For the Record

Better late than never I suppose. The soo officially has snow as of last night. Its about time. I thought I wasw guaranteed a white Christmas by living up here but nothing is for sure.

Leaving at 445am for TO, i still need some dark makeup and maybe a suitcase with wheels. Oh, and someone to be the guarantor for my passport. why do I wait until the last minute for everything?

Some things Don't Change Part II

Being back for the holidays I wasn't sure how many of my friends I would see.
Last night I went to tim horton's with Shawnna and Steph. When I lived in wawa Shawnna lived two streets behind me. We learned to bake gingerbread together, we called each other on Christmas morning to see what eachother received, we watched CMT religiously, we went through the Hanson phase together. I moved here and her family followed suit a year later: just one street over. She quickly started hanging out with me and my other two close friends Lori and Steph. At least once a week we would walk to the Tim Horton's on the corner and laugh and talk about everything going on.

Shawnna spent last year in Japan, I hadn't spoken to her in almost two years. Steph goes to Guelph but I think we have hung out once at school in the last three years. But, we met up at Timmies and it was like nothing had ever changed. I know its cliche but we just talked about everything going on in our lives, we bought candy and went back to Shawnna's and talked for a few more hours. It wasn't awkward or weird, it was like we were back in highschool. I am so luck to have friends like that.

One week

I still cant believe that I have been home for a week now. i must admit to taking quite a bit of advantage over the break, being pretty lazy although not getting as much reading done as i had hoped. Luckily I have some disgustingly long bus rides to look forward to. I always take more out of the library than I can possibly finish if I also plan to see my family for more than meal breaks. I am working on Cider House Rules (actually my copy so maybe I should give it a rest) but its my workout reading. Actually dangerous because I let myself use the bike instead of the elliptical with the excuse that i need to get some reading done.

Another book i'm into is "The Collapse of Globalism" by John Ralston Saul and A History of India. If only I could choose one topic of interest and be well read on that subject. There is basically no snow here which is disconcerting; how can I feel good about the state of the environment now?

Some things dont change

The greyhound arrived in the Soo at lunch on Tuesday from Guelph, having left at 1030 Monday night. Anyone continuing on to Vancouver will be arriving at 9:20pm Thursday evening. I wonder if the single mother with her new son was warmly welcomed by the new grandparents. She would have arrived this morning I think. It was surprising the number of young single mothers on this trip, they bonded easily with each other while waiting for the very late bus to return from a tune-up in Sudbury.

Now that i'm home there is so much to do. That will keep me busy but I plan to also spend some quality time reading. I have already finished half of Go Ask Alice. More for teen readers following an anonymous young girls diary from a good home to the streets of California running away from a drug addiction. It's sad, i should have chosen something more upbeat for my first book home but it is an easy two or three hour read.

I just returned from the Plummer Hospital, geniously situated right next to the General hospital. One city, two hospitals, right beside each other? More importantly that the brilliance of the location planners I spent a few hours visiting with my Nonno. It was a bit of a shock to walk into his room and see that his face wasn't the same. He had sunken cheeks and his nose was so thin, his whole face was so thin. I probably would have cried except that he cannot help telling jokes. He told me about the day my aunt Marsha was born, 38 years ago when men didn't go into the hospital room and he slept at the Diplomat hotel waiting for news. Too bad the man behind the reception desk fell asleep and didn't get the phone call to announce the birth of his 5th child. He apologized to his middle of 5 children for the five years he tormented him about his long, curly hippie hair. Three of his sisters visited him (he is the oldest of 8 children). One brushed his hair, another recounted how he had refused to sit in the hard hospital chair any longer because he was not suffering from ALL in fact, he was suffering from the A-S-S disease. The middle sister insisted on getting Nonno on her side about how spoiled the oldest sister had been in childhood. all over the age of 60 and still taunting each other!

One comfort was that when I held his hand it was the same. Nothing had changed that i could see. His gold wedding band a bit faded stuck over his finger on his hands that seem to be the only part of his body that hasn't been affected by the quick weightloss. I guess that means i am doomed to have chubby fingers forever, its genetic!

Two year Bloggaversary

About this time two years ago is when I started my blog. It was born out of distraction and a need to heal my brain during exam times. Out of a possible (approx.) 740 opportunities to blog I have taken 127 of them. Not a bad ratio but I would aim to improve it.

One thing that has held me back quite a bit is that fine line between being honest and real and just giving away too darn much information. My whole life this semester has felt like it was hovering over that line and it was difficult because blogging is a release for me. I'm not a big fan of writing in a journal so this allows me to have some record of my life over the last few years and hopefully into the next few. But it has been horribly incomplete for the last few months because everything important i have been dealing with has been absent. There have been many great joke opportunities missed because of the somewhat sensitivity of the topic. Maybe it would be easier if I didn't know anyone who read my blog. Maybe I'm just tired of censoring myself. I can't decide. As many a blogger has asked, where is that line?

traquilizarse

The title is the Spanish verb "to calm oneself down". I am so calm right now that I am not even studying for my Spanish exam that is in less than 6 hours.

One thing that I think calms me down no matter what is hearing someone talk with an accent. Weird? Maybe, but it works every time. I just need to find a long cd of someone talking with an accent. If only they would station someone whose first language was french (actually pretty much any accent will do, It even works to talk to the Indian people on the Dell helpline) at the Blood Donor clinic waiting area, right as I walk into an exam or beside me on airplane rides.

Solo cuatro dias hasta salgo para Sault Ste. Marie. No creo que este semestre ya ha terminado!

productivity (in a pear tree)

These last few days have been so relaxing and productive, I love exam time! I have baked over 200 cookies and even got to decorate a whole batch of sugar cookies, you can't much more fun than that! I won't say how many episodes of Friends I watched in that time but if I make it a goal to watch the whole series then watching episodes is productive, right? Right.

I plan on heading out for the great white north on the 11th of december. I have never left early for the holidays, this is revolutionary! It is good because my Nonno (grandpa) has been sick off and on since thanksgiving but I can't call him because he doesnt hear so hot on the phone. He was diagnosed with Chronic Myelocytic Leukemia about a month ago. it is a cancer of the white blood cells, it is actually manageable with just a few rounds of chemo and some pills but it will never go away. He had an infection a few days ago and they thought he would not make it but he pulled through but they are making him stay in isolation, he hates the hospital. Anyway, prayer for him would be appreciated, for his health, for my Nana because she is very stressed and our whole family because its Christmas time.

Tastes just like a Penny

I have been looking forward to today for weeks. It was blood donor day and I was going to conquer my fears. I woke up a little anxious but I was not scared, maybe it was subconscious. My biggest hurdle would be the iron test but I had been training for the last week by consuming great amounts of beef jerky. My blood sank like something that is completely not buoyant, I had enough iron! So, you say, you're in! You did it! No, I still failed! The heart rate test! Well, of course, I'm an anxious person! That's just me!

I am so disappointed. Passing the iron test was like passing the MCATS and then being offered a position to med school then, when I was so excited from the news they say "oh, just as a formality you need to take this small spelling test". I'm so excited that I can't concentrate and mispell "floride" (see it should be Fluoride") and they revoke my offer of admission. For a spelling test???? You have to be kidding me.

It's Official

That I have no life.
So, i have the biggest crush that i have had in months. Don't get too excited. It is on Chandler Bing. Thats right, from Friends. I have watched season three and half of season four since last week. Who has that kind of time at the end of the semester? Apparently I do. Plus I napped today and went to Zellers. Maybe I'll mix it up tomorrow and actually talk to people outside my house.

But, one exciting thing this week is Thursday. In two days I will be drained of my prescious iron-carrying fluid. I'm not telling this to make myself sound like a good person, it is just a momentous breakthrough for me! First time ever! I have been terrified of needles having never actually had blood taken it was the unknown that scared me. So a few weeks ago I had to have a blood test and I discovered something....it's not that bad! Actually its great, because now i get to complete one of the things on the list of things i want to do in my life. I suppose that's contingent on my having enough iron for them to let me do it. Does anyone know how to increase iron level in the blood artificially in a short period of time? I ate some beef jerky before writing this blog...

Another little push, on the Canadian Blood services website one could sign up for the bone marrow registry. I encourage people to check this out, mull it around for a bit. Being on the list does not at all mean you will ever be asked to do it.

Dag yo

Here I am as a brown person. Its better when I'm the only one in the picture because then you can't see how my newly tanned skin tone is actually the same colour of everyone else's.

Motivational Speaker

Another job I can take off the ever lengthening list of things I dont' want to do when I grow up (along with teacher, taxidermist, tambourine player, road-line painter....). Actually I'm not motivated to do a whole lot lately, hence the lack of blogging. Reading. Thats the one thing I seem to be doing but maybe because at least its not sleeping, one can only sleep so much. Maybe thats what I'll be, a professional reader (i had banked on student-for-life but that involves homework and it isn't on my aforementioned list of things I am motivated to do).
Aside from all that, I finished my last midterm. Meaning, since i have one exam, that I will only be tested in such a manner once more this year (calendar year that is).

Two elements of good news. I saw a little dog today that was wearing a rain coat! Not in a sissy and embarrassing Paris Hilton's-dog kind of way but a really cool little rainproof get-up that looks like he crawled inside a MEC packsack.
The next is that i finally have access to my very own $2000 portable email checker (I used 2000 as a means for expensive, i am not actually saying what I spent, not that I wouldn't). Its from D**L. I block it out since some people treat that like an expletive in the computer savvy world, luckily I am not computer savvy and I like my sleek 14.1 inches of mcafee protected high-tech goodness. Right now I am taking a few hours out of my week to do something essential: reinstall all that music!

