1. It’s actually 12:15am on Wednesday now, but I’ve been so sidetracked with the birth of baby 19 of the Duggar family of TLC’s 19 Kids and Counting, I’m only now getting started. I’ve been crying like crazy since I saw that tiny little baby… she is SO precious! I am so happy for them, and though she was born in December and almost 2 months has passed by since her birth, I sincerely hope her health is progressing fast enough to have the Duggar family be a normal family back in their own home again.

2. I’ve been thinking a lot about getting back into a routine exercise program. I really enjoy the walking DVD’s though, and that’s what I’ve been thinking about the most. I wanted today to be the first day of starting this routine again, but I woke up feeling pretty lousy and with a really sore back. It took 5 Ibuprofen and a couple Midols, and about an hour later, I was feeling a lot better. I was pretty much pain free for the afternoon and part of the evening, when I had to take another small dose of Ibuprofen, and just another again.

3. I’m finding myself having to take more Ibuprofen because I have days where the medication doesn’t even touch the pain, and I’ve had to miss work because of it. So, my mom advised that I should simply just take more to find the dose that best suits me and makes a dent in the pain, and that I can get the most amount of time without taking another dose since I’m finding the smaller doses aren’t lasting very long at all.

4. I thought the week would go on slowly, but we are already the end of Tuesday/Wednesday early morning, so that’s not half bad. Once Wednesday is over, it’s usually smooth and easy sailing, and the end of the week is much easier to visualize.

5. We started another new Canadian project at work tonight. It’s a lot like the project I worked on last week, so I’m flying through it like a feather in a breeze. I love it. The whole evening went so smoothly, and I got so many completes, I barely even noticed the 5 hour shift pass by. I love it when I’m kept busy enough and that happens. The surveys are about 15 minutes or so a piece, and I’m getting about 2-3 completes done an hour… so it really makes every hour pass by quickly. I’ve not had time to check email, check Facebook, read a magazine or any other little tasks I can find to occupy my time between calls.

6. Peter has a full day of work tomorrow… with not just one job, but he’s working both jobs. He’s at the grocery store from 8am to 4pm, and Dollarama from 4pm to 8pm. He’s going to be so hungry and exhausted when he comes home probably around 8:30-9pm. I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes to bed not long after he gets something in his stomach. Which is too bad, because we won’t see each other very long in the morning, and I finish work at 10pm and won’t see him for very long between the time he comes home and heads to bed. Ah well, at least we will be spending the entire weekend together.

7. I had a dream about a hometown friend Monday morning. I messaged her on Facebook to tell her about the wicked, wicked but exhausting dream I had. Her and I don’t talk very often anymore, we are both simply busy with life, and her with her 2 boys, one of them still being a baby. *Note to self, find picture of the baby and wedding picture* She said she’ll be going to our hometown for a visit, and since I only live 3 hours away and she’s coming from Southern Ontario TO Northern Ontario, Timmins is basically on the way, with a bit of a detour off the main highway. She’s planning on going for 3 days, but she didn’t say when they would be going… so I’m thinking it could be as early as this weekend. We haven’t seen each other in forever. I’d even say… about 8-9 yrs, goodness, it’s been so long, I can’t even say for sure. The last time I saw her, she met Peter when we visited my hometown, and she had us over for dinner. I think that was in 2001 but I’m not even sure. Through the years, keeping in touch has dwindled and dwindled as every year has passed by, but we’ve always managed to send one another a Christmas card, Birthday card… Last year I got her wedding reception invitation, a wedding picture of her and her hubby, and then a picture of their newest son, Anthony. I’m looking forward to seeing her, but, I’m already nervous doing so since it’s been so long… so much our lives have changed since we’ve been teenagers. We’re like completely different people, so it’ll be almost like getting to know her all over again. But I do hope that we can reconnect again, and basically start our friendship all over, and be able to lean on one another like we once did. I really do miss those days, and I guess that dream was just a way of reminding me of that.

