About my belly.

Thank you all for your well wishes and such on the last post. Here are more details about the whole thing, and answers to some questions.

Armondo and I have been trying for several months to get pregnant. With him being away so much lately, we had missed my "peak" time each month. It wasn't until this month that we were finally able to get it on in the middle of my cycle.

I've had a head cold for a little while now, and it's developing into a chest cold. I was feeling a bit nauseas the past few days, but figured that, even though I was pretty sure that it was because I could be pregnant, I didn't want to "jinx" it, so just wrote it off as being part of the cold/flu I've been experiencing. But in all reality I knew.

And so did my boss at the hardware store. Several days ago he asked me if I had gotten pregnant yet, because I was "glowing".

Belinda also knew. Although, I'll leave it up to her to explain how, (if she so wishes) in my comments.

L.B. , a friend of mine also said I looked really good the other day, even though, like I mentioned, I've been sick for the past week or so.

Late the other night, I said to Armondo "Do you want to run to the drug store tonight?" (for a test) and he refused. (is it SOOO unreasonable to ask your hubby to drive 15 min at 11:30 at night, in his pj's to go pick up a pregnancy test?!?) So the next day (yesterday), I picked up a test during my lunch break at the hardware store. I knew there was going to be NO way I would be able to wait until I got home to take the test, and knew that there was the chance I wasn't pregnant, so I thought I'd just pick up two tests, (One to take right away, and if positive, another one to take later to take a picture of to post... OR... one to take right away, and if negative, another one to take NEXT month.) Well, I made a mistake, not noticing that someone had put a one test packet in a two test space, I only bought one test.

When I got back to the hardware store, I ripped open the package and peed. Slowly, the "-" turned into a "+". Now, I have to be honest with you, I still feel a little bit unsure... there might be the slightest possibility that the test wasn't ACTUALLY positive, because the line that completed the "+" was very faint. My friend Tricia assures me that that's just because my hormone levels are still low.

So, if you're following along, this means that the picture on the last post wasn't ACTUALLY of MY test. It's just a picture I found on google images.

After taking the test, I phoned Armondo to tell him the news. He didn't actually sound very happy about it. Turns out that he was sad that there would be no more "practicing". He was joking though, and he's actually pretty thrilled.

The baby is due around January 8th according to Baby Center's Due Date Calculator.

Armondo says that if the baby is born on his birthday (Jan 5th) and is a boy, then he will be named Armondo's real name for a first name, and Armondo's brother's name for a second name, since Armondo's brother's birthday is Jan 5th as well!

This will all work out perfect. I really wanted my kids to be 18 months apart, and if this pregnancy is healthy and goes full term, they'll be right around that year and a half mark!

Seems like most of my new years wishes are coming true!

No words

Baby news!

No, not me... yet.. but...

EVE JUST HAD TWINS! Congratulations! Go say hi to her and look at those BEAUTIFUL babes!

And Kristina is about to have one!

And two of my co-workers' daughters are pregnant!

I so want to get pregnant!

Does this post REALLY need words?

More pics in Flickr

A mess.

Things are pretty good and very busy!

I haven't had much time to write lately, because I've actually been doing stuff.

I've had a few days off in a row and here are some of the things we've done.

~I trimmed hedges for the first time ever and did an ok job.

~I threw a baby shower for the first time and did an awesome job.

~I got a little bit sick again and am fighting a sore throat.

~My dad left yesterday to go to his new job. He was here for two weeks. He was a good guest, but it's nice to have my house back.

~I went to the specialist yesterday about my colon problems. He stuck his finger where the sun don't shine. He basically told me I have IBS, and if I WANTED to get a colonoscopy, I could, but otherwise, I should try laxatives and stools softeners for a couple of months before worrying too much about it. (Isn't it great that in Canada, if you WANT to get a scope of your colon done, you just CAN?!)

~Armondo is burning yard waste outside right now, and some of the waste is old hay and straw from when we had chickens. Have you ever smelled burning hay? It's pretty nasty! We're smoking out the whole neighbourhood. I feel bad, but ... whatever!

~We've had a few people look at the house lately, but no offers yet.

~We had three appointments in a row not show up. That really pissed us off. The realtor dropped the price bomb again, and we basically said "screw that." There is a house the exact same size, same amount of rooms and same amount of yard in the worst neighbourhood in town on the corner of two extremely busy streets that are asking the same price as us. There is NO way I'm dropping the price of our house lower than that house. Our house is in a nice not bad neighbourhood, on a dead end street, close to a beautiful river.

~There are new pictures up on Flickr that I put up a couple of days ago. Go check them out if you haven't already!

~Both dogs, Armondo and I went for a walk on the waterfront yesterday, it was so nice! The weather here has been so gorgeous the past couple of days! I'm a big fan of sunny and warm, but not sunny and hot.

~Jacy is fitting right in in our little zoo. Her and Annie get along fine, and the cats don't mind her either.

~Cherry LOVES Jacy, and Jacy is very patient with her when she tugs on her ears.

Sorry for the crappy post, and the lack of comments on your comments. I swear I'm reading them, I just don't have time to respond it seems. I really don't know WHY I don't have time to, but I've been feeling some pressure from Armondo to spend more "family time" than computer time. Oh, and we've been watching "Twin Peaks" on DVD the past couple of days, and no, Belinda, I wasn't TWO when that show came out, I was at least seven. I think. I'm not sure though. And we watched "Everything is Illuminated", which I highly recommend!

So, starting at 6pm today, I start my week of full time work again.

Hey, does anyone know if you can get TiVo in Canada?

The blogroll.

