Sigh, you win Paul . . .

So . . . pretty much since we started dating, Paul has been going on and on about how good the show Arrested Development is. I usually just rolled my eyes at him since we tend to have different taste in music, movies and t.v. shows and so what he thinks is "really good" isn't usually all that impressive to me but, I have to hand it to him, he got it right this time. I started watching it on DVD and within 48 hours I had watched all 3 seasons. Jason Bateman might be my new favorite actor. I just watched Horrible Bosses (and LOVED it by the way!!) and the whole time I was thinking about how much I can't wait to see the new Arrested development movie.

Speaking of Horrible Bosses it turns out I've also fallen head over heels in love with Charlie Day. And I'm really starting to warm up to It's always Sunny In Philadelphia, another show that Paul loves and that I wasn't too impressed with at first. See my problem is that I really REALLY hate stupid people. And the gang that works at Paddy's Pub is probably the biggest group of dumbasses I've ever seen on t.v. But Charlie is just soooo adorably down on his luck all the time that I can't help but love his character. OH and did I mention that I think he's friggin' adorable looking?


I guess what this has taught me is that Paul doesn't have such bad taste after all. Lol I love you baby!

Yours forever on the net
- TiNA

Thank God for good friends!

Today I went to the corn maze. If you've never been to one, I would recommend it. It's better to go in a group cause then you can split up, cover more ground and scream out "MARCO" "POLO" at each other. They are fun because besides getting to spend an afternoon outside, corn mazes usually have other activities like petting zoos (who doesn't like looking at baby lambs or tiny ponies?) or bale mazes or pyramids to climb on. But the fact is, it isn't so much WHAT you are doing as it is WHO you are doing it with. Today I went with my brother and four of my friends, two of which I would consider my best friends, and we had a fantastic time.

This being thanksgiving weekend I have been thinking a bit about what I am thankful for this year and I have to say that despite the stress and uncertainty, I still had a hundred things to be grateful for. But what I was really thinking about was the friends that I have in my life.

I know that I have many friends that I just never get to see much of anymore. People who were once very close to me and now I barely talk to. If you are reading this right now, I want you to know that you are still important to me. I hope that things are going well. It makes me sad even though it's inevitable, people change, they have school and work and families that begin to take a lot more time and energy.

I also know that I have a core group of friends. People who I know will always be there for me. If I've had a tough day, if my boyfriend is driving me nuts, or if I just need a pick me up. I know that I have friends who would make the time to meet with me, or chat with me to give me advice or a shoulder to lean on. And I know, they know, they can count on me for the same.

This weekend, when you are thinking how thankful you are for a big turkey dinner (especially if you didnt have to cook it), for your family and for your job, don't forget to be thankful for your friends and take a moment to send them a message to let them know you appreaciate them.

Yours forever on the net,
-TiNA

A housewife's house-hunt!

So, turns out that finding a spacious, newly renovated, Rabbit friendly, affordable apartment in Winnipeg is a bit difficult. We looked at a few places on-line, we looked at a half dozen in person and we filled out forms for at least 3 different development companies, but nothing felt quite right.
One place was practically brand new, it was gorgeous, they accepted rabbits but was apparently very hard to get approved for and had such thin walls that you were forbidden to use sub-woofers when watching movies.
Another place was also brand new, It was PERFECT!! You got a balcony, in suite laundry, it was in a perfect area of the city. The rent was reasonable and there was no terms you could rent monthly BUT they allowed cats and dogs but NO RABBITS!! We were surprised, confused and very disappointed and although my mom offered to keep Dennis so we could have the apartment we decided that he is a part of our little family and that we wanted to keep him with us.
Finally I found a place on Edison which I thought was great because it is VERY close to two of my best friends. It was newly renovated, fairly spacious, but unfortunately did not have a balcony or in suite laundry, rent was kinda high BUT Dennis would be allowed and so we decided to hand in an application. It took them a whole week to get back to us (which was extremely hard to deal with as I am not the most patient person in the world) but on yesterday they finally told us that we were approved and that we would take over on Oct 1st!
I mostly have to say I'm relieved that we found a place and that we will be able to settle in before the weather gets too cold and I am extremely excited to be able to have friends and family over. Paul and I work hard and I think we deserve to have a place of our own where we can be happy and proud of what we've accomplished.

