Scrapbook vacation

Yup.  That's right. Scrapbook & vacation in the same title. I've been on holidays all week and have spent a decent portion of my time at Minerva hall playing with paper and relaxing. Today is our last full day here - day five!  Tomorrow evening we will finally pack up our stuff. It's been nice in many ways.  Other than scrapbooking, there are family meals together, cousins playing together, a few card games in the evenings and air conditioning. I think I will miss the air conditioning the most.  

I certainly haven't cranked out as many pages as I could have - sleeping in and not get in here until after 1 most days didn't help, but I've done at least a dozen pages in the last 5 days so I'm happy.  

Not a bad way to spend a few holiday days. Sure do wish I didn't have to go back to work Monday though.

There are no do-overs

But honestly..... That's one vacation I do not want to repeat.

Went back to work today, feeling almost 100%. Almost.

And today didn't really suck, if ya don't count the fact that it wasn't spent at home chillin.

I did enjoy my last day off so maybe that helped prepare me for having to go back to work this morning. Em and I spent the day together. Too bad we couldn't convince the guys to get the heck out of our hair for a few hours but we worked around them. We spent the entire morning watching Gilmore Girls and we pulled out the folding table, set it up in the living room and played with paper all day. Well, mostly I played with paper (4 pages done and a whole lot of long-lost supplies sorted and even used). I feel bad that Em just couldn't get into it which is usually my issue, not hers. I think maybe her very sore tail bone had something to do with it. Poor girl slipped on ice and fell a couple weeks ago and is still hurting.

I still have 2 days available from my 2012 holidays to use up before the end is April so I foresee an extra long weekend or two in my near future.

Maybe that is the way my holidays are meant to be spent.

~Kirsten

My Spring Stay-cation

AKA

My Pity Party

So my holidays, the 6 days of freedom that I'd booked off work, that I'd been looking forward to so much. It sucked!!!

Since early December, we've been insanely short staffed and I'd waited and waited to take the last of my 2012 holidays until things had sort of settled down. I was so exhausted, and so excited and so ready to just chill at home. I had nothing special planned. Just take care of some things I've been too tired to do lately. I had a mental list of some much needed spring cleaning mixed with some reading, maybe some knitting and definitely some scrapbooking.

How much of that got done?

None. Nothing. Not a damn thing.

Between sick kids and sick me.... My stay-cation has been a big bust. And now, still feeling weak from being sick ( how can I be tired.... I spent 36 hrs straight in bed) I'm working on all the laundry from the massive puke fest this week has been and having myself a little pity party!

Hugs.
~Kirsten

I Can Blog from MY PHONE?!?!?

How sweet is that and how did I not know this before?!?

The trick of course was remembering my username and password, which becomes especially tricky when you've changed Internet providers and set up new emails a couple times in the last few years. But I figured it all out and here I am blogging from my phone.

No excuses now, not to update the old blog on a regular basis.... aside from lack of blog worthy content, but I'm sure I will be able to come up with stuff occasionally.

So, setting myself up to blog on my phone takes care of one thing off my "things to do while on holidays" list and since I'm on a roll with that list (and nobody is currently puking) I'm going to go tackle some more of my list while I have a chance.

Hugs
~Kirsten

Heat Wave

Hot I don't mind.  Hot and Humid.  Oh the humidity!  Not a fan.

Have you ever noticed, that no matter what time of year it is....the most uncomfortable weather forecasts start with the words......"feels like".    In the winter the windchill makes the temperatures 'feel like' they are even colder than the actual temp.  Same thing in the summer.   The temperature right now  28....but it "feels like" 34.  At it's hottest today it "felt like" 38!  Baby...that felt like Hell.

One bonus to working all weekend......I spent the majority of the last few days inside an almost cool building and for the most part was quite comfortable.

I did not get a sunburn, except oddly I did burn my neck a little driving home yesterday with the sun beating down on me through the window.  Emily & Owen DID get burnt on Sunday after spending the day at the parade, park, beach and at Aunty Sue's.  Both have learned that a) you need to reapply sunscreen b) you need to apply sunscreen if you change into a tank top or take your shirt off to swim and c) when you put sunscreen on.....do both sides.  Owen's front was well protected but his back - not so much....but the white on red outline of his fingers where he got a little sunscreen around the back is pretty artistic.     If I could find the batteries  I bought for my camera I'd take a picture.  :0)

Some people argue that summer is so short what's the point of buying an air conditioner that you only need for such a little bit of time.

To that I say......the snow blower hasn't been out of the garage more than half a dozen times in the last few years.    I think that makes my point!

I do  believe there might be a window a/c unit around here somewhere.  Unfortunately this house (and when I say this house....imagine I say it through gritted teeth as though expressing great loathing) does not have windows that support the necessary features required to install a window a/c unit.  

At this point I'm willing to take a chain saw to a wall and cut a damn hole for the a/c to fit through.   Now if only I had a chain saw.   Maybe a snowblower would work?  I know we have one of those just sitting around not earning it's keep.

For now, I sit here.  Melting into a puddle.  Too hot to move.  Think I'll go stand in a cool shower for 10 mins then try to get some sleep. 

~K.

So I've Fallen In Love

With a zippy little thing.

She's brand spanking new.

All shiney and black.

Took her for a test drive and absolutely fell in love.

I spend on average 15 hours a week in my van.

I really don't mind commuting at all but this little beauty would make it a lot sweeter.....especially when it comes to fuel consumption.

