Where I've Been

I'm once again at a library computer. For some reason we have no Internet connection at home. I'm very frustrated.

Thank you all for the birthday greetings. My day was spent with my best boys and my best friend and her daughters. Wayne was working nights so this weekend we'll be celebrating as an entire family.

I've got a job interview on Tuesday. I've been "subbing" for my position since Wednesday. All is going well. I'm trusting that God will continue to bless me by allowing me to stay on at the school where I feel my gifts are being utilized.

Since I've been back to work, the house is (once again) in a state of chaos. I hope I can find a routine that works for all of us.

And I hope I can visit with you all again really soon.

The Year of the Even Number

So, at 1:13 p.m. today, I officially turn 36. Yuck. Another even number. I liked 35 better; and I'm already looking forward to 37.

I just have this "thing" about even numbers. Or perhaps my "thing" is about odd numbers. I'm not sure.

In any case . . . I'm thanking God for the 36 years He's blessed me with thus far. All I can hope for is (at least) 36 more.

Almost Hired

Well, I finally received a phone call from our Vice Principal today and she gave me an update as to what's going on with my position at the school.

Due to union issues and protocol, the job is posted until August 29th, 2008. However, school starts on August 27th and therefore the school is permitted to hire a substitute E.A. for all days leading up to the confirmed employment of the E.A. for the posted position. So, I have been asked to "sub" for the position, starting this Wednesday, August 27th, the same day that my boys return to school. Because the long weekend follows the final application date, the interviews for the position(s) (there are two posted positions, actually), will be held sometime next week, likely not until September 3rd; which means that the new position will actually commence on September 4th. What this means for me is that I'm guaranteed in the very least, to be subbing for what was my position, for at least a week. The Vice Principal advised that my chance of continuing on in the position is, "likely".

So at least I can breathe a bit easier now. I know that due to the politics behind this, the V.P. can't give me an affirmative "you're hired" just yet, but from the sounds of it, I think I have my old job back. Plus, I was also informed that there is another student designation, which means a third position might be available as well.

As far as which position I'll be officially hired for, I'm not sure. I would love to stay with my student; however, due to his age, he will no longer be a student after this school year; I really don't want to lose the opportunity to continue to work at the school into the 2009-2010 school year, but for right now I'm just leaving this in God's hands and trust that He'll work out all the details.

All I can say is I'm relieved; and almost giddy over the fact that things seem to be working out for us in this regard.

Now if only Wayne would be hired where he'd prefer to work . . . that would be the icing on the cake!

Can You Say "Bake"?

I started my baking frenzy yesterday.

However, I had to leave the house for about 4 hours, so I didn't get to bake as much as I had originally hoped, but I continued on with the baking obsession today.

In the last two days, this is what I've accomplished:

5 dozen buns
3 dozen cinnamon buns
2 dozen cheese pull-aparts
4 dozen coconut oatmeal cookies
3 dozen chocolate chocolate chip cookies
1 pan of chocolate chip cake
1 pan of fudgy brownies
1 dozen Saskatoon berry muffins
3 dozen bran muffins
2 dozen banana muffins

Everything has now been packaged and put into the freezer for future use.

I think I'll be set for at least a month now.

I Wasn't Expecting This

My foot hurts. A lot. I was not expecting to be in this amount of pain after the removal of my cast. I've resorted to wearing a tensor bandage today, which has helped to minimize the pain.

On Monday the doctor told me that it would still be 2 -3 months before my foot was completely healed. I guess the amount of muscle/tissue damage that I endured along with the break is what is causing my pain. Not to mention I haven't really "used" my foot and lower leg muscles that much in the past six weeks.

I'm hoping that my foot will feel better soon. I've probably been doing too much since my cast came off, but you know, I (sort of) took it easy all summer, so this week I really wanted to make up for lost time. Apparently that's not going to happen.

Yesterday we had a major heat wave here, and it seems to be continuing. It's very windy as well . . . a VERY HOT WIND. Not comfortable at all. I spent this morning baking to fill my freezer for future school and work lunches. Now my house is like an oven as well.

FREEDOM!!!

The boot cast is gone.

YES!

My foot is still healing . . . I had three more x-rays today to ensure that my foot is progressing as expected . . . it is, but my doctor said it will still be two or three months before my foot is completely back to normal. I don't require physio, so long as I do my own "exercises" at home, as well as receiving (i.e. begging for) a regular foot massage from my husband (hee! hee!). I've also been advised against jumping, hopping, or bouncing. That won't be a problem. I'm not Tigger.