So, I've done some tidying of my blogroll. I've left in all the people who responded to this post saying that they wanted to stay. And I've taken out quite a few that are really well written. I took them out so that I won't "waste" so much time on the computer reading about people I have no real interaction with, even though I find them quite enjoyable.

I've also taken out a couple where I've felt like I've been "ignored" when I comment, or if they don't come back to visit my blog.

If you've been removed from my blogroll, and would really prefer to stay, let me know! I know I have several lurkers, and I'm sure some of you used to be on my blogroll, so, say hi, and I'll put you back on there!

After I go and catch up on all the blogs I have left on my list, I'll post some cute pics!

Quick Quips.

In his words, Armondo is not a "House husband" but is a "Domestic Dude."
***

Armondo was watching a movie with a pregnant lady in it and I asked him
"What do you like better: how I look now, or how I looked at 8 months pregnant?"
He replies "That's like comparing Apples and Oranges. They're BOTH TASTY FRUIT!"

***

Last week, we had a couple of really nasty weather days. We went shopping and it seemed with every group of people, ONE person would run to "get the car" while the rest of each group waited in the doorway until the other person would pull up to get them. Cherry and I were waiting for Armondo to bring the car up, and beside us, there was a family of four organizing the same mission.

The mom says to one of her kids "Wait here.." and the kid runs out after his dad and says:
"I'M NOT MADE OF SUGAR!!! I'm a MAN!"
***

That is all for now, I have a baby shower to plan now!

PLEASE READ!

Hey YAWL.

My bloglist is getting too long. It takes WAY too long to read all of your blogs while I'm working full time.

And there are some new blogs I want to add, but can't commit to yet because THERE ARE JUST TOO MANY!

SO... If you're on my bloglist and want to stay there, TELL ME! If you don't care if I remove you, then don't say anything!

If you're reading my blog and you don't think I'm reading yours, then TELL ME!

I like the "conversation" part of this whole blog thing. And if you're not into conversing with me, then I think I'm going to weed ya out.

No love lost. I'm just too busy, and would prefer to get to know a few of you really well rather than know a lot of you not so well.

The Weekend!

Yesterday we had a big day! Although things didn't go exactly like planned, it was still a good time.

We started off by taking the ferry to the mainland. I took this picture of my home town from the ferry. It had never occurred to me to take a picture of my town until now, because all I do is think about moving from it lately. It's actually pretty from a distance, being that it's nestled between snow capped mountains and the clean blue ocean.


And I realize it's vulgar, but see that tall building that's basically in the middle of the pic? It's nick-named "The Penis" because of how it sticks up and there are matching short buildings on either side that look like "balls".

On the ferry, Cherry had SO much fun hanging out in the play area.


She had fun crawling all over the toys.



And everywhere she goes, all the kids just gather around her and tell her how cute she is!

We spent a bit of time hanging out with my grandparents on the north side of the border, then spent half an hour in the line heading south.

On the other side, the arch says something like "Children from the same mother" and inside there's an inscription saying something like "Let this gate never be closed."

As we got onto the I5, Armondo says "My speedometer doesn't GO American!"

We then drove to Bellingham where we shopped at Bellis Fair Mall, and we picked up some cute baby clothes. We weren't really overly impressed with the mall, and thought that our local mall was probably a bit better. The only thing that impressed me about that mall was the Victoria's Secret store. I SO wanted to buy some bras there. But my boobs won't stop changing size, so I thought there was no point in buying a bra there at this point in time.

After shopping, we headed straight to the SeaTac airport, which we thought was just in between Seattle and Tacoma, but is ACTUALLY in a town CALLED SeaTac. We're assuming that the town was built around the airport, and not the other way around.

In SeaTac, we ate at Denny's, (which we don't have in our town) but we REALLY wanted to find a Red Lobster, 'cause I drool everytime I watch their commercials, and we SO don't have any of those close by!

The service was crappy at Denny's. And the waitress was so grumpy, and so was the hostess. And the waitress gave us our bill before we even finished our dinner. And she didn't clear our dinner plates. I was so inclined to not leave a tip, but I didn't want to be considered a "Cheap Canadian!"

From the window at Denny's we could see the airport. We drove to SeaTac nice and early so we could just relax and eat and not have to worry about getting to the airport in time to pick up Jacy.

Well, we went to the airport, Armondo parked the car in the "hourly" parking area, and I went in to find the "cargo" area while Armondo read Cherry a story and put her to sleep. I went into the airport and found someone and asked for directions to get to the cargo area. It turns out we were totally in the wrong place, and that we had to drive out of the parking lot, go back on to the freeway and find "Air Cargo Road."

So, I went back to the car, paid $2 AMERICAN for 12 minutes of parking, and we went on our way to find the right place.

The directions the woman gave me were pretty vague. She mentioned something about getting back onto the freeway. She didn't mention WHICH freeway.

So, we got lost.

Yeah, somehow, we were headed back North to Seattle all of a sudden. With some quick thinking, my superior navigating skills, and keen sense of direction, I said "Quick! Turn off back into Tacoma!" And then we found our way back. *whew*

We arrived RIGHT on time at the Cargo place, but Jacy was 15 minutes late.

When she arrived, I had to pay for the flight and do some paperwork with the cargo people. Although friendly, I HAVE NEVER SEEN PEOPLE MOVE MORE SLOWLY. I tried to be patient, but kept on dropping hints about how the dog had been locked in a crate for close to 11 hours and NEEDED TO PEE! But they just took their sweet ass time. I guess they didn't want to break a nail or anything!

And then we got our precious Jacy. And she was cold. So we had to put one of Cherry's sweaters on her.

How is it that they had JUST met, and they're already making the same face for the camera?

