Christmas 2010

I was kinda dreading the week leading up to Christmas, I figured it would drag on and feel really slow. BUT, I was TOTALLY wrong - it FLEW by! And, I was very thankful for that!

Tuesday night is curling, and we had a little Christmas potluck. We only played six ends, instead of eight, and then gathered upstairs for food. We got lucky in the last end, and pulled off a win - we're 5 and 4 after the first half of the season!

Wednesday night we had a great time visiting friends - Pete and Shauna, from California, are in town for Christmas, so we all got together at Ike and Jeanette's (and Grayson's). It was a really fun night, and we were glad to fit in at least one visit with Pete and Shauna before everyone got busy with family commitments. We stayed out way too late, but, when we only get to see these guys a few times a year, you do what you have to do.

Thursday night was skating, as usual, but it was a little hard for everyone to focus - so it was a pretty relaxed night. And to be honest, I think I was having the hardest time focusing, so I'm to blame.

So, before we knew it, it was Friday. Curt got off work at noon, and I got off at 1pm - so, we had lots of time to pack and get organized, then it was off to Acton!

Christmas in Acton was great, as usual, and we continued with many of our favourite traditions.

Christmas Eve always includes our church service, and then a get-together at my parents. There is always good food and good company - and this year was no different. I was reminded of one tradition that has faded away, but will always been a fond memory...my parents used to give my cousins pajamas for Christmas, they would open them at our house on Christmas Eve and immediately put them on, then they would be ready to go straight to bed when they got home. They're way too old for this now though, which means I'm getting old too :)

Christmas morning we were at Tom and Krystle's, and my parents joined us there once the kids were up. And, Nolan wasn't up until just after 8am...and that was because Krystle woke him...which is fine by me, I'm sure it will be earlier next year. We all enjoyed opening our gifts to/from each other...and especially got a kick out of Nolan opening his gifts!


Nolan, soaking in each and every gift in his stocking - which is almost as big as him!


My Dad and Abby, watching 'The Nolan Show'!


My brother, Tom, checking out the antique fire extinguisher that Curt and I gave him.

Christmas night, Curt and I had turkey dinner with my parents. It was different with just the four of us, usually my Nana and Aunt Mary would have been with us, but Nana isn't well enough for that anymore...so, my dad delivered take-out meals to them instead. After dinner we enjoyed some adult time, and played a few games of Ticket to Ride and Canasta. Once Tom and Krystle were done with Krystle's side of the family, they joined us for a bit, too.

Boxing Day we were able to go shopping - a relatively new tradition, but a popular one. My mom loves to go so she can start her Christmas shopping for next year, she's crazy that way! I wish it would rub off on me though, I always regret leaving it until the last minute. I had some birthday money burning a hole in my pocket, so I was happy to find something to spend some of it on. I bought an awesome Helly Hansen coat...just what I need right, another coat!?!? I actually saw this coat, in black, last year when I was working at SportChek, but it was pricey, and I couldn't justify the purchase. But, it was on sale for 50% off on Boxing Day, and they had it in white, which was even nicer then the black one! I couldn't resist.

Monday's highlight was going public skating with Nolan. Curt and I both took our skates so that we could do this, and I'm really glad we did, and I think Nolan is, too. However, I don't think Nolan was really up for showing us what he can do on the ice. He wouldn't really do anything on his own, he wanted Curt and I to hold his hand at all times. Actually, he really wanted Curt and I to skate fast with him...so, we did...until a big fall, that is. It was Curt's turn to go fast with Nolan, so he was holding him under his arms, and Nolan was positioned between Curt's feet...then Nolan decided to split his feet, and he tripped Curt...they both went down, and Nolan hurt his knee a little. He had a bit of a meltdown, but once he settled down and had a drink, he wanted to get right back on the ice - that's my boy!



A few skating pics - sorry, I know they're blurry, but it's all I have.

Tuesday meant it was time to head home. We left just after lunch so that we would have time to stop at Ikea on the way. A trip to Ikea - and it was Curt's idea! We found what we were looking for, and now we have a project to work on in the new year...more on that later.

Christmas Begins

Today was the first of our family Christmas celebrations. And, as always, our first Christmas was with our immediate Vreugdenhil family - Curt's parents, his two brothers and their wives, and the four nephews. We're really lucky when it comes to Christmas celebrations; most couples who grow up in different towns have to take turns between families each year, but we don't have to worry about that. The Vreugdenhil's have always celebrated Christmas early, even before the three daughter-in-laws came around.

This year we started things off a little different - we got together at a local bowling alley, and spent an hour bowling, before gathering at Dave and Sarah's place for dinner. I have to admit, at first, I was skeptical about bowling - it just didn't seem very 'Christmas-y', it was kinda random. However, seeing how well it worked for the boys won me over, and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

Apparently, Noah had his birthday party at the bowling alley just a few weeks earlier, so all the boys knew how things worked.


Noah, Dave and Luke. Luke only used this little bowling aide for the first few frames, then he wanted to be like his older brothers, and insisted on doing it their way.


Me, Luke and my sister-in-law, Jeanette - each focusing on our results!


A group shot.


Curt, Luke and my father-in-law, Gord. Notice how Luke's hands are in his pocket - they were pretty much in there all the time, except when he needed them to hold a bowling ball. So cute.

After bowling, we all went to Dave and Sarah's house for dinner and visiting. We enjoyed a great turkey dinner with all the trimmings, and then got to open some presents. In the past, all the adults have drawn names, and then we exchanged with each other. This year, we didn't do that - but, Curt's parents still bought for all of us. The boys were all really excited to open their gifts, and it's fun to be part of that.

Once the boys settled down after presents, it was off to bed for them, and then the adults got to play some games. The boys always play poker, and the girls play a board game, this year it was Ticket to Ride.

It was a great afternoon/evening, and a great way to start our Christmas celebrations!

It's My Party...

...and I'll cry if I want to!

So, today was the big day...my 30th Birthday. I had this title all planned out a few days ago, and little did I know how much I would actually cry on my birthday?!?! Now, for those of you who really know me, you'll probably assume that I was upset because I was turning thirty. I haven't been looking forward to this 'milestone'...I've actually been dreading it! And, I made sure that everyone knew I didn't want anyone to make a big deal of the day.

However, the tears were not because it was my birthday, but because of a rough few days at work. This is a stressful time of year for our clients...they're anxious to get their cheques early, and want to be able to have some sort of Christmas for themselves. Unfortunately, they tend to be impatient and nasty, and they take their frustrations out on us. So, by Friday, I had had my share of horrible phone calls, and I finally just lost it...and cried (it's just who I am).

