Sick of it...

Ok, so after seeing Jan's beautiful blog, I think I want to change mine again.

I've found royalty-free type stock photos that I could use for my background, and I'm kind of thrilled with one particular artist's work, her name is Olga Telnova I seriously dig her style, but I don't know what to choose from. I don't know if I want a 100% revamp (again) or just to change this background from the orange drip blah-ness.

Let me know what you think. Click on them to see them in their true color format, the pyzam thing I have right now makes all the pictures a little see-through, and hence lighter than the actual photos really are. :)

Here are my favorites:

1


2


3


4


5


6


7


Wow, there's more than I thought there'd be...

Keep in mind that I can get these at full screen size.

I think the ones with the solid orange background will be harder to integrate to my existing design, the white backgrounded ones would be much easier to give this boring blog a breath of life. Comment please. Even you non-commenting readers. :) Thanks!

Vote please! I added a poll to the right! :)

New background (at least!) coming soon!

My New Pants!

Here are my new pants. :)

These are allegedly from Chadwicks. They cost me $0.01 + $6.50 for shipping.


These are Calvin Klein khakis, they were $1.04, (not .99 cents like I thought) + $3.00 for shipping.



And I got BOTH of these for $3.33 + $6.95 for shipping. :)


Not too bad for a grand total of $20.83 :) Have I mentioned that I love eBay? Because I do. LOVE it.

Oh, and I got my first paycheck yesterday, and I'm taking the Desrosiers to Salsarita's for an early dinner around 4:30 or so, There's a church activity at 6 so we wanted to make sure we made it to that. Fun fun!

Duh! I passed!

I think the Immigration people required an overall score of 7.0 in order to consider me fluent or proficient in the English language. I got an 8.5. YAY ME! One more hurdle out of the way. See!



Next I wait for them to confirm receipt of these results, and send me information and requirements on my Medical test, THEN I should technically be allowed into Canada.

In other news, This past week, I've purchased like 4 pairs of pants from eBay. Costing me $0.01, $0.99 cents, and $3.33 for a lot of two. I rock at the cheapness shopping. :) I'll post pictures later. I'm just thrilled at my thrifty shopping this week. :) Yay eBay!

Work update!

Well, I've made it to week two, I've survived the training, and I'm thinking I'm on the last legs of being guided through with someone watching over me every move I make.

Today I was on phones for the first time, the past few days, I was on the ticket entry system, and today I was put on phones, tomorrow I get the fun task of putting the two together. Yayness! It'll be stressful, but I'll have someone there who's been there for a while now. I must say though, that I really REALLY like the atmosphere of working there. It's so happy-go-lucky... most of the time. If a server crashes, there's drama, but its usually short-lived. I also, today, got to watch Scott configure a Sonicwall firewall. Which is very cool. He's been at the company for 7 years or so, so he's super smart, and knows what he's doing. I want to transplant my brain with everything he knows. Seriously.

The days are going by super fast now too, which can only mean that the faster they go by, the sooner I'll be in Canada... for the weekends anyway. :) Which is of course, a good thing. I can not tell you how much I miss my family up there. Canada has its Thanksgiving on the 2nd Monday in October usually. My family all went up to Hubby's sister's house for the festivities on Sunday, and I so so so missed out. At this point, I'm just hoping I'm able to get back there by my birthday!

Anyway, dinner is ready. :) I've gotta go eat. It is a good week.... so far.

A Broken Heart & a Contrite Spirit

Having a broken heart and a contrite spirit was a phrase I heard over and over today while listening to the General Conference sessions today. I'm just going to break each of those words down and see what happens. :)

I'll bold my favorite definitions as it may apply to spiritual matters.


