The End of That

I guess this has turned into a once-a-month type of blog seeing how it's pretty difficult nailing Jello to the wall. But when you think about it, it tends to be worth the wait since usually by the end of every month I have some pretty lengthy stories to share. (Which I do apologize for in advance that I can never seem to tell a story without writing an essay about it.) Regardless of my awkward scrawlings, I do enjoy writing these beasts because I do seem to encounter somewhat ridiculous things.

To start, I had a rather peculiar experience the other day when I was at home. One of the kids brought home a small, red balloon from a birthday party they were at a couple of weeks ago, and said balloon continuously would float to the top of the stairs and get stuck in a corner of the ceiling that none of us could reach. So it caught me off guard when I happened to be walking up the stairs one day and walked straight into it hovering above the bottom step. I didn't think much of it, assuming one of the boys was playing with it and left it floating around. I got upstairs and went into the bathroom but when I came out, the balloon had surprisingly seemed to follow me. A tiny bit startled, I guessed that it was the draft of me walking up the stairs that had pushed the balloon to float up to the top. I went to see where Jessica was, not realizing that she was actually in Brodie's room talking to him. When I saw she wasn't in her room, I came back out to find the balloon sitting in front of my bedroom door. Officially a little creeped out by this tiny, artificial stalker, I looked at it and thought to myself, "You better not have moved by the time I come back." I went downstairs to grab my phone I had left on the counter, and when I got back up to my room, I was horrified to find that the balloon was actually sitting perfectly on my bed. Scared for my life thinking that our house was haunted, I ran back into Jessica's room to see her calmly reading a book on her bed. I told her I thought that the balloon was possessed and she looked at me for a moment, finally bursting into laughter saying, "Bree, I saw it on the floor so I put it on your bed." And that was when I breathed a giant sigh of relief, realizing that this entire time, Jessica was the one playing with it and had moved it upstairs. Thank goodness for that, because I don't think I would have slept in my room that night.

The second strange occurrence that happened to me recently was when an extremely strung out, bizarre older guy came into Sony on a day that most of us were working, and he began to serenade us with Bob Marley songs. At first none of us really knew what to do, because he was awkward-looking flailing around our empty store shouting at the top of his lungs, a white old man trying to impersonate a Jamaican accent. Dumbfounded, my co-worker shouted, "Just wait a second man, do you mind if I film this?" To which this guy replied, "PLEASE DO, MAKE ME FAMOUS!!!" So as we all stood around snickering at the sight of this person, he decided to swoop in and try to plant a kiss on me. I did a classic Matrix move backwards (which didn't turn out to be far back enough) when my ACTUAL Jamaican co-worker intervened. It was quite the sight, and in fact many customers walking past our store in the mall stopped to peer in to see just what on Earth this guy was doing.

Ever since I started working in the mall when I first arrived to Kelowna, I have accumulated a great deal of acquaintances. It's actually quite amazing to see the mall as it's own, small, self-sufficient community. When you work in any mall as long as I have, you start to recognize the faces that are also there every single morning, doing the exact same trot down the empty hallway before the doors open for business. First you learn their faces, then you see them walking around and discover where they actually work, and eventually you learn everybody's name. When you're trapped in a shopping center basically every day of the week, you start getting a little desperate to change up the usual routine. As an example, one of the boys from the hat store called "Lids" frequently would visit us at Sony on his breaks to sit down and play some video games with us. I've met a lot of different people working in the mall, and it's funny how much attention you attract when everyone finds out that your store is shutting down in a few days and that you're losing your job.

