The Friday File

Friday here and the Professional Development that we were supposed to have today was cancelled because the facilitator couldn't make it. So this morning I took my medical papers into the lab here in Cold Lake and got blood drawn for my lab work instead. I guess we'll see if there are any concerns regarding the usual tests they do....I would seriously doubt it as I'm probably in the best shape I've been in ever.

I went to the optometrist since I have insurance for eye glasses and got new frames and the new progressive bifocals. I put them on and loved them right away. It's really nice to not have to hold things so far away when I try to read. I can even clip my finger nails and hang nails now without a second to focus.

I had a good weekend last weekend when I went back home for my doctor's appointment. I got to see lots of people I haven't seen in a while and visited with them. I decided to go back home to the doctor because of the foolish decisions the doctor's here have been making with some of my friends. I just don't feel like they really care here and I need them to care...this is our lives and health we are talking about.

The best part of the weekend was when my best friend and I got to sit around and talk while eating Nibs. We used to do it all the time and it was good to be able to do it again. Thanks Sr. Bag for the good time. I also appreciated that my very best baking friend went to the trouble to make her famous cinnamon buns for me. I only wished I had known so I wouldn't have eaten too much at lunchtime before that.

It's always tons of fun to go shopping with my mom too. We went to the big SuperWalmart that Camrose now has and looked around and bought a few fattening things to take home for later. I was able to meet up with my favorite aunt too while we were perusing in the big store. On Saturday night, mom and dad and I went to the Camrose Country Opry and enjoyed some good old local talent. It was lots of fun.

Until next time......

I'm back

It's been a long time since I have blogged and I really didn't think anyone cared at all but I got reprimanded by my friend this morning for not blogging enough so I guess I'll start again.

I guess I need to tell about my job. It's been going very well and I have been enjoying it very very much. I'm with my little autistic boy in the mornings in preschool and then I switch from kindergarten to grade 6 the rest of the day. I'm getting exercise by walking the hallways every time the bell goes changing classrooms. It's been fun and I've had some chances to do small group work and do a little instructions too.

Today we had a spiritual development day. I still had to go in for preschool but then I drove to Bonnyville and met with the rest of Holy Cross School to talk about some things we were doing in school that were good for faith building and some suggestions for doing more. It was really good to talk with all the other teachers without interruptions from students. It was a time of peace and reflexion for us all. I had to miss the keynote speaker because of preschool and I have to say that I'm disappointed because he sounded like a really interesting guy. The other teachers confirmed my disappointment in saying that he really was interesting and had some really good challenges to issue. Many of them said that they complained about having to go there for the day but were blessed after his lecture. I was glad to see so many of my collegues blessed and happy today. God is good!!

My exercise regiment has fallen somewhat by the wayside since returning home from Christmas. I still am doing some exercising but not as much as I was because I just don't have the time to do it anymore. For Valentine's Day, Kelvin bought me a Rock and Roll Stepper made by the same company as my elliptical and it is really good for working on getting my quads in better shape and stronger for hockey. Speaking of hockey, I'm still playing twice a week and even though I still am pretty much the worst player out there, I am getting better. I'm even getting better at getting up in the mornings to get there. In fact, I don't have any problems at all with that anymore but more problems staying in bed and sleeping....maybe I'm getting old!!!

Back at the beginning of February, I had the privilege of going to an Autism Awareness Conference in Edmonton. It was a very timely course for me and very full of lots of information. I pretty much left there with my head buzzing with information and lots of good notes from the speakers. It was great that the school board would send me there and pay me to learn more about autism. I think I could be a conference junkie as I really did benefit from it and loved everything I learned. It was really a nice hotel that I stayed at and the conference was in the same place. I had a friend of mine meet me for supper the first night and my best friend came from back home to stay with me for a night with a couple of kids. It was a great time and we had lots of fun using the gym, swimming pool, hot tub and sauna at the hotel...and all on the school's dime!!!

This time of the year is a busy time for us. We have all of my family's birthdays in less than a month. As of yesterday, I am the mother of a 15 year old!!! I know I know, I look much too young to be the mother of a 15 year old but it really is a true fact.

Anyhow, I guess that is the update for this time, until next time......