Luckily, it was Curt's Friday off, and we had made plans to meet for lunch - and it was a much needed visit in the middle of the day! It was great to get out of the office and to enjoy each others company.

After an uneventful afternoon back at the office, it was off to the arena. It was a pretty low-key night; it was our last night for the CanSkate session, so we offered a family skate. And, I have to say, it was a relief to not have to teach a group lesson.

Next, it was off to Pizza Hut with various other coaches, and some of the executive, for a Christmas/Appreciation Dinner for our Program Assistants.

And finally, back to the arena, this time to watch Curt's hockey game - the first of his games that I've been to all season (I used to go to his games every week, this season has been a lot different).

So, it was a busy day, and although I didn't want to do anything special for my birthday, I'm not sure I would have wished for today's events for, either. I would have at least changed the morning at work :) One thing I wouldn't change is the very sweet gift that Curt got for me - he surprised me with a pearl necklace, and a gift card to do some shopping!

Oh, and now that I'm 30, I'll have to let everyone know how I did with my '30 by 30' challenge! That will be a later post.

QFSC is Homeless

Last Friday, after over 60 years of skating at Memorial Arena, the Quinte Figure Skating Club was forced to say good-bye to our facility. Now, I've only been part of Quinte Figure Skating Club for 5 years, but it was still a weird night...and the emotions of those around me definitely had an affect. Some of the coaches I work with have coached in that arena for 25+ years...and some of them did their own skating in that building, too. All of that in mind, I'm sure in some ways, Memorial Arena felt like a second home.


The reason for the sudden closure - apparently there was major failure in the ice plant (refrigeration system) on Wednesday night. Now, this is a really old building, and these things happen...in fact, there had been issues last season; so, over the summer, the city dug up the concrete floor and did a few patch-up jobs, hoping to at least get through this season. But, that's not going to be the case. After the failure on Wednesday night, the refrigeration system was turned off and we were relying on the cold weather to keep the ice for a few days.

In the midst of all of this, construction is in full swing on the Quinte Sports Center - an addition that will increase the center from two rinks, to four rinks. If things had gone as planned, we would have finished the season at Memorial and then moved to one of the new rinks next year. Something we were looking forward to, but just not ready for, yet.

And, because this has all happened so suddenly, we are going to have a few chaotic weeks ahead of us. The city has had to scramble to find ice for us to use, as well as all the other user groups that rely on the Memorial. We only know where we're going to be for the next week, and we're in a few different arenas. I mean the important thing is that we have ice...but, we're going to miss the perks we had at Memorial...our own coaches room and the club room, two rooms we use to store supplies that help us run our program.

Hopefully the kids will all adapt, and enjoy skating in some of the other/nicer arenas in Belleville...hopefully they all find us, and don't show up at the wrong arena! :)

Competition Season has Begun!

So, like I said in my last post, December is shaping up to be a busy month...and this weekend was a good indication of that.

Today was the first skating competition of the year for my skaters...well, my 'older' skaters, anyway. This was an Invitational competition held in the nearby town of Frankford, and three of my skaters from Tweed competed. This was a big one for two of the girls, it was the first time they competed at the STARSkate level, which is kind of a milestone in skating.

Britteny, my first skater of the day, really rose to the occasion...she skated a great program and placed FIRST! This girl is a little jumping bean...this is only my second season coaching her, but in that time, every new jump I've shown her, she's landed on the first day! Spins don't come as easy to Brittteny, but we've been working hard on them in preparation for today, and she went out and did one of the best camel/sit combination spins I've ever seen her do. The best part of the day was Britteny's attitude towards the whole thing...before she skated she kept telling me that she felt ready and knew she was going to do well...and when she finished, she knew she had done the best she could, and was proud of that...it was great. So, the first place finish was well deserved.

Jillian, my second skater of the day, also had a really good skate...probably a personal best. Jillian struggles with her jumps, and unfortunately isn't landing three of the jumps that are required in her level...she has decent attempts at all of them, but they are all under-rotated. But, she chose to challenge herself this year by moving up to a new level anyway, and I'm proud of her for that! Jillian is a natural spinner, and her spins were great, as usual. I was happy when Jillian came off the ice smiling, she was happy with her skate and knew that there was one jump combination that she could have done better, but aside from that, she had done the best she could. Her mom had videotaped her skate, and after watching it she told me she thought she might get third or fourth...I had seen some of her competition, and thought fifth or sixth was more realistic...so we were both surprised when she ended up coming in eighth (last).

And then there is Leah, she was my last skater of the day, and probably the one I was most worried about going into the competition. Leah had a pretty rough 'competitive season' last year...she competed in two competitions and placed last in both. And I knew that was weighing on her coming into this competition...that and the fact that she can't land her axel, a key jump at her level. However, a lot of kids skating at the Preliminary level can't LAND an axel, it's more about having a decent attempt...and Leah's attempt has come a long way in the first few months of this season. Her axel today was one of the better ones I've seen her do, and although she two-footed the landing, the rotation was almost there. She did have a funny little fall in her program...but we laughed it off...she was hydro-blading and she couldn't get on a deep enough edge to make it curve, she looked behind her and realized she was getting close to the boards, and she decided she had to fall to avoid crashing into them at full speed! Anyway, the fall wasn't during anything too important, so it didn't effect her too much, and she ended up placing FOURTH! A fourth I will always think of as third, because the girl who placed first is kind of in her own league...she skates in Quinte, and when I saw that she was in Leah's flight I just kinda settled on everyone else was skating for second. Either way, third or fourth, a huge victory after last years competitions.

It's been a relaxing afternoon/evening, which is always nice. Curt is away at a family Christmas party in Toronto...I had to miss it because Leah didn't skate until 2:30pm, and Curt had to be on the road around 1pm...and although I know the party would have been a lot of fun, today's competition went really well, so it was worth staying home for!

Worst Blogger Ever - Me!

So, as you may have noticed, November was a bit of a write-off for me. I had a record low number of postings, four, which is really embarrassing. It's been too long to try to cover everything that has happened since my last post, but there are a few things I want to mention, for my own sake, so bear with me...I'll try to make this a 'Coles Notes' version.

- In mid-November we had an unfortunate family event, my uncle passed away, which meant a trip home for a few days. Obviously not the best reason to be home, but it was nice to be able to have a few days with family while we all dealt with his death. This was the first time there has been a family emergency, on my side, since Curt and I have been married. It was tough getting the news over the phone, and my poor brother was the one who had to call and tell me, and just being so far away from everyone for the first few days was hard, too.

