Crystal's Ramblings

Christmas is tomorrow, already. The past year has sped by quite quickly! Needless to say, I'm pretty excited for tomorrow... but not for the same reasons as say, ten years ago.

Ten years ago, I could barely sleep on Christmas Eve in anticipation of what was under the tree for ME. How many presents would I get? Would I get what I wanted? I mean, sure, the spending time with family was nice and all, but who could resist the colourful paper and shiny ribbons that decorated the underside of the tree while the tree itself was adorned with lights and sparkly ornaments?

As per family tradition, we always opened up our stockings once we were all out of bed... kind of a teaser, or an appetizer, if you will. After we had opened our stockings, we ALWAYS ate breakfast before moving onto the BIG presents.

While breakfast couldn't have ever taken more than an hour and a half to eat, then wash the dishes, it seemed to take forever. I mean, staring at the jackpot of presents while breakfast was cooking was almost like torture. I used to pick up a few gifts of mine to see how heavy they were, or what kind of noise they made when lightly shaken. Breakfast was eaten rather quickly, or at least I ate breakfast fast. Finally, after awhile, EVERYONE was done eating! Woohoo! Time to rip apart the paper that was concealing my presents!

I didn't always get what I wanted, but Mom and Dad did what they could, and I've always appreciated whatever they've given me.

But that was ten years ago. Nowadays, having a well paying job allows me to buy the stuff I want, as well as buying my family the stuff they want.

The shoe is other the other foot now. Instead of being excited to see what *I* got (don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty excited to see what the tree has in store for me ), I'm more excited to see what my family's reaction is to what I got them. My parents especially. After so many...

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Well, I got my new kitty! It's not a girl, like I was first told though, but it doesn't matter. It's still the same kitten that I fell for. He's just too darn cute.

When he first came into the apartment, he was scared of EVERYTHING, but now he's running around and following me everywhere I go. He's still scared of the foam balls that I bought for him... and the milk I set out on the floor for him. He's coming around though.

I absolutely love him! It took me a day to come up with a decent name, and in the end, I decided on Oreo.



I love my Oreo. No doubt I'll have tons of pictures of him in the future. This one is just the first one I took of him.

I'm not exactly sure what's going through my head, but next weekend I hope to come home from Prince George with a new leather couch, and a week or two later my KITTEN will be old enough to come live with me!

I'm super excited because I'm finally totally and completely caught up financially after the incident at work, so I've decided to reward myself with some comfortable seating space. And the kitty! She's mostly black with white tips on her paws and some white on her face. So cute! I think I'm going to buy her a super duper scratching post with all the bells and whistles so that the couch doesn't look so intriguing.

I don't think I've ever mentioned the incident at work, so here it is. Back in January, I asked the sawmill's superintendent if I could take a leave of absence so that I could do the Occupational First Aid 3 course at the end of March, so that I didn't have to use the only two weeks of holidays that I'm entitled. That wasn't a problem. Because I was doing the first aid, he said that he could get both the course, AND my time off paid for. Guess I should have gotten that part in writing.

I went, did the course, and passed with high marks (91% on the written, 100% on the practical).

Let me tell you, those two weeks were anything but a holiday. I had to be up at 6 every morning, so I could leave at 7 to be in class in Vanderhoof by 8. Add 9 hours of class time and another 45 min. drive home just to study for a couple hours before succumbing to sleep.

ANYWAY, I brought in my certificate and the receipt for the course to work for the superintendent to look at. WITH my foreman and chargehand in the office, he looked at the receipt and asked me why I brought that. I repeated what he had said back in January. The asshole then had the nerve to say, and I quote,

"I never said anything like that. You're changing your story after the fact".

Yessir....

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I started my new job yesterday. I went from being a groundskeeper to being..... a STRIPPER! Woohoo!
Perhaps I should clarify. I began working in the sawmill yesterday. As with most new employees, they made me a strip layer. Basically, I fill these magazines with strips so that when the stacker stacks the lumber, the strips are laid in between each layer so all lumber will dry evenly in the kiln. It's the hardest job in the mill, but it makes the time go by quickly since I'm constantly busy. It's murder on the wrists too, but I'm tough... I can handle it. Hopefully they'll put me somewhere else soon though. I don't mind working at all, but laying strips is not fun.

My former boss let me keep my village job until I started at the mill too, so I didn't lose a day of work. That was pretty nice of him, since my last day was supposed to be a week ago. I really am going to miss that job. It was so much fun and the people were the best people to work with. They've told me to come back on coffee/lunch breaks to visit, so I will. What can I say, they love me. It's not hard to though.

I've signed up to take a lumber grading course, so hopefully they'll let me take it. If I pass, and actually start grading lumber, I'll be getting some nice fat paychecks. I'll need 'em 'cause there's so much stuff I want to buy. There's a camera I've had my eye on for a little while... a Nikon D80. Not cheap. I also need to purchase a little car to get me to and from work.

Letsee... I got a guitar today. Never played one in my life, but I'm determined to learn and become at least half-decent. After the guitar, I want to learn how to play the piano. Someday.




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And why the heck are all the trackbacks I have lead to porn/viagra links? ANDANDAND what makes anyone...

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This volunteer firefighting has got to be one of the best things I've ever done. There's SO MUCH to learn, but it's always interesting and fun. It's all very hands on which I just love. I've used the Jaws of Life, the firehoses, the pumps on the firetruck, the air tanks and there's still a ton of stuff to learn about. I'm also working on getting my First Responders level 3 license so I can do more. It's all textbook reading so far, but I'm getting it. I'd prefer some visual or hands on experience though, since I learn better with those than reading a book.
[mush] Not only is it keeping my brain from turning to mush, it also gives me the opportunity to help people and I feel as if I really do make a difference. [/mush]

That's also the reasons I have for joining the RCMP... I wanna help. I don't want to be one of those asshats who are on a constant power trip and make life miserable for all those who cross my path. That's just lame. I think if I don't get accepted into the RCMP (I'd give myself about 3 shots at getting in, if need be) I might just get into fulltime firefighting. We'll see.