Sigh of Satisfaction is in Order

Work today was work. The satisfaction came from doing something for someone else and being with great people. A young couple in our church with a 1 year old just bought their first house next to the Pastor's house. Being an older home it needed quite a bit of work and for the last few weeks they have been gutting it and refinishing in order to move in....eventually.

They happened to be going out of town this week so a group from our church got together and spent the evening painting for them. There were so many people that there wasn't really enough painting to go around so another woman and I explored the backyard and found a very disheveled, but once beautiful, garden. The next few hours we gradually increased our team and weeded, chopped, dug and replanted. They will have a few newly pruned gardens to look forward to. The company was wonderful too, can't find a nicer bunch of people.

Although I am a sucker. Jelena likes to bug me and call me mom because I sometimes nurture and I like to insist that she is incorrect. Well, she may be right. Tonight I was inside with the Pastor's son (he's only 3) and i'm washing my hands and he says "oops, i'm peeing on the floor". Well there isn't anything we could do about it so into the bathtub he goes. Being a 'mom' like person in spurts is fun.

I have been.....

PASSPORT'D!!!!!!!

As of 10:58 am I have been granted the permission of the Canadian government and her majesty the Queen to travel abroad with the protection of the Canadian government (hmmm, do I really feel safe?).

This seems very appropriate for my 200th post. A life goal achieved. An end to anxiety over a useless $400 ticket to the Isle of Bermuda. A terrible picture of myself enshrined in forgery protected laminate for 5 years.

wheelin' and dealin'

Apologies for the cheesy title but its true! Saturday was garage sale day as usual but a little twist was that I taked my bike and did it all that way. Since I am mostly in the market for books and jewelry my packsack was sufficient carrying capacity and proved a good deterrent when people tried to force large items on me; "oh haha, that would be cool but I may have a hard time getting it home *gestures towards bicylcle*". It was such a good workout, and it put me in a good mood for sures.

The finds:
The Secret Garden: 50 cents (purchased slightly out of pity and awkwardness but the movie was good)
Prozac Nation: 50 cents
A Million Little Pieces: 25 cents (I am aware of the untrueness controversy around this book and was not that inclined to read it but I couldn't pass up owning it for such a bargain!)
Lemony Snicket book 6: 25 cents (again, don't intend to read it but a beautiful hardcover for this price had to be snatched; i'll find a child who reads them)
Grimms' Fairy Tales: 25 cents (its a classic)
The BFG: 35 cents (it ws by donation so I felt cheap giving 25 cents haha)

The whole day was wonderful. I stopped by the pastor's house at the end of saling because they were having one so I thought I'd say hola and ended up there all day. Eating cake, playing with their 3-year-old son, going to the fair, out for ice cream, across the river; a very full day! After spending all that time outside (over 12 hours) who is pretty much exactly the same colour of white as she was before? not even a sun burn to show for it and i had no sunscreen on.

ate waterchestnuts wrapped in bacon, now i'm lying awake

An honest-to-goodness, west-coast-grown, bandanna-wearing HIPPIE! My new role model. This shouldn't be something novel having spent 4 wonderful years in Guelph however there are two key differences: 1) she's in the soo (an uncommon breed) and 2) she is over 30, has kids and is still hardcore

The hippies at Guelph have have yet to pass a true credibility test having only lived solo-hippie without the responsibility of other people. It is easy to shun cars and microwave pizza pockets when there is only you to transport and you don't have a 15 year old son begging for processed fat for lunch. Give them 10 years and half of them will cave. But this lady, she has 4 kids (ranging from 1 year to 15 years) and faithfully grows (nurtures actually, which makes it difficult for her to eat them) her own sprouts, buys organic and local (not so easy 'round these parts I might add), hikes....ok i know she does more hippie things but I'm tired and I forget.

Before running off to the ladies night and having the hippie talk I came across some neat-o websites for hippies and travellers (often one in the same). I was researching travel after realizing that "hey, if I really am going to spend 3 months in south america I'm actually going to have to invest in more than a new tube of toothpaste and an umbrella".

There is a coolio site for solo lady travellers.
Another for treehugging that has eco-friendly tips for every part of life, including travel.

someone is now getting overexcited to ready herself for a trip. This gives her many more things to watch for at garage sales!!!

i want the real deal

lately I think I have been trying to fool myself. I want things like a boyfriend, eventually a husband and a family. I want that man to be godly, generous and submitted to God. All the things that right now, I am not. In fact, I don't really feel like trying to be like that; god has disappointed me and i don't want to put in the work to build that relationship. So I dress well, put on make-up (just in case), help with Sunday school, stand during worship, talk about God in group settings (as long as it doesn't get too personal). The sermon today was about healthy families. The pastor was talking about how we have to prepare for having a healthy family before we even meet someone and when we are healthy spiritually and emotionally God will bring someone alongside us that is as well. Maybe I'm trying to fool God then. It's like serving plastic chicken. i could dress it up, even simulate that great BBQ chicken smell, set the table all nice, follow the recipe but when it comes down to it the chicken is plastic and eventually there will be no covering it up; you'll always get to the part where someone tries to take a bite.

