Monday, September 10, 2007

Week in Review: September Sabotage

I struggled to post all last week. But I'm going to make an attempt to let you know what's been going on around here all in one post. How's that for efficiency???

Last Sunday, September 2nd, we spent the morning in church and the afternoon and evening having a great time at my sister's house playing Canasta--guys against the girls. And well, the girls won. BIG TIME. It was great!

On Labour-Day Monday, Thomas visited. His 17th birthday was on the 2nd, so we celebrated with him when he came to visit. The boys had a great time eating and playing together. Their play involved Woods & Water (a board game) and some pretty strenuous football.

Three Brothers: Ty, Thomas & Mitchell

Tuesday was back to the routine of school. Mitchell and Ty are adjusting amazingly well to their new grades. I'm so proud of both of them. They're excited each day as they prepare for school, and they have so much to tell me when they get off the bus each day. I love hearing all about their day.

I spent the majority of Tuesday in the city, meeting with other women who are the primary caregivers for kids with RAD. It's a support group that I attend whenever I can, even though my RAD kid doesn't live with me. I go there to support them. They've been such a huge help to me . . . now it's time to return the favor.

On Wednesday my parents came to visit and help out around the yard. We've been slowly cleaning out the garden so that it can be tilled before the snow flies. So far we've cleaned out the corn, lettuce and peas. Next will be the cucumbers and tomatoes. Last week I made my last batch of relish. And hopefully by the end of this week, most of my salsa processing will be completed too. Did you know I've got tomatoes coming out of my ying-yang? I do. And they keep growing. And growing. And growing. And I keep giving them away. Do you want some?

In a couple of weeks we'll be digging up our onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots for fall/winter storage. I'm praying that the snow will stay away before we get a chance to do this all. We've got pumpkins and watermelon as well, but I'm waiting until the last possible moment to pick those items. The longer they're on the vine, the better.
As you all know, Ty's minor surgery took place on Thursday. We left for the hospital at 5:45 a.m. Bright and early. I was so tired from that earlier-than-normal wake-up. It took me a few days to return to normal after that whole ordeal.

Wayne's been very sick with a bad head cold/sore throat and because of that, his week at work was anything but great. He actually, for the first time at this job, made a major blunder in his assigned task, and received a friendly reminder (i.e. letter) from the owner advising him that his mistake could have had catastrophic results. Thankfully, he only received the friendly reminder and not an official "notice of negligence". That's not something he wants in his employment file. In any case, he missed work on Friday and spent much of the weekend relaxing, trying to get completely better.

On another Wayne-work-related note, his boss has finally come to the realization that it might be a good idea to offer more overtime. It's taken him over a year to finally succumb to the requests of his employees and he is now offering a 4-day workweek, with four, ten-hour days, Monday to Thursday, followed by an overtime day on Friday for 8 hours. We are very excited about this. While it means Wayne's shifts will now be slightly altered, his pay cheque will be significantly higher and he won't have to sacrifice his Saturdays in order to get overtime.

Regarding the workforce, I've been diligently seeking a part-time office position. I attended a potential place of employment on Friday morning. What initially started out as a 5-minute interview resulted in me being short-listed further and I was required to attend yet another interview an hour after my first one. Long story short: The next "interview" was actually a training session for 8 potential employees, grooming us to be insurance agents. This went on for 1 1/2 hours. Next on the agenda was yet another interview. That's when I put an end to the nonsense and informed them (for the fourth time) that I was interested in ADMINISTRATIVE WORK; THAT I HAD NO DESIRE TO TRAVEL FOR 7-10 DAYS EACH MONTH IN ORDER TO OBTAIN CLIENTS; THAT I WANTED FLEXIBILITY IN SCHEDULING; THAT I WANTED THE OPTION OF PART-TIME HOURS; THAT I WOULD BE GETTING PAID A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN THEY WERE OFFERING, CONSIDERING THEY WANTED AN OFFICE MANAGER, NOT JUST AN ADMIN. ASSISTANT. Yes, I left that establishment quite disturbed. To me, it was a waste of a day. The reason it was a waste is because before I even allowed the initial telephone interview on Wednesday morning to take place (yes, as I was trying to get my boys ready and off to school), I informed the gentleman on the other end of the phone of my criteria (listed above in capital letters). He said my criteria could be met. But if "they" knew all along that those criteria wouldn't be met, then why on earth did they call me in for another interview? It baffles me. I'll tell you, the next time I get a call to come in for an interview, I'm going to do a bit of my own interviewing before I hang up the phone--I don't want to waste a potential employer's time or mine, for that matter.

But, I got some interview experience, which I need. It's been a while since I've gone through such a rigorous interview process. Hopefully next time it will be worth my while.

Okay, so I think I'm rambling. But I just wanted to let you know where I've been and what I've been doing. I've got many distractions around here right now, and I'm okay with that. But I do miss my blogging friends a lot. And I miss writing. Did you know that I think about what to blog about all day long? If I get a good idea, I jot down some basic thoughts and save it for a rainy day. Yes, I think I'm almost obsessive over this blog; which is probably why I miss posting so much.

Want to see another distraction of mine?

My favorite distraction

This is my piano. I'm no concert pianist, but I do like to tickle the ivories. Every day. It's therapeutic for me. And I don't care how bad I sound or how bad I sing, this is my way to worship God each day. I've got a couple of worship books and I just page through, pick songs I know I can play (or blunder my way through) and sing to my own accompaniment. I adore my piano.

So, my distractions of last week include the above, plus, the following (sorry if I repeat myself--it was just one of those weeks): catching up on about 20 missed shows of Canadian Idol. I'm now totally caught up and I can watch the finale this week in real time; laundry; cleaning; a bridal shower for a very good friend of mine; searching job banks for potential jobs; preparing resumes and cover letters; baking cookies; baking buns; cooking decent meals; laundry; cooking; cleaning; cleaning out the garage so that I have a place to park my car for the winter; talking on the phone; caring for a sick husband; playing with my boys; looking for work; preparing snacks for my boys; grocery shopping; pets; cleaning; laundry; vegetables; vegetables; vegetables. And, more snacks.

Yep. That about sums up my week.

4 comments:

Stacey said...

oh my, i am so with ya! take a deep breath and a big bite of something chocolate :)

Chris said...

wowsers... if you've done all that this week, you'd better shuck the shoes at the end and put yer feet up!! Way to go, Mom! (if it helps at all, I, too, was duped into a less-than-stellar "job" in s'toon once apon a time) It sucks. Sorry it was such a lousy time-waster and frustration-creator. You will find what you need, you are terrific at what you do!!

Kristy said...

Your quite the busy girl here Kimmy!
You crack me up with all the veggie stuff you have going on.....
Missed ya friend!

Susannah said...

Lots of wonderful distractions, especially your piano. And it's so nice to see a photo of Thomas! Curly hair... :~)