I've been having a little trouble lately walking my talk. My dream in life is to be a famous motivational speaker. I want to write books, travel around and speak to others. I also want to flip houses for a living but I can do that too! Anyway, I am a somewhat controversial speaker. I never sugar coat things. I am very direct with people and I stand very strong for what I believe in. This sometimes shakes people up more than they would like to be shaken up and they sometimes react negatively; however, I can't ever remember a time when someone has reacted negatively and not come back to me some time later to thank me for the personal power I had given them. They were just not ready to hear my philosophies at that particular time I guess.
Lately I have been questioning the status of my life. Is this it? Is this how it is? I am married. I have a 4 year old and my husband has a 5 year old that we have 50% custody of. I am 4 months pregnant with another child. I own a successful medium sized business and a 'to be successful someday' small business. I have a rental property and a principal residence that require care and maintenance. I go to school full-time where I am studying to be a Paralegal. I know it sounds like a lot but the time committment is not that substantial considering. The issue for me is energy. I have fit all of those things into my schedule along with regularly scheduled workouts and house cleaning and of course the unexpected things that come up everyday. I just feel like there is so much more I want to do but don't have the energy. I want to wake up earlier so that I am not stressing my children in the morning (we are late because of me, not because of them!). I want to go for tea with my friends whom I have totally lost touch with over the years. I want to enjoy my husband more. I want to do one new thing every week, like try a new restaurant or go somewhere I have never been before. I want to build snowmen with my kids, do crafts, bake healthy treats and take them new places. I want to travel and I want to read more.
There has to be more to life than the stuff we have to do but how do we fit it all in? Well, the other day I was speaking to my beloved assistant at work about this very question and she said "so if you don't like the way things are going then change them! That's what you always do!" She's right! What the hell am I doing standing around whining? This is not the Nat I know or the Nat that she knows. Nat Goolamallee (or Rivier as you may know me) gets shit done. Change is my middle name. If I don't like something I change it! I tell everyone else to do the same and I question why they think it's so hard.
Then, 2 days ago I came into work and my nutritionist was counseling a client. I overheard the discussion a bit and realized I had spoken with this woman on the phone and had convinced her to join our 12-week weight loss program. I introduced myself and she said that she had already met me. She said I had been a guest speaker at "The Biggest Loser Ottawa" contest last year and she thought I was such an inspiration! Again, this struck a cord with me. Here is a woman who has 3 young children and is over 200 pounds. I know nothing else about her but I do know that being an overweight woman has to be one of the biggest personal hurdles to overcome, particularly in a society where it is not acceptable and in a society where good, healthy food is actually difficult to find!
So today I am back to being the Nat that I, and everyone else, know. If I want things to be different then it is up to me to change them. I started with a new hairstyle. Trivial, yet still a sign of new beginning.
Look forward to my blog more often now. I felt dull, like I had nothing new to talk about. Now I am back and each day brings new ideas, accomplishments, challenges and lessons. All of which I wish to share.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
Every Woman is Entitled to a Meltdown Now and Then!
Today I am searching for things to be grateful for. I think 2 weeks at home has started to strip me of my sanity. Really. It's very rare, or practically never, that I feel ill equipped to handle things in my life. In fact that is what I base all of my successes on. The idea of the possibility of failure is somehow foreign to me. I don't know why but it never crosses my mind that I won't be able to do something. Until today....and yesterday....and the day before.
Where shall I start?
Well, I am 7 weeks pregnant right now. Currently I live in what I call "my husband's house". It's a 4 story house with 3 bedrooms and a tiny basement. I don't feel like I have any space that I can claim as my own. It doesn't bother me much though because I own 2 businesses and I feel like those are my personal spaces because I created them and I maintain them to my liking. However, now that I have a baby on the way I see 2 challenges. 1) There are not enough bedrooms in this house for 3 children and parents, and 2) I will be home a lot more with a newborn and I will need some space I can call my own. As a result, I decided to start house hunting. If you know me you know that indecisiveness is not in my character. I am not the type to shop around and look at 25 houses and stay awake all night trying to decide which one is best. Totally not me! So I looked at 3 houses and bang, I found the one. There is no need to look any further. This is it! I love it! I went house hunting by myself because, let's just say, houses are not really my husband's forte. He has been paying the Enbridge bill for 10 years but if you came to our house right now and asked him what his house is heated by he would say he doens't know and he is not lying, he truly doesn't know. I am grateful (there's the 1st thing I am grateful for today) that he completely trusts in me to sell his house and pick us a new one. He barely even questions anything I tell him. He tells me he will follow whatever I say. I did show him this new "dream house" and he agrees that it is nice and he likes it. My husband is not the most adaptable person in the world. Moving is therefore a really big deal to him. The great thing is that this new house is 3 minutes down the road from his current house and he lived directly across from this new house when he first moved to Canada so it's almost like he's been there before so hopefully it won't be to painful for him. It's actually so odd that we manage to get along because I am the complete polar opposite of that. I love change. I thrive on it. In fact if one day goes by without change I am sure to stir something up on purpose just to create some change. When I am home for more than 3 consecutive days like during summer holidays for example, I, at the very least, move some furniture around and re-do a room in the house just to have a change.
OK, so I found my "dream house". Immediately I listed my husbands house for sale. We have put an offer in on the new house conditional upon the sale of ours. We have apparently been given 1 week to sell ours. I obviously counter offered that one with 30 days!! What is this homeowner trying to prove??? One week? Give me a fucking break!
So now I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Buying a house and selling a house is not a big deal to me. I have moved 7 times in the past 5 years. No big deal. The thing that is overwhelming me is the condition of our current house. My husband has a side business in which he repairs XBOX's. And as a result we have at least 50 XBOX's in this house that we are keeping "for parts". The dining room is filled with XBOX's, the living room is filled with XBOX's and the basement storage is filled with XBOX's. All of this needs to be cleaned up by Monday (today is Friday) when the showings will begin. And there are just some things in life, very few I must say, that I will refuse to do, but cleaning up XBOX's is one of them! Perhaps I am being a bitch because it's because of those XBOX's that we are able to afford many of the luxuries in life including the purchase of this new house but I just can't fathom cleaning up those XBOX's. But I NEED this house spotless by Monday so we can sell it ASAP!
Yesterday I attempted to clean the top 2 floors of this 4 story house. I cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms and almost completed the kitchen. I cleared all of the art work off of the fridge. I put all the bathroom items in baskets. I put all the kids toys, easle and craft supplies out of sight. I cleaned the grout in the tiles and I cleaned under everything that I could lift on my own....which is everything I guess. Now one day later, after 2 kids and a little cousin have spent 24 hours in the house my work is practically invisible. How can I keep up? And how on earth will I be able to keep my new, even larger, house clean and organized with what is soon to be 3 children? Try as I may, I am not one of those mom's who can ignore the mess and just enjoy my children. Cleanliness is a BIG deal to me. It always has been and it always will be. I think it's a good quality and I don't want to change it. I may drive myself in sane trying to maintain my standard of cleanliness but I will continue to do so despite the cost to my mental state. I guess I feel so much resentment when I stuggle so hard to keep things clean and no one even notices the diffence and no one makes an effort to help me maintain the state of cleanliness that I work so hard for. I don't know how many times I have freaked out on my family and told them to pick up after themselves. I don't want any help cleaning. I like doing it myself. All I ask is that they pick up after themselves. Like put thier dirty clothes in the laundry basket and thier dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I don't think it's a lot to ask. What would they do it I wasn't here? I suppose they would leave all of their dirty clothes on the floor and when they ran out of clean ones they would learn how to use the washing machine and when all of the plates, bowls, dessert plates, and paper plates (if we had any) were all used up perhaps they would load up the dishwasher and run it for a cycle. I am sure they would not empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away though. I can guarantee they would simply pull a clean dish as needed from the dishwasher until it was empty.
