Here's Hoping...Again!

We've been throught his before. Many times by now. Each time the outcome has not been in our favour. It's been a few months but here we are again.
There's a temporary job opening at one of the schools Trevor substitute teaches at. He's actually become their number one choice when they need someone. It's a small school in a very small town forty minutes away but he really likes it there and they really like him. He should practically be a shoo in for the job - right?
Bah!
We probably live in the stupidest area EVER for teachers to get a job.

The city district: basically if the principal likes someone they get a job when one opens up. Most of the time there isn't even a formal posting, the principal just calls them. "Hey want a job?"
We heard of one scenario where a girl interviewed for a position at the beginning of summer and then left the country for a month with no way of contacting her before hearing whether she got it or not. It turns out she would have been offered the job had she been around. The end of summer comes along and the principal of the same school calls her for another position (no resume was submitted) that was completely out of her areas of strength . She said if she got the job it was solely because the principal liked her since she wasn't overly qualified and she had been rather irresponsible regarding a position at the beginning of summer.
She got the job.

One of the county districts : The principals have virtually no say in the initial selections for interviews. Hiring is done mainly by the superintendent. Trevor's heard that they have a policy of hiring teachers only within their university majors. The job opening I just mentioned is grade 2 and 5 language arts and math and is in this district. I could teach that. University major hardly helps at those grade levels!
There are also some predominantly Mormon towns nearby and even though they are public schools unless one is Mormon there is no hope in *#@$ of getting a job there. We are not Mormon.

One extreme is who you know the other is what you know and then when both of those things are there something else is thrown into the mix!
We know many teachers and they all say the same thing - getting a job around here is pure luck.
Hence our frustration.

Knowing there is once again a job possibility, even though it's temporary, brings all sort of emotions back to the surface. I don't want to hope for fear of disappointment, but I have to hope because that is what keeps me going.
Our life is good and we really can't complain but the affect of Trevor not having a permanent job is starting to run deeper. I don't know who all you readers are but no doubt you come from many different beliefs and backgrounds. If you believe in God and pray, please pray for us in this.
Thank you!

Head Shots

Up and Down

The Downs:

I woke up to snow after it being in the mid-teens yesterday! (62ish in Ferenheit I think)
I have a cold now, after a stomach bug which finally fully subsided today.
Sierra is constipated and therefore not sleeping great and rather grumpy and been extremely difficult. Who can blame her though?
My house is dirty and driving me loonie.

The Ups:

Colder weather will keep me inside and give me less excuse for ignoring the state of my house.
Sierra pooped late this afternoon and cried the whole time. I'll spare you the hard details but she still needs the prune juice I went and got today so hopefully that gets things going even more! The point is, it put her in a better mood.
There may be a mess in my house but the small, uncompleted stuff is getting done instead.

Now I need some advice.
This is what my TV wall now looks like with a new TV stand and floating shelves on the wall:

I have a lovely tall plant for the right corner but what do I put on the shelves? I 'm thinking some photos of family but there needs to be some other fun decorative items - suggestions?
What other colour do I introduce to this room? I have enough red but it need another little "pop" of another colour I think. Yellow, orange, lime green? (see here for the red wall that inspired all the red)

My Past Week

What an interesting past week I've had, to say the least. We flew out to the west coast for me to be involved in a friend's wedding. As you all know, life is never simple or goes as planned and such was our little jaunt.

First of all, the day we arrived in my husband's hometown his mother came down with a wicked cold. She put up a gallant fight and wore a brave face but she did not get the enjoyment out of our visit that I know she was anticipating.

On Saturday morning, just as we were about to leave to drop me off for the wedding (I was a bridesmaid and therefore was required earlier for beautification process) Sierra threw up all over me. Sierra does not throw up. EVER. She barely spit up as a newborn! Here's what I figured it was: she'd been eating those little oranges that are kind of like mandarins but are smaller, I don't know what they are called, and there was at least a entire orange worth of whole pieces that came up. Apparently she forgot to chew and her little tummy didn't appreciate that. She spent the day sleeping and recovering with her sick grandma and was mostly herself by Sunday.

