Sorry for the delay in posting. Last week went by fairly well, we are getting really busy though which makes the day go by fast...but makes the day stressful as well (there are no little breaks to just catch your breath). Last weekend Sam and I went to see the movie "Flash of Genius". It was a good movie, but the previews had shown alittle to much and not enough of it was surprising. We also had dinner at Smitty's prior to that. I had gotten a gift card from work using my "performance points". It was for $55 and had paid for our movie tickets as well as some new bra's that I picked up at La Senza. I bought 2 really nice bra's for $18.50!
Friday when I got home Sam and I decided to rent a movie and we picked up "Ironman". It had really good graffics. It was really nice spending some time together. Sam and I decided to have our own turkey dinner instead of going to Saint John (he couldn't get the time off). We invited Luke and Tina over to help us eat the turkey. I went and bought all the stuff for our dinner on Saturday, Sam prepared everything on Saturday night and cooked the entire meal on Sunday! I didn't have to do a thing! I just packed up the left overs and am I'm going to clean up the kitchen today. It was an awesome dinner, we had all the fixins! I even bought a can of Cranberries and a pumkin pie!
My hours have been cut back to 371/2 for the rest of this month which I don't mind. I can catch the early bus home at 8:20pm and still have my evening to myself or Sam and I can do something. I still catch the same bus in the morning, but instead of taking the 10:20pm bus home I'll get home 2hrs earlier........Speaking of the crummy bus system, Saun (my driving instructor) called me the other day and told me we would go driving for two hours oct 28th and oct 31st and on Nov 4th I will go take my driving test!! He had called me earlier this month and told me he could schedule the test for oct 22, but I told him I was going to Montreal. He was pretty quick to rebook it for me. I am really looking forward to Mom and I getting to visit Lisa in Montreal. It will be really nice. Madonna will be awesome to see. I wonder if I'm allowed to bring my camera? hmm....I hope I can.

Work went by pretty quickly this week, it's getting to be the busy time of year again, so there's not much time in between calls. Thursday I came home to a very drunk Sam, it was kinda funny. He rambles alot when he drinks and gets a lovey, telling me how much he loves me and how pretty I am. It's nice. :) Friday I went up and met him when he was done work. We sat around and had a couple of beer. I decided that I didn't want to cook and he didn't want to cook so I treated us to dinner at the Zellers restaurant. We then stopped at the Liquer store and Sam bought some beer and I bought shots and threw him $20 towards the beer. We then came home and got ready to go out and had a couple more beer. We decided to go to the 20/20 club. Sam called and invited his friend Amir and his roommate to join us. We danced, drank and had alot of fun. Sams friends left, but we met a couple there and they invited us back to their place after the bar closed for some drinks. We couldn't get a cab for awhile and decided to walk down town to the tannary to get pizza first. We were all feeling pretty good, and buzzed, and at some point we decided holding hands was the best idea for our walk. :) Eventually we did get a cab and arrived at their place around3am or 3:30am. We were all having a good time and drinking. One of their friends came over and was beign a real bitch towards Sam and I because we were thin. She said something about "why did you invite them, they're not like us?" to Tonya (the one who had invited us over). We all just shrugged it off for awhile, but it persisted so Sam and I decided it was time to go home at around 4ish. We thanked Tonya and Joe for inviting us over and came home. It was a really nice evening out for Sam and I....it's been awhile since we've been out to a club and just partied all night. If we see Tonya and Joe again, we'll just invite them to our place instead to avoid any problems. Sam had to get up and be to work for 9am, I do not envy him. I slept in until about 2:30pm. He should be home soon. I think we'll just rent a movie tonight.

I had my shift changed so that I had wednesday off and worked Thursday and Friday. (7:30am-3:30pm) The training was really easy and we were let out early both days. On Thursday our trainier let us go at 3pm and then on Friday he let us leave alittle after 2pm! we still get paid until 3:30pm though. woohoo! My friend gail drove me to Zellers on Thursday and then again on Friday when we were done so I didn't have to wait around for the stupid bus. I get to go driving today at 4:30pm. He has given me more than 11hrs driving time (the amount included in the course), since I don't get to practice at home (most of the people in my class were just out of high school and they can drive with their parents). I wonder when he is going to take me to take the driving test with the government. I think I'll ask today, just so that I have enough notice to book it off at work. I think he does a bunch of them in one day (and then you get your certificate saying you took the First Rate Drivers Education course, when you pass).
Anyway back to getting off early yesterday.....when gail dropped me off I decided it was pay day and I wanted to buy myself something. I headed over to Urban Planet and bought myself this dress shirt that came with a little vest type thing that goes over the dress shirt and a tie. I think it looks pretty hot. I own lots of dress shirts so I can use the vest thing and tie with those as well if I want.
The "w" button on my keyboard is broken (it gets stuck repeatedly and doesn't work), and I never really noticed how much a person used the letter w when typing (I got it to work once and copied it and now just press ctrl v to get it). Sam actually bought us a new keyboard a couple of weeks ago, but that one doesn't work now either, so I'm back to using mine.
I was looking at the shift bid for next month and they are all pretty decent shifts, I think the latest one is until 11pm, but they are pretty good about adjusting my shifts so I can take the bus both ways. They did start this new thing were your shift starts at different times on some days though, some at 11am and some at 12pm. I'm not all that fond of this idea-because I take the bus and it makes a big difference in what time I have to get up and which bus I will need to take. I will however be getting more than 40hrs a week next mth, so I can just bank the double overtime. I think it will work out.

I met Sam after work last night, around 5:30pm. We were going to go downtown to the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival (b/c Sam had wanted to go) and I had looked the information up online, but after realizing that none of it was free and the tickets were anywhere from 10-28 dollars a piece, we decided to go see a movie instead. Since it was supper time I offered to treat us out to dinner (Sam had treated us to drinks at Jungle Jims and dinner at Ringo's on Saturday) and we decided to go to Smitty's. We both had a blueberry beer of some sort (which was pretty good), I got a roast beef dinner and he bought a colassal burger, poutine and a baked potato. It was really nice. After dinner we went over to Crescent jewelers to return my earrings that I had bought when mom visited (they had broken after I wore them once!). I didn't have a reeceipt, but they were able to search the computer and find my receipt for me (I just told them the date I bought them), so I got a new pair! While I was doing that Sam went over to EB games (or so he told me), when he returned he had went over to the Dynamite store and bought me a burgundy lace tank top! We left there and headed towards the movie theatre. He humored me and treated us to the movie "House Bunny" (mom had recommended it to me). It was really funny! We laughed the whole time. We went to catch a cab and the cab driver asked us if we had a $5, he wouldn't call it in because it is a close drive. Usually that would have cost 7$-8$. We arrived home just after 11pm to a safe and secure apartment (Gizmo had guarded the apartment well!). I read and Sam played on the computer before coming to bed. This whole weekend has been really nice.

I decided not to be as ambitious as I thought I would be when posting last week.... I didn't end up getting the top coat done. I probably won't do it this weekend either. Oh well! Last Saturday when Sam got home from work he invited me to go meet some friends of his from work at the pub on campus, "the cellar". We had a really nice evening. We split 2 pitchers of beer and Sam bought a 3rd for some reason, but right after he bought it everyone decided it was time to head home (it was just before 3am, Sam probably didn't realize how late it was), so we didn't drink very much of the 3rd. We live really close to the Cellar, we walked both ways....I haven't been there for a couple of years and forgot that it was so close. We went to the Coffee Mill for steak and eggs on Sunday when we got up, it was really nice. Monday went by fairly quickly (for a monday), and on Tuesday I had been chosen (as well as 3 other people) to represent the Terasen employees to suggest ways to improve employee satisfaction. Everyone had filled out an employee engagement survey and we all discussed the results and areas that showd a need for improvement. It was really nice to get off the phones for an hour. After that meeting I had my lunch and then a team meeting (that got me off the phones for another 45mins!). Wednesday was busy, so the day went by fast and yesterday was my last day of work....so it really doesn't matter what happens....I have my weekend to look forward to! Today I got up and walked down the hill to drop Gizmo off at the groomers around 9:30am (she looks beautiful!) and went to Kings place and got a egg mcmuffin, hash brown and coffee. It was only 4$. I bought a scratch ticket and wandered around there for awhile before the groomer called and told me Gizmo was done. I sauntered myself back up york st towards the groomers and while passing the vets office I stopped in to pick up some dog food for Gizmo (why miss the opportunity? ;) ...it's usually out of my way to buy it). I walked to the groomers (carrying a big bag of dog food, I may have looked kinda silly...hmmm..) and got to the groomers, paid and called a cab. I got home at 12pm, usually I'm still in my p.j's on my days off. I've been able to do 2 loads of laundry and make the bed! Last night when I got home (just before 11pm) I had this *crazy* craving for pizza, so I ordered some kind of deal at Pizza delight and got 2 12" pizza's and a 12" garlic fingers. We have lots of leftovers. Sam got his first two week pay today, so he is going to treat us out tonight or tomorrow night. He's doing very well at Jungle Jims. All the other employees are always saying how great Sam does compared to their slack and lazy kitchen manager. Sam figures he won't need to say anything about wanting the manager job (b/c everyone else already tells the owner/restaurant manager). It's nice b/c he gets lots of hours and he still gets off at a reasonable hour. He worked 9am until 9pm on Wednesday (b/c someone had called in sick or didn't show up) and the manager bought Sam 3 beer as a thank you. I think I will go get some of that left over pizza....mmm...pizzaaa... :)

My week went by fairly quickly (since it was only 3days of work). Friday I went out driving for 2 hours. I'm getting better. I really liked the car that we drove in. It was a Honda Civic (which I have driven before), but this one had a digital spedometer! I could see it in my peripheral vision the whole time I was driving, which made it alot easier to maintain the speed limit. This Civic was easier to turn as well. I requested that we use that car the next couple of times we go driving. I ended my lesson at Zellers so I could get something to eat. I bought some soups, fajita kit and some new books and just got a cab home. I walked up and met Sam when he was done work and we stopped in at Canadian Tire to buy more paint when he was done work. We got home and I cooked some chicken fajita's for us and he played WOW. We then went next door to the convenience store to rent a movie. Sam wanted to rent American Gangster....at first I wasn't to interested, but I read it had Denzel Washington and Therize Cheron in it and was directed by Ridley Scott so we rented it. It was long...good...but long...I think it was over 2hrs. We both enjoyed watching it. Sam got up and went to work for 9am, I slept in! I didn't get out of bed until 10:45am! I've just been hanging out with Gizmo. I did paint most of the living room. This is the second coat and it was easier than the first one. Tomorrow I will probably do the top coat and it will be done!

