Has it really been almost a year since my last post?!?

WOW! I finally am able to sign into this blog again! After Google took over Blogger, I couldn't access my blog account for the longest time! Recently I was able to sign into my good friend Burfica's blog to post comments, so I thought I'd try one last time before giving up permanently. Whaddya know, it works again! WHOO HOO!

Many things have happened since I last posted here in May of 2006! The main thing is that my employment contract seems to have run its course. The company hasn't told me right out that my contract is done, but they haven't contacted me since July 2006, so I'm thinking I'm finished there. That is disappointing since I really enjoyed working there, and the pay was nothing to complain about either! I have found that having had a $22.00/hour contract has really hampered my job search efforts, though. Every company I have applied to seems to think that I either am demanding that same salary, or will "jump ship" back to that job at a moments notice, so won't give me any consideration at all. It's been really frustrating, to say the least!

I have been "Mr. Mom" most of the time since July, with a few "working breaks" at temp jobs during the fall. I am trying to find something I can do from home as my migraines have reached a point that a daily commute is almost out of the question. Since January of this year, I am practically bedridden every morning with these stupid headaches and rarely am able to get up before noon! That has also really hampered my job search as everyone in my town seems to think a 7:00 am start is "normal"! Whatever happened to the "9 - 5" thing?

One venture I have started is an online advertising campagn in the US. If you are a US Citizen, and are interested in getting Satellite TV service, go to http://www.mydishonline.com/16205 and check out these fantastic offers! I don't think you can get a better deal on SatTV anywhere! If you know of anyone in the US (sorry Canada, the CRTC (Canada's TV Big Brother) doesn't allow these two networks to be sold in our country!) who wants SatTV, do them a big favour and send them that link. I'd be eternally grateful if you did! ;-)

In other news...lol... we adopted a 7 year old Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) named Rebel in February this year. He certainly lives up to that name, I can tell you! I have never met a more stubborn canine, I swear! When he isn't trying to see how many of my buttons he can push with his attitude, he is a really cute little fellow who loves to follow us around the house. We think he was pretty much abandoned in a kennel for his entire first year, so that may be the reason for his inability to "play" like a normal dog. He has this very weird fear of balls and we've actually been trying to teach him how to chew on a bone! His favourite game is to growl and bark (while wagging his tail furiously) and try to "bite" our wrists. He is very gentle, but his sharp little teeth can leave some very sore marks! LOL! I also found out that this little (he's only 12 pounds and stands a total of 20" at the tips of his ears) dog can jump about 4 feet straight up into the air when he wants to, so I can't wait for summer to try some agility training with him. I'm also hoping to be able to teach him to "Fetch" this summer with a Frisbee, but I don't have too much hope of that. There's only so many new tricks you can teach an old dog! LOL!

My oldest daughter became one of those "dreaded teenagers" in January, but so far, things haven't changed too much. She still hasn't fallen victim to the "fashion hell" most of her peers have, which is a huge relief for me! It really bothers me to see 10-14 yr old girls dressing like hookers! "J" hasn't the slightest interest in following fashion and is perfectly happy to let her mom (and grandmothers) pick out her clothing! She would rather read a good fantasy novel, play video games or talk my ear off than chase boys or try on make-up and whatever else young teenaged girls do at this age. She has had one 'boyfriend" so far this year, but it seems to be a harmless infatuation on his part, rather than a serious "relationship". She seems to be following in her dad's footsteps in that regard. WHEW! I asked my first girl out when I was 17. In a school assignment this year, J was asked who her best friend was. I was very surprised at her answer! ME! I really hope this closeness we have continues! I'm sure it will make these "Terrible Teens" much easier to deal with!

One other bit of news from this year: I found an online community which is a lot of fun. It's called IMVU and it's a 3-D chat program. You get to build an avatar for yourself and meet people in rooms where you can interact as well as chat. I've met a lot of really neat people from all over the world there and some of them have become very good friends! If you are the creative type, you can become a "Developer" and create clothing items, rooms, furniture and other products to sell to other members! If you are interested in checking it out (it's free to join) send me a message and I'll send you the referral link.

Well, that's all I can think of to post at this time, so I'll close out with this which I found on Burfica's blog Don't Eat the Tomatoes . I decided to try it too.

YOUR REAL NAME: Steve

YOUR GANGSTA NAME (1st 4 letters + izzle): Stevizzle (ooooookay!)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fave color + fave animal): Black Dog (this one is cool, heh heh)

SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name + childhood street): Wayne Belvedere (this one actually sounds real)

YOUR STAR WARS NAME (last 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of your first name + first 3 letters of mom's maiden name): Ndtstkno (ummmmm.... try pronouncing THAT one! LOL!)

YOUR SUPER HERO NAME (2nd fave color + fave drink): Blue Coke (what kind of powers would a guy with THIS name have?? lmao!)

YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name + 3rd letter of your last name + any letter of your middle name + 2nd letter of your mom's maiden name + 3rd letter of your dad's middle name + 1st letter of a siblings first name + last letter of your mom's middle name): Tlanyde (sounds more Celtic than Iraqi! LOL!)

YOUR GOTH NAME (black + name of one of your pets): Black Rebel (yeah, right)

YOUR AMERICAN IDOL NAME (fave car + fave seafood): Cobra Lobster (???)

NAME OF YOUR DREAM BAND (name of computer + printer): Custom Epson (how many ____ Epson bands can there be?)

MOVIE STAR NAME (siblings middle name + mother in laws maiden name): Craig Shirley (doesn't sound much like an action hero, does he?)

YOUR ALTER EGO NAME (name of one of your childhood pets + popular brand of clothes when you were young): Tauser Adidas (Tauser was actually my grandfather's dog, since I didn't have any pets as a kid)

YOUR LAWYER NAME (fave actors last name + fave hard liquor): (Don't drink alcohol, so can't do this one)

YOUR HIP HOP NAME (fave candy + fave fruit): Lindt Strawberry (this is just too weird! LOL!)


That was strange, yet fun! LOL! Go ahead, try it yourself.... I dare ya!