Poor Dinosaurs...

After the game yesterday, Brian's parents came over (so did Gail) and gave Dylan his Bday present as they aren't going to be there for his party tuesday (tomorrow). He was really happy to receive Star Wars legos (twice because his friend he had over saturday night also gave him a different kind of star wars lego). They left around 3:30 and I went up with Dylan after he asked me to build them with him. I have to admit I was quite happy. First because he wanted me to but mostly because I LOVE LEGOs !!!

For dinner we had pasta (Snakes on a plate as the kids call it) and it was delish ! I came down to skype with my babylove and BBM'd Sara Ann a few times before going back up to relax and watch Tv. Kennedy went to bed and the rest of us watched "Last day of the dinosaurs" on Discovery Channel. It was a first time special in 3D and Curtis had been waiting for this show for a while now so Nicole had mentionned he could watch it all even if it finished around 9:30. Turns out Dylan wanted to watch it too so after the few first minutes, we asked him if he was ok with it since it was "parental discretion advised" but he said he was fine. I didn't think I'd like it that much but it's actually REALLY good and interesting. The boys were quite amazed with it too. Dylan would once in a while mention it made him a little sad to see what happened to them so Nicole reminded him that it was called "Last day of the dinosaurs" and that he knew how it was going to end. But he said he was fine. After it ended we all went to bed.

I didn't notice anything as I am in the basement but this morning when I got up, Nicole said that Curtis had gotten up quite a few times during the night mentionning he felt sorry for the Dinosaurs... We were both surprised as it was Dylan who seemed a bit upset... Turns out he probably didn't see it as being "for real" while Curtis understood it more so he's the one that was deranged by it... So I guess he woke up Kennedy so they both finished in Nicole's bed and she was then awake for a while... So they didn't sleep but surprisingly, Curtis was quite good this morning. They all were. Nicole had taken her day because she had an observation session in Kennedy's class this morning and she wanted to do as many things as possible to get ready for Dylan's Bday tomorrow. Plus she was going crazy with her hair needing to be done so she had set an appointment do get her coloring done and get it trimmed.

I on my side did some cleaning and picking up in the family room so she was quite satisfied with that when she got home. She said the family room felt good to look at ! When she came back, it was almost already time to go get Kennedy so we had time to watch all of  Ellen with Justin Timberlake on :) At 3, we walked over in the pooring rain to go get Kennedy (and forgot our umbrellas) and as soon as we came back, Nicole left with her as she had set a appointment for her too at the hair Salon. She actually got one for the boys too at 4:30 so at 4:10, I went with the van to pick them up as they got off the bus and headed strait to Venere Salon & Spa to go meet Nicole and Kennedy there. They had just done her hair when we walked in so Nicole went over to grab us each a Starbucks as we waited for the boys to get their hair done !

When we went out, Nicole headed to a sports shop nearby to get mini hockey sticks to give the kids tomorrow instead of goody bags full of Dollorstore junk. Curtis and I went over to Metro to start getting the few things we needed and they came to meet us there afterwards so Dylan could pick his cake. Curtis and I went strait home to unpack the groceries and Nicole went by McDonalds to get dinner. We both didn't know what to do so she said it would be alright for tonight and quick with no dishes to do so it was fine.

After dinner I did Dylan's homework with him, skyped with Jean-François and picked up my room a bit. I am now "chillaxing" in my room and I think I won't be going to bed too late. Tomorrow, Kennedy and I will go out to get what's missing (Wrapping paper and decorations) and will each do a card fo Dylan. He is having 4 friends over and we will be having hot dogs and pizza with the Delish looking cake he picked! I'll try to take a picture tomorrow before it's all down our bellies ! Nighty night little Dinosaurs :) xoxo

A little storm in Oakville - a few Snowflakes in St-Jules

Thursday morning seemed so easy just because of the meltdown the morning before !!! The boys were very calm and listened quite well. They went off to school and I stayed with Kennedy. We both showered each our turns and then were ready for our day.

We started by doing our cookies that we wanted to do and had lots of fun. It was one of those already prepared thingies in which you only have to add an egg and butter. So we prepared our dough and refrigerated it for an hour while watching Tv. We then rolled our dough out and made our Snowflake cookies that we decorated with other snowflakes and sparkles :) Kennedy was really happy with the result and thought they were excellent. The boys were happy to eat them too when they came home !

After cleaning up, we had lunch and went to the grocery store to get a few things that were missing. On our way back, Kennedy wanted to do her Ballet dance again so she dressed up while I searched for the song. I filmed her doing her dance and we took a few pictures. She then sat down to do crafts while I did a bit of house cleaning and picking up. At 2, we watched Ellen and I thought " how lucky am I to be spending my days with Kennedy dancing, doing Crafts, baking and listening to Ellen" ! I couldn't believe she liked Ellen. Just as much as I couldn't believe how she knew every lyrics to every Hit songs. I mean... Ok her mom works for SiriusCanada and Kennedy always wants to listen to the Countdown on the Hits1 channel but... She's good ! And fun :)

The two boys each had a game that night in different arenas so I had all their stuff ready as well as dinner for when they got home. nicole was going to be in around 5:45 so they had to be fed and ready. Curtis had to have his shirt and tie on and Dylan his Oakville turtleneck. So I made them Cod fish fillets with potatoes and corn (they love corn) and made sure the boys got dressed up. When Nicole got home, we all hopped in both cars and went each our ways ! I went with Curtis to his game against Burlington and Nicole and Kennedy went to Dylan's game. It was a good night because both boys won their games. And Curtis scored a goal so me and Gail (Nicole's mom who came to his game too) were very excited ! We got home and watched iCarly on Family channel for a while and then went off to bed.

