Happy Halloween

This is always a crazy day at school. We allow the kids to dress up during lunch  hour. Many schools are not able to allow costumes anymore as parent councils will not permit it, so we are 'lucky' that way. The kids are wild already.

We have activities planned for the kids for the afternoon and tonight we will have a dance for the older students.

I didn't buy much for Trick or Treaters as we will only be home for a short period of time. I am home long enough to grab a bite to eat (if I am lucky) then back to the school for the dance. DS1 works tonight and DH and DS2 have scouts so there is a window of maybe an hour where kids will come.

I don't often dress up for these days at school. I just..............I dunno, being a larger person I find that it is harder to find decent costumes without spending $. I also really hate drawing attention to myself.

Our staffroom discussion this morning was around what lunches and snacks will be for the rest of the week. We have requested families limit it to one Halloween item per day but there are always several who send their children with 90% candy/junk for their lunches and snacks the whole week.  Hopefully we can push the healthier option this week. Just better for the kids in so many ways.

Hope you have a great night, no matter how you spend it.

Sunday this ' n that

I see it's been a whole week since I posted. I don't like that feeling. It was as though I couldn't come up for air the whole week. Blech.

So now Sunday is here is the weekend is coming to a close and off I'll go again for another packed week at school.

DS1 is gone for hockey this weekend. We packed him up yest morning and he'll be home by about 10 tonight. DS2 has scouts today. Out for the afternoon in the very fresh outdoors.

It snowed here lightly yesterday morning. Not fluffy and soft but hard little bits. It didn't last but it sure was depressing to see it. I am not ready for winter to come.

We got paid last week. The 'raise' was on there but with all the wonkyness of fall paycheques, it's hard to tell how much really. EI and CPP are maxed out so they were not on there. Annual association fees came off on this cheque so it was different. The raise would represent year two of the contract as the contract actually expired in 2010. I guess in January when the 'normal' cheques begin again with full deductions, I will know better what two years worth of raise will be. maybe.   always fun times :-)

This morning is a morning of fast laundry and cleaning and then it's off to the school for the afternoon to mark, plan, catch up and all those fun things.

Enjoy your Sunday. stay warm

Back to Basics Sunday

It's rather gloomy out today. Heavy clouds threaten rain and there are reports of wet snow sneaking in with the rain. We had the furance on for a bit last night.

It really feels like an at home day. I still have to run to the school for a couple hours to work but that can happen later in the day. I started with home made cinnamon buns this morning. This is my third time making them and while the recipe and results are good, there still needs to be some work on the consistency of shape. There is nothing like the smell of bread dough rising, dappled with the smell of cinnamon.

The laundry machines are whirring away and that always makes me feel more productive. I even ironed a few things :-)

We have lots of tomatoes from the farm that are ready NOW so DH and I will experiment making salsa. I know for many of you, you have been making this since you were 6, but we haven't ever before so it shall be a learning adventure. It won't be very hot or spicy. Our palates are just not there :-)

(update: 16 jars, plus 2 that exploded while being filled)

Enjoy your Sunday.


PS I realized I had forgotten to do a 'where the money stands' this month so I added that this morning and back dated it to October 6th.

Thank you

I wanted to thank everyone for their words of kindness and support. We are grateful to have a nice timeline to be able to figure things out thoughfully. It will be an interesting learning process. Already we learned that when you get the severance package (at the end) that you are not eligible for EI (Employment Insurance) as that is seen as a paycheque. It will be interesting to see how many leave in the next month or so and how many stay on.

At almost 50 for DH, it is a big life changing event. He has been there since the 80s and doesn't really have training for a lot else and that hits home hard for him. Most things he will find won't be a huge drop in salary as he makes not a whole lot more than minimum wage there, after so many years of service. Rather sad commentary on how the company values the 'grunt' employees who make the every day work happen.

I have been doing a lot of proactive "you could do this..... or you could do that...." to allieviate his stress and mood. I think it helped a great deal for him but we shall see after a bit of time has passed and the shock wears off.

This was a large employer for our community and hopefully something else will come along to bring some life back into the area. The premier is on TV (election time) about what a great boom our province is having and what a great future our communities have. Time to put some action behind those words so they feel true for the regular folk.

And big company wins = little folk lose

We learned today DH's company is shutting down our facility. Bye bye employment since 1987. We have a little over a year. A very small severance package if he stays til the end. Time to cone up with a plan B.