A day off, but so much to do!!

And what makes me even more amazing is that I’m typing this one-handed while I hold the top of my laptop together (some sort of problem with the ribbon/belt thingy that holds the top part to the bottom part — my screen is all distorted. Time to take it in to the repair shop methinks.)

I’m getting sooo burnt out from working evenings five days a week… but the money is great and FINALLY we are starting to get caught up and actually have a bit of spending money. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me. I’ve been able to buy things for the house, Aaron was able to get new clothes, and now when I’m grocery shopping I don’t have an anxiety attack standing there comparing prices on chicken thighs versus pork chops. I can just buy the food I want!!

BUTTT!!

GUESS WHAT?!

THIS IS AMAZING!

I don’t know what the fuck to do.

Here it is…

A teenage girl I work with, her mom is opening up a hair salon in the mall, and she doesn’t have any hair stylists yet. So I got in touch with her because I wanted to look into it — I guess now that I’m working, I’m starting to have the confidence to go for what I really want to do. (And as much as I’ve complained about the shitty wages hairdressers make — that’s not totally true. You can make as much or as little as you want, depending on the time and effort you put into it.)

And also, I don’t think I’ve told you this yet… remember when I said I was going to look into that EI re-training thing? The free money from the government to go back to school? Well I met with a lady and she told me that I was not eligible because I already have a diploma in a trade. So after a few tears of frustration, I decided I should use the diploma I have and give it another shot at it. I did two haircuts at home the other day, and it struck me how much I love doing hair. And damnit, I am GOOD AT IT.

I also had a very encouraging chat on Facebook with a friend. (Thank you J, your words really helped.)

So yesterday I meet with the lady who is opening the hair salon. We met at Tim Horton’s and we were both in a flap. I was nearly half an hour late because Angus was up at way-too-early-’o clock and I was trying to get him to nap but he wouldn’t and then FINALLY he fell asleep, and then I fell asleep too. So I called and left a message and said I might not make and then I got in the shower and then she phoned while I was in the shower and her message said she couldn’t make out what I had said, but that she was waiting at Tim Hortons and she was late and she was worried that she missed me. SO THEN I felt really bad and flew out of the shower, no makeup, hair not done, kid not fed, and raced down there and finally sat down with her to chat, apologizing profusely. What a fucking horrible first impression.

(Angus ate TEN Tim Bits, which kept him busy for 15 minutes, but then the sugar rush hit and we had to leave because he was literally climbing the walls.)

But she was very easygoing about it.

ANYWAY, we talked and I got to know about her salon and about her, and she got to know about my employment history and the challenges I face with wanting to work but needing to find affordable childcare.

Here’s the deal; she will pay commission, which is good. If it were a chair rental (like many salons — it’s like having your own business within a business, you pay your rent on the chair, but you have to buy all the hair colors and shampoos, but all the money you bring in is YOURS) I wouldn’t do it because I have no clientele yet.

Business will be slow at first, but the potential is there to do really well. She suggested I keep a few shifts at my current job and try a few days a week at the salon, just so that I’m not so worried about money.

But after thinking about it, I kind of want to quit my job and just go for it at the hair salon, just three days a week (on the weekends.) We would take a hit, which would be hard because I sure am enjoying all this cashflow these days… but the POTENTIAL is there to do really well later on. And plus I would be working days.

Oh and Aaron just got a $9.00 an hour raise. None of this $1.00 an hour crap! NINE DOLLARS. (It’s because he was hired on as a “helper,” but now they’re actually officially taking him on as a 3rd year pipefitters apprentice. They’re required to pay him a certain minimum wage, which is WAY more than he was making!)

So it hasn’t kicked in yet, but it will soon, which is why I think I will be able to go for the hair stylist job.

NOW.

My biggest challenge is trying to find child care for two or three full days a week. Sigh.

Anyway, I’m now exhausted and irritated from spending an hour typing with one hand, so I have to go and throw my computer off the balcony go and take my laptop into the repair shop, (and also: go to the rental office, go to the grocery store to find a rib sauce, come home and get those stupid ribs started, go to the child care resource place, phone the hair lady and tell her what I’ve decided, and then go to a friends house to do a hair cut.)

But I just HAD to tell you guys!!

Posting will probably be light until I get my stupid laptop fixed. I phoned and and asked for a ballpark figure of what it will cost, and they were totally unhelpful. It will be at least $40 — if it comes to $500 I’m getting a new laptop. (But not for a while!)

Another parenting first!

Just abandoned a shopping cart full of groceries in Walmart and fled the store with Angus under my arm, flailing and screaming, leaving a cloud of McDonald’s french fries in our wake…

(I’ve heard of this happening before to mothers but I somehow assumed it would never happen to me — just like I assumed I would never feed my kid french fries while shopping in Walmart just to keep him quiet.)

I was in the middle of agonizing over which curtain rods to get (should have measured my window first) to replace the blinds that Tarzan Angus pulled down, and I guess I was taking too long..

It started with an angry screech, then progressed to a sippy cup being bounced off my forehead, then he just completely fell apart, clawing at his angry, red face and rocking back and forth, and then…

THE SCREAMING. Holy hell.

Right now he is in his crib still screaming, because I figured the meltdown was because he was tired; usually that’s the only time he behaves like Satan.

He is most definitely NOT sleeping, but he can STAY IN THERE UNTIL HE’S READY TO BE CALM AND COMPLACENT AND SHOP FOR CURTAIN RODS WITH MUMMY.

