Back from Canada parts 1 & 2

Back from Canada!!

Jambon and I just came back from our week in Ottawa. We had a great time up there. I was a little more adventurous with the different foods I tried. A little home made Greek the first night there, then a little Chinese...well more specifically the Egg Roll.. I will say that they are 100 times better in Canada. I even had my first real Sushi experience as well

As previously mentioned in the last few blog entries, Jambon and I planned on getting Married while we were up there, and while his parents were out there on their vacation.

Yeah, that didn't go as planned Not in the sense that either of us changed our minds... No, No... just another hoop to jump through.. obviously an unexpected hoop.
A piece of information that SHOULD be included on the website with some better details... instead of saying "If Divorced OUTSIDE of Canada, please call 1-800-blah blah... I did call in advanced and got an automated recording which was of no use for that matter. Not only did I call once but Twice!!! Seems that showing your Divorce decree is not good enough... but I needed to get a special form, fill it out, get my EX to sign off on it(WTF) and mail it to the minsitry in Canada, then wait the 6-8 weeks to process... BEFORE applying for a marriage license....*sigh*

So that was how our first day started... We racked our brains and tried to think of other solutions....We called the City Hall down here and seems there are no hoop to jump through... I have made arrangement with a Justice of the Peace and James and I are scheduled to get married this Sunday at 1pm His parents are willing to extend their vacation for a few days and are making the 7 hour drive to be here for the ceremony.

So we'll be heading out in a few minutes to Apply for the Marriage License....

To Be Continued.....

As I was mentioning in the last blog entry, James and I went to City Hall to apply for our marriage license. We already set the time and date with the Justice of the Peace... filled out the paperwork and then was told, Sorry we hold the license for 3 days, today being Wednesday, it won't be ready until Monday
So we had 2 options.... Plan B.. we simply change the date so it's after Monday or...Plan C... we go to the court house, ask the Judge/Magistrate to waive the 3 day waiting period and we may get charged a fee, or we may not get charged a fee.

We toyed with Plan C.. went to the court house..Asked a few questions and was told that the fee would be $195.00 and if we felt that we could not afford to pay that, we could fill out a Financial Statement.
Good God!! Is that really necessary?!? All that extra paperwork and paying out $195 just to shave off 1 day. In the end, we went with Plan B... I called the JP and asked if he was available for Monday... Luckily he was able to squeeze us in at 7pm

James's parents will be driving down Sunday evening and they want to take us out to dinner Monday night. We'll will be taking a rain check on our Honeymoon... My job being the way it is... and money being tight, We'll have plenty of time to plan for that

Once we are officially Married and we are Mr. & Mrs. Jambon James can apply to be my Sponsor, hopefully get approved and then I can apply to get my Permanent Resident Card... *sigh*
The government sure doesn't make things easy. But it's their game, their rules and we have to play by their standards in order to live our lives the way we want.
It's not just a simple process where I can move up there once we are married, and start looking for a job. No, no, that would almost be too simple and the government couldn't suck out the extra money from our pockets. The truth is, if I didn't have to work, I would have made the big move months ago! Guess I better start playing the lottery then

Anyhoo... That's all I have to share for now...I'll come back with the Wedding Update.

Weekly Wrap-up

Welcome Back,

This last week has been a little stressful... I started off last weekend with a job interview with our competitor. That looked promising and the last I had heard a few days ago, that company wanted to run an ad in the paper for 1 week just to see who else might apply, since they know my time is limited, and of course they want someone long term...

I was able to get a portion of the Parts Return done this week. I had a bit of help from the 2 other employees that stayed behind to help close the store. I was hoping to get a nice chunk of it done before I take some time off to go to Canada. That's not gonna happen

I was given some good news today about an hour before leaving work. Looks like I will be going back to my old store, starting Monday!!! The Big Ass return is no longer my problem. That is such a HUGE weight off of my shoulders!! I no longer have to worry about whether or not I have a job to come back too. No more job hunting!! BONUS!!! Sure I will be back working Saturdays again But I'll get Sundays and Mondays off!!
The only real con about going back to that store is that I won't be able to access the EF from work!!! I can only hope to maintain my Senior Status and make up for lost time during the weekend.
Then again If Jambon was able to get a proxy to work, I'm sure we can get passed that evil web blocker again Mwuahahaha!!

