2011 Goals (written January 2 2011)

2010 was definitely a great year for myself and family.  Now that it is 2011 I can reflect on all the goals that we have managed to accomplish and put forth some new ones.  Brian and I have set some very realistic goals for ourselves including both short and long term ones.  We don't put any actual  time limits on them but just set them as short term and long term.  I think setting goals is a healthy part of life but putting unrealistic time limits on them is sometimes silly and unproductive.  Brian obtained a permanent job this year and I (after 2 years of not working) also found a job!  Looking for a job was really hard for me as I had become quite comfortable with being a stay at home mom.  I had told Brian previously that I would not look for work until he found himself a permanent job.  After 5 weeks of being in Powell River I found myself with a job as a pharmacy technician that I abosolutely love!  Working in the pharmacy is so much fun and it is always entertaining.  Both of us finding jobs were short term goals that I am happy to say that we accomplished.  Another goal that we, well mostly Brian accomplished was paying off his car.  On the advice of my sister and Nathan, Brian started dumping extra money on his car loan on top of his monthly payments.  In February he managed to pay off his car and be debt free!  So on the topic of debts that brings me to some of my new goals.  Since I have been working I have started using my credit card again.  I have a balance that seems to never go away and has been hovering around the $600 mark for the last two months.  Now that Christmas is over I have no excuse so I hope to pay this off quickly and go back to using cash.  Still on the topic of money I have decided (also on the advice of my sister) that I should start putting more money into my student loan.  After my credit card is paid off I intend to put a little bit more money on my loan every payday ( I get paid weekly) and also open some type of savings account or RRSP.  Yes I know that I am 31 and I have not started buying RRSP's but this is the year that I plan to start.

My next goals for 2011 involve food and health.  I am so proud of myself for continuing to make our families meals and work at the same time.  It has been really difficult but I have managed to do it and will continue to do it.  I make dinners before I go to work each day but the trick is that I try and make meals that will last two days and I often use a slow cooker.  I know some people hate leftovers but I don't have the energy to cook a brand new meal everyday.  This year my goal is to cook more healthier and to cook with less meat.  We eat tons of vegetables and mostly chicken but I think that I can make my meals healthier.  Cooking meals without meat has been my biggest challenge.  It is hard for me to cook without using meat.  When I go shopping for dinner ideas I start in the meat section then I build my meal around that.  Also I am proud to say that we rarely eat anything outside of the home and we will also continue that trend, better for the wallet and better for our health.  I will continue my version of morning aerobics at our house and lifting my 10lb weights in hopes of shedding 5-20lbs.  We do not own a scale and I have not weighed myself for about 6 months so I have no clue how much weight I would like to lose but I am sure it is in that range probably closer to the 5lb mark.  Brian has just informed me that we will be buying a scale and doing weekly weigh-ins.      

Now that I have become a little bit comfortable in Powell River I would like to start doing some activities with Jorja and find some new ones for Brady.  Trying to work 5 days a week and fit in some activities won't be easy but I am determined to make it happen.  Brady will continue going to Youth Group but I would like to find something else for him to do.  

My last goals involve family and friends.  Brian and I have the most amazing families whom have been supportive, generous and awesome.  I hope that this year we get to spend more time with them even if we live in Powell River.  Our visits tend to be too short and too infrequent.  I also have the most amazing group of friends.  I rarely get to see them or talk to them but they continue to be my best friends.  My last goal for 2011 is to get-together with them for some much needed catch-up.

Customer Service (written July 11 2010)