Yesterday (Friday) was definitely not as good !!! With the kids it was fine but the rest my day was pretty dull ! The kids all had school so after walking Kennedy and coming back, I looked up the nearest Desjardins Caisse on internet and set it in the GPS. The closest one was in Mississauga, so about 20 minutes but that was fine because I wanted to shop a bit after and it was right next to Square One Shopping Mall which was really big and had fun stores and boutiques ! So I took off on the highway like a big girl and made it to Mississauga. I made it to the Desjardins building but had to park in an underground parking so once I do so, I had no idea where to go. Nothing was indicated so after walking around for about 10 minutes in the parking, I finally found an elevator. So I went up and saw this security guy that explained where to go. I had to go out and then in to another building beside. So that's where I went. When I had looked it up on internet, it said there was a Atm machine and a counter i could go to but it turns out it was really only an Atm machine and a tiny little office for I don't know what but the guy told me the only way for me to change my cheque was to go downtown Toronto to a Desjardins Service thing.... wow... I was not impressed !

I got out of there and went strait to Square one after trying to find a parking (not underground) for about 15 minutes where I could get GPS and phone reception. I just figured I had to go downtown one day or another so I decided I'd go but then I couldn't find anything in the GPS. So I texted Sara Ann telling her I really needed her right now (I really only wanted her to look it up on internet and call me back but I think I didn't say things the right way) so I scared the crap right out of her ! She didn't answer right away cause she was still in bed so I called my mom. After being on the phone with her for almost an hour, I was still sitting in the parking lot with this huge shopping center saying HI ! COME SHOP ! to me when my mom finally found a few numbers and adresses of Desjardins in Toronto I could call. So I did because I wanted to make sure they could change my cheque. Turns out they couldn't cause they were only offices and stuff like that... I got a text from Sara Ann saying

BUGZY ! I'm trying to call and there's no answer... I'm super worried !!!

I hope je panique pour rien. Call me !

I was on the phone with my mom when she wrote this so I didn't see it right away ! When I hung up I saw it... And another one !!

I was still sleeping ! I tried to call you and I also called Nicole's !

What's up ?? I'm worried Call me ASAP !!

WOUppps ! Didn't wanna freak her out but I guess I did !!! So i texted her my situation and then called her after she mentionned it would be easier to just get an account done with another bank or something. So we talked a while and I reasured her ! Bahahah! So my drive to Mississauga was a fail because it was just worthless. I texted Nicole to tell her I was going to open an account here and to ask her where I should go. She mentionned PC was good and free and they were partners with CIBC. So I went to Loblaws in Oakville to open an account and I knew from then on it would be easier for everyone because Nicole wouldn't have to physically write a cheque every week and she could just set up a tranfer or just do it online and deposit directly in my account. So I was thinking everything was finally going to be ok and I would still have time to shop a little afterwards. It was 12:30 and I only had to go get Kennedy at 3pm so I was fine. At least I thought I was.... As I was finishing my things with the guy from PC, I got a text from Nicole...

Hey Lyne ! Just got a call from Curtis' school and apparently he is not feeling well.

As I was about to answer and say "Ok I'll be there in 15minutes, I'm coming"... She added :

Said he wasn't sure if he had his medicine this morning. Do you remember if he did ?

OH MY GOD ! I almost died... I texted her and told her he didn't ("How stupid am" I thought). I just told the guy "Ok I have to go" but the only thing left was to create my pin so I did it in a hurry and went flying out the door. As I was about to faint in the van she texted again.

No worries ;) (I was relieved when I saw the smily) Would you be able to pick him up within 30 minutes ?

He's in the office and can wait a while.

So I said I was on my way ! And right as I started the van, my phone buzzed with another text !

Ok Lyne, so the school called again and turns out he wants to stay.

There is a medieval presentation and Mr. Coady said he had no problem with him staying

and that he'd keep him close by. So no worries, you don't have to go.

See U later :)

I just sat in the van for about 5 minutes grabbing my head. I suddenly had a huge headache. I couldn't believe I had forgot about it. I knew it wasn't all my fault because he usually takes it on his own but... I still have to check and remind him... And I completely forgot about it. Needless to say I didn't want to do no shopping anymore... Maybe it would of helped but I just wanted to go home. I didn't really have any cleaning to do but I still did some just to take my mind of things and calm down. And at 2, I watched Ellen and felt much better ! At 3, I walked over to get Kennedy and when we got home, I prepared snacks and Dylan's hockey stuff because he had practice at 5 and we all had to hop in the van as soon as the boys would get home. Nicole was only going to be home later. When Curtis came in the door I asked him how his day went and he said not too bad. He said the afternoon was much better and that their presentation was awesome. I was relieved ! Dylan had a sandwich and we left for the arena.

When we pulled in to the parking lot, Nicole texted me

How's everyone doing ? Is C boucing off the walls ? :P

He was actually pretty calm and fine ! His medication usually wears off by that time anyways so it was ok. She said she'd be home around 6:30 so she'd make pizza ! When we came home, the Jackmans were there and had supper with us ! It was pretty fun. We had a glass of wine and when they left, Nicole and I were both played out. She put the kids to bed, we talked a bit and she said not to worry about what had happened today... Her and Tania (the last nanny) had already forgotten more than once... So I went to bed thinking my day seemed worst than it actually was. And I had a thought of my whole week and figured it was a pretty good one overall ! But I was still glad it was the weekend !

This morning I got up around 9, just before they all walked out the door for Dylan and Kennedy's hockey practices. I talked to Jean-François, showered, had lunch and wrote on my blog :) They came back around 12:30 and had lunch. And now they are about to go to Dylan's hockey game so I think I will hop on since I never saw him playing a game yet ! And I have nothing else to do !

It's snowing down home and I kind of wish I could be there but... I am still happy to be here :)

A great day and an explosive start to another good one.

