I'm home with Sage and Hayden today because Sage is still too sick to go to daycare. They went last week, got sick over the weekend, and haven't been back yet! Hayden could've gone today but we decided to save the $12.50 and keep him home with us.
Next week they'll go back, and probably catch something else! hahaha.. sigh.
I had a great birthday. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and stuff, everyone!
Friday, February 29, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Monday, February 18, 2008
February 18th
First of all,
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY DHARA AND ELORA!!!!!
Happy birthday to yous
Happy Birthday Two Ewes!
Happy Birthday Dear Dhara and Dear Elora,
Happy Birthday TO USE!!
Secondly, 9 days till my birthday.
Thirdly, let me tell you about my evening last night.
It was around 4pm and I was going outside to take out Sage's carseat and to clean out the car so that I could pick up our babysitter Kachina and her friend who's visiting from North Bay. Sage's carseat was still rear-facing because in the booklet it said it was safe to be rear-facing until the child was 30 lbs. Sage has been 29.5 for a couple months now, and it's something I've been meaning to do for some time. This was the perfect kick in the pants I required. So I went to take the carseat out so Kachina's friend would have someplace to sit.
When I got outside (haha that makes it sound like it's a major journey, but really, all I had to do was put on my coat and boots and step through the doorway.) I saw a familiar blue minivan pulling up in our driveway. I know what you're all thinking "But Carol and BJ went to Toronto in their blue minivan!" Ah HA! I fooled you! It was Steve and Noah's blue minivan that I recognized.
Is this too wordy? Am I rambling too much? You know what? I don't care! It's my blog and I'll write how I feel like writing. Plus, what are you going to do, stop reading? heh heh heh heh
-- hey what if you stop reading my blog? ack. I'd better get on with it.
Anyway Steve and Noah got out of their car and brought over a little package of toy cars and some wrapped up flowers in a vase as a thank you present for helping them! I was so touched. If we hadn't been home, they would've had to walk home and leave their car behind bars until Tuesday. Which would have sucked! Hayden and Sage were napping when they stopped by, so they couldn't say thank you themselves, but they loved the little emergency vehicle cars after their nap was over. And the flowers are so pretty!
It was raining while this was happening. The temperature was about -1 or 0, and the layer of ice on the car was REALLY fun to scrape off. It was thick but just warm enough to pop off in big sheets.
I picked up the girls and a pizza for them and the boys to eat for supper, and Jake and I went to play poker. I didn't do well in the tournament, I was the 11th person out, but I was glad that I didn't feel so crushed as I had felt last Wednesday when I had the best hand and would've won if the last card (the River) hadn't given my opponent a third queen to beat my pair of kings. Oh my god, I felt so bad after that, I even woke up at 3am that night unable to sleep for the misery of it all. Which in itself was disturbing, the fact that I was so upset. If all this poker wasn't free, I'd think I had a problem. Luckily, it's free, so you all don't have to go calling Gamblers Anonymous for me or anything. Anyway last night I was out early and was waiting around for Jake, who was doing well. Usually the people who leave the tournament early-ish still want to play cards, so a "loser's lounge" table is usually started. Sometimes it's just a "fun" table, and the winner gets nothing more than the statisfaction of some well-played cards and good luck. Most times tho, people buy a seat for $5 and the winner and runner-up get a cash reward. This is not legal, so the money has to pass hands literally under the table. The restaurant is not licenced for gambling, which is why it's not right. But hey. We're there, the cards are there, the chips and table top are there, so why not? Just as long as it's hush hush. The tournament is free, so the gambling law doesn't apply. So a table of 9 players including me set up and WHOA what a ride. The losers can be quite agressive. But it's usually a fun table with drinking and laughter and the odd serious poker moment or two. We start with 5000 worth of chips. About 20 minutes into the game I was down but not by much, to 4200. After the flop (first three community cards) the first to act raised 5000 chips. He had a few thousand more than than that. He did it so that if I called I would be all-in, and therefore OUT if I lost. I had a hard decision to make. I had Queen and 7 of spades. The flop had two small spades and a Queen. Therefore I had top pair AND a spade flush draw, with two more chances to catch one more spade. His huge raise of 5000 made me think that he had either a pair higher than queens or maybe two pairs, but if my flush came through, it would've beaten him. I thought about it for a few minutes. I counted my chips again. I held them in my hand and almost put them in. Then I said to myself "this is only for fun. let's just see!" so I called. Usually when I chase a flush, I don't get it, so I was thinking "Cosmos, you owe me a flush!!!" Another player called himself all in after me as well, and the pot was huge. We all flipped our cards over and checked out what each other needed to beat our own hands. The first guy had King and Queen (a pair of queens as well but with a bigger second card or 'kicker' than me, and the favorite so far). The other guy had a pair of 8s. He was basically not going to win unless he got a third 8. The Turn came (the fourth card) and it was a small red card. No help to the underdogs. People were shouting. Onlookers were rooting for their favorite players. I heard me and someone else chanting "spade! spade! spade!" People were standing! It was all very exciting. The dealer let the moment draw out for added anticipation and excitement, but the old lady next to him (that no one really likes) peeked and shouted "It's a SPADE!" Glory halelujia! Thank you Cosmos!! I won it all! I raked all my chips in and my oh my that is a great feeling.