Christmas and back in the grind

We (Kelvin, myself, Clayton, Cody and Sam) went home to Camrose for Christmas on December 20th and came back on December 29th. It was a good time and we all enjoyed visits and too much good food. It does make me miss my hometown but also makes me appreciate my own domain here too. I missed having the Daniel, Emma and Maggie with us but I know they had a good time with their mom and nanny. We'll miss them when they move to Nova Scotia after the school year,

Well, I'm officially back at school from Monday to Thursday all day long. I start at 8:30 in the morning in the kindergarten room and then go to preschool at 9:00. When I'm finished there, I go back into the kindergarten for the rest of the day.

I've had three days now with my little autistic fellow and enjoyed every minute of it. He is a very smart little duffer and extremely happy. Sometimes he looks so deeply into my eyes that I feel a very strong connection with him already. The time goes by very quickly and I am working hard on teaching him to meet his goals. I strongly believe that by June he will have reached them and can continue to strive for higher standards.

In kindergarten, I've been working mostly with small groups and giving them extra time with some of the struggles they have. It's been really rewarding and most enjoyable to do. Today, I got to read them their story after lunch time and ask them some questions, and wrote down their answers, about a subject that they are going to be studying for the next few months. After the subject is studied, we will compare what they knew at the beginning to what they know at the end. I can't wait to see what neat things that we'll all learn!!!

I'm still working out as often as I can by playing hockey twice a week and doing my strength and balance training the other days. I've also been boxing on the Wii and realizing that my regular strength training doesn't include my deltoid muscles. I'm hoping to be able to do my regular three miles on my elliptical on Fridays (my day off) after cleaning the house and getting caught up on errands. I really think that I'm looking much better from all the exercise because my 21 year old niece told her mom that I was looking pretty buff compared to what I used to be. Yay for nieces that love their aunties enough to say something nice!!!!

Well, that's it for now. Until next time.......

The decision is made.

Ok, so I went to the interview this morning at the Health Unit for the OT job. It went very very well and I was able to find out more information on what exactly the job was about. It sounds very interesting and like there would be lots of really cool learning to do.

When I got home, I was getting some things done before we leave for Camrose tomorrow when the school called and gave me the details on what job they wanted to hire me for, if I was interested. I would be an aide for a little guy in preschool with autism in the mornings and a classroom aide in English kindergarten in the afternoons giving specific attention, when needed, to three students with delayed language skills.

So after much consideration, prayer and taking into account which job I would like the most, I chose the school job. I still can't put my finger on the reason, but I just love being in a school. I start January 5th when the kids are back in school themselves. It's been very stressful having to make this decision and I'm really glad it's all over and now I plan to enjoy Christmas with my family and friends.

Tomorrow we leave for Camrose and I'm not too sure when we come back. I guess we'll stay until we get sick of family or family gets sick of us.

Until next time.....

Decisions to make...maybe

Well today I got a call from the school telling me that my interview (for the job I'm currently doing) is tomorrow at 10AM. Then I got another call from another job that I have applied for saying my interview is on Friday at 11AM. Now, I'm not saying that I will be offered both jobs, but if I am, I have no idea which one to chose. I'll have to update when I can on what happened. Any of my friends who read this can pray for me that if I am offered both, that I will make the right decision one which one to take.

Until next time......

The Job

So I've been at this new job for a week now and it's pretty good. The little people are really cute and extremely creative. I've learned lots about the difference between boys and girls in personality and how everyone learns at different speeds. Anyway, they are cute little gaffers but I feel like a babysitter instead of a teacher. Hopefully, I can move up in the school system at some point in time and do what I'm passionate about.

Again, I'm still doing three miles a day on my Gazelle elliptical and getting in better shape all the time. The other day I had Kelvin cut off my hockey stick a little bit to improve my shot and I hit the top shelf twice in shinny the other morning...so it worked!!! It was a really great time and I had some really good opportunities and scored a couple of times.

I'm still not in the Christmas spirit at all. We don't decorate our house because we are never home for Christmas. I haven't bought a thing yet and don't intend to until we are in Camrose with a bigger section. It's gonna be pretty slim pickins this year in the Lockhart-Eastwood home for gifts since I was out of work for so long but we'll make up for it in fun things we do with the kids.