When I would walk throughout the mall wearing my Sony shirt, it felt like every single person who worked in the mall or customers who would pass by our giant closing signs would stop and stare at me. I've never had so much sympathy from strangers before in my life, so it was weird for me when I'd go up to buy lunch from Subway and they'd give me a free drink. There was also a day when I went to Opa! and they gave me a discount on my food when they normally wouldn't. Dave from EB Games would stop in the store every once in a while to chat and say hello, the man at Rainbow 24 Hour Photo gave me my prints for free, and an expert sketch artist who had a spot in the middle of the mall at a kiosk would often come in to talk for a few minutes on his break. Across the hall from us and around the corner was "The Source" and seeing how one of my co-workers was formerly employed there, all the boys would come into our store to chat as well. Several security guards would always come in just to talk about Playstation with us, and one of the guys that worked at a cellphone case booth offered us all coffee on our last day of business. Towards the end of our demise, we realized we were going to need a lot of boxes to start packing up the remainder of our inventory. One night I ran across the hall to "Footlocker" and asked them if we could have some of their empty ones, but they pointed us in the direction of "Northern Reflections" as they are a clothing store that usually hordes their cardboard. When I walked in there and got some boxes from them, we had used every single one that they had given us, and the following week I had to return to ask for some more. To my surprise, the associate who I'd never seen thus far told me that they had saved us all of their boxes as they knew we would most likely need more and they wanted to help us out one last time before we were gone. They lent me their trolley and through the mall I marched with my giant box of... well... boxes.

In short (but not really) what I have learned from this experience is that even if you're a stranger and people see that you're going through a "rough" time, people tend to be good and give you these little triumphs to keep you going. So to all of my fellow mall employees out there, thanks for looking out for one another. Although I had only worked at Sony for three months, just barely, I still felt a sense of true belonging with the rest of the staff. My co-workers were the best part of my day, everyone made it so easy to wake up every morning and go... even on days that I was feeling discouraged about my lack-of-expertise, they were always there to help me out and pick me up. I feel sorry that yet another band that I have been a part of has broken up, and most of all that many of us have spread to various areas of BC by now to continue on with our future endeavors. But I will miss everyone very much and hopefully we'll all run into each other again throughout the summer. I can honestly say that I made some decent memories there in the short time I was around - and I will admit that the first month was probably the most challenging I've dealt with so far for a job, but once I got a little more familiar with things and grew closer to my co-workers, I really started to feel more comfortable. 

But do not worry, (as I'm sure you all are) because I am one of the lucky ones who has already found work and ready to rock and roll for through summer time. I got hired at Best Buy and will be working in the Home Entertainment department, so I'm not too far off of the Sony realm. I am pleased that I will be looked after now that we're officially closed but at the same time, sad to say another goodbye to another "family-like" workplace.

Apart from all of that great stuff about my job situation which I'm sure was very enthralling for you to read, things otherwise seem to be going swimmingly. The only major difference so far is that our townhome has been sold, as I'm sure I have mentioned in a previous post (hopefully) that our lovely landlady had skipped town with all of our rent money and our suite was being foreclosed. Now that it is sold (we had shown the house several times throughout the past few months) we have until June 30th before we find our next place of accommodations... and so far we have our minds set on a rent-to-own house. We haven't found our perfect match yet, but when we do, I think it's going to be exciting to move into a place with a little bit more elbow room. It's almost like a fresh start, like we can finally find somewhere that has what we want. A backyard, a BBQ, 2 car garage, etc. We're also keeping our eyes peeled for a place with an extra bedroom, so if anyone is interested in taking a road trip down here this summer..........

Shucks. I still really miss Winnipeg. Today I had my first Slurpee of the summer and it tasted like home. It's a shame I won't be making it out there in the earlier months, but I do intend to return around the September benchmark to attend my cousin Samantha's wedding. (Which by the way, I am very much looking forward to seeing the entire Hawkins family again.) It will be good timing, but again a little disappointed I'll be missing the classic summer fun of pool parties, BBQ's and friends/family birthdays. I spent fifteen minutes driving the car yesterday, and from that short period of time I got a strange, rectangular-shaped sun burn on my arm. Which can only mean one thing: it's going to be a long summer in the Okanagan. Don't get me wrong, I'm rather excited to be spending it here too. It's vacation town after all! The best part about living here is that there is a beach right smack in the middle of town... with amazing food, parks and cool things to do by the waterfront.

