonight. I'm hoping for the best.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

i told you

... I nailed it!

I got called for an interview today! Yippie! Monday @ 930. Good thing I had already taken Monday off. What a good way to go into a long weekend!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

from phone

I knew one day I'd figure out how to post to blogger using my blackberry. I have to say js was way easier but now that this works I'm happy.

I'm bored. Seriously bored @ work. I'm waiting as patiently as I can for my phone to ring.

I applied for a wicked awesome job last week and I got a call yesterday! She did a pre interview over the phone. They seem to be doing that lately. Anyhow I totally nailed it! It went really well and she told me my resume stood out.

She was going to pass on my info to the man that was hiring with her notes and if he wanted to interview me he'd call. That was yesterday morning. Now I'm stressing out waiting.

Do you think if I don't hear from him by end of day tmrw that I'm not going to? (because of Friday being a holiday)

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Happy Birthday to me!

Well the big day is here, it's after 3pm and I'm still in my jammies! Yup, sounds like a good way to spend my birthday.

It's been nice. We've been hanging out, watching TV, I'm still crocheting the baby blanket.

Chiquita is good too. (our puppy). We run everytime she calls lol. It's fun though. Chris is getting tired of "potty training" and cleaning up pee. We both are, haha. But she's doing very well and only makes a few mistakes versus the many times she goes where she should.

Life is good. I hope I'll be able to read about you all soon.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

I'm getting old

No seriously I am. Ok I'm not, but I feel like I am. On Sunday, I'll be leaving my mid-twenties and entering my late-twenties. I'll be *gasp* 27!!! Ok, but really I'm starting to feel like I'm not as young anymore. Birthdays are strange.

Work is crazy.

The dog is good. We're working on house training. It's a process. Yesterday no accidents. Today...many.

Chris is officially on break up. We just finished inputting his EI claim. Fingers crossed, let's hope! Only 28 days to wait...sheesh.

I'm ready for the weekend.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Puppy Love

Here is the soon to be newest addition to our home! We love her already :) We can pick her up later this week and both of us are soooo excited!







Thursday, March 19, 2009

update

I finally managed to get to the post office tonight. Before they closed. It was the post master (mistress?) that was working. She told me how sorry she was that I wasn't able to pick up my package again this week. I was like hmm? She goes on to tell me that the other lady told her I was there at 5:10 and how she felt bad that 2 days in a row I wasn't able to get my stuff.

Now I wasn't going to say a word. But after hearing that this lady went to her boss and told her all about me (no doubt making me sound bad and rude I'd bet). It pissed me off a bit. So I told her the truth about what time I got there. She was not impressed. I told her I wasn't very happy about it, but I dont' want to cause a problem. Either way, I guess it's dumb to do something like that, then lie to try to cover your butt.

Moving on....

Chris will be home tomorrow night!!! I miss him!!!!

We're getting a puppy! I'm so excited. I found one online that I want to go see. They won't be ready until next week, but we are going to go see them on Saturday and pick one out. I'm sooooooo excited!!!!!!

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

AAAHHHHHGGGHHHHH

I'm so MAD!!!

I had a package at the post office that came yesterday. I was too late to pick it up, that was around 5:20 or so and it closes at 5.

I left work 10 minutes early to get to the post office before it closed today...I got there at 4:58 and it was ALREADY CLOSED!!!!!!

I knocked on the door anyway and she told me she had shut off the computer already. I told her, that I had left work early to get there on time today, (because I missed it yesterday) and it wasn't even 5 yet. She says to me, oh well can you come tomorrow? I tell her no. She says oh, sorry and closes the door on me!

WTF? How am I ever supposed to get my fricken mail!!! I have 2 packages waiting for me at the post office and I can't even pick them up. I'm pissed.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Unappreciated

I totally had a crappy day....I got this joke today...it's so how my day was going....




Things Got Ya Down? Well Then, Consider These . . .

In a hospital's Intensive Care Unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am, regardless of their medical condition. This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the super natural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 AM Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents. The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 AM all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits. Just when the clock struck 11:00 , Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper , entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.

Still Having a Bad Day????

The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.

Still think you are having a Bad Day????

A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his Walkman.

Are Ya OK Now? - No?

Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn , Germany . Suddenly, all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly. The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.

What?!? STILL having a Bad Day????

Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn't pay enough postage on a letter bomb. It came back with 'Return to Sender' stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits. God is Good!


Sunday, March 15, 2009

Instead of cleaning up like I'm supposed to today, I'm...:
- Playing on Facebook.
- Watching TV.
- Blogging.
- Text messaging Chris.
- Wandering from room to room.
- Thinking about my eliptical and how I should do it today.

And many other things. Really all I need to do it tidy a bit and finish the laundry. It would take me less than an hour, but I swear I have no motivation to do it. I just don't want to. But on the other hand when I'm doing all this other crap, I feel bad, because I know I need to finish my stuff. I should just get off here and do it...maybe I will.

Chris is working. Sheesh, break up is pretty well here. I'm a bit scared for this year. Well to be honest, I'm worried every year, but this year we are starting break up with our savings account down from what it normally is. We'll be fine, but I hope we walk out of it with some savings left!!! Ouch.

My book party for Epicure is doing well. The lady hosting the party was thinking it would sell $250 (which is basically minimum to get any free stuff), but I went and saw her yesterday and she thinks she'll end up with a $500 order!!!! yay! This means $125 for me, with virtually no effort and no work! Yay! It closes tomorrow, so I'll know for sure by then. She was over $300 on Saturday morning.

We've started painting in the house. Slowly. Chris painted the doors white before he left. At first I was a bit worried they wouldn't look good, but they do! They look great! When he gets home, we are hoping to replace the trim around all the doors and paint it white too. Then we are going to paint the spare bathroom a sand color and replace the trim on the floor and around the door too. It's crappy looking and won't paint well. It's not even real wood! It will be a dramatic improvement.

