Some of you may have noticed that I left Helen out of the New Beginning post. This was deliberate, Helen actually asked me to leave this out for a while.
That Monday was also life changing for her as it's the first day in the week in which she will learn her employment fate. She was waiting to hear about about a new job.
That's right, Helen in on the hunt for a new job. We found out a couple weeks or so ago that the contract her team works on is not being renewed. Officially she's got a job until December, then who knows. Fortunately she's not under any real threat of unemployment just yet. Her company has a few things going and there's few things about that she's more than qualified for.
As it stands now, she was turned down for a position for which she was a shoe-in but based on the feedback we've had from people who've interviewed for the company involved it's just as well. They don't sound like much fun. They turned down Helen (we think) because of where we live, they turned down a colleague because she wore green fingernail polish. The timing was a bit off too, it would have meet a possible 6 weeks away training and I don't know how Jack and I would have managed having both just started school. Still it's a bit of a downer, that job would have started right away and everything would have been right back to normal, after the training...
So it's all fun and games for us at the minute. Helen is quite stressed, looking for work is a full time job. She spends most of her time on the phone with agencies, updating her CV and such. She's relishing the chance to branch out a little but she's worried too.
Sunday 26 September 2010
Sunday 19 September 2010
A New Beginning.
The day has finally arrived. Tomorrow Jack and I both start school. Well, Jack is going into school nursery but it's more school-like than regular nursery and it's at the primary school he will be attending.
For Jack it marks his transition from toddler into boyhood. From here on out he'll only get more independent, gradual though it may be. Jack insists that he doesn't want to grow up, he's going to be a boy forever but that doesn't seem to apply when it comes to school. He's been there for two trial days and he's excited to go back. We don't know much about what he got up to while he was there. When we ask him he just says, I'll tell you another day. We do know that he's made a new friend, Fin, who is a boy of frightfully similar personality. On the second day they both actively sought each other out for a game of chase.
I'm finally going to start university. I've got fifteen hours of week of lectures and for each one of those hours they estimate three hours of study time. My course is among the more demanding and difficult courses offered by the school and on top of that I've been out of education for 12 years and I wasn't a fan, so I'm in for a bit of a shock. Hopefully the ends will be worth it. In four years I'll have my degree and hopefully my foot in the door to a real job rather than the entry level stuff we un-edjumacated folk are forced to suffer. Lots of people keep telling me that degrees are useless now-a-days, there may be some truth to this but that's only because most people who say this have degrees themselves, the competition is fierce out there. Try being the person without a degree when looking for a job, let me know how well you do.
Today we're heading up to the school to finish enrollment and pick up all my student related paraphernalia. Jack is looking forward to finally getting a real look around my school and I'm looking forward to seeing again some of the students I met at Step Ahead.
So tomorrow marks a big day for our family. It's essentially the start of a whole new world for us, wish us luck.
For Jack it marks his transition from toddler into boyhood. From here on out he'll only get more independent, gradual though it may be. Jack insists that he doesn't want to grow up, he's going to be a boy forever but that doesn't seem to apply when it comes to school. He's been there for two trial days and he's excited to go back. We don't know much about what he got up to while he was there. When we ask him he just says, I'll tell you another day. We do know that he's made a new friend, Fin, who is a boy of frightfully similar personality. On the second day they both actively sought each other out for a game of chase.
I'm finally going to start university. I've got fifteen hours of week of lectures and for each one of those hours they estimate three hours of study time. My course is among the more demanding and difficult courses offered by the school and on top of that I've been out of education for 12 years and I wasn't a fan, so I'm in for a bit of a shock. Hopefully the ends will be worth it. In four years I'll have my degree and hopefully my foot in the door to a real job rather than the entry level stuff we un-edjumacated folk are forced to suffer. Lots of people keep telling me that degrees are useless now-a-days, there may be some truth to this but that's only because most people who say this have degrees themselves, the competition is fierce out there. Try being the person without a degree when looking for a job, let me know how well you do.
Today we're heading up to the school to finish enrollment and pick up all my student related paraphernalia. Jack is looking forward to finally getting a real look around my school and I'm looking forward to seeing again some of the students I met at Step Ahead.
So tomorrow marks a big day for our family. It's essentially the start of a whole new world for us, wish us luck.
Tuesday 14 September 2010
Out of Nursery into the fire.
Thursday was Jack's last day at Honeybuns nursery. He's attended once a week since he was seven months old, twice a week for a while. For most of his life, Nursery was what he did on Thursdays.
