Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Off To Work I Go

Today was my first day at my new temp assignment. I'll be doing collections and billing, and whatever special projects they need me to help out with.

No, this isn't the hostile environment temp assignment. Thankfully I didn't get called back for that one! The agency called me mid-afternoon on Friday to ask if I'd like to go to this place and I said yes.

I went to bed last night at 8:30 so I'd be all rested and relaxed for today. However, my neighbour had her four thousand nephews over and they pounded up and down the stairs, opened and slammed the front door, and yelled on the front lawn...until 12:17 am.

Turns out that my friend Cindy works about five minutes away, so she met me at the Swiss Chalet and then proceeded to lead me all the way to my new job! She put the address into her GPS and took me right there. It's been awhile since I've driven in rush hour, and some dude cut right in front of me on the highway. Jerk!

Everyone I met was super nice to me which was a relief. People kept coming over to introduce themselves. I've done temp assignments at places where no one talks to the temp. This place makes me feel like one of their own.

The day was a bit dull with all the training, but I was able to get to some collection calls towards the end of the afternoon. It'll take a few days to really settle in, and then I hope the days fly by. I missed the children today.

So here it is, 7:15pm and this girl is ready for bed!

Hope everyone had a great day.

Book Review: The Waiting

She was waiting for love--and found it in the most unexpected place.

Jorie King's life is on hold. She has been waiting for Ben Zook to return to Lancaster County. Waiting for him to settle down and join the church. Waiting to marry him.

But when news arrives that Ben has been killed, Jorie is devastated. She finds unlikely comfort in the friendship of his brother Caleb. Friendship ripens into love, and two broken hearts plan for a life filled with the promise of a fresh beginning--until their worlds are turned upside down.

With her realistic characters whose weaknesses develop into strengths, Suzanne Woods Fisher offers a reading experience that rises above the others. You will love growing in spirit with these complex people living the simple life as The Waiting transports you into a world where things aren't as simple as they seem.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

I fell in love with this book right from the first few pages.

Jorie is a schoolteacher, determined to teach her students everything they need to know to pass an important test in the Spring. She is in love with Ben, certain that once he returns home from the war he will be ready to marry her.

Caleb is a father, and raising his younger brother in the wake of his parents' deaths. He is a pillar in his community, looked up to and respected by all.

When tragedy befalls both Jorie and Caleb, they slowly begin to fall in love with one another. I found myself rooting for them, excited for their future. But just as they are set to begin a life together there is a shocking turn of events. I was quickly flipping the pages to see how the story would play out.

This is a gentle love story with the Amish life as a beautiful backdrop. I adore everything I have learned about the Amish, and am completely in love with their gentle and simple way of life.

The author is wonderfully gifted in how she creates realistic and likeable characters. Each character is developed so well that you can almost hear them when they speak, and picture them in real life. I love a book that sucks me in like this one did.

If you're looking for a great read, I can't recommend this one strongly enough. It's just lovely.

Book Review: More Glimpses Of Heaven

There is more to death than simply ceasing to live. In Glimpses of Heaven, retired hospice nurse Trudy Harris offered an intimate look at the final days and moments of terminally ill and dying people. Now she shares more of her stories and also stories from other medical and hospice professionals, allowing the veil to be drawn back on God's handiwork, while we are both living and dying.

If you have lost a loved one, are facing a terminal illness, or are simply curious about what happens when we pass from life to death, More Glimpses of Heaven offers you an even deeper insight into God's plan for our lives every day.

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I have always been curious about the end of life. I love to hear stories of things people see, or the sense of calm they feel as they reach the end of their life. It gives me such peace to know that they felt peace.

Each chapter is a story of its own, gently told by the hospice nurse that cared for that patient. Their love and care for each person was so evident as they helped them prepare for eternity.

I felt comforted reading these stories, that the peace that passes all understanding fills a person as they prepare to leave this life for the next.

If you are curious about this topic, this is a lovely book to read. May it give you the peace it gave me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American friends!