After attempting to get Jacy to pee outside for a bit, I handed dog duty over to Armondo while I went inside to call Belinda to tell her I had received her precious poodle. (To read about the beginning of Jacy's journey, click here.)

Belinda has the cutest accent EVER! It was so hard for me not to giggle as she ended our conversation with "I LAWve y'all!" Is that what they call "Southern Hospitality"? Seems to be a whole lot of LAWve down there!

Jacy fell for Armondo right away, picking his lap over mine for the beginning of the trip home. Although, I think she sensed my jealousy 'cause she hopped onto my lap a couple of times just to make me happy. Here, Jacy and Armondo are "singing". Armondo was singing to a CD, and Jacy started howling and whining along. This, apparently, is a talent that even Belinda didn't know Jacy had!


Seattle at dusk. Taken from a moving car.

So, since Jacy hadn't peed at the cargo terminal, and it didn't look like she had peed in her crate, we thought it would be a good idea to stop at a rest stop to get her to pee there. *I* peed. Jacy. Did. Not.

Jacy didn't pee when we got to the ferry terminal either. Even after a couple of hours sleeping in the car with us while waiting for the ferry, she still didn't go pee. She didn't even pee when we got home. It wasn't until several hours later that she peed, and she didn't even get all the way to the yard, she just peed on the deck. And a LOT of pee, Armondo tells me.

When we went to get back into Canada, the crossing guard harrassed us slightly. She asked us how long were were in the US, what we bought, and the purpose of the trip.

When we told her we got a dog, she started asking us all these questions..

"How old is the dog?"
"Where did it come from?"
"How much did she cost?"
"You're going to have to shout, I can't hear you."
"You're telling me you haven't actually MET the woman who sent you the dog?"
"Why would she send you an adult dog? Don't breeders usually send puppies?"
"You're telling me that all you paid for is the flight fare?"
"Why would this woman whom you have never met, send you her dog?"
After handing her Jacy's paperwork.
"So, she's four years old?"
"Tell me again, WHY did you get this dog?"

*ugh*

So, yeah, we couldn't get ahold of Armondo's dad before our trip, so we just headed straight to the ferry. We *knew* we weren't going to be able to make the last ferry, but we thought we'd try. We were 45 min late. So we slept in the car. We were prepared though. We had foamies, and plenty of blankets. I slept ok, but I'm starting to feel it in my back now! Jacy cuddled with us in our little nest, as Cherry slept in her car seat, which we moved up front while we slept on the folded down back seats. When we got on the ferry, I continued to sleep while Armondo entertained Cherry up in the passenger decks.

We got home around 7:30 (a whole 24 1/2 hours after we left the day before) and after letting Jacy and Annie meet, I called my boss to tell him I was going to be late for work, as I hadn't had a shower, and I actually had to work at 8:30 am, and not the 9:30 that I had assumed. My boss told me I was a "good girl" and said that would be fine.

And then I got a raise.

Yup. On the day that I show up half an hour late, my boss gives me a $.50/h raise.

After I got home from work today, Armondo filled me in on the days events.

~Jacy can hop over the baby gate.
~Cherry finds Jacy to be absolutely HILARIOUS.
~Jacy needed to be carried on their walk today.
~Something about poodles pooping and it looking funny... You don't really need to know. *I* didn't really need to know.
~Annie and Jacy are tolerant of eachother, but both act jealous of eachother.

Then we watched American Idol (Kellie is SO going home!) and on our little loveseat we had Armondo, Jacy, Me, Annie, and Ozzy all cuddled there. (One bonus for Annie, is that because Jacy goes on the couch, we're now allowing HER on the couch.)

THANK YOU BELINDA FOR THE CUTE, DARLING DOG. WE LOVE HER AND WE'LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF HER, AND YOU CAN COME ANYTIME YOU WANT TO VISIT, AND I'LL FEED YOU POUTINE AND NANAIMO BARS.

***

We never did end up going to the petting farm on Easter. The weather was horrible, and since Cherry isn't walking, we figured it probably wasn't going to be too much fun for her to crawl around in the mud while the other kids ran around looking for eggs. So we posed her for silly pictures wearing silly bunny ears. Not many of them turned out. These two were the best.

Tomorrow we're going on a road trip.

Many of you guessed close to the right answers. Here, as an update, I'm going to include the answers in parentheses.

We're leaving our Island on the 7:45

(ferry)

To(Tsawwassen)

We will then (drive)

To visit
(my papa and grandmother)

And then from there, we will cross
(the peace arch)

And

(drive)


to(Seattle)

but stopping on the way to
(shop in Bellingham)

then continuing on to (Sea Tac Airport)


in order to pick up(Jacy, the Ninja Poodle)

We have about a 1% chance of catching the (ferry)

on the way back, so we're going to try to stay with(Popeye, Armondo's Father-who we never got ahold of)

in
(New Westminster)

but then wake up early in the morning in order to catch the
(ferry)

to get to
(work at the hardware store)
by 9:30 am.
(which, was actually supposed to be 8:30am)


Let me know what you think I said in the comments!

White Trash.

Yesterday when I started work at the restaurant, I got two tables right away. One of the tables had a man and a woman who were siblings and who were completely nuts.

The hostess sat them at their table, then came to warn me about the weirdness I was about to encounter. I hadn't quite seen them at this point, but I could smell the alcohol on them from half way across the room.

When I got to the table, the woman was heavily concentrating on rolling up her paper place mat, and the man was leaning back in the booth and almost sliding over to the side.

I asked them what they wanted to drink and they both ordered a beer. When I brought them their beer, I asked if they wanted anything to eat, and the guy says "Do you have fries here?"
I answer, "Yes I can bring you some fries."
"Can I have a poutine?"Poutine is fries with cheese curds and gravy on it.