8. Strange how things come up back in the light in our lives. I like to think that maybe we are in need to have another in each other’s lives again. I’ve always said that people come in and out of our lives for different reasons. And sometimes, the people who we’ve lost touched with on purpose or by accident, come back into our lives for a different purpose than the original one. And sometimes, it’s to lend a helping hand in some way, us in their life, or them in our life.

9. Another routine I’ve been meaning to get back into is going to bed at a reasonably good time. Considering I typically get off from work at 10pm, I’m thinking 12:30am-1am isn’t too bad. I love my 8-9 hours of sleep in order to function properly the next day, so I’m thinking getting up at 9 or 10 is a good time to get up and have loads of time to get things done before I even have to think about work getting started in the early evening.

10. Time for me to start implementing the 2nd routine. It’s 1:09am and time for me to scoot to bed, get some good shut eye, have me a little drooling session my pillow, dream beautiful dreams, and wake up well rested for a whole new day! But before I do, I’ve got a load to transfer to the dryer… because as you know, a woman’s work is never done!

Happy Wednesday! Have a wonderful week!

siggie by the talented Donnelle

Hhmmm… where to begin tonight’s Ten Thought Tuesday?

1. A few ex-co-workers names popped into my mind tonight, so I searched them on Facebook. From there, I found out that the old company I used to work for in Ottawa, Ontario, 5 years ago, has changed it’s name again. It used to be BDP (Business Data Processing Ltd.) and changed to Resolve Corp. shortly before leaving there to move back to northern Ontario. I was trying to search people that I may know and still may be working there, and found out that the company has changed it’s name yet again to Davis + Henderson. Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful in finding more than a couple people, but this was before I even found out the new name.
2. I’ve got a full work schedule this week. I’m scheduled to work 5pm to Midnight all week with the exception of Friday, which is 5pm to 10pm. I know I’m going to be pretty tired once the work week is over, but I think the extra money will be worth it. My hours have been pretty low since before the holidays, and it was only last week that I returned to a full schedule for the exception of taking the day off unexpectedly on Tuesday because I was feeling miserable. So a full pay will be nice to return to.
3. My shift ended about 1.5 hours early tonight though, but that’s okay.
4. I’m starting to get irritated at some of the people with whom I speak with on the phone while on the job. Particularly, people who don’t speak English, or barely do. I don’t understand how they can be in this country for years and years, half their lives or even, possibly most of their lives, and they still can’t get by with the English they do know. It seems to me that this should be a priority to learn when they enter this country as an immigrant (and other countries who have English as a first language) or in the least, English should be an obligation to learn in the first couple years while a resident of the country, even if your not a citizen yet. And by far, they should be able to get by and understand quite a bit of English when they receive their citizenship documents. I hate having to call and waste my, and the companies time, and calling people who can’t barely speak a word of English. I do understand that learning a new language is hard, but it’s certainly not impossible, and there are programs and courses out there that do a very good job helping people in doing so. I think our gov’t is slacking and is not strict enough when deciding who deserves their citizenship, and who does not. It shouldn’t be a free ride.
5. I came accross this neat little google gadget for iGoogle tonight. It’s a facebook gadget which enables you to view your facebook account from the iGoogle site, and be able to view it like a cell phone application, but instead, via your browser. I find it useful because facebook’s status pages lag the rest of my opened tabs, and it becomes a problem while I’m working, even if I’m not viewing them at the time and they are idle. So this is a neat little gadget I can have open, without conflicting with my work or other opened tabs. Facebook Gadget
6. The cold temps have returned, but from Thursday on, they should be pretty mild again during the day. It’s really lovely to see these nice mild temps since we should be dead center in winter’s coldest days. We have our fair share of cold temps this month and last, but, far not as much as we usually would, so this is VERY nice, and I feel we’re getting spoiled and have no reason to complain about the cold we have had, nor the cold we may get in the future.
7. My dryer drives me nuts, it makes noises as it spins and it breaks my concentration. It needs oil, and hubby hadn’t done it yet. I hate being in the room while it’s on, but while I’m writing this, I’m drying my comforter.
8. It’s been a long day… I’ve done quite a bit today, plus a 6.5 hour shift. The heat is getting to me too… it’s making me sleepy.
9. We’re looking to get a professional Dog Tag made for Stitch soon so that if ever he does run away or escape, he will have a tag on him to let people know that he does belong to someone, and they can call us if they find him… if it so happens that we can’t get him back ourselves of course. We will feel much better knowing that he had that I.D. on him. The only thing I’ll continue to be scared of afterwards, is traffic, hoping he doesn’t get hit by a car, or almost causes an accident by crossing the road. He runs ragged and doesn’t look at all where he’s going… all he can think about is that he’s FREE, FREE, FREE!! I sure hope he will grow out of that as he gets older!
10. Well, that’s it for me. I can’t believe I actually made it to 10 considering how tired I am. I have no more thoughts in my head except for getting the comforter out of the dryer, stripping, getting comfy in bed, and having a snoring AND drooling love fest with my pillow. <3

