Wake up to the fresh smell of...

Coffee & Wood Glue!?!? ha ha. The joys of renovating. It would be fun if it was my house. But my parents are doing a good job!

I'm in the process of shopping for a new laptop. Mine bit the dust. I'm just hoping that I can get my pictures off of it. I have some of the pictures on picasa but I'd like ALL of them. I knew I shouldn't have purchased a refurbished IBM but it was dirt cheap because I got my aunt's employee discount. But still...it'll be a Dell this time.

I took Emily swimming in the city on Saturday. It was definately better than our little community pool in town here. This rec center has a water slide, 2 hottubs, a "river" with a real current, a wave pool...2 kiddie areas with climbing centre & slide...a steam room (Emily is too young to use). It's awesome. We paid $11.50 for the two of us to get in with wristbands and you can stay as long as you want or you can swim, leave for a few hours and then come back later! We stayed for 2 hours and then left...it was crowded being the long weekend.

Yesterday was a movie day. We watched some old classics like the Ghostbusters & Honey I shrunk the kids. She loved them! Then I took her out for ice cream. It was a lazy day. I don't think we're going to do a whole lot today because it's raining. But I definately have to clean my SUV today.

Happy Monday (and I don't have to work because it's a holiday!)!!

Tuesday Babble

3 more days until Shrek the 3rd hits the big screen!! I really didn't think I was going to be this excited but who doesn't like Shrek? He's my wallpaper on my desktop.

RA's co-host (whom I have been walking with twice a week) told me that he told her that he thinks I'm gorgeous. He told her that I have a gorgeous personality and a gorgeous face. Aww. That really made my evening. Sad but true.

In other news....ahhh, wait, there is NO other news. ha ha.

I gave up my 2nd territory for my business. Too many headaches and I want to have another child in a year or two. So when I told Head Office...they asked me if I was interested in another territory and named a town quite close to me. No, I don't want it because I would have to do the groundwork! No no & No! I might consider it if it was already an established centre.

Anyways, I'm going to go....maybe exercise....maybe watch some TV.
Good Evening to all.

P.S. - I added my favorite picture of Emily from our trip to see the Dinosaurs on the weekend. She looks sooo adorable & peaceful.

Mother's Day Weekend

Emily and I had an awesome weekend!

Yesterday we went to Drumheller to the Tyrell Museum to see all the dinosaurs! Emily loved the "underwater room". It was a dark room with a glass floor and it had sea creatures under it. She also loved the glass bubble wall. And the Discovery Room. It was a big room with pipes and lots of balls. You could put these little sponge balls in the pipes and they'd pop out these huge flowers with the help of air!

We then went downtown and climbed the World's Largest Dinsoaur and then got to look out over the town out of the dinosaurs mouth. Very cool. The picture is of Emily sitting on the toe of the World's Largest Dinosaur. I also bought her a few dinosaur souveniors. And I got lots of pictures on my camera.

Today (Sunday) we went to a very special place for ice cream. And because this place was beside a river...we took a walk to the river and threw rocks in. It was fun. Today was really cold and overcast though. I was hoping for another hot day like we had yesterday but no such luck. Oh well. Then we came back home and Emily layed down for a nap. I guess I wore her out this weekend.


I know she was mad at me for spending the whole weekend at the Trade Fair. I figured she'd forgive me for that (even though it was work related). I would like to do something special with her each and every weekend...even if it is just a small little outing. We need that since all we have is eachother.

Sleep tight!

Day #2 of Trade Show

Yesterday was day 2 of the trade show. I was there from 10am to 5:30pm. My co-worker took over from 5:30pm to 8pm.

When I was leaving, I decided to grab a bag of Cotton Candy for Emily. So, of course, that took me by the RA's booth (he wasn't there), but his new co-worker is not that hard to look at. It felt like his eyes were glued to me as I walked by. Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. But I think my heart belongs to RA at this point.

Today will end up being Day 3 of the Trade Show and the last day. Yay!! It only runs from 11am to 4pm and we have until 6pm to get our booth's out of the complex. RA's co-host will be there...she's awesome. I like her. She's also one of our clients. Can't wait to see her today, she's soooooo fun!!

Anyways, I guess I'll go. I think RA had intentions of swinging by our booth today even though he doesn't HAVE to be there.

Have a happy Sunday!

Trade Show this weekend!

Since I went out last night and had a few too many drinks without eating supper I was still on the verge of being drunk and slightly hungover when I walked into work this morning. To top it off I had to wake up early this morning and go and set up our trade show booth for this weekend (there's no theme to this trade show - just a community trade show). I headed back to work. My co-worker wasn't feeling well this morning so I sent her home for a few hours to get some rest before I had to go back to the trade show. I wanted her in tip top shape. A little rest is what she needed.

Since I haven't run into RA in awhile I figured I would clear the air with him so I wasn't living with any regrets. I needed to tell him how I felt about him. I had a few chances and chickened out. He came to my booth and we had a great time chatting. I then went over to his booth before leaving the trade show for the evening and he was chatting with someone. I went to work to try and balance our POS system because I really didn't want to do it tomorrow morning. I was sitting there after I had figured out the computer problem and something told me to just phone him. If I didn't, I probably never would. So I dialed....and made the big call.

I told him that back in February I regretted not going back to his house for a little 1-on-1 time and if I had...he wouldn't have been going anywhere that day. He agreed with me. I told him that if his interest was genuine that he knew where to find me. He told me I gave him really good news and he was happy to hear my side of things. He admitted that he was having a hard time in his personal life and wasn't ready for a relationship. That's cool because I was kind of thinking the same thing. My life is work work work right now and I need to learn to balance work life and personal life. He did tell me that when he was ready for a relationship he would call me. It felt so good to finally let him know what I was feeling inside. It's GREAT!!!!!!!!!! I'm so happy!! I don't care that we won't have a relationship right now...I'm just glad we have a strong base for a friendship.

What a relief.

Oh yea, I also have a wedding to attend in July. Maybe RA will be willing to go as either a friend or a boyfriend? Time will tell.

I'm off to bed. I have another 10 hour day tomorrow only this time it's at the trade show. Woohoo!

xo

Stress is Hitting...HARD!

Sometimes a person can't help but think that maybe things happen for a reason.

Last week Monday to Friday my 2 employees were at training. I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park for any of us. As I had to stay back to man the Centre while they were gone. Apparently the 2 had a fight...neither of them were adult enough to talk it out. I guess it got a little out of hand over the last few days of training. One of them went back to attend another day of training this past Monday. While the other didn't want anything to do with her co-worker. [sigh] Am I dealing with school children or adults here?

Tuesday & Wednesday we had a service rep out from Head Office to help us increase sales. Everything was going great...or so we thought. Wednesday evening one of the ladies had to leave at 3 to attend a doctor appointment and left hardly saying good-bye. I thought it was kind of strange but figured we were all just stressed out. I found a note peeking out of my purse in the staff room with my name on it. On the inside was a key with the words "I QUIT!". Obviously not adult enough to tell me to my face. I really don't need someone with a bad attitude like that. Now I have one lady left...and myself. Quite the workload! But the remaining lady I have works enough for 2 people so I find myself quite lucky.

As I sit here with a 8 page lease in my hand for centre #2...it leaves me wondering if this is such a good idea? Is this my opportunity to keep centre #1 and have a 2nd business on the side? I've always wanted to either a) open my own self-storage centre or b) own my own up-scale modular home community.

Everything happens for a reason but I wish someone would tell me what to do!!
Time will tell...I hope.

Blasted By My Ex-Boss

Is what I'm waiting for.

One of my employees just called to give me a heads up on what happened about 2 hours ago in their training session. Apparently the trainer had asked everyone around the room what our operating hours are. They're supposed to be... Mon-Fri 9-7pm & Sat 10-4pm OR Sat 9-5. We had ours set to 10-4pm on Saturday & then changed them to 9-1pm because we hardly see anyone anyways. Leah was prepared to answer the question with the 'proper' answer of 10-4pm but, unfortunately, Barb was asked first and answered with the 'improper' answer of 9-1pm & the trainers head spun around 3 times and her eyes popped out. Did I mention that the 'trainer' is my former boss?

So she's either going to write me a nasty e-mail, tell Head Office on me...or both. Or she could say nothing and hope that I rot in hell but I really can't see her keeping her mouth shut. Hmmmm.

I'm going to end this before I get myself into trouble. ha ha!

Thank God It's Friday!!

So at work, our roof is leaking and running down the firewall onto our carpet. Of course it couldn't leak on the other side, which is vacant. My mom brought her carpet cleaner for me yesterday and I just got a chance to use it this morning. Our carpet is grey and because it was so super wet, it looked black. I sucked up the water with the carpet machine and FILLED a 5 gallon bucket. I'm going to have to do it again tonight. My new working hours are going to be from 8am to 8pm just because I have to suck up water! I'm going to call the carpet cleaners in here AGAIN (they were just here on Thursday) and I'm going to get them to come in EVERY week until this is done. Depending on what they [the carpet cleaners] say, I might get new carpet out of it.

I still have today, tomorrow & Monday by myself. I can't wait until Tuesday!!

On a better note...I finally broke down and exercised yesterday morning. I'm getting back into my Pilates kick that I had happening before we went on our cruise. So I woke up this morning and did it again! It's only a 20 minute exercise but it's targeting a GREAT area of my body and it makes me feel good. I might do it again tonight because it feels soooooooooo good. ha ha.

Did I also mention I'm still going through the process of trying to get a finalized lease in my hand for our Canmore/Banff centre? Oh, the fun I'm having this week!

Anyways, I should get back to work. The countdown begins!
Only 9 more hours to go.......

I don't want to!