- While I was home attending the visitations/funeral, my skaters in Tweed had a test day! I felt bad missing it, but I obviously had to be at home. One of the coaches I work with covered for me, and the girls ended up doing fine. Two of my skaters were trying their Preliminary Skills and the Swing Dance, and passed both, and a third skater tried her Swing Dance too, but she will have to retry it at the next test day (that's the nice way of saying she failed, which just seems so harsh).

- Other then those events, things have been pretty routine for the last few weeks. The hours of my new job + skating = not a lot of spare time these days...and what spare time I do have, I'm generally exhausted and just relaxing on the couch! Oh, and I did get to spend a few days on the couch earlier this week, but it wasn't in a good way...I had a nasty cold/sinus thing that knocked me out for like three days, it was rough!

And, now we're into December, which is crazy (the last few months have gone so fast)! And it's shaping up to be a busy month, so I really have to get back into blogging. Here's hoping I can make more time to post over the next few weeks!

A Two Week Blur

The last two weeks have been a total blur! My new job is keeping me super busy, and making for some long days. But, I'm glad to be working, and I'm appreciating the new opportunity. I enjoyed two government perks at my job this past week, and I have to share - first, I had this past Thursday off for Remembrance Day! And second, my original contract was only for two weeks, and was supposed to end on Friday - but, they extended it until the end of January, and gave me a raise with the extension! I had to laugh, because even though it was only a fifty cent raise, it still came after only two weeks, and I had to fight for a raise at the golf course after TWO YEARS.

Three days a week, I get off work early to get to skating - and those are particularly long days. But, skating is obviously still very important, and I couldn't leave the kids stranded. I've been busy getting my kids in Tweed ready for an upcoming test day, and our first competition is coming up soon, too!

Curling has been going well, and it's great to get out of the house and enjoy something together. Curt has been doing really well, and I...well, I have one or two good ends a game :) It's like golf though - in golf, one good shot a game keeps me coming back, so one good end in curling should keep me coming back as well. The beginners luck wore off quickly though, we haven't won since the first week. The second week was a bit of a blow out, but last week we did at least give the other team a challenge.

Last weekend we went to Acton to celebrate Nolan's third birthday - and as always, it was a good time. This was a whirlwind trip - we didn't get there until after 7pm on Saturday night, and left just after 7pm on Sunday! But, it was worth it.

Well, this has been a really boring post...but, that's all I have for now. We're actually just about to head out to visit friends and watch the Amazing Race. Then it will be back to the grind for another week.

Skate Canada International

So, with all the work stuff straightened out, I was able to enjoy Skate Canada on the weekend. I went Saturday after skating, and got there just in time to see the Men's FreeSkate. It was a great event - and Canadian, Patrick Chan, was amazing. He came back from a fourth place finish in the short, and won the event!


Men's Medal Ceremony - Patrick Chan getting his GOLD medal. I know this isn't a great picture, but I wanted to post it anyway - I realized I needed our other camera, with more zoom, and took it on Sunday.

Canada was well represented on the podium - although the second place skater is Japanese, and the third place skater is American, they are both coached by Canadians! The American skater, Adam Rippon, is coached by Brian Orser - and I'm not sure who was more entertaining to watch...Adam, who is an amazing skater with great jumps, or Brian Orser, who never stopped moving during Adam's entire skate! He seemed to walk through the whole program on the ground - he was so into it. As a coach, I loved watching Brian, too.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the Pairs competition, but I did get to see the Pairs medal ceremony.


Pretty proud moment for us Canadians! Kirsten Moore-Towers & Dylan Moscovitch were second, and Paige Lawrence & Rudi Swiegers were third. Two young Canadian teams, who obviously have a lot of potential in the next few years. Oh yeah, and the girl second from the left is a skater from Quinte! A number of our skaters were selected as volunteers and got to do a variety of cool jobs.

I also got to see the Ladies Final on Saturday evening, and there was another Canadian medal! Surprisingly, it wasn't Cynthia Phaneuf who made the podium (she had a disappointing skate in the long, and dropped to fourth. But, Amelie Lacoste was consistent, and won the bronze! I don't have any pictures of the Ladies, the battery died in my camera.

I was back at the competition on Sunday, and watched both events - the Free Dance and the Exhibition. Despite all the highlights from the day before, I think Sunday was my favourite day - I LOVE ice dance!

I think what made it extra special is that Canadians Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier won the event. The reason that's special to me is because two years ago, while at a coaching clinic, I got to share the ice with these two. The clinic focused on coaching dance, and these two came to do on-ice demonstrations for us. They were really nice, and not all that well known at that point - and here they are, only two short years later!


Ice Dance Medal Ceremony - Vanessa Crone, looking pretty happy, being congratulated by the President of Skate Canada.

One of the things I was most looking forward to, was getting to see Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir skate, live. However, weeks before the event, Skate Canada announced that they had to withdraw because Tessa had surgery - so that was disappointing. But, I did get to see Alexandra Paul & Mitchell Islam skate - a young dance team, and relatively unknown, for now. And they were like a mini Tessa and Scott - in looks and in style. They teamed up in February 2009 and won Silver at the Junior World Championships in 2010, after skating together for only a little more than a year! They were awesome, and placed fourth - amazing for one of their first competitions at the Senior level!

And, although they didn't skate, Tessa and Scott were there - they gave a speech during a presentation to a Canadian judge, she was being inducted into the Skating Hall of Fame.



The exhibition was amazing, and it was great to get to see so many Canadians perform again. It's nice to see the top skaters perform in a lighter atmosphere, and I enjoy when they put on a real show, rather then just coming out and doing another competition like performance.

I got home from Kingston just in time to start welcoming the trick-or-treaters! Maria and Henk & Amy were here for the night too, so we played some games and watched a 'scary' movie. It was a great finish to an awesome weekend.

Rewind to the End of Last Week

It's been so long, and I've been so busy, I don't even know where to start.

In my last post, which was last Wednesday, I was talking about going to Skate Canada International on the weekend, but I had so much happen on Thursday and Friday, too.

Thursday morning I had a job interview for a position with World Vision. They were hiring people to work in the mall for six weeks leading up to Christmas; it's the first time they've come to the mall here, but they come in and set up a 'booth' and try to get people to adopt/sponsor kids. I was really excited when I saw the job posting online, I immediately knew it would be perfect for me. The interview, which was a group thing, went really well, and I left feeling confident that I would be offered a position. So, that added to the excitement of the weekend.

After the interview, I drove straight to Kingston to watch some of the practice sessions at the competition. As I was parking, I got a call regarding another job, one that I had an informal interview about earlier in the week, but that I assumed wouldn't amount to anything because skating conflicted with the hours of work. Well, I was wrong - I was offered the job?!? Total shocker.

