When I last posted, it to mention that my oldest daughter had become engaged. Sad to report, but that is now not the case, and the relationship totally died. The man had a real problem with honesty. So. Kim has moved back home, because rent and tuition together are too much to handle. She brought her 2 small cats with her.

The war cries and hissing from the existing cat have finally stopped. It actually only took 2 weeks for him to settle and accept 2 new buddies, but all is now peaceful. However, the 2 new cats have a strong curiosity about the parrots, so they are being closely supervised. The squirt bottle is kept handy just in case I need to discourage any excessive curiosity. So far, so good.

I finally made a decision work-wise, and submitted a request to go casual at the Oshawa hospital. Between the 2 part-time jobs, I am doing way too many hours and something has to give.We'll see how long before the transfer can actually take place. It would be nice to actually get time for music again, like house filks and regular practice with Peggi and Ken. I DID manage to get the date cleared for Kethy Mar's house concert, YAY!!!! I can go!!!!

I hope all is well with everyone, see you in June at the concert!

We have  had our home turned into a very loud, dusty, chaotic mess this week, as old flooring was ripped up on the entire main level, and new hardwood flooring was installed. I'm SO happy that the floor is now finished, and looks beautiful. I now have the privledge today of moving household items back from the upstairs level, and putting them away where they belong. Plus, my oldest daughter is coming over today to check out possible wedding venues for next September. Then, I am in for 12 hour night shift tonight and tomorrow,. Monday and Tuesday I am off work, with NO PLANS at all. Sounds like heaven.
As predicted, the cat spent most of the week hiding under the bed inthe basement- he was not impressed with the floor installation process. The parrots were equally un-impressed, but are now back where they are comfortable. We were housing them in their smaller travel cages for the past few days, upstairs. Tramatic experience is now over.
In 2 weeks, we have  windows being replaced- more noise and dust, but for a much shorter time period.

Haven't posted in a few months. Life has been busy. I'm still juggling 2 part-time jobs that are adding up to more than 1 full time job with the amount of hours. Not complaining, mind you. Work in this economy is good.  But it does leave for very little free time. Housework definitely is suffering, and the practice time that Peggi, Ken and I have been trying to do has been lost, due to my schedule. Hopefully, a slow down is coming soon. It would be really good to get back into routine music with friends. More house filks would be lovely as well.

Speaking of music, FilKONtario was absolutely great as always. It is a pleasure and a privledge to help out the concom, and working with Jane and Dave at reg desk is always fun.  I heard some great music this year. Congrats to Phil for his CD release, and upcoming GOH appearance, so richly deserved. Heather Dale and Urban Tapestry were fantastic as GOH and Filk waif.  It was also great fun to see Suburban Travesty- I got the whole thing on video........

Family wise, things are changing. My oldest daughter, Kim, has recently announced her engagement to Zach. The wedding is set for next September, and they are planning a Celtic handfasting ceremony.  My youngest, Deanna, is off to Laurentian University in the fall for her music degree (she plays flute). She is also planning to get her concurrent education degree so she can teach. She  plans on taking the cat with her- just as well because he is a puppy cat and follows her everywhere. He would be lost without her.

We are getting into chaos week this week. Starting Tuesday, all of the flooring on the main floor of my home will be ripped up, and replaced with hardwood over the course of the week. Which means things everywhere, dust, noise, hysterical parrots, and cat locked in the basement where he will spent the week cowering under the bed. But by the end of the dust and noise, we will have beautiful floors, and will have purged a lot of things that we didn't need or use often.  I have a couple of night shifts inthe middle of the week as well, so sleep deprivation is headed my way . Again.  The good thing is that sleep deprivation and chaos usually mean an interesting state of mind in which to write a bit of music.

Did I mention that we have a mother and 5  baby racoons in our deck box outside? The cushions in the box will have to be tossed, but the babies are sooooooo cute. I am going to have animal control relocate them to a wooded area though, before they get to the point of deck destruction.
 
Hope all is well with everyone. It was good to see you all at FKO.

Traveling is a very lovely thing to do. Husband and I, plus my dad and his friend have recently returned from a long-anticipated trip. In July 2007, we booked a transatlantic cruise for leaving late October 2008. The trip was nicer than I coulod imagine. After a long flight to Rome (which we did not get to see any of, regretfully), we boarded a new ship, the Carnival Splendor, for a 16 night cruise. We visited the ports of Barcelona, Palma di Mallorca, Malaga, Madeira, and St. Maartin in the Carribbean, finally docking in Fort Lauderdale. The European ports were beautiful beyond words. In Malaga, we saw a 14th century castle with an ancient roman ampitheatre at the base of it.  It makes you realize just how young our culture here in North America really is.

