We are family

I am not sure really where to start this, so I guess the beginning is a good place.

This past weekend Joel and I enjoyed a weekend away at St. Malo Provincial Park. We camped beside Sarah and Jay. (Joel’s sister and her husband) When Sarah booked our sites, we blindly picked from an online map, but when we drove in I was quite happy! There was a thick bush that surrounded our site. It was quite large and served big enough for our truck, tent, and tying up the 2 puppies. I thought we were going to be quite a hike to the washrooms, but the little paths through the bush provided easy access. We were lucky to go with Sarah and Jay as they have a lot of camping supplies and were much better prepared for the weekend than us. Although Joel packed the tent, chairs, air mattress, and the items from outside, I spent the afternoon (I took a half day from work) packing up things from inside the house. This included bug spray, sunscreen, food, clothes, bug lanterns, water, mattress pump, etc. I thought I was fairly well prepared for my first weekend camping trip. It turns out there were many things that never occurred to me, but I have since made note of them. Joel and I have kept all our camping things in a large Rubbermaid container so when we do go, I do not have to spend so much time packing. Although I spent the first night in the truck (the air mattress had a hole) and the second night very uncomfortable, I do think we might be able to get in one more weekend trip together before the end of summer. We are also planning a fall camp out in Sarah and Jay’s front yard for a Harry Potter marathon. Their place is very relaxing for us since the dogs do not even need to be tied up, and makes it more of a stress free camping trip for me.

When we got home I took a nap to catch up on some of the sleep I missed over the weekend. Then Jen, a friend I worked with at Boston Pizza was in from Vancouver. She came over for a short visit which was nice to see her.

Monday, although normally I would be golfing, I wasn’t really feeling up to it. Plus Martin and Barb were moving so I thought I could help. Although I spent very little time in their condo, it is absolutely beautiful! It feels like a bungalow inside and not like an apartment style condo. My mom liked it so much she has asked the Hayward’s to keep an eye out for one that goes for sale.

After Joel and Martin moved a truck load, Martin was not feeling well. He asked Joel to drive him home and went for a cold shower. Immediately after that he called himself an ambulance. He was having a heart attack. Joel drove quickly to the condo to inform Barb, but realized she was already home by the time he got there. (she had to close up the windows when we left so she was close behind us) The paramedics worked on Martin at the house before taking him into St. Boniface Hospital. I cannot say enough good things about the staff at St. B. When Joel and I arrived they were very helpful and lead us directly to Martin. They answered the questions we had both professionally and to the best of their ability. I left the hospital by 10 or 10:30 while Martin was still in the ER. By the time Joel dropped me off and went back, Jay and Sarah were there too. Joel came home around 1:30 and got up for work at 5:30. Martin is a fighter, and successfully had an angiogram on his left side artery that night/early morning. When we went to visit yesterday he was sitting up, eating and looked so much better. It was great seeing him like that and made both Joel and I relax a little bit.

We had Sarah and Barb over for dinner last night. With the move happening Barb doesn’t have a lot of food in her fridge, so I thought this may be a way that I can help.

Last night Sarah drove home in my car so Jay could catch up on some sleep. He drove Sarah to the hospital and had to head back home that night since they are both putting on space camp as one of his programs. He did not arrive home until 2:30 and the program starts at 9am, so it would have been a long day for him.

Barb has since hired movers to finish packing and moving the house to the condo, and my mom has offered to help on the receiving end to unpack. I will go there Thursday too to help so that when Martin comes home his new condo feels like home.

It was a very scary experience, but I am lucky to be a part of such a supportive family. Between the Hayward side staying strong and being so concerned with each other member, and my parents offering their support and help wherever and whenever they can, I really am lucky and thankful. I do also appreciate all the kind words, and offers for help from other friends and family. Really, it reminds me what great people I have in my life. Thank you.

For now, that is all I have, so enjoy ~

She Works Hard For The Money

Since my last post, life has been crazy. It is amazing how things can change so quickly without you even realizing it. Joel and I have been so lucky thus far, and I can not wait to see what the future brings.

I loved the BP Tournament I was in! It was such a great time with old friends and wonderful memories. Ryan fit right in with the team, and became Andrew’s new best friend. Ryan gave him a little tip on his swing and it improved by at least 50 yards (at straight!). Andrew was so excited and has requested our company for next years tournament.

This week’s golf game was good. I notice a huge improvement in my game already, and really for all the rain checks I have accumulated, I have not gone that much. My drive is still weak, maybe 50 yards, but is relatively straight. I know it is short because I have no back swing or follow through, but it just feels very unnatural still. (must be all the floor hockey I played in school) I will keep working at it, and hopefully can get out to the driving range once this year with Joel so I can practice some more. I was stung by a bee at the beginning of the game, and although it hurt (like a lot), I was able to play on!