Mom arrived early Friday morning, I was in the shower when she arrived actually. We decided to go to lunch at Jungle Jims so we could say high. The restaurant manager served us and gave us Sam's employee discount! It was a very nice meal. We then headed over to Canadian Tire so that I could by some more paint while it was on sale. They didn't have any left, but I got a raincheck for the sale. We ended up there for awhile actually... mom bought me some new shelves for the apartment and convinced me to buy a full size BBQ. (which is awesome**thanks mom**) We decided to go to the Regent mall and mom and I ended up buying duvets for our beds. She bought us the duvets and I bought the covers for them. We came home and dropped everything off, but then drove back up to get Sam when he was done work around 4pm.We thought about going to a movie, but decided not to in the end. It was a nice visit. I have since put my feather bed back onto my mattress, added the new duvet and bought a new pillow, it's like sleeping on a cloud! Work is going by fairly quickly, it's getting really busy again, so the calls are back to back which makes the day go by quick. Sam is going to Dartmouth for the long weekend to see his brother-he's gotten sick and Sam would like to see him. So I get the apartment all to myself! I might call some of the girls on the weekend to hang out or something, maybe for a BBQ.
I was out this morning walking Gizmo and heard someone yelling at me from down the hill, I turned and saw a girl....looked around to make sure she was yelling at me....ran down to meet her and saw that it was Gillian McGinnis!! She gave me a big hug, she was heading to work, but we chatted for a bit. She has been in Fredericton for this month doing research at STU. It was really nice to see her, turns out she is moving to Halifax tomorrow though. She is going to Dalhousie University to get her Masters in Urban planning. That is pretty exciting. To bad she's leaving tomorrow, oh well at least I got to see her before she leaves. Anywhoo I gotta bust over to my Doctors appointment.....

My week was good and I did not get sent home early any day last week or this week...it will be nice to have a full 80 hour pay period. BTW Susan it was great to receive a comment, keep them coming :) I went driving this morning from 11:30am -1:30pm. It was nice we did alot of turning. We went to some quiet residential area in New Maryland and just did alot of turns. He said that I make the turns alittle to drastic and quick...I guess I need to believe the car will turn, but when it doesn't start to turn when I want it to I get worried, therefore turning to abruptly. I still have lots more driving time so I'm sure I'll improve. At the end of the driving time I wanted to get dropped off at the Fredericton mall instead of home (so I could get some lunch) and I did have to turn onto Prospect street and drive along that busy street for awhile, I think I did just fine. Last week Monica had called Sam and told him she didn't think it was working out and not to come back to work. Sam was shocked because she had led him to believe he was doing well and would be supervisor in a couple of weeks, but on his day off (Monday) called him and told him that! So he went out later that afternoon and handed out some resumes. Tuesday or Wednesday he got a call from his friend Steve (they had worked together at the Hilltop and Mikes) and he offered him a job. We went there last night for a late lunch. I had won $20 on a scratch ticket and $4 on another one, so I treated us out. He started today at 12pm. Later on tonight we are going to a party that my friend Victoria is having. She gave me her address and phone #, but I threw it out while I was cleaning my dresser off. I think I remember her address (not her ph #), but I'll call Alicia to make sure it's right before we go over. Alicia and I where making plans for today (emailing each other back and forth) but when Victoria invited us to the party, we decided that would be easier/cheaper. I have been painting the floor in sections because it takes more than 4 hours to dry since I'm putting the first coat on a little thicker. So far I have alittle over half done. While Sam and I were out Friday I bought another can of the Stoncoat (on sale for $10 less) and some clear coat protector just to make sure it stays on well without chipping. (and easier to clean) I did a section right before I went to bed, so it could dry overnight and I wouldn't have to worry about anyone walking on it. Well....lets just say Gizmo had something else in mind....I woke up and there were paw prints all over it! Not enough to wreck the coat altogether, but its a good thing we're doing a second coat to say the least. It gets me worried though because the paint gets on the bottom of her paws and she licks it off (she won't let me wipe it off cause she's weird about people touching her paws). I hope she doesn't get sick. I did my best to get some of it off last night.
I also got my spot in the shift bid. I am number 3 out of 5. My friend Joanne is number 1 and she already told me she is taking the 11am-7pm shift which there is only one available, then there are 2 shifts for 12:30-11pm (Mon-Thurs). So she gets the 11-7pm and even if number 2 wants 12:30-11pm, I will still get it as well. Numbers 4 and 5 get the 3-12am. I think I will be able to get it adjusted so that I can take the bus both ways and it is the same shift I'm working this mth! (11:4am-10:15pm), they adjusted my friends schedule a full hour so that she can take the bus, so 45mins shouldn't be a problem, I really like working four days on and three days off, it's nice. Gotta run.....:)

I went to the Fredericton Mall on Saturday to pick up some dog food, lunch stuff and these wonderful drinks called "Monkey" that mom and I had tried when she and Richard visited us. Well I went to Zellers at first, but decided dog food and lunch stuff would probably be cheaper at Sobeys. So on my stroll to Sobeys I noticed a new clothing store called "Urban Planet", so I stopped in. I have been trying to change up my wardrobe a bit and wear things that aren't necessarily the first thing I like in a store (more of the same things I already own). So I went in and noticed a really hot dress, it's long and bright (red, yellow, black, white and orange). So I picked that up right away, it opened on Friday and as a promotion it was buy one item get the second 50% off on everything. So I tried on the dress.....liked it but wanted a second opinion...so I peaked out of my dressing room and looked at myself in the mirrors outside the changing room...I noticed two ladies (between 40-50) and asked them if it looked o.k. They said that it looked great and I should get it. So I decided to get the dress and went to find something else. I searched and seen some things that I liked, but were a little to much like things I already owned. I did notice some funky looking shirts with a scoop type neck and a real flowing fabric in a nice orange color. I tried it on and it fit well. I also got a free prestige card for a year (20% off). They LC didn't have any of the Monkey drinks, but I was feeling happy enough about my new shirts, so it didn't faze me to much. I got home and had the house to myself (Sam was at work). I watched some t.v and wrote a blog post. He surprised me and called at about 9-9:30pm and told me he and Jilha were on there way to pick me up. We went over there for the evening, a couple of their friends from Iran were there as well. We all sat around drinking and listening to some music. It was a nice evening...the spoke persian amongst themselves a little to much though. That was the only downfall. Sam and I got up this morning and he treated us to breakfast at Hannahs. Later on when we got home Amir stopped and picked us up to go to a lebanese restaurant here in fredericton. I got a salad that was really good, to big though I brought 1/2 home for my supper.They both got some platters of some sort. We talked and ate until about 3pm, Amir and Sam dropped me off at home and then Sam at work. I had an appointment to go do 2 hours of driving 4-6pm, so I waited around and it turned out that the actual time was from 4:30-6:30pm. The guy who taught me in class (Shaun) is also my coach in car. The car that I drove in is a Honda civic, a nice little car, but very touchy. I had driven mom's cavalier and Richard's malibu before and didn't really have a problem turning, but I cannot turn in this little Civic. I don't know what the problem is....I can stay at the speed limit, stay on my side of the road, follow at a decent distance, brake o.k, but when it comes to turning.... I suck!! When we finally pulled into my driveway he asked me if I had any questions, I said no...just next time I would like to practice turning more. I also asked if I would always be driving the Civic or if I could drive the Cavalier that he has for training. Thankfully he said that I could try the Cavalier and that he usually drives it. Driving in the city for two hours is exhausting! (Now I understand why mom doesn't like driving long distances) I have my next driving scheduled for 11:30am-1:30pm next Saturday. Hopefully I can do better at turning. BTW I have noticed.....that I am not receiving any comments from Susan.....I wonder....have you stopped reading my blog?....Is it no longer interesting to you?........(sniff sniff)......do you not love me any more? (tear) :) Come on..give me something.

I really like working four days a week, having 19hr shifts. I was able to do so much yesterday. Sam had told me that the apartment was smelling really musty and nasty a couple of weeks ago. I have no sense of smell and had been oblivious to the nasty odor. I spent all day Aug 1/08 (new brunswick day) cleaning the carpets with my new steam cleaner. I did it repeatedly and thought that I had eliminated the odor. After busting my ass all day he arrived home and told me that it still smelled pretty gross. I was near tears after working so hard. We let it go for the week, becaue we are both working, and especially with my shift I'm gone all day. Yesterday however I was up bright and early. I stopped at the Dollarama and bought a wack of vanilla air fresheners . Right around the corner from the Dollarama is Canadian Tire where I bought paint for cement floors, like the "Hard Rock" stuff that you buy at Home Depot, but without being "Hard Rock"...I think it's called "Stonecoat". I got home and spent the afternoon tearing up the crappy/smelly carpet and putting air fresheners around the livingroom. Sam worked all day and then went over to Amirs for some going away party they were having. I don't know either of them that well and was pretty tired, so I opted to stay in. I had the apartment to myself...it was nice. I watched the movie "Be Cool" with John Travolta and Uma Thurman and just chilled out. Sam got home shortly after 1am, I guess not to many people were at the party, it was a last minute kind of thing. He'll get really bored now that his two best friends are moving away tomorrow. Jihla's moving to Halifax and Amir is visiting Iran for a month. He's going over there again after work tonight. We went to see the movie Hancock last weekend, it was really good. I just love Will Smith. We also went to Bootlegger and I bought us each a new shirt. I got a blue halter top for $10 so I told Sam that he could get a shirt for $10 as well. He picked a short sleave dress shirt with some interesting texture throughout it. It's nice to see him wear something different than a long sleeve dress shirt (which he wears every day with jeans and a fidora). I didn't make any plans for this weekend. I called Alicia last night, but she has plans for the weekend and I forgot Erica's phone number at work. I'm going to put some effort into making some more friends, I'm getting bored. It's kind of hard though, cause I'm always working. Oh well I'm sure I can manage to be alittle more sociable and start inviting people to go out. :)

