Chaotic but Blessed

Greetings all you lovely readers.

Well, I've completely missed out on the Valentine's day thing, so happy belated Valentine's to those who celebrate it, and happy single awareness day to those who are still looking for love!

Unfortunately I didn't get a day off on Valentine's day because I was booked to work 16 hours. Lovely. Then when the big bosses ask what I did for Valentine's day, I say I worked for you for 16 hours! Why?! Because you booked me! 

It's funny how I get questions all the time about what I did on the weekend or on a special day, and I say I'm always working because well, it's true. Unfortunately it comes with sacrificing all the free time that I have to work. Then of course they ask why would I do this to myself, then add in "but don't worry, you're still young" (man, I hate that very much).

The other day, I had my head down and one of the client's asked "you have white hair?!". He was pretty shocked, and English is not his first language, so the look of shock on his face was hilarious. He said I was too young to have white hair. True, but that's what stress and lack of sleep does to you.

My months of working these crazy hours is slowly coming to an end. I was fortunate to talk with the manager about downgrading to a casual spot versus being part time. The first sentence she told me was "I'm actually really surprised you survived through this! I thought you would give up a long time ago!" And it's true. I think any normal person would give up after 1 week of working 60-70 hours at 2 jobs combined, and pulling 16 hours each week.

But I wanted to prove that I can do it. A lot of effort comes through showing that you are willing to do this, and are willing to pull through. If you give up right away in the beginning without trying, there's a high chance that you won't get considered for what you prefer. That's what happened previously to people, where they would apply as a part time and get hired as part time, but would say "never mind, this won't work. I need a casual instead" and then never show up for any shifts.

When it came to my turn, my request got denied because of those before me who had done the same and pretty much gave up before they even tried. I guess it's different if you have kids versus no kids. In my case, I had to prove that I could balance 2 jobs: 1 full time but 8 hour shifts, and 1 part time alternating between 8 and 12 hour shifts.

It was a tough journey. The toughest was when I pulled five 16 hour shifts between both sites from Monday to Friday when I first started orientation. I definitely don't recommend it unless you absolutely have to. From that point on, 16 hour shifts became normal. When that becomes a norm, you know you've gotten a little crazy. It's tough to work a 16 hour, sleep for 5 hours, then return the next morning to do another 8 or 16 hours. Highly not recommended.

The point of this story is, don't give up. Pray about it. Reflect on it. I walked in not knowing if I was going to get that casual spot, and brought my resignation letter in case I was denied the spot. You have to be mentally prepared to let go of this journey if it doesn't work out. In the end, I didn't need the letter, but I embraced what was given to me. It just so happened that other casual staff were never working or never worked in months, so they were let go. In return, I got the spot.

Life can be full of surprises. But in the end, if God wants you to take that path, He will guide you along the way.

Mom's birthday is also coming up, which I am super excited about! She is hitting a milestone this year so my plan is to make her birthday and mother's day a memorable one. I already have her gift prepped, which is a Chanel No. 5 perfume and some red pocket. I think she had complained she couldn't find her perfume so I figured buying her another one will make her happy.

Mother's day is still a while away but I have another plan: a Fendi bag. She likes purses but would never be into designer handbags. She thinks I'm crazy already. But she deserves a nice bag, especially after raising me. Come on. She deserves anything. If it wasn't for her and dad, I wouldn't be able to do what I do today. I wouldn't have this education and job. I wouldn't be able to afford these bags, that's for sure. So to show my appreciation, I think mom and dad deserve to be spoiled.

I recently took out my Chanel Emoji bag for a shopping day with the ladies. They were excited to see it and touch it. Shoppers on the other hand, I'm not sure. I've had one compliment it and said she really liked it. The rest just stare at it as though...is that fake? What is that?? So ugly. I guess because it's seasonal and not many people buy it, it's a rare sight, which I definitely like. It's good to be unique and not blend in with the rest. I just wish it was leather on the outside, but so far it's been alright. Haven't dropped anything on it so far (and I don't plan to!).

One of my guy friend's asked about it so I showed him a picture. The look on his face was priceless. It was the most disgusted face he's ever given. I guess it's to each their own. Most of my guy friends would not understand the whole handbag thing. Even I don't understand the hype sometimes, yet I get mesmerized by the colour and style of a bag. And the uniqueness of it.

Recently there was a house in Toronto that got sold over $1.1 million asking. Can you believe it. Over $1 million overasking! How the hell...?? I thought going $30,000 overasking was crazy enough but $1 million?? How do they expect the millenials to afford such homes? This isn't a mansion either. Just a regular bungalow/2 story house max.

When people ask me why I work so hard, I say the housing market is crazy right now. I'm working 70 hours a week, and pretty much everything will go towards the house. You don't have time to even enjoy the house because you're too busy working to pay it all off. They also just announced a 2% increase on property tax. How the hell! We all need a 500% increase on our paycheques but too bad life doesn't work that way. So it makes people overwork, burn out, stress out, and yet all of it going towards an earthly property that when you die in the end, you still can't take it with you.

These damn taxes. These damn housing prices. It's just insane. It needs to stop.

I've also read that Taco Bell is offering a wedding package. You pay $650 and get a bunch of tacos and food, as well as the whole marriage thing (I think this is in Vegas). Anyways I just found that pretty funny. I would be concerned about having diarrhea in my dress.

Alright my brain is mush right now. Time to sleep. Chow Chow!