It feels strange to not have extra weight on my foot. But let me tell you, my foot is happy for strange. It's ecstatic for strange.

In other "freedom" news . . . my boys are visiting my parents for the rest of the week and will likely be there until Friday. I've got SO MUCH on my to-do list now that my cast is gone, and my boys are gone . . . not to mention Wayne is working the evening shift this week, which means I've got a lot of time to myself . . . I've got an agenda. A BIG AGENDA.

After I had my doctor's appointment this morning, the boys and I shopped for their school supplies. We're trying something new this year. In the spirit of RECYCLING, we've decided to carry-over as many supplies from last year as humanly possible. Yes, in the past, my boys have received new school supplies (with the exception of a ruler and scissors, perhaps) prior to each school year. But not this year. And guess what? I saved quite a bit of money. My total spending on school supplies was just over $40.00 . . . that's a miracle considering the very. long. list. of supplies their teachers supplied. All I can say is I'm thrilled to be frugal.

I must add, however, that school clothing, including their indoor footwear, was purchased last month. But even that totalled only $80-some dollars.

Someone is definitely taking care of us. Big time.

Denied

I found out today via the Government of Canada Employment Insurance website, that I will not be receiving any funds from my insurance claim.

I'm not surprised, but I was hoping for a miracle.

Somehow, we'll make it. But I'd be more at peace with all of this if I knew what was going to happen with my potential position at the school. The crazy thing is, the earliest I'll find out is August 29th . . . that is, whether or not I'll even have a job interview for the job (MY. OLD. JOB.)

So, I'll keep you posted. Maybe by some small chance, I'll get word of the job situation sooner rather than later.

A Cast, A Cake and Clothespins

A Cast:

I was told by the cast-man that I could get my cast off six weeks from the day the break initially happened if all went well. I broke my foot on July 6th. That means tomorrow it will be six weeks since the dreadful event. So, on Monday morning at 10 a.m. I have an appointment to see my family doctor (I originally went to a minor emergency clinic since the break happened on a Sunday), and hopefully I'll be rid of my heavyweight boot. I. Can. Hardly. Wait.


A Cake:

Today I made a Chocolate Carrot Cake. The description of the cake indicated that it contains 1/3 the amount of fat of a regular carrot cake. That, coupled with the fact that chocolate was involved, plus a chocolate cheese icing, forced me into trying out the recipe. Oh. My. Word. It was great. Not a hint of carrot . . . I could fool so many people into eating this "healthy" (ha! ha!) cake and they'd never know the difference. Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Carrot Cake - from the Company's Coming Cookbook Series

4 Large Eggs
1 1/2 C. Granulated Sugar
1/2 C. Cooking Oil
2 tsp. Vanilla

2 C. All-purpose Flour
1/2 C. Cocoa
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Salt (I omitted this, actually)

3 C. Grated Carrots

Beat eggs together in a bowl. Add sugar and beat well. Add cooking oil and vanilla. Beat and blend.

Stir flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to egg mixture. Mix well.

Add carrot. Stir. Turn into a greased 9 x 13 in. pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40 - 45 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool.

Ice with Chocolate Cheese Icing. Cuts into 24 pieces.

Chocolate Cheese Icing

8 oz. Light Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 C. Butter or Margarine, softened
1/2 C. Cocoa
2 tsp. Vanilla
3 C. Icing (Confectioner's) Sugar
1 T. Coffee Granules, crushed
1 T. Boiling Water

Combine first 5 ingredients in bowl. Beat on low to moisten. Beat on medium until light and fluffy.

Stir coffee granules and boiling water together in small cup. Add to icing. Beat in. Makes 2 2/3 cups.


Clothespins:

I have spent the last couple of days doing laundry. Thankfully, it's been super-hot here this weekend and therefore I don't have to resort to using my clothes dryer . . . I use the great outdoors and my clothesline and clothespins to get the job done. Prior to moving to the acreage I did not have the luxury of a clothesline. But let me tell you . . . I look forward to pinning up our clothes in a neat row and letting the sun and wind do all the work. The only problem is that towels in particular end up being a bit "crusty", so to remedy that problem, I still put them in the dryer for about 5 or 10 minutes with a dryer sheet and "air fluff" them, once I've taken them off the line. After that, they are soft and outdoor-fresh.

I feel blessed to live where I do. While this summer has not gone exactly as I had hoped for or planned, I've felt God's complete and awesome goodness and control over all things. I hope you've experienced His blessings too as you reflect on your summer.