An hour or so later it was 8pm-ish and we were down to the final three. Chantal, Andy, and me. First paid $30 and second paid $10, and nothing for third. Andy and I had big stacks, and Chantal had only a few thousand left. But she hung in there, my goodness. We played with three players like that for almost two hours! At around 10pm Chantal finally went out. The final table of the tournament was FINISHED and Andy and I were still playing. I had a much smaller stack than him, but I got lucky with a few good hands and we were more or less even after just a few minutes of play. The guy who runs the tournament was packing up the stuff. Andy and I looked at each other and I said "do you want to just split it $20/$20?" he agreed and that was it.
We got home at 10:30 and it was still raining. Kachina asked me if I could drop them off at Tim Horton's on Lasalle. They are 14 years old, and her mother and stepfather are out of town. If they'd been in town, I would have been playing poker with them all night, and I would've called to see if that was cool with them. Luckily when we got to Timmie's, their friends were not there, so I was able to drive them home. I said I was sorry they missed their friends, but I was not. It didn't seem like an appropriate thing to be doing at 14 years old. I'm not going to rat her out to her mom, but I am going to ask her if it ever comes up again, would she be allowed. The really funny thing is that after I got home, Hayden said to me "just get home". You and I know that he's pretty much a parrot, and I think it's funny to think that the girls were saying that, waiting here anxiously, wanting to meet their friends.. heh heh heh.
Well I hope you didn't get bored reading this really long post. Thank you for staying with me! Take care.
HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY DHARA AND ELORA!!!!!
Happy birthday to yous
Happy Birthday Two Ewes!
Happy Birthday Dear Dhara and Dear Elora,
Happy Birthday TO USE!!
Secondly, 9 days till my birthday.
Thirdly, let me tell you about my evening last night.
It was around 4pm and I was going outside to take out Sage's carseat and to clean out the car so that I could pick up our babysitter Kachina and her friend who's visiting from North Bay. Sage's carseat was still rear-facing because in the booklet it said it was safe to be rear-facing until the child was 30 lbs. Sage has been 29.5 for a couple months now, and it's something I've been meaning to do for some time. This was the perfect kick in the pants I required. So I went to take the carseat out so Kachina's friend would have someplace to sit.
When I got outside (haha that makes it sound like it's a major journey, but really, all I had to do was put on my coat and boots and step through the doorway.) I saw a familiar blue minivan pulling up in our driveway. I know what you're all thinking "But Carol and BJ went to Toronto in their blue minivan!" Ah HA! I fooled you! It was Steve and Noah's blue minivan that I recognized.
Is this too wordy? Am I rambling too much? You know what? I don't care! It's my blog and I'll write how I feel like writing. Plus, what are you going to do, stop reading? heh heh heh heh
-- hey what if you stop reading my blog? ack. I'd better get on with it.
Anyway Steve and Noah got out of their car and brought over a little package of toy cars and some wrapped up flowers in a vase as a thank you present for helping them! I was so touched. If we hadn't been home, they would've had to walk home and leave their car behind bars until Tuesday. Which would have sucked! Hayden and Sage were napping when they stopped by, so they couldn't say thank you themselves, but they loved the little emergency vehicle cars after their nap was over. And the flowers are so pretty!