Oh ya, I was trying to find things to be grateful for right...
Well, yesterday I went to my tenants house to pick up rent money from her. She was not there so I called her on her cell and asked her if I could enter since I had my brother with me and we could install the cabinet she had asked me to do last week. I reminded her that it was very short notice and she had the right to deny me entry. She had no problem with my unexpected visit and much to my suprise the state of the house had improved substantially since my last visit. My last visit, by the way, was with the exterminator to rid the house of the cockroaches she had so kindly brought with her when she moved it. I will admit there were still several dirty dishes on the counter and old food open on display everywhere but besides that I could actually see the floor this week. The living room was in order and the basement family room was somewhat organized. I really like this tenant despite her major lack of cleanliness and sanitation issues and I hope to have a long standing tenant-landlord relationship with her. I was sceptical when I went with the exterminator but I am more confident now that this tenant will work out decently well in the long run. And for this I am grateful.
Now to get to the point or the issue that I fear I may not be capable of handling. I tend not to be the type to worry about things that are far off into the future but this time I am wrought with worry. Wrought with worry that I will not be able to co-parent a child. Everyday I hear women tell me how difficult it is to be a single parent. I totally can't relate to that. I was a single mother for about 3 years and I would argue any day that single parenting is easier. There is one fundamental reason for that. When you have a child with someone your expectations of them change and if they don't live up to those expectations the resentment grows so deep. When that happens the primary care provider, typically the mother, begins to have less patience for the child and indirectly takes this anger out on the child. Not to mention she is generally unhappy in her own situation overall. Well, from personal experience, that's what happens to me anyway. My husband claims that he is a 50% contributor to child raising. Frankly I resent this claim but it doens't seem to bother me that much because he is not the father of my child which leads me to have little expectations of him, or anyone, to help me. Today, for example, he slept in until 10:00 a.m. I got up with my daughter, his son and my neice who stayed the night. I made them all breakfast. My husband informed me that "we" needed to wash his son's sheets because his ex-wife believes you should start the New Year "fresh". So I washed his sheets and our sheets because he has slept in our bed the past few nights and heaven forbid the sheets not be "fresh" on whatever bed he ended up in. I did other laundry and cleaning as well. I bathed the 2 girls and washed thier hair and styled it with pretty pink accessories. I sent the kids out to play which resulted in failure after about 5 minutes so I made lunch for everyone. When lunch was finished I cleaned up. Later my daughter went to play at a friend's house and I sat with my step-son and watched him fail repeatedly at Super Mario Bros but encouraged him to keep trying. I took everything out of the fridge and cleaned all of the shelves and drawers. I put all the laundry away, cooked supper, cleaned up and gave my step-son a shower. I watched a movie with the children, made them popcorn, fruit before bed, brushed thier teeth, cuddled them each for 5 minutes, emptied the dishwasher and took out the garbage. I have no problem doing all of that except for the fact that I am 7 weeks pregnant and tired as hell. I feel like regurgitating every meal I eat and I am completely going mad with being cooped up in the house all day. Today is January 1st and everything is closed. These days tend to drive me crazy so I make it a point to get out if even just to fill my car up with gas. My body needs some sun and fresh air to stay sane. Did I mention I had a complete meltdown on the floor in the hallway between the 2 kids rooms? When I put them to bed my daughter said she was scared and did not want to sleep in her bed. I couldn't take it. I started balling me eyes out and I sat on the floor weeping. Yes, my children must think I am insane! All I wanted was for the children to go to sleep so that I could have 30 minutes by myself before my bed time. I think they got the idea. Both children attempted to cheer me up and they both clearly felt so bad for me even though I am sure they haven't the slightest clue why I am crying over time for myself. Anyway, my step-son summed it up nicely when he said, and I quote,"Auntie Natalie. You gotta toughen up! Sometimes you just cry and you don't even know it". I am positive this is a mis quote of something he recently heard in a movie but you know what I will heed his advice and toughen up!
Where shall I start?
Well, I am 7 weeks pregnant right now. Currently I live in what I call "my husband's house". It's a 4 story house with 3 bedrooms and a tiny basement. I don't feel like I have any space that I can claim as my own. It doesn't bother me much though because I own 2 businesses and I feel like those are my personal spaces because I created them and I maintain them to my liking. However, now that I have a baby on the way I see 2 challenges. 1) There are not enough bedrooms in this house for 3 children and parents, and 2) I will be home a lot more with a newborn and I will need some space I can call my own. As a result, I decided to start house hunting. If you know me you know that indecisiveness is not in my character. I am not the type to shop around and look at 25 houses and stay awake all night trying to decide which one is best. Totally not me! So I looked at 3 houses and bang, I found the one. There is no need to look any further. This is it! I love it! I went house hunting by myself because, let's just say, houses are not really my husband's forte. He has been paying the Enbridge bill for 10 years but if you came to our house right now and asked him what his house is heated by he would say he doens't know and he is not lying, he truly doesn't know. I am grateful (there's the 1st thing I am grateful for today) that he completely trusts in me to sell his house and pick us a new one. He barely even questions anything I tell him. He tells me he will follow whatever I say. I did show him this new "dream house" and he agrees that it is nice and he likes it. My husband is not the most adaptable person in the world. Moving is therefore a really big deal to him. The great thing is that this new house is 3 minutes down the road from his current house and he lived directly across from this new house when he first moved to Canada so it's almost like he's been there before so hopefully it won't be to painful for him. It's actually so odd that we manage to get along because I am the complete polar opposite of that. I love change. I thrive on it. In fact if one day goes by without change I am sure to stir something up on purpose just to create some change. When I am home for more than 3 consecutive days like during summer holidays for example, I, at the very least, move some furniture around and re-do a room in the house just to have a change.
OK, so I found my "dream house". Immediately I listed my husbands house for sale. We have put an offer in on the new house conditional upon the sale of ours. We have apparently been given 1 week to sell ours. I obviously counter offered that one with 30 days!! What is this homeowner trying to prove??? One week? Give me a fucking break!
So now I am feeling a little overwhelmed. Buying a house and selling a house is not a big deal to me. I have moved 7 times in the past 5 years. No big deal. The thing that is overwhelming me is the condition of our current house. My husband has a side business in which he repairs XBOX's. And as a result we have at least 50 XBOX's in this house that we are keeping "for parts". The dining room is filled with XBOX's, the living room is filled with XBOX's and the basement storage is filled with XBOX's. All of this needs to be cleaned up by Monday (today is Friday) when the showings will begin. And there are just some things in life, very few I must say, that I will refuse to do, but cleaning up XBOX's is one of them! Perhaps I am being a bitch because it's because of those XBOX's that we are able to afford many of the luxuries in life including the purchase of this new house but I just can't fathom cleaning up those XBOX's. But I NEED this house spotless by Monday so we can sell it ASAP!
Yesterday I attempted to clean the top 2 floors of this 4 story house. I cleaned the bedrooms and bathrooms and almost completed the kitchen. I cleared all of the art work off of the fridge. I put all the bathroom items in baskets. I put all the kids toys, easle and craft supplies out of sight. I cleaned the grout in the tiles and I cleaned under everything that I could lift on my own....which is everything I guess. Now one day later, after 2 kids and a little cousin have spent 24 hours in the house my work is practically invisible. How can I keep up? And how on earth will I be able to keep my new, even larger, house clean and organized with what is soon to be 3 children? Try as I may, I am not one of those mom's who can ignore the mess and just enjoy my children. Cleanliness is a BIG deal to me. It always has been and it always will be. I think it's a good quality and I don't want to change it. I may drive myself in sane trying to maintain my standard of cleanliness but I will continue to do so despite the cost to my mental state. I guess I feel so much resentment when I stuggle so hard to keep things clean and no one even notices the diffence and no one makes an effort to help me maintain the state of cleanliness that I work so hard for. I don't know how many times I have freaked out on my family and told them to pick up after themselves. I don't want any help cleaning. I like doing it myself. All I ask is that they pick up after themselves. Like put thier dirty clothes in the laundry basket and thier dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I don't think it's a lot to ask. What would they do it I wasn't here? I suppose they would leave all of their dirty clothes on the floor and when they ran out of clean ones they would learn how to use the washing machine and when all of the plates, bowls, dessert plates, and paper plates (if we had any) were all used up perhaps they would load up the dishwasher and run it for a cycle. I am sure they would not empty the dishwasher and put the dishes away though. I can guarantee they would simply pull a clean dish as needed from the dishwasher until it was empty.