Usually when I am out shopping I don’t care much to chit-chat with the workers. I am more interested in buying my goods and getting home. I would love to spend hours shopping but because of two good reasons I can’t, kids and lack of money. If I can’t find something I am looking for I rarely ask anyone for help. I guess I would rather leave a store dissatisfied than bother to ask anyone. I have decided that I am going to change this. I realize that as I spend Brian’s hard earned money that I shouldn’t leave any store unhappy and I should never be unhappy with my purchases. This weekend I got to experience some customer service and make those workers work for our money. We decided to buy a new camera. Our camera is still working but it gets “stuck” often. It has served us well and I have taken 1000’s of pictures with it. I don’t know much about cameras except for the price that we were able to afford. I looked in flyers and on-line all week long hoping to find some good deals. I knew that some stores will price-match their competitors prices but there were so many cameras advertised and the model numbers were not all listed. This was definitely going to be a much harder job than I thought. We started looking on Friday evening. London Drugs had a ton of cameras in their flyers so we decided to check them out. A guy greets us at the photo counter. Hmmmmm where do I recognize this guy? I guess being the DJ at the Voodoo Lounge means you have to have a day job too. He is so friendly and seems like he knows a ton about cameras. I am pretty impressed. Great customer service! We leave and decide to do some more research on cameras. I have not yet received one of my Friday’s papers and am eager to check out what some of the other stores are offering. Saturday morning we wake up early and head out and find a camera I like. I have done a bit of research and I have seen a camera that I really like. It is advertised on sale in Zeller’s flyer. At London Drugs the night before I saw that it was on sale for $40 more. We head out to Courtenay and stop at Zellers so that I can check out the model number for the camera. I ask the lady what colours they come in and she has no clue. As she fiddles around with the price scanner I realize that this lady is probably working in the wrong department. I dare not ask her any questions about the camera I am looking at; it is not worth my time and she is struggling to use the scanner to scan the price code. I tell her it’s okay and write down the model number before we leave. We arrive at Future Shop with the Zellers flyer in hand. I walk over to the photo section and notice a couple looking at cameras. The worker in the photo section is helping them pick out a camera. As I eavesdrop on their conversation I notice the lady has a London Drugs flyer in her hand. They are there to bargain with the worker and get a great deal too. The invite me into their conversation and soon we are all talking about the type of camera we are interested in. I tell them I just want something of a little better quality and a better zoom. The lady is interested in something that will take good pictures of her needle-point. I see the camera I am interested in and notice that the model number is a little different than the one in the Zellers flyer. I show the salesman the flyer and he comments that they do not carry that particular model. Darn! I thought I would be getting myself a good bargain. The other couple have decided on a model that they like and have bartered and gotten themselves a better deal. The salesman offers me the same deal on the camera that the other couple has selected. I am still pretty set on the Panasonic camera that I have chosen so I ask the salesman what the difference is between the FH20 model and the FH22 model. He tells me that the only difference is that the FH22 (the higher priced model at Future Shop) has a touch screen. I am not a fan of touch screen so the decision to buy the camera advertised in the Zellers flyer is now an easy one. I let the salesman ramble on a bit about different cameras only because I feel a little bad. He has been a great salesman and has given me so much excellent information that the lady at Zellers was not able to. I don’t know why I even bothered to look online at camera reviews; this guy was fantastic! We leave and decide to go back to the Driftwood Mall and check out the camera at London Drugs. We get to London Drugs and at the photo counter is the electronics/photo manager. Great! She should be great to talk to and she should be able to hook me up with a great deal. Was I ever wrong. After I showed the lady the camera in the flyer from Zellers she tried numerous times to sell me other cameras at much higher prices. She was not a very good listener. I asked her if they did price match and she said they could give me the camera at the same price. I told her that Future Shop would also beat the price by 10% on the same model. She told me that she could go lower by a few dollars. We decide that her customer service skills were lacking and we left quickly. We head off to Zellers and hope that they have the camera in stock. I ask the lady at the counter if any of the cameras are in stock. She struggles once again to use the scanner and then tells me that it shows 2 in stock but sometimes it is wrong. She then tells me that she will have to go to the back and check and that we will have to wait until someone comes up to watch the counter. This lady is definitely not a good salesperson. I almost feel guilty because the salesman at London Drugs the night before and the man from Future Shop were really good and gave me such great information. I feel bad that I could not give them a sale and instead this lady who is clueless is making a sale. Oh well, I am just glad that I got the camera I wanted for a good price.

