Last night Al and I, and his parents too, attended the high school awards night *banquet*.
The End.
No.
Not really the end. I guess I should tell you more - otherwise what would be the point of bring it up in the first place.
Mid last week I received a call from the high school informing me that our eldest daughter was receiving an award and that our presence was requested at this banquet where she would receive said award.
Now being the person that I am, I was slightly annoyed that I was being made to leave the house which I feel I spend precious little time in lately to begin with to attend an academic and sports awards banquet which, lets face it - are not areas which Aarica excels at AND they wouldn't tell me what sort of award she was getting and you all know how much I just LOVE surprises.
I will admit, I was just a wee bit concerned that this award wasn't truely an award but more of a token or gesture. I'm sorry if that sounds completely pessimistic and mean but seriously - the awards handed out tonight were mostly given to the committee heads, student council members, honour roll students and the musically, theatrically, artistically and athletically gifted and I did not want my daughter paraded up there to receive a 'token' award for some sort of unknown accomplishment. Had they just told me what this award was for it would have relieved some of my concern and also some of the annoyance at being made to go out at all this evening.
Of course, I would still have been annoyed with the whole matter anyway because the cost of this lovely banquet was $12 per person and while I assumed the students receiving awards would not be required to pay for their tickets.....I was wrong and oh boy was I ticked when I stopped in the office on Tuesday to purchase tickets for Al and I and found that out. Not that it mattered since there were no more tickets left anyway and only then was I told that we could just show up an hour after the banquet started, once the meal was over and attend the awards portion of the evening without having to pay a dime. If they'd have just mentioned that in the first place....along with the nature of the award she was receiving....I wouldn't have been annoyed at all - or at least as much. Still wasn't pleased I was being made to leave my house.
So I guess after all my annoyance passed (except the slight twinge of not knowing why we were there in the first place) and we got to the banquet and eventually found a place at the back to sit and sat through the many many many awards that were handed out (to the same 10 people I'm sure) they called Aarica's name. And colour me surprised. It wasn't a fluff "good citizen" type award at all. It was indeed an actual academic award from her Travel and Tourism course which is a new course that just started this year.
She is officially the first student at our school to complete the requirements for the 1st level of this course and she received a certificate (and a t-shirt) from the Canadian Association of Travel and Tourism for completing it. The school even went so far as to put the certificate in a frame for her....and while I'm not going to try and kid myself into thinking that she, on her own, was able to complete all the work or have a solid knowledge of most of the information covered in the course but with the help of her educational assistant she did and she also fulfilled her required 25 hours of work experience (she's been going to the local senior's home twice a week and helping out in laundry, housekeeping, the kitchen/dining room as well as visiting with the 'grandmas and grandpas' that live there) and she's received a passing grade and the certificate to prove it.
And that's pretty cool and we are proud of her!
~K
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
*I Wonder Why?* Wednesday
it's been awhile since I wondered aloud although I tried to write one a couple days ago for publishing today but it turns out I shouldn't blog while half asleep so I deleted that and figured there would be no Wonder Why again this week
But
Never Fear
My brain was wondering something this morning and it may not be fabulously brilliant but it's what I'm wondering and thought I'd share.
I wonder why........
.
.
.
.
.
.
I bother buying cookbooks?
I am not a fan of cooking and no cookbook I own makes me feel like cooking and in all honesty unless it's something familiar and as simple as possible with as few ingredients and steps involved as possible I'm not going to make it.....and chance are even if I did, my kids wouldn't eat it anyway.
The problem with this is I'm sick of every single meal that's become our staple lately so I'm even more bored with the whole cooking process because I just don't want what I'm throwing together ---- even more so the last few weeks where I'm dragging my butt into the house after 6pm and am way too tired to try and think of something to make.
Like I've said before...it's a good thing the kids are happy with cereal or hotdogs and even when I go all out and make grilled cheese and instant chicken noodle soup the chances are one of them's going to say....."I'll just have cereal" anyway.
To say the least I'm lacking the motivation to actually cook a real meal lately and also lacking the items in half the cookbooks needed to make anything of any great cullinary interest.
Do you have a favorite cookbook or even a favorite recipe? One you use often to make family (and budget) friendly, hearty, easy to prepare (ie: I have a short attention span, get sidetracked easily and forget I'm cooking so it can't be something I need to 'watch' closely) meals. If so....share. Please. My children will thank you (if vegetables are well disguised they will thank you even more) and I might actually serve something other than Corn Flakes for supper occasionally.
~K
But
Never Fear
My brain was wondering something this morning and it may not be fabulously brilliant but it's what I'm wondering and thought I'd share.
I wonder why........
.
.
.
.
.
.
I bother buying cookbooks?
