Washing himself off in the water fountain.
Monday, July 25, 2005
Water Park!
Joel Bron and I decided to take my nephews to the water park today. We took a lot of pictures... here's a small sample. My nephews are beautiful... by the way.
Christopher playing with "Scoop".
What a putz.
Snack-time!!
Playing in puddles.
He's obsessed with his chest... a bit sketchy.
Beautiful! Thursday, July 21, 2005
Workers of the 'Co' Variety
I guess now is as good a time as any to delve into the interesting characters I have the pleasure of working with.
We'll begin with Pat. I love Pat. Pat is a woman in her early fifties who is very blunt. You can always count on her to speak her mind. Morning talks often include something to do with menopause or anything that may be associated with it. Pat has always looked out for me and she's always ready to share a good laugh.
There's also Bridget. She trained me and when I couldn't keep up or put the smokies in wrong and such she would fix them while my back was turned so I wouldn't notice. She's in her early 30's... maybe late 20's, I'm really not sure. She's loud, but then again everybody is.
Michelle makes me laugh all day long. She's in her early 40's. Now that woman can yell. She is always dancing or jokingly getting after someone or just yelling for the sake of yelling. She's definitely one of my favorite people to work with.
There's Tom who is our line operator. He is always on a power trip. He's this small little man who doesn't always think, but everything needs to be done his way even if it is less productive. We all have to stop and wait while Tom thinks things through... yup. Tom's a bit of a dink.
Cameron is also on my line. He's 19 and going to University in Edmonton next year as well so that should be fun. He's a nice guy. He always volunteers/is asked to go to another line, Cryovac, so we don't often work together, but he's always laughing and he's fun.
Ekaterina is a Russian who moved to Canada with her British husband. She is quiet and gentle and she has a heart of gold. Cliche I know, but I'm not joking.
Steven B is a quiet guy, but he's so helpful and such a hardworker. I haven't really talked to him much, but he says good morning to me sometimes.
And there is always Nancy. She is hilarious. She has bleach blond hair and she wears it in a really high pony tail. She is awesome! She also makes me laugh continuously.
Warren E is the last member of my line on Tiromat. He is also the First Aid Attendant. We often talk. He teases me about the guys at work and is trying to get me to go for coffee with one of the other guys at work. We have some good talks too though.
That is it for my line at work. There are many more people there that I may talk about later... but this is it for now.
We'll begin with Pat. I love Pat. Pat is a woman in her early fifties who is very blunt. You can always count on her to speak her mind. Morning talks often include something to do with menopause or anything that may be associated with it. Pat has always looked out for me and she's always ready to share a good laugh.
There's also Bridget. She trained me and when I couldn't keep up or put the smokies in wrong and such she would fix them while my back was turned so I wouldn't notice. She's in her early 30's... maybe late 20's, I'm really not sure. She's loud, but then again everybody is.
Michelle makes me laugh all day long. She's in her early 40's. Now that woman can yell. She is always dancing or jokingly getting after someone or just yelling for the sake of yelling. She's definitely one of my favorite people to work with.
There's Tom who is our line operator. He is always on a power trip. He's this small little man who doesn't always think, but everything needs to be done his way even if it is less productive. We all have to stop and wait while Tom thinks things through... yup. Tom's a bit of a dink.
Cameron is also on my line. He's 19 and going to University in Edmonton next year as well so that should be fun. He's a nice guy. He always volunteers/is asked to go to another line, Cryovac, so we don't often work together, but he's always laughing and he's fun.
Ekaterina is a Russian who moved to Canada with her British husband. She is quiet and gentle and she has a heart of gold. Cliche I know, but I'm not joking.
Steven B is a quiet guy, but he's so helpful and such a hardworker. I haven't really talked to him much, but he says good morning to me sometimes.
And there is always Nancy. She is hilarious. She has bleach blond hair and she wears it in a really high pony tail. She is awesome! She also makes me laugh continuously.
Warren E is the last member of my line on Tiromat. He is also the First Aid Attendant. We often talk. He teases me about the guys at work and is trying to get me to go for coffee with one of the other guys at work. We have some good talks too though.