Thursday September 2 2010; Our First Day in PR (Powell River not Prince Rupert)

So we, actually I wake up bright and early in the hotel.  Brian has to work at 8:30.  I walk over to the Safeway and grab some bananas, milk, and some muffins for breakfast.  Everyone quickly eats some food, showers and we all head over to our house.  The cats have spent the night alone in the house and they are still scared.  Pandora is hiding underneath a quilt and Akasha is hiding in the litter box.  Both cats have not touched their food or water or used the litter box.  It’s 8:00 and Brian and I both hope the movers arrive soon.  We hear the familiar beeping of the moving van and look outside the window.  Hooray, they have arrived with our stuff.  Brian quickly chit-chat’s with the movers and he’s off to work.  The movers are quick and start bringing in all of our furniture.  Most of the boxes have been labeled by the packers as to which room everything belongs.  They are really fast and only stop to ask where which way we would like our beds and dressers placed.  They make fast work putting together bed frames and stop for a quick break at 9:30ish.  Brian walks up the stairs and says that his big boss came to welcome him to his new job and let him leave the office to deal with the movers.  That was really nice!  The movers are almost done and are hoping to catch the noon ferry, whoops someone left the lights on in the moving van.  As they call BCAA to come and help them we make our way out to get some garbage bags and cleaning supplies.  Most of our items have been left in boxes except for our clothes.  They do provide an unpack service but they just place everything on the floor and do not put items away.  The only reason for the unpack is so that the boxes and packing paper can be taken away by the movers.  I don’t really care for them to unpack and I understand their wanting to catch the noon ferry, hopefully they were successful.  It’s almost noon so Brian decides there’s no point in going back to work since it’s almost lunchtime.  We get back to the house with cleaning supplies and garbage bags and get to work.  Brian’s boss shows up at the house and tells Brian that he put up a sign saying that Brian will return at 2:30; Brian’s boss is off to catch the ferry and head back to Victoria.  Wow, what a nice boss!  So Brian, Brady and I steadily unpack boxes.  Brady does an amazing job of putting his room together and is the first person to unpack all their items.  We are running out of storage space and still have not found those crib brackets that we need to put Jorja’s crib together.  Brady starts flattening boxes and Brian and Brady start to move our storage items into the shed outside.  I hope they will be okay.  The shed is brand new and has never been used but I am worried that Jorja’s baby items will get moldy.  We may have to move them into the crawl space when it get’s wetter and colder outside.  The new cordless phone I bought has now been charging for 8 hours.  I pick it up and there is no dial tone.  Uggghhhh.  I knew that my Telus experience was too good to be true.  I add some more minutes to my pay as you go cell phone and leave a message for Customer Service Representative Laurie.  My advice to anyone dealing with Telus.  If you ever get someone from customer service who speaks perfect English ask them for their voicemail number.  It will save you a ton of time and you will not have to listen to “Captain of Her Heart” or “White Flag” for the millionth time even if you like both songs like I once did.  Laurie calls me back and I tell her of the situation.  She informs me that everything should be running fine…….oh wait, it looks like there used to be 2 different lines in that house she tells me.  So she transfers me to some technician who schedules me an appointment for Monday.  Great no phone or internet for 4 more days.   

Your Bill Explained (Written September 13 2010)