Later that night, when I was on the ice coaching, I got a call from the person about the World Vision job, and I was offered the job!

Job stuff never seems to be easy with me :) I was really torn between the two jobs, both had their own positives and negatives, and I stressed over making the right choice. I kept flip-flopping back and forth, and questioning my decision.

Anyway, I went with the second job, which is with the Ministry of Community and Social Services - more specifically, the Ontario Disability Support Program. It was such a good opportunity I couldn't pass it up - I mean, I may finally put my degree to good use!

I started the next day, so last Friday. That was one of the negatives, I started right away so I wasn't able to go to Skate Canada on Friday :( But, having been at the job for a week now, I'm over missing the competition, and I am feeling like I made the right decision.

Keeping Busy

Well, it seems as if the golf season may be over, for me anyway. I've only worked one of my last five scheduled shifts at the golf course - the other days weren't busy enough to need someone working in food & beverage. So, I've been enjoying the time off and keeping pretty busy, for now.

I always seem to have lots of off ice stuff I can do for skating - this week I was preparing entry forms for an upcoming competition. Next week it will be bills. I enjoy the days I work on skating stuff; I take the laptop into our office and spread out, I always feel so productive after an office-skating day!

On Tuesday, I was feeling a little crafty, so I worked on a few little projects I've been wanting to try. I made a little Halloween sign for our front door and started a few 'Scrabble Tile Necklaces'.

Here's the Halloween sign...


(I was having trouble taking a picture - I kept getting a glare because of the glass - so, I took it off the wall and set it on the floor in our spare room.)

We've had the Ikea frame hanging on the wall for a few weeks now, and it's been empty. I got this idea from a blog, but I don't remember which blog. Anyway, I just used some Halloween scrapbook paper and scrapbook letters to create the word 'BOO'...the pumpkin and the spider on either end are stickers, I found them on sale at Michaels and figured they would fill the two open spots nicely. I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm going to leave it because it's better then nothing.

Here is a picture of Scrabble Tile Pendants - I didn't make these, this is a sample photo I found on Google Images...


(Each of those is a scrabble tile with paper decoupaged on to it, the paper is then sealed with a substance that hardens and looks like glass. A jump ring has been attached, and a chain or piece of leather makes the necklace.)

I'm going to try to make these for my skaters for Christmas this year. I actually bought all the supplies to make them last year, but didn't get them done...honestly, I didn't even get them started. I wanted the tiles to have a figure skating theme, but I can't find any supplies related to figure skating, so I've given up on that idea. Instead, I just bought some origami paper with various patterns, so I'll use that and try to make each one different. I'll post pictures if I'm happy with them when they're finished :)

Aside from these crafts, I also had time to write a letter to Aubrey, our World Vision sponsor child from Malawi! Another thing I've been wanting to do for some time. This is actually the first letter I've written to him, and it was a little hard at first - I didn't really know where to start. It took a little while, but I'm happy with the result, and know that he'll be happy just to receive something from us, it won't really matter what it says.

Last night was our first night of curling, too, so it was a busy day! Curling was a lot of fun - and more of a workout then I expected! I was nervous leading up to the first night - we had to register in the competitive league because it was the only night Curt and I were both free, but we're rookies, far from competitive. But, we ended up with great teammates, Vince and Patsy. Ironically, I know Patsy through golf, so that was comforting. Vince and Patsy are both really good and have a lot of curling experience, but, they're also very patient and willing to help us learn the sport. Curt and I were both happy with how we played, especially considering it was our first night. We know we have a lot to learn, but that will come with time. It didn't hurt that we WON either - always a good feeling!

Today was a little more low key - although I did make a pretty good dinner, which is worth mentioning, because it doesn't always happen in this house :) I made slow-cooker lasagna - so easy - with caesar salad and garlic bread. Curt said that it was a 'superb' meal!

After dinner we went to visit Kevin, Susannah, Stella and Cole. Cole was really cute, and sooo tiny! He has a lot of dark hair, and really LONG fingers. I held him for a little while, but he was hungry so he was pretty fussy - and fussy babies usually get passed back to their moms pretty quickly with me. I put our camera in my purse on the way out the door, and then forgot to take it out during our visit, so I don't have any pictures.

So yeah, it's been a good couple days! I'm looking forward to the next few days, too - this weekend is Skate Canada International, in Kingston. I bought my tickets for this competition months ago, so I'm excited that it's finally here! I'm sure I'll have a post or two about the competition, so stay tuned.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It's been a quiet week around here, apparently we were saving all the excitement for today!

Planes - Curt booked our flight and accommodations for Florida today!!! Our travel plans are going to be a little different this year then they have been in the past. For the past two years, we've done two trips each winter - but, this year we're going to do Florida in January and then save up for a BIG trip in April (there's still a lot of work to be done, but we're hoping to go to Kenya!). You may be wondering why/how we're able to go to Florida when we hope to do such a big trip a few months later. Well, our trip to Florida is part of a timeshare thing; so, if we do the week in Florida, the timeshare company will then give us a week at another one of their locations - anywhere in the world! So, we're hoping to use that week while we're in Kenya. Hopefully we can get all our ducks in a row and make all of this work :)

Trains - I actually don't have any train related news, but it made for a catchy title :) I do have some baby news though...

First, Curt's brother and his wife did the big gender reveal today. I posted about them back in August, and mentioned that they already have four boys, and are expecting their fifth baby in March. Well, they are going to have their own little hockey team soon...baby number five is a BOY!

And, our good friends, Ike and Jeanette (finally) had their baby today (I had to put that 'finally' in there because the baby was due on Oct. 15th and poor Jeanette was getting really tired of waiting)! They had a boy too, which we knew months ago...they had his name picked out months ago too, but kept that a secret until today. His name is Grayson James, isn't that cute!?! For those of you who know Jeanette, you know she's tiny...so, you're going to find this hard to believe, but Grayson was 10lbs 6oz!!! Mom and baby are doing well, but Jeanette will need a little extra recovery time because she ended up having a C-section. We haven't had a chance to talk to Ike or Jeanette yet, so we don't have any other details, what we know came from Facebook.

Oh, and I don't think I posted about this at the time, but our other close friends, Kevin and Susannah, had their second child last week. They had a boy too, Cole Jacob was born on October 13th. Curt and I are hoping to fit in a visit with these guys this weekend, but we're all kinda busy, so it may not work out. If not, hopefully soon.

So that's a lot of baby news - a lot of BOY baby news! And baby news is more exciting then train news, right?!?!