Oh ya, I was trying to find things to be grateful for right...
Well, yesterday I went to my tenants house to pick up rent money from her. She was not there so I called her on her cell and asked her if I could enter since I had my brother with me and we could install the cabinet she had asked me to do last week. I reminded her that it was very short notice and she had the right to deny me entry. She had no problem with my unexpected visit and much to my suprise the state of the house had improved substantially since my last visit. My last visit, by the way, was with the exterminator to rid the house of the cockroaches she had so kindly brought with her when she moved it. I will admit there were still several dirty dishes on the counter and old food open on display everywhere but besides that I could actually see the floor this week. The living room was in order and the basement family room was somewhat organized. I really like this tenant despite her major lack of cleanliness and sanitation issues and I hope to have a long standing tenant-landlord relationship with her. I was sceptical when I went with the exterminator but I am more confident now that this tenant will work out decently well in the long run. And for this I am grateful.
Now to get to the point or the issue that I fear I may not be capable of handling. I tend not to be the type to worry about things that are far off into the future but this time I am wrought with worry. Wrought with worry that I will not be able to co-parent a child. Everyday I hear women tell me how difficult it is to be a single parent. I totally can't relate to that. I was a single mother for about 3 years and I would argue any day that single parenting is easier. There is one fundamental reason for that. When you have a child with someone your expectations of them change and if they don't live up to those expectations the resentment grows so deep. When that happens the primary care provider, typically the mother, begins to have less patience for the child and indirectly takes this anger out on the child. Not to mention she is generally unhappy in her own situation overall. Well, from personal experience, that's what happens to me anyway. My husband claims that he is a 50% contributor to child raising. Frankly I resent this claim but it doens't seem to bother me that much because he is not the father of my child which leads me to have little expectations of him, or anyone, to help me. Today, for example, he slept in until 10:00 a.m. I got up with my daughter, his son and my neice who stayed the night. I made them all breakfast. My husband informed me that "we" needed to wash his son's sheets because his ex-wife believes you should start the New Year "fresh". So I washed his sheets and our sheets because he has slept in our bed the past few nights and heaven forbid the sheets not be "fresh" on whatever bed he ended up in. I did other laundry and cleaning as well. I bathed the 2 girls and washed thier hair and styled it with pretty pink accessories. I sent the kids out to play which resulted in failure after about 5 minutes so I made lunch for everyone. When lunch was finished I cleaned up. Later my daughter went to play at a friend's house and I sat with my step-son and watched him fail repeatedly at Super Mario Bros but encouraged him to keep trying. I took everything out of the fridge and cleaned all of the shelves and drawers. I put all the laundry away, cooked supper, cleaned up and gave my step-son a shower. I watched a movie with the children, made them popcorn, fruit before bed, brushed thier teeth, cuddled them each for 5 minutes, emptied the dishwasher and took out the garbage. I have no problem doing all of that except for the fact that I am 7 weeks pregnant and tired as hell. I feel like regurgitating every meal I eat and I am completely going mad with being cooped up in the house all day. Today is January 1st and everything is closed. These days tend to drive me crazy so I make it a point to get out if even just to fill my car up with gas. My body needs some sun and fresh air to stay sane. Did I mention I had a complete meltdown on the floor in the hallway between the 2 kids rooms? When I put them to bed my daughter said she was scared and did not want to sleep in her bed. I couldn't take it. I started balling me eyes out and I sat on the floor weeping. Yes, my children must think I am insane! All I wanted was for the children to go to sleep so that I could have 30 minutes by myself before my bed time. I think they got the idea. Both children attempted to cheer me up and they both clearly felt so bad for me even though I am sure they haven't the slightest clue why I am crying over time for myself. Anyway, my step-son summed it up nicely when he said, and I quote,"Auntie Natalie. You gotta toughen up! Sometimes you just cry and you don't even know it". I am positive this is a mis quote of something he recently heard in a movie but you know what I will heed his advice and toughen up!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Mommy has a Baby in her Tummy
My 4 year old daughter was delighted to find out that mommy has a baby in her tummy. For the past year and a half she has been asking for a baby sister. Not a baby brother, but a baby sister. And mommy has made it VERY clear that there will be no baby in mommy's tummy ever!
Well, looks like the 4 year old wins again cause mommy does in indeed have a baby in her tummy.
I woke this morning from a dream where I had decided I was going to be a famous dancer. I had high heels on and a flashy dress and I could do the splits. I also had a dream that I went to an outdoor skating rink and put on a pair of skates for the first time in 7 years and I could skate like Brian Orser. I think I am taking too many vitamins!! Vitamin B6, in particular, actually increases dream vividness and dream recall. It also aids in hormone regulation so I am taking loads of it to ward of morning sickness and breast pain which are simply side of effects of raging hormones in the first trimester of pregnancy. And hey, for those of you who are not pregnant, vitamin B6 has also been shown to alleviate some of the symptoms of a hangover. Perhaps due to it's mild diuretic effect.
So am I thrilled to pregnant? Honestly and truthfully - not really! Will I make it work anyway? Of course I will because that's what I always do.
My daugther is now 4 1/2 and my step-son 5. I feel like freedom is so close I can taste it. I just started training 6 weeks ago to be in the best physical shape of my life. I also promised myself I would sign up for private dance lessons at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in the spring. I wanted to travel more. I was working on setting up another business in the next 4 weeks, and I was working towards having some money for once in my life. Am I being selfish? Yes, perhpas I am! But we all have the right to that once in a while.
As a child I worked hard to help raise my younger brother. He was 6 years my junior. My step-father, and biological father for that matter, were raging alcoholics and my mother worked very hard and spent little time at home so she could avoid the whole situation. As a result, I took over the role of cleaning, taking care of my brother and prepping the meat and vegetables for whatever it was my mother was going to make for dinner each night. I had a set routine. I changed everyone's bed sheets and did the vacuuming on Thursdays. I did laundry on Fridays and I cleaned bathrooms on Saturdays. When I was 16 I started my first "real" job. I worked in a bar. A rather mature job for a 16 year old. I worked almost every night until 2:00 a.m. during the summer and during the school year I worked only Friday and Saturdays. That job was short lived as I was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the manager of the bar at the time who was a sick fucking asshole. I gained up enough courage to leave (something like an abusive relationship I guess....hard to leave for some reason) when my next school year started. I used school as an excuse to leave and much to my suprise, Steve Canadian, the manager, let me go. I immediately got hired at the convenient store in my country town. I was the youngest person on staff but soon earned myself all of the responsibilities of assistant manager but without the pay associated with it (well, to be fair I did receive a large Christmas bonus that no one else received). I loved that job. I worked hard and I had the freedom to organize things the way I saw fit. I worked at least 24 hours a week and on weekends I would work 4:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. on Friday night and then return on Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I didn't complain though - I loved it.
On the last day of high school I moved to the big city to attend University. I lived with my aunt and uncle. I went to school full-time and worked full-time. I was determined to buy a house of my own. I graduated University in January 1999 and I bought my first house in February 1999. I was 22 years old. That sounds like quite an accomplishment I know. And it was. But with big accomplishment comes big responsibility. I took care of my little condo townhouse, I sat on the board of directors for the condominium corporation and I nominated myself to be in charge of maintaining the grounds for one summer. That did not last as I suck at yard work. That is why I bought a condo in the first place. Silly me. What was I thinking?
