Send off for my boss.....

My last post mentioned that my boss was leaving the organization to go on to a new exciting opportunity with a local up and coming company. I'm very happy for him and wish him the best, but I also and very sad to see him go. I organized a send off for him from the department on Thursday evening, which was a fun time and we had a great turn out as well. He was shocked by how many people showed up to wish him well. Why is it that the "good ones" never know how "good" they are?? We "decorated his office" on Friday morning as well. I wanted to have an "off campus" event for him as well, which would allow me to invite different people - people who used to work with Al, but have moved on over the years. So I organized a surprise party for him on the Saturday. A colleague offered up his house to hold the event, which worked great. My boss's wife and my friend's wife grew up in the same town and my boss and my friend play hockey and hang out together outside of work, so getting them over to the house was not as hard as it could have been. We just organized everything with his wife and the premise of the event was a social BBQ with their friends. Luckily, he had no clue...not until he saw a few cars he recognized from work - yeah the ones with personalized licence plates... oh well he was still surprised. We had a great turn out and I'm quite certain everyone had a good time. I made this card for our departmental send off. It has multiple pages so there was lots of room for people to sign the card. I made these two little guys to put the gift cards we got for him. I made this card to give to him with his gift on Saturday evening. I thought being a guy he would like this one. I also made him a book of memories and put a bunch of pictures inside as well as I had people write little stories or send me little stories and then I printed them off and tacked them in the book. Do you know how hard it is to get guys to write in a memory book? It's like pulling teeth! But it was pretty full so that's the main thing. I also got him a t-shirt, designed by me and airbrushed by Trevor this awesome airbrush artist that we see at the Grand Bend Flea Market. This is a personal joke between Al and us. Quite often when we would do something for him...instead of saying thank you, he would say Muchos "Grassy Ass" hence the shirt. And since we work at the hospital - the blue H. Our extension at work for the Help Desk is 44357 which actually spells 4-HELP, so across the back 4-HELP is airbrushed as well. We also got him a booze bucket!!! Which was full of all kinds of stuff: red wine, white wine, Kahlua, Vodka, Rum, Crown Royal, Baileys, Strawberry Daiquiri's, Tequila, Heineken, Bud Light Lime, Coors Light, Bud Light, peanuts, popcorn and chocolate!!!! It was fun to plan and it was fun to see everyone outside of work. It was a nice chance to relax and get to know people a little better in a non-work environment. Best wishes Al, you will be missed more than you will ever know. Chow for now, Jacqui

Emotional Rollercoaster Day......

Well first off I am happy cause it is my hubby's birthday today! Unfortunately he has to work today, so he can't kick back and relax for today, but I'm sure he will relax when he gets home from work.
Also, one of my very dear friends, Rob Jesson, is celebrating his birthday today too! I am so glad that he came to work at the same place I work at. We became fast friends and I'm am blessed to call him my friend.
But today I am sad too. Today is my boss, Al Uniac's last day at LHSC. I have worked with Al for 13 years and I am very sad to see him leave. He has a very unique leadership method and he will be missed. I worked along side Al for many years as a colleague and the last few years he was my boss. He is a great man, a wonderful boss, a great husband and a good friend. I am going to miss him (more than he will ever know). I am excited for him too though, because he is leaving to start a new opportunity, that I am certain he will excel at, so I wish him all the best.
So...I'm happy, sad, excited, and nervous of the unknown around work.
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful mom today! I hope you have the best day ever. I love that we live close together now, so we can spend more time together. I cherish every day we get to spend with each other. I love you. Jacqui

BFF weekend

Wow it's been 10 days since my last post! I have been a busy girl. My BFF Vicki came down from Kingston with her son John for a few days. It was great to see her. She's having some stress lately so I am so happy that she feels comfortable enough to come to my place for some much needed R & R. I love her so much and love the time we get to spend together. I was anxious to see how the weekend was going to turn out because she brought her little 9 week old shitzu, Sydney with her when she came. I was hoping Charlie didn't think Vicki brought her a chew toy! The first day was a little tense - but my noon the next day everyone was getting along great. We have not had the opportunity for Charlie to have too much socialization with other dogs since we got her. So this was a test! I was proud of her. She played like a puppy which was hilarious - cause she is a little larger than Sydney. I think Sydney decided that since she had to do what Charlie wanted, she was going to dominate something, so she decided that should be Runt! Here is Runt making a run for it! Nibs just looked on. We went back to the Grand Bend Flea Market and here Sydney got her picture taken by a fire hydrant and got to ride (actually just sit) in the antique Ferris wheel! We took a trip to the beach as well where Sydney helped John dig a hole in the sand. It was cute to watch her watching John dig, and then all of a sudden she went over and started to help him! She's a good little pup and took time to smell the flowers on her vacation! I bought Charlie a bone when we were at the Flea Market, but I didn't' give it to her until Sydney was gone home as I didn't want to cause any problems between the two. I wanted to get a picture of Sydney with it though!! I think they will be friends now! Charlie also got to play a bit. She loves to play tug-0-war and she will run full tilt at you when she sees that thing! Joel likes to make her jump to get it. Joel also spent a little quiet time with Sydney. All in all it was a good few days and I hope my BFF found a bit of peace while she was here. Chow for now, Jacqui

Bitchin' Bachelorette Bash!!