Automobiles - We SOLD our car today! Well, Curt sold it, and it's been in the works for awhile, but it was finalized today. Last week, Curt came across a Ford Ranger that he liked on Kijiji...he went to see it, and discovered that the guy selling it was looking to replace it with a small car...in order to buy the truck, Curt had to sell his small car. Do you see where this is going?!?! Yup, they ended up trading vehicles! It wasn't an even trade, the truck is newer/nicer and has fewer km's, so Curt just paid a portion of the asking price and the guy ended up getting money and a car for his truck!

This was actually my car, I bought it before we were married. But, when we got our Jeep, Curt let me drive the Jeep and he graciously started driving the car...he's good to me! I'm not really sad to see it go though, we put a lot of kilometers on that car - back and forth from Acton to Belleville on weekends while Curt and I were dating, a two hour work commute the year I worked at a high school AND two trips to and from Myrtle Beach - so, it was time to get rid of it.


The car, sitting outside the license bureau, all ready to be sold. This is actually the cars good side - there is a hole in the front bumper on the other side! Curt drove into the arm of a forklift...apparently it was buried in snow, or something like that?!?!

Curt is more of a truck guy anyway - this is his third Ford Ranger! And by far the nicest, which I'm very thankful for.


He looks proud, doesn't he?!?

See what I mean about all the excitement coming today!

Lucy the Librarian

For the past two weeks, our local Christian radio station (UCB Canada) has been running a contest called 'Lucy the Librarian'. I've been listening to this station for almost a year now, but this is the first time I've participated in a listeners contest - this one was just too good to pass up.

So, the contest was called 'The Incredible UCB Book Giveaway' with Lucy the Librarian. From October 4th to the 15th, Lucy the Librarian revealed the titles of the 100 books in the Giveaway Library. Listeners had to keep track of the titles and authors of the books, collecting as many as possible over the twelve days.



I didn't even come close to getting all 100 book titles, in fact, I only had 36 book titles. But, this afternoon, the host explained that he would be doing a 'spot check' - he would randomly ask for ten book titles, and you only had to get 8 of the 10 correct, so I thought it was worth a try.

Just after 3pm this afternoon, the host made the announcement that it was time and that he was looking for caller #99 - so, I started dialing! I was really surprised when I got through right away, but I guess I was a little too anxious because I was caller #1, HA! From there, I frantically hit redial for the next hour - and I got through five more times (I was #17, #49, #66, #75 and #90)!

Curt arrived home early on in the process, so he was calling too, but he wasn't having the same luck I was. That is until the end, when he got through and was caller #100...it's not as bad as you think, caller #99 had gotten something wrong, so they were still looking for a winner!!! I was soooo excited - I was jumping up and down!

And here's what happened when Curt got through....

The host asked for Book #4 - I didn't have that one :(
The host asked for Book #13 - I didn't have that one :(
(It's not looking good at this point)
The host asked for Book #22 - I HAD IT! Crazy Love, by Francis Chan
(I've been wanting to read this one, so I'd love to win it!)
The host asked for Book #38 - I HAD IT! Growing Grateful Kids, by Susie Larson
The host asked for Book #51 - I didn't have it, game over :(

By this time, it was already after 4pm, and I was late for skating. So, I asked Curt to keep calling, but I had to leave.

He never got through again :( Curt kept listening, and apparently they said the person that won was #99 - so they must have edited it for some reason?!? The man that won had 55 book titles - that's 19 more then me!!!

Oh well, it was a lot of fun collecting the titles! Lucy the Librarian often gave the titles and authors name quite quickly, so I would write down as much as possible, and then go to amazon.com to make sure I had the right information. So, I've added a number of books to my 'To Read' list...now I'll just have to buy them.

A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Acton Portion

Having arrived in Acton on Saturday evening, we were able to enjoy all day Sunday with the family. The forecast was warm and sunny, and that's exactly what we got! We took full advantage of the day, and went to a nearby pumpkin patch for wagon rides, a corn maze and, of course, pumpkins!

We started with a short wagon ride out to a corn maze. There were two mazes to choose from - a large 'adult' maze that was supposed to take an hour, and a short 'kids' maze that was supposed to take thirty minutes. Obviously, we went with the 'kids' maze...and it's a good thing, because that one ended up taking us forty-five minutes! There were 'clues' throughout the maze, and we were looking for five letters to spell a word at the end. Nolan seemed to enjoy it, and quickly caught on to searching for the 'treasure' as he called it.


Nolan, pointing out one of the clue stations.


Whenever we came to a fork in the path, Nolan got to pick the path we would take next.


Nolan and I, hiding in the corn, ready to jump out and scare the rest of the group. The second time we did this, I think Nolan legitimately startled Curt when he jumped out and yelled 'boo'.


The 'Mr. Mom' photo...Curt with Nolan, and Tom with Abby.


Awwww, I LOVE this picture. Two of my favourite guys, both looking really cute!


CUTE, no other words needed.


Getting ready to head home. Nolan with the pumpkins he selected, and Abby catching a little nap.

Sorry for the picture overload! Tom and Krystle forgot their camera, so I had to be sure to get lots for them...and then I just had to share them with you!

We also spent Sunday night and Monday in Acton; Monday was really low key, we didn't even get out of our pajamas until almost noon. We had dinner at my parents, and just before dinner, Nolan and I went outside to play in the leaves. And, of course I have some pictures of that, too...


One side of Nolan, sweet and innocent.


And Nolan's other side, mischievous! He is just about to throw those leaves at my head, which he thought was hilarious!

Curt and I left for home right after dinner on Monday; we were expecting the traffic to be pretty bad, but were pleasantly surprised and made it home in good time.

So, it was a great weekend...and having had Monday off, this week is going extra fast!

A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Piker Portion

Curt and I had very busy weekends...some of the activity was on our own, and some it was together. Overall, I think we both enjoyed the time with friends and family.

Curt's weekend started Thursday night, when friends started arriving for the Piker Open. Seven of the ten guys were here visiting Thursday night, and five of them spent the night. They were up early Friday morning - they played two rounds at Oak Hills on Friday, so they had to get an early start. Friday was the 'Founders Cup'...something new to the Piker Open this year; it was team play, modeled after the Ryder and/or Presidents Cup. Conveniently, the five people that spent the night here were all on the same 'Founders Cup' team - so, they could get dressed in their team uniform without anyone from the other team seeing them :)


A slightly awkward picture of 'Team VanderWal' - Curt, Jeremy, Pete, John and Dustin.

