My Aunt Nancy runs a canteen on Wednesday nights at local regular sporting event. On Tuesday night she called me and said one of her teens she has working for her wasn't able to come in for her shift and asked if I could give her a hand and cover the shift for her. I told her sure! I can always use some extra cash (I'm trying to save up now for the astronomical heating bills this winter, so straight to the bank I went this morning).
This canteen has always been a family affair so to speak. My mother worked there when I was very young. My Aunt Nancy started working there when my mom was there and has been there ever since, eventually taking it over. My cousin Krissy worked with us last night, my cousin Chris and his wife Sharla and their daughter Janelle were there and my cousin Susan was there also. The later part of the crew being spectators, not working. It was nice to see them as it had been a while. It seems that I only see family at funerals, so this was definately a happier occasion.
I only worked a couple of hours last night, but came home a hundred bucks richer. No, my Aunt doesn't pay that well. What happened was we bought some 50/50 tickets and didn't us canteen girls win! We split our winning and pocketed 75 bucks from the 50/50 and then the 25 bucks I earned, gave me 100 bucks total. I was definately glad to have had the opportunity to work last night!
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
Happy Birthday Brother!
Today is my little brother's birthday. I guess he's not my little brother anymore, given that he's the ripe age of 27 today. It's hard to believe that 27 years ago, I was staying at my Aunt Patty's house while my mom went to the hospital "to get our baby".
I remember my Dad taking me to the hospital to visit Mom and my new baby brother. I climbed right into the hospital bed with Mom and started putting baby powder all over myself, lol. I remember when my parent's picked me up to take Richard home. My Mom was sitting in the front seat of the car, holding the baby all wrapped up in a blanket. Boy times have changed - I couldn't even imagine someone driving in a car now days, holding a baby in their arms!
Although we used to fight like cats and dogs when we were younger, my brother and I have gotten extremely close over the past 5 or so years. We've been through a lot as a family and I think that although it was tough at the time, there was some good that came from the hard times. We realized how much we meant to each other.
Happy Birthday Rich! I love you and am so proud of the person you've become!
I remember my Dad taking me to the hospital to visit Mom and my new baby brother. I climbed right into the hospital bed with Mom and started putting baby powder all over myself, lol. I remember when my parent's picked me up to take Richard home. My Mom was sitting in the front seat of the car, holding the baby all wrapped up in a blanket. Boy times have changed - I couldn't even imagine someone driving in a car now days, holding a baby in their arms!
Although we used to fight like cats and dogs when we were younger, my brother and I have gotten extremely close over the past 5 or so years. We've been through a lot as a family and I think that although it was tough at the time, there was some good that came from the hard times. We realized how much we meant to each other.
Happy Birthday Rich! I love you and am so proud of the person you've become!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Happy Belated Birthday Canada!
Well summer is now in full swing. I think Canada Day makes summer feel more real. The heat and humidity definately bring you into the summer time feel.
Ryan and I were both off for Canada Day. I was amazed that I actually had it off, because the 8 plus years that I've worked for the company I'm with, I've never had Canada Day off. It's not a holiday where we're sent up a lot of day off slots from corporate. At any rate, I was thankful to be off. I'm finding my job more and more stressful as time goes by. Maybe it has something to do with me getting older, maybe it's that I've been here too long, maybe it's because my job is painfully monotonous, maybe it's because it's super busy and I can't even take a breath between calls, maybe it's a lot of things, lol. Anyway, it was nice to be off.
We didn't do too much to celebrate Canada. We slept in and then had breakfast late. We went out to Ryan's parent's house to get the kayaks to go for a paddle, but his parent's beat us to it, lol. We decided to hop on the bike (Ryan's motorcycle) and head out to visit Phil and Anne, friends of Ryan's. We spent the afternoon on their deck enjoying a couple of beverages and chatting. We went back to Ryan's parent's place around supper time to drop off the bike and get the car and then headed back into Fredericton. We stopped and got some chicken and had that on the back deck once we got home and relaxed for a bit. We watched some tv and then watched the fireworks from upstairs. The advantages of living close to the river!
Ryan and I were both off for Canada Day. I was amazed that I actually had it off, because the 8 plus years that I've worked for the company I'm with, I've never had Canada Day off. It's not a holiday where we're sent up a lot of day off slots from corporate. At any rate, I was thankful to be off. I'm finding my job more and more stressful as time goes by. Maybe it has something to do with me getting older, maybe it's that I've been here too long, maybe it's because my job is painfully monotonous, maybe it's because it's super busy and I can't even take a breath between calls, maybe it's a lot of things, lol. Anyway, it was nice to be off.