Having never had a BC Hydro account I wasn’t sure about the process.  I knew that it was something that I had to have done before we moved to PR.  Brian assured me that I did not want to have cold showers.  He said you don’t really know what a cold shower feels like until you don’t have hydro.  I am guessing that at some point someone flicked the switch off for him.  I look up the number on the BC Hydro website.  For new service call this number.  I call the number and am put on hold as the automated voice messaging system rattles off some type of message about all customer service representatives are currently busy right now……………. I have heard this message way too many times.  So I wait and wait and oh great the phone is ringing.  Some guy answers the phone and I explain to him what I need.  He asks me “where I would like service“.  I tell him Powell  River.  He says, “I have to transfer you to Sechelt”  So the phone is ringing again and I get the voice mail of some lady named Edna.  The message doesn’t even say anything about hydro, just “you have reached the voice mail of Edna please leave your name and number and I’ll get back to you”.  So I leave a message, it’s 10:00am.  By 3:00pm I have not received a call back from Edna.  It’s a Monday, maybe they don’t work Monday’s in Sechelt.  I call BC Hydro again and tell them my situation.  I ask if there is anyone else I can talk to.  The man tells me yes, there’s Edna and there’s Scott.  I tell him that Edna has not returned my message (and she never ever did) so can you transfer me to Scott.  The phone rings and a polite lady answers the phone.  After telling her my address and information she asks me if I will have an electrican on site.  What?  Electrician on site?  We’re only renting what do I need an electrican for?  So after a few giggles on both ends I realize that “new service” really means “new service”.  What I need she tells me is to open up an account with BC Hydro.  I feel kind of stupid but am glad that I didn’t wait around all day for Edna to call me back.  I am transferred to the accounts extension and give all my information to the lady.  She tells me that since I am a new hydro customer that I will need to put down a $250 deposit or have a credit check done.  I could also have a payee verify that I have paid a bill consecutively for 12 months but I am in quite a hurry so I decide to have the credit check done.  I am actually quite a bit nervous to have my credit check. She asks me for my address and puts me on hold.  Not too sure what type of credit check this is; don’t they usually need your SIN to do a credit check?  After a few minutes she gets back to me and tells me that she can waive the $250 deposit.  Phew!  I am told that we have missed the last meter reading and that the next meter reading will be around the 5th of November.  The lady also informs me that there is a one time fee of around $13 that will appear on the bill.  As much as bills suck, I can’t help but feel so grown-up and responsible having bills in my name.10 days go by and I receive mail from BC Hydro.  It’s a bill.  Odd, I thought the lady said we wouldn’t receive a bill until November.  I look at the bill and see that it is for service for September 2nd to September 2nd.  I see the $13.89 for the first time service fee and another total for energy consumption.  Apparently we used quite a bit of electricity in one day.  About $31 worth!!!!!!  Holy crap!  I do some quick math in my head and I come out to a total of around $900/month.  Holy shit!  Something has got to be wrong.  I look at the bill, show it to Brian but neither of us know how to read this bill.  What’s this step 1 and step 2 thing?  So I decide to go to the BC Hydro website where there is a page that is entitled “Your Bill Explained”.  It doesn’t help me so I call their customer service number.  The lady brings up my bill and she tries to explain it to me.  I still don’t get it.  I ask her if this bill seems quite high for one day.  She realizes that the meter was read from July (the last time there were tenants in the house) until September.  Phew!  I am feeling much better now and she assures me that she will send it back to billing and I will receive a new correct bill in the mail.    

The Laundry (written July 15 2010)

Most people have love hate relationships that involve people or family members. Mine is with the laundry. I love doing laundry. I love the act of sorting out clothes and turning the dials on the washing machine. I love the smell of liquid laundry detergent and I love the feeling of fluffy warm towels fresh out of the dryer. I feel some sort of satisfaction when I can see the bottom of the laundry hamper, although this does not happen often. I do not however enjoy the act of putting laundry away. Having a spare room with a large bed next to the laundry room does not help my cause. After each load of laundry is done I dump each pile onto the bed while I tell myself I’ll come back in a minute to fold and put them away. Well that minute always seems to turn into hours and sadly days. Being a mom means that are many distractions in one day. Folding laundry is never as important as feeding a child or changing a poopy diaper. As I look at the mountain of laundry that never seems to end (both in the hamper and on the bed) I ponder what I should tackle. I always choose the towels first. As a former housekeeper for 9 years I take great pride in folding towels so neat and perfect. I do not however possess the skills to create beautiful swans or nicely shaped hearts. After the towels have been folded I usually holler at Brady to come and put the towels away in the linen closet upstairs. I do not have the energy to make several trips up and down the stairs. Next I usually start sorting out the clothes. I make 5 piles. Brady’s, mine and Jorja’s, my parents, and Brian’s. As I look at Brian’s pile of laundry I don’t know whether I should be worried about the enormous amount of t-shirts he owns or if I should be concerned that my pile is lacking in volume. I definitely wish that I could buy $5 t-shirts at sample sales. After those clothes have been dealt with it is down to the most awful part of the laundry……..folding socks. I don’t know where the socks go and how they always seem to lose their partner. This morning Brian asked me if there were any white socks. If I had the energy at 6:30am I would of looked for him but instead I shook my head. I wonder what color socks he decided to wear to the gym today. I secretly hope he had to wear black dress socks with his runners then maybe he would understand how much the sock problem pisses me off. The sock problem is so bad that I have a large grocery bag full of mismatched socks. I dare not throw them out. I firmly believe that I will find the pairs eventually. Now that it is summer the majority of our clothes get hung outside to dry. It is kind of fun hanging out clothes and I love the smell of liquid softener. Those liquid softeners claim that they will make your clothes all nice and soft like the bear on the front of the bottle but I am still searching for the right brand that will not leave my towels all crunchy. Maybe in my search for the ultimate liquid softener I will also find the right detergent or stain remover that will remove Jorja type stains. I don’t think Jorja owns a single article of clothing without stains. I really don’t have the time to go through all of Jorja’s clothing and pre-treat the stains. I barely have enough time to hand-wash all of my bras! So as I write this note I realize I could probably go on forever about the laundry. I love to hate it and I would hate if I couldn't do it.

