Been awhile!

So I'm a terrible blogger apparently...haven't written a thing since September. Let's see I guess an update is in order. Currently am working at MTS Connect as a bill payment girl. Loving the job for the most part so far. It's easy, good paying and I like almost everyone I work with. I've become friends with one of the girls there. We have loads in common and I'm very happy I met her. The living situation is going well so far. We haven't frozen yet in or little "cabin". It does suck getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom though. It's no fun to have to bundle up and go outside to the house in the middle of the night. I've been keeping myself busy lately by planning stuff. I'm too organized for my own good. Last night the girls in my small group from church got together for a girls night it was very fun. I've been planning a lot of stuff for Christmas. I'm hoping to get my Christmas shopping done very soon; I'm thinking of going this weekend to get the bulk of it done. I've been plotting out what to get everyone for the past couple weeks. I guess soon I'll have to dive in to writing up my Christmas cards, that is always something I love to do, seriously! I still have yet to decide where Adam and I will be taking or Christmas picture this year. Christmas parties are approaching quickly too! My first one is December 5th at one of my Aunts houses. Every year my Tante Margret and Uncle John have all of there nieces and nephews over(so all of my first cousins) for this gathering. It's always lots of fun. We have a big meal, a gift exchange and we play games. It's always a fun time. I have my work Christmas party a couple weeks later on December 20th; I'm not sure what to expect from that. Another thing that I am planning for is my mom's 55th birthday. I have decided that I would like to throw her a surprise party. I am hoping that I can pull it off. I need to talk to my step dad first though before I dive in too far. December will be a pretty packed month for me. I cannot wait until Christmas rolls around. It's going to be a good one I think. It's too bad that Grandma and Grandpa won't be around but i know they will still be in our hearts. I'm still missing them so much!
Let's see, what else is new? Just over a week ago I had all four of me wisdom teeth pulled. That was a frightening experience. Everyone had told me their horror stories so I was going into my surgery with very little confidence. Luckily none of their prophecies came true. I came out of surgery with very little swelling, I had no vomiting and no dry socket. It sucked having a frozen mouth though. I couldn't do anything. When I got back to my mom's I tried to drink some water and ended up spilling all down the front of me. Oops! The T3's were a big help. Man was i uncomfortable for a few days. I lost like 5lbs from my liquid and soft food diet. Let's just say I ate a lot of consume and mashed potatoes. I am very happy that I will never have to do that again!!
I'm kind of wishing that we would get a little bit more snow. I have a great ambition to build a snowman and a fort!! I also would very much like to go skating. I know that i could probably hit up a near by arena but that is never as much fun as skating outside like at the ice trail at the Forks. I'm also looking forward to going tobogganing. I'm really going to make the most out of this winter!!!
Hey and once it gets a little colder maybe I'll have to wear my mink coat!!

Find me please

So technically I am now unemployed. I quit the casino. Waitressing was not for me. I could do the job and all but it was stressful to the max! I hated cleaning up people's mess and I was constantly worrying that I was forgetting something. People also tended to complain about the most ridiculous things EVER!! I had one woman who would not let go of the fact that we were out of milk. The tips weren't too shabby but the hours killed me slowly. I was working 4-Midnight shifts and we never got out before midnight because there was always a load of stuff that still needed to be done. I may have only worked 6 shifts but I now know that serving people is not in me.

Luckily the girl who is replacing me at the florist couldn't get her schedule changed at her other job so I managed to pick up another week at the florist. Now that draining task of trying to find a job. I have applied for a couple and am now waiting for a response. I just hope that I find a job quickly because I do not want to be unemployed for a month like last year.

I had what I think is a brilliant idea the other day. I do not have the money to put this idea into action but it's an idea none the less. My idea is a coffee shop/radio studio. Since I have broadcasting education I figured that maybe I could open up a coffee shop that broadcasts a radio station of my making. I could have some wicked cool shows and do interviews and such. People could come in for a coffee and a snack and enjoy a very unique broadcasting experience. I don't know how much business I would get but I think it would be an awesome endeavor if I ever have the chance to do it. And if no one wants to hear someone blab while they are enjoying their coffee then it will just have to be a coffee and sweets shop.

I truly hope that everything works out and that I do not crash and burn!

Change Insane

It's amazing how quickly your life can change. Things don't stay the same for long. Right now I am currently experiencing a vast world of change and I'm not sure that everything is going quite right.

