I'm Officially a Home Renter

This past Sunday (Nov 1st) I moved into a house that's across the street from where I work. I now live alone unless you count the loud fridge, squeaky toilet, and loud banging dryer to keep me company. This house belonged to an elderly couple, now deceased, and the house is being looked after by the Rotary in town. I was given a great break on the rent as well. The original cost was gonna be $800/month but of course I couldn't afford that unless I had a roommate. There was a potential lady how may have been my roommate but she ended up buying a house instead. The rotary decided to let me have it for the monthly cost of the utilities of $231.00/month!!! You really can't beat that.

The house will be put on the real estate market at the beginning of April 2010 though. If/when it sells I'll move back to the nurses' residence (my 2nd home). But that's not for 5 more months. The house came fully furnished with furniture, bedding/linens, dishes etc. There's even a dishwasher! Get this though, it's avacado green along with the dryer which is beside the dishwasher in the kitchen. The washer is downstairs but it's white. The downstairs is completely NOT finished so that makes it a bit creepy to go down there to do laundry. Who knows what sort of creatures are lurking there!?

The day before I moved in I was there and I heard a squeaking sound....kinda like a mouse/rat squeak. It was coming from downstairs but behind the downstairs door. I wasn't going to open the door either, so instead I was kinda freaking out about it. Then next day I moved in and still heard the squeaking sound. I opened the door but the sound was coming from further away. But it also sounded like it was coming from the bathroom beside the kitchen. I opened the bathroom door, the sound got louder and was behind the toilet. EEeeek!! BUT..... no mouse/rat. The toilet was making the noise!!! Well that was a relief (pardon the pun!) Haha...ya know...toilet....relief....ok never mind.

Other than that, my great friend Brenda has been so kind as to help me clean the house. Unfortunately when I arrived it wasn't cleaned. I've had to change a lot of light bulbs, clean bathrooms (2), wash dishes, clean oven and stove thoroughly, dust living/dining rooms, carpet shampooing will happen, and I'd like to take down the awful ugly dirty drapes and hang up something else....I will find the source of the musty smell someway somehow.

Well that's all for now.....oh wait. One more thing. When I took the lint tray out of the dryer, you shoulda seen how much lint was in there.....at least 2 inches think!!! I'm sure all mothers and grandmothers are cringing!!

My Sister's First Thanksgiving....take a look

Caitlin preparing the bird and not a hair out of place!

My bro-in-law Brad.....notice his potatoes? He spent a good time preparing them for his gravy. (Little Corbin is in the swing awaiting his dinner too from mommy).

Here is the brood just diggin' in....you'd think this was their last meal!

Sister in-law, Tiffany, reading to Saibry and cousin Jacob...gotta keep the kidlets entertained and outta trouble. (There were 5 kids under 3 yrs old...wowzers!)

I was the closest one there with a camera so took a pic of all 5 kidlets that were banging the turkey pot.....lots of noise!

Update

I haven't really been in the mood to post anything lately. Even posting pics felt like a chore. Since Sept 23rd I've been on a 2 week LOA for medical reasons (a.k.a. STRESS at work). Things have happened to me that have been very confusing, as to why they happened, and since I'm not one to stand up for myself or even ask questions, I think I've been bullied at work. Unfortunately the union is now involved but I hope all is in favour of me. There are so many contributions to this stress that I'd definately not rather getting into in this blog.

My anticipated return to work is Oct 8th. I'm seeing my dr this Tuesday to talk and to probably receive a medical note saying I'll be coming back to work. I know things wouldn't have been changed at work but maybe, just maybe, a certain person's behaviour may have changed....maybe they'll be more appreciative of me and what I do. (Here's hoping....)

Since my time off I've gone to PG twice....was in PG for 5 nights the first time. That was nice but I still thought about work and even checked my work email on occassion. I was able to play with my niece, do a little bit of shopping, tried to sleep in but that didn't happen, hung out with dad, did some drafting drawings, etc. Was nice to be away from BL for those days. Then I came back to BL and 3 days later was back in PG for one night. I'll be going to work for 2 days this week (Thurs & Fri) and I hope for the best. Friday will be my last day at the house I'm house-sitting for and I'll be off to PG for the Thanksgiving long wknd.

Well that's all for now. Maybe when I feel motivated again, I'll post an update of my days back to work.

Two Great Pics

My niece Saibry and I.
Saibry's "face"....she was trying to fit into daddy's shoes.

Alphabet Photography - What a Concept

www.alphabetphotography.com

I have come to purchase from this website for Christmas presents this year. It really is the coolest idea. This company is based out of Ontario Canada. Each letter of the alphabet is a photo from different places outside, inside, everywhere. Think of a tall step ladder....picture looking at it from its side....the shape it makes is the letter "A". A car tire can be the letter "O", and so on. These pictures are sepia tones and they are 4" x 6" in size. Each picture is $5.00 each and a gorgeous frame can also be purchased as well.

My first creation was the word "GRANDPA". Here's the link to the word I have chosen: Grandpa. http://www.alphabetphotography.com/create_a_word.aspx?w=grandpa (the pictures I chose may not be exactly as shown)

Obviously I will be giving it to my grandpa for Christmas but instead of purchasing a frame through the company, I custom designed one through Michael's. It helped to have a 55% off coupon as well. The final product will be gorgeous and hopefully I remember to take a picture of this picture before sending it off.

I hope he appreciates the fine detail in this treasure from his first granddaughter!

A plug for my sister's small business

My sister, Caitlin, has a small business called Simply Favours. Below is the link to her website.

If you're planning a wedding and you're in the need of the "small" details of a wedding/reception, visit this site.

Details that she specializes in are: garters, unity candles, sand ceremony sand/vases, purses, jewelry, table numbers and holders, serving ware, pillows and baskets, guest books and pens, cake toppers, flute glasses, and more great items.
http://simplyfavours.com/