Yesterday was a very good day. Nicole stayed to work from home and Kennedy didn't have school. The boys went off to school and were very calm all morning. I gave them their breakfast, they got ready and played a while before leaving. When they left, I picked everything up in the kitchen and living room and made crafts with Kennedy. I had took a couple of books from home with me so I had one with all these art project ideas and lots of nice stuff so I took it out. Kenny was amazed and said that we should try doing all of them projects before Christmas. The book was quite big so I told her I didn't know if we'd have time but it turns out just yesterday, we did 4 or 5. So we just may be able to go threw it all !

I cooked her dinner and around 12:30, Nicole and I went out with her to go to her gymnastics class that was at 1. It's about a 5minutes drive only but they wanted to show me other places where they often go either to get stuff they need, prescriptions or simply to shop a little. So we went around this little outside mall where there's a Shoppers Drug Mart and a few little places where I could go with Kennedy on her days off. Nicole mentionned this little salon where her and Kenny get their nails done sometimes and also this new potterie place called "Croc a Doodle" where you can go and paint different pieces. So I will definitely look it up and maybe bring Kennedy there one of these days :) Before heading to Gymnastics, we stopped for a Starbucks (Peppermint Mocha YUMMMMMM) and Kennedy got a white chocolate milk. In Oakville, Starbucks are just as present as Tim Hortons (if not even more). I was already in love with Starbucks but now I think I will definitely get addicted. Especially with those Holiday drinks <3

So Gymnastics was cool. Brian had warned us to bring a book but it wasn't that bad. By the end, Nicole and I were starting to get sleepy but it was fine. It's a HUGE gymnastics gym with ALOTE of equipment. There was a few people working out pretty seriously because they probably compete so it was pretty impressive but watching the kids was really fun too. Kennedy is actually pretty good. And it's cool because the parents can't go in but there is this watching room upstairs with nice comfy couches that you can sit on and watch threw a big window wall. So that was fun. A bit before Kenny finished, Nicole and I went around the place. The Gymnastics club is in the Oakville recreation centre where there is also a public pool, a training gym, the library and two skating rinks where alot of the practices and games will be held. So now I know where three of the arenas are (3 on 9 that is !!!) Thankfully I have a GPS furnished in the van so i'll be good to go ! Up until now though it's ok and i'm finding my way around pretty easily.

When we came back from Gymnastics, I looked up to see what we could have for Dinner so Nicole and I decided to have beef tenderloins with rissoto and veggies so I took the Van and went out to Monastery (That Italian bakery that I will probably mention pretty often now !!) to get the tenderloins and bread. Yayyyy, my first drive out alone ! So I got the stuff and as I was about to pull out of the driveway, Nicole texted me...

Yikesss ! My mom and cousin are coming over for dinner...

Can you grab extra tenderloins ?

So I went back in to grab those ! And then on my way home I started to panic... I figured she didn't want me to do dinner for them but I still wasn't sure... I imagined burning the tenderloins and over cooking the rissoto and making a fool out of myself... But as the (usually) calm person that I am, I got over it and made my way home. And anyways I was right. Nicole told me not to worry about anything and that she wasn't going to make me do supper for her family !! But I did offer to help her out so I cooked the rissoto and veggies and she took care of the meat and garlic bread. Her cousin was a truck driver and was stuck in a truck stop for some reason so when Nicole's mom heard about it she called him up and asked if he wanted his old auntie to go see him ! So when Nicole heard about it she invited them over. She hadn't seen her cousin in forever. He lives in Miramichi (NB) but is from Nova Scotia. So they came over with a bottle of wine and it was just perfect for our dinner. Everything turned out quite good and the kids enjoyed it too.

Nicole's mom and Nathan (her cousin) left around 8:30 so I helped out Nicole with the dishes and then sat down with Curtis to do his math homework, as it was already pretty late. Before they went to bed, I read Curtis and Brandon a story in french. They really enjoy someone reading them stories so that was fun too. It calmed them down before going to bed. 

This morning was quite hectic... I got up at the same as Curtis and everything was going well. I made him his breakfast and prepared the lunches. When Dylan and Kennedy got up, they had breakfast and then they started fooling around. When the time came to close everything for them to go get ready, things started heating up and they wouldn't listen. I was trying to get them to be quite as Nicole was in bed (She stayed in because she wasn't feeling good). They finally went up and it wasn't too bad but Curtis who has ADDH was having a bad morning and didn't want to cooporate at all. I was feeling so bad because I knew Nicole was awake and I didn't want her to get up but time was flying  by and I had to go out of the house with Kennedy at 8:35 tops to walk her to school. And I was thinking "He has to go too because I can't leave him here alone"... Ok he wouldn't exactly be alone since Nicole was in but I just had in mind that normaly, she wouldn't be there.

I was starting to get freaked out when Nicole finally got up... Needless to say I was very dissapointed and feeling bad but before going into his room, she looked at me and said "I don't want you to feel bad, i'll take care of it". She went in and things got worst but she finally got a hold of him and did what she had to do... The things is she knows him alote more than I do and I still didn't know exactly how to react to him... When I came back from walking Kennedy, he had left on time. Nicole said that he was very ashamed and sorry when he left... Before leaving, he gave her a big hug and said "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that... Tell Lyne i'm sorry". She told me that and said that mornings like these don't happen very often but they still do sometimes... She said she was happy to have been home for me for my first "Curtis Crisis" and said that it if happened again, I was just to go with Kennedy and by the time i'd be back, he would have calmed down. He had his medication when he got up but she says sometimes it just doesn't do it when he's about to have a melt down. It's as if he can't control it. So even though it sounds aweful, it actually went not too bad and Nicole told me I probably saw him at his worst. So that was reasuring. At the end of our conversation, she just added "So ya... That was Curtis".

I think the fact that their last nanny left after being there for a few years + Brian leaving to go out west after being at home 3 weeks in row didn't help. I talked about it with Nicole and we figured the best thing to do would simply be to make it clear that I am not going anywhere (At least not until Xmas). That way it'll be clear in his head and Nicole said it might be easier for him to figure it out. Anyhow... It still wasn't that bad !