In the beginning I owned my own fitness business. I was a personal trainer and group fitness instructor during the day and I waitressed at night. Both of which I loved as well. I worked diligently to obtain a job in my field - criminology. I was hired with the City Police 3 months after University graduation to work as a youth social worker. I maintained my fitness business during the day and worked nights with the police. I loved that too. I excelled as a youth worker and made quite a name for myself among my clients and among policy makers. I was offered several other contract positions for crime prevention projects accross the city which I graciously accepted.
Many other events unravelled over the coming years and then at age 28 I became pregnant. Not the greatest news I could have received since the father was an illegal immigrant working at my favorite restaurant as a cashier for cash under the table. The birth of that baby girl was, and still is, the best thing that has ever happened to me. It did not come without pain and challenge though. Her father was deported when she was 6 months old and much drama and chaos ensued as a result of some of my choices and decisions at the time.
Anyway, here I am again. Pregnant. I am in a better place now. My daughter has taught me to respect myself. I know that children learn by example and I certainly don't want to raise a girl with little self respect. For if we do not respect ourselves how can we can expect others to respect us. I also gained a ton of confidence by having her and she shows me who I am on a daily basis by being a perfect little reflection of me.
In conclusion, I struggle with the thought of another child simply because I want my freedom. I am not sure I would even take advantage of it if I had it though. I always wish for time off from work but after 2 days I am begging to get back to it. I love my life and the work I do. Sure I get frustrated sometimes and the stress is sometimes unbearable but the bottom line is I am happy with what I do othewise I would change it.
I will love my new baby more than life itself I am sure, but I have to admit, from a selfish point of view if you want to call it that, I am sad that some of my dreams will now be put on hold again and I have much to sacrifice in the coming years.
I also know that the Universe will only give me what I can handle and I am a strong believer in the philosophy of destiny. It was my choice to leave birth control in the hands of my husband so I have therefore created this destiny....which I believe was already pre-destined anyway.
So here I am 6 weeks pregnant deciding what craft to make with my 4 year old daughter today. No dance lessons and no figure skating on my schedule for today so crafts will have to do!
My time to 'play' will come...
Well, looks like the 4 year old wins again cause mommy does in indeed have a baby in her tummy.
I woke this morning from a dream where I had decided I was going to be a famous dancer. I had high heels on and a flashy dress and I could do the splits. I also had a dream that I went to an outdoor skating rink and put on a pair of skates for the first time in 7 years and I could skate like Brian Orser. I think I am taking too many vitamins!! Vitamin B6, in particular, actually increases dream vividness and dream recall. It also aids in hormone regulation so I am taking loads of it to ward of morning sickness and breast pain which are simply side of effects of raging hormones in the first trimester of pregnancy. And hey, for those of you who are not pregnant, vitamin B6 has also been shown to alleviate some of the symptoms of a hangover. Perhaps due to it's mild diuretic effect.
So am I thrilled to pregnant? Honestly and truthfully - not really! Will I make it work anyway? Of course I will because that's what I always do.
My daugther is now 4 1/2 and my step-son 5. I feel like freedom is so close I can taste it. I just started training 6 weeks ago to be in the best physical shape of my life. I also promised myself I would sign up for private dance lessons at Fred Astaire Dance Studio in the spring. I wanted to travel more. I was working on setting up another business in the next 4 weeks, and I was working towards having some money for once in my life. Am I being selfish? Yes, perhpas I am! But we all have the right to that once in a while.
As a child I worked hard to help raise my younger brother. He was 6 years my junior. My step-father, and biological father for that matter, were raging alcoholics and my mother worked very hard and spent little time at home so she could avoid the whole situation. As a result, I took over the role of cleaning, taking care of my brother and prepping the meat and vegetables for whatever it was my mother was going to make for dinner each night. I had a set routine. I changed everyone's bed sheets and did the vacuuming on Thursdays. I did laundry on Fridays and I cleaned bathrooms on Saturdays. When I was 16 I started my first "real" job. I worked in a bar. A rather mature job for a 16 year old. I worked almost every night until 2:00 a.m. during the summer and during the school year I worked only Friday and Saturdays. That job was short lived as I was repeatedly sexually assaulted by the manager of the bar at the time who was a sick fucking asshole. I gained up enough courage to leave (something like an abusive relationship I guess....hard to leave for some reason) when my next school year started. I used school as an excuse to leave and much to my suprise, Steve Canadian, the manager, let me go. I immediately got hired at the convenient store in my country town. I was the youngest person on staff but soon earned myself all of the responsibilities of assistant manager but without the pay associated with it (well, to be fair I did receive a large Christmas bonus that no one else received). I loved that job. I worked hard and I had the freedom to organize things the way I saw fit. I worked at least 24 hours a week and on weekends I would work 4:00 p.m to 12:00 a.m. on Friday night and then return on Saturday morning at 5:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. I didn't complain though - I loved it.
On the last day of high school I moved to the big city to attend University. I lived with my aunt and uncle. I went to school full-time and worked full-time. I was determined to buy a house of my own. I graduated University in January 1999 and I bought my first house in February 1999. I was 22 years old. That sounds like quite an accomplishment I know. And it was. But with big accomplishment comes big responsibility. I took care of my little condo townhouse, I sat on the board of directors for the condominium corporation and I nominated myself to be in charge of maintaining the grounds for one summer. That did not last as I suck at yard work. That is why I bought a condo in the first place. Silly me. What was I thinking?
In the beginning I owned my own fitness business. I was a personal trainer and group fitness instructor during the day and I waitressed at night. Both of which I loved as well. I worked diligently to obtain a job in my field - criminology. I was hired with the City Police 3 months after University graduation to work as a youth social worker. I maintained my fitness business during the day and worked nights with the police. I loved that too. I excelled as a youth worker and made quite a name for myself among my clients and among policy makers. I was offered several other contract positions for crime prevention projects accross the city which I graciously accepted.
Many other events unravelled over the coming years and then at age 28 I became pregnant. Not the greatest news I could have received since the father was an illegal immigrant working at my favorite restaurant as a cashier for cash under the table. The birth of that baby girl was, and still is, the best thing that has ever happened to me. It did not come without pain and challenge though. Her father was deported when she was 6 months old and much drama and chaos ensued as a result of some of my choices and decisions at the time.
Anyway, here I am again. Pregnant. I am in a better place now. My daughter has taught me to respect myself. I know that children learn by example and I certainly don't want to raise a girl with little self respect. For if we do not respect ourselves how can we can expect others to respect us. I also gained a ton of confidence by having her and she shows me who I am on a daily basis by being a perfect little reflection of me.
In conclusion, I struggle with the thought of another child simply because I want my freedom. I am not sure I would even take advantage of it if I had it though. I always wish for time off from work but after 2 days I am begging to get back to it. I love my life and the work I do. Sure I get frustrated sometimes and the stress is sometimes unbearable but the bottom line is I am happy with what I do othewise I would change it.
I will love my new baby more than life itself I am sure, but I have to admit, from a selfish point of view if you want to call it that, I am sad that some of my dreams will now be put on hold again and I have much to sacrifice in the coming years.
I also know that the Universe will only give me what I can handle and I am a strong believer in the philosophy of destiny. It was my choice to leave birth control in the hands of my husband so I have therefore created this destiny....which I believe was already pre-destined anyway.
So here I am 6 weeks pregnant deciding what craft to make with my 4 year old daughter today. No dance lessons and no figure skating on my schedule for today so crafts will have to do!
My time to 'play' will come...
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Feel Like Complaining
I am now the proud owner of a cute little townhouse rental unit near the Experimental Farm in Ottawa. I have heard many people say over the years that owning rental properties is a smart investment and that it's easy money. I am very sorry to say that THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS EASY MONEY! Let me summarize my experience thus far. And by the way this is not my first rental property so I am not suprised by any of the following events....
