Thinking

I have been thinking about how incredibly lucky I am, lately. A recent post that Goody made on her blog really highlited it for me. I mean, yes, we are struggling right now, but when it comes down to it, it's nothing. Both Ian and I are healthy, and we have Mary, who is a healthy happy 8 month old child, and she brings an incredible amount of light and happiness into our lives. But what I was really thinking about was how I was raised. My parents were very strict when I was a child, we had rules and we were punished if they were broken. It seemed like the end of the world when I was a selfish teenager, but one thing that I always knew, even when I was at my most belligerent, was that I was loved. My parents were not perfect, my father was distant, and worked too much, my Mum was volatile, and I know now that she was incredibly unhappy with where she was, she always hated Saskatchewan, but they loved us. We may have been poor, and we didn't have everything we wanted, but we did have what we needed. We were also taught to respect others, and my parents led by example in that. My father did volunteer work at the church, and in the community. My mother stayed at home when we were children, and she was always there for us, no matter what happened. They taught us tolerance for religious beliefs, my father and I went to church every Sunday, but my Mum and brother didn't want to, and that was okay. Anyways, they made mistakes, but everyone does. I just hope that I can be as good for Mary as they were for me, and I hope that I can learn from their mistakes.

So, yesterday our car was towed, right outside our house. We live close enough to the football stadium that we need a parking pass, and we just haven't gotten around to getting one. It's frustrating, to get a pass you have to go downtown (ugh) during the day, they are only open from 9-5, and most normal people work those hours. I would go down, but packing Mary up and getting on the bus to go downtown and back involves a good deal of work, and I just haven't been able to be bothered. Oh well, I guess we have learned our lesson, and will have to go in next week. It's one of the joys of living in the city.

Some day, I want to live outside the city, in a small town, or maybe even on a farm. I dream about having an acreage, with all sorts of animals, and a half tonne truck. For a while when I was about 18, I worked on a government tree farm in a town called Indian Head. I loved it there, and I know that is where I want to retire. It is close enough to Regina that it isn't a huge trip to go in to the city for a day, but it's far enough away that you don't feel like a suburb. Indian Head is a beautiful little town, it has 2 gas stations, a swimming pool, a school, a doctor, a bakery, a Co-Op store, a post office, and one controlled intersection. Every time I go back to Saskatchewan, I try to make a trip out to Indian Head, just to drive around the beautiful old tree lined streets, and pick out houses that I would like to live in. When we were considering moving back to Saskatchewan to be closer to my father, that's where I wanted to go. It is also incredibly close to the Qu'Apelle Valley, which is a beautiful resort area, with a bunch of lakes and a provincial park.

I have decided that we just cant afford for me not to go back to work, which is too bad. I did apply for a job with an American credit card company which has its call centre here in Edmonton. I had a phone interview yesterday with a woman from the states, and now I have to go in for a 4 hour pre-employment testing session. If I pass that, then I get another interview in person, and then they will offer me (or not) the position. Wow. Talk about hoops. The great thing about the job is that it is relatively close to where Ian works (right now), and it pays very well for an entry level call centre position. It is part time, and they even have a 10% wage increase for all hours worked after 5pm or on the weekends. Nice.

Well, Miss Mary is shouting for her lunch, I had better go.