This past Tuesday I quit my job at the Florist. September 2nd is my last day and I'm a little worried. I was hired at South Beach Casino, had my orientation on Monday and still do not know when I'm actually starting there. HR said that my manager would call me this week to go over the details but I have yet to hear his voice even. I am so nervous that September 2nd will come and I will be without a job. I don't want to be put into that position again. I went through that last September when I was let go from CHVN. I ended up being unemployed for a month. I cannot deal with that now. I have bills to pay and without a job I will be at a loss. I know that I'm probably worrying for nothing but that's who I am, I must think of every scenario. I also sent away an application for Canada Post and really very much hope that I receive a favourable response. This whole growing up thing is a bit of a pain I must say.

The frustration of moving has also been plaguing me. I am just ready to get out of the trailer so we can settle into our new digs. I want to be able to have all my stuff in one place and not have to worry about it whatsoever. I want to unpack the boxes and make myself a home. So much has been done thus far but there is still lots that has not.

I have only a couple days left a Curves and I have been forcing myself to go because hey it's paid for but whenever I go in there I just get bombarded with insecurities. I am always being stared at. Probably because for the most part when I'm in there I'm the smallest one. I never really feel at ease there mainly due to my age. I just want to be finished with it and no longer have to worry about it. I just hope that the home workout routine that Adam has developed will suit me and that I will be able to stick to it.

These trivial matters of my life are plaguing me and I just want to be set at ease...I think I need a vacation.

Packing Machine

My boyfriend Adam and I just sold our mobile home. We were both very excited about it. We're now going to be moving into his parents summer kitchen for the winter so we can save up some money to invest in a house.

I'm thrilled about moving right now because I really didn't care for living in the Selkirk Mobile Home park. With it's close proximity to the Selkirk Mental Hospital, every once in awhile you will hear this very loud high pitched alarm. The first time we heard it was in the middle of the night during a huge thunder storm. We had no clue what it was. Months later a neighbour said that it was from the Mental and was a warning to surrounding areas that a patient was out and to lock your doors. Hearing that makes you feel safe....or not. But recently a friend of mine who works at the Mental said that it's a fire alarm and means that a patient has lit their bed or something on fire. Apparently the "a patient is loose" alarm only rings within the buildings. Either way it's very weird. Also the trailer park is close to the Selkirk police station and hospital so every day you hear the multiple sirens going off...and it's true you do not go a day without hearing more than one siren.

Maybe I'm so excited about moving because I'm a country girl and really am not used to having neighbours so close. It's crazy for me. The neighbours driveway is right out of our bedroom window and when you're in the bedroom you hear absolutely everything. And then there is a neighbour that has this giant, hideous, truck that is so loud that you want to go slash his tires and shove a potato in the exhaust pipe. He loves to rev his engine at the craziest times...like 3 in the morning. I will for sure not miss that at all!

For the past few days I've been packing like crazy even though the people that bought it don't get possession until September 1st. The weird thing is that I love packing. I'm not sure why but I do. It's great!! I just am not looking forward to the unpacking...that's the pain in the butt. It will especially be interesting because the summer kitchen that we're moving into isn't that big. I will make it work though. Lots of stuff will be going in to storage so it might not be too bad.

Once we are all settled in, it's definitely going to be a change of pace. Adam and I will have to cook supper once a week and we'll be cooking for 6-8 people. We're used to cooking for 2 so this will be very different. At least Gypsy(our dog) will have more room to run around and Dyna(our cat) will be reunited with her Mama and sister.

It's going to be good! I can feel it in my bones!

Am I still awake?

I realized that somewhere in my recent journeys that I have hit a barricade... a hard, brick, stressful barricade. I just don't know what to do with myself. I have no plan. I want a plan. I want structure. Right now I'm working a job that is dreadfully boring, I don't see much of friends and I'm paying almost fifty bucks a month for Curves and it not helping at all.

I really enjoyed working at the florist when I first started because it was a nice change of pace from working at Walmart. The florist allowed me to relax in a stress free environment, where I have minimal tasks and minimal customers. But now, almost 3 months later I am ready to start pulling my hair out. I spend my days on a crappy laptop that runs extremely slow because the hard drive is shot and reading books upon books upon books. I usually see a handful or less of customers a day and the phone barely rings. I do enjoy creating floral arrangements and I love my boss but the job itself makes you feel like someone has taped your eyes open for 5 days straight. Even though I hate doing this to my boss, I am looking for work elsewhere...i wish I had the guts to tell her. I just need something that's not so quiet.