Another thing I had wanted to share, was that the other day I finally had the opportunity to do some true Kelowna sight-seeing on a hot day. My manager from Sony and the district manager of the province who was in town to help us close the store picked me up from my home a few days ago to go downtown to eat our last supper with the staff. As we were driving, my manager mentioned that he was going to take us both (the D.M. and I) to Knox Mountain, a famous look-out point here to see a great view of the city. We drove for about 20 minutes when I saw the mountain up ahead - a very tall and steep road spiraling up to the very top with fenced-hiking trails next to it leading the way. We drove to a plateau, and there was a plaque with all the facts and information about the 2003 wildfires that had spread across the mountains on the opposite side of the lake - a view that could pretty much only be seen from this look-out point. It was incredible to see just exactly how far the fire had spread and how big it was. A remarkable sight indeed, I took a few photos and up we went to the highest point of Knox Mountain. That was the windiest feeling I had ever experienced, I was actually rather concerned I was going to be blown right off the peak. But it was an amazing view of Kelowna, I could see the whole town as well as the West Side, with the bridge connecting the two. It was a gorgeous view of the lake and the valley, and I've never witnessed anything quite like it in a place I could call "my own backyard".

It was a great side trip before we wrapped up our last official day of work at Sony. We met with the rest of the staff at Misato's Kitchen, the Japanese restaurant downtown that my manager's wife owns. We indulged in a traditional Chinese meal of Hot Pot (Given the fact that my manager is actually Chinese) and we all said our goodbyes, hugging and handshaking after we had digested. It was probably the most food I had ever eaten in my life, other than the BBQ I had attended at his personal home on a few weeks back.

It was a perfect way to leave Sony behind, and get prepared for what is coming down the pipe. A lot of changes are underway this summer, I'll be turning 21 and finally will be legal in Vegas, I'll be starting a new job, and I'll be living in a new home. I'll be living a totally new life by the time I return to Winnipeg, and it seems like change is no longer a stranger to me as it once was. Funny how I used to be so afraid of change, and now I am rather used to it. I guess in the end it's all for the better, as it keeps me on my toes and experiencing something new each day. You can't regret much if you try new things all the time, right?

Life is one giant rollercoaster I have learned... and when I used to be so terrified of it all and would try to back out of all the loopdy loops, I have eventually learned to just ride along with it and go with the flow.

You can quote me.

Check back in a couple weeks for another KWA Report from yours truly.
This is Bree Hawkins signing off.

My 25th Blog

Me at Sony

Well look at that! I have actually reached blog post # 25 today.... which I didn't think was actually possible with me. (I don't like long-term commitments.) But while we're here, I might as well fill you in on some of the eventful events that have happened since I last wrote. I just realized I'm getting pretty repetitive with my introduction on most of these things... I gotta come up with something a little more creative perhaps. Something to consider for blog # 26.

Let me start off by saying that this town seems to be full of Kindred Spirits. I'll tell you a few stories. Thanks to this place being considered as a "small town" I realized that I often see familiar people around various parts of Kelowna, which reminds me a lot of Dauphin (the small town where I was born.) Every day that I take the bus, no matter what time of day, I always see someone I recognize from before. As one simple example, there is a girl who I usually see on the community bus who I have now seen around the mall, around downtown and around Rutland, the neighborhood below Black Mountain. (A little fact: she is a scary clone of my friend Miranda back in Winnipeg.)

To start getting to my point, I keep having encounters with random strangers who then turn into these so called "Kindred Spirits" of mine, humble people I will run into from time to time and say hello. This whole thing began when I first started to work for Telus knocking on doors back in January, when on the weary night I had quit, I happened to be walking down a dark, snowy highway in the mountains. I knocked on the door of a giant farm house and when it creaked open, out came a tall and slender man who resembles that of Farmer Hogget in the kids movie, "Babe". He was a friendly looking fellow, he had kind eyes and a warm smile that right away welcomed me in from the cold. As I stood there in the doorway of his house, mumbling the introductory speech I had memorized only days before, assuring him I was conveniently "in the neighborhood" making sure that he and his neighbors were receiving the best value for the money they spend on their home services (Look at that, I still got it) he smiled and told me in a delicate voice that he was already a customer of Telus. After confirming that he was satisfied with his television set up, he offered me a warm, fresh-out-of-the-oven granola bar that he had made himself. I may have shared this story before, but to sum this chapter up, we ended up exchanging email addresses and he sent me recipes of all of his favorite, wholesome goods. Then he offered me fresh ground flour straight from his farm.