Definitions of broken on the Web:

-physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split; "a broken mirror"; "a broken tooth"; "a broken leg"; "his neck is broken"
-not continuous in space, time, or sequence or varying abruptly; "broken lines of defense"; "a broken cable transmission"; "broken sleep"; "tear off the stub above the broken line"; "a broken note"; "broken sobs"
-subdued or brought low in condition or status; "brought low"; "a broken man"; "his broken spirit"
-(especially of promises or contracts) having been violated or disregarded; "broken (or unkept) promises"; "broken contracts"
-tamed or trained to obey; "a horse broken to the saddle"; "this old nag is well broken in"
-topographically very uneven; "broken terrain"; "rugged ground"
-imperfectly spoken or written; "broken English"
-thrown into a state of disarray or confusion; "troops fleeing in broken ranks"; "a confused mass of papers on the desk"; "the small disordered room"; "with everything so upset"
-weakened and infirm; "broken health resulting from alcoholism"
-destroyed financially; "the broken fortunes of the family"
-out of working order (`busted' is an informal substitute for `broken'); "a broken washing machine"; "the coke machine is broken"; "the coke machine is busted"
-discontinuous; "broken clouds"; "broken sunshine"
-lacking a part or parts; "a broken set of encyclopedia"


Very interesting. I like how broken means weak, or subdued, which can also mean humble. Oh yeah, I think we're getting somewhere now...


Definitions of heart on the Web:

-the locus of feelings and intuitions; "in your heart you know it is true"; "her story would melt your bosom"
-the hollow muscular organ located behind the sternum and between the lungs; its rhythmic contractions move the blood through the body; "he stood still, his heart thumping wildly"
-the courage to carry on; "he kept fighting on pure spunk"; "you haven't got the heart for baseball"
-center: an area that is approximately central within some larger region; "it is in the center of town"; "they ran forward into the heart of the struggle"; "they were in the eye of the storm"
-kernel: the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; "the gist of the prosecutor's argument"; "the heart and soul of the Republican Party"; "the nub of the story"
-an inclination or tendency of a certain kind; "he had a change of heart"
-a plane figure with rounded sides curving inward at the top and intersecting at the bottom; conventionally used on playing cards and valentines; "he drew a heart and called it a valentine"
-a firm rather dry variety meat (usually beef or veal); "a five-pound beef heart will serve six"
-affection: a positive feeling of liking; "he had trouble expressing the affection he felt"; "the child won everyone's heart"; "the warmness of his welcome made us feel right at home" -a playing card in the major suit that has one or more red hearts on it; "he led the queen of hearts"; "hearts were trumps"


Wow, I like a LOT of those definitions. Probably my favorite though, would be the center. At the very center of us, should be humility. I like it.


Definitions of contrite on the Web:

-feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses
-feeling regret for a fault or offence


All of Google only found those two definitions, and it works for me. A basic feeling of sorrow for our sins.


Definitions of spirit on the Web:

-the vital principle or animating force within living things
-the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people; "the feel of the city excited him"; "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting"; "it had the smell of treason"
-a fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one's character
-any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible (or audible) to human beings
-emotional state: the state of a person's emotions (especially with regard to pleasure or dejection); "his emotional state depended on her opinion"; "he was in good spirits"; "his spirit rose" -intent: the intended meaning of a communication
-liveliness: animation and energy in action or expression; "it was a heavy play and the actors tried in vain to give life to it"
-heart: an inclination or tendency of a certain kind; "he had a change of heart"
-infuse with spirit; "The company spirited him up"


So, a contrite spirit, would be a basic emotional state of sorrow for our sin.

Very interesting. I don't know if you all learned anything, but I did. I've heard that saying over and over ALL. MY. LIFE. It has been taught and re-taught to us, but I guess I never really bothered to find out what exactly it was. I always figured that a broken heart was similar to the feelings you get when you get dumped. Not so.

I'd like to encourage and challenge us all to have an emotional state of humility and sorrow for our sins, that goes to our very core of who we are (and more importantly, who the Lord knows we are).

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

I'm a huge proponent of Breast Cancer Awareness. Up until a few short weeks ago, I had a sticker/magnet thing on the back of my jeep. Some poor soul obviously needed it more than I did, so they stole it. How awful is that?

Oh well, it was a dollar fifty at wal-mart's clearance rack last November.

Anyway... I was browsing Avon's website, because they always seem to have the CUTEST stuff for BCA Month (October). Check it out... They're super affordable too. Call your Avon lady people.


Adorable Locket. I'd put a picture of my grandma in there. She's a survivor. (And she just turned 93 this past Saturday!) At $5.00 it is a steal!


I just love lip stuff. This one is a dollar fifty!

Those two are my favorite. I already have the memo pad from last year. (Thanks Linda!)

