Woo Hoo, it's Friday!

It's the weekend!!! Yay!! I love weekends! I think I'm going to do my house cleaning tonight so I can just enjoy Saturday. Today was a pretty relaxed day. I woke up late, headed into the office of my second job to hand in my paper work (she was impressed that I had it all done so quickly). Then I went to work. That was fun, except I need to do some research for working with one particular child. So I'll have to do that this weekend. I find it so interesting and can't wait to come up with some creative ways to work with this little guy.

I am tired. I think this week I took in so much information and had to step out of my comfort box again! haha. Learning new jobs is hard. You have to learn the rules and the ways of their world. When you're working in two places you're bound to come across some similarities and some differences. But I think I might be developing a complex with some of the rules being sooo different. At one job we can not touch the

children. You can give a quick side hug but that's the extent of it, but in the other job we're encouraged to hug, tickle and allow the child to sit on your lap. It's hard to keep it straight and at first with my second job I'm sure I came off as cold. But that's because of all the training I went through for school and my first job. Ahh!!! Enough to make one go crazy..haha. But I'm excited to be a part of both jobs. They both have their advantages and excitement!

Well, that's about my week in a nutshell.

Until next time

Michelle

This was the castle at Disney's Magical Kingdom at Disney World. This was taken from our balcony at the resort we stayed at. I want to go back there!!!

Mid-Week Already?

I can't believe tomorrow is Wednesday already! The week has been going by so fast. I started my new job on Monday and it's amazing! There is so much to learn and so much to grasp. I find it completely intriguing to learn and I want so badly to do a good job. I'm afraid of screwing up. Not so much for my own ego but because these are children's lives we're trying to help out in. They are only granted so many hours a week and I don't want to waste any of their time. I'm nervous but excited at the same time. But I love it! Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I'm at job #1 (the new job) from 8:45 to 3pm and then to job #2 right after until 6:30. After this I am meeting a friend for a bit, and then to a possible family gathering. This part hasn't been confirmed yet, but it will most likely happen.

Whew, I know I'm going to be tired tomorrow so

I am going to hit the sack early tonight. I have a sore neck (a really big knot on the left lower part of my neck). It shoots pain up into my head which makes me dizzy and gives a feeling like I'm going to pass out. I don't think this is normal. I get this usually a couple of times a year, but I've had it a few times already this year and it's only month 3. So I'm not sure what it is that is causing it. So I'll be going in to get that fixed hopefully on Saturday. I hate being a whiner and having a pain in my neck creates a monster inside of me. I shall call it the whinerester.

Anyways, that's my life up to this point. Just thought I would check in and let you know that I'm enjoying life. I think I'm going to say no to job #3.

Not because I wouldn't love doing it. I just don't want to burn out. Dad you know all about this :) Anyways, that's for another post.

Until next time,

Michelle

Brenton and I at his work Christmas party.

Deepest darkness

Alright, so some people that read this might be friends with me on facebook, and I want to clear something up. I had said, "sometimes gets jealous of all the girls who are expecting".

Brenton and I are not trying to have a baby. In fact we are trying our best to not get pregnant right now. It's not our time and I'm happy with this decision. We have so many things to work out yet. We're still in our first year of marriage and we want to have this alone time to get to know eac

h other deeper. We also want to get some things sorted before we start a family. (Like purchasing a home and such). We also want to travel and have some fun you just can't do with a child as freely as you can do without a child. Also I just started a new career and I want to develop some experience before I'd have to take maternity leave. So as you can see we have a lot of things we WANT to do before we get pregnant.

However, with all this said, I still get a wee bit jealous. I'm still a girl after all and a girl approaching the age of 30, so my clock is a tickin'. I know this. I am so happy for all my pregnant friends and I rejoice in their celebration with them. A little piece of me still aches when I see another friend post that she is expecting. It's like a mini-stab to

my baby fever. I think that it will NEVER be my turn to be the one to call out from the rooftops that I have a wee one inside, but at the same time I know it's just not in our plans and some day it will. Does this make any sense at a

ll? I hate the jealous part of me. It makes me awkward to be around myself. Because it's like two people fighting inside of me. I have the woe is me and then the get over it, you have other plans. And the Be happy for them celebrate li

fe with them, but my other side being pouty. It's so confusing.

So there you have it, my thoughts and dark side to your exposure. Take a picture if you wish, but it's ugly

Michelle.