What a long week! I never got to go home early at all this week, so I was upat 7:30am and went to school from 9-4:30pm, 5:15pm-12am was work. It made for a really long week, but I wrote my drivers educaion test yesterday (which I studied really well for) and it turned out to be easy. He had given us a review the day before (wednesday) and the final was pretty well the same thing. I had studied a lot of stuff that wasn't even on the test. Most of the people in my class were from the high schools and don't even have their permits yet! Only 3 of us in the class have had our 7-1 for more than 4months and can take our actual road test, he said that he would schedule us to do our in car training before the other people since they have to wait 4 months anyway to take their road test with the government. I'm very excited to be getting my license and a car eventually. It will make alot of things easier, especially since Sam wants to move next year. I'll be able to rent a truck. He starts his supervisor position Aug 11/08 (Monday) on the northside. I guess there is a bus stop right outside the restaurant pretty well. I was also pleasantly surprised to learn (last night) that "Georges Taxi" gives $1 off of their fares for people travelling to and from work. I have a three day weekend this week because of New Brunswick day, which is the beginning of my new schedule-so I get paid 10hrs! Then I work tuesday,wednesday and thursday and have another 3 day weekend. Anyway I gotta get ready for work. :)

I got to go home early on Friday! I was able to leave at 9pm. I got home and surprised Sam, we sat around and watched t.v together and a movie online. It was a nice evening. Saturday mom and richard came up to Fredericton for a visit, they rented a room at the delta and invited us to hang out for the evening. Richard treated us all to a wonderful seafood platter each and some bailey's at the delta restaurant. Mom and I had quite a buzz on, she had bought this martini type drink that was 15% alcohol and we just drank that over ice as well as some drinks called "Monkey" (which are really good) and a ceasar. We all ended up watching the show Punk'd for the remainder of the evening. It really is a funny show, I had never watched it before. Sunday Sam and I watched movies and t.v together again. It was a nice day, he made us supper as well. He's just waiting for the manager of mexi-cali rosa's to call and tell him when he starts and what his schedule is. He had to wait unitl today to get a reference from Monica. I checked my work email this morning and I have been scheduled offline to learn how and practice some coaching. That was pretty fast! I figured it would take a month or more for them to start training me to train other reps. I think that will be very nice. I start at 4:45pm, have offline work from 5-6pm and have a break from 6:15-6:30pm. So the start of my shift will go by pretty quickly. I start my drivers training one week from today! It is going to be so hard having to get up and be out the door by 8:15am!! I haven't gotten up that early in years! It will be worth it though to have me drivers license finally. Right now I sleep in until 11:30am-12pm! I'm going to have to start getting up earlier this week so that it's not a huge shock to my system when I have to next week.

I had a supervisor (mark) sit with me yesterday and listen/evaluate to my calls and how I handle calls. I checked my work email this afternoon and he had emailed me my results. He said that I am meeting expectations for everything and that I don't need to have as many calls graded as I am having done right now (10 per mth). He wrote that I am very polite and I have a calming affect on people. He wrote that I am doing a really good job and he feels that I am ready to help coach other representatives! I think that's pretty cool. I would get to be off the phones and listening in to help other people. :)
Sam went for an interview at Brewbakers today and he called me to say he has a second interview on Monday. They offer benefits and the guy said that they usually start people at $9 and hour, but with Sams experience they can negotiate. It would be part time to start out with, which would work right now because he still needs some time to complete the GED. There are chefs there as well, so when he does get his GED he would have someone that can sign off on the hrs required to write the block two. Then he would be able to become a real/certified chef. He needs to get back to work anyway, he's getting bored. He was talking to Monica at Pizza Delight and she pretty well offered him a job, but there are no chefs there, so it wouldn't be as good. Gotta run.....

I hate working until midnight!! It really blows! It was busy enough all day long (because they had sent alot of people home), but later in the evening it was really slow. They sent some emails around to see if anyone wanted to go home,but I didn't even reply to any of them. I'm a full time/flex customer service representative and my hours just got cut back to 35hrs a week for the rest of the mth. It's July and I reallyl rather not work 40+hrs anyway, but they made it so I start an hour later and still have to work until midnight, so if I do take a home early, I'm loosing out. I got home early last Friday and was off at 9pm! I came home and surprised Sam. We decided to go out to Nickeyzees to see the bands play. It was a really nice evening. Saturday we had decided to have a BBQ, so that I could meet some of his friends. We had about 8 or 9 people over for burgers and sausages. It was a really nice day. He and Amir had planned to go out and party somewhere, but Colleen (one of his friends from school) and I decided to stay in and play the nintendo and playstation. It was a really nice evening. She left shortly before 2am and Sam arrived home shortly after that. Sunday I had made plans to go shopping with Alicia, so we were up and out the door by 1pm. I had been looking at carpet cleaners for a couple of years now, and I went to check them out at Walmart. There was a bissel steamcleaner on for 89.99$!! I bought that and some cleaner and a couple of other things. It really was easy to assemble too! Three screws and it was together. I got home shortly after 5pm and Colleen called to invite me over to Jihla's apartment to hang out and have some drinks. I fixed myself something to eat and caught a cab over around 6pm. It was nice getting to meet them better. Jihla is moving at the end of the month to go to Halifax and she wanted to have a girls night out before she went. We made plans to go out tonight after work. I'm going to reply to the home early emails today, so that we can spend more time out. Jihla's working tonight as well, so I'm going to call Colleen when I get to go and she will come get me or we can figure out where we are going to meet.
Oh yeah....I was writing about how much I hate my shift this month, but we got our shifts for next month and I was number 1 so I knew I would get my first choice and I will have a four day work week (mon-thurs) 11:45am-10:15pm, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday's off! Woohoo!

I hate working this crummy shift! Yesterday was SO slow! There was almost a 10min wait time between some of the calls. It was crazy and boring. I did some return mail, but that gets boring real quick as well. I signed the home early book for today and tomorrow (I had a drive last night, so I didn't want to leave early and have to pay for a cab). My drive has Thursday's and Friday's off, so I have to cab anyway. At least if I get sent home early today I might be able to catch the bus.
Speaking about the bus....have I mentioned how sick and tired I am of depending on it? Well....I am so sick of the crummy bus system that I booked some time off (so I can start later and still be paid) to take drivers education! :) I am enrolled in with First Rate drivers ed to take a four day course from july 28-31, 9am-4:30m. By the end of this month ladies and genetlemen I will have my license!! Woohoo! It will make for some long days (9am-12am), but I'm not to worried, it's only four days. Then I can work on getting a car for myself and Sam (he's going to start saving to take drivers ed as well).

This week went by fairly quickly. Monday went by quickly enough and I got sent home early which was nice. One of the Team managers (Cindy) had some people doing off phone work on Tuesday, and I volunteered my services to her. She took me up on it and scheduled me to do offline work all day. It was awesome! I went in Wednesday and took calls until my first break and went to see her again (once again volunteering myself to complete the offline work) and she had me off the phones again. Thursday I think I took calls most of the day, but still did some offline stuff. Friday there was a BBQ at work, I had a cheeseburger and chips. Cindy booked me offline all day again. It was really nice. I was checking facebook a couple of days ago and in my status field had written that I was unhappy about my crummy July shift, working until 12am sucks! My friend Sari seen it and offered to give me rides home, she lives around the corner from me. She's off on Thursdays and Fridays, so I'll have to cab those days, but cabbing 2 days instead of 5 is great! I hardly see her anymore because we work for different gas companies, I'm terasen and she's source gas. I've decided to take Drivers Education a soon as they are offering weekend classes. I am really sick and tired of working shift work and having to depend on the really crummy bus system. Yesterday Sam and I went to Regent mall so that I could pick up some new tops (apparently he doesn't think I have enough sexy tops). I bought two new ones, one that he really likes and one that I really like, but he thinks both are sexy. I bought him two new dress shirts as well. Then we went and got some groceries. I called Alica and invited her and John over for drinks, John wasn't feeling well and didn't feel like leaving home, so they invited us over. Sam and I walked up to the liquer store and later on Alicia came and picked us up. We warmed up on some game called Mario Lego (for the Wii) and later we all played rock band. It's alot of fun. Sam and I called a cab shortly before 2am and it finally arrived alittle after. We had alot of fun. It was nice to stay in and drink instead of going out. (and cheaper). This week is a four day week, because I have Canada day off. I asked my supervisor if I would be able to start at 3:45pm instead of 3:30pm (just take 5mins off my 2 breaks and lunch to make up for it) so that I can take the 3 o'clock bus instead of the 1 o'clock bus (and be there 2hrs early). She said that was a reasonable request and to send her an email (that she would forward to staffing). I emailed her and she never sent me anything advising me it was approved or not, so I'm assuming it was and will take the 3 o'clock bus. Hopefully it's only for July (crummy shifts). The more skills a person learns the crummier the shifts get (or so it seems). When I was just billing, I never worked past 10pm and could always catch the bus. But when I got collections trained, my shifts started to really suck! People who have billing, collections and emergency have even crummier shifts. It really doesn't make a person want to learn. I get bored, so I like to learn new thing, but it's not really benifitting me that much. At least the shift premium will pay for my cabs for the two or three nights I'll need to take one. (7-12am is an extra $1 an hr=5$ extra). Sam stopped over Mikes yesterday to see a friend of his and Donna (the kitchen manager who initially wanted him and worked to get him back when he had left to return to the Hilltop told him to come see her some time next week). She is probably going to try and get him back. The manager that fired him is gone now. I told him to be careful, he was fired to easily and it doesn't speak well for a company when they just fire and hire whoever they please.