Al asked if I wanted to go in and talk to Carla to see what it would take to make her mine.

I said NO (and pouted a little) and we gave back the keys and left (and I pouted a little more).

I'm currently working without a contract and until I've got a new contract (a healthy raise would be sweet too), I am not going to make a major purchase like a new car.......but oh how I'd have loved to take her home with me.

Hopefully soon.  Maybe by the end of the summer.


edit to add:  She was sold the next day.  But that's okay because when the time is right they will find me another one and bring it in for me.  Maybe a colour other than black?   Any suggestions.  What's a cool colour?

School is.....

Out for Summer.

For some it is out forever (or at least for now, maybe, hopefully)

& for others....they have a wee bit of work to do over the summer so that when they go back on Sept. 5th they will hopefully stand a chance (especially with the teacher he got).

Then there is the one who wishes it was September already so she could have her new clarinet and for her school and reading and learning are just a way of life (she's all mine - that one.  ALL mine!)

Summer is....

Officially here!

More-so for some than others.

4 out of 6 of us are employed full time.

1 works monday to friday (whoohoo for her....and transportation has been arranged for the summer) and most of the time I work Monday to Friday but do work one weekend out of every three and have a couple days off during the week instead....like today....which was awesome since it was the last day of school!

Others work shift work, chaotic, ever changing shifts that makes planning activities in advance a little difficult.

Hopefully the youngest members of this family enjoy their summer and while they will be on their own a wee bit over the coming weeks, I hope I can schedule in quite a bit of fun for them around everyone elses schedules.

We are working on a list of approved activities that do not entirely revolve around the tv, ipod, xbox and laptop as well as a list of Don'ts.

We are also working on a Summer Bucket List of activities both big and small that we would all like to participate in (some of them might even involve all 6 of us....at the same time....which tends to be rare and hard to accomplish but hopefullly do-able)

We're already off to a good start. Aarica met a "friend" in town tonight and hung out at the bandstand watching a local band while Em and O and I went to see Brave at the movie theatre.   Afterward Al and Ty and Aarica met us outside the theatre with Cooper and we went for icecream and a walk. 

Definately a wonderful way to start the summer!   So let the games begin!!!! Summer has begun.


~K

What A Difference A Year Makes

Here I sit.....infront of my laptop wondering what to write about. I miss writing and if I wrote on this blog everytime I thought about writing on it.....you'd have a lot more to read......and I'd probably find this easier to write, since practice usually makes things easier.

It's been quite a year. I could ramble on about each event endlessly....cuz I'm talented like that, but I won't. What I thought I'd do is make a list....cuz there is beauty in a nice list.

* i was off work for a month following surgery...and during this time decided to go back to school
* emily broke her arm
* i started my med lab assistant training and commuted into the city early every morning....and I don't 'do' mornings.
* we got a new puppy - a not so little 3ish month old American Bull/Boxer cross with one blue eye, one brown eye and two ears that do not hear that has grown into a not at all little one year old pup with an appetite for destruction
* tyler broke his arm (almost exactly 6 months after emily)
* i went completely out of my comfort zone and left my family for an entire month during my clinical practicum in Thompson.
* i loved almost every single minute of "single life", living on my own for the first time ever for that month.
* i totally completely absolutely loved every single minute of the time i spent working at Thompson General Hospital.
* al & i decided this spring that financially we'd hit the end of being able to salvage all we'd built the past 15yrs and we got ourselves a legal trustee and are working through the steps of bankrupcy and moving forward.
* emily & 3 other girls from our bowling centre qualified for the provincial bowling team and represented Manitoba at Nationals in Regina....and placed 3rd!!!!
* tyler attended a hockey officials training camp for a week in June and received an offical NHL jersey from one of the officials for his dedication and attitude (he got hurt the first day and sucked it up the rest of the week without giving up)
* aarica graduated from highschool....looked so beautiful in her gown.....and took her brother with her to the grad party after the ceremony & dinner.....and they stayed out all night and had a blast!
* i quit my job at Sobeys and went across the street to work with Al & Ty at Macs.
* i wrote....AND PASSED....the national certification exam and am officially a certified med lab assistant....whoohoooo!!!!
* we experienced the most amazing summer weather wise this year and even though i spent a lot of it working, at least i was inside an air conditioned store....it was a good summer
* ty got himself a car...and all the joys car ownership brings
* ty's still convinced he can pull the money together for another trip to europe next year.....i'm not as convinced but hope he can because warsaw/poland and tours of WWII concentration camps would be an intense, amazing experience for him.
* even though the weather was amazing....our pool got set up be never filled with water
* all the kids...aarica included, are back in school..
* i'm networking, sending out resumes and hoping to find work in a hospital soon.

So there ya have some of the highlights of the past 12 months. We've survived one heck of a year and I'm looking forward to what the next few months have in store for us....except the winter part. I could do without that. We've registered for a few activities to keep us busy (but not too busy) and are trying to get back into the routine of school and activities....and one of the 'activities' I'm hoping to work into a routine is blogging on a regular basis...and this includes reading a few of my old favs too.



~K

Huh - She was right (she usually is)

Received a text message tonight that said....reading your blog. you've actually written something.

And while I didn't doubt that she was right (as I've said...she usually is - it's kind of annoying sometimes but don't tell her I told you) I couldn't for the life of me remember what the latest episode of rambling was about so I just took her word for it (because again, she usually is right)

Once I got home from my 2nd trip to the city today I put aside my desire for sleep to just have a peek at the old blog.