My mom is super annoying. She always wants to exercise with me. No! I really would like to say to her that I'm not her friend, I'm her daughter, if she wants to exercise with someone...go find a friend! I like exercising in the morning but not with her! Anyways...

It's snowing. I don't want to live in Alberta anymore! We're expected to get around 50cm of snow. Yes, it's falling super fast but melting as it hits the ground. I just want to cry like a baby!

Now because of the weather work is DEAD today. It should be super busy because I need to make $$ but it's not. I have a consultation at 5pm that I really don't want to do but once again it's the $. I'm just suffering from really bad attitude because the other 2 ladies are away for training and because I fired that other one I'm alone. Next Monday they'll still be gone. Tuesday & Wednesday I'm having someone from Head Office come out. Thursday, I have to come to work because I don't want to leave a person by herself for the day. So that leaves me with possibly taking Friday off. But I won't actually take the whole day off because I have stuff to do so I'll only take 1/2 the day off.

Is it Friday yet?

Dark Details

I found something out with a simple google search. That personal trainer that I worked with on the Cruise ship wrote some ship secrets on a message board on the internet. By typing his name into google I stumbled across them. They earn commission as well as the money from tips. Now don't get me wrong, I learned valuable information from him for my health and I think it was worth every penny! But he gave me two options to help me with my weight loss.. a) to do an internal cleanse, b) to do an external cleasen or c) to do both. I fell for it. Leading me to believe that he wasn't going to sell me anything but recommend herbal things for me to purchase once I got home. I chose both and he came back with $1200US in product & services for me. I paid for it and never looked back. He was there to make commission (because I was cheap and never gave him a tip)...he's using that money to go to flight school to serve the South African Army. Pretty sneaky. He also wrote that on one particular cruise he brought in $5000 in 10 days on one cruise. People like to spend money on those ships and I was no exception!

On another note...RA hasn't come in yet to my workplace. He doesn't want to lose weight (he's getting free services & product in return for radio publicity). And he probably doesn't want to come here to face me since I unknowingly (how stupid could I be?) turned him down. Little does he know I want to take him up on his offer! Ahhh!! I hope fate brings him through my front door tomorrow!

I should be doing close out...I want to go home.

You're Fired!

So I kinda snapped yesterday. I fired our new lady at work. I had had enough and it was to the point where I thought that some of our clients were going to leave because of her. It was before the 3 month probation was up -- she was only there for a month and a handful of days. I gave her 4 reasons for firing her...

1) She didn't tell me that she was leaving for an hour to go to the bank and to go get a console installed in her truck (Monday, Wednesday & Friday are our busy days so I try and get the ladies to book things on Tuesdays & Thursdays if possible). I told them that I was going to Canmore on Friday and that I wouldn't be in the Centre, she saw that as an opportunity to leave thinking that I would never know about it.

2) When she got back late she apologized to a co-worker of hers. I told her that I was the boss, not the other lady.

3) Cell phones...for the 4th time...are not allowed in the room when you are with a client. I told her that it was ringing & vibrating far too often and that she should leave it in the staff room like everyone else. I told her that if her kids needed to phone her they should be using the Centre phone number not her cell. She had heard this all before and pretended she was hearing it for the first time.

4) Leave your personal life at home. Do not mention your relationship troubles in the room with a client because 90% of the clients don't care and the other 10% are glad you are miserable in your relationship!!

She had this stunned look on her face and asked me if she could have a second chance. I told her no, my decision was made and she was to pack her things and leave. Then she phone stalked my other two employees for the rest of the night. You think that a 40-something year old woman would be more mature than that.

So after that...the drinking began! Leah and I went out to the bar after work. We both needed the drinks to calm us down. Before we had had too many, we decided to take a drive past RA's house. He was home. I think he stayed home the whole night. I was kind of disappointed and I think Leah picked up on it. She was worried it was going to ruin my night. It definately did not. I told her that it was a good thing he wasn't out...more chance of him being single if he stays home. ha ha!

Now that I fired that useless lady and the other two are going to training in Calgary...I'm going to be all alone for the week. Oh well. Nothing I can do put post notes in the Centre that explain why there is now wait times. Maybe people will start coming in at different times of the day rather than all at once in the morning.

Oh well. Can't wait to tell RA that I didn't mean to shoot him down and that I really want his body....ha ha ha. I really won't tell him the body part.
I'm headed out for a nice Saturday dinner with my daughter & my mom.

Happy Weekend!

Pet Food Recall

Was Cally a victim of this? Do they really know how BIG this recall was? Is it a coincidence that she got sick at the same time there was recalled pet food sitting on the shelves of these stores? Unfortunately, we were using a brand that had been recalled. They are claiming that it was only the soft food and not the hard food. I think they're probably wrong. How do they know since most of the tainted stuff has been consumed? Everytime I thought I was nourishing my cat was I really unknowingly killing her? I feel terrible. Since I figured I was 'safe' since it was only supposed to be the wet catfood I've been feeding Sophie (our new little bundle of love) the same brand of cat food. She's been throwing up every now and then. I'm nervous but she's going to the vet on Thursday. Since Sophie is almost identical to Cally I am afraid she'll have the same fate as Cally....it's a crazy fear that I'm trying to talk myself out of. Enough of that, the picture attached is that of our new baby! (To see a picture of Cally you would have to go back to a post from December 2006).

Buy Nothing For A Month

I was reading on MSN money that people took a challenge to not buy anything (except what they needed to survive such as produce...toiletries, etc) in an attempt to eliminate (not just cut back but eliminate!) spending money on extras. Since I need to pay off my debt in order to save for a house...I'm going to start my own little challenge.

At this point I'm thanking god that I live with my parents still because there is absolutely no way I should be strapped for cash. Here it goes...I'm going to leave my debit cards (they are so evil) and my credit cards at home for a full month. Now I'm really not going to have a dollar amount for what I have saved in doing this but I will be able to put more money towards my bills.

All the important things come out automatically. My credit cards I can pay online. Babysitting can be paid with a cheque. And I'll have to make a special trip to the gas station with my debit card in hand to fill up...purchasing NOTHING but gas at the gas station. No pop. No gum. No chocolate bars or candy for Emily. Yikes!!

I'm going to keep a spread sheet so when I pay a bill I can subtract the payment from the balance and so I know exactly how much I owe at all times. That will take me a couple days to put together.

This challenge will be from April 9th to May 9th. Go me!!

Neglect

Wow, I have so neglected this blog! I must admit, I signed up for a myspace page and it has got more attention than my blog.

I have been hooked on Cottage style decorating, my Style at Home magazine and...searching the mls website for a new house (not NEW but new to me). Oh, did I mention I'm addicted to the Ikea catalogue too? I want to get some of my debt cleared up (it's not much) and then start saving for a down payment.

Our vacation was awesome. We flew to Ft.Lauderdale, Florida then got on the ship in Miami. We stopped at Aruba, Costa Rica, we went through the Panama Canal (well, half way) and stopped at the Grand Cayman Islands. It was great. I wish it would have been a little hotter but it was still warmer than home!! I'm definately going to make a slideshow and post it here. We met alot of great people. I definately drank more in 10 days than I have my whole life. There was 21 of us (my dad's side of the family) and it was one big PARTY!

Work is going alright. We hired a lady who has baggage. I'm not sure if she's going to work out (what is with me and ending up with the nutty ones?). It's really hard to keep reminding someone to keep their problems at home and not bring them to work OR talk about her problems to the clients. She's 44! I really shouldn't have to keep reminding someone about that. [insert huge sigh here]

My love life...ummm, lack of. ha ha. I did meet up with the personal trainer on the ship that I worked with. He's moving to Canada! Nevermind Canada...he's moving to Edmonton (which is only 2 hours away from me) to go to school to expand his degree. He's a hottie. I'm not sure if anything will come of it but atleast I have a new friend!

My weight loss has been neglected since I got back from my trip (it is soooo hard to get going again). I have 5 months until Big Valley Jamboree. Realistically, I could be down 50 pounds by then. AND...RA (remember, the Radio Announcer who is now a weight loss client of mine?) will be at Big Valley Jamboree. Oh, yes, big news!! I found out that he really is ready for a relationship again...he's tired of the party scene (so soon?). Those slutty girls really do get annoying after awhile, don't they? ha ha. Sooo...if I'm feeling hot, skinny & sexy I might have a chance with him (I think he likes girls with confidence). For some reason, I have a feeling that this will be a kick ass summer!

That's all for now...Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Sunday!
xo

What a gong show!

I am very thankful that we all went out last night because it made me realize a few things. RA is totally a male slut & is rebounding from his last relationship, he's someone that I totally don't want or need until he's ready to settle down. I was actually kind of embarassed last night because he was such an idiot.

C "just happened" to show up at the bar we were at so I booted it to the bathroom with my cell phone. Leah phoned me and gave me the go ahead to get out of there and out the front door of the bar. It kind of felt like we were in the army and had some secret mission. We definately laughed about that. We went to another low key lounge where the music wasn't so loud and there weren't as many people. Looking back, we should have stayed there because we were having lots of fun just bullshitting between the 3 of us. But we left and went back to the first bar. C was still there but by then I had grown some balls to tell him to bugger off if I had to. I didn't have to, I think he got the hint. I left a little after 1am.

After last weekend, it's going to be really hard to beat that because that was a ton of fun! I think we were expecting to pull it off again....never happens that way. Oh well. I think I'm done the bar scene for atleast a month. It was fun for 2 weekends, now I need a break.

Oh well! I'm not going to jump into a relationship that would just give me a big 'ol headache atleast last weekend I got a little bit of man attention. Definately don't need it for awhile.

I need to rest...

Our Campaign & Upcoming ~*Party*~

It was a great meeting this afternoon!