Until next time.......

A job for a while

Well, I got a phone call yesterday from Holy Cross Elementary and was hired on the spot for a teacher's aide position in the pre-school classroom. This will only run for the month of December until a permanent person can be found. I did apply for the permanent position as well but they have to advertise and do interviews in order to make the right decision. So far the hours are Monday through Thursday mornings 8:45 until 11:15.

I've still been doing my exercising faithfully. I bought a really cheap elliptical that I do three miles a day on averaging between four and five miles per hour. It takes me just under 45 minutes for the cardio and 15 or so for the strength and balance part. I guess an hour workout is pretty good for this old gal. I still play hockey twice a week with all this too and have gained quite a bit of muscle and balance.

Until next time......

Almost a month...

Well, almost a month has gone by and I still have no job. I did apply in three more places and I did have an interview but, my honesty made it so I didn't get the job. I have also been approved for the workplace training program. That is a program that will subsidize, for six months, any job that I get for the purposes of training. I was hoping that would be a great asset to people looking to hire me, they wouldn't have to pay me as much at the beginning to train me. I'm getting very bored and really would like to be working. I also applied for EI. I wasn't going to but I decided that since I have paid into it, that perhaps I should try and get something out of it. We'll see how that turns out. I really am beginning to think that there must be something wrong with me. Nobody seems to want to hire me and my self confidence has hit an all time low. Oh well, life is like that sometimes.

Until next time......

Still no job.

Well, I guess I have an appointment next Wednesday to redo my resume. I will make a functional one instead of a chronological one. I was told that because my experience is so old that nobody will even look at me. Hopefully, this new resume will be a good one and someone will hire me. It probably won't be a school system as they just aren't hiring anyone.

Kelvin leaves this Tuesday morning for some meeting in Moose Jaw for three days. It happens to be his birthday so I guess I'll have to figure out something to do for it this weekend instead.

I have still been doing my exercising. I'm up to doing a 20 minute power walk now. I have no idea how far that is cuz I've never clocked it. I would really like to get myself an elliptical trainer as I really like the exercise but not so much enjoying the incredible wind that we have been having. Once the snow flies, I won't be able to do anything outside anyway cuz it's just too slippery when snow removal isn't part of Cold Lakes regime.

Joanne is feeling much better. She has a terrific appetite and says she gaining some weight back. That's great for her and I'm so happy!! Her mom is still here from Nova Scotia and we are all trying to talk her into staying for Christmas. It would be so nice for her to be here and have Joanne's niece from Calgary come up here to Cold Lake with her kids to spend some time. I hope it all works out this way.

Well, that's it for this time, until next time.....

Long days

Well, I'm still here at home and haven't been called by the school system yet. I was really hoping that by now they would be phoning and begging me to come and help out in some classroom somewhere in the school. I did find out that my resume has been forwarded on but I still have yet to hear anything back. I'm thinking next week I will just go in and volunteer so that they can see how I will be with the kids. Maybe then they will decide I'm worth paying...I sure hope so!

I don't remember what my last update on Joanne was but she was airlifted to the University Hospital September 13th. Her hemoglobin was so low that she needed a transfusion immediately so they shipped her to Edmonton. She was in there when they also found out that she had a blood clot in her arm from the IV. They have been giving her medicine for that so she doesn't end up with it going to her brain. She was released from there on Monday September 29th. She is back home now and has to go in for bloodwork everyday for a while. They want to make sure that she doesn't get anymore clots. It's really nice to have her home and back in the area. It's also great to have her mom here for, what is hopefully, a long while.

Obviously, Kelvin got back from Ottawa on the 21st and I survived the week with all six children on my own. It was a good week and I still don't like doing it on my own.

This weekend my boys and myself are going to Camrose to take care of all of Doris' things that are left. We will leave tomorrow after school when the boys get home. Saturday is the day that we go through all the stuff and decide what we want to keep in her memory and send to second hand stores and the dump. I hope it goes well and that we don't have any 'fighting' over anything.

Next weekend we will go again to Camrose for Thanksgiving with my family. This time Kelvin will come with us but his kids will be back with their mom for the holiday.

