Still Evil

We finally got the inspection report from Evil Landlandy and at first glance it looked not bad until I realized that she wasn't telling us she was deducting $148 she was telling us that she's deducting $988 so we owe her $148!

First of all that's not going to happen, second of all that's illegal, she can't charge us more than our damage deposit and thirdly it's just so ridiculous it's laughable. So we'll add this to our court case which we can now proceed on.

Oh yeah, she also plans on charging us 1% interest for every month she doesn't get her money (also not legal). Oh the joys of renting from awful people.
L

Trust

The last 6 months have been pretty hard for us. We've had a bunch of little things and big things go wrong.

There was the microwave that broke, and then the pipe in the kitchen that leaked. Then the car was broken into and Brad's books were stolen, we also had the awful landlady who didn't care that we had no heat when it was -30 outside. Through all of that the hardest one has been how badly we wanted a baby and how we had this perfect little plan, timing wise. The plan slipped away month after month until soon there was no plan and only stress.

And then we had no heat and we moved and I can't tell you what a blessing it has been. We looked at the new place on Friday and started moving in on Saturday. It's way bigger than our old apartment and the landlord doesn't charge any damage deposit so financially and emotionally this is the best thing that could have happened to us. And it seemed like a bit of a kick from Heavenly Father saying you thought I wasn't paying attention, but I was, and see how I made things work out so well for you? Remember I'm here, be more grateful for what you have and show me you're grateful. So we kicked up our prayers and have made an effort to rely on the Lord more and I kept having the overwhelming feeling that Heavenly Father is aware of us, he knows how great the baby plan would work but either his plan is better or there's something we're supposed to learn by waiting. It's okay if a baby doesn't come when I think it should, it will come when he thinks it should. So I calmed down, stopped being so stressed about it and just trusted.

As an attempt at sanity I came up with a new plan, instead of obsessing for a week while I wait to see if I'm pregnant I decided to take the test right away, no waiting (those Dollar Store ones are only a dollar after all). That way even when I'm sure I'm not pregnant there will be no little voice in my head saying, "What if…" I can quiet it with a confirmed no and stop being so devastated when I'm finally sure it's a no. So this morning I took the test, just as a formality.

There were two lines! Two completely unexpected lines!

I don't believe it yet, I'm in a bit of shock and I’m so blessed.
Brad's going to be so excited.
L

Luck or Strategy

If you know me you know that I love board games or card games and I get addicted really easily. I'll play a new game with friends once and that's it, I'm hooked and must own the game so I can feed my addiction.

I made a discovery this weekend, there is no game I hate more than Sequence. Yet I can't stop thinking about it and wanting to play all the time.

I don't understand how we lost so badly every time, it's a game of mostly chance! Yet somehow Brad and I are really terrible at it and Jane and Ken are awesome. Out of the 4 games I forced us to play we managed to win once, the other 3 we lost pathetically, we weren't even close. It infuriates me to not understand how to be better, how to win more often.

I'll accept tips if you have any.
L

Troubles with the Poll

So I don't know why my poll wouldn't add properly but the text was all overlapping and you couldn't read the poll. I've re-added it using a third party's site and it now looks much better.

The down side is that the three of you who had already voted must now vote again, but I love that you voted!
L

Cutting Expenses

With the new to our new apartment has come an extra expense, bus fare.

Don't think I'm complaining because I really am lucky, Brad drops me off at work in the mornings and he also picks me up 3 times a week, so taking the bus twice a week is no big deal. But it is going to average out to about $20 bucks a month, and then you need to add my recent Hazelnut Chocolate Starbucks addiction. I've had to take the bus twice now and both times I've stopped on my way for this yummy treat. Soon my $20 will be up to $30.

As an attempt to curb the habit, this afternoon when I started to crave the yummy drink I instead headed over to the kitchen and made myself a free hot chocolate from the machine.

Lesson Learned: There's a reason so many people choose Starbucks over the free coffee / hot chocolate option… that stuff was not very good, certainly not worth the calories.
L

Risky Business

Today's post is going to be accompanied by a poll which is something I've been a little wary to add. Here's my reasoning… you know when you're teaching a class and you ask a question and not a single person answers and it turns out nobody was listening and the silence is deafening and mortifying? I've always been afraid that's what the blog poll will be, that I'll ask a question and only 1 person (my Mom) will respond but I'm going to risk it anyway.

