Whoohooo!

I heard back from the temp agency. Last night when I spoke to her, it sounded like I might need to go in for an interview because they had one lady’s resume already but were also interested in me. Turns out they are swamped and since I can start earlier I got it!!!!!

I am going in today at 2:00pm for an orientation and I start tomorrow. It is Monday to Friday 8:30 – 4:30. I will probably have to leave at 8:00 or just after, which works well as that is when my youngest leaves and the older two get up - they are very capable of making their breakfast and getting out the door on their own. On days when they have practice we have to leave just after 5:00 which is when I should get home, they will just have to be ready to go and have had a snack!

I am very excited and happy with this path! It feels right. I have to call and turn down the other job, which I don’t think I have EVER done in my life before! It is a strange but wonderful feeling, one I strongly recommend

Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!

I am completely overwhelmed!

I worked at the temp job for a total of 6 days and it went very well. So well that when I finished yesterday the owner spoke to me about doing more work for them. Yup she offered me a job. The one lady she has working for her wants to take some time off and they occasionally need more help so it would be part time, relief and possibly leading to full time as they are expanding.

Last week I had an interview for what I thought was an accounting firm, turns out, they do the A/P and A/R for a book distribution company. No real accounting and my job title would be ‘A/R research specialist’. Basically the job consists of tracking down and resolving billing discrepancies. It sounds interesting. It is full time, $15/hour with benefits after 3 months and annual reviews. I had the first interview on Wednesday and a second interview yesterday. They offered me the job yesterday afternoon.

You would think this would have been my lead in. A FULL TIME JOB!!! But. I am not sure if I should take it. It is just so strange to think that, let alone say it aloud to anyone. I asked the manager if I could take a day to think it over as I was waiting on another offer and just needed to see.

What is the other offer? What could possible make me think about turning down essentially EXACTLY what I was looking for. Let me tell you, there are a few things.

First, I am in the process of testing for a cashier position at the hospital with our Health Authority. This is government. It starts at $18+/hour and benefits are amazing. It is only a casual position, but once you are hired, you become an internal applicant for any new positions. The woman who called mentioned that there were 176 applicants! Not sure how many they are pursuing though. If I do get the position there will be a 3 week orientation (fulltime) and then with summer there is bound to be work coming.

Second. While I was waiting for the typing test to come through for the cashier job I had a call from temp agency #2. They had a fulltime permanent Payroll Technician job, was I interested? $16/hour. I said yes of course. No keep in mind this happened on Monday afternoon, before I had my second interview for the A/R job. Confused? Still following along? I was starting to be overwhelmed at this point but thought, ‘OK nothing has been offered yet just keep going’.

Third. While I was in the interview yesterday, I had a call from temp agency #1 for a week long job next week. I am still waiting for details.

Fourth. As I was finishing up at the temp job I checked my email and temp agency #2 emailed me about a temp job. The same company that she originally spoke about had a different position, could I do it? Cost accounting. Absolutely I emailed. This is 6 weeks, possibly longer at $17/hour. Just before I read this email, I had checked my phone (ringer off, of course) and saw that the A/R job had called back. I put off calling him until I spoke to the temp agency, and then put him off until today.

So there you have it. On the one hand, I want to take the sure thing. On the other, I am thinking that there is a lot of opportunity out there and I don’t want to lock in yet! If I can get the six-week job, continue the process for the hospital job that will take me into the summer and then find something permanent then. This temp job often keeps their temps and at a higher rate so that alone makes it very promising and then I also have the offer from the temp job I just finished to come back to also!

I worry if I don’t take the fulltime now, I will miss the boat and the offers won’t be there down the road. However, judging by the response to my resume and me so far I think they will. I am feeling pretty fantastic right now!

A job, my job is coming. SOON!

Monday I had an interview with another placement agency; and it went very well! The recruiter mentioned a temp placement that they are waiting for - the company had called to say they had an employee that may be going on medical leave, and that I would be just right for it. It would be at least 2 months at $17/hour! The last person they placed with that company was for a 6-week assignment and she is still there a year later so the potential for it to turn into something more is substantial.

This morning at 7:30am I got a call from an accounting firm, I had sent an application to for an Accounts Payable clerk $15/hour, and they wanted to set up an interview for this week so I am going Wednesday after I finish work.

Yes that is right I said work. I am doing the original temp assignment I got form the first place, this week I am working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10 – 2. Today was the first day and it went very well. I got almost half of the appointments booked and am hopeful I will finish that part tomorrow and then there are hotels to book and a few bits of translation they have asked for.

Tomorrow, will be a tight day; I am working, I am starting an hour earlier at 9am so I may be finished earlier or work an extra hour, not sure yet, then I have my interview at 3:30 and the boys have lacrosse practice from 5:30 – 7:30 (at least they are back to back and at the same park). However, it is nice to be busy.

Today after I had finished work, I stopped at Value Village and bought three short-sleeved blouses and a pair of Capri pants for $33.54. Such a bargain! Then I came home got the boys and we went to the beach it was so beautiful out. They had fun playing on the zip line and going in the water. We stopped and got grocery store pizzas for dinner because I didn’t feel like cooking pork chops, which was on our menu (I will try to post either tomorrow morning or night) so everyone was happy.

Grocery update

In the spirit of full disclosure, my goal was to not exceed $100 for the week. I did go over by $3.78 in my big shop and needed to pick up buns ($3.74) for a total of $7.52. So the big question is did I stay to only $7.52 over?

Nope!

When I went to Wal-Mart to get the buns I found a pair of grey slacks for $5.00, I have had two pairs of pants split on me last week so this was a must, especially as they were petites and plus size which almost never happens!

On Tuesday I stopped in at IGA while the boys got sundaes at McD’s (their $$$) and picked up frozen OJ, vanilla yogurt and spinach a total of $9.96. I have really been wanting to make fruit smoothies, like the Green Monsters from My 1/2 Dozen Daily, they look so yummy! I will post about these another time.

Yesterday I had to get gas $40, for which I got a coupon for $1.91 off groceries. I used the coupon to buy some more Diet Coke for me and some no name Tylenol for DS3 along with some ground flax seed for the Green Monster. Total spent $5.40.

Total over on groceries for the week (not including the pants) $22.88. Considering that before we moved I was spending $200+ per week for the five us, I think I did pretty well.

My life has turned in to a roller coaster ride and I hate roller coasters!