This weekend was alot of fun. Mom came up to get me on Friday around 6:30pm with her friend Robert from school. We went to this really neat restaurant around the corner from moms. I got chicken Pad thai and mom got vietnemese noodles in some kind of sauce I can't remember (or pronounce correctly). There was lots of each, so we just shared. Friday I got up around 7:30am with mom and talked to her while she got ready for work. After she left I had some coffee and got ready myself. It was to early to go to any stores, so I took Gizmo for a walk. Later in the morning I decided to go to Giant Tiger. I had bought a pair of black capris at the one in oromoncto and they are really comfy, I was hoping to get another pair in brown. I got there and they didn't have my size in the brown and all the other capris that I tried were to small, but when I went up a size they were way to big. So I decided not to get anything, but on my way out I noticed some mosquito coil things, so I decided to pick them up. While standing in line I was pleasantly surprised to see Susan and Cole at the counter to the right. She invited me back to her place to hang out while we were waiting for mom. First we went to moms and picked up Gizmo though. We hung out there until mom picked us up at around 2:30pm. We got packed up, drove robert home, and realized mom and forgotten her cell phone charger. We back tracked to the apartment and got it and were on the road again. We arrived at the boarder around 5:15pm, went to the liquer store and waited to get through. We got through around 5:30ish and started trying to find pleasant lake. We asked at the Irving, searched and couldn't find, asked some people along the road, went back to the Irving and bought a map, searched some more-followed the stupid map (we later discovered pleasant lake wasn't even on the map-but we had been driving to pleasant river lake-American's aren't very original in the naming of things), drove some more (it was getting dark and very foggy by this point), we pulled over at the next rest stop and mom said she wasn't driving any more. The restaurant and store att he rest stop were closed, but I could see some doors along the side of the building and heard mens voices coming from one of the doors. I went up to the door and knocked. An older guy opened the curtain and gave me a look and then opened the door for me. I told them we were lost, they took out some really good maps and showd me exactly where we were supposed to go. Mom came to the door and asked if they knew if any other rooms were available and another guy took her over to the owner's house to get a room. Shortly after mom and the owner were back and we had a room. It was sheer luck that we pulled over at a motel/camping ground. We were up early Saturday and got some breakfast at the restaurant and headed out. We had been on the correct road Friday night, but had taken a right instead of a left. We arrived at the lake shortly after 10am and Cole was in the water right away. There were two big dogs on both sides of the trailer, they were nice and Gizmo got along with them. We had a nice day sitting around on the deck talking. After getting to the trailer, we didn't want to leave until we were heading home, so we ended up eating some hot dogs and beans for supper, (the hot dogs were in the freezer, we had brewad and the can of beans was there as well), later I had some toast. I was able to get the guy next door to make us some coffee later as well. The trailers to the left and right of us partied and shouted probably well past 2am, but we managed to get to sleep after laying there. Sunday we were up bright and early again, Cole is alittle human alarm clock that goes off around 7-7:30am everyday. I haven't gotten up that early since high school! Sunday morning Susan made us all some scrambled eggs and mom made toast. We left about 2pm and arrived home around 4:30pm-it''s not a very long drive when you know where your going. Mom and I decided that it was easier for me to take the bus in the morning than drive again, I agreed. Sam had gone down to Saint John and called us later in the evening. He is coming home on Wednesday and will bring Gizmo home with him. I got home at about 11am and decided I would check my work email to see if there had been an email about home early. I called my Team manager, got the info about how to access my account and got her to sign the home early book for me. I'm just waiting to see if there is an email sent, then I can apply to not go in at all and it won't affect my stats. It would be nice to have an extra day off (and the house to myself!). Although it's 12:15pm right now, and no email yet......hmmm.......better go get ready then......

I got a crummy shift for next mth! 3;30pm-12am! My ride got an earlier shift and I can't trade with anyone because there are only 3 people in the shift bid. The other person with a 3:30pm-12 takes the bus too, so we are both screwed. I will have to pay 7$ every night for a cab! I'm going to put a note up on the message board asking if anyone drives around Regent St who also works 'til 12am, but there aren't alot of us. Boo to that!
I am excited however about this weekend. I booked Friday off and booked time off to leave early on Thursday. As far as I know mom, sue, cole and I are going to spend the weekend at Helens trailer in the United States. It should be fun, I am picking myself up some liquer. I think mom is coming to get me (and Gizmo) Thursday (I'm off at 5:30pm) and we are all going to leave from Saint John around lunch time.
Sam writes his exams tomorrow and Friday and then he is taking the bus to Saint John for the weekend. His brother is getting married Saturday. I didn't think I'd be able to get time off, so I told him I couldn't go....but then mom invited me to go to the States and I put some effort into getting the time off. I hope he's not mad at me (I asked him and he said he wasn't...). Anyway I gotta start work soon...

I have great will power!! I had signed the home early book on wednesday and got approved to leave at 9:15pm. I emailed staffing back and said that I would rather stay and work (my bus leaves at 10:20pm so I would have to call a cab, wait for the cab and maybe get home at 9:40-9:45pm. I really wouldn't be gaining enough time to make a difference. Thursday came and went rather quickly, and on Friday when I logged on at 1:45pm I was looking forward to the weekend. I got an email just before my first break telling me I could go home at 3:45pm. I was stuck in a call until 4pm, but then I logged out and checked the bus schedule-it said a bus was to arrive at 4:20pm. I went out and waited for alittle while, but remembered that my schedule is from 2007. So I started walking (thinking if the bus came I'd wave it down and if not I'd be closer to the mall and home. (I had wanted to pick up some 3M hooks to put pictures up). I stopped over at the liquer store and bought a big bottle of coconut rum for myself and some beer for Sam. It was around 5pm (I think, I wasn't wearing a watch) when I arrived home and Sam was pleasantly surprised to see me (since I came bearing gifts). He made us some Sloppy Joes for supper, they were really good! At Zellers I had seen an entertainment centre, but no price on it,so I had just passed it by. Saturday Sam and I got up and went to Zellers to buy it. We got there and found out it was marked down, it was only $59.95, down from 129.95! I spent all afternoon putting it together-easy to assemble my ass!! Whoever decided to put that statement on the box, obviously had never attempted to put it together before! There were a crap load of these stupid screws with locks that had to be attached after they were screwed in and placed in whatever panel was required for that stage of assenmbly! It was Crazy!! From now on I will be shopping for products that say "no assembly required"! It was a really nice evening though, Sam and I hung out together and had some drinks. :)

So....it's been awhile since I've updated...hmm....what is new? Well I love my new shift! I get off the bus and head over to work (rushing alittle) and log into everything and start work Immediately! No waiting at all!! AT about 10:12pm I get myself all ready to log out and close everything that isn't needed...Then at 10:13pm (my last break I only take a 12min break to make up for the 3mins I leave early) I log out and rush to the bus stop, which is really pointless, because the bus is always late, but I'm paranoid about missing it. Last Friday I got sent home early at 8:30pm, when I arrived home this time Sam was home. We went up to Dooly's and bought some beer and talked, it was a really nice evening. He even sat with me and watched T.V for awhile instead of just going to play his game. Actually I should give him credit, for the past couple of weeks he's been spending time with me almost every evening. I realized yesterday that I had a bladder infection, but couldn't get in to see my doctor until this morning. I came to work (feeling very uncomfortable) and Tracie (the team manager on duty) scheduled me for offline work until my lunch (so I could run to the washroom whenever I need to- which was quite often). Then my own team manager scheduled me offline until shift end!! It was really nice, I did return mail-which is just verifying addresses via canada post and calling people to make sure it's the right address. It doesn't take very long, so I could always run to the washroom. I had my appointment this morning and she gave me my prescription, I took it as soon as I got home and had to rush to get to the bus. I took some calls when my shift first started, there were no team managers available, but I went over to my team manager when their meeting was done and she scheduled me off all day again. Woohoo!! (I wrote this yesterday on my break at work).
Today has been really sunny and warm. Sam and I went to Delux for lunch and then stopped over at Canadian Tire to pick up some paint. I've decided to paint the livingroom, I hate the bland white. The color is called "Bamboo Shoot". It's a light color, not a beige, brighter, but not to yellowy. I think (*hope*) it might brighten up the room. It didn't cost as much as I thought it would, only 18.99$. Tonight Sam and I are going to Jungle Jims for dinner and drinks with Alicia and John. I have a bladder infection and I have a three day prescription......now this prescription is an antibiotic. Am I not allowed to have any alcohol this weekend? I read all of the information and it doesn't state anywhewre not to drink alcohol. Hmmm....I better google that before having anything to drink. Longer post later...:)

I am Such A Slacker!! The first three weeks of this month were only 4 day weeks for me (thankfully). Last week I had Monday off and went home early (they send an email around asking people if they would like to go home early and you can reply to it) on Thursday (using 4 hours of vacation time to cover my absence) and again on Friday (leaving at 10pm and using 2hours of floater time to cover my absence). This is my last (and only) full week of this crummy shift and I get to work thinking " I want to go home". I worked from 3pm-6:45pm today ( I was on my lunch when I got the email stating my approval to leave early, but didn't get back to my desk until 7:05pm (my lunch ends at 7:30pm). I suppose I'll have to stay tomorrow and Friday to make some money, but I figured it was a three pay month and I got my tax return so I can afford to leave unpaid without to much damage. Next week I start my new shift (that my Team manager adjusted so I can take the bus both ways) and don't think I'll be tempted to reply to those emails as much.
So I logged out of everything and called myself a cab. I got home expecting to surprise Sam, but he wasn't home when I arrived. I called him and discovered he was over on the Northside having some beer with a guy from school. I was disappointed, but it's been kinda nice to have some time to myself. Last Saturday Sam and I were out and I bought the game Shrek 2 for the PS2. It's a pretty good game, I can switch between Shrek, Fiona, Gingerbread man and Donkey all the time, using different ones for different things.
I was able to book October 21/08 off for the Madonna trip, which will be nice. BTW Gzmo does not have another Kidney Stone, woohoo!! She's just a wimp and is sensitive around her stomach since she had one, the vet said it's just psychological, there's nothing wrong.