Since graduation 2 years ago I have lost touch with many of my friends, not to say that I had much to start with. I only have a couple people that I still am able to call friends rather than just acquaintances. There's my bestest bud Kaitlyn, we've been the best of friends since the seventh grade and I hope that we never part ways. I love her like a sister and truly wish I could see her more often rather than just having conversations through texts. Then there's Candace, friends since the 10th grade. I think I see her more than anybody. We have a buttload in common and our boyfriends are good friends but she has all of her many friends from University and sometimes I feel like an afterthought. And there's Curtis. We've known each other since nursery school and were reunited in the fifth grade. Curtis is a great entertainer but I really don't see much of him. I also have my broadcasting buddies Nikki & Patrick, they have the courtesy to keep in contact ever so often but when it comes to planning a gathering of the three it always gets left in my hands. The distance between the three of us me being in Selkirk, Nikki in Winnipeg and Patrick in Brandon also proves to make things more difficult. Sometimes I feel a little neglected because I almost always have to make the plans to see any of them. I'll always have my boyfriend Adam though. I love him to pieces and plan on staying with him forever but sometimes you need someone else to share your thoughts with that doesn't have to listen to you every day. Probably right now I'm sounding a lotta bit selfish and a little bit weird but I guess that's just me.

Oh and then there's Curves. When I started going this past January I thought that it was going to be great. I thought I could get in shape and maybe lose a little weight, tone up, you know that kind of thing. The first couple months did help me get in shape but since January I have not lost a single pound and very few inches. Since January I've actually gained a buttload of weight. Like not enough weight to make me overweight or anything but enough to make me gain almost 15 pounds in 5 months. I have no drive to go there anymore. It's just wasting my money and giving me no results. I thought that it would give me more energy but of anything it has been giving me less. Before next payment day I am so out of there. The rotten thing though is that I'm going to have to pay fifty bucks to quit just because I didn't live out my year membership. Probably lots of people tough the rest of the year out because of that stupid clause.

I'm a broadcasting graduate and haven't worked in the industry for almost a year. No one will hire me because I don't have enough experience. It's ridiculous, you can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without a job. There's way too many politics in the industry and I have stabbed myself in the back way too many times. I guess honesty is not a quality broadcasters should possess. It's probably partially my fault that I don't have a job in the industry though because I'm not willing to move away. But the thing is I love Manitoba and I love the Interlake and Winnipeg region. Almost my entire family is here and my friends, so why would I drop all of it just because broadcasters are too picky to even give me a chance. I almost regret going into broadcasting. Don't get me wrong, I love it but no one wants me. Some days I wonder if I would have gone elsewhere other than CHVN for my practicum, maybe I would have a job right now but no they made promises of keeping me and then with 2 weeks left of the summer i find them kicking me out the door with not even a decent demo.

It's a wacky world and I wish things would sort themselves out for me so I could continue my journey with a little stability. And then maybe i could wake up from this nightmare.

In the name

I named my blog Journeys of the Mink Coat because I lost both my grandparents just over a month ago and I miss them dearly. Yesterday my family had an auction, selling all of their belongings. When we were taking everything out into the yard there were three winter coats hanging in the closet. One coat was my grandmothers mink coat. This coat reminds me of her so much. My mom and aunt decided not to sell it because they figured no one would want it, so they were going to send it to goodwill....right then I spoke up and decided to adopt this coat as my own. It's heavy, somewhat large and most of the buttons are missing but when I wear it(even when it's 28 degrees celcius) I feel like grandma is wrapping her arms around me. It makes me feel glamorous and I remember memories from long ago.

Now that both grandma and grandpa are gone, I find myself thinking about them rather frequently. Especially my grandfather. I always knew I had a special spot in his heart. He was my biggest fan. It didn't matter how big or small an achievment was he was always proud of me. And every time I went over to their house grandpa always made sure he got his hug and kiss. Grandpa taught me to fish, he would clear a skating rink on the lake for us to skate on when we were little and they were still living out at Flanders Lake, when I wanted to learn to play guitar he gave me his guitar. Grandpa always had a kind word to say and what I wouldn't give to have a hug from him again. I was not as close to grandma but we did share a special relationship as well. Grandma taught me to knit, she was always good for a game of dominoes and she knew how much I loved her carrot muffins. Both of them together were the greatest! I don't know anyone else who would become so happy just for having me visited.

Now as I venture out into the world I will cherish the memories I have, never forget them ever and of course I will journey on adorning that beautiful mink coat.