Going Camping...Again....

WE ARE GOING CAMPING FOR THE LONG WEEK END. LEAVING TODAY/BE BACK MONDAY.
FOR MY FAMILY MEMBERS. GONE TO PORT RENFREW. DESTINATION: LIZARD LAKE, IF THAT IS FULL - FAIRY LAKE. IF THAT IS FULL - ON THE NATIVE RESERVE CAMPSITE BY THE OCEAN. IF THAT IS FULL......WELL LETS HOPE NOT. (THERE ARE TWO OTHER CAMP SITES, BUT UNSURE OF THE NAMES. SO WE MAY BE THERE IF ALL OTHER SITES ARE FULL)

MOM. I DIDN'T FORGET THE CAMERA!

HAVE A SAFE LONG WEEK END.

P.S: DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE, MAKES SURE YOU HAVE LOTS SUNSCREEN ON YOUR LEFT ARM (YOU ALL WILL LOOK FUNNY IF YOU HAVE ONE TANNED ARM AND THE OTHER ONE WHITE; HE HE HE, MY FRIEND DROVE ALL DAY WITH THE LEFT ARM DANGLING OUT THE WINDOW AND NOW SHE HAS TO EVEN UP THE OTHER ARM.)

What a Crazy Couple of Weeks.........

My woes started two weeks ago and there seems to be no relief in sight any time soon. It all started with my car leaking Coolant. Yes. Coolant. That sweet smelling stuff that animals used to like so long ago before animal protesters demanded that the formula be "animal friendly." The fact that no animals died around my house is sweet testament that the manufactures did change the formula. However alot of dead Shrews but I think that cats had much to do with that.

I was home bound until a couple of days ago. But, on top of my car, I lost my wallet. On top of my wallet my vacuum is no more Bad timing for this letdown because my animals decided to become flea friendly! Aw - man, I will never curse my enemies with fleas. We have spent close to $100.00 on anti-flea sprays and drops and there is no end in sight with this problem. No Vacuum is a major set back with my flea battle. On top of all the above I am sick with a cold that is more or less related to our A.C. running non-stop due to this very hot and sticky weather that we are having right now.

There are few highlights I need to point out just so I can say that the past 14 days have not been all that bad. Lets see. Because of no car, my children's books are over due. Because of no wallet means no driver licence - so I get to be with the other 60% of the Sooke population that is currently driving with out one. JOY. And Daycare, I found daycare.....for September. And I did take a couple days off from my run of bad luck to go camping. That was fun. And yes, I got photo's this time. I will up load some photo's later. Right now I need to scratch my flea bites and blow my nose.

Low Blow to Health Care....OverNight!

After graduating my course almost 3 weeks ago and waiting for my child to be more or less potty trained and have daycare found before I start my job hunt; I was very much shocked to read the paper today to find out that VIHA (Victoria Island Health Authority) is cutting jobs. For those of you who don't know what VIHA is - they are Vancouver Island largest hearth care provider. They run every thing from Day cares for children to Resident care for senors, not to mention our hospitals and clinics. They are no doubt the largest employer in heath care.

http://www.timescolonist.com/Vancouver+Island+Health+Authority+jobs+sell+assets+hike+fees+balance+budget/1793378/story.html

It almost seems like yesterday when our premier Gordon Campbell had promised that 5000 beds will be made to accommodate our aging population and with that promise there was a cry from our government for people to apply for jobs in heath care. Will I heard that cry, finished my course...........and what now? How many other people heard that cry, finished their courses and are where I am now.

After reading the article (above) I should also point out that it is not just Vancouver island that is being affected it is, more or less, the Provence of British Columbia.

Today is a sad for our health care system as we now it.

We are bored to tears.....

I had heard somewhere that television rots the mind. And for the most part, I can truly the see the logic in it. My son came home from school not to long ago before the start of Summer Vacation with a Contract that he was going to be out side for 2 or more hours a day and have one day out of the week that was to be a no T.V. day. Just a day to read books, do puzzles, open up the dusty toy box and play with some of the old toys that he hasn't touched in so long. But when that contract was signed, it was done so with the knowledge that we will have T.V., it was done so with knowledge that there will be other children to play with. It was done so with the knowledge that mom will have wheels to transport him to and from the swimming pool and where else a 9 1/2 needs to go.

Well we are into the third week of Summer Vacation and we have lost the T.V. (I refuse to pay for cable!) All of the friends have gone on holidays or gone to dad's or back to their mom's house. And worst of all I have no means of transportation. (My car decided to leek coolant everywhere I go and that is bad for the environment.) Just has he was getting used to mom (me) having my own car again - it falls apart and is out of commission until next week-end.

We are bored to tears. You never know what you had until it is gone. We are missing the T.V., We are missing the car and we are missing the friends. It is going to be a very, very, very long week.

DayCare........