P.S. I am sooo happy with life right

now, I love my husband, I love my job, I love my life

This is Brenton and I in front of the tree of life at Disney World, Animal Kingdom

A very fulfilling Saturday

So today has been fun. I woke up to the sound of our door buzzer. With that sound I jumped out of bed and shouted, "They're here!" With that I quickly jolted to the washroom and started my morning routine, skipping the shower because now there was just no time. I threw myself together as quickly as I could and grabbed my jacket, threw on some flip flops (it is the first day of spring tomorrow after all) and ran down the stairs.

We had made plans yesterday with a couple of friends of ours to go for breakfast this morning to the Jammery. A yummy little place that has all you can eat Belgian waffles. We had planned to carpool and here they were right on time. I had woken up sooner with the time being shortly after 7am. Knowing that I still had quite some time I fell back asleep. I hate when that happens.

The Jammery was delicious. It never fails to imp

ress. I had one and a half waffles. The first one with 4 berries jam on top and the second topped with peach jam. So good! I also met my friends' brother for the first time and I'm sure we made a questionable impression on him. haha. Good times.

After breakfast we headed to B's grandparents house. We had a nice visit with them and his one aunt who was also there. There were many laughs, serious conversations and Grandma's tea. It was great! When 3 o'clock rolled around we decided it was about time to depart and went to our local Costco and walked around. Taking in the sights and laughing and just horsing around. We grabbed a roll-up the rim to win and struck

out and then headed home after being kicked out of the natural foods store. (We got kicked out because they were "closed" even though the sign said open and the automatic doors opened for us. When I worked in retail if this was the case you had to allow the people to come in and finish their shopping. But I guess retail service has also been hit by the economy. Wait a minute?! That doesn't make sense. Whatever. I

guess they'd rather go home than stay and that too I can understand. I was just there for the scenery anyways.

P.S. I think I'm going to lay off the dairy for a bit.

Until next time

Michelle

Back by a lot of hounding from my husband to update

Hello, just to let you know, I'm not dead. I've just been really busy. I am so happy to report that my new job is amazing! I love it so much. I work with about 20 kids all around the age 5 or 6. They are such fun little people. I can't tell you how many times I've played Monopoly in the last 2 weeks, but let's just say the board has come out at least twice a day with multiple games played each time. This is because the attention span or interest dies out quickly with 5 year olds and they want to move on...but before you can pack up the board there's another group that wants a turn playing...so there I would sit for long periods of time playing monopoly. It was also so much fun because each time the rules some how changed. I found it to be so entertaining and interesting to watch them each come up with their own strategies. And yes there were a few tears shed (not all mine mind you).

We also have outside time a couple times a da

y and had so much fun playing endless tag, pushing children on swings and playing soccer. At one time I was participating in all three. It was funny, entertaining and I fell on my knees at one point after doing an under-duck and laughed and laughed at my body giving up. It was a great time. I can't believe I get paid to play all day. However, it's those moments of "fixing" a problem that I remember why I'm there. Yes we are there to have a great time (and because it's spring break it's a lot more relaxed than normal) but we have to make sure that everyone is having a great time. So there were some "sit out

" times that had to be appointed. And yes Dawn I sometimes was the one that had to do it. It was heartbreaking but it was also necessary. By the end of the first two weeks I'm feeling much more confident and even had the opportunity to lead the class for a day. I was able to take charge and there weren't that many issues to work out. I really enjoyed it.

My favourite thing was listening to the kids talk. They would say the funniest things and every day I was laughing about something one of them said. There was one day I wore my hair down and the boys oohed and ahhed over it and asked me if I was going to a wedding or if I was going to marry one of them. haha. It was so funny...I bro

ke a few hearts when I told them that I was already married. One of the little girls really wanted my wedding ring and when I told her that it was stuck on my finger forever she tried and tried to peel it off with no success. She turned away and said, "It really is stuck on there forever". haha. I love it. What funny little people.

Next week I start my other job. I am really look

ing forward to it to start as well. I love working with children with special needs. It's definitely my calling and I'm so excited to start in the field. I have my shadow shifts this next week with the possibility of being called in to my other job in the afternoon...this may be why I'm slow to update my blog....but once my schedule is a little more definite it will be easier to adjust my blog update times to be more frequent. This Sunday afternoon I also have an interview to help a lady out with respite. For those of you who do not know what this is, it's for families who have a child with special needs. They have a little bit of funding towards this which gives the parents a break. Anyways, we are meeting on Sunday to see if I am a good match for her daughter. If I am this position would be on occas

ion...say once or twice a month.