That is it for my line at work. There are many more people there that I may talk about later... but this is it for now.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
History was made
I just learned how to put pictures on!! Hurray!
Here's proof that I danced with Aaron Wall... or I guess Aaron Wall danced with me seeing as I'd been asking him to for a year and I finally managed to convince/force him to. It doesn't matter though, Aaron Wall danced, period. It was a monumental event.
I'm going on a date!
I forgot to include that I'm going on a date with my brother tomorrow! Last week he called me up and asked if I wanted to go out for dinner with him. I'm pretty stoked. It'll be fun... and he's treating so that's a bonus. So, Joel and I are going out for dinner tomorrow night.
First Weekend!
I finally had my first weekend off! I worked for 12 days straight and definitely welcomed my two days off. I felt an odd sense of euphoria when I defied my 8:30 bedtime.
Saturday I came home from work and slept for a bit and did my laundry. Then Stewart came over at 8:30 maybe. When he arrived I was enthralled and completely absorbed in watching 'A Walk to Remember' on T.V. He'd never seen it so he joined me. When the movie was almost done I decided I was super hungry so we went out to find some food. We didn't get food. Instead we went to White Rock and walked around. It was fun and the moon was absolutely stunning. And that was pretty much it. We stopped by Wendy's on the way home and then I went to bed.
On Sunday afternoon my friend Thomas picked me up and we went to his house in Vancouver. We were going to go to the beach, but it was his little brothers birthday and his parents were gone on vacation so I proposed that we just stay home and make dinner. So we went out to Safeway and bought some groceries. I then made the most amazing dinner ever! We had stir-fry with prawns and it was so yummy! Thomas tried making ribs, but he burned them on the bbq. I knew things weren't gonna go so well when he didn't know how to start the bbq (he'll kill me if he reads that). It was good though. My stir-fry was so tasty... and I don't even cook!
I went out for breakfast with my coworker, Irene, on Monday morning. I felt like an old woman, but it was good times. Then I had an orthodontist appointment out in Burnaby. I got a new retainer and I only have to wear it at nights now! How exciting! I'm excited... I'll no longer need to take it out in front of people and quietly suck all the spit out etc. haha. Oh yeah, Stewart and Joel came over and went swimming for about half an hour and then I went for a walk till 7:30 by myself.
It was a good weekend. I wish I'd been able to take advantage of the beautiful weather, but I had so many things to do. Now I'm back to working in the freezer... hurray! Alright... and that's about it.
Saturday I came home from work and slept for a bit and did my laundry. Then Stewart came over at 8:30 maybe. When he arrived I was enthralled and completely absorbed in watching 'A Walk to Remember' on T.V. He'd never seen it so he joined me. When the movie was almost done I decided I was super hungry so we went out to find some food. We didn't get food. Instead we went to White Rock and walked around. It was fun and the moon was absolutely stunning. And that was pretty much it. We stopped by Wendy's on the way home and then I went to bed.
On Sunday afternoon my friend Thomas picked me up and we went to his house in Vancouver. We were going to go to the beach, but it was his little brothers birthday and his parents were gone on vacation so I proposed that we just stay home and make dinner. So we went out to Safeway and bought some groceries. I then made the most amazing dinner ever! We had stir-fry with prawns and it was so yummy! Thomas tried making ribs, but he burned them on the bbq. I knew things weren't gonna go so well when he didn't know how to start the bbq (he'll kill me if he reads that). It was good though. My stir-fry was so tasty... and I don't even cook!
I went out for breakfast with my coworker, Irene, on Monday morning. I felt like an old woman, but it was good times. Then I had an orthodontist appointment out in Burnaby. I got a new retainer and I only have to wear it at nights now! How exciting! I'm excited... I'll no longer need to take it out in front of people and quietly suck all the spit out etc. haha. Oh yeah, Stewart and Joel came over and went swimming for about half an hour and then I went for a walk till 7:30 by myself.
