Saturday, May 12, 2012

Thought I'd say hello...

so.....HELLO!!
See, that's me!  I do exist.

I've missed you guys. I mean, REALLY missed you guys. I thought I should give you a little update on my situation....the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY.

The Good:

  • last weekend Michael and I went to Chatham to help a friend celebrate her 50th birthday. We had a great time, so many laughs and so much dancing my knees are still recovering!
I'm with the band :)

  • my daughter is now officially a graduate of Western University!! One more year of post-graduate work and hopefully she'll then be gainfully employed.  She is gainfully employed, don't get me wrong, just not using her degree yet!
  • only 47 days til we hit the road to PEI!
  • only 778 more days til I retire!
  • both my electricity and natural gas were only $45 each!!! I budgeted $55 each so saved $20
  • I paid $83 interest on my now non-existent line of credit - the last interest payment and now I can close the account!
  • made my 4th $88 payment to my mastercard to cover my half of the cost of our new TV, only one more payment to go! 
The Bad:
  • unfortunately those are the only GOOD numbers! I would advise you that if you take a week or so off from posting don't also take a week off from keeping track of your money or if you're like me the money will grow wings and fly away!!  I have made the following purchases - the lovely "fire burner" as seen in my last post (it arrived safely via UPS); two fans, a frying pan and a pair of sandals from our local Zellers - it is going out of business (it's been bought up by Target!!), a few much needed (not really) clothing items from Talize (a little retail therapy - $40 worth), lots of stuff for school which will be reimbursed to me eventually, and I paid my May installment of PEI property taxes - $288.  I guess that's not so bad. I'd rather use fans than the central air since electricity is so pricey these days.
  • I only have $76 of misc $$ left to last the month plus $30 in my wallet. This isn't going to be enough as we are going away for my birthday weekend in two weeks.  I didn't plan that too well now did I?
  • Michael has had his hours cut back at the shoe store and at Jambalaya
  • I have yet to pay the $74 for my car's license sticker...grrrrrrr.....looks like I won't be saving as much as I thought this month!
The Ugly:
  • the work situation I'm in continues to be UGLY!! Although I have an additional educational assistant it hasn't lessened the violence. I don't think I have any other choice but to do a work refusal.  In the words of the Health and Wellness person I have contacted:
"It sounds like you are working in a land mine with
explosions ready to happen at any minute and I don't know how you have
done it!"

     I have the option of taking a stress leave and while that would help ME it wouldn't do anything about                      the classroom situation.  Unless a miracle happened.  So it looks like I need to bite the bullet and take a stand. I wish I didn't have to do it, being the introvert that I am I hate to have the spotlight shone on me but once in a while you have to go outside of your comfort zone to enable change to happen. 

So here goes....

17 comments:

  1. I do not envy you the work situation nor do I envy the tough decision you are going to have to make.  hugs

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  2. I wanted to send a pic to cheer you up, but I don't have your email address.  I think I did...?  Drop me a note at my contact email if you'd like a pic or two sent over.

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  3. Were we not supposed to read the last part?  Oh Jane, do what you have to to make sure YOU are safe. That is THE most important thing!

    Sorry to hear about the cut hours for Michael...but pretty soon you will both be at PEI enjoying the summer!!  That's definitely a good thing!

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  4. The good is really good, the bad aint so bad, you are allowed to splurge now and again. And the ugly yes well if I were you I would have to stand my ground about my safety. You want to be healthy when you hit that retirement date....

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  5. Your good and bad sound perfect to me. We all have to wear clothes and have things around our home, the ugly..oh my!! Prayers for you that things will work out for your safty and that of the classroom, what a shame that the powers that be can't see the danger you are all in.

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  6. Glad to see you're alive & kicking! ;) You know how the song goes, "you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and then you get the facts of life!" ;) As for work, count down the days Jane!!

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  7. Can't read the end of your post, it's whited out.

    Just keep dreaming of PEI and retirement. Keep your eyes on the prize my dear. The rest is not important.

    Sft x

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  8. Sorry about the work situation, but just remember it is almost the end of the year.  You can do this.

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  9. Good luck with work Jane! Just think you'll be spending 60 odd days in PEI very soon!

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  10. Keep counting down. Love the pic of you sitting on the tree stump....now if only I could sit cross legged and be able to get back up lol!!

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  11. oh dear, hang in there Jane and stick to your guns.  If it means everyone will be safer than it will be well worth it.  Zellers is becoming a Target here too.  yah! (well for me anyway, I much prefer Target)

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  12. good luck to you Jane - I hate making waves too but you're in a dangerous place with all that violence and potential violence

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  13. All this good sounded so good, until I got to the ugly. I'm so sorry about your work situation. Be careful out there!  It sounds scary!

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  14. I'm sorry about all of the ugly in your life. You are a wonderful soul and are going to pull through this one way or another. You will find a gracious solution. You always do.
    I will keep you in my prayers and send a few good vibes your way. It seems my list is growing. Maybe something is in the water! 

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  15. Thanks Lena, I'm going to take a little break from school, hopefully that will settle the nerves.

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  16. When it starts to become the everyday normal course of events it's time to take a stand, which i did, today.

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  17. Thanks SonyaAnn - I need all the positive vibes I can get. I am taking a stress leave so hopefully that will help.

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Thank you for your comment - it means a lot to me that you read my post and are leaving a comment - you just made my day!