Christmas Party - appetizers & open house

This has become somewhat of a tradition...

Christmas Cookie Bake!

Val & Allison joined me this year for soem Christmas baking! Yum!

playing at auntie & unlce

This is Sofia, she's almost a year old and almost walking. She discovered that Michael's lunch box worked quite well as a walker...too cute!

Hanging out with Uncle Michael (who is playing pacman on PS1).

the OTHER job, that I still haven't told you about...

Well, thanks all for being patient. I'm now in my fifth week at the other job, and you still don't even know what it is! This is also my first week of full time work. The first four weeks were three days a week. This week I also started taking the bus. So far I've been extremely fortunate, because the weather has been really amazing. Although the bus I'm supposed to catch is either usually very late, or seems to skip a round. On Monday it was a balmy 18 degrees C! I've barely been needing a jacket to get to work, never mind mitts, scarf & hat.

Are you getting impatient yet? I'll start with my title, since it's ridiculously long, and everyone at work has fun teasing me about it. Adminstrative Assistant to the Executive Team. Doesn't that sound important? I suppose it is too, it just doesn't seem that important because it involves being organized and for me that is just so natural.

This is my tag, pretty official, eh?

Where is this job with the long title? At Siloam Mission, that's where I work. In a lot of ways, I feel like I found a job that gives me the best of both worlds. A place that relates to my degree, allows for awesome opportunities to network and makes use of my administrative skills. Pretty cool, eh? I report to the COO, but am available for anything the SAO & CEO need me for as well. The COO and I work together well which is really great.

I'm also learning a few other roles within the organization as a back up person for reception, medical reception and donation processing. This keeps me engaged, because my head is so full of new things.

October proved to be a really crazy month as I juggled three jobs, this one, the Stradbrook one and finishing up at TMR (where I've been doing the books since March).

So, there you have it, you finally know what I'm doing! Here's a picture of me at the end of the first day.

pumpkin carving

This year we managed to find some time for pumpkin carving...with Dan & Jenn, Chris & Allison. We had a good time. Any guesses as to who carved what?

Michael did the mountain scenery on the far right, and I think Jenn did the middle one, Chris & Allsion did the left one.

happenings in October...

So, I mentioned that October was crazy, and it really was. Michael is too embarrassed by this to let me post a clear picture of this, but I couldn't resist putting up in some way or another....

I suppose in fairness to Michael I won't say much more about it, but if you'd like to venuter a guess, feel free to.

Another project for this month was dealing with our garage floor. Our first winter we noticed that it was sinking, because we painted it the night we got possession, and there was a now a gap between the wall and the floor where the paint used to meet up. We let it go another winter, which was probably good, because it sank some more. A total of 4.5 inches I think it was. Anyway, we had it jacked up this fall. Here's the pictures:

Last, but not least. We grew lot and lots of hot peppers this year. So, we harvested them as the frost threatened, and decided to dry them. We tied them altogether on one long string and then had to come up with a good place to hang them. Michael thought this would look good:

Thanksgiving at the Cottage...

Well, it seems to have become a tradition.  How many times does something have to happen to be considered tradition?  Michael and I spent our first Thanksgiving when we were dating at the cottage with Henry & Shirley, his sister Angela and my Mom.  That's where Michael said the "m" word to me (marriage).  It's also where we went out in the row boat and he broke an oar in his efforts to get back to shore asap when the rain started pouring down!  Since then, we've spent every Thanksgiving that we've been in Manitoba there as well, I think that makes it a total of 4 times.  

Dan & Jenn joined us this time.  Mostly the weekend consisted of good food and lots of relaxing.  The weather wasn't too great, so we spent most of our time indoors by the fire.  Reading, doing homework or knitting, depending on who it was.  Dan & Michael did go out for a hike and got soaked, but had fun apparently.  