As for the rest of my day, it went well. I did some cleaning and some laundry and took a couple of breaks to do my phone calls and watch Ellen. Then at 3 I walked back to get Kenny and when I got back I prepared the sheppards pie for our dinner. Curtis had shooting practice at 7 so while he was gone I did Dylan's homework with him and sent him and Kennedy to shower. We then sat down and watched Tv for a while and when Nicole and Curtis got back around 8, we all went to bed. We were all quite tired and needed it. So tomorrow Kennedy and I have are day all planed out ! We will be baking cookies in the morning and doing crafts in the afternoon !

A couple of you mentionned you would like to see the house and neighborhood so in the next few days, I will take pictures and post them. Meanwhile, I already have a couple of the inside. It is very nice and cosy and I am in LOVE with the kitchen.

When you get in the house, the laundry room, closet and a little washroom are on the right. In front is either the stairway to the second floor or if you go strait ahead, you get to the kitchen and living room in the back of the house. If you turn left as you come in, there is an open space that serves as an office and another dinning table which is never really used and where you can find another fire place and some of Kennedy's Crafts stuff. Upstairs are the four bedrooms and two bathrooms (A main one and one in the master bedroom). And if you head downstairs there is my room and a washroom and the rest is an open space in which Brian built an inside rink. More pictures in the following days :) Nighty night readers.

Meeting Toronto and The Goddards

No need to mention how excited and nervous I was when we landed in Toronto saturday night (and it wasn't because of the plane) ! I was just hoping for things not to be akward and to go smoothly. Right as I landed, Nicole texted me to ask if I was there. She said that her, Dylan and Kennedy (which are the two youngest ones) where on their way to come meet me. So I answered that I had in fact, just landed and that they could wait for me at arrivals. She sent me a short description of what they were wearing and told me they'd be near Tim Hortons at arrivals. So I grabbed my luggage and made my way up to go find them.

I had a warm welcome with hugs and kisses and after introducing ourselves, we made our way to the parking lot to hop in the van and head "home". Curtis and Brian were at a Maple Leafs game so I was going to meet them later. On our way to the house, which was about a 20 minutes drive, Nicole and I chated about nothing and everything and she mentionned that the kids all had a hockey game today (sunday). So she showed me around on our way there and told me that the van would be my vehicule (on weekdays) to bring the kids to and back from their practices and games (if her and Brian weren't able to make it) but she said that their hockey schedules were all on the home computer and that it was quite easy to figure out where we had to be and when.

We finally pulled into the drive way and I recognized the house from the videos she had sent me earlier that week. We made our way in and I felt like I had already been there. Dylan and Kennedy went  up to put their Pj's while Nicole and I went down to my room in the basement. She showed me where everything was and gave me the internet access password. My room was beautiful. I had saw it on a picture but it was even better. I had a nice desk and closet, a phone and a big flat screen Tv in front of my bed. Plus, I had my very own washroom. And the walls were brown :) LOVED it !

 

She showed me around the rest of the house. Dylan has a Guinea Pig and Curtis a lizard. I told Nicole I wasn't too familiar with them but she said I wouldn't have to deal with them which was why they were in the boys rooms. They took care of their own pets, fed them and cleaned them. But I didn't mind taking them just to try. She showed me where the three bathrooms were and repeated to make myself at home. After the kids went to bed, she served me a glass of wine and toasted to our new living experience. Nicole was very nice and easy going like I thought she would be. The boys got home around 11:30pm so we shaked hands and chatted a while with Brian. We went to bed around midnight and Nicole said to be in no rush to get up in the morning since their games were all in the afternoon and sunday was usually their lazy day. So I went to bed with a very good feeling about my stay here until Christmas.

Sunday morning I woke up around 8am. I got up, took a shower, made my bed and went up. Kennedy, Dylan and Brian were up but Nicole and Curtis were still in bed. I made myself a toast and sat with them to watch tv. The three kids had a game but Dylan's was earlier and he had to leave before because it was at a further arena. As for Kennedy and Curtis, they were both playing at the same arena which has two skating rinks. Kennedy was getting on for her game at 12 and Curtis on the other rink at 12:30. So around 11am, we hopped in the van so Nicole could show me around a bit before we went to the arenas. We went to the bank and around town a little and then headed to go to the games.

Curtis knows his way around the arenas and doesn't need any help so me and nicole went with Kennedy when we arrived. She is quite mature for her age and she got all dressed up on her own. Even I probably wouldn't know where to place what equipment !!! The only things she needs help with is her skates and her helmet. Her game was really fun and cute to watch. She is with the White Dragons in the timbits league (an all girls team) and her team members are ages 4 to 6. They seperate them in three categories and switch the line ups every two minutes. We have the cherries, the bananas and the stronger girls which are the apples. Kennedy is a banana and she did quite well ! I have to admit it becomes kind of long since they are quite young and there isn't much action but at least the periods are only 10 minutes each ! And it is really cute to see them going :)

Dylan and Curtis both play for the Oakville Rangers but in different teams. Nicole and Brian were updating theirselves on the games by texting so by 12:30 when Curtis got on the ice, we knew Dylan was done and he had tied his game and played very well. Curtis's game was definitely awesome to watch. Lots of action and excitment. They won 5-2 and Curtis played quite good also. At the arena, I met the Jackman's (friends of the family) who also have kids who play hockey. They introduced theirselves and told me we were going to get to know each other alote either in arenas or at their house for Dinners once in a while. They seemed really fun and nice. Nicole's parents also came down to watch the game and afterwards, they came over to the house for a bit.

