It's a Girl

It has been far too long since I last blogged. I guess you could say I've been busy, driving all over the NE USA and Canada. Then, when I'm home for a day or two here and there, I try to help with things around the house, and don't really have time to sit at my computer. All this to say, that in the meantime, our baby girl has joined us. Clara Grace was born @ 9:23pm on Saturday October 4th. She was 9lbs, and 22" long.

Mom and Dad are very happy, and love her so much. We praise God that she is healthy, and has two arms and two legs.

a la prochaine...

The first ultra sound!!!!

Hey all, after reading the title you probably don't need me to even write anything down here. You guessed it, Heather is preg-o. Is that crazy or what????? We didn't want to tell anyone until after heather went for her first ultra sound, because we sort of had to see it to believe it...although Heather was pretty convinced after puking pretty much EVERY morning, a lot of the time it was multiple times. Poor girl, I feel bad...especially because there is really nothing I can do. Want some more crackers sweetie? Hot water and lemon? Want me to leave you alone? haha. It has already been quite the experience.

Praise the Lord that my plumbing works, and that we will be having a child. I can't wait to be a daddy. I don't even care if it is a boy or a girl...just praying that it is healthy. We appreciate all of your prayers. Thanks.

a la prochaine...

First Load

Hello again, I am back in cambridge after a great week down in windsor. I even got a skid to bring back to london, so at least have of my trip home was paid. Now we are under a pretty bad snow storm, so I will do some slight modifications to my van while I am taking the weekend off. Please pray for me that I will drive safe, and so will the other people on the road. On the way back from london this morning I saw a van like mine rolled over in the ditch, and saw a Tractor-trailer just come to rest by a fence about 50 yds from the roadside...he was still upright, so I am sure he was fine. I called opp, and they were on it.

Anyway, take care all,

a la prochaine...

FINALLY!!!!

Hey everyone...that's if anyone other than my wife and sister read my blog. Why don't you let me know sometime. I know my life isn't too exciting, but maybe it will become a bit more exciting soon. Like I can share with you about going to places that I've never been. Yes, you guessed it. I finally got insurance, and will be working for another company than originally intended. TST expedited services. It is basically the same scenario as it would have been with Dynamex, although I have to go down to Windsor for orientation. So, I am down there for 4 days. I will be leaving Monday, and coming home Thursday night. Then, I should be working by the following week.

Let me tell you how excited and also relieved I am. After things weren't working out with Dynamex, I was really struggling with having quit Loblaws. It might not have been the best environment to work it, but the money was good...it had put Heather and I over the top so that we could afford a house last year. Then, when I was striking out with one insurance company after another, I was really kinda getting worried. I would have to work 3 part-time jobs to give us a shot at breaking even. But, that doesn't matter anymore...thank-you Lord, because I should easily make as much as I did at Loblaws, working for TST, and there is much potential for more.

Please pray that I get lots of work, and that I am safe and all the other drivers out there are safe too.

Oh ya, and if your business needs to expedite something, somewhere...CHOOSE TST!

a la prochaine......

Last road trip of 2007

So, my last shift at Loblaws was Dec 29th. When I came home, I was so happy that I was done, that I persuaded Heather to pack a bag and jump in the car with me for a road trip. We didn't really know where we were heading, except for one thing. I wanted to take her to my old church, in Lachute PQ, the following morning for morning worship. As we drove, and the hours moved on, we decided to stop in Ottawa for the night, and get up in time to drive to Lachute for church (about 1hr 15 mins).
It was nice to see the people again, and finally introduce them to my wife. They were glad to meet her.
Then for lunch, I wanted to take Heather to Swartz's in downtown Montreal, they are famous for their smoked meat. When we finally found it (because I had forgotten what street it was on) there was a line-up down the street, so we decided to forgo that pleasure, and find somewhere else to chow down. In the meantime, Heather had picked up a couple of brochures at the hotel we stayed at the previous night. One brochure was about the Canadian War museum (in Ottawa) and the Canadian Civilization Museum/IMAX (in Gatineau, PQ). So, we just decided to turn west again, find a hotel in Gatineau (because Heather wanted to have a poutine in PQ before we went back to ON for good.) then we would do the museums and IMAX the next day before we journeyed home. Follow this link to a web album of photos from that day.
After the time at the Museums we made our way to Sundridge to be with Steve and Phyllis May (heather's parents) for the change of the year. Then we spent the day with them on New Year's day, and then came home that night.
It was a great time to be away together after the busy time of Christmas week. I hope you all had a great holiday time with your families and friends. Happy new year, may God bless you as you serve Him in 2008.

a la prochaine...

I can't wait!!!!!!

I start my orientation for the new job tomorrow at 9:30am. I'm pretty excited about this new change of career. Pray for me please. Pray that I get lots of work, and that I am safe on the roads.

thanks to all of you who encouraged me as I pursued this change.

Welcome news.....

Hey everyone, as of today, this week became a lot better than last week. I had voicemail after work today from Dynamex. After taking my updated abstract in to them on Wednesday, Bill met with his Operation Manager this (Thursday) morning. The VM said that they are definitely offering me a contract to provide service to them. They said they are really looking forward to working with me, and are glad that they will soon have me on board.

PRAISE THE LORD!!! Thank-you to all of you who have been praying for this situation.