This weekend was really nice. Friday night we went to Snooty Fox, Alicia and John showd up, but (I found out this morning) Joanne and eric ended up at Nickyzees. It was nice to get out on a Friday night, I spent way to much on Fancy named drinks. We got Nacho's and by the end of it the total came to $65. Saturday Jackie and her parents came to Freddy for her grad. We all ended up going to Mcginnis landing. We just had lunch stuff so it wasn't to much. I went to Jackie's graduation ceremony, but I left after she walked the stage (It was an hour and a half in and my chest was/is super burned). I didn't care about any of the other graduates anyway. ;) Sunday we didn't do to much. Monday on the otherhand was great!! I have already beaten Super Mario world with Princess Peach, but on Sunday I not only beat it with Mario, but again with Toadstool! I felt very accomplished all day!! Today is going by fairly quickly. I booked from 3-5pm off on Friday, so I can take Gizmo to the vets without worrying about being late. (and it's a Friday so the less work the better!). (this was written yesterday)
Today I found out that I did o.k on the shift bid and I work 2-10:30pm. I can take the bus to work and find another way home, but I might also talk to my TM about starting 15mins early and leaving 15mins early so that I can catch the bus home as well. It would be cutting it close (its supposed to get to the bus stop at 10:20pm, but it's always alittle late). Woohoo for not having the crappiest shift for the summer!! At least for June anyway, gotta log into all the crap for work, write later!! :)

So I got my position in the shift bid. I am 10 out of 15. It's an o.k spot in most circumstances, but in this case not so great. The first 9 shifts end before midnight and I would gladly take any one of those, but in less someone chooses a midnight shift. I as the lowly number 10, will be stuck with a crummy shift. BOO to that. However I am aware of one individual, Victoria that doesn't mind the later shift, so if she chooses that I will be o.k. (otherwise I'm screwed!). If I do get a crummy shift I think I will go to the human resource manager and tell her that this is the reason I didn't want to be collections trained. I have been here 8 months and there are new billing people that have better shifts than me. I'll just complain to my team manager and her and I'm pretty sure I can work it so I could get a better shift. I'm cute and I can use it to my advantage! (hahaha) Yesterday I went into my schedule planner and cancelled some days off in August that I had booked off randomly and went into the planner and requested to have Oct 22,23, and 24 off (so I can go to Montreal and attend a Madonna concert) and I was APPROVED!! Later when some more of my banked time actually gets added to the planner-it takes forever- I will request to have Oct 21 off as well. I'm excited, I've never been on a plane before and I've never seen Madonna (and likely never will again-although, maybe... this is like her 160 farewell tour isn't it?) :) Yesterday I did some off phone work!! I didn't even start until 3pm and I was off the phones until 6pm, then I only had to log on for 1/2 an hour because my lunch was at 6:30pm!! Woohoo!! I hate the phones..... and people.....people for the most part suck!! Today Sam and are meeting Alica & John, and Joanne and Eric at the Snooty fox for beer and nacho's, it should be a nice evening. Which reminds me I have to call and make some reservations. Saturday Jackie will be arriving, I am excited to see her (and meet Steve). Mom said she was thinking of coming to Fredericton, I'm not to sure how far that thought got, but it would be nice to see her if she can make it. I was at work the other day and Joanne (who also worked at Connect) came over and told me that we have to go to court some time in June, she showd me my name on the great big sheet of paper she had and it said that I was entitled to alittle over $500. That will come in handy. I have to get Gizmo some more needles next week and another ultrasound, I think she has another Kidney or bladder stone, hopefully this time we can catch it early enough to avoid another surgery. It's only benn 6mths since her last one and I feed her this expensive preventative food, what's up with that?! She should not have gotten another one this early! I should go straighten up the apartment and get showered and dressed....Oh and "note to self-buy an antivirus for the computer"....:)

I just had an introduction meeting with my team manager, everyone is scheduled for one, and I found out that I am #3 on our "team", which is mostly billing CSR's. I won't know where I'm at in the actual collections shift bid until mid May. She did say that I had a good score though (99). I'm still fairly confident that I will get a decent position in the shift bid. My friend Alicia is on the same team as me and is in the collections bid and I know I did better than her. The whole points thing is very misleading!! It doesn't really matter where I rank in the team, if we aren't in the same shift bid! Ridiculous! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I was pleasantly surprised last night when I received an email from my Team manager with the shift bid points. Last month our position was randomly drawn because we were the new class. This month however it is based on our performance. I am number 3 out of 18 on the shift bid!! I have never been that high before! Woohoo!! This means I will probably get my first or second choice in shifts and I won't be working until midnight (which really sucks). I couldn't beleive it when I looked at my position based on my score. I checked my ID # about twenty times to make sure I was looking at the right ID. I think I will purchase myself a new bike (with an awesome lock to prevent this one from being stolen). I will be able to bike to and from work all month, it will be really nice. I am very happy about having tomorrow off and going to Saint John for Lisa's going away party. Then next weekend, Jill from work invited a bunch of co-workers out to Jungle Jims to hang out. So far there are 10 or more people going, it should be nice. I have that day off as well. Jackie is coming to Freddy on Saturday for her graduation and to see me (obviously). I'm really excited about that, I've missed her alot. It will also be an opportunity to meet her new boyfriend Steve (a military firefighter) who has invited her to move to Alberta with him soon. Whoa!! I'm happy for her though, it's adventurous. Woohoo number 3!!......oops....sorry for getting alittle off topic there, but I'm excited about my kick ass position! :) The best thing about today, is that after today, I don't have to come to work tomorrow!! Gizmo has an appointment at the vets at 1pm and it's supposed to be nice, so I think we will walk down. After that we may cab home b/c I have to buy some more dog food (and it would be awkward to carry up the hilll). Upon arrival at the apartment we may hang out in the back yard for a bit (gizmo loves having a back yard!). Then I will pack my things for the weekend and await mom and richards arrival, mom said about 3pm (so they probably will arrive around 4pm) :) This will be a nice weekend, as well as next weekend. I should probably log into all the stuff I need to start work shortly....Happy Thursday!!

I was done the offline work in about 20mins, but since I was booked off from 8-9pm I just kept it open and went back and forth "reviewing" the slides. It was a nice day having the breaks. On my break I was sitting around with some friends and we started mentioning our shifts for next month. I told everyone that I had the 3-12am but I had a stupid hour lunch, Bill said that he would prefer that shift over his 3:30pm-12am with 1/2 hr lunch. So we tried to switch our shifts. We both sent an email to staffing and I wrote to my Team manager. My TM said that it was fine but we would have to make sure it gets done, the new schedule starts Saturday, so I ran over to ask Bill if he worked Saturday, and then I said "oh well, we're both collections so we won't work Saturday anyway" and he told me that he didn't work Saturday, but he is only billing. So that probably won't happen, we're in completely different shift bids. I was so hopeful and upbeat* and then it didn't work out, at least my hopeful mood was only about 10mins, otherwise I would've been more disappointed. Oh well

So I was alittle confused as to why I was on a waiting list when there were 17 hours available for july 8 and 10 so I asked a team manager (not mine, cause she's never around) what was going on. She told me how to refresh the hours to show how many were actually available. Turns out both days had -1 hrs available, so I probably wouldn't have gotten approved. So I cancelled all of my july requests and went into August. There were alot of hours available (even after I refreshed) for August 11-15, so I put a request in to have that week off and got approved for all 5 days right away!!Woohoo! Finally I'll be able to make some plans. I'm doing well on mario 2. Sam showed me how to warp on a couple of levels and now I can make it as high as world 6-the desert world-which I'm not liking very much (probably cause I can't beat it yet). Mom called me and asked me to book Friday May 9th off so that I could come to Saint John and help her clean, not my favorite thing to do, but it's mom, so I'll do it. I have Friday May 9, Friday May 16 and Monday May 19 off, even though I have a crummy shift this month (3-12am) I'm only working 4 day weeks for the first 3 anyway. It worked out quite nicely. Sam is doing well at school, I think he's enjoying it. This week is dragging...it's only Wednesday! Two more days to go! Boo!! I did get an email saying that I can go offline from 8pm-9pm to do some HR policy stuff (that I'm pretty sure I've already done, but will do it again to get off the phones for an hour). Also Paulette just came over and told me that I would be asked to logg off in alittle while to go to some sort of huddle, everyone in my area is going a couple people at a time, so more time off. Woohoo!

I arrived at work this morning and thought to myself, it's a beautiful day out I don't want to be here, so I signed the home early book (figuring I wouldn't get sent home at all and if they asked me to late I would have just said no). They usually email people asking if they want to go home and to reply what time they would like to leave and how they would cover it. The day was going alright and by 5pm I went on my lunch.When I returned to my desk to log back in, they had sent me an email telling me to log out at 5:30pm and go home, just send an exception to staffing adv of it. They just told me to leave, so I left!! By the time I got myself all logged out of everything and ready to go it was 5:37pm. The bus was leaving at 5:50pm homeward bound, so I just caught the bus. When I got home I figured I would surprise Sam and we could go do something. I got home and he was in bed taking a nap!! He got up to greet me and then returned to bed! He's tired getting back into the swing of school and homework. He has alot of work to do tonight, I'll let him rest then. He received another cheque in the mail today, so he's got more money for me!Woohoo money$$ We've decided to go to brunch at the pub on york and then to the market. Hopefully I'll be able to find some more Nintendo games. I've got my heart set on Mario Bros 3. Maybe I can pick up one of the guns because the other game Sam bought me has the oldest mario and duck hunt on it.I love my Nintendo! It glitches out while I'm playing it sometimes though. I'm going to see about having it cleaned. Off to play my nintendo again....chow!!

