House Guests

It is about 7:40 pm and I am waiting for our new house guests to arrive. They will be with us for approximately 1 - 2 years. Yikes! House guests for 2 years - not as bad as it sounds.

A co-worker of mine is relocating with his family to Australia for about 1 - 2 years to get the Campana Australia office up and running etc. etc. They have two cats that they have decided not to take on this adventure with them. Millie and Mama will be boarding with us during this time.

We have been without cats now since we put our last one down about 1 1/2 years ago (she was 17 years old) and have recently been giving a bit of thought to the idea of getting a cat (or two) again someday. When Wes presented the idea to me, I thought it might be something I'd like to do. The rest of the family agreed to give it a go.

And as an added bonus, I can stall the whole DOG idea (that Brad has been fixated on) until at least after the cats go back home. Maybe by then he'll have given up on the idea.

Where's the Clutch?

This morning I took possession of our brand new 2006 Ford Fusion. The lease was almost up on our Focus and Ford offered us a really good deal to start our new lease a little bit early. For the past 6 years I've been driving a standard and the Fusion is an automatic. Needless to say, it is taking some getting used to.

On my way to work this morning, as I was getting off the expressway, I pressed my left foot down on the clutch (which, SURPRISE, wasn't there). I had to kind of laugh at myself. Then, not even a minute later, as I was still chuckling, I did it again!

I did a little better on the way home. In fact, I thought I had the problem licked. Then, out of nowhere, as I was approaching a stop light, I tried to step on the clutch again. I think I did this about 3 times in a matter of a couple of minutes.

Old habits are hard to break.

Clearing Out

I spent a bit of time today going through my files and folders trying to figure out what I could throw out, what I needed to leave for my replacement, and what I needed to take with me to my new work area. It was a weird feeling. As much as I was happy to be getting rid of those responsibilities, I was still feeling a bit possessive of them. I mean, I have been doing those jobs for the past 4 years, and now someone else will be taking them over.

I'm sure I'll get over it!

Movin' on up...Finally

After many years of trying to figure out what I want to do with my life, followed by several years of complaining about how much I hate my job and how there is nowhere for me to go in the administrative field, followed by my finally taking some action to make a change in my life, I am now seeing the rewards for my efforts.

I have always enjoyed writing and have done lots of fiction writing, including writing a couple of novels. My current position as an Administrative Assistant at a software company has introduced me to the field of Technical Writing. I have done a fair amount of work helping out the Communications department at my workplace and felt that it was something I would like to pursue as a career. During the spring of this year, I took a few Technical Writing courses with the University of Waterloo. I have been working on getting some writing samples together for a portfolio and I have written an instructional manual for my current position (and of course there was that article published in the Record - that still kind of seems unreal).

When I returned from my holidays in July, I was told by a friend in the Communications department that she had accepted another job outside the company. The panic bells went off in my head. This was the opportunity I had been preparing for, but I wasn't sure I was really ready. In my mind the plan had been approach the Communications manager and talk to her about what I had been doing and discuss future possibilities. But now the opportunity was here. It was now or never. I couldn't let this opportunity pass by without at least letting her know I was interested in the position. SOOOOO, I submitted my resume and sent an email to my boss telling him that it was my intention to apply for the technical writing position that was posted in the company.

Then I waited... and watched... as the resumes poured in.

Finally, I was granted my interview, which I felt had gone quite well. But I was afraid to let myself really believe that it could happen. It would be such a disappointment if it didn't.

Yesterday, I finally got the news. THEY WANTED TO HIRE ME!!!! I am still trying to get over the shock of it. It hardly feels real. I have wanted something like this for so long, I was starting to think it would never happen. Finally, a job that I can call a career. Finally, the chance to learn some new skills and an opportunity for professional development. Finally, a chance to actually get paid to write, paid to do something I enjoy (even if it is not writing fiction).

I am excited about the doors that this will open for me. AND I am excited about being able to leave my present job behind me. As I go about my tasks throughout the day, I can't help but think about what I am doing (purchasing, accounts payable, answering the phones -quite possibly the most hated thing about my job) and tell myself that soon I won't have to do this any more. It will be somebody else's responsibility. I look forward to the day I can walk through the door and walk past the reception area to my new desk in the Documentation area.

The news has not been made public at work yet because my boss in on vacation this week. SO, until he is back and has the official news, it is being kept somewhat quiet. It has been very hard not to tell people about it (a couple of people that knew I had applied know I got it - I mean I had to tell SOMEBODY).

I guess I will also have to change my profile to say that I am a Technical Writer and not an Administrative Assistant (but maybe I should wait until it is official-wink).

My Good Deed for the Day

This morning, I spent about an hour and a half at my Church helping my mother and one other woman unload and shelve the weekly Food Bank delivery. I have to give a lot of credit to my mother, and people like her, who devote multiple hours a week to tasks such as this. From receiving the food, to unpacking and sorting, creating food delivery boxes and then delivering the food to needy homes, hours of volunteer time is required on a regular basis.

