May 16, 2014

Partner in Crime

In my company every store has a department manager and an assistant department manager for each of the departments. When I was an assistant I was incredibly fortunate to have a fantastic boss. She treated me like an equal and I always felt like we truly ran our department together. Not only that, but she taught me tons about the day-to-day running of the department as well as the "big picture" stuff. Plus, she was my best friend. We spent close to 40 hours a week together. When I got my promotion and got transferred my feelings were very mixed. I was excited, I felt like I had been waiting forever. But I knew I would miss her. We just had such a great relationship.

I wanted that kind of relationship with my own assistant. I wanted us to run the department together. I wanted her to learn from me, but I wanted to learn from her too. I wanted us to go out for lunch and get together outside of work. I wanted a partner I could trust, someone I could rely on.

I lucked out.

My second is fantastic.
Perfect? No.
Was I? Definitely not!
(Am I now? Still no.)

I am so fortunate to work with someone who is so passionate and cares so much. Melissa has been dealing with some health issues but that hasn't let that stop her. I know that I don't have to worry on my day off, that she's got everything under control. I also know that if something crazy happens she's going to call me or text me to let me know. I love the partnership we have and I am thankful for it every day.


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May 15, 2014

Throwback Thursday Stories: Before it was our Anniversary

http://www.themomcreative.com/

I thought that I would link up with Jessica from The Mom Creative for #TBTstories today. I love this idea! It's so much more fun to share the story that goes along with your "throw back" picture.


The quality of this picture is terrible, I know. I stole it from Facebook to do this link-up. Somewhere buried in a box I have a physical copy but I couldn't be bothered to go on a hunt for it today.

This picture was taken on July 25th, 2006 at the Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct and it's one of my favourite pictures of J and I. Partly because it's a nice shot, and the beach looks beautiful, and partly because it reminds me of one of our favourite day trips. It was also one of the first times we balanced my camera on a large rock and tried out the self-timer. :-) And, strangely enough, three years later J and I were married on July 25th.

When J and I were dating we were all about day trips and wandering around our beautiful province. The Adjunct was somewhere I had been as a kid, but hadn't been to in years. It is absolutely breath-taking. I would say it's easily one of the most beautiful locations in Nova Scotia. It's about a 4.5km hike from the parking lot to the beach, and not a super easy hike. I tend to be a bit on the lazy side, but the hike was well worth it to me. We still talk about the amazing time we had that day, and J still makes fun of me for being scared of the porcupine that crossed our path. (I thought for sure he was going to shot his quills at me!)
 
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May 14, 2014

My New Obsession

I have a confession.

I have really developed an obsession. With my blog.

J called earlier to see what I was up to, and when he was met by silence his reply was, "Never mind. It's bloggy stuff, isn't it?"

It is one of the first things I think about when I get up, and one of the last things I think about when I'm going to bed. I'm at work and I'm thinking about future blog posts. Is this normal? Is it just because it's new and shiny?

Today was my first day off in a week and I had lots of plans to get some housework done, some spring cleaning, and spending some quality time with Daisy. Daisy did get an extra walk, and I managed to do two loads of laundry, but other than that my entire day was spent on the laptop. Is that sad or what?

I'm really hoping someone will tell me I'm normal, instead of crazy, but I'm pretty confident that anybody who's reading this is saying to themselves that I'm weird. And sort of sad. And that they probably don't need to come back to this blog again.

Please don't be scared away by this post! I promise I'm almost normal!

Did your blog take a lot of your time when you were getting started? Does it still?


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My Favourites

I thought that I would take a minute today to share some of my favourite blogs with you. Some of these ladies I have known for years, others I just discovered very recently. I've been reading a lot of blogs lately as I try to figure out what exactly I want my blog to be, and I just realized I'm now following over 100 blogs on Bloglovin'. I'm definitely not going to tell you about every single blog I read, but I thought I'd pick a few that I really enjoy.