It’s Thursday and another week is almost done, it has just flown past. Still no job. Job hunting sucks!!

Things are going well with the boys, job hunting is slow but moving along, DH and I are bickering a lot when we talk on Skype. We practically hung up on each other a couple of times. And yesterday we left it to just chatting on FB, harder to argue when you have to type!

Then last night just after we got home from practice DH got on Skype and told us he had a tow to where we are so he would be here with us for the night. We were all so excited. I thought the boys were never going to go to sleep. Nevertheless, they did, I didn’t and DH got here just before 1am. It was the best thing ever to cuddle up and sleep together. He had to leave this morning so we only had a few hours together but it was enough to feel reconnected. I decided that is the real problem – the feeling of disconnection - not what we are actually arguing about but the feeling of disconnection.

Tonight after DS3’s practice I am driving back home to teach a class tomorrow. This will earn me $200 (I have asked for an extra $50 to cover my fuel but I am not sure if I will get it) that will go towards paying the balance of the boys’ lacrosse fees. I am a bit leery of leaving the boys, but DS1 is old enough and I have drummed it into the boys that they must behave or else! DH is off work tomorrow at 6pm and is coming here for the weekend; he is going to try to switch out early and head out before I am done. Otherwise, we both leave as soon as we are done and convoy back.

I get my income tax refund direct deposited on Monday. DH’s return is being mailed on Monday; for some reason his is not being direct deposited, I have no idea why. Government cheques are usually received quite quickly so I anticipate having his before the end of the week. DH’s pay day is tomorrow and we get child tax on Tuesday. Thank goodness because we are out of money. We will have to budget very carefully with the tax returns to be able to do the work in the house and pay some bills

Lacrosse

Had anyone ever told me when my kids were little that one day I would sit in an arena and yell, cheer and whistle for my kids to hit another kid I would have been appalled but that is what I did today!

The first weekend of lacrosse is done and it was great but also very strange. The boys all played so well. These were seeding games for league play so they were mini games, which was a little strange but a good way to kick off the season. What was REALLY strange was that they were playing games and it wasn’t a tournament, that we weren’t with our usual crew of friends, and they were playing for a different town!

DS3’s team played on Saturday; they lost both games but did very well, they have several players that are just starting to play the game. The first game they lost 5-2 and had there been a 3rd period I think they would have come back, they were dominating the play near the end. The second game they had to play an A team (they are a B team) and they got smoked 8-0 or something like that, it was painful. They also had several hours between games, which was great for them to bond as a team as they all hung out together but I think they were worn out by the time they hit the floor again.

DS1 & 2 played today, their two games were only 2 hours apart, enough time to eat, hang out a bit and get ready for the next one, it was a perfect time gap! And they won both games!!! The first game was 3-0, DS1’s first ever shut out in lacrosse, he only faced about 6 shots but he was so solid! The second game was 3-1, a lucky bounce. DS2 was strong, caught and passed well, had some awesome hits and was super strong defensively.

I was very proud of all three of my boys, not only for playing well but also for also for how well they are playing on their teams; good sportsmanship, listening to their coaches and making friends with teammates. Someone told me that if you move your kids it is a lot easier if they are involved with sports because on a team they have ready-made friends. I agree but I also think that the skills they have learned being a part of a team has helped them in making friends at school!

This week we have three practice days between the two teams and the older boys have an exhibition game on Saturday against the A team (they are all so tall, but that is another story) and DH will be here to see it, we haven’t told him yet they want it to be a surprise! Hopefully DS3 will have a game on the weekend too!

A menu plan and my grocery goals

I like to shop on Sundays so that I can get fresh ingredients for the boys’ lunches; however, I hate shopping on Sundays because I always seem to run out of time! Today after coming back from lacrosse DS2 and I hit Superstore and WalMart and got the weeks groceries.

I am trying to budget only $100 a week for groceries for the 4 of us. This is partly because we are down one person to feed and also since there is no money coming in I am really trying to stretch. I can usually do very well in my one big grocery shop the problem is running out again during the week, this is a goal for this week not to shop again (except for buns tomorrow since they had none today). Today I spent $70.04 at Superstore and $33.74 at WalMart, I will have to pick up buns tomorrow and that will be another $3.74 for a total of $7.52 over for the week, not too bad!

Here is our menu:

Sunday: Sloppy Joes and oven fries
Monday: Pork chops, rice and veggies with cheese sauce
Tuesday: Mac & Cheese Taco Skillet
Wednesday: Crock Pot Steak and potatoes
Thursday: Spaghetti/Pasta and BBQ chicken (frozen leftovers from last week for DS1 he has to have his meat!)
Friday: the kids are on their own as I am out of town for the day teaching so they will eat whatever is left, make KD, perogies, etc.
Saturday: Burgers and chips - DH is coming back to town for the weekend, I have hamburger in the freezer but will need to get fresh buns and chips would never last all week so I will pick them up Saturday and count it towards next week’s total

I bought a couple of treats for us all this week; Easter M&M’s and marshmallow bunnies – 50% off and ice cream sandwiches. The pork chops I bought were enough for two meals so I froze half and I bought a package of 10 chicken legs, I don’t really like them but the boys do and they were only $5 so I figured that was pretty good. I also got some fruit, bread products, KD, Sidekicks ($0.97 each), and a few condiments, pasta and juices.

I am really going to try not to get anything else at the grocery store this week. This is my #2 goal for the week. My #1 goal for the week will be to FIND A JOB!!!!!

Sunny Saturday

It is beautiful out, sunny, clear and cold! My water froze last night! I have to keep a better watch on the weather – as DH is constantly telling me. Thank goodness we do have water in the holding tank (not frozen, just the hose coming in and it is wrapped in insulation), so I turned on the pump and we are good to go.

Today would have been perfect to do laundry and hang it about to dry, but I will be spending the day at the arena for lacrosse. DS3 has his two games today and the older two have theirs tomorrow. The games today are very spread out 9:40am and 2:40pm; between games, the team is going to Subway and then back to the arena to hang out and watch some games. There is also a Senior Men’s tournament going on at the arena around the corner so I will be checking that out as well. The arena where the games are is about 45 minutes to an hour drive away so no coming back to do laundry in between!