I have 2 radio announcers who are going participate in our weight loss program. We provide them with a free program & free product and they talk about their success after being on the program for about 4 weeks on the air! They're also giving us really good advertising spots during the week. I'm hoping it'll bring alot of clients in to see us & sign up.

RA had eyes on me during the meeting, it was funny. At one point he was so into staring at me that when his boss asked him a question he had to get him to repeat it because he had toned him out while lookin' at me! Cute! Like I said to a co-worker of mine, I feel all high schoolish (is that a word?) again. It's a good feeling. I think we're going to be hookin' up.

Tomorrow, I'm going to be purchasing a digital camera. After work, we're all going out (RA included if he doesn't already have plans) to give Alyssa a going away party and of course...we'll be drinking! Her last day is tomorrow and she starts her new job at the bank on Monday. I'm actually sad to see her go, she really started to fit in about 2 weeks ago. Everything happens for a reason.

I'm really excited to go out again and bump into RA again! C sent me a text message tonight asking if I wanted to see a movie with him tomorrow night. I told him that we were holding a going away party (thank god I didn't tell him at which bar) and he kind of invited himself. I sooo don't want him to come. I think I'll park my vehicle a few blocks from the bar so he can't find me. Or...I'll invite his ex-wife to come out so C gets stuck with his kid! ha ha. So cruel.

Anyways, I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post on the weekend. Woohoo!
Sweet dreams.

Our Advertising Campaign

So RA and his boss are coming to meet with me tomorrow about a possible advertising campaign. He phoned me this afternoon and it was quite a shock because I thought he may have been all talk and action. We chit chatted and figured out a good time to meet. Hmmm, we're a little closer to a relationship. ha ha. I wouldn't mind since we had the conversation about my "busy life" saying that a guy who means something would understand about a woman having a busy life and would learn to work with it. I'm not keeping anything back that's for sure!

Anyways, it'll be interesting to hear the sales pitch. He knows that our company (as a whole across Canada) likes to spend money because advertising works, especially radio!

I'll update tomorrow...

Mardi Gras 2007 Pictures

Virgo & Scorpio

'RA' is a Scorpio and I'm a Virgo. I really don't know if anything will come of our Friday night together, but one never knows. Here's our compatibility...

This is a very good love match for the Virgo girl. The Scorpio boy’s deep, passionate nature will inspire you and bring out your inner devil (in a good way). You’ll have lots of fun exploring the depths in your nature that you never knew were there, thanks to this intense, emotional guy. You will find a level of comfort with Scorpio that is missing from your matches with most other signs. He truly understands the way you think, because he thinks so much like you do. You will give each other security and affection. You’ll also have great conversations, even though they’ll sometimes turn into arguments. This is a terrific love match. (Source: Jellybean's Astro-Soulmate Guide )
Virgo girl may find that at times, her Scorpio boy is just too stubborn for words. Together, you guys are perfectionists, and that doesn't always make for smooth interactions, particularly when you don't agree on the definition of perfect. However, you're able to offer each other a level of support and understanding that's rare, so work on working things out! ( FUNgirl - Astrology )

Source: http://www.dressking.com/horoscope/Scorpio-Virgo.htm

Mardi Gras - OMG!

So the three of us girls (me, L & A) who all work together decided to go out to the bar to see a really good local band, Highway 22. We figured that after work, we'd go and eat dinner at the bar and then drink the night away. A couple hours of being there we came to the conclusion that we should gather some sleeping bags and pillows and keep them at the office (which is right across the highway from the bar) just in case we wouldn't be able to drive. I ran home to grab 3 sleeping bags and a few pillows. Then returned to the bar.

We drank, danced, talked, drank, laughed. When you paid the $5 cover charge to get in, you received 2 strands of beaded Mardi Gras necklaces. The point of the night was to try and gather as many beads as you could for cash prizes. We didn't bother because most people were slutting around to get the beads. We weren't interested. I did run into one of my former lifeguards/swim instructor (the one who's been kinda like a big brother since I was 8). I bought him a drink and we (the 3 of us girls) started talking to the people in his little group. I even met C's ex-wife. Gotta love small towns. It was quite awkward and I tried to act dumb but she caught on quite quick and knew something was up. We figured that when the bar closed we'd all go over to the office for an after party.

3 guys, 4 girls...went to get more alcohol via taxi and some went to 7-11 to grab some snacks. We all met back at the office. We poured drinks and were all getting comfortable on chairs and spread out on the sleeping bags. 'A' decides to leave because we're all an older crowd and she's only 20 (this is the one I was planning on getting rid of but she's put her resignation in)...so she was quite uncomfortable. Now there's 3 guys and 3 girls. 'L' starts crying (and doesn't stop) because she's unsure of the relationship she's in and is very emotional on what to do and how to execute the breakup. I feel bad for her but I can't stand drama when I have alcohol in my system. Then 'L' gets mad at me because she thinks that I'm not drunk and she is and she thinks she's making a fool of herself and I'm getting embarassed. I really was drunk on the verge of sobering up. So the drinks start coming. I drink a couple.

There's a radio announcer in the group and he grabs the sleeping bag beside me and starts to fall asleep. I'm getting tired of the drama so I decide to grab the sleeping bag that I had been sitting on since we got to the office. Then the radio announcer (we'll call him 'RA') decides that he's going to get close to me and kind of snuggle. It was nice. As hours went on and the drama went on...the sun started coming up....RA and I ended up laying on a sleeping bag with another one on top of us and fooling around. He was a good kisser. Clothes stayed on, everything was fun. We were figuring out what to do...whether we all wanted to go and eat or go home. A few of them decided to go grab some stuff to eat from Dairy Queen (down the strip mall from us) while I walk across the highway to get my vehicle. We all sit around and eat (except for me because I can't eat when I've been drinking). Then people started passing out. 'RA', the former swim instructor, C's ex-wife and I all decide to leave. C's ex-wife walked home. And I drove the guys to get their vehicles. 'RA' gave me an invitation to come back to his house to cuddle with him. I decide against it (at this point it's 1pm and I just want to get home to my little girl).

'RA' is really fun to be around and I made sure I let him know that I don't want committment right now...and neither does he. We just like to have fun. It's been 4 months since his long-term relationship ended so he's still a little heart broken. Very understandable. Sometime during our conversations while spread out on the sleeping bags the question came up to the single people (RA, myself and the ex-swim teacher) on if we liked being single. RA said he didn't but really wasn't ready for anything right now. Ex-swim teacher said he kind of liked it but his divorce is still being processed. And I said...I didn't like it but I didn't have time right now for a relationship because relationships take work & time. 'RA' didn't really like that answer I gave and did state that I shouldn't push a potential relationship away. Was this good advice or a hint? ha ha. The thrill now is that we fooled around...I played hard to get....and now it'll be intense when we see eachother again in a situation like this. Fun fun fun!

We took lots of pictures. Unfortunately, I had to use the camera from work which has good 'ol fashioned film that needs to be developed. I'm hoping to go into the city on Monday and I'll definately get it developed and onto this blog. Can't wait! Kind of....sort of. Maybe. I think we'll post these pictures on a bulletin board in the staff room.

Until then....

I'm going crazy!

Today started off a little rough. Emily woke up crabby, she was positive nobody loved her. Blah blah blah. I decided to take her swimming, we had a good time. Then she wanted to go to McDonald's for lunch (I rarely take her so this is a real treat). She ate a good lunch. We came home. She was playing nicely until my parents came home. Now she's crabby again. My mom says that she's been in a bad mood because I work too much. Emily is actually in a bad mood because we're living with my parents. My mom & Emily butt heads (just like I did when I was younger) and my dad is too much of a "because I said so, now do it" kind of person. Emily takes it out on me by being aggressive. Sometimes I just wish that I could send her to her dad's house for a day to give me a break but he's not even in her life. It's really hard to parent a child who you're positive hates you. I'm hoping this is a phase rather than me losing control over her at the tender age of 4.

I ran into a former co-worker of mine. I was sure her and I had a friendship going but when I left that office to open my own...I never heard from her. I was rather hurt that it wasn't really a friendship but rather an occasional buddy thing. She had alot to tell me about my previous work environment but it was really nice to look at her and say..."I couldn't believe what a stressful environment it was until I left, opened my own business and came to work with zero stress."

I'm also very disappointed in myself today. My weight loss is going the pace of a dead turtle (eewww). I wish I was more of a role model for my clients. I know why I'm not doing very well. It's because I'm depressed due to living with my parents. It's also because my mom cooks fabulous meals that are NOT on program and I eat them because I'm so exhausted that I don't want to cook a meal at 8 o'clock at night because I have to put my daughter to bed at 8:30pm. I want to savour every minute with my daughter and relax before going to bed rather than make a meal that will help me shed these pounds. Pathetic. It's also very depressing that my grandma makes comments to my mom such as..."I hope she's using that treadmill I gave her because if she wants to work in the weight loss industry, she has to show people how it's done." Fuck you, grandma. She never liked me because I was adopted and because I wasn't her blood relative.

Another thing...my over powering mother told me to pick Valentine's Day cards up for Emily after swimming. I didn't because I want to hand make them with Emily this year. When I came home to tell my mom that I didn't pick any up when she asked, she decided to go onto the computer to "print some off". I was like, "Why are you doing that today?" and she responded with "Fine, I won't then!" and got all pissy. Excuse me, lady, but this is our project and you can just back off! She's trying to fix all the parenting mistakes she made with me & my brother (she told me this herself) and do things the "right way" with Emily. But she has to remember that....it's not her fucking kid! She's MY kid and I will parent MY WAY.