Sure enough, she was right. I have written something lately. (and it's a heck of a lot more recent than the last post on her own neglected blog....I'm just saying).

And now that my curiosity has been satisfied, it is time for sleep. My very last early morning commute into the city (for school anyway) is tomorrow.

LAST DAY!!!!! Whooohoooo! I've been dreaming of this day for many weeks and am so glad it is finally here. I've enjoyed school but it's been a love/hate relationship for the past few months so I'm definately doing a happy dance now that it's done.

Night all. Love and Hugs heading your way. Oh and say HI in the comments if you do stop by so I know you've been around.

Oh Ya....I have a blog.

How could I forget about something that was a daily experience once upon a time. Things do have a way of changing and rearranging what we do on a daily basis don't they.

Never have I been more aware of how quickly things can change than I have been lately. I find myself thinking about this alot actually. Like, how can I commit to doing something or being somewhere 6 months or 3 months or even 3 weeks from now because really, I have no way of knowing what change could be just around the corner.

I keep meaning to update all the little and not so little changes that have happened but who am I kidding - I'll never get around to telling the whole story. I barely remember it.

I think last August was the last BIG change-maker or at least what happened in August started the ball rolling. It could stop rolling anytime. I'm tired of chasing it.

About mid august I got sick. I'd had a cold/fever/flu and a few days later I noticed my face was swelling. There was an infection inside my right cheek and it just wouldn't go away. After a few days of trips to the ER for IV antibiotics it was actually getting worse and I ended up with the most disgusting and painful abcess on my face and after a CT scan I ended up in surgery to have it removed (and after years of recurring sinus infections, I have not had one since....even though the docs swear it was not from my sinuses) Anyway, after surgery, I was off work for about a month while the hole in my face healed and boy did I enjoy that time off. It really made me wish I didn't have to go back to work and I started thinking about what I wanted to 'do'.....you know, like what do I want to be when I grow up kind of stuff.

I'd had an idea in my mind about just this sort of question for about a year but it meant going back to school and at the time, with taking care of mom and with just trying to get my world put all back together after loosing the business it was something that I didn't think was possible.

BUT....with that time off post-surgery, I started again to explore this idea and then I was reading the newspaper one afternoon and came across an ad for a community college program offering training in exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I said to myself "self. you need to go there" and even though there were roadblocks along the way, I didn't get scared and bail. I jumped in with both feet and in mid October I started school.

Now THAT was a huge change and did it ever add to the chaos and confusion of our lives but it has been worth it, at least for the most part - there are some issues with school itself that make me question my decision of taking the course where I did but if I'd waited for an opportunity at another location I don't know that I would have actually done it.

So I am in the final stages of becoming a Medical Laboratory Assistant and I'm hoping in the very near future to be working in a lab as a phlebotomist.

And back in January, I jumped in with both feet again and said 'why not' when the opportunity to go north to Thompson for 4 weeks of clinical practicum was offered to me. There is also a good chance that once I am done school in the next 6 weeks that I will be heading back to Thompson for a 6 month term position - I would only commit to 6 months because if I've learned anything the last couple years it's that you never know what's around the corner.

In the mean time, I'm still working part time (very part time) and preparing to write the certification exam in mid June and after a month away from home I've adjusted to living with all these people again....boy was it nice living alone for 4 weeks.

There have also been a few very recent changes to our world but that's another chapter in the ever changing life of chaos and confusion and it's best covered in it's own post, for now I think I'll end this post and go finish up my homework.

Hugs to you all!

~K

Happy New-ish Year

Here we are, 10 days into the New Year and I'm just getting around to stopping by to ramble.

But hey. Nobody's really been stopping by to listen to me talk to myself lately anyway. Can't say that I blame ya. Words were few and far between in 2010.

How about a resolution that I ramble a little more often and you grab a coffee (Timmies xl triple/triple for me and whatever your pleasure is for you) and stop by once in a while. Sounds good huh. Thought you might agree.

I was just relaxing here at home tonight, making supper which - shocking as it might sound - is ready as soon as the rest of the family gets home from the arena and does not involve cereal or tv dinners. I actually cooked. And while waiting for my damn rice to barely cook in my not-awesome microwave that I can't figure out how to use properly I've been checking out the list of blogs I follow. The last couple months I've been going through one at a time and reading their archives to see what I missed last year. I missed alot from my own life nevermind what other people were doing.

We survived the holidays and the return to reality when school started back up last week. Everyone else adjusted better than I did. I was exhausted. I'd become quite happy with sleeping in and chillin at home thank you very much. Getting up early for the commute to school kicked my butt and I spent most of the weekend trying to catch up on some sleep. Still feel like I could use another 12hour nap to fully function but that won't happen anytime soon so I take what I can get.

I guess a smart(er) person would have taken advantage of a rare bit of quiet in the house and had a nap but I never said I was smart. The house is even more noisy lately with the addition of a puppy who's made it his personal mission to bark till my eardrums burst. What's he barking at? Who knows. Mostly our old dog who just won't play no matter how in-his-face Pup gets and usually at me when I've repeatedly confiscated whatever interesting treasure he's scrounged from around the house to chew on. It's awesome having a "toddler" in the house having temper tantrums again - not. Right now he's having a nap which I will probably regret later because a napping puppy only means one thing.....he's recharging his batteries so he can go all crazy and tear around the house like he's possessed, nipping and terrorizing everything in his path. Of course I'll probably also regret letting Owen fall asleep on the couch too but his rollercoaster fever is back for another loop through the amuseement park. Every 36 hours he seems to spike back up and not feel good. Wonder if him and I can both call in sick to school tomorrow? That would be cool. A chillin on the couch day.