I was talking to my MIL yesterday and we were talking about them coming for a visit this year. We were going to send them money to come, but so far we dont have the $ to spare. We are still hoping it can happen. Chris's Dad piped up in the background that he wanted to come here to go hunting with Chris or come for Christmas this year. Chris's mom said she didn't want to travel in the snow and cold. So, we are going to still try to save up about $500 to send to them and hope they can get here this year! Fall would be better for me, that way I can take a week off when they come. It would be nice for them to see the house.

Well maybe I'd better go finish my list, I just remembered I still have to water the plants too, and write up a cover letter for a service job that I want to apply for. I'm totally qualified and it sounds similar to what I'm doing now. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

will Friday ever come?

I'm so ready for this week to be over. Yay for Friday tomorrow! I even get to leave early!! I was supposed to get to the post office to pick up my Epicure order today, but the parts jerk had to go to an appointment after work. So I'm leaving early tomorrow so I can get it. I'm very excited! It is my first official order as a consultant.

I went to bingo last night. To work. I met some nice people, so that's great. I also learned that I am the only volunteer that is not on the hall committee and of course they tried to recruit me! lol. Anyhow, so apparently you have to have lots of $ to be a volunteer....or something stupid like that. More just that the volunteers are the ones that have $. The ones I was with last night live in the newest, largest homes in my village. And I'm totally not joking. Our house is like a hotel room compared. At least there not pretentious or anything, very nice people. I think I might volunteer more for other things.

I am, however, exhausted today. It was a late night last night and I don't feel so well. I think I'm tired. Chris is still working, yay! I'm thankful. Spring break up is looming ahead and it makes me nervous....

Today is the 1 year anniversary of my uncle's passing. I miss him. I spoke to him today, said a little prayer. Told him I missed him, love him and think of him often. I asked him to be with my Aunt today and give her peace and less loneliness.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

blah

I'm still having silent arguments with the parts jerk daily. Yesterday he parked in my space and I had to park across the street, my truck almost got hit and I had to crawl in thru the passenger side to move it, getting snow all over.

Today he tried pushing his shipping responsibilies onto me again. He does this every 6 months or so. I told him no. He pushed it more. I went to the branch supervisor, who I share an office with. He told me not to take it over.

3 more staff were laid off in our Edmonton branch today, all technicians, one office person was laid off in Calgary today as well. I guess it's time it hit our company. Sad really. I know my job is secure. Nothing is going to happen to us in the smaller branches, I am secure. Well unless they close the branch, then I'm screwed.

The roads here are super crappy. It took me an extra 15 minutes to get to work this morning. I hate that. It makes my commute a full hour each way.

I volunteered at bingo in my town for tomorrow night. I'm not a fan, I don't mind it, but it's more to try to meet some new people in town. I realize this is not going to help me meet the age group of people that Chris and I are in, but you never know. At the very least it might help me network my business. I'm kinda excited about it. It's going to be a rush to get there! I get off at 4:30 and it's at 5:30 and it's now taking me a full hour to get home...

I'm starting to think I'll never get a job. I guess I might have to consider going back into retail. I really don't want too, but I might have to think about it if I really want to leave my job. It's a damn good thing I didn't just leave...yikes!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

out of the loop

I've been out of it so long, I feel like I don't know what's going on with anyone lately!

It's always so busy when Chris is home and I seem to get away from the internet. He left today. I'm kinda sad and a bit lonely. I hate the first day when he's gone. The house is always too quiet.

I knew this would happen, so I made plans for today. Unfortunately it didn't pan out how I had hoped. I met up with my friend Carrie for lunch. We did some shopping afterwards. I swear we have nothing in common anymore, nothing to say. We met up for lunch and I swear this is how people lose friendships and things change. I know I don't have kids, but I've spent a lot of time around them, half raised some. I had to bite my tongue a few times.

Then we went to Costco. She decided to hold him the whole time, because he doesn't like his car seat. Well, ummm what was your first clue?! The kid weighs 14lbs, he's going to get heavy.
After like 10 minutes, she was saying how she wanted to sit and her back hurt. Umm ya. Go figure. I don't know why she wouldn't have brought in the car seat so he could be pushed, not carried the whole time. I mean he's 7 weeks old. Sheesh.

I digress.

Anyhow, so Chris is working and for that I'm truly thankful. I have no immediate plans for this weekend. A bit of relaxing, a bit of laundry, some reading (I miss reading), and put in an Epicure order. Should be nice and low key.

Oh ya, and hopefully read some blogs...

Monday, March 2, 2009

ok

It's been a long time since I last wrote. I've been really busy and although I mean to write an entry, or even read you all. I can never seem to find time!
I still don't like my job. I'm still looking for something else. The economy is starting to scare me, I wonder if I'll ever find a new job. Ugh.
Chris has been home for almost 2 weeks, going back in the next day or so. For that, I'm happy. happy that we had some time together, but also happy that he has a job to go back too. I'm grateful for every day he works.
Not a lot going on these days...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Sexism

I've worked with all women before, I've worked with mix and currently I work with all men. I've had my battles and when I was hired I had to prove to all the men that I worked with (5 in my office) that I'm capable of doing my job, that I was smart enough to do it, and that I was more than someone to answer the phones.

I've had to deal with jerks, bigots, sexist people and the 'good ole boys'. I've worked my way to where I am today. I have customers who tell me the minute I get back from a day off or vacation "Thank God your back".

I've had technicians that I work with yell at me, to me and behind my back. I've had one get in my face and freak out at me. I've had them deny to do the job they've been asked to do. I've had them say they are going to do it and not go. I've had to deal with customer back lash over a technician not doing a job well, making a mistake or complaints over completely un-related issues with service. (Your tech just did an oil change and now my tires are flat...etc.)

