What's new you ask?

Well...this might be a rather lengthy and boring post...forgive me in advance.

Me... I started my new "job" at the Theatre 2 weeks ago. I'm in charge of hospitality for the performers. That means I get to read their Riders and provide their whims and fancies for food and drink (and ironing boards and towels and and and). The reason it's a "job" and not just a job is that I do this as a volunteer and don't receive a pay cheque!

My first concert went relatively well, The Wilkinsons, I was sick as a dog with a fever though so I don't remember a lot of it. The "stars" were somewhat aloof and distant - but the band members were awesome.

This past Tuesday I worked my second concert, Chilliwack. I remember this band from when I was a teenager. Fantastic band, fantastic performance - I was completely and totally impressed! They were so down to earth and treated me like a person rather than a servant! I would highly recommend their show to anyone.

Coming up I have quite a few performances to work at. However, this is quickly becoming much more of a time commitment than I'd originally anticipated. I may have to get some help - or they may have to find someone new.

We've started into hockey full swing now - Zac's on his team and everything is full steam ahead. We have games every weekend from the first weekend in November until the end of February. We do get two weekends off at Christmas/New Year's!! Luckily, we have a team of awesome parents - so far it looks like it's going to be a great year.

Katy is having troubles at school with some nasty girls. She's been invited/un-invited to the same Halloween party 3 times in the last 4 days. Finally one of Katy's friends just said enough was enough and asked her parents if she could have a Halloween party. She can and Katy's happy again. Teenagers... ah the joy... I remember how hurtful girls can be - and I haven't been in high school for a very long time. At least my girl can tell me what she's thinking... I hope that lasts.

Roger's health is failing again - his thyroid is all out to whack. We got a call from the dr's office today and they wanted him to come in today. Our dr is on holidays until Tuesday though and we both have an appointment on Wednesday. They said it could wait until then but no longer. I hate phone calls like that.

Theo - he's not liking that it's cold outside. He's very much thankful that his fur has grown back after being shaved this summer!

That's it... all caught up in a nut shell... I'm sure I'll think of something else and add more later. Now that I remember my username/password...updating will be much easier!

I'm a doofus!

For days I've been trying to log in to my blog, because I've had several people point out what a slacker I've been about updating it! I would put in my username and password and BAM - no blog. WTF? I mean I know I took a break and all but geesh!!!

Note to self - it's necessary to use the right username and password to get into blog. Using an old one that you'd forgotten you had - not productive.

Does a heart good

The night before last, Roger headed up to bed. A few minutes later I hear him coming back downstairs. This is unusual because when he decides to go to bed he goes!

He came around the corner in the basement and I asked what the heck he was doing. He then said, "I thought you'd like to see this, Zac left it on our chair."

He handed me the note that you see on this post. I read it and it brought tears to my eyes and tugged those heart strings tight! It meant so much that Zac loved us all enough he wanted to leave us a note. The fact that he said he loved his sister blew me away!

I guess I'm doing an ok job raising these kids of mine, if my 8 year old can take the time to express the love he feels for his family, not only by just telling us, but by writing it down.

The note will be placed carefully in my memory box - both the physical one in my room and, more importantly, the precious one in my heart.

The good ol' hockey game

Yesterday marked the beginning of the insanity which is hockey season in our house.

Zac had his first tryouts. He has 4 evaluations and then is put on a team. As usual, the organization skills of whoever is in charge left something to be desired. We were supposed to be on the ice Saturday, but at 8am Saturday morning the phone rang, "Our ice time was bumped today - we skate at 4 on Sunday." Delightful.

They ran the tryouts for 4 hours, 2 teams on the ice per hour - but the stupid thing ... they only had 4 dressing rooms. We had to wait for the team that was on the ice to get off, get undressed, and leave before our boys could get into their gear. There's not many things worse than making an 8 year old wait for something like that! "How much longer?" "This is boring" "When's it my turn?"

Finally we got Zac all geared up and ready to go on the ice. It was nice to see a familiar face in the dressing room, the dad that co-coached with Roger last year was in there with his son.

Finally we're in the stands watching for our boy to come out and melt the ice with his skill... yeah right. Zacker skates nonchalantly around the ice... la dee dah... oh look at that shiny thing! Then all of a sudden we see a burst of what he can do and the boy is flying around the ice... then back to lollygagging.

It's so hard for me to sit in the stands and watch tryouts. Games and practices are fine for me but the stress of tryouts ...argh!!! They were doing skating drills and as Zac turned to skate backwards I could feel myself clenching my butt muscles in time with his strokes - as though my skating in my seat could push him harder and make him go faster!

I watched my boy skate up and down the ice doing a host of drills. Puck handling, skating, backwards puck handling, stopping. He did so well, but the frustration lies in the fact that I knew he could do better. Having said that though, for the first time on the ice this year to play hockey, I'm damn proud of him.

My son will never make it to the NHL - I'm not one of these parents with delusions of grandeur. My goal for him is to play hard and have fun. Kids need to have fun without pressure from their parents ruining it. That's why I sat in my seat and sent him go faster vibes, all the while clenching my butt cheeks and skating in the stands.

Tomorrow - round two of tryouts and I'll be there...with a smile!

Tax deductions

Upon contemplating my new position as the volunteer in charge of hospitality for talent at the performing arts theatre in my community, I've decided that it's a crock that volunteer work isn't provided for by way of a tax deduction.

Many people don't have the spare funds in a budget that's already pulled so tight it might snap... but those are often the people that are the first to volunteer for a non-profit organization. I've worked volunteering for a very long time, even holding some Board positions pretty high up - and one thing that I've heard over and over is... we need volunteers.

Wouldn't it make sense to be able to compensate people for their hours worked volunteering? Time is often as priceless a commodity as cash in this hectic world we live in.

I realize that this would involve insane amounts of paperwork on the part of the non-profit organizations but, I think anyway, that once the system was in place it could really work.

I'm not talking give people big bucks for volunteering, but let's say $.25/hr? It's not much, but it is something. Give people who donate their time some consideration is all I'm saying.

A new experience

I've decided to throw my hat into the world of online journal keeping and create a blog. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'll try to figure it out!

I have no clue what I'll talk about - I guess time will tell.