Good night!

Aaaah… it’s time for 10 thought Tuesday. Let’s see… where to begin…

1. I wanted to do 10 thought Tuesday for the past couple weeks but haven’t spent enough time on the computer after work to do so.

2. Tonight’s shift ended 10 minutes early. Mid-shift, I took a long break because the landlord was over trying to fix the heater. The fan was squeaking like crazy when it would start, and it was impossible to have the heater on and work at the same time. The sound was too loud to work through, and it was important to have heat because of our current cold temperatures, the house gets cold pretty quickly. He did successfully fix it, but how long it will last, who knows, but I hope he’s done the trick this time.

3. I am thinking I will have to weather proof the windows and house’s entrance door soon… especially the door. There are some cool drafts coming from around the framing of it… so much so, even the hinges are frosty.

4. I’m currently watching the 2nd episode of tonight’s Paranormal State series. It is rather interesting, but I find it rather curious that when Chad makes an appearance on an episode, it also happens to be an occasion where it receives the most activity. I do enjoy the episodes he appears on much more than others I have to admit. Also, Chip made an appearance… he is my favourite television psychic. The depth of information that he provides without receiving any clues from anyone is simply amazing! His gift is truly obvious and I believe could make any supernatural non-believer change their mind.

5. Tomorrow is the last day of the work week and it’s a short shift of only 3 hours (5pm to 8pm). I’m rather glad it’s so short. I would really like to get some baking done tomorrow too. *crossing fingers*

6. I can hardly believe that Christmas is just 2 days away. Time passes by too quickly. Time flies so quickly when your busy, it’s crazy. Every year I say that I wish that Christmas didn’t only last a day. Of course, the spirit of Christmas goes throughout the month of December, but I do wish the family celebrations lasted a week.

7. My dryer died today. It worked to dry one load this afternoon, and when I later tried to turn it back on while the landlord was here fixing the heater, I tried to dry another load and it wouldn’t turn on again. Peter was on the way to bed when I reminded him that it wasn’t working… and he worked on it for half an hour, but he couldn’t find the source to the problem. I’m not looking forward to having hang up all the underwear, socks, facecloths and kitchen towels to air dry. The air drying doesn’t matter to me, but having to hang it all up… blah!

8. I had the sniffles yesterday, and this afternoon, I suddenly felt really tired… a body & head sort of tired. I had no choice but to take a nap on the couch. I was a little cold too so I took the opportunity to snuggle up with a blanket too. I had about an hour’s nap on and off. Booty kept meowing at me because she had no more food and couldn’t wait till I got up and on a couple occasions, she came to lay on my hip, which she hadn’t done voluntarily in a very long time. I really hope I’m not coming down with something. I hope it wait until after the holidays… or even better, not at all! I did feel better after my nap though. Though I still felt tired during my shift, I felt better than I had been.

