With that aside, I do apologize to my friends and family who have been very loyal to me and have put up with reading this boring atrocity. I know it's hard to keep in touch sometimes when I'm on the other side of the country (just about, anyway) so I really would like to try and keep this blog going in order to reconnect with everyone who I no longer get to see very often. It looks like the last time I had written was just after Valentine's day... and since then much has happened. We're in April and past Easter already! Whew. Lots of rambling to be done. In case you were all very patiently wondering what my life has been like since I last wrote, I will try my best to summarize it in a non-lullaby way without putting you all to sleep.
I'm sure many of you already know that at the end of February, beginning of March, I had been job hunting looking for a full-time "career". Well, let me tell you how that worked out. When you're as unqualified as I am, it's hard to find a stable full-time job that will keep you afloat. But somehow I was lucky enough to stumble into the arms of Sony Canada, and land myself in one of their retail stores here in the mall in Kelowna. It's an excellent opportunity full of promise and good sportsmanship, and quite frankly, I was the lucky one out of 200+ applicants that got hired for a full-time position. I was officially hired for the job literally the day that I was leaving to catch my flight back to Winnipeg for a week-long visit, one that I had patiently awaited. (Now that it is over, I am patiently awaiting the next one.) I was ecstatic to hear that I was chosen to be hired and I signed off on multiple contracts promising me full benefits, an entry-level salary along with sales commission. I was salivating at the mouth when I read over my pamphlet of information, and was even tickled to read that there were "inside-company" transfer opportunities. (Which translates to 'being able to move up into administration and head office for Sony Canada.) I was really excited at all of these possibilities, realizing that this was exactly what I was looking for.
I embarked on my journey back to Manitoba with a head full of positivity and gratitude... and when I touched down on the prairie soil I could not be more pleased to be home. Although it was a nightmare getting off the plane at 10pm shivering in the delight of the cold, it was still such an amazing experience to reach the bottom of the stairs and see my dad patiently waiting for me. He took me to the airport when I originally left Winnipeg, and he was there to pick me up when I returned. It was a wonderful start to a great visit ahead. When we arrived at the Hawkins/Kosokowsky/Silva residence, I was overjoyed to be greeted by some of the faces I had missed so much since I had left - Laura, Shea, Rita (and of course two dogs plus a cat) as they all stumbled over one another as they raced to hug me. It felt so nice to be in familiar arms again, and to be in an old faithful, familiar place. I will admit that it was strange to be back, despite how similar things were, it somehow all felt different. I knew I wasn't there to stay and it gave the experience a bittersweet feel. Regardless, it was fantastic to be home and sitting around in the kitchen with the whole family catching up and sharing stories of our past few months without one another.
The rest of the week - while just as fantastic - went by in a blur. It was unfortunate that I did not get to spend as much time with each individual person I have been missing as I wanted to, but I still had a good time with the little time I spent there. I do apologize for I know I had missed some other familiar faces when I was in town, but time went by oh-too-quickly and I was stretched quite thin. I do promise that the next time I come to visit, I will make sure I catch everyone who I did not get to see last time. To carry on and make things as brief as possible (although with the way I like to write, not brief at all) I enjoyed my temporary stay back in Winterpeg. I knew that it would come to an end eventually but I was and still am excited at what the next visit will bring.When I got back to Kelowna, my brother Mike was waiting for my arrival at the airport. He grew a beard which still makes me shudder, but it was nice to see his face again. Even though it was hairier than usual. It was that moment that I realized BC had now truly become my home, despite my being homesick every so often. (And by every so often, I mean more often than not. I will always miss everyone back East.) Again it was a bittersweet moment to be back, I was happy to return to a newly developing routine and sleep in my own bed again. Wait a minute, I did sleep in my own bed in Winnipeg.. weird... anyways. You know what I mean. The following day I got my act together and prepared for my first day at Sony as a sales consultant. March 9th was my first day of employment, and when I hit the sales floor for the first time I was as nervous as an opera singer on opening night. Everything was so fresh and clean cut, solid and reliable that I didn't know what to do with myself. The first few weeks were tricky no doubt - learning all of the technical jargon and model numbers was very difficult to do. But as time progressed, I began to catch on, picking up more and more bits of information allowing me to be more fluid when talking to customers. It has only been a month since I started, but I have already learned so much. While I still have plenty of things to learn and keep up on, I'm still finding myself much more comfortable now than I was when I began.
I was lucky enough to end up with a fantastic staff... each person being very helpful and understanding of my timidness to learning. I hit it off with everyone right off the bat which makes it a lot easier to wake up for work in the morning. All of this was great and dandy until last week when the store found out that we were closing down as a retail location in Kelowna at the end of May. It was a shock to the system for everyone, but for me personally it was disappointing to know that my new job was soon to be a past job. In short, I will be on the job hunt again pretty soon, technically I should start now but I will admit I have been procrastinating a bit. Thankfully Sony treats their employees very well and takes care of them, so I am well looked after financially as well as having the benefit of a reference letter from the company. It's unfortunate that I will be hitting the streets dropping off resumes again, but I'm sure I'll come across something. I just need to keep my eyes peeled for more opportunity.
In other news, we had a great Easter with the boys. I was lucky enough to get to spend the whole weekend with Landan, and on Sunday morning we all woke up early and drove up into Black Mountain (the actual mountain, not just the neighborhood we live in) and went to have an Easter egg hunt at Mike's dad's farm. They hid eggs and treats absolutely everywhere outside for the kids, and it was so much fun to watch them run around excitedly as they would discover the hiding places. It was a lot of fun and when it was over we went inside to enjoy some "Easter Bread" that Mike's grandma Judy had baked, basically a crispy pastry with fruit baked inside and hard boiled eggs braided in. It was an interesting creation but delicious none the less. We dropped Landan back off at his mom's place and myself, Mike and Jessica all had supper together at our house. Then yesterday (also known as Easter Monday) after work, Mike picked me up from the mall and we went to Kenda's (Landan's mom) place to enjoy a traditional Easter meal with the whole family. Ham, steamed veggies and potatoes, along with home-made coleslaw and a delicious strawberry crumble cake to top it all off. It was such a beautiful day outside yesterday, the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the air was warm like summertime. We had all the windows open in the house and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the mountains from the view of the kitchen window as we ate. After supper we socialized and played with Landan and his toys, then we drove home for an early-night of rest.All in all, Easter was good. The kids were full of chocolate (although somehow it was me who ended up with a choco-tummy ache) and I got to have a traditional family dinner just like I hoped for. Again, bittersweet, since I did miss being with my family back in Winnipeg for our Easter dinner we would normally have... but at least the spirit of the holiday was not lost. And, despite my current career situation, I still have a full two months of guaranteed work at Sony while I go on the hunt again. So things in life are still good, and hopefully they will just continue to get better and better. I can't believe that we're almost halfway into April already and that I've been here for 5 months now. Time sure flies when you're busy living life.
I will admit that I'm still fumbling around trying to find my place and my purpose in this world, but at least for now, it's working. And I'll keep fumbling around until I wind up where I'm supposed to be. (And by the way, I'm open to suggestions.) I suppose this would be a good place to wrap up today's novel, but I want you all to know that I miss you very, very much - and look forward to seeing you again soon. Hope you all had a great Easter as well.
Until next time,
This is Bree Hawkins signing off.
