Winter Wonderland

I wake up and there's a fresh layer of snow on the ground. It seems like every time I wake up in the morning and look outside the window there is a layer of fresh snow. Not necessary a lot of snow but still enough to cover the snowfall from the previous day. Good thing I have my dad's massive winter boot here with me! I should have wore it today when I went to Canadian Tire... next time.

My apartment is coming together slowly. I built my side table that was originally planned for my bedside table but it didn't look good so I moved it beside my flower pattern couch. I was starting to put together my coffee table but the garage sale screwdriver I bought years ago was a piece of crap and didn't do anything but hurt my hands and the screw bit deformed under the workload. So today I went out and got myself a screwdriver! It's a 4.8V Mastercraft cordless screwdriver that PIVOTS! How cool is that? What's even cooler is, it was on sale for $11.99... how good is that? It's only 4.8V so it's not that powerful but it sure is more powerful than me doing things manually. So if it I put together my coffee table and my living area is looking pretty decent.

I know a lot of you are asking for pictures but I don't have a camera so pictures will have to wait. So wait for them! I'll do a picture update one of these days.

Well another weekend is coming to an end... darn why do weekends feel so short now? And weekdays feel SO long? Have I become an official working professional, who dreads the weekdays, looks forward to weekends but hates how short weekends are? Crap!

I can't wait until I get my first pay check... two more weeks! I'm gonna feel like I won the lottery when I get paid! It's going to be great!

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Week Number 2

My second week here is coming to an end and I can say that it is feeling more like home. Maybe it's cause I have my furniture and other essentials that came in mid this week and I got my internet and cable today. No more sleeping on an air mattress and no more slow internet connections. Now I won't be bored... well I hope not.

Even though my apartment is feeling more like home... I wish I had all this back in Toronto. I would love to have my friends over, kick back with some cold ones and just having a ball. I miss my friends. I know I'll make new ones here but just miss all the opportunities that I'm going to miss with them. If anyone wants to make the trek over here... c'mon over! My apartment is always open for you guys!

I've realized how much I've missed the food network. I've been watching it in the airplane and now that I can watch it whenever I want... I think/hope that it'll inspire me to do some cooking on my own. If you don't know, I love food and I love to cook. I might not be good but I love to cook anyways. I'll have to blog about my cooking adventures whenever that happens. Hopefully I'll have a camera by then and I can take pictures of my beautiful and yummy creations!

What to do this weekend... maybe I'll hit up the mall again and walk around for a bit and walk on over to the superstore and sears. YES, we have sears! LOL I can use some new work clothes... which reminds me I gotta do a massive load of laundry! Oy I need toonies too, crap! I wonder if I can figure out a way to do laundry for free. Me and my housemates figured out a way to do laundry for free in Waterloo... Hrmmm I'll have to do some research on youtube. Laundry should be free... or at least affordable. C'mon, $2 for a wash and another $2 to dry... that's just ridiculous!

Hope this weekend will be a good one! Wish I was with you guys back home... miss having a pint with you guys!

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So Full

I eat so well at work... well I ate so well at work today at least. Today one of the programs for few of the units was a special dinner (don't know why we call it dinner cause they eat it at lunch) and on the menu was ham, carrots, and potatoes. I was busy doing one on one with another resident on my unit and learning the tricks and the trades so I didn't get to eat with anyone but I was lucky enough to go downstairs to get leftovers and it was good! On top of that, we had a department meeting at lunch and people brought desserts of all kinds... goodness there were 2 cakes, 2 pies, ice cream, and mini cupcakes. All I got to say is I was a very satisfied employee and a very sleepy one for the rest of the day.

Because of the moving people I started work late yesterday so to make it up I worked 8am-6pm today. Damn that's almost 12 hours... I didn't realize that! BUT it was worth it cause it so happened that there was another special dinner program called Travel Group running in the evening. Basically residents pick a country of their choice and the recreation assistants do light research and do a presentation about that country and get the group to talk about that country. So if they've ever visited, if they were born there if so how was it growing up there and moving here, etc, etc. And after the presentation, the recreation assistants or whoever is facilitating (usually two) cooks a meal from that country. So today it was about living in North America back in the day. So they prepared a roast, mashed potatoes, carrots, cabbage/union/bacon dish and for dessert apple pudding crumble with ice cream. I don't think I've eaten so well for a long time.