I've Already Done Monochromatic

In our first house (which was also our previous house), we decided to go with a monochromatic color scheme for the wall colors. While I liked it for that house, near the end of our living there, I was beginning to feel restless about the color. However, because we were hoping to move soon, when we painted some of the rooms prior to putting the house on the market, we tried to keep the colors as neutral as possible, with the exception of the entrance way, which I painted a daring green (not sure on the name of the color exactly, but it was nice). Plus, I painted my bathroom partially pink in order to accommodate my new lazy daisy theme. However, at the time that I painted the bathroom, I was not keeping a potential new homeowner in mind. I just wanted to have a bathroom like that, and it was well over a year before we were planning to move that I made that brave change. I'm sure by now the new owner has painted over the pink and pulled off all my crazy daisy stick-ups.

Now that we are slowly making changes to our new home--well, it's not so new . . . It was built in 1923 . . . I have developed a desire to paint the rooms in color, as opposed to the entire house having a monochromatic scheme. When we moved in, almost every room in the house had white walls--except for our basement, which was a hideous mustard yellow with navy blue accents. I know look the previous owners were trying to achieve with this color selection, but it did not work for us. I loathed it.

We have been living in our "new" place for about 19 months now, and slowly but surely, the color transformation has begun. I will admit that by now I thought we would have entirely changed the interior of the house, but time and money (or lack thereof) have slowed the process down a bit.

But this is what we've accomplished so far. (And I'm sorry I have no pictures to show you . . . my camera is kind of not working right now, and I'm not sure when it will be operational again.)

Kitchen: was white; now is a shade of yellow called Banana Split. The cupboards were a dusty blue shade, and now 1/3 of them are all white, but I have yet to finish the conversion from blue to white. It's been like this for over a year. Painting the cupboards was a much larger undertaking than I had anticipated, and therefore I avoid completing that project as much as possible. It's horrible, I know. BUT, when the entire kitchen is complete, it will look great. (Yes, I can envision it . . . )

Main entrance way (porch): is beige; I want to change the color of this, but I'm not sure to what. Due to the fact that this is always the dirtiest area of my house (this is where the dogs stay when we leave the house; this is where the boys come in with their muddy clothes and footwear . . . etc. etc.), I'd like to use a darker color to help hide some of the problem, but it's not a huge room, so I'm kind of at a loss as to what color to paint it.

Main floor bathroom: first I must clarify something. This is not an authentic bathroom. There is no door into the area, it's just sort of there; in-between the porch and the kitchen. This was a farm house, which typically have an area off the entrance way for the "farmer" to wash-up before entering the house. That's what this area was meant for. We have plans to convert it into a complete bathroom, with a door and walls for privacy. But that's a huge project that requires a large amount of dollars, so it's kind of on the back burner right now. Anyways, this area is also beige. There is beautiful ceramic tile both on the floor and in the shower area, which is in earth tones. The cupboards are a taupe color and I've put up a cream/chocolate brown shower curtain and use chocolate brown towels. The colors in this area I actually like and I don't think I'll be changing them.

Since the porch sort of leads into the shower/wash-up area, I'm contemplating painting the porch walls chocolate brown. However, I'm still not sure.

Okay, on to the dining room/living room area. This area is big. It leads from the kitchen and is sort of like an olden-days great room. Some friends of ours actually referred to it as "the great room" when they first took a tour of our place, but I hadn't really ever thought of it that way before. Currently, the walls are white. My furniture has a floral pattern, which I really like. So, I'm planning to "take" two shades of pink from the furniture upholstery and use those colors on the walls. The lighter pink will be the primary color, with one wall a darker pink as a feature wall. The feature wall is where I'm having issues with, though. I was originally going to make the feature wall the area where my piano "fits into". But I was analyzing the room yesterday and am thinking that it may be too small of an area to make a feature wall and it will just look stupid. I'm not sure. And before you question my using the color pink . . . don't even go there. Pink happens to be my favorite color, and no house of mine would ever be complete without a pink room.

Office: The office has been newly created!!! Wayne and my dad converted a 10 ft. x 16 ft. sun room (off the kitchen--this was our second entrance way into the house) into a new entrance way and office. The new entrance way has a closet and is near completion. The office is already set up and I love the fact that I can now have better control over monitoring what the boys are doing on the computer. The office door is a door with windows (it looks like a french door, but it's for inside the house), so I can look in and see the computer screen directly. Okay, back to the color. I was originally going to paint this room a dark chocolate brown, but once I tried a little sampling on the wall, I wasn't sold on the color. So, after discussing my husband's preferences (yes . . . the one room in the house where he gets an opinion-ha! ha!), we decided on a teal green/blue color. It's called Blue Tide, and we're really pleased with it. It's a very deep, rich color that works well with all the sunlight this room receives.