The ship was a bit glitzy in decor, but otherwise beautiful. It had a more mature crowd of passengers (i.e. a LOT of retirees) which meant some great entertainment. How does an opera singer one night and a violinist another night sound? Both good enough to knock your socks off. The food was good, I need to get back to watching the diet again, because I did NOT on the ship.

The only drawback to the trip was missing OVFF. I hope it was a great con for all those that went. Regretfully, I will be missing it next year as well, because we have booked passage on the Carnival Dream, which leaves late October from Rome to cross the Atlantic. She will be a brand new ship, and will be launched in late September 2009, and will hold a bit over 3000 passengers. Hopefully, my Dad will be joining us again. One of the nicest parts of the trip was to get to spend time with him, something I don't get to do near often enough. Shift work does have its drawbacks.

I'm happy to report that the birds behaved well at the boarder's place. They are now pleased to be home where they belong.  My house is noisy again, just as it should be.  

I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. The new job at Oshawa hospital has been busy, with more than full time hours and lots of last minute call-ins. However, the work will be slowing down, plus even more part-time nurses are being hired. So, I have managed to get a SECOND part-time job, this one now at Whitby Mental Health Centre. I will be working on one of the forensic floors, a minimum security unit. It is the last unit before they get to freedom, so they have a really strong incentive to behave themselves. A job with less excitement and aggression sounds wonderful. I start hospital orientation in early October. 
   
On the home front, I now have a partially bald parrot. Schatzi bird is feather plucking, and has stripped her breast of all feathers. She looks like a half plucked chicken. The vet did some bloodwork, and all is fine, so  it is just stress behavior (major hormines plus construction across the street.) So, we continue to love her just as she is.

The cat got stoned on catnip last week. He collected about 3 of his toys, sat on them, and hissed loudly at us if we tried to touch any of them. He resumed normal behavior when the catnip wore off.

The vacation that we booked LAST summer is coming up in a few weeks. (Transatlantic cruise on a brand new ship- the Carnival Splendor). Vacation has been approved with both of my new employers. After a year of anticipating, it will be great to finally get onboard. Added bonus- we have our flight info, and were lucky enough to get a direct flight to Rome, instead of having to change planes enroute. My Dad will be cruising with us, which makes the trip all the nicer. I don't get to spend nearly enough time with my Dad and my sister (who will be in Rome at the same time, doing some touring to promote her latest book. We won't get a chance to see her, I'm afraid.)

I hope all is well with everyone, and may the upcoming week be a good one for you.

The saga continues..........
My beloved EX-employer was to deposit my severance cheque directly into my rrsp, pre-tax. According to them, they sent it to the bank for this to be done. The bank apparantly cannot find the RRSP account, and told this to the financial people at the hospital. The bank is apparantly holding the cheque somewhere until they receive further direction. The financial people at hospital DID NOT get the name or extension number of the person who is holding the cheque. They DID get a 1-800 number for me to call to straighten this out. (For some reason, they cannot do this themselves.) The bank has been shifting me from one person to another. Some can find the account with no problem, some can't find it at all, None of them can find any record of a cheque. The hospital continues to insist that the bank has it, and they are not willing to cancel the original, and re-issue a new one. "Let's give it some time and see what happens" is what they told me today.  With each new person that I get shifted to, I have to explain the whole situation . I am not nearly as polite now as when I started making calls. Tomorrow, I shall sic on them the gentleman who manages my RRSP and investments, I don't think they will get away with shifting him around. Also, would be a shame to lose my reputation as a "polite" Canadian.
The incompetance of a supposedly trustworthy bank is truly amazing, as it is for the  financial department at the hospital. Somehow, I'm not surprised that the hospital is in debt to the tune of 80 million dollars.............

The urge to scream is getting almost overpowering. Did I mention that I am still in hospital orientation for my NEW job, and I am struggling with a whole lot of computer stuff that has me ready to pull my hair out ( although it is getting a bit easier).

Okay, ranting done. Deep breath, think pleasant thoughts............

Thanks for putting up with this note.