I better go and get Emily ready for bed. She's going down early tonight because of her crabby day without a nap (she's trying to wean herself off weekend napping).
I can't wait to go to work tomorrow.

C & C

Haven't written in here for awhile. I'm having problems with an employee and if it keeps up...she'll be unemployed (at this point we're not keeping her past her 3 month mark but keeping her until we find someone new...whichever comes first).

Emily has been sick again with a bad cough. That has given us both a few 3am wakings. Totally not used to that and I used to love the 3am feedings when she was an infant...times have changed, I like my solid 8 hours of sleep. ha ha.

I just realized something. I've been using 'C' for my old flame from 1999 (see September 2006 to find the post) and I've been using 'C' for my...what would you call him? The guy that likes to hang out with me but has too much baggage for a relationship. My former lifeguard/swim teacher turned hang out buddy. So I have to change this. Old flame 'C' is now 'CP' and new 'C' is still 'C'. Now I just have to remember this.

Anyways....my client/friend came in the other day. I asked her (she just expects it now) how CP is doing. She said 'good' and made sure to find out if he was single...he is! She's a friend of CP and so is her husband, she doesn't want to see CP with just anyone but I think she's secretly hoping CP and I will get back together. Very cool to know one of his female friends approves of me, I've already got his sisters approval. She (the client/friend) suspects the cell phone number I have for him is still his current number because of his business. She thinks he lives just north of where I am in a different city (it's only about an hour away and that's because most of the oilfield work is in this city right now). I have this feeling we're meant to be together (why else would we both be single at this point?) but if we really ARE meant to be....why aren't we together now? Timing? I'm just getting settled in my career and he's been settled in his since 2003/2004. Maybe that has something to do with it?

I should go now and do some pilates before I have to start getting ready for work. Emily has preschool today too.
Happy Wednesday!

What I don't want...

So I took a pregnancy test yesterday. I used First Response. The box said that if the test was taken 3 days before your cycle is due there was a 83% accuracy. It was negative! Now I'm just hoping that I don't fall into that 17% and end up being pregnant. Friday, my cycle should show up. Phew!

In the meantime, I have figured out what I don't want. And that is someone who is divorced (like C), someone who has children but who accepts mine (nothing against kids, I love them but if a man has a child, he's still linked with his ex). Women are evil, I don't want a man with baggage! My story is a little easier to accept for a guy because I have nothing to do with my daughter's father, so there's no threat to another guy. He also can't be a mama's boy. I think the relationship should be strong between a man and his mother but I'd like him weaned off the tit. I'm not going to enter a relationship with a guy who expects me to be HIS mom. And then there's the little stuff....he has to have a good sex drive (to keep up with me! ha ha), I have to be physically attracted to the guy, out of the party stage but doesn't mind going out every now and then. He also has to drink socially (I feel guilty when I drink around a non-drinker)...don't get me wrong, I only drink 1-2 times a year! Those are the main points.

I think I've finally made a decision...I'm going to start the adoption process, for sure, this fall. I really want a little girl from Guatemala (it's a toss up between Ava & Tayjah for names). I might try and convince my daughter she wants a brother instead of a sister...we'll see how far we get. I briefly looked into using a donor and getting pregnant myself but...a pregnancy would slow my career down. I'd rather be paper pregnant...no morning sickness, no tiredness, I can still work full-time until the baby comes. Ideal for me.

I guess I better get my little buns to work since I only have to work from 11am to 5pm today. The joys of being self-employed (my parents are out of town for a few days and can't pick Emily up from her dayhome so mommy gets to do it!!).

Have a good Wednesday!

Back To Work Tomorrow

My brother came up for the weekend. It was nice except we stayed up playing games until 1am. I was so ready to go to bed by 10pm. Emily really enjoyed having her uncle around too. She becomes his little shadow, it's really cute.

We just finished watching Matilda, a very cute show. I remember reading the book in grade 3. I know the movie has been out for awhile but it has taken me this long to watch it. Now I'm ready for a nap. I am soooo tired today. I'm surprised since I did get 7 hours sleep.

I haven't seen C since Thursday. My parents, my bro, Emily & I went out for breakfast this morning and Emily spotted C. He had just showed up and we were all leaving. I think C & I will go for coffee tonight. Maybe.

I found Emily's longform birth certificate so I am now relieved and I can send her passport application (and mine) off tomorrow.

It's been a few quiet days around here. Nothing to report.
Back to work tomorrow...

Nothing Exciting Happening

The last few days haven't been very exciting.
C & I took the kids swimming on Thursday night. That was fun. Emily & I had a great time together in the "big pool". The warm kiddie pool was closed so we had to go in the deep, cold regular swimming pool. We made the best of it!

Yesterday was an awful day. I'm trying to get our (Emily & I) passports done and sent away so we can go on our cruise. It is sooooo frustrating. I was ready to walk into a government building and go ballistic! ha ha. My stress level was through the roof and I was really grumpy. I'm kind of freaking out....even though I don't want to go on the cruise because my family is all going to be there, I'm going to make the best of it. BUT we need our passports in our hands 30 days prior to boarding the boat. TIME IS TICKING! The only comfort I have is that we have to put our date of travel on the application. I hope they see that and put us towards the front of the line. I'm sure everything will work out fine as long as I can find Emily's longform birth certificate (I have to prove that her b.c. states that there is no father) either today or tomorrow...2 days should be plenty of time!

I have been living on gravol the last few days. Late afternoon to early evening it'll hit me like a ton of bricks! I'm not sure whether my body is fighting off a bug or it's....you know. I'm trying not to look into it too much but it's definately something you CAN'T ignore.

I guess I should go back to bed since I have to work today (my day off), but that's what happens when you're the business owner. Oh well, that means I won't have as much work to do on Monday! I can always dream.

ZZZzzzz...

Freaking Out

I should never have looked.
I went to mymonthlycycles because I started charting everything a few months ago. Today I'm fertile. Things happened around midnight Saturday night/1am Sunday morning (just over 48 hours ago). Sperm can live inside a woman's body for 72 hours! On Saturday I also experienced PMS-like cramping, was I ovulating then and mymonthlycycles is wrong? Aaaahhh!!
How can I not freak out? I've gotten myself so worried, my bowels are now in overdrive (that's what happens when I'm nervous).
I guess my Valentine's Day of 2007 is going to go something like this..."Happy Valentine's Day, I'm pregnant!" or "Happy Valentine's Day, I'm not pregnant & we are damn lucky!"
When I was pregnant with Emily, I had implantation bleeding around the time my cycle was due (apparently this is rare?) & the ONLY symptom I had before I knew I was pregnant was dizziness.
I have never wanted to see my cycle so bad in my life...come on Feb 2nd!

Uh Oh (Warning: TMI)

I'm mainly typing this for my own records. In the heat of the moment we turned into two irresponsible kids. Neither of us had protection so we went without, he pulled out but I think it might have been a little too late. I'm hoping Mother Nature is on our side and doesn't give us a BFP if I'm late. I soooooo don't want to be pregnant on my cruise!
1st day of last cycle: January 4th
The Moment: January 13th on the verge of the 14th (day 10/11)
They say that you can conceive 10-14 days after the first day of your cycle. Online calculators are saying that I'm not supposed to ovulate until January 18th. I think we'll be okay!
Hoping AF shows on Feb 2nd!

Update: Went for coffee this evening. He asked me what kind of house I was wanting to buy. I said it must have 3 bedrooms. He was like, "Why? Are you expecting another one?" I was like "Hell, NO!" He asked me if I was on the pill. I said no. His eyes got really big. He asked me when my last cycle was. I told him January 4th. He seemed so...okay with the possibility I could be pregnant. Let me tell you it was a shock of the night! He shrugged it off and was like, "oh well". He knows I want to adopt #2, maybe he secretly wants another child. Now I'm a little freaked out!!! I go on a cruise in March, open Canmore in April. I don't have time for a baby!!!!!!

Headed in the Wrong Direction

C and I took the kids swimming on Thursday. I knew if I didn't go swimming, I would have come home from work and went straight to bed. I was so tired. Then we went out for hot chocolate (I had bottled water) at Timmy's. I thought I was going to fall asleep right then and there but I survived through it.

Last night, Barb (she's my part-timer right now, she's going to be my manager for the centre in Canmore) and I went for dinner. We had a great time. But I received a few questionable text messages from C while I was enjoying my dinner. C knows that I only work until 7pm so these messages were big red flags.

7:59pm - "Have you decided to give me the silent treatment?"
9:06pm- "So are you done work?"
9:11pm- "So what are you doing now?"

It seemed like the more I ignored him the more he wanted to know. Maybe it's just making small talk, but the silent treatment comment was a little too much. I could have been busy (which was the excuse I used), my phone could have been dead or something could have happened to me. Whatever.

He'll be a good guy to hang out with...but that's it. No relationship from me.

Anyways, I should go. I'm done work and now I'm going into the city to get a little bit of shopping done. Happy Saturday!

Are Rules Made to be Broken?

My personal rule to myself after my relationship dissolved with T was to never marry anyone who had been divorced. Now I'm not saying that C and I are going to get married tomorrow, definately not!

It's just that we don't see eye to eye on a few majorly important things. He's going through a divorce, I don't know what it's like to even be married nevermind go through a nasty divorce. He has joint custody of his son, I have my daughter 100% of the time and I have to play the role as mom AND dad. He doesn't know what that's like to be the sole parent. He also has committment issues....so did T. I'm assuming that's from going through a divorce with a woman who basically took everything they owned except for his underwear.

The very few things we don't understand about eachother (the things I mentioned above) could put a huge strain on a marriage as well as our kids and any future children that could enter the picture. I really enjoy my time with him but I know getting into a serious relationship would be a recipe for disaster.