"I'm sorry sir, we don't serve poutine."
"Can't you MAKE me a poutine?"
"Sorry, sir, we don't really have any gravy here."
"What? How can you not have gravy?"
"Well, we have peppercorn sauce, but no gravy sir. It's more like an au juice, and would probably be too runny for pou..."
He mutters. "Stupid F*#*ing restaurant, what kind of restaurant....?"
"Ma'am, would you care for anything to eat?" I say, turning to the woman.
"No."
"Sir, would YOU like anything to eat?"
"No, I want poutine!"

The man asks for his bill.

When I deliver the bill, the woman turns to me.
"I want this placemat all rolled up like this!"
"Ok ma'am, that's fine, you can have that placemat ANY way you'd like it!"
"Can you maybe bring me a piece of tape, so I can keep it like this?"
(Lying) "Sorry, Ma'am, but I don't think we have any tape in the restaurant. But you can take it home and do what every you'd like to it!"

I left the two of them to drink their beer, and I went to go take a look in the parking lot to see if they had driven a car there, 'cause there was no way I was going to let them drive home in the condition they were in. All I could see were staff cars and the truck the other table drove up in. I warn the hostess and the busgirl that the two of them are likely to walk out on the bill, so there should always be one of us out front at any given time. In the meantime, a third table has shown up.

As the two of them get up to leave, they start to fight. The man comes up to the til and pays the bill, as the woman stops at another table where there are customers and starts swearing and staring at them. Luckily, the table she was harassing was just two teenage boys who were friends of the busgirl. (the other table we had was in a totally different room, and they missed most of the action.)

After the man pays the bill, (and leaves me a $1.50 tip on an $11 bill), he asks me to "pretend" that he didn't pay the bill and to pursue his sister (who, by now, we've decided has some sort of mental illness), to pay the bill. I tell him "No I can't do that." And when he starts to try to convince the hostess to do the same, she replies with "That's mean."

He then asks me to call them a cab. Then he says to his sister "Ok, I'm leaving now, pay the girls."

He leaves and his sister starts FLIPPING OUT! "Stupid fu#*king brother, he's an A$$HOLE!"

"He was joking!" The hostess and I try to convince her over and over.

She then starts getting closer and closer to the hostess, backing her right into the liquor room, at which point our boss catches on to what's happening and comes out of the back to figure out the situation.

John stands there for a good minute or two looking at her while she rants and raves, when he finally asks her to leave. She hadn't noticed him at first, and when she sees him, she says "Whoa, he's MEAN..." (he's not) and "Whoa he's BIG!" (which he is also not). "What's HE doing there?"

"I'm asking you to leave! Your cab is outside, it's time for you to leave."
"I'm not leaving with that bastard! I live across the street!"
"That's fine, you need to leave now!"
"Why?"
"Because you're drunk and the bill is paid, and you're disrupting my restaurant. You need to remove yourself, and if you don't, I will phone the cops, and I'll get THEM to remove you!"
"I have TWO sisters who are RCMP!"
"That's fine, do you want me to call THEM?!?"
"Why would you do that?!?!"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE DRUNK!"
"I'm was born in Newfoundland, and so was my brother. He was born in Newfoundland."

I didn't hear the rest of the exchange, as I had to go to my other table, but in the end she left, and we didn't have to call the cops. She also apologized for her brother and left a five dollar tip.

Which means I got a 50% tip overall.

Silly Newfies!

Photo Update.

Hello everyone! I've missed you!

We've been pretty busy lately!


I've been working lots, so I haven't had a lot of time to see my family, but when I have time off, we've been having a lot of fun!

We've been to birthday parties!


Grumpa's staying with us!


We've been going for walks and spending quality time together!




Life is busy, but we're doing well!

Tagged

Meme:

I've been tagged by Erin over at Pupsickle with this meme.

Rules : 1) Write a few weird/strange/quirky things about yourself and post it in both my comments here and on your blog (if you do memes). 2) Leave a comment on their blog telling them they've been tagged.

My weird/strange/quirky things:

• I need a lot of sleep. I funtion best if I sleep 10 hours or more in a 24 hour period. My ideal day would include 10 hours of sleep at night, and two-three hours of napping.

• I'm scared of big Ants. Not REALLY scared, but I don't like to handle them or anything. It has to do with a childhood trauma.
  

• I get two whiskers on my chin. One comes in black, the other white. I have to pluck them every three weeks or so.

• Feet gross me out. And I hate to go bare foot.

• I'm not really shy, but sometimes when I talk in a group, or if I'm talking and random people start looking at me, I get all embarrased and start to sweat this "nervous sweat" that is really nasty.
  

• I swear I can FEEL germs on my hands. I always have to wash my hands before I eat or drink or handle my kid or anything she eats or drinks if I can "feel" the germs.

Mr. Fab, you're tagged. And Tricia. And Candice. And umm... YOU!

Cyclone journal entry

My dad's here!

This is the third time he's been to our house since Cherry's been born. That means he TIES with my MIL in amount of visits since Cherry came along.

My mother in law lives one and a half hours away.

My father has visited from 16 and a half hours away.

Not that I'm complaining. A visit every three months from my MIL is plenty.

Anyway, my dad now has a job on the island. He's back "home" now. He arrived on our doorstep today while I was at work and Armondo was home. I got a call at work today from the hubby saying "Uh, your dad is here, and he's taking a ... shower." And I laughed. Because every time he visits, he breaks our shower head!

Dad told me he was going to be arriving some time in the middle of April, but he never called to confirm or anything, he just showed up. Which is fine, I don't mind, I love my dad! But what would he have done if no-one was home?