For My Birthday I'd Like a Time Machine (written January 31 2011)

Since turning 30 I have started to feel the aging process.  It was on the day I turned 30 that I found my first white hair!  I have since found about a dozen of them.  I am really nervous about the fact that one day I will have to start dying my hair.  I have not dyed my hair since grade12.  I wonder what color I should pick?  It will definitely not be that shade of orange that one inhabited my hair.  Over the past month several events have happened which have contributed to me feeling "old".  Brady turned 14 on friday!  WTF?  Where did the time go?  I still can't believe that I am the parent of a 14 year old.  Sometimes I wish he could age as slow as his matureness is developing.  Being 10 years old forever can't be too bad.  Recently I have moved up a line in the Oil of Olay products.  I don't feel like I am getting the benefits of younger skin that my current line of products advertises.  Who knows if these products actually work.  I have been using Oil of Olay since I was 12 years old.  I'm pretty sure it is the benefit of having a sunscreen based product on my face since 12 that has contributed to my lack of wrinkles......oh and genetics too.  On our last trip home during the holidays I left my face wash behind.  I really didn't feel like spending a lot of money on the face wash I usually use so I decided to use a cheaper brand (plus my face had broken out a little bit so I wanted something to clear up the blemishes).  Biggest mistake ever!  This face wash felt like it burnt my skin and for the next week my skin felt scaly and was so dry it started peeling.  I was definitely not giving this face wash a second chance so into the garbage it went.  I am back to my Oil of Olay face wash and have moved up a line to the Total Effects line cleansers and moisturizers.  Looking at all the creams and medications in the pharmacy I often wonder if maybe I  could whip up some great face cream.  I longingly look at the bottles of drugs and hope to one day see some type of miracle drug that will reverse the aging process but I have not found any.  However there are 3 boxes of Botox in the freezer and tons of needles.  A young boy (he was probably 12) came into the pharmacy one night asking if we sold any blank tapes.  The pharmacist and I looked at each other and shook our heads.  We thought about it for a moment and came up with The Source or Walmart.  The boy said he had already looked there.  I said that I don't think they make them anymore.  He walked away and commented something about being back in the 70's.  How old did this boy think I was?  It was Brady's birthday weekend so we bought a ton of junk food, and ordered pizzas.  Brian, Jorja and I watched a movie called Alpha and Omega.  We commented on how they could make a video game based on this movie, like the video game the Lion King.  I clearly thought that I owned this video game for the Game Cube.  Brian pointed out that it was not for the Game Cube but the Sega Genesis!  Holy crap the Sega Genesis, that is so old!  Eating all that food this weekend was not a very good idea.  My kidneys were so sore when I woke up and I was so dehydrated.  What happened to the days when I could eat like crap everyday and wake up feeling fine.  Since I had the entire weekend off we decided to rent a bunch of movies this weekend.  Jorja doesn't go to bed until after 10 so we didn't get to watch the good movies until after she was asleep.  Staying up past midnight is not so easy anymore.  Recently I saw a link on someone's Facebook page.  It was an ad off Craigslist  for a companion to share a working time machine.  I wish I could post the link here but it has since been removed.  I wish I could have a time machine.  I would love just to go back every now and then and relive some of my past.  I would definitely indulge in a nap or two.  There would of course be a few trips back to the days in the Tempo.  A night at Wileys and Animals.  A day when Brady was a baby and a day when Jorja was a baby.  I wouldn't go back to change anything but just to experience some of the best moments in my life again. 

