Cookalong

I'm still waiting. sigh.

But there isn't much more I can do. In writing an email to my potential employer indicating that I'd changed my primary contact phone number, she replied (at the time, which was last week) that they were "making their decisions this week, and will be letting people know next week." It's next week now. Tuesday. If I don't hear anything by Friday night, well, I'll know I didn't get the job. But I'm trying to think positively. THINK POSITIVELY.

In the meantime, I was watching the movie Julie and Julia yesterday. Later, I saw a commercial for Gordon Ramsay's Cookalong Live. A three course meal that you will make along with him on tv, and will be totally done in an hour. So, with a couple of friends (in lieu of a fancy dinner out for Christmas) we're going to make this meal. Pasta for the appetizer, steak and potatoes with peas for the main, and tiramisu for dessert. Wish us luck! I'll let you know how it goes!

The show's on tonight, but there will be a couple of repeats. If you're interested, go to globaltv.com, or follow THE LINK

Happy eating!

Waiting Takes So Long!

In my last post, I commented on how I feel like the waiting period between my interview and a potential call back has been terribly nail-biting.

But I wasn't sure exactly how long I'd been waiting. So I went into my "sent" mailbox so see which day I sent BCCH my references. That was the 25th of Nov. Today is Dec the 9th. It's been 14 days. Minus the 4 weekend days, There have only been 10 eligible days in which to contact and interview my references. I had been thinking I'd waited at LEAST three weeks. Turns out it's only been 10 days. Oh, how the days roll on like dark molasses having been in my freezer!

So I suppose I'm still within normal range. Hopefully, I'll hear something by the end of this week. Truly, it would be the bestest Christmas gift of all!

Pause

I'm just waiting.

I did my BC Children's Hospital interview some time ago, sent them my references, and now I'm waiting to hear something (anything) back from them. This whole process has taken so much longer than I had originally expected, but it's this last bit that has me concerned. I started in on this in October, spoke with a recruiter in early November, did the interview late November, and now it's December. I suppose I didn't mind so much that all that other stuff took so long because I knew at least things were moving forward. But now I'm at the end of the process, and each day I wait I start to have more and more doubts. Will they call me? Would I have had the job in the bag if I'd done a better interview (even though I've already worked on that unit before!)? Did one of my references not give me a good reference?

Of course, once you get onto that train, you start to have lots of crazy thoughts. What if I don't get this job? I won't have worked as a nurse since May. What if nobody hires me because of this? I won't have enough RN hours to renew my nursing membership! What if I'm just not cut out for this? What if this is all a sign and I should just do something different?

Not really healthy. But one gets antsy after sitting around for months - literally- without any firm prospects or guarantees of work. Knowing (through the magic of social network sites) that all of your peers are working and being successful doesn't help either. Just makes you feel less competent.

And at least my significant other has an excuse. With the economic downturn, there just aren't as many jobs for engineers. Companies aren't hiring because there isn't money for new projects. So he knows it could be a while before he's gainfully employed.

What's my excuse? There isn't one.

but if I don't hear anything from BCCH by the end of this week, I'm going to make a call. I'd at least like to know if they've struck me off the list, or if they're just getting their ducks in a row before they hire me.

So, I'll wait.

The Season Begins

I don't think I was in it until this week.

Maybe it was because I didn't realize I had cabin fever this week and I needed something to break the funk. I don't currently have a job, or a car, or any real money, so my life lately has been made up of knitting and watching tv and seeing friends for coffee. (The friends are good, but the venure needs to change, I think...it's just more sitting). People who are normally very busy and have active lives get tense and a little nutty when they are made to sit still for too long, and after some confrontation, I realized that I needed something better to do with my time. Being that I'm broke during the Holiday Season, I decided it was time I put my efforts towards creating something great for my friends and family for Christmas. But how? Needs to be cheap. Needs to be cool or beautiful or meaningful or useful - something that won't get tossed January 6th. Needs to be within my talent range. Needs to be creative (nothing bugs me more than when people "craft" - they buy all the pre-made supplies at the store and assemble a craft, rather than CRAFT a craft. Like the scrapbooking industry...but I'll not get into that). So I've at least got something to keep my brain busy. Good.

