The rains are back

Storm #1 of the season is strolling on through and dumping copious amounts of rain on us. I knew that fall had officially started when that event coincided with that funky smell your house gets the first time you turn your heat on again after the summer months.

With an older furnace like ours, you breath a sigh of relief when it does kick on!! What a low key, house keeping driven weekend it has been. I was completely done on Friday night. When I put Brandon to bed, I ended up putting myself to bed too!! I barely remember waking up at some point to haul my ass out of bed to take my contacts out. Regardless of the fact that I am leaving my job - this is an incredibly stressful time at work. It is chaos. We are short staffed, and from what I can tell - we don't really have a real plan in place for training. We went out for lunch on Friday afternoon and my beer tasted like more - but I held back since I didn't want to get started..

I am most of the way through laundry, got the fish tank cleaned out and the fishes are swimming around gleefully - happy that their water isn't heavy with their excrement anymore! The filter is good, but no filter is that damn good over a few months. I am sure that if I spent more time at it getting it done every couple of months instead of every few months, it wouldn't be so bad, but it isn't one of those jobs that you jump up and down volunteering for. Did the vacuuming, cleaned out part of my closet - let go of a few more items of clothing that I really don't see myself wearing in the future, regardless of fit. I am sure I could bore you with the litany of household tasks I have attempted this weekend, but my weekend probably would sound like your weekend. This working monday to friday, somewhat 9-5 means that the weekends are catch up time, and if you are really lucky, time to get out and do something fun. The fun part will be postponed because this is a catch up weekend. The thing about this weekend, I don't think I could have slept enough. Definitely feeling greedy when it comes to sleep.

My gram is back in the hospital. Aging sucks. So is talking to my mom about it - I find that her way of telling me how things is going with her doesn't really work for me. I guess because it is my dad's mom, or who knows. Maybe part of it is her convoluted thinking and way of putting things out there. I still worry, and that she is on the island makes it that much more difficult to "pop over" for a visit.

I quit.

Amazing the power of those 2 little words.

I can't believe that I am really jumping ship and going to a different institution. It feels great - especially when I have had a taste of the training that is going to be happening around here, especially with 4 new staff!! RUN AWAY!

It is a step up, more or less a promotion, more dollars attached to it, and a slightly different learning curve. Saying good bye is strange, it isn't like I am leaving on bad terms, I have made many friendships over the years, but I am leaving nonetheless.

I see fellow coworkers and clients, and there is no really easy way to say "I quit". Ok, maybe I am saying it like that for the dramatic effect, but the result is the same. I am taking a leap of faith and hoping that those greener fields do work out for me. I have had a few emotional moments, realizing that many work relationships will end now (face it, who has time to maintain some of the casual friends you make because you work in the same place, life moves on and your point of contact has too) and I will learn new routines, and have a bunch of new habits.

I haven't really had a chance to personally tell a lot of people, with our staff shortage my days are going far quicker than I imagined - wrapping things up and jumping in where needed. I have also overhauled part of our office, leaving a definite mark that I was here. Then I have been exhausted the last few nights, I think this has been a bit of ride, and well, I can't wait for the weekend and I am so glad that we have not been planned up the ying yang because the down time is really needed. Last weekend I had a chance to putter in the garden, and we got our for a great family walk. The break between the chaos is needed.

Only 10 more days here! It feels different than when I went away on my maternity leave.. this is for real, I am not coming back - my supervisor is even going to move in to my office when I leave! As you can tell, I am a little excited. I have tried to make this change a few times and been blocked, it is nice that the barriers have been removed and I am moving on up.

...and thanks for all the fish....

I figured an offhand reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the World was in order, since my world is in for yet another change.

I am stealing a page from Nej's book with this post.

After 10 years at my current place of employment, I am finally and officially leaving for greener fields. Of course, once I am in the thick of things at my new work, I am sure that I will discover their version of politics, and bitching and moaning, but it will be different bitching and moaning, and I will be a lot better paid and a little more prestige as well is attached. It is exciting, and I am a little sad (that stage will pass rather quickly) because it is the end of an era with my current job, but it is time.