It's not easy being brown

The theme over the weekend and into this week has been India. Saturday afternoon the Jaxx, her friend D and myself watched Born into Brothels. I had seen it once before but still fell in love with the children who lived in brothels in India but had so much spirit and life. They understood so much about their surroundings and nothing went unnoticed by them. Hardship had made them very wise.
For anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to watch the film it is a documentary about a woman from Europe who lives in the brothels and teaches the children photography. She then uses their photos to raise money for their education in hopes of getting them out of the brothels.
Saturday night was the C4C late costume bash, which was smashing by the way. Having scrapped the idea of a house costume (we had planned on being Mormons, but that didn't fly) I quickly decided of fulfilling my dream of being Indian (from India, not pocahontas) for at least one night. At VV I uncovered a beautiful cloth (that may have been a real sari) of sheer gold and red and silver trim. My hair was wavy, a special ruby clip held it part way up, an indian charm (ok, earing) dangling just belong my hairline, a red jewel on my forehead, a nose ring (fake), sandals. Basically perfect from head to toe. But wait you say....You are so white! Ah, the finishing touch: some very dark bronzer applied liberally all over my face and neck. What a sad moment when I had to wash that off. Another highlight was being able to throw in an accent here and there and claim racism when things didn't go my way.
By far the most rewarding part of "week India" was finishing "A Fine Balance" by Rohinton Mistry. I had started the 800 page novel in the summer but had given up somewhere around 300 when things started to get busy and the book got slow. This week I returned to it, determined to finish and it was a great decision. When asked about it I answered "India, in the 1970s." The easiest reply and the one that made me sound the smartest. But really thats not what it was about. It was about people. How lives and choices are intertwined. How there is something to be learned and gained from every person. As the name suggests, there is a very fine balance between complete despair and hope. The book was heartbreaking. I wanted nothing more than to see the characters happy, I would have left the book unfinished if it meant they would stay at that point forever. After 800 pages I wanted more so that somehow everything could be fixed. As a person who doesn't read books twice I finished it this afternoon and then promptly began again. I think it should be read twice, there are so many subtle comments in the first few pages that are easily forgotten but are intricately tied to the last pages.

Brush with a Legend

This Halloween is one worth remembering. I received a telephone call from a friend who had wrapped herself in an oversized, dirty paper bag, donned a crown and was determined to meet a legendary author in the get up. A half hour later we pulled up to a pink-brick house on a child-filled crescent to meet Robert Munsch himself. Probably one of the influential authors in my life! We left with a caramilk, a dairy milk (full-sized, he isn't cheap!) and a picture of the Paper Bag Princess and Bob himself...and his Paris Hilton-type mini dog. It was actually a really awkward moment in my life, maybe in his too, but now I've met him.

Even better than that, his official website has free downloads of him reading all of his books! Instead of doing my Spanish homework I listened to "Purple, Green and Yellow", only one of his best books. I thought about listing my favorites but they all hold a special place in my heart. I would have to say "Good Families Don't" would be near the top though, since its about farts (ie. what good families do not have is flatulence).

Warning: Do you really want to scroll down?

This is a blog that will represent where I come from.
Here are a series of pictures that were sent to me from
my cousin this week.
I will
write some
nonsense
right now
so that the pictures,
which are a little
gross for those
of you
with a
weak stomach
can decide if
you want
to keep
scrolling down the
page or not.
Hopefully,
this will
be sufficient.

Edit: After all that I forgot to say what it was. Its a dead moose hanging from ceiling of my uncles garage. It was so large the head had to come off so its sitting behind the moose carcass. Looks like jerky for me at Christmas!

Official Campus Bathroom Zagat

As a commerce student, a program without an official home, I have been somewhat transient in terms of classes and have had the opportunity (bad luck?) of experiencing most washrooms on campus. Sadly at this point I can only provide an official guide to the women's washrooms on campus but I'll see what I can do.

Most Pleasant Washrooms (as pleasant as public urine receptacles can be)
1) MACS (formerly known as HAFA). The washroom outside of the Atrium Restaurant was recently renovated with very stylish results. Purple tile designs above the sinks, rich shades of brown on the walls, silver stalls and (get this) REAL TOILET PAPER! Home size rolls and everything and soap silver soap dispensers that are not screwed to the wall (I'm not sure how long this will last). By far the best in washroom facilities this school has to offer.

2) washrooms in the new wing of MacKinnon. Stylish design, only a few stalls but usually empty and I have never encountered the foul, over-sed washroom smell yet.

3)

Worst Washrooms on Campus
1) 1st floor of the UC. By far the WORST available. The smell lingers in the hallway, the floors are always wet and there has to be an unspoken no sitting rule (there is, isn't there???). I would walk across campus to avoid this one.

2) First floor of the library. Without fail its busy and smelly and just plain ugly.

3) women's change room washroom in the AC. No hooks to put your stuff, floor is usually wet. The sinks are always wet too. Most people have just been working out before using them too. Not pretty.

Most entertaining:
Second floor of the UC, tie between the radio station one and the one near the Ontarion. Example: A picture of Alastair Summerlee with devil horns, scissors and the caption "I like cuts". It was really funny at the time. Various simpsons quotes and long running opinion polls. Never a dull moment.

Creepiest:
The washroom I feel most likely to reenact the scene from I know what you Did last Summer with someone hiding on top of a toilet (maybe I have my movie reference wrong here but you get the point): ZAVITZ (1st floor). I don't think i'll even go in there alone. They also win for second creepiest elevator.

There you have it. The yet to be completed but very useful campus guide to washrooms. Maybe we should just hold it until we get home....

Confessions of an Unfaithful Blogger PART II

So I already titled a post this but then I realized that I didn't acutally bother to confess anything.
What I had intended to say was that sometimes the act just writing the blog is enough to get the benefits. Sometimes I will sit down to blog and halfway through or even at the end I will realize that its too personal to post (or just more personal that i'm willing to get) and that I don't need to actually post it. I just erase it and move on, but writing it gives me time to process. Its like journalling on a chalkboard. Which is effective for me since even when I journal its to get things out not to go back and read about it later.

Who knows, maybe I won't even post this one, maybe I will.

The first snow fall today, I can't help but mention it: GORGEOUS! Someone asked me if it feels like home, and yeah, it does a little. It brought back memories of Halloween when my mom, sister and I would go to Jo-Ann fabrics across the river and pick out a costume for my mom to make us. I would always beg to be a genie or a mermaid or anything but like that, but no, our costumes had to be large enough to fit a snowsuit underneath. So eventually I would always settle on some sort of costume with a large gown or cape (princess, native-american princess, queen, princess, ace of spades, you get the picture).

A funny story

Before my story I have an observation: The federal government stole my name and used it in one of its programs. Its called Katimavik. Its a program where young people just out of highschool travel around Canada for a few months and work in schools, volunteer, other jazz. But take a closer look: KATI-MA-VIK. My name is KATIe MArie VI**en. Basically, I am Katimavik.

This weekend is thanksgiving. Every year I know I can look forward to an extended bus ride from P19 on campus to the Zellers plaza (or Kmart Plaza if you're a soo-ite) a few blocks from my house. By extended I mean 9-12 hours depending on traffic and how fast people buy food in Parry Sound. I was scheduled to catch the bus at 530 and arrived home in time to pack at a few minutes to 4, just as the Barrie car was taking off (Sarah, Jaxx and Karen). Setting my packsack down by the door as usual I proceeded to hang out in the kitchen. At 430 I finally decide to pack my belongings but cannot find my packsack anywhere. Then it hits me "its on its way to Barrie!". It had my homework for the weekend, my wallet, all my money and my house keys. I called Sifton; nope they couldn't lock up the house. Could I find the emergency Sifton number? Nope. Was I already late for the bus? Yes. In the end my mother called the man who organized the bus and had him hold it for me (luckily it was running late already) as I secured the house as best I could (my aunt later went back and locked it), and arranged to call Sarah when near Barrie and have our bus take a little detour to get my bag. It was a smooth switch but I'll admit it almost didn't happen. Oh life, how unpredictable you are.

We got in at 3:45am, I actually got some reading done. My mom was so thoughtful, they had two bottles of Perrier cooling in the fridge when I got back just because they know I like it (I know, I'm high class). I'm glad I came home.

Confessions of an Unfaithful Blogger

Usually when school starts up I find something, anything to blog about on a regular basis. This does not seem to be the case right now. Maybe i'm tapped out.

An observation: The word love isn't mentioned in the story of Creation. It isn't mentioned until about Genesis 20. No mention of God's love for Adam and Eve, their love of God, or even of cheese for that matter. None at all. Maybe it doesn't matter but I had never thought about it.

Rant: The marketing program at the university of Guelph (ok, well anywhere really but I'm speaking from experience here). Pointless. Why does anyone need 4 years to learn how consumers process advertisements? They don't. The marketing courses are fillers to call it a marketing degree. I could have saved myself $60 000 and bought Marketing for Dummies and learned about the same amount. In fact, if i retained anything from the book I would have learned more practical crap about marketing than I have in the last 4 years. Even if I had learned a lot about consumers, who cares? I have no desire to propagate the culture of materialism. I will admit, I like stuff. But, I think on this note I should decide what actually contributes to to my life and what is filler. It may be harder to let go than I think.

Sweet sweet slumber

Last night I slept. For 6 1/2 hours straight. midnight to 630am. Woot woot!

The other thing that has me really excited today is salsa. My favorite is white corn and black bean by Presidents Choice. I often try to dream up ways to use salsa, or look forward to using it all day long. So you eat a lot of chips?, someone may infer. No, its good on so many things! Grilled cheese, wraps, eggs, rice, and the list goes on. I challenge everyone so say "Ketchup, stay away from my grilled cheese, I'll let salsa take this one". Or something like that.

Speaking of salsa, B. Mitts and I have been taking a social dance class, learning such hip moves as the Waltz and The cha cha. However, B. is tired of being the boy so, we're on the lookout for people of the male persuasion who might want to learn to dance. The class is actually split almost 50/50 guys and girls (and its a big class, am I still in Guelph?).

Good weekend

Usually I sit down to a blog because something hit me as blogworthy over the previous few days. Today it is the need to feel productive without doing homework so somehow blogging falls into this category.