I hope you are surrounded by the ones you love today!

5QF ~ November 19

Friday already? That didn't take long, did it?

I was supposed to see my doctor last Friday but I woke up feeling terrible. I thought I was just hungry so I had a huge bowl of Cheerios but I still felt hungry, so I ate two pudding cups. (I know..not the best choice!) Then I was sick and realized I had what the children had all week. Of course they got it and were fine the next day... I was sick for three days.

Ian was wonderful to me as always. He held down the fort so I could rest, even though he felt sick as well. I watched movies and slept and slept and slept.

All that to say, I went to see my doctor on Monday evening and talked to him about the specialist's findings and I was able to share how I had been feeling for the past year. I said that I felt he poo-poo'ed me, dismissed me and brushed me off, and that I felt like I was an annoyance to him and wasting his time. He apologized and said that was never his intention, and that he was glad that I spoke up. I felt so much better afterwards.

I did a five hour temp assignment on Wednesday as a receptionist for a paving company. It wasn't bad at all, and a great way to get my feet wet. I got a call from a different agency this afternoon about a "hard core collections" job working in an "extremely volatile" environment for 2-3 months. I'm not thrilled about it, but agreed to let them present my resume anyway. If the company likes what they see then I will start on Tuesday. Apparently the last temp refuses to go back because the manager yelled at her. Oh boy.

So that pretty much catches you up on my week.

Time for Mama M's Five Question Friday!




1. What Christmas song do you loathe?

Feliz Navidad. I cannot even begin to describe the level of loathing I have for this song. Not only is it horrible, it reminds me of a woman I used to work with, and she would perform it at the Children's Christmas Party every year and she should not have been singing. If you catch my drift.

Whenever I hear this song I can't help but sing along, and the whole time I'm singing, I'm feeling so cross and bothered. And then it just sticks in my head for hours and hours and hours.

I just stopped to break up an argument between the girls and found myself humming this wretched song.

Thanks Mama M.

2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on opposite sides of the bed?

We sleep on opposite sides of the bed usually. I tend to go to bed earlier than Ian does, and I have this whole OCD ritual of how I get to sleep. It starts with my two pillows stacked one on top of each other, perfectly evenly, ruffled part of the pillowcases facing out. Then I lay flat on my back until I feel myself start to drift off, then I quickly flip to my side. Usually it's the side facing away from Ian. He will hug me and cuddle me for a few minutes before he goes to sleep but I usually miss it because I'm sleeping. If I wake up during this, I have to start all over again.

Sometimes we cuddle but not nearly often enough.

3. Have you ever had surgery?

Yes. I've had a D&C, my gallbladder removed, a cystoscopy to remove a cancerous cyst, and my wisdom teeth removed.

4. When do you typically have your holiday shopping done?

I'm usually done a day or two before Christmas. I'm not one of those people who get it all done before the holiday even starts. I like to have a few things left to buy so I can wander through the malls at Christmas time. I get a perverse sense of joy at watching people frantically shopping, knowing I'm almost done.

Also, if we shop too far in advance then it's easy to pick up "one more thing" because you didn't see such a thing months ago.

5. If money were not an issue (and you HAD to pick something), what would your ultimate luxury item be?

I'm one of those people that can honestly say I have everything I need. But if I HAD to pick something, then I'd say a second car. The extra freedom during the day would be nice.

That's it! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Head on over to Mama M's blog My Little Life to join in on the fun.

Checking In

I don't really know what to talk about today. I'm just very aware that I haven't posted anything of substance in awhile. I check my stat counter every so often and I'm amazed that so many of you still check in every day to see if there's something new up.

Thanks for that. I'm sorry there hasn't been.

There's a lot going on here but I can't talk about it yet. It's not that I'm trying to string you along or anything, I just can't get my head around some stuff that's happening right now. I feel so unsettled and afraid.

I barely slept at all last night and I'm tired and I'm not feeling well. Everyone in my house has the stomach flu.