I am not a fan of cooking and no cookbook I own makes me feel like cooking and in all honesty unless it's something familiar and as simple as possible with as few ingredients and steps involved as possible I'm not going to make it.....and chance are even if I did, my kids wouldn't eat it anyway.
The problem with this is I'm sick of every single meal that's become our staple lately so I'm even more bored with the whole cooking process because I just don't want what I'm throwing together ---- even more so the last few weeks where I'm dragging my butt into the house after 6pm and am way too tired to try and think of something to make.
Like I've said before...it's a good thing the kids are happy with cereal or hotdogs and even when I go all out and make grilled cheese and instant chicken noodle soup the chances are one of them's going to say....."I'll just have cereal" anyway.
To say the least I'm lacking the motivation to actually cook a real meal lately and also lacking the items in half the cookbooks needed to make anything of any great cullinary interest.
Do you have a favorite cookbook or even a favorite recipe? One you use often to make family (and budget) friendly, hearty, easy to prepare (ie: I have a short attention span, get sidetracked easily and forget I'm cooking so it can't be something I need to 'watch' closely) meals. If so....share. Please. My children will thank you (if vegetables are well disguised they will thank you even more) and I might actually serve something other than Corn Flakes for supper occasionally.
~K
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
So this is what a day off should be like
I've had a few of them scattered here and there since I started working a couple weeks ago but as days off go, the ones before this one were anything but relaxing and restful.
Today. Rocked.
Apparently it doesn't take much to make my day off rock because it wasn't like I went all out and did wild and crazy things. It was just a nice relaxing day doing what I'm used to doing. It was comfortable and familiar and that's just the way I like it.
I blogged a bit this morning, had a 15minute nap then took Al to work and went out for lunch with my friend Carrie (hi Carrie!) then lay on my mom's couch watching tv while she had a nap before I took her for bloodwork, popped in to visit a cousin while I was at the hospital with mom, chit-chatted with a couple friends here and there, took mom to buy some more flowers, went to the bank to deposit a couple cheques* and picked up the kids from school before grabbing a few groceries and coming home.
Nice. Boring. Uneventful. Non-dramatic. Plain. Old. Normal. Everyday. Stuff. Awesome!
About those cheques I deposited though. There's a funny story behind one of them. One of those cheques arrived by mail a day or so ago and the envelope was addressed to "original me" with my maiden name - you know, a name I haven't used in almost 18 years. My maiden name was crossed out and my married name written in with a little ooops beside it. It really made me giggle.
When I opened the envelope there was a beautiful handmade card inside from my Sis and included with the card was a cheque for the $99 deposit for Tyler's Normandy Trip. The cheque might have made me cry a little if it hadn't made me laugh out loud first because the cheque was also made out to "original me". When I went to the bank this afternoon to deposit it, instead of putting it into the instant teller like I normall would, I actually went inside to make sure there wouldn't be an issue with cashing it and I was told to just sign the back of it both ways - with my maiden and married names and there wouldn't be a problem. Well, at least there wouldn't be a problem on their end.......on mine it was a little tricky. I honestly had to stop and think about how to sign my maiden name. I'm not kidding. Try it sometime. If you haven't signed anything with your maiden name in a whole lotta years-try to sign something with it. It's not as easy as you might think. Maybe it's just me but my brain resisted the whole time. Too funny!
Thanks again sweet sis for the money. Tyler is very very happy and also very surprised that someone would just send him a little money to help him reach his goal of going on this trip. Now if his mom would just sign the form and stop being such as suck about her baby boy traveling half way across the world for 10 days, he'd be even happier.
Anyone know how to get a passport? That's our next step.
~K
Today. Rocked.
Apparently it doesn't take much to make my day off rock because it wasn't like I went all out and did wild and crazy things. It was just a nice relaxing day doing what I'm used to doing. It was comfortable and familiar and that's just the way I like it.
I blogged a bit this morning, had a 15minute nap then took Al to work and went out for lunch with my friend Carrie (hi Carrie!) then lay on my mom's couch watching tv while she had a nap before I took her for bloodwork, popped in to visit a cousin while I was at the hospital with mom, chit-chatted with a couple friends here and there, took mom to buy some more flowers, went to the bank to deposit a couple cheques* and picked up the kids from school before grabbing a few groceries and coming home.
Nice. Boring. Uneventful. Non-dramatic. Plain. Old. Normal. Everyday. Stuff. Awesome!
About those cheques I deposited though. There's a funny story behind one of them. One of those cheques arrived by mail a day or so ago and the envelope was addressed to "original me" with my maiden name - you know, a name I haven't used in almost 18 years. My maiden name was crossed out and my married name written in with a little ooops beside it. It really made me giggle.
