House Sitting Story #1

Aside from the Interior Design experience, education and things I've accomplised listed on my resume I think I should add a section for the, now, expertise of house sitting. To follow in line with my gypsy-like character of every changing jobs and home I have had the opportunity to look after many a home over the last few years. To which this past year being the year of all years to brighten up or fine tune my skills of what is all required of someone when asked to look after a home.

When I was young and naive about the role I thought it was a fantastic place to be. Who would not want to 'look after' a house and be paid for it?? I mean, really, the house just sits there and you just live your life in another setting for a short period of time. Oh my, was I EVER wrong.

Over a year ago I had just gotten back from a wonderful cruise with memories that will last a lifetime and offered to help Terry and Muriel Harkness while they went away on a trip of their own. At that point I was so glad to be able to help someone else so they can enjoy a trip like the one I just had so by all means....go! The first week went 'as per usual' and life was fine except for the terrible white stuff on the ground and the minus temperature's that make your nose hairs freeze but that's just out of anyone's control so just get used to it. Then......sigh.....it almost brings back tears just opening up this vault that has been closed for so long.

Then - one night I was arriving home from somewhere and the room to which I was residing in was located in the walkout basement. I do remember it was a workday because I had been gone since the morning and when you set your eyes on what I was about to experience every minute counts and retracking my steps is ever so important. So, I figure I have been gone for at least half a day (if memory serves me correctly) and when I had taken my last step and landed on the ground floor fear and trembling swept over me. Along with a rush of FREEZING water. Panic set in, socks were wet and almost my pants at one point!!

I had made a quick call to Jeff (their son-in-law) who just so happened to be in the area at the time and came over to help. Thank goodness!! Since the thermometer had reached minus 'insane' weather one of the water pipes to the house had frozen and cracked and the remaining water being pumped into the pipe was now all over the basement floor. With our socks and shoes off, and pants rolled up Jeff and I moved couches, tables, cabinets, carpets, and underlay. We swept, shoveled and pushed, that's right PUSHED water and ripped out baseboards. I would honestly say we were in a few inches of water that was covering our bare feet and to remind you again....it was freezing. We had to take breaks once in a while to let our feet thaw out while the other would push water down the drain located in the back room.

Once half of the basement floor was exposed we could still see that the water wasn't diminishing from underneath one of the walls which was when Jeff had to rip up the baseboards to see why the water was literally streaming into the house. He then realized it was the hoseline outside or the pipe to the underground sprinkler system (I can't remember which but at this point its all the same thing) that was causing the grief and turned off the line to the outside.

I was so thankful that Jeff was there to not only show me what to do in a crisis situation but also to show me where the shut-off valve was to the waterline. For some reason, I knew I would have to have that tidbit of knowledge in the future.

Lessons to be learned: Turn off your hoseline in the fall before winter comes when living in Calgary, know where the shutoff valve is for the waterline and always bring a pair of rubber boots to someone's house when house sitting. I still haven't learned that lesson yet which I should've by now! You'll see when the stories continue.


To be continued.......

Men?

Thought I'd resurrect this ....just cuz I think it's funny ....and I like to laugh.

1. The nice men are ugly.
2. The handsome men are not nice.
3. The handsome and nice men are gay.
4. The handsome, nice and heterosexual men are married.
5. The men who are not so handsome but are nice have no money.
6. The men who are not so handsome but are nice with money think we are only after their money.
7. The handsome men without money are after our money.
8. The handsome men, who are not so nice & somewhat heterosexual don't think we are cute enough.
9. The men who think we are cute, that are heterosexual, somewhat nice and have money are afraid of commitment.
10. The men who are somewhat handsome, somewhat nice and have some money and are heterosexual are shy and NEVER MAKE THE FIRST MOVE!!!!!
11. The men who never make the first move, automatically lose interest in us when we take the initiative.

March 27th Birthday Girl

Today is my friend Hope's birthday. We've known eachother for almost a decade now but really didn't hang out till about 8 yrs ago. Our friendship has grown stronger and stronger since then and I'm so thankful to have a friend like her in my life. We've had our ups and downs, tears and laughter.

Hope, thank you for being such a dear friend to me. I will always remember the road trip to Kelowna together with Willow and Hunter which should only take someone 7hrs to drive but we took 11. I'll remember when Willow was sitting in your lap and we had to shove her down the front seat when the police car drove past. We've had some great moments and I truly appreciate the times we've shared when things have been really tough.