I've stood up for my tech's on numerous occasions; to customers who acuse us of sabatoging units. To upper management who think they've made mistakes, take too long to do a job, or to avoid layoff's. I've gone to bat for my tech's to upper management to get my tech's the tools they need but the company is not providing (but they should), to get them company paid training, for bonuses, missing allowances (tool and boot), and to defend them against mistakes made.

I'm as fair as I can be. I try to spread the work out so that all 3 are as busy as possible, or in the very least have at least one job per day, not all 3 jobs to one person and the others doing nothing all day. I give them heads up when upper management is coming to visit so they can be sure the shop and service vehicles are clean. I try to send them only to a place where they are comfortable working (safe, clean, inside when it's -30 outside). I don't send them to a unit where they don't have the skills to repair it. I talk to them, ask them to go places, I don't demand it.

So when, after all this, a technician is a jerk to me, I get pissed off. And quickly.

Our newest technician, today decided that he was mad. At me? At his wife? At the weather? The fact that his days off were over? Who knows?! Either way, I refuse to be the person that takes the fall. Twice, in the span of less than 30 minutes when I was talking to him or asking him a question, he threw his hands up in the air and walked away from me. Not only do I find that rude and uncalled for, but I have NO CLUE as to what his problem is.

I brushed it off, as he was out of the shop for the rest of the day.

In the afternoon, I asked one of the guys (who tells me everything) if he knew what was going on. He said no. I asked him (because he was there) if it was just me or if he thought something was going on. He agreed the guy was being an ass.

He later confided to me, that when hired, the new technician told him, he'd never had a woman for a boss before. The other tech just told him that he needs to get used to it and that it wasn't going to change.

Now, I can totally understand how it might take an adjustment. Some time yes, but don't come in after working with the company for 3 months and tell me that he woke up this morning and had changed his mind. There was no altercation, no conversation, just me asking him a question, him getting fed up and walking away. Without answering my question.

I'm pretty tolerant. But I'm mad about this. I feel disrespected and I'll be damned if this is going to happen again. We went through this last year (with a different tech) and I felt like crap and hated dealing with him. It got so bad I didn't want to go into the shop. This will not happen again.

He's out of the shop until Thursday. On Thursday I'm going to ask him if we have a problem and see what comes up. This will not continue. It just amazes me that after all this time and all the advances in life and things that women have done and proved that there are still some very sexist people that can't handle having a woman tell them what to do.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Weekends over...

I realized it's been a few days and it's time to catch up again. I've been so bored lately, that I'm trying to find things to do. With Chris away working, I'm pretty lonely and it helps to find things to do. Not that I'm all that successful lately. I've been doing a lot of reading lol. Anyhow, my mom came up on Friday evening and it's been a great weekend. I miss her and it's so nice to finally have a space (a home) that family can come visit us and have a place to stay.

We've been in this house for almost a year, well 9 months I suppose and I'm still not used to having the space. I love that we have a spare bedroom and an office and they are not combined or cramped.

Anyhow, so my mom was here all weekend and we did some shopping on Saturday and on Sunday we just stayed at home and relaxed. Read a book. My mom made some homemade buns and we froze them. She helped me clean out my deep freeze (ugh, what a chore) and transplant some plants. All things I hate to do. I had today off for Family Day, so it's been a nice, relaxing weekend. Although I'm not ready to go back to work just yet. I did also send in one job application today as well. It's for a very good, very interesting position and the qualifying criteria asks for the exact post-secondary education that I have. I took some time and wrote a specific cover letter as well. Wish me luck.

So my mom left today and my sister is coming up this weekend coming. I'm so excited! She is coming up on Wednesday but is heading to my house on Friday night and all day Saturday. I miss my nephew so much, I'm so excited to see them!!!

Not a lot is going on other than that. I've been reading a lot and that's nice. I think I'm going to head to the used book store this week and see what I can trade off. I need to get onto getting ready for the Epicure (www.epicureselections.com) open house on March 1st. As in advertise and prepare. I have to do it this week, but I need to get a color ink cartridge for my printer first.

I guess this post was mostly housekeeping, but I hope to catch up with you all soon.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

*sigh*

I'm tired today.

I feel resigned and defeated.

Chris and I had an argument today over money. I hate fighting with him period. I hate arguing with him even more when he's away. I know that money is the #1 argument between couples, but I really do feel that I'm legit in my argument this time. I feel like crap about it too. Torn. I miss him so much, he's been away for 2 weeks and still has another week to go. It's so hard to not talk to him during the day or for at least an hour at night. Waiting for that one phone call in the evening is really hard. Especially since we haven't really spoken since we argued.

*Edit*

We talked. I feel better, but I still miss him like crazy. Even more right now.

I hope I never stop missing him while he's away working.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

motivation

I'm lacking it today.

So Chris moved and got all settled in camp. I love camp jobs! He gets a room and good food and it's all taken care of. We don't even have to pay for it. It just comes off his sub pay on his cheque. It's great.

The downside is that because of where he is, there is no cell service. None on the lease site where he's working and none in camp. It bites. They had to drive 30 kms to find a place where they got reception. All 6 of them in one truck. So as you can imagine, I could barely hear him over the voices of all the other guys calling thier wives, girlfriends, parents or kids. It sucks. I hope he's not out there that long.

I had a request the other day from Pleiades for some information about my pawnshop management days. I wish I could remember some of the good stories, because man there were a lot!

It was a strange job. There were regulars, all on welfare who were millionaires for the day on pay day. They'd come in and pick up the stuff they had on pawn, buy new stuff from the shelves and shop like nothing. (And by new stuff, I mean stuff that people had left behind that went out for sale. As in when a person would pawn something and not return for it, or not pay the bill, it would go out for sale on the shelf). Anyhow, inevitably, the stuff they just paid to get out of hock or the stuff they just bought would end up back in pawn. Sometimes it would take a few days, other times they'd be back later that afternoon. A bit of buyers remorse I guess.

