Life at the Speed of... Life!

The new school is great! Ray is having a blast. She's so tired at the end of the day, it's a miracle if she makes it to the city limits before she's asleep in the car! She's learning so much, and making great friends. It's sometimes easier days that others, but for the most part, she's having a really great time.

She decided to cut her hair short like me the other week. I think it's to be more like her girlfriend, but it's sweet to hear her say, "Do I look like you?" Her school pageant is on Wednesday - a matinee which we can't attend, and an evening show which we all will. Then the church pageant is on Saturday at 4, and then a potluck supper. The preschool's pageant is the following Wednesday, following a breakfast with Santa at Ray's school. The Silly Season is upon us! I think she's coming down with a cold, but I dope her up in the morning and she gets through the day.

Greta is doing well - she's still in her tantrum mode, but is getting better at peeing on the potty. If only she'd be more consistent, but she's so stubborn, it's hard to get her to buy into the whole thing. At a family dinner on the weekend she was saying "no!" and my step-mum said to Sailor, "I guess you can relate to her as you're both the baby of the family," and then Greta started slamming her chopsticks on the table and my step-mum continued with, "But I see some of Mary in there too..." Gee... thanks! Ha ha.

I was at Ray's school for their Bazaar the other weekend and for giggles I saw the psychic. She told me stuff that she could not have known. Suffice it to say, it looks like I'll be taking that medical release in 3 years or so and teaching. Then Dad showed up. How do I know this? Because she said he showed her his engineer's cap and mimed blowing a train whistle. There's no way in hell she'd know that he was an engineer. No. Way. So, we 'chatted' and said we loved each other and I cried, and blah blah blah. I miss him so much, every day.

Sailor's course is nearly over. He tanked his physics exam and has a re-write on Wednesday morning. He's nervous about this. I really hope he passes. He's supposed to go to Ottawa next week, and I think it depends on if he passes the re-write or not. He wants to go, just so he can use the leftover TD money to get a scope for his gun for Christmas.

I'm on leave that week, so we're going to be busy while he's gone.

I've also been loaded onto my 6A course out in Borden (north of Barrie) starting the 12th of Jan. I'll be flying out probably the 10th and leaving around the 18th of Feb. There'll be me and one other Master Seaman. The rest are P2's, so they'll be in one building for quarters, and we'll be in another. No worries though. I usually have a good time in Borden, but I've never been in winter. I'm going to freeze, I can tell. My extra TD money will either go toward the car rental... or school fees for the girls so we don't have to suffer in the spring with it. I'm so thoughtful :-P

We haven't told the girls yet. After the New Year we will for sure. Gotta get them through next week, then Christmas first.

I'm looking forward to seeing friends and family again, for sure. I'll be able to get my MIL's cross-stitch finished for her birthday in March and maybe even a couple more done. I'll be able to write up the lessons for the course I'm supposed to be teaching in the new year (ha, that won't happen now), and will be back in time to hopefully run a course at the church over Lent. I'm also searching for an adult tap class to keep my skilz up while I'm away.

Sailor has to take time off while the ship's at sea in Feb, but that works out great because Ray has a week off for mid-term break during that time.

So... this week's flex:

Tues: work/school. Tap class.

Wed: work/school. School pageant.

Thurs: work/school.

Fri: work/school. Potluck supper for a friend. First night of Channukah!

Sat: Sailor leaves for Ottawa. Dance class, groceries, laundry, prep for Sunday's MK Open House, and Church Pageant!

Sun: Church, MK Open house

Next week's flex:

Mon: Drop off Greta, read to Ray, do MK stocktaking, pick up girls, candle light service at Ray's School.

Tues: drop off girls, go into town: chiro, passport, Pier 1, Lifestyles Market (gotta find the bathbomb recipe!), Sleep Country, Lush & Sears, pick up girls. Dance? Only if I can find a sitter.

Wed: Breakfast with Santa for the girls at the School, then take Greta to her pageant performance! Do more MK stocktaking and inputting. Bake some stuff too.