 Life is definitely good. I had lots of good music last weekend at Polaris convention, and I went to a house filk today, where more good music was played. Plus, time spent with friends is always good. Thanks, guys, for a great day.

I hauled the parrots to the vet yesterday for their well-birdie check-up. Quincey was predictably obscene and obnoxious, Schatzi was much more polite. The vet had to do bloodwork on her, because she is feather plucking and we want to make sure that there is no physical reason for it.  Poor girl presently is looking pretty bald on her chest- picture a  plucked chicken in appearance.

Tomorrow, a friend is coming over. We plan to go see "Mama Mia" at the theatre, and then go out for dinner. Should be fun.

For tonight, we'll see how much sleep will be had- our neighbors ( the adults) are out, and their teen daughter appears to be having a loud party. The last one she had broke up at about 0200 or so...............

Hope you all are having a great weekend.

I haven't posted for a while, although I have tried to keep up with reading the postings of others. The long expected lay-off finally hit, and my last day of employment at Rouge Valley was July 4. I started my NEW part-time job at  Oshawa on July 7. I will  be working on the same floor that laid me off 11 years ago. At least I will know some of the staff when I get to the floor. I am currently still in hospital orientation, and will be for another week or so. In the meantime, I am still actively looking for full time work in Whitby Psych hospital. preferably on a floor that does NOT deal with acute crisis patients.

Quincey parrot has been calling the wild cardinals into the yard, and having whistle conversations with them. We now have confused cardinals in our neighborhood.

Polaris convention on the weekend, should be fun. Plus a housefilk on the following weekend, life is good.

It has been a few weeks since I last posted anything. At that time, my co-workers and I had been informed of impending job lay-offs for our entire floor of nurses and support staff. Things since have been interesting. The public has gotten involved, there have been a lot of angry protests, I walked in a protest march to save our mental health beds and keep them from going to Scarborough Centenary site. Things have been delayed, and delayed. The threat of lay-off has been a constant presence , so we are all a touch stressed out. The latest is that we can expect the notices to come next week. I just want this whole nonsense done with, so I can move forward. I have had a couple job interviews, but have not heard back. I have another one coming up soon. , keep your fingers and toes crossed.
In the meantime., life goes on. Vacations happen. Like this weekend. Kent and i fly to Cuba on Monday, for a week at Veradero beach. A week of sun, books, waves and pina coladas sounds perfect right now. And if my notice gets delivered while I am away, then I will deal with it when I get home. ( Yes please, give me my separation package, I'm moving on to a less stressful phase of my life now.)
There is a house filk tomorrow. I am off work, but will have to miss it. I need to get the parrots packed up, and taken to the boarder for while we are away.  They can't stay at home in the custody of my daughters, because they won't behave for my daughters, and someone will end up getting bitten. Judy, who takes them for me, has a large macaw, so she can handle any bad behavior that they can dish out (and they are capable of a lot). I am also going to arrange for wings and toenails to be clipped again. I hope Judy has her earplugs handy, Quincey gets rather profane (in parrot screams).
Have a great time at the filk tomorrow, I will be with you in spirit, hopefull in body for the next one.

A staff meeting was held yesterday at work, and we were told that our entire staff was to be laid off. The hospital in its infinite wisdom, has decided to expand the mental health inpatient unit at Centenary site, and close down our unit. They feel they will save 1/2 million dollars a year by doing so. Myself, I don't see it. There will be the same number of beds, they will need the same number of staff to operate safely (this is mental health after all, there is violence that occurs in a routine basis). If they chose to operate on lower staff numbers, they will make an already unsafe work environment even more unsafe. Plus, they will have the costs to build a new 66 bed unit.  To add to the insult of the layoff, we have been informed that there will be jobs for us on the new unit, but that they will be open to everyone hospital wide to apply for, and we must interview all over again.  
The result of all this is a lot of unhappy, stressed out nurses at Ajax hospital. Did I mention that the government has just announced the creation of 1200 new nursing jobs over the next 3 years in Ontario? HAH!  
There is a silver lining to this dark cloud.  I can take early retirement in 5 years time. Plus, they will be offering some packages for staff who take retirement or voluntary exit packages. Since I have been there 10 years, it comes to a nice sum. If I invest it directly to my RRSP, I can deposit the entire amount PRE taxes.  When next year income tax rebate comes around, I will have a full year of university payment for my daughter given to me.  I can accept this. Plus., I have 4 weeks vacation time saved up- when the pink slips come out next week, I can say thanks, nice knowing you, please give me the nice package, I will take all my 4 weeks vacation time starting NOW and please consider this my 4 weeks notice. BYE-BYE! I have also dropped off a lot of resumes at Whitby Mental Health Centre this morning, for about 14 different openings, all of which I am very qualified for. I stand a good chance at getting something there in the near future. 
Considering that I have been increasingly stressed by the unsafe workplace where I am, this whole situation is now not looking so bad to me.  For some of my co-workeres whoare single or are single parents., it is not good. They are good people and don't deserve this.  Please think good thoughts their way, as I am. For me, something will work out, it 's just the shock of the whole thing that has hit hard.
Sorry for venting, thanks for putting up with it. 
FilKONtario very soon! Music and friends will make for a very good weekend!!