Thats me, the fake chicken. Maybe i could find myself a godly man but it won't take long until he realizes that the christianity is only superficial, that I can talk about God but cringe when asked to talk to him, that I can hear the Bible read to me and take in sermons but squirm when sitting down to read my own. Two lovely ladies at church said they have someone in mind for me (oh don't even get me started on ste-ups, oy) and to let them know when I'm ready. That was more true than they know and it could be a long time.

sad but true

I am blogging at work. There is no one here...really who wants to look for a job on the Saturday of the long weekend? maybe it will pick up of the afternoon. At least I am now over half way through "the Bluest Eye" by toni Morrison which I grabbed at the library the other night. I went to drop off some finished books and came back with 6 new ones: one fiction, 5 non. If I can ever get through the two I'm still reading from the last trip I will get to read about the history of salt, Einstein's brain, how our food today may cause mental illness and a few other things.

I have work down. Home down; although I don't really hang out with my family like I did last summer. I ever exercise fairly regularly (going to the gym tonight), go to church and sometimes bother to call people. The goal now is to build up a more routinized life outside of work. Tonight at the gym I will check out the classes they offer; maybe they will motivate me to workout harder. I want to volunteer. A few people have given me spanish contacts. The woman I spoke with yesterday (a guy at the other office just dials her number and hands me the phone: here, be friends) said my accent is good, so i my grammar but what I really need to do is spend time listening to the radio or something to improve my comprehension. Its true, I have a very hard time listening to native speakers and deciphering their words.

Just four more hours of work to go.

Successful day!

Second day of garage sale season and there were deals to be had!

laura and I went out at 8 but I'm a bit less militant this year so there was no predetermined route and we even stopped to grab tea and breakfast.
Katie's total: $3.20
Purplish/pink beaded neclace, the Life of Pi (book) and angela's Ashes (book): $1
The Secret Life of Bees (book): $1
Reading Lolita in Tehran (book): $1

Laura's total: $11
*Laura is married (almost two years now!) and they purchased a house a few months ago
6 wooden, folding chairs (to be painted black and used outside): $10
*it was perfect, she said the one thing she was really hoping for was 6 matching outdoor chairs which I informed her was unlikely but we would keep looking
Stack o'national geographics (for art projects): $1

Overal, a good day. Its always more fun when everyone that goes finds something.

relevant dragon-slaying skills

My new job is fun. And boring. I am learning quite a bit about office politics but that is about as far as I will take that comment. It is pretty relaxed and for now i can pick and choose most of my own projects. Yesterday myself and lady at work decided that the one resume template on a disk that had been passed around for clients to use was not great and, well, there was just one; I made two more and learned about different styles of resume like the functional (not really a fan to be honest but I can see it has its benefits)

there have been some rewarding experiences: students walking in and having no idea where to start with a resume and me sitting down with them, us brainstorming (any awards? certificates? anything?) and coming out with something that they are proud of. So if there is one thing I see quite a bit of it is resumes. Before I go on I would like to make a disclaimer: I am not the bestest resume writer, I still have uber amounts to learn about the art; but I know a good one when I see one and I can create a reasonable one.

Things I have seen and would not recommend that you copy (yes, most of these were produced by high school grads, some uni grads so I'm not picking on the grade 9's)

1. A photo of yourself at the top (uh, it makes me not even want to read the resume, especially if it's a casual, poorly cropped photo to begin with. It isn't a modeling position so its a bit arrogant to be counting on your good looks)
2. Bullets that do not match up: now I'm not talking one section slightly off line from another (although avoid this too) but masses of bullet points sloping down the page creating a summit of qualifications)
3. One big paragraph with no attempt to separate...well...anything!
4. If you are hoping to be a cashier you don't need to tell me that you enjoy "hanging out with friends" as a hobby or interest (not really useful unless you are applying to, um, work for a beer party team? Although then I think they'll notice your cup-size before reading your nifty chronological work history)
5. tacky dollarama cloud print paper (after having the experience of reading through them I can tell you that no, coloured paper does not help your case. Actually it's annoying. Maybe (maybe) slightly off-white, maybe a bit thicker or better quality (not white cardboard thick, mind you). Mostly its the styling and consistency on the page, the overall layout that will make me want to find out more.

there you have it, hopefully you were already past these little faux pas but if not, run right now and fix them and then pretend like you never had those problems and snicker at those poor saps who included their references right on the resume or included three pages of experience for a floor-cleaning job (uh it happens, don't get me started)

Tomorrow is garage-saling, it doesn't look especially promising but you just never know.

Character Flaw

there is an inherent selfishness inside myself that i battle against every day. Call is the fall, call it instinct (although I probably wouldn't) but its there. The thing that I am often very selfish with is my time. After being at work all day there is nothing I want to do except be by myself to do whatever it is I feel like doing. That is what I call free time. But i need a different view of free time. It should be any time that I fill doing things that make life worth living, including building relationships and giving my time to others.