I don't want to make any choices that would result in regret. So this brings me to this question...are personal rules you set for yourself made to be broken?

Let Me Look At You

So C & I went out for coffee again last night...went out at around 9pm. Had our coffee. Went for a drive. Went back to his house for a little while. And I got home around 1am. Yikes! Ha ha.

I came into work this morning and found out I lost 4.8 pounds this week!! Woohoo! I also ordered a few Winsor Pilates videos from Chapters online. I was inspired after seeing these results... http://www.picturetrail.com/highlands (scroll down towards the bottom of the page). In the meantime, I'll still be walking my butt off on my treadmill and elliptical machine!

Hopefully, C & I will be able to take the kids swimming this week. I think sitting in the hottub at the pool yesterday really helped my back. It was great to get out!

Have a wonderful Monday!

My NEW Distraction

On December 30th, I ran into a guy that used to be a lifeguard at the pool I frequented, we'll call him 'C'. His 2 co-workers were also lifeguards and they were brothers...they became almost like MY big brothers (and still to this day we maintain that relationship). Well C asked if I wanted to go for coffee (we ran into eachother at the movie store) so we went for a quick coffee. We exchanged phone numbers (he's a single dad now & I'm a single mom so we are definately similar) and I figured that this would be a cool new hangout buddy. We've text messaged eachother a everyday since then, we've taken the kids sledding and he's come swimming with Emily and I once now.

Last night he wanted to know if I wanted to go for coffee. I was definately all for it. Adult time with no kids! Woohoo! Then we decided to go to a movie. I enjoyed it. He made the move and invited me to his house after the movie....we watched another movie...kind of. We chatted through the movie and he tickled the crap out of me. ha ha. I think there's chemistry. He's definately my new distraction. I'm just hoping that I'm not his rebound from his failed marriage. He came swimming with us today and made the comment at how 16 years ago he was the lifeguard and I was the little 8 year old water rat ....now look where we are now. I couldn't believe it. They always said that the guy you may end up with (now I'm just hypothetically speaking) will be the one who was right under your nose!

It's rather nice to be flirty again. To have a guy who takes my mind off business & parenting for just a few hours!

I'll post updates on what goes on...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

It was a nice evening...ringing in the New Year in the hottub like I said in my last post.
Christmas is over, New Years is over...time to get back to life as normal.
I look forward to blogging throughout 2007!

The Countdown to 2007!

What a year 2006 has been!!

I started off the year living common-law, working for other people growing miserable within the office I worked at, watching my little girl grow.

In June I opened my own centre (within the same company). I'll have 2 by April 2007! I work for myself which feels great when I'm working my @$$ off! I finally feel like I'm getting my life on track, business is better than anticipated!

I have goals for 2007!
*As I sit here sipping my Starbucks coffee liqueur (ha!ha!)...I want to lose a few pounds for our cruise through the Caribbean in March as well as Corporate Meeting (which is also in March)!

*I want to start my journey to become a SMBC (single mom by choice) for a second time. Not sure whether I want to do it by donation or by international adoption but it won't be until the fall.

*And my #1 goal for 2007....to buy a house for myself and my daugther! I want us to have our own home again. It's hard on Emily since we've been living with my parents again.

I've given up on my family after my horrible Christmas. In a few weeks I'm going to go and visit my birth-grandma for the first time and open a new chapter in my life. Communication with Emily's dad is still nonexistent (which is probably easier on her). From January 2006 to December 2006 I have definately come a long way in life and I finally feel like I'm going in the right direction. I'm 24...it's about time!

I'm going to ring in the new year with a glass of wine while sitting in the hottub!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!! All the best in 2007!
xo

Going Home Tomorrow!

My brother flies out tonight and boy do I wish I could go with him! But we'd have to pay to get my ticket changed to fly out tonight. I'll wait until tomorrow.

I realized last night that I really hate my family. My uncle made me cry last night by telling me that my fear of being on a boat and not on land wasn't valid. Who is he to say that my fear isn't "real"? Fuck you! My grandma also made it be known that I was a shitty parent. Well...I'm not....my daughter is wonderful and has come out quite normal & intelligent. She's just jealous because she raised four children with a husband and they still came out messed up!

I'm debating on maybe going to visit my birth grandma on New Years weekend. Maybe her family isn't as fucked up as this one. No, really, I'd be going to get some closure...not to seek out normal people.

I have to go and give the girls at work a phone call. Want to make sure everything is cool on the home front.

D.D.

Merry Christmas!

For real this time. We are here and have been for a couple days in Victoria, B.C. and I'm ready to be home. But we'll be here until December 28th.

This Christmas hasn't been the best. I've learned some dark secrets about this family and realized that alot of things have been kept from me. I've also realized that I enjoy the Christmas season but now I like the commercial side of it rather than spending time with family. I'm absolutely dreading our family cruise now and am quite bitter about spending anymore time with this family.

Sometimes I feel proud that I'm adopted...other times I'm sick and tired of being treated differently than everyone else in my family.

Christmas 2006 has taught me that you can't trust the people you love most (sad but true) and that you really have to hold your children close to you. It makes me eager to give Emily a sibling next year (or try to) so I can form my own family so I don't have to depend on this family.

This is no longer a holiday but rather an imprisonment. I can't even get away. All the vehicles that are available to us are stick shift and nobody has the time to take me to the car rental place.

The alcohol has been flowing and sometimes it's my own get away. I hate drinking but I hate being sober in this place even more. Our family is upstairs right now watching a movie while others are in the kitchen preparing our feast.

My aunt has gorgeous stairs that are made out of wood that have been in this house since it was built (a long long time ago) but they don't have anything on them and I took a tumble last night. My ass hurts soooo much. I can't sit for a great deal of time so I've been laying in bed on my side. I'll be taking a bit of Tylenol to ensure that I can make it through Christmas dinner. I was going to try and get my ticket changed so I could come home sooner but now it looks like I'll need the time to allow my bum to heal so I can make it through the flight back home.

I have to say that I really did enjoy Christmas Eve...I met someone (a guy) who was very nice and we had a lot in common. He would be my aunt's nephew (but she's my aunt through marriage because she married my dad's brother). I'm not holding my breath that anything comes of it because we live in different provinces but it was nice to have some good company.

I guess I better end this and cruise the net some more before showing my face to my family as we gather around...yet another....Christmas Dinner.

Merry Christmas! (a little early)

We celebrated our Christmas on Sunday because we fly to Victoria, B.C. tomorrow evening for 7 days! I'll be taking a couple "Santa" presents out to Victoria for my daughter because she thinks Santa won't be able to find her again. She keeps saying she's having another Christmas! ha ha.
My Dad & I really wanted to go to my aunts for Christmas on the coast but because we're going on our cruise in the spring....nobody else wanted to spend the money on plane tickets so grandma & grandpa bought us all tickets to go out there!! Woohoo!! There's 12 of us flying out there tomorrow night. In March there will be 20 of us all going on the cruise too. It's going to be soooo fun!

A client of mine told me this morning that she saw 'C' (my former flame and I swear he's my soul mate -- see Sept 28/06 post "My Past Comes Knockin") in the city and she had mentioned she saw me recently and told him where I work and that she was on the program and he said..."Tell her I say Hi". I asked her if he was single (lame, I know! lol) and she wasn't sure. But I said that he knows where to find me. ha ha. I just can't get that guy out of my head...since 1999 (the first time I laid eyes on him)!!

Now THAT just made my Christmas.

Pictures of Emily & Cally

Sweet Memories....

These pictures were taken before Cally got sick. She was plump & soooo cuddly!! Atleast we have these precious pictures to remind us of the happy times we had with her.

Cally (July 2000 - December 2006)

Cally's Illness Timeline

It was so hard today losing my best fur friend. She was a fighter right until the end. I was okay all day but now that it's bedtime...it's hard for me to fall asleep.

I'm cutting & pasting the posts I originally posted on the "Cats Health Issues" board at iVillage.

October 15/2006 - Our Sunday Emergency
I don't know where to start. It was so tragic this morning. My furbaby "Cally" is 6 years old and she found me in 2001. She was a pregnant stray. She had her babies, we found them homes and she got fixed. She's an adorable cat and was mine until my daughter was born, now Cally belongs to my daughter, Emily (she's 4). She's a tortishell marked cat and when I took her to get her fixed the ladies at the vet clinic wanted to keep her!!
All this week Cally had been acting strange. I knew she should go to the vet but then thought she was back to her old self. How wrong I was. This morning while I was cleaning out her kitty litter box my dad comes running to me saying "something is seriously wrong with Cally, come now!!" So I ran to her. She had fallen down a few stairs and she was salivating from her mouth by what seemed like tablespoons at a time. She was also leaving little rabbit poops on the stairs (which is NOT like her at all...she has never had an accident). It was like she didn't know where she was and she wouldn't respond to anything. I immediately phoned the vet crying my eyes out...she probably thought I was a big baby. LOL. She had never heard of this and figured maybe I should bring her in. She then brought in the vet tech too. The conclusion...
She was severely anemic...her gums were white and so was her tongue. They figure it might be a blood born parasite. Her red blood cell count was at 14% (anything under 30% is very critical). The good thing was that her body was reproducing red blood cells but just couldn't keep up. They gave her medicine to kill the parasite if there is one. They sent her bloodwork out on the greyhound bus to a out-of-town lab (we live in a small town). Just to make sure there's nothing wrong with her liver or kidneys. The vet's own cat was there in the clinic so they sedated him to give Cally a blood transfusion. They gave her a steroid to help her body accept the blood. She made it through the transfusion!! And I asked about the donor kitty, he's doing fine...won't eat yet because he's still groggy but he's wrapped up in a warm blanket and is doing well. Cally might not be so lucky if she needs another transfusion but I'm not going to think about that. I've been getting these updates from them every couple hours and the last one was to let me know that she pulled through the transfusion and was purring! Awww. Cally will be in the hospital for another 2 days atleast to make sure she pulls through it all and gets better again.
It wasn't hard making the decision to spend the money to do whatever to help her pull through. I put down $500 this morning and when all is said and done I'll have to put down another $500. Yikes! But she's so worth it and if I hadn't spent the money she definately would have died and I would have regretted it for the rest of my life. There's just no guarantee that she's going to pull through but it is looking promising.
My next update from the clinic will be tomorrow morning unless something drastic happens. I'm just so glad I didn't wait unitl tomorrow to get her checked. Sorry this is so long. I can't believe how they all just become part of the family. I lost 2 cats earlier this year (one to leukemia and one to cancer) and I lost my dog 2 years ago at the tender age of 18 years. I can't lose another one!
Sincerely,~Dana, Emily & Cally (the trooper!)