We're going to put him to work though, while he's staying here. We're going to use him and his truck, and go and load up on free scrap wood from the cedar mill, and to do a dump run. We never seem to have access to a truck, so we're going to take advantage of it!

We're also going to get him to babysit tomorrow night so Armondo and I can have a nice dinner out. Dad doesn't know this yet. We'll let him know in the morning.

I don't know how long he's staying with us, he'll be calling his work tomorrow to see when he'll be able to start working and when he can move into the residences on the little island where his job is.

***

In other news..

I think I've caught up on my sleep now. Armondo made sure I went to be early last night, 'cause I was "Acting like a Zombie-a HOT zombie, of course." I still feel over worked though. I've worked full time before, but for some reason it's way harder now. I've always been one to need a lot of sleep, but I used to be able to work a full week (and party at night) and not feel as exhausted as I have lately. I can't blame it on the baby either. She only wakes up one or two times a night now, and I don't even have to get up anymore!

That one day when I worked two jobs went pretty well, and it was worth it money wise! I raked in a LOT of dough! I shared a big table with another server and we split the tip to make $93 each! I also had a few other pretty good tips and walked out with a pretty good haul even after tipping out 30%. (and no babysitter to pay!)

I'm happy though, that I'm back to work. My feet hurt, I don't see much of Cherry, and I'm tired, but it feels good. I feel productive. I like getting out of the house. I like that I'm doing something nice for Armondo and Cherry. It's a two-three month stint where I'll be working full time so that Armondo can have some time to bond with his first born. After the parental leave is over, Armondo will go back to work and I won't have to work again until the kids are in school, or if we go broke.

And I like my job. I mean, I know I complain about my idiot customers, but in reality, I actually like my job. (I can't remember if I told you this, or not, but...) A couple of days before Armondo came home this last time, he mentioned that he was worried about money. The next time I talked to him, I told him that I was probably going to get some shifts back at the hardware store. He says "I'm worried about money, but I didn't mean for you to go get a second JOB!" I say, "But I LIKE it at the hardware store!" He says, "I know you do!"

It's too bad that there really isn't any money in retail, unless you own your own store. I would love to take all the courses and learn as much as I possibly could about all of the things in the store, but it seems like there's not much point, 'cause I will probably never earn more than $9 an hour. This is the second hardware store that I've worked at, and at the first one (where I worked with Sarah) I never made more than minimum wage. It really pissed me off when a new woman started working there and was making more money than me right off the bat and who had never worked retail and who hadn't had ANY sort of job for the 16 years previous while she raised her children. I didn't hurt much to leave that store.

At this store though, I know there are other people working there who are making more than me, but it feels like they deserve it. There are people who actually know plumbing, there (used to be) people who had their horticulture certificates, etc. But even with all their extra training and knowledge, they still aren't making that much more than me. ANYWAY.. like you all care about this stuff, but hey, this is my journal, and this little part is just about my own ramblings! And the point is, ONE DAY I WILL OWN MY OWN HARDWARE STORE. And my other point is, if my boss offered me the manager position that is opening up, and offered me some good money, then I'd be HAPPY to stay here. And I could take over the scheduling that the other manager does, 'cause.. well, he really sucks at it!

***

Ok, I'm only pretending to change the topic here. I'm still going to talk about work ('cause, geez, this is my whole life these days!) Now I'm going to talk about my co-workers though. Hardware people are more my people. I worked with Sarah in a hardware store, and although she's psycho and pretends to eat her pet guinea pigs, I love her. And L.B., who often leaves comments and who baby sat my kid when Armondo was gone, is one of my favourite people, and her and I met at the hardware store I work at now when we both worked there over a year ago. I've got some awesome bosses, and I don't hate any of my co-workers right now. (When I left the hardware store a year ago, half of the reason why I left was because of two guys who were always pissing me off and who were bordering on "harassing" me. One of them found another job, and the other is out due to knee surgery, but might be back soon.)

When some of the crew decides to get together for drinks after work, everyone is invited. Even when it's the "young" ones planning it, the older ones are invited. There are no "cliques". No one cares if your pink shirt and red apron clash. It is so different from working in the restaurant! Don't get me wrong, there are always people in any work place who are annoying and who tend to be more on the "outside", but I find that with the hardware crew, (people more like me), we tend to try to include everyone until they alienate themselves. We're just more down to earth, I think. I've never felt like I fit in at the restaurant. I'm not flirty enough, I'm not sexy enough. I find it really hard to sell myself in order to get a good tip. But I like the money, and I like the hours. And every time I leave a restaurant, it only takes me a few months until I want to go back to make the good money again. *sigh* I need a "career"!

So, the other day, I get to work at the hardware store and as I'm walking to the back, I see a girl who looks like Chase. Later, I find out she's the new girl, and as soon as she starts talking, I instantly think that she has a voice JUST like Shane. Funny thing, really, because both of these women like women. Half way through the day, the new girl, (We'll call her T.) and I start chatting, and I decide to take over training her on the cash 'cause it's obvious no one else really wants to, and I find out that T., as well as the two people she resembles ALSO likes women.

Oh yeah, my people perceiving skills are EXTRAORDINARY. Yup, I'm cool.. I could be like a .. profiler or something. Not that I'm saying that women who like women need to be PROFILED.. oh crap.. am I getting myself into trouble?

Anyway, I like T. She has her flaws, like she can't seem to figure out how to count change back properly, and can't seem to see the importance in this act, but she's pretty cool. I think she'll fit right in! She's nice, she's no-nonsense, and besides the money counting back thing, she's eager to learn. I could see us becoming friends. Which is good, because A. is leaving the hardware store, and I really like her, so I'm happy that someone else cool is filling her place.