Although the Canadian version doesn't have the four bejeweled stars on it. Just the ribbon. Do I need this one too? ;) It's $7.50... Maybe I don't *neeeeed* it. But it is cute.

Anyway, go check out the rest of their stuff here.

:)

Day 3

I suppose I shouldn't complain that I'm not busy right? I'm still getting paid by the hour whether or not I sit on my tushie or if I'm being rigorously trained etc.

Tomorrow they're thinking about putting me on the phones. I guess there's nothing to lose, well, not really. I won't be all alone, NOR will I have to do the whole thing by myself. Today I did the typing into the ticket program, and my trainer was on the phone, tomorrow it'll be switched, I'll be on the phone, and he'll be typing. Should be fun.

I suppose I am more excited about the job than I was on Monday anyway. I don't have a phone, computer, or a desk yet... Hopefully I'll get one next week, after they know I'm not leaving.

Other than that, I miss all the free time I once had (not nearly enough time in the day for blogstalking as there once was!), and I hope I get a paycheck soon, my car needs some gas! lol

Things are looking up at work, but I still miss my hubby. *sigh*

First Day

So... Today was my first day of work. It was not spectacular, however I did meet a lot of people. A lot of people who tried to teach me their entire system in 8 short hours.

My head is a little bit hurty, but I just took some Advil for that.

I wish they would have given me a better orientation. I got the 5 cent tour. Someone else got the 10 cent tour, and I'm still looking for my refund...

Apparently the guy training me scared off a possible recruit last week. He showed up for one day, trained with this guy and said "sorry, I'm not coming back tomorrow, I can't handle this". I think I can handle this job, and possibly excel at it.

The client I'll be working for has a contract with us starting January 1st, so I'm not too worried about that. For security/safety purposes, I can't disclose who they are. I could, but then I'd have to kill you. ;)

Anyway, it was a rough day, and I'm so so so glad its over. My supervisor apologized like 5 times and explained that "Monday's aren't usually like this!"

So I do hope it gets better. I'd really like this to be a job I'm excited about. :)

Pyzam!

I'm bored today, and still recovering from the sickies, so I thought I'd look through pyzam's layouts for blogs, and I found this new spiffy one.

I'd like to thank Natalie for warning me about backing up EVERYTHING prior to using a new layout. Otherwise I too would have lost all my content (widgets, htmls, links etc). It's lovely advice. Follow it. Natalie is smart.

Also, I think this layout is cute, and it works well with my spiffy banner! I likey.

I was looking through layouts, and found a perfect one for Miss Hayley, but its not working. :( I'm hoping to be able to go through the code and figure out if I can fix it for her, because seriously, its perfect. So stay tuned for that!

Other than that, we're going to the Relief Society Broadcast tonight, we have a dinner at 7pm before it starts. That's where I met Shara for the first time last year, and I can't believe how close of friends we've become in just one year. I'm so thankful for her and her family for letting me basically live here. She jokes that I'm her "Domestic Associate" or "Valerie's Nanny"... I just feel so guilty for eating their food, and not paying rent :| Maybe that'll change once I get paid. :) I'm not sure.

Anyway, I've gotta figure out that pyzam template for Hayley! She needs it. :)

Paperwork

I just got back from filling in all my paperwork for my new job. Yay! There was a lot, but none of it was what I was really hoping for... A direct deposit form.

Can you believe, they don't have direct deposit?

They don't even have time cards that I can send in online. I have to go to their office at the end of each week and physically drop them off. ugh.

Sucks.

Hopefully I'm really REALLY not with this temp agency for very long. I'd like to be hired on full-time... I'm sure the company that hired me is more up-to-date than that! I really really don't want to have to get ANOTHER bank account in this area just so I can cash my checks. I haven't had to physically cash a check for like 13 years for a job... When I worked at the PCC when I was 15! *sigh*

Also, I'm feeling a little sickly today. My nose is runny, and my throat hurts. My hubby makes a killer "potion" for colds, I wish I had some... He puts cayenne pepper, ginger, honey, ACV (apple cider vinegar), mint extract (for taste), and some other things... mixes it up, makes me drink it, and it really helps! Man I miss him. Instead though, I've been drinking Echinacea Tea, but its not strong enough... (nothing is compared to hubby's medications). So I just went to Wal-Mart (its cheapest there) and got some Nyquill/Dayquill liqui-gels and some Vitamin C. I hope it helps. ASAP.