October 17/2006 - Cally's Update
Cally came home this afternoon. Tomorrow I go to the vet and pick up her medicine. She'll be on an antibiotic to help get rid of the parasite in her system if she has one (they have to treat it as a parasite just in case at this point because all symptoms point to parasite).They found large blue cells in her blood. The vet here thought it was baby red blood cells but turns out after sending her blood out to be tested that it may be leukemia cells. She's back to her old self though so it's hard to imagine that something like leukemia could be happening in that little body. Right now her leukemia test is negative but it could turn positive. I'm going to ask at this point if getting her leukemia booster updated would help her chances of keeping that negative blood test.
I also found out that if one cat has leukemia he/she can transfer it to another cat. But in the second cat it can appear in cancer like symptoms. That's probably why I lost two cats earlier this year but they were best of friends and were both 13 years old, it would have been cruel to keep them apart.
It was so special...Cally and I had atleast 45 minutes of good cuddle time. She was nuzzling me and licking me, it was like she was thanking me for saving her. Aww. Animals are soooo special.
Thank you all for your prayers and good luck vibes. We really appreciate that!! I'll definately stick around this board...you all are wonderful!

November 10/2006 - 3 Week Update on Cally
It's going to be a waiting game.
3 weeks ago Cally's PCV test came back with a red blood cell count of 14%. Today it was 18%. But what we don't know is if it was ever into the 20% range and now she's coming back down. Her gums are white again which means she's back to being anemic. She was getting terribly sick while taking tetracycline (sp?). She's now on prednisone to try and stimulate the bone marrow.
We really enjoyed it when she was back to her old self for those 3 weeks. Now she's distant and hates cuddling and is really lethargic. Unless Cally takes a turn for the worse she'll be going back to the vet in 2 weeks for another PCV test to see what her count is again. They did say that the red blood cells that they took from the other cat and put into Cally will only have a life span of 3 weeks...we're at the 3 week mark right now and she's going back downhill. Her poor little body isn't performing.
I'm scared she's not going to make it this time.Will keep you all updated. Thanks again for your support during this trying time.

December 2/2006 - My Last Update on Cally
Well I got over my money issue and decided that I would pay for the vet clinic to do anything for Cally that they could. They can't exactly pin point what's wrong. They think it's a tumor but they aren't sure if it's in the bone or in her blood. They can't do another transfusion because a second one would kill her (I think it has something to do with mis-matching blood). Now she's started sneezing up mucous....the next thing will she'll start sneezing blood. She's losing weight but when we pet her she still purrs. The vet said that she was surprised Cally was still with us. She's a trooper!!
There's nothing more we can do so I'm making the horrible decision to put her down on Tuesday. She's only 6...this is so unfair.

December 5/2006 - Goodbye
Goodbye sweetheart. I love you so much. Your pain is gone now. It's been 11 hours without you and it hurts so much to walk by your rocking chair and not see you laying there. I never thought it would hurt this much.
I hope you forgive me. We miss you.
xoxo

Where has the time gone??

Business has picked up and I have obviously neglected my blog!!

So much has happened...Halloween....Thanksgiving. I had to threaten a daycare provider with harassment and then fire her and take Emily to a new provider.

I lose my furbaby friend tomorrow. My Cally has been sick since the beginning of October and we have been regulars at the vet clinic since then. They think she has leukemia. Now her lungs are filling up with fluid and....she's not going to get better. I've been really stressed over this for a long time.

On a positive note, I'm done my Christmas shopping and most of my presents are wrapped now! I can stay out of the shopping malls and crazy busy stores now. Woohoo!!

I'll put a little more detail into another post....soon! I promise!

Service Rep Visit #1

...and is it the first and last visit? We'll see what it does for my sales.

So this crazy ass lady in which head office calls a 'Service Rep' came today. I was really nervous about her coming because I learned everything I know from another owner who has no use for these Service Reps. And boy did I learn. Like I told her, I feel like I was never trained. She said I knew 'the basics'. She was quite surprised I've been pulling in the numbers I have been with what I knew.

I think I'm going to be a witch for Halloween because my clients will think I've turned into one! Like she said, I've been training my clients to be MONSTERS...letting them get away with alot more than I should be. As a parent, that scares me and I'm sure glad we deal with adults and not children. The people that are behind on their weight loss programs won't be any longer (unless they quit the program). ha ha.

The reason why I'm not sure if I'll be letting her come back is because the next time she comes back, I'll probably have to pay. And she was really anal about things in the files being neat and written exactly like this...blah blah blah. Too many things she wanted it done THIS WAY and wouldn't really assist in increasing sales. Excuse me ma'am, this is MY company....not yours!

I don't even want her coming back tomorrow but I should atleast give her a chance. If her first 'chance' is a 2 day visit. So be it. I do know a little about her track record...one owner was making $10K per month and she worked with him and his staff on a regular basis for about 8 months. One year after her first visit he was pulling in $100K per month. I know I don't have the population base to be making $100K but I'd like to be doing atleast $50 - $60K/month.

Once again....tomorrow scares me. I hate being put on the spot by someone who knows more about my business than I do! I'll breathe deep...it's only for 8 hours. I can do this. This will benefit my pocketbook. So I'm going to rest my head because my brain is mush....I'll report after she leaves tomorrow evening.

Back to Work

The long weekend was nice. I suffered from allergies all weekend long. My relatives that we stayed with have animals that I'm allergic to so I spend my time with them sucking on the end of my inhaler (not really but it feels like it). We had a family birthday party for Emily...she's 4!! She was also spoiled everywhere we went. Now that we're back home I'm coughing & hacking as my lungs are trying to repair themselves. Emily has a cold (which I thought in the beginning was allergies) so she's miserable and coughing.

On Sunday Emily's dad phoned my cell. My cousin doesn't have cell reception where she is (in the middle of nowhere) so I missed the call. Also didn't really want to take family time and phone him so he phoned me again today @ 4pm. He asked me where Emily was....duh, at the babysitter's. I don't take my kid to work. He asked me to phone him when I got home. I'll pencil you in. [insert eye rolling here] Why is he so interested in keeping touch with us now? He saw Emily in June and hasn't phoned at all up until last week. Go figure. He has absolutely no right to her since her birth certificate states that there is no father. He'd have to get a court order to get a paternity test, he could then be slapped with some back pay. It would be like shooting himself in the foot. Whatever.

Anyways, I have an appointment coming in 10 mins so I should be prepared for that.

Children's Hospital Visit

Emily's visit to the Alberta Children's Hospital didn't go well but DID give us good news!!

This visit was in the new hospital. From afar it looked like a huge building made out of lego. Very cool! We had been to the old hospital so this was a new adventure. We waited for an hour in the cardiology clinic waiting room. Emily had been up since 6am so she was starting to get very tired after 2 hours in the car and with it being around noon hour. She was in a bad mood by the time our turn came around. We struggled with her, many nurses tried to reason with her and get her to co-operate...no luck. It took two of us to hold her down while one nurse performed the ultrasound on her heart. The pictures they got were good enough and she didn't have to go through any other tests (they don't like to sedate the little ones unless they feel it's necessary). Then we met with the resident cardiologist and she managed to calm Emily down quite nice. And the final meeting was with both the resident and the specialist. The verdict was that she may have had an enlarged heart earlier this spring when it was detected on an x-ray because she had had a fever for 72 hours and sometimes that can happen when the body is under that much stress. Yay!!

Tonight we head down to my grandma & grandpa's house (a 2.5 hour drive). And tomorrow we finish our trip and drive another 2.5 hours to see more family. Then on Monday we do the 5 (although I do it in 4 hours) hour trip back home. After yesterday, I'm not looking forward to the drive tonight but will be worth it when we get down there.

I have my body pumped full of herbals today because I feel like I'm getting sick and don't want it to turn into a full blown cold.

I still have to go home and pack a bag for the weekend. Nnnoooooo! I'm so tired.
I hope all my fellow Canadians have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!!

Middle of the Week

Here we are at Wednesday.

Emily's first swimming lesson is tonight! She's really excited. I keep reminding her that she has to listen to her swim teacher. LOL. I'll watch her so she'll be excited about that.

Our first appointment to meet Emily's heart specialist is tomorrow in the BIG city. This is visit number....I've lost track. This will also be her second surgeon. And if it goes that way....second surgery at this hospital. It's the Alberta Children's Hospital and they are all wonderful! Earlier this spring Emily was diagnosed with an enlarged heart so she will go through 2 hours of testing to find out if it's something to be concerned about. Last time we had to start visiting (for a different reason) this hospital, you spend 15 minutes there and you feel BLESSED that you're not there for something more serious like other families. My mom is coming with us which will be nice.

Canadian Thanksgiving is also this weekend. I'll reveal those plans on Friday.