So that's mostly what I'm up to at this moment in time. Think I'll read a few more blog pages and then go read a text book or work on some math questions or something. Reading blogs sounds like way more fun though.

I'll pop back in soon.

K

Six Months

is forever.

was just yesterday.

is just a dream.

is sometimes a nightmare.

has taught me so much.

has made me feel like I don't know enough.

has made me stronger (than I ever thought possible)

has brought me to my knees.

has made me laugh.

has definately made me cry.

is 184 days........and I've thought of YOU every single one of those days.

I love you and miss you mom.

~KJ

Might Just Be on a Roll Here

with a second blog post in one month.

I know it's not some great big accomplishment to most but for me.....it's huge.

This blog post is even being brought to life on my ever-so-slow desktop while I sit in my very own kitchen. It's been a long wait but finally we are back online at home. I'd forgotten how annoying it is to hear kids bicker over who's turn it is on the computer - but it's worth it (most of the time) and I'm giving them a bit of leeway with 'free' time online but they'd better appreciate it now because they are going to have to start earning time soon enough. My plan is to feed their addiction into a frenzie and then, when I have them where I want them, I'll make 'em work for their fix. It may be the only way to get my house to not be the perfect candidate for one of those hoarding shows.

My plan does have a flaw or two though. The girls should be easy targets - they are both facebook junkies, so trading net time with them will be a piece of cake. The boys might take a little more work and I think I'll need to set up the 'new' computer and get it going so I can get the much coveted itunes up and running (our old computer just can't handle that kind of abuse). I'm avoiding this though. While I pride myself in being technically capable on most fronts, itunes and the kids ipods have proven to be my nemisis.

Getting the new computer going might be a good idea for more than just the itunes factor. I'm hoping that since it's faster and less overloaded (for lack of a better description) than our old one, it might just provide a less frusterating dial-up experience for everyone. Of course, I'm one of those hoping for improved internet use and if not, my laptop and I might just have to do a little more traveling into town for stuff like this because this dial-up stuff is brutal.

I really am out of practice with this and these first few posts will probably be quite dull. (are you bored yet?) I used to actually make little notes during the day when I thought of interesting things to write about or the kids did something totally bizzare that were worth sharing (or venting about). I'll have to start doing that again. Acutally, now that I think about it, for a short time after we lost our phone line I still wrote stuff and just filed in a folder on my computer because it helped me to just write about things but that didn't last long.

Have I mentioned how much I've missed this? How much I've miss you. You - ya, the 2 or 3 of you that actually used to stop by and read my rambling posts about the chaos and confusion that is my world. I just had a good idea for my next post - How my life wasn't full of enough chaos and confusion that I thought it would be a dandy idea to add to it and do something totally crazy like, oh i don't know, Go Back To School! Speaking of school. I have to get up early tomorrow for school so I think I should get to bed. I've missed the last 2 days because I wasn't feeling well - snort - well? that doesn't even begin to describe what I was and wasn't feeling - but that's another post all on it's own. The ongoing medical mischief I've been upto has it's own plot and characters. A story for yet another day.

G'night!
Hugs to you all

~K

Lets See If I Remember How To Do This

It's been awhile.

Bwahhhahahahah. Now there's an understatement if I've ever written one!

Awhile
According to dictionary.com is defined as an adverb meaning: for a short time or period.

So okay. It's been more than awhile. It's been ages. As in over a year people. That's like 'forever'! It really does seem like forever doesn't it and oh how I've missed this. Just sitting down with my rambling thoughts and letting them flow out my fingertips, across a keyboard and onto a screen.

So Hi. How are ya? What ya been up to?

I'm not so sure at this point I can even begin to express how I am and what I've been up to for the past 16months. Let's just say it's been long and eventful and maybe eventually I'll write about it (but certainly not sitting here in this very public coffee shop using their wi-fi and in plain view of people cuz really, nobody wants to see me cry and blubber and snot all over the place as I remember the things that have brought me to this point.)

Let's just start with the right here, right now and we can eventually work our way back over the past year slowly.

Right here. Right now.

It's 3pm and I've just finished eating a late lunch at a cozy little spot called Kaffe Haus or is it Hus. I dunno. I just know the cook's hot and the food rocks and oh ya....free wi-fi. I'm sitting at a table with my laptop in front of me just chillin and surfin the net....just for fun....cuz I can.

We are still landline-less at home, hence no internet at home but that drought is coming to an end very soon. The phoneline is being installed in 2 weeks and then I will be once again in the land of the 'connected'. Whooohoooo! I can't tell you how excited that makes me.

Wasting time and taking up space. Sounds like a darn fine way to spend a beautiful Friday afternoon (aside from having to dodge flying food the cook keeps tossing at me whenever I make a snooty comment at her while she's "working"). I'm taking a break this afternoon cuz I'm positive that by the time this weekend is over I'll be very thankful that I took a couple hours to just chill. There is much on the agenda for this weekend and I hope I get at least half of it accomplished.

