Samichlaus Party

Hello all

Here I am once again.  Today a week ago, we had our 6th annual Samichlaus Party at my apartment.  Mom and Dad, Jeff, Ursi, Maya and Katie all came to my apartment once again for soup, peanuts, oranges, chocolate, hot chocolate and many more goodies.  Mom did a really great job at getting all the bags together for everyone.    Maya and Katie had fun playing on my bed and looking at my electric fish aquarium and deciding which fish is Nemo.  It's basically pictures of an underwater world turning around in a circle on wheels.  Maya and Katie wanted to know what everything was in my apartment, like my big stuffed animal snake and play with it.  Unfortunately my neighbour Bruce couldn't come at last day's notice, but I still gave him the Samichlaus bag that mom made for him and he really enjoys it.  I was going to post some pictures but unfortunately as I was fumbeling around with my camera I hit the wrong button to format the camera which meant I lost all my pictures.  I accidentally deleted all of them.  Fortunately the memories will still be there and loosing the pictures is not the end of the world.

Last Sunday during the day, I also played with the Swiss Farmer Band at our last event of the year at the Kitchener Christkindle Market which is a Market that went on for four days.  We just had to play for an hour Sunday afternoon.  Now we have our winter break till end of March.

Monday I had my Christmas Dinner at Christian Horizons where I work, and Tuesday a Christmas Party from the organization where I get home support from.

Last Sunday at my apartment, mom said that she has a Christmas present I can already open that day.  I had absolutely no clue what it was.  Last year Rob (a young man in his twenties who lives in this apartment building as well), gave me a little Christmas Tree which looked so nice, except the lights didn't work on it.  Mom and dad tried to fix the lights for me without success last year.  Now this year  mom put a whole new strand of lights in rather than just the bulbs, and some new decorations (if I remember correctly).  And now I have my very own special Christmas tree just the right size for my apartment.  It looks so beautiful.  Thank you mom!!!  I have it on as a night light every night now.

I don't know when I'll be writing next, but I hope it will be soon.  Till then take care, and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Markus

What I do at Christian Horizons

Tasks at the West District Office

Christian Horizons

Markus Eigenheer

March 2011

Position: Administration Support

Past Tasks:

Ø      Submit my own paid hours until a new way of submitting hours started.

Ø      Edit contact information into No-Letters for people who didn’t get their job

Ø      Enter Serious Occurrences Summaries

Ø      Enter Behaviour Colour plot for individual for Behavioural Therapist

Ø      Help create small pictures of movies for an individual – Help – Behaviour Therapist

Ø      Burn individual case files on CD’s from previous Behaviour Therapist

Ø      Type up miscellaneous documents and memos

Ø      Do Laminating

Ø      Change the Server Room Computer Back-up tape every day I’m here

Ø      Giving Direction to the Bathroom

Current Tasks:

Ø      Everyday first thing bring mail over to Corporate Office and pick up mail

Ø      Answer and Transfer incoming phone calls

Ø      Greet and direct people

Ø      Enter resume contact information into Applicant database

Ø      Read and submit O/I’s (Occurrences/Incidents) Summaries via the internet

Ø      Submit my own volunteer hours over the internet
Ø            Enter other volunteer’s hours every month into a spread sheet that I designed

Ø      Record my own paid and volunteer hours in an Excel spreadsheet

Ø      Create reference forms packages – letter, 2 employment forms, 1 pastoral form

Ø      Create Interview packages – 2 sets of interview questions, 1 written scenario

Ø      Help with mass mailings

Ø      Label file folders for Corporate Office once a year

Ø      Help labeling file folders

Ø      Help filing Serious Occurrences

Ø      Photocopy miscellaneous documents

Ø      Check my Christian Horizons e-mail account

Ø      Clean up Work room

Ø      Sweep Kitchen and Workroom

Ø      Giving Direction to the Bathroom

Ø      Cleaning Coffee machine and Coffee pot at the end of each day I’m here

Include a few sentences of things you enjoy doing in the office and also include a few things you have difficulty doing or would prefer not to do.