This weekend I spent it with some guelph friends over at UWO to celebrate a birthday and just hang out. It felt like old times when we found ourselves in the field with a frisbee, 3 guelphians, mere and ben. It reminded me that things are different but it was great to see them in their new lives.

Other highlights included meeting some great UWO people, singing every early 90s song we could think of while driving to a jazz club (all saints, coolio~gangstas paradise, no scrubs, its not right but its ok, and I could go on) and having a sleepover with miss V-roc.

On another topic, I have a class this semester about the evolution of capitalism. Sounds boring but it is actually very interesting. The first lecture was a fiery rant about how rationality has taken the magic and romance out of our world. Not what I expected from the capitalism class. Actually, the premise of the lectures is to prove that we have a form of self-destructive capitalism that is slowly evolving into socialism. In fact, the capitalism we have now is starting to more closely resemble the highly planned socialist economy more and more than true capitalism. You would never know with the ranting that you hear about capitalism in Guelph that in its pure form it would not include large, oligopolist corporations.

Veggies

This saturday was the 22nd annual Vegetarian Food Fair in Toronto. A certain JW and I took the greyhound to the crowded metropolis for a full day of ranting hippies, yummy tofu shaped like meat and pictures of turkeys with halos around their heads. Does making an animal look cuter than it really is (because, let's face it, turkeys are ugly) make it more worthy to live?
We emersed ourselves in the culture, not admitting to be on the outside looking in. We attended a free lecture, lured by the title "Debunking the 'science' of nutrition" which proved luring for the nutrition student. An elderly man from Cornell U, while well-spoken and highly educated, gave a too brief overview of a very complicated issue. He enlisted the same tactics that Bush used to convince us that war was inevitable and necessary (nuclear weapons anyone?) or that has opened up a market for devices like child GPS sewn into clothing...fear. Eat animal protein and you will get cancer. That was his conclusion, plain and simple, although beating around the bush was also employed. His fear summoning statement "animal protein may be the most dangerous and important chemical carcinogen in history". Extremist? I think i'll keep my cows milk and chicken fingers thank you.

Best part of veggie day: a small child yelling into a microphone "I liked the Hamburgers! HAMBURGERS!!!!!!!!!!" in the middle of a veggie convention. Classic.

library card

"Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card!" the Brain (The Arthur Show). I love that show. Also, I love libraries.
Yesterday I entered the guelph public library for the first time. The collection is slightly more extensive than that in my home town so i look forward to using my card. However, it is just plain ugly and uninviting. Where are all the oversized, puffy chairs? The open spaces? The calm atmosphere?
When checking out and signing up for my new card I found myself face to face with Regis Philbin, a Bollywood star whose name I can't remember and selma hayek all reminding me that reading is cool. I already think that reading is cool (or I dont' care that its nerdy?) but if I didn't, i'm not sure if Regis Philbin would be the one to convince me otherwise.

Meat

"So you don't eat meat but you aren't a vegetarian?" A common question I receive since my meat intake over the school year is about half a chicken per year. I wasn't really sure how to classify lack of animal tissue in my diet since I do sometimes like chicken or even the occasional hamburger (only if my dad makes it of course).
So its official. I'm not a vegetarian. I just choose to restrict my meat intake and find other sources of protein because I do not believe that meat is a sustainable resource. I didn't even know I was one of them hippies from Guelph until now, but maybe I am.

I will not, however, follow anyone around with pictures of mistreated cows.

Bonjour/Hello

Bonjour/Hello. The most commonly uttered phrase in Ottawa. I now know that I could never work in that city because my french is atrocious. I spent four days there with the fam before coming back to school. None of us siblins had been there so it was an adventure. The city was probably the nicest, cleanest city I have ever been to.
As we drove into the city we passed a festival just moments away from our hotel. Wanting to get out of the hotel we unloaded and quickly went back outside to explore this 'folk' festival. Well we get to the gate and find out that its Ottawa's Pride festival. We didnt' pay to go in. I couldn't help but wonder if everyone I saw that weekend was gay.

Things confiscated from our family by Parliamentary security:
One hacky sack (brother)
One nail file (mom)
One bracelet with spikes (sister)
I was confiscation free.

Favorite place in the city: National Art Gallery. They had everything! They had a Chagall of a goat and it was fantastic! There were paintings and other pieces of art from the 1300s and you could stand as close as you felt you needed to. Although, they don't let you touch the walls. Woops.

End of a Era

I have some grave news to report. The tiny frozen rock finishing off the solar system for us, Pluto, has been downgraded from Planet to "Dwarf Planet" which by definiotn is not a planet at all. Therefore the official decision puts the planets in our celestial neighbourhood down to 8. It is indeed a sad day.

On a lighter note I attended a a card making class at the local scrapbooking store. I left with some great ideas and really snappy cards. I was without a doubt the youngest person in the room of about 12 people. The woman beside me who kindly shared her glue and scissors with me was about 50. I think it was quite the social gathering as they happen about once a week so most of the women know each other. Its just one more step towards my becoming a middle-aged woman.

I had a great time hanging with the sibs today. We decided to hit up all of the thrift stores in the city. First the salvation army where my brother paid a quarter for a canary yellow Guinness world records from 1991. We went to a mall on the other side of the city that I have only been to once or twice and never consider shopping at and you know what? I've been missing out all this time! Its a little depressing upon entrance, the dim lights and empty benches made even more melancholy by the fact that the mall is beautiful but deserted. Once past all of the uninhabited store fronts however there were plenty of treasures. A fantastic book store with beautifully illustrated children's books and locally published works. A second hand music and book store with almost any record, CD or comic one could desire. My bro picked up an Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Van Halen and a few other records. Next door is a Red Apple. Like a Bi-way or giant tiger. I bought a sweet long-sleeved shirt with a hood (not to be confused with the thick material'd 'hoodies') and a tank for $15. Not too shabby. All in all, a good hang out day.

Ed note: if you glance rightwards to the blog-roll list it has been alphabetized by popular demand and to prove that I do not favour anyone. Or I appear not to.

CBC Radio

Over the summer I have taken a keen liking to CBC radio. It was the only radio station my boss would allow on in the office and the Jaxx likes to regale me with anecdotes from her favorite radio shows. Now I'm hooked. Which is good. It makes me feel intellectual, and gives me an option other than the general pop station and the country station (hey I like country but I can only handle the same 15 songs played ad nauseum for so long).

They have a new show for the summer about the english language called "and sometimes Y", i would recommend and listen. The other day they discussed whether there really is such a dialect as Canadian English. I did not hear the conclusion but I think I would be lying if I did not admit that Canadian English is no more than a patriotic creation to keep that tighten our ever-loosening hold on the 'canadian identity'...not that its a bad thing.

More to the point. I was driving home and heard some startling news. So startling that I thought I should share my opinion on the subject. A conference is meeting later this week to decide once and for all if the miniscule Pluto is in fact a planent at all. My position is, if it circles the sun, its a planet. Maybe I'll make t-shirts. Mvemjsnup, would all of a sudden end in a very unsettling "snuh" sound and the useful anacronym would eventually fade, become cliche, used only by those 20-somethings who can't let go of a faithful friend and continue to keep the P or the 40-somethings who have yet to be informed that the "P" is no longer relevant to this generation.

Who is going to tell the poor, confused fourth graders when they make their solar systems that there are only, in fact, 8 planets and everything they had been told before this time had been a lie. That carefully speckled styrofoam ball dangled on a bent close hanger, dangling past uranus (hey, don't snicker), carefully added right before bed to the horribly off-scale solar system, would actually earn them 3 demerits on their assignment for not having listened to CBC radio. Well it won't be me. My vote is, Keep Pluto. If you change its name will it not continue to circle the sun fairfully year by year (or every, what, 206 years?). Don't you remember what happen when you first found out that the Brontosaurus was not actually a species of dinosaur but a hoax? I rest my case.

End of a Hiatus

You would think that after taking almost a month off from blogging I would have something interesting to report. Well, I'm done work. Last week. I had the exam for my DE class today. Frighteningly easy. I had to read it over and over to make sure I hadn't missed half the exam.
I took the exam in the basement of Sault College. One of two people. One of two Guelpites. Actually, one of two C4C'ers. Alex W. was the only other person in the room. Different exam though.

So its official, i'm free. I was at church on Sunday. Last week I had been talking to a friend from project (way back last summer, wow) about her going to a native community up north and doing a VBS. I was telling her how native people in the soo make up a reasonable percentage of the population (maybe 8%) but they are very marginalized. Most live in their own communities or in the reserves. Whenever there is a drunk driving accident (a cop was killed at the beginning of the summer, he had two young daughters) or someone gets killed on the highway (there are low speed limits through the reserves now because children would get killed on the highway) or someone hit by a train (two weeks ago) the whole community says:
"Oh my Gosh, thats awful, it could happen to anyone. Oh, it was a native person? That is too bad, you know, they should really stop drinking so much."
I worked at the Rotary club and regularly went to their meetings. There are over 100 members and I don't think any of them are aboriginal. By population estimates there should be about 10. But the thing is, the Rotary Club is made up only of managers and business owners. That is a community that native people are typically cut out of (at least from what I can see)

So anyway, I was at church. The pastor was talking about how even a little church at a univeristy in northern ontario that few people have heard of is making an impact for Christ, and impact in places like China through international students. A man stood up. He was obviously aboriginal, about 55, he was in town for a celebration at the school for the new aboriginal studies univeristy opening. He used to go to school in the soo. He became a Christian and began sharing the gospel with other native people all over the country, his life was changed. What he said to us after telling everything God had done for him, he forgave us. Me. White people. He said through Christ he could forgive all the hardships caused to him at the hands of white people. It sounds weird. Our community needs the forgiveness so we can put it behind us. I needed it for falling into the same attitudes towards them as the community; marginalized, a charity case.

