It's official!!!!!!!! My wonderful husband is officially licensed to sell vehicles!!!! I couldn't be prouder than Pete, as I am right now! About a month ago, Pete had to go to a two day course, here in Abbotsford, and take a test on the second day. In order to be able to sell any type of vehicle on any lot, you have to have a special license, and to take the test to get this license, you have to pay $400.00, go to the course, AND pass the test! Pete passed!!!! I am SO proud of him. He has totally embraced this new job, and all the responsibilities that go with it, including all the tests!! I should explain that the reason he looks mad in the picture, is because when he got there and signed in for the course, they said, "look here", and he looked, and that's when they took his picture, without warning him! Luckily WE all know how handsome he is, and what a wonderful smile he has. He has to renew this license EVERY year, and pay $150.00 each time he has to renew it. It's a money grab, if you ask me, but I guess he has no choice, as long he's in this industry. I'm just SO proud of him!!!

The other day, Pete and I went to Bellingham, to indulge in our new passion...antiquing! Pete was able to pick up a few vintage toys, and I added to my Piglet collection, with my THIRD Piglet PEZ dispenser! LOL!!! We were there over the dinner hour, and Pete said that dinner was MY choice, so, I picked Denny's! Mmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!

This drink actually looked better on the menu picture, than it actually tasted.

My yummy husband with his yummy Baily's coffee!

Pete is really awesome with knowing what a good deal is or isn't. I of course have no clue in this department yet, but Pete is a good teacher. For instance, my Piglet Pez dispenser was $2.00, which I thought was a good deal. Pete said I should have bargained for cheaper. Pete has a way with people, and is able to charm the pants off them and get good deals ALL the time. Hence our brand new still in the plastic king size bed and mattress for $400.00!!!! So, I am learning from the best of the best :)

So, the renting saga continues!!!!! As many of you may or may not know, we live in an illegal 4plex. The complex is set up as a duplex, so there is one meter on one side of the complex and one meter on the other side, since legally, there can only be one residence (upstairs renters on each side) that pay that utilities. In December, our property was sold to a new owner, Dan, who is a retired school principle from North Vancouver. Since the time Pete and I started dating last summer, he/we have had constant trouble with the lady upstairs. She's a single mom in her 40's raising an 18 year old and a 16 year old. The trouble started when she was allowing her kids to have parties with their buds on the weekends.It escalated to the mom allowing her daughter's boyfriend to stay for night on a regular basis. Then as if THAT wasn't enough, Judy, the mom, moved her female friend in to live with her a while. In January, the gas was turned off the foirst time and Judy was 3 days late with rent. The landlord felt sorry for her, but had to give her an eviction notice. Next day she paid the rent AND the gas bill. Since that time, we have had nothing but problems with this lady. She steals/holds our mail (there is only one mailbox on our side), and they tromp around like a herd of elephants upstairs, not to mention for a while, they would mess around with the water, when we would take a shower! Immature, I know! She will NOT talk to us, and when we all happen to be in the driveway at the same time, she will not make eye contact with us. The final straw was yesterday, when Terasen gas, cut off the gas AGAIN, and put a lock on the meter. Pete called the landlord, and let him know that we now had NO heat OR hot water! The landlord told us that he was going to pay the bill himself, and would be coming out today to fix a few things for us, and to bring Judy her final eviction notice, and to give her the boot! Praise The Lord, for small miracles!!!!! Let's just hope that whomever moves in above us now will hopefully be quiet, Christian or decent people. If you know of anyone that might fit this description, let me know. The upstairs has 3 bedrooms,hardwood floors, and is a good size. Rent up there is eleven hundred/month PLUS utilities and comes with a parking spot on the driveway.

UPDATE: The landlord was JUST here, the gas is still not on. Teresan is coming today SOMETIME between noon and four pm. He showed me the "letter" that he is giving to the lady upstairs. It was SO lame, I asked him why didn't just invite her to a picnic while he's at it. He laughed so hard. So, basically here is what happens from here; he's giving her this "letter" and phoned her at her job 3 times already today, is GOING to her work, Jo-Jo's fish and chips, to have lunch and hand deliver her the "letter"(so she can't say she didn't get it). He is going to suggest to her that maybe this is not the place for her to be living, since she really can't afford it, and then he's going to "keep on her" until SHE gets frustrated enough to give her notice that she's moving out! Well, at least it's good to know that IF something should happen with Pete/I/landlord, we know his "style" and how he works. In the meantime, the landlord is putting the utilities in HIS name, so that he knows they will be paid. He feels REALLY bad that Pete and I have no hot water or heat, and wants to take us out for dinner and The Keg, one night of our choosing.