At the top of the priority list is homework. Anatomy and Physiology is my main concern this weekend. I have a couple chapter assignments to finish, review and hand in Monday morning.....right before I write the exam on the first 6 chapters of my A&P text book. Oye! Grade 12 Biology class was a really, really (yes really) long time ago. I also have to work on a few assignments and complete the final exam project for my computer course and review for a test in my Intro to Medical Office Procedures course in the middle of the week. For those that don't already know or haven't clued in...I've finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up and I started school almost a month ago. We'll talk more about this another time.

Wow! The afternoon has flown by and my kiddos will be home from school shortly so I should go home and be there when the get there. I'd say it's cuz I miss them terribly and hate that I don't see them in the morning because I've left for school before they even wake up, and that wouldn't be entirely wrong but honestly.....I just want to get home before they do so I can hide the controller for the tv and the playstation and the xbox and any other electronic form of entertainment because there are at few hundred loads of laundry to do and we've been eating off paperplates for a couple days and the place is starting to look like a frat house. So while I get cozy in my jammies and start studying, there are some much needed chores the kids need to help out with. Doesn't that all sound like FUN?

Gotta run
Love & Hugs
~K

Seriously?!? Here's a stock tip for ya!

Buy Stock In Benadryl!!!!

My family is single handedly raising the price of that stock I'm sure.


We are at 3 people and counting now who have had some mysterious rash and or hives in just over a month. 3 out of 6! Those odds aren't good....unless you are holding stock in Benadryl and then well, good for you and you can send me a bit of your profits.

June 25..... I wake up with a few hives, itch my way through the day as my hives spread to include a red 'heat rash' on the bottoms of my feet and by the morning of the 26th I'm swollen like a balloon with even more hives and swelling eyes, lips, ears and quite possibly my throat. An ER visit later I'm taking Benadryl, Prednisone and I'm a drooling lump on the couch till the next day.

July 25 (notice that....exactly one month later) Tyler's out with his aunt watching a parade, having a bbq in her yard and he starts itching. 3 hours later he's covered head to toe in a red rash. visit to the walk in clinic (just happened to see the same Dr I saw in the ER) later and he's taking Benadryl, Prednisone and he's a lump on the couch for a few hours and itchy for a few days but at least he wasn't glowing red.

July 28 Owen comes in from playing outside for supper and he's got the beginnings of hives on his face, neck and back. Liquid Benadryl into him and he's asleep for the evening an hour later (man that stuff rocks!) and he seems better the next day - a few stray hive spots but nothing he's itching and scratching over BUT...... July 30 Owen's covered in spots again.

WHAT THE HECK!!!!!


I'm finding it hard to think it's just coincidences that I have a sudden mystery allergy and a month later Ty gets a wicked rash and a few days later Owen's got a weird rash/hive thing going on. I just don't know what to think now....except to wonder who will be next.....and hope this isn't something viral and/or contagious.

For now it's just plain bizzare!

~K

Bet you can't guess what today was.

If you guessed....

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

my day off....then we have a winner!

Sorry. No prizes. Just the knowledge that you know me and have come to know that blog posts are rare unless I have a day off.

As 'days off' go this was no prize really. I'm just glad it's over because today's been hanging like dead weight for a week now, knowing that a) i wouldn't get to sleep in on my day off (still bitter about that) and b) Al and I were going into the city to see a bankrupcy trustee and get some edumacated (free) advice.

We ended up sleeping in actually or at least sleeping later than intended but got into the city and found the building - right downtown surrounded by one-way streets and precious little parking. I called the office about 5 after 10 to let them know that no, we weren't bailing on our appointment but we'd been driving round and round looking for a stupid parking spotfor 10 minutes and as soon as we found one we'd be there - only to be informed that while I'd written down 10am , our appointment wasn't until 10:30 so we were actually doing good on time. Bonus! Finally find a spot and decide to heck with street signs that said you could park there if you were visiting a specific place which shall remain nameless....because really, how would they know we weren't visiting 'there' and at that point Al was pretty pale from all the traffic and being so disoriented so I said to heck with it and we parked there.

Our appointment was uneventful. Learned a few key points about what's involved with bankrupcy and what our options are. Since the business has virtually nothing asset wise there's really no point in going the bankrupcy route since it's basically dead in the water already. Personally we could claim bankrupcy for the mountain of debt we've racked up while trying to keep the business going (stupid stupid stupid) and came to the conclusion that while we personally could 'benefit' from it from the standpoint of our families quality of life etc, it would screw over my mom who'd then be on the hook for a huge chunk of money since we both personally guaranteed the business overdraft. That is not even an option so........we have to suck it up and figure things out.

Basically at this point, we've borrowed money to keep the bank from sueing us for the overdraft money and we are just going to have to work, work, work and work somemore to come up with the monthly payment to the bank....ontop of all our personal bills too. We've basically given up on the truck. It's heading to collection at this point and we're looking at a few options to at least sell it cheap to one or two people just as a last ditch effort....and if not, then they can repossess it and I won't loose sleep over it. At least then I won't have to pay the insurance on the truck each month and that money can go to the bank. In hindsight, that's what we should have done in the first place and then we would have had money to make bank payments for 4-5months (stupid stupid stupid!!!)

Other than having to swallow my pride and borrow a huge chunk of money to keep the bank happy for a few more weeks and the little PARKING TICKET we got (stupid stupid stupid) the day wasn't too bad.

