United Way Financial Day of Caring

So I volunteered for the United Way Financial Day of Caring today. In total nine banks, totalling roughly 230 people volunteered at 29 agencies, working in various capacities from painting to sorting out clothes that are donated...I was lucky enough to be placed at Norwood Elementary to spend one on one time with some kids there.

The day started out with a nice breakfast buffet at the Telus World of Science. You would wonder why the United Way would spend their hard earned fundraised monies on such an occassion...seems like such a waste of funds right? Well, it turns out that this morning's breakie was paid for in collaboration between the banks...as a thank-you for the volunteers. Plus each financial institution had specialized shirts made (also donated by a branding/marketing company). So as I arrived, I was greeted with a welcome package along with a blue T-shirt (each shirt was colored to coordinate with your bank's colors)...so needless to say there was a sea of blue when I walked in (ATB Financial had a light blue shirt, RBC and BMO also had different shades of blue, whereas my shirt was more of a royal blue)...still, it was neat to see each FI identified by their bank's color.

After breakie, we had a group pic taken (in total, there was roughly 40 volunteers from CCS) which I'm sure each volunteer will get a copy of eventually...and then we were off to the races!

When I arrived at Norwood, there were also reps there from the other FI's. In total there were 9 of us at that school. How the program works is that the coordinator (Leigh) would round up children who normally wouldn't have a "mentor" and we would be working with them for the morning (we would be assigned a different child for the afternoon). The United Way funds Norwood quite extensively, as they were one of the first schools to start this mentorship program. I think roughly 50 schools in Edmonton now are part of this program.

We were told to encourage to read at least 1 book with the kid during our 1.5 hour session. My first gal, Cathy, was a bit older than the rest of the students Leigh brought in (Cathy is in Grade 5). Anyways, we filled in "Getting to Know You" worksheets and chit chatted a bit before deciding what we wanted to do (options included reading, playing games on the computer, playing board games, crafts, playing with Legos, etc.). In our "Getting to Know You" worksheet, one of the questions was "what is your worst subject in school?". I asked Cathy and apparently she doesn't get very excited over math...I told her art was always a dreaded subject for me...and you know what? I think to kinda "test" and "spite" me, guess what she chose to do as our activity?!? Yup...crafts.

The crafts that were set up included an option to fold a sailor's hat (which seemed sooo elementary to me, but then again, Norwood caters to kindergarten to grade 6) or to make a picture holder (the type with the mini clips where you stick pictures in). She opted to make the holder (thankfully, as I had skimmed the instructions and I don't think I would've been able to decipher them...many of the other volunteers failed at making the hat).

While making our separate holders we managed to chit chat. Cathy told me she lived close to the school (about 5 blocks away) and that most of the time she had to take her brother to school with her (he's in grade 2). She also told me that she had a stepsister who was 21 (who was "old" like me...geez...thanks)!

She told me it was tough to make friends as she was always moving around from school to school. She has been at Norwood now for 2 years, so she said it was kinda tough to make new friends. Leigh, the coordinator of this project, told us that Norwood is highly transient, with 80% of the students turning over in a year. She said this was due to the lower income families having to move due to circumstances. How sad is that??

Anyways, as I'm not gifted in art, it took me pretty much an hour to make my photo holder...in the same time it took Cathy to make 2! After we were finished, we read a book together, alternating pages being read out loud.

When it was time to go, I reminded her to take her crafts...she was a bit shy, but she said she wanted to give me one of the holders that she made for me! That was sooo cute and unexpected for me, as we seemed to get along quite well. So in return, I gave her my holder, which she thought was "totally cool". So I will be displaying my holder proudly at work on my desk tomorrow :)

So that was my morning's experience...it was highly enjoyable for me...however the afternoon brought a completely different situation for me...

Stay tuned for Part 2...to be posted tomorrow (I promise)!

Thank-you, thank-you, THANK-YOU! :)

Recently it appears I've been the lucky recipient of many acts of kindness, and for that I say a big THANK-YOU to you all! Whether it's been breakfast, supper, lip gloss, hand soap, bubble tea, going for a walk, enjoying a nice chat, or a ride here and there, all of it has been greatly appreciated (you all know who you are ;P ) I'm a very lucky girl blessed by fantastic friends and family...

Oh yeah...and thanks for reading my blog, though it doesn't get updated often (some of you have probably fallen off your seats, seeing another posting from me...I tell you, it's all about the SHOCK value)!

Have a great week everyone!

What the..?!?

What else will the oil and gas industry come up with in order to make their consumers suffer even more? Aren't they already gauging us, paying $1.149/L at the pumps...

It was reported this evening on CTV News that Esso and Shell gas stations will be charging us consumers $0.50 to use the air, regardless of whether we're filling up our vehicles or are bikes! Okay, not like the whole whopping 50 cents is going to break the bank, but it's the principal of the matter!