Today, I have to bake more bread as we are completely out. I better go and put it in the loaf pans now.

Until next time..........

More stuff

Well, I guess I misinformed everyone with my last my last post. Joanne didn't get her transfusion but she did have a good nights sleep because of meds. After we went to visit her, she was air lifted to the University Hospital. Apparently, she has so many different kinds of antibodies in her blood that she is very hard to type and cross match. The pathologist sent her blood results to a doctor up there and he said get her here now!!!

She had a friend go with her (it would have been me if Kelvin would have been here to stay with the kids) in the aircraft and stay with her most of the night. She did get her transfusion of three units yesterday and her mom and sister (who is a nurse) flew in from Nova Scotia to be with her. She is having another bout of colitis with this c-difficil so everything seems to be going poorly for her. I'm really hoping that today she is feeling much more like herself having had that much blood back in her system where it should be.

So I was here all weekend long with six kids by myself. It was very well and I really do love having the kids around. I wish that Kelvin wouldn't have been called out Saturday so we could have got our stuff done that has to wait forever now. The call out was only an exercise and a stupid one at that Kelvin said. Grrrrrr!!!!!!!

I started a regimented exercise program yesterday. I went for a little jog around the block, did some stretching, weights, and going to incorporate some balance enhancement today. I've gained 10 pounds, which isn't bad, but I've gained it all in my mid-section...right where I don't want it!! So since I'm really doing the pushing 40 thing, I thought I better start doing things and making it a lifestyle quickly before I have too much work to do and not want to do it. I'm still playing hockey with the guys but I think I need to do more and hopefully that will help me in hockey too.

Well, I guess that's it for this time. Until next time........

In the hospital again!

Yup, you guessed it. Joanne is in the hospital again. She has something called c-difficil. If you read about it or google it, it can be fatal. She was hospitalized late Thursday night. She got a transfusion yesterday and had her first good nights sleep on Thursday night. She was given some pain medication that actually allowed her to sleep. She was pretty happy about that. I guess today, I will take the kids up to see her and get a little visit in. I'll hopefully find out more about when she is going to get out. Her mom is coming from Nova Scotia this Wednesday so that always helps to make a person feel better to have mom around.

At seven this morning, Kelvin's cell phone rang. He jumped up to get it and didn't make it in time for the call. He listened to the message and found out that he had to go to the base for a GSAR (ground search and rescue) call out. What does that mean? Well, it means that everything we had planned to do today to winterize the boat and trailer and take them back to the compound is gone out the window. This doesn't come at a very good time either since tomorrow Kelvin has to leave at 6 AM to go to Ottawa for a week. There are some things I really love about the military....these are NOT some of them. So, I guess I'll just not say anything else for fear of saying something I may regret.

Until next time.....

Well, the funeral was as good as can be expected. The caterers were told to have food for 200 and there wasn't much left over so, it must have been pretty close to that. It was nice to see friends and family that we hadn't seen in a while.

The ice is back in the rink now and so we are back at playing hockey two mornings a week. I'm glad because I seem to have acquired this extra five pounds, which isn't bad except for it's all in my mid-section. I'm hoping a little extra curricular activity will help to shrink it or at least move it to other areas of my body that could use it.

I still have my hopes up for getting a job in the school system. They said that earlier this week they were going to go over the resumes and start to make some decisions. I gotta keep praying that it looks impressive enough to be hired.

I've cleaned out the trailer that Kelvin and the kids brought home last weekend so now all we have to do is winterize it pull it back to the compound for the winter. It will be nice to have our driveway back for our van instead of the boat or trailer. The boat has to be winterized and fixed before we can put it away for the winter. I think we may take it to a school in Edmonton to see if they can spend the time on it. The shift cable it broken and the entire leg needs to be taken off to get at it...what a pain in the rear end to do it.

Well, I guess that is the update for this time. Until next time.....

Ma's been taken to glory!!

Some of you know that Doris (my first mother in law) had been diagnosed with an aggressive systemic brain tumor this past June. She had surgery at the end of June and the doctor said she wasn't a good candidate for radiation so it would be about on week to five months left to live. She was in Camrose hospital for a while then transferred to Viking extended care. She took a big turn for the worse last week when she couldn't eat anymore and then stopped taking fluids as well. She was nine days without eating and seven without fluids.