Mom says that when my Grandma starts feeling sick, she takes a Vitamin C (with rose hips) every hour. My Grandma will be 93 in 2 days, so she's got to be doing something right... right? :) You gotta love her. I'm glad I got to see her at Dave's wedding 2 months ago. :)

Speaking of David, Today is his birthday, so Happy Birthday to the Dave. Love ya lil' brothah!

And Happy birthday Google. too. lol They're 9. Amazing how they've almost accomplished world-domination in only 9 short years. wow. Dave, you better get crackin'!

Fantastic News!

This morning, I woke up a little sad and depressed about not getting that other job, and around 11 or so this morning, I get a call from one of the temp agencies I had signed up with, asking me if I was interested in a position that starts Monday. "HECK YES I am!"

So, she called me back a few minutes later asking me if I could go interview with them today. My interview was at 2pm, and it went fabulously!

I called my recruiter when I got home and she said that she had just gotten off the phone with them and THEY WANT ME! :-D

I'm so excited! And I just can't hide it!

I've just got to do a drug test in the morning and I'm IN. I'll pass unless it involves a number 2 pencil... ;)

The company is sort of a global IT solutions company that basically becomes THE IT support for their client company. It's an ingenious idea, really. I think I'm really REALLY going to like working there. AND the best part is, It's Monday through Friday ONLY. I can be a weekend wife! (assuming I'm actually allowed into Canada any time soon...) WOOHOO!

AND AND AND! They said that there is opportunity for certifications that THEY pay for. If you're a computer geek, these are pretty much as good as a masters' degree... (not that a PHD wouldn't also be helpful... but you get the point... I hope...)

I start on Monday! WOOHOO!

Road Trippin.

Life is a LOT like a road trip. Sorry for this post, but it's going to be a "Deep Thoughts" moment.

Like I said previously, I had a LOT of time to sit and think...

All. By. Myself.

So I did.

On the way home, I got to Schenectady, NY and I was caught in a HORRIBLE down-pour. It started raining like you wouldn't believe. I was going about 72mph (in a 65 zone, that's not too bad...) and it started raining. Hard. I had to slow down to about 25mph, put on my emergency blinkers, and stare at the white line. After that I said a prayer (I felt bad that I couldn't close both my eyes for it) and the debilitating rain stopped. It couldn't have lasted more than 3-5 minutes. tops. The only other time I was *that* scared driving, was on my way to Vegas from San Diego, the fog was SOOOO thick, nothing helped it, except me looking down at that white line.

Which brings me back to how life is lots like a road trip. We have those moments of utter horror. Be it depression, stress, anguish, grief, or another debilitating moment. We're not alone in them though. In our Gospel Doctrine class today (Dan is the teacher, and he is great!) We read a verse in 2nd Corinthians. It was Chapter 1 verse 4, and it hit me like a TON of bricks. "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."

It doesn't say some of our tribulations. Only 3 tribulations per day. No. It says ALL of them. It's not human nature to ask for help in every tribulation, (or even one tiny tribulation), but it's such a relief to know that we can. He is there, He will help us. All we have to do is ask. I don't know about you, but that is such a comfort to me. Especially now, being away from my husband, its been so hard. It would have been a lot easier if I'd ask for His comfort earlier.


I guess that's why we have rain storms, and rainbows. So we can see that it does get better. It does. (The above was taken right after that horrid rain had passed.)

Look how pretty the sunset was after the rain.




Just like the sunset, and the sun's reflection shimmering off the road, we'll not only look better, but we'll be stronger after the afflictions have passed. I'm not saying I'm a pro... far from it... 12 hours on the road to ponder such things does not a guru make. I guess its just an epiphany, and I knew I had to share.

Life throws things in our path. Sometimes sending us on paths we've never been on before. It can be scary, but He has been there before. If we follow His council, and promptings, we'll always be lead to safety.



See... life is a LOT like a road trip. Only longer, and we don't always have to be alone.

Fall... Almost.