What next? Paying for the use of the bathroom facilities at gas stations? Or better yet...you cannot use the washroom without a minimum $3 purchase of which, you will be charged an additional $0.25 transaction fee to use the debit unless your purchase exceeds $10...

Sheesh...

Craziness...

Sometimes things in life are hard to explain...for example, why should I benefit from someone's tragedy?

Many of you know already I have the opportunity to potentially get promoted (okay, the likelihood is about 90%, but still...). Anyways, the lady that will be retiring will actually be leaving sooner than her initially anticipated date (end of September). She has bumped her retirement date to the end of August now, due to a series of unfortunate events...

Firstly, her husband fell ill, 11 shifts before he was to retire from the Edmonton Fire Department...she got a call at work and the call indicated her hubby had collapsed at the hall and that as soon as they knew which hospital the EMS would be taking him to, they would call her back so that she could meet him at the hospital. Physically he is doing okay (apparently his nerves are not quite settled yet as he shakes quite often), but more than anything my coworker thinks her husband suffered a mental breakdown. Soooo close to retirement and this happens...YIKES.

Then this past week, her father passed away in the nursing home that she just move him into the week prior. She had indicated to me that her father had given up living as he was not responsive to her nor was he eating well (he was so weak that he couldn't even suck through a straw). So this past weekend, all her siblings were able to gather together to have a memorial service for her father...nonetheless, she showed up to work on Tuesday and kept on plugging away at her files. It saddens me as I don't think her father was a Christian man...

In preparation for her retirement, she had listed her home for sale. Due to the passing of her father, she was not able to meet with her realtor to go through the offers...and seeing as how her appointment with the realtor was scheduled for last Tuesday (the day of the passing of her father), I don't know that those offers that were submitted are valid anymore...plus her and her husband were going to go to Kamloops this past weekend to check out the construction and progress of their new home, but needless to say, this didn't happen either.

Lastly, another close friend of hers lost her battle with cancer on Monday. This (if memory serves) is the 5th funeral she will be attending for the year 2006.

I guess I feel guilty that I will likely somehow figure into this equation and out of all this happening to her, I will benefit from her misfortune. It's too bad the company couldn't send her off happily into retirement rather than letting her go due to personal, tragic recent events in her life...

The aftertastes of...well...SOMETHING...

So in my crazy schedule to find time to use my "cheap" Taste of Edmonton tix (purchased before July 19 to get an "awesome" discount of $2.25 for 30 tix, of which I only used 15 tix and sold teh other half to my coworker), I had to cram my Taste experience into a mere 1 hour over th noon hour rush (okay...for those of you who REALLY know me, I took an extended lunch, but only due to the fact that the 5 of us gals from work had to walk to the LRT, wait for the LRT, beat the crowds and the line-ups upon arrival to the festival and then having to LRT back to the branch...

Anyways, my experience, unlike that of Mrs. L's, was good as I left with a full stomach, however, I suffered greatly for it afterwards...(I'll leave out the gross details as it potentially involves digestion issues...due I think in large part to how some of the food was prepared in the sweltering heat (it was like 30 degrees when we were there)...

I tried the Patata (pretty much it was chunky hash browns smothered in garlic mayo) and that was quite delicious...though I should have thought twice before ordering it as I had to meet a member in the afternoon...oops...the cost was 4 tix...

I also tried the Chicken Ceasar wrap which I was told was a "good deal" as it was a tasty filler...and that it was! Huge chunks of chicken covered my roughly 6" pita...very tasty but extremely messy as the chicken kept squirting out the other end of my pita...again, worth 5 tix

Lastly I tried the Lobster Penne...it was very, very tasty, but my serving was kinda soupy compared to those of my coworkers...again, felt very satiated after ingesting, however, I think this was the dish that did me in for the evening!

Nonetheless, highly enjoyable experience, especially watching all the businessmen in their suits sweating bullets in the sun! Haha...that's soo mean, but hey, if you know you're gonna be in a highly populated area in the scorching sun for lunch, you'd think they would think twice before putting the suits on in the morning! One thing though...you might want to bring your own water/beverage as there were ample vending machines around, but at $2.50 a bottle, you might want to consider hauling a drink along with you when you go!

By the way...sorry, don't remember where all my tasty dishers were from (except the Lobster Penne--that was from Brewsters)...you know how it is...a memory the size of a pea...

Time to Update!

Okay, guilty as charged...so here I am updating my blog again (finally)...

First off, some sights from my High School Reunion (kinda boring given most of my pics were with people you won't know...

Above is my girlfriend Amanda and I, whom I've known since Grade 7 and is now married to my other friend, Brody (with one very adorable son, Linden who is now 1 and a bit years old)...

...and this is Angele, the nicest gal I knew in high school who is currently taking her MA in ECONOMICS (crazy girl) at the U of A (who shockingly is still single, along with only a handful of us that evening)...