They will give me a letter of intent by the end of this week, so I can have it on file.

See you around the country/continent soon!

a la prochaine...

The week from hell...

Ok, not quite as bad as when my mom died...but even still, I know she is in a much better place, and now she doesn't have to suffer anymore.
Here is what happened this week. For those of you who don't know, I am pursuing a driving job with Dynamex Expedited Services (a courier/transport company). I first spoke with the recruitment manager (Bill) on Oct 2nd. I have been waiting until now because of having 4 speeding tickets on my driving record. The first one that I ever got was scheduled to come off my record yesterday, Nov. 24th. Until now Dynamex has know that I will then only have three tickets, and they told me that I will just pay a higher insurance premium. BUT, they e-mailed me last Monday and asked me if I had time to go in and see them to talk about a couple of concerns they have. I was thinking, "Ok, that doesn't sound so good." Anyway, I replied that morning telling them that I could go in whenever they had time to see me (because Monday is my day off, I could move other appointments around to see them when they had time.)
So, I went in to see them Monday afternoon. Bill sat me down, and first told me that their trainer just served notice on Friday...gave only a week's notice. So this means, obviously, that I will be waiting a few weeks, at least, until they hire a new trainer. But, that wasn't the biggest news. Bill then says he has concerns about my driving record. Long story short, he told me that even with three tickets there is still a chance that my abstract won't be accepted.
Right away feelings of anxiety and fear came flooding to my mind...you see, they gave me a checklist of things to complete before I started orientation. Thinking that my orientation would start soon after I gave them my updated abstract, I got everything done on the checklist...one thing of which was buying a vehicle. I have already purchased (will be financing) a cargo van. I am worried about what will happen if I don't get the job...will I be able to get out of the van deal? Anyway, what happens from here you might ask? I wait until the first ticket clears my record, and then print off a new abstract and take it into Dynamex, and they will give me an answer on the spot. The MTO gave me a 900 number to call before I go print off the abstract, so I can be sure it is off my record before I pay the $12 for the abstract. Please pray that they accept my abstract. Most of all, at this point in the whole process, thankful they told me this stuff this week and not next week, when I have already left Loblaws (I gave them 4 weeks notice on Oct 30th.) They have graciously understood the situation, and told me that I can stay on as long as I need.

Then we come to Thursday morning, on my way to work. We had a pretty nasty storm Wednesday through the night to Thursday morning. It was pretty snowy and icy. Long story short, again, I spun out as I was approaching in intersection (with a few other cars nearby) and went into the curb with the rear driver side. I pulled over and my passenger and I got out to look. It was not looking too good...the wheel was bent out at the top. I could see about i/3 of the tire tread outside of the fender. But, the wheel was still going around, so we had to carry on so that we would get to work on time.
I was thinking, "Lord, this has now officially become a trying week...are you trying to teach me something?" I know that I am being strengthened and refined...but I don't like it too much.
I called CAA right after it happened (oh ya, as a side note, I just re-joined CAA again about two weeks ago...thank goodness!) and asked them if they would be able to be at my work right when I am done at 2pm. They were pretty sure they could be there when I wanted them to be.
Two o'clock rolls around...I waited until about 2:30, then I gave them a call. They forward me to their dispatch, then I got disconnected........stupid cell phones around big steel buildings. I finally got through to dispatch by 3pm. they told me that someone should be there within the hour. A tow-truck arrived about 3:30. I got towed to my mechanic and then left the car there over night. I got a rental for the next day, so I could get to work. I got to drive a Toyota Yaris...in case you're wondering...pretty fun little car. (maybe the people at Toyota will read this, and will appreciate the advertising and I will get a bonus........I can always hope anyway.)
The good people at Meineke (same thing, advertising here...HOOK ME UP!!! lol) didn't have a chance to look at my car until late morning Friday...when they gave me the bad news. I needed a rim, tires, control arms, strut, 4-wheel alignment. Then they gave me a quote...$825...plus they were still looking for used tires and used rim for me. They called me when I was done work and told me that they weren't able to find used tires. I wasn't surprised because the Saturns have some European inspiration, which leads to tire sizes that are not very common. So, I told them that I would just go get them myself at Canadian tire (you guessed it, I would love it if CT saw this advertising....CT is an awesome store) because they have a tire sale on right now. I found some Motomaster All-Season SE...so I now have pretty good set of rubber on all 4 wheels (failed to mention before that I didn't realize how bad the tread was on my rear tires...probably the main reason while I spun out so easily). I got CT money out of the tire purchase as well, made the need for tires a little nicer.
They were still working on my car when they closed at 6pm on Friday. They let me go in the back as they did the 4-wheel alignment. It was pretty cool, it is all computerized. They previously told me that they thought that I had bent the frame too. Doing the alignment confirmed that fact. They got the front perfectly aligned, but the rear is still 0.5 degrees out. No big deal, they said I would just notice some premature wear on the inside of the rear tires. I'm just happy that myself and my passenger were not injured, and that I was able to get my car back on the road for less than a grand.
I have learned that I definitely need to be more on top of the wear on my tires.

I would ask that anyone who reads this blog would please pray for the next few days as, in that time, I will probably have an answer from Dynamex on whether or not I get the job.

Thanks a lot.
Until the next post...