BRRRRR!!! FrEeZiNg!!

Well, usually I don't know where to start, but a good place for today might be with the weather. We have been having ICKY ICKY weather. It is SO COLD!! here. CrAzY cold really. In Calgary it has been up to -38/-39 with the windchill, maybe higher depending on which weather channel, radio station, or newspaper you are watching, listening to, or reading... And working outside in this weather is NOT FUN AT ALL (but there r WAY worse otuside jobs right now, I try to focus on that... like our schoolbus mechanic ( our station has a contract with one o the city's school bus companies so we fuel alll their busses...). Thankfully my boss is very understanding and likes his employees and we didn't have to open the car wash, check anyone's oil, wash anyone's windows, or do anyone's propane (except for school busses of course... :( ) Thankfully for the most part of the day I am inside, thanks to the boys I work with :) I have been wearing long johns and snowpants, 2 prs of socks, a tank top, long sleeve shirt, my work golf shirt, my work fleecy, a hoody, my work coat, a hat and scarf and these really WARM huuuge gloves that get SO STIFF in the cold that it's impossible to do anything in them so they must be removed to hook up nozzles and screw on/off gas caps etc... Really, the only thing that gets cold are my feet, which could be prevented if I had boots ;) Everyone is grumpy because it was dark, cloudy, and lightly snowing to heavily snowing for 2-3 days, the roads are bad BAD (they don't really plow too much in this city let alone salt.. makes one wonder how they can be OVER their annual snowplowing budget alreay... but anyway...), vehicles and busses won't start, and it is hard to drive safely due to the ice build-up on roads, and the fact that people here are not used to the snow. At all. Miraculously, my car has STARTED everyday (knock on wood), and stays nice and warm overnight due to my block-heater and the inside lil' floor heater that is somehow wired into the block heater (thanks to the previous owner :) ). THe only STRANGE thing the car is doing lately is: the wipers turn on and STAY on by themselves. SOmetime I can make it stop, sometimes I can't... very, very..strange. So now that I have nothing else to say abotu the cold... I'll move on :) Oh, except this: it is supposed to be PLUS ELEVEN on Sunday here :) Oh the joy!!! )Well, also depending on which weather forecast one chooses to listen to...) :)

On a different note, I start at the children's hospital on December 11th... I am SOO excited. But before anyone else gets too excited, know that I am just volunteering there; it is not actually employment (tho' hopefully someday it will be). Actually being able to volunteer there is quite a lenthy process, and after a couple of meetings, an interview, refernece and criminal record checks, immunizations and some preventative shots (ICKS), I finally got my placement. I am on the waiting list for my first choice but in the meantime I am in a playroom on an infant/toddler floor, and am SO SO excited. I don't know too much else right now; I will find out more tomorrow night at orientation and then next week at training. I am hoping it is as great as it seems it will be; I am so excited to spend time with kiddies and BABIES again, and I am hoping that also it will help out my resume and 'real' job hunting a bit too once I 'm done school (or perhaps before...)

Hmm... what else is new. Not too much else is new. Busy getting ready for Christmas, TRYING to get C-mas shopping done (especially for THE FAM so I can get their box in the mail :) ) ; my tree is up and it's a beauty considering it's my first tree I ever put up and decorated myself, and considering I had very little C-mas decor with me here in Calgary... I'll post some pics once I take some :)

Anywayz I should go. Supper's almost ready and I'm goin to my Aunt's house later to drop off her late Birthday card and gift... Sorry Donna :(