Reconnecting with the Past
Last week, there were a few days where both profs were out of the office. As it was hot and I was lazy (the main reason really), I was spending some time on facebook. Now, I'm sure everyone has their own opinion about Facebook, and to me, really, the main reason people are on there is because it's a popularity contest.. who has the most friends, who has the most wall postings, etc.. another reason, which I read from an article and which I agree with, is that people are naturally nosy. We want to find out about the latest gossip and what better way to do it than through facebook, especially since people are competing to see who has the most messages on their "wall"!
I would like to think I'm not snooping on facebook.. but rather, reconnecting with friends I have lost touch with. This brings me to my point. I found a couple of my classmates from Elementary school on there, and have been sent off a couple of messages. One friend (she was one of my best friends way back in Elementary) and I have been sending messages back and forth.. we've now gone into the facebook email rather than post on each others walls. I was quite surprised to find out she remembered quite a lot of things from what I think marks the beginning of our friendship (she invited me on a sleepover sailing trip with her, her dad and her brother!).. and that was back in Grade 3 (so 17 years ago). I'm elated!
This past weekend was pretty warm, I had no energy to move about.. it was all about lazying around and doing the bare minimum. I did get a call on Saturday from my piano teacher (well, former piano teacher really) who asked me to teach one of my old students for a couple of lessons while she was away (when I moved, I recommended my teacher to my student). I had some mixed feelings about teaching again. Not because of the student, I absolutely loved teaching her, she was a great kid and always very well mannered and sweet. I guess the main reason I'm feeling a bit reluctant is that I don't want to do any extra work after I go to work all day :P It's not really a matter of not having taught for over 2 years now, because I'm sure I can pick it back up pretty quickly. Perhaps another reason about teaching piano is that sometimes it can feel really tedious to sit there for hours at a time having one student leave and another one come - and when they don't practice, it's TORTURE!
More exciting news is that my cousin is coming for a visit at the end of September. She has been saying she will come for many, many years now.. at least over 12 years of saying she'd like to visit us. Anyhow, I'm excited! :)
This coming weekend is a long weekend, New Brunswick day. We're heading off to the States for a few days (I'm taking Friday off) and I'm quite excited about that (minus the number of hours of driving we will have to do). We're going to visit NYC and Boston - I've never been to NYC! If only we had more time, I already anticipate not being able to see/do everything that we want to see/do...
Meetings...
I'm sure I'm not the first one to experience this (nor is this the first time I've experience this!). Have you ever been on a committee that you are suppose to chair, but instead of "chairing" you end up just... struggling?
Last night, the 30th anniversary program committee had a meeting and I believe I finally resorted to just giving in. For those that don't know, I am suppose to be the program director. Perhaps I've taken this title too much to heart, or perhaps I'm taking it too seriously, but MAN, it's freaking hard to convince people that things take a lot of work! The main problem lies in our artistic director.. he's a nice man and everything, but I'm not sure whether it's a lack of experience (?) or something else, but he tends to believe that everything is going to happen very easily. His most common comment is "oh, that's very easy". Personally, I really hate it when people do that. I hate it when people tell me to not worry about it and that it's not that hard. I find it somewhat insulting because it undermines the point that I am trying to get across.
Anyways, I'm tired of this "struggle" and now, knowing I'm not the only one (there is really only 1 other person that I am aware of that finds that the AD is getting a bit too controlling) who is finding it difficult working with him, I'm just going to try to lay low and "go with the flow". I'm tempted to just walk away altogether, but I am afraid I'll end up regretting that decision. Hopefully I can just keep my cool and try to learn from this experience!
Alrighty, that's it for now!
Kim & James' Wedding - July 21, 2007
The new Mr & Mrs Jame Rioux entering the reception!
Vern singing at the ceremony
Group shot
Our table
A Slow Day at the Office
I shouldn't complain, nobody was really in today so I had the place all to myself. The only problem is, when you aren't busy, time ticks by really slowly. I could have been more productive, but did I want to be? Not really.. I sort of feel like slack time is owed to me. ..hahahhaha!!! (OK, I know this isn't true, but hey, I can dream, right?)
