Glass Doors and Windows of Hope

We are still plagued by a dry cough. Just can’t figure out the allergy situation. During my late night channel surfing sessions I saw an infomercial for an air purifier and I decided that was the solution to my problems. I also thought a mop was the panacea to my issues one time back in the day, and that didn’t work out so well for me or the mop, but that’s another story.

The ad said it costs $34.49 a month and didn’t specify how many months one had to keep paying for this machine. And if I ‘call now’ I could get a free vacuum cleaner and fridge purifier, a total value of $150. Now if they threw in an Olaf or free delivery from Vancouver’s top 20 restaurants, instead of the vacuum and fridge purifier, I would have been dialing that number so fast, phone dialing would qualify for the Olympics, and I’d win at least the Bronze.

We are also still waiting for P’s and Lanes’ PR cards. We were keen to go see my nutty relatives south of the border so after much nagging from my sister, we called the relevant authorities to see what the deal was. Mostly we did this to keep her quiet. I have no idea how much of that info I can blog about, so let’s just say we’d be lucky to go down for Christmas. The folks who were helping us on the phone were just so darn nice though. And I really mean that. Even though I felt frustrated by that news, I was inspired to be polite and wish them a nice day right back!!

Speaking of all this shiny happy stuff, P’s got himself a bevy of angels. Not the kind that wear metallic short shorts and sport feathered hair (he should be so lucky), but genuine, bona fide good people. We started out the week on a sour note because a recruiting agency wrote to him and told him they won’t consider him and neither would their clients because he has no Canadian work experience. He’s hitting glass doors before he can even reach the glass ceiling!! Yep, the atmosphere in the apartment was chipper after that e-mail.

That jet propelled P to try harder and sign up for some seminars. The first one he went to was held by three HR firms. He spoke to one of the ‘lecturers’ after the session and told her about his predicament. They are now on e-mail basis and she has referred him to a colleague who has given him some really helpful, and more importantly, encouraging advice. Meanwhile, this really nice couple we met here had passed on P’s resume to a coworker, who then sent P’s resume all over the place and put him in touch with another recruiter. 

And this just keeps getting better. My parents’ friend called up a friend of theirs and told him about P and he is having his assistant call P and see if he can at least find him some temp work in his company, to grab hold of that elusive brass wring, I mean ring, that is Canadian work experience.

We have no idea how things will pan out, or if any of these leads will prove fruitful, but at least we finally have some momentum going, and we are fueled by hope.  

In other news, Lanes saw her first real life snow. We went to Surrey to visit the nice couple I just mentioned. They have a son and a daughter a few years younger than me (but lots younger than P : ))I threw that comment in there to see if he is actually reading my blog. If he read it, he would rant about it. Here’s hoping.

We asked if we could pop in for a chat, and we were greeted with a lovely meal of string hoppers, which made P and Lanes really happy since the likelihood of me replicating a meal like that was slim to none. My culinary skills remain slightly limited, but what I do make, I make well. My wit and charm compensate for my dubious culinary capabilities: ) Ok, even I find it hard to stomach that comment, pun intended.

So back to the nice couple—Lanes had taken a real shinning to them from the first time she met them, so she was really well behaved and happy. She was also delighted because the Mrs. part of the couple runs a day care and she has a room full of toys. So between the company, the room and the food she was in a magical wonderland.

For a notoriously picky eater, she ate food there. As usual, she got so busy staring at everyone, she needed to be reminded to eat, to which she responded with a very enthusiastic ‘ok, I’ll do it!!’. Sure enough, actually getting down to keeping the promise was another story. She will make a great government employee one day! A great ‘can do’ attitude, but follow through? Hmm?

When we finally got up to leave, it was super windy and we got snowed in and had to spend the night. Those poor folks just could not see the back of us!! After having a jolly time, Lanes fell asleep (luckily I brought her PJs) and we all watched some TV and had a really good time. P and I felt really bad because it was noon the next day by the time we left, but at the same time we felt rejuvenated after hanging out in their warm home.

So this week ended on a positive note. P is buoyant after being amazed by the goodness of the people who have come into his life, and also the kindness of strangers. I continue to be really happy to be here, and Lanes, well she is just Lanes.

It’s amazing to see her going through all these new experiences. She was agog on the way home looking at snow capped mountains and buildings, trees, and landscapes that look like a giant sprinkled powdered sugar all over them while we were sleeping. Hearing her gasp in amazement makes my heart feel all warm and gooey like a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie.

While writing this blog, P has come up to me 25 times modeling various outfits for his interview/job fair, Lanes has tried to type on this blog and use my limbs as monkey bars, and my neighbor has come over and called me on the phone to complain about the quality of care our mutual neighbor’s dog is getting.

She has volunteered herself and yours truly (without my permission) to look after the dog in question!! P will blow a fuse when he finds out. There is a super juicy story brewing there for my next blog, so stay tuned….