It was raining while this was happening. The temperature was about -1 or 0, and the layer of ice on the car was REALLY fun to scrape off. It was thick but just warm enough to pop off in big sheets.
I picked up the girls and a pizza for them and the boys to eat for supper, and Jake and I went to play poker. I didn't do well in the tournament, I was the 11th person out, but I was glad that I didn't feel so crushed as I had felt last Wednesday when I had the best hand and would've won if the last card (the River) hadn't given my opponent a third queen to beat my pair of kings. Oh my god, I felt so bad after that, I even woke up at 3am that night unable to sleep for the misery of it all. Which in itself was disturbing, the fact that I was so upset. If all this poker wasn't free, I'd think I had a problem. Luckily, it's free, so you all don't have to go calling Gamblers Anonymous for me or anything. Anyway last night I was out early and was waiting around for Jake, who was doing well. Usually the people who leave the tournament early-ish still want to play cards, so a "loser's lounge" table is usually started. Sometimes it's just a "fun" table, and the winner gets nothing more than the statisfaction of some well-played cards and good luck. Most times tho, people buy a seat for $5 and the winner and runner-up get a cash reward. This is not legal, so the money has to pass hands literally under the table. The restaurant is not licenced for gambling, which is why it's not right. But hey. We're there, the cards are there, the chips and table top are there, so why not? Just as long as it's hush hush. The tournament is free, so the gambling law doesn't apply. So a table of 9 players including me set up and WHOA what a ride. The losers can be quite agressive. But it's usually a fun table with drinking and laughter and the odd serious poker moment or two. We start with 5000 worth of chips. About 20 minutes into the game I was down but not by much, to 4200. After the flop (first three community cards) the first to act raised 5000 chips. He had a few thousand more than than that. He did it so that if I called I would be all-in, and therefore OUT if I lost. I had a hard decision to make. I had Queen and 7 of spades. The flop had two small spades and a Queen. Therefore I had top pair AND a spade flush draw, with two more chances to catch one more spade. His huge raise of 5000 made me think that he had either a pair higher than queens or maybe two pairs, but if my flush came through, it would've beaten him. I thought about it for a few minutes. I counted my chips again. I held them in my hand and almost put them in. Then I said to myself "this is only for fun. let's just see!" so I called. Usually when I chase a flush, I don't get it, so I was thinking "Cosmos, you owe me a flush!!!" Another player called himself all in after me as well, and the pot was huge. We all flipped our cards over and checked out what each other needed to beat our own hands. The first guy had King and Queen (a pair of queens as well but with a bigger second card or 'kicker' than me, and the favorite so far). The other guy had a pair of 8s. He was basically not going to win unless he got a third 8. The Turn came (the fourth card) and it was a small red card. No help to the underdogs. People were shouting. Onlookers were rooting for their favorite players. I heard me and someone else chanting "spade! spade! spade!" People were standing! It was all very exciting. The dealer let the moment draw out for added anticipation and excitement, but the old lady next to him (that no one really likes) peeked and shouted "It's a SPADE!" Glory halelujia! Thank you Cosmos!! I won it all! I raked all my chips in and my oh my that is a great feeling.
An hour or so later it was 8pm-ish and we were down to the final three. Chantal, Andy, and me. First paid $30 and second paid $10, and nothing for third. Andy and I had big stacks, and Chantal had only a few thousand left. But she hung in there, my goodness. We played with three players like that for almost two hours! At around 10pm Chantal finally went out. The final table of the tournament was FINISHED and Andy and I were still playing. I had a much smaller stack than him, but I got lucky with a few good hands and we were more or less even after just a few minutes of play. The guy who runs the tournament was packing up the stuff. Andy and I looked at each other and I said "do you want to just split it $20/$20?" he agreed and that was it.