In addition, I've been looking for places to volunteer. If I can't work, I can at least spend the time doing something productive. At this time of year, most volunteering comes hand in hand with Christmassy events. Like Operation Red Nose.

Basically, I'm getting into Christmas. That means I'm not as lame right now. And I feel busy, and productive and useful. I feel like I have things to do. People give you the stink eye when you sleep in until 11 (or 1130....or 12... even though by that time you've had 12 hours of sleep) every day, but upon reflection, you realize that it's not because you're lazy, it's because your body says "Well, what the hell else were you going to do? Watch tv and knit? oooo. Sleep, idiot." Not that I care about the stink eye, but sleeping like that really isn't healthy.

So, I toom Martha Stewarts 2009 Encyclopedia of crafts out of the library (GRR, EVERY Christmas craft book was on loan.). I have volunteered for a couple of organizations. I have made plans.

Now it's time to get out of my jammies.

Oh Hay,

'Sup?

Where you been?

Where have I been?

Dublin, London, Amsterdam, Brugges, Arras, Paris, Basel, Interlaken, Venice, Florence and Rome.

No biggie.

Lemme know if you want to hear more about that trip.

But it went well. Was gone for 5 weeks. Loved being away, but I was definitely glad to come home to my own shower and my own bed and clean clothes every day. Clean clothes was definitely a bonus. I'm still feeling like it's a luxury I'm getting used to.

And while I was away, I became engaged. On top of the Swiss Alps. Beautiful. That's all I can say to describe it.

And then I started thinking about what it meant to be 'engaged.' If you look at the word out of context, what does it mean? Engaged. I've started something. I've started something and now I'm fully loaded. What does that mean I was before? disengaged? I wasn't in it? Just doodling around? Now I'm supposed to start something....although I'm fine with what I've got and I don't want to change it. Of course I want to marry the guy, but I don't want to change what the relationship is....if you get my drift. Or maybe I've got "foot-in-mouth" disease and I should have just deleted those last few sentences....

So in addition to chronicling my life as a nurse, I have a feeling this blog will include snippets of the engagement stage and wedding plans.

But I don't have any yet. Yeesh, I don't officially have a job yet. And I still live with my parents. (Though I'm sure there are some people left who prefer not to live in sin beforehand...) So I can't start planning because there's no way I could make a budget. If I knew my budget right now, I could start things.... I'm feeling like there won't be any nuptials until summer 2011. That's just because I'd like a summer wedding, but I'm not sure I could get things in order in only 6 months without any money....

Do I have a vision? No. I don't think I've ever had a real vision for what my "dream wedding" would look like. I've mused about what a beautiful wedding would look like, but none of those ever really pertained to me. Sort of like "All of these things would be beautiful, but they're not me, per se." Dresses. Dream on. I don't think I've ever thought of what I'd like to wear, and I feel like I'm a million years away from choosing. A few people have suggested that I go to Bridal Fairs, but frankly, they intimidate me. All these vendors telling me about what my wedding should look like.....though I guess if I don't know what I think my wedding should look like, who's to say that what they're suggesting isn't what I want?

But that's crazy.

Mike wants a pig roast. I'm ok with that. Just as long as he keeps his beer swilling and sloshing for his Stag Party.

At least for now I don't feel so ashamed watching all the wedding shows on TLC anymore.

Aside from that, I have some good news on the job hunt front. I have an interview with BC Childrens' Hospital tomorrow at 130. It's in the same unit where I did my final practicum, so I'm pretty confident that I'll get the job, but one never wants to count their chickens before they hatch. It's not where I really want to work, but if it'll get me in the door, then I'll take it. I'd rather work with kids in Mental Health than no kids at all...especially since I applied to other hospitals and haven't heard anything back yet...