I am SO happy to have Pete home, and SO proud of him for passing his tests with flying colors!!!! He got an A- and that qualified him for a gold seal!!! He said that the training was REALLY intense and that classes got out at 3pm every day, but they had so much homework, that at times he was up until 2 am. studying! Obviously it paid off, because he got excellent marks! He is SO happy to be home and happy to be done.

So, last February, I started my own business, Senior Companions. I love being my own boss and making my own hours, especially since sometimes I am not feeling well. For the last 8 months, I have been working with a client at Bevan Lodge. She's a Christian lady with Parkinson's, who is in her 80's. For the most part, she's pretty easy going, but like most seniors, she says what's on her mind, whether it's how I'm wearing my hair, what clothes I'm wearing, my weight etc. I just try to take it in stride, since I know I'll probably be a senior one day. LOL!!! Up until February, I had been going in for a few hours three days a week. I cut back to two days a week in February, since both my dad and hubby have had some health problems. THIS month so far has NOT been so great for working at Bevan Lodge. There was a quarantine for 2.5 weeks at Bevan, because there was a flu outbreak. This meant that no "outsiders" were allowed in, and most of the clients were quarantined to their own floor only. That meant no work for me. Today was my first day back, and my client was SO happy to see me! I was glad to see her too, especially since she had a cheque for me :) So, what do I do for her? Well, pretty much everything the care aides are supposed to do for her. Toilet her, dress her, help her eat, give her meds, help her in/out of bed, in/out of wheelchair, help her with personal grooming. I just raised my prices, since it's a new year and what I was charging, was at the lower end, price wise. My client at Bevan is the only one I currently have. I am always looking for new clients, if you know of anyone who needs a senior companion, private care aide, please let me know :)

One more sleep until my wonderful husband comes home!!!!! I received a one line email from him today, saying that he loves me and misses me, and that he's been VERY busy with the schooling. We're both still praying about if God wants him to be with this company or not. There are just so many "interesting" ways they do things there, some of which I am not very comfortable with or confident about. It just seems to ME, that if you are a new employee, you shouldn't be having to spend hundreds of dollars, to be able to be employed with a company. That just seems very odd to me. It seems to me, that Pete is continually having to shell out money for this, that and the other, to be able to be employed with this company. I could be wrong in my thinking and my feelings, but something about this company is just not sitting well with me. Sure, they are a "Christian" company, and a lot of company's I know of personally, hide behind the whole "Christian" facade. Don't get me wrong, I am VERY grateful to God, for this employment opportunity for Pete, I just have an uneasy feeling about this particular company. I'm usually bang on, when I have a bad feeling about things/people/circumstances. I am praying with all of my heart, that I am wrong about this. They will be sending Pete to Ohio for a week in the summer, for more schooling and training. I really didn't know that there is SO much training needed, in order to be an RV salesman. These three days that Pete is gone, they are cramming six months of information and training into 3 days!! Pete has to take a test at the end of every day, for the three days he is there. I am just looking forward to Pete walking in the door tomorrow evening....I miss him terribly. Absence DOES make the heart grow fonder! :) The sweet thing is, is that Thursday is Pete's day off, so, we can sleep in and spend time together before he goes back to work on Friday.

It's not often, that you go to Walmart, and your cashier is crying. That's what just happened to me. I pulled my cart up to the till and my cashier was crying. I asked her if she was okay, and she told me it has been a rough week for her, because her younger brother had just died. I asked her why Walmart did not give her some much needed time off, but she said she would rather work, because it is a nice distraction. How can you comfort someone in the one to two minutes that you are at a till? I told her that I was really sorry about her brother and that I would be praying for her. What else can a person say or do? I truly wanted to reach over the till and give her a hug, but seeing that it would have been inappropriate, I didn't. I felt so badly for her. She is one of the nicest cashiers at Walmart, and I usually make a point of going thru her till, if I am not in a hurry, and use the self serve check out. I still feel horrible, that there wasn't more I could do for her, and that my words were probably not too comforting to her at this time.