I spent the night with her Friday and yesterday with me on one side and my sister in law Mable on the other we watched as she peacefully quit breathing and passed. I got to close her eyes. I know that sounds morbid, but I missed Dad's by only minutes and I wanted to be there with her when she went. What a privilege it was!! Imagine the family reunion she got to have when she got to eternity!!!

Now we all have to switch gears because today my niece gets married. We will all go and have a great time and can be assured that Ma will be watching us from heaven with all the family.

Until next time....

Well, we are finally back home again...and I think for a while this time. We went to camp for 10 days on the 25th of July till the 3rd of August. We came home and did laundry and repacked everything for our trip to Toronto. We left on August 4th for my sister-in-law's wedding. It was a crazy time because it was so short but we did Wasaga Beach, African Lion Safari, Niagara Falls, and the wedding while we were there. It was INSANE for busy and we are all very tired. Our flight was two hours delayed last night due to thunder storms, computer terminal glitches and a lost seat cushion on the plane. We got home at 5AM this morning and we are pooped! I think the boys enjoyed their first trip on a big plane and their time in Ontario.

I managed to pick Joanne up from the hospital the week we were at camp. She is doing much better and I believe now she will pick up and life will be back to normal. She was not allowed to fly due to the possibility of blood clots so she and the kids have postponed their trip to Nova Scotia for a while.

I hope to have some pictures of some of the things we did while in Ontario so please be patient and I will get them on and talk more about the trip but until next time.....

Well, everything at work came to a head last Friday. After much consideration this past weekend, I decided to leave the job. Let's just suffice to say that it wasn't a fit for me at all. I had originally thought that it would a great fit and everything seemed to happen so fast that it just had to be the right place for me to be...alas, it wasn't. I was still on probation so I could leave without notice. Part of my decision to leave was that this week is very busy as we are planning to leave for family camp on Friday and it's good to stay home and get laundry done as well as get things organized as far as packing and stuff is co'sncerned.

So my two best friends, from back home, came to visit me yesterday!!! It was way cool to have them here and visit and laugh and drink coffee. The only thing I can say is that it was too short. It's always too short but always lot of fun too.

I guess I need to go now and take my step-kids to visit their mom right now. She is getting grumpy, which I think is great, because she is hungry and therefore getting better I think. She did have a blood transfusion yesterday and says she feels a little better today from it. Anyhow, until next time.........

A wild last couple of weeks!

I know it's been a long time since I have posted on here because it's been really busy and a little stressful on the home front. Joanne has been hospitalized since Monday with severe abdominal pain, severe dehydration and an infection in her insides. She has been in severe pain for five weeks now probably from the infection. Anyhow, she remains in the hospital (maybe two weeks or more) until her infection is completely gone or they do surgery to take out her bowel. She opted out for the hospitalization. We all hope that she gets better quickly as she has a trip with the kids booked for Aug 7-25 to Nova Scotia. If she isn't better by then, she will send the kids by themselves for the family back home to enjoy.

On another note, Kelvin, myself, Clayton, Cody, and Sam have a trip booked to Toronto for Aug 4-9 for Kelvin sister, Krista's, wedding. We are all going to fly out there and enjoy some time with Kelvin's family a little before the wedding and take Krista's kids on some day trips with us.

Work is going good for me. It's different being the last one home from work with all waiting for me.

Last week we had Clayton, Cody, and Emma at camp and this week we have Maggie and Sam at camp. We pick them up today after work and have the BBQ with them and then they come home. July 25th after work is when family camp starts. We all go there for ten days minus one so that we can come back early and get ready for the Toronto trip. I'm looking forward to this as always because it is where my beloved and I met. It's a special time for our family and we will all enjoy it very much.

Well, I think that's about all caught up from last time so until next time.....

So we're back and everything is almost back to normal. On Sunday after church, we took three of the six kids to youth camp. That leaves three of them here. Clayton, Emma, and Cody all went to youth camp while Daniel, Maggie, and Sam are here. Daniel didn't want to go to camp this year so he's just going to stick around and this Sunday, Maggie and Sam are going to kids camp. This will be Sam's first year to go and he is currently very excited about it. He's been going to family fun camp at our local Military Family Resource Center this week as Daniel and Maggie leave to go to their mom's after breakfast. He really loves it! They get to go swimming and see movies at the 4 Wing Theatre....lucky dude!