I'll let you all know how it goes tomorrow.

The aftermath

I realized I haven't posted in 10 days. Sorry guys, I've been busy.

For reals, though.

Since my last post, Mike's come to Millbank. We went to see Macbeth at Stratford, and worked at getting ready for the auction before my aunt, uncle, and dad came to Millbank. That's when the real work started. On Sunday, we all got into our work clothes and started in on getting all of the stuff (a lot of junk, but lots of diamonds in the rough) out of the house, the shed and the workshop. There was a LOT. To try and create a mental picture, imagine that you have an area the size of a soccer field. Then put 4 haywagons full of stuff on it. Then lean other stuff on the side of the wagons. Then fill all of the remaining grassy spaces except for a few walkways. That's how much stuff there was. Oh, and we filled the garage with all the old radio stuff, and the driveway with more stuff (but mostly the lawn tractor, the Model A Ford, and another car in parts) It was a lot of work.

On Friday night, Mike and I went to see another Stratford show: The Importance of Being Earnest. Quite funny, if I do say so myself. I'm glad I booked those tickets because Mike needed a break from the "work camp" to do something fun and totally unrelated.

Saturday we had to get up early. We still had valuable items to display, and other things that wouldn't have fared well outside overnight. Plus, die-hard auction people (old car guys and old radio guys) were there well before the auction start time of 10am. The group of us had to work during the auction, too. We had to hold up the items for people to see, and run the tally sheets back to the "office" for the cashiers to deal with. And they decided to go with 2 auctioneers simultaneously in order to get through everything. Even with two auctioneers going for 5 hours straight, we finished it all off at 4pm. And the auctioneers never stopped. There were only two of them, and the main one, Bill, never had a break and never had a chance to eat or drink the entire time. He just talked and sold stuff. And he wasn't even horse at the end of it!

Me, I was exhausted. We were all exhausted. We'd been putting in long days of hauling big boxes and shop stools for a week. It was finally finally over. *sigh* except for the clean-up today. There was a fair amount of stuff that didn't sell, but it's all stuff that can go to the scrap yard or the garbage. Thank goodness for good neighbours lending a hand. Mike and I walked over to Anna Mae's to get a take-out chicken dinner for everyone. Real good food. And then, after dinner, we pretty much all crashed. Zonked out.

And I woke up this morning to realize that I'm going to Europe in 2 days! I haven't had time to get really excited about that!!

p.s. My dad ended up buying the 1997 Buick LeSabre for $600. He and my mom are going to drive back to BC. All summer I've been looking for a car but they've all been too expensive. And then dad buys this one from himself (pretty much) for cheap! blarg.

Gotta get back to work. The yard won't clean itself and I really should be helping...(but my feet huuuuurt.....)

EXCITED!

Today is like Christmas, except instead of a Blastoise Pokemon card at Christmas, I get my hunny back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_phU1coQCU

That's how excited I am.

Free Play

Hi kids!

I'm not going to lie: I was spurred on to do this because of something I saw on tv.

And since none of my other friends in the blogosphere have bothered to post anything, I'll do you all a favour and entertain you! :)

So I was watching TVO (for those of you not in Ontario, it's "Tevevision Ontario"), and they show a lot of documentary type shows. Yesterday, one of the featurettes was about the de-evolution of children's free play time. That children are being super-parented and their time is so strictly managed that they have so little time just to be free and play - alone, or with other children. Free play time is seen as frivolous because you can't evaluate the results, whereas you can directly see how a child improves at soccer practice, and ballet, and hockey, and basketball. It's harder to measure the social skills and crativity being developed when children play together without direct parental supervision and control. They say that children now have a "play radius" one ninth of the size as children did 20 years ago. Like, say, a child now is only given the freedom to play in their backyard now, where a child 20 years ago might have played around in an entire neighbourhood. I know I had at least a kilometer or two - especially once I became a fierce cyclist! Just as long as you came home in time for supper!

