a new technique

I have loved "stitch & flip" type quilting for a while, I just love the non-conformist air about the whole thing.. it's so scattered and random.. I LOVE it. So I finally took a one night class to figure out how to do it. And this is what I made.. I can now either make a bunch of them and then make a quilt or make a pillow out of it - or hot pads or whatever! And of course this one is made out of batiks which are beautiful as well so it really adds to the mood and movement of the fabric and flower'ish pattern.

T~N~E~M~N~R~E~V~O~G is so backwards

Okay so the new news is.... I do infact have my job! I know - it will take some explaining for this to all make sense! My management and the BCTS team had a conference call with me on my day off, talking about some options that may still be available to me. Because I had passed the interview proccess (though the other "lady" got higher points) my manager did some work at getting BCTS to direct award me a full time permanent position with them. So I said "yes" because I still knew it was an oppourtunity for full time work that I couldn't pass up. But they said... "WAit... that's not all..." and asked me if my preference was to stay in the position that I had been doing for the last 3 years.. of course because I know the job, etc my preference would be to stay there. And I asked.. but what about the other lady? They said that it was there preference that I choose to stay with them and she goes back to BCTS. What a nice compliment! So although this whole thing is completely backwards, what this means if that I do end up getting my regular full time job and will just result in a lateral transfer my first day. So I will accept a job with BCTS and she will accept my job and then on the first day we will just "switch" the paperwork. Man.. the government is backwards. So aparently my 2 weeks of emotional H~Y~S~T~E~R~I~A were for nothing other than to cleanse my tear ducts and make sure that I still knew how to swear!
But.. all of this craziness has turned out to be for the best. I did get my job, and it has silently proven to the "smug "lady"" that it was managements preference to have me.. which feels nice that at least I know that even if she still things that she is Queen of the world!

Well this weekend I had all 4 kids cause Tracy was at a Girl Guide camp - yikes. No it was actually good, the boys like to stay with us and have fun. Though I don't know how well the 1981 Nintendo faired.. overuse is never good for something that old!.
So here are the 4 of them Saturday night, playing in Millie's room.. having a great time! This next picture is their best "funny faces"! So cute!

le spectacles

well here they are, my glasses - still hard to get used to. But.. I am starting to like them and I certainly like the fact that they are so funky!

a little late

Well - the last weeks have been a serious roller coaster for me... let's start with the competition surrounding my job. As most of you know, I have been working for the Forest Service for the last 3 years in the draughting department. For the last year, I have been doing my job and fulling in another maternity position (so 2 jobs). Finally after all that, they were able to post my job permanently. So also - they have a BLEEPIN' stupid interview process that let's a person showcase their BS skills, so some dumb BROAD came in and BS'd better than me (I know - I didn't think it was possible either!) and now she get's my job. *sigh* So as of Mar. 31st I am out of a job. It took me about a week to stop crying and yelling and swearing and feeling sorry for myself but.. now I am just feeling sorry for myself so at least it's a little easier on those around me! I am possibly taking a 3 month term with another portion of my office, I will update you as things roll along. Just goes to show you that you can't take a job for granted!

Eyes in Motion

Okay... well getting used to glasses is a lot like not having slept for 3 weeks and being motion sick at the same time.. bleck. I am hoping that one of these days.. I will stop feeling this unbalanced. The Optometrist said that I have Astigmatism. I am really noticing a huge difference in my vision - but now when I have my glasses off - I feel like I am legally blind! Yipes! I have lost my download cable for my camera and so thus far I am still unable to post a picture!

As far as my job interview went.. it's done and so I really feel well about that - they said that I should know next week. Seems like much to long for me to have to wait. But I will survive!

Four Eyes

Well after the last 6 months or so of me squinting and leaning forward at my desk and dealing with tonnes of headaches, I decided to make an optometrist appt. As suspected, I need glasses - which really, I should be thankful that this is just coming now as I am not sure how many other people on the REMPEL side can say that. Possibly they were all born with glasses! (Ouch) So.. next week I will be sporting my new beautiful, SUPER FUNK glasses. They are so cute! I am sure after a month, the romance of the new glasses will have worn off and I will just be Jenny "four eyes" Hague. I will post a pic of me in them once I get them!