I placed an offer on the house sometime around the 4th or 5th of November. I picked a closing date of December 1st ,2009. On second thought I realized if I wanted to rent it out I should take possession sooner so that I could have it ready for someone to move in on December 1st. So I asked for an ammendment to the closing date. Those busy lawyers could not seem to read my fax until I called and harassed them enough that they decided they could approve an earlier closing date but not as early as I had originally requested because a week had now passed since sending the ammendment and no legal work had been done on it. The earliest closing date they could give me was November 25th. Good enough - I took it! On November 25th I land at my lawyers office one minute before closing to pick up the key for my nice new townhouse. I immediately drove over to the house to make sure it was still the way it was when I saw it with my realtor. Well unfortunately the key that was given to me by my laywer was definitely not the key for this particular house. Standing there on the fron step I knew where my key was though....in the lock box on the door that had not yet been removed by the realtor. So who's key did I have then? Was someone else standing outside their new home with the wrong key or no key at all?
I really needed a key for the house because I had made arrangements for painters to come first thing the following day to start painting and prepping the house for my tenants who had so graciously agreed to give me until December 5th to have the house ready for them.
Oh ya, my tenants. As soon as I purchased the house and my offer had been accepted I placed an ad on Used Ottawa, Kijiji and Craig's List listing my house for rent. I received several replies via phone and e-mail. My realtor was nice enough to open the door one Saturday afternoon so that all my potential tenants could come and take a look. 10 people showed up that afternoon and many seemed interested even though the house was in pretty rough shape. A very nice lesbian couple demonstrated particular interest in it and I really had a great gut feeling about them. They appeared to be clean, organized, educated, employed and driven. They did mention that they would be buying a home for themselves in a couple of years. They just had to pay off legal school loans first. Admirable, I thought. The second couple on the list to show interest was a white woman and a black man. Polite, nice and not much else to say but that. It was clear that the woman wanted the house. She couldn't even have cared if I painted and cleaned the house or not. She had been living with her 2 children and likely various boyfriends in a 2 bedroom appartment for the past 4 years and all she wanted was a house! She didn't care about anything else. She even offered to pay me 1st and last months rent right there and then. I declined her offer and told her to fill out a rental application for me with all applicable information so that I could perform some reference checks on her first.
I have already been through the bad tenant thing in the past and I have learned that you will not end up ahead if you pick any old tenant to fill your vacancy. My last tenant at another property I owned cost me over $10,000 in the end. I would have been better off to leave it empty and pay the mortgage myself.
Well in the end out of all of the 10 people who looked at my house only that white woman and black man, Roxanne and Patrick, followed through with the rental application. I even called the lesbian couple and told them I liked them the best and was wondering if they had made a decision or not. They said they loved the place but they were accepted into co-op housing the very day after they viewed my property and they were going to go live there for 1/2 the price. Can't blame them I guess. So I went ahead and checked out Patrick and Roxanne. The first thing I saw on thier rental application is that they have both held the same job for 4+ years and have had the same address for 4+ years. There is something to be said for stability. I called her current landlord but was unable to reach her and Roxanne was not able to supply me with a number for her landlord before that because it was so long ago now that she did not remember the name or the number and it was a private landlord much like myself versus a large company or management company. I googled her and found some dirt. There was something posted on some website that said she was charged with theft for stealing $5000 from some elderly people in an old age home that she had worked in. I contacted her immediately and confronted her. She claimed she suffered identity theft and could provide me with letters from the courts and her lawyer. I did indeed ask to see those letters. On the day her and Patrick came to sign the lease and give me the rent deposit she provided me with both letters she had promised and they were definitely legit. My gut told me she was likely not the cleanest person on the planet but she would be good for the rent. Furthermore, leading up to the acceptance of the lease, she had been a peach to deal with.
House repairs and renovations wnet pretty much as planned. There were a few problems along the way:
1) The water had been shut off in the house because no one was living there. When I turned it on I discovered that the hot water tank leaked and that the pipes under the kitchen sink leaked as well. Direct Energy did come to fix the hot water tank but not until December 11th. That means my tenants were without hot water for a week. They did not complain one bit though.
2) The furnace broke. Direct Energy came to give it a cleaning and told me it was an older furnace but that it was in great shape and I would get a few more good years out of it. Well the very next day it broke AND Direct Energy did not come to fix if for 3 days! That was the emergency team by the way. But again my tenants did not complain.
So let's just tally up the bill so far. I paid roughly $2500 in land trasfer and legal fees, 2 visits by Direct Energy - one for $165 and the other for $185. Painting contractor and other supplies came to $2500. Electrician $265. Duct cleaning $313. So that leaves me minus $5928 from the starting blocks. No problem. I am prepared for all of this!
Now my tenants are in. They have more shit than you can imagine. I don't know how on earth all of their stuff fit into a 2 bedroom appartment but whatever...Since they moved in on December 5th I have had a phone call, on average, about every 3rd day. First was an inquiry about when the hot water tank would be fixed. Second was for the furnace being broken. And now she calls me and tells me there are cockroaches in my house! No fucking way those cockroaches were there before she came. I cleaned that place on my hands and knees. I cleaned every nook and cranny and I know there were no bugs of any kind in that house. So I ask her flat out if there were cockroaches in her other appartment and she tells me no. In fact, she tells me she's never seen one before in her life and she had to google it to confirm they were cockroaches she was seeing. So today I go there with Abell Pest Control and pay $260 to get rid of the cockroaches. Roxanne's two kids are home from school today. They tell me that thier mother slept in today and did not take them to school. Not to mention the fact that the house is a total disaster. Open food everywhere, mess all over the floor and today was garbage day but I guess she slept in for that too so I picked up all the garbage from the house, the front lawn and the back deck and loaded it into my van to bring home for my garbage day. The pest control guy, Chris, tells me that his work will be useless if the place is not kept clean. So I ask the kids where they have seen cockroaches and they tell me they always run in and out of the TV. Just to confirm I ask them if that happened in their old house too and they confidently reply "yes". That's funny because Roxanne juat finished telling me that she has never seen a cockroach before even though she lived in an appartment builiding prior to this that is notorious for cockroaches (I just found that out yesterday!). Oh ya and she also said on her rental application that she was a non-smoker yet there are ash trays everywhere in the house filled with cigarette butts and even some butts that have not quite made it into an ash tray!
But wait, this is not the worst of it. I go upstairs to tell her that I am done with the pest control guy and that she must keep all food in the fridge and must keep the kitchen clean in order to avoid return visits from cockroaches. She then asks me if I know the history of the house. Where is this leading I wonder? No I don't know the history of the house. It was built in 1955. I wasn't even born! God only knows how many people have lived in that house. She and her boyfriend who are still in bed, by the way, at 2:30 p.m. proceed to tell me that they think my house is haunted. I tell them I hope it's a nice ghost but to let me know if doors and things start slamming. If there is a ghost I hope he/she is on my side and just wants the nasty tenants out. When I was there working away til the wee hours of the night I never had any problem so I am assuming the ghost likes me. I am fine with ghosts. Perhaps I will use him/her to screen my tenants. He/She (can ghosts be classified by gender??) can scare away the bad ones and keep peace with the good tenants.
So that is where we are at and I have owned the house for less than a month. So please don't let anyone ever tell you that being a landlord is "easy money". Cause that's a load of bullshit!
I placed an offer on the house sometime around the 4th or 5th of November. I picked a closing date of December 1st ,2009. On second thought I realized if I wanted to rent it out I should take possession sooner so that I could have it ready for someone to move in on December 1st. So I asked for an ammendment to the closing date. Those busy lawyers could not seem to read my fax until I called and harassed them enough that they decided they could approve an earlier closing date but not as early as I had originally requested because a week had now passed since sending the ammendment and no legal work had been done on it. The earliest closing date they could give me was November 25th. Good enough - I took it! On November 25th I land at my lawyers office one minute before closing to pick up the key for my nice new townhouse. I immediately drove over to the house to make sure it was still the way it was when I saw it with my realtor. Well unfortunately the key that was given to me by my laywer was definitely not the key for this particular house. Standing there on the fron step I knew where my key was though....in the lock box on the door that had not yet been removed by the realtor. So who's key did I have then? Was someone else standing outside their new home with the wrong key or no key at all?
