The big announcement...

So, I figured it was about time I made the big news public on the internet...we're having a baby! Yes that's right, I'm pregnant. Baby Wiersma is due September 16, 2007, so I'm about three months along right now. I've been sick as a dog, on medication, throwing up every morning the whole bit...not a whole lot of fun so far. But it's starting to go away, and I have high hopes that the second trimester will show me that pregnancy can be a good experience.

So for our friends who haven't heard yet, now you know. I'm sorry we weren't able to tell you in person...sometimes life gets busy and the people you think you'll see more often you don't. Weird how that is.

Other than that, not much else to say. Today is the first day of spring. Hurray! I look forward with much anticipation to the day when I can put my winter coat back into the closet and say, hello umbrella, bring on the rain! Yes, I'm weird. Chalk it up to pregnancy brain. I love having that for an excuse right now...phooey to you if you think it's a lame one. I'm gonna go now, before I say more dumb things...

Too much winter

So, it was obviously time for me to update again. And seeing as how I've gone and locked myself out of the house...(long story, but my sister has my keys and both she and Tim are working late tonight)...so I'm hanging out at Laura's house for now until Jon comes home from work and brings the keys I asked him to pick up from Tim. I'm a bonehead.

anyway, my boneheadedness has allowed me some spare time with which I figured might be a good time to get some blogging in, and after waiting for quite some time for my sister's unusually slow internet to get to the right page, I am here to type something...(maybe I'm spoiled by our internet at home, but I have not had to deal with such slowness since my days at Redeemer). Internet speed aside, I should be thankful I have access to this computer to even have something to fill my time with.

Life has been surprisingly busy lately. Many new and interesting things are happening to me lately, some of you know what they are, others of you are yet waiting to hear details, which hopefully I can pass on at some point in the near future...sooner rather than later. Tim and I did some work for Artech (a productions company we freelance for) this weekend at MissionFest Toronto. It was a long and draining weekend to say the least...crazy hours combined with moderately physical labour makes for some very exhausted people. But it was still a good time. It really helps that we get along great with the whole crew, and the work ends up being a lot of fun because of all the laughing we do.

Work continues on same as usual. We've slowly adjusted to the fact that we work for a completely new organization, and the procedural glitches that come along with such a change are gradually becoming less and less of something to stress over and more of a "oh well shit happens" kind of thing. Staffing shortages continue to be a problem, and it seems I'll be taking on a couple of evening shifts starting next week...not such a bad thing so that I can get convention work done in the mornings, and maybe just maybe catch up on that huge pile of dishes we can never seem to get through.

Speaking of convention, plans continue to move along as we get closer and closer to the date. We've got two months to go, and I'm slowly finalizing contracts with various universities and other organizations that are sponsoring us this year. There are days when I seriously think that if convention is ever going to go anywhere they're going to need to start having paid positions, especially for a job as huge as Sponsorship and Donations. Of course, getting charitable status first would be a huge help, but one step at a time I guess.

well, Jon is going to be here shortly with house keys, so I will sign off for now. Enjoy the update while it lasts, because knowing me it could be a while before I get around to this again...so long as I remember to get my keys from Laura soon. :)

Quick update...

So I figured I should update since I haven't in a while, and it looks like today has been an updating sort of day for other members of my family. I don't really have much to say, and my kitchen is freezing so I'm going to keep this short.

Work is same old same old. I think I'm finally over the cold I had for a couple of weeks there...not so much fun at all. I believe the drop in temperature may finally be killing off some of the many bugs that seem to be flying around. However, I still hate winter and even though it's still only January (almost February) I am longing for summer and already feeling cabin-feverish.

So really nothing major to report...but I figured I would post anyway, because I know some people actually do read my blog and like to see something new once in a while. I can relate. I like seeing new things on blogs that I read too.

Until next time...maybe when the kitchen isn't so cold...

Of concrete poles and singed fur

I determined that since the new year has come and gone, it was about time for me to update. Various things have occured since I last wrote, including and not limited to car crashes and further bouts of illness, as well as the usual round of family gatherings and turkeys for the holidays. Yes, you read that right. Car crashes. I had the unfortunate experience of being in my first car accident between Christmas and New Years. Double unfortunate, I was making a left turn and even though the other guy ran the red light, no witnesses bothered to stick around to prove it, and therefore according to the laws of insurance in Ontario, I am automatically at fault. Triple unfortunate, we didn't have collision in our policy, so we had to pay out of our pocket for a new car. *sigh* I try not to think about it too much.