 I have now been tapped by janeg for the "7 things" meme, so here goes-

-I have an extensive knowledge of creative profanity, courtesy of 28 years of mental health nursing. Thankfully, I don't use the majority of it.

-I am a travel addict, and would love to see much more of the world than I have.

-I am NOT a good cook. I hate to cook, so have trained a daughter to cook instead. She likes to cook, I don't know where she got it from.........

-I prefer socializing with critters to socializing with large groups of people (filkers excepted), I'm not comfortable in many social situations, and will avoid them if possible. (How many Tie and Tail events or banquets do you see me at?)

-I have "SUCKER" stamped on my forehead (figuratively speaking) where animals are concverned- I take in unwanted or handicapped creatures. Current count is 2 African Grey parrots, 2 cockateils (one handicapped), 1 budgie, 1 chinchilla, 1 cat.

-I am NOT a morning person, mornings should be banned. That's why I work permanant night shift.

-I really dislike dealing with computerized telephone systems when I am calling for a service or for information ("Press 1 for this option, press 2 for that option") I would rather talk to a real person instead of deal witha machine. 

So, to pass this on, I would love to hear from janmagic, mvt, phillip2637, sal_utations, smoooom, pwl1 and kbeader, but only if you have time, I know life can be busy.

I haven't posted much lately, because there has been nothing remarkable going on, Work as usual, family doing well. birds and cat behaving nicely together. No death threats at work , which is a very nice thing. Come to think of it, very little swearing at work either- the patients have been well behaved as well.  I don't know why, but I'll take it.

Only not nice thing is a case of tennis elbow- and I don't even play tennis. The arm is kind of ouchily annoying, but
livable. Pain control patches from the drug store are wonderful things, they feel like a constant ice pack on the arm and make movement easier.  Lifting things is not great yet, but will gradually improve.

Las Vegas tomorrow!!!!!!!! I am so looking forward to this trip, just to have fun and sight see with a girlfriend. Last trip with a friend was back in college days, eons ago.  So this trip is long overdue. Tomorrow night  at around this time, I will be in Quark's restaurant at the Star Trek Experience.  I think I would be a disloyal fan if I didn't go there.

We will be at the Grand Canyon on Monday, and I am really looking forward to the experience. We will be leaving Vegas about midnight on Wednesday,  and  flying home overnight. Once home, I shall have to spend much time with some frantic parrots,  especially Quincey, who will believe that he has been deserted while I am away. He will survive, however. The rest of the family will be here to give many treats and cater to them. As any pet owner knows, the animals run the house, and our place is merely to serve them. 

Hope all is well with everyone. I will have a lot of LJ reading to catch up on when I return home. Be well!

 I watched the last half hour of the movie "Trekkies 2" on the Space channel last night. I didn't watch the whole film because I hadn't been all that impressed with the "Trekkies" film. To my total surprise, I saw Leslie Fish doing Banned From Argo! I also saw a brief interview clip with Kathleen Sloan  (shown with the end credits). I did a double take, thinking " She looks familiar- Hey, I know her!"  Neat! 

Today, my friend and I booked our trip to Las Vegas, for next month. We will be staying at the Flamingo hotel for 4 nights, then back home. Should be fun. I haven't taken a trip with a friend since college, many eons ago (conventions don't count). We also booked a day at the Grand Canyon, which means I need to learn how to use the camera properly- can't go the the Grand Canyon without a camera, I think it's illegal.

Back to work tomorrow night, I no longer sound like a total bullfrog, just a partial one now. The voice is gradually improving.