...and this is Linnea...who I've know since KINDERGARTEN and who was also my first best friend (I'm not too sure how we communicated back then as I only recall knowing how to say "Hi" and my name in English when I was 5) . Linnea is currently married and expecting her first child in October.

The attendance for the reunion was a bit disappointing, considering only aobut 120 people showed up, of which included spouses from a graduating class of roughly 400 (?). There were certainly people I hadn't see for the past 10 years and so we caught up, but there was a fair number of people I had hoped to see that didn't show. Oh well, maybe we'll catch up with each other during our 20 year reunion...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the very unique, funky arrangement I received from a member recently at work. Although from afar it looks like a bunch of weeds, I've been told that this Pitted Protea (the orange petalless flower) is quite rare and very expensive. There was not much of a fragrant smell from the flowers, but it was interesting to look at for sure...

And besides, it's the thought that counts!

---------------------------------------------------------------------

So Superstar, Mrs. L and I tried to do a good deed...donate blood. Long story short, both Superstar and Mrs. L were ineligible to donate due to low iron and only I was able to donate. However, although I was eligible, it didn't necessarily mean I could donate.

Approximately 1 hour spent at the clinic, I left with a cookie and a cup of Coke in my stomach, an ice pack, a blue cheese cloth and a matching blue tensor bandage around my left arm. To spare most of you the disgusting details (sorry Loopers you had to live through the gory details), I was unable to clot for approximately 20 minutes. The super sucky part was though, I didn't even get to donate my pint...what happened?!? All I have to say is that the angle of the needle in my arm would not allow the blood to flow. Will this experience turn me away from donating again?!?...likely not, but I will definitely have to rethink about using my left arm again...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's about it for now...hope everyone has a great summer...anyone up for a Taste of Edmonton??? YUM...

Miscellaneous Thoughts

So I unexpectedly received an email on Friday from an old high school mate that somehow managed to track me down through his older sister, who happened to have my email address (funny enough, through church I was hunted down).

Anyways, the content of the email is to round up the Grad Class of 1996 for our 10-Year High School Reunion! My goodness, the past 10 years have just flown by, as it hasn't felt like it's been 10 years since I've seen/been in contact with these people.

What are your thoughts about reunions such as these?!? To me, it's kind of a bragging rights reunion...people likely flaunting their wealth, career and family successes. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but in my mind, I can foresee this being a bragging contest. On the other hand, it would be nice to touch base with many that I haven't seen in the past 10 years!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In chatting with Mrs. L about this reunion business, she actually advised that there is such a thing as an Alumni page for our high school! There is a page available where you can post your name, email address and a small blurb to update others from your Grad class what you're up to and where you are currently residing. Methinks Mrs. L and Superstar will both update their info...for myself, I don't really think I need to as I'm still in touch with those that I want to be in touch with...how sad...I was looking for the school emblem, but the webpage is sooo low budget, I couldn't find one anywhere! But then again, it could be because of my poor searching skills... :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will be volunteering for Corporate Challenge next weekend. As an incentive to get volunteers (for the event I'm helping with, 16 volunteers are required as if the minimum requirements are not met, my company will not be invited to the next year's Corporate Challenge), other than the free T-Shirt (great, another night shirt), the company is providing one extra little incentive...a $50 gift certificate (not too sure where the GC will be for)! Of course this was unbeknownst to me when I signed up, but I guess this is a bonus!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kids in SS today were extremely energetic (more so than usual), so I finished my lesson early so that we could spend some time outdoors (for them to expend their energy before service) and to cool down (our classroom was sweltering...even before I arrived, the kids already had both windows fully opened)!

As this was an impromptu decision to go outside I really had no planned activities. So I suggested they play frozen tag, boys vs. girls. I'm not sure if this game was not fun for the kids, they weren't athletic, didn't have the appropriate footwear or a combination of any of the above, they pretty much just wanted to stand around and chat. They attempted to play a bit, but really only 3 gals were participating (out of 8 gals) and only 3 guys were chasing/being chased (out of a possible 6 guys). Oh well, at least they were able to enjoy the fresh air outdoors.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many were pleasantly shocked when I did not show up at church with a single speck of blue or black on me today (clothing wise I'm talking about)! I don't find that too impressive as I've been working hard at incorporating color into my wardrobe!


Haha, but it kinda backfired as Wacky and KEY were both wearing their versions of the skirt that I had bought (with credit given to them that they both bought the skirt when I was present and a couple weeks before I bought mine)! Of course we all had different color skirts on...I guess it just goes to show that GREAT minds think alike! Hahahaha!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm, that's all for now...this post was created for all you dedicated Vanilla Con blog readers as apparently I've been told I don't update my blog often enough (keeping in mind, there are many others that don't blog regularly too)!

Thanks for your dedication in reading the blog of a Vanilla flavored gal!