The boys all got new shoes yesterday, total spent was almost $250!!!! I made a deal that I would reimburse ~$50 + taxes. I had scoped out the shoes and found that I could get the nice brand name shoes for about that price each, with sales and BOGO, anything above that they had to pay. They all agreed. And all bought above $50! The youngest was closest at $59.99. I will be reimbursing them when I get my tax refund in approximately 8 business days; gotta love the internet for that alone.

OK off to shower and hit the road for the start of the season, YIPPEE!!!!

A little blue today

The sun is peeking through the clouds, but my mood is definitely down today.

I did not get the bookkeeping job. I know that it was very close and they even took an extra day to decide; I think I did not get it because I was looking for full time while the other candidate was looking for part time. It is OK, I would be hesitant to hire someone that I know might leave because they need full time employment and I could not give it to them. I had somewhat prepared myself for this possibility because as I said I am not sure I would have hired me, lol! But at the same time I am feeling a little bit blue.

I also looked at our bank balance yesterday and YIKES! We are down to our last $300 and I have many overdue bills that are keeping me awake at night. I did however file our income tax returns this morning and combined we are getting $3296, WHOOHOOO! This will allow DH to get going on the inside work at the house, catch up on our bills and a bit of cushion for groceries and gas.

Next Friday I am travelling back home to teach FoodSafe for the day. They emailed me and asked if I could come and do it as they were desperate and had not found anyone to take over yet, they have someone for the summer months but not until then. Since I did not get the job and the temp position has been postponed by a week I said OK, but that I wanted more money than usual. I normally got paid $200 for teaching in my hometown, so I asked for $250 plus $50 to cover my fuel. This way I won’t be out any cash for travelling back and the $250 will cover the remaining lacrosse registration for the boys! I said I would negotiate, what I really want is at least $250 total to cover lacrosse. To be out the gas money is not so bad – thankfully, I have the turtle (1990 Toyota Tercel) and not the truck!

The boys have their first games this weekend. These are seeding games to determine league play but they are all very excited. We are going after school today to get new runners, I had to ask the boys to pay for them with their Easter money (they each bought a video game so they did get something fun too!) and I said I would repay them as soon as I can.

This is all good stuff, things are going very well and we are on the right track. I am just feeling down today. As long as I don’t wallow in that for too long I will be fine. I found 3 jobs on the job bank to apply for today so I will be doing that until the boys get home and then it is off to get runners!

So far its an AWESOME week

Easter back at ‘home’ was very nice, got to see some friends, spread out and enjoy some SPACE and best of all be with DH! It was hard for DS2 to leave; his two best friends were both away so he didn’t get to see them and when he went skiing he tweaked his knee and had to leave after only a couple of runs. Now that we are back all is well.

Tuesday (which I thought was Monday, haha!) was a great day I went for my testing and interview with the recruitment agency. It went very well. They gave me tests on Excel and Word; I scored 97% and 100% respectively. The lady said scores like that were unheard of that no one gets a 100%. Hmm, I thought they were pretty basic, I guess I DO have more skills than I thought! I was given a temp assignment starting next week (now it has been pushed back a week) doing some phone and scheduling work for a company. They needed someone who speaks French and I am fluently bilingual so Yeah me!

When I got back, I had an email from the bookkeeping job asking me to come in for a second interview with their contractor. Turns out she was having a hard time deciding between me and one other lady, so she had us both back on Wednesday to see if the contractor could make the decision clearer. Turns out, he couldn’t and they still haven’t made up there minds. She emailed me last night and said they needed one more day as we both have so much to offer in different ways they just aren’t sure which way to go. She will be making the decision today for sure though.

Even if I don’t get the position (the other candidate is looking for part-time where as I am wanting fulltime so I think that may be making it more difficult for them) I am very happy with how I conducted myself in the interviews. I was nervous but not a mess, I spoke well and confidently about my accomplishments and am feeling so much better about finding work here.

Home For Easter and a recap of my Thursday

Wow my house is HUGE!!! After being in the trailer my tiny 1000 sq foot house (on each floor) seems enormous! And it also feels wonderful!

My interview went well, I had a few skills and some experience they were happy to see and I am guessing no one else had, so hopefully that will help. There were 6 women there that I saw and I was the 5th one interviewed. It wasn't super long, not sure if I should have talked more, but it is a pretty basic job and there wasn't much to say. I talked about being an innovator and problem solver and gave concrete examples as it relates to their industry so regardless of outcome I feel good about how I spoke about myself. And that is a big improvement for me!

I had a call yesterday morning from one of the placement/recruitment agencies that I sent my resume to and they scheduled an interview with me for Tuesday morning. The lady said to be prepared for about an hour and a half, they will do an interview and then some word and excel testing. I am VERY excited about this because I believe this is my best shot of getting a good job and not just a job. I am also very excited that they called me instead of me having to follow up. Maybe I am more marketable than I think?

I worked on our taxes yesterday morning also. I am a horrible procrastinator especially with our taxes; probably because I always figure we will have to pay. Well, this year (or rather last year) because of the tuition deduction we are eligible for we will both be getting huge refunds, I mean HUGE, like just under $4,000 combined!!!! (that said I have to go over them and double check but even if it isn’t that big it will definitely be a refund) I was talking with my BFF this morning and she bought QuickTax yesterday – which I love but stopped buying because I really didn’t get the value for the $40, it only takes my a half an hour with a pencil and calculator to do our taxes – and we are going to split the cost and share it; this way I can netfile our taxes and get our refund super quick! Funny how things work out because I had just finished telling DH that we should buy it so we can netfile! Thank you Universe for hearing me!

We are heading out for lunch at McD’s, I have coupons and DH hasn’t bought groceries since I left so there is nothing to eat! And then I will try to connect with some friends and do laundry; we brought home all our laundry - I miss my washer and dryer!

Have a great Easter everyone, I know I will!

An Interview!

It is for a bookkeeper position, only part time but leading to full time. It is very encouraging that I got a response from my first day of job hunting!

The only bad thing is that the interview is on Thursday at 4:45, I had planned to be almost halfway home by then for Easter. The boys will be a bit disappointed, but oh well, we all have to make sacrifices.

Wish me luck!

Job Hunting in Jammies, again!

Day two on the job hunt, sent off a bunch more resumes, I really hate writing cover letters.

The weather here is beautiful today. My two oldest have a lacrosse practice tonight 5:30 – 6:30 so I am going to have dinner ready for just after school. BBQ chicken, mashed potatoes and veggies with cheese sauce, yum!

