So I have been thinking...
Scarey yes I know... but I have been. Today would have been Mom's birthday... and oh how our family has changed this last while. She has been on my mind so much this past few days and today I really took the time to wonder what she would say about all the happenings. She would now be a great-granny two times over and anxiously awaiting her third great grand child. She would have gained another son in law... and God only knows how she would have reacted to the way Jay came into my life lol. And knowing her she would have pretended to hate him... while loving him the way the rest of us do all the while. She would have seen her daughter renew wedding vows after 25 amazing years with the man who has been one of the greatest gifts to this family. She would have seen her son make some huge steps on his road to sobriety. All in all this last year has been one of the greatest yet. I wish she was here to celebrate with us but in my heart I know shes looking down and smiling. Happy Birthday Mom... I love and miss you always!!

We are expanding....

Our blog sites that is. We created another blog dedicated directly to our missions to get healthy. Come on over and check out Healthstyles of the not so rich and famous and root us on as we embark on this journey!

Advantages to the bus.........

Yup I admit it, there is actually some good things about taking the bus.

1. No scrapping frost off car windows
2. Being on the bus that is holding up the traffic; not following the bus holding up traffic
3. Not driving in rush hour PERIOD!
4. Not having to fill the car up with gas... one of the things I hated the most
5. Enjoying my muffin and coffee from Tim's at a leisurely pace... not trying to fit it in at red lights
6. Cat naps when the morning comes to early
7. People watching... thats pure entertainment right there
8. Finally getting caught up on reading the many books I have

So the next time I whine... remind me about this post and the day that I actually decided taking the bus wasn't all that bad :)

Back to the working world....

Well that week off was way to short lol. I started my new job today... I think its gonna prove to be interesting. The staff seem to be pretty cool and the clients will be fun and very challenging a the same time... oh well at least I shouldn't be bored. Looks like my hours are going to vary from week to week and I have to pull some weekends BLECK. I will be enjoying travels on the bus to the tune of just over an hour each way and I have a six block walk. .. and while in the nice weather that is a short distance I bet I break speed walking records when the -30's hit. I am still fighting my cold... nothing I seem to be doing is making it go away and let me tell ya it has over stayed its visit. Welcome to Monday!!!!!

Add yourself.....

To our frapper. Whats a frapper you ask... well its a map that puts markers on all the locations that people enter. Yet another fun thing I ahve pulled of our board. So whether you are family and friends who pop by all the time or someone who has found us through a blog search... add you name. We'd love to see where you are :)

Is that a light I see.....

Another interesting day. I woke up to an email from my ex boss still disputing what she owed me and the rules from Employment Standards. After a another email fired back to her I head out and jumped on the bus to get to a job interview. Well wouldn't it be my stinking luck this week... they decide to detach some of the LRT cars. UGH... I was on a tight back to back schedule to get to the interview on time. Get to my next transfer point to see my bus pulling away. I went to a few of the busses seeking out the one that would get me the closest. I arrived 5 blocks from my final destination and walked faster than I thought possible without running. I got there 5 minutes late but they were fantastic. The interview went great... back on the bus for another hour I go LOL. I met one of the clients from the agency I had jsut interviewed at. She was really sweet and lots of fun to talk to. Not long after arriving home I get a call from the admin assisant at my old job. It would seem I was gee RIGHT and they had to pay me out! She let me know I could pick up my check on Thursday. Right behind that came a call from my interview. I got the job!!!! WOO HOO. I have no real details til I go for orientaion on Thursday morning. I know I am a Community Support Worker but that's about it... but enough for now. I flet totally snowed under less than a week ago and little by little the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Its gonna be a lean few weeks around here but at least I have Jay to go throuhg it with me. It feels good knowing I have a job that will ahve steady hours and a steady pay check. I am also proud of myself for not backing down to my ex boss and sticking with it til I got what I deserved!

Unemployed.....

For the moment anyways. My boss decided to cancel my shifts during my notice period ARRRGHHHHH. After few calls to her and to Employment standards I am waiting to hear her final decison. She has to let me owrk this week or pay me out. As much as the pay out would be nice... I could get paid to look for work; I hope she lets me work so I can take the time to say good bye to my kids. The last few months of this job have given me nothing but head aches so I am not surprised really that she is doing this...but it still frustrates me to no end. I had an interview if you want to call it that this morning.... no questions at all other than what I want for pay and she didn't ask for references but I could start right away... kinda scarey. I am going to one tomorrow morning that will likely be shift work but I can handle that becasue the hours and pay are really good. Oh the joys...on days like this I just wish I was back in high school where my burning issues were cleaning my room and passing my classes

Lets move it higher........

I just thought I would share that I looked our our trivia groups' standing. For all the tournaments played yesterday we ranked #5 in the top 10 within trivia groups of our size. WOO HOO we rock!!!!! Let's see how high we can get that number :)

And the family grows .....

So it would appear I am a Great- Aunt again; on Friday October 14, 2005 at 8:16pm Antaya Lynne Marie Cameron joined our family; she's 6lbs 11ozs and 20inches long! Congratulations Amanda and Dave! Welcome to our very loving yet a little crazy family Antaya!

And the car went boom........

Its been quite the week to say the least. I have been fighting a cold which has now found its way to Jay... and he can keep it :). Tis the seasons for sure and in my line of work I am always bringing bugs home LOL.

Thursday was a simply a day from hell. It started off with me sleeping in, continued to the car breaking down and sending billowing black clouds of smoke into the St.Albert sky, on to a confrontation with my boss and then after much thought and discussion deciding enough was enough and the decision to quit my current job.