I was cleaning up the computer room this afternoon, I wasn't impressed at having to clean it because I has asked Sam earlier in the week a couple of times to clean it. I discovered a mug with about 10-15 cigarette butts in it and soot all in and around my desk. I was not impressed and called Sam to bitch at him for smoking in the apartment. We agreed 5 years ago that he wasn't going to smoke in the apartment! So I called him up and told him he would never guess what I had discovered while cleaning, he asked what and I told him about the mug. He apologized and told me that he had a gift for me, something I have been wanting for a long time. I had no clue what he was talking about, I don't want much and if I do I go buy it. He found me an original Nintendo!! I am so friggin happy!! He said that he also bought me 2 games to go with it! I have been wanting one for at least 2 years, but since they don't make them anymore they are really hard to find, so I had given up. I'm going to have to book a day off next week so I can devote it to playing Nintendo!! Hehe....aww.....Nintendo! Woohoo!! It is so nice in Fredericton all this week, today Gizmo and I walked to Tims and Zellers and I just wore a sweater.

I did get the 3-12am shift with an hour lunch, oh well it's only for one month. I've decided to take a week off july 7-11 and I have weekends off so it will actually be a 9 day vacation. I was able to use the banked time that I've been saving and had some vacation and floater time to cover 2days. I've been approved for the 7, 9, and 11 and I am #1 on the wait list for the 8 and 10. I'm pretty sure that I'll be approved, there's lots of time available, so there is no reason for them not to approve it. I'm taking a 4 day weekend in May for the victoria day weekend. Jackie is coming to Fredericton for her graduation, so it was a good weekend to book time off. I'm going to do taxes this weekend, I know...I should've had them done by now, but I had to call and get my T4 for Connect North America and I just got it (2 wks ago)....which I suppose is no excuse, but after working all week the last thing that I feel like doing on the weekends is my taxes. I wonder if that place "help for taxes" charges anything to get them to help out, probably. I should have a pretty decent return, if I get it before July, maybe I'll use it to treat Sam and I to a real vacation somewhere. Do I need a passport to fly within Canada? That would take some time, I'm sure we could work something out with the travel agency we book with. I was thinking maybe going to Toronto, I've never been to Ontario at all, maybe it would be a good choice. Any suggestions?
The lady from family services contacted Sam the other day and said that she is going to try and get him some extra money for transportation and living expenses! She be at school to meet him on Tuesday to get his signature for some things. So the government is paying for his $1800 program and giving him extra money!! He got his first EI cheque in the mail today, so I got some money he owed me and he paid his mom some money for his cell bill (that he doesn't need, but wants for whatever reason, silly man). I got home and he told me that he was going to go downtown to his buddy Charles' house to hang out for awhile. He also asked me if it was o.k if he went to Saint John this weekend. I told him it doesn't matter to me, but he has to make damn sure he's home Sunday, since he has class Monday morning. I'm so happy for him. He's been pretty happy the last week, everything's been working in his favor. I emailed Compu College about their pharmacy technician course and a woman called me about it and wanted to set up a meeting, but I told her I work full time and I wasn't available. She said she would email the info to me, but still hasn't. I hope she doesn't forget. If I were to take that course I would know absoluely what kind of job I'm qualified to do and have the training for something more specific. Stupid BA....learn to think for yourself.....gain a bunch of knowledge but have no where to apply it......challenge ideas....

I loved having a four day week last week, it was wonderful and just flew by! I also have a four day week this week, having booked today off awhile ago. Alicia from work also has today off to attend a dentist appointment, so we decided to drink and watch cartoons last night. Now I haven't watched any cartoons in years and was shocked to discover how inappropriate and sexually oriented they have become! We watched channel 17 and it was the Simpsons, 2 episodes of family guy and then we just watched TLC. Where are the cartoond for kids? Are they all japanimation now? Who knows!
So, on to my low position in the shift bid, thankfully Alicia is low in the shift bid 12/15 and offered to give me a ride home if we're both off at 12am, which we probably will be. Most early shifts only have one opening, the shifts that end at midnight have 5 openings! Which will mean that the people 10-15 will be working until midnight I would think. At least it's just for one month though, cause my collections calls kick butt(toot-toot), so next month I would think I would be higher on the shift bid. My team lead gave me alittle project to do while the calls were slow on Friday. She asked me to make up a survey to get to know the team better(favorite colors, foods, etc), so that was nice to be asked out of the rest of the team. She also called me on Saturday to see if I wanted to come in and make some extra money. I politely declined the offer, I'm there enough already.
Sam and I have decided that I should book a week off the second week of July. July shifts are only 7hrs on the calendar right now, so if I book now I'll only need 35hrs. I've already got 24 in my banked and I'm pretty sure I still have 13hrs vacation left. Sam went and did his testing for the program that starts next week today. I'm pretty sure this means that he got referred....he said that the woman at family counselling services (the one he needs for the referral) also said that she would help him get his EI, so he would have it the entire program period. If he can take another culinary arts program while he's got this lady's help I told him to go for it. This way when he goes back to work (working under an actual chef) he can clock his hours and take his test for his block two.
My ring that mom bought me when I was eight broke. I am really rough on rings. I've got to get the one Sam bought me reset, the stone in the ring mom got me put back in and to extend the gold band across the ring, AND the little diamond (that I already replaced once) replaced again on my ring like moms. Good thing I've still got some Regent mall gift cards. I'm just not getting any of the work done at the same place that replaced the little diamond and it fell out again, what shotty work!

I just didn't feel like coming to work yesterday. I rolled over before my alarm went off after a very nice sleep and though to myself "I don't want to go to work today", when my alarm went off I thought it again, and after hitting the snooze button to lay there and ponder my choices I decided to call in sick!~ I arrived at work this morning to discover that I still get paid for 60% of the day. On a bad note I discovered something that put a damper in the morning....I was completely wrong in my wonderfully ignorant assumption that by using my banked or floater time to cover when I leave early, that I would still be able to bank it as double overtime. NOPE!! Not the case apparently. I just noticed this on my online schedule. So I get paid for it, but only at 100%, instead of the 200% if I were to work it. BOO to them expecting that!! I was so proud of myself for outsmarting "the man". So, now I'll have to actually work the extra time to bank it. Today was really nice, I was taken off the phones from 1:25pm-2:15pm by a supervisor to listen to some of my calls, I didn't do well in any of the calls that they had chosen to record. I forgot to say the two tag lines that we are required to say (have I resolved the reason for your call? and thank you for calling terasen gas) and lost a wack of points for that. I was feeling alittle down on myself (they all were billing calls), but mark said that I was being to hard on myself and was very encouraging. Later on at around 6:30pm paulette sat with me and marked some of my collections calls. She said that I would have gotten a 100% on the first call that she listened to and that I did very well on the other calls as well. That had the rest of my day going nicer and I was cheerful all day long! My very last call of the night was a woman who had been disconnected for not paying her bill(now I know that I can't reconnect her without confirmation of her paying the overdue balance) but for some crazy reason I set up a payment arrangement and sent someone out there to reconnect her for 95$. That was a BIG mistake! I knew that I couldn't reconnect her when I first seen the acct, but as we got talking I got into a payment arrangement kinda mode and totally forgot what I was doing! I will be scored down for that! Oh well it's done now. I was having a really good evening, and I screwed it all up on the last call! Anyway gotta go watch some "Girlicious".

Now that I'm in collections I really like it. Probably more than I like being in billing. People who are calling the collections department are just setting up payment arrangements so that they don't get disconnected. They are pretty friendly to me (considering I'm their last contact before getting disconnected in most cases). I still get the sob stories about how they can't pay their bill and it's not their fault and they have 3 kids and.....I try to help them as much as I can, but when it comes right down to it...you have to pay your bills (period). People expect their phone or cable to be disconnected if they don't pay their bills (after repeated warnings and overdue statements-even phone calls reminding them), but for some reason think that we are being unreasonable to disconnect their gas service. Whatever. Now I don't have to deal with people calling because they think their bill is to high (because they don't think they used that much gas- I don't know what their basing this assumption on, but they believe they didn't use it). I never called NB power and disputed using more or less electricity than they billed me for!! I really don't understand what these people are hoping to accomplish by making these ridiculous claims!! I had a nice week at work. I signed the home early book on Wednesday and Friday and was fortunate enough to get an email telling me I could go. Wednesday I left at 9pm (only 45mins early), so I used 45mins of floater time to cover and banked that 45mins at double overtime for 11/2 hrs. Yesterday I got to leave at 7pm!! I did the same thing, used banked overtime to cover leaving 2:45 early and still was able to bank 11/2 again. I got home shortly after 7pm and Sam and I went out to a late dinner at the Hilltop. We had gone there last weekend for breakfast and I was surprised at how good their prices were, so we went there for dinner Friday. They have sweet potato fries which are really nice. This morning/afternoon Sam made us some omelettes. I've been banking all of my double overtime for awhile and in another week I think I might have enough time to book a 5days off paid. (+ I usually have weekends off). I suppose there are worse jobs out there. Anywhoo I think I'll go online and play a game or something since I have the computer for a couple hours.