Unfortunately, I really don't have many pictures, probably because nothing eventful happened, and the few that I have aren't that great, but just so you have something to look at I'll include them.  We had turkey dinner, but in a very untraditional format.  It was BBQ turkey roll ups.  Turkey pieces that were pounded thin, and rolled up with stuffing inside them.  Yummy!

first day of school & first day of work

Ok, so this may seem totally dorky, but for us it's kind of a big deal.  Michael is taking a class and I'm finally going to be working.  I thought it'd be fun to take a picture of Michael's first day of class and my first day of work, kind of like back in the day when our parents took pictures of us on our first day...only it never happened.  

But I did want you to know about the role reversal, so I'm posting this anyway, sans pictures.  

Michael is taking a course to learn how to use Access software, and I officially have a job(s), which you will hear about in future posts.  

first day of first job

Ok, so I know I said I would make you all wait until Oct. 6 to hear about the job (because that is my first day of work).  But, I actually have two jobs, and I had my first day at the other one today (training) and I'm way too excited not to tell you about it.  

In the summer, I went to a weekend at a friend's cottage, which was basically a reunion of my old university friends that I met through Campus Crusade.  Sandra was one of the people there and Sandra has a Human Ecology Degree just like I do.  So we talked a little bit, and she told me where she works and that I should apply there.  So about 4 weeks later I finally did just that.  It took until last week to get an interview (both parties were to blame) and then by the end of the week I was apparently hired.  This whole process was far less formal than the other job, so it didn't really register that it was really happening until I had to tell them when I could come in for training.  

So, I now am working part time for Stradbrook Residential Services. This organization provides life skills training to adults with mild mental disabilities who are living on their own, but still need assistance with everyday stuff from banking to cooking and so on.   My first day basically consisted of job shadowing my friend.  She met with her client, H to bake chocolate chip cookies, then we went out for lunch and did some shopping at the Forks.  That was three hours of my day, the rest of the afternoon was spent learning my way around the office and learning about all the reports that I need to do after meeting with each client (they are not that complicated).  So, as you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about this job, because it's going to be a lot of fun!  

While we were shopping I also came across this, and while Michael and I are both pretty strict about not doing impulse buys, this was a time when I chose to ignore that particular rule.  

Isn't it cool?  I've wanted something like this for a while, since I can't convince Michael to spend money on an advent calendar with good chocolate in it, and neither one of us can stand the cheap one at Walmart that sells for 97 cents.  This one allows me to put in whatever I want (one chocolate for each of us?).  I wanted this bad enough that I looked into making one (in all my spare time), but never got around to it and for the $20 I paid for this one, I decided that making one was not worth the stress and effort.  Not to mention the fact that it fits in with the rest of our Christmas decorations so well (our house gets overrun with snowmen at Christmas).  So, not only did I enjoy my first day at the first job, I scored a really great advent calendar!

does a caramel apple work in place of chocolate?

So, last Saturday Michael came home with two caramel apples and a hunk of fudge (remember this post?).  While it didn't erase what had happened instantly, I took great comfort in eating the fudge (it's a really really good thing Michael doesn't have to bring home chocolate often!).  I was completely touched by the fact that Michael remembered that I've been wanting a caramel apple almost all summer and bought me one (and one for himself).  The only thing was that I wanted to savour it, not eat it when I was in a bad mood or a hurry.  He had a hard time understanding this (I am that weird?), but last night we finally ate them!  I forgot how much I liked caramel apples, it was delicious and so much fun to have totally sticky fingers and face and stuff stuck in my teeth! 

no school!

Well, this fall I did not get ready to go back to class.  It hardly even dawned on me, but Michael is sure celebrating!  I'm still not convinced that working is going to be better than being a student.  I guess we'll see how it all pans out.  For the time being, I'm enjoying being at home a lot, and catching up with friends.  I'm also job hunting, which is not fun at all.  Michael is thrilled to have a wife that isn't preoccupied with essays and such, althought slightly disappointed at her inability to accomplish everything at once since she's at home all day long.  Hopefully I'll find a job soon and then we'll be out of limbo...

following in Mom's footsteps

My mom had this wonderful idea for a grad gift for me.  That I could put together some kind of flower arrangement for my house.  My mom has always been crafty and arranging flowers is something she's very good at and has done a lot.  I haven't got it to look quite like I had envision, but maybe next time she comes out she can help me.  Here's what I've got so far:

following in Dad's footsteps

I entered a photo contest (I think at this point it's over, so that means I didn't win anything).  But it was kind of fun!  It was a contest to enter pictures of things I've knit from a certain magazine (knitty.com) for a calendar they are going to put together.  I entered one photo of my own and had a friend of mine take a few pictures too.  I did it totally last minute and am not so hot at photo editing, so I had to call my Dad for help the night before I had to have them submitted.  My Dad is very good at photography, he's entered contests and won them.  

