Category: Belly of the beast
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Time Flies
I have no idea where the time has gone. It doesn’t seem real that the last post I published here was back in February. As usual, work continues to keep me busy; however, it hasn’t been overwhelmingly so. I’m tired, but the tired associated with working hard and maximum effort as opposed to the soul-crushing…
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Paying off…
Here’s to being another year older and wiser. The birthday celebration was quiet this year. I ended up working out of my Stettler office for the day then met Lynn and a friend for supper at a Stettler restaurant. Lynn did give me a nice birthday present though, a new briefcase for work which I…
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Whirlwind…
The last couple of weeks have been … intense. Just about two weeks ago, we said goodbye to our precious Willow. We ultimately ended up having the vet come out on the Monday as we detected another problem with her and we just didn’t want her suffering any more. I’m not going to lie; I…
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It’s hard to say goodbye…
Suffice it to say, 2023 is already starting off on the wrong foot. While I have some positive stuff going on as far as work goes, which I can’t speak about quite yet, on the home front things have been rough. I found out that Noreen, my biological dad’s wife, passed away on Dec. 31.…
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Looking at the year ahead with hope…
‘Twas the night before Christmas…. How can another year be nearly over? I can say with all honesty that 2022 has flown by. The last year has been one hell of a ride; it’s been full of challenge, growth and endurance. I sailed past the two year anniversary of my last hospital admission with barely…
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That is another course done! I got my results back from my final assignment last night, and with them comes the end of my current course as this course does not have a final exam. While I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, on the final assignments, my overall mark for the…
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Good news, bad news…
Where to even begin. I’ve kept busy over the last few weeks, though I did manage some much needed downtime during the latter part of October. I spent a couple days working through workshops hosted by Adobe Systems, which showcased improvements and changes to the software I use all the time with my photography. A…
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Getting a curve ball…
To say that October has not gone according to plan is … something of an understatement. I reached out to Dr. M at the centre to find out when I was on the radar to be seen as the fall is when we usually check in. The news I received ground me to halt. P,…
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Catching up
It’s been a minute since I’ve had a chance to collect my thoughts and write. Between spending over a week in Saskatchewan at Lynn’s mom’s place and work being short-staffed, life has kept me hopping. Fortunately, I’m 90 per cent caught up from my time away and the staffing issues are in the process of…
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Tweaking things…
It is unbelievably the middle of July already. This year has been flying by. Between work, school and cramming in some time for Lynn my schedule has been pretty busy. Still, despite the craziness I have been pushing myself to make some changes. I’ve been out wildlife shooting a bit in May and June, just…
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Productive downtime
My time on the bench is coming to an end. I worked Monday and Thursday as full days this week, and Tuesday and today are half days. Due to a rodeo kicking off tonight in Stettler, I’m also working this weekend. I’m okay with it though, I love covering rodeo! I’ve been out shooting in…
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Time off…
Well, I’ve been benched for a few days. My publisher is having me take a few days off to burn off some overtime I’ve accumulated. As frustrating as it is, as I have things to do, I definitely appreciate it. I don’t think I realized quite how fatigued I was. I’m off for three days…
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A Break from Routine
Well, Calgary Comic Expo is done for another year. The fact that I was able to handle three days of crowds tells me how far I have come in m mental health recovery. I did have a four day pass, however due to the crowds on Saturday, and how badly overwhelmed and over stimulated I…
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Another course down…
So, a lot has happened in the three weeks since my last post. Work has been continuing to push me and challenge me in positive ways, and with the health restrictions across the province I’ve been given the opportunity to cover more and more events. At the end of March, I completed the English course…
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Checking in…
I’m entering my third week as a full time journalist, and I am feeling great. The last two weeks have been great, though busy. Hell, last week was insane, but I’m not complaining. I’m just grateful that I managed to get some downtime yesterday. Aside from doing some social media posting for work, yesterday was…
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Over sharpening a blade…
My first week officially working full time is drawing to a close. Truth be told, there hasn’t been much change from previous weeks aside from the security that it is full time, and in fact my workload has decreased a bit with no longer having as many regional stories on my plate. Still, that hasn’t…
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Finding routines…
I think something that has been helping my mental health so much lately has been a matter of routine. Getting up and going to bed at around the same time every day has really helped with that. Usually, my first alarm goes off at 0640-hrs, with me normally out of bed a little out of…
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Changes afoot…
It’s official, sports fans. My permanent part-time position is transitioning to a permanent full-time position effective next Monday, with my new position as the new multi-media journalist for Stettler and Castor. The only real changes between what I am doing now and the position is that the new position will be more focused on Castor…
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Finding positive stress…
It’s hard to describe, but this week has been equally frustratingly busy and agonizingly slow. This was was my first week doing layout for both papers, which was definitely some added challenge. Still, being so early in the new year, combined with cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 blowing up across the province, it…
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Feeling Driven…
Today was a sharp contrast compared to the day off I took yesterday. Unfortunately, we said goodbye to Lynn’s mom early this morning. With cold and snowy weather moving into the region again starting tomorrow, she decided to take off a couple days earlier than planned. After she left, I fired up the Playstation for…
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Learning, Quickly…
It is that time of year again where time seems to have little meaning; that twilight zone between Christmas and New Year’s where the days just seem to bleed together. While Lynn is taking some much needed time off -she closed the store from Dec. 24 until just after the new year- I have fallen…
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Another Christmas done…
Another Christmas is done with. I actually turned my alarms off and let myself wake up when I woke up, which was just after 9 a.m., definitely late for me. It was nice being able to not have to worry about getting up. When I did eventually get moving, I grabbed some coffee and caught…