the expanded version...

[bad day rant] :(

Thank you to the Hubby for buying me my favorite cake after having a bad day :)

You ever have one of those days?

I woke up late which is good because I haven't been feeling the greatest all week. I had some breathing/athsma issues earlier this week that are still working themselves out so I thought taking the day off would serve me well. I knew there was coverage and let people know about it yesterday. Hell, I even asked if it was ok! So I did, I actually took a sick day. Well that didn't go as well as I wanted it to. Instead of relaxing and resting up, I felt guilty about taking time off (even though I never do). 

That ruined my day.

I was grumpy, still extremely worn down, stressed out and depressed. 

Great.

Everyone knows a pregnant woman is a raging hormone factory right? Making a pregnant woman feel guilty about something will be about a million times worse than you think it will make someone feel. GAH! I'm trying to chalk it up to the fact that I'm taking things to personally lately...but it's really hard not to. I feel like I'm working my ass off for nothing. It's a constant struggle...I feel like no matter what I do, it's never good enough. If I give 110%, I should be giving 115%. 

But I just can't. 

I can't physically do it anymore. This little bun in my oven takes alot of my energy and even more so that I'm in my last trimester. I come home from work and it takes all of me not to fall asleep on the car ride home now. Not to mention that the commute to and from work has more than doubled too.Thank goodness for a very patient husband who has been tending to my every whim.

[end rant]

nuff said.

Whoa... Starting to feel it now.

By the end of the day, I feel like the Fat guy...

So I thought this whole pregnancy was going great until this past week. I started at KP this week and I don't know if it's the flooring, the fact that I can't sit as much as I did at Portage or the pregnancy but I ache to no end. In reality it's probably a good combination of everything. But wow, I'm sore. I guess it could be worse right?  There are so many complications that could have happened but haven't so I guess I should consider myself lucky, which I do.  I have 5 more weeks before vacation and mat leave... so close yet so far!

27 weeks now and counting.

Happy Jets-giving/Turkey day!

One of my favorite things on Earth right now... Ube Macopuno Roll cake. Thank you to Tita Dory for bringing it!

Today was a fantastic day in Winnipeg :) The JETS are back and they played their first home game against the Habs today :) And no, we didn't win but there was something special about the day anyhow. The positive vibe downtown (HUGE sales at the store), the buzz anywhere in the city, the constant flow of Jets Merchandise on Everyone and Everything! Just great :)

It was only our first game and you know what? True fans still stick by their team even when the chips are down! We still got a whole season to go and the boys did play a good game. We'll see who's in the playoffs this year..That's right folks! I'm calling it! The jets are making it to the Cup!!

Today was also Thanksgiving! We had 2, yes 2 thanksgiving dinners to attend today..whoa. That's alot of food! First was dinner at Racheal and Chris' and we were doing the turkey! So today was up at the crack of dawn and cooking. We made the turkey, mashed potatoes,gravy,cranberry sauce, tsimmis ( a sweet potato and carrot casserole) and 2 apple cranberry crisps. ( I had to have another one to bring to the other function) So yes, up at 8, breakfast at 9, turkey in at 1130, Charlie peeling veggies and fruit for 2 hours and me assembling and cooking for hours! That took us right till 6 and down the elevator we went (they live on the fourth floor). And wow did we eat... Im still reeling from it and it's 6hours later! then at about 9, we drove Esther and Eli home and took Apple Crisp #2 to tita libs. We got there and they were already in full tongits swing. Of course we goT the offer to eat more but I just couldn't.. waaaaay too much food earlier. I did notice my favorite thing ever sitting on the table... Ube Macopuno roll cake (pictured above) .. Oh god, I crave it often. and it was the good kind too! The one with super silky buttery icing. Oh so good... I had to take a big piece home with me! We did dive into it a bit already but We'll save the rest for tomorrow. Im excited for leftovers tomorrow and doing a whole lot of nothing!

So thats it, thats all. I am done! Too much itis and need to lay down and pass out! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

-remember that thanksgiving just doesn't have to come once a year, it should last all year long! Tell the ones you love that you love them often! 

All you need is love... with a goodbye and a few tears.

I found this movie on Netflix today and forgot how much I loved it.

...and it's true all you need is love.

It's been a rough few weeks I must say. Mostly work related stresses but I think I came out of it relatively unscathed. In 2 weeks we flipped the store ( a HUGE ordeal, painstaking and extremely labour intensive), set up a sidewalk sale, trained a new full timer, trained a new part timer, said goodbye to my right hand man (he got a real job and I'm SOO proud of him) and did a res run. Wow. It was stressful and exhausting. I was almost at the point of cracking and so were alot of my staff. It really did take a toll on the staff (a few were ready to quit because of the workload, it was that insane) but I realized how hard they will work for you if you work just as hard beside them. They are such a hardworking bunch that all truly care about each other and the store. I have a great group of kids that I am forever thankful for... which made it even harder to leave them today.

Yes, today was my last day at Portage Place. I tried not to make it a big deal, I just kinda let it sneak up on me and the staff. I didn't want to make it a big deal because I know if I did, I'd be in tears the whole time.  It was a short day for me because I took back some of the overtime I worked last week, even better because I haven't been feeling so hot lately.  We worked hard and the time went by so quickly that my shift felt like nothing. Before the guys got there I wrote a note to my staff telling my staff how much I loved them and was so proud of them. I basically left it on the counter and tried to leave as quick as possible, no tears right?!? 

WRONG! Of course Phil has to be the first one to hug me and not let go...jerk, I started tearing right there. Then came Justin, I told him how proud of him I was and he turned red, cute. Then my newbie full timer, Junior. That kid is only 2 weeks into this full time position and I'm convinced that he'll be running a store in no time. It will be good to have him work with Roger, he'll be able to learn so much from him. And then of course I couldn't leave without seeing my copy cat Chris De Monye.  De Monye is a security guard there and he's been there just as long as I have. Funny thing with him is that everything I did he would do shortly after. I got engaged, so did he. I had a social, so did he a few months later. I got married at Bridges and a few moths later so did he. Now were expecting a baby boy on January 11th, he and his wife are due on the 16th.  Crazy huh? Oh wait, we both decided to name our boys Jacob. Funny enough we both are naming our children after a grandfather too. He made sure he got to say goodbye before I left. I'm leaving by a fantastic group of people at Portage Place but I'm leaving them in Roger's capable hands. I'm glad that he has the chance to run a store again, he deserves it.

I am extremely proud the staff at Portage Place. I feel like I have grown up with all of you. Many of you have or will be moving on to bigger and better things. I'm glad I got to be part of your lives for that small time. We've been through so much together. So many good times and even some bad patches but we all came out it better, stronger and together as a team. I couldn't ask for more than that in a work family :) Thank you for always going that extra mile for me, working your asses off, making me laugh and not letting me take things too seriously. You are all amazing individuals that are going to be something great in this life time. I stand by the fact that I only hire the best because all of you are.

I start a Kildonan Place on Tuesday, for 6 weeks, then 3 weeks of holidays, then maternity leave and MOTHERHOOD! Oh its been such a whirlwind already...

 but as Jay-Z said 

On to the next one...