This past weekend, my little sisters friends planned a Bachelorette party for her. It was going to be a weekend event! My mom and I decided to attend just the dinner part of the weekend. I don't know about mom, but some of the events they had planned, I did not think the old body could handle! So we decided to just grab a hotel room, attend the dinner and then have a mother daughter night away! We arrived at the hotel around 12:30 pm. The view out of our hotel room was amazing! There were two weddings planned for that afternoon as well, so we were able to sit in our air conditioned room (well once we figured out how to work the thing!) and watch the weddings. They were both very different. The first one the girls wore long, very wispy looking, light purple dresses. The bride was very thin and had a very form fitting dress. Their flowers were white. The second one, the girls wore royal blue dresses - short dresses with yellow shoes and the flowers were yellow and red. This bride was a bigger girl and to be honest her choice of dress was not one that I would have chosen for someone of her size. It was kind of cool when she walked down the aisle though - they got just to where the people were sitting and then the music changed and they kind of boogied down the aisle. Cute idea - but from where we were sitting - neither one of them looked like the boogying type....but hey - it was her wedding so who am I to pick it apart! Then we got ready to go out for dinner with the girls. We headed downstairs to see all the decorations and "trinkets" that Courtney had received the night before! Courtney was required to wear the bachelorette veil - which was not complete without a few condoms hanging on it! We also heard of some of the shenanigans that happened Friday night. (Friday night was the pink penis headband evening!) All I can say is....why do random men think it's okay to walk around naked??? Our dinner was delicious - we ate at Milestones at Masonville Mall. I had never been there before. The last time I was in that location - it was a Reuben and Wongs! After dinner mom and I did some window shopping and then headed back to our room...but the girls....were headed to do some pole dancing! We got back to the hotel and I was Facebooking with some friends and then Tim decided to come and visit - well we told him he should and he should bring us some snacks!! So he showed up at our door with chips, popcorn and cookies!!! He stayed for about 2 hours and we chatted and laughed. I love listening to his stories. They are always so funny an so animated. I wish we hung out more! I've decided though - if I ever decide to go on a trip somewhere - he is coming with me! Sunday morning we were waiting around for the girls to go out and do breakfast, but things were a little rough and seeing, let alone eating, a full plate of food that morning was not something they were looking forward to! So mom and I left them to slowly crawl to the cars and drive home and we headed out to Cora's for breakfast. We had never ate at Cora's before, but were told it was delicious - IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT - it was very tasty. I will definitely return! Mom and I then went to Scrappin' Great Deals so she could pick up some Copic markers and then we headed home. I had a stupid migraine started so climbed into bed pretty much as soon as I got there, but all in all it was a fun weekend. Chow for now, Jacqui

The "Weight" of life....

Well I'm pretty bummed out with myself. Last September, I decided I was gonna get on the weight loss train and get skinny before my little sisters wedding. Well...her wedding is in 5 weeks...and here I sit, the heaviest I have ever been and feeling like crap. Why does losing weight have to be so bloody hard? It certainly is not hard putting the weight on. I was surfing the web yesterday and I came across some pictures and I guess I am not the only one struggling with my weight. I had such a huge crush on Val Kilmer when I was in high school. Oh my gosh when he played Nick Rivers in the movie Top Secret!!!! He was just so "dreamy" and I'm not sure if he was singing in the movie or if it was voiced over, but it looked like he was singing - and well if you know me.......a guy who can sing.....**insert sound of racing heart here!*** Then when he played Madmartigan in the movie Willow. He had the long hair and looked so tough and rugged....Willow was a great movie by the way! And I must admit I think my all time favourite was when he played Iceman in the movie Top Gun. Not only did he have his shirt off a number of times...but when he did....he was playing VOLLEYBALL - once again for you who know me......a guy who can play volleyball......***insert racing heart beat here too**! But then......this was a recent picture I found of him. Yikes.... Maybe we should hook up and check out a weight watchers meeting together. But.....on a positive note......my Kobo fund is up to $17!!! yay! Chow for now, Jacqui