On my little road trip, one thing I kept thinking, was that I was almost a little sad I didn't get the later test date. That way I would have been in New England at the peak of fall. If you haven't witnessed that before, for sure, you should make sure that some time in your life, you do. I can't even quite say that I've witnessed it, last year I left Connecticut at about this same time, and its not quite cold enough yet for the leaves to change... But I've seen pictures.

I tried to take a few photos of the one or two trees that had already changed... but all of these pictures were taken from the driver's seat of my car. Don't try this at home. I don't recommend it for just anyone. It takes a nifty kind of idiot like me to take pictures while driving. (Sorry mom... I know you're cringing reading this part)...

Anyway, I'll post a few pics I took along my Boston Journey for you. Or for me. I dunno, I think I've just become a lot more grateful for what God has done for me in this life since being on this trip.


Love the sunset in this picture, and the trees were trying to be orange for me! I loved their enthusiasm!




I'd love go back in a month and see them in their full swing! How I just LOVE fall! :)

Number 2 pencils make me nervous!

I'm back, all safe and sound.

The test was mostly a breeze. I ran out of time on the writing test, but I think I did the 250 word minimum. I had to write it in pencil, which is something I hate doing. I hate pencils! I wanted to write in pen. I have prettier handwriting when I use pen. Especially if its a good pen that I'm comfortable with. *sigh*

I think I got 99% of the listening and reading sections correct, there was one or two things I had questions with, but I think they went ok.

The speaking portion was stressful. I think I may have talked too fast, and I think I said "um" too much as filler. That's just what comes out of my head when my brain is thinking up an answer. I hope they were satisfied with my answers. It was recorded... so who knows who will listen to it. They'll think I'm 8 years old. I just have a super young voice. I can't help it!

I'll find out the scores in 13 days though.

Being on a road trip for 6+ hours each way really makes you think. I took pictures too, so you'll hear more about my deep thoughts, and my road trip pictures later. :)

Grrr!

We interrupt packing and stressing about Boston to bring you the latest international financial news...

The Canadian Dollar has officially passed up the US Dollar.

1.00 USD = 1.00053 CAD
1.00 CAD = 0.999474 USD

This is hideous. :( No wonder we're so much poorer now than we were 4 years ago!

I had earlier posted about the currency exchange rates, and how I was annoyed at how its changed... Take a minute to read that post will ya? What the heck has happened?

So very frustrating for those of us doing business and spending money in two currencies.

Boston...

So... I'll be leaving for Boston in the morning. Not driving my car anymore. The hubby talked me into renting a car, so I just reserved one. It'll cost around $70.00 for the rental, but the gas money it'll save me should be at least $60.00 round trip PLUS the maintenance on my old '97 Jeep would probably be a LOT on a trip like this. Shara said she saw (wow, say that 10 times fast...) anti-freeze dripping from my car the other day. So its probably best that I rent a car, and stay in a hotel.

I'll still be able to go to the bank, and do all my little errands before my test Saturday... I just really hope the test doesn't take ALL DAY. AND I really hope it doesn't completely drain my head out... I just always get so nervous taking tests. Even though, this is probably the easiest test I'll ever have to take. Here's the test day schedule:

"8:15 am: Registration.

9:00 - 12:15 pm: Listening (30 min), Reading (60 min), and Writing (60 min) Modules.

There will not be any breaks during the morning session. Candidates will remain in their seats until the end of the Writing Module.

12:20 - 5:00 pm: Speaking (11-14 minutes) Module: Interview at a pre-assigned time slot.

Saturday speaking appointments will be randomly allocated after the morning session has started. A candidate can be scheduled anytime between 12:20 and 5:00 pm. It is not possible to re-order or change these appointments."

So who knows when I'll have time to eat or be a human on Saturday. I better not have a large breakfast. An apple should probably do it. I just hope I don't have a 4:50pm appointment for the speaking part. If its alphabetical by last name I'll scream. That's one thing I always hated about being a Smith. We were always called last, or pretty darn close to it. I hope its random at least.