I hope that made sense. I may have to come back and edit to get across the impact of his statement.

Beige

The above title is the update on my current skin colour. I have been upgraded to two shade above white which, i believe puts be in the beige category. Still short of 'tan' but I'll take it.

This is the result of the past weekend, which I am still recovering from. Rotaryfest started on Thursday and went until Saturday. Wednesday night I moved all Playzone supplies (the area I organize) from the office to the trailer on the grounds. That took me until 10pm. THe next morning I was on the grounds by 7:15am setting up everything that needed setting up. There were 4 sharkfin banners, tables, chairs, tables to be papered, games, 4 large art stations run by the Rotary club and various small ones run by other organizations. The festival opens at noon every day. Thursday was high on the stress-o-meter. Some things were late, but, in the end, it all got set up.

Thursday was absolutely brutally hot. Almost no one came to the grounds during the middle of the day because of the heat. A little disappointing but not really in my control. Friday night we had a sudden freak rainstorm for 2 hours and had to first tarp all supplies and then reluctantly put them all back into the trailer. By the time the sun came out at 7pm it was too late to set up the playzone, having sent home all of the volunteers already.

Sarah P. visited this weekend. It was so good to see her. She also saved me from a lot of stress on the Saturday of the festival. Its the busiest day and our percentage of volunteer turn outs was not record breaking. She did a shift on t-shirt art, helped me with random jobs (like dumping bins of disgusting grey, paint-filled water into larger bins of gray, paint-filled water), and then pulled another shift at Giant Chess (just what its called)

I even found myself subbing. I hair wrapped for a while. I think the biggest perk of the whole job was the Razer cell phone they lent to me for the weekend. I really did feel cool answering it...after I stopped dropping it on the floor in places like Dollarama whenever it rang of course.

There is so much to report, I could go on forever. Sarah and I took sunday to chill and swam in lake superior in our clothes since we forgot bathing suits. I hadn't swam in jeans in a long time. Maybe i'll do it again. I realized too that I pretty much get the best of both worlds for beaches up here. They are everywhere, for one. And, although not quite as beautiful as tropical ones, i'm sure, they are entirely sand bottomed and don't have any of those pesky things like sharks, jelly fish, rocks or easily discernable pollution.

I now have four weeks (less one for overtime) with Rotary.

Didn't Happen

These are some of this things that didn't happen today. I was inspired by the endearing autisitic teen that is the narrator of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time"

I didn't eat toast for breakfast (although I thought about it). Nor did I eat a banana. There weren't any stray cats in the room while I ate and I didn't trip while walking down the stairs to brush my teeth. I didn't steal my neighbour's corvette and drive to work in it. I didn't call in sick (although, again, i really really thought about it).

At work I didn't design a building, or tame a wild (honeymoon) stallion, or train for a marathon, or play risk or order in chinese.

It just always boggles my mind to think about all the things that didn't occur. Especially since maybe, when I was 7, if I hadn't dropped my Beauty and the Beast thermos and broke it making me late for school...who knows, maybe I would have done one of those things. Ok, well probably not, but the whole "butterfly flaps its wings" thing, weird.

Another thing I've been thinking about. I have been reading quite a bit about the English language. Right now its "Language Visible", a history of every letter of the alphabet. Fairly entertaining. But the more I read, the more I realize: The alphabet is not that suited to English. Our vowels take on so many sounds its often by memorization than phonetics that we learn to spell any of them.

We should have something like 45 letters instead of 26 for all of the sounds in English. We are more like Chinese in some ways since, with many words, its the shape or the word itself that signals its sound or meaning. Por ejemplo. In Spanish, every letter has its specific sound, even vowels. They rarely deviate. A word is pronounced just as it is written (or written just as pronounced). But, those poor people trying to learn english, try spelling 'cough' phonetically?

but, I ramble.

Good Customer/Bad Customer

Here are some tips to being a customer that won't annoy me (if you ever find yourself in this situation)
--don't start off by shoving something in my face "i'm not buying this" or "no tax"
--put your cart away, don't leave it sitting there in the lane. (that should be common sense, but well, i'll leave it at that)
--put your own stupid basket away, it crowds my work area
--don't just stand there with your debit card, tell me you're using debit, or credit or whatever
--don't try to swipe your own credit card. Where on earth do they let you do that? Other than gas pumps.
--always use the grey bar to separate orders. I can't read minds nor do i watch you put everything on the conveyor belt.

These are common cash courtesies. Don't be a jerk

Interesting encounter of the week. We'll call him Tony. That may be his name actually, I don't know what it is. We close at 10. He rolls up to my cash after 10pm with two carts overflowing with groceries. So i ring it it while 3 other employees help him load it. The whole time he's slurring his words. Thats right, completely drunk. His comment of the night: "Can I sue you if I get a hernia here?"
As he motions to a big bag of dog food. I patiently tell him that he will lift what he chooses to lift. He then goes on to repeat that to me a few times in wonder about how true that is.

I was informed that on his way out I guess he had failed to properly fasten his pants. Those things happen when suck back a few too many.

ps. I quit wally world. Two weeks and I only have one job!

A Day in the Life

A day in the life of a Walmart Cashier. Well first I worked from 9-5 at Rotary then 530 to 1030 at "Wally World" as some old man called it today when he said "How do you like working at Wally World?". I can't lie so I said, "Well, it keeps me busy"
Best question of the day: Two older American women come in. They ask me what the exchange rate is like. I say 5 cents on the dollar. (yeah, crazy, i know). Then one of them asks me "So, are these all Canadian Prices?". I don't need to comment.

Something else I have been asked 4 times at work now "Are you a Vi**en?". I didn't know it was that obvious. Two of them had never even met me, and the other two hadn't seen me since i was like 8. I guess I really do look that much like my family.

As a segment or column of sorts I will record the crazy characters who come into our Rotary office. First, lets do the computer technician. I'll call him JimBob. So Jimbob designs a program for our cardraw and he has to come set it up. We have a few problems so we call him and he comes during lunch. I'm the only one in the office and he walks in. I say hi, (cheerfully) and he just nods and sits down. Heather (other office girl) comes back and we sit at the table and chat, work.
I decide to eat lunch and it came up that I had hummus. As i'm taking it out JimBob suddenly pipes in "Hold onto to your Hummus!" or something to that effect. Then he quizzes us to see what movie it comes from. Its Aladdin (i might just have to watch it). Then he's silent again.
As he's leaving he looks down at my hummus and says "you don't have any crackers?" (me, having only carrots, say no). So he reaches into my carrots, takes a bunch, dips into the hummus and says "your dad made this" and leaves.

Thanks Jimbob. I'll bring crackers next time.

So I go to the Dentist today...

I have 9 minutes to write this blog, as I am nearing the end of my lunch break today. The dentist thing wasn't a great lead in. But I did go, and as usual he praised me for the wonderful job I do in taking care of my teeth and I smiled and tried to remember the last time I flossed (no, its not gross).
Today started with a meeting for the ROTARYFEST (i'm not yelling it, they've just brainwashed me to type it that way). We have one every second week. I look forward to it for the sole reason that I have a major crush on one of the men at the meeting. He runs that company there, fairly young, (ok...early 30s, but married so don't get all worried), the bookish type. I won't give out any names, but he dresses well too. Ok, done swooning.
For the rest of the day I'll likely spend it calling big shots all over the city and leave them lots of messages "Hi, this is Katie calling from the Rotary Office, I'm calling in regards to..." Insert some sort of festival function like "The Pony Signs" and there you go.

Never Have to Drive well Again!

I am now fully licensed with my G. There is no insidious "2" after it, insinuating that I am not a capable driver. I guess I fooled them. Right before this post I also discovered that a miss Fisher also passed her test today. A hearty Congratulations to you!
I will say I was nervous. I think I can be an 'over preparer' sometimes. Last week my mom paid for me to have a lesson, which was good because I can't beleive how many times I said "what?? you have to do that?? every time??". He was a very nice man. I'm supposed to call him tomorrow to give him the good news. he taught me how to back in. I almost want to do it all the time. But that will wear off. To practice I would go to the mall parking lot and pick a random car. But in my fear of looking stupid (who backs in beside another car in an empty spot?) I would quickly bail if anyone came my way.

I realized that I hadn't parallel parked since my last driving test. I hadn't backed into a parking space either. Maybe I never will again. I'm ok with that. I also realized that I like going 60. I spent a wekk practicing the speed limit. It was so difficult. Everyone else on the road hated me. Now I don't have to do that again for a long time either!

Funny: this Tuesday my boss (at the Rotary Club) signed up myself and Heather (my coworker) for 4 hours of defensive driving! How perfect is that? So in all I got two go's at the test route with professionals. Our Tuesday teacher looked like Catherine Willows from CSI. Weird.

The actual test: conquered. I drove the speed limit. I changed lanes like a pro. Glanced all over the place. Parallel parked. Three-point turned. Emergency-stopped. Improvement: watch for hazards more. I AM SO ECSTATIC. FINALLY!!!

ps. I lied on the form. I have never driven on a 400 series highway.

Garage Sale Guru

Some updates over the past week. I am now officially double-jobbed. I got the other job at the Rotary Club. My official title is "Special Events Assistant". That means I : answer phones, hound people to fax me the insurance forms for the parade, organize kids games, crafts and shows for ROTARYFEST (3days of summer festival fun right here in s.s.m).

Its going to be great. I did it two summers ago and I loved it. The best part my boss was great and she's still there, and the other student I worked with before is back again. Our office is in the back of this random building downtown near the sketchy end of queen street. It smells a little musty, with some bathroom spray smell in the background. No windows in the office but we painted it yellow at the end of the summer. I start Monday.