I am still planning a grocery post, I know it will be past info but I want to have a record of all my groceries since moving here so feel free to skip it when I post it, lol! However, the good news is it seems that groceries are definitely cheaper here. I have been mainly shopping at Superstore; I love it! Their prices are the lowest and they price match all the other flyers. Their produce is great and cheap – back home I always bought my produce at Extra Foods, which is the same chain, but I am not keen on their meat so not sure what I am going to do there.

Another new thing I am loving since we moved here is SKYPE! My in-laws have been using it for years to talk to their relatives in Portugal and I have seen it on Oprah a lot lately, but I must profess to having remained completely in the dark about it until now. It is the best thing ever. As soon as DH got home after the move, he brought our desktop computer up to the dining room, bought a webcam and microphone and installed Skype. I had installed it on our laptop already so the very next day we were able to talk and see each other! I think it has really helped us all not to feel as sad or to feel the pain of missing each other as much. I can connect with DH on Skype and keep preparing dinner or wash the dishes and it is almost as if we are in the same room. I highly recommend using Skype.

I had a nice (but very long) phone call with one of my aunties this morning. She had her kids very young (18) but is only 2 years older than me so she seems much older and wiser. She is more like a girlfriend though than an Auntie. It is so nice that now we are only 3 hours away we will get to see each other more often. She has been so excited and supportive about our move, it has been a real boost.

I am going to go and get dressed (got to LOVE job hunting in PJs) and get myself moving. I need to start going through the piles of paper I brought with us, pull out all our tax stuff, and get that done. Our taxes are always so basic and simple it only takes me abut a half hour to get them done; it usually takes me longer to telefile them than to actually calculate them! I hope that there will be refunds coming, or at least not too much owing.

First day on the job hunt

Today was the first day all three boys have been in school all day (it should have been Friday but DS3 bonked his nose on the slide and as it was bleeding they thought I should come and get him, I brought him home for about an hour and then took him back, LOL) and I have been by myself. So how did I spend my time you might ask?

I spend the whole day on the computer job searching and sending out resumes along with the attendant cover letters. I absolutely hate writing cover letters. I dislike blowing my own horn so to speak so it is difficult for me and often takes me quite some time.

In all I applied to five jobs, I found on various job boards and applied to the two placement agencies. Tomorrow I will follow up with the two agencies, go online to some of the larger employers in the area – Telus, Shaw, Fortis, and see what they have to offer. As well, I will go online to each of the area’s banks and see if any are accepting resumes. And of course check all the job boards again; I also need to check out Craig’s List and Kijjii.

I was talking to DH on Skype at one point and he asked if any of the jobs required me to go in person to apply and not even one did! Job-hunting is so different from when I was a ‘young’ person!

The boys all had good days at school, got their homework done, did a few chores for me, and even played a mostly civil game of crib together! Bedtimes are still a bit of a challenge. The youngest two are sharing a bed and the oldest is above them on a bunk, quite a change from each having their own room. So at bedtime they are either punching or yelling at each other or they are giggling like girls at a slumber party, which would greatly amuse me except that I am usually so annoyed by that point that I start yelling! I really need to work on a good routine for them.

All in all a successful day, how was your Monday?

Finally an update

We have survived our first official week in our new home! The kids are all in school now, finally. A few bumps and all is well.

DS3 had the hardest time at the beginning but he is great now, takes off for school a half hour early to stop and pet the kitty (there is a cat in our RV park, not sure who it belongs to but it is very friendly) and play with his new friends.

DS1 & 2 took longer to get in to school, bureaucratic glitches, but have attended two days now. DS1 was very dismayed to find that Science 8 here is a year long class, in his old school, it was a semester course and he had already finished and gotten an A (top mark in his class, thank you very much – and last year he barely made a C!). However, he talked with the counsellor and was able to get it dismissed and is taking an extra elective, way to go kid!

DS2 was the most nervous to start and had the biggest changes, going from an elementary school to a middle school. He was so stressed about it initially I had to promise him we would look into home schooling or on-line for him to finish the year. Not that I have anything against home schooling, in fact when I was first having my kids I seriously considered it, as it turns out our life was just not geared to it. Anyways he loves it, thinks it is much better than elementary school and for the most part likes all his teachers too!

Now that the kids are settled it is my turn. I am revamping my resume this weekend and will apply to the two placement agencies I have found and will send out resumes to the few job postings I have found on-line. Job searching is so different now then even a few years ago. There is no pounding the pavement, almost all jobs ask for resumes to be emailed or occasionally sent by fax. I figure I should be able to get temp work at least through the agencies for after Easter so my panic attacks are being kept to a minimum – mainly when I check the bank account!

Life in the trailer is going smoothly. We have good organization so far, I still have a few bags full of papers that need to be looked at, dealt with, filed or recycled. My plan is to have that done with before we head back for Easter. I have wrapped up everything with the hockey team, I am sending out emails today to update everyone in lacrosse about my move, and we will see what level of involvement I maintain after that. Even with not having a job, my worries about $$$ and missing my DH like crazy I can honestly say that my stress level is down and my mood is up!

UPDATE: I typed this up on Saturday afternoon and it is now Sunday night and I am waiting to go up and switch my wash to the dryer and am finally posting this! I did not get my resume revamped yet, I will work on that while I wait for the dryer and then hopefully I will get some more posts done up. I have so much I need to write about just to get it out of my head and help me to think more clearly.

The weekend is done!

We made it through the weekend. Hockey is done for the season, YIPPEE! And lacrosse has begun, WHOOHOO!

I can’t believe how busy we have been since we have gotten here. We have hardly had any down time at all, which I suppose is a good thing.

My two older boys had their first lacrosse practice tonight and they looked pretty good, we will have to see how it will all go yet. It is very strange to be at lacrosse and not be the one in charge, to not have to do anything except watch my boys. It was rather enjoyable.

When we got home, about 6pm, it was pouring rain so BBQ chicken was definitely out for dinner. So the boys ate perogies and chef boy-r-dee ravioli (not a great dinner but oh well) and I went grocery shopping. I did our menu plan for the week and will post separately.

School tomorrow for DS3 for sure and DS1 and DS2 probably won’t actually start classes until Tuesday, they need time to build their schedules. It will be another busy and emotional day. The boys are handling it all quite well, the occasional melt down and bickering but that is to be expected. For me I guess I am doing OK, I haven’t had much time to really think about it!