So yeah, this is what's going on in my life right now. I love it. I feel busy yet I am excited to go to work. I love my days being full. However my body

is not use to it and it tires quickly. I just tell it to suck it up because my brain is just a raring to go.

Until next time (I don't know when that will be)

Michelle.

Warning: Upset words

Here I am on a Saturday night, feeling extremely frustrated! My husband is not here for me to vent to so I will turn to my blog and let er go. Today we had an extremely productive day. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Which was one of the things on my to do list today. Then I picked out the photo's for our Thank you cards...I know I know it's been how long since our wedding and they're not out yet? We waited for 7 months to get our photo's and now that we have them it took us a while to stop procrastinating and pick some that we want to send out with the Thank you's. The thank you notes themselves are written up...we just need to add a photo or two and mail them out. (So that was thing number 2 on the to do list). Let's put a check mark next to that one ok? Then order of business number 3 get our wedding photo's printed so I can actually put them in an album = enter my frustration.

I took them in and straight up asked the girl if they would be done in an hour. She assured me that they would. I got really excited and told her that I was excited to get them into an album tonight...she looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You know there's almost 600 right?" and I told her that they were wedding and honeymoon pictures and I was so excited that I would stay up all night. So again she re-assured me that they would be ready. So I walked, I walked and I walked and I walked for an hour. I went back and asked if they were ready. "Not quite yet, another 10 minutes, there's just a paper jam". Having worked in a store where I had to deal with that myself I understood. So again I walked, and came back 15 minutes later. She explained to me that she can't get the machine to work and that she was ready to cry. I understand that feeling too, however when I suggested that she call someone she said she didn't have any numbers to call. Then I suggested that she call a manager and she replied, "they probably won't know what to do, I'm going to have a breakdown". So I suggested that she call the company that the machine belongs to (Kodak - they have a help call line for just this sort of thing). Her response - "They'll just tell me the same thing the machine is telling me" Then she kept telling me how she was going to cry, have a meltdown, this sucks, what time is it, another 2 hours of this?! and on and on. I was upset that I wasted an hour and a half of a Saturday night waiting for something that I was told I would have to be faced with some emotionally unbalanced unprofessional girl. I know what it's like to be in that position so a part of me is on her side and I want to cry along with her, but another part of me says, when I was in that position I wasn't above asking for help. It's a fixable problem. It's not something to meltdown over. I will be going in there tomorrow to pick up my pictures and once I have them in hand (at a discounted price) I will be happy once again.

I don't know why I'm so upset about it. Maybe because I had my heart set on it. Like so excited! Having skipped dinner could also be a factor. Being so tired from having a stuffed nose and a cough could also be a factor.

Sorry this isn't the normal blog update, welcome to my dark side.

New Toy!

Hello everyone. Well, I've had a couple of busy days. Not doing anything really except for photoshop. I've been sprucing up my skills and I've decided that today I'm going to reveal what that new skill is. I'll let the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. I'm sorry if some of you have already seen these and you're like, "Seriously Michelle, we've seen these, get over it." Because really I am just happy with what I've been doing with myself and you can just look at them again...Or skip over it and leave a comment. I'll never know. Really, I'm not watching you...unless you're B. Than I am watching you and that's only because you're sitting right beside me. Without further ado here are the pictures...please enjoy.


Today I had my first official shadow shift. It was a lot of fun and a lot crazy! They had a special Rome event today and it was so funny, but did it ever wind the kids up. The poor parents who had to drag their kids away...I could hear them say to their kids, "You'll come back tomorrow". So much fun. Tomorrow I have another shadow shift and I'm really looking forward to it. I really like working with this age group.

Next Tuesday I have an interview to be a BI (Behavior Interventionist). I am really excited. Where I'm working right now is a casual position and the job I'm being interviewed for is also a casual position...so if I get it between the two I should be pretty set. I really hope I get this job on Tuesday because it's right up my ally. I love working with children with Autism. They are such special people!

Anywho, please pray that I get it. I am so thrilled with life right now. I'm beside myself.
Well, until next time
Michelle.