I had a wonderful long weekend! I slept in on Friday and lounged around in my p.j's for awhile before calling mom to see if she would be up to get me. It wasn't the nicest weather so we decided that it would be better to come and get me on Saturday instead. I read all day and eventually got showered and dressed. It was nice. Saturday I got up around 9:30am and showered and got ready, had a couple cups of coffee and figured mom was probably at home doing the same thing (drinking coffee), so I figured I would call and see when she would be coming to get me. It was about 10:30am or around there at this point. I called and she said that she was about 5mins away from the apartment!! I nearly fell over with shock! It was great! We all had some more coffee (on the broken coffee maker, which thankfully didn't explode), watched some Girlicious and headed to Saint John about 11am. The drive was very nice, no deers! We didn't do to much when we got to Saint John. Richard was off at 7pm, so we made reservations to go to the Delta for dinner. Mom and I both enjoyed the buffet and some drinks and Richard ordered fish and fries (I think). Our buffet came with everything! I even left some room to eat dessert. I was never really interested in cheese cake before I met Sam, but now I always make sure I eat it when I'm out and it's an option or dessert is included. hmmm..... We were then going to go bowling, but got to the bowlarama on the westside and there was a wait to get a lane. We then decided to go get some movies and a game for the Wii at blockbuster. We rented sleuth, license to wed and braim academy (or something like that) for the Wii. License to Wed was funny, sleuth we didn't finish (sunday). Te wii game was pretty fun, just easy things but you have to be really quick at it. Sunday Mom and I went to Giant Tiger and bought some new clothes. I got some really nice shirts and a dressy skirt and matching top. Mom picked out some new tops as well. We had a reallly nice boiled ham dinner, there were enough left overs for me to pack a whole bunch of ham and vege's (I ended up forgetting on Monday though *grr*). Monday mom had to work so I lounged about with Gizmo for awhile and then headed down to Giant Tiger to buy a new coffee maker, since ours has been broken for about a year- and we've "fixed" it kinda, and return a couple fo shirts mom had bought the day before (she hates trying stuff on, I was trying Everything on and modeling too!-so I knew it all fit). I found an awesome coffee maker! It's got a timer and everything. I set it the night before and by the time I shower and get dressed I have a pot of coffee brewed and ready! It's wonderful and long overdue, it was only $29.99! Mom and Rich drove me home around 5pmish. I got home and decided to treat myself and Sam to dinner. We went to Hannah's and I had a turkey dinner. I worked 71/2 hr shifts for my "practicum" for collections, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then I go back to my 8:45 shifts Friday. It is really nice having the extra time not at work. Alicia has been giving me rides home while I get off at 10:30pm (the last bus is at 10:20pm) which is really nice of her. I get home before I would on the bus anyway. Tomorrow I have to get back into the longer shift (boo!!). Hopefully the summer shifts are more barable. Collections really isn't any more difficult than billing, easier in some ways. Sam surprised me and is making something for us to eat and wasn't even playing WOW when I got home. He went to service nb today for an appointment with a representative to get a referral for a program that he would like to take. He'll know next week if he got the referral, otherwise he would have to pay $1800!! For a 2mth program at that! Anyway it smells like dinner is ready!!mmmm!!

I had a really nice day at work yesterday. The calls were steady, but not relentless and all of the people that I spoke with were pretty friendly. I worked from 12:30pm-3:30pm and the time was just flying by. Kelly Levesque (the human resources manager) approached me at 3:35pm and told me to log out. She said that she had a reward for me to show her appreciation for joining the collections training when she asked me to. She booked me off the phones from 3:35-8pm doing back office work. Cameron(a guy from back office) showd me how to log some things on addresses where there is gas being used but no one has set up an account to take responsablility for the gas service. I didn't have to talk to anyone all day! It was an awesome break from the phone! When I logged on at 8pm I only had an hour and 45mins left of the day. Near the end of my shift I spoke with an older guy who said that I had the nicest voice and sounded like a sweetheart! He said that I was in the wrong line of work, probably assuming that people yell alot. I asked him why he thought I was doing the wrong kind of work if I have a nice voice, and he just said that I sounded like a sweetheart. I don't even remember what he called about. I think he was frustrated about something, maybe not getting his bill, but he kind of forgot why he called after he was talking to me for a bit. I told him that he had a credit on his account, but I probably should have verified his postal address. hmmmmm...oops!! Sam went to Saint John to visit his mom and dad this weekend, they wanted him to go down for some reason. Which means I have the whole house to myself! I can do whatever I want to! (including use the computer whenever I want to-not having to wait 3-5hours to use the computer is nice). I went and got groceries this afternoon and I did a good deed! A representative from the Fredericton food bank was around the fruits and vegetables and I asked him what the bags (on the table) were for, and he told me that you buy the 5$ bags of food and donate it to the food bank. I thought that was resonable and offered to buy one. I had a donair for lunch and it was delicious! I think Gizmo is cold since her hair cut, she stays on top of my fuzzy p.js on the bed all the time. I am so excited to have a four day work week for this week and next week. I still have to get ahold of mom to see if she and/or richard can pick me up on Friday or what they want me to do.

I was approached by a supervisor and she asked me if I wanted to be collections trained. I immediately said no, telling her that I don't like people yelling at me. She said that was o.k and approached some of my other co-workers. Alicia and Ashley said that they would do it and enrolled in the training class (4-12am). The hours for the training class weren't all that great for me either. I was talking with Alicia and she said that I should join the training class and offered to give me a drive for the training period. So...I was thinking about it and was later approched by the human resouces manager inquire to why I was so hesitant to join a collections skillset. She told me that it is mostly payment arrangements (which I know how to do) and getting people reconnected after being disconnected for arrears. She told me if I would give it a chance and hated it after 3mths, she would remove me from that skillset. We shook on it. So, at least I will be learning something new and know that I won't be stuck indefinately if I don't like it. I was unable to book today off, so Sam and I dropped Gizmo off at the groomers shortly after 10am and went to Second Cup before catching my bus. We both got a caramel coretto, nice but I probably only needed a small instead of the mediums I bought us. We then went to Mcdonalds and got some sausage mcmuffins. I caught the bus shortly after that. I really should start eating something in the mornings. I feel alot better when I do. But i am pretty friggin lazy when it comes to making something for myself to eat. I signed the home early book today, and actually got an email asking if I wanted to go early. I was able to leave at 8:45pm(an hour early) and just use "floater" time to cover it. I got home shortly after 9pm and Sam had left overs for me, which I love to have when I get home from work (it was a chicken pasta dish-very nice). I've been able to read my book for awhile and I'll get to wat Without a Trace. Gizmo is SO little after her jair cut. The groomer trimmed her down to almost nothing!! Even her ears are little, I usually ask that they be left kinda floppy, but I forgot and now realize how little her ears actually are. She is such a little dog! She's awesome!

My hope that I would be working less hours with the April shift bid opening has been foiled. I checked the shift bid and the only shift that works with the bus schedule will have me working 15mins more than I do right now. So instead of 8:45min shifts I will have 9hr shifts. Boo to long stupid shifts!! When I applied for this job it said that they hours would be from 35-42. After training I've never worked less than 44 and up to 47! I am really getting sick of being there ALL the time. I'm there 44 hrs this month and probably 45 next mth. I have enjoyed having weekends off though. Yesterday Sam and I spent the whole day together. We got up and went to brunch at Hannahs and then headed over to Zellers to pick up a few things. When we got home we had coffee and watched some t.v together. It was really nice. Today we watched some t.v together and Sam made us some scrambled eggs and toast before he started to play WOW. I cooked a roast for dinner and made some fries and gravy to have with it. We were out of potatoes, so I settled on fries. The reason BTW that I don't update as often as I used to is because I'm not allowed to post at work (I'm there all day), and when I get home I don't want to look at a computer after sitting in front of one all day. Sometimes on my breaks I write a post and email it to myself intending on posting it when I get home, but I always forget. Sam and I also stopped at the bulkbarn while we were out yesterday and got some treats. Sam got some chocolate covered coffee beans and I bought some chocolate covered rasberry creams. I've had a nice relaxing weekend, it's been nice to lounge about and do whatever I want (even if it is nothing!). I tried to book this Thursday off as a vacation day, Gizmo really needs a hair cut and the veterinarians office/groomers is not open on the weekend. It would be nice to have a day off as well, maybe go see a movie or something. Hopefully I can get approved Monday and be able to call. I gave them more than a weeks notice that I would like the day off and I checked the group allowance and it had the least amount of hours in the negative. I don't know if I wrote this last time, but I was checking the online message board for my skillset and it turns out that I have the entire Easter weekend off! I knew I would have Good Friday and had tried to book Monday off, but the message board said that we have it off anyway! Woohoo! It will be nice to have a long weekend. I get paid that Friday too, so it should be a nice weekend. The message board listed all the days that we get off for stat holidays and there is one almost every month until Christmas time. March is Easter-April I booked April 14 to have a long weekend-May19 (Mon) is victoria day-June-nothing but maybe I could work something out- July 1-Canada Day(Tues)-Aug 4(mon) is BC day (I work for terasen gas who supplies BC)-Sept 1 (mon)-labour day-Oct 13(mon) Thanksgiving and Nov 11 (tues) Remembrance day. I also booked the week of Christmas off and have been approved for Dec 22, 23, 24 (on waiting list to be app), 25-closed, 26 closed and approved for dec 27th as well. With weekends off that will give me 9 days off this year. I wish I could get a 9-5pm job though that would be nice. Oh well, nothings perfect! :)

As many of you know I have been on a search to find ear muffs for quite some time now. At Christmas I requested a pair from a couple of people, but no one could find them. Last week I called a cab and when it arrived I shared it with another girl that I work with. We spoke on occasion, but don't sit near one another. I had noticed for some time that she had a pair of ear muffs (purple with green poka dots). I had always wanted to ask her where she bought them, but the opportunity had never presented itself...until then. SO I asked her where she got her ear muffs. She asked me why (probably thinking I was going to make some kind of smart ass remark about them), and I told her that I had wanted a pair since Christmas but had been unable to find any. She laughed and said that her mom had bought a whole bag of them and she had an extra pair at her apartment if I wanted them (she said they were pink leopard print- not my first choice, but beggars can't be choosers). I told her I would appreciate it if she could find me a pair, it would be great. I didn't see her at work for a couple of days. Today I went on my first break and when I returned there was a pair of ear muffs sitting on my desk!! Thankfully she had found me a pair of beige leopard printed ones (you can barely notice the print). When I saw her later and thanked her for them. That made my day alittle nicer. In general my day went by pretty quickly...3 days down...2 to go....I'm on the home stretch now! This Saturday or Sunday I am going to try to remember to go buy some fancy hot chocolates. I just have regular hot chocolate left now....and once you've experienced the luxury of after eight hot chocolate and wonderful white hot chocolate, and the creamy dark hot chocolates that I got for Christmas (thanks mom!) I just can't go back to the regular stuff :)