Thurs: Drop off Greta, Read to Ray, finish inputting. More baking.

Fri: Sailor comes home! Drop off Greta, read to Ray. Early dismissal. More baking before getting Greta.

Sat: Hair cut & colour!! Wheeee!

Endings and Beginnings

What an interesting month it's been so far. The weather has turned now, so it's definitely the end of fall and an early start to winter. It's the end of one school for Ray and the start of another.

I had taken Ray into school a couple weeks ago and on her school's community notice board were two 'official' looking "why not to inoculate your child against H1N1" sheets. Now, I know that it's a place for parents to put up their info, and if there had been even one "pro" sheet, I probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. But for some reason, I lost it. I resent being told how to raise my kid, the sheets were more fear-mongering than informative.

So I called the local private school and there was one more space open. It's a co-ed school from JK-4, and then it's an all-girls school. There's a large equestrian programme in Grade 4 too, and if we're paying a shwack of money anyway, may as well get French 3 times a week, Japanese, music and IT... We save money on groceries too as she gets two snacks and lunch. True, we have to pay for bus twice a week and after school care twice a week, but work will allow me to truncate my hours as long as I do some work from home and even the odd Fri/Sat night when required.

When Greta starts next year, we will get a 20% discount on her tuition, and it'll save us money from full-time preschool too. And when she starts K the year after, she'll be a returning student and then won't have to pay a new-student enrollment fee.

It's a winning situation all around.

I feel guilty though, leaving a school that Ray really likes, and nice people. But it's similar to Communism - great in theory but lousy in practice. The total parental involvement there was taking up a lot of our free time with the girls, and as it is, our time is limited. At the new school, they welcome parents, but don't demand them.

I also lucked out and was in the right place at the right time to get nearly a full uniform for Ray from someone whose kids don't go there anymore. Winter rain coat, cardigans, jumpers (one will be too small by the spring, but will fit Greta next year easily), some spring shirts, shorts, tights, socks, scarf, gloves and toque. The rest go to the school's Uni-cycler where they get sold at a large discount. The first day (August I think) that they open for next year is the day to go to get the smaller sizes that we'll need for grade 1, and we will be there early for sure!

Ray will know her teacher from church, and her best friend is in the class, as is another girl she dances with. She'll take the bus twice a week with her dance friend and I'll drop her the other three days. She'll be in out of school care twice a week, and I'll have to leave work an hour early the other three days. Sailor will have to find someone to carpool with as driving the Pathfinder full time is quite expensive.

We're waiting on our tax info so we can apply for a bursary. If we get one, that will help our money situation quite nicely as well, and perhaps we can expand the bus and after school care days if they cancel each other out.

On the work front, I've been told to pass a fitness test so they can promote me. I'm now taking many opportunities a day to do pushups on various surfaces.

I need to get promoted and sell Mary Kay each month to keep my kid in school. Ha ha.

Sailor's nearly done his course - mid-December it's over. He'll be back on ship then, and standing at least one duty watch over the holidays. I'm taking from mid-December til the start of January and Sailor is taking from Christmas Eve til the middle of January. I'm supposed to work NYE too. Not my cuppa tea, but I'll get $16/hr for it.

So Ray starts on Tuesday. I have a couple things to pick up from the old school on Monday as well as dropping off some MK to a customer before taking Ray to the preschool for one of her last times in the afternoon.

Tuesday will be a drop-off and some forms to finish at the administration side, not to mention delivering the $2200 deposit. I nearly fell off my chair when I read what it would be.

But worth it for my kid's education.

Happy birthday...

to me! Yes, I'm the big 4-3 today. Whoo. Hoo. Three years ago I had a newborn. Five years ago I had a newborn. This year... I have a kindergarten-er and a pre-schooler. Gah! Where does the time go?!

I keep screwing up at work, but hopefully I'll figure out who I'm supposed to call and who I'm not. If I have ANY friends or favours by the end of this gig, I'll be amazed.