Sad really.

I always felt some sympathy for these people. I mean they for the most part were uneducated, simple minded people who had no idea about budgets or making ends meet. On the other hand, there were everyday people who were just dealt hard blows and needed some cash.

There were regulars who always came in to shop. The list is endless of what the place carried, bought, sold, pawned: CD's, DVD's, cameras, Playstations and games, Xbox's and games, Any kind of game console really, firearms; both restricted and non (thus resulting me in becoming licensed in both), any kind of tool; power and regular, chainsaws, bikes, lawnmowers, fine china, decorative plates, fishing gear, hunting gear, cell phones, speakers, stereos, dvd players, computers, jewelry, hockey gear, golf clubs, musical instruments. I know there are more things, but that's all I can really think of right now.

The particular place where I worked got into buying Army Surplus direct from bases online and we had tons of it for sale. Shirts, pants, hats, ruck sacks, canteens, all kinds of rigging, tons of stuff and that sold well too.

I really did like that job. I was there for a year and friends with the owners. Over time she changed and things got weird. I was tired of being talked about behind my back, my co-worker was a tool and I was ready for a change of pace. She took offense to me quitting and when I applied for EI she told them lies and so I didn't qualify. I got over it.

The hardest part of the job was trying to determine what the value of something was. Some stuff was defined clearly - DVD's had a value, as did game consoles, but some things - AC system for a boat...I had no idea. Sometimes I had to guess, sometimes I did well, others not so great - selling that boat AC system for $100 when it should have gone for $250....oops. Oh well. You take a guess and hope it's ok.

The jewelry was my favorite. We had these old ladies that would come in twice a week and check out new stock. They always bought a ton of stuff. And cheap too. We only took gold that was stamped as such, no plate and real diamonds - we used a tester. I remember the bf I had at the time, we had been together for 2.5 years and I was pushing for a commitment, a promise ring at least. I found one I loved while I was working there and he got it for me, for like $50. It was so pretty. I remember throwing it at him when we broke up, lol, and telling him I hoped he and his mommy were very happy together. Ha - brings back memories! Just kidding.

I remember this guy that would come in, my boss called him a cone head, lol. He was nice, but a hunting nut. He's always come in to talk to me, but never asked me out. He's always comment on things, that I did my nails or such lol. Of course there were the creepy guys that would come in too, the store seemed to attract some losers, I'd hide when they came in.

I gathered quite a CD and DVD collection from there. It was great, they came in for sale, we'd test them, take them home and watch, if you liked the movie, you kept it.

It wasn't very common that we had stolen things come in. Everyone had to have vaid ID and all serial numbers were entered into the program. Weekly we'd send in reports of what we took on pawn or bought to the RCMP. Once a guy came in with a stolen monitor, he left to get the cables and when he returned with it, we had called the police and they waited until he pawned it and we faked some computer problem. In the meantime we locked him in the store. There was a door lock, bolt type thing behind the counter. When I think back now, really it was kinda dangerous to do that. It was dangerous because we had a ton of money on hand too, sometimes up to $13,000 or $14,000.

I could probably go on, but I should check my laundry...funny how you can look back and remember things....and see how life has changed.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Say what?

Umm excuse me, your going where??

That's what I said to Chris when he told me he was leaving in the morning to go to Helmut. My next question was, "where the hell is Helmut?"

Thanks to Google maps, (seriously check it out!), Helmut (Helmet?) is damn near on the border between Alberta and the Northwest Territories. As in freakin' far away! So much for him coming home in 3 days. I'm happy he's working though.

It's a good thing when your company calls you in to save the day! Or in this case, to come operate because they don't know who else to call and your reputation preceeds you and they know you'll do a good job and they can count on you. 4 hours of travel later and he'll be there. Yup, in Helmut, British Columbia.....lol, it's too much!

I got my starter kit for Epicure today (www.epicureselections.com). I'm so excited! The lady at the post office basically guaranteed me a sale (or 2) and now I have a starting point. Man, I'm excited! I'm going to call my sponsor tomorrow and tell her I'm ready to learn!

As for tonight, I'm happy it's Friday and the week is over. Bad news on the paint front - don't know if we can or not. The stupid vinyl covered drywall may not be paintable.

I did a skill test for the staffing agency last night. I did 5 tests; speed typing, alphanumeric typing, 10 key data, excel and word. I scored junior in excel (what?! But come on, who knows all the tips in Excel, I use that damn program all the time...), intermediate in word, speed typing and 10 key data and advanced in alphanumeric! Turns out, I needed to score junior in all 5 to qualify. I totally rocked it! Now all I need is a job offer and I can dazzle them with my results! (Did I mention I feel silly tonight...?) lol.

Well better run, gotta find a road to Helmut.....wait, seriously how do you spell it?!!??!!?!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

to quit or not to quit....

Only once in my life have I quit a job without having anything lined up to go to. When I was living in BC I was managing a pawn shop (still one of my top 10 jobs!). Anyhow, so the owner turned crazy and I had had enough. Plus my sister was living in Alberta and had been telling me for years to move up here. So I did. I gave my notice on my apartment, gave my employer notice and poof. Moved up here. I was off for less than a month, but I job hunted everyday. I finally got a job and life was good. I had, had some $ saved up so I ended up ok.

Today there was 2 more straws added to the pile. Chris and my mom both say to just give my notice and leave. I'm tempted. I'm worried that if I do it might end up being a while until I find something new, but I seriously hate my job. I hate what I'm doing and I'm so ready to give up and walk out. They keep adding more and more things to do and keep belittling the stupidest things. I'm so tired.