Garage saling. I drove, my mom navigated. We ventured into the west end. Decent, but I think i'll stay central. My bro and sis even came. I had the most finds as usual.
-Two beaded necklaces (a blue one and a hot pink one...woot) -50 cents each
-One sewing box to someday keep all my thread and pins and such - $3.00
-A book, "The Curious Incident of a Dog in the Night Time". 50 cents
-Roller blades, practically brand new $2.50. (now I just have to learn to use them)

TOTAL: $7.00

Good Surprise

A quick update on the g-saling front. Although there were many g-sales on Saturday it was deceiving, little was of interest. But it was still fun because my little sis and bro both came with. Every week seems to have a theme, something that every person decides that "this week is the perfect time to get rid of all my old _____.". This week it was picture frames. Had I been in a creative mood I would have bought lots of them but I just didn't feel like it. Now I probably won't see another frame all summer, thats how it works. One person takes the cake though, selling frames and photo albums complete with old photos inside. I was pretty tempted to buy one, make up a story about hte people in it, then I remembered that I wouldn't do that, and it would sit in my room for 7 years.

But on to the good surprise. So my sister started taking voice lessons about 3 years ago. No one in our family is musical (or was at the time, now my brother is pretty handy with the guitar). Yesterday was a recital for all of the students taught by my sisters teacher to sing for their families. I didn't want to go but if my little bro was going and my mom and i was just going to stay home and "do my homework" I knew that would be jerky. So we get there and she's near the end of the list.
The first few were almost torcherous (cute, but painful). The middle bunch were ok, most sang very dry boring songs. "Whew, well at least when Sarah is really bad, and sings quietly and misses the notes, everyone will jsut clap politely at the end"THen the good ones came. The older students. Some sang fun songs, some hit really great notes. Oh crap, now she's going to be so embarrassed. All the people before her were so good

I know its terrible that I assume she's not good. But three years isn't very long. And I thought she sings like me haha (too quiet, avoid those looming high notes). But thats the good surprise. She was amazing. She sang "I'm missing you, my Bill". Gorgeous song. I won't admit it to her but I wish I could hear her sing it again. One woman in the audience said her dad's name was Bill and he just died; she loved the song. So there it is, it took 18 years but I'll admit, she's got some talent.

Oh yeah. I bought "White Oleander"for 50 cents, an asian cookbook/encyclopedia for $2 and some sweet beaded necklaces for 25 cents each
TOTAL = $3.25

Brain Washed and Indoctrinated

I have a disclaimer on this post. Earlier today I sat down to write. What resulted what what I thought was an accurate description of the last few days, with some wit and some good cultural references. Those are now lost forever thanks to blogger, when I went to publish said entry it collapsed. It is frustrating because I was already happy about the entry and now this one will never live up to the previous one. It isn't as spontaneous.

The news of the week though is that I am officially employed. I am now on the payroll of one of the most insidious corporations on the planet, a place that I will not be able to freely reference once back in Guelph, I am now a member of the Walmart Corporation. I can't believe it myself. I was getting desperate thats all I can say. The funny thing is, I shop there. So, I can't really have a huge moral obligation to it. I've worked at other similar establishments doing similarly monotonous work at No Frills, Home Depot and DQ. But with all of those jobs (ok, maybe not DQ), I actually very much enjoyed myself, especially because my coworkers were fantastic. And guess what, Its no different at WM having started there (2 shifts under my belt), but I still have this dread of being. I think its the stigma. The only thing that held me through the training was knowing that its only for a few months and I could tune out the sections of how to move up in the company to build a career with them. One perk was that I showed up for the first day and someone I went to high school with but now never see was also hired. It helped me not feel so bad haha. Its a pride thing I suppose.

One interesting thing to note: WM is actually ahead of No Frills and DQ but behind HD in pay scale. I'm making almost $9 to turn off my brain and ask "have you found everything you needed today?". And I get a 10% discount. Only DQ offered such compensation and that was dangerous to my health.

Another dilemma. I took the job because Rotary (where I had worked two years ago planning a summer festival--best job of my life), has still not heard if they have funding from the government to hire anyone this summer so I was in no position to turn down a job after saying no to a call centre a few weeks ago (I just couldn't be that person on the phone!). I thought, well I'll just do both jobs. But the mighty WM doesn't work around schedules so it looks as if I'll have to choose if Rotary offers me the job. Can I just quit after 2 weeks?

Speaking of brain washing, the first training day involved some 'pamphlets' about the history of the company. And a video. And some Sam Walton. I didn't know that it was Sam Walton who said "Give me Liberty or Give me death" and "I have a dream..."...that was Sam wasn't it?

Mary gave me some comfort in the fact that I can emulate the slightly sarcastic and charmingly angsty teen in Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants who spends a summer working there. All I need is some black hair dye, a video camera and to befriend some kid who looks suspiciously like my cousin from sudbury. But to cut all this fun short, I need to go map out my garage-saling route for tomorrow. It looks like a promising weekend.

Martha Stewart

I have realized I have been wasting all this time I have had at home. Unlimited groceries and ingredients at my disposal. My plan now is to experiement with tofu recipes all summer to find my favorites that I can then whip up at school. I am hoping tofu can become my official source of protein.
To get in the groove of cooking/baking today I went to the bulk barn (one of the most magical places on earth). I bought spelt flour and dark rye flour. This afternoon I have already made spelt muffins and spelt scones. Even my sister will eat them.
Next on the list is orange rye bread. I hope its good!

I have begun compiling a list of goals for the garage-saling season. I'll just die if I have to work saturdays before 11. The goals so far are 2 veggie steamers (the kind that look like those lotus flowers, or a candy bowl with holes in it--one for me, one for my dad), a cake decorating/icing set (i've been inspired by martha stewart, what can I say, she may be a felon but she is fantastic in the kitchen!), and then the usual good books and CDs.

Today I tried something new. Lychee fruit. Meh. I don't think I'll eat them again but it was fun.

Wheelin' and Dealin'

This morning I indulged in a small joy of mine during the summer months. A little late in the game, last night I mapquested my route around the city, which garage sales to hit and when. It always annoys me that there might be 4 g-sales in a small area but 2 will open at 8am and two at 9am. I mean, the g-salers day begins at 8am at the latest. If i'm going to drive all the way to an area, all the sales should be open. I think 9am is the lazy man's sale. When we hosted one at our home a few years ago people were banging on our garage door at 7:15 am. You can't keep them at bay, so cater to them.

It was a fairly lucrative day. Not bad for the first of the season. There were some good, rare finds. One thing of note, almost every house we stopped at was selling Christian items (ie. Bible Trivia, children's Bible stories, the entire Left Behind Series). It was encouraging. I like to know there are other Christians in the area. Although, they were selling it all....

The finds for the day:
My mom came out on top with both practical and cheap finds. Her total: $0.38. Not bad. A never-been-opened blank tape (she had went to buy one last week and couldn't find any, the times are changing), a very nice dish drying rack for free (to replace her 23 year old one), and a martha mag for 33 cents. Well 3 for a dollar but two were for me.

My haul:

• 2 pairs of never-been-worn hand-made mitterns $1.00
• 9 fantastic preteen novels (with such titles as Maniac McGee, Bridge to Terabithia, Tuck Everlasting, Parvana's Journey, Count the Stars, Underground to Canada): $2.25. What a steal. And there were all in great condition.
• The Joy Luck Club (movie) $ 0.50
• Scattegories (i love this game, i asked for it consistently for years, but I finally had my day) $4.00
• 2 martha mags $0.67
• "The Great House of God" by Max Lucado. $0.50
• "What the Body Remembers" by someone $0.50.

You do the math. But, overall, good finds. I am now in the groove for the rest of the season.

Getting mileage on memory lane

The process of repainting my room has become quite the trip down memory lane. There is so much junk in my room that I cannot fathom why it has taken me this long to dispose of it. I finally sorted through my letters. I had kept almost every letter I ever got (even those pointless ones wrote each other every day in high school). Apparently not only did I like Chuck (the guy I watched wrestling for), I liked Kyle and *shudder* Darren.

I even came across an old letter from Chuck. I think it was my first "I like you just as a friend" letter. Or more accurately "I like you fine but I like someone else". It was fun reading about the things that were so consequential at the time: semi-formal, some rumour about a guy who had his jaw broken, all the people we were and were not talking to. I was reminded that I was not exactly the sweetest person in highschool.

Actually I found an old diary I had kept when I was 7 or 8. I don't think I was very nice then either. I really ragged on this girl named renee who lived on my street. Man, I wouldn't be my friend if I were you haha.

Here are some entries (there were only about 10 from 1991 to 1993)

December 27 1991: Santa brought me a posable cabbage patch kid
--yippee...what did I mean my posable? oh well
June 20 9192: My new brother David Michael was born he weighed 7 pounds 4 o.z.
--I liked my brother a lot (still do), but apparently I thought he was born some time in the future, about 7000 years from now
1993-07-19: Dear Diary, Renee is a big fat nerd [ouch, thats pretty harsh self]. Renee should have love with Screech because Zak is taken by me and Tanya
--that year I learned about periods and capitalization. I also started to watch Saved by the Bell. Later on in my diary I go on to make up a horribly unoriginal poem about Zack Moris [I had discovered the 'c' in his name but not the double 'r']

I then had a page that separated most people I knew into 'freinds' or not. I think it was pretty accurate. There was one entry that was obviously added later on. I must have really disliked the person at the time to bother going back to a diary I hadn't used in a long time and inserting their name.

More proof that I started life out as a jerk. We are a fallen people.

Can I collect unemployment?

The answer to that is an obvious no. Sometimes I question my choice to return to the soo for the summer. I really am happy to see my family and this will likely be the last extended stay at home (this is my wishful thinking that I will skip the move back in stage after school), but the employment prospects are looking about as bright as .... you know, things that aren't too bright. I haven't heard anything from my dad's work meaning I think I lost the lottery (yes, they choose interview candidates by lottery...how nice). Home Depot: nuthin. Banks: not hiring.