Jack started out as a member of the baby group, then moved to Tweenie and eventually graduated as a Hedgehog... or something like that. All the different groups had names but they changed so often it was hard to keep track.
Jack's time at nursery has been turbulent. For months at a time Jack would cry and sob at the very thought of having to go. Other times he'd be Super Excited. We never got any explanation or really understood why. His experiences there have been mixed. He's been bitten, collided with, smacked and punched. For a number of months we had to sign the accident book to explain away all his various bruises and bumps. I always wanted to put down something like "he was talking when he should have been listening" as a reason just to see what would happen... He's come home with green feet, red hands and various other color/body-part combinations. He's learned colors, several letters, counting and learned several songs and stories. He loves the staff and speaks of them frequently.
Aside from that we don't know much about the specifics of what Jack actually got up to, not from his point of view anyway because he never wanted to talk about it. If we asked him he'd just say Let's talk about it another day. The only information we got was from the staff.
He's made quite a few friends, sadly none of whom we've ever seen outside of the nursery. He's leaving behind good friends such as Libby, Joe and Jack Salvi, none of whom appear to be going to his same school.
So on his last day Jack took in some treats for everyone, said all his goodbyes and now is off to pastures new, school nursery starts in a week.
Jack started out as a member of the baby group, then moved to Tweenie and eventually graduated as a Hedgehog... or something like that. All the different groups had names but they changed so often it was hard to keep track.
Jack's time at nursery has been turbulent. For months at a time Jack would cry and sob at the very thought of having to go. Other times he'd be Super Excited. We never got any explanation or really understood why. His experiences there have been mixed. He's been bitten, collided with, smacked and punched. For a number of months we had to sign the accident book to explain away all his various bruises and bumps. I always wanted to put down something like "he was talking when he should have been listening" as a reason just to see what would happen... He's come home with green feet, red hands and various other color/body-part combinations. He's learned colors, several letters, counting and learned several songs and stories. He loves the staff and speaks of them frequently.
Aside from that we don't know much about the specifics of what Jack actually got up to, not from his point of view anyway because he never wanted to talk about it. If we asked him he'd just say Let's talk about it another day. The only information we got was from the staff.
He's made quite a few friends, sadly none of whom we've ever seen outside of the nursery. He's leaving behind good friends such as Libby, Joe and Jack Salvi, none of whom appear to be going to his same school.
So on his last day Jack took in some treats for everyone, said all his goodbyes and now is off to pastures new, school nursery starts in a week.
Monday 6 September 2010
The Movies.
We went to the movies yes.
I want to go there again some day.
Ok.
And you know what we can watch... Buzz Lightyear 5. It's the really funny one. They get dropped onto a big truck, then they get dropped into a playground, and then the playground goes *PEWM*.
We took Jack to the movies while we were in America. It was Jack's first cinema experience. We went all out and bought him the kids movie pack, which came with popcorn, sweets and a drink all stuffed into a little box. Jack proudly toted his box into the theater and chose our seats. Jack sat perched on a booster seat with Helen and I on either side and his grandparents behind him. As he munched though his popcorn I answered all of his questions about the theater.
When it's going to be on?
In a few minutes the lights will dim and the movie will start.
What movie are we going to watch?
We're watching the new Toy Story.
Have I seen this one before, last week at Nanny's?
No, this is a new one.
Where's the TV?
That's it right there.
Where I can't see it?
See that big gray rectangle in front of us. That's it.
Wow that HUGE!
Jack's excitement peaked when he noticed the light dimming. He stared at the screen in wonder all throughout the movie. He really got into it. He was sad when the toys got lost, scared when the new toys turned out to be bad, especially the baby, and he cheered at the end.
Helen and I had been worried about taking Jack to the cinema because he's got a very very short attention span. We hoped that the big screen and the concessions would take care of it, and thankfully it did. The concessions only making it about three quarters the way through the film, they only lasted that long because Jack spent much of that time staring open mouthed at the screen. The food being gone didn't make any difference other than him making his way back to sit with Grandma.
We've since tried the theater experience at home, we're lucky enough to have access to a projector. We even made popcorn. But it wasn't the same, about 15 minutes in Jack was off doing other things. I guess when it comes to Jack and the cinema, it's all or nothing.
Jack is anxious to get back to the cinema, he's expressed a lot of interest in seeing Buzz Lightyear 5 and Spider-man 5, those are the best ones apparently. We're just waiting for the next big kids film to roll by.
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