I hope to post pictures up as soon as possible,
Yours forever on the net,
- TiNA

So much driving . . .

There are always moments when you wanna kill the one you love. Not literally, just, you know, choke them out a little or ship them away so you don't have to see them till they make their way back from Timbucktoo. This is how I felt about my bf for the last little while. See, things have been very stressful. A week before I was supposed to go on a vacation with Paul and my family, he started having some trouble at work. We drove down to Winnipeg only to have to turn around and drive all the way back to talk to HR and THEN drive right back again!!
in the end he decided to leave the company. So, needless to say this was a fruit basket upset. What were we gonna do? There is clearly no reason to stay in the 'flon if Paul wouldn't be working there and with both of us not having jobs, how were we supposed to pay bills, moving expenses and pay for our vacation?
I begged him, even my parents begged him to come along with us on the trip. They figured it would be good for him to get his mind off things but . . . he decided not to and so we went.
Of course, now Paul has a much better job (it only took two weeks before he was snapped up by another company). It pays more and will give him more challenges in order to make himself a more experienced geologist. So everything seems to be working for the best but . . . there were some moments I didn't think we were gonna make it through.

They say what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger,
Yours forever on the net, -TiNA

a confession . . .

So, according to Wikipedia; Housewife is a term used to describe a married woman with household responsibilities who is not employed outside the home. Merriam Webster describes a housewife as a married woman who is in charge of her household.
This means that I am a bit of a fraud as Paul and I are not married, and I am employed. Or I WAS employed, up till last Friday morning. See here is what happened.
I came to work at 5:40, yes I admit I was a few minutes late which already had me in not the greatest mood, only to find out that there were 5 people scheduled to work! Now consider that all summer we were constantly short staffed. (People would not show up to work, as soon as we would hire someone, someone else would quit. There were many days that I thought this is nuts, but the fact was this was happening to many businesses in town. In fact one place had to shut down completely because there were no cooks.) So on the one hand I was ecstatic, 'OMG! This is great! We are gonna get so much work done today.' But on the other hand I was like 'WTF? WHY do we have 5 people?' It definately felt like too many cooks in the kitchen.
But anyway, turns out we had a new lady working with us, apparently she had started the day before so one lady (from now on she will be referred to as Mrs.X) asked if I would stay on the line and train her. I agreed. 6 AM arrived and we opened the doors of the restaurant. Usually on weekdays we have a steady rush from 6 to 6:30ish which can be a little hard for one person to handle but usually goes pretty steady for 2 people. Anyway we always prepare a tray of half cooked bacon so that when the orders come up it doesnt take so long to prepare. SO Mrs. X took the tray of bacon out of the oven and dripped grease all over the floor. She tried to wipe it up but the floor still felt like a skating rink so needless to say, rushing about making breakfasts while fearing for my life, (because I was SURE I was gonna fall and break my neck), did not make my mood any better.
Around 6:45 our manager called the kitchen, just to make sure everything was running smoothly and to give us a list of things she wanted us to complete. It was all very straightforward, she wanted us to prep really well for the night shift because there would only be two of them working and because the weekend was coming up and she wanted things to be easier for everyone. So I went to our prep board in the back and started writing down the things that needed to be done.
Mrs. X comes around the corner and says "What do we have to do all this for?"
"So that we can be all prepped up" I replied "Well why can't the evening guys do their own stuff?" She asked. "Well there are FIVE of us, and only TWO of them so we can do this no problem" I answered. She rolled her eyes and said "Ookay" as she walked away.
I turned to a coworker (Ms. J) and made some "Ahhhh" gestures with my hands, wondering why I have to deal with this crap first thing in the morning. I mean HELLO-O, is it unreasonable that we should help out the night staff? And why am I getting attitude when I'm only writing down the exact instructions that the MANAGER gave me?
I continue to write on the board until 2 seconds later when Mrs. X comes around the corner and whines "Well I just don't see why we should have to prep for them when you didn't leave anything for Ms.J the day before your day off." I stop and stare at her. I can feel my eyes getting wide and my heart start beating faster. I have worked at many places I have never had ANYONE call me lazy. I actually pride myself on the fact that I think I am a good team player, because I have always been taught AND I truly believe that everyone in a kitchen HAS to work together in order for things to move smoothly.
"What do you mean?" I ask looking straight at Ms.J. "Oh well, it's just that there was no french onion soup made" She said. "That's because there were no onions!" I replied feeling myself about to explode. (I could not believe it. I made her three pails of soup, I made sure there was bacon trayed up and I made fresh waffle mix on top of the takeout catering order I had to do AND the normal restaurant line orders, but I get bitched at because I didn't make french onion soup because there were NO ONIONS anywhere in the kitchen?!?) "You know what?" I asked, "F**k it! Forget this ridiculousness! If I'm such a terrible worker, then I'm just gonna leave!" and so I took off my apron, threw it in the hamper, grabbed my clothes from the changeroom and left out the back door.
Ms.J followed me, "look, can't we talk about this?" But I shook my head "I'm done" I told her, "I cannot work with someone who runs their mouth, placing blame on others and doesn't want to do the work themselves. I'm done!" and I got it my car and left.
So that's it. I suppose I could have quit in a calmer or classier way but to be honest working for another two weeks would not have been possible, and the relief I felt at the knowledge that I would never have to step back into that kitchen is one that I still can't describe now, days later