First few days

We have been on our own here now for 2 ½ days (since DH went back) and so far so good. Things have been busy with DS3 playing a hockey tournament this weekend. He has one game left tomorrow at the ridiculous hour of 7am and then DS1 & DS2 have their first lacrosse evaluation in the afternoon. We really haven't even had time to be homesick yet!

Living in the trailer is a bit of a challenge, one high-strung momma and three rambunctious growing boys in a 24-foot space makes for some interesting times. And having all three boys in the back bunks is lot like a never-ending sleep-over!

The boys have been very helpful, when they aren’t fighting with each other! They have all taken a turn drying dishes, DS1 went grocery shopping with me and kept me on budget, and all three made a pot of chilli for dinner on Friday. Did you hear that? They made dinner. By. Themselves. OK, with a little help from me but mostly on their own, it was ridiculously spicy but they all ate it and I was grateful for the time to get other tasks done.

I will do a separate post on groceries and meal plan because I really want to keep track of that.

Today in addition to the hockey games and swimming at the Y, I went and got my cell phone switched over to a local number and changed to a better plan (hopefully). Tomorrow we have a hockey game, lacrosse evaluations, and I MUST remember to get another section of pipe insulation for the water hose!

So sad :(

We are here and set up, however I am too sad to write much yet. DH just left to back home and that was the hardest thing ever saying good bye and watching him and the boys say good bye. Everyone, and I mean DH too, was crying.

We are taking a bit of quiet time right now and then will head out for some groceries.

Moving Day

I can't believe it is finally here. After 2+ years of talking about it we are actually doing it.

And D you were right I am packing everything today! LOL! You know me far too well.

The past couple of days I have been saying goodbye to friends and it is hard, I have shed many tears and am sure I have more to go, my closest friend is coming by this morning.

We will be back in 2 weeks for Easter and I am hoping to get some people together then as there just wasn't time now so I am looking forward to that and at least three friends will all be in my new hometown in the next month for appointments or work and hopefully we will connect.

This weekend DS3 is playing in a hockey tournament in our new hometown with a team from here so we will still be with friends this weekend. DS1 and DS2 start lacrosse on Sunday and hopefully that will be the beginning of some new freindships.

OK off to load half my life's, ok a quarter of my life's possessions (it is only a 24' trailer after all) into the trailer and get my boys moving.

Next post will be from our new home!

YIKES!

Ok now I really am starting to panic. 36 hours! 36 HOURS, PEOPLE!!

I have way too much to get done. Luckily, I am not packing up my entire house and things just have to move from this house to the trailer or my little cottage as I think I may call it. I also need a new name for the RV site; I don’t want to call it the campsite so I need something creative. Any suggestions?

I taught my last class to day so now I am completely unemployed and have earned my last dollar until I get another job. That is really adding to my stress and anxiety levels

The lacrosse association here is completely imploding. It makes me very sad that something I gave so much time and energy to may no longer be functioning in a few days. I have to phone our provincial office tomorrow and fill them in on what is going on. I also got the final information I needed to finish up with the hockey stuff and I will have to take care of that tomorrow as well. Once these things are done, my time will be my own, no outside obligations that is a strange feeling.

I will have all three boys home all day and probably DH around most of the day. So I think I will go and finish tidying up the kitchen have a tea and hit the sack, get up early and make chocolate chip pancakes to lure my children away from their video games and get them working on my massive to do list.

3 days to go

Last night was the first night that I should have worked but didn’t. I am not sure that it has completely sunk in that I am unemployed and am moving! I can’t seem to sleep past 2am. So I am very tired.

I need to start loading things into the trailer today. I have been trying to get all the laundry done, especially blankets and larger items. Along with trying to sort out the mounds of paper and other crap that have accumulated in our lives!

I admit I have definitely been procrastinating – my go to method of coping, or not coping. The kids seem to be managing OK, not so sure about DH though. It is going to be tough going for a while. But it will be worth it in the end!

OK off to get DS#2 to the ski hill, keep the laundry machine going, hem several pairs of jeans, make a good meal, clean out the trailer and then start loading stuff in.

Not sleeping, argh!!

2:30am I should be sleeping; I need to be up at 6:30 to go and teach for the day. I usually have trouble sleeping on Thursday nights as I have slept 5-7 hours already. Thankfully, this will be the last one!

We had homemade pizza last night for dinner and my oldest finally learned that there is such a thing as too hot – hot and spicy sauce, jalapeño peppers, hot red peppers and dried red chillies sprinkled on top! Fortunately, it was his own small pizza, no one else’s dinner was ruined, and he learned a lesson in moderation.

My youngest made his own pizza shaped like a fish and named him Bubbles. We took pictures.

We also watched a Discovery channel documentary on Orca whales that was amazing, the footage was unbelievable. I would highly recommend watching it.

Ok off for a cuppa and hot buttered toast and then a few more hours of sleep.

LAST NIGHT SHIFT! YIPEE!

Wahoo! my last night shift. One of the best things to come out of this move is I am working my last night shift, hopefully EVER! Almost a year of messing with my circadian rhythms has played havoc on my health and the idea of sleeping at night every night is like a dream to me at this point.

Leaving this job on my terms is also a very good thing to have come out of the move. I have, often to my own detriment, stayed much longer in jobs than is healthy for me. One casual acquaintance I told we were moving asked if I had gotten a job where we were moving to and I said not yet, but I have a crappy job here and I am sure I can get a crappy job there! With that kind of attitude, how can I fail!?!

Only a few hours left here, a day of sleeping, 2 teaching days and three and a half days to figure out exactly what we are taking and then get it all in the trailer. This time next week, we will be sleeping in our trailer in our new site, DH will be spending the night and then driving back later around 2pm the next day. I have been sending myself into tizzies trying to figure out exactly where we will put things in the trailer and how we will function in there, until I finally said STOP you will figure it out as you go and if you need a basket or a shelf you will take care of it. I felt much better after that.

I am still the most concerned about the $$$. I did a quick budget and without my paycheque, we have a huge deficit obviously. I will need to get a job sooner rather than later. Variable expenses will have to be monitored very closely and only essential spending. I am really hoping that DH gets busy at his job and will start making more than his guarantee that will take off some pressure but it cannot make up the whole amount. We are all going to have to be as frugal as possible. I will post more about this as we go along.

5 hours to go, the countdown is on!

A name change, maybe?