It was a good weekend. I wish I'd been able to take advantage of the beautiful weather, but I had so many things to do. Now I'm back to working in the freezer... hurray! Alright... and that's about it.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Impeccable Timing
I don't know if any of you have ever wondered whether or not God has actually spoken to you, but I do all the time. I mean, in the Bible you read about all these times that God spoke to the people and I often get frustrated because I haven't experienced something so definite that I can confidently say that God spoke to me. Then I was thinking about how maybe God speaks to us through others or through experiences etc. It's all very confusing for me.
I was reading the book I got for graduation, Searching for God Knows What and it's pretty good. Donald Miller was talking about how people try to make "How to" books and have specifics formulas and steps for getting to know God better or making your life better. Miller wrote, "The truth is there are a million steps, and we don't even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing." He goes on to talk about how Christ was relational and how people grow through "hearing a certain song and knowing somebody who had a certain experience and seeing some movie, reading some book, having something happen to them like a car wreck or a trip to Seattle." I agree. Like I said, maybe God is speaking through those experiences etc and just letting us know that he is there, that he is amazing, and that he loves us.
Well, God truly is amazing. The reason I started reading that book is because I locked my keys in the car at the King George Skytrain Station and thankfully had the book handy while I patiently waited for my brother-in-law to get off work and drive in from Abbotsford. I was looking at a two hour waiting period and so I decided to open the book and see what it was all about.
So, I was sitting here thinking about God speaking to people through experiences and I was like... well, maybe God will speak to me here. Maybe he will amaze me somehow. Well, he did. You see, God's timing is impeccable. I'd been sitting there for about an hour and this man walks past my car and kindly tells me I left the lights on. I smiled and said, "Yup, I know." And he was like... "Well maybe it'd be a good idea to turn them off." And then I proceeded to inform him that I would, but my keys were in the car and the door just happened to be locked thus impairing my ability to access the switch responsible for the lights. He just happened to be a tow truck driver... man. So he offered to open my door for $20. Well, I didn't have $20 and I told him so. So he went on his way and I re-opened my book. I now started to read about Santa Claus... the author is pretty random... and no more than five minutes later the man shows up again and tells me to call my brother-in-law up and tell him not to come. I was like, "Sir, you know I have no money." and he looked at me, smiled and said, "Well maybe something good will happen to me today." I smiled back and replied, "I certainly hope so." 30 seconds later my door was open and I was driving home with tears in my eyes.
Honestly, God is amazing. He just so happened to have me think about how he speaks to people and reveals himself in their lives and then he had me lock my keys in my car so that I would pull out the book and read it and then he used the same situation to show me that he is incredible and loving and always faithful. Had I not read the book, pondered the subject or been locked out of my car I would not have learned anything today. I would not have experienced the love and grace of God and I woudl not have been as appreciative and giddy as I am right now. Really, had the exact situation occured and I hadn't been reading the book, I would not have seen it for what it was. I would not have considered it a miracle, I wouldn't have acknowledge God's power and majesty and I wouldn't be as joyful as I am now. Yup, God is amazing.
Back to what I was originally talking about, how God speaks to us. I think I can confidently say that God spoke to me today. God told me that he is faithful and that he has everything under control. His timing is... wow.
I hope God blesses that man who helped me, I know he will. That guy had a good heart.
God is GREEEEAT!
I was reading the book I got for graduation, Searching for God Knows What and it's pretty good. Donald Miller was talking about how people try to make "How to" books and have specifics formulas and steps for getting to know God better or making your life better. Miller wrote, "The truth is there are a million steps, and we don't even know what the steps are, and worse, at any given moment we may not be willing or even able to take them; and still worse, they are different for you and me and they are always changing." He goes on to talk about how Christ was relational and how people grow through "hearing a certain song and knowing somebody who had a certain experience and seeing some movie, reading some book, having something happen to them like a car wreck or a trip to Seattle." I agree. Like I said, maybe God is speaking through those experiences etc and just letting us know that he is there, that he is amazing, and that he loves us.
Well, God truly is amazing. The reason I started reading that book is because I locked my keys in the car at the King George Skytrain Station and thankfully had the book handy while I patiently waited for my brother-in-law to get off work and drive in from Abbotsford. I was looking at a two hour waiting period and so I decided to open the book and see what it was all about.