We got home at 10:30 and it was still raining. Kachina asked me if I could drop them off at Tim Horton's on Lasalle. They are 14 years old, and her mother and stepfather are out of town. If they'd been in town, I would have been playing poker with them all night, and I would've called to see if that was cool with them. Luckily when we got to Timmie's, their friends were not there, so I was able to drive them home. I said I was sorry they missed their friends, but I was not. It didn't seem like an appropriate thing to be doing at 14 years old. I'm not going to rat her out to her mom, but I am going to ask her if it ever comes up again, would she be allowed. The really funny thing is that after I got home, Hayden said to me "just get home". You and I know that he's pretty much a parrot, and I think it's funny to think that the girls were saying that, waiting here anxiously, wanting to meet their friends.. heh heh heh.
Well I hope you didn't get bored reading this really long post. Thank you for staying with me! Take care.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Steve and Noah
Today I went to a candle party hosted by a dear friend from work. Marlene and I carpooled from my house. When it was over (there was some awesome stuff but I didn't buy any because I decided to host my own party and get $50 worth of free stuff!) we returned to my place where Marlene's car was parked. We spent a little time outside laughing and kicking the buildup of salty dirty snow off her mud flaps. She calls it car snot, and I suggested that it was more like ear wax. But I digress. She left and I came inside. I had enough time to announce to Jake that I was going to host a candle party and then go pee before she was back. I thought she'd forgotten something or maybe needed to use the phone, but no, she was being a good samaritan. How like her. While we'd been kicking the car's ear wax, a guy left McDowell property and locked the gate behind him. Unfortunately he'd locked a man and his minivan inside. The man had been taking his 4 year old son for a little tour to see the big bulldozers and machines, and had only been on the property for a few minutes when the worker left and locked him in. The minivan man thought Marlene was an employee and had waved her down, wanting, obviously, to be let out. Mar came inside so we could call the landlord and get someone back here to let them free. I called Brian, our landlord, and he was not happy. He asked me why the guy wanted to sightsee a bunch of machines, so I said again that he'd been showing his little boy, and.. well, I'm sad to say I apologized to him. Even though I was just the messenger. I went back outside with Marlene to tell the man that Brian would be about an hour. This wasn't the first time this sort of thing happened while we've been living here. People have been locked out and locked in quite a number of times over the past 2 1/2 years.
I didn't want the man and his little boy to stay out in the cold for an hour while grumpy Brian made his way over here, so I went inside and asked Jake if he was ok with me inviting them in. He was, and I went back and introduced myself properly and asked them to stay inside while they waited. The fence is not a hugely secure one, and there are big gaps in a lot of places. I think it's more for show, and to keep the big machines from being driven away. The guy said his name was Steve and his son was Noah. They live not too far away, on Plumtree which is a street I've walked on my way to the nearby park quite a few times. Plus my friend Kari used to live on that street. Anyway they came in and Hayden and Noah half played and half watched Treehouse together. Steve was nice. He asked us what we did for a living and told us he was a financial planner. It wasn't a whole hour to wait, and before too long Brian showed up and Steve and Noah were free. Steve shook my hand a few times and said how much he appreciated our hospitality. I was glad to be of help.
I didn't want the man and his little boy to stay out in the cold for an hour while grumpy Brian made his way over here, so I went inside and asked Jake if he was ok with me inviting them in. He was, and I went back and introduced myself properly and asked them to stay inside while they waited. The fence is not a hugely secure one, and there are big gaps in a lot of places. I think it's more for show, and to keep the big machines from being driven away. The guy said his name was Steve and his son was Noah. They live not too far away, on Plumtree which is a street I've walked on my way to the nearby park quite a few times. Plus my friend Kari used to live on that street. Anyway they came in and Hayden and Noah half played and half watched Treehouse together. Steve was nice. He asked us what we did for a living and told us he was a financial planner. It wasn't a whole hour to wait, and before too long Brian showed up and Steve and Noah were free. Steve shook my hand a few times and said how much he appreciated our hospitality. I was glad to be of help.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Tuna Fish
Do you ever make yourself a tuna fish sandwich and think "my word, this is the best lunch ever" ? I just had that. I made tuna fish and put chopped up baby dill in the mix, lettuce, toast, mm mmm mm mm mmm. Good.
The only bad part of the experience was that I have a headache. The lettuce was nice and crunchy, the tuna fish was nice and mayonaisey, the pickles salty, the toast was buttery... so good. So satisfying. And almost healthy too!