Anyway... I'll be taking off around 9am at the latest tomorrow morning. I got a good night's sleep tonight, so I'll be ok waking up early tomorrow AND Saturday. Since I'm renting a car, now the only worry is what cd's I should bring... I have an mp3 player in my Jeep, so usually I just burn like 5 albums on a cd... I doubt the rental will be that cool. We shall see. I don't know why I get so nervous... I'm a born worrier like my mother I guess. :) I'm off to pack my lunches :) Have a beautiful weekend! See ya on Sunday (I guess).

I must be dreaming...

So. I have a phone interview with Geico in 45 minutes. They have a big call center here, and I applied 2-3 weeks ago... I don't even remember when.

Anyway, you'd figure I'd have dreams about that last night. Or my English test on Saturday... Not so. What do I end up dreaming about? Blogging. Yup. I'm officially either addicted, crazy, need a life, or D, All of the above. (Seriously, I think it's D.)

I saw these adorable wallets yesterday (made by db clay), from the Treehugger website. Seriously, I want one. They're made from a material called Tope, which is an eco-friendly replacement for leather and vinyl etc. I meant to post about them yesterday, because they are oh, so adorable, but I didn't get around to it. Just look at them! (Click it, it'll go bigger, or just click that dbclay link to visit their site.)


So... Now you're asking... why did Shelley dream about wallets?

Well. It wasn't just about the wallets, and forgetting to blog them. I dreamed that Natalie had beat me to it. I dreamed that not only did she blog about it, but she got one! And I was so super jealous in my dream! You would not believe how real it seemed. I think my subconscious picked Natalie because she always looks so put together, and that circle necklace is totally fabulous and trendy. I subconsciously figured she needs this wallet I guess. I'd like one... but I am still a bit happy with my Sugar Daddy wallet. ;) Besides, I'd rather pay a dollar for my wallet and get some bonus candy with it anyway... The dbclay wallets start at $48 bucks, and I just can't fathom that. BUT they are environmentally friendly... and for that reason, I guess its a plus.

Anyway... 3 days till Boston! 30 minutes till my Geico phone interview! I'll post an update later. As if anything could keep me away! ;)

10:10am Update: The phone interview went ok. My heart just isn't quite into being an Insurance representative though. I really REALLY want that IT Position. :( I do love Geico as a company though. (HATE the cavemen, but I love the gecko). We shall see. *sigh*

10:44am Update: I just called my recruiter for that Luvata job, and they pretty much said I'm not a good fit for the job, because eventually (ages down the road from now) I'll be wanting to live with my husband again in Canada... a whole whopping hour away. And since this position is an on call position 24x7, I'd maybe (maybe once a month they said) have to come in on the weekend, and do some support. Not that I couldn't come in from Canada... Heck, I'm not even allowed into Canada right now, I don't know why that's such a big deal. :( Man this sucks. I really really wanted that job! Back to the drawing board I guess. :(

4 days till Boston?

Yikes!

Just reading that countdown thingy I added is making me nervous a little. I mean, I know English. That's not the real issue. I feel like I should study SOMETHING... you know? Just anything.

Hubby had done some searching and found a few free English tests I can take online though, and I must say, these are very interesting. I'll link you to a few I've been playing with. For the most part, I've been getting relatively high scores. It might be fun for YOU to take them too. :) Post your scores on the comments if you want. It'll be fun.

Easy English (Somehow this one is my fave).
IELTS Handbook The people who make the test I'm taking have put out a Handbook. I should at least read THAT right?
English Test
Zoni

I have no clue why I get so nervous... I've been speaking this language for 27? years? Maybe more... I don't know when my first words were... But I'll be 29 in November, so I've been around English for all my life.

Maybe I just need more prayers.

I'm thinking I'll be leaving Friday morning, early... I figured I'd have a job by now, and that I could leave at 5 after work, but that's not happening (for some reason), and I figure I can go to my bank which is only in the New England area, and open another Checking account for PayPal. Plus, if both the hubby and I have access to the one account, it'll make sharing funds easier for us both. And I could quit using my WAMU accounts (which really, I don't like so much... mostly because there isn't a branch for 200 miles of here, and their international ATM fees are crap).

Anyway... 4 days till Boston, 3 days till I start driving there. And I'm pretty sure I'll be sleeping in the Jeep. I have a super dark tint, and a car alarm to keep me safe. So that's the least of my worries. :)

Fun Saturday.