When I opened the envelope there was a beautiful handmade card inside from my Sis and included with the card was a cheque for the $99 deposit for Tyler's Normandy Trip. The cheque might have made me cry a little if it hadn't made me laugh out loud first because the cheque was also made out to "original me". When I went to the bank this afternoon to deposit it, instead of putting it into the instant teller like I normall would, I actually went inside to make sure there wouldn't be an issue with cashing it and I was told to just sign the back of it both ways - with my maiden and married names and there wouldn't be a problem. Well, at least there wouldn't be a problem on their end.......on mine it was a little tricky. I honestly had to stop and think about how to sign my maiden name. I'm not kidding. Try it sometime. If you haven't signed anything with your maiden name in a whole lotta years-try to sign something with it. It's not as easy as you might think. Maybe it's just me but my brain resisted the whole time. Too funny!
Thanks again sweet sis for the money. Tyler is very very happy and also very surprised that someone would just send him a little money to help him reach his goal of going on this trip. Now if his mom would just sign the form and stop being such as suck about her baby boy traveling half way across the world for 10 days, he'd be even happier.
Anyone know how to get a passport? That's our next step.
~K
Time, Ticks and Tilt-a-whirls
I've sort of forgotten how to do this blogging thing.
I've started 3-4 posts now and they just seem to get nowhere fast. Probably because my time is so limited and I'm used to being able to ramble for longer periods of time so getting my thoughts together quickly is taking some effort. If I start a post and then have to leave it and come back to it later the 'feel' is gone and I can't pick up where I left off and I end up starting over. That's exactly what happened with the post I started last night that I'd intended for an *I wonder why?* Wednesday post but when I tried to finish it up this morning it just wasn't working for me. In a nutshell - it sucked.
I'm having a reaction to a wood tick bite (it seems I'm allergic to the little buggers) on the back of my leg so it's swollen and itching and basically driving me crazy. I put a thick layer of this medicated 'goop' that I was told by my doctor to use the last time this happened and while I was waiting for it to dry so I could go pass out, I thought I'd blog a bit. Not a good idea. The combination of being distracted by my leg and being so tired made for a really horrible post attempt. Glad I didn't hit publish because I don't even understand where I was going with the post.
I think the post mostly had to do with the passage of time. Normally I'm all "where did the day/week/month go?" but lately that's absolutely not the case. I swear the past 6 weeks or so have been some of the longest in history. Considering all the big, huge, memorable things that have happened lately I would have expected to be sitting here thinking that it all passed by so quickly in such a blur. 6 weeks ago we were in Dauphin and then it was the weekend at the hall scrapbooking with everyone, then the kids all had their birthdays and there was the long-weekend and then I started my job and I feel like all that stuff happened so very long ago instead of just in the last few weeks.
Time is moving slowly lately for some reason and it just seems so bizzare to me. I would expect that being so crazy-busy would make the time just fly by.
Of course just because the weeks have been creeping slowly by lately doesn't mean the hours in the day don't still get away from me. As usual blogging has sidetracked me. I have plans with my mom this morning and then a lunch date at noon and suddenly I realize that while I'm talking about time moving slowly....it really isn't and I'm going to run out of time to do all the things I want to do on my day off today if I don't get moving.
Later!
~K
I've started 3-4 posts now and they just seem to get nowhere fast. Probably because my time is so limited and I'm used to being able to ramble for longer periods of time so getting my thoughts together quickly is taking some effort. If I start a post and then have to leave it and come back to it later the 'feel' is gone and I can't pick up where I left off and I end up starting over. That's exactly what happened with the post I started last night that I'd intended for an *I wonder why?* Wednesday post but when I tried to finish it up this morning it just wasn't working for me. In a nutshell - it sucked.
I'm having a reaction to a wood tick bite (it seems I'm allergic to the little buggers) on the back of my leg so it's swollen and itching and basically driving me crazy. I put a thick layer of this medicated 'goop' that I was told by my doctor to use the last time this happened and while I was waiting for it to dry so I could go pass out, I thought I'd blog a bit. Not a good idea. The combination of being distracted by my leg and being so tired made for a really horrible post attempt. Glad I didn't hit publish because I don't even understand where I was going with the post.
I think the post mostly had to do with the passage of time. Normally I'm all "where did the day/week/month go?" but lately that's absolutely not the case. I swear the past 6 weeks or so have been some of the longest in history. Considering all the big, huge, memorable things that have happened lately I would have expected to be sitting here thinking that it all passed by so quickly in such a blur. 6 weeks ago we were in Dauphin and then it was the weekend at the hall scrapbooking with everyone, then the kids all had their birthdays and there was the long-weekend and then I started my job and I feel like all that stuff happened so very long ago instead of just in the last few weeks.
Time is moving slowly lately for some reason and it just seems so bizzare to me. I would expect that being so crazy-busy would make the time just fly by.