Well it is official. Day Care is very hard to find. I knew it would be a long drawn out battle. But I never thought it would be this bad. The last time I had Daycare was with my son when he was four. That was 5 1/2 years ago, and all I had to do was walk in to any Daycare and register him up. That was it, it was done. But this time round, a different story. I was on the phone with a Daycare located in Langford and she would of been perfect. But there were a few of problems:

1. I would need to put my little one in Preschool on top of Daycare ($700.00 a month maybe more on my part. My daughter's Daycare would of paid for her child's Preschool!)

2. It was her doing the interview to see if my daughter was a good fit, not me doing the interview. (However, she was very happy to hear that I am from the Health and Human Service Industry. The second strongest industry here on the island other then Government that has not really been affected by this rescission.)

3. Her doors didn't open until 7:30 a.m. I need 6:00 am.

I have talked to many different daycare'a and it all seems the same. They are in the position to pick and choose what child they want. And if their are no spaces available, you are on a waiting list.

I will try again next week, but if I can't find anything out there, not even partime.... I would really, really need to rethink my gameplan.

As you can see, I am becoming frustaited with Daycare.

The Hunt Continued

O.K.

My head is swimming with phone numbers that I have called out to, numbers that someone has answered and numbers where I was greeted with an answering machine. I have piles and piles of paper with Daycare information scattered about my house. I am trying to keep my little system as neat and organized as possible. Meanwhile, my little devil has coloured on my wall, got into her brother's room and made a mess. Looking at the time it is 4:30 and I NEED TO MAKE SUPPER!!! Thank god tomorrow is Friday. Can't wait. Maybe Friday I will have some luck and find someone to interview in regards to my Daycare situation. (I heard somewhere that Fridays are the days that good things happen with hard work.)

[ OMG - Tomorrow is not Friday!! It is only Thurday!]

The Hunt Is On.,,,

I have started the hunt for Daycare. This is going to be a long and tedious hunt. But I am bound and determined to find reliable daycare before I start my other hunt for a job. Now that my little girl is somewhat able to put deposits into the "potty" I have just knocked down my daycare cost by $100.00.

I have a list of daycare provider's, and believe it or not, according to the resource centre where I got my list from; I am to expect most of them to be full and that I will be putting her on waiting lists. How right they are! I talked to 25 providers and they are full. I am expanding my hunt to Downtown Victoria. (45 min drive from where I live. But then that is where I will most likely be working.)

My graduation letter from the college has just come in from the post and my formal ceremony has been scheduled for early November. From what I understand this is a cap and gown event. What Fun!

Well, back to my Hunt. Please, wish me luck. I need it.

Week one of potty training

One week has already come and gone and so far so good with putting number 1 and number 2 where it belongs. So far we have established that it gross to put number 1 and number 2 in the pull up. We have established that doing number 1 one and number 2 on my grass is yukky. And we have discovered that the washroom's in Walmart, Costco and any other washroom other then our own and are big and scary places. Week 2 should be good with this new task for my daughter. Maybe week 3 we will start to wear big girl underwear. I can't wait. I am already seeing dollar signs with all the money that we will save for not having to buy diapers.$$$$$$$$$$$$.....

Lazy Summer Days.....

Even Though I am not much for the idea of Sun worshiping, I do love watching the children play and frolic in the Sun rays, all lathered up in sunscreen, playing hide and go seek in the trees behind my house. I hear the odd cry of "That's cheating," and a snicker under my living room window from the outside "She will never find us here." And when they all stop playing their game, all Rosy faced and tired. I know that this is the time of the day when the sun is at its hottest too take the posy of boys and a girl down to the river. It never fails to amaze me that when other children looking from the inside of their own houses looking out their windows to see a person with a big bag of towels heading toward the river trail; how fast they come and join my little posy. It never fails. Never. I Had 7 children in tow by the time I reached the beginning of the trail that leads to our little private beach.

I like watching them play their water games and rock games. I try to join in but when I do, I get strange looks from the children - A reminder that I am an adult, a person of authority and have no place in the games of children. So I sit on the rocks and watch them play. One the the games that the children like to play, a game that is more to torment the younger children; a game that I dub the "Mommy - Daddy" game. In this rock game the older children will find rocks of different sizes. A big one being "Daddy." a medium one being "Mommy" and a small one being "Baby." The child collecting those rocks would chant a little diddy saying to the younger children. "Here is Daddy. Here is Mommy. Here is Baby." He would then the throw the Rocks and say. "Here goes Daddy. Here goes Mommy. THERE GOES BABY!!!" The younger children would react by putting their hands over their faces in mock shock that the family of rocks are gone. How dare you hurt the family of Rocks! They would run off and try to save the lost family rocks that had been thrown.

Yes....These are lazy summer days, Days at the river, Days in the trees. A time for parents to create the magic of Summer. Hotdogs and Watermelon. Sunscreen and Sand.
Lazy Summer days.