I haven't felt like baking anything or sewing anything. Everything is an effort right now because my mind is so preoccupied. My house is a disaster... God bless Ian for not complaining. He just pitches in wherever he can.

I'll be seeing my family doctor today and I'm praying for an opening so I can tell him what the specialists findings were, and to share how I feel about his treatment of me this past year. I'll let you know how that goes.

Sorry I'm not more upbeat. I just don't have it in me right now.

I Love This Commercial

I'm not a huge fan of commercials. They annoy me and there are too many of them.

But... every so often one comes on that I just love.

Like this one from Geico.



I have now added "jackwagon" to my vocabulary.

Do you have a favourite commercial that never fails to make you smile?

5QF ~ November 5

This week has been incredibly surreal. I can't go into details right now but if you could pray for peace for my family I would truly appreciate it. God is certainly shaking up our lives right now, and even though I know in my head that He is in control and none of what is happening is a surprise to Him, my heart is very fearful.

Happy Diwali to those of you that celebrate! Mom and I always go out for lunch on this special day. Rather than go out for lunch like we usually do, we went out for breakfast since her friend was arriving to visit mid-morning. I wanted to bake some treats for my neighbours for Diwali but I've been feeling so run down all week and never got around to it.

Yesterday afternoon I met with another employment agency. This woman was so helpful and gave me several tips on how to improve my resume. I need to finish it this weekend and then she's going to present it to a company on Monday. It's for a three month assignment.

Other than that, I really haven't done much of anything this week.

Ian is having a bunch of his buddies over for a game night tomorrow night, and a few of them are bringing their sons, so I'll need to take the girls out for a bit. I'm not sure where to take them.

Sunday is going to be SO exciting! The daughter of one of our dear friends is being baptized and I can't wait!! We've been invited to go back to the house to celebrate afterwards. There's going to be chili. Oh yes please.

Enough chit chat! On to my wonderful friend Mama M's Five Question Friday blog hop... only the coolest blog hop in the whole world.



1. If you could have any talent and turn it into an occupation, what would it be?

I'd love to be able to sing, and to make a living from it. I'd also like to be able to dance all hip-hop like and be a backup dancer for some famous person.

Oh yeah. You know you'd watch my videos.

2. Would you rather have a house at the beach or a cabin in the woods?

Definitely on the beach! I find water very restful and could just look at it all day long.

I wouldn't want to live in a cabin in the woods because I've seen all sorts of horror movies and I know what happens to people that live in isolated cabins in the woods. No thank you.

3. Is there any meaning or reasoning for the names you chose for your child/children?

We chose Sam's name (Samuel) because it means "asked of God", and he certainly was. We were sitting in church a few months after we lost our first child, and I was flipping through the Bible randomly. It fell open to the book of Samuel and after reading it I nudged Ian and pointed at the final verse (1 Samuel 1:20 - look it up!) and we knew that would be our next child's name.

Sam is Samuel James Emery ~ James is Ian's middle name, and Emery is his favourite uncle's middle name.

Julie is Julie Roma Nicole ~ Ian liked the name Julie, Roma is my mother's name and Nicole is a name we both liked.

Jordan is Jordan Theresa Faith ~ Jordan was the only name we agreed on, Theresa is my middle name as well as the name of my favourite aunt, who is also my godmother. Faith is something we all need, doncha think?

4. What is your guilty pleasure? (I know we've done this one before, but I'm guessing people's "guilty pleasures" change frequently. At least, mine do!)

A nap on a Sunday afternoon. A large steeped tea from Tim Horton's. A dish of my favourite ice cream. When my favourite pjs are fresh from the dryer. Celebrity gossip.

5. Do you live in a house that is deep cleaned or straightened?

Umm..is there a third choice? I live in chaos. I try to keep things straightened up, but as for "deep cleaned"...could someone tell me what that is?? I haven't had much energy for anything of late, so things are pretty messy 'round these parts. I'm so thankful for a family that pitches in wherever, whenever.

That's all for today!

Head on over to Mama M's blog My Little Life and join in on the fun!