Hope all is well with everyone.

 Happy new year to all. I hope the next year is full of good health and happiness for you and your families.

New Year's Eve at work last night was blissfully quiet and uneventful, except for the coughing from the nursing station. I am now at home tonight instead of at work, because my voice now sounds like bullfrog croaking.  On a very positive note, this held off until well AFTER the recent house party, so music could be committed at that time.  In a few days, hopefully the voice will be back to normal. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed that the parrots do not choose to imitate bronchial distress  (it has been done before, resulting in a rush trip to the vet only to find out that a silly bird had faked me out. I now know better.)

Take care, be warm, enjoy the evil white stuff from the sky.

 I hope everyone has had a good holiday season. May your coming new year bring you peace, health, and many good things.

Our Christmas was quiet, but nice. I am now the proud owner of a replica of the One Ring, (jewelry quality), thanks to my husband.  

Yesterday was a gathering at the Hayman house. Good friends, good food, good music, AND a very cute cat. Many , many thanks to our hosts. I had fun. It was a great way to wind up 2007.

Tomorrow night (New Year's eve), I am back to work. I have had a lovely week off, time to get back to reality.  Most of the patients should be on overnight pass for the holiday, so I am hoping for a quiet night.   And even if things are busy with acute patients, I will still be getting time and a half pay. Isn't that a nice thought..........  

The coming year should be a good one. A friend from work and I are planning a few days in Las Vegas in February. I have never been there. I am NOT going there to gamble, just to see the sights. I will definitely be taking a camera for the Grand Canyon.  I will be missing OVFF this year, because I will be on an airplane to Rome, Italy. My husband and I have booked a cruise leaving from Rome, and making several European stops before crossing the Atlantic ocean and docking finally at Fort Lauderdale. 16 day cruise, sigh. I am REALLY looking forward to this. No cooking, no cleaning, no responsibility for 2 1/2 weeks.  Sounds wonderful.

Have a safe and fun New Year!

 The house filk yesterday was great fun. 13 of us braved the storm. There was good music, friends, a bit of chocolate and cats-  what more can anyone ask? (OK, maybe a parrot or two, but I don't think Sally's cats would agree. Neither would my birds.)
Anyhow, my thanks and appreciation to all those who attended and helped make the day a good one. Big thanks to Peggi and Ken for the ride there, much appreciated guys!

This afternoon, the Christmas tree finally went up, and is now decorated. We have a lot of ornaments that hold memories- things that the kids made when they were 4 or 5 years old, things I made as a child, trip mementos from past travels. The tree was up for 5 whole minutes before the cat discovered it, crawled behind it and started to chow down on the branches- all the while staring at us. He seemed to be taunting "Ha ha, can't get me, suckers!"

Kim ( my oldest) is having a Gilbert and Sullivan fest on dvd. The Mikado is presently running (Stratford version). I haven't played these in far too long. Great music, and timeless. 

Stay warm, be well, drive safe on the snow covered roads. And now to go shovel the driveway (again).

 I never did make it to my Dad's place last week, but had a lovely 6 nights off at home instead. The days off were nice. I did some reading, finished my holiday shopping, actually got to sleep at night (strange, little experienced concept), and spent lots of time with the household zoo.
Next weekend, there is a house filk in Whitby that I am actually off work for, so I can attend. Maybe I can get the tree up and decorated next weekend as well, much to the delight of the cat who will try to eat it again. 

For this weekend, I am back at work for the nights and sleeping throught the days. So far, the shifts have been going smoothly, not much bad behavior. The patients are being good as well.  May it continue that way, please............. 

It  has been a long week, but I now have the glorious prospect of 6 (count them - six!!) whole nights off to actually sleep. What a lovely thought. By the look of last night's shift, it is a good time to be off for a few shifts. Plus, with the snow storm moving in tonight, I am not needing to drive in it. Sigh- life is good. Tomorrow, I get to have the fun job of scrubbing cages for the assorted creatures that share my home. (Really not bad- all part of being a responsible pet owner.)

I have plans to go to Simcoe on Monday to visit my  Dad for a few days- we will see what the weather holds in store. I really don't like driving in the evil white stuff if I can avoid it. I do hope I can make it- my sister just got back from an overseas trip to Jordan to research a new book- it would be good to see her. 

Safe driving to all out there in the coming storm, be warm, be well.