So again I disappeared ... and I just discovered people left me comments! Someone read my blog how cool. And how rude that I only just noticed, LOL!

I have a really good reason though.

WE. ARE. MOVING! Not in the summer but now, right now, in 7 days!

With all the drama (see last post) I said to my hubby in total frustration I should just take the kids and go so they can play lacrosse there and you can stay and get the house ready and follow when it sells. And he looked at me and said ‘That’s doable’. Not ‘Are you nuts? That’s crazy’ But ‘We could do that’.

So we took a couple of days to make sure we were merely crazy and not insane. I can do crazy, but I draw the line at insane! Talked to a couple of close friends, who I rely on to tell me when I cross above-mentioned line. We told the kids on Sunday after watching the closing ceremonies of the Olympics. The oldest and youngest took it well, the middle child, well he is the middle child for a reason. He was mainly worried about school; he has to go from an elementary school to a middle school. And in his words, ‘They will have better books cause they get funded and we don’t!’ I actually laughed aloud and reassured him that education-funding cuts by our government were made across the province. So lots of snuggles and reassurances and he was on board too.

So all we had to do was find a place to live and schools for the kids and of course a job for me. Now this is a much larger city we are moving to +100,000 people compared to about 8,000 people where we are now. We have a 24’ travel trailer and we are going to live in that, but finding an RV park in an urban setting was not that easy. But thank you Internet and Google I found a wonderful site and there is both an elementary (for my youngest) and a middle school right beside it! Seriously, both are closer than their bus stop is here. We went this past Saturday to check everything out, as much as I love the internet, pictures and websites can be very deceiving, all was fantastic and the kids are getting very excited. They start lacrosse on the 21st for evaluations and then school on the 22nd.

We are leaving on March 17th, only a week to go, and I am alternately excited and terrified. This is not the way I pictured making our move, but as my son’s teacher said ‘It is such a Jane thing to do’. (I think that is a compliment, I am taking it as one). Doing this without my hubby is very scary and going without a job lined up is down right terrifying. I am confident that I can find work of some sort and quickly. I am not proud and I will sling burgers if that is what it takes to get us started. My other big concern is whether or not our house will sell once DH gets it painted, repaired, etc. The market is slowly recovering and we are not going to hold out for huge bucks so I think we will have a good chance at it.

I guess I should change the name to Moving. Jane. Moving. for now at least. I am really going to try and use this blog more to help me through the move and to keep me accountable. We have talked a lot about this being a chance to make changes and become who and what we really want to be.

What happened to me?

So once again, I am not keeping up, the best of my intentions by the wayside and nothing of my plans accomplished.

An unexpected telephone conference meeting and finding myself sucked back into the drama of our local association has me coming unglued when I swore I would not allow myself to be in this position again!

I now have to walk away from something that I have put three years of countless hours, sweat and tears (literally) into all because certain individuals are so obnoxious and arrogant that they cannot see beyond their own interests and egos.

I will repeat to myself over and over I am doing this for me, my family and ultimately for the association because things cannot continue this way and be productive or successful for anyone. So once again I will be the ’bigger’ person and take the high road and do what is best.

Food Waste Friday

In an effort to reduce our grocery costs one of the things I am doing is to be more concious of our food waste. So I am participating in Kristen's Food Waste Friday @ The Frugal Girl. My garbage day is on Tuesday so I actually threw this out on Tuesday but am posting here on Friday to play along with everyone else at home.


Last weekend we went out of town so I worked very hard to use up all our leftovers; and we did really well. Here's what was left (and some of this was from before this past week).

The celery is actually left from my Christmas stuffing! The tortilla package was left open and they are now rock hard. The cheese whiz, well is cheese whiz, do I really need to say anything about that. A bit of salad, a few strawberries and a bit of gravy. The bowl has some mac and cheese that got pushed to the back of the fridge. The bottle has a butter and jalepeno basting sauce which I bought several years ago, the best before date is this June! but I didn't feel like it would be very safe to use anymore.

I had a bit of time so I actually removed each shelf and cleaned it and was really able to sort through what was there, hence the suace and cheese whiz. I did not clean out the crisper drawers or the door shelves, maybe next week - there will be a bit more stuff then for sure.

The best thing about this week's food waste for me was there was not a huge amount of actual groceries tossed and not a lot of waste from meals either!

Menu Plan , better late than never

Sunday – frozen pizza from Wal-Mart ($2.50 each so $10 total)

Monday – roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn and gravy

Tuesday – philly cheese steaks and fries while we watched the hockey game

Wednesday – spaghetti and meatballs and green salad

Thursday – burritos/tacos and beef stroganoff, I usually will not cook two meals but these two are easy to do together, satisfies everyone and DH took out way too much ground beef

Friday – Some kind of chicken, potatoes, veggies and green salad

Saturday – DH and I are at a fundraiser dinner so I will probably make chilli for the kids

This week's grocery shopping and my best deal ever!

I have a love-hate relationship with grocery shopping. I love buying yummy things for my family, I hate the cost and the time grocery shopping takes from me.

I am trying to only shop once a week, so far I am not very successful as I am continually running out to pick up something I forgot; which brings me to the second thing I am trying to do menu plan and shop with a list. I try to shop on Tuesdays as we don’t have hockey that night and at least once a month our stores have customer appreciation day and offer 10% off your order (with some restrictions and limits, of course), anything to stretch my grocery dollar is appreciated so Tuesdays work well for me.

This week – not a customer appreciation Tuesday and hello, Canada was kicking poor Norway’s butt at hockey – I shopped on Wednesday after dropping off son #2 at the rink (this is also a good time to shop and keeps me on a time limit). I had a very small list as I had shopped in the States and was hoping to get away with a very minimal shopping.

We have 3 grocery stores and I go through all the flyers and am fortunate enough that my overwrought brain can remember the regular prices of most items I purchase so I can determine what store has the lowest price any given day. This week I visited all three stores and one I had to go back a second time (and actually I have to go back tomorrow because I forgot taco seasoning and egg noodles two vital ingredients for tomorrow’s dinner). I was hoping to spend less than $100 as my grocery budget is $200/week and I spent ~$200 in the states on the weekend and $40 on Tuesday for a special hockey game meal.

I ended up spending $121.93, this included several items I wasn’t planning on such as shampoo and conditioner for my boys, I think they eat this in the shower, cereal bars and coffee. I also scored what I think is the best deal I have ever gotten.