Day 7 (Jorja's 4th Birthday)

Friday arrived and it was a very special day.  Jorja's 4th birthday!  When we learned the dates of Daphne's wedding  we realized that Jorja's birthday would be spent in Mexico and we weren't really sure how we would spend it.  Brian and I realized that Jorja's birthday didn't really require any special preparations because our family would be there and that's all that would be needed for a special birthday.  Jorja doesn't ask for many things (yet) and is very happy with anything she receives.  I think Brian and I have done a good job of teaching Jorja about being happy with the simple things in life.  This year we only bought Jorja some bracelets and a board game and she loved them!  She is going to be an amazing little girl as she grows up!  We sang "Happy Birthday" to Jorja when we got up and quickly got showered and ready to enjoy our day.  Time seemed to slow down so much for Brian and I while we were in Mexico.  I guess when you don't spend your days having to work, clean house, cook, do laundry, do groceries, do homework and take kids to activities but instead eat, drink, and relax all day, time does really stand still!  Outside of our door we could hear someone singing "Happy Birthday".  We opened the door and there was my mom, dad and Brady waiting to see Jorja and go for breakfast.  I think Jorja smiled all day long because everywhere we went people kept saying Happy Birthday to her.  We went down for breakfast and sat down and ate our usual choices.  Me: toast, coffee, fruit, and bacon.  Brian: bagels, cheese, eggs, bacon.  Jorja: fruit and milk.  Brady: everything x 3.  Today was the day of the Indian Wedding; 180 guests!  We noticed that they cleared off half of the pool loungers to set up for reception.  We finished breakfast and tried to find a spot by the pool.  My parents, my Uncle Martin and Aunt Marie were going to my Uncle Ronnie's and Aunt Cissy's timeshare for the day and said they would be back in the afternoon for Jorja's birthday.  Poolside seemed much more crowded today and there was definitely a shortage of places to sit.  Jorja and Brian got into the pool right away.  The water seemed freezing today and it took me awhile to get myself to get into the water.  We stayed in the pool for a little while then Brian and I decided that we would go into town for the day.  6 days of being in the pool just got a little bit boring at this point.  Brady decided to stay with the friends that he has met.  I was a little bit unsure of him staying alone but I figure he will be okay.....he is 15.  Brady has spent the last few days playing pool, and volleyball in the pool with a few other "kids", Zack, Zack and Justin, aka Jesus.  We decide to skip the city bus and instead take a taxi into town.  We ask the man at the front gate for a taxi and he signals one of the drivers.  We get in and let the driver know we want to go into town.  We've done this drive a few times now but the scenery is still really nice to look at.  Brian asks Jorja if this is better than the city bus and she says yes.  I agree, much better.  Whoops, spoke too soon.  At some point the van takes a turn and heads OFF ROAD and under a bridge.  The van proceeds to drive under the bridge and along the sand.  The driver says that he is taking a short cut to avoid the construction that is going on.  A little bit strange since we are the only vehicle taking this detour.  We finally pop out behind some hotel and are in town.  The driver drops us off at the mall and we laugh about our taxi ride to get to town.  We walk into the mall and I proceed to look around for some gifts for Jorja.  Brian and Jorja are wandering around as I buy a few bracelets for her.  We decide to enter the "luxury" side of the mall.  The first time we came here we never explored the whole mall so I decided that this time I would at least take a look at all the stores.  On the luxury side of the mall there was a Fendi store, Coach, Rolex shop and a bunch of really expensive stores that I am not familiar with.  Definitely luxury shops and definitely out of my price range by a lot.  Even the prices in the mall were not very cheap and were pretty much on par to the stores in Canada.  We left the mall with our purchases and made our way to the marina.  Once again we were bombarded by people trying to sell us glass bottom boat rides to the arch.  At least this time we could say that we had already been there and we weren't interested.  Jorja's whale whistle had broken the night before so we were in search of a replacement.  It was getting close to lunch time so we decided to stop and have something to eat.  We ordered some chicken tacos and watched some really drunk American tourists  having fun with some a mariachi band.  