After they left, Nicole and I went over to this Italian bakery not too far from their place which is called "The monastery bakery & Deli". I was in heaven and I thought "She should of never shown me this place"... at least not before a few days before my departure ! All sorts of fresh bread, desserts, cheese, meat, salads, ETC. ETC. ETC. !!! Oh my.... Anyhow... We grabbed a fresh loaf of bread and a couple of other things and went home and had lunch. Afterwards, the kids went to play outside and me and Nicole went around to see where all the things for school were (bags, lunch bags, food for lunches, etc.) and she showed me how the schedule for the hockey games and practices works. We chated a bit in the living room and watched tv for a while. We had lunch pretty late so we didn't plan much for diner. Anyways Nicole had to go to this birthday party with Kennedy at 6pm so Brian and I just sat down and played Wii a bit with Curtis and Dylan.

When the girls came back, we all had a piece of pie from the bakery and watched tv a little but we all went to bed early since the coming day was monday. At 9:30 I was in bed and ready to go !!! I had called my mom and then Jean-François earlier and had a good chat with both of them. They were happy to know everything was going good. As I layed in bed falling asleep, I thought "This was a good first day in Oakville".

This morning I got up when my alarm went off at 7am. I got ready and went up. Nicole was up but no one else yet, so I started the lunch boxes. They were all off to school this morning. They got up one after the other so I gave them their breakfast and chated with them. Dylan was the last to get up and Nicole had mentionned he had trouble getting up and always wanted a bit of tv time and breakfast upstairs. She had left around 7:45 and Brian was at home so he took care of bringing Dylan his raisin toast and I finished up the school bags. At 8am, everything goes off (Tv, games, etc.) so they can get ready. So I sent Curtis and Kennedy to get dressed, comb their hair and brush their teeth and Brian told me he was looking forward to spending time with them as it was his last day home before his week out west so he'd take care of getting them ready for the rest of it. When it came time to go, Kennedy didn't wanna leave. She was crying and saying she didn't want to go to school so me and Brian talked her into it and finally left, a little back on time. The boys had already went out the door to be sure they wouldn't miss their bus. We walked Kenny over to school and she called her mom on our way there so that helped too ! Brian said she was usually the easy one in the morning but he figured it was the cold she was catching with a mix of "I don't want my dad to leave tonight" and of "I don't know Lyne enough yet" that caused her breakdown !

But the rest of the day went amazing. I cleaned the kitchen and living room, did the dishes and emptied the dish washer. Brian likes to do stuff around the house when he is home so he raked the leafs and did a few things outside while I was passing the broom. We then went out to walmart and the grocerie store to get some things we needed and to show me around a little more. The day was fun. At 3pm we left walking to go get Kennedy at school and came back. Around 4:30 I put the chicken and potatoes in the oven an sliced up the veggies. I also prepared a plate of carrotts and cucumber for the kids to have as a snack when they got home. Nicole had mentionned it was an easy way to get them to have their veggie portion for supper cause they didn't always finish what you'd give them in their plates. The boys played hockey downstairs with Brian while I finished supper. Kennedy on her side was having fun dressing up and coming down to show me her dresses and costumes. She invited me to a concert that was going to be held later that night in the living room ! She is so cute. She already had her ballet costume and Tutu on !

We had supper and the kids really liked it. I cleaned up and made a plate for Nicole for when she'd get home and I headed downstairs to have a quick chat with my boyfriend on facebook :) When Nicole got home we went threw the homework routine but I only watched from the living room cause only Curtis had homework and Brian did it with him. The children went to bed around 8:30 and Nicole left to go bring Brian at the airport. I prepared the stuff for the morning and went down to take my shower. When Nicole came back, we had a good chat and headed to bed ! She is going to get up in the morning for Dylan's 6am practice and I will take care of the rest. They should be back at the house for 7:30 and she will be working from the house and going to Gymnastics with Kennedy and I tomorrow morning.

It was a great first day of work with the Goddards. I am really enjoying this. The house, the neighborhood and the family are all nice. And even though it's a money place and it's all nice houses and rich people, it's nothing compared to St-Jules and I wouldn't trade it for the world :)

Hanging with Jean Lesage.....

I had set my alarm clock at 7:15 but woke up before. My laptop had slept beside me so I just opened it up to check my messages. My two favorites (Jean-François and Sara Ann) had written. I wrote back quickly and got up. I had breakfast with my aunt and uncle and finished packing my bags. We left Rimouski around 9:30 and stopped for lunch in Qc before they dropped me off at the Jean Lesage airport. My flight was only at 5:50pm but I didn't want to hold them back so I just figured I'd be there early enough.

Anyways I was always a bit frightened at the idea of missing my flight or something. Plus, I had booked it online and I was scared I did someting wrong. So I would rather be there a while before than right on time or too late. So they dropped me off at the front door and gave me hugs and kisses with their best wishes. It must of been about 1:15pm. I headed strait to the check-in counter and made my way threw security. At about 1:25pm tops, I was sitting in front of gate 29 waiting for my flight which was only in approximately 4 hours. Way to go for being on time!

Once again, thank god for Internet. I pulled out my laptop and started looking at my e-mails, facebook and twitter accounts. I updated my Facebook status to : " Lyne Sexton is sitting at the Jean Lesage airport in Qc... I wanna sleeeep !! Have another 4 hours to wait.. But tonight i'll be sleeping in my "Oakville home" :) " Once in a while, i'd take my eyes off the computer to look around (Either at people passing by or working) or stare outside as I was sitting in a couch facing the windows. I wrote Jean-François a message and told him I'd call him around 4. I knew he was over at my brother's house to empty my room from all of my boxes and stuff as they were going to use my old room for the baby that was on it's way for march. They were going to spend the day storing our stuff downstairs so it wouldn't be in Dan's way and it wouldn't be too far either for when we'd need them next spring when would come the time to move into our cabin.