Although it was close after the first 18 holes, Team VanderWal ended up with a HUGE win! The final nine holes was singles match play, and Team VanHuizen only got 1/2 a point...to the non-golfers reading this, that's not good. In the end, Team VanderWal won 17.5 to 7.5! The above picture shows the team with the official Piker trophy...which apparently gets to stay at our house for the year.


The official Founders Cup score sheet, created by Curt. He made, and printed, this at work (of course).

The guys played another 18 holes on Saturday, this time at Black Bear Ridge. Saturday was just normal individual stroke play; and congrats to Colin, who was the winner this year. Curt had a rough go on Saturday, and unfortunately finished last. He is usually really lucky on the golf course - if his ball goes in the rough, he'll find it, and be able to play it! Or, if his ball hits a tree, it will bounce right into the fairway. Crazy! But, those things weren't happening on Saturday.

In case you can't tell by my lengthy summary of the Piker, I'm a little jealous of the whole thing! It just seems like so much fun. But, it's a boys only event, so I'll never get to play in it. I'd be horrible anyway, but it would be fun!

Anyway, since nine of the ten guys were staying at our place on Friday night, I wasn't allowed to be at home. So, Jeanette had Maria and I over for a girls night. I picked up Thai food on my way home from skating, and we ate that, watched a movie and then visited for awhile. It wasn't anything too crazy, and we didn't really stay up too late...probably because Jeanette is pregnant and due any day, so she doesn't have a lot of energy. It was a good night though.

And, just for fun, some pictures of what nine men did to our house in two short days...


Our dining and living rooms. Yup, the dining room table was swapped out for a ping pong table. And below that, notice the random futon mattress...it didn't matter where it was, if there was floor space, the guys slept there! And, I'm guessing by the couches, they wanted to try stadium seating?!?


And, our fridge! Notice the beer shoved everywhere, including the fruit drawer.

Saturday was a typical day for me, I had to skate and went from the arena to the golf course to work. It was a quiet evening at the golf course and I didn't have to stay late...which was perfect, because Curt and I left for Acton following my shift.

More about that in the next post...

Better Late Than Never

Back in September, I posted about taking Nolan, my nephew, skating for the first time. You can read about it here...(I've tried to post a link here, so you could click on it and go right to my post from September 15th, but I can't get it to work?)

Anyway...

At the end of that post, I mentioned that I didn't have any pictures, so I had to wait for my brother to send them to me. Well, that never happened! But, Krystle posted a few on Facebook today, so I'm going to 'borrow' them from there.


Nolan and I when we first stepped on the ice. I love that you can see his big smile in the picture! My back was a little sore by the time we finished; I spent the majority of our time on the ice bent over like this, holding Nolan up.


Returning to the dressing room after our skate. We let Nolan walk down the hall by himself, first so that he could get the feeling of walking in his skates (which is all we want kids to do at first, walk on the ice), and second, because he was really wobbly and it made us laugh (he looked drunk!).


This one is a little blurry, but I had to post it anyway. This isn't from our skate together, either, this is from his lessons in Acton. Krystle's caption below this picture is the best part: On his bum at skating again! Snow Angels are his favourite thing to do at skating!!

Nolan is on the younger side for starting to skate - usually kids are at least three years old when they start, and Nolan won't be three until November. So, it may take him a little longer then the older kids, but he'll get it, and it will benefit him in the long run! In the mean time, as long as he's smiling when he's out there, he's doing well!

And, just because I can't forget about Abby, here is a picture of her that I 'borrowed' from Facebook.


I thought her little smile was funny in this picture, a little crooked. Maybe she's been sampling the wine - notice that the Jolly Jumper is conveniently located next to the wine rack!

I can't wait to see these cuties this weekend! And I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about my moms turkey dinner, too!

Just Because

I don't really have anything to blog about, but it's been awhile so I feel like I should do something. So, this is going to be a random little update about what's been going on for the last week.

I have been working A LOT! Most days, I spend mornings at the golf course, have an hour or two at home in the afternoon, and then head to the arena for a few hours of coaching in the evenings. I've had a few shifts on the beverage cart at work, and it's been a nice relaxing change of pace. My first cart shift was during a high school tournament, so the tips weren't great, but it was a nice day, so it was just good to be outside. Things are finally starting to slow down at the course though, and I couldn't be happier about that. This week I was only scheduled for two shifts, which is fine by me!

Skating is...fine. I have solo music cut for all but two of my skaters, so that's a major relief. I've started choreographing a few solos, and hope to get all of them finished in the next two weeks. I'm planning on taking kids to a competition in early December, so we don't have any time to waste!

Oh, and I just thought of something kind of exciting...Curt and I have joined a curling league! Go ahead, laugh, I'm laughing as I type that :) We had a few friends all lined up, and we were going to register as a team, but clubs don't let you do that. They don't want a full team of rookies, so they split you up into pairs...so, we lost the other two (Kevin and Maria). But, Curt and I decided to go ahead and join. We ventured out in the cold and rainy weather tonight to pay our fees, and then the league starts in two weeks. Should be a fun night out once a week.

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving, and I am really excited about going to Acton to visit! We're only able to make it home for Sunday and Monday, but this time last week I didn't think we were going to be able to go at all, so two days is obviously better then none!

I have to coach and work on Saturday and Curt has his own big event this weekend, it's Piker Open! Piker is a golf tournament he plays in with some of his closest friends...it sounds low key, but this is like the PGA for them. They'll play two 18 hole rounds on Friday, and one 18 hole round on Saturday. On Friday they're trying out a Ryder Cup format for the first time, and I'm pretty sure Curt's team is the better team, so they should win. And then on Saturday, they'll play standard stroke play. Curt won the Piker trophy two years ago, so we'll see if he can win it back this year. Check out www.pikeropen.com if you're curious about the tournament :)

Hopefully I'll have a more exciting post after Thanksgiving weekend.

Decisions, Decisions

Last night was a stressful night at our house...there were so many good shows on TV, it was hard to decide what to watch. Ha!

First of all, Battle of the Blades - Season 2 was starting on CBC!


The figure skaters and hockey players had all been announced, but only as individuals, not as pairs, so I was looking forward to finding out who would skate with who. Last nights episode was more of a behind the scenes, and the teams weren't announced until the very end. So, we didn't get to see the actual pairs skate together, but I'm excited about a few of the match ups.