You are a caring person with so much to give. You reach out to those that need help and go the extra mile when needed. I think you have a true gift of creating ideas when things need to be accomplished and for motivating me to do the many things I have done. You've given me confidence and support when I needed it.

Thank you for showing me what the extent a friend will go to for someone when times are tough. Most importantly, thank you for laughing at my jokes.

You'll always be my friend....you know too much.

The Constant Nomad

I decided to entitle my blog this because I live it, am it and I'm starting to think I know no other way. To be short and sweet about it:

I moved here during the Stampede of 1999 (don't ask me why I decided to move at that crazy time since I had no idea what Stampede was - oy!), since then I've had 9 different places to live (in two different provinces) and have had 9 jobs and now looking for my 10th. Although, to give myself a little bit of credit, I've technically been laid off (now) 3 times so that was more of a forced move. And in regards to my housing situation, I have lived in 3 different places for the main purpose of transition till I would find something permanent (meaning, only being there for one month).

Gosh! The word permanent seems so strange to come from my lips. Permanent? What is permanent? I feel like me moving here has (helped?) change me into someone that needed to learn how to be flexible or teach me like the old hymn states - This World Is Not My Home. I AM just travelling through. I know I like to travel and discover new worlds but maybe I've been living it longer than just this past year with my worldly travel.

I'm just getting used to this 'blog life' and also my writing style so for me to expose myself....well, I'm not afraid cuz if I have something to hide I just won't share it and it can remain in the pages of my personal journal, not for the world to see. Who knows, maybe no one really cares! But with the above statements and facts, I'm really at a loss as to where I am to be.

Obviously this whole losing my job has kicked me into high geer for contemplating what I should be doing and I know I can't carry this on my shoulders as to weigh me down but I am retrospective on this journey I've taken as a whole. Did God build me for constant wondering? and wandering? Did I move around for fear of something? DO I move around for fear of something? I just assumed that I would be married by now and have a family. Not that I've really sat down and imagined it (like some females that have image boards and have picked out their dress and flowers before they found Mr. Right), I just sort of thought that that was the way the norm was and I would follow suit. Am I not the norm? I know people comment on the happenings of my world with travel and such. Trust me, I know I have been blessed to have the opportunities I've had to do the things that I wouldn't have been able to if I were married and with a family.

Do you realize that Moses wandered his whole life? Moses had 3 different settings in life; 40 yrs in Egypt with a family that he wasn't born to but rather found in a basket and taken in by Pharoah's daughter, 40 yrs in Midian where he ran off to (to which he named his first son Gershom, which means 'stranger in a foreign land'), and the last 40 yrs to be the ultimate -wandering in the desert. I wonder if that's why God considered him the most humble man. Moses truly knew what it meant to long for home.

So, what does this all of this confusion mean? Well, I'm still trying to figure it out but I thank God that there are examples like Moses that show me that I'm not alone, people have experienced this before, and if I still feel at a loss I know that God is with me.

Underwear Story #1 - Taquila

Yes, that's right I have enough underwear stories to entertain that they need to be numbered! Sad....but true.

A few years ago I bought a pair of underwear and upon bringing them home I emptied my purchases on my bed. When they fell out I noticed the sticker on them that typically would say 'Inspected by #10' had another sticker that looked a little different. As I looked closer the sticker had a music note on it! What?! A music note?! Yes, a music note. Well, obviously I hadn't inspected the undergarments as closely as I thought, but, heck - they are underwear.....no one is looking at them but me!

I finally found the little metal music creator sewn in a little fabric square along the waistline, which I guess is protecting it from water and soap since I have washed them (obviously) and they still work. So what does the music sound like? What song does it play? Yes, of course,....it plays the PeeWee Herman song Tequila. Sing it with me now....de, de, dede, de, de, de, deeee (repeat). Now, upon discovering that these are no ordinary undergarments I don't exactly wear them all the time. I used to designate them as the - 'I haven't done any laundry and I've literally got nothing to wear underwear'. Which, that has happened once in a while but since my last 'incident' I pretty much just keep them in my drawer to which I can say that I do have singing underpants.

