Decoration Sunday
Posted by Ashleigh on 18 August 2008 at 07:34 PM in Family, Personal, WorkOn Sunday, my mom woke me up early so that we could go with some other family out to a graveyard on the outskirts of my town for Decoration Sunday. For those who may not be aware of this day, it is when you take flowers out to the grave sites of your family and friends who are no longer with you. A lot of people all do it on this one day a year, so there were tons of other families out there when we were. We visited a bunch of my mom’s friends and some family members, most of who died in their elder ages. While we were out there, all I could think about was how lucky I have been in life to not lose anyone really close to me. I mean, some of the graves we visited were family members, but they had all died before I was born or when I was very young. I have been very fortunate not to have lost anyone close to me at a time when I could fully understand the idea of death. Have you ever lost a family member or friend at an age when you understood what death meant?
After the graveyard, my entire maternal side of the family got together for a corn roast. We do this every year on the weekend of Decoration Sunday. The corn roast is starting to get a bit tedious though because the same people show up year after year, while other members of the family never attend. 
It’s still nice though to see family that I don’t get to see as often as I would like to. We did a 50/50 draw, so that we can get some new picnic tables for my uncle’s house (where the corn roast always takes place) and the youngest person in the draw (my cousin Allyn) was the winner. Haha. Figures that the one who doesn’t really even need to cash would be the one who would get it. I was hoping my name would get called. I could really use the cash at this time. Thank god I am working right now otherwise my web hosting wouldn’t be getting paid this year. My hosting will probably suspend for a couple of days as it is, as I am waiting on a transfer from my bank account to Paypal. Transfers take 6-8 business days for people who live in Canada, so it would make it in time before my hosting cycle ends. But it should only be a couple of days of suspension.
So, I am pretty sure that I will be getting a position at the store I am helping to open. I haven’t been offered anything yet, but my manager has been talking to me about it a lot and I get the feeling that she wants me to stay. And I may even be getting a higher-level position, which would be awesome. It would be the perfect job to get me through until I decide to go to college, so I am really hoping that things work out.
Right now I am drinking a tall glass of my mom’s homemade Iced Tea. It is the first batch she has made this summer and was such a nice treat after a long day at work. Yum! 
Never Count Your Chickens…
Posted by Ashleigh on 14 August 2008 at 10:13 PM in Design, Personal, Update, WorkSummer has really sucked thus far. I quit my job at the grocery store in early July for a variety of reasons, but it was mainly because I needed more shifts. I was only getting about 13 hours per week. I am hoping to move out on my own by the end of the year and I just can’t do it while only making minimum wage at 13 hours per week. So, I had started to look for another job and thought I had found one. A friend of mine works the night shift at Wal-Mart and she told me that they were needing some new employees on her shift. So I sent in a resume and got an interview. It turned out to be the best interview I have ever had. I was so comfortable. I normally get really nervous and completely shut-down, but this time it just felt right. I, more or less, had the job in the bag, all Wal-Mart had to do was check my references. So I went ahead and gave my notice at the grocery store. Big Mistake! My boss, who had been a real bitch up to this point, gave me a bad reference. I did everything but kill myself for this woman and she gives me a bad reference. 
That is a whole other story in itself, but needless to say, I didn’t get the job at Wal-Mart.
I was off work for about a week and a half, when I got a call from this new store opening in my town. They needed help in setting up the store and asked if I was interested. I told them I was, even though the work was only temporary but had the opportunity for a position come opening. So that is what I have been doing for the last two and half weeks, and I think that I may be staying on after opening. I have been getting along great with the manager and she is the one who decides who is staying. It is really tough work at the moment, but should get a bit easier if I stay on. Right now it is a lot of manual labor, major sweat-fest for me. Haha. But things are looking good for the immediate future.
Anyways, you may have noticed that I have revamped the site. I was absent for about six months, haven’t felt the desire to blog, but I’ve been needing an outlet to pound my frustrations out, and blogging has always been good for that, so here I am again… What do you think of the new look? I like it. It is a more simple design again, but I’ve really been drawn to that look lately.
I’ve been overhauling my fanlistings again. Giving them new designs and buttons. I’ve got four done at the moment and plan to get the other ones done within the next week, permitting that I am not to drained after work. I may have to do some cutting back on my other websites though, i.e. fansites. I hate to do it, but if I get the position I want at the store then I won’t have nearly the free time I am used to. Ah, the joys of growing up. 
Well, my alarm is set for 6:30am and that always comes way to early for me, so it seems my bed is calling.