Of course just because the weeks have been creeping slowly by lately doesn't mean the hours in the day don't still get away from me. As usual blogging has sidetracked me. I have plans with my mom this morning and then a lunch date at noon and suddenly I realize that while I'm talking about time moving slowly....it really isn't and I'm going to run out of time to do all the things I want to do on my day off today if I don't get moving.
Later!
~K
Monday, June 08, 2009
when tech support gets a real job
and is too darn tired and lacking brain function by the end of the day to care........
then we are without internet for 3 days until i was coherent enough to figure out what was going on and fix it.
Not that I fixed it - fixed it. I just figured out where the problem was and by-passed it. Fixing it -fixing it will probably require someone from the phone company coming out to see what's wrong with the phone jack in the kitchen which appears to not be functioning.
Actually my first thought was 'dammit....did i forget to pay the phone bill?' but that's not the problem. We are still connected and the jack at the other end of the house works just fine so it's definately an internal issue with the one jack.
Now I just have to figure out if I'm paying into the phone company's program where any internal 'fixing' needing to be done is covered or if I call a repair man I'm going to get stuck paying for the service call and repair because it's an internal problem. BUT....in the meantime, I'm internet connected....as long as nobody trips over the million foot long phone cord winding it's way through the middle of my house to the one functioning telephone jack.
Oh and speaking of repair men.....or technicians......I noticed on my last satelite bill that there was this notice that 'my recent visit by a technician was not billed on this statement but would be added to my next bill'.
HUH?
When was there a satelite technician at my house, for what purpose and who authorized that?????? Oh and how much are they planning to sucker out of me for this non-existent house call?????
So, I'm back again in the land of the internet connected and I have two whole days off so I'm sure I'll be back to ramble tomorrow. There's so much to catch up on. Highschool awards night, the Normandy Trip, what the kids are up to and all the crazy-buzy stuff that's going on. I won't even mention that today was Monday.....and it rained (and is still raining) all day.....and I didn't have to work in it. heeheeheehee
~K
then we are without internet for 3 days until i was coherent enough to figure out what was going on and fix it.
Not that I fixed it - fixed it. I just figured out where the problem was and by-passed it. Fixing it -fixing it will probably require someone from the phone company coming out to see what's wrong with the phone jack in the kitchen which appears to not be functioning.
Actually my first thought was 'dammit....did i forget to pay the phone bill?' but that's not the problem. We are still connected and the jack at the other end of the house works just fine so it's definately an internal issue with the one jack.
Now I just have to figure out if I'm paying into the phone company's program where any internal 'fixing' needing to be done is covered or if I call a repair man I'm going to get stuck paying for the service call and repair because it's an internal problem. BUT....in the meantime, I'm internet connected....as long as nobody trips over the million foot long phone cord winding it's way through the middle of my house to the one functioning telephone jack.
Oh and speaking of repair men.....or technicians......I noticed on my last satelite bill that there was this notice that 'my recent visit by a technician was not billed on this statement but would be added to my next bill'.
HUH?
When was there a satelite technician at my house, for what purpose and who authorized that?????? Oh and how much are they planning to sucker out of me for this non-existent house call?????
So, I'm back again in the land of the internet connected and I have two whole days off so I'm sure I'll be back to ramble tomorrow. There's so much to catch up on. Highschool awards night, the Normandy Trip, what the kids are up to and all the crazy-buzy stuff that's going on. I won't even mention that today was Monday.....and it rained (and is still raining) all day.....and I didn't have to work in it. heeheeheehee
~K
Friday, June 05, 2009
More Surprises
My life is just full of them.
Usually I don't like them.....but sometimes they can be unexpectedly sweet.
I've had my fair share of un-sweet ones today and more than one made me cry slightly but the last one made me tear up with tears of joy it was so sweet.
I've covered in my previous post most of the unexpected not-so-nice surprises but there's one more that really frosted my cookies today.
Other than taking mom for a very short and sweet flower shopping trip the only other errand that we managed to squeeze into my day off was going to the pharmacy to pick up her box of prescriptions.
Your read that right. Box. Cardboard. Size - Large. I really wonder some days if I don't need some sort of license to carry that much pharmasuticals but hopefully I don't......I'd forget to renew it for sure.
Now prior to heading to her place I did stop by the post office and pick up her mail which she opened before we headed out on our errands. One of the letters in the mail informed her of how much her annual PharmaCare deductible was ($500 give or take) so she had a pretty good idea how much money she'd have to pay out when we went to the pharmacy to pick up her meds.....and for the record, she's hit her deductible limit already in one day so the rest of the year is covered by provincial health......right? Wrong!