Work has been pretty busy the last little while and that has made the time go very quickly. I like it when times goes fast when I'm working!

This past Sunday I managed to completely butcher a hymn in church. I was lead instrument with the pipe organ sound and it was pretty bad. I told the leader that I haven't played in quite a while and I wasn't comfortable playing lead with such little practice. Oh well, you can't say that I didn't warn him. We have cancelled Thursday night practices for the summer and only practice for about an hour Sunday morning. That's just not enough for this green horn!! It's really alright cuz I never claimed to be perfect anyway....now EVERYBODY knows it!!

Well, I better get ready for work now. Until next time.......

This is the badland near Terracotta (sp) just south of Georgetown where Kelvin grew up.
Forks of the Credit river.
Bell's Falls
The infamous Niagara Falls
This is our ride on the Maid of the Mist boat that took us incredibly close to the falls.

It was a very nice trip to go on and it made me realize how much of a country bumkin I really am!!!

Our trip

Ok, so we're back from Toronto and visiting Kelvin's family. It was a pretty good time that we had too. Toronto and the rest of the GTA is pretty huge for this country bumkin so the amount of people was, to say the least, a little overwhelming for me.

The first night I stayed with my Uncle in downtown Toronto and had a nice visit. He has this really cool bed that comes out of the wall and is uber comfortable. I had a good sleep that night even though I lost two hours just going to Ontario.

The next day I met Kelvin at Union Station where he came by Via train. We boarded the Go Train to Bramalea and then a Go Bus to Georgetown where his mom lives. We visited with her until that Thursday while catching up with all the folks that still live there and remember Kelvin growing up. We did a day trip out to Terricota (sp?), the bad lands, forks of the credit river, and Bell's Fountain. It was very pretty there. The best thing about Georgetown is that we actually had to leave Toronto to get there. Everything is so much all one big city that we never seemed to leave Toronto to get to the next city. Georgetown is pretty rural and a very beautiful place...it was my favorite by far. It was also way cool to see where Kelvin grew up and meet some of his friends that are still there. It's a whole side of Kelvin I've never been able to see before last week....pretty nifty!!

On Thursday, Kelvin's mom left for her road trip and Kelvin's dad came to pick us up and we spent the rest of the week with him and his wife. They live in Etobicoke (which is really Toronto) and only about 10 minutes from the airport. Kelvin's dad is a retired Air Canada worker and so it was really nice to be able to get him to give us the drive to the airport when we needed to go.

While we were in Etobicoke, we were able to take a day trip to Niagara Falls with his dad and step mom. It was the second time that I've been there and it was just as beautiful the second time. This time, Kelvin, myself, and his dad went on the Maid Of the Mist boat tour. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. They bring you so close to the falls that you can't help but be completely in awe!! I will try and post some pictures when I get them. Kelvin took them on his cell phone and I have yet to upload them to my computer but when I do....

Yesterday, we went to the Canada celebrations at the beach. It was totally loaded with people like usual and a good time was had by all. We all got sunburned a little but nothing that will keep us from anything. The fireworks last night were truly awesome and again there were thousands of people there taking it in. I love Canada Day in Cold Lake!!!!

Today, is the first official work day for Kelvin as a Master Corporal. He got his promotion officially for June 30 but that was the day we were travelling back from Ontario. He had to sport his new rank this morning before he left for work....looked good on him too!! The part that I don't like about it is that, he will have to go to Borden, I think, at some point to do a course. This course is seven, yes seven long weeks of 14-16 hour days away from all of us. I'm hoping that they won't get on that too quickly and maybe he won't have to go before next April when he has the opportunity to retire from the military with his pension and do something else. He isn't looking forward to it either as it is a super hard course that is brand new and long.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. I best be getting ready for my first day back at work after my holiday. The kids are all still sleeping and it's so nice just to have peace and quiet while I do my morning routine. I hope this continues since I was thinking that I would lose my quiet time now that school was out...perhaps if I stay really quiet.......

Until next time.......