This morning, Valerie and I woke up at around 8:30am, got ready, and headed out to Soccer. Shara and Dan were in Canada helping his mom pack. She's moving about an hour and a half closer to them, and 10 minutes away from Dan's brother. Good times.

The weather was like 60 degrees, a light misty rain was falling, and it was SUPER windy, so my hair was all over the place, and of course, I was wearing my pyramid slippas', as all my covered toe shoes are in Hamilton. I was freezing. I even borrowed one of Dan's jackets, and I still froze. I swear, I complain if its colder than 75 and warmer than 88. lol

Anyway, My hair was not loving the fact that I washed it after it was so perfectly cut and styled. It's giving me issues. I'm hoping it'll relax in 2 weeks or so... Not good. see?


I am so not amused in this picture. Hair everywhere. ugh.

Valerie had fun though... She was doing cartwheels while she should have been playing soccer... She's 7 though, so that's fine...



She had a blast though. Even though her team didn't win.



She's a cutie. When she wants to be anyway.

She had a rough few days, tantrums, crying, you name it. When Dan and Shara left, they put me in charge, and boy did I ever take over. I made her earn every little reward there was. Friday after school, I made her clean for 2 hours. We vacuumed the whole house. And she even went to bed without crying. I was very happy about that.

Today we had a great time at soccer, and afterwards, we went to Build a Bear to spend her gift certificate. She earned that too. She ended up getting the Purrincess Kitty, and she named her Pinky. Because, shocker, shock... the cat is pink.

She even went to bed tonight without a hassle. It was quite lovely. I just hope she can keep it up for her parents. She has quite the set of lungs on her and some nights she just cries and cries! It's awful and I have a new respect for Shara and Dan as parents. Wow.

After build a bear, we watched High School Musical. Can I just say, how utterly cute I thought this movie was? Shara had it on her DVR, so I thought we'd watch it. (Does anyone know when high school musical 2 is supposed to be on the Disney Channel next??? lol) It ended 10 min. before 8 (Valerie's bedtime), so we quickly got her in the shower, and in bed. She's such a girly girl. There was this mini spider minding its own business on her wall 10 feet away from her bed, and she called me up to "take care of it". I caught it in a water bottle (seriously, legs and all was smaller than a water bottle opening. lol) THEN she was finally able to sleep. Silly girl.

Anyway... That was my day... I also finished listening to Twilight. (You heard me... I didn't read it. :) I got other stuff done while I had it read to me. It's like I'm a princess, and my mp3 player does my bidding and reads to me... That's what was in my ear at the soccer game pic above.) Fun day indeed, but I'm a little tired now. :) Build a bear is such a fun idea. I doubt I'd go there without a gift certificate though, man those bears are pricy! Anyway, I've gotta get some sleep, lots to do tomorrow. eBay inventory and such. Gotta get rent money again... doesn't look like I'll have a paycheck by october 1st. *sigh* I wish they'd call me back and give me that job already! I can't tell you how much I want it! I guess I'd better keep praying. :)

Makeover!

I feel like I just got a makeover. I cut 10 inches off of my hair, and I'm sending my hair in tomorrow!

Here's the before:



And after cutting a whopping 10 inches off, here's the after!



These pictures are kind of crap, because I took them myself... I'll get Shara to take some more later on, and I promise I'll post more! But seriously, how fun is this hair cut? :D

As for my second interview this morning, it went really well. I really felt a click or sorts with the people. I think I'd be perfect for the job. It really encompasses everything I've already done, bud adds the twist of being on my own, and making it my own. Which is totally exciting for me. I'd get to make my own rules, documentation, everything. I'd also get a cell and a laptop because I'd have to be available 24x7. Lately, they've said they're lucky if they get one call on the weekends PER MONTH. That's really really not that bad. So I'd surely be able to keep the job long after I'm allowed back into Canada. I'm thinking it'd even pay enough to keep it for a long while. The only down side of that, is that a permanent spot isn't available. So its temp/contract to perm, maybe.

I'm so so excited about that position, I would just love LOVE to work there. :)

I hope they hire me! Besides, they'd be lucky to get THIS cute haired gal workin' for them! I just LOVE my new haircut! It is so awesome! :D :D ;D