Seems that she's also as of today reached her maximum allowable number for one of her inhailers --- as in the medication that makes it so she can breath. Apparently, according to the pharmasist the provincial medical plan covers 14 of these inhailers annually. There are 25 doses per inhailer so she's covered for one puff per day. Wonderful - except that last fall when she was having so much trouble breathing her dose was increased to 2 puffs, up to twice a day. Now my numbers aren't always the best but that means she's taking up to 4 puffs of this inhailer per day so an inhailer last her between 5 and10 days depending on how she's feeling. That's roughly 3-5 inhailers per month.....and 5 months into the year she's used up her annual amount. I guess breathing is optional the other 7 months of the year! If she 'wants to continue using this medication' she'll need to dish out $115.66 per inhailer. Multiply that by 3-5 per month and that equals way too much math and some serious cash.
So who do I talk to about this because this sucks. My goal here is to keep this lady as healthy as possible to give her some decent quality of life and now she's been denied coverage for one of her meds that allows her to breath. Last I checked that whole breathing thing.....kind of important.
Of course this is also the same health care system that has a friend of mine paying out $800 every two weeks for supplies for her son's insulin pump....a pump she had to pay for with the help of many family, friends, fundraisers and local charities, out of her own pocket since the government refuses to pay for pumps for insulin dependant diabetic children even though a number of other provinces do. ooooop...climbed up on that soap box there for a minute didn't I. Well.....that's because it sucks!
That pretty much coveres the unpleasant surprises for the day although I will say that while I was not happily surprised with not having a nice quiet evening at home, I did enjoy the band concert -which I knew I would - I just didn't feel like going especially because I knew we wouldn't get home till late and that makes getting the kids to bed extra hard.
Once I did get them to bed though, I ignored the dinner dishes and sat down to catch up on some blogs and while doing that I read a comment on my post from earlier in the week. That's when I came across one surprise of the day that made me cry because it was so sweet and kind.
I'd been so worried about making the deposit for a trip my son really wants to take to Normandy next spring and my sis leaves a comment that the cheque is in the mail. Just like that. No questions asked. Talk about a sweet, unexpected surprise......and an unnecessary one since Ty does get a paycheque this week that should be enough to cover his deposit. Now I just have to read the really really fine print of this trip and have the courage to fill it in. Paris, Normandy, Amsterdam....very very far away and in the grand scheme of things the total price tag of this trip is going to be more in the neighbourhood of $4000 by the time we add in passport costs, insurance and spending money and at least one additonal tour that is not included....because there is no way they can go all the way there and not go to Vimy.
Now I have 4 days to decided if it's financially possible to committ to being able to pull together that amount of money.....which is extremely scarey considering I was concerned with just coming up with the dang deposit....but we do have 9months yet so is it do-able?
4 days to sign on the dotted line and committ to letting my son go half way around the world for 10days.
4 days to come to terms with the fact that my son is old enough to take a trip like this.
I guess that's easier to come to terms with than the question I had to answer for my van's insurance regarding if there was anyone other than myself and Al as it's primary users at which point I realized that at this time next year the answer to that question will quite probably be yes....that my son is also a regular user of the vehicle.
I guess that's one more surprise for the day. My kids are growing up.....way too fast. I think that's considered a sweet surprise.....although after listening to my sister-in-laws talk today about potty training Luke and cuddling baby Sarah for a few minutes it's a little bitter-sweet. I miss those days.
Besides - Pre-school field trip permission forms were so much easier to deal with.
~K
PS.... Sis, you didn't need to but thank you. Love you!
Usually I don't like them.....but sometimes they can be unexpectedly sweet.
I've had my fair share of un-sweet ones today and more than one made me cry slightly but the last one made me tear up with tears of joy it was so sweet.
I've covered in my previous post most of the unexpected not-so-nice surprises but there's one more that really frosted my cookies today.
Other than taking mom for a very short and sweet flower shopping trip the only other errand that we managed to squeeze into my day off was going to the pharmacy to pick up her box of prescriptions.
Your read that right. Box. Cardboard. Size - Large. I really wonder some days if I don't need some sort of license to carry that much pharmasuticals but hopefully I don't......I'd forget to renew it for sure.
Now prior to heading to her place I did stop by the post office and pick up her mail which she opened before we headed out on our errands. One of the letters in the mail informed her of how much her annual PharmaCare deductible was ($500 give or take) so she had a pretty good idea how much money she'd have to pay out when we went to the pharmacy to pick up her meds.....and for the record, she's hit her deductible limit already in one day so the rest of the year is covered by provincial health......right? Wrong!
Seems that she's also as of today reached her maximum allowable number for one of her inhailers --- as in the medication that makes it so she can breath. Apparently, according to the pharmasist the provincial medical plan covers 14 of these inhailers annually. There are 25 doses per inhailer so she's covered for one puff per day. Wonderful - except that last fall when she was having so much trouble breathing her dose was increased to 2 puffs, up to twice a day. Now my numbers aren't always the best but that means she's taking up to 4 puffs of this inhailer per day so an inhailer last her between 5 and10 days depending on how she's feeling. That's roughly 3-5 inhailers per month.....and 5 months into the year she's used up her annual amount. I guess breathing is optional the other 7 months of the year! If she 'wants to continue using this medication' she'll need to dish out $115.66 per inhailer. Multiply that by 3-5 per month and that equals way too much math and some serious cash.