I felt inspired. I went to Canadian nanny and registered (ok, so i'm not exactly sherry bobbins but I like kids). Turns out no soo families are in need of a nanny. So I google "sault ste. marie jobs". Ok looks promising, there are two sites devoted to it. Oh wait, there is one listing? And its for an accountant? (an accountant i'm not). Oh the other site, wow 5 listings. March 1, 2006? Apparently I'm slightly behind.

Oh its not that bad. Just ranting. Actually the call centre is hiring. Luckily its the kind where they call you, not you call them. Its for those irate people who's cars break down on the side of the I-something-or-other in houston and press "onstar" only to get some canadian teen.

Chain Chain Chain

Change is afoot. Actually, it may have already been afoot and under foot and now its waiting in the bushes behind me. My reflexes just aren't too fast.
My mother came to get me. It was good to see her. It was also hard. We ended the semester with meat, ice cream and a salt solution (which may or may not have originated in the ducts on the lower eyelids). The drive home....not as excruciatingly long as one would have expected.
I learned a few things. Sudbury is somewhat of an ugly city. We cannot drive for 9 hours without feeling lost at least once (even though for most of the time, only one road leads north).

The conversation in the parking lot in front of Old Navy before we left Guelph:
Mom: oh, your dad was looking at one of those Toyota hybrid things. They want over $30 000 for them though.
Me: I thought dad wanted a truck. Is he not getting one anymore?
Mom: With gas prices the way they are, he won't be getting a truck any time soon.
Me: So he's keeping the green thing for a while? [green thing = 98 dodge stratus that once had its rear view mirror duct taped on with army duct tape]
Mom: well he just had it painted and its only 7 years old.
Me: oh, ok.

10 hours later (we detoured to the washroom, tim horton's, and costco so it was extended)
we arrive in the soo. The green thing in the driveway I opened the garage to put the van in and this mysterious vehicle just sat there.
me: who put their car in our garage?
mom: [smiles]

Thats right, I have a mobile of my own for the summer months. A 2005 grey toyota corolla. Cd player, air conditioning and a cigarrette lighter all for me. They're reasoning was that with my sister and I working all summer we needed a way to get around. However, she does not have her G2. And she won't before july with the way tests are booked. Sadly, it will not be accompanying me back to school. Its ok, I may have had a heart attack and a stroke at the same time if it was actually my car, so it was nice of them to think of my health.

I will be a painting my room as well. I came home to plastic sheeting on my bed and primer on the walls. It will be a nice start. Although, not unpacking anything I own for a week may be trying. It will be pear and a grey/green colour. We'll see how it goes.

I may have over done it at the library today. THe books aren't in front of me but its at least 9...possibly more.

Moving Day

Today has been a semi gooder. Last night Becky left, there were some tears. This morning our house went to Smitty's and just chilled.
Tip: if you're the only people in a restaurant you can order whatever you want and pay the 'special' price.
We moved Kirsten's inordinate amount of stuff. Right now i can't tell if I used 'inordinate' properly or not.
I have a new slang word: "Mungo". Said with a british accent it means something is "whack" or "uncool". Just wait, it will be on urbandictionary.com.

Actually, lets check if its already there. Yes actually it is. There is no concensus as to its true meaning though. A loser guy with no friends or "exceptionally large" or various others. I think that means I'm free to create an alternate meaning.

*edit*

I had a random memory today. I think it came while fighting the alarm clock today. I thought I would add it, but it doesn't deserve its own blog, I don't want to have two blogs in one day....at least not two pointless ones haha.

In grade 4 my friend Sarah made this snake (you cut a circle from a piece of paper and then cut in a spiral, its really ingenious) and made it green (ingenious again, i swear) and then she put a pink cape on him. We made up this song called "Rupert the Green Snake"
It went: Rupert, the green snake
He flies around in his pink cape
When he hears danger a callin
He won't fight, he'll use his noggin'
(to the "sound off, one two" type chant)

A good solid message about choosing smarts over violence. Think about it.

Techo-saavy

I may not be very computer literate in comparison to some of our genius friends BUT, today I altered the template HTML code for my blog to add a section for links. Now ppl can officially blogroll from my site!

Katie Needs....

I took this idea from Feth Bisher. You google your name + needs. I didn't want to copy a post but, i think i might have a winner. Straight from google:

• She needs help with feeding and drinking but she does manage to use the litter pan herself. Katie is making more and more of an effort to walk on her own
• Katie needs to "grow up" and give up the things of childhood.
• Katie needs a real man, not someone who believes in aliens
• Katie needs someone to coordinate performance groups anyone?
• Katie needs to consume at least (281.25 – 262.5) 18.75 more grams of carbohydrate
• No, Casey, the REAL question is what happens if Katie needs a C-section.
• Katie needs someone to teach her how to fix those lips. pale lips with dark lip liner is so ouuuutttt.
• Katie needs to wear something more Fox-ish.
• I think that Katie needs to step back and take a look at what her future with Tom will bring
• someone like Katie needs no last name
• Katie needs a new home. Katie needs new pants. Katie needs us. Katie needs to wear panty hose.

Thanks beth, i had a good laugh. Some i'll agree with. Lip liner with pale lips is out and i think i'll take the advice about the carbs. Thanks google

Earthworms

Earthworms are in the family Lumbricidae of the segmented worm phylum, Annelida. The scientific name for one common species is Lumbricus terrestris.

My thoughts on earthworms. It is raining today, and in early spring that means the (*gag*), smell of earthworms when you step out the door. Not to mention the nicely squished ones on the sidewalk.

I used to really like earthworms though. They are good for the soil. We had 9 gardens in Wawa and I would spend hours digging up the soil looking for the biggest worms. I had my own worm bucket. Boys couldn't scare me with worms, i loved worms! My favorite job in the garden was digging up the potatoes, and some great worms came with them.

At my grandmother's funeral, there was a board full of pictures of her doing the things that she loved to do when she still could. She was one feisty lady, I will never trek 10 km into the bush and shoot a moose, but she lived for it. One of our favorite pictures of her was taken early early in the morning after it rained. She would go outside in the yard and gather all the big juicy worms that came to the surface so that she could go fishing. Thats one way that she showed she loved her family, serving (yes, even with worms!)

Once, my aunt Tara, (my dad has 5 sisters younger than him, she is the oldest of the 5), found worms in the yard, rolled them in sugar, cut them up really small, fried them, and fed them to her little sister! Why didn't I think of that.....

the 86th post

I'm pretty happy about that. 86 posts. Since Winter 04...but oh well.
One of my favourite things to do is do something that I have never done before. It keeps life from being monotonous. Or at the least doing something that I do rarely. Today I had a spanish exam, thats rare right? Well besides the fact that it was fairly fun and I am even more spurred on towards my goal of bilingualism. But the real new thing today was that i bought a giant, dead, frozen bird and carried it home in my packsack. 7.202 kgs to be exact. Quite the investment, especially for a girl who, until a few years ago, violently fought against any mention of having to eat a *gasp* horrible turkey dinner.

An exercise in memory

Today I shall take a trip back into long ago. Cuando era nina....When I was a little girl....
I was realizing these last few days that I always call JK-12 Elementary School without fail, but lots of people call it Public School. I had never really heard that before and it sounds American to me. So it made me think about back in my elementary school days. Here is a year by year of my teachers and maybe a memory or two.

Jk-mrs. mersereau- I really liked her at the time. She made us call our bums "boom-zee-ays" (I like to think i'm quite the speller but this one alludes me, any ideas?). We had buckets on a shelf and each was filled with a different toy from those ANTZ to tiddlewinks, we would all sit in a cricle and she would dismiss us for bucket time. Me and Shannon would always run for either the tiny animals, or the buttons or....the ANTZ (i think, could be a fake memory), depending on our mood.

SK- same lady. Mrs. Babcock helped in our room. I remember we all once danced to La Bamba. Our class pet was a crab named sebastian that may or may not have been smuggled out of the dominican by someone who may or may not have looked like my dad.

Gr. 1 - Mrs Tremblay. We played math challenges, two teams, and she would fire math questions at us (what's 1 +2). The winning team always got these teeny tiny suckers...but they were so good. There was a girl who didn't have a great home life, and she wasn't fast at math, everyone secretly (or not so secretly) hoped not to be on her team. Kids are really mean.

Gr. 2 - Mrs. Ward. We leared via 'units' in this class. Mostly i liked colouring. Our units were Dr. Seuss, Apples (we went to the Valu-Mart and got to pick a free apple!), now..my memory fails me...rainforest? I"m grasping at straws. Oh yes, dinosaurs, thus began my obsession with becoming a paleontologist or archeologist.

Gr. 3 and 4 - they all blend together, Mrs. Parisee. Both times it was a split class. Our school was small. Her husband was my bowling coach (yes, you can snicker). Kaitlyn moved from White River this year. We would be on and off arch nemeses until I moved. She had a sweet farm-like place with pheasants, horses, chickens and donkeys. Her parents owned a small hotel, we got to have sleepovers in the hot tub room. I never met her mom, she was always away having chemo.

Gr. 5 ok now i really am having a hard time. There was a mrs. Desjardins in here somewhere. Shoot. She had a baby, she brought it in and its head was warped (i'm sure its fine now, it had just been through the trauma of birth) Mrs. I can't remember her name! took over.
She was nice, someone made her cry because she sang "Mighty Gitchie Manitou" to us and they laughed at her.
One of those ladies read us Island of the Blue Dolphins. I wont' ever forget that book

Gr. 6 - Mr. Kreps. First name 'Jorge' pronounced "Yorg". Favorite Saying "Lord love a duck!". Had a mighty comb over and drove a red sports car.

Gr. 7 -Mrs. Rody by morning, Mr. Kreps by afternoon. Mrs. Rody was the principal's wife. She had a hard time in the class with a few of the kids who had taken to throwing things or smoking things when stuff didn't go their way. She was even more uncomfortable with the topic of puberty as we pretended not to be.