Tonight I'm doing my second Adult Tap class. It's interesting so far - only one class in - but I hope to tone up a little bit as the 'mandatory PT' is kind of hit and miss lately . Tomorrow I'm supposed to work out. Instead, I have a Gala Ball committee meeting at 12 then at 13 I'm going to training on how to administer pee tests instead of working out. This takes me to 4pm, which means that Sailor has to find his own way home after work tomorrow so that I won't be too late getting the girls from preschool. As it is, I'll be lucky to get there by 5pm tomorrow because of the shitty weather, the lateness of the hour, and the traffic.

Other than that... things are okay. Not spectacular, but okay. As long as I don't keep screwing up too much, maybe I'll get through this.

This week's flex:

Tues - work, adult tap

Wed - work (meetings, training)

Thurs - work, work out, kid's swim class (just waiting for Greta to get sick)

Fri - work

Sat - Ray's dance class, OctoberFest party

Sun - Church

Add in laundry, etc, etc. Blech.

And another birthday over. Mind you... my present this year is pretty cool - U2 this year!!

Blah.

Ray's 5th birthday is tomorrow. We had her party today. It was a raging success. Greta's 3rd birthday is Wednesday. Her party is Saturday. I hope it'll be a success.

Ray's doing so well in Kindy. She's making great friends and losing her headwear.

Greta is firmly in the terrible 3's right now and is frustrating everyone around her with her obstinacy. Don't know WHERE she gets it from (ha!).

Thanksgiving will be interesting: my step-mother, my mother-in-law, Sailor's niece and her boyfriend, my friend A (who watched the girls while I was in Merritt), her husband and his sister and A's daughter.

Got a Mac Mini now. Love it. It's taking some getting used to, but for the most part, I'm loving it.

Work is going to be a shitstorm tomorrow based on what happened last night which, although it's not my fault, because the buck stops with me, I might be back to being a Supply Tech in the afternoon. We'll find out I guess.

This week's flex:

Monday - Meetings, then work out in the afternoon. Maybe have a job, maybe not. Oh, and selling one of the gates too. Ray's birthday, so she picks the supper.

Tuesday - Meetings, then picking up a pair of tap shoes (hopefully they fit) for my adult tap class that night.

Wednesday - Meetings, then work out in the afternoon. Greta's birthday, so she picks out supper.

Thursday - Work out in the morning. Girls' swim class that night.

Friday - Trying to leave a little early. I have loot bags to buy for and to make up for the party tomorrow, and I have to pick up the cake too.

I have to figure out how to control my temper, find the right words, and keep my chin up. I'm having a rough go of it all right now. Fighting with my 3 year-old, bitching at Sailor, saying stupid shit to my boss.... I might just take the medical release and call it a day in 3 years after all.

The down position

My life is a series of ups and downs. The ups are REALLY up (wedding, kids, etc), and the downs, while crappy enough at the time, aren't all that crappy all things considered (unless you count Dad passing away, but that was really it so far).

Well, right now, it seems I'm in a down rotation right now. Every word out of my mouth is worth of eye-rolling, snickering, or sighs of exasperation from friends and strangers alike. I'm getting the shit kicked out of me at work every day it seems, and even though I try not to take things personally... sometimes I can't help but wonder why on earth I wanted this new job so badly.

Ray loves Kindy. She's not crazy about the 06 wake-up time however. Greta's having a blast in preschool again. She too is resistant to the early rising.

Sailor goes to work tomorrow. Well, on course, technically, but he's stuck in a classroom for 8 hours a day for the next 12-15 weeks. At least he's not sailing til the spring.

Swim classes got shifted a week to the right due to an injury on the instructor. Ray did her first dance class - well... she watched it mostly. But that's okay. She'll warm up again. I hope. Greta danced though.