So who do I talk to about this because this sucks. My goal here is to keep this lady as healthy as possible to give her some decent quality of life and now she's been denied coverage for one of her meds that allows her to breath. Last I checked that whole breathing thing.....kind of important.
Of course this is also the same health care system that has a friend of mine paying out $800 every two weeks for supplies for her son's insulin pump....a pump she had to pay for with the help of many family, friends, fundraisers and local charities, out of her own pocket since the government refuses to pay for pumps for insulin dependant diabetic children even though a number of other provinces do. ooooop...climbed up on that soap box there for a minute didn't I. Well.....that's because it sucks!
That pretty much coveres the unpleasant surprises for the day although I will say that while I was not happily surprised with not having a nice quiet evening at home, I did enjoy the band concert -which I knew I would - I just didn't feel like going especially because I knew we wouldn't get home till late and that makes getting the kids to bed extra hard.
Once I did get them to bed though, I ignored the dinner dishes and sat down to catch up on some blogs and while doing that I read a comment on my post from earlier in the week. That's when I came across one surprise of the day that made me cry because it was so sweet and kind.
I'd been so worried about making the deposit for a trip my son really wants to take to Normandy next spring and my sis leaves a comment that the cheque is in the mail. Just like that. No questions asked. Talk about a sweet, unexpected surprise......and an unnecessary one since Ty does get a paycheque this week that should be enough to cover his deposit. Now I just have to read the really really fine print of this trip and have the courage to fill it in. Paris, Normandy, Amsterdam....very very far away and in the grand scheme of things the total price tag of this trip is going to be more in the neighbourhood of $4000 by the time we add in passport costs, insurance and spending money and at least one additonal tour that is not included....because there is no way they can go all the way there and not go to Vimy.
Now I have 4 days to decided if it's financially possible to committ to being able to pull together that amount of money.....which is extremely scarey considering I was concerned with just coming up with the dang deposit....but we do have 9months yet so is it do-able?
4 days to sign on the dotted line and committ to letting my son go half way around the world for 10days.
4 days to come to terms with the fact that my son is old enough to take a trip like this.
I guess that's easier to come to terms with than the question I had to answer for my van's insurance regarding if there was anyone other than myself and Al as it's primary users at which point I realized that at this time next year the answer to that question will quite probably be yes....that my son is also a regular user of the vehicle.
I guess that's one more surprise for the day. My kids are growing up.....way too fast. I think that's considered a sweet surprise.....although after listening to my sister-in-laws talk today about potty training Luke and cuddling baby Sarah for a few minutes it's a little bitter-sweet. I miss those days.
Besides - Pre-school field trip permission forms were so much easier to deal with.
~K
PS.... Sis, you didn't need to but thank you. Love you!
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Nice Relaxing Day Off....to blog and flower shop and oh wait...
The day started out beautifully. Even the accidently sleeping in part and the kids missing the bus....because I didn't have to be at work early this morning so it was all good...and that extra hour of sleep rocked!
I had plans to do a little errand running late this morning with my mom, visit with her, be home when the kids got home from school for a change. Al could take the van to work and I could just spend a nice quiet evening at home. No rushing. No fussing. Nothing fancy. Just a pretty basic day.
BLAM!!!!
Did you catch that.
That's the sound of my brain getting sideswiped.
Darn information, thoughts, knowledge. It's all in there. Inside my noggin just begging to be used.....but sadly it gets lost more times than it's useful. Heck even the stuff on the calendar (which still needs to be replaced by something MUCH larger) isn't free from neglect.
It's no wonder I can't remember all those darn product code numbers at work. I can't remember the stuff I already have inside my head nevermind new stuff. *seriously.....that darn special has been on all week and I've probably package at least 75 of them but do you think I can remember it's code for the scale is 40741 (well okay I remember it NOW but not while I'm AT work...I'm serously stupid there. I completely draw a blank)
anyway.....
this morning.....before I'd even finished my 2nd cup of wonderfully hot & delicious coffee or had even taken a bite of the Apple Fritter that Al brought me home from town when he took the kids to school - it hit me.
I was merrily going about my business putting together my budget for the month - you know....cuz now that we have 2 paycheques coming in I can actually do silly things like pay some bills and oh I don't know.....by groceries.
So, I was dividing up the incoming money that appears as if by magic in our bank account each Friday morning for things like Hydro (who so graciously informed me earlier this week that if we continue on with our payment schedule as is....our outstanding balance should be paid off in OCTOBER and could we possibly swing out a little more cash for them each month) and the van payment and the Visa bill and the phone and internet and Autopac (that's the insurance on my van for those not in the know) and that's when it hit me.