We didn't do too much to celebrate Canada. We slept in and then had breakfast late. We went out to Ryan's parent's house to get the kayaks to go for a paddle, but his parent's beat us to it, lol. We decided to hop on the bike (Ryan's motorcycle) and head out to visit Phil and Anne, friends of Ryan's. We spent the afternoon on their deck enjoying a couple of beverages and chatting. We went back to Ryan's parent's place around supper time to drop off the bike and get the car and then headed back into Fredericton. We stopped and got some chicken and had that on the back deck once we got home and relaxed for a bit. We watched some tv and then watched the fireworks from upstairs. The advantages of living close to the river!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Weekend In Nictau
So tell me, have any of you honestly ever heard of the village of Nictau? I never had until recently. That's where I spent all of last weekend and had a ball, although I'm still exhausted from the weekend, lol.
This past weekend was the famous "Fiddlers On The Tobique" canoe run. Ryan had run into an old friend, Craig, who he went to school with, a few weeks ago at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and Craig invited us to join him and some friends to partake in "Fiddlers" with them; something they do every year. Ryan and I accepted their invitation and were looking forward to it.
Friday I got off work early at lunch time, finished organizing things and met Ryan out at his parent's house. We were borrowing their SUV to haul up the canoe and our gear and leaving them my car to use for the weekend in its place. We loaded up and headed to meet Craig and the rest of our group of 11 people were going away with.
We had another couple drive up with us in the SUV to help with the cost of gas. Their canoe was being towed up by Lance, on a trailer with two others, so they were good to go to jump in with us. We hit the highway and off Craig goes (the one who knew where the heck Nictau was) out of sight in 10 minutes. We were following Lance as the trailer's lights weren't working, so we thought we'd be fine, considering that Lance has gone to "Fiddlers" before. We're almost to the exit for Perth-Andover and Lance motions for us to come up to him on the highway. He rolls down the window and says "Is this the exit"? We were all "Um, I think so...but shouldn't you know"? lol. Ryan took over and led from there on out, lol.
We had to stop once when our rope holding down the front end of the canoe broke and wrapped around the axle of the truck (lol), but five minutes later we were on the road again. It was starting to get dark at this point and we were anxious to get to the campground, as you can imagine, setting up camp in the dark isn't a very fun task. We're driving along and I see a sign on the ground for the road to the Blue Mountain campground, which we were staying at. We drive up the main road a little further, looking for a spot to turn around to go back to the campground road. We see a road called "Blue Mountain Road". Our campground was called "Blue Mountain Campground" so Lance thinks that this road will take us into the back of the campground. Wrong. This road took us to someone's house, lol. We managed to get turned around in their yard and headed back to the campground. Everyone was surprised that we actually made it there and that I was able to spy the campground's sign lying on the ground. We got set up and settled in for the evening with a few beverages around the camp fire.
Saturday we got up, had breakfast and headed up to Riley Brook (30 minute drive from our campground) to put the canoes in. We left one car at the campground to drive up in to get the trucks with the next morning. We put in the canoes at around noon and set out for our float down down the Tobique River.
I'm guessing there about 1,500 participants in the canoe run, so it was a little chaotic on the river in parts, but tons of fun. There was one incident that put a damper on my fun, but didn't break my spirits. That damper was poison ivy. Given that it took nine hours for us to get down the river and back to our camp site and there are no bathrooms along the banks of the Tobique River, we had to pee in the woods. The first time we went to the "bathroom" I felt a bad pain/stinging in my knee. I came out of the woods and looked down at my knee and didn't see any scrapes or bug bites on it. I waded back out to the canoe and told Ryan about my knee hurting. He looked at it and said "Kelly, that's poison ivy". I freaked out a little bit because I had never experienced poison ivy before and was stuck in the middle of a river. Ryan assured me that everything would be fine and that I would just be in pain for a bit. He was right, lol, but after an hour or so, the pain had gone away (and no it wasn't because of the beer, lol) and the swelling and blisters that the ivy caused, were gone. Then at another stop I felt the same feeling again. Yup, I got poison ivy-ied again. I didn't worry too much about it this time because I knew I survived the last bought of it. I just put up with the pain for another hour and was good to go again.