Here's the pictures I entered:

This is a picture that myself or Michael, I can't remember, took of Cate.  She got this top for her first birthday from me.  

This is baby Sofia, picture taken by her mom, Malann.   This one is my favorite, also taken of Sofia by Malann.

cue the music for: a day at the races!

So, another part of the package that Michael won from the radio contest was a day at the races (horse races).  At first we weren't too sure about going, but we decided we couldn't pass up the experience, since it wasn't going to cost us anything.  The day included free food, and a $2 voucher for our first bet, a little seminar on how to read the charts and place our bets and we could invite 5 friends.  

The seminar was actually quite helpful, and the charts actually tell you quite a lot of information.  The speaker put it to us this way, it's entertainment, just like dinner and a movie (and it doesn't have to cost anymore than a dinner & movie).  It was incredibly entertaining too.  

I wish I had pictures to show you, because we did take some, but I erased them by accident.  I've always wondered how people manage to do this, I mean usually the camera asks if you are sure and all that, how does one OK it twice?  Well, I didn't scan through all the pictures, I just saw the first ones, knew I had downloaded those already and completely forgot there was pictures from two events on the camera.  I don't think I've had such a sick feeling in my gut for a long long time, if ever.  Oh well.  I can't make them come back!

So, do you want to know what our winnings were?  From the original $2 that I put in (which wasn't even mine), I made $6.80!  Michael didn't do as hot, he actually lost $1.50.  On our way home I took him out for gelato as a consolation.  Overall we had a really fun, free day!

which country should we go to tonight?

This was our question for two weeks straight.  In Winnipeg there's a fabulous two week event called Folklorama.  During these two weeks there are various "pavilions" to visit, each representing the history, culture, food & dance of a particular country or region.  We went to as many as week as we could squeee into our busy schedule (this was also the two weeks that Dan & Jenn went home to BC, so we were also ripping our their leaky shower and trying to fix it, and put everything back together before they got home and to give credit where credit is due, the only thing I helped with was the painting, Michael did it all).

The reason we were determined to make the most of it is because Michael won passes!  Normally it's a $5 entrance fee per person.  Michael had been listening to the radio and the station was giving away passes every morning.  So he listened everyday on the way to work and called in to answer the impossible question.  One day he got through and had the right answer!  There were a few other things included in the package (to follow in other posts).  These passes gave us unlimited access to all the pavilions for the entire two weeks.

We went to the Korean pavilion to experience something that would be totally unfamiliar to us.  They had very cute little kids do some dancing for us.   And some drumming, it was crazy loud, but also really neat to see how much fun they had and witness such precision and speed. I can't remember exactly what these dancers were called, but it was fascinating to watch the fans twirl around and make amazing shapes and configurations.   Some of which were recongnizable, like this one of some mountains.   After hearing that the Brazil pavilion was a must see, we went.  It was a very warm evening in a building that is a curling rink in the winter, so it was very hot & humid in there.  There was a native martial arts/dance troupe who did some amazing stuff (can you see that guy in the air?) and came in all the way from Brazil. Another local group that did some dancing for us.   The name of the instrument escapes me, but it made a pretty interesting sound (something kind of like a warbly guitar)

This is Michael and I at the Alpine pavilion (Bavaria, Switzerland & Austria).  Cute couple, eh? Have you heard of handbells?  Well, this was a set of tuned cow bells, used to play a song in the same fashion as hand bells.  This was pretty cool to watch.   The famous horn.  These sounded absolutely amazing! In the dances they did for us, the men were definitely center stage.  It was pretty lively, and even humorous.  At one point the pulled the bench out from each other as they tried to sit down and were "slapping" each other across the face in drunken craziness.   One evening I went to Scotland with Malann and Sofia.  I didn't really manage to take any more pictures than this one of me holding Sofia (which I didn't even take).  She's wearing the top I made her, isn't it cute!