AUTOPAC! Dammit! Sideswiped.......by my own van!
I quickly check my online banking and sure enough, there's no money in there which isn't a good thing when there was an automatic payment for my insurance due 2 days ago. So there I am scrambling with this tidbit of info when that darn information truck comes back around to hit me again.
BLAM!
That payment never was scheduled to come out of my account anyway because I needed to go in and renew my insurance 2 days ago. D'oh!
BLAM!
Did you hear that one. That was the truck backing up and running me over again.
It's JUNE! 4 months after my birthday. Which around here means my drivers license expired right along side my insurance...... 2 days ago.
That's right. Not only has my van been uninsured since Midnight on Tuesday but I'm not legal to drive. Dang I hate it when that happens (and yes...it's happened before - at least this time it didn't cost me the price of that speeding ticket AND the ticket for not having a license AND for driving an uninsured vehicle). You'd think I would have learned this lesson. Sadly NO.
So instead of errands and flower shopping with mom this morning I scrambled to borrow $160 since payday isn't until tomorrow so I could register the van and pay for my license (which btw I think it's just disgusting that they make you pay $40 to take such a horrible photo of you) and it kinda threw the rest of my day off.
But once that was all done I was able to salvage some time to take mom to go pick up a couple hanging baskets for her yard - which I have to remember to go take into the garage tonight since there's supposed to be frost tonight. Geesh! And since I will be back in town tonight anyway this isn't a problem.
That's right. No nice relaxing evening at home. No Al taking the van to work.
I had mentioned to Al that I was going to enjoy spending the evening at home tonight and not have to pick him up at midnight because he could take the van since I don't need to be anywhere tonight .
I think he was a little scared to say anything. Actually, I think he was more than a little scared that I'd cry - again with yet another surprise because he very cautiously mentioned that I did in fact need the van tonight.
???? Really ????
BLAM
High School Band Concert tonight. It's even written on the calendar and yet....still a surprise.
Today has just been FULL of surprises.
There were more of them....but they will have to wait till later. I'm going to go make my son prove to me that he can actually play that clarinette I spent the last 3 years paying for. OH and somebody remind me the annual payment for that darn thing will be charged to my credit card in early July. I believe I owe something like $3.00 on it plus the years insurance..... but then again I've been surprised by bigger things lately so I could be wrong.
~K
*** more stuff to blog about.....back later.
I had plans to do a little errand running late this morning with my mom, visit with her, be home when the kids got home from school for a change. Al could take the van to work and I could just spend a nice quiet evening at home. No rushing. No fussing. Nothing fancy. Just a pretty basic day.
BLAM!!!!
Did you catch that.
That's the sound of my brain getting sideswiped.
Darn information, thoughts, knowledge. It's all in there. Inside my noggin just begging to be used.....but sadly it gets lost more times than it's useful. Heck even the stuff on the calendar (which still needs to be replaced by something MUCH larger) isn't free from neglect.
It's no wonder I can't remember all those darn product code numbers at work. I can't remember the stuff I already have inside my head nevermind new stuff. *seriously.....that darn special has been on all week and I've probably package at least 75 of them but do you think I can remember it's code for the scale is 40741 (well okay I remember it NOW but not while I'm AT work...I'm serously stupid there. I completely draw a blank)
anyway.....
this morning.....before I'd even finished my 2nd cup of wonderfully hot & delicious coffee or had even taken a bite of the Apple Fritter that Al brought me home from town when he took the kids to school - it hit me.
I was merrily going about my business putting together my budget for the month - you know....cuz now that we have 2 paycheques coming in I can actually do silly things like pay some bills and oh I don't know.....by groceries.
So, I was dividing up the incoming money that appears as if by magic in our bank account each Friday morning for things like Hydro (who so graciously informed me earlier this week that if we continue on with our payment schedule as is....our outstanding balance should be paid off in OCTOBER and could we possibly swing out a little more cash for them each month) and the van payment and the Visa bill and the phone and internet and Autopac (that's the insurance on my van for those not in the know) and that's when it hit me.
AUTOPAC! Dammit! Sideswiped.......by my own van!
I quickly check my online banking and sure enough, there's no money in there which isn't a good thing when there was an automatic payment for my insurance due 2 days ago. So there I am scrambling with this tidbit of info when that darn information truck comes back around to hit me again.
BLAM!
That payment never was scheduled to come out of my account anyway because I needed to go in and renew my insurance 2 days ago. D'oh!
BLAM!
Did you hear that one. That was the truck backing up and running me over again.
It's JUNE! 4 months after my birthday. Which around here means my drivers license expired right along side my insurance...... 2 days ago.