I learned that a service rep from head office is coming out next week. Next freakin' week!! I can't believe so soon. I'm really worried about having this person come out...it's not that I'm breaking rules or doing anything wrong. It's that I don't like people looking over my shoulder watching every little thing that I do. I also don't want to tell head office that this isn't a great time to come out or they might get suspicious and then with my luck, they'll send someone out WITHOUT notice. LOL. I'll just suck it up and hope for the best. My stress has increased, my blood pressure has probably increased and I know it won't be that bad after the fact.

Emily's "father" phoned last night. I didn't answer it because I was closing up at work and just wanted to get home. So before I headed to bed I phoned him. He just wanted to see how Emily and I were doing. He actually wanted to know how I was doing. He's really coming along as far as being civil with me. He's really is a nice guy. Too bad he wasn't a better father & provider to his daughter. Emily was in bed and asleep so he said he'd phone on her birthday to wish her a happy birthday. Some of the best months I ever had was spent with him in our relationship. I had a chance to get back with him after Emily was born but I wouldn't be where I am today if I had done that. We're better off apart.

Anyways, I only have about an hour and a half left of this day.
Until tomorrow (or another day)...

Fitness on a Saturday

What a dumb title for today's entry. Oh well.

I dragged my ass onto my elliptical machine today. I did not want to exercise at all and I was going to stop after a wimpy 13 minutes but I completed the full 35 minutes and I felt great!!

Today was a slow day at work but I did get alot accomplished as far as cleaning and organizing. I'm thinking about cutting my hours of operation down a little on Saturdays. It's so dead. I guess that's what happens when you're in a small town.

I've been reading alot on fitness and I just came across something today, which really peaked my interest (from the Biggest Loser team)....

Your present weight X 7 = Your daily caloric needs for weight loss

Your calorie count should never be static; in fact, it's a moving target. As you lose weight, you'll need to readjust your daily calories downward in order to keep losing at a good pace and break through plateaus, should your weight loss ever seem stalled. Your online program will make this adjustment for you, and change your meal plans as necessary.Make sure you keep something in mind: Everyone is different, and we all burn different amounts of calories at different rates. So if you and a partner, friend, or buddy follow this diet, one of you might lose weight at a different rate, faster or slower, than the other from week to week.

Anyways, I don't have anything else to report. It's been a boring day. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Not sure what we're up to. Good Night!

And it's Friday....again!

So after awhile of slacking on eating right I'm back on track. Yesterday was okay and today is good. Why is it I always get my act together toward the end of the week? Taking lunch to work is also making me feel in control. This time I'm not going to step on the scale everyday...I'll only step on it once a week. Emily and I went for a walk last night. It felt good. I really enjoy being outside during the fall. Maybe I'll go for a walk again tonight.

I have a few menu plans to make for my clients.

Awww...

My clients are the best!!

One of my clients just said to me, "You're a good person. I hope people tell you that because you really are." I was like..."Awww, thank you!" It was a touching moment (sappy, I know). It makes me feel so good that my clients don't dread coming in to see me. They actually feel guilty when they cheat and gain weight because they say I'm so understanding and they don't want to disappoint me. How cute!

I'm blessed to be surrounded by good people.
It really doesn't feel like work (unless I'm having a bad day).

Human Pin Cushion

...that's what I feel like anyways. I donated blood last night. It was my 2nd time donating but my first 100% successful donation. And then when they took the needle out of my arm the room started to spin, I don't have a fear of needles it was just my body reacting. My hearing got all "foggy" and I made sure I mentally knew where the nearest garbage can was in case I lost it! LOL. A nurse came by and asked me if I was okay, the only thing I could do was shake my head in a "no" answer. Before I knew it I was laid back and had 4 nurses gathered around me, I had cold cloths over my face and on the back of my neck. It wasn't a big surprise to me that this happened, I do have low blood pressure. The only thing I hate is that you feel like a mack truck hit you after you nearly pass out.

Then today I got my Hep A shot for our trip in March. It's kind of like the flu shot (in which I'll get that the 2nd week in November). And in January I start my rounds of allergy shots. Phew!

For anyone who gets a flu shot: Do a heavy metal cleanse after your shot because flu shots contain mercury. Nice, hey?

I hope my daughter won't have to go through all the shots I do. So far she hasn't gotten the flu so she'll be okay to NOT get a flu shot this year. No sign of allergies yet for her. But she did get her Hep A shot for the trip as well. I hated the thought of giving her vaccinations as a baby but I figured if she got sick I'd regret it. Although I did opt for her to not get her 18 month shot.

I should go and do some work. My desk is a mess and the clients might think I don't do any work. ha ha. Not good. Only 4 more hours of work!!

My Past Comes Knockin'

One of my new clients came in today for her first visit. She was wearing a sweatshirt that said "P--- Welding". I mentioned to her that I knew a guy by the last name of "P---" and we came to the conclusion that it was the same guy (I'll call him 'C').

When I was in high school and working at one of the video stores here in town (would have been about 1999)...C would come in with a girl almost every weekend and rent movies. I swear it was love at first sight as it's never happened since then. But I knew my chances were slim as he was with someone and I might be a little too young. Fast forward a few years...I'm now of legal age (that doesn't mean anything this day in age). I run into 'C' during one of my nights at the bar (this was before I had my daughter) and he takes interest in me. Of course, I take interest in him. He asked me to be his girlfriend but I figured he's had a few too many drinks and think he's kidding. Actually he was serious. The "relationship" ended before it began! LOL. Over the next 2-3 years we had a few sexual encounters but nothing really came of it even though we both wanted to have a relationship.

Then came the night that bonded us forever.... my friend and I went into the city to go to our favorite bar (at this time, my daughter would have been about a year old and this was my first night out since the day I found out I was pregnant with her). After a few too many drinks but with no intention of slowing down I run into C. Wow! Him and I were talking...he was single, I was single. He had just graduated and was now a welder. My friend looked at me with huge eyes and whispered in my ear, "He looks soooo much like Emily!" C made a comment asking me if I was okay and if I had something to tell him. With Emily's due dates varying from August to October there was a slight possibility that she could have been C's. We now know that that's not the case anymore. So with all the alcohol flowing through my veins...I broke down. He dragged me outside. He told me that he heard through the grapevine about the possibility. He had been working in the Yukon and had returned to be closer to me if I needed him and if it turned out the baby was his. He had even broken up with a girlfriend he had been seeing up there to move back. I was touched. We spent that night together but nothing came of it after that. Since that moment we have had atleast one intimate encounter. Whenever I see him (which isn't often since the oil patch is booming) I want him.

But why aren't we together? Is it "fate" that my client came in wearing his company's shirt? She told me that she'd ask her husband to see what C is up to and if he's still around. If we have one more intimate encounter I'm going to demand that we just go out and get married. LOL. My ex-bf even worked with C at one point. He always crosses my path every couple years and when we meet....we're both single! I first laid eyes on him in 1999 and our last encounter would have been April 2004.

Are we meant to be together? Maybe I'll never know. Or maybe we'll end up together.
Time will tell.

Yuck!!

Yesterday I came to work and had to get into a spider killing spree. I don't know what it was...they all procreated while I was gone or something. I think I killed 6 of the little buggers. So this morning...I'm a little paranoid of spiders. I'm okay with spiders as long as they aren't ON me, but I still don't let them live free, they do die if they're around me.

I had an awesome weekend. Didn't really take pictures of where we went...just of mountains. And lots of them!! We stayed at the Radisson Hotel in Canmore. It was nice (lacking warm blankets though). We drank in almost every little pub in Canmore...okay, we didn't but it felt like it. We ended up eating at a little place called the Bears Paw (I think that's what it was called). Pathetic drinks but we had an awesome meal!! Sunday morning we headed to Banff. Visited the Spirit of Christmas. That place is HUGE. And toured the beautiful (& outrageously expensive) town of Banff. We then headed home from Banff towards Jasper and took pictures through the whole trip. It was really nice to just let loose and be tourists.

Apparently I didn't know something about my daughter. At the age of 4, she's a Shakira fan! She was singing one of her songs that came on while we were driving to her dayhome. I was surprised. She can also tell me that it's a Shakira song before any of the singing starts. Crazy! ha ha.

So far we're beating last months sales....as of yesterday we were on par with last month. We still have another 5 business days so we should end up having our best month yet (even though it's only been 3 months since we opened). I'm excited about that!

I have an appointment coming soon. I should go and finish a few files.

Stats

This is more for me than anyone else (if people even read this).
Note the time. Crazy, absolutely crazy!!

Friday, Sept 22:
Just finished 35 mins on my elliptical machine with weighted arms.
453 calories (according to the machine)
10 push-ups off stability ball (weakling, I know...just wait, I'll be pushin' 50 in no time!)
Sticker = 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I just started this self-challenge....what do u expect?)

Off to have a cold shower before crawling into bed....go me!!

Beauty Queen

...almost but not quite.

I actually woke up this morning and exercised on my elliptical machine, woohoo! I'm getting back into a routine. Christmas is coming...FAST. And so is that damn cruise. As well as Corporate Meeting in early March. Gotta look SEXY!

I even tried to do some strength training using a stability ball but not recommended during "that time of the month". I went from having zero cramps to cramps from hell. Maybe I should have done my pilates video instead.

Everytime I exercise I put a sticker on the calendar. Let's see how many I collect (or don't collect! ha ha).

I'm going to bed...Nite!

It's Okay

Today is a better day than yesterday...by far!! I was able to take my daughter & her little friend to preschool again this week. Just getting out this morning and doing things other than work really helped clear my head.

I just need to be focused. Focused on organizing my little living space (aka: my bedroom), as well as focused on my health (losing weight & cleansing my body). I have to focus on today...not 7 days from now.