I have an interview tomorrow with an employment agency at 4:00. There was a job posting that I was interested in, so I sent my resume to the agency who was hiring for them. Turns out, they want to interview me. I'm so nervous! It's been 3 years since I had to do an interview! Anyhow, so if it goes well (pray for me, wish me luck, please!!), then I go into the file and when a job comes up (or if there is one) that I qualify for, they tell me and I can chose whether or not I want it. I'm so exited! Thing is, it could be temp work too. I hope there is something for me. I'm not sure how long my sanity can hold on right now at this job...

Monday, February 2, 2009

quickie

Short update for today before Chris calls:

- I joined Epicure today! Yay! I'm now the newest consultant. Woot!

- I got a call from a placement agency for an interview today! I had sent them a resume to apply for a job. I have an interview on Wednesday, I'm so nervous!!!!!

- My Father in law is in the hospital. Again. Poor man! He just got out 2 weeks ago. His bowel is kinked, it's as bad as it sounds.

More later...

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Sunday Thoughts

I've been meaning to write all day, but my being a lazy bum got in the way.

I was thinking yesterday...why are we always so early when we fly? We know it's a 2 hour drive (good roads, from our house) to the aiport, either one. (There are 2, one North, one South). But we always end up wayyyy ahead of time and have to sit and wait. Makes me crazy.

Why does Chris always set the metal detector off in security? He always does. I think he must have metal in his blood or something. Strange.

Why do I do nothing on the first day I have alone? I always do it. It's like a day to be a bum on the couch and relax. It's kinda nice, but for sure sets of the loneliness early.

I'm sure I could go on, but I won't. I did manage to apply for 3 or so jobs today. I love email! I hope that I can hear something. Now that I've decided that I'm going to leave this company, it's not soon enough. I hate going into work now. Every day I dread going in and I hate it. I hope I hear something soon. At least Chris is working, this is good.

I've decided we are going to paint the walls in the house. I'm tired of white, I need some color. I decided to start in the guest bathroom (it's small haha) and I picked up a bunch of color swatches yesterday. I used that putty stuff to stick the swatches on the wall in there. I go in there often just to look at the colors, ha, I'm a dork.

My mom is coming up in 2 weeks and I'm so excited! I can't wait to see her! We have no plans, but I haven't seen her since NYE, so I'm looking forward to it.

I miss Chris already. He's been gone since yesterday morning. I have a feeling it's going to be a long set.

I paid off a credit card on Friday! Well the brick card - we used it to buy our stove. The interest period is up March 15th or so, but I paid it off the other day, it feels great! 1 down, 50 to go! No just kidding, there are a bit more bills to go, but this is a start!

I've put together a spreadsheet of all the gifts we have to buy through out the year. It's staggering. I mean really. Between Chris's family and mine, it's stupidly insane. I've started shopping early and so far it's working out well. Some months are heavy (November has 4 b-days, and May has 1 b-day and 3 mother's days). I figure if I can pick up stuff on sale early it won't be so bad when the time comes to actually get the rest. Plus a bunch of it has to be mailed out and that means I have to be ready in advance. I'm also going to start saving up for Christmas. Whatever I can stash away.

I've already put away $1000 in savings for the fence too! It truly is amazing what we can pay off and save when Chris is working. I'm estimating that we'll need about $3000 for the fence we plan to build this summer. And if there is any way we can get to Nova Scotia this year, that would be great too! I was hoping we could give Chris's parents money to come to us, but I'm not sure if that will work either. We'll have to see. As long as Chris is working, we should be able to manage one or the either. In january, I managed to save up $1000 in cash and put almost $3000 on bills (including the $1100 to pay off the stove)! This is why we struggle and cut back and find a way for him to stay in this field. Because when he's working, the pay is good.

I've missed blogging. I hope I can keep up better this week than the last 2!

Thursday, January 29, 2009

25 random things

Since I've been away and am still busy, here is something for now:

1. I like the color pink - a lot.
2. I don't really like my husbands cooking that much. I don't complain when he doesn't cook because most of the time the spice combinations are too much for me. I'd never tell him that.
3. I don't like my job and the only reason I don't quit is because I don't want to take a pay cut.
4. I like that my job allows me to boss 3 men around all day - lol. JK. But I do get to tell them where to go all day long.
5. I miss my mom a lot and wish she lived closer.
6. I hope we can one day move to Nova Scotia, but before Chris's parents get too old.
7. I'm afraid we won't be able to have a baby.
8. I'm afraid we'll out grow this house and not be able to afford to move to something bigger.
9. My husbands obsession with buying a new truck is driving me insane.
10. I love that I control our finances, but hate that I feel like the warden about it sometimes.
11. We watch entirely too much TV.
12. I play games on my Blackberry at work when I'm bored. Even if I have work to do.
13. People who can't spell or don't bother to use spellcheck when they know they can't spell irritate me. (Just watch I'll have a bunch of mistakes on this lol).
14. I write "lol" a lot, but don't actually "laugh out loud", it's more of a smiling thing.
15. I'm pretty good at texting, fast too.
16. I buy and read Cosmo magazine almost every month.
17. I love gell nails but hate that they making typing harder.
18. I miss the old JS and find the new one so slow that other than signing up to save my name, I haven't done anything with it. Yet. But I will. I hope to keep both places.
19. I don't like spending much time with my families, other than my parents and sibblings.
20. I'm a stronger person than I ever imagined and it took being alone and moving, starting over to realize that.
21. I have a sister that is 6 years older than me that I haven't seen or talked too in 9 years.
22. She lives with a pedophile. I know this for a fact. She doesn't believe that he is this.
23. I miss my nephew since they moved away. I'm afraid he won't remember me as he grows up.
24. I hate that my sister is the favorite and everyone always makes a big deal about her.
25. I'd love to wear my wedding dress again. Maybe I'll wear it every year on April 19th - nah, just kidding. But I really do want to wear it again, it's so sad to see it in a bag, just hanging there.