I decided if at all possible I was not being the chauffeur tonight so when Ty's done work at 9 he's hanging out at his aunts till Al's off work at midnight and I don't have to go pick either one of them up. Now THAT is a true day off in my books! I'm chilling at home, making supper and playing on the computer. I have some paperwork to sort and file and laundry to do but all that stuff isn't so bad when I don't have to go back and forth to town a couple times a night. If the kids would stop fighting it would be even better.....but I guess we can't have everything we want.

Oh and on a possitive note ----- Al got offered a job yesterday. He stopped to help a guy on the highway who was having vehicle trouble (right outfront of our house actually) and they got to talking and this guy offered Al a job. Nothing in stone at this point and it wouldn't start till September but he's excited at the prospect of making a whole lot more than minimum wage and it's Monday to Friday. It's giving us hope at getting out of this huge mess so right now we are clinging to this hope. He's going to give the guy a call next week and see just how serious the offer was and what the details are. Please let this be a serious offer and worth the commute.

And.....one last thing. Been taking lots of cute pics of cute kids. Here's one from our visit to flooded Moonlight Bay after the storm couple weeks ago.

Is the photo small for you? It looks tiny to me. Oh well. One kick at the cat with photos these days - I don't have the patience to reload it.

TTFN

~Kirsten

oh....and Carrie....since I seem to be able to find things in your house by proxy.....it's your turn. Do you know where the $50 Mark's WorkWarehouse gift card Al got as a thank you for being a YBC coach back in early May is? I can't find that darn thing anywhere and the guys desperately need work pants for work. Argh!

Before and After

She washed her hair last night and I detangled it one last time and braided it and this was what it looked like this morning.....big THICK braid down her back.

It took almost 2 hours to cut and I'm sure she's about 2.5 lbs lighter now.

And it's a super cute cut and suits her.

She's very happy and keeps twirling around and that grin hasn't left her face.

Totally worth the $20 (well....$15 but I said that wasn't enough for 2hours of detailed cutting and left the whole $20)

Well, more things to see and do today and poor Tyler got called into work so we have to go squeeze in some family time before then.

~K

So much for sleeping in

This morning's blog post brought to you by an early morning text message that cancelled my plan to sleep in and by sleep in I mean 8ish. I'd set my alarm for 8 with the option for an additional hour of hitting the snooze if I so desired in an effort to top up my sleep quota after the whopping 4 hours I got Sunday night. I guess 6 and a half is better than 4.

So I'm up. Don't have to be anywhere till 10 and the house is almost quiet.....Aarica has repeatedly asked the same questions (just cuz you rephrase it doesn't make it a different question) and I'm enjoying a pot of coffee and taking the photos from last week off my camera and going through my mental list of things I want to do over the next two days of freedom from beige pants, a white shirt and work. Oh the places we could go. Oh the things we could do. Oh the stuff that won't get done.

I'm torn. My house desperately needs my undivided attention BUT honestly.....3 days from now....the house will still be here and who am I kidding, even if I cleaned and organized like a mad woman for 2 days - in a week it's going to look just like it does now anyway. What won't be here 3 days from now is one very special lady who's in town from Hamilton for a visit so really....I'm not torn. Visiting with her as much as possible while I have the chance is definately going to take priority over cleaning the house.

Mmmmm Coffee!

Almost as good as the real, honest to goodness Timmies coffee I had yesterday. Yol drove into town yesterday morning and bless her, she brought a cuppa Timmies to me at work (we won't discuss that I cried or anything). How can I not want to spend as much time as possible with someone who knows exactly what I love.

I do have some items on my todo list today that must be taken care of such as an appointment at 10:30 and dealing with some financial stuff that's hit the fan, but for the most part I think spending time with Yol will be top priority. Everyone in our house today has the day off - a rare thing, so we are going to enjoy every minute of it.

I guess one way to start that would be to wake them all up but I'm enjoying the peace and quiet. I have to wake Emily up soon though. She's the subject of the 10:30 appointment this morning and is beyond excited. She's been wanting her hair cut for a couple months now and even though I'd promised that as soon as dancing was over (ya ya....I know that was way back at the beginning of May) that she could get it cut but aside from having the extra money to actually pay for a hair cut, I've also had some trouble scheduling an appointment on a day that I have off so here we are, nearing the end of July and she's finally getting it chopped off. I figure she's going to be a good 5lbs lighter this afternoon and while I'm going to miss all that beautiful hair


it's just too much for her to take care of herself because of the length and because of it has a unique quality that requires constant attention or all that curl becomes a mass of matted strands down her back no matter what we try to do to tame it.

I'm not going to miss the 40minutes it takes to detangle the mess that's for sure and I can't wait to see her with shorter hair. It's been almost 2 years since she's had it cut and it's going to be quite a change.



I guess it's time to wake her up. I've made my way through an entire pot of coffee and I'm ready to brave the chaos of the day.



I have more pictures to share from last week - like the kids playing in the park and our quick visit to water soaked Moonlight Bay but it took 20minutes to upload those two pictures so don't hold your breath waiting for more pictures - at least today. I don't have enough patience or time on my days off for that nonsense. Carrie you should be thankful for this. I was looking for pictures of Emily's last haircut and found one of the two of you together and you'd probably send me nasty text messages if I posted it.



I'll definately post a before and after of Em's haircut though.



Have a Beautiful Day!



~K

To make plans or not to make plans

for my precious day off tomorrow.