So, I was sitting here thinking about God speaking to people through experiences and I was like... well, maybe God will speak to me here. Maybe he will amaze me somehow. Well, he did. You see, God's timing is impeccable. I'd been sitting there for about an hour and this man walks past my car and kindly tells me I left the lights on. I smiled and said, "Yup, I know." And he was like... "Well maybe it'd be a good idea to turn them off." And then I proceeded to inform him that I would, but my keys were in the car and the door just happened to be locked thus impairing my ability to access the switch responsible for the lights. He just happened to be a tow truck driver... man. So he offered to open my door for $20. Well, I didn't have $20 and I told him so. So he went on his way and I re-opened my book. I now started to read about Santa Claus... the author is pretty random... and no more than five minutes later the man shows up again and tells me to call my brother-in-law up and tell him not to come. I was like, "Sir, you know I have no money." and he looked at me, smiled and said, "Well maybe something good will happen to me today." I smiled back and replied, "I certainly hope so." 30 seconds later my door was open and I was driving home with tears in my eyes.
Honestly, God is amazing. He just so happened to have me think about how he speaks to people and reveals himself in their lives and then he had me lock my keys in my car so that I would pull out the book and read it and then he used the same situation to show me that he is incredible and loving and always faithful. Had I not read the book, pondered the subject or been locked out of my car I would not have learned anything today. I would not have experienced the love and grace of God and I woudl not have been as appreciative and giddy as I am right now. Really, had the exact situation occured and I hadn't been reading the book, I would not have seen it for what it was. I would not have considered it a miracle, I wouldn't have acknowledge God's power and majesty and I wouldn't be as joyful as I am now. Yup, God is amazing.
Back to what I was originally talking about, how God speaks to us. I think I can confidently say that God spoke to me today. God told me that he is faithful and that he has everything under control. His timing is... wow.
I hope God blesses that man who helped me, I know he will. That guy had a good heart.
God is GREEEEAT!
Friday, July 08, 2005
The Sticker
I am now officially part of the Schneider Family! I finally mastered the art of labeling. Well, I haven't 'mastered' it per-say, but I can successfully keep up with the machine. Bridget initiated me with a Schneider sticker on my smock and my crew cheered. Haha... it was a bit awkward, but fun.
There are a bunch of strange people who work there. I'll go indepth into each character later. I'm going to go make myself some dinner. Man, I need to get a hobby.
There are a bunch of strange people who work there. I'll go indepth into each character later. I'm going to go make myself some dinner. Man, I need to get a hobby.
Schneider Foods
This past week has been rather eventful. It began with teaching myself how to drive standard. I had absolutely NO idea how. I didn't even know that you had to have the clutch in to start the car, but I soon realized that. The first couple... hours.... were quite sketchy. There wasn't so much of the car-jolting/whiplash-rendering experiences, but everything was a bit sketchy - to say the least. I'm surprised the clutch still works. Anyways. It was a Monday and I had to work the next morning at 6am and my parents are gone to Oregon so I had to teach myself. I ended up going out with my brother-in-law for an hour or so after dinner and that was good. He told me a lot of the basics that I didn't know such as - "even though you're focusing on shifting... don't forget to use your signal!!". haha. I was driving home from wherever we were driving and I get to a stop light. I was first in line and everything had been going pretty smoothly. Anyways, the light turns green and I stalled three times in a row.... then the light turned red and nobody made it through... oops. Brian just laughed at me. Yup... I think that's about the end of that.
On Tuesday I started working at Schneider Foods. I work in packaging and so I pretty much package sausages all day long. I wake up at 5am and go to work at 5:10. My shift starts at 6am and ends at 2:30. It sucks because I have to go to bed at 9pm, but the people I work with are awesome. I won't even explain what I do because it won't make sense. I could do pretty much all the different jobs right away after 5-10 minutes of starting, but I could not get the labelling at all! I sucked at it. Whoever was labelling with me would have to do three packages for every one of mine. You have to do everything so fast because the machine just keeps on going and going and it's ridiculous. Honestly... yeah yeah how hard can it be to package sausages etc, but you have to be super quick. For the first three days I could not label at all. Oh yeah, this week is my training so I have a 'shadow'. Pretty much this woman named Bridget has been hanging out with me watching and showing me what to do etc. She filled in all the pouches I missed and showed me how to link the smokies etc. Labelled all the pouches except for the 9 or 10 I would do. Haha. Bridget's pretty cool. I like her at least.