- Ekaterina "Katia" Gordeeva and Valeri Bure seem to be well matched, and I love Ekaterina.
- Theo Fleury and Jamie Salé have a good chance; Theo is intense, and he's going to work hard for the win, and Jamie won last season, so she'll be looking for a repeat.
- Georges Laraque and Anabelle Langlois were a surprising match up, he's huge and could easily lift any of the girls, and yet they give him the smallest girl...I think it will make for some amazing lifts. I like that Georges is a Christian, and very open about it, and Anabelle is such a cutey.
- Violetta Afanasieva and P.J. Stock are a surprise favourite, I didn't even recognize Violetta's name, I don't know a thing about her or her skating, but I decided last night that P.J. Stock is going to bring a lot to the show...he has a great sense of humour!
- And then there is Shae-Lynn Bourne and Patrice Brisebois, I love Shae-Lynn and thought she should have won last season...so hopefully she will be just as enjoyable to watch with her new partner.

And then over on CBS, a new season of The Amazing Race was starting.


Without a doubt, this is my favourite show, so I couldn't miss it. The last few seasons of this show, we've kind of had an open door policy at our house, and invited friends over to watch with us. We've had 8 or 10 people here watching, which is always extra fun. Last night only Kevin and Susannah (and Stella) were able to join us though. It's early, but as of right now I'm liking the doctors, Nat & Kat; it seems like they'll pay attention to detail, and given their profession, they should be able to stay calm in stressful situations. Jill & Thomas seem like the strongest couple, they didn't have a lot of drama surrounding them last night...but again, it's early. And then there is Nick & Vicki, wow, they were brutal last night. I'm sure if they were at home watching the episode, they would have been totally embarrassed! And, I can't post about the show and not mention the watermelon in the face! OUCH! That girl was incredible for finishing the challenge...even if she did say 'I can't feel my face' one too many times!

In case you missed it...


And the last show I wanted to watch, Undercover Boss. Not as important as the other ones I've talked about, but still a good one. I focused on Battle of the Blades and The Amazing Race, and switched to Undercover Boss during commercials, seemed to work well.

So, you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in awhile, and then when I do, it's all about reality TV. Things are obviously pretty boring around here right now! Oh well, sometimes boring is OK.

Finding a New Routine

Well, I think it's safe to say that fall is here. I know the calendar says the first official day of autumn is September 23rd, but I think it came early this year! The weather has really cooled down, especially at night, and the leaves are definitely starting to change. It's cool, dark and rainy today...so, I have a beef casserole in the slow cooker, a mug of hot chocolate in hand, a spiced orange candle lit and I'm working on skating music...not a bad way to spend a day off.

Last weekend was our final wedding of the season; another one of Curt's cousin, this time on his mom's side, was getting married. And just like the last wedding I posted about, this couple had also been dating (off and on) for 10 years! So, congratulations to Rachel and Andrew!

The next 'big thing' on our calendar, well this one is probably only on my calendar, is Skate Canada International! This is a major skating competition and it's being held in Kingston this year, so it's nice and close, which doesn't happen often. I bought my 'All Event Ticket Package' months ago, so from October 28th to October 31st I'll be taking in as much of the competition as possible.

Until then, we'll be settling into our new fall routine. I'm working more hours at my new job; the shifts change from week to week, and are a lot more random then my shifts in the Pro Shop. But, I'm not complaining, I'm still glad I made the change.

And skating, well...I had another job related blow earlier this week, and this time it was skating related. I had been in touch with the parents of one of my skaters from last year, and it seemed like she was all set to register and we would pick up where we left off last year. Well, when she wasn't at the rink for the first two sessions, I started to get nervous...and after a few emails, my worst fear was confirmed, she has decided not to skate this year. VERY DISAPPOINTING news :( First of all, she was a great little girl and she really seemed to be enjoying skating (and was doing well); second of all, this leaves me with only one private skater in Belleville, this time last year I had six private skaters. I've had three decide not to return, and I lost two skaters because the board made a last minute decision to switch the ice schedule (moving one of the programs from Friday to Thursday, affecting two of my skaters because I can't be in Belleville to coach on Thursday - I'm in Tweed - so they had to go with another coach).

And, I have my share of frustrations in Tweed, too! The troubles there are all schedule related as well. Together with the two other coaches, and two board members, we developed a new ice schedule to ensure the best use of our ice time. Unfortunately, one of the other coaches continues to make little changes to the schedule...all of which benefit her and her skaters, and make life difficult for the rest of us! UGH, it's frustrating when it was supposed to be a group effort, and now it feels like it's all being dictated to me.

I know I don't have blog 'followers', but, for those of you who do read regularly, I'm sorry for all the complaining lately. I didn't really start this blog with these type of posts in mind, but that's the way it goes sometimes.

Visitors

As I mentioned in my last post, we had some special visitors last week. My brother, Tom, his wife, Krystle, and their kids, Nolan and Abby, were here for a few days! I always love when people come to visit, especially these guys and my parents; they are always so hospitable when we go to Acton, so it's nice to be able to host them every so often.

They arrived on Monday afternoon, hung out with us until Wednesday morning and then went to spend a few days in Ottawa. They returned on Friday afternoon, spent the night with us and then left for home on Saturday morning. So we had lots of time to visit.

During the first few days of their visit, we were at the mall doing some shopping, and we made an exciting purchase for Nolan :) I had heard that he received some hand-me-down skates from a friend - however, the type of skates he received are every skating coaches nightmare! Plastic and buckles do not make good skates.


They probably looked something like these.

So, while we were in the mall, and Tom and Krystle were busy looking for kids clothes, Nolan and I went off to Sportchek to look at 'real' skates. Together with a sales guy, we tried a few pairs on. We found a great little pair that fit Nolan well, and he was able to stand up and walk around in them. When Tom and Krystle arrived at Sportchek, and Nolan had them on his feet, I thought I might have been in trouble :) But, Nolan's birthday is coming up, so when I told them that Curt and I would split the cost - as a birthday present - I redeemed myself ;)


And, these are the awesome little skates we left the store with!

Now, I probably would have rather picked out skates like this for him...


But, I knew not to push my luck! This kid is ALL boy, and already a huge hockey fan...I'm just glad that he's going to learn how to skate properly before trying to play hockey.

When the Robertson's were back in town on Friday night, I actually had the chance to take Nolan on the ice! For sure a highlight for me...I was so glad that I was the first one to have him on the ice. Is that weird?

He was great on the ice! Not 'great' as in he could stand up and skate all by himself or anything, actually, it was the exact opposite...but, he had the right attitude about it and just had fun.

We stepped on the ice, I grabbed hold of him under his armpits to keep him on his feet, and pretty much pushed him ahead 10 or 12 feet. Then I picked him up (so we could get to the other side of the ice, closer to Tom, Krystle and Curt), and when I picked him up, he said 'I'm a good skater, Auntie Boo' Ha! I had done all the work...but he was proud of himself, and that made me happy.