Now, the incident happened at one of my previous jobs and with my manager's manager and to whom I haven't really seen since. One day I was working away on a project and my manager sits right beside me but his manager came by my desk to see if we could meet in one of the small meeting rooms to be appraised of the current project. I collected my work and proceeded behind him to a nearby room and sat down. At that point nothing had happened and wasn't even thinking about what I was wearing since it wasn't really applicable to the task at hand. Not until.....well, I don't remember if I coughed or had my arms crossed and pressed into my stomach or SOMETHING but sure enough....Pee Wee Herman jumped out of his cage! Fear and trembling came over me and I tried to cover up the Tequila song with a coughing attack and trying to clear my throat and even to the point of me trying to talk louder to explain my productive work to a man sitting a foot away from me! Thankfully the song didn't last long but it did seem like forever and considering we were in a 10x10 office with not even the mechanical system running...it was pretty quiet in there.

Whether he heard it, I'm not sure or whether he was just confused about the scene I had just acted out, who knows. If he did hear it he might've just tried to ignore it like if I had farted and everyone knew who it was but no one wants to acknowledge where the sound came from. Regardless, it happened and I can live to tell about it.

Indescribable

'Long before you decided what you were going to do with God, God decided what He was going to do with you. And that was not to give you what your sins deserve but to give His Son what your sins deserve. And to give you the gift of himself and an invitation to live in a big story that is all about Him. There is Grace and Hope. There is nothing that this world can do or shake you out of the hand of God that is holding the universe of His palm. His grace is strong enough to hold onto you and bring you through it all. Even in the darkness.'

I have taken this quote from Louis Giglio who preached a sermon describing where we are in light of the universe and where God has placed us. I've forwarded this web address to some before (see below) but most people nowadays don't have time for a 45 min lesson. If anything, I received the quote above and take it to heart. I personally enjoyed the sermon to help give us a little perspective (just a little) on where we are in all of this. He created the earth, sun, universe, galaxies, etc and despite all the sin we carry and the way we live, God chose to send His son to live on a little tiny planet called earth so that we may know Him and we will chose to let him live in our hearts. It amazes me how much we are consumed by the things of this world, technology, what tomorrow will bring for us, how we can make more, spend more and what the power of the almighty dollar does to control this world yet He goes way beyond all of this. Thank God there is something beyond ourselves! Praise God that He has a plan because I would most certainly be lost without it.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=17849695

The Crisis that isn't the Mid-life Crisis

So, just over a week ago I was 'let go' from my job. As much as I was expecting this to happen, it still came as a bit of a shock since I thought I was in the clear. You see, I was hired for a position at a Design Co. that needed me to take furniture inventory for a big Oil n Gas co. Since the economy is in a downward spiral they decided they didn't need my services any longer....hence the 'pink slip'.

Of course, it really isn't a pink slip but rather a letter asking you to sign on the line accepting that you're position has been terminated. Gee, that's encouraging. It's like saying, 'Ok, I'll sign here accepting that I won't be getting any more money from you and don't have a clue as to how I will make my rent. So ya,....here's my autograph!' On the flip side though it is saying that I accept to sleep in on weekdays and do a little socializing until I find my new calling too.

In some ways it was a relief and I'm actually doing quite well since it was weighing heavily on my mind. Talk around the office was so high that people were actually NOT even talking anymore. It was sort of like a morgue anyway since about 3 people had already cleaned out their desks over the past week and a half.

Now I have the wonderful task of trying to find a job, what I want to be when I grow up, what I'm good at, what I'm good for and am contemplating my purpose. I didn't really think that a little piece of paper could do that to me but I guess it's 'that time'. I would like to try to find something with meaning and purpose since most of my time outside of work is spent helping others. I do have an interview tomorrow with a Tile company that my friend told me about and its something I would enjoy. I'll keep you posted.

If I truly had guts I'd apply for the photography position on a cruise ship I was looking at the other day when surfing. Or I could do what John and Angie did and pick olives in Italy. Oh how I would love to do that....but then reality kicks in and car payments. Oh the taste of Italy is so sweet......

Lets Give 'r a Go

Well, this is my first attempt at a blog so we'll see what happens. I've contemplated this for a while since people usually get a kick out of some of the stories I tell or things I've experienced.

Anyway, this is it for now....and lets see which way the winds makes it soar.