I guess I was at the right place at the right time. I picked a good day to go home late. So now I don't have to cook dinner... basically all my meals for today were from work. Oh I love my job sometimes.

My apartment is still a mess. I know I did a lot of work last night but it sure doesn't look like it. Just looks like a bomb went off and stuff flew everywhere. I have the weekend to clean up, I guess.

OH! The family I met through Pastor Chang offered me their car for the weekend. The guy is in Mexico for a conference so his wife emailed me today wondering if I wanted to borrow their car to explore the town. I was shocked that she offered the car cause they have 4 kids... maybe she met she'd drive me around... but still the thought was very surprising. I'd feel bad to take their car and I don't have any places in mind I'd want to go to.

Well I know the temperature back home is dropping... bundle up people! But that's still nothing compared to here... I'm still waiting for the -40 temperatures.

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12 More Hours...

My furniture and other things are arriving tomorrow! WOO friggin' HOO! :)

Not much happened today at work but continued on with the new employee orientation. The only fun part of today's orientation was it was the last day! Haha. I got to do my mask fitting again cause I didn't bring my card from Toronto... I hate tasting that bitter solution... so gross. And the stupid things they make you wear.... I look like a goof, a total goof. I wanted to keep the mask I was using but I left it on the table and when I came back from lunch I didn't know if it was my mask or someone's mask.

Yeah not much to blog about tonight... other than the fact that my stuff's arriving tomorrow morning! Finally my apartment will look and feel more like my home and I can finally settle in and feel comfortable. So long air mattress! You've provided me with... urmm comfort but I will definitely not miss you. I think I might fall asleep tomorrow night and not wake up for work cause I'll be too comfortable and sound asleep from the comfort.

Oh and I can't wait to start cooking some real food. Frozen food, instant noodles and pizza... not a very healthy combination of foods, I think. I need some vegetables and fresh stuff in my diet. Too bad I don't get paid for awhile.... my grocery shopping will have to wait and I'll just eat rice and curry-in-box that my mom sent over with my stuff. Thank mom! :)

Man it's only 8:30! I'm still not used to this time difference... I'll chat some more and maybe I'll sleep early tonight... or I'll tidy up my room so I can fit my bed and dresser when it gets here tomorrow. Maybe I should sleep on the floor tonight... so I don't have to wake up early to deflate it... yeah I'll just sleep on the floor tonight. The sacrifices I make for myself. Haha

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Orientation... What A Bore

Today and tomorrow was and will be a boring day for me. It's new employee orientation sessions... whoopie! I'm sitting there and listening and it doesn't matter if you're in a different province, everything is pretty much the same. Staff abuse awareness, child abuse awareness, workers comp... everything's the same. I guess I should have none since those things are pretty standard across the board... or I hope they are.

So I got nothing really to blog about today.... today was uneventful. OH! My furniture and other essentials were suppose to arrive today but the driver calls me yesterday and tells me the hwy in Regina closed down cause of 20-30cm of snow fall! 20-30cm!! How crazy is that?! He tells me he probably won't be on the road again until tomorrow. So he calls me in this morning and leaves a voice message telling me he hasn't left yet cause the hwy is still closed but they are opening it up slowly so he expects to be here by Wednesday earliest. WEDNESDAY?! I want my stuff already... I want to be able to cook a meal, sleep on a real mattress, sit and watch tv and eat a meal on a chair and a table. Guess my mom was right when she told me everyone needs to know how it feels to suffer a little... I don't think I'm suffering that much but not having some of the things I took for granted... it's making me appreciate them even more now.

Hopefully my stuff will be here Wednesday and by that time my tv will be ready for the cable and internet people who'll be coming Friday. Woohoo! Finally my apartment will feel like a real home. I wish I had a camera to take a picture of my bare apartment... it's pretty sad looking. Just picture yourself house hunting and you walk into a house with no furniture, no nothing. Well that picture you have in your head, it's pretty much my living area and kitchen and dinette area. My bedroom looks alright but still sad cause it's my air mattress, suit cases and my laptop with a few random things on the floor.