So, after that I got up off the sofa. I walked out of the house, and decided I was going to walk down the street. I didn't bother to put shoes on. Bare feet. I didn't even know where I was going to go when I started out. I just let it evolve. I wanted to be silly, and think about having some time to explore like I did when I was younger. So I walked down to the bridge over the Nith river. And I walked down the side of the grassy bank and checked out the water. Too muddy for me. So I walked along the river, through the thick grass. I totally didn't care about not wearing shoes...except for the occasional thistly weed. And then I came to a spot where I realized I couldn't go any further unless I crossed this small spot of water. So I did what any kid would do. I rolled up my pants, and I started across. And then I saw...

A FROG!!

but not quite as dramatically as this. The frog (or toad, probably) was just little. But I thought 'I wonder if I can catch him!?'....I made an effort, but I'm not as proficient at frog-napping as I was when I was 11. He hopped off, and then I had to continue on with crossing the water.

I walked for a short time, and realized that the water I had crossed was actually where the river had just narrowed (seems silly that I wouldn't have guessed that before, but the river was windy and the grass was tall). So to get back home I'd have to either walk up to the major road and cross the river on the highway bridge....in my bare feet, or find a way to cross again. Thinking that I was out of luck (the river was easily 20 feet across), I started for the road. But then I saw a sign off near the water, and I couldn't read it from where I was, so I went over to it...just being curioius and all... And right near the sign (that said "no trespassing"), there was a small man-made dam. Perfect for walking across to get to the other side. It was muddy. I let my toes sink into the mud, and then I squished them around. I forgot how much I like that feeling. gooey and gross. So I get to the other side thinking that I can walk right up to where the P.G (playground) is. But once I'm across, I see that there's a barrier. Tall grass. Taller than me. But the other option is to go past where is says no trespassing.

Long grass it is.

But I did OK! There were some spikey bushes, and more thistles, but I manage to get to the park alive! So I swing a little on the swing. But then I remember the swings are older than I am, and worse for wear, so I jump off and go looking for more mischief. Now, a long time ago, the community planted a bunch of trees near the park. I remember when they were planted, but now it's like a thicket. I start to walk around this mish mash of trees, and I see that whoever mows the grass at the park, has mown a path through the tall grass and in and around the trees. New adventure. It's not a long path, and it leads right back to the playground, but it looks like it'll be fun for sneaking around at night. And I bet I'm not the only one to think that. Also, there are tons more spikey weeds, so I have to spend more time watching where I step than where I actually am.

And just off the side of the path, I can see where another path is being worn in. It leads to the other bridge (the one over the highway), and probably under it, to where the young boys go fishing. I'll have to explore that path another day.

And I felt silly, and fun, and young to be just out there and exploring and not having a purpose to what I was doing. It was entirely un-grown up. I loved it. I loved having muddy feet. And catching a frog. And traversing muddy waters, and rocks, and mysterious paths. And absolutely nobody there telling me that I was being childish.

I hope kids get to feel like that.

Today...?

Today is banana bread made in the bread maker while listening to Josh Groban CD on my Uncle's sweet stereo system. Also, pulling down all the family photos and taking them out of the frames. They've gotta be put somewhere. But I guess it's not as hard work as mom's task for another day: pulling all of the boxes from the attic. There are a LOT of them. haha.

I'll tell you how it goes.

ps, bb - I'm going nuts! see you soon!


And in Lieu of a recent dream, I was reminded of Twilight. So here are some pictures from a Vanity Fair photo shoot that I love.

Another Random Pictures Day!

Somewhere in Cuba.

Buddy Daver, after snorkeling, on a catamaran, in Cuba. Good times.

Mike playing soccer at UBC. I like to think he's about to headder the ball of light.

Ostriches! My very first ballet recital where I got to wear a real true tutu!

I've always loved this picture of my mom and my aunts. Three sisters wearing three silly hats!