After being on the ice with him for about 20 minutes, I can say that it is a good thing I am not going to be his coach! Probably the most obvious reason for this, I would totally favor him if he were in my group. But also because I don't think he would listen very well, he often just laughed at me when I tried to give him instructions! Oh well, that's understandable.

The following Monday, Nolan actually started the Learn-to-Skate Program with the Acton Figure Skating Club...my home club! And, from what I've heard, his little private lesson with me, gave him an advantage over the other kids ;)

Anyway, the skating portion of the visit was obviously a highlight...but, the whole visit was great, and I'm really thankful that Tom and Krystle chose to spend some of their vacation time with us!

*Note: I'm still waiting for Tom to send me some pictures of us skating, so I'll have to add those later (hint, hint)*

Labour Day Weekend

So, now we're all caught up on my work situation, time to move on to the long weekend. It was a busy one!

We actually got a head start on the weekend because we had a wedding to go to on Friday; and, the wedding was three hours away, in Orillia, so Curt and I both had the day off. We left around 11am and planned on getting to Orillia early so we could do some sight seeing; however, we drove through a crazy rain storm that seriously slowed us down, so we weren't as early as we thought. We're talking torrential rains, the kind where you can't really see that far in front of you, so people end up pulling off the road! We didn't actually have to pull over, but I think there were times where Curt was only going about 30 km/hr. Not the kind of weather you want when you're on your way to an outdoor wedding :) But, having said that, when we pulled up to the wedding site, the sun came out and people went to work setting things up for the ceremony.

The groom, Frank, is Curt's cousin...and our dentist. He married Tracy, his girlfriend of 10 years! Yes, she's patient, and yes, that was an ongoing joke throughout the day!

We don't see a lot of Frank and Tracy, actually, we really only see Frank when we have a dentist appointment. But, they are a great couple, and it was great to be part of their special day...their long awaited, perfect, special day.


Frank and Tracy being introduced as Dr. and Mrs. Vreugdenhil for the first time!

The reception was at a golf course, and I know I'm a little biased, but it was beautiful! It made me think about our reception at the Blue Springs Golf Course, and I realized how thankful I am that we were able to have it there! The meal was great, and we were seated at a table with Curt's cousins and their spouses, so we had a great time throughout dinner, too. To get Frank and Tracy to kiss, people were invited to share some marriage advice or to give a little story about Frank and/or Tracy...so, all the cousins were busy reminiscing, and it was fun to hear new stories from Curt's childhood!

We left the reception somewhat early, around 10pm, to make the drive home. It would have been nice to stay in the area, but we had booked a campsite months ago, and we wanted to fit camping in too. We had the site Friday to Sunday night, and we weren't able to be there Friday obviously, so we had to be there by 8am on Saturday morning so the park wouldn't give our site away.

We were up bright and early on Saturday morning, made it to our site, set up the trailer and immediately took a nap :) It actually wasn't a very nice day - it was cloudy, windy and rained off and on. So, it's not like we missed out on any beach time by taking a nap.

The weather the whole weekend was pretty brutal, so we spent a good part of our time in the trailer playing cards. Luckily, on Sunday afternoon some friends came out to visit, so that forced us to leave the trailer (it's not big enough for more then two people!).

Kevin, Susannah and their daughter, Stella were our first visitors, and Maria also joined us later in the afternoon. Despite the WINDY/COLD day, Kevin, Maria and Curt were all brave enough to go for a swim. Susannah (and I) had to look after Stella, so we couldn't go in...darn ;) There were not a lot of people in the water, in fact, other then a few kids, I think the only people 'in the water' were kite surfing (note - they wear wet suits). I suppose it was a perfect day for that.


Maria heading in the water, Curt and Kevin looking cold and a kite surfer, the only one that belongs in the water!


Susannah making sure Stella doesn't get too far into the water.


Stella, waiting patiently for dinner...


...and, Stella enjoying her corn on the cob!

Stella was a great during the visit - she played away happily, enjoyed our walk around the park, and fell asleep in her stroller so her parents could enjoy a few hours of card games before heading home!

Monday morning was cold and rainy again, so we pretty much just packed up and came home. We were home just long enough to unpack and get organized at home, and then the Robertson's arrived! Tom, Krystle, Nolan and Abby are on holidays, so they came east for a visit. More on that in the next post!

Work - Moving On

So, I have been MIA (Missing in Action) from the blog world for two weeks! I've tried to post a few times, but it have just been too busy! The last two weeks have been consumed with work, skating/coaching, a wedding, camping, family visiting, and meetings.

The whole work part has probably been the most eventful part of the last two weeks. After a long and trying season at the golf course, I finally realized it wasn't worth it...and I QUIT!

I had an incident with a co-worker, he lost his temper and flipped out on me, and no one in management saw a problem with the way he acted. Now, I don't want to go on and on about it, but a brief little explanation...this guy has 5 months experience working at a golf course, and prior to that he probably didn't even know the difference between a putter and a driver. I have 8 YEARS experience working at a golf course, 5 YEARS at the course I'm at now. And, the guy is a starter and I'm a Pro Shop Assistant. So, you'd think he would realize that I have some authority over him, but, he thinks he should tell me what to do?!? Sorry, maybe this sounds horrible, but I'm not going to let this guy tell me how to do my job. Anyway, I wasn't going to go on and on about it.

So, after the incident, I had a meeting with the GM and he informed me about some decisions they have made for next year...mainly, that all the current management would be returning for another season. Well, the current management has been brutal and I was just trying to get through the season because back in June, I was told that they would be making some changes. So, when I realized they had changed their minds, and next season will probably be a repeat of this brutal season, I realized I should get out now.

So, I met with the GM on a Monday afternoon, when we finished I left the course and went straight to another course in the area...I met with one of the managers at that course, and was hired on the spot! I started at the new course yesterday, and the first day went well. It looks like I'll be working in Food & Beverage for the rest of the season (which is really only about 2 more months), and I think it will be a great change. I don't think Food & Beverage is the right fit for me for anything long term, but it will be nice for a few months.

I think one of the best parts of the new job is that even though it's a new environment, I know a lot of the golfers, so there are still some familiar faces. Bay of Quinte (the course I just left) has lost a number of members to Trillium Wood (the course I just started at) over the last few years, and I saw some of those guys yesterday. They were all really chatty, asking why I had made the switch, and then very encouraging when I told them that I just felt like it was time for a change. And, Bay of Quinte had public play as well, and some of those people play at Trillium, so I'll get to see them, too. It kinda makes the whole transition easier.

So, I'm hoping the next two months will be enjoyable, but ultimately, I'm ready for the golf season to be OVER for another year!