We got back to our campground (our site was right along the river bank, so we just pulled out there) at around 9 p.m., cooked a big supper and settled in for another great evening around the campfire. We got up the next morning, went and got the trucks, cleaned up camp and headed for home. We were all wiped and couldn't wait to get home. It was a great weekend, but nice to get home and crash in my own bed too.
This past weekend was the famous "Fiddlers On The Tobique" canoe run. Ryan had run into an old friend, Craig, who he went to school with, a few weeks ago at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and Craig invited us to join him and some friends to partake in "Fiddlers" with them; something they do every year. Ryan and I accepted their invitation and were looking forward to it.
Friday I got off work early at lunch time, finished organizing things and met Ryan out at his parent's house. We were borrowing their SUV to haul up the canoe and our gear and leaving them my car to use for the weekend in its place. We loaded up and headed to meet Craig and the rest of our group of 11 people were going away with.
We had another couple drive up with us in the SUV to help with the cost of gas. Their canoe was being towed up by Lance, on a trailer with two others, so they were good to go to jump in with us. We hit the highway and off Craig goes (the one who knew where the heck Nictau was) out of sight in 10 minutes. We were following Lance as the trailer's lights weren't working, so we thought we'd be fine, considering that Lance has gone to "Fiddlers" before. We're almost to the exit for Perth-Andover and Lance motions for us to come up to him on the highway. He rolls down the window and says "Is this the exit"? We were all "Um, I think so...but shouldn't you know"? lol. Ryan took over and led from there on out, lol.
We had to stop once when our rope holding down the front end of the canoe broke and wrapped around the axle of the truck (lol), but five minutes later we were on the road again. It was starting to get dark at this point and we were anxious to get to the campground, as you can imagine, setting up camp in the dark isn't a very fun task. We're driving along and I see a sign on the ground for the road to the Blue Mountain campground, which we were staying at. We drive up the main road a little further, looking for a spot to turn around to go back to the campground road. We see a road called "Blue Mountain Road". Our campground was called "Blue Mountain Campground" so Lance thinks that this road will take us into the back of the campground. Wrong. This road took us to someone's house, lol. We managed to get turned around in their yard and headed back to the campground. Everyone was surprised that we actually made it there and that I was able to spy the campground's sign lying on the ground. We got set up and settled in for the evening with a few beverages around the camp fire.
Saturday we got up, had breakfast and headed up to Riley Brook (30 minute drive from our campground) to put the canoes in. We left one car at the campground to drive up in to get the trucks with the next morning. We put in the canoes at around noon and set out for our float down down the Tobique River.
I'm guessing there about 1,500 participants in the canoe run, so it was a little chaotic on the river in parts, but tons of fun. There was one incident that put a damper on my fun, but didn't break my spirits. That damper was poison ivy. Given that it took nine hours for us to get down the river and back to our camp site and there are no bathrooms along the banks of the Tobique River, we had to pee in the woods. The first time we went to the "bathroom" I felt a bad pain/stinging in my knee. I came out of the woods and looked down at my knee and didn't see any scrapes or bug bites on it. I waded back out to the canoe and told Ryan about my knee hurting. He looked at it and said "Kelly, that's poison ivy". I freaked out a little bit because I had never experienced poison ivy before and was stuck in the middle of a river. Ryan assured me that everything would be fine and that I would just be in pain for a bit. He was right, lol, but after an hour or so, the pain had gone away (and no it wasn't because of the beer, lol) and the swelling and blisters that the ivy caused, were gone. Then at another stop I felt the same feeling again. Yup, I got poison ivy-ied again. I didn't worry too much about it this time because I knew I survived the last bought of it. I just put up with the pain for another hour and was good to go again.
We got back to our campground (our site was right along the river bank, so we just pulled out there) at around 9 p.m., cooked a big supper and settled in for another great evening around the campfire. We got up the next morning, went and got the trucks, cleaned up camp and headed for home. We were all wiped and couldn't wait to get home. It was a great weekend, but nice to get home and crash in my own bed too.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Still Alive...No Longer Coughing
Wow, it's been over a month since I've blogged. The last entry I had made, I was sick. No, I wasn't sick for over a month and therefore couldn't blog. In actuality we had no internet access at work for literally weeks and therefore I haven't been able to blog. That's right, I still don't have internet at home.
So what have I been up to you ask? It's hard to think way back, but here's a tid bit of things I've been up to. We've gone to Shane and Val's place for a BBQ and poker a couple of Fridays after work, Ryan and I hiked Maliseet Trail and marvelled at the waterfalls on the trail a couple of weekends ago, We spent last Saturday at a corvette show and cruising around in a corvette convertible for the afternoon (one of the perks of dating a car salesman!) and Carrie and Brayden were home last week.