So meanwhile, I opened up my blog to update it. I've been on this thing long enough now so i'll be going to the washroom and reading my book until 4 o'clock comes. Then our little chat should be good enough to make time go by faster :) And then at 5:15, I will be getting on Air Canada flight AC 8923 and leaving at 5:45 heading to Toronto Pearson International Airport where Nicole and maybe other family members will await me. I should be meeting them around 7:30pm tonight.

As I still don't know what will go on tonight once I arrive, I probably will only describe the rest of my day tomorrow. Either today will be a "two blog" day or as I just mentionned, I will simply share what happened tomorrow :) Crossing my fingers for everything to go fine and for the family to be as awesome as they seem to be... !

Leaving home, leaving him

Last night was my last night with Jean-François and I have to say it wasn't easy. My heart ached. But the things he told me to reasure me made me feel much better. I knew once I'd be over there and busy I'd be ok but it was just the departure part that I didn't like. But at least, I knew everything would be alright. I finally was able to joke around and tell him he'd be free of me beating him at Rock Band and could practice enough to maybe manage to beat me when Christmas came around !! I knew this experience was only going to bring us closer and make us stronger ! After 5 years of being together, we both knew what we wanted in life and were sure that we wanted those things together. He held me tight and promised I would have a great time. I always thought it was funny when he decided things for me. But he did it in such a nice way that it made me love him even more. I fell asleep in his arms with his voice telling me the sweetest things.

We said our goodbyes when his alarm clock went off at 4am. He repeated almost everything he had said the night before, wished me a nice and safe trip and told me he loved me about a hundred times. He told me to enjoy myself and to not forget about him ! How could I ?! After he left, I had trouble falling back asleep. I was both sad and excited. I finally managed to close my eyes around 5:15 but I knew I only had 30 minutes left to my night. I thought of getting up but finally slept a little more. I woke up on my own at 6:32. I turned around and stretched a bit before I realized my alarm clock hadn't went off. Jf had "supposedly" put it on for me but I guess something happened. I jumped out of bed, went for a quick pee, washed my face and waited by the window as mama was going to pick me up at 6:45. At least all of my things were ready.  I couldn't help but think "Awww cute... he didn't want me to go"! My mom later said the same thing when I told her about the alarm not going off :)

We picked up mom's friend Edith in Carleton and took off for Rimouski. We spent our day in boutiques and wandered around Rimouski. Around 2:30pm, they dropped me off at my aunt's and around 3, we said our goodbyes. I knew mom felt like crying but she retained herself. As for me, I was ok with it. I was going to miss her but knew we would talk often also. Plus, I had shed all my tears the night before ! I reasured her and she told me how proud of me she was for going forward and persuing something of a kind.

At matante Micheline's, we had lasagna for supper. I had my laptop so I checked my e-mails and went on Facebook for a little while. My aunt had to go to the drugstore so I went with her and we walked around the mall for a while. When we came back, I took a shower, checked if my flight was still scheduled on time and went to bed (with my laptop) ! Tomorrow is a big day as I will be spending most of it in a car on my way to Quebec city and then waiting at the airport. Lets just say the most exciting part of my day will definitely be starting as i'll be taking the plane and especially getting off... IN TORONTO ! Meeting my new "family" .  Oh my god ! I'm writting one last message to my wonderful boyfriend and then resting my head for the night. Keep you posted tomorrow night if I have time :) Xxx

Am I really doing this ?

Tuesday morning when I got up, I went strait for the computer. I had a message from Nicole and Brian :) Here is how it started :

Hi Lyne,
we would be interested in exploring having you join our family even if it is for only for a short period of time.

Here is a little more about us...

And then followed a description of who they were and what they were searching for. She described all three of the children (Curtis, Dylan and Kennedy) and what their weekly routine was like. She made it clear on what their expectations were and even described the house a little. She answered my questions and said there would be no problem going home for the holidays so that made me happy. I still had never saw her or heard her voice but just by the way she wrote things, I had a feeling she was a nice and easy going woman.

... A long email but a short summary of who and what we are looking for - as I’m sure

there is a lot more I could tell you. If you would like we can set up a time to speak on the phone

and answer any other questions each of us has.

Also I can send you pictures of the kids, us and the living arrangements

if you would like to send me your email. Here is our email ...

Thanks, Nicole

I wrote back and said the more I read, the more I felt like joining their family as a nanny. And it was true. I agreed that a phone conversation had to happen so told her I was available at anytime really (I wasn't doing anything besides eating, drinking, washing, doing laundry and... well waiting on e-mails from Nicole and Brian!). So I gave her my phone number and e-mail adress and attached a couple of pictures of myself. Two of myself and a cute black and white one of me with my brothers and mother.

Nicole only wrote back later that night and I was quite happy with the message :

Hi Lyne,

thanks for sharing your pictures. Here are a few of the kids and us.

Can we plan for a call tomorrow morning for 9:30?

Looking forward to speaking with you.

Thanks, Nicole

Oh my god... Nicole and Brian made such a nice couple and seemed SO nice ! And the kids... Cuter everytime I'd look at their pictures. I pictured myself playing and cooking for them... Bringing them to hockey practice! Gosh.. I was starting to want this job really badly ! I wanted to have a nice clear voice for when the phone rang in the morning so I went strait to bed after confirming to Nicole that 9:30 was fine. Talking with Jean-François made me realize how lucky I was to have him. Of course he was saying stupidities (when are you leaving so I can get your boxes ready?) as always but only to be joking around. He knew I wanted this and knew it was the best time to do it since we didn't have any kids yet and I didn't have a stable job. As I layed there in his arms, I thanked him and I thanked god. Then I fell asleep and woke up with my alarm clock at 8.

It was wednesday. Nicole was going to call me in a little bit. This was like a phone interview but I felt like I had to be presentable so I took a shower, combed my hair and applied a bit of mascara. (I stayed in my pyjamas though !!!) Then my mom came over after going to the gym so we had a little chat while I had my breakfast. She left around 9:15. Just perfect for the time to have passed by fast enough but still to let me concentrate on what I would say and to practice a nice "Hello ? " for when I'd answer. First impressions you know...