I got 18 boxes of Playtex Tampons (16 count) for $0.12 each, yes each! The boxes were originally $5.49 and they had a 50% off sticker on them, but they had already been marked down 50% in the computer so they were ringing in at $1.12 and each box had a $1.00 off manufacturer’s coupon so I paid $0.12 each box. Less than a penny a tampon and the added bonus that I won’t have to buy any for probably the next year!

Grocery Shopping in the States

We were in the States on the weekend for a hockey tournament and that means shopping! Cross border shopping is always an interesting pursuit. This is the first time I have been down to the states to shop in a few years. Certainly since our dollar soared so high and definitely since the recent economic crashes. I really found that many of the prices have normalized between our two countries. There are some very big exceptions however and fortunately I was able to take advantage of those.

The biggest differences are in dairy and meat. I didn't look at produce - much of it you can't bring across the border. I also stayed away from convenience foods for the most part they were the same price, e.g. a can of Chef Boy-R-Dee Ravioli is $0.99 in the states and you can get them for that price here when on sale. A 12 pack of pop is $4.00 and you can almost always buy it on sale here for $3.67 - $2.99 a case.

But dairy is a big deal. A gallon of milk in the states is about $2.00, yes I really wrote $2.00! I actually bought 2 gallons at Wal-Mart and they were $2.26 each. The cheapest I can get a gallon (actually 4 litres) of milk is $4.19 and lately it has been $4.38 - $4.56 a gallon! Cheese is ridiculously cheap; I got a 5lb block for $11.49 (Costco) and here I get barely 2lb for $9.00! Also at Costco I purchased butter for $1.74 a pound; I usually pay $3.33 - $3.99 a pound. I got 8 lbs, lol!

I have read many US bloggers lamenting the price of cereal and believe me if you had to buy cereal in Canada you would not only never complain again about cereal prices but you would buy it every day. The name brands were about half the price of cereal here and at least 25% less than the best sale prices! So I saved even more and bought the giant store brand bags from Wal-Mart.

All together I spent about $200 US dollars, so probably $230 Canadian dollars on groceries and was able to stock up on several items for at least 50% of the cost. I tried to stick with things I would be purchasing anyways so as to really make it a savings. I will post a complete list with prices and comparisons, and my other purchases as well, there were a few ;)

I will need to pick up a few items later today but I should be able to stay under $100. For the first two weeks of February I am ~$140 under budget so I even with this shopping I figure to be OK.

Menu Plan and Grocery Shopping

My usual shopping day is Tuesday as that is the day that the local stores have customer appreciation days one or twice a month offering an additional 10% or so off your total order. My weekly grocery budget is ~$200 (I am really trying to reduce this) so an extra $20 is significant. Also since I don’t have hockey that day it works timing wise, except for the kids lunches and we usually have to run out and get supplies on Sunday. This weekend we are headed to the States for, surprise surprise a hockey tournament!

Tuesday – Hubby ended up on an out of town call, so I made taco meat and beef stroganoff and everyone was happy :)

Wednesday – I defrosted some very beautiful but now looking slightly freezer burnt pork tenderloins and will roast those with a spicy rub, somebaked potatoes or maybe some roast potatoes depends on time, and of course veggies and salad. I will also be making The Frugal Girl’s Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread as a tasty treat.

Thursday – leftovers and since there may not be any left, (my kids will heat up leftovers as an after school snack, before dinner snack, you get the idea) I will throw together some pizza crusts and use up the mozzarella cheese before it goes bad.

Friday – In the states, going to Old Country Buffet, the kids love this and it is so cheap!

Saturday – Some other restaurant in the States. I would love to try Applebee’s. “How ‘bout we go get kicked out of an Applebee’s?” our family loves that movie.

Sunday – Chicken and potatoes

Monday – this is a big hockey night and always a challenge so I am thinking slow cooker roast, I cover the roast in Montreal steak spice add some beef broth and it is delicious. I thicken (although there is usually no fat so it doesn’t really thicken, but it looks more like gravy this way) the broth at the end and serve with microwave bake potatoes – a total cheat but so easy, served with parmesan cheese on them, veggies and salad.

So other than the stuff hubby picked up on Sunday for the kids’ lunches and milk, butter and buns I got on Monday, and picking up a few pizza toppings, I am not going to do a planned shoppingthis week. I am however going to spend some time looking up the grocery specials in the states where we are going and spend my weekly budget there on groceries. I am so envious when I see ads for cereal at $1.99 and don’t even get me started on the cheese and butter prices. I will do a comparison post when I get back an see what I actually end up getting.

Volunteering

I have mentioned in an earlier post that I volunteer. A LOT. What was once something I loved to do, made me feel good about myself and contributed to my community is now sending me around the bend!

I am still a very big believer in volunteering. Communities cannot function without volunteer support; charities, schools, minor sport, festivals and celebrations all depend and survive on the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers.

My volunteer experiences have been primarily with my kids’ school and with minor sports – maybe volunteering for charities would be different – and my experiences have generally not been very positive.

Any time you involve kids, parents and some form of competition be it grades or a sporting event there are high passions, high expectations and a loss of the ability to form rational thought. I have watched very reasonable men (and women) completely lose it and cross lines that you would not believe at hockey and lacrosse games and don’t even get me started about PAC (Parent Advisory Council).

My (mostly) supportive husband has been urging, OK begging me to step back and be less involved. I try. I have had some small successes with saying no but I continue to commit large chunks of time and energy. I used to rationalize these commitments in two ways. 1 – it was helping my kids and 2 – it mad me feel productive and was a great boost to my self-esteem. But these are not working any more. When I am angry and/or upset more often than I am happy I am helping no one. When I don’t actually see my kids practice or play because I am taking care of things I am not serving my family. When I eat huge piles of crap to keep the peace or be politically correct to people who care nothing of my feelings my self esteem is no longer being boosted.

I believe that volunteers need to be accountable to those they serve and we should not get carte blanche to behave badly, power trip or bully. By the same token though I am tired of parents who use minor sport as a babysitting service or a status symbol, I am tired of parents who think because there is a team manager they don’t have to think for themselves or be responsible for their child (or even pay their fees), I am tired of kids who watch their parents behave badly and then live what they learn, I am tired of other volunteers that don’t feel they have any responsibility or accountability to others.