Margaret (aka Sidny) @ Feels Like Home;

First of all, Margaret will always be Sidny to me but that's a long story that you probably don't need to know. We go way back. When I had my own domain I hosted her personal site along with a fan site for a country singer named Memarie. Now we're both blogging again and I love it. Margaret blogs about her life with her pups and her room mate and about her weight loss journey. She's very friendly and open and I definitely think you should check out her blog.

Brittany @ A Coffee Break with Brittany;

I had to include the picture of Brittany & I
with Ryan Malcolm!
Brittany and I met years ago through a Ryan Malcom forum. (Ryan won the first season of Canadian Idol, many years ago!) She actually only lives a few hours away from where I live and we recently saw the Backstreet Boys together in concert. Brittany is a fountain of information when it comes to fashion and beauty products, she also blogs about recipes she's tried and her life in general. She's very laid-back and very open on her blog.

Melanie @ Mellie Anne;
Melanie is someone else I've known since my previous adventures in blogging. She posts about recipes, beauty, music, her life in Philly and her adorable cat, Charlie. She's also super talented and if you're looking for a customer blog design for either WordPress or Blogger you should definitely check her out @ Adorability Designs.

Lauren @ Another Mom Another Blog;
Lauren's blog is a recent find. I connected with Lauren initially because she lives in Colorado and is a big Avalanche fan, like my husband. I've continued reading her blog because I find it so honest and open.

Jenni @ Flying on a Rainbow;
Jenni is another blogger I find to be very real. She's currently undergoing IVF and has been sharing her story. As someone who's struggling to come to terms with the idea of infertility and what it means to me I'm impressed by her willingness to put it all out there.

I think five is enough for today, maybe next month I'll share another five of my favourites! Enjoy your Wednesday. :-)


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May 13, 2014

Weekend Update

I know it's Tuesday, and I probably should have posted yesterday if I was going to do a weekend update, but yesterday was my birthday so I figure 1) yesterday still counts as the weekend and 2) it's really not actually that big of a deal. ;-)

I ended up working all weekend. Usually I take my birthday off (the past couple years I've actually taken a week of vacation) but it was my weekend on our department manager rotation and it just seemed like a lot of effort to try and get someone to trade with me. That didn't enjoy my birthday weekend though.

Saturday was a pretty normal day at work except for the hour or so I spent dressed as a giant carrot roaming around downtown handing out flyers. May 16th is Food Revolution Day and my company is participating. We're having a bunch of demos and stuff that day and we wanted people to know about it. So we borrowed some costumes and off we went. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the greatest so there weren't actually that many people out and about. It was still nice to get out of the store for a bit and do something a little different.

After we got back to the store I went for an early birthday lunch with Melissa (my second, and the apple with me in the picture) and Justine, one of the other department managers. I've been trying to eat healthy lately, but decided to throw that all out the window for my birthday. I hadn't been to Darrell's in a month (that's a long time for me!) so we headed there. I contemplated a peanut butter burger but ended up with my usual wrap and Darrell's fries. (If you live in the Halifax area and haven't been to Darrell's I definitely recommend it!)

Saturday night a friend surprised me with a ticket to a fancy dinner she was attending through work. The food was amazing (we had duck!), the company was great, and I loved getting to dress up. I didn't love not getting home until after midnight and having to be at work for 8am. That is not nearly enough sleep for this girl! J was pretty disappointed too, that I had worked all day and then was going out without him that night. He survived though, and we're both off for the entire long weekend so we have that to look forward to.

I didn't do a whole lot on Sunday other than working. It was a long day because I was so tired, so when I came home I basically crashed.

Yesterday was my actual birthday. And I think I was more disappointed than I realized to have been working. I have some pretty adorable staff though. I came out of my morning meeting and found a treat waiting for me in my office. My staff are trying to help me give up pop, but apparently I looked like I could use one yesterday.

Last night was probably the best part of my birthday. I think I've mentioned before that I still hang out with my girl friends from high school and that we don't get to spend nearly enough time together. Well, the three of us all managed to be free last night so we we met up for dinner and martinis. We're all in such different places, with different careers and different relationships but that doesn't seem to matter. We spent a couple hours chatting and laughing and by the time I was heading home my day at work was a distant memory.

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

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