This week's flex:
Sunday - shopping and movie with a friend
Monday - work (mess meeting. yay.)
Tuesday - work.
Wednesday - work.
Thursday - Ray goes to the school camp for the day. Then we all have swim lessons. As long as Sailor gets home by 4:30. Somehow.
Friday - work (boss's afternoon. yay.)

I'm going to check out the tv listings and see what's on this week. It's pretty shitty when Vampire Diaries is the only thing that cheers me up. Well... that and Gord Ramsay's tirades on HK.

The Rain In Spain...

is falling here because Sailor has two weeks left before he begins his 6B's and the deck that never ends is still going on. So far, he has one set of railings up, the deck covering on, and one coat of sealer. He wants to put up 7 more sets of railings, 4 glass panels, the railings for the stairs and another coat of sealer. Uh huh.

Oh, and he has a wee cold too, so that's laying him low and out of commission.

Ray starts Kindy tomorrow. I have convinced her (I hope) to wear the outfit I purchased her when she was about 9 months old. I'll be taking lots of photos tomorrow for sure.

This week's flex:
Tues - Kindy for Ray, Preschool for Greta. I got part of the forenoon off so I can drop them off and get all sobby. Then I have a Beyond Transitions session which has restarted for the fall.
Wed - I was supposed to have lunch with a designer, but I'm starting my professionally led workouts that day, so I have to reschedule. That'll be swimming from 13-1400, then upper body from 1430-1530. I will pick up the girls a little late on Mondays and Wednesdays now.
Thurs - I'm going to try to work from home today. I have job descriptions to write, and letters of appreciation for the Committee, not to mention that pesky final assignment for my marketing course. That way, I can do the family picnic with Ray at her school, and then get Greta in time for her dad to take her to the Backyardigan's show in town for the afternoon.
Fri - The cleaners are coming! YAY! I have a workout from 0830 - 0930 (lower body), then a forestry memories opening in the afternoon, and choir practice that night. Hopefully my boss gives me the afternoon off.

Things are going to get busier as the fall wears on - we have signed the girls up for swim lessons on Thursday afternoons RIGHT after we get home, so that'll keep us busy til November. My Adult Tap lessons start in October on Tuesday nights, and Ray's dance classes start the same day as the Church's annual garage sale which I'm singing at. Yeesh! Busy enough?

There's No Place Like Home

Well, he's home. Finally. The ship came alongside around 0930 on Friday and my Mother-in-Law came with me to help herd the girls. Got some good photos of the whole thing too.

So he's mowed the lawn and dug up the dead plants in front of the fence, is working on the deck, and has hung out with us for a while. It's all good.

I, on the other hand, have gone to the spa for a 20 minute appointment, went to a kick-ass concert we threw at the Club on Saturday night, and am trying to decide how many clothes I REALLY need for my weekend at the spa.

Turns out it's just going to be me. My two friends won't make it for dinner on Friday, and my best friend can't come on Saturday due to an emergency with her in-laws. So... it'll be me and the laptop this weekend, listening to music, getting a start on my marketing final assignment, and reading and doing logic problems... oh, and surfing too! I have a dinner booked on Friday night, a massage, pedi and tapas for Saturday, and an open house at my cousin's on Sunday before coming home that afternoon. I should find a decent book or two to bring along.

Of course, I'll make sure I'm home AFTER the kids and hubby leave for the picnic - say... around 4ish. They're not expected back til 6, so that'll give me some time to relax at home.

This week's flex:
Tonight - maybe meet with a customer tonight.
Tomorrow - stop into work to sign my monthly chit, dinner with some friends in town.
Thursday - chiro
Friday - swing by the church to get a cd from the priest, go to JJ's where we're having Ray's birthday party to pay the deposit and pick up invites, hit the resort! Dinner in the dining room.
Saturday - massage, pedicure, hang out in the mineral pool, tapas for dinner.
Sunday - hit the mall for clothes for the girls and a gift for the cousin, then the housewarming, and home.
Monday - girls to preschool, day for me and hubby alone!
Tuesday - back to work!