The kids and I had sort of informally made plans which basically means I may have mentioned an idea in passing thereby making it law-binding and written in stone and of course they remember the aforementioned 'idea' like their life depended on it. This humors me since their ability to remember to do their chores.....a thing that their life really does depend on (quality of life that is - how horrible it would be to live without tv) is less than stellar.

Anyway - last weekend I sort of mentioned that on my day off on Friday it would be fun to take a picnic lunch and go hang out at the beach for a couple hours. As the week progressed, I began easing in the possibility that the weather might not be that great and we might not be able to do this little beach play day afterall but we'd see how things went. It's been one heck of miserable week with high winds, low temperatures and lots of rain, the occasional thunder storm and did i mention high winds.

At this point I don't think our beach day will happen. Even though people keep telling me it's supposed to warm up and be half decent by tomorrow and throughout the weekend I don't believe it (I turned the furnace on tonight people! It's the middle of JULY and I turned the furnace on.) and even it if does warm up significantly, the water's still going to be cold plus.....and it's a big plus.....I don't think Moonlight Bay is going to exist tomorrow. Moonlight Bay is a small little secluded beach just outside of town that is THE beach spot around here. The winds have been so high and coming from just the right direction that the lake water levels are insane and I would bet that the beach is under a whole lot of water right now and for the next couple days for sure.

So instead of a beach picnic with my kids tomorrow, my only plan so far is a lunch date with Carrie (hey Carrie....what time and where?) unless things get crazy (er) at work and she can't get away.

Other than that I'm just going to wing it but I'm leaning towards a bit of cleaning -which I did alot of at work....not just cleaning up but deep in the corners cleaning (slow week) so since I'm on a roll I'm going to go with it. There's also that little thing called scrapbooking that I used to do and I want to clean up and organize my stuff so maybe, now that I'm not so darn exhausted at the end of the day, I might be able to play a little in the evenings once in awhile. *It could happen*


I might also play online a bit.....because.....whoohoo! I'm back online at home. Tech support and I had a little *discussion* and even though they insisted it was my computer with the issue, I'm magically back online 2 hours later so I think they must have pushed the right key or wiggled the right wire on their end cuz here I am.

But for now I'm outta here. Bed time. Zzzzzzzz


~K

I need tech support!!!!

*sigh*

I just can't like this situation at all.

I'm still offline and I have no clue what's wrong with my dial-up. Mice in the junction box again? I dunno. Going to try reinstalling my modem and if that doesn't work I guess I'll be calling the phone company. How long do you think I'll have to wait for that service call?

Anyway - miss you all.

~K

I'm disconnected from the world

Darn computer! Darn dial-up! Darn! Darn!Darn!

Don't know why but I've been unable to get online since yesterday morning. The connection dropped out mid morning during a torrential downpour and has been non-existent since.

GRRRRRRRRRRR!

I've just popped into my mom's to pay some bills online this evening and with high speed, the whole process of checking facebook, my blog feeds, posting this on my blog and checking on the cash flow situation took less time combined than any single one of those things would have taken at home with dial-up. Grrrrrr!


~K

I have the day off tomorrow and

I just can't get excited about it.

Isn't that just plain crazy.

I don't know if it has to do with not wanting to get my hopes up that I will get anything accomplished tomorrow

or that I'm so tired that all I really want to accomplish is sleeping in till 8am -- which won't happen since Aarica has to be at work at 8 and she wants me to wake her early so she can shower and I can braid her hair before work

or that as much as I physically need this day off my brain keeps thinking about the huge order that needs to be done at work tomorrow....which isn't my problem since it's my day off.....but my brain says there's work to be done and it's still coming to terms with the whole 'not self-employed so there are other people to do things when you aren't there' idea. Plus one of the staff in our department called in sick today(and is being tested for that horrible flu....pray it's negative) and we are so very short staffed to begin with so my brain keeps thinking that's it's problem too....which it isn't. Eventually I'll stop thinking like the 'boss lady' right?

Mostly though I keep thinking that I can't afford a day off. I picked up my pay-stub today and realized that even though I feel like I'm working tons of hours in reality they aren't as many as I thought and my cheque is a little smaller than I'd hoped it would be this week. Darn hives cost me a day of work and since I've only been there a little over a month I don't qualify for 'sick days' ..... which I wasn't even expecting to get until someone brought it up at work today. The whole 'sick day' thing is a totally new experience for me....being self-employed for so long I'd forgotten about such luxuries in life as a 'sick day'.

So instead of planning what I will do tomorrow.....things like cleaning the house, having coffee with my mom, playing with scrapbook paper (hahahah....a girl can dream), doing some very much needed paperwork or a million and a half other things I could do, I'm not going to plan anything and just wing it and roll with whatever comes my way --- that way I won't be disapointed when I don't get to do all the things I want to or need to.

Actually I'm just too tired to make any plans tonight. Maybe tomorrow I'll be more excited about my day off but for right now - as long as my day includes a nap at some point then I'll be happy.


~K

Honey I'm home!

"Hi Dear! Supper's almost ready and there's fresh coffee in the pot."

Those were the sweetest words I heard today...............and they were spoken by the best "wife" I've ever had!

