Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Change is inevitable as we all know, and the older we get, the more change we've experienced. I am fully aware of the fact that the changes gone on in my life so far are only a drop in the bucket compared to the ones that lie ahead. I wonder what those will be? More job changes? Moving? A financial windfall? More kids are out of the question (almost medically impossible), but what about more nieces and nephews? Different hair colour? New cars? There's no point in even guessing, because only one thing is for certain where this subject is concerned, and that is the fact that more changes will take place.

The biggest change in my life right now is my job. I am no longer with RBC's "Contact Centre", which is a glorified term for a call centre. I made the break a week and a half ago when I was offered a position with another bank's training program to become a Personal Banking Officer. The difference between the two jobs is that one involved being chained to a desk talking to faceless customers and listening to their bullshit, one after another, day after day, realizing that there is no difference between any of them, really. It got to the point where I could predict what each customer was going to say before they started talking. The new job will be far more plesant meeting people face to face and doing their banking for them. It will be far more personalized, and it will do wonders for me personally. It will be more challenging and rewarding, and it will provide alot of opportunity for advancement. I know that last part sounded like a want ad, but it's true. I'm nervous, excited, scared, anxious, as well as proud of myself for taking the plunge to do something more meaningful career-wise. The part that scares me the most are the courses I'll need to take in order to actually perform this type of job. I'll need to become licensed to sell investments (mutual funds, etc.), and this scares the shit out of me. I'm so worried that I'm not going to "get it" and then I'll have to look for another call centre job, which is the last thing I want to do. The worst part is the first day of a new job. Everyone knows this feeling, and I hope to hell that I never have to experience another first day again after this. I would love to start a lifelong career at this and actually retire from the same job. When I'm 50. That only gives me 15 years, so I know that's pretty doubtful. Okay...60. At the latest. Which brings me to my next topic.

Today is my 35th birthday. Yes, that's right, I'm 29. I can't believe I'm almost 30! Seriously though, being 35 isn't upsetting me, it's the fact that in five years I'll be 40 that's making me crazy. Five years goes by pretty quickly. Kenny and I have been together for 7 years now, so another 5 is nothing. Jake will be almost 9, Kelsey will be 16, and I'll be 40?? That's stupid. I don't have to worry about it yet, so I'll just enjoy being a cougar as long as I can.

That's it for now. Hopefully my next post won't be too much longer.

I'll post about my first day at my new job. Maybe.

Aaaaaahhhhhhh.........

I have to say that my favourite smell in the whole world is when the lilacs are in bloom. I've loved lilacs since I was little, and maybe it's because they bloom around the time of my birthday so I make the association with spring, and the most awesome day ever, which by the way, is May 31st. Jake and I went out for a walk this morning, and that's all I could smell...lilacs....it made me so happy. We don't have a lilac bush in our yard, but one day I will. I want the purple ones and the white ones. I know the white ones don't smell as nice as the purple, but they look pretty. May has to be my favourite month of the year. Everything is in bloom, the days are nice and long, and it's the start of summer. Plus let's not forget my birthday. Even though I'm not a youngster any more, I still love my birthday. Along with that, there's Mother's Day, and it's also mine and Kenny's wedding anniversary on the 14th. May is nice.

For our anniversary this year, we had dinner at the new Keg on McGillivray, and we weren't supposed to give each other gifts, but Kenny did anyway. He gave me a diamond anniversary band. I was so surprised. He gave it to me at the restaurant after we ordered dinner. It was sooo nice. The ring is very pretty and I love it. I was saying to him a while ago that it would be nice to have a plain gold band that I could wear all the time, even without my actual wedding ring, and he remembered.

I'm still debating about having Charbecue this year. We skipped last year, but maybe we'll do it again this year. It would be an excuse to get together if nothing else. The weather has been cooperating, so chances of it being nice the last weekend in May are pretty good too. Looks like the long range forecast is about 20 degrees for that day (the 27th). I should decide soon if we're going to do it or not. Maybe try something new this time. I don't know. It would be nice to have the bbq and then maybe have a bonfire later on. I'll decide soon and let everyone know. I'd have some new people to invite, so it could be fun. New ears to tell our stories to.

While I was checking the forecast, it's saying 32 degrees for this coming Tuesday!! Can you believe that? That's crazy! It will more than likely change, but holy crap. That's hot. I guess that's May for you. Along with all the nice things I just talked about, the weather can be pretty unpredictable. Remember the lovely 29 cm of snow that fell on May 11, 2004? I do.

Anyhow, that's all I've got for today. I know I'll have more later in the week.

What A Week!

This is my first weekend after working my new shift. I really like the changes, the biggest ones are being home at night (I even went to Wal-Mart a couple of times), and being able to sleep. Our days start pretty early since I'm up by 6:30, but it's worth it to me. It's nice to be here at night for the kids and to get everything ready for the next day. I have Wednesdays off, but this past week I had to take the kids and Kenny to doctor's appointments, so it was a little busy, but it's great having a day off in the middle of the week to get stuff done. I'm going to miss Fridays off, but this set up is much better in so many ways.

One crappy thing about this week is that we found out Kenny might have Lupus. He's been sick on and off since I've known him, and it was only this week we've found a doctor who has made sense of what Kenny has been going through all these years. It is very difficult to diagnose, and there's no one "Lupus test" that can be taken to determine yes or no whether someone has it or not. I'm sure it will be a while before we have a definite answer, but in the meantime he's really suffering. He's in pain all the time, and the only thing he can do right now is take pain killers like Advil or Tylenol. If the testing comes back positive, Lupus is normally treated with prednizone, which is a steroid, which has some pretty horrible side effects. It's not the greatest drug to be on, but it works for Lupus symptoms. There is no cure for Lupus, but it can be managed. The trick is to figure out what causes flare ups so those triggers can be avoided. I don't know much about it yet, but I've been looking around on the web to see what I can find out, and all the information is pretty much the same. No cure, no definite or consistent symptoms, everyone who has it goes through something different, and it's managed with steriods. I'll keep looking and trying to find out what I can. The worst part is seeing Kenny going through this. He's really limited as to what he can do in a day, including work. It's hard sometimes seeing him in so much pain and there's not a thing I can do to alleviate it for him. He can be fine when he first gets up, but as the day progresses, the symptoms start setting in, and they move around from his hands and feet to his back and thighs, and so on. The pain seems to find new places to come out every day. He just needs alot of understanding and support, but I wish I could do more. Hopefully one day soon he'll have some answers, but for now we just have to try and get through this rough spot until more tests can be run.


http://www.lupuscanada.org/