Anyways, Kim and James got married this past Saturday. Some of us from the "FHS gang" as I like to call us were able to attend the ceremony and reception. It is noted that many of those that were not able to make it were missed! Anyways, she looked beautiful and the wedding reception was very lovely - simple, sweet and a romantic atmosphere (especially when we blew those bubbles). I have to admit it was my first Catholic wedding ceremony, so it was an experience. I also thought Vern sang very nicely, the wedding party looked and performed very well - good job Travis, Trevor & Mon ;) (I also should mention that Jordan read and did it without looking nervous).
Oh, something funny - I got an email from a classmate from last year - she told me during her first week of teaching, she "dropped the f-bomb twice" - this of course made her particularly cool with the grade 8 kids. Hmm.. if I ever teach that age group, I'm really going to have to bring out the sarcasm and the swear words eh?
Ok, that's all for now, I'm going to do some cardio now. Ciao!
Stuffy and Muggy
The office is so stuffy this week! It doesn't help that I'm feeling tired because I couldn't really sleep on Sunday night.. don't know why.
CCANB 30th anniversary plans are ploughing ahead. I'm finding it somewhat difficult dealing with some of the people on the program committee.. I guess since many of them are older, it's harder for them to swallow that I'm the program director. Or maybe I should say that some of them do not have confidence in my abilities (finding this mostly from those that I have not worked with before). Anyways, I've had one person completely mis-interpret a simple gantt chart and one person propose that he quit the committee.. aie yie yie.. come'on people.. anyhow, it's a learning experience - it's just all rather draining.
Planning a trip to New York this summer.. probably only for two nights though (as if that's enough time). Take in the main attractions and save the rest of the exploration for another trip. It's too bad we don't have a whole lot of time, I would have loved to go to a Broadway musical! Oh well.. you take what you can get!
Work has been somewhat maddening this week.. lots of things happening, but what else is new. I'm probably going to end up staying on for another term (at the very least).. but I recently saw a posting in the Business department that I think I could potentially qualify for.. the only thing is: 1. How do I explain that to my current boss and 2. Do I really want to commit until April of next year? and finally 3. It will mean I can't consider teaching for the coming school year. Not even supply work. I guess that solves my dilemma.
Besides that, I've determined that I need to begin a backup plan in case I need to leave the teaching profession. My employers now seem to think I would do well in the graphic design industry, but come'on, I have no training and don't really have a whole lot of experience besides a few posters, websites and newsletters.. given the competition today, will I really be able to land any jobs!? I looked, and it seems some positions only pay graphic designers $10-12/hr!? EKK!
Anyhow, I'll probably choose something in the lines of Business.. like payroll, human resources, etc.. Who knows. I'm anticipating I'll need to take some more courses.. community college courses that is. I'm hearing that a lot of companies are liking that - besides, University just teaches theory, plus, I've "been there, done that"X2.
Alright. I just thought I would update a bit. I've been rather lazy for a long while.
Ciao.
Acadia National Park
This past weekend, my brother, Chien Ee and I took a trip down to Maine to camp and shop. My first experience at Acadia National Park was great! Beautiful scenery and such diversity in the people that live there, the things to do, and the landscapes around the island... a great place to visit - something for everyone :)
The first picture is of the beach there - beautiful! The waves were a bit intimidating though.. since they crashed right at the shoreline. It was sort of distracting to try to take a picture there as you didn't really want to turn your back and suddenly have a big wave come crashing down on you (ok.. maybe not crashing down on you, but you know what I mean!). The water is actually quite pretty though and had we more time, i would have enjoyed just sitting there for a couple of hours (or maybe sleeping there :P)
The third picture it is taken at the peak of Cadillac Mountain - can't really say that we climbed all the up because you can actually drive up (the hike says it's like 0.3 km, but really, why bother to even say it's a hiking trail??). Anyways, we didn't spend a whole lot of time up there because we were more anxious to see what the areas when the tide was down (you can see these little tidal pools where there are tiny fish, snails, barnacles and anemones.
Other than that, we also went to Freeport to do a bit of shopping. I guess it was the 4th of July sale or something, but there were lots of things on sale. Didn't really see much that I wanted so I only bought a sweater at LL Bean. My brother on the other hand, found a great deal of discounts at Timberland (discounted prices plus an additional 70% off, so he even purchased a winter coat for about $30USD). There were TONS of people there which made it really unpleasant.. lots of people dropping cash as if it were just nothing.. if only!
Anyways, that's it for now!