***

So, as you may of read in the comments from my last post, Belinda isn't able to send Jacy tomorrow. I'm sad that she's not coming right away, and I'm concerned that things aren't going well in the Ninja Poodle dojo, but I'm almost relieved that I'm getting an actual day off tomorrow, where the most traveling I'll be doing is to the library. And it will be neat to hang out with my dad!

***

Yeah, this post is long. That's what I do. I don't write anything for days, then I post a novella. Off to bed now!

T-I-R-E-D

Thank you to everyone who added their comments to my last post! It was great to see what many of you added! I haven't really had the chance to go back and reply to all of them 'cause I've just been too tired and busy lately!

This is going to be a DARN LAZY recap!

~The house hasn't sold.
~We have put in a new kitchen faucet, woodstove, and oil tank.
~We are going to take the house off the market on June 15th if it hasn't sold by then.
~Our parental leave ends in July, so if the house hasn't sold by half way through June, Armondo has to find a new job.
~We're thinking about Saskatchewan more seriously.
~I'm working EVERY DAY it seems!
~On Saturday, I worked at the hardware store from 8:30-5 and the restuarant from 6-11.
~I had yesterday off, and went to O.'s birthday party.
~I get Wednesday off, and if all works out, I'll be picking up my new poodle from the airport in Richmond. She is one of Belinda's Ninja Poodles.
~On days I work, I only see 1 hour of my kid.
~Last night I caught up on everyone's blogs and didn't have time to write in my own.
~I am too tired to write anything good tonight.
~There are new pictures on Flickr.

Oh yeah..
~If we take the house off the market, we'll put it back on next spring.
~We're REALLY working on making a new baby now.

Talk to you soon!

A letter to all of you retail shoppers out there.

Dear Customer,

I just thought I'd take a moment to write you a little letter. I like you most of the time, but there are a few things you do that just get under my skin. In order for our relationship to continue to be a friendly one, there are a few things you should know.

First of all, when I ask you how you are, please answer me with something like "Ok. Thank you", or "good, and you?". I don't deserve to be ignored, and I don't need to hear about how crappy your day is really going; I don't really care. It is my job to be polite and nice. Please try to make my job easier by giving a simple and polite answer.

If I ask you if you need a bag, just say "yes please," or "no thanks". I don't need to know WHY you may or not need a bag. I don't care if you're walking three blocks and need a bag with a handle. I don't care if you don't need one because you have a cupboard full of them at home.

When I check your money to see if it's counterfeit, it is not a personal slight. Counterfeit is a huge problem in our area, and the store takes the loss if we take counterfeit. Do not get offended. Also, please don't try to be witty by saying "It's good, I just printed it this morning!" I've heard this joke before. I hear it everyday. It wasn't really funny the first time I heard it, it definitely isn't funny the fifth time I hear it in a day.

If a product doesn't scan properly, it doesn't mean it's free. Just like the counterfeit joke, the "It's not scanning, it must be free!" joke is NOT funny.

When there is a line and I call a second cashier to open up the other till, please don't push and shove and think you're all so clever when you beat other people to the second line. It is childish, and it reminds me of the fights we used to have in kindergarten when kids would "budge." On the other side of this argument, if someone else beats you to the other till, who cares? Grow up and chill out.

I HAVE to tell you how to properly use the slug bait you are buying. I HAVE to warn you that it is not only poisonous to household pets, but that it might even attract them. It is the law. It is not funny, or even slightly amusing when you tell me that you'd LIKE it if the neighbours' cats eat it and die. In fact, I can even refuse the sale to you for being so ignorant. I meant it when I told you that you needed to move into a strata where pets were not allowed. Pets are a fact of life. Get used to it.

I don't know you very well, and it is rude when you ask me "What ever possessed you to pierce your eyebrow?!". It is my job to be polite and nice to you, so I will play along, but I'd like you to know that you asking me about it in such a way, would be similar to me asking you "What possessed you to wear that shirt today?". The next time you ask me with that same attitude, I will try my best to be polite, but my new answer will be "I did it for personal reasons." And if you push me further, I may throw a bit of rude back at you.

Yes, I try my best to give you good customer service. Yes, I will take you right to the item you're looking for instead of just pointing, but this does not make me your personal shopper. It is not my job to run all around the store to find and pick out every item on your list.

Please don't expect me to let you return an item that is not in the packaging. I WILL call the manager to see if he will approve the return, but in reality, I wish you weren't wasting our time returning an item worth $4, when you didn't even take the care to make sure that it was still saleable.

Please don't answer your cell phone when I'm ringing your purchases through. Who ever is calling can wait a minute or so until you are done. There are people behind you waiting, and I'm often left standing there waiting to be handed your cash or credit card. It is very rude and freekin' annoying. Also, when you've come to me for help with a project, please don't answer your cell phone. I will CONTINUE to walk away every time you do this; there are other people who need my attention more than you obviously do.

Just because I'm working in a retail job doesn't mean that I'm an idiot. It doesn't make me beneath you or of less worth. Yes, I am paid to help you and to be nice to you, but that does not mean that you have the right to treat me like dirt and to be rude to me. Go take your crap somewhere else, I have my own crap to deal with.

When I ask you if you need help, you can tell me what you need. You don't have to necessarily "ask a man" when all you need is a tube of wood glue or paint mixed. I know just as much about this as any of the other men in the store (except maybe for the managers). Just because I'm a woman, doesn't mean that I'm stupid.

All that being said, please keep on bringing your cute kids, parrots and puppies into the store! I love kids and animals, and it is always a joy to spend half a minute interacting with them.

Also, keep on coming in when you're in a good mood and feeling chatty, just realize that it's a good idea to end the conversation when a line is forming behind you.