Friday, January 23, 2009

MIA

It's hard to believe it's been a week or so since I last posted. I don't think in the year plus that I've been blogging that I've missed that long of a stretch, unless I was away on holidays!

Things are good, we've just been very busy lately. Chris got home last Saturday morning, which means I had to re-arrange my weekend plans, including getting up at 4:30am on a Saturday to come and pick him up, but it's been a nice week. I really missed him!

Not a lot has been going on. Work is still incredibly annoying and I can't wait for the day I can quit. We have done a bit of upgrading around the house. Putting up some new lights and cupboards and shelves. Organizing.

I took today off and we did some errands and got Chris's truck insurance cleaned up and up to date. I'm finally getting a hair cut tomorrow! Yay for that! It's been too long. My hair is getting very long and I'm happy but it's dry too.

See a week off and still nothing to say. Life is good. I'm happy. Chris is home and it's great to see him. I've missed you all and think of you often. I hope to catch up on my faves this weekend.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

....here....

I did some good soul searching last night. While I should have been sleeping....so I'm tired today. I realized not long after I posted that a major part of the reason I'm so anxious about JS has nothing to do with JS at all. I miss Chris. A lot.

He's been away for 18 days now and it's been a very long time since we were apart for that long. I think once back in the beginning of our relationship we were apart when he worked for 23 or 26 days, I can't remember how long it was now. By the time he gets home, we'll have been apart for 23 days. I miss him terribly.

I'm tired of being alone. I'm tired of sleeping alone. I miss him next to me. I miss cooking supper with him and cuddling on the couch watching TV with him. I hate that the only time I can talk to him is at night on the phone. I miss contact!

I wake up a lot at night most nights. But in the last week I've woken up thrashing around. I was telling Chris this morning and he told me that he thinks I was looking for him in my sleep. Makes good sense to me. It's going to be a lonnnngggg weekend for me. I'm not going in the city this weekend. If Carrie (poor girl) ever has that baby I might go see her, but she has family staying with her so if I do, it won't be for long. If the roads were better (they're awful) I'd go to my mom's. Anyhow, enough dwelling...

So Carrie went into labor at 3am on Tuesday morning, she finally called me at 3pm today, still no baby! Yikes. They were going to induce her, but nothing so far. I stopped by after work and saw her for a bit, she's doing well, but tired. Poor girl. When I left she had been in labor for over 39 hours and still no baby. They were thinking she might end up with a C section as he was still sitting high and his head wasn't in the proper spot. I hope I hear soon.

Well that's all I have for now. I'm exhausted beyond exhausted. I need to get some sleep.
5 more days...

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Yikes what a day...

Well I still feel anxious over the JS start up again. I have no idea why I feel so jumpy about it. Becomingkate and Bobby both put it perfectly - it took so long to get up here and the bugs at JS are hard to figure right now. I've never used wordpress before, but I'm not a fan as of yesterday. I'm frustrated because I do miss JS a lot, but it's not home right now. This place is getting better and I've found most of you all here. I feel like a lost, confused little kid who doesn't know where to call home...

I think for now, I'm going to stay here and try to figure out JS a bit later. Maybe give it a week or 2 to get less confusing...? I can't even figure out how to search for members! Damn I hate this.

Anyhow, moving on...

Today was a good day. My friend Carrie, is pregnant and her due date is today! She called me at 7:15 this morning and told me she had a false alarm, but was at the hospital, could I come pick her up and drive her home? Yep, gotta go to work first and get my boys out the door, but then I'll come and get her. So keeping driving to work, get the boys set up. Drive from the North of the city to the South to go get her, then drive back across the city back north, get on the hwy and drive another 25km, drop her off, drive the 25kms back to my office. Whew!

Then work all day.

Her friend Jackie is being her coach and with her when she goes into labor, but I was on baby watch and a back up - since Jackie's work is being "unreasonable" and wouldn't let her leave during the day if Carrie went into labor. To be honest, I had no desire what-so-ever to be in that delivery room with her, but she's my friend and I don't want her to be alone. So, I would have gone. Anyhow, later in the afternoon, around 3, Carrie was heading back to the hospital and Jackie was off work to take her. I'm relieved!

I hope she's doing well. No news yet, but I'm sure she'll have him tonight.

Carrie got pregnant and the guy she was seeing split. Just FYI....

Anyhow, so that's all I got. Chris will be home in 5 days and I'll be happy, he's been gone now for 17 days and I miss him. I'm getting lonely and bored too. Maybe that's why I'm so cranky over this JS thing...

Monday, January 12, 2009

JS is back....?

I guess it's true. I'm just not sure how I feel about it. I mean I really missed it, but man to start over...AGAIN. Arggghhhh. Frustrating. It's good news, but to move back somewhere and to have to start the search to find my faves......again!

I signed up, just to save my user name if nothing else. Maybe I should wait until I'm not tired, flying in the door, and hungry to think about it.

who's moving?

Who's staying?

Sunday, January 11, 2009

boots!


Ok, so here are the boots! I'm new at this (aren't we all), but my goal is to load a few pictures. It was freakin' hard to try to take pics while I was wearing them. That is, being that staying on my feet was a goal - as opposed to falling on my ass because I NEVER wear heels! lol.



The heel is pretty high and they go up to my knees, but I like the way they look. I'm not sure where I'm going to wear them, but meh oh well. They were on sale!!






And just because it's fun to be picture crazy (now that I know how to load them) here is a picture of the new stuff I got for our bathroom yesterday. It's hard to take a photo of such a small room, but here it is. The bath mat on the floor is teal colored. The multi colored thing is a new hamper and the shower curtain is obvious. It's shear white and there are butterflies on it. The butterflies are only sewn on the top so the wings aren't attached. It's kinda cool looking. I love the subtle colors and that it's pretty but not over the top girly.
Today was been a nice, low key day. I cleaned the house, did a bunch of laundry, put away a pile of stuff and now I'm just relaxing. I should call my MIL sometime tonight. And soon, because she's 3 hours ahead of me and it's already after 4pm.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Retail Therapy

I wasn't sure whether I was going to go anywhere today or not, but I decided to get up and meet Becomingkate for lunch. I was up anyhow, so I hustled and got there in time for her lunch break. I love being able to do that. I can't really just fly out of here and run away when Chris is home, so that was good. We had a nice lunch, I went and did some shopping and came home. It was good.