Tim has the evening shift tonight, so I'm home alone catching up on blogs and trying to keep our cat from catching itself on fire on our gas stove. I'm not sure why, but she seems to think it's absolutely fascinating to watch pots of water start to boil. I don't think she quite understands the concept of open flames and fur not being a particularly brilliant combination.

This past weekend was a good one. My parents and sister Justine came down to visit so Laura and I could have a chance to see her again before she goes back to Dordt. Much fun was had playing Settlers of Catan and walking to pubs in Hess Village...there's a great story involving a concrete pole jumping out of no where into the middle of the sidewalk, but that's something you'll have to hear directly from the parties involved. ;)

Work continues to be hectic now that the official restructuring has taken place. I no longer work for the CCAC of Halton but the Mississauga Halton CCAC. They finally moved the printer off of my desk which is a decided improvement. But there are still many policies and procedures that need to be worked out, and the general stress level is rather high at this point.

anyway, I'm going to get back to my KD, maybe get some dishes and laundry done tonight, watch some tv...generally veg out...

"...and found Him, as always, there."

Well, I thought when I'd signed in to Blogger tonight that it was going to be a simple matter of an update and perhaps a tiny bit of introspection, quick and easy. I've now been sitting here for about half an hour and I am still having some difficulty figuring out exactly what I want to say. Life has been continuing on relatively normally for the past couple of days...finally! I went back to work last week Thursday, just in time for a major re-organization of our building. Due to the restructuring of the CCAC's they decided to arrange our office layout in a way that would clearly define the boundary lines between our soon to be two new CCACs. Unfortunately, this means that I now have a desk right by the elevator and the fax/coat room, a very noisy, high-traffic area further complicated by the presence of a printer on my desk that has yet to be moved. Supposedly that is scheduled to happen sometime this week. I have, however, found a benefit to this printer: it has a fan that blows out hot air for when my hands are cold, and it is kind of nice not to have to get up from my chair everytime I print something. (This does not quite make up for it's noisiness though.)

Ah, the water for my tea has just finished boiling. I finally finished the last bag of President's Choice brand Earl Grey that I've had in the house for over a year now, and we splurged this weekend and picked up a box of Twinings. Mmmm...there's something to be said for spending the money on a good quality tea. We also picked up our holiday turkey. I'm not sure yet which holiday we'll use it for, but more than likely it will probably be closer to New Year's than Christmas.

I am generally starting to feel more like myself again. Still very tired, and I'm thinking that sometime mid-January I may book a couple of days off-work to just be at home and rest without actually being sick at the same time. We'll see what happens.

Anyway, I'm about to head off and get some dishes done. To explain the title of this blog, I've waited until now to choose one, and found this on a page of C.S Lewis quotes. The page has the full quote as follows: "You have gone into the Temple...and found Him, as always, there." Apparently taken from a letter "To a Lady"...I think I should like to read the whole letter. Maybe then I can explain why I picked this quote for my title. I've always like C.S. Lewis' writing, and I think I would like to give my brain some exercise and maybe pick up a few of his books to read over the holidays.

Well, off to my dishes...

So about that mono...

Well, it turns out I don't have mono. But it's not the flu, or strep throat, and I'm not anemic. The doctor said he doesn't know what it is, but probably some sort of infection that should go away in a couple of days, or maybe even up to six weeks. Six weeks! I'm really hoping it doesn't take that long. But I am off work again today, even though I was hoping to go back. I'm still very exhausted and not completely functioning normally, so Tim decided I should have one more day to try and get back on my feet. Truth be told my brain is so fuzzy right now I don't think I'd be able to focus at work even if I wanted to.

And so, dear Reader, I ask for your help. I am in need of some prayers at this point. Pray that I get over this virus/infection thing and get my energy back. Pray that I'll be able to cope with all the changes that are happening in my life/have happened ie. moving, being sick, reorganization at work, among other things... Most of all, pray that I continue to rely on God's strength to get me through each day, that I will feel His presence now more than ever, and that I never lose sight of that precious gift He gave us, salvation through His son Jesus Christ.

And on the bright side, I don't have mono...

So about that flu...

Well, it turns out I don't have the flu. I have mono, at least that's what the doctor thinks. Still waiting to hear back sometime today for confirmation on the blood tests, but at this point it's not the flu and I don't have strep throat. Yay for me. So, I've been off work since Friday, hoping to go back tomorrow, and generally getting very bored with the whole being sick thing. I long for life to go back to some semblance of normal.

In other news, my grandma went to the hospital over the weekend in extreme pain. I guess they found fractures in her spine, and now she's on morphine so if you could keep her in your prayers that would be good. We're not sure when they're planning to send her home and what will happen as far as if my grandpa can take care of her or not. It's just a wait and see at this point.