This was Paraguay, the bottle dance.  I know the picture is crappy, but those are bottles on her head and they had so many on there, the guy was standing on a ladder to put the last few on (I think the total was a dozen).  This pavilion had tons of familiar stuff, from yerba to the lama fur floor mats and so on, and other things that I've seen all my life at my grandparent's house.

This was the menu at the Ukraine pavilion.  These were also foods that were familiar, at least some of them.  The dancing at the pavilion was pretty amazing.

We also went to the following countries but were too lazy to take pictures or they just did not turn out.  The Greek Pavilion, where we felt like we were surrounded by the family from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and could smell amazing food.  The Argentina "Tango" pavilion (which Michael almost didn't make it to, because he dropped one of our passes at the previous pavilion, thankfully Winnipeg is full of honest people and someone had turned it in).  We also went to the Pearl of the Orient pavilion, which had some pretty interesting dancing that involved long poles on the ground that were being moved as the dancers stepped in between and then out of them.  The  India pavilion, which again had incredible smelling food, a huge amount of advertising and some I think pretty famous Bollywood dancers, it was very loud and I was so done by the time it was over.   The Africa pavilion was our last pavilion of the whole two weeks and because I was so tired, I really can't tell you much, except there was dances representing various countries within Africa, and I felt like a minority because my skin was white, it felt very weird to stand out like that.  

PS:  Colleen, if you were at all serious about making a trip to MB next summer, you should so come during Folklorama, you guys would love it!

The Paddle Wheel

Well, I crossed another one of the things off my, "things to do, now that I live in Manitoba" list.  The Paddle Wheel, which is a dinner cruise down the river in Winnipeg (again, pardon my ignorance, I'm not sure which one, there's several, I think it's the Red).  Here's some lovely shots of it (well, lovely for MB, I mean the dinner cruise in Vancouver is way way nicer)

The reason for finally being able to get this one accomplished was a going away party for a friend, the one in the middle of the grid.  This friend is a nurse who loves adventure.  She recently returned from a trip around the world, which included working in Australia for a few months, India for a month and all kinds of other travelling.  She is now getting ready to go to Iqaluit, NU to be a nurse there for at least a year.  If I'm really lucky, I might just get to go up and visit her...but we'll see, it's kind of far away and really really cold there.  

Austin Thresherman's Reunion

This even is what puts Austin on the map, it's kind of like putting Burnaby Village Museum and Agri-Fair all into one place for one weekend. Anyway, there's a big tractor parade, which is a big deal because they have real steam engine tractors running for this. A rodeo in the evenings. There was a stooking competition (making towers of the swaths of grain, apparently it's a really itchy job), and lots of old stuff to see, including the first "snowmobile." There are also historic building through out the site, from a school house to various homes and a couple of churches, a blacksmith and a flour mill. Pretty cool, and now I've finally been. Obviously, this is something Michael grew up with, so it was good to have a window into his experiences.

On Sunday there was a mud bog competition, so we went to that as well.

a real time post!

Hi there! For those of you who haven't figured out, I back date my posts. I don't always have the time or the patience to post right away, especially when it involves photos, so I create the post title and insert the correct date in order to come back to it later. This makes it kind of annoying for you guys, because you might end up missing something. So, I'm going to tell you about a marvelous thing called Google Reader (for those of you who know, just skip the next paragraph). This is a lovely tool where you create a list of all the blogs (and other interesting sites that have updates) you like to read and then you sign into Google Reader and it shows you every new thing on all of the blogs, rather than you having to check each one individually and wonder about missing something. This is particularly useful when you read our blog, because I like to cheat and back date entries, making it easy for you to miss something that I supposedly posted three months ago, even though I did it today. So, I'm determined to catch up on old posts. I know I have said this before, and this time might not be that much better, but I'll give it a shot. I've also been really struggling to stick with my Bible reading plan, let alone journalling, and I know how important these things are to my overall well being because I really feel a bit psychotic these days. I've decided that for every morning when I do those two things, I will allow myself to do a blog entry (maybe that sounds weird, but I am hoping that it motivates me to do both). So, happy reading, and be aware that I'm catching up on old posts!