I felt for my boss, that makes it 4 out of 6 staff to leave in less than a month. Personally, I am getting along well with everyone, but at this stage, that doesn't make or break the job. I am glad that I am not going to be around to do the training, and I will finally have an office that has a window - or will be close to natural light!!! After being in a box,within a box, within a greater box, and having had no idea of what the weather was, this will be a perk in itself!

All fingers crossed, they will let me go for a condensed 4 day work week, it means 8.75 hour days (35 hours is considered a full time work week) but that means long weekends, and Brandon only in care 4 days. I hope. The 3 days and 2 nights wasn't really working, so I was already prepared to let that go. I just hope my new employer goes for my proposed schedule of work. The leap of faith comes in it is a 1 year temporary job. My work place would not grant me a leave, so I am quitting, and hoping that this one year turns in to a "stay, we want you, you are trained and what we need, yay!"... in my line of work, we are pretty specialized at what we do and it is a somewhat stressful job, so this is generally how it works out if you are able to make it past the first 6 weeks.

So, I maxed out my extended health and bought new glasses, I am going for a massage tomorrow night, and I made sure there was no dental work that needed to be done.

It feels good to be moving on. I haven't really moved back in to my old office, all I need to do is bring a calendar home.

I think now I will print a few pictures of the family to bring in to my new office, maybe get a new plant, and start with a clean slate. Funny how things work out - my commitments to my workplace have all drawn to a close, and it is a good time for me to cut loose.

quite the reaction

I figured that this deserved it's own post.

So, I walked in to tell my supervisor that it was official, I had been offered the job that I interviewed for last week, and I had accepted.

Her reaction:

"Fuck."

I half smiled, half looked at her in what I hoped for was empathy, I am the 4th person to do this to her in a month, and perhaps the one of the hardest to replace cogs in our system.

"Fuck." there it was again, and even her freckles started to bleach out. I felt momentarily guilty, but that was a momentary lapse of reason.

"You know, I am sincerely happy for you - this is a really good opportunity for you."

"Thanks, I know this is a really strange conversation to be having, especially since things are going so well right now with work, and given the current situation of three new staff coming on board."

"Fuck."

What can I say, I was trying really hard not to smile, absolutely gleeful about the change in work venues and raise in pay, and I was trying hard not to let out a completely inappropriate war whoop, and pumping my fist in the air because it finally happened for me and I am a movingo n up!!!

high chairs

A few weeks ago, a few of us hit a well known Canadian icon for coffee. Their high chairs sucked. Brandon couldn't fit in to it, and it was extremely frustrating to deal with. Not such a big deal, because in a coffee shop, you aren't exactly sitting down for a meal with a just over a one year old.

This morning was a different story. We were with Gramma, and out for breakfast, and the family restaurant we chose had the same type of high chairs. I know our kid is big, but give me break. He is 14 months old, not 3, we couldn't even wedge his feet in to the holes for his legs with his shoes off!!!! The high chairs are also gross - they are the plastic rubbermaid type, so the whole contraption looks like shit - obviously not fully cleaned, and not aging well either.

We just dealt with it and Ken and I took turns holding Brandon and attempting to feed the three of us. Then the service also sucked. I never did get the water I asked for a few times, and even after myself leaving the restaurant (and making eye contact with our server) because I had a wiggling worm that was grabbing the uncleared dishes off of the table it still took another 10 minutes to get the bill. If I cared enough I would call the manager to vent, but they have just lost our business. It gave me and my MIL had a good laugh at their expense, Ken thought we were nuts because we kept going on about the high chair - even the wooden ones that are really basic is a much better alternative... hell, the lunch I had a few weeks back at the Bread Garden was better! I wouldn't have imagined them to be more "kid friendly" than a family restaurant!!!

Their change table also left a lot to be desired - nothing like standing over the toilet to lean in to a slanted plastic hanging table to change your kid. N-i-c-e.

People wonder why folks with young kids stay home?? There is nothing wrong with how Brandon behaves when we are out - it is not having high chairs or a decent place to change your kid that makes a huge difference!