I finally got a new shower curtain for our bathroom. The guest bath has been done for months now, and then I had to break from house stuff when Chris wasn't working. I've been dying to replace our shower curtain with something nicer. I found one, got a nice, fabric liner, a new bath mat that matches the curtain and a new hamper! And thanks to our stash of Canadian Tire money, I only had to put out $20!

Then I went and got the HOT boots I was looking at before. They are smokin'!! And when I got to the till, they were half price!!!!! I love it when that happens.

Now I'm home and thinking about relaxing the rest of the day. I'm going to get on my eliptical after supper I think. But for now, I'm going to go and bask in my shopping pleasure!!

Friday, January 9, 2009

I feel old

and kinda like a loser. lol. Here I am at home on a Friday night. Alone. Doing nothing. Lol. At least when Chris is home, WE'RE at home on a Friday night. ha, I don't even remember the last time we went out on a Friday night. We are so going to dinner and a movie when he gets home!

It's been a long week so I'm grateful that it's over. I was going to do some shopping tomorrow, then I decided I didn't want to drive in, then I thought I'd stay after work, but I wanted to come home. Now I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I know I have to clean the house tomorrow, put away some laundry and definitely shovel the driveway. I should have last night when there was about 4 inches of snow, but I didn't. I should have tonight too, but I'm not going to! Ha, it's cold out there.

I'm not even sure why I keep posting all this week. I have nothing to say....

I'm just bored I guess. Think I'll go watch a movie.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

this song is stuck in my head

YouTube - Zac Brown - Chicken Fried - Variety Playhouse

I have no idea how to post youtube videos! but this song (hickish I know) is stuck in my head, I love it!!

(and if anyone can give me tips on how to post videos.......that would rock!!)

I'm sick of winter

I really am. I'm also tired of freezing my ass off. -30 is ridiculous. I swear I haven't felt my toes since October!!!

Not much going on. I'm debating the eliptical. I'm really tired and don't feel much up to it right now. And if I don't get on there soon, Chris will be calling me and there is no way I can talk on my cell and elipic! (Ha is that even a word?) I'll freakin' fall off.

I'm so happy it's Friday tomorrow. Yay! I don't have any major weekend plans. Clean up the house. Get on the eliptical at least twice and sleep in! Getting up at 6 (ok 6:15) sucks. I hate getting up so early. Why can't work days start at 10 and go until say 4? That would be great. I guess I have it good, Chris starts work at 7am and goes until 7pm - every day. Ick.

I don't really have much to say. There are some sweet sales on right now. I even have to admit, I've bought some Christmas presents!! Hehehe. Every year I say I'm going to start in January so the 20 people we have to buy for doesn't take me forever, and I never start until September or October. Well this year, I'm doing it. I'm starting and I swear I'll be done by October....ok November for sure though. Plus, I'll save a bunch if I hit sales through out the year.

My stupid Blackberry crapped out on me today. All day yesterday and the day before (today too) it was slow and the hour glass wouldn't go away. It killed my battery before noon yesterday and today and nothing would run properly. I took it to the Telus store today and they told me I was running applications that are "not for Blackberry". Excuse moi? I do nothing with the damn thing. Whatev. Apparently it screwed something up. They had to transfer all my data over and then reset my whole phone and then re=transfer all the data back. Ugh. My phone book was saved, but not my photos or my preferences. I guess that's what I'll do tomorrow when I'm bored. Ha.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

hump day!

Hey it's hump day!! And it's over! who knew? I thought it was Tuesday all day, I swear until around 1pm. At least it didnt' cause me to overbook today...wait, can you do that? Maybe not.

Anyhow, I'm glad this week is winding down. What a long week it's turned out to be already. Come on weekend!!

I went shopping after work today. Chris decided I need heels...why you ask? I'm not telling. I'm already taller than he is....haha, moving on....I found these awesome boots that are pointy toe, sort of stiletto like, so HOT! But I didnt' buy them...why? I have no idea. I might go back tomorrow.

Ok, gotta make this short.

I have one complaint today...does anyone else notice it takes waaaayyyyy longer to catch up on reading blogs on this site?? I swear on JS I could read all my faves a lot faster. Now it seems to take me longer and I miss some in my search. I guess I'll get used to it. I've heard there is this counter thingy you can add too...that sounds cool. I'm not computer savvy though, so we'll see. Although I was thinking, (compliments of Forest), what are the number of new sign ups the past 2 weeks on blogger...? ha!

So, my manager called me today. He starts off by saying he got my email and a big long pause. I say yep. He says he's planning on coming next week, maybe Thursday. I tell him great. He asks me if I have any questions..... and another pause. I tell him yes, but nothing that can't wait until he gets here. I know he is super curious, but I'm not getting into it over the phone. I know he knows something is up, because generally I just call if I have an issue. We'll see. I'm on it like white on rice (ha! lame analogy, but for some reason it popped in my head) and I've been watching verrrrryyyyy closely for the parts jerk to screw up....haha, so I can write it down in my notes! I'm evil!!!! Well no, just vindictive this time and I'm not letting it go!

Gotta run, Chris is calling me.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

ugh

I feel so out of shape! Yikes!

Chris bought me an eliptical for Christmas, (I wanted one) and I've been trying to get myself psyched up to use it. I have a few times, but it kicks my butt everytime. I swear this one is WAY harder than the one at the gym that I was using last year.