Thanks for your time, I will be seeing you soon,

Sincerely,

CeCe

PS. As per requested by Sarah, I will also ask you to please supervise your children while they are in the store, as it is NOT my job to clean human faeces out of display toilets!

A little more PG-13

So back in this post I talked about some reasons why I've switched over my blog. Well, in that post I talked about a mother-daughter combination of in-laws with whom I've been having problems with.

The "mother" of this equation is my husband's aunt by marriage. She has pissed me off again. I'm soooo almost over it, but I thought I'd share a bit.

In the original problem, I had written a cryptic post about her on my blog, and her daughter read it and told her about it.. (Read more about it in that old post is you want..) ANYWAY, she's now been calling my husband to ask for more details about HER husband's activities while they were out fishing and waiting to fish. And then she basically told Armondo not to discuss their conversation with me because she doesn't trust me.

Why? Because I might blab about it to the whole world on the internet?!? Ok, maybe.

But here's the deal. I wrote about it. I erased it. I apologized. And I did all that after I spent two days listening to her whine about her problems on the phone to me and then spent another day hanging out with her while she wept and spilled all her guts to me.

The simple truth? I wanted to be there for her! I really did. And I care for her, I really do, but it stressed me out! And I vented that stress on my blog. I DIDN'T use her name, I didn't use specific details, and I changed some very important details.

But now, I feel like she's expecting me to grovel to her, to beg her to forgive me, for me to really put myself out to get back in her good books.

But you know what? I'm at the point where I don't care. Like I said to Armondo: "It's not like people are lining up to be her friend right now, and if she's going to sabotage our friendship, so be it!"

She's not a bad person. She's got a huge heart, and she's really "been there" for many people in the "in-law" family when they've needed it. But she can really get under your skin. I have the same problem!! I know I do! But unlike her, I don't NEED my in-laws approval. (The rest of Armondo's family doesn't like her, for reasons un-known and un-said. She tried for years to gain their approval to no avail. She has only recently given up, and is very hurt by the whole thing.) Of course, I'd LIKE it if everyone I ever came across loved and liked me, but that's not going to happen because I'm too honest and too blunt and abrupt. Much like her. Unlike her, I will accept that someone's angry with me, and I'm not going to beg her for a relationship with her. If she comes back around some day, I'll be here, but in the meantime, she can just deal with all this crap on her own, 'cause obviously I can't give her the help she needs.

***

So, thank you all for your tips and suggestions on what to get Armondo for our anniversary. In the end, I just made some cutesy game and we played it in bed. *ahem*

We decided that we really didn't want or need anything, since we're really pretty good at just buying what we want, when we want it, and since I had just bought new towels, it seemed like the traditional second year gift of "cotton" was well taken care of. Besides that, we're (hopefully) moving soon, and it's not like we need to buy more crap to move! Trust me, we're both perfectly happy with this. And don't worry, I'll be getting a big, shiny rock on our tenth anniversary!

***

On Sunday, we spent a bunch of time working on the yard. At one point Armondo just let one rip!

"Farrrrrrrt"

"ARMONDO! Say excuse me!!"

"What? Even when I'm outside?!?"

*sigh*

What have we been up to?

This is an entry that is "G" rated and will be copied into my old blog as well. I will be back with a better entry in a bit ;)

So, I've been waiting for AGES to take Cherry to the petting zoo. I was waiting for two reasons: 1, I wanted the hubby to be there for it, and 2, I wanted to be able to take photos, and since Cherry is pre-walking, someone needs to hold her while she pets the animals, making it hard to take photos.

We went on Saturday and had a really good time. There were even new lambs, and we got to watch them be bottle fed!

I took the camera. The batteries were dead. We didn't get a single shot.

Oh well, we'll be going back on Easter weekend for hay rides and visits to all the new chicks and ducklings! I will make sure the batteries are charged!

***

I'm starting full time work tomorrow! I'm a little excited, but a little sad as well.

I'm excited to bring in some extra income, but a little sad that I won't be home as much to spend time with Cherry.

I'm excited also, because I really love my job at the hardware store, and I'm happy to go back. I'm also glad that Armondo is going to have the chance to really get to know Cherry the way that I have over the past little while.

***

Cherry will now "High Five" and has just learned how to wave "hello."

***

I guess I should update you all about what's happening with the house.

It hasn't sold. Simple. HA! We're taking some of the fishing money and getting a new woodstove on Wednesday, and we're going to buy a new oil tank on credit, and hopefully those two upgrades will look good to potential buyers.

In the meantime, we've let the offer run out on the house up north. We got an inspection ages ago, and there were a few things wrong with the house that needed to be addressed right away. They weren't major problems, but they seemed big enough that we should have been able to get a lower price. So, we lowered our offer and the owner refused. We let the offer run out, and decided that we'd make another offer when our house sold and that maybe if the house had been sitting on the market long enough, they would take a lower offer. Here's hoping!

So, I will be back with pictures soon!

Life as I know it...

It's all back to normal around here!

Armondo's home, and I couldn't be happier.

I never thought that my happiness would depend so much upon another person! I guess that's a little bit sad, isn't it?

Anyway, getting the hubby home wasn't without its hic-coughs!

Pretty much all the phone calls that the hubby and I have had over the past few weeks have been collect calls, and in order to be clever, Armondo and I decided that instead of saying "Armondo" in the "say your name now" spot, he'd say "I'm on the ferry." so that I would know that he had made it from the airport to the ferry and was on his way home.

The original plan was for him to arrive at the airport around 11am and for him to make it to the ferry for the 1pm sailing, and to be home around 3pm.

I usually work at 4:30pm on Fridays, but thought it would be best to switch to a later shift so that I could spend a little bit of time with the hubby before I left him with the kid and ran off to work.