I really needed a key for the house because I had made arrangements for painters to come first thing the following day to start painting and prepping the house for my tenants who had so graciously agreed to give me until December 5th to have the house ready for them.
Oh ya, my tenants. As soon as I purchased the house and my offer had been accepted I placed an ad on Used Ottawa, Kijiji and Craig's List listing my house for rent. I received several replies via phone and e-mail. My realtor was nice enough to open the door one Saturday afternoon so that all my potential tenants could come and take a look. 10 people showed up that afternoon and many seemed interested even though the house was in pretty rough shape. A very nice lesbian couple demonstrated particular interest in it and I really had a great gut feeling about them. They appeared to be clean, organized, educated, employed and driven. They did mention that they would be buying a home for themselves in a couple of years. They just had to pay off legal school loans first. Admirable, I thought. The second couple on the list to show interest was a white woman and a black man. Polite, nice and not much else to say but that. It was clear that the woman wanted the house. She couldn't even have cared if I painted and cleaned the house or not. She had been living with her 2 children and likely various boyfriends in a 2 bedroom appartment for the past 4 years and all she wanted was a house! She didn't care about anything else. She even offered to pay me 1st and last months rent right there and then. I declined her offer and told her to fill out a rental application for me with all applicable information so that I could perform some reference checks on her first.
I have already been through the bad tenant thing in the past and I have learned that you will not end up ahead if you pick any old tenant to fill your vacancy. My last tenant at another property I owned cost me over $10,000 in the end. I would have been better off to leave it empty and pay the mortgage myself.
Well in the end out of all of the 10 people who looked at my house only that white woman and black man, Roxanne and Patrick, followed through with the rental application. I even called the lesbian couple and told them I liked them the best and was wondering if they had made a decision or not. They said they loved the place but they were accepted into co-op housing the very day after they viewed my property and they were going to go live there for 1/2 the price. Can't blame them I guess. So I went ahead and checked out Patrick and Roxanne. The first thing I saw on thier rental application is that they have both held the same job for 4+ years and have had the same address for 4+ years. There is something to be said for stability. I called her current landlord but was unable to reach her and Roxanne was not able to supply me with a number for her landlord before that because it was so long ago now that she did not remember the name or the number and it was a private landlord much like myself versus a large company or management company. I googled her and found some dirt. There was something posted on some website that said she was charged with theft for stealing $5000 from some elderly people in an old age home that she had worked in. I contacted her immediately and confronted her. She claimed she suffered identity theft and could provide me with letters from the courts and her lawyer. I did indeed ask to see those letters. On the day her and Patrick came to sign the lease and give me the rent deposit she provided me with both letters she had promised and they were definitely legit. My gut told me she was likely not the cleanest person on the planet but she would be good for the rent. Furthermore, leading up to the acceptance of the lease, she had been a peach to deal with.
House repairs and renovations wnet pretty much as planned. There were a few problems along the way:
1) The water had been shut off in the house because no one was living there. When I turned it on I discovered that the hot water tank leaked and that the pipes under the kitchen sink leaked as well. Direct Energy did come to fix the hot water tank but not until December 11th. That means my tenants were without hot water for a week. They did not complain one bit though.
2) The furnace broke. Direct Energy came to give it a cleaning and told me it was an older furnace but that it was in great shape and I would get a few more good years out of it. Well the very next day it broke AND Direct Energy did not come to fix if for 3 days! That was the emergency team by the way. But again my tenants did not complain.
So let's just tally up the bill so far. I paid roughly $2500 in land trasfer and legal fees, 2 visits by Direct Energy - one for $165 and the other for $185. Painting contractor and other supplies came to $2500. Electrician $265. Duct cleaning $313. So that leaves me minus $5928 from the starting blocks. No problem. I am prepared for all of this!
Now my tenants are in. They have more shit than you can imagine. I don't know how on earth all of their stuff fit into a 2 bedroom appartment but whatever...Since they moved in on December 5th I have had a phone call, on average, about every 3rd day. First was an inquiry about when the hot water tank would be fixed. Second was for the furnace being broken. And now she calls me and tells me there are cockroaches in my house! No fucking way those cockroaches were there before she came. I cleaned that place on my hands and knees. I cleaned every nook and cranny and I know there were no bugs of any kind in that house. So I ask her flat out if there were cockroaches in her other appartment and she tells me no. In fact, she tells me she's never seen one before in her life and she had to google it to confirm they were cockroaches she was seeing. So today I go there with Abell Pest Control and pay $260 to get rid of the cockroaches. Roxanne's two kids are home from school today. They tell me that thier mother slept in today and did not take them to school. Not to mention the fact that the house is a total disaster. Open food everywhere, mess all over the floor and today was garbage day but I guess she slept in for that too so I picked up all the garbage from the house, the front lawn and the back deck and loaded it into my van to bring home for my garbage day. The pest control guy, Chris, tells me that his work will be useless if the place is not kept clean. So I ask the kids where they have seen cockroaches and they tell me they always run in and out of the TV. Just to confirm I ask them if that happened in their old house too and they confidently reply "yes". That's funny because Roxanne juat finished telling me that she has never seen a cockroach before even though she lived in an appartment builiding prior to this that is notorious for cockroaches (I just found that out yesterday!). Oh ya and she also said on her rental application that she was a non-smoker yet there are ash trays everywhere in the house filled with cigarette butts and even some butts that have not quite made it into an ash tray!
But wait, this is not the worst of it. I go upstairs to tell her that I am done with the pest control guy and that she must keep all food in the fridge and must keep the kitchen clean in order to avoid return visits from cockroaches. She then asks me if I know the history of the house. Where is this leading I wonder? No I don't know the history of the house. It was built in 1955. I wasn't even born! God only knows how many people have lived in that house. She and her boyfriend who are still in bed, by the way, at 2:30 p.m. proceed to tell me that they think my house is haunted. I tell them I hope it's a nice ghost but to let me know if doors and things start slamming. If there is a ghost I hope he/she is on my side and just wants the nasty tenants out. When I was there working away til the wee hours of the night I never had any problem so I am assuming the ghost likes me. I am fine with ghosts. Perhaps I will use him/her to screen my tenants. He/She (can ghosts be classified by gender??) can scare away the bad ones and keep peace with the good tenants.
So that is where we are at and I have owned the house for less than a month. So please don't let anyone ever tell you that being a landlord is "easy money". Cause that's a load of bullshit!
Friday, December 4, 2009
Standford's Who's Who in Business
About a month ago I received a fax asking me to fill out some information about my position at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. It was a fax from "Stanford's Who's Who" in Business. I filled out the form quickly and faxed it back.
Stanford's Who's Who is an elite organization of selected executives, professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world. Members are hand selected from across the globe and invitation is granted only to those individuals who have demonstrated leadership and achievement in their occupation, industry, or profession.
Yesterday I received a call from Stanford's Who's Who and they were interested in condcuting an interview with me to see if I was worthy of being inducted into the Who's Who in Business. I spoke of a few of my acheivements at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. For example, I am the largest campus in Canada, I was one of the first to launch the Advanced Nutrition Diploma program and I have grown revenues consistently by more than 15% every year since buying it in 2005. They asked me my greatest acheivements, what I attrinute my success to and where I see myself going in business. After my interview I was told that I have obviously made a great impact in my field of health and wellness and that I would be inducted into the Who's Who in Business. Cool! Now, here is the best part. As a result of this achievement I receive 2 FREE PLANE TICKETS anywhere in the world and they have no expiration date on them! Cool eh?!?!? I should also expect a package in the coming weeks with plaques and trophies to display in my office.....wait a minute I don't have an office!