A second wind

I am getting a bit of a second wind tonight, although I think that it is going to be really fleeting.

On the way home from work, my mantra was pretty much, fuck, am I tired. I didn't get to sleep until late (ok, pretty close to my regular time which is always pushing it, I have never been able to fall asleep early) and then Brandon woke up about 1am. Half dozed, half breast fed until 2am, when I was officially done and I woke Ken up to rock him for a bit. A while later, another attempt to put him down, and he was having none of it. I was so exhausted I passed the ball back to Ken, and he was up with him for the next hour until he was ready to go back to sleep. Morning came too damn early and here I am whining about the hour, and Ken gets to play hockey tonight, and his game hasn't even started yet! Although I really miss playing, I can't say that I miss some of the game times on a friday night.

It was a long day. Since we are down 3 coworkers and 3 new ones are starting soon, us survivors decided it was time to clean house. Holy shit was and is there clutter. A few of the ladies whom have left the building were total pack rats. There was shit going back to 98 and 99, and for people who complain about micromanaging, one drawer had no less than 40 bright yellow files in individual yellow hanging folders with several spares thrown in, not in alpha order, with the labels barely peeking over the tops of the folders so you couldn't really find what file you were looking for. When I have been covering the front desks, finding anything has been a nightmare, and all I want to do is retreat back to my office where I have pretty much reclaimed my space and filled a box full of shredding and 3 boxes of recycling..

So, once our office closed to the public, I cleaned. I recycled. I wondering why I decided to wear my really nice blouse today of all days. I was thankful I had a beer with my Indian buffet lunch, I put together confidential boxes of shredding, and I relabeled, sorted, and culled files. Then I cleaned out drawers.

Thankfully, the one thing I learned from physics is that second law of thermodynamics - that all natural processes tend to disorder, and it takes energy to put things back to order. So I got to be that energy today. But it was a good energy, cleaning and organizing and making the front not so much of a hellish cluttered mess where you are lucky to find a pen that works - speaking of which, I found a collection of 24 pen caps in the drawer. WTF??!!! Who the hell keeps pen caps??? And my coworker looked so normal... LOL One desk down, the other I will do next Tuesday night. It was my long day today, so ultimately I was well paid to clean house.

Now I am indulging in some chick lit - I am working my way through the Dev!l wears Prad@. I almost gave up after all the name dropping in the first chapter, but I am sticking it out and it isn't that bad - there are some amusing moments, but it is a pretty over the top light and fluffy book. My last read was far better - The Summer of My Amazing Luck... I actually made it through a whole bath without an interruption.

Fuck it was a long week. There were some good moments, but man, it just felt long and drawn out and tonight I don't feel all that chatty. I almost picked up the phone, but I think that I am better company for my book. I am glad we don't have big plans this weekend, I would love to garden (even if it is raining) or actually made it to a drop in yoga class. I need to stretch. I am stiff and my lower back has been bugging me all week as well.

Waiting.

Waiting for the phone to ring.

Waiting for something to come in the mail.

Waiting for someone.

Waiting for bad news. Waiting for good news.

Waiting in a line up to go to the can.

Any kind of waiting more or less sucks.

There is the rush as you are aware that the wait is just about over, the concussion-like shock when the news hits, then that downer period (no matter how good the news is) because you aren't waiting, and now is the time that every thing changes. That limbo like state is never easy to get through - it is like knowing you have a paper to write, you distract yourself ceaselessly to avoid it until the deadline looms ahead.

A cool weekend

This weekend we got out to do a few things that I have been on the list of to do things for a while. Last night we checked out the Richmond Night Market, down by the Fraser River. We got there about 9pm and I couldn't get over the never ending stream of people that were heading in and out of the market. The smells were great - one moment you could smell sugar, and those little dough nuts and you would swear that you were at the PNE, and the next moment, the smells of kebabs and curry beef stew, and some unknown fried seafood assailed your senses.