Laundry room: currently white, with one wall of sponge painting (again, which I loathe). I'm contemplating making this my lazy daisy room . . . which means pink with my lazy daisy decals. However, I'm still undecided about this.

Second entrance way: Because this entrance way leads into my living room/dining room area, I think I'll be using one of the colors from the living room, but I'm not sure which one yet. It's a pretty small area, so it will probably be the lighter of the two pink shades.

Basement: was mustard yellow with navy accents. Now is a lighter shade of blue called Blue Denim with a feature wall painted midnight blue and all accents in the room are the same darker blue. It looks really sharp, and once the maple laminate floor is in, it's going to look even better (once again . . . a delay on this due to finances).

Stairwell and upstairs hallway: cream color. I don't think I'll be changing this anytime soon, because painting the stairwell will be a nightmare. I'll live with it like it is. At least it's not white.

Bathroom: currently is white. The countertop is purple. The tub, sink and toilet are white. Due to the purple countertop, my hopes of transferring my lazy daisy bathroom from the other house to this one, cannot happen. It would look horrible to have pink walls with the purple countertop. So, I think I'll be painting the walls a lighter shade of purple to complement the countertops, but not to overpower the room with purple.

Our bedroom: currently is white. Our bedding is various shades of sea green, blue, silver and gold. I'll be painting the walls a shade of green from the bedding. It's quite a light and airy color, which will really complement the bedding.

Mitchell's bedroom: currently is blue with white. He has Star Wars bedding, so I'll be taking colors from that bedding to chose the wall colors. Yes, I said colors. I think we'll be having more than one color for his room.

Ty's bedroom: currently is taupe. The color actually complements his bedding (tiger jungle) quite nicely, but he really would like to brighten it up and make it more fun. I think that it would be better too. I'm planning to take one or two colors from his bedding as well to use as paint colors.

So, there you have it. My plans for color in my home. I'm not sure if changing color from room to room is a good idea, but honestly, I cannot live in neutrals anymore. The rooms that we have made changes in, I love. And since we have no immediate plans to move from here, I think we should make the place our own, instead of thinking about what a potential buyer might want or like.

Thank-you for making it through this long post. I wish I had pictures to go along with it . . . then it might make more sense.

Question for you: Do you live in color, or do you prefer monochromatic? Just wondering.

Family Picture June 29, 2008

Re-Living the Horror

Maybe my title is a bit dramatic. But what I went through this morning was anything but comfortable.

Service Canada called me to discuss my job previous-to-my-last job, which was working in an accounting office. As you may recall, I resigned from my position for reasons of feeling like I was in an emotionally downward spiral and quit before my job took any more from me than it already had. I won't go into all of the details, but let's just say that I don't think I was a good fit for the position and as a result, my self-esteem took a turn for the worse, causing the rest of my life to appear to be falling apart around me.

In order for me to receive unemployment insurance funds, I require the hours worked at this particular job. However, due to the fact that I quit, my reasons and motivation for quitting are now under a microscope. I was interviewed via the phone today and had to tell them my side of the story as to what my work environment was like. Following this phone call, the government employee will be contacting my former employer to hear their side of the story. But in all honesty, most of what I gave as specific examples of when I believe I was treated unfairly will likely not be recalled by my previous employer. I do not wish harm upon my previous employer, and I certainly do not want to get them in trouble with the government; but when I filled out my application form for insurance, I had to state a reason (from the categories they provided me with to choose from), and it basically came down to my leaving due to stress at work.

Looking back on this now, and from what the government agent told me on the phone this morning, I should have sought a doctor's approval/advisement to quit this job if I had any hope of claiming these hours. My only hope is that my previous employer indicates to the government that I was not skilled or trained in the areas they required me to be. This is true, but I'm not counting on my claim being approved.

I have found this whole process very frustrating. It has been a slow, grueling process, and today was the worst day of my summer. As I shared my experience on the phone with the agent, I was near sobbing because all of the memories of my job came back to haunt me. I have tried to put those thoughts out of my mind for the remainder of my day up until now, but it's hard to completely erase the pain.

I realize I did not elude to (on my blog) my negative work experience that much while I was working there; however, at the time I was just trying to stay positive and focused. But by the end of February my wall of defense came crashing down and that's when I quit.

Now I must wait (again) on pins and needles as this agent determines my fate. From what she told me earlier today, I shouldn't expect this to be approved. But, by some miracle, I believe it still might be. I have a faint, very faint, glimmer of hope that this is all going to resolve itself.

But, only time will tell.