Unfortunately, some of these jobs take place during regular work hours, making it difficult for many to volunteer. As a result, it is often the same people doing the work each week, and often older, retired people who may have difficulty with lifting heavy boxes etc. Since I am on holidays this week, I was available to go help out when my mom asked me. We'll call it my good deed for the day.

Bra Shopping - A Necessary Evil

I'm sure that women around the world have got simply horrific tales to tell about the experience of trying to squish body parts into those uncomfortable, awful little contraptions called bras (that NEVER seem to fit properly).

About my experiences with bra shopping, let me just say:

I HATE IT
I DESPISE IT
I LOATHE IT
I DETEST IT
I ABHOR IT

And let's just leave it at that.

The Cycles of School and Summer

I remember the last day of school (and the days leading up to it) like it was just yesterday. How excited I was for the days of no homework, no projects, no tests, no agendas to sign, no test papers to sign, no arguing with kids about getting homework done - and getting it done properly - no millions of letters from school to read every week. It makes me tired just thinking about it. What a relief it was going to be to come home from work and not have any of those responsibilities to think about.

So, school was finally over and all I had to worry about was what to do with my 10-year-old son for the summer. Not the worst problem in the world, right? I had things all planned out:

Week 1 - He would go to the camp at Laurel Creek.
Week 2 - He would go to the cottage with Grandma (this turned into a week at Rim Park YMCA camp and an additional $150 I hadn't been planning on because he didn't want to go to the cottage).
Week 3 - He would be on holidays with us.
Week 4 - He would go to swimming camp in the morning and then back to a friend's house for the afternoon.
Week 5 - He would go to a technology camp where they would learning how to make video games (cool).
Week 6 - He would be back at Laurel Creek camp.
Week 7 and week 8 - We'd wing it when we got there (it was WAY down the road - lots of time to think about that).

Quickly, the homework and other school headaches were replaced with the new headackes of having to leave the house earlier than usual to get to camp and then to work on time, having to juggle work hours around and team up with the parents of friends to figure out how we were going to have the kids picked up before the pickup deadline (and not have to incur even more camp costs), packing up lunches and drinks and sunscreen and bugspray and bathing suits and towels and hats and layers of clothes for all types of weather. Then there was the daily drying out of the bathingsuits and towels to be ready for the next day of camp. It didn't take long before camp was not looking like a much better option than school.

Now, I am on my last week of vacation and heading into week 7 and week 8 of summer, and as you may recall from the above agenda, without any concrete plans for my son. What seemed like WAY down the road has arrived like a speeding train. Now I am phoning up family and friends trying to figure out who might be able to take him for a day or two over the next couple of weeks. I suppose there is always the option of asking his older brother (who is not living with us at this time) to come over and babysit a couple of days. If the price is right, he might consider it.

Suddenly, school is looking pretty darn good. In fact, I can hardly wait to not have to worry anymore about the summer care arrangements and just settle back into a normal daily routine again. I wonder how long that feeling will last before I am back to the hating homework, projects, agendas ... From past experience, I would have to say it won't take long.

Funny (or maybe not so funny), I go through this year after year. I will be glad in a couple of years when I no longer need to worry about full time summer care, when our son is old enough to just stay home on his own. However, my guess is that will simply lead me into a new set of problems and worries. When does it ever end?

Other People's Kids

Isn't it interesting how other people's kids are consistently more annoying, rude, and misbehaved than our own kids are? Their mannerisms, the things they do and say, and even the whiney, goofy voices they use can be downright drag the fingernails down the chalkboard annoying. Of course, when our own kids behave the same way, we accept it, and (God forbid) sometimes even find it amusing and cute.

For the past week and a bit, I have had the exciting experience of driving my son and a friend to camp in the morning on my way to work. This week I get double the pleasure, as I get to pick them up also. Talk about a long 20 to 30 minutes - locked in a car, with no escape from the incessant, whiney, drawn-out, babytalk babble and continuous statements such as "That's so gay", "That sucks", "She's so ugly", "I hate her," blah blah blah. The only hope I have of escape is to turn the radio up and try to tune it out (which I have not been able to do very successfully).

It has always been my experience that I have less tolerence for other people's children. Which leads me to wonder if other people are just as annoyed by my kids as I am by theirs - NAW! (smile). As hard as it is to believe, I would imagine that my kids have done and said things that have caused shivers of aggrevation in other adults. And I would have to assume that just as other parents have told me stories about their kids that they thought were so cute and funny (that I barely found mildly amusing), I have probably bored other people with my silly little stories about how cute and unique my kids are.

I guess the great thing about parents is that no matter how annoying our kids can be at times, we love them all the same. The silly behaviours that we would cringe at in someone else's child, just endears us to them all the more. It's a good thing that (most) parents are created with this inbred love for their children so that at least someone can tolerate them (wink) . In all seriousness, children, with all their flaws, are wonderful. (And eventually they grow out of the annoying phases - right?)