Isn't exercise supposed to make you feel good? I don't feel good, *sigh* I feel a bit pathetic that I can't sustain on it longer. I guess I need to work back up to it. Good thing Chris is working so that when he gets home, hopefully I can get my stamina back up. Oh well, takes time I guess. I hate that feeling though....kinda loser-ish.

Today was ok. Nothing special happened. I sent an email to my manager, asking when he was coming to our branch next. I know he was out on a late business lunch when I sent it, so I'm sure that's why he didn't reply. He'll probably call me tomorrow. If not, I'll call him. Enough on that....

I was so mad at Chris last night. His cell bill every month is so unpredictable! It annoys me to no end! My cell bill is around $70 every month (we dont have a house phone) and his is anywhere from $110 - $200, every month!! The one for this month is $180! I freaked out! He's like it's not my fault - hmmm, yep someone goes on your phone, calls directory assistance, downloads ringtones and is on the internet, right?! Grrr.... so frustrating.

I need a holiday.

Monday, January 5, 2009

Monday frustrations

Actually my day started out rather well. I was busy as ever, trying to get all 3 mechanics out the door and give them things to keep them busy. I hate coming in not prepared, it's a mad rush to try to find them work so they get in as many billable hours in a day as possible. I managed by about 9:30 to get them all out the door and busy for today and tomorrow. Now tomorrow I'll have to focus on the rest of the week... *sigh* it's ongoing.

Speaking of on-going. It's been a while since I've talked about the jerk that I work with in the parts department. He is still up to his stupid ways. I'll have to back date here to give a little history on what happened over the Christmas JS shutdown.

So I worked November 11th (because it was a Tuesday and I was so very far behind at work), in lieu my company gave me January 2nd off. Because our company year end is December 31st, I'm not allowed to take any days off in December, ever, at all. Anyhow, I had previously back in September booked January 2nd off as I knew I was going to my mom's for NYE. Anyhow, so in November, after I had already changed the 2nd from a vacation day to a lieu day, the parts jerk decided he was going to take Jan. 2nd off too. Now because we are a small branch, one of us always has to be in the office. If not him, then me and vise versa. Well he booked the day off anyhow. (We book thru separate managers).

Anyhow, on so on December 30th I found out that he took the day off, I asked him how that was going to work, us both being off, he said he didn't care and don't worry about it, the parts manager knew. Well I knew I'd get in shit for it, (or we both would) and if he was unwilling to tell someone or go thru the proper channels I'd do it. So I called payroll and talked to her about who booked it off first and let her know that no one was going to be in the office that day. She passed it on to the appropriate person. The parts manager called the jerk and told him since I had taken it off first, he had to work it.

But get this, he now gets 2 days off instead!! WTF??? I'm mad by now. So he doesnt' follow the "rules" and he gets rewarded by another day off with pay?? Come on now!!!

Today I find out that on Friday he called the parts manager and got him to send the guys in the back home early because they weren't working (it was slow) just so he could leave early!! He closed the shop at 2pm! So, now he screws the guys in the back out of 2.5 hours of pay, closes the shop 2.5 hours early, gets paid the full day, and gets another vacation day in lieu...???????

I'm discusted but it all! It's total favoritism. I'm going to talk to the branch supervisor tomorrow, (we are friends and share an office) and update him about what I found out today. After that I'm calling my service manager (who happens to be the son of the owner of the company) and tell him he needs to come to the branch so we can have a meeting.

I'm going to tell him everything that's been going on. That I want a raise and that I'm not happy. I realize that I should rever my job right now, but I don't. I'm not scared or worried about the future (although I probably should be). I can't stand what goes on in this branch. I bust my ass and work so hard and he gets favoritism and rewarded for not telling anyone, even though he knew for 2 full months that no one was going to be in the office on Friday. Ya ok.

I don't know what to expect from that meeting, but dammit something has to change.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

back to normal

I'm still not overly crazy about the new blog. I miss JS a lot and the people. I spent a ton of time online today trying to find where some of my faves went. I found a bunch of you (yay) but I'm still missing some of the ones I loved to read. I also hate the fact that some people have switched to all kinds of sites, so some are here and others aren't. It's harder to catch up with everyone. :( I miss a ton of blogs but ones I still can't find: Roux, lostkittens, forest, or bobby.

Anyhow, onto life. Today was pretty good. I cleaned up the house and put away the rest of the gifts that were still hanging around. I got most things put away. I still have some things that are Chris's that I need to do something with. It's a slow process.

Back to work tomorrow, yuck. I enjoyed working 3 day weeks, now back to normal and 5 working days. Yikes.

Life is good though. We were blessed this Christmas. We were able to see a lot of our family and that was great. We were both spoiled and Chris has been back to work since the 27th of December. I'm happy.

We have some other good news too - we are going to start trying to have a baby! I'm super excited about this and of course I can't tell anyone!!! It's making me crazy. We don't want the pressure of telling people so we are going to wait until something (or nothing) happens. April will be our one year anniversary so it's a tad bit early but still very exciting. We've realized we were waiting until we were more financially secure but who knows when that will ever happen? Life is never secure financially anyhow.

Hmmm...it's been so long since I've written anything, there is so much to talk about but I can't think of anything. Oh ya, my secret santa (westy) sent me a really cool gift and it was really fun. Thank you Westy! I sent Wizardress her gift late - which so should have been there by now, but I guess she hasn't got it yet. I hope soon. It's very Canadian and I had fun shopping for her.

Better run. More later.

starting over

I too am a JS castaway. Without a home to blog, I'm lost. It's taken me some time to get over that Journalspace will not come back and I have to start over. I only wish I had made a better list of my faves, because I can't remember them all, but I sure do miss you all!!

Anyhow, so here is the new blog. As for now, I'm just going to try to find some of my old faves, I guess some of you are here. If you are, say hello and let me know where to find you!!

Hugs to you all, I miss you!