Update Central

Hello, sorry I took until now to update. I left you hanging and that's just not fair. However, I sat here and stared at the blank screen wondering what it was again that I had to say. Nothing really came to mind. But now I remember what it was. I was going to catch you up on Sunday and Monday's activities. And now that Tuesday is over and pretty much nothing happened I think I'll throw in today's events too.

Sunday was a fun day. B and I headed off to church. After which they had cake and although it was very tempting I was able to withhold my temptation. After church we went straight to the grocery store and picked up some fruit and soda for the Olympic Hockey game. Cam and Becky and Darrel and Amy came over to take in the event together. It was a lot of fun and I called the game again. I told B they are going to score again (that was when the score was 2 - 1 for Canada). Within the last 20 seconds of the game the USA scored tying up the game. I had to give my dear hubby a quick pep talk reminding him that I said that Canada has one more to score yet in order to make my prediction correct. And wouldn't you know it they did! It took them 7 1/2 agonizing minutes, but they did it. We all cheered and there was much rejoicing.

While we watched the game we filled our bellies with chocolate fondue. It was made with Toblerone chocolate and it was yummy. I found myself not always dipping my fruit in chocolate but eating it plain. It was so good.

After the game was the closing ceremonies and that was really fun to watch. I enjoyed the speech by the first dude, but did not enjoy the "I'm sorry" speech done by the Home Alone mom. That was brutal and I had the urge to apologize for putting the world watching through that. haha...I am truly Canadian. The concert done by Nickelback was great! I loved the pyro-techno's. The entire room groaned when they announced that Avril was performing. Kind of funny in a way. All in all it was a great afternoon/evening.

Monday Update I told you I would update you on Monday about my new job. I went in and filled out some paperwork and then read the manual. When I went in it was 12:30. When I left it was 2:10. I was so shocked by the time when I left because it seriously felt like it had only been 1/2 an hour. I called B to see if he still wanted to do lunch and he said that he was already eating b/c he thought I would have been there already...that's when I looked at the time and was no longer surprised that he would eat before I got there. So I turned around and went home (with a quick detour to the dance studio to pick up a schedule). My new job wants me to do a shadow shift this week sometime. I can pick which day, and I think it will be on Thursday. It's just an afternoon shift this time. Than I actually start work during spring break. I am so stoked!

Tuesday update: It was house cleaning day, and unfortunately I still have to clean the kitchen and do the laundry so that wasn't very successful. I also want to get the spring cleaning done in the next week or so. That is all. Until next time. Michelle

Warning: I'm a little Weird

This past weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday I went for a walk (as you know from the last post). On Saturday it was a very lazy day. I had so many things on my to do list, but that's just where it all stayed...on the list. Still waiting to be accomplished. There's always next weekend right?

On Saturday evening I was more productive. I went to the youth group at our church to take photo's for their special event. It was a lot of fun and it surfaced my inner photographer gene once again. I really enjoyed it. They had an "Oscar" evening. They had broken up into small groups and made a short film. Than they gave out awards. I was impressed they even had nominees and everything....and shout out to Brenton's brother Aaryn who put together the short clips to introduce the nominees and the winners. It was very well done. My favorite film out of all of them was the one that did "CSI Miami". The effects were bang on and the music was well timed and the acting was funny. I was not surprised when it won "Best Picture".
(This is a picture of the awards they received)

After the evening was over I headed over to my dad's house and had a visit with Cameron and Becky. That was so much fun. We were killing ourselves laughing and just having a great time. I asked them "If I ran like this would you still love me?" and I presented a run that was utterly ridiculous and we all laughed so hard and all 3 of us mimicked it. Then for some reason the both started talking about something where I was not included so I sat on the love seat practicing my new run (you don't need to stand to do it....it's more just arm motions than anything) and they stopped and looked over and started laughing all over again. It was a tearful moment (laughter tears, not sad tears).

Than Becky asked me if I would be a bridesmaid in her wedding!! I of course said, "I'll think about it". Yeah right! I said "YES!!!!!" I am so excited to be a part of their big day. It's going to be such an awesome day! But that just means my motivation for getting in shape has increased just that much more.

Sunday was a big day...and for that I think it deserves it's own post. I will make a new post for both Sunday and Monday combined in hopes that I don't bore you in one post. Instead I'll bore you in two...mwahahaha