Gr. 8 - Mr. Bumbacco (Stubbs). I moved to the soo. Big school, 4 times the size of my other one. Two grade 8 classes (had i been in Wawa, my presence would have given them 12 grads). He played "Good Riddance (Time of your life) by Green Day on the first day of school.

Well there you have it. That was probably way longer than I should tolerate but it was fun for me! Another little tidbit of information: if you have ever wondered where animosity and cultural insensitivity come from, go to Wawa. Ok that may not be true but my elementary school there was not only St. Joseph's School, it was Ecole St. Joseph. All that means to me is that there was a mysterious hallway that we couldn't go down and these 'alleged' french children who studied there. I bet they studied the same things as us (but in French). I'm not sure who decided this or which side incited the segregation but our recesses were at different times, we couldn't go on the French side of the playground (they had way better play equipment too!). I never saw them in the hallway, or talked to any of them during school hours. Or after I suppose.

Things on my Desk

I have a lot of things on my desk, luckily, a little bit of crowding doesn't really bother me! Here is what I have
-a valentine from Jacquie's mom
-glass
-a bowl that had my oatmeal this morning
-a purple tin bucket with pens in it
-speakers
-a finger puppet of my head
-3 hair elastics
-a pen and a pencil
-a drink umbrella (orange)
-3 rocks
-my peer helping evaluation
-white bead necklace and blue bead necklace
-a rent receipt from Sifton (wait, my mom needs that by April 30th for my taxes...)
-random notes to myself
-my birth certificate
-passport application
-4 cds
other crap covered by the above crap
-a second drink umbrella (yellow)

So if you can tell what a person is like by what they keep on their desk, ..... I got nothing. I already know the truth.

Little Reminder

Tonight was a little reminder that my actions affect others. It was also a reminder that I still have a long way to go but that it gives me something to work on.
I'm anal. Let's just get that out there. Depending on the situation you know me from i'm either "katie from marketing", happy go-lucky, totally lax. Or, anal, wound up, snob. Hm, one of those images is not something i want to portray. Perhaps the second one is a tad exaggerated. But it reflects me and school. I value school a lot and I value my marks. Lately I have been stressed about everything that is due this week and not being able to work on it because they are all group assignments.
So i did what I always do. I started on my own. When the group met for the first time I already had my little plan and outline and direction. I didnt' even think about it until tonight, when there was a flow chart that needed to be done and I thought i wasn't being clear enough (again, I wasn't being clear enough, because of course, I need to explain everything and not let others just do their work) so I just started to do it myself....and then finished. I then wisked it off to the group member not thinking anything.
Wrong. She was really hurt and rightfully so. I had done something that wasn't mine to do. She (and possibly the rest of the group) had felt like she didn't have a place in the group and was feeling like she was slacking. And here I was thinking that I hadn't done enough yet.

I need to just relax and trust people. All my group members are solid, hardworking students.
This is an area that I've always struggled with but it didn't usually matter because people just let me do everything. I need to be rebuked when I do this. I am thankful that she did so. These are not qualities of a good leader. I want to edify the Body and to create an atmosphere as an upper year student where the gifts of others can grow and foster.

Tomorrow is my CNS evaluation. I hear what both my supervisors and my peers all think about me. I've spoken to two people after their evals and neither were extraodinarily happy. I am praying for a good attitude and an openness to constructive criticism.

perpetually unfinished

The title is a lot deeper than this post. I am in one of those ruts in school right now where i keep starting endless school assignments but not being able to put the last touches on any of them. Not a very good feeling. I calculated that I still have to make up approximately 300% of my possible 500% in my 5 classes in the next month. That is pressure. But then again, who thinks like that?
The closer the summer gets the more i can smell all the things I want to get done. I wonder how many of them I will actually accomplish. Like finding a job...oh wait, you have to apply for those.

But amidst all of my fantasies of appendicitis I experienced the peace of God. Ashley was reading to me a quote from the introduction to Donald Miller's new book. It was about the importance of living life, building relationships and prioritizing. I have heard things like this a lot but this time I guess I was open to it. I actually believed that I am not a sum of my grades (ok this could change when I actually get the grades back), there are worse things than 70s and I can be happy with the choices I have made this semester. Whew. At least I can sleep tonight.

A day to remember

One minute. 11:59. 12:00. Its all over, and it was a day worth remembering. If the first day is any indication, 21 will be a good year. Thanks to every single person who took the time to say Happy Birthday, or would have, had they known it was my birthday.

I feel like a recap is in order since I do not want to forget this day. Woke up: 7:20ish. Great mood. Usual morning things. Parents called. I found a card from Cathy in my food cupboard with monkeys on it and some candy...sweet. Ate some oatmeal. Great breakfast food. First class, Econ, boring. Met with a friend, she wanted a Case for Christ. Alex Wong treated to Bob's Dogs. It was a fantastic dog/sausage. Sat with some cool people in operations management. Ashley told Tom it was my birthday but he said nothing so I thought I was safe. Needless to say he found a way to run to the back of Roz 104 and have the whole class sing to me. Even better. After class he yelled up to the back of the room "What are you doing for your birthday tonight?". How could I answer but honestly "Leading my Bible Study" hee hee. Chill time in the office, I love those people.

Meet Becky at the Keg, 230 pm. Salt, lemon and no i.d.? At least we broke university policy! Scavenger hunt. The creepo on the 2nd floor of the library, Tim Fraser says "What the h*** am I doing drinking in L/A, I'm feeling warm and toasty" (its a song, Bran Van 3000). Saw some great peeps, including a miss Meredith Brown that sported an outfit in honour of me. I hope she was more trying to capture my 'essence' than my actual style....or maybe i do wear pink lipstick and butter yellow puffy-sleaved coats.
Chill time in the clubs office. Trip to the Aqualab. Held a starfish, whose stomach popped? Held a sand dollar. Pet some sweet fish. I hate lobsters, that is decided. "Surprise" trip to DQ, squashed into every last possible inch on the bus. Ate cake, ince cream, oreo goodness with people I love. Opened my package from the parents, 21 things for me on my 21st birthday. Sooo much food.

Chill with the housies. DG. Sang happy bday, got a card, talked about God with some of the most awesomest girls on campus. Always worth the trek to campus at 10pm.

This was more for me than anyone else. If you took part in this fantastic day, thank you so much. I still have all my birthday bombs too....I guess I rang this one in slightly differently than last year, no shopping carts...but just as special.

Pray that my love for the Lord would only grow stronger in this next year.

10 minutes and counting

My birthday began 10 minutes ago. I have received 3 wishes of goodwill on said day at 12pm, 12pm and 1201pm...very punctual and thoughtful people. I even received an early one on March 22nd, but I took it anyway.
I realized today that I could start counting my life in decades. I am IN my 20s, not teetering on the edge but actually inside.
Wow, so right there i took a break and went to the bathroom (more information than you needed but keep reading, there is a point). I walked into my room and ashley pops up out of my bed and yells HAPPY BIRTHDAY....honestly i thought i was going to crap my pants. No one has made me jump that high in a while. So thats well-wisher number 4.
Tomorrow I get to pick up my birthday package from my parents. Apparently its 2feetx1.5x1.5 but light...who knows. The hint: 21 things...like Gilmore Girls. Man, I haven't seen that episode, so in the dark I will remain.

I wanted to say something profound on this day but nothing is coming to me. I realized that I had posters of Salt N-Peppa from Teen Beat magazine in my room about 10 years ago. I think that means I'm old.

My Birthday is coming and the goose is getting fat...

So less than one week until my long-awaited 21st birthday. Long-awaited by myself at least. Ever since last year when I had the blessing of celebrating it with 4 other great people whose parents happened to go on a weekend away around the same time I have been waiting for another chance.
This year promises to be even better, with even more birthdays.
I am a little saddened though. I am trying to understand why some of the other birthday people are not as excited for the mega party as I am. Its hard, you see, my birthday would feel lacking if those people chose not to come, however, they may feel that going to the party would actually detract from their big day. Its a difficult compromise. It is a good exercise for me to try to see things from other people's view. Wow, that was so vague....I just want to have the second best birthday ever (last year was THAT good, I just don't want to get my hopes up about topping it).
My first Ontarion article came out this past week. I dont' feel any more like a journalist. Maybe it will take some time to sink in. I wonder if Jay Ingram is going to read it....

Excited

Excited, exciting, and other variations of 'excite' are now the word(s) of tha day. I can't tell you how many times I used that word today, and I meant it every single time. I also laughed a lot today. Silas, I think i told about 10 people your stick story...maybe everything is funnier when I'm sick but man, i laughed everytime. I find things are funnier if you try to picture it in your head at the same time.
God came through today too, it was really exciting (see, there it is again). Some of us had gone to an event in rez that looked like it would not be glorifying to God, actually it would be totally abhorrent to him. And when we got there, no students had showed. God is sovereign.
My article came out in the Ontarion today...first one! This may start a long and painful journalism career, who knows? I went to the meeting tonight for the volunteers too. I took a CD. As long as I write a review I can keep it. Sadly, its no good, (although, this is after a first listen and i don't usually like anything after a first listen). I wanted to say nice things...now i'm not sure my vocabularly is extensive enough to properly convey its suckishness; this is where my creativity comes in.
Very very very much looking forward to my birthday and the monster joint party. Highlight of my semester (or is anticipated to be).

I've been talking about you all night

An interesting way to start an msn conversation. But I ran with it. Turns out that one of my friends from back home works with a guy that I went to elementary school with in Wawa. That is really exciting to me since I only have one other person I talk to (about 3 times a year) from Wawa. Although, my Wawa friend probably saw me at my nerdiest...little Katie V. with chubby cheeks, freckles and big round glasses...oy, grade 2...and 3 and 4. Ok 5. Being in Belleville with Becky, one of those people who always went to the same school with the same people, really made me sad that I didn't have that.