When the phone rang, I thought "This is it, I am dying" !

" Hello ? "

" Hello is this Lyne ? "

" Yes it is "

" Oh my god Lyne, Hi! This is Nicole "

That's it... I was in love with Nicole ! A nice calm voice just like I like them ! Since I had saw that picture of her and Brian, I had a feeling her voice would sound like that. I was so happy ! The conversation went on for about 30 minutes and we shared a little more about each other. Nicole explained their routine with more details and talked a bit about their last few nannies. She mentionned they were happy because they never had any issues with their nannies. They already had a live-in nanny and it worked out perfectly. She said if I was to go work for them, I'd be part of the family. I'd have nights and weekends off but could feel free to hang with them. We talked groceries and salary and were both pleased with what we had to say. After making things clear, Nicole said she would send me an e-mail with everything we had just said written down. Not a contract. Just a way to make sure we both understood ourselves and that was fine with me.

When she asked when I would be available to start if I were to say yes, I told her I could manage to be there threw the weekend to start on monday. She seemed really happy with that. She told me to think about it and to answer her e-mail a little later to let her know what my decision would be and when I would leave.

I called my mom to get her to call my aunt from Rimouski who I knew was leaving this weekend to go to Florida. So she called me back a bit after to tell me they were leaving saturday morning. I called her up to ask if I could get a ride and what time they thought they would be in Qc. She said during the afternoon. I knew I had to be at the airport a while before my flight departure so I looked it up on AirCanada and saw there was a flight at 5:50pm. That would be great. So I e-mailed Nicole to ask her if 7:20pm saturday would be ok for them to come pick me up of if it you be better if i'd take the sunday flight but she answered not too long after that they would be there at 7:20pm !

So I jumped on the computer (even though I was already on it!) and went on AirCanada to book my flight. 6 minutes later, I was leaving for Toronto in 2 days ! Holly molly ! I AM really doing this ! I sent my flight number and Air line info to Nicole and that was it. Later, she sent me a smilebox with videos of their home (outside and out) and I was amazed at how beautiful it was. And little Kennedy was on a couple of them and she was just so cute. I couldn't wait to meet them all !

I took the night easy with my loverboy and tried to appreciate every minute with him. Even though a great experience was about to start, I was going to miss him an awful lot. A month was probably the longest we were ever going to have been without beeing together. But we both figured it was going to go by pretty fast. And we knew we were capable of doing it. If I had of done my last stage out west, we would have been 3 months without seeing each other. So this was like a little test ! And anyways we were going to talk everyday ans skype once in a while so ! I was ready. When we went to bed, we snuggled up real tight, said I love you and went to sleep. We appreciated it because we knew it was one of our last nights together for a while.

When I woke up it was tuesday (today)... Rememberance day. I thought about our veterans and soldiers. Then I freaked out because it was my last day here so I got up and figured i'd pray for them later ! I cheked my e-mails, had breakfast, and then I wrote on my blog. So here I am, back on track. Starting now, no more past sentences (Unless once i'm in Oakville I don't have time to write every night). But for now, I'm on time ! I am about to finish today's blog (which no one knows about yet) and I will then head into the shower. I also have to start (and finish) my luggage today since I am leaving for Rimouski tomorrow morning with my mom! I'll be sleeping at my aunt Micheline's and leaving saturday morning for Qc :)

I still can't believe how a life can change in a matter of time. Monday I was searching for a job and a few days after I have that job.... IN TORONTO !!!  (Reaction my dad had!) Speaking of which I have to call to schedule supper with him tonight ! I don't see my papa very often but I LOVE to eat and chat with him ! And I want to say goodbye... ! I'm looking out the window and I can't believe when I come back here, it'll already be Christmas. I simply CAN'T wait. I love the Holidays. I am definitely going to miss everyone. Thank god for phones and internet. So i'm off to pack my bags, have lunch with mama and go for a walk, then probably have supper with papa and Jean-François and then come back here and finish my packing.

Tomorrow morning, me, mom and Edith (a friend of hers) leave at 6am. I'm so excited.

Who's Nicole and Brian ?

One of the first things I do when I get up is check my e-mails. I was still half asleep when I logged in to my hotmail to see a couple of usual facebook messages and a few victoria's secret / Senza / Old navy / Gap / American eagle / etc. promotion e-mails. Everytime I shop online I can't help but check that " receive information by e-mail " checkbox (decision that I usually regret but am to lazy to change)... Anyhow... this monday morning was different. A message out of the ordinary. It was entitled

Message from Nicole and Brian. 

Who's Nicole and Brian ???  As I was about to delete it thinking it was some kind of junk, I saw the contact adress : mail @ nannies4hire.com . Holly Jeese ! My nanny phase was back. I was so curious to see who and what was in that message. I opened up the link to find a short message :

Hi Lyne,

our family is currently looking for a nanny to care for our 3 children ages 9, 7 and 5. We live in Oakville, Ontario which is a suburb west of Toronto. We have 2 boys who attend French immersion school full time and our daughter is in Kindegarten and attends school part time - full days every other day. Primary responsibilities would include getting the kids ready for school and picking them up, preparing their meals, assisting with homework as well as taking them to their hockey local practices/games or other extracurricular activities. We would love to hear from you so please have a look at our profile and let us know if you would be interested in learning more about our family and the position.

thanks,

Nicole

Wow... Nicole seemed nice. And just like that, I knew something was going to happen. I felt I had to answer. And even if my situation was complicated with that whole math thing, I kinda felt like it would work out anyways. So I started typing. I thanked her for the interest and explained in a way too long e-mail what my situation was and that I was no where near Toronto, but that I would love to discover it. If my math result came in positive, I would be having a full time semester in Rimouski in January. I knew it wouldn't be ideal for them if that was to happen because by the time i'd be getting to know the kids, I'd have to leave. So I told her. On the other hand, I explained that if I didn't pass my math test, I would be available for a longer period of time. I said until may because I had no idea how things would go and passing all winter there would probably make me want to come home afterwards so I didn't wanna offer to stay for the summer just yet. And anyways, deep inside, I wanted to pass that stupid math test !