It's time for bed... I'm sleeping early these days. Guess that's a true sign of a working professional. Sleeping early to get my 6-7 hours of sleep. Good night! Don't be a stranger and leave a comment. And if you're in a good mood, follow my blog, too. :)

First Weekend In Grande Prairie

So my first weekend here was pretty good and productive.

I slept in and woke up 11-12. I didn't want to wake up but thought I should at least wake up early enough so if I wanted to do something I'd have time to do it. I walked around my apartment and I can't wait until my furniture, kitchen stuff, mattress and all the other things I packed arrive Monday. My living area is pretty bare... literally has nothing but curtains. I have a feeling I should have listen to my parents and shipped both the couches... even though they are flower patterned. Gotta save money, ya know? My living area seems to be big enough for both plus tv and coffee table. We'll see when I arrange the furniture around.

Being the first weekend, I wanted to explore this town that I now call home. What better place to go on a weekend but the mall! I wish I could say its a big mall like Yorkdale or even Fairview but... it really isn't. For all you readers who've been to the Conestoga Mall in Waterloo... yeah it's pretty similar but worse. The only men's store I can really shop at is RW&Co but that's only for work attire. I guess I'll have to drive to Edmonton one of these weekends to do ALL my clothe shopping.

Walking back I stopped by Canadian Tire just to kill more time and if I could buy anything for the apartment. After picking up stuff I realized that I should probably wait until my stuff arrive and see if I really do need the things I picked up. And I didn't want to spend money cause I haven't gotten paid yet... cause do I really need a hook near the main door to hold my keys? I didn't think so... although it was a good idea at the time.

Last night I met up with a family that Pastor Chang met at Urbana and I went to their son's indoor soccer game to talk and get out of the apartment. It was nice to meet them finally after countless emails and to talk to someone besides residents and coworkers at the hospital. While at timmies they told me about this production their church (so happens it's one of the churches I had in mind to attend) was holding a comedy production called Studio Y and they invited me to come if I had nothing to do Saturday night. So having nothing to do and wanting to go out and be productive with my time, I walked over to the church and had a good time. It was pretty funny and well organized. They apparently have it once a month so can't wait to go next month. Talking more with Mike, I found a gym I could go to but it'll be a far walk but hopefully I can figure out their transit schedule to save me time.

I'm glad I met the Bennett family, their kids are all nice and their youngest, I think is 9 months is SO cute. She cried the first time she saw me, which was last night, but now she smiles and laughs when I'm around. I guess she opens up to people easily. Or I'm not as scary as I thought. Haha.

I'm getting more comfortable here now, now having met a family who can show me around town and talk to, having worked a full week, and having been here a week. It still gets lonely but that's not going to go away. I wonder what my friends and family are up to this weekend... I miss having a drink with you guys. CHEERS!

What Could Have Been...

Weekend officially started today at 4:15pm but has been ruined by one phone call at 2:15pm.

I definitely did not want to wake up and go to work today. It was such a struggle to roll off my air mattress and walk towards the shower. But because I live so close to work I think I can afford to sleep in a little bit... I mean it takes like... 3 mins to walk to work. Honestly, it's that close. My view from my bedroom AND living room is the hospital.

Work today was pretty slow. None of the recreation therapist work Fridays but me and my supervisor so it was just me and the recreation assistants. I still don't know what I'm suppose to do at work... I don't lead any programs and assessments/reassessments don't happen that much... so what do I do? I try to make myself look busy but reading a binder or trying to help out so I can get to know my residents. The residents are fun and I love hearing their stories.

So after lunch I was prepping something one of the recreation therapist asked me to finish up. As I was working on it, I get a phone call and on my caller id it read Restricted ID so I was curious to see who was calling. I pick up and BAM! "Hi this is so and so from CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH, is this peter?" WHY?!?! Why must they call me NOW for an interview... when I already took a job on the other side of the country, one week into my new job and with my furniture expected for arrival on monday... why?? I told the person I already have a job now and we hung up. After that phone call my mood changed and all I could think of was... "what if i didnt take this job now?" "what am i doing here when i could have the change to work at my dream job?" "i lost my chance at my dream job!" All these thoughts... and I guess I'm doubting myself again for coming here, when there was a potential to stay home in the city I love and want to live in.

So my weekend has now been ruined... hopefully something sparks it up again but losing the chance to work at my dream job is pretty heartbreaking.

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