During the course of this week, I managed to write my Vows! I think it came out rather well, although I'm not 100% satisfied....Feels like it's missing a certain something...I've read it over a few times and I still get a little teary-eyed at the end. But I think I will add a bit more to it. I'd share what I have so far with you, but I don't want to ruin the surprise for Jambon I have no way of knowing who actually reads my blog...

As for this coming weekend, I'll be very very busy preparing for Jambon's arrival on Monday!!!! I have a "To Do" List all made out... I will be working at the other location and will have the flight tracker going @ 2:30 pm.
That's really a cool feature, for those of you who have never used it. I go to www.weathernetwork.com and on the left side you'll see the link for Flight Tracker, as long as you have the flight information or when/where/time you can watch the whole flight from beginning to end. Pretty cool,eh!

After doing this a few times, I know that once Jambon takes off from Toronto or Montreal, it's a race to see who gets to the airport first!
Me driving in my 2001 Saturn SL2 or the airplane he's flying in on lol. Hopefully he won't get hassled going through customs again. I expect that things should go smoothly.. He was told that he was not going to be allowed to enter the US until October.. which it is... This time he will have a return ticket... which he didn't have before.

Last time he arrived by plane in January 2008, he was held up in Montreal... he was delayed and missed his flight by 10 minutes I had my cell phone on me, but Jamb only had my home # I tracked his flight, watched it take off, left here to go pick him up, waited and waited, and waited... 4 hours went by and no James... Of course I'm worried and I found the pilot that was on his flight and he couldn't tell me anything... I was not a contact in case of an emergency, so all I was told was that I should go home and see if he left a message....*sigh* How aggrivating was that!
So an hour drive back home, seemed like forever... and sure enough I had 3 messages waiting... His first flight from Calgary to Montreal was delayed about 30 minutes. That flight arrives in Montreal & James was held up by customs, the flight wouldn't wait 10 minutes and they left with out him... So now he's in Montreal staying AND paying for a room that was totally unexpected. Never an offer to compensate him for causing him to miss his flight... Just booked him on the first flight for the next morning...GRRRRRR... Naturally it was nice to hear his voice, all the better knowing he was alright.

We live and learn, right.... We now know that a return ticket will save you lots of aggrivation going though customs... James now has my cell # and I am listed as a contact in case of emergency :P

Anyhoo, I've rambled on for far too long.... I'll be sure to report back with a few details from our Trip to Canada and our Wedding!!!


To be continued......

Mid Week Review...

Welcome Back,

I'm at work and things are at a stand still. I have finished pulling that parts that Chrysler will not take back, and have separated it into 3 piles. 1 for our Dodge store, 1 for our Chrysler store, and 1 for our Jeep store.
I tried to be as fair as possible while dividing the parts, so that no one is stuck with all of the discontinued garbage.
Yesterday, I managed to stay busy until noon, I went home for lunch, came back here and watched a few hours of TV on the Big Screen in what was the showroom :P Really, I'm waiting on the return tags to come in, then I'll have something productive to do for at least 1-2 weeks. But until that happens, there are 3 of us here sort of waiting around. I'm not complaining I'm happy to still be getting a paycheck.