The only bad part of the experience was that I have a headache. The lettuce was nice and crunchy, the tuna fish was nice and mayonaisey, the pickles salty, the toast was buttery... so good. So satisfying. And almost healthy too!
Friday, February 08, 2008
Friday
It's been a long week. This was my first full week back after only working part time in January. It was stressful. I was literally able to feel my blood pressure rising to uncomfortable levels, especially Wednesday, Thursday, and today, when some comminication problems interdepartmentally caused various degrees of furiousness in myself. But I don't want to think about it any more. I would much rather think about something else.
Like my BIRTHDAY! There are only 19 days left until my birthday, if anyone is counting, and I know you all are.
If anyone is getting me a present (not that I'm expecting any) the following is a list of things I would like:
- a set of poker chips (check - Thank You Daddy!)
- Wii Karaoke American Idol game (pretty sure Jake is getting this for me)
- large non-stick good quality frying pan
- stripey socks (not too polyestery feeling)
- a vehicle from this century (preferably a mini-van)
- a kick in the pants towards getting a massage (which I'm covered for but never schedule for myself)
- money for a new hairdo
- a bed pillow
- new shoes for work (my current pair are pretty ratty)
- friends that love me
- family that loves me
- a trip for four to Virginia Beach, VA
Monday, February 04, 2008
I'm Famous! They found me on Google!
The following are some comments made tonight on my old post "Been a While, eh?"
Hello,
You don't know me. I googled Canadian Blood Services and AVM and your blog came up.Turns out we probably have a bit in common. I am the mother of 2 children 3 and 6 both boys. I live in Calgary and run a business that provides AVM solutions. (sorry about the layoffs this causes, hopefully people move on to more rewarding work and get some free education in the [process])
Canadian Blood Services is a perfect contract for my company.Here is what I am wondering would you mind helping me.I would love to know how the new process working? If they (CBS) are happy with the service provider they have chosen? Would they consider a new vendor?Who is the person in charge of this decision?Basically any information you are comfortable providing.
Thanks much and all the best on your return to work. (always a little tricky)
T. Kelly
Well tkelly, you didn't leave me your email address, so I guess I'll leave my reply here and hope this is where you'll check back for your answer.
I didn't get laid off, in fact, no one did. I'm a supervisor at our contact centre, and as such, was not promised we wouldn't be laid off, however they created a new position so the second supervisor vying for the one spot was able to keep her job too. We are very happy with AVM and I don't think CBS is about to change vendors any time soon. We just started with AVM in November 07.
I have nothing to do with the purchase or decision making process when it comes to this subject, so I'm sorry that I can't help you out. If you seriously want to sell yourself, I would suggest you contact CBS head office.
Take care.
Jennifer
Hello,
You don't know me. I googled Canadian Blood Services and AVM and your blog came up.Turns out we probably have a bit in common. I am the mother of 2 children 3 and 6 both boys. I live in Calgary and run a business that provides AVM solutions. (sorry about the layoffs this causes, hopefully people move on to more rewarding work and get some free education in the [process])
Canadian Blood Services is a perfect contract for my company.Here is what I am wondering would you mind helping me.I would love to know how the new process working? If they (CBS) are happy with the service provider they have chosen? Would they consider a new vendor?Who is the person in charge of this decision?Basically any information you are comfortable providing.
Thanks much and all the best on your return to work. (always a little tricky)
T. Kelly
Well tkelly, you didn't leave me your email address, so I guess I'll leave my reply here and hope this is where you'll check back for your answer.
I didn't get laid off, in fact, no one did. I'm a supervisor at our contact centre, and as such, was not promised we wouldn't be laid off, however they created a new position so the second supervisor vying for the one spot was able to keep her job too. We are very happy with AVM and I don't think CBS is about to change vendors any time soon. We just started with AVM in November 07.
I have nothing to do with the purchase or decision making process when it comes to this subject, so I'm sorry that I can't help you out. If you seriously want to sell yourself, I would suggest you contact CBS head office.
Take care.
Jennifer
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Happy Groundhog Day!
I think he saw his shadow. I didn't get the official word. But it's pretty bright out there. That means there's only 6 more weeks of winter! Yay!
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