Last night was great. Last night being College Royal of course. Everyone looked amazing. I'll second Shelly on the fact that it was so much fun, but most of it was spent making up crazy dances and hoping no one remembers what you were doing (which likely they won't since they were doing the same thing). Big shout out to all the guys who came and who danced the night away. Actually, i was really impressed. No sitting on the sidelines during the fast stuff, no whining or standing awkwardly and bobbing...no, there was full out dancing. Some of it was really bad. But so was mine. And I appreciate bad dancing far more than sitting out. So big props.

One observation though. I would love some feedback on this, and it isn't directed at anyone in particular. Its just that, are guys terrified of asking a girl to dance? If I had been with any other group of friends I think the guys would have asked the girls to dance. Its not that they have to. But i noticed that they would dance with girls who were already taken.
So that makes me ask the question, is it shyness, they don't want to show favouritism or is it that they are (and I suppose the word arrogant could be used in this situation) afraid that any girl they ask will not be able to control herself and fall madly in love with them on the spot, and then...that would be awkward.

Hopefully that wasn't too harsh. Just a question from a girl who admits, she doesn't have dudes all figured out.

Good (Solid) night

Tonight was good. I almost didn't go to CCC. Not really sure why, no good reason. Glad I did. The talk about having good devos...very thought-provoking, challenging and then all-round encouraging. Tonight was good. I felt like I really belonged there, with those people. Or just belonged, period.

Jay Ingram

I just interviewed Jay Ingram, the host of the Daily Planet. Thats right, a real celebrity. Ok, I was excited. He was a little intimidating at first and since I'm a little high strung as it is (or a lot) i had a little freak out before he showed. At least my friend got a kick out of it. He turned out to be really nice, a personable type guy. A little on the short side. He put his feet up on the chair beside him when giving the interview...I liked that. I think I'll keep that in mind when I'm giving interviews in the future.

Blogs and PDA

I'm in the library. Other than to buy a cookie, and to buy a tuna sandwich (i'll write about the perils of purchasing tuna in a library another time) and to pee twice (or was that three times?) my position has changed little since 1pm. It is now 8:54. I am writing a paper about blogs...more specifically blogs as a marketing tool. I'm a marketing tool...but again, another post. This has now been four solid (well, relatively) days of reading about blogs. I can't believe it but I am actually finding this interesting. The hardest part is not knowing whether all this work is even creating something the professor will accept. The instructions: Write something, 4-6 pages. Gee whiz, is it a report or an essay? What style? Meh, who knows.
Not only have a come to the stage of writing what I think and then looking for articles to support it my new strategy to make the paper go faster is to play spider solitaire and blog.
Across from me is probably the largest display of PDA (public display of affection) I have witnessed recently. Ok PDA might not be exactly write...there was little in the way of actually groping but nonetheless the 'cuteness' level is nauseating (or is that the tuna?). 4 kisses. Thats what you get, apparently, if you eye is twitching. 2 on the cheek for just being you...aw.

Haha, I hope its the paper thats making me bitter but I'm sure we're up to 37 smooches in 2 hours...thats .267 kisses per minute. Someone get me another cookie....

~EDIT~

About 15 seconds after I published this post someone sat down at the computer next to me with one of those McCain deep dish chocolate freezer cake things. The whole thing. I was about 3 seconds away from making a new friend. But I suppose I have my pride. I like what Becky said, "its like you're in a big dream". Yeah it feels almost surreal to be barely conscious, writing a paper that as of yet has no purpose with PDA boy over there and massive cake girl over here...Now all i need it Pacman and the Ghost to go running through here. Wait, if this is a dream then I can do anything I want and I'll just wake up with a strange unnerving sense that I can't quite put my finger on......maybe i will go get that cake

Changin' it up

I looked at my blog today and realized the lack of defined 'areas' on it and separations between each section was not satisfactory. I think I like this one better.

The next book I plan to read is "Theatre of the Mind" by Jay Ingram. From what I can gather it is loosely based on the idea of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. The mind is a fascinating thing so hopefully I can get my hands on this book. The author is the host of Daily Planet on the Discovery Channel....a great show. Ps. Anyone watch the show or know who J. Ingram is?

another method of procrastination

In the library now, hoping to take out Jay Ingram's new book and researching for my advertising paper due on Tuesday. The library didn't have the book and I haven't found many articles (for lack of trying) BUT I have learned about this website www.43things.com. I'm obsessed...yet another venue to siphon my time between. It resembles a blog site however the main focus is goals...anything as big as going to the moon and as small as seeing the northern lights. You can add as many goals as you want and see if who is trying to do the same thing. You can blog about your progress and check off things once you have completed them. I think I want it for the rewarding check mark of finishing something....having the label "has compeleted 12 things...." Maybe i'll post something like Goal: to eat cheese tomorrow just to get the excitement of ticking it off....

Learning about failure

This blog is somewhat preemptive. I had three midterms yesterday (one scheduled, one rescheduled from before reading week....oh snow day...and one surprise one). They got progressively better as the day continued. It was difficult to write two more midterms after I got owned by the first one. Hence the lesson. There is a very real possiblity that I 'earned' less than a 60% on my economics midterm. I had thoroughly planned to finish university with a solid average above 80. Then came this class. I guess this is meant ot be a lesson, not to find my worth in grades and school, to define myself by Christ and not my accomplishments....I just don't want it to be this way. I needed to blog about this since the memorable events in my life should be captured on something as secure (sigh...) as the world wide web for years to come.

Integration

As of today I have successfully integrated tofu into my diet. I am trying to expand my repertoire of "good-for-me-foods" I eat regularly. Since I have a spongy brick of the soy paste in the fridge I would say its here to stay. Actually I really enjoyed the texture of the extra firm tofu. I never thought I would be converted. Thats two healthies in one week since I recently became a Hummus addict and even created my own mushed chickpea concoction of edible proportions. Another fairly recent addition is natural peanut butter. I will never go back now. While its all fine and dandy that I like these new foods I think the next goal may be to shorten the number of 'crap-foods' i enjoy regularly. Next on the integration list....I'm open to suggestions. I'm thinking maybe fish, but i dont' know if i'm that daring.

Where the French Are

Back in Guelph and feeling less and less bilingual. I have now officially been in 3 provinces, my most recent excursion being to Montreal, Quebec. I spent three days there with Becky, Christine and Lisa in the aparment of a Montreal CCC staff. Big thanks to her for sharing her apartment for two with an additional 4 people and a clogged toilet. It is a gorgeous city, with incredible shopping. Half price shoes? I'm there! Our day spent in Old Montreal was fantastic as we browsed art galleries with all types and styles of art. Some of it just drew me into the colours and the flow of it. I recommend checking out Claude Bonneau, excellent usage of line and just a few colours.
I was introduced to the kicked-in-the-shins reality that the Canadian public school system has failed me; I am entirely monoligual and can no longer hold onto the illusion that I can make myself understood in french. While I was successfully taught basic verb conjugations and a disproportionately large number of nouns, the ability to string them together in a coherent thought has alluded me. Hopefully this experience will further increase my drive to become fluent in Spanish and fulfill my dream of being bilingual. A grammar wiz in two languages?
PS. The notre Dame cathedral was amazing. Gorgeous and ornate beyond what I could have guessed. Its so sad the state of the actual churh, the Body of Christ in Montreal. A beautiful church like that goes half-ful at best on most Sundays of the year.
With all that traveling I still found time to endlessly go over the pros and cons of a second undergrad in the near future. My biggest fears of money and age have be somewhat alleviated over the past few days, I dont' mind finishing my masters at 30, who cares if all I own by that time is a laptop, a good suit and some crackers when I finish? This would be a good chance to learn about storing up treasures in heaven and having an eternal perspective....

A day to remember

Only the second school closer in the history of the University of Guelph and I got to benefit from it! I had one midterm and two assignments today so the excitement of the day was not lost on me. Geekily, I still trekked to the school at 9am to hand in two assignments that were creating a burden on my heart. It paid off as my professors were thoroughly impressed with my concern for punctuality; 10 Brownie points! Basically this is a sign-out. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I will be swept away to Belleville and on Sunday make the harrowing journey to Montreal where I will enjoy the richness of Quebecois culture. Have a wonderful break!

Wasting Away

Today I had my first leaders DG, and let me say, shout out to a really great bunch of girls. I had a great time discussing the word and sinus infections with all of you! We did the inductive study for 1 Thessalonians 3. One thing we really got hinged on was v.5 (i think or one near it, i'm really full so i won't bend over to get my Bible). It (paraphrased) Paul saying he had heard they were strong in their faith and he was overjoyed because it meant that their work hadn't been useless.
Useless? Wow, thats a pretty dramatic statement. (He can be a pretty dramatic, black and white kinda guy). Can our efforts really ever be useless, for nothing? If we take the time to invest in someone and they fell away tomorrow, or in a year or in 30 years, would we see that as effort wasted? I don't know, we are encouraged to believe that God will use every thing we do for the kingdom and I do think he works through us. It does put an importance on being prayerful and careful about who we choose to invest our time in.
That got us talking too....when it comes to initiative evangelism, do we always pick the 'safe' people. The ones who look like us, who seem quiet, maybe not as opinionated, the bookish white girl? I think I do. I'll zero in on the safe person, the one I think I can relate, who's toes I won't be stepping on as much. Still thinking about it.....

Going a little deeper

Two in one day? yes, sad but true. This is just an exerpt from a conversation I had today.

"i mean you envy other people, and it must be because some part of me actually believes I will get to be someone else....it frees us from the responsibility of this life, of being us"

Talking about conviction from last night, and how at least me and this one other lady, have a small part of us that hold out for the day when we get to be someone else, when all of our envying and jealousy and cattiness pays off.

A future worship-team leader!

It is true, I held, for just a few hours, a tantalizing spot on the worship team. My career as a soloist started *innocently* enough pulling a prank; a harmless prank really. Somehow it resulted in me singing Amazing Grace (on key nonetheless, which was most surprising to me!) into a answering machine. This is my official thank you but I regretfully (?) must refuse the