I like the Blogs I'm Following feature and I always think it's fun when I see it on others sites. So look to the right for the continuation of the post, in the form of poll.
L

A Mother's Love

Last year my Mother-in-Law gave me this beautiful Nativity set. It includes a Shepherd, a couple of sheep and a donkey and I think it's so beautiful. I love how they seem to have expressions despite the lack of an expression so this year I was really excited to receive some additional peices. A second shepherd, a couple of black sheep and the cutest camel have really expanded the set.

It's so nice to be able to pull out such a beautiful set every year and I'm sad to put it away for a whole year.

L

Happy Surprise

The best part of my day...
home an hour early, a warm house and I just finished a hazlenut hotchocolate. Perfect.

My office decided that because of the bad weather we would close and hour early and it was the best surprise. Made for the perfect Thursday after a late night.
L

Business Casual

In my occupational past I've had some great jobs and some truly mind numbingly boring jobs, none more so than Stanton-Smith Consulting. I had recently been laid off from Superpages when, through a relative, a job opportunity sort of fell in my lap. It was a temporary gig but one that was easy to come by and close to home so I decided I could handle it for a few months. This job was boring unlike any I'd done yet, my job was to take a closet full of documents and scan them so they were stored electronically.

The one bonus to this job was that, unlike all my other office jobs this was a very casual office, meaning I was no longer required to wear the dress pant, sweater combination I'd been sporting for the last 5 years. I was excited and showed up my first day wearing jeans and a respectable top. It didn't take long to realize that unless I acquired an old hoodie and some dirty sneakers I'd be the best dressed there and that sweatpants would make me fit right in. For about a month I loved this casual dress but eventually started to feel grubbier and grubbier and I think I even quit putting on make-up, what was the point? No-one else there wore any.

Eventually that job ended, I found the job I'm in now and reverted back to my usual uniform. What's all this leading too?

I've just had two glorious weeks off of work and I enjoyed every minute of it but yesterday while I was washing my hands in the ladies room I took a look in the mirror and realized something, work clothes make me feel just a little bit better about myself.

I like the way dress pants fit and that argyle sweater looks much better with black pants than jeans. I like dress shoes and the expectation that I'll do my hair every once in a while. Don't get me wrong, I sure enjoy hoodies and pajamas and jeans but I need a good balance of casual / business casual.
L

Highlights of 2008

1. Zoo Trip – March 19


2. Paying off our car – April 15


3. Spring Softball


4. Jenn & Nathan's Wedding in Edmonton – May 3


5. Sarah Slean Concert – May 5


6. The Discovery of Carcassonne – May


7. Kimberley with Byron and Rosie – Jun 20-24


8. Spruce Meadows Horse Jumping – July 5


9. Birthday Softball Game – July 7


10. Jimmy Eat World Concert – July 12


11. So You Think You Can Dance (the US version, not the Canadian)


12. Magrath Celebrations – July 26


13. Week at the Lake with the Anviks – August 9-16


14. Brad getting accepted to UofC Engineering – August 20


15. Fireworks Competition – August 22


16. The Fist Game of Ticket to Ride (thanks Bryce) – August 31


17. Corporate Challenge Softball Tournament – September 13


18. US Thanksgiving weekend with my Family – November 27-29


19. Christmas Vacation


20. Our new apartment – December 20


21. New Year's at the Johnson's

This years list isn't quite as impressive as last year's, I kind of forgot to update it until August so most of the items had to be remembered later, not right after I'd experienced them. It's still a good list though.

I thought this year I'd add a lowlights list as well as there were some truly crappy moments (most of them involving a certain awful landlady).

1. The worst hair cut ever - March 21


2. Being screamed at by crappy landlady for her illegal entry to our suite


3. The car being broken into


4. The death of the microwave


5. The spraying pipe in our kitchen


6. Having to move when it was -30 - December


7. The move out inspection with crappy landlady - December

I hope your year was great with lots more highlights than lowlights and I look forward to a great 2009.
L