9. I hope to be able to stay awake long enough to catch the episode of Psychic Kids I missed at 9pm due to work. It’s on again at 1am. I caught last Tuesday’s repeat episode last Saturday while cleaning the house, I was so happy to have the opportunity to watch it. I really enjoyed it too and I’m sure I will enjoy tonight’s episode too as long as I can stay awake for it.

10. 2010… I really think it’s going to be a great year. I have good vibes about it. Hoping some financial changes will happen for the better. I’ve been thinking about creating a collage of pictures and words for my “wants and wishes” for 2010. It sounds like a great little project… something to give inspiration throughout the year. Something I can even continuously contribute to as the year goes on, and perhaps even other years go by. I got this idea from listening to someone talk about it over the radio… and they said it’s better to display this “wall” where friends and family can see it too instead of just an area that only you can see, so that they can remind you of those goals and ask how you are doing in reaching them because it reminds you more often of the things you want to achieve.

Well… that makes 10! Whoo! Yay, me! G’night!

I’m not sure I have 10 random thoughts, but imma give it a go! =)

1. I had a 7 hour shift ahead of me tonight, or so I thought, but work finished almost 3 hours early tonight just as it did 2 hours early last night too. I was sure to ask the chat supervisor today if it was going to end early again tonight and he eased by mind and said there were no plans to send anyone home. Well, that was a lie. Another chat supervisor took over while he was away and she announced that everyone who had worked at least 3 hours were finished early. Though it sucks money wise, I can’t complain too much, 7 hours feels like a long shift. When I took my break at 8, I was counting down the hours until midnight… so when I got the message and finished at around 9:15pm, I was happy and got 4 paid hours in nonetheless. Gotta be thankful for that!

2. I finished a new winter scrap tag tonight. I’m pretty proud of it actually. So there’s another plus to getting off work early.

3. Tomorrow, Peter has an appointment with someone from the local Salvation Army to see if they can lend us the money to travel to Toronto to go back for Peter’s 6 month follow-up for the ASD heart surgery he had back in May. I wasn’t going to go with him, but he asked me if I was coming along tonight, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think it’s a better idea if I do go along… mostly to make sure he doesn’t forget to mention any important details and also so I can hear all the fact and info with my own ears. Most of the men in my life tend to not relay the messages as well as they were given to them, so I’m going to go for my own peace of mind. I’m really hoping this man will be the answer to our prayers. We’re really reaching the deadline as Peter’s appointment is on Monday (11/23). They’ll be getting a full refund back through the Northern Ontario Travel Grant, so hopefully, he’ll help us out. *crossing fingers, lighting candles, thinking positive thoughts and praying that everything will be well*

4. I’ve been really enjoying getting my creative juices flowing again. It’s a real escape for me, and somehow, it makes the stress of every day life disappear. I really must find the time to try and do it daily… as it is relaxing. I feel like a different person… a calm one. I would even go as far as saying that it centers me. I love it.

5. Jacquelyn & I touched base today. It was nice to talk to her and vent a little. I requested her to make me a cell phone charm featuring cupcakes back in August but have yet to pay her for it so she can send it to me. I feel awful for it, but we just haven’t had the extra funds just yet for me to pay for it. It’s not even expensive, she’s only asked $10, but I’m adamant about giving her $20, but nonetheless, haven’t been able to done it yet. She understand though. Her family is in the same ‘living pay check to pay check’, having problems with the gov’t too and just squeaking by. *sigh*

6. I’m really having a hard time getting to 10. I initially started this week’s Ten Thought Tuesday, thinking it’ll kill time while Peter falls asleep and I go to bed at 1am, but it’s now 1am and here I am, trying to figure out what other random thought I can add.

7. I haven’t talked on the phone with my mom for what seems a week… I don’t even really remember when the last time we spoke was, I just know it was sometime last week. We didn’t call one another on the weekend, nor did we go visit. That hasn’t happened in a long time. Nothing wrong is happening between us, but I think we’re both were trying to catch up on some things and just keeping busy, that we haven’t really bothered.