That's right. Not only has my van been uninsured since Midnight on Tuesday but I'm not legal to drive. Dang I hate it when that happens (and yes...it's happened before - at least this time it didn't cost me the price of that speeding ticket AND the ticket for not having a license AND for driving an uninsured vehicle). You'd think I would have learned this lesson. Sadly NO.
So instead of errands and flower shopping with mom this morning I scrambled to borrow $160 since payday isn't until tomorrow so I could register the van and pay for my license (which btw I think it's just disgusting that they make you pay $40 to take such a horrible photo of you) and it kinda threw the rest of my day off.
But once that was all done I was able to salvage some time to take mom to go pick up a couple hanging baskets for her yard - which I have to remember to go take into the garage tonight since there's supposed to be frost tonight. Geesh! And since I will be back in town tonight anyway this isn't a problem.
That's right. No nice relaxing evening at home. No Al taking the van to work.
I had mentioned to Al that I was going to enjoy spending the evening at home tonight and not have to pick him up at midnight because he could take the van since I don't need to be anywhere tonight .
I think he was a little scared to say anything. Actually, I think he was more than a little scared that I'd cry - again with yet another surprise because he very cautiously mentioned that I did in fact need the van tonight.
???? Really ????
BLAM
High School Band Concert tonight. It's even written on the calendar and yet....still a surprise.
Today has just been FULL of surprises.
There were more of them....but they will have to wait till later. I'm going to go make my son prove to me that he can actually play that clarinette I spent the last 3 years paying for. OH and somebody remind me the annual payment for that darn thing will be charged to my credit card in early July. I believe I owe something like $3.00 on it plus the years insurance..... but then again I've been surprised by bigger things lately so I could be wrong.
~K
*** more stuff to blog about.....back later.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Because there's room on my calendar for a meeting
Well....no....there isn't really, but I'll make time.
It's important.
Very important to my oldest son.
He brought a letter home from school this afternoon announcing a parent meeting to discuss details of a trip he really really wants to take next year.
Permission for this trip to take place has been granted by the powers that be at the school board and now there is officially an information night this Wednesday to go over the finer details of the itinerary, costs and what's all involved......oh and a $99 deposit is required that night to ensure there is serious interest in this whole project. Ouch. Considering we spent the boys last $175 on bills this morning, coming up with that money's going to be tricky but I'll jump through hoops to borrow it. Actually there will be alot of hoop jumping through inorder to scrape together the $3000 (give or take a few bucks here and there) so he can go on this trip. If it kills me I will make sure he doesn't miss out on this chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity.
What is this trip you ask? Are you asking? I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not.
In a nutshell one of the teachers has put together a 10-day trip through Europe visiting a number of battle fields and historic sites commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Victory in Europe campaign and the 66th anniversary of the D-Day landings. In the past few years Tyler has become very interested in anything to do with this subject (even so far as to read the occasional book on it....and books are not his friends at the best of times) and loves watching the History channel so this trip really sparked his interest from the very first mention of it. So it looks like I'm heading to a school meeting re: The Normandy Trip on Wednesday and hopefully there aren't too many surprise costs other than that quoted on the original information sheet and somehow, someway we will get the money together so he can go. Ultimately his father would love to go along too since this is also an area of interest for him...... but for now our goal is to get the boy there.
~K
It's important.
Very important to my oldest son.
He brought a letter home from school this afternoon announcing a parent meeting to discuss details of a trip he really really wants to take next year.
Permission for this trip to take place has been granted by the powers that be at the school board and now there is officially an information night this Wednesday to go over the finer details of the itinerary, costs and what's all involved......oh and a $99 deposit is required that night to ensure there is serious interest in this whole project. Ouch. Considering we spent the boys last $175 on bills this morning, coming up with that money's going to be tricky but I'll jump through hoops to borrow it. Actually there will be alot of hoop jumping through inorder to scrape together the $3000 (give or take a few bucks here and there) so he can go on this trip. If it kills me I will make sure he doesn't miss out on this chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity.
What is this trip you ask? Are you asking? I can't remember if I've mentioned it or not.
In a nutshell one of the teachers has put together a 10-day trip through Europe visiting a number of battle fields and historic sites commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Victory in Europe campaign and the 66th anniversary of the D-Day landings. In the past few years Tyler has become very interested in anything to do with this subject (even so far as to read the occasional book on it....and books are not his friends at the best of times) and loves watching the History channel so this trip really sparked his interest from the very first mention of it. So it looks like I'm heading to a school meeting re: The Normandy Trip on Wednesday and hopefully there aren't too many surprise costs other than that quoted on the original information sheet and somehow, someway we will get the money together so he can go. Ultimately his father would love to go along too since this is also an area of interest for him...... but for now our goal is to get the boy there.
~K
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