Last Monday was the No Doubt concert and I went with Mel. What a great show!! Mel and I had great seats in section 100. The floor was available when we bought our tickets, but it is rush seating and standing only. Being 5 feet tall usually leads to being behind someone taller than me. Every time I have been on the floor for a concert, I have not enjoyed it. I don’t enjoy standing for 3 hours, and I paid to see the band, not the back of someone’s sweaty head. So I was glad we had the seats we did. As usual, I ran into a couple of people I knew. One, Jen was a girl I worked at when I was with The Baby Gap back in high school. She is married and pregnant now, and looks very happy. I also ran into a girl who graduated a year behind me, Samantha. Actually Sam made my doll. At BH it is tradition that the grade 11’s make the grade 12’s dolls that look like them, in uniform with unique touches to suit their personality. Mine came with my tattoo drawn on my back, a necklace that I always wore, and a watch. It actually got me reminiscing, and I pulled out my doll from storage just the other day. I remember how long they took to make, but I also know I will have it for the rest of my life.

Last week Joel and Martin delivered our new office desk and double bed. (Thank you Martin and Barb for the wonderufl gifts!) Martin and Barb are moving, so Joel and I have received their unneeded furniture. I am excited to move our big (ugly) desk to the dump, and downsize to something that fits better in our house. We have plans for the old office, but for now it will just be the dogs room.

While moving the office over, I purged our desk, closets, and numerous boxes that have been in our spare bedroom since we moved in. We were never really sure what our ultimate plan was, but now that we have it figured out, it made the clean up very easy. I can not wait to have the upstairs looking like I want it to.

Joel has been working at my cousin Ryan’s new house. They moved at the end of June and have gutted their entire upstairs. They are actually living in the basement while Ryan works to complete the upstairs renovations. Ryan’s house did not have light in any room except the kitchen so Joel has been busy wiring new lights in. It is a lot of work for Joel, but with our basement coming close to needed drywall done, Joel is happy to help.

Ryan also stuccos houses so when we decide to continue our full reno plan, he will be redoing the outside of the house for us. We have not decided if we will continue with the kitchen renovations as planned, or if in a few years we will build a house outside of the city to accommodate our wants. It seems like a lot of money to spend (especially in this area), and we are not sure what our future holds at this point. I guess we will wait and see.

This weekend we are camping with Sarah and Jay. I am very excited to spend the weekend outside, playing games (well, at least watching, but I will try to play too) and seeing how our first real camping experience with the dogs will be. We are staying at a provincial park, and although we picked a secluded area, I am worried how the dogs might behave with all the foot traffic and other guests around.

I have changed my mind about accepting the workshops coordinator position at MTEC. I spoke with Shannon, our CEO on Friday and she was very supportive of my decision. Although I am staying with SAFE for now, I do know some major changes are coming,

Well for now, I must go start supper. Enjoy ~

The 19th Hole

I wrote my case study and am actually very worried about it. Besides the length of time it took me to complete, the questions were not as simple as I thought they would be. I have always done well on essays (even without reading the book) however this exam was a different format. I was not able to construct sentences that may appear to convey an actual answer. I will not receive my marks until later this week, or early next but I am not looking forward to having to rewrite this paper.

Joel and I took our first camping trip of the summer! It may have only been in my sisters backyard, but it was a lot of fun. We went up to Mennville (just past Riverton) for a wonderful one night stay. We brought the 3 dogs (we were dog sitting my parents dog Meela) and set up a tent in their front yard. I was surprised at how well behaved our dogs were considering it was a new place and there was so much for them to explore. They stayed close to Joel and I, and loved running the length of (or as far as we could throw) Sarah and Jay’s yard chasing balls. They slept well in the tent which was my biggest concern. Chaos guarded the door, and Monster cuddled near Joel. It was a great experience! Sarah, Jay, Joel and I are even planning on camping in a provincial park near the end of July.

I am golfing in the Boston Pizza “Tee Party” golf tournament today. It is a fu tournament, full of staff and very few suppliers. The Boston Pizza Open golf tournament that I helped organize in previous years is more of a professional tournament with mostly suppliers and partners in the industry. I am looking forward to golfing today with Korine, Andrew, and my cousin Ryan. I have not seen Korine since I got married, but I talk to her almost every day. Between e-mails and phone calls, we still keep in touch.

I was unable to golf on Monday since a wind and rain storm came in. So I am excited to actually get a game in this week. I think I have about 6 rain checks from Fantasy Lake.

I had a strange weekend of realizing a friend of mine, was actually related to friends of my parents. We have knew both “sets of the family” for quite a long time, however never associated the two together! What a small world it is. It was a real reminder to watch what you say, and who you say it to as you never know with Winnipeg!

I have accepted a new position in my job. I will be leaving SAFE Hospitality as their administrator, and have accepted the new role as Workshops Coordinator. I will be coordinating the training in Manitoba, including our most recognized program Manitoba Best. I have been researching a lot for curriculum on customer service as we would like to reinvent the Manitoba Best program. Manitoba Best is a customer service training program for anyone in the tourism industry. I actually took this program almost 10 years ago with Lilac Resort and just recently again with MTEC. Currently, our national office has discontinued the recognition portion of the Manitoba Best program. Clients would receive recognition if 50% of their staff completed the training. We have made a decision that we should include a recognition program when we re-launch our new version of Manitoba Best.

I will also be taking the training to be able to deliver the Manitoba Best session. I have learned a lot on adult learning styles, and will continue to research. When I take this training, I will actually be a backup trainer for the session. This will be a great step should I decide to stay home with our family (one day!) as it is an easy way to pick up additional income. Although I am accepting this position on a one year term, I have been told there is the possibility of extending it to make it a permanent position for me.

I need to leave now for golf, but enjoy!!