Every morning I get to work at about 5:30-5:40am. Almost everyone is there at about that time. If I'm cold then I make myself some tea in the lunchroom and sit with all the men, but if I'm not then I go hang out with the ladies in the locker room. It's always fun in there. The women complain about menopause and hormones and working etc and I just sit there and laugh. At 5:50 we head down and don our working garbs. We all suit up in our steel-toed rubber boots, blue smocks, ear plugs, our hard hats, a hairnet, and doctors masks. As soon as we enter the packaging section we all have to wash our hands and then we put on cotton gloves (we work in a giant freezer), latex gloves overtop and sleeve guards. And then we work. If we touch anything other than the meat products we are working with we have to dip our hands in iodine or go wash them again. It's pretty fun. At lunch they provide all the meat and bread you could want, but after working with smokies all day you aren't too excited about eatting them. Oh well. Yup, so that's pretty much what my summer will consist of. Oh, and I found out that I work Tuesday to Saturday... pretty lame. Oh well, I get off early so that's good. 2:30 isn't too bad. Hurray for going to bed at 9am!
On Tuesday I started working at Schneider Foods. I work in packaging and so I pretty much package sausages all day long. I wake up at 5am and go to work at 5:10. My shift starts at 6am and ends at 2:30. It sucks because I have to go to bed at 9pm, but the people I work with are awesome. I won't even explain what I do because it won't make sense. I could do pretty much all the different jobs right away after 5-10 minutes of starting, but I could not get the labelling at all! I sucked at it. Whoever was labelling with me would have to do three packages for every one of mine. You have to do everything so fast because the machine just keeps on going and going and it's ridiculous. Honestly... yeah yeah how hard can it be to package sausages etc, but you have to be super quick. For the first three days I could not label at all. Oh yeah, this week is my training so I have a 'shadow'. Pretty much this woman named Bridget has been hanging out with me watching and showing me what to do etc. She filled in all the pouches I missed and showed me how to link the smokies etc. Labelled all the pouches except for the 9 or 10 I would do. Haha. Bridget's pretty cool. I like her at least.
Every morning I get to work at about 5:30-5:40am. Almost everyone is there at about that time. If I'm cold then I make myself some tea in the lunchroom and sit with all the men, but if I'm not then I go hang out with the ladies in the locker room. It's always fun in there. The women complain about menopause and hormones and working etc and I just sit there and laugh. At 5:50 we head down and don our working garbs. We all suit up in our steel-toed rubber boots, blue smocks, ear plugs, our hard hats, a hairnet, and doctors masks. As soon as we enter the packaging section we all have to wash our hands and then we put on cotton gloves (we work in a giant freezer), latex gloves overtop and sleeve guards. And then we work. If we touch anything other than the meat products we are working with we have to dip our hands in iodine or go wash them again. It's pretty fun. At lunch they provide all the meat and bread you could want, but after working with smokies all day you aren't too excited about eatting them. Oh well. Yup, so that's pretty much what my summer will consist of. Oh, and I found out that I work Tuesday to Saturday... pretty lame. Oh well, I get off early so that's good. 2:30 isn't too bad. Hurray for going to bed at 9am!
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Con-GRAD-ulations
I think I've finally recuperated from graduation. I can't say I'm too experienced in the whole 'staying out past 11' gig. I'm generally used to more than two hours of sleep. It as definitely worth while though.
Graduation crept up much too quickly. High school flippin flew by. I loved Fraser Valley Christian and will surely miss it. If I could offer anyone advice it would be to enjoy high school while it lasts. I have my whole life ahead of me, but I can never go back to the ease and comfort of Fraser Valleys walls.