I enjoy entering contact information into the Applicant Database and submitting O/I’s via the Internet and doing any computer related tasks basically.

What I enjoy less doing is mass photocopying and putting photocopied packages together it becomes too overwhelming.  I also don’t enjoy when I have no work for hours at a time.

Write a paragraph or two about yourself to introduce yourself (example – your likes and dislikes, your personality, what you like about working at Christian Horizons, and anything else you might think is important).

Hi, my name is Markus Eigenheer but I go by Marc.  I enjoy working here at the West District of Christian Horizons because of the Christian atmosphere and how I’m cared for and appreciated.  I feel that I could go to anyone here about anything in case of emergency.  I enjoy being at the front desk computer and answering phone calls and greeting people and labeling things.

I work best when I have guidance in certain things and someone to go to for support when I don’t know what to do.  I also work best when there is a routine that is familiar to me.  I love typing up documents and doing data entry!  On a typical day, first thing I do is carry mail across King Street too the Head Office (Corporate Office), and bring back any mail they have for us the West District Office.  From there I check my e-mails, and record how many hours I work that day in an Excel Spread Sheet.  After that I check if there are any O/I’s to submit, and how many resumes (contact information) there is to enter into the Applicant Database.  Depending on whether there are more O/I’s or more resumes, I do one or the other first.  With the O/I’s if they are no sufficient, I submit them into the follow up folder.  After that’s done I ask the Office Administrator and other people what other tasks there are for me to do.  At the end of the day, I wash out the coffee machine and coffee pot before I leave.

I live here in Kitchener on my own in a junior bachelor apartment and take the bus to and from work.  I work 3 days a week in the afternoon, one of which I get paid for and that day is Tuesday (Monday and Thursday are volunteer hours and are more flexible for when I come and go).  Monday and Thursday I usually work from between 1:00 pm – 2 pm and leave at 4:45 pm.  On Tuesday I work from 12:45 pm – 4:45 pm.  On Wednesday I volunteer for my Brother-in-Law, and on Friday I volunteer folding towels at the YMCA here in Kitchener, so I’m busy Monday – Friday.

I often struggle with feeling lonely, anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  I also struggle to take the courage to connect with others and new people.  I often isolate myself.  My hobby is watching TV Shows on DVD which I have my own library full.  Another area I struggle with is having the willingness and courage to cook for myself but my support from social workers in that area comes from Waterloo Regional Homes for Mental Health.

Last Updated: August 2009

Bits and Pieces

Hi All

As you know from a previeous blog I'm into watching TV Shows on DVD.
The latest show I'm ino is called 24.  I'm sure most of you know it.
I've always been told how good a show it is but never had or took a chance to watch it.
What I didn't know is how adictive watching it is.  I usually watch 3 to 4 episodes a night, but there are only 24 episodes and the season is over.

Also, spring is slowly on its way and I'm glad we had daylight saving time change so it stays light out longer in the evening.  The snow is defeniately slowly disapearing and so is the snow man below slowly melting away.  I found him on my bus stop on my way to work by my house.

Questions

Hello all
I am once again at work and have some time to write.
Often I ask myself some reality check questions that are not easy to answer or have an answer to.
Sometimes late at night in the middle of the night laying in bed before going to sleep I ask my self a lot of questions:

If Jesus came back tonight, what would I have to show for myself?  Would I have done my job here on earth?  How would Jesus judge me, how I have used or not used what he's given me?  Would I be one of the 3 servants who multiplied their master's money or am I one who burry's what I've been given in the ground till the master returns?  Am I one of the 5 wise bride maids who had extra oil when the groom came at midnight or am I one of the 5 foolish ones who didn't bring extra oil?

If Jesus doesn't come back tonight, what is my job?

How much of what I'm doing does really have an eternal impact and how often am I just wasting time?

In Matthew Jesus talked about many who will come and call him Lord and even say we've prophesied in your name we've done miracles in your name, but Jesus will say to them (even though they called him Lord):  "I never knew you, what you did was unauthorized, get away from me."  So how do I know I really don't belong to one of them?