The men playing guitars made their way to our table so we asked them if they would play "Happy Birthday" for Jorja.  Jorja was really shy and was not really fond of these men singing to her.  It was really cute and I wish I had taken a photo.  After eating our food we moved on and kept walking along the marina.  Brian was still contemplating swimming with the dolphins but being that is would be so expensive I convinced him that Jorja might not be ready for it and she might get scared.  I think if she was a few years older she would of been able to appreciate it more.  Hopefully we will get to go back one day so we can swim with the dolphins.  We finished our walk around the marina and decided to catch a taxi back to our hotel.  We got back to the hotel and I decided to try and make reservations at the Oriental restaurant for Jorja's birthday.  I was too late for reservations so I decided to go to the restaurant where the dinner buffet would be served and reserve a table for our family and let them know that it was Jorja's birthday tonight.  They had me spell out Jorja's name and said they would have a cake for her at dinner.  We got changed and headed back to the pool.  I have to admit that sitting poolside so many days in a row was getting a little bit boring for me.  Jorja on the other hand could stay in the pool all day!  Good thing for Brian that the swim up bar never ran out of liquor.  We had heard a rumor that there were baby turtles down the beach in front of the Hilton hotel that was next door.  We decided to get out of the pool and go and take a look.  There was an enclosed pen on the beach and just before we reached it a man on a quad shows up and walks inside the pen.  He proceeded to dig in the sand in these marked areas and started digging up baby turtles!  It was so exciting to watch!  Another girl arrived and a another worked and they kept digging for turtles.  It was such an amazing sight!  We watched for about 30 minutes while they dug up around 100 baby turtles.  Some of the turtles were just coming out of their shells.  Each marked area was tagged with various symbols indicating where the eggs were originally laid and the estimated date of hatching.  We were just very lucky to come down on the right day.  Other people arrived to watch and after we felt like we had watched enough we headed back up to the hotel to get ready for dinner.  My Auntie Marie had already given Jorja her birthday present.  Jorja opened it up in our room and found that my Aunt has bought her a cute princess outfit and a beautiful tiara.  It is decided that she will wear this when we go down for dinner.  We head down promptly for dinner at 6.  We meet the rest of our family and sit down for dinner.  Tonight's theme is Italian.  We load up our plates with pizza, pastas and bread.  A cat joins us for dinner as well.  We feed it some pizza which it absolutely loved!  Jorja is definitely the centre of attention.  Everyone comes around wishing Jorja "Happy Birthday" and as bashful as she is I know that she really enjoyed it.  We finish dinner up and finally the cake comes out.  Jorja's name is spelled wrong on the cake.  I made sure that I spelled her name out in capital letters so they wouldn't get it wrong but I should of known better.  For all those parents (including myself) who decide to give their children either uncommon names or spell their childrens names in an uncommon way, don't get angry when no one can pronounce or spell your child's name.  I feel so bad for teachers.  Parents are coming up with so many new and interesting/weird names.  So the name on the cake is Gorjja but Jorja didn't notice at all and it was a very delicious cake.  We still had to leave them a nice tip for their efforts.  Each night at the hotel there has been a different game or themed show in the theater.  We have yet to participate in any so we decide that tonight we will hit up the Latin Show.  There aren't many people in the theater when we arrive so we take a seat in the first row.  The show starts and they are asking for children to come up and participate.  We decide to send Jorja up to be a part of the show/game.  The 3 kids start off by learning a dance and then playing a silly game.  I don't think Jorja really understood what to do (the songs were in Spanish).  It was really fun to watch and at the end she won herself a t-shirt!  The real show starts which featured a group of young male and female dancers with incredible bodies.  Pretty sure they just made everyone feel more self-conscious of their own bodies.  The show was good but being that it was way past our bedtime (10 pm) we were pretty tired.  What an amazing day for our birthday girl!