So, at a little after 1pm, I get a collect call saying:

"I'm on the three o'clock ferry." And he hangs up before I get a chance to "accept" the call.

First thought is: "Why'd he say THREE o'clock? Does that mean that he has missed the 1pm sailing and is going to be on the 3pm sailing?"

Second thought is: "He said he was ON the 3pm sailing, and it's 1pm now, so maybe he meant that he's on the sailing that will be in at 3pm, like the original plan."

So, it's close to 3pm and I strap Cherry into the car and go to the ferry to pick him up. I've got Annie in the car too, and I've got her all hyped up by saying over and over "We're going to go get daddy... are you happy to go see daddy?!"

3pm goes by. 3:15 goes by. All of the passengers of the ferry get off. The crew gets off. No Armondo.

CRAP! Am I at the wrong ferry?!?

I decide that Armondo must have taken the OTHER ferry and not the one that's right by our house, so I start to race towards the other ferry terminal.

And the gas light goes on.

I KNEW I was almost out of gas, but I also knew I had enough gas to go to the close ferry, to pick Armondo up, then to go to work, earn some tip money, and buy gas after that. (The gas prices have been going up SO high lately, that I had been avoiding getting gas.)

I didn't, however have enough gas to get to the other ferry. So I stopped at the nearest gas station. Now, I try to only go to gas stations that have the "Pay at the Pump" option when I have the kid in the car. It pisses me off when I have to pump gas, then take the kid out just to go pay for the gas. This particular gas station did not have "Pay at the Pump", and I knew this driving up, so I did the unthinkable. I pulled up to the closest pump to the front door, filled the tank, locked the doors and left the kid in the car.

I was in a rush. Bad, I know.. but I swear, I only took my eyes off of her for like two seconds while I punched my pin into the debit pad.

But wait.. I didn't just go straight into the store. I found a treasure on the way in... I found a wallet. A wallet with at LEAST $100 in it, if not more. (In Canada, our bills are all different colours, and the $20's are the only ones that are green, and in this wallet was a whole lot of green, Canadian sized bills, therefore making me think there was at least $100, if not $200.)
Without hesitation, I handed the wallet over to the clerk (with whom I am familiar with) and said "Someone dropped their wallet, and there's a LOT of money in it!" He took the wallet from me, and wondered out loud, "Who was just in here who could have dropped it?" He then opened it to look at the ID and said "Oh, HE'LL be back, he's American and he's just about to catch a ferry."

"Ferry?" I say. "I'm on the way to the ferry right now!"

But guess what? That guy wasn't going to either of the ferries I was visiting that day. He was going to the OTHER OTHER ferry.

So, I paid for my gas and was about to leave when the clerk said "I'm glad it was YOU that found his wallet, 'cause if it had been anyone else around here, it would not have been returned!" (He was making the comment in regards to the fact that it was a bad neighbourhood.)

(Yes, I left my kid in the car. In a bad neighbourhood... LET'S MOVE ON!)

My response to him was. "Well, uh.."

And then I got back to Cherry and Annie and drove off to the next ferry.

It wasn't until I had been back in the car that I started to ask myself if I had done the "right thing" by returning that wallet. I mean, I KNOW I did the right thing, and I was proud of myself that my FIRST reaction was the right one, but I started to feel a little silly about returning the cash. I mean, really, I could have USED that money, and it's his OWN fault for losing his wallet! I could have just returned the wallet with all the ID, and kept the cash. I mean, wouldn't that have been the best for my family? These thoughts passed pretty quickly, but ONE thought STILL lingers in my mind:

I should have returned the wallet, with all of the cash, but I should have taken enough out to pay for my gas!

I finally arrived at the other ferry, and there's no Armondo. In fact, there's no ANYBODY! Deserted.

Defeated, I went home. I put Cherry down for a nap, and laid down myself. An hour later, I get up, strap the kid in her car seat again, and we make the trip BACK to ferry number one.

Now, we're on our way to pick up the hubby at the ferry which was SUPPOSED to arrive at 5:15. As I pull into the terminal at 5:17, I see that the ferry hasn't quite made it into the dock, and that I have at least a 15 minute wait until the hubby will have made it off the boat.

As soon as I see him come off the boat, I get out of the car and wave to him. He comes over to the car, and we all have our happy reunion. Then I realize that he doesn't have his bag with him. HE CHECKED HIS BAG. Now, remember how I said that I had switched shifts with someone so that I could have some time with him before running off? Well, that shift that I was now responsible for started at 6pm.

And now we have to wait for his bag to come down the conveyor belt.

Oh, but it's ok. I'm prepared. My work clothes are in a bag in the car.

I then drop Armondo, Cherry, and Annie off at the house and speed off to work before they even get in the front door.

"Nice to see you, happy anniversary, BYE!"

Yeah, remember? It was our second wedding anniversary on Friday. I got to see my husband for a total of seven minutes before I rushed off to work.

Work wasn't all that bad on Friday. We got a bit of a late rush, so I didn't go home completely empty handed. And our dishwasher burned his fingers on a metal soulvaki skewer that had just come off of the burner.

Nick says "Oh, THIS one is the beef one, for sure!"
Grabs the metal ring end of the skewer.
"OH FARRRRRRUUUUUUK!!!"
All of the other servers came running into the kitchen to see what had happened as Nick is running around swearing, and I'm busting a gut laughing almost on the floor!

Nick now has small semi-circle shaped, white blisters on his finger tips.

I think he learned his lesson: Nick does dishes. Nick does not cook.

And then I came home and the hubby and I had awesome "I haven't seen you for a gazzilion days" s3x.

Wow, this post is long. I must end it now. I may write another one tonight.