Anyway, sorry if this has been a bit of a downer but I had to get it off my chest.

Yours forever on the net.
-TiNA

Back story

So unlike a lot of people here I have NOT grown up in Flin Flon all my life. In fact I am a very new resident, as I have only been living here for. . . (pauses to count on perfectly painted fingernails) 3 and a half months. Turns out I've actually lived in Winnipeg all my life. When I tell people that, I usually get two main responses. The first one is "WHY would you move here?"
Good question. It all started Waaaay back last December. My boyfriend Paul (A.K.A. my lover, my best friend, my voice of reason, the one who pampers me . . . sorry I tend to get a bit carried away. I love him to death but that comes later in the story) ANYWAY, my boyfriend applied for a job with Hudbay Minerals which is a Large Mining Company that has been in the Flin Flon area since the 20's. And he got it!! Which was fantastic for about 2 minutes until I realised this meant he would be 8 HOURS away from me for weeks at a time! In the bush? With no cell phone service!?! Oh horrors, how would our relationship ever survive?
Well as you can tell, we survived but about 4 months into the year we realised it was getting pretty tough, so during the last week of April I drove up to Flin Flon to scout out a job and a place to live.
Well, it went much better than expected I had one interview and was hired on the spot I worked my first shift the next day. Paul and I were staying in a hotel together but we were able to look at the only house that the realty company had for rent. A cute little 3 bedroom house uptown. We also looked at a slightly larger house that someone was renting privately but the man seemed to have a little too much attitude against us having a bunny (more about him later) so we decided to go with the first place. We had a serious discussion and after a little bit of prodding and nudging Paul and I began signing the papers to rent our first place together. TRES (<-- that's french, it means VERY) Exciting!
The second response I usually get is "Oh yeah, I came up here for a job too. I figured it would be temporary too, but I ended up staying for 20 years!!" To which I usually reply with a nervous laugh and a wide-eyed look of panic. Look. No offence. I like Flin Flon. The trees, rocks and the lakes are gorgeous, and I've met some really nice people here but, hey, come on, I'm a city girl at heart.