And the competition just keeps getting smaller!

Tee hee, guess that some people just can't hack the pressure! 2 People have dropped out of the competition for my job! Which of course is great news for me. One of them already got the job in Clearwater that I was applying for and the other was one of the ladies in this office. I am pleased with that because that means that it's just between me and 2 other ladies, both of which don't have nearly the experience that I do. :) Things are lookin' good! My interview is March 7 @ 8:30am ~ I will keep you all up to date once I know anything.

Sicky Maginties..

It started off with Collin (I think - too hard to tell these days) being sick with a cold that seems to be hanging on for dear life. We all tried to maintain a "keep healthy" parimeter around him so that we would catch it. But.. of course, the inevitable has happened and the girls have definately got it. They are both sniffly and coughing.. Millie has lost her voice but will die trying to get the last word in! LOL..
As far as anything else here, my interview for my job here in Vanderhoof has been finalized, mine is March 7 @ 8:30 am. Wish me luck. Although I feel pretty good about it. Collin has been working a bit of overtime so he's pretty tired.. as are all of us just trying to maintain our health!
Cheers for today.. must get some lunch.. oooohh and ANOTHER COFFEE~~ !

-26

Let me just start with: "WHAT THE HELL kind of weather is this??" It's just rude to wake up to temperatures like that. My truck sounded like I was pulling and 18 wheeler behind it and was driving on square tires. It was insane.
Oh how I long to go to Mexico...

Girl Power

I just downloaded these pictures from a sleepover that the girls had! They had so much fun, I picked them up from school and we went shopping for supper stuff & snack. We ate personal pizza's, watched a movie, played Jr. Monopoly (I can't actually take any credit - Collin played the whole game with them - BLESS HIM!) The girls all slept in 1 bed - yes all 4 of them! It was quite funny. I sure remember the fun I used to have on sleepovers and I'm sure glad to be able to let my girls do the same!

The ice rink

Well this has been all the drama that our backyard could take this year! It began on a day where we all felt like getting on our skates and doing a little something outside. Much to our dismay and "hose thawing" efforts, this was a much bigger task than any of us could have imagined.

It took Collin and I at least an hour to twist out all the frozen ice cubes in the links of the hose and then we flooded the rink. After quite some time of flooding Collin said we could just leave it to flood while we went to get groceries. So (under diress) I said, ok dear, and off we went. Upon our return we had a small lakeside resort that we could now call home, as aparently the 2x6 construction will not hold that much water!
Thanks to Collin though - over the next week or so, he diligently flooded the rink and we now have a lovely skating area. Of course the girls love it and Oreo as well. Nothing sweeter than a project that takes a lot of effort to get to the end result. Maybe next year we will just drive to the ARENA!

Looks like we are staying here... :(

I just got off the phone with the lady that oversaw the interview, she said that although I did extremely well, someone else got more points and so -- I was not the sucessful candidate. :( Boo - hoo, I have to go now, I'm late for my own PITY PARTY.

*Sigh* Still haven't heard

Well today my spirits are down, still no word from Clearwater district. I normally am the one that never allows myself to get excited about stuff cause I am so damn practical but this time, I really wanted to move, Collin and I have been wishing and dreaming about this move non stop since we came back from Clearwater. We have thought so many things and are really excited. I think that if this falls through, we will have to take a step back to look at whether we want to stay here in Vanderhoof or not, so hard to say. There are lots of things here that I like, my parents for example, plus Oaksana has great teachers/friends. But, a change would be lovely as well. *sigh* what to do... I will keep all of you up to date.

