A welcome voice

When I came back to work two weeks ago my colleague, and partner in crime, of nine years was off - which was disappointing as I was excited to talk to her. But luckily I had so many other great women around me (Erin, Brigitte, & Amy) that the week flew by.

However on Monday I came into the office and I couldn't wait to hear from Joyce. So much so that I phoned her office and listened to her voicemail just to hear her voice! I called back later and got her in person and I was flooded with this overwhelming happiness, like connecting with a long lost loved one. One of the many things I learned in Grenada was how important our female friends are.

Before I left Grenada I consciously decided not to pursue any promotions at work.  As much as I love the thinking and planning that goes into being a manager or a team leader, it meant I always kept my colleagues at a bit of a distance. In my mind you need to do this when you could be (or are) the supervisor, be friendly but not friends.

Now without that baggage impeding the relationship, upon hearing Joyce's voice I could finally just be me; just be so grateful to have her back,  and just love her dearly without holding back. It was probably the happiest I have felt at work in a long, long time.

In Grenada I have so many amazing female friends and I know it is because we approached each other as equals, as partners (and sometimes editor) that I could just be me. And in return I always got to see the real them too. I also think it is why we became such fast friends is they could feel my honesty. When you are holding back parts of yourself people sense it and they too hold back. Although in Grenada people don't hold back too much!! We could learn a thing or two from them.

Most importantly my friends in Grenada have taught me a lot about letting go and giving yourself permission to be you. I hope I can honor all the women in my life (Grenadian, Canadian & American) by being a better person, a better friend and a better leader. 

When it rains in your home

Last Tuesday morning everyone was still sick so I opted to quietly leave for work. I was searching for my purse (story of my life) when I heard a drip, drip, drip. I thought weird and then looked around. I had somehow managed to miss the giant puddle in the front hall. Then I looked up and there was a bubble the size of a balloon on the ceiling.

Well that was a deal breaker, Brent needed to be woken, sniffly or not. Somehow everyone woke up and wanted to see. I believe the boys were the only ones who thought it was "cool", we thought "costly" and since the money is still in cyberspace it was an unwelcome surprise.

We have a contractor we have used since he graduated college about six years ago. He advised to pull down the ceiling to try to isolate where the problem is. These are the photos I got at work.

Wait are those feet up behind Aiden?

Yup that's Owen

Yikes

In a good news/ bad news story... It has not leaked since, which is good because in theory there isn't something to fix. Owen thinks it may be because he is having trouble adjusting to showers with curtains and since he is having about 3 baths and a couple of showers every day (we're hoping the novelty wears off soon) this may actually be the cause. But it is what it is, he has learned his lesson. The bad news is since we can't find what went wrong it may also mean we still have a problem. However in more good news, now that the ceiling is opened we can finally put a light in our hallway so in the winter I can actually see where my boots are! 

We are almost a week out and no more leaks. Today an electrician  installed the wiring for a light, hooray. Now we just have to wait one more week before we close up the ceiling and put in a light. Hopefully the money comes in from RBTT so we can pay our trades people!