I'm okay.

P.S. - I'm going on a roadtrip this weekend to Canmore. I'll have some kick ass pictures of the beautiful Rocky Mountains!!

Bad Day!

I'm having a bad day. I think it's just a bad day caused by emotions. I'm so frustrated! Not only do I have an employee who is useless, I now have to hire and re-train another one.

Time is ticking to get our shots for our cruise coming up in March. They're telling me that I have to go to another city to get them done. How? I work Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm. What freakin' clinic does travel shots on Sunday? NOBODY. I really don't want to go on the cruise but I have to. My grandparents are paying for this cruise and the WHOLE family is going. The tickets are purchased and everyone would frown on me for missing this opportunity.

Emily goes to preschool every Wednesday morning. And next week I'm supposed to be parent helper but my employee is taking the week of next week and I'll be stuck here and I can't close from 9am until noon. So I'll have to bail on that. I feel like such a horrible parent!

I volunteer for an animal rescue society (called ROAR). We're non-profit. We are also supposed to be doing a photo shoot next week. I was supposed to get my hair and makeup done at 1pm with my photos being done at 5pm. Once again, I'm without employees. They even asked me to close my business in order to do this photo shoot. Excuse me? I am NOT closing for 6 hours. So I feel like I let them down with that....even though I never did give them a definite "yes".

I am soooo tired. I'm starting to feel depressed because I just don't have the energy to exercise either at night or in the morning then I feel fat....and I make wrong food choices. I feel like a horrible role model for my clients!!

Most of my belongings are in storage since we've moved because Emily and I are essentially living in one tiny bedroom after moving from a house. I know I wouldn't have been able to be a good parent if we hadn't moved in with my parents. My business might not have even gotten off the ground as good as it has if Emily and I had moved into our own place. But now...it's depressing because I can't do whatever I want in the house. My parents are always there. I feel like I'm fighting in order to fight with my daughter (that sounds strange). But I have to keep a tight leash on my daughter or else my parents step in and try to parent her. I hate it! On top of that her toys are scattered all over the house...my mom is not very good at housekeeping and I hate clutter and mess! I've tried to keep on top of things for my mom but she tells me that I have to ask her to throw anything out and then she puts it in a big pile and sets it off to the side. I give up!!

My parents are also viewing having their granddaughter living with them as a 2nd chance at parenting because they say they did so crappy with my bro & I. Well, guess what? It's not. You got your chance...she's mine and I parent her the way I want to!

Yikes, I feel like such a baby complaining about this....but this is what's making me so depressed.

I've tried looking for a place to live. The subdivision that I want to build a house in isn't going to be developed for another 2-3 years. The houses that are here go for 3 times as much as they should and most of the houses for sale are 800 years old. I don't want anything that will give me huge problems. I've thought about buying a modular home but then I'm renting a lot to put it on...and I really don't want to live in a run down trailer park. I've thought about an apartment.

I've cried a few tears today. Now it's time to take things into my own hands. I have to develop a plan. I need to take charge. I'll have to update again when I find out what my plan will be.

Needing to take some happy pills...vitamins will have to do....

I'm Somebody's Mother?

I'm Somebody's Mother? This is what you ask yourself and begin to realize as the nurse comes to hand you your new little bundle of joy. It's one thing to have to look after yourself but when a little person is depending on YOU, it seems like a big pair of shoes to fill really fast. Chelsea's blog "I'm Somebody's Mother?" is a hilarious look at going from single life....to life with baby. I enjoy reading her spin on motherhood. She has some really cool links attached too.

It's Saturday. That means I don't have to work tomorrow. Woohoo! I have piles of files around me and it looks like such a daunting task. I have a menu plan to tackle as well for a client who just showed her face today after being gone for just over 2 weeks. She asked about her menu plan and I told her that I gave it to another client when in reality....I didn't do it because I didn't think she'd ever be back!! Oh well. I really have to do it this time, I like to feel I'm doing my job well when my clients are successful with their weight loss.

Emily's "donor" (really not a nice title but he doesn't do anything to deserve the title of anything better) phoned me the other night and I told him I'd phone him back when I put Emily to bed. I didn't phone him back because I ended up falling asleep with her. I wish I had one of those guys who wanted to see their child and did so on a regular basis. He's seen her 3 times in her whole life. The last time she saw him she told me she didn't want to see him again. It blew me away. I never have talked bad about him and him & I were nice to eachother when we met up with Emily at the park. Maybe she got a bad vibe from him. I guess I should phone him back to see what he wanted. And I'm only phoning him back because if he ever drags me to court then I would look bad if he said that he tried phoning and I never returned phone calls. ha ha. He'd be dumb to drag my ass to court...I have so much against him.

Anyways, I should go and do my tasks and get this place cleaned up so I don't have to do any of it come Monday morning (who wants to clean first thing on a Monday? not me). Then the rest of the time spent here can be "free" time surfin' the net or whatever I choose to do.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I know I will.
P.S. - 100 days until Christmas!

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Yes, I woke up this morning to SNOW! It has been raining a good part of the week but this morning was snow. And more snow for the weekend! Some places around here are reporting a full foot of snow. Yikes! I'm definately going to get that fireplace stoked up this weekend. By Monday the snow should be gone and we should have a high of 15. Summer is definately over. But it looks like we might skip fall this year!

So....my part-time person is getting the boot in early October. Thank god for the 3 month probation rule. Since August 14th, she's called in 3 times. And I've walked into the store twice now to see her and her sister chatting it up and doing absolutely nothing. Yikes! I dealt with the whole employee having friends at work thing when I had my coffee shop....that cost me SALES!! I really hope my full-time employee (if she takes the position) doesn't give me any problems.

Oh well...

Nothing New

Not much has been happening around here. Same old thing. It was Emily's first day of preschool yesterday. She's a mama's girl, definately. I had to stay with her the whole time which was okay. I think she'll be more comfortable next week. Since I was able to stay with her she did NOT want to go back to the babysitter's house after. I feel bad for having to work so much. By the time she goes to school next year, I'll be able to stay home with her on the days that they have no school due to teacher days or whatever.

Business has been slow this week partly due to weather. It's been raining the whole week (pretty much). It's supposed to be crappy this weekend too. Oh well. I find rainy days to be kind of comforting. The opportunity to make it a tea drinking day (even though most days I don't). I'm hoping that this month picks up, I want to almost double what I did last month and right now....we're on par with last month.

I'm hiring a new girl. She seems really nice, outgoing & used to be a personal trainer. I hope my clients learn valuable information from her personal training experience. Right now, I'm not sure when she'll be starting but soon!! I need a full-time person BAD.

Not much else to say. Only a few more hours left of my day. Then I'll go home and try and get a good workout in tonight after I put Emily to bed. I've been a workout maniac this week. I even notice the difference in my clothes with only one week of hardcore exercise! Woohoo!

Good Nite.

I can't believe it!

Our weight loss centre is in a strip mall. We have a Dairy Queen on one end and a Chinese food restaurant on the other end with us being in the middle. We always have people saying that they saw us when they were going to or leaving one of the restaurants. There's always people walking by eating ice cream cones.

So this guy parks pretty much in front of our store. He walks down the sidewalk right past us. On his way back to his vehicle he's carrying an ice cream cake. How rude! ha ha. He puts the ice cream cake into his SUV, shuts the door and comes right in here asking about a weight loss program!! You know what kind of comment(s) I could have made? He's lucky I know when to keep my mouth shut.

People amaze me.

Everyone Remembers

I couldn't believe the TV shows that were on last night (and probably today) about the 5th Anniversary of 9/11. I can't believe it's been 5 years since I lost my cousin. He wasn't anywhere near New York but the emotions of September 11th made him take his own life 7 days later.

I went onto People magazine's website and read an article about some of the ladies who had a baby after they had lost their husbands in the twin towers and where they are today. It was really uplifting to see that some had remarried while others were content just raising their children alone. They are definately strong women. I hope my daughter grows up to be a strong woman too.

I definately exercised my @$$ off this weekend. And for the first time in a long time I actually did Pilates. I'm a little sore this morning therefore I'm suffering from a little bit of water retention.

I confess...I'm obsessed! I've been hanging around on singleparentsmingle hoping to find a nice fellow who has similar interests to myself. I found someone who lives about...2 hours directly east of where I live. Mmmm. He's a cutie. He keeps sending me free smiles with a free note (of course pre-made notes) attached to it. It's lame but kind of exciting. I'm sure he doesn't go online during his working day but I keep checking. It's almost like being a little kid at Christmas again. ha ha.

Tomorrow night is the season finale of Big Brother 7: All Stars!! I can't wait!! I've watched it faithfully every week. It's been the highlight of my summer! So sad.

I guess I better go and pretend to work. ha ha.

Business

First day back to work after the long weekend. I look like shit and feel like a million bucks. I had such an awesome weekend. Business has been great today!! A good start to a new month. Sold a few programs. Lots of people came in and made program payments. A few people needed product so they loaded up. Woohoo!!

We ended August doing higher numbers than July. September I hope to do better than August. I'm stressing about opening the 2nd location already and we're not going to be opening it until 2007. Thank goodness we're opening in a beautiful Rocky Mountain resort town, it'll feel like I'm on vacation while working (picture above is of a portion of the town of Canmore). Head Office is on my ass to open it ASAP but I'm not going to. I never signed anything saying I'd open it before a certain date. So there!

To date we have 34 clients. We opened June 19th with 2 clients because they transferred from another centre to this one. Not too shabby! With school being back in and peoples lives getting back on a schedule our client base should start increasing. Yay!!

Anyways, it's nearing the end of my day.
Nite nite.