The wedding was an hour away from where we were staying, across the Canadian/US border in Bellingham, WA. Friday afternoon I had the lovely adventure of driving ALONE in an unfamiliar car, in a different country, and on roads where I had never been before. It's weird because it's not like the instant you cross the boarder the trees suddenly have eyes and arms, the language switches to Greek, and the people have horns; it's very much like Canada but somehow knowing it's a different country had me all freaked out. You have to understand that I abhor being in unfamiliar situations and this was the peak of being out of my comfort zone. I made it to my destination (backtracking twice because I second guessed my directionality) twenty minutes late and not even too frazzled; all in all I was proud of myself. I sure did enjoy that martini I had with my friend, the bride, upon my arrival though!

The wedding was a blast. I had so much fun despite knowing my daughter was sick and with grandparents she didn't know overly well. Since I knew she was in good hands I actually didn't think about her much at all! (Small twinge of guilt inserted here)

I won't bore you with oodles of pictures filled with people you don't know and an event you don't particularly care about but I had to include one of me and the bride. Aren't we purdy?

Anyway, the next two days were spent visiting and then we hopped back on a plane and came out of the clouds and rain of the coast into the sun and wind of the prairie.

Then I got the flu.
Blech!
Thanks Sierra. It was extremely kind of you to share.
(Remember that throwing up thing she did on Saturday because of the oranges? I'm not so sure it was the oranges)
I was useless for two days, tired for two more and now I feel mostly like myself.
Now Trevor has the flu.

I'm lee - ving, on a jet plane..."

...but I'll be back on Monday.
My toenails are polished, my finger nails filed and awaiting polish, my armpits are waxed and in strapless dress condition, my bags are mostly packed, and the speech is hot off the press. I believe I'm ready.
A dear friend of mine is getting married out on the west coast and I have the honour of being a bridesmaid. This is most likely my last chance to be in a wedding and I'm very excited for the weekend and intend to enjoy it to its fullest. It has promise of laughter, tears, meeting new people, reuniting with old friends, dancing, eating and, of course, an aura of love!

Big Comfy Couch

As you can see, both Sierra and her daddy are equally entranced but the highly stimulating T.V. show
"Big Comfy Couch." It's Sierra absolutely favouritist show. She yells "no!", at the T.V. if anything else is on. I even record "Big Comfy Couch" on our Satalite PVR so we have it for down times. I'm pretty sure Sierra would watch it all day if I let her. Tempting as that is some days...

Want me to sing the theme song for you? I can you know. In fact, I often find myself humming it at work, buying groceries, in church, and every other place I am.
Is this sad?
No, I don't think so. It's called being the parent of a toddler.

Scattered

That about explains the state of my life and mind right now and so shall this post be!

• I am sick and tired of living in disorganization. Everything was 'put away' the first week but now it desperately needs to be arranged in a systematic manner than won't drive me crazy! It's not only the things that are causing my frazzledness (is that even a word?) but my budget is out of control, I have no idea what a menu plan is, my workouts have been non-existent..aaaggh! The list goes on.

• Trevor and I went to Calgary this past weekend without Sierra! *Gasp* It was a really nice get away to catch up with friends and spend a scandalous amount of money at the mall and then IKEA. (I'm not even exaggerating on the scandalous part, really, we did spend an atrocious number of dollars - but was it fun!)

• My schedule changed at work and of course that effects EVERYTHING! Mess with my routine and it all goes to heck.

• We got tickets to see The Tragically Hip in September and the new U2 album is out. I'm stoked about the concert but as for the album...I need to listen to it more first.

• I'm quite certain Sierra is testing out the waters of being two. I don't like it.

• Just for fun, some cute pictures of Sierra not acting two.

She seems to think her doll's bed is for sitting it.

Entranced by "Big Comfy Couch" while eating a granola bar.

• I'm out of the funk I was in a couple of weeks ago, which is very good, but now it is time to get some order back in life! I'm off to tackle some closets now!