8. My uncle got out of jail on Saturday morning. It couldn’t have come any sooner. He did call me with his calling calling card that afternoon, and I also chatted with him on yahoo messenger early in the evening while he was at the bus depot, killing time until he could catch his bus late that night at 11pm. I haven’t heard from him since either, and I couldn’t be happier because most of the stress has relieved. Though, the stress of the new phone bill that came in is a whole new ordeal, but I feel comfortable enough we’ll be able to pay it in a timely manner.

9. Heather didn’t pop online today. I’m just a little worried that her SIL and brother are causing more drama and putting her in the middle of it again. Though, she did mention it been over a week since she hadn’t been feeling well. She hasn’t been getting enough sleep and has been feeling really tired, so I certainly hope she’s not getting sick again. Either of those situations would totally suck, so I just hope she’s okay and feeling well and able to keep the drama to a minimum for her own sake and her nephew’s.

10. Well, I finished Ten Thought Tuesday after all, and I’m hauling my fat sore ass to bed.

G’Night!

1. Work is seriously getting on my nerves tonight. We are having some serious technical difficulties; from calls with no ringing and system saying “This number is unavailable at this time, please try later” (a system screw up on our end), to at least 2 calls or more being dialled at the same time, so I don’t know if we’re coming or going. The most irritating part of all, not getting my questions answered that I send to the chat supervisor, and not getting any feedback from the problems I am reporting through the system. *sigh* Not to mention the lag time too. Seems like this whole (survey/market research)project is a lost cause tonight. – But on the upside… I’m writing this blog!

2. I’m counting down the days until my uncle gets out of prison. It’s been 3 months and he gets out on Saturday morning (11/14). I can’t wait to stop receiving collect phone calls from him and stop hearing about his requests for money and the stress he brings with it all.. I’ve had it up to HERE *pointing to my forehead* with hearing about money. I love him and all, but he’s in prison, and he’s brought me more stress in the last 3 months that I think he’s ever brought in all my 28 years – that’s saying a lot because I have had a lot of disappointments from him growing up from broken promises. Saturday couldn’t come any sooner!

3. I saw a video of Jamie’s kids & grand-daughter swinging today on her blog. Jamie mentioned in her blog what a nice day it was and how they can’t usually swing this time of year because of the colder weather, but what a perfect day it was to swing & how the girls had a blast outside and how it’s no fun to swing in the colder weather when your all bundled up. It reminded me of a time in my childhood, in the 1st or 2nd grade, where I was dared by a classmate to stick my tongue on the swing metal chain in the middle of winter. You got it.. Even as a kid I wasn’t a pussy… I did it, and got “thuck”!!    A friend went to tell the playground guardian and she came to help me rip my tongue off the chain. Oh, I still remember the pain as every little taste bud was disconnecting from the chain and all of them individually screaming “OOOOOW!!! Heeelp meeeee!!!!” and the teacher had me rush back inside the school and drink some water to help. Aaaah… the memories of stupid things you do as a kid!

4. Peter has an MRI to scan the peanut in that big ol’ noggin’ of his. Lots of wasted space if you ask me. It’s set for 11pm tonight… you read right, that’s PM… and no, it’s not an emergency. He’s been having some headaches with unusual odd sharp pain around his forehead, and the NP just wants to be sure that it’s not anything to be worried about. He leaves at 9:30, his MRI appointment is for 11, but he has to be there for 10:15pm. Jamie says it should take about an hour, so he should be home or soon returning back home when I’m finished work at Midnight. He was told he can’t eat after 7pm, so to make up for his lack of self control, he took a 2 hour nap. Men! LOL

5. I’ve signed up for a full work schedule until Christmas. This week, I work a set of 29 hours with 3 x 5 hour shifts and 2 x 7 hour shifts – Monday to Friday. Our next weeks request for hours don’t usually get approved until Thursday or Friday, but my schedule for next week has already been approved with 32 hours for Monday to Saturday, with the same shift request, but an extra 3 hours on Saturday. Peter works Saturday & Sunday every 2nd weekend of the month at Dollarama, so I’ve signed up to work Saturdays when he works, and leave the weekend empty so we can spend the most time together. All summer long and most of the autumn season, I was lucky to get a 5 to 10 hour work week. They’ve been rolling out the projects as of late, and the hours of availability are said to continue on to at least the holidays, so some Christmas holidays seem almost promising after all.