Speaking of which, I still have yet to hear back from the 3 places I applied for... Kinda has me worried. Although, I have had a few offers, one from our competitor in New York! He called yesterday morning looking for a part for a Global Electric Motor (GEM). I had to tell him that I could no longer help him with those vehicles,and that we are closed. He was sad to hear that and said it was nice experience dealing with me and he asked what I had planned for work now. I let him know that things are up in the air a the moment, just taking things one day at a time. He then said that if I'm ever in the Albany, New York area to stop in and see him, he'd love to have me at his Honda Dealership!
I also received an offer from our competitor in Springfield, literally down the street from our Jeep store.. Yes the same store I declined being transferred too. I can just imagine that conversation, "Oh, by the way.. I declined to work in Springfield at our sister store because I didn't want to drive 40 minutes one way, especially with Winter coming.. BUT I will work for our competitor just down the street from there". :P
Well the drive there wasn't the only reason. There really isn't a spot for me there, I was told that they would make room *wink wink* which would put somebody else out of a job.

I'm trying not to worry too much, there is a lot going on this month.. I am looking forward to James making his way back down on the 20th Equally excited about our trip to Canada, meeting his family and getting Married on the 27th and spending a few weeks with him before he gets settled in Ottawa.
His parents are super supportive! As a wedding gift they are putting us up in a fancy shmancy Hotel, insisting we get Room Service and giving the "OK" to run up a tab. Oh, and they wanted to buy our rings too! How cool is that!?!

OH, on another note... I've been exchanging emails with my mother... Seems she's happy we are talking again and we are able to put are differences aside. Now she's trying to patch things up with my brother, more so now since she knows she's a grandmother. I'm doing my best not to get in the middle of this, it's their situation to sort out, if he'll allow it.
She's asked for his address and phone # to contact him and to say she's sorry... But I played stupid, but relayed the message along with her email address, so now the ball is in his court.
I did send her a few pictures of him and his family, she was happy to see those and agreed that her grandson looks so much like my brother did at that age.I've let her know what's going on in my life, with the job, the wedding... She hinted that it would be nice to meet James... Yeah, not sure I'm ready to do that just yet.... I myself have not seen her in 9 years and am just slowly easing her into my life. Just trying to keep the awkward moments to a minimum... if that makes sense?

Well I was just told that the Return Tags should be arriving tomorrow! BONUS!! This should work out nicely. My goal is to get as much done before the October 23rd... I'll worry about finding work after I get back from Canada

Well, I've rambled on for far too long.... As things develop, I'll keep you posted.

To Be Continued........

Random thoughts & nonsense...

Welcome Back,

Not much has changed since my last entry.

I still have a job...for now. This last week I was busy pulling all of the parts, chemicals, lubricants and anything else that Chrysler won't take back. I have to verify the quantity and set everything aside, as these parts are to be split amongst the 3 other Chrysler/Dodge stores.

Monday I will tackle all of the big heavy parts like the bed liners, tonneau covers, and side steps... Pretty much everything in the back shed covered with cob webs

Hopefully if all goes well, the return tags for the rest of the $200,000.00 worth of parts will come in this coming week, and I can get started on that. That might take 2 weeks at most to pull and pack up... as long as I have enough boxes....

Then once that's done, I expect to be laid off... Or, at worst be let go since I declined to be transferred to 2 other stores within the company. So I went out an applied for a job at the local Auto Parts Retail Store. That looks promising, and it's literally a five minute walk from my house!! Since I'm not being told what will happen with me after my work in this store is done, job hunting is all I can think to do...

But I'm still going on my trip to Canada whether I'm working or not James has already booked the flights and even a surprise!!! We tend to think alike,so I have an idea as to what the surprise is... since I think I was going to plan the same thing... but he beat me to it But I'm not going to say what I think it is... I don't want to jinx anything.

James went to pick up our rings earlier this week, he tried his on and found that it was sized wrong. Seems his came back too big, so he checked mine and that was sized wrong as well... Mine was suppose to be a 5 and it came back as a 4 - 3/4. So he's going back this coming week and hopefully things will be sorted.

At some point I have to send an email to my mother asking her questions I need to have answers for. These questions are on my paperwork for my Permanent Resident card.
So I've been procrastinating doing that Dealing with her in an email should be a lot easier than trying to ask her over the phone...

But other than that... not much is going on...
As things develop, I'll keep the avid blog readers informed

Thanks again for reading/listening.