Well let's see, the last couple of weeks have been nutty, I had the interview in Clearwater, BC. It went really well, it was quite nerve wracking as there was a panel of 4 people that I had never met before drilling me for 2 hours, oh well - hopefully will hear this week. In case you're interested.. here's a link to see what the town is like. http://ntvalley.com/clearwater/ . It was quite nice there, Collin and I looked at some real estate - this is the house that we liked... http://www.mls.ca/PropertyDetails.aspx?vd=&SearchURL=%3fPage%3d3%26Mode%3d0%26vs%3d1%26rlt%3d%26cp%3d%26pt%3d0%26mp%3d100000-200000-0%26mrt%3d-1-0-0%26Beds%3d2-0%26Baths%3d1-0%26f%3d%26ft%3dall%26o%3dA%26of%3d1%26ps%3d10%26ptgid%3d1%26aid%3d5532%252c1085%26MapURL%3d&Mode=0&PropertyID=4222284 So I guess we will have to see what happens after we hear from the Interview panel.. it would be quite a change for us! Which could be good. We will certainly keep you posted!

Another Interview...

Well - when my life gets interesting - it sure doesn't mess around. I just got a call 2 days ago that I have a job interview in Clearwater, BC. And I am still waiting to hear if I get the interview for Vernon. Jeepers, wouldn't that be nice! So I have a practical portion to do in Prince George next Wednesday and then I will be in Clearwater on Feb. 2nd. The plan is to also spend the weekend in the Kelowna area. (Vicki/Jolanda - maybe we can get together?) I also have to be at a meeting in Kelowna for Feb 7/8 so... I would love to see all of you. Let me know! So I am a studying machine now for my interview as it is so intense! Wish me loads of luck - I may need it!
It is also kind of a neat idea to think that we may be moving. There is so much involved in doing that but... it's nice to have a fresh start and meet some new people, etc. I would love to be in sunnier Vernon rather than here some days!

An update

I finally borrowed a cable from a friend so that I was able to download the newest pictures of the girls. They are always such snuggle bunnies, poor mom - I get jipped now as they are always cuddling each other and not me or Collin!
This is Millie - doing her best pajama pose for us.. she can be such a card at night time.. I beleive we have a serisou class clown on our hands. Guess payback really does happen! And this one is Oaksie - playing and loving her new Mrs. PACMAN retro arcade games! Santa did a good job on that as she loves this thing! I swear if it wasn't for Collin stealing it from her to play it himself, we'd never see her!

Our personalities are all sumed up in a few scraps of fabric

Further to my "Yo-Yo-Jolanda" post, this is the quilt that I made for myself. It's a funky log cabin design and of course I've chosen the funkiest fabric imaginable. I had a great time making this quilt and although it started out being my first - it was the one that I finished last.

It is still facinating to me how exactly it is that someone who loves this kind of quilt can be so head over heals in love with someone who likes the REDNECK man quilt! Funny how it seems that all of this is sumed up in a few scraps of fabric!

Finally a job posting

As some of you know, I have been working for the Forest Service on and off for about 5 years as auxillary staff. Which has been fine - but as the years roll on, I would really like a bit more job security that only knowing my employment more than 3-6 months at a time. So... as of yesterday, my job has been posted. Which is extremely exciting but.. at the same time very nerve wracking as this doesn't mean that the job is mine. I will have to go through a formal interview process with all the other sucessful applicants. The government interview are "competency based" which also equals a lot of studying to be sure you follow a strict format for answering questions and proving your competancy. So... the posting is open until Jan.30th and then there will be interviews and .. etc. So although it's a long way off - I have a lot of work to do until then. Keep your fingers crossed.. hopefully my nerves won't win me over.

Yo-Yo-Jolanda

Per your request.. here's some picutres of my quilts.. the first one is a table runnery thing and I made for my mother in law . Close up it's actually quite cute - it has "Merry Christmas in all sorts of languages all along the inner border - I had lots of fun making this one.


And the second is the secret "MAN quilt" that I made for Collin as a surprise for Christmas - he loved it. It has camo fleece on the back so it's nice a cozy...


I also made myself a VERY FUNKY log cabin design quilt but.. I have yet to take a picture of it but I will and then I'll post again. I am amazed at myself that I enjoy quilting and seweing - I never thought I would be such a domestic godess!