Jesus also talked about the Narrow and the Wide gate and only a few ever find the narrow gate to ever lasting life.  How Often do I walk on the Wide road and take the easy way?

I don't expect you guys to answer these questions for me I just thought I'd let you know what I'm thinking about a lot.

Boring Work Afternoon

Hello all

Here I sit in front of my work computer, except I don't have any work for the next 75 minutes.
So I thought this be a good time to touch base with you all.
I just copied the pictures from my last 3 weeks from my camera to my jump drive.
Mostly, if not all the time, I take pictures when I'm a Ursi & Jeff's at the Liebenzell Mission Centre once a week volunteering.  Taking pictures of the happenings there is an ongoing job Jeff gave me.

Here at home in Kitchener I just take life day by day.  Some days I feel better than others, some days I struggle more with Obsessive-Compulsive thoughts than others. 

I also feel a bit stressed because the church I go to is changing location.  We just bought a new building that will be more on the edge of town and not as easy to get to with the bus for me, but not impossible.  It's just change and I don't like change.  Also there will be some months of renovations ahead in the new building so, I really don't know what going to church will be like (fear of the unknown), but I still want to stick with it.

What has become a hobby of mine was that I put a considerable amount of money into buying TV shows on DVD.  Most of them are Criminal investigation shows like Criminal Minds, CSI-NY, CSI Miami, Flashpoint, but I also bout some shows like ER and MacGyver  and from years back I have on DVD Texas Ranger Walker and Night Rider (the old searies), and Touched by an Angle.  So lately I watch DVD's and not TV of my Bunny Ear Antenna where I only get one channel anyways (CTV).  Plus I enjoyed watching some TV shows online in English and German.

The following are some pictures of me and the 2 volunteers (Andy & Marcel) at the Liebenzell Mission cutting down dead trees in the forest to make it look nice and clean.  We make piles with the cut up trees for rabbits and squirrels to hide.  I also added some extra pictures that I like.

Restacking and heating up the oven in the main hall:

Going out into the Forest to do some work:

I just couldn't resist putting this picture of Maya in here.
She's doing such a good job riding the horse or ponny (I think it is).

Shasher's Life: News Flash... Life is Hard but Don't Give Up!

Shasher's Life: News Flash... Life is Hard but Don't Give Up!

Family Memories

Over the last week I went through all the pictures I had in digital form on my computer since 2001 and there where a lot of them.  Here are a few special ones that I'd like to share here.  The highlights of the last 10 years so to speak.  Enjoy.

The first few pictures are Christmas time.  Don't remember of hand which year.

In the next two pictures I want to clarify for those who don't know,  Jeff wasn't drinking alcohol.  He was just pretending, because we had a really good "nivo-sturtz"  which means we were hyper and happy-silly.  The bottle was empty and mom uses it to put home made syrup concentrate into.

This looks like a walk sometimes in the fall.

This picture was taken much later when mom & dad's trailer was still in the 3rd Lot.

My University of Guelph: Diploma in Agriculture 2 year program Graduation:

Me working at the YMCA folding towls for the Men's Plus and Women's Plus change rooms.
I still do this job to this day.  I started in January 2006.

I think this is one of the best pictures of Grosi and Grosvater.
I think it is also the first picture I ever took on any camera on my own.

Do you remember this picture Chris?  It was a trip you and I took up to Tobermory.  You weren't married yet at the time.

This is me thinking:  "Hey why can't big kids get a picture with Santa Clause?  I'm even bigger than him, almost squishing him.  This was at the University of Guelph.  Later I got another one taken once I had moved to Kitchener.

Our family has definately grown since this picture was taken!!!

Sunday afternoon Walk

This past Sunday I went for a beautiful afternoon walk and took some pictures along the way.

Judging from the picture below, guess what my final destination was!

I usually don't know much what to write about, but I go places and do things, and I like to use this website to finally have an exellent place to post picture.  Yahhoo I didn't really like, nor facebook, nor the space I had on porchlight. here I finally have my own website even without having to pay for it to have it to post pictures.