I don't have an office because I tore my office down to make a teaching kitchen at my school. I figure a big fancy office does not generate revenue but a kitchen does. Anyway, I don't sit long enough to even warrant having an office. Truth is I did build a smaller office for myself when I expanded my school but it's far from the action. By action I mean reception area - whoo hoo. So now I roost wherever there is space - the floor, the storage room ,the kitchen, or at the display table in the front reception area. I have no wall with educational diplomas hanging on it, no desk with trophies or awards and best of all no drawers full of useless junk!
Stanford's Who's Who is an elite organization of selected executives, professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world. Members are hand selected from across the globe and invitation is granted only to those individuals who have demonstrated leadership and achievement in their occupation, industry, or profession.
Yesterday I received a call from Stanford's Who's Who and they were interested in condcuting an interview with me to see if I was worthy of being inducted into the Who's Who in Business. I spoke of a few of my acheivements at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. For example, I am the largest campus in Canada, I was one of the first to launch the Advanced Nutrition Diploma program and I have grown revenues consistently by more than 15% every year since buying it in 2005. They asked me my greatest acheivements, what I attrinute my success to and where I see myself going in business. After my interview I was told that I have obviously made a great impact in my field of health and wellness and that I would be inducted into the Who's Who in Business. Cool! Now, here is the best part. As a result of this achievement I receive 2 FREE PLANE TICKETS anywhere in the world and they have no expiration date on them! Cool eh?!?!? I should also expect a package in the coming weeks with plaques and trophies to display in my office.....wait a minute I don't have an office!
I don't have an office because I tore my office down to make a teaching kitchen at my school. I figure a big fancy office does not generate revenue but a kitchen does. Anyway, I don't sit long enough to even warrant having an office. Truth is I did build a smaller office for myself when I expanded my school but it's far from the action. By action I mean reception area - whoo hoo. So now I roost wherever there is space - the floor, the storage room ,the kitchen, or at the display table in the front reception area. I have no wall with educational diplomas hanging on it, no desk with trophies or awards and best of all no drawers full of useless junk!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Labour of Love
It would be wrong to call it anything but a labour of love. I have spent the better part of the last 2 days scrubbing and polishing each board, by hand, on my hands and knees, of the creaky old hardwood floor in my new investment property. Funny thing is, I think I am the only one who appreciates it. My tenants came to get keys today and to check out how the painting and renovations are coming along and they walked on my newly cleaned floors with thier shoes! Do they not see how clean they are and how hard I must have worked to get them that way? Well, it's okay - really - I am happy with the transformation and I am proud of my accomplishment.
A strange this happened today. I called Direct Energy to have the pilot light on my hot water tank lit. When I called a woman answered and told me that she had no record of that hot water tank belonging to Direct Energy and if she were to send someone to fix it there would be a $99 charge. I told her to forget it and I immediately called right back. This time a man answered the call. He said Enbridge must not have notified them yet of a new account set up for that house. I told him there was a big sticker on the side of the tank saying "Proudly provided by Direct Energy" and it had been serviced in 2005 by a Direct Energy employee because there was a sticker indicating that too. He told me it would not be a problem to send someone over to light my pilot light. He said there is usually a $99 fee but since I was not the one who turned off the hot water tank nor the one who drained it, he would be able to waive the fee. Amazing! 1 minute earlier I was told the tank did not belong to them and if they fixed it there would be a charge! Once again I have tried my luck with a male clerk and won!
2 years ago I went to the passport office to get a passport for my daughter. You need a little background to understand the issue here...
My daughter's father is Moroccan. He illegally immigrated to Canada in 2000. He worked 'under the table' for cash in a restaurant where I met him. Somehow, by immaculate conception I think, I was pregnant with his child. This was 2005. Shortly after I gave birth he was deported back to Morocco on Canadian tax payer dollars. Despite the fact that he lives in Morocco and has since our child was 6 months old; despite the fact that he has not contributed $1 to her well-being, and; depsite the fact that he is never coming back and we, the people of Canada, actually paid for him to leave, I still have to go to court and a get a legal document proving that I have sole custody of the child. No problem. I do all of that. Then I am told if I want to get a passport for my daughter I need to have the father's consent, meaning he must sign the passport application.
The day I arrive at the passport office I am planning a trip to Florida with my daughter to visit grandma. We are planning to leave in 1 month. This is surely not enough time to send a document to Morocco, have it signed, sent back and registered at the passport office. So I try my luck. I line up for 2 hours and I arrive at a wicket where a woman is waiting to serve me. At this point I don't have the final order from the court stating sole custody. All I have is a seperation agreement stating I am the primary guardian of this child. I present it to the woman at the wicket. Immediately she tells me I cannot get a passport for my daughter without a signature from the father. No problem. I'll get right on that!!! NOT! Instead, I proceed to the back of the line and wait another 2 hours. When my number gets called I get a male passport officer this time. He asks me for all of my required documents and I proceed to tell him that the father is in Morocco and I have a separation agreement stating that I am the primary parent. He tells me he usually needs to see the court order but it's okay that I don't have it today and he proceeds to complete my passport application! That's 2 wins for Nat!
Well, I think as long as the world keeps turning, women...well some women, will hold a certain type of power over men whether they are willing to admit it or not!
A strange this happened today. I called Direct Energy to have the pilot light on my hot water tank lit. When I called a woman answered and told me that she had no record of that hot water tank belonging to Direct Energy and if she were to send someone to fix it there would be a $99 charge. I told her to forget it and I immediately called right back. This time a man answered the call. He said Enbridge must not have notified them yet of a new account set up for that house. I told him there was a big sticker on the side of the tank saying "Proudly provided by Direct Energy" and it had been serviced in 2005 by a Direct Energy employee because there was a sticker indicating that too. He told me it would not be a problem to send someone over to light my pilot light. He said there is usually a $99 fee but since I was not the one who turned off the hot water tank nor the one who drained it, he would be able to waive the fee. Amazing! 1 minute earlier I was told the tank did not belong to them and if they fixed it there would be a charge! Once again I have tried my luck with a male clerk and won!
2 years ago I went to the passport office to get a passport for my daughter. You need a little background to understand the issue here...
My daughter's father is Moroccan. He illegally immigrated to Canada in 2000. He worked 'under the table' for cash in a restaurant where I met him. Somehow, by immaculate conception I think, I was pregnant with his child. This was 2005. Shortly after I gave birth he was deported back to Morocco on Canadian tax payer dollars. Despite the fact that he lives in Morocco and has since our child was 6 months old; despite the fact that he has not contributed $1 to her well-being, and; depsite the fact that he is never coming back and we, the people of Canada, actually paid for him to leave, I still have to go to court and a get a legal document proving that I have sole custody of the child. No problem. I do all of that. Then I am told if I want to get a passport for my daughter I need to have the father's consent, meaning he must sign the passport application.
The day I arrive at the passport office I am planning a trip to Florida with my daughter to visit grandma. We are planning to leave in 1 month. This is surely not enough time to send a document to Morocco, have it signed, sent back and registered at the passport office. So I try my luck. I line up for 2 hours and I arrive at a wicket where a woman is waiting to serve me. At this point I don't have the final order from the court stating sole custody. All I have is a seperation agreement stating I am the primary guardian of this child. I present it to the woman at the wicket. Immediately she tells me I cannot get a passport for my daughter without a signature from the father. No problem. I'll get right on that!!! NOT! Instead, I proceed to the back of the line and wait another 2 hours. When my number gets called I get a male passport officer this time. He asks me for all of my required documents and I proceed to tell him that the father is in Morocco and I have a separation agreement stating that I am the primary parent. He tells me he usually needs to see the court order but it's okay that I don't have it today and he proceeds to complete my passport application! That's 2 wins for Nat!