I Once Cheated On A Test…
Posted by Ashleigh on 29 January 2008 at 09:46 PM in College, Memories, PersonalIt was during a 4th grade math test. I wrote some references on the palm of my hand. I have always been terrible at math. I get the basics and thankfully that is all I mainly need in my life and chosen career, but I could just never grasp any of the other concepts. Anyways, I had planned to cheat on the test with a couple of other girls in my class. I was the only one who got caught though. I guess I must have just been too obvious when peeking at my hand. My teacher came over and flipped my hand over and saw the references. She took my test away from me and I failed. It was extremely embarrassing because not only did I fail, but I also got caught doing it in front of my entire class. The humility I experienced that day has lived with me to this day. I never again even considered cheating on a test.
Two years later, during grade six, I tried forming a school newspaper staff. I had always loved the idea of a school newspaper run by the students. I, along with a friend of mine, talked to the principal about it, and when he agreed that it was a good idea, we began recruiting people to help out. The group was large in the beginning, about 15 people. But before the first issue was even out, the group had dwindled… to me and that original friend. The two of us worked hard to put together the first issue and we actually got it out. It even turned out to be quite successful. A lot of the students seemed to enjoy it, but for whatever reason, that was the only issue we ever put out.
It’s amazing the things you can remember from your early years in school. All of this college considering has really gotten me thinking about past school memories. So, I just thought I would share a couple here. Have you ever done anything in school that you have regretted? Or done something that has always made you smile, even to the present day?
So, I am still just getting the answering machine for the course coordinator I am trying to reach. There is an email listed on the college website for the coordinator that I think I’m going to try. My teacher at the adult alternative school I am attending to finish high school told me that most college course coordinators are notoriously hard to get a hold of. She apparently called four different coordinators regarding another student. She left messages with each, stating that she was a teacher. Only one has gotten back to her. And she’s a teacher! But alas, I will keep trying. This is something I want badly, so I am not giving up.
What’s Best For Me…
Posted by Ashleigh on 23 January 2008 at 09:46 PM in College, Family, High SchoolHave you ever had a fallout with an extended family member? If not, let me tell you, it isn’t fun. One of my aunts has pretty much royally screwed me on some school stuff and I am still really pissed about it. It all went down on Monday. I don’t even want to see her right now I am so mad about it. You think that your family are there to support you and be happy for you when you get something that you want, but occasionally they aren’t. And it really hurts 
when it happens. I don’t really want to go into full detail about it but I just needed to get it off my chest.
So, I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned before but I am a 22 year old high school student. I had a lot of emotional problems during the first two years of high school and got really far behind. And then I got lazy. But I slowly got back into it and I am only in need of about 8 more credits to graduate. But as of now, those eight credits are holding me back. They have nothing to do with my chosen career path and since I’m really a ‘need to have a passion to be interested’ kind of person, I’ve really been neglecting my school work again.
As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’ve been thinking about applying to college. I recently found out that the Web Design courses I am interested in taking don’t necessarily require a high school diploma (in Ontario we call it an OSSD). I may be able to apply as a mature student because I am over the age of 19. I have been talking about it with the head teacher at the adult alternative school I am attending to finish high school and she thinks it’s a really good idea for me. She said that she wouldn’t recommend it for everyone but for me she thinks it’s the best thing I could do to further my career. Because I’m already cemented in what I’d like to do. 
I’ve already started making calls to the coordinator of the course. But all I’ve been getting is an answering machine so far. Keeping my fingers crossed. I do want to finish high school eventually but I think I’ll go back to it when it really means something to me. Right now, I need to do what is best for my immediate future.
RIP Heath Ledger
Annual Sister’s Day
Posted by Ashleigh on 15 January 2008 at 11:03 PM in Family, Personal
Today was apparently Annual Sister’s Day. I looked it up on the internet and couldn’t actually find a concrete date for it but regardless it got me thinking about my own sister. She is two years younger than me and for most of our lives we haven’t gotten along the best. We used to fight like cats and dogs and for a long time our mom took her side for the simple fact that she was the younger sister. Now as my sister got older, she started to get into quite a bit of trouble. She got into heavy drinking and drugs at a pretty young age and I must admit, it really changed her. She had very violent mood swings. They were mainly just verbally abusive moods swings but occasionally they turned violent and we would end up in a physical fight.
When Vicki (my sister) was 19, she moved out of our home after a pretty bad screaming match between the two of us. I more or less told her to pack her bags. My mom was quite upset about it at first but things got a bit better afterward. We all realized that Vicki was better off on her own. She began a serious relationship a couple of years before she moved out and her boyfriend was a bit possesive. After she had moved in with him, he became extremely possessive. They were both doing cocaine excessively and things between her and I as well as her and my mother became very strained. She was threatening to move away continually and that really hurt my mom as we have always been a three part family ever since my parents divorced when my sister and I were very young.
In June of last year, Vicki finally broke up with her boyfriend and started to get herself clean. She has begun a new relationship with a really great guy who is very against drugs. She has been completely clean for six months now and is finally back to her old self. I really missed my sister and I am so glad to have her back.
So, if today is in fact Annual Sister’s Day, I want to say cheers to my baby sister.
