06-03-21 all my relations
This morning I woke up to a delightful teenager in the house. He roused himself and had several bowls of cereal before taking himself off to school. We had long conversations about work and payroll taxes as he was supposed to hear yesterday if he got the first job he has applied for. I was so thrilled to see him later in the day and hear the excitement in his voice as he said, ‘I got the job!’ He will be the newest dishwasher and busser at Soulfood restaurant and I am very happy for him. We had a good talk about the fact that the Province of BC raised the minimum wage just in time for him to begin his work life. It is now 15.20. I believe I was making 2.65 at my first server job. I suppose it’s all relative. The problem begins though when the long time staff only make slightly more than that as the minimum has made big jumps in the last few years, much more that the 1.5 COLA (cost of living allowance) or standard raise. I really am happy for him.
Early in the day my Hello Fresh arrived, complete with a soggy bottom. I brought it home to make sure everything got into the fridge right away. Although the ice packs were melting, The food all seemed okay. On the way back to the office I stopped at Arby’s and for the first time in as long as I can remember I went into a fast food restaurant. It was a special occasion as Rae-Anne is the new manager trainee and as it should be, she is starting on the cash and working her way through learning it all. She looks so cute in her blacks and it was fun that her manager, Ryan was there. He jumped into the photos and seems a great personality. After I waited for her to serve the customer in front of me, she introduced me to Ryan and then to her best friend Vanessa who walked in behind me. I love this kind of synchronicity. I couldn’t help but order an orange cream shake as Creamsicles are to die for. I also got onion rings but never found the time to eat them, so Will did later with dinner. He loved them.
I took a bunch of time today to set up some new investments with a client. I decided that whatever he pays me in any given month, I will invest in RRSPs. This feels like a good choice, I do want to retire some day!! As I do his books I will know it is going to my future. Eventually I think I will do the same with other files. We had a good laugh as I signed all the papers. It is a super trust position. He knows my finances and I have access to his corporate bank and credit card accounts… seems fair.
After work I booted up to the Guedes household to pick up Will as I had promised he could stay over. It is a professional day tomorrow for him so he could stay over (and stay up late). The first thing we did was go through a car wash and we had fun eating chips and feeling the glass. It was cool to look up through the sun roof.
We think there is a 4 way stop going in near his school and my house. This will be wonderful!!! He enjoyed the view of my bobble head and insisted on taking a picture
He played in the pool and we invited Emmy and Danika as I know they do not have AC and it is 33 again today. Emmy loves her cousins as much as they love her. They arrived in the usual Emmy flair, wearing the new bathing suit and cover up her Dad had given her. Danika and the kids played in the pool while I fussed at things in the yard. Will and I had gone to Home Depot to find a colour of spray paint to use on my lawn furniture and he was adamant that hot pink was all me. I think he was right. I did a pass by on a chair just to decide. I love it!
Will got to pick which of my three hello Fresh meals we would have and he picked Warm Shrimp Poke Bowl. When it was time to make dinner we discovered that the bag held the ingredients for something completely different, complete with beans, which are not my favourite. Will was disappointed. I filed a registry of all the things missing and then began making the Seared Greek-Style Shrimp instead. It was delicious but it was so late for poor Will. He scarfed it down, relishing the salad part which made me so happy. He then enjoyed the onion rings from earlier and helped me cover the pool and clean up the yard before heading off to bed and falling asleep right away.
It has been interesting to have the grandsons over as it feels more like the old days, when I would come to visit from afar and we would have deep conversations and everyone was overjoyed to see each other. They are such good boys. Gene really worked hard and never made me feel like it was an inconvenience to help me out, Will has this way of looking at me with such innocence and joy that my heart melts. Earlier I got to have incredible hugs with Lukas who is just so smart. He has the demons that go with that amazing brain and I hope he will reach out if he ever needs to debrief. Sawyer is the one who will never leave any love unsaid. His world revolves around connection. He is devastated if you leave without a hug at the door or the gate, even if he hasn’t talked to you the whole time you are there. I so look forward to watching them all become adults. It’s like getting a second chance, I was so busy trying to be a mom that I missed being able to see things from this step back. That is the true joy of being a grandparent, you get to see the things you did that worked transfer to the next generation with an extra dose of whatever they have picked up along the way.
triumphgal 