New Additions to my Appartment

Since I got back from mom & Dad's from my Christmas break there I got a few more additions to put in my apartment, most thanks to Bruce, my across the hall neighbour and friend.

I came back from Mom and Dad's on Jan. 3/11.  The adjustment was tough, but Bruce was right there with a nice clock to cheer me up half an hour later that he found in the garbage behind the Apartment.  You can actually turn the underwater sea on and the picture and fish and turtle keep turning around and around eluminated by a light.  It looks really neet.

A week later Bruce came with the following shelf that he had for a while, I don't know how long, and gave it to me for free to put DVD's and VHS's into.  I also invested into buying two movies and some TV shows on DVD to fill the shelf with.

And than obviously from New Years, here is where I put my Gingerbread House.

That inflatable wine bottle in the picture is about 25 years old I bought it for 15 Franks in Switzerland as a Kid.

Days at the Liebenzell Mission Centre

One thing I've done a lot of was take picture the day a week (Wednesday's) that I'm at the Liebenzell Mission Centre visiting Ursi, Jeff, Katie and Maya.  It became useful to have my camera with me while working with Jeff and the 2 volunteers Marcel and Andy.

One thing we've worked a lot on the last two weeks was clearing their skating pond of snow and reflooding the ice with hot water with a machine that Jeff built.  Here's the process:

Each week I also get to develope in my role as Uncle Marc (the only one in the area) and hang out with Ursi, Katie and Maya.

I'm sure I'll have many more wonderful moments out there at the Mission!

I'm finally on High Speed

Hi All

As you, probablly noticed with the YouTube on my bog I finally got high-speed internet installed today and can finally do so much more than I ever could.  It's what happens when you stop smoking, you suddenly reallize you have money for better things, healthier things.  I still haven't figured out though where on the Bell website you check your down and upload usage.  I can finally blog with more pictures too where I don't have to wait 10 minutes per pictures to load.  That's one of the reasons why I blogged so little.

Yodeling Emmentaler

Christmas time at Mom & Dad's

From December 23rd to January 3rd I was (still am right now at mom and dad's for Christmas.
We spent a lot of time with watching movies, sleeping, drinking coffee, and playing games, and of course packing and then unwrapping again gifts.

Our Christmas Tree:

Most of the action started here at home on December 31st when Ursi, Jeff, Maya and Katie arrived.
The following are pictures of some more Christmas gifts unwrapping.  It was fun to watch the girls getting at it eagerly.  Maya had lots of fun sitting in the drawer too.

Here are some Christmas unwrapping pictues.

Dad and I had fun with filling the chocolate Christmas tree ornaments from Switzerland with whipping cream.  Thanks Sarah and Rudy.

The biggest attraction for me was building a ginger bread house from scratch with Muettie (mom) and Jeff.  The idea that I wanted a Gingerbread House came from the Gift exchange we where part of at a Christmas Dinner om December at the Brussels Menonite Fellowship (not the church mom and dad attend). First it looked more like a caving in barn and caving in roof.  We had lots of fun!!!  Enjoy the pictures!

One thing mom and dad also did for me is put 2 gigabites (GB) of RAM into my computer so it runs faster now.  Before I only had half of a GB in there.  I'm also still on dial up, but maybe get high-speed now that I have some extra money from still not smoking anymore.  I have to admit.  I still struggle with a lot of anxiety, fear, and especially fear of having hurt family members by what I said or didn't say or how I said it or what I thought or didn't think of.  To me that's real torture amd not being able to smoke in these situations with this amount of anxiety and panic is real hard.  So your prayer is really appreciated.  I also struggle with fear of not knowing what's appropriate to say or not to say or think or not to think, linked with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  That's one reason I smoked.

Anyways,  Tomorrow (Jan. 3rd) I'm going back to Kitchener  and than the day after right to Ursi and Jeff's.
I'm glad when I can fully settle and adjust to being in Kitchener on my own again, but the transition time is never easy for me.

I hope you all had a great Christmas.  Mine had it's ups and downs.