I got off at 5:30pm, but the application I was using was acting up and it took me about ten extra minutes to finish what I was doing, so I was a little late getting done. Mom and Richard were outside waiting for me, it was pretty awesome for them to be there right on time. (having grown accustomed to waiting for mom, it was a nice surprise). We had planned to go to a movie, but by the time we finally got into Saint John we changed our minds and just stopped at Sobeys and Richard ran in and got a rotisserie chicken and a couple different salads. It was all very enjoyable (thanks Rich!). We all sat around and watched a couple of shows before Richard went home and mom and I crashed in the bedroom. Gizmo on the other hand thought that her apartment was dangerous or something and "guarded" all night. It was kind of cute she was sitting in the hall between the front door, livingroom and diningroom when I went to go get her. Saturday she went over to Richards and was allowed to bark and run around the yard (he still keeps her rope there for visits). Mom and I went over to Susans so I could play on her new WII (Richard bought it for her birthday). I was doing pretty well playing the mario game!! At 5pmish mom, Sue and I all headed over to Vito's to meet everyone before we went to the wine tasting Red Cross fundraiser. We were the first ones there and were later joined by mom's friends gail and doug and then Richard. We had a very nice dinner. Mom went to bring her car home and was later dropped off by Richard. while gail, sue and I headed to the Delta. Sue and I stuck together drinking the most expensive white wines we could find. I think the first one that we drank ( my choice BTW) was the best! I chose it because it had a funny name, cookootama. Gail left at some point and Sue and I were joined by mom. It was crowded and we got sick of being there soon enough and also left early. We walked back to moms and sue went back to her place at about 9pm I think. It was a really nice evening and the walk was enjoyable. I got a much better sleep on Saturday without Gizmo barking at everything. Mom and I woke up at around 10am and had a coffee before calling Richard. We went to Cora's for breakfast, but it was packed and there was a line up so we decided to go to Buckaneers for steak and eggs. Mom was able to do her laundry while we ate and while Richard and I drove over to pick up Gizmo. The weather was nice, so the drive was alot nicer than it had been on Friday. Mom and Richard were kind enough to stop at Zellers so I could pick up some groceries. I'm set for another week. It has been brought to my attention that I state that I am going to make a coffee or hot chocolate or something whenever I'm concluding my posts (which I always do and is truthful) however some people (it seems) don't like this or find it repeatative. So tonight I will just advise you that this is the end of my post, I may be going to go do something, but I won't tell you what! hahaha! :) So there!!Post is Over!! :)

I am such a problem solver! I looked up online all the information about unjust dismissals and how to log a complaint against your employer. Sam is doing that today. I typed up a letter explaing the whole story about Sam going in and then leaving because he wasn't feeling well. Added in there that he left before his shift had even started, allowing plenty of time for them to call someone in if necessary. I also made a reference that he has been employed with them more than 12mths but less than 5yrs and is entitled to sick time. I also came up with a way to go to Saint John tommorrow. I get off at 9:45pm, way to late for anyone to come and get me, so I applied to use some of my banked time to get off early. I was number 2 on the waiting list to be approved so I knew I would never get approved. I emailed the head of human resources and explained that it was my mothers 50th birthday and that I really would like to spend time with her for her Birthday (adding that I would start earlier if I could leave at 5pm-5:30pm). She emailed me back very quickly and asked if I would start at 11am and work until 6pm, with my lunch from 5:30pm-6pm, so i could still leave at 5:30pm. I told her I would start whenever she wanted me to. Problem solved!! Woohoo!! We are going to see the movie Vantage Point thsi evening. Richard is even coming! I hope he can stay awake in the theatre. Write later :)

We had a very nice anniversary. We went to BrewBakers for dinner at 5:30pm and had brie for an appetizer and steak for dinner(mom had mentioned they had good steaks- she was right). After dinner it still wasn't time for to go to the theatre (which I was able to keep a secret until we called the cab at 7:20pm. Sam was very surprised when I said the Playhouse, he had thought we would end up going to a movie. We got to the theatre alittle early. We went to the counter to pick them up and they had my name printed right on them! It was great! "The Blues Brothers Revival" that we saw was very entertaining. It ended at 10pm, and we could not get an answer from any of the cab companies (they were so busy b/c it was raining so badly). We ran over to the Tim Hortons on the corner of Regent and King and went in. They were about to close (at 11pm) and we still couldn't get ahold of anycabs. Sam ventured out into the rain to see if he could hail a cab while he tried to call cabs on his cell. He eventually was able to wave one over and he was kind enough to give us a drive. We got home at 11pm and just hung out for abit before going to bed. Thursday I woke up and kept hitting my snooze button, which in turn lead me to sleeping in past the time to catch my bus, so I cabbed it to work. Work went by quickly and I had a pretty nice day. I got home and Sam told me that he had gone into work around 4pm (his shift started at 5pm), wasn't feeling well and decided that he couldn't stay and work. He tired to call the kitchen manager (Donna-who has been a real bitch towards him) , couldn't and just ended up telling the dining room supervisor that he was going home. I went to work Friday and when I got home he told me that Donna had fired him for leaving (before his shift even started) saying that he shouldn't have left. He was very upset and I told him that it was o.k, we would file a complaint against her with the labour board (I think we can do that, I'm going to call Sue and ask her about it later), and he can file for his unemployment. That was not right for her to fire him. She didn't have the right to fire him! He always goes into work early, covers for other people when they want time off or call in sick. That's not right. Mom says that we should be able to get severence pay and his vacation pay. He's never taken any of his EI before, so he has lots built up. We decided that he should go back to school and take some upgrading and classes while he is able to get his EI. Mom said that we should type the whole story up, listing the dates and times etc to have a record I guess. He decided to take the bus to Saint John tonight to go home for his brothers birthday. I'm going to type it all up and he's going to go to the labour board first thing Monday when he gets back to Fredericton. This may be a blessing in disguise, he was very unhappy working there since Donna took over as the kitchen manager. This way he can take some time off and take classes at NBCC or something.

I've been having a really nice weekend. Friday I was off at 9:45pm and called a cab instead of waiting for the bus. I got home really quickly. I walked up to meet Sam at blockbuster when he got off at 11pm. We rented disney's "Ratatouille", we ended up waiting until Saturday to watch it though. Saturday I got up (after sleeping in until 12:45pm!) and caught the bus down to the vets office to return the super expensive canned dog food I had bought for Gizmo (which she stuck her nose up at). I walked over (noticing the empty parking lot) and got to the door, where there was a large closed sign. I couldn't believe it. Apparently they are only open mon-fri, when I'm at work. There was however a woman sitting inside who noticed me at the door and came over. She seen the great big bag of dog food that I had and was kind enough to let me exchange it for the dry crunchy dog food that she likes. I got 4$ back because they wet food is more expensive than the dry. So I was feeling pretty good about the day and went over to Victory Meat market to pick up some groceries while I was downtown. While at the cash I noticed a sign that said 5% off for students and asked the cashier if that was everyday or just specific days of the week. She said it was everyday and proceeded to give me the discount (assuming I was a student! woohoo) I then called a cab which arrived quickly and got home and unpacked the groceries. I had picked up some pickled pork ribs and decided to make that for our supper. They were SO salty. I like salt (on some things more than others) but these were crazy salty! Good, but salty. We watched Ratatouille later in the evening, it was pretty cute, I enjoyed it. I read for awhile (I just completed the "half blood prince" for a second time and have now begun reading the "Deathly Hallows") and Sam played WOW until I don't know what time because I was already sleeping when he came to bed. We got up this morning and went out for lunch at Hannahs. We've been going the last couple of weeks for breakfast, but we both got lunch today. He then went to work and I picked up some soup for my lunches and went to the Dollarama for a couple of things. I think I'll go have that coffee I started brewing earlier and read for a bit......chaio!

I am so excited about our anniversary next week. This year is my turn to make the plans and treat us (Sam did last year). I have been making plans and reservations left right and centre!;) I love planning stuff, it gives me something to look forward to. It's all going to be a big surprise for Sam as well. I've been making the reservations for stuff at work, so he won't overhear a thing!! I'm not going into any detail about my plans on my blog until after our anniversary, just in case he checks it. It's next Wednesday, so I booked the entire day off again. So I get a short week again. It will be nice. I work from 12:30 to 9:45pm now, but I still take the bus and arrive at 11:30am and catch the 10:30pm bus, which really sucks. Oh well...it could be worse I suppose. Actually my friend Joe started working here recently and he offers me drives when we gets off at the same time. Monday he got off at 8pm and was going to be in the area when I was done at 10pm, so he dropped by to pick me up and drive me home. Last night I used some floater time to get off at 8pm instead of 9:45pm and he gave me a lift again. Drives are so much nicer than waiting for the bus. Almost nice enough to make me want to take drivers education. But that is pretty expensive and owning a car isn't cheap either. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I get paid Friday and I think I'll try to remember to cash my birthday presents :) I really have to remember to buy hot chocolates while i'm out shopping though (I'm frighteningly low). I really never appreciated hot chocolate until recently. I think I'll go make myself one come to think of it.

I had a really good day at work yesterday. Most of the calls were people just asking for balances and due dates and they all were very friendly. I arrived home and noticed that I had received the "Juno" soundtrack that Lisa had made for me (thanks). I haven't listened to it yet, but I'm sure I'll like it. I also noticed that there was a letter from Service New Brunswick, I was pretty excited to see it already (I wasn't expecting a letter for another month or more). I opened it up and it said that the interviews had been completed and I had not been added to the inventory. It went on to say that I should apply for future opportunities if I feel I have the skills needed. I was disappointed, but now that I've had time to reflect on it, I'm not as disappointed. I think that they didn't add me because I wanted a full time, long term/perm position. I probably wasn't as flexible as they want. I don't want a job that only guarantees me 12.5 hours a week (part-time) or a term position, where I'm unemployed again in a matter of mths. I suppose there were people that were willing to take those kinds of positions. Whatever...I have an O.K job for now and I'm going to keep looking. maybe if I apply for another government position in the near future I won't have to take the testing again since I just took it. Alicia and I went to Walmart yesterday before work. I got alot of junk food. I also got a great caramel machiatto from starbucks. It was really nice to do something other than work. Broke the week up alittle bit. I'm looking forward to the weekend though, sleeping in...watching movies....eating some junk food....mmm.....weekends!