6. Peter is scheduled to go back to Toronto in a couple weeks to do some testing to make sure that his ASD closure that was done at the end of May is still positioned correctly, verify if any new holes have been created, etc. We’re not able to afford to go on our own. If we would be able to afford to go this time, getting paid back from the Northern Ontario Travel Grant would be no problem, but we don’t even have the funds to go back this time. Peter has 2 more possibilities of how he may be able to get some funds to go, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed on that. The last possibility that I thought of this evening, was the possibility of hitching a ride with someone else that may be going to Toronto and having a short stay themselves. I haven’t had the chance to suggest this to Peter yet since we’ve barely seen one another all day, maybe for half an hour all together. Who knows, he may get lucky, even if I can’t come, as long as he gets to his appointments, that’s what matters. Besides, now that I think of it, it would be best for only one of us to miss work, not the both of us. Hopefully he will be open to the idea.

7. Update on work, currently experiencing Sample Failure for over 25 minutes now and there is still 2 more hours of work to go. I wish they’d get their shit straightened out already. There hasn’t been this many problems in a long time. I hope they get everything resolved by Thursday’s shift. But again, looking on the bright side… I’m still typing away!

8. #7 reminded me that tomorrow, Wednesday, is a “holiday” and a free day off!! It’s Remembrance Day in Canada & Veteran’s Day in the US. Though most of our projects are American, we do have some Canadian ones also, but what’s fun is that we get all Canadian AND American holidays off. When I worked for Sprint Nextel as a customer service rep from 2004 to 2005, we had to work all the Canadian holidays if it wasn’t an American holiday too. For example, we had to work July 1st which is Canada day, but had the 4th of July off, and we also had to work December 26th which is Boxing Day here in Canada and not a holiday in the states. So I like this MUCH better, it’s sort of like having double the amounts of holidays… the only snag is, most of the days off, there’s some holiday symbolized in both countries.

I am SO looking forward to having hump day off! What a great way to split up the week!

9. Wow, I never thought I could make it all the way through, but look at me go!! *zoom zoom* I’m finding this quite a lot of fun! Thank you to Jamie for introducing “10 thought Tuesday” to be, and to Kat for bringing it forward to her!

10. Tomorrow, on my day off, given that I am feeling well, I plan on doing some cleaning & dusting, and hope to also rearrange the furniture in the bedroom, which includes the bed. We’ve had the bedroom basically the same way since we’ve moved here in May of 2008, for the exception of a couple dressers that have moved once or twice, and a huge TV that stopped working & that we finally sent to the dump about a month ago. A good cleaning and vacuum is in good order for the bedroom also while I’m at it. I’m looking forward to the change! I dislike having the bed under window because growing up, I was prone to catching colds from drafts coming from the window when my bed was underneath it, no matter what season it was… even when we winterized the windows. I’m less prone to get colds from drafts now, but I’m still uncomfortable with it… so I’ll be taking the opportunity to move the bed on a different wall that isn’t directly underneath the window. We have a queen size bed, and our bedroom is much longer than it is wide… so I’ve had to take some measurements to make sure the length is going to fit on the width of the bedroom, and I’ve calculated that I’ will actually have a bit more room to go around the bed than I do currently. Our ceiling is slanted on 2 sides, so it was very important that it would all work. I’m actually looking forward to getting it done and sleeping in our “new” bedroom.

Well, this was tons of fun! It made the last hour or 2 past by quickly even throughout the all the technical difficulties.

I will definitely be doing 10 Thought Tuesday again in the future! Now I’m all excited until

Good Night!