Friday seemed to bring a little sunlight. I maneuvered the St. Albert transit system with ease:), had a great conversation with one of the families I work with about my decision to leave my job and her support and understanding with make the transition a little easier, managed to figure out the buses from St.Albert to Kingsway Garden Mall and then finally to home amazingly easy ( thanks Dad for all that training when I was a kid!), then I arrived home to find a few call backs from resumes I had sent out Thursday night. I have an interview Monday morning and the job looks really cool and the bonus is that it is with walking distance from home :). Kathy met me at the mall to keep me company as I walked to the Center for Education to apply for a job. We had a great visit and as always it was nice to have company on my trek.

Saturday morning I had to be a part of a group putting on a powerpoint presentation... it went very well. We got lots of positive feedback and several people told us they learned a lot... it made getting up at 6am on a Saturday worthwhile for sure. Saturday afternoon was spent rescuing the car ( thank you for your help Katy and Steve and thank you for the use of the van Dan and Carmen). We have the car safely settled in its stall for now with a bucket under it to catch the oil that seems to be pouring out. We have yet to figure out where it is coming from as it didn't start to leak until it was hoisted up to be towed???

Here we are at Sunday. Al drove me around to get time sheets signed and then off to Walmart... I so hate the crowds there the weekend. We hit Tim Hortons ( like we could go anywhere else with Al lol) and I have found a new addiction... the Hazelnut smoothies. I tried to look them up on the Tim's website but they aren't listed yet. I am sure with as good as they taste they are gonna be very bad for me lol.

After a lot of discussion Jay and I decided to park the car for a little bit and join the bus world. We figure it will help us get ahead on cash and it will also allow us time to save up for what ever repairs we are looking at. We will be doing lots of walking I am sure... but we have so much so close that it will be easy to get what we need and for those far away trips like Walmart we can always beg a ride or take a taxi :)

As rough as this week was I was once again reminded of how much support I have out there. I have a fantastic family who once again pitched in to help and offer support, I have super friends who lent and ear and offered words of encouragement after the confrontation with my boss. And most importantly at this point I have an amazing husband who once again has gone beyond the call of duty and done everything he could to make me feel better... from hugs and backrubs to running to the store to buy me chocolate.

Off to whip up Jay's favorite supper of spaghetti and then we are settling in to watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition and then the Family Guy Marathon. Who knows maybe I'll throw together a batch of cookies too

Come one Come all to our Daily Trivia Challenge...

I am in a trivia tournament with my one of my online groups and we are having a blast. You play once a day and your scores accumulate. I figured it would be something that we all would enjoy too so come and join in the fun and see who's the smartest of the bunch. I tested one set of questions and they were really hard so I dropped down a level. As we all become masters I will challenge us by uping the level. Hope to see you all there. Just hit " The Kelly's Trivia Challenge" under our links :)

Curse of the thyroid.....

Well any of you who were wondering if I was Pregnant .... I am not :( I went to the doctor on Friday and he thought for sure I would be too and did a blood screen; while he was at it he decided to do a full blood work up on me. I got a call to go back today so Jay and I headed out. We got the news that the PG test was negative and then he told me that my thyroid was way out. Normal levels are 0.3-4 and my levels are 6.36. He started me on Synthroid which I will fill on payday and I go back in 8 weeks for follow up and more blood work. I was on Synthroid as a kid and once I was making my own decisons I went off.... in retrospect I am thinking that was a bad choice. Oh Well we can fix it now. We asked the DR about the effects of thyroid on getting pregnant and he said it didn't matter and that didn't sound right to me. So home to the computer... and there is tons of sites that explain how much the thyroid does affect fertility and I also posted to my fertility board and discovered that thyroid issues make for a high risk pregnancy as well as potentially causing birth defects. UGH. So time to find a real DR and quit messing around with the medi centers though I have to say the DR I had today is not the one I normally see and my regular guy seems to know what hes doing.... but either way its high time to figure out why we aren't getting pregnant... cause I sure ain't getting any younger lol

Happy Thanksgiving...

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. I have spent much of today reflecting and am simply amazed at the changes in my life from this time last year. I have much to be thankful for and am so utterly blessed to have Jay and all of my family in my life. I think of all the transitions and changes we have all made and how much closer we all seem to become year after year and how awesome it is to be a part of a family that great!

Happy Birthday!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Teddi and Belle lol. Our oldest and youngest furbabies share their special day.... just ten years apart. Its hard to believe that Teddi has been with me for 11 years.... where does the time go? She's showing her age now especially on the cold days and has fallen totally in love with Jay and has become very devoted to him... and he to her. The night before we got married she was upset and whining and couldn't make her old bones work to jump up on the couch... so he got down on the floor with her. Its no wonder I love him so much. Then there is the devil cat... Miss Belle. She turns one today... its amazing she lived to see this day. She truly has been a test of patience as she has grown but then there are those moments when she crawls up, snuggles in and purrs that you melt and forgive all her sins. Good thing shes so adorable.

Thank You, Thank you, Thank you....

We just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of our family for helping us pull off our Wedding on October 1,2005. In the span of a few short days you all jumped in to make our day as special as possible and for that we are eternally grateful. From asking perfect strangers about condoms, to making Jay pick a honeymoon night accessory, to sharing our very first dance as man and wife... you all helped us to create memories that will live with us for always. We love you all!!!!!!

And here we are......

Well hello all. We finally decided to join the blog world and create a page. This little adventure will be a work in progress so check back often and see what new and excting things we have learned lol. Dan and Carmen.... you seem to have mastered the art of the blog so you can count on a few pleads for help along the way!

Welcome to our own little place on the Web