Grad was awesome! Everything I did was pretty much last minute. I didn't have a dress the day before grad so I decided to go and get my nails done. At least my hands would look pretty then. I got home around... I have no idea. When I got home though my mom started making my dress. We grabbed some pattern that was lying around the house and she whipped up a dress. She had to change the pattern so many times though, I felt pretty bad for her. She had to take it in so much around the waist and leave extra room in other areas. She was super frustrated and we couldn't really agree on anything so she just made it kind of in the middle of both and I guess it sort of worked out ok. I didn't go to grad naked so something went right. How many people can say they had a $15 dress that their mother made the day before graduation? Yeah, not many. I personally think grad is over-rated. What's the point of spending $200 on a dress and never wearing it again??? And that's not even 'expensive'... apparently. At my dad's school the average dress was $800. Enough about dresses.
The grad ceremony was surprisingly good. My family had nothing but compliments. My dad - who's a principal and has attended many many many graduation ceremonies - said it was by far the best graduation he has ever been to. All the speakers were funny - aside from Mrs. Devries at the beginning... but at least it was at the beginning.
The banquet was pretty good actually. The food - though lacking in quantity - tasted wonderful and the entertainment was pretty ok. Aww... I love our teachers. I said goodbye to Mrs. Yip. I love that woman. She was telling me to come back and visit her and to not forget her. I spent a good 10 minutes consoling a crying Mrs. Visscher, but that isn't very surprising.
Aside from vomiting occasionally, the cruise was pretty excellent. Dancing was so much fun. It always is though. I couldn't go up on the top deck because it made me nauseous with all the cigar smoke, but that was alright. The highlight of the cruise was definitely convincing Aaron W. to dance with me. I have been asking him to dance with me for the past two years and he finally gave in. Mr. Kim even took pictures so I can prove it.
Wow this is dragging on and it's pretty much not at all interesting. I'm done.
Graduation crept up much too quickly. High school flippin flew by. I loved Fraser Valley Christian and will surely miss it. If I could offer anyone advice it would be to enjoy high school while it lasts. I have my whole life ahead of me, but I can never go back to the ease and comfort of Fraser Valleys walls.
Grad was awesome! Everything I did was pretty much last minute. I didn't have a dress the day before grad so I decided to go and get my nails done. At least my hands would look pretty then. I got home around... I have no idea. When I got home though my mom started making my dress. We grabbed some pattern that was lying around the house and she whipped up a dress. She had to change the pattern so many times though, I felt pretty bad for her. She had to take it in so much around the waist and leave extra room in other areas. She was super frustrated and we couldn't really agree on anything so she just made it kind of in the middle of both and I guess it sort of worked out ok. I didn't go to grad naked so something went right. How many people can say they had a $15 dress that their mother made the day before graduation? Yeah, not many. I personally think grad is over-rated. What's the point of spending $200 on a dress and never wearing it again??? And that's not even 'expensive'... apparently. At my dad's school the average dress was $800. Enough about dresses.
The grad ceremony was surprisingly good. My family had nothing but compliments. My dad - who's a principal and has attended many many many graduation ceremonies - said it was by far the best graduation he has ever been to. All the speakers were funny - aside from Mrs. Devries at the beginning... but at least it was at the beginning.
The banquet was pretty good actually. The food - though lacking in quantity - tasted wonderful and the entertainment was pretty ok. Aww... I love our teachers. I said goodbye to Mrs. Yip. I love that woman. She was telling me to come back and visit her and to not forget her. I spent a good 10 minutes consoling a crying Mrs. Visscher, but that isn't very surprising.
Aside from vomiting occasionally, the cruise was pretty excellent. Dancing was so much fun. It always is though. I couldn't go up on the top deck because it made me nauseous with all the cigar smoke, but that was alright. The highlight of the cruise was definitely convincing Aaron W. to dance with me. I have been asking him to dance with me for the past two years and he finally gave in. Mr. Kim even took pictures so I can prove it.
Wow this is dragging on and it's pretty much not at all interesting. I'm done.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)