This relates to some behaviour that I am not entirely proud of. I have a sister. She is almost 20. She doesn't drive. Every time I have to give her a ride somewhere I only do so with various groans and annoyed reminders that she really should learn how to drive (or other lovely peices of advice that she has obviously appreciated and taken to heart). It i'm going to drive her it doesn't help either of us for me to act like a spoiled child and I hereby commit to trying to drive her around graciously from now on.

Also, I stopped by my grandmother's house on the way home because she needed help with something. I like visiting her and helping but still, I was on a rush out so I could have my "free time". To do what with? Blog? Watch TV? Read? Woop-de-poo. I need to start not just spending more time doing the things and with the people that are important to me but to be there/with them and enjoying myself.

Firsts

After work today i settled in for an episode of 90210 where they dealt with the very relevant topic of stereotypes and racial minorities. Good ol' walsh family is always ahead of the times in terms of political correctness. Luckily the Hispanic girl had to return to East LA so they didn't have to write her into the show longterm as Brandon's new love interest, wouldn't want to stray from the entirely beige cast for more than a token lesson.

There isn't much to report on the first day at my new job (although I kept adding up in my head how much I had made each hour). Every two weeks i get three day weekend (although the other weekends I get a one day weekend, ah well its a good trade-off). It makes visiting friends down south a little more realistic when spending 13 hours on the bus bus. Today mostly consisted of getting used to basic office stuff, signing people up for our job program, making calls, entering data. Probably the best thing was biking to work, home for lunch and back and then home again. If i keep that up plus the free YMCA membership I get for working where I work (i know, when do the perks end?) I may get in shape for Bermy!

Junk in my trunk

First garage-saling trip of the season: done and done.
Expenses: $4.00
returned with: car with less gas, four necklaces and a set of dominoes.
I actually do not know how to play dominoes (other than knocking them down) but my bro can teach me so good investment in learning say I. The necklaces are one pearl (fake but real looking and beige), a navy one with small glass beads, a green one with three strands and funkiness and a cheapy bead one in fun pink. Mostly I never pay more than $1 for a necklace but I grabbed two out of the 50 cent bin at this old people housing place and when I went to pay the woman claimed that one should have been in with the $2 jewels but I liked it and she was old and I didn't want to look like a jerk so I took it. I just can't argue with old people!

Anoche (last night) salio por el club (I went out to 'the club' or so it would be called here). It was actually the first time I have ever been into a bar while it was open in the Sault. I know, what a party animal! I had one drink before leaving the Moore's place. It was the Moore sisters' birthdays (not twins but one day apart) so I met them there and we all headed to Docks. I'll give them credit: if Docks was in Guelph it wouldn't tank. It was ok and I didn't really run into anyone awkward from high school. Check!

I am job

Monday morning I have to wake up early. That's ok, because I have a JOB!!!! Woot! The call came at 9:05 this morning and I reached for it: EMPLYMNT CONNCTS. First call of the day, they MUST love me. I will be working in an employment office helping high school students (and some adults i'm sure) apply for jobs, write resumes and cover letters, a little data entry here and there. The great part: they are totally cool with me skipping out for a week for Ash and Ryan's wedding in the big Bermy. Could life get much better?

Also: we have to work every second Saturday (it has to be open times when High school students can come in) but its never earlier than 10am meaning....drum roll....I can still garage sale every weekend! Prepare to be amazed.

Still waiting on my passport

Today I biked to the store instead of taking the easier route of snagging my mom's van. The sad thing is that I wouldn't have thought twice about driving even though I don't exactly have a day filled with excitement and its only about a 10 min ride. The sadder thing is that the hill on the way back ate me for lunch and then puked me up and ate me for a snack. Yes, it was a very steep hill but still, I'm not old, I'm not even middle aged. Don't read this sentence if you're a conservative male (or just boys, stop reading) but: it felt like my uterus was doused in gasoline and lit on fire. How is that for a simile? Maybe it was my lower abs but I would like to think I know the difference. Is this normal when one is out of shape and does very physically demanding exercise? Ok, I promise not to make too many more remarks like that.

In less squeamish news I have a few interviews coming up. Sigh, I just want money so I can travel. Discovering my life passion would be sweet too but one step at a time.

Shout Out

Being back home I have spent most of my time reading, job searching (hours at Job Connect: they have free printing, hey hey) and getting back in touch with friends. Its nice to have people that feel like you never left.

Last night I biked over to Laura and Jay's house and just a-chilled there. Their small pad is decorated by L's own art work (digital prints and paintings) most of them she did for her 4th year thesis to finish her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts. Her work is fantastic and I am still planning how to quietly remove some of the prints while she isn't looking.

For Example:
More of her stuff can be found online here.
Don't even say you don't like it, because you do.