girls only weekend / Cate & Angela spend the weekend

Two things ended up happening on the same weekend. I had a chance to go a cabin for some girls only fun with friends from university and Angela & Cate wanted to come for a sleepover. So, I hung out with the girls:

The cabin was on the same body of water as Grand Beach, so I was really hoping to enjoy some sand and sun this time, as opposed to last time. Friday night we did take a walk along the beach, it was pretty, but too cool to go in the water. Saturday it was really windy and ended up being stormy. The power went out and trees fell down. Sunday morning it was beautiful and sunny, but the wind had pushed the water in so far that the beach was completely under water, no sand in sight! Hopefully third time's a charm, and I'll actually get to sink my feet into the wonderful white sand at Grand Beach!

Meanwhile, Michael got to have a sleepover with Angela & Cate:

my birthday!

Well, turning 27 felt a little weird. It seems so much closer to 30 and that is just too weird to even think about! On my birthday we got invited to some friend's campsite at Grand Beach for the day. So we went with our friends Nathan & Malann, and their baby Sofia. I was really excited about this, since I've wanted to go to Grand Beach since I first came to Manitoba, but never had the chance. Finally, after spending four years out here, I get to go.

We arrived just in time to eat lunch, in the blistering heat. Then we headed down to the beach. While I was in the change room getting suited up, a thunder storm let loose. We had a full out hail and lightening, huge drops of rain, storm. It lasted about half an hour and then everything cleared up. So, needless to say, my swimsuit got wet, but not from the lake water! I had a great day despite the crazy weather, especially since I happen to love storms. Sorry, I guess we didn't take pictures of all this.

After we got home and cleaned up, we went to Nathan & Malann's for some appetizers, and I do have pictures of that:

lifegroup BBQ

I'm feeling pretty wordless these days. We did so much stuff this summer, that catching up on blog posts feels like an insurmountable task. So, as a result, you are getting pictures stories of some of these events. We had a BBQ with our life group, it was an absolutely beautiful evening, mosquito free with a slight breeze, and two birthday's to celebrate. Awesome!

Cate is 1 Year Old!

The week of Cate's first birthday Michael and I went over to have supper at John & Angela's place. We had a great time.

I managed to get Cate's birthday present finished (this is quite an accomplishment for a knitter). So, after her bath she modeled it for me:

Pretty cute, eh? It's super easy to make, and I used dishcloth cotton so it was inexpensive to make and can handle a lot of washing. This is a good thing since it's being worn by a one year old and will last two seasons if we're lucky!

clean sheets are VERY important to me

I hope the title didn't gross you out too much! In our house there is a constant debate about using a flat sheet (I've resorted to buttoning it onto our duvet since I can't convince Michael it's a good thing). While I'm not a big fan, I'm an advocate, now that I'm the one responsible for washing sheets & bedding. In the summertime, since we just have a thin blanket without a duvet cover, I give up on using a flat sheet altogether. I also have a husband who, when he does sports, does it with great intensity. Resulting in various scrapes on his legs. This summer he's been playing flag football. He slid on the grass, scraping both shins/knees. I told him he had to either wear pajama pants or use a flat sheet (since I did not want his oozing wounds touching my clean sheets & blankets). He refused to do either and devised an alternate plan. I thought it was so hilarious what the guy will do to avoid the flat sheet (or the pj pants for that matter), that I took pictures. Here they are! Want to know what that is? It's a dishcloth, taped to my husband's leg with medical tape.

Just imagine, he'd rather rip tape of the back of his hairy legs, than use a flat sheet!

Apparently, some where around 3am, he was so uncomfortable, he got up and took it all off and opted for the pj pants!