Carrie's husband Chris went to the Nascar race in Michigan last weekend (something he's done for many years with a group of 20 men), so Carrie and Brayden decided to come home to N.B. while Chris was away. They arrived on the 12th and stayed until the 17th. It was so nice to have them here and to see how much Brayden is changing and growing. Carrie and I went out for supper on Saturday night and then went to see the Sex and the City movie. It was a great night, just like old times. I really miss Carrie living here and not being able to have nights like that with here every weekend.
So what have I been up to you ask? It's hard to think way back, but here's a tid bit of things I've been up to. We've gone to Shane and Val's place for a BBQ and poker a couple of Fridays after work, Ryan and I hiked Maliseet Trail and marvelled at the waterfalls on the trail a couple of weekends ago, We spent last Saturday at a corvette show and cruising around in a corvette convertible for the afternoon (one of the perks of dating a car salesman!) and Carrie and Brayden were home last week.
Carrie's husband Chris went to the Nascar race in Michigan last weekend (something he's done for many years with a group of 20 men), so Carrie and Brayden decided to come home to N.B. while Chris was away. They arrived on the 12th and stayed until the 17th. It was so nice to have them here and to see how much Brayden is changing and growing. Carrie and I went out for supper on Saturday night and then went to see the Sex and the City movie. It was a great night, just like old times. I really miss Carrie living here and not being able to have nights like that with here every weekend.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Still Alive and Coughing
So the illness is much better, but I still have a nasty hack. I'm feeling about 95% better, just wish I could shake the cough completely.
Not much is new here. Ryan and I went to Shane and Val's place on Friday evening in honor of Shane's 30th birthday. The plan was a BBQ for supper, but when putting together the new BBQ (a birthday gift I believe) was causing an extreme amount of grief, the BBQ plan went out the window and it was off to Dairy Queen for burgers (hey it was the closest to BBQ we could get at this point)! We did eat the salad though I had brought as my contribution to the BBQ.
My lawn was cut for the first time this season yesterday. Can you believe that? It just seems so early to be mowing lawns!
Not much is new here. Ryan and I went to Shane and Val's place on Friday evening in honor of Shane's 30th birthday. The plan was a BBQ for supper, but when putting together the new BBQ (a birthday gift I believe) was causing an extreme amount of grief, the BBQ plan went out the window and it was off to Dairy Queen for burgers (hey it was the closest to BBQ we could get at this point)! We did eat the salad though I had brought as my contribution to the BBQ.
My lawn was cut for the first time this season yesterday. Can you believe that? It just seems so early to be mowing lawns!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Squeek!
The past week has been very hectic for me. Wednesday we saw the St. John river swell excessively and send our fair city in emergency measures mode. My house is fairly close to the river. In recent years, I've never been affected by the flooding. Last Wednesday when I got home from work, the water was all the way up to my next door neighbour's house. My dad came down to my place and shut the power off to my basement and I left home for the night, for fear of being stranded at my place. Luckily, the water didn't get any higher on my street and I was able to return home the next night.
Then, I got sick. I got a nasty cold/flu and have been sicker than a dog. My flu symptoms have finally started to subside, however I've since developed laryngitis on Monday. Apparantly it's not uncommon for the flu virus to develop into laryngitis. The only problem is, I work in a call center. I need my voice to work. So, yah, I've been off sick a lot in the past few days. With laryngitis you're supposed to rest your voice for a week. Yah, can't happen here. Here's hoping I can literally squeek by this week and not get any worse.
In closing here's an interesting tidbit to share with you. Did you hear about the surfer that got killed by a shark in San Diego not too long ago? Well, it happened at the exact same beach that we were boogie boarding at last month! How scary is that!
Then, I got sick. I got a nasty cold/flu and have been sicker than a dog. My flu symptoms have finally started to subside, however I've since developed laryngitis on Monday. Apparantly it's not uncommon for the flu virus to develop into laryngitis. The only problem is, I work in a call center. I need my voice to work. So, yah, I've been off sick a lot in the past few days. With laryngitis you're supposed to rest your voice for a week. Yah, can't happen here. Here's hoping I can literally squeek by this week and not get any worse.
In closing here's an interesting tidbit to share with you. Did you hear about the surfer that got killed by a shark in San Diego not too long ago? Well, it happened at the exact same beach that we were boogie boarding at last month! How scary is that!
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