My tips to those who volunteer and those who deal with volunteers.
• Be clear on what your role is and fulfil it to the best of your ability, if you can’t do it all ask for help
• Once you make a commitment stick it out or if necessary find a replacement and then remove yourself – don’t make others clean up your messes
• Don’t make it personal, always be respectful when dealing with others and remember you don’t always know what else is going on in someone’s life
• Be willing to help, many hands make light work and all that
• Remember why you choose to volunteer and if you are the parent on the other side remember without volunteers whatever you are participating in wouldn’t be happening

If there is anyone reading this, do you volunteer? what have your experiences been like? I am ever optimistic that somewhere everyone works together respectfully, has a great time and accomplishes great things, I would love to hear that story, LOL!

Decluttering and Maybe a Regular Monday Post

I have had that show Hoarders on a few times at work; I haven’t actually watched it all but playing in the background. It frightens me. So many things in my house are without a home/place of their own and decluttering/organising have been such a huge task for me through the years that I fear I could slip into hoarder mode easily as the years advance.

In preparation for our move, which I have resigned myself to taking place in the summer, I need to have a systematic plan to deal with the stuff in our house and then a plan for fixing/sprucing up our house for sale.

I have decided to break it down into very small and manageable task to limit my overwhelemedness (probably not a word but trust me this is how I feel). We have had major clean outs before, usually as the youngest moves out of a stage and the Toy ‘R Us explosion site that is also known as our basement becomes largely ignored by the kids.

The first area I am going to tackle will be the front entrance. There is just one closet, a side table and a coat rack to be dealt with. You may recognise the closet from an earlier post, enough said.

I am going to give myself one week to complete this area and will work on it in small chunks of time, 5 minutes to do the coats, 10 minutes for the shelf, etc. I am really hoping that this approach will bring me success and I will report back next Monday on my progress. If I get a chance I post some before pictures later tonight and then some wonderful after pictures!

February Financial Goals

It takes 3 weeks to 3 months to form a habit, but amazingly it only takes once of not doing a task to get out of the habit of performing it!

In September I began tracking every penny we spent, this was especially important because we began using our credit card for everyday expenses. This was to get the cash rewards and to ease my cash flow issues. Of course this only works when you pay it all off every month, thus the necessity of tracking.

I did very well for September and October but haven’t kept up with it since; I obviously need 3 months to form a habit!

With the start of February I will begin this again, when I am not tracking it is too easy to overspend and we have been. My main financial goals for February will be tracking our spending and meal planning/shopping only once a week. It is time to tighten those belts and squeeze those pennies.

Shedules

I have decided that for 2010 I was making only one resolution – to make me and my family my priority in all that I do. I have mentioned that we volunteer a lot in our family and that sometimes leaves no time to do what needs to be done around our home or for each other and that has taken a large toll on us.

I used to have fairly regular days or times to take care of basic tasks (laundry, shopping, etc) and that made life easier, somehow I have gotten out of this habit.

Here is my proposed schedule for the next month or so. Hockey ends at the end of this month and I should have at least 2 or 3 weeks before lacrosse practice starts so I will revisit this schedule then.

• Monday - hockey, clean out fridge

• Tuesday - shopping, laundry
• Wednesday - hockey, bathroom

• Thursday - hockey, laundry

• Friday - hockey, meal planning

• Saturday - hockey/skiing, bath dogs

• Sunday - hockey/skiing, meal planning

These are the major activities that need to take place every week but I feel that I am continually behind on. Perhaps with this I can begin to make the day to day things seem less overwhelming and I will have the energy to start on the other projects that need tackling.

Wish me luck!

Food Waste Friday

Every Friday Kristen @ The Frugal Girl posts a picture of her food waste and she invites us all to participate. Reading Kristen's blog has really inspired and motivated me to get a handle not only on our food spending (groceries and eating out) but also on our food waste.

So while I actually threw these items out on Tuesday - my garbage day - I will post here (and on Kirsten's site) on Friday's.

So here is my first Food Waste Friday picture:

There is some roast beef in the bottom right container - the gravy got all used up and no one was interested after that, I meant to freeze it but never got to it. Above that is some pizza sauce and a couple of slices of pepperoni, these were for my son's lunches and I some how calculated the wrong amounts. On the left bottom there is some rice and beans I had for work lunch one day and when I came home they never made it into the fridge - definitely not safe to eat rice that has been left out! The container in the middle has some sloppy joe meat, I made such a large batch and we all just got sick of it (should have frozen it) and finally a bowl of some instant mashed potatoes that either my oldest son or DH made to go with the roast beef one night.

Both my inside and my chest freezer need cleaning out and I am sure there will be lots to come then, but for now my fridge is full of edible food!

Tuesday or as I like to call it Yeah I don't have to go to the Arena today

Tuesday is the only day of the week that I am guaranteed not to have to go to hockey this season. I love Tuesdays, it means I get caught up on laundry (my poor son had to wear damp jeans to school today ... bad, bad mommy), make an actual meal with veggies, and maybe clean my bathroom.

Tonight however I do have to go to a lacrosse meeting at 7pm so I will be putting some chicken breasts in the slow cooker with bull's eye and shredding it for pulled chicken sandwiches, I usually do this with pork and it is very yummy. Chicken I usually BBQ but it is too cold and I thought a little change up would be nice. I will serve it with rice, corn, broccoli and some green salad. If I have time I want to make homemade hamburger buns from The Frugal Girl's website.

I have really been inspired by her blog and am striving to incorporate some of her lifestyle into mine (more on that in another post).

The other thing I want to do today after I get up is to declutter one small area. I am choosing the front closet. It is full of jackets that have not been worn in years - I can tell from the dust on the shoulders and the sizes! - games, school supplies and the vacuum cleaner. I have a file cabinet in the basement that I would like to put there so that I can keep all my paperwork in a handy location.

These are my goals for today; a meal, some laundry, a clean bathroom and declutter the front closet.

Routines and schedule

The importance of routines should not be underestimated. The lack of routines in my life gives a big clue to the disorganizaiton and feelings of being overwhelmed that I have. I am continually struggling to find the motivation to complete even routine tasks, let alone take on new projects and move forward on completing on-going ones.

Creating routines is something that I feel is important and will help me with moving forward.

The difficult part is there just does not seem to be enough time to do anything let alone what I want. Similarily there doesn't seem to be enough money either!

I need a schedule. This will be my first goal -- to make some kind of a schedule and fill it in with things that are important to me.