(Yeah right.)

Anyone wanna come babysit?

My babysitter called in sick with some kind of stomach bug. (Aaron woke me up at 4:30 this morning moaning and clutching his stomach, so something must be going around.)

And my OTHER babysitter is GROUNDED for not doing the dishes.

And my lovely friend who always took Angus whenever I needed it has been away for three weeks now. Supposed to come back last Monday, then Saturday, now not until tomorrow!

Fuck fuck fuckity fuck!!

Last Monday I couldn’t find a babysitter either, so I REALLY don’t want to have to do the same thing again! Especially since the supervisor working right now is the same one from last Monday. Who is the same supervisor that I dealt with when I was super sick myself. (She told me to go to the hospital — I went, got a note, but then went to work regardless.) So she probably thinks I am the biggest flake.

I told them that it wouldn’t be an ongoing problem. Aarrrgghhh… I don’t know what to do!!

I am so freaking burnt out. The last three nights I have only got four hours sleep. Then I have to get up at 5:30 , drive Aaron to work, then clean the whole effing house because no-body around here does it but me. (But I am not resentful towards Aaron for this — he has been working 10-12 hour days with no days off for the last week and a half, so he is pretty burnt out too.)

I’m tired. I’m worn out. I’m stressed out dealing with babysitters. Aaron and I have barely seen each other lately — I think we see each other for maybe half an hour every day.

BUT!! When we finally get paid from all this hard work?

We will be totally caught up and probably even have enough left over to actually treat ourselves to something nice

So all of this is totally worth it in the end. And damnit, I love working and definitely want to keep it up, as exhausting as it is. I might just ask to cut my shifts back from 5 days a week to 3 days a week, because I am seriously a threat to everyone around me right now. I don’t even remember driving home this morning, I was THAT TIRED.

More silly search terms.

“happy kittens; love meow”

That one is just cute.

And…

“depression and bleach.”

That one kind of concerns me a little bit…

It’s days like these I can’t wait to go to work…

Well, every day is like this, but the way I deal with it depends on my mood; whether I have PMS, how sleep-deprived I am… etc…

On this particular day I am EXTREMELY sleep deprived, therefore quite cranky. I’m trying not to take it out on Angus because it’s not his fault. But SERIOUSLY — that kid is a menace!!!

(Last night at work there was some kind of football game, and we were CRAAAAZY busy. The kitchen staff kept fucking up so I had some irate customers… then I had a group of ignorant Americans (DISCLAIMER — I’m not saying all Americans are ignorant — but these young men were very ignorant and just HAPPENED to be American). They had me running off my feet and treating me like some bar wench (oh wait –), drank $300 worth of liquor and then didn’t even tip me.)

Anyway, I stayed at the restaurant until about 12:30 because I was waiting for a ride home from another waitress. After closing, she made the remaining staff all a round of “Peach Fuzzberries,” only the most DELICIOUS, girly drink ever made!!! (Peach schnapps, raspberry sourpuss, lemonade, cranberry juice… and a sugar rim.)

When I got home, I went to bed immediately, but was still all wound up from work, and didn’t fall asleep for HOURS. Then woke up at 5:30 and drove Aaron to work. Came home, napped with Angus, woke up and had to clean the house and started making a stew. WHEN DO I GET A BREAK?! Oh yeah, I guess right now, as I write this…

Anyway, moving on to Angus…

About an hour ago, I was in the kitchen browning beef, when I heard a huge CRASH followed by Angus crying, and ran into the living room to find Angus buried underneath the blinds… I guess he was swinging off them?

You know, these kind of blinds:

The kind that have two cords, one for opening the slats, and one for pulling the blinds open and closed, you know, the ones that take about two days and they’re a big, knotted clusterfuck of chains and cords that are a serious strangulation hazard with toddlers:

So after trying and failing to put them back up, this is where they now lie:In a heap in the front entrance. Aaron is going to have a shit fit when he walks through the door.

Angus also likes to remove all the heater vents from all the rooms in the house and throw things down them (or stick his legs in them and then get stuck…)

But then when Angus is napping and the house is peaceful, I go into his room and lay my eyes on something as sweet as this:

Normally the cat is not allowed in his room because I am paranoid of her sleeping on his head and suffocating him, but she must have snuck in this time.

Definitely gonna have myself another double Peach Fuzzberry after work! Doesn’t that sound hardcore?

The cat finally has a name.

Her name is Pita. Which is an acronym for Pain In The Ass.

Seriously. It struck me yesterday how hilariously alike Angus and the cat both are.

They both whine at me in the kitchen for food.

They both whine at me for affection.

Both of them constantly get  underneath my feet and trip me.

They both cry in the middle of the night.

I have to clean up both of their shits.

They both follow my around the house, up and down the stairs, in and out of every room I go into. (Even when I go to the bathroom.)

And at first, Angus chased after the kitty everywhere, giggling and tormenting it, but now the roles have reversed and the cat follows Angus around tormenting HIM. (I think it’s because Angus feeds the cat his food — yogurt, cheese strings, toast…)

They are best buds. It’s like the best interactive toy ever!

(And she seriously is the best cat ever. She never ever bites or scratches, and she tolerates Angus picking her up and carrying her around and squeezing her with love.)

This is not why we named him Angus.

But it’s still cute!

Unfortunately my timing with the camera is pretty terrible; I missed the best part — Angus standing on the coffee table and head banging.