
It's been a while since I've written an update so have compiled a long winded one here :-) For starters, I got a new temp job. For the next four months, I'm merchandising for Northern Gifts, a company that produces all the 2010 Olympic Plush Mascot merchandise. So I drive around to all the stores in the Fraser Valley that carry the plushes and merchandise, place orders, etc. What's exciting is our company outfit is the HBC Olympic Athletes apparel, including the 2010 red jacket, 4 different shirts, etc. We've also been given a lot of other swag to use for showcasing to new/existing clients and I'm pretty sure we get to keep all of it once the job is over.
Another awesome plus is that, from January onward, I will likely be raking in a lot of over time, which means lots of extra cash. It's great because it will help me save up for moving to the Ukraine. I'll also be selling my car just before I leave, so that should add a few more thousand to the savings.
Last Friday, I went into my work to get more training on merchandising for another company on top of ours. Also met the guy in charge of Business Development and Marketing for the Olympics. Very charismatic guy. Learned a lot about things that are going on that the general public doesn't know about just yet. I'm starting to get excited because there's going to be all sorts of free events and entertainment going on. I may look into getting some tickets for one of the medal awarding ceremonies because he gave us some scoops as to which ones have really big rock bands playing at them after the medals are awarded, bands like Great Big Sea, Diana Crawl and others. Supposedly, tickets are $26, which is very reasonable! I was thinking that I'd go with my sister. It be a real nice activity to do together, since she loves music. I also found out that Coca cola is working to get U2 to do a free concert.
When I got home from training, I went out and bought new linens for 2 of our beds. Since I'm not paying rent, I'm putting what money I would spend on rent into beautifying the house and buying things that my dad really needs.
My grandma and aunt (father's mother + sister) arrived for a visit this last Sat and stayed till Tues. We had a wonderful visit; although it did involve me having to do a lot of organizing and cleaning to get the house ready. I also dropped a good $300-400 dollars on everything from juice glasses (my father only had plastic cups) to towels and cloths (the good ones I had previously bought weren't around any more - I think my sister took them when she moved out), as well as all new sheet linens and pillows for 2 beds, etc. I've talked to my dad about getting rid of the king sized bed in the basement though, because it takes up all the space in the rumpus room, which could otherwise be used for entertaining guests, as there's a nice little bar and fireplace, as well as my dad's piano. Dad was thinking of getting rid of this couch we had down there that has a pull out king sized bed. I think it'd be better to keep the couch and get rid of the king bed. We don't get visitors staying over night often so a couch with a pull-out bed makes more sense. The linens for the king bed that I bought can be used on my dad's bed upstairs, after my aunt and grandma have left. The sheets I bought are really pretty. They're white sheets (400 thread) with some nice embroidered leaves and flowers right on their very top edge of the sheet.
Before our guests' arrival, my father and I were even moving couches up and down the stairs at midnight. That was rather entertaining :-) The leather couch that my dad had in the basement is quite new and much more comfortable than the old floral one he had upstairs.
I was really sick 2 weeks ago. I actually had to miss a full week of work at my new job, and pretty well quarantined myself to my bedroom for the duration of that time. I still feel like my body's trying to get over the cough + sore throat. It's certainly good enough for me to work and function; however, by the time the work day is over, I'm exhausted. And since I've been home today, I've been having some pretty bad coughing fits for no apparent reason.
Since fighting over the cold + starting the new job, my goal is to establish a daily routine with work. After which, I'm going to join either the karate club again or start going to the local rec centre for exercise. After phasing that into the work week, I'm then planning on going for those Ukrainian language lessons. Oh forgot to mention, one of the Christmas presents my grandma and aunt gave me was a 5 cd program on learning Ukrainian, which came highly recommended by some of their friends who are avid members of the Ukrainian community in Manitoba, a community that's a lot larger out there than it is here.
Today's been a very productive and good day of work. I ended up having to work over time. Also have been wracking up a lot of mileage, which is good because it gives me extra money since I get $0.44/km. I'm also getting A LOT of exercise, as I'm on my feet running around all day, carrying loads of stock, etc.
Yesterday, I was at one store where they'd put all of last yrs Christmas merchandise on for 90% off their lowest marked sale price! I bought 12 boxes of Christmas cards (my mom sends out a few 100 every Christmas) and a decoration for our front door + the total was $2.30!! Crazy!
Siska's back has been really bothering her the last week. I think she did one too many flying leaps off the furniture :-) She now can't hop up on the furniture on her own so will whine at me if she wants up. We positioned some of the large floor pillows that my dad usually lies on in front of the tv so that they act as a ramp up to the coffee table that's beside the large front windows, as it's Siska's favorite look out spot. Her little bed is on the table and she perches herself there when myself and/or my father is away.
The other week, I made this Indian dish called chick pea masala. I bought a spice mix that gives directions on what to add to make the dish. Problem though is the spice mix is SUPER HOT! I added a few extra huge cans of diced tomatoes and a can of cream corn to try and tone down the heat but it didn't worked much. Just one bite of this masala, and you're stomach starts stomach burning. It really is tasty. Just too spicy for my stomach to handle. Dad can eat it; however, he has affectionately dubbed it "Fire Soup," which says a lot considering he can eat some of the hottest stuff I've ever encountered.