My sweet sister in law Sue has been watching the kids for a couple hours for us during the time when Al and Ty start work and before I finish work. I walked into their place this afternoon to pick up the kids and she invited us to stay for supper - again. I tell ya - she is the bestest. I could get spoiled quickly. Tomorrow I'm taking the crock pot of food meant for supper tonight over there ..... but I think Sue and I need to communicate at little better since we both made huge pork roasts this week. We are all going to be sick of the stuff by the time it's all gone.

The kids love being there. Owen loves that they have a wii and Luke loves having his beloved "Em-a-wee" to play with him and basicly be at his beck and call. Since they live right in town and it's close enough, Aarica is able to walk there after she's done work and she gets to stalk...er help Grant with building the fence and shed and she's also is an extra pair of hands to help with the baby. We've also been hanging out there after supper to wait for Tyler to finish work at 9 and during that time Emily's been great at entertaining Luke and reading him all the books he wants and I get to cuddle (or console) our little drama-girl Sarah and this gives her mommy a chance to do a few things around the house like hang blinds or put together the crib.

It's kind of a win-win-win for everyone and Sue has even offered to watch the kids if Al ends up scheduled for day shifts next week. And on the odd occasion that I'm not working on the weekends when Sue is, I will gladly reverse rolls - because that little drama queen with the high pitched scream doesn't scare Aunty Kirsten.

And guess what time it is......that time again where I have to say g'night because it's time to go pick up Al at work and then it's sleepy time. My goal is more than 6 hours tonight!

~K

Do you feel neglected?

Well don't take it personally dear blog readers - - - you aren't the only ones.

I'm working on correcting that.

I've actually started a few blog posts in the last couple weeks with such titles as

'They only ate cereal for supper once this week' (see I'm working on correcting the neglect of my children too)

and

' The ants came marching two by two' and maybe if the ants would stop walking across my keyboard and giving me the heebie jeebies I might be more inclined to sit at the computer more often. (I'm working on the neglect of the house too....spent all day today doing just that - for all the progress that excercise in futility got me) not that the ant issue is entirely due to the trail of food crumbs and granola bar wrappers and half eatten hotdogs my children leave behind them but also the house itself. It screams 'hey ants....i'm an old wooden house with nooks and cracks and issues just perfect for your inhabitation' Darn House! Darn Kids! Darn Ants!

and

'Someone Erased My Whiteboard!' which resulted in my almost neglecting to deligate what little inflow of cash into this house there is towards the right bill at the right time.

So see, I'm not singling you out in the neglect department. I'm an equal opportunity neglector.

I'm slowly adjusting to life as a working mom. Now that school's out for the summer it's gotten a bit easier....or harder? I haven't decided which. I think easier because there isn't that frenzied rush to get everyone up and out the door for the bus just minutes before I have to leave for work. I'm also getting the hang of my job so I don't feel so out of my element and that is helping with my mental exhaustion. Physically, with having to pick Al up at midnight during the week, I'm still not getting enough sleep but my body is totally adjusting and I find that even on my days off or on days I get more than 6 hours of sleep I'm waking up automatically anyway. Darn internal clock has been reset and now I'm a morning person. Oh the horror!

I have had a few extra days to catch up on much needed sleep lately too. With the Canada Day holiday this week I somehow managed to have two days off mid-week plus two days off this weekend so I'm feeling a little less tired than I have been. There was also an unscheduled day off a week ago when I was sent home from work 'sick' and the medication I eneded up on knocked me right out so I got plenty of sleep - not that I felt better for it. The whole episode was quite nerve wracking and involved a 'severe allergic reaction' to something. Over the course of two days I developed a wicked case of hives that eventually spread to my ears/face/eyes/lips and were making their way to my throat (scarey!!!!) I ended up spending 3hours in the ER where they injected me with hydrocortisone and sent me home with a prescription and instructions to take benadryl (knocked me on my ass that stuff did!). By the next day I was hive-free, steroid full and back at work and still have no clue what the cause was. I can't say I'm a fan of the unknown in this case and would feel alot better about the whole thing if I knew why it happened in the first place. I have my suspicions (3-4 possible suspects) but without it happening again (not a huge fan of that idea either) the doc says we won't know. Geesh. And ya wanna know what my first thoughts were after the initial scare was over.......that it cost me a day of work and the price of the prescription. Darn Hives!

Money's still tight but we are managing and once we get a few more paycheques (hopefully without anymore unscheduled, hive-induced lost days) into the bank and caught up on some bills things will be even better. We managed to sell off one small piece of equipment at exactly the right time as it bought us a little time with the leasing company (and I was able to make the first monthly payment towards Tyler's trip with 24hours to spare --- whew!)

Tyler's picked up a second job with quite a few more hours so I'm confident he will be able to come up with almost if not all of this months payment. We even got some big news tonight that Aarica is starting a summer job tomorrow morning working at a daycamp with a woman that used to be an EA at her school so I'm confident she will be in good hands and have a wonderful summer. Of course, while it's great both kids have summer jobs, it makes scheduling a bit more tricky for everyone but with the help of family to cover the overlap between when Al and Tyler start work at 4 and I finish work at 5, things seem to be falling into place.

Well. I'm sure there's been more stuff happening around here lately. Visits from family. Family fun. Pictures of everyone. Weird/funny/bizzare stories etc but my phone alarm just went off reminding me it's time to go pick up Al (you fall asleep and forget to pick him up once...okay twice and he gets all snarky) so I guess my blog time is up.

Miss ya'll

Update your blogs too so I know what you are up to.

~K

And the award goes to.....

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

*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

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

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

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

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!