Well, I think as long as the world keeps turning, women...well some women, will hold a certain type of power over men whether they are willing to admit it or not!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Healing Heat Infrared Sauna Spa Inc.
I am the sole shareholder, owner of 100% of the shares, of Healing Heat Infrared Sauna Spa Inc. So what does that mean? Well, at this point, that means I am the proud owner of $3000 worth of paperwork - legal incorporation documents, a very convincing business plan, a half finished logo, and a set of architectural drawings for a space I have decided not to use!
My idea is this: Imagine a tanning salon. Room after room of tanning beds. Now imagine the same thing but room after room of infrared saunas. Cool eh??!?! Perhaps you don't see it. Well let me explain. In a far-infrared sauna, less than 20% of the infrared energy heats the air leaving over 80% available to be directly converted to heat within our bodies. Thus an infrared sauna can warm its user to a much greater depth and much more efficiently than a conventional sauna but the surrounding air remains at a relatively low temperature. This crucial difference explains the many reported unprecedented health benefits of a far-infrared sauna that are not attainable with a conventional sauna. Further, an infrared sauna produces 2-3 times the sweat volume of a conventional sauna therefore allowing the escape of potentially harmful toxins through the skin.
Human bodies send and receive far-infrared waves. The range of far-infrared waves generated by our bodies is 6 to 20 microns. The optimal micron output range is between 7 and 14 microns. This range, sometimes called the “Vital Range” appears to have regenerative effects on our bodies.
Infrared CarbonFlow™ heaters emit radiant heat with a near-perfect wavelength of 8.4 to 9.4 microns. This optimal wavelength provides for better penetration of far-infrared heat, which in turn, can enhance detoxification, cardiovascular conditioning, and relief from muscle and joint aches and pains.
Are you getting it?
So I want to open a business where people will go and sweat it out in the sauna for 30-60 minutes at a time, then shower in our fully equipped shower and change room facility that will supply all of the necessary organic hygiene products including body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, hair styling products, etc. This way people can come on their lunch hour from work, before hitting the bars on a Friday night, early in the morning before work, etc. Much like we schedule the gym into our weekly routine, I would argue that we should incorporate the sauna in our weekly routine.
Using an infrared sauna on a regular basis can:
Boost your immune system.
Reduce aches, pains and stiffness.
Cleanse, enhance and beautify the skin.
Reduce inflammation through increased circulation.
Reduce the pain of arthritis.
Reduce muscle spasms.
Reduce cancer risk
Provide post exercise muscle pain relief.
Promote wound healing.
Helps to reduce cellulite.
Burn 600 calories during a 30 minute session.
What next?
Well, I hear that Roxanne, the owner of Upward Dog Yoga Studio on Dalhousie St. in the Byward Market, may be interested in renting the basement of her studio for a very reasonable price. That just happens to be directly across the street from my original intended location at 208 Dalhousie St. For several reasons I decided not to pursue a lease in that location. I need to make a visit to Upward Dog Yoga Studio and check out the space. If the price is right I will place an ad for a Naturopathic Doctor, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and a Registered Massage Therapist. I will need them to compliment the sauna service and to help my clients reach optimal health. Furthermore, I will need them to pay my bills! You see, I will rent an office space to each for a flat rental fee of something like $500 per month and then I will have my rent + utilities covered. All revenue from the saunas will be freed up to properly market the business and pay the debt incurred to buy the equipment and renovate the space. After the debts are paid, a good portion of the sauna revenues will be profit or, better yet, payable to me in dividends or salary.
Once I have one year of that under my belt I intend to franchise the idea. All urban hot spots like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and trendy States like California would most definitely be able to support a successful Healing Heat franchise. I have to work diligently on putting together a proven formula and creating all of the templates and forms required to run the business properly and professionally.
It could work. Can't you see it? I need to have the trendiest decor in a warm, tranquil environment. We want to cater to all walks of life: Older people suffering from arthritic pain, young girls wishing to lose a few pounds, middle aged people sick with toxic overload, women of all ages who want to target cellulite, men who want to be leaner and more ripped....
Well, my laptop battery is dying so that is my business idea of the day for today. Or one that I have re-ignited I guess you could say.
Stay tuned...
My idea is this: Imagine a tanning salon. Room after room of tanning beds. Now imagine the same thing but room after room of infrared saunas. Cool eh??!?! Perhaps you don't see it. Well let me explain. In a far-infrared sauna, less than 20% of the infrared energy heats the air leaving over 80% available to be directly converted to heat within our bodies. Thus an infrared sauna can warm its user to a much greater depth and much more efficiently than a conventional sauna but the surrounding air remains at a relatively low temperature. This crucial difference explains the many reported unprecedented health benefits of a far-infrared sauna that are not attainable with a conventional sauna. Further, an infrared sauna produces 2-3 times the sweat volume of a conventional sauna therefore allowing the escape of potentially harmful toxins through the skin.
Human bodies send and receive far-infrared waves. The range of far-infrared waves generated by our bodies is 6 to 20 microns. The optimal micron output range is between 7 and 14 microns. This range, sometimes called the “Vital Range” appears to have regenerative effects on our bodies.
Infrared CarbonFlow™ heaters emit radiant heat with a near-perfect wavelength of 8.4 to 9.4 microns. This optimal wavelength provides for better penetration of far-infrared heat, which in turn, can enhance detoxification, cardiovascular conditioning, and relief from muscle and joint aches and pains.
Are you getting it?
So I want to open a business where people will go and sweat it out in the sauna for 30-60 minutes at a time, then shower in our fully equipped shower and change room facility that will supply all of the necessary organic hygiene products including body wash, shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, hair styling products, etc. This way people can come on their lunch hour from work, before hitting the bars on a Friday night, early in the morning before work, etc. Much like we schedule the gym into our weekly routine, I would argue that we should incorporate the sauna in our weekly routine.
Using an infrared sauna on a regular basis can:
Boost your immune system.
Reduce aches, pains and stiffness.
Cleanse, enhance and beautify the skin.
Reduce inflammation through increased circulation.
Reduce the pain of arthritis.
Reduce muscle spasms.
Reduce cancer risk
Provide post exercise muscle pain relief.
Promote wound healing.
Helps to reduce cellulite.
Burn 600 calories during a 30 minute session.
What next?
Well, I hear that Roxanne, the owner of Upward Dog Yoga Studio on Dalhousie St. in the Byward Market, may be interested in renting the basement of her studio for a very reasonable price. That just happens to be directly across the street from my original intended location at 208 Dalhousie St. For several reasons I decided not to pursue a lease in that location. I need to make a visit to Upward Dog Yoga Studio and check out the space. If the price is right I will place an ad for a Naturopathic Doctor, a Registered Holistic Nutritionist and a Registered Massage Therapist. I will need them to compliment the sauna service and to help my clients reach optimal health. Furthermore, I will need them to pay my bills! You see, I will rent an office space to each for a flat rental fee of something like $500 per month and then I will have my rent + utilities covered. All revenue from the saunas will be freed up to properly market the business and pay the debt incurred to buy the equipment and renovate the space. After the debts are paid, a good portion of the sauna revenues will be profit or, better yet, payable to me in dividends or salary.
Once I have one year of that under my belt I intend to franchise the idea. All urban hot spots like Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and trendy States like California would most definitely be able to support a successful Healing Heat franchise. I have to work diligently on putting together a proven formula and creating all of the templates and forms required to run the business properly and professionally.
It could work. Can't you see it? I need to have the trendiest decor in a warm, tranquil environment. We want to cater to all walks of life: Older people suffering from arthritic pain, young girls wishing to lose a few pounds, middle aged people sick with toxic overload, women of all ages who want to target cellulite, men who want to be leaner and more ripped....
Well, my laptop battery is dying so that is my business idea of the day for today. Or one that I have re-ignited I guess you could say.
Stay tuned...
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