It was cool - you had to practically swim through the people through the food stalls, but the merchandise stalls were just ok - a lot of really "cutesie" stuff, and then a lot of no name gadgets - like knock off ipods for $15... you could probably find a little something of just about anything here... although in my opinion, I usually find more stuff at the flea market... more variety, surprisingly enough..a nd not the swarms of people to deal with either!! Needless to say, it was a cool experience, and the weather was perfect for the night out - it was clear and warm enough.

This morning, we joined up with PKY and the folks for dim sum. We went here, and the food was good. This only being my 3rd time for dim sum, you watch what other people are eating, and then just dive in. I tried the chicken feet last time (not for the faint of heart, but not bad, it is hard to get over the image and the mental part though) so I totally let them pass this time around. It was cool. Ken's mom did awesome, she tried just about everything as well. It is a huge restaurant, and it gets really noisy, but there are food servers coming around all the time, and there is something of everything.

The chaos

Well, the start of another session at my place of employment and chaos reigns. In our little office of 8 very strong willed female personalities, we are down 3. Our, in our location, we have gone from 6 employees, down to 3. Which means that give a few weeks, with no new hiring, we are looking like the chaos is going to a nice term for what work will look like. Plus, even if we do hire someone, chances are they won't have any experience and not that my job is rocket science, there is a huge learning curve that is involved before you even start to get a handle on all of the layers of inter-related information that you need to have at your fingertips.

It is funny though - I feel somewhat detached from it all since I have come back from maternity - I guess my bullshit meter is a little different, and I am taking it less personally. What matters is not here at work, and well, this is the paycheck that helps us do the things I want. I am not so cynical that I don't enjoy my job, and there is a certain amount of satisfaction from it, but my life is defined by my life outside of work and perhaps only a little from the satisfaction that I can get knowing that I can make a difference for a few people in some small way.

So work is bizarre. It doesn't matter to me since I no longer get flex days off and I have already taken all of my vacation, but those privileges are cut off for everyone else. Our culture needs to shift in a drastic way because there are a few coworkers who don't like to share responsibility, and hold on to what defines their job, and as a result, as I mentioned, there is no one else in our place of employment who has a clue of what we do, and perception is that our office is really stressful to work in - which is somewhat true a lot of the time.

Ah well. For me, I am getting along really well with everyone (honey moon period back at work) and I am getting back to my stride. The hours are challenging, with 3 long days and 2 short nights... I am really finding it important to get out with Brandon on those short days in the morning, otherwise it feels like hang with him (or go grocery shopping), get some housework done, he naps, I get the rest done, then he is up, make dinner, take him up to my folks, go to work, come home, spend a few minutes with Ken, sleep, start all over again. Wednesday is really and truly hump day. I am finding that I need to be organized, get that food shopping done, plan out lunches, and well, that should make life a little smoother around the edges.

I guess when the chips are down, it is a transitional period, and you have a few bumpy weeks as you get to know the lay of the land, and then you start to refine the new skills that you acquire along the way.. LOL

We made it back to Pimainus

It seems like a lifetime ago, but before we got pregnant with Brandon and tied the knot, we went to a place called Pimainus Lake, a long way down a dirt road outside of Merritt. It is a beautiful place, quiet and relaxing. It was great to get away - even though it was a mad panic for me since I worked until 11am and then we left at noon. I stood there looking at my clothes and I didn't have a clue what to pack. I know I had a stupid look on my face, and that was the least I have ever packed to go anywhere (I normally pack everything and the kitchen sink to get away, I guess all the traveling I have done has meant that I have been able to let go of that habit to a certain extent).

We spent 5 days at the lake (really 3 full days if you exclude the traveling on both sides), reading, chilling by the campfire, got in a few great hikes, some fishing, and just hanging about in the great outdoors recharging my batteries. Brandon seems to do well no matter what situation we throw him in to - he is a cool dude that way. Trips like this make the work days bearable. Having memories of the places that you have seen and experienced with your dear ones. I like having a home base, but I thrive on being able to get out and experience new things, or at least something different from the same old, same old. I feel that you need to remove yourself from your daily routine in order to relax, get away from it all. Especially when were you head to does not have cell service or electricity!!!

At the top of Spaist Mountain... about 2.7 km up, 332 meter gain.. woo woo!!