 

I after explained that if I was to be a nanny, it would be a great opportunity for me to stay in touch with children by discovering other parts of the country. I offered to keep them posted on my result and mentionned that if they were to consider having a nanny only for a short period of time (From now to January), I would be willing to try it out. I ended my message saying I would totally understand if after reading me, they would no longer be interested, do to my "maybe short term stay". So that was it.

 

An hour later as my bath was running, I came to take a quick look at my mail. There they were again :

 

Message from Nicole and Brian.

 

Hi Lyne,
thanks for the quick response and info! Please do keep us posted on your result. Although our profile does not indicate it as a requirement...finding someone fluent in french is a huge benefit for us with the kids attending French Immersion.

We are looking to have someone start as soon as possible as we are currently without a nanny so thank-you for the offer to help us out from now to January.

Chat soon!
Nicole

 

Wow again ! Ok so a bath could wait. I needed my mama. I called her up kinda shaky and asked what she was doing and if I could come over. I mentionned a job opportunity and she asked if it was in my field of studies. " Mmm nooo... not really... I'm coming ok ? " (all of this in french of course!).

Next thing I knew, my mom and I were looking plane departures from Quebec City to Toronto. My mom was just as excited as I was. She said how great of an experience this would be for me and mentionned how "game" she thought I was because she would've never done it. Why thank you maman ! So the next step was for me to write another message describing myself and repeating how interested I was to be their nanny ! This was all going so fast. But it was fun. I wrote Nicole and Brian a message describing the person I was and what my interests, values and activities were. I had no choice either to ask a couple of questions and make myself clear on what I wanted. I didn't want to talk salary yet but I did want to make sure I could be home for the holidays. for me, Christmas and New years equals family and friends plus, I have Ayden's christening december 26th so there would be no way in hell i'd miss it. I mentionned not having a car as I knew they offered one while on duty. I wanted to say no more since I had no idea what she was expecting and wanted to wait to hear from her.

I left my mom's around 7pm and I must say... As soon as I got back home, I spent my night checking my e-mails in case Nicole had responded. But she hadn't... We had written all day and suddenly, no answer for a long period... (Ok three hours but still...). I went to bed around midnight with still no answer. Had I said something wrong ?

How it all started...

It was a friday. Last friday actually! As I was home alone (as always since the last 2-3 months), I started to wonder what  I was going to do with my life while waiting for my math result (you know the story). I figured I had to find a job. The schools around home had my name but had all mentionned how the list of people before me was long. I had made my idea that substitute teaching wasn't for me at this period. Of course I knew I was capable of doing it since i had been in the last two years... But at this period of time and with all the new restrictions from the school board... Nop ! So i thought maybe after christmas or the usual "may to june" period. But not now. And anyways, I couldn't stay home just waiting for the phone to ring now and then... Or maybe not at all.

So I started looking here and there for job opportunities around home. It didn't matter really what the job was... as long as it was a job. I didn't have much money and wanted some for my Xmas presents but also to start looking for some furniture and stuff to buy for our (me and my Jean-François) place we we're going to move to sometime between january and next spring (no rush since it was in one of papa's cabins at the lake).

Nothing seemed really interesting around here... for the first time in a long time, I had no idea where and what to look for. I hadn't searched for a job in years as I was still at Mam'zelle's (God, i'd eat some right now) in the summer and at school the rest of the year. Everything I saw required something I didn't have or just didn't interest me at all. I suddenly had a flash of how bad I had always wanted to go out west. I had wanted to apply there for my last "stage" I did but hadn't had all the papers required on time so it hadn't worked out. I had missed out on a great opportunity and still regretted it. Thinking of all of this made me want to go there even more! Or actually... Anywhere new !

I L-O-V-E-D my boyfriend but I knew our relationship was strong enough to handle me going away for a little while and I especially knew that he would totally understand and be encouraging. Now what kind of job was I going to look for out there... I wasn't the type of person who would just fly out west and look for a job once I was over there. And anyways... I didn't have enough money to do so without knowing what would come next. So I remembered this girl from High school who had once been a nanny for a family over there. And Sara Ann had already mentionned "Canadiannanny.com" so I thought " why not ? ".

As I scrolled up and down the Canadian nanny families, I realized I would actually like doing this kind of job for a while. I started building up my profile. The kind of person I am... what I'm looking for... My past experiences with children... What provinces I am willing to work in (This is starting to be interesting!)...
I checked all the provinces except Nunavut and Northwest territories (didn't wanna go that far ans freeze). Was I looking to Live-In ou Live-Out ? Emm.. Live-In of course ! I wasn't gonna start searching for an appartment also. I wrote a short summary of myself and that was it.

I later found out another similar website called "Nannies4hire.com" so I figured I'd apply on this one too. It was Sunday. As I was finishing my second nanny profile I smiled and thought "What the hell am I doing ?... As if !! " But what was done was done and I kinda laughed at myself for loosing the past two hours of my day typing about myself to "No one" I figured. Oh well... I knew this was all too good to be true so I had my mind made up that in the following days, I'd have to refine my job searching in the region. What was I going to look for... It was starting to bother me a bit. Then I had another flash... " Maybe a job in a hotel out west or somewhere ? That would be fun too... I'll check that out tomorrow ! "

Later that night I snuggled on the couch with my man and just completely forgot about all of my nanny phase... I simply figured that tomorrow was another day and that that day would be a job searching one. But for now, I just didn't wanna think about it anymore.