In still other news, Christmas is less than two weeks away! Hurray! This means lots of turkey, and good times with friends and family, and time off work, and Christmas carols, and happy times remembering that the reason we celebrate this holiday is because Jesus Christ our Saviour was born. In all the business of Christmas shopping and numerous Christmas gatherings, may we never forget the true meaning for our joy.

Broccoli Soup

I have determined that the best way to get out of having to take the flu shot without feeling guilty is to get sick. Yes. Believe it or not. If you don't like needles or just plain think flu immunization is a ridiculous idea, get the flu, and they won't make you get the shot. Personally, while I don't particularly enjoy being sick, I find this excuse has helped me a great deal, as our government has cleverly succeeded in making me feel obligated to get immunized just because I work in the health care system. Not that I'm actually getting anywhere near the clients who I might pass the disease on to...but that is apparently beside the point. So I am definitely appreciating the genius who decided when you're sick you should wait to have the shot.

Now that I've rambled on about that...I decided tonight to make cream of broccoli soup for supper. It was moderately good. I think it might have been better with more broccoli and less salt, although I couldn't decide if it was the salt the recipe said to add or the chicken broth that was the problem in that department. Either way, more broccoli would have been better. But for a first try, an acceptable success.

Not much else for news. Work is same old same old for both Tim and I. Christmas comes upon us much quicker than I or my wallet would like. But I look forward to those few days off we get to spend with family and friends enjoying good food and fun times.

Death to swallowing

Well, believe it or not, I'm actually updating from home this time. Unfortunately, the reason for this is because I'm on Day Three of being home from work sick with the nastiest bug I've experienced in quite a while. It all started with a slightly scratchy throat on Sunday morning which escalated to full-blown chills and a fever that night. The fever was gone by Monday afternoon, but left in its place the mother of all sore throats. I would not wish this on anyone. Everytime I swallow it feels like someone is stabbing my throat repeatedly with knives, leaving me with absolutely no desire to eat or even have a Halls to try to soothe it, as sucking on Halls would lead to more swallowing.

In case you're trying to figure out how Thursday is Day Three of being home sick, I went back to work on Wednesday because I thought I was feeling better, but having to talk to clients on the phone and other co-workers all day only succeeded in making my sore throat even more unbearable. Hence, Thursday is Day Three being off. I would really rather be at work than have my throat be this painful.

So, in addition to having some free time trying to recuperate, my husband and his friend Jon decided to take off tonight to do a consultation with some guy from a CRC out in Fruitland (?) about the church's sound system. It was actually Jon's brilliant plan that I update tonight while they're out...I was just planning to check my email and pay some bills. So thank him for that. Really, if they hadn't gone, I wasn't planning on getting access to the computer any time soon as Tim has managed to get a hold of some supposedly very excellent sound engineering software through work, and they are having entirely too much fun trying it out.

In other news, my parents are coming down tomorrow night to spend the night with us. That should be fun. I'm planning on meatloaf for supper. Hope it turns out.

Anyway, I think I'll head off now. Maybe I'll watch some tv...

Look I'm still posting!

It appears that my brilliant plan to type up blog posts while I'm bored at work was absolutely genius...look at how good I've been at keeping this thing up to date!

(The rest of this post was composed today while at work)

So this week managed to keep me busy at work only until Wednesday. By some bizarre quirk Monday ended up being probably the busiest day I have ever had in my new position here, and I’ve been sitting at this desk now since last May. Granted, we were short-staffed so I had twice the work as normal. But usually when that happens I’m just pleasantly busy, not completely swamped. I was actually complaining because I had too much work to do. Figure that one out. I probably should have kept my mouth shut because it looks like I’m going to be bored out of my tree for the rest of the week...all my case managers are going to be out of the office except for one.

The ups and downs are starting to level out into a generalized blah feeling. I think if I could only kick this constant fatigue I might be able to bring the “blah” up to a “mostly fine”. However, an earlier bed time does not seem to be helping that much and I haven’t figured out a way to make myself remember to take my multi-vitamins often enough for that to help either. The heat here in the office does not help during the day. I will not say too much on that subject though because usually I’m freezing, and I happen to appreciate the fact that for once we have sunshine.

As an aside, if anyone out there happens to hear of any good job openings, I am back to looking. My brilliant plan for not having to deal with the whole CCAC realignment was smashed a couple weeks ago along with several other hopes and dreams for the future, and now I’m back to looking for a job in any field other than health care, and preferably nowhere near any other government agency either. Not-for-profit I can handle, but I’m really tired of being unionized and even more tired of being frustrated with the lack of flexibility that comes with so many layers of red tape.

Enough complaining for today. We’ll just have to wait and see where life’s road leads...