Still to this day he sends me emails once in a while, and under similar circumstances I met a family out on Vernon who made me a hot cup of tea after I walked for 30 minutes knee deep in snow up an inclined slope to reach their house. After I had finished my job at Telus, I saw one of my ex co-workers, Jayde, wandering through the mall. Turns out she found a job just across the hall from me at Sony, working in a clothing store. Guess she didn't enjoy walking in the night alone either.

Three weeks ago I was helping two ladies find a laptop for a new business venture they had both begun. I inquired as to what the business was, and it turned out to be a growing women's community supporting healthy lifestyles geared towards losing weight & feeling good. I was so intrigued that we exchanged emails and phone numbers, and as they purchased a laptop from me they also invited me to be a part of the "Healthy Together" community. They organize fun events like evenings of wine and cheese, along with day trips out hiking in the hills and doing various exercise activities. In fact, Sydnay and Nicole both frequently stop by Sony when they are nearby to say hello and see how things are going.

Looking like summer in Black Mountain

Nearly two weeks ago now (wow time flies) I was headed home from work in the late afternoon on a Saturday, trying to make my connection in Rutland to catch the community bus that takes me up the hill and to my home. By a wild strike of what I originally thought was unfortunate fate, I missed my bus by one minute and chased it for several blocks before I gave up. I was panting and cursing in the heat as I began to trudge up the hour and a half long walk (inclined) up the hill in the unexpected heat. For the first time the bus was too early, and as I chased after it I was still wearing all of my work clothes, carrying a full heavy backpack and had a black jacket on over top. As I hiked in my own pathetic misery of hate and rage, I noticed a dog running loose on the shoulder of the highway up ahead. Panicked for its life, I ran up and caught her by the collar before she raced onto the busy road. I was basically only beginning my hike when I found her, and I looked around the highway from the shoulder trying to spot her owner. No one was there. We were in a pretty remote spot on the hill, so I slouched over holding her by the un-useful collar and walked to the nearest house I could see.

There was no luck; I tried four different houses and no one seemed to be home. I called the number on her collar once before but an answering machine for city hall in a town four hours away came on. Sitting at the side of the road I dialed every place I could think of where I could take her to, in order to find her owner. No luck. It was Saturday evening and all the shelters & societies were closed, so I ended up walking her awkwardly up the hill with me for the hour and a half journey left to face in the blazing heat.

Hazel

When I got her home, I gave her a giant bowl of water and made more phone calls. Still no luck. Mike agreed to letting her stay until we could figure out what to do with her on Monday. Late Saturday evening I had the thought to post ads on local classifieds like Kijiji and Castanet looking for her owner. No bites. The next day while Mike & Jessica were in Vancouver for the Canucks' final game in the playoffs, I put her in the garage with some dog food, water and a blanket (with an old stuffy) to keep her occupied while I was at work. Later in the afternoon I got a voice mail on my phone from a woman crying with happiness that I had found her dog, Hazel. We arranged for her (Monique) to pick me up from work at the end of the day to go and fetch the dog from my house. (No pun intended.) When I met her out at the front of the mall, even as complete strangers, she ran up and hugged me immediately, thanking me and crying for looking after Hazel. She passed me a freezing cold Slurpee, (a sweet reminder of home) suitable for another hot day outside, to thank me for my "act of kindness". We chatted the whole way home and she explained she just moved to Kelowna a month ago and she hadn't been away from her dog for this long before. Long story short, both Hazel & Monique were ecstatic to be reunited and as she offered me a cash reward, I declined, hoping that maybe putting a good deed out into the world would come back to me at some point. She smiled and told me to visit her at the restaurant basically down the street that she works at for lunch. It's a small world after all...

So as you can see, I'm starting to believe in this whole concept of "everything happens for a reason". Well at least some things have to. I was certainly meant to miss the bus that Saturday afternoon.

And there you go. While there are still plenty of stories like this that I have to share, it will have to await the next blog as I think I have outdone myself on my iPhone typing this beast before work. I do promise to share more of my musings with you all again on Blog # 26.

But for now I think I need to go tend to this carpel tunnel I have now just obtained.

Looking forward to more experiences to come and sharing these humble moments with you again. Just remember kids, the Dalai Lama once said:

The Dalai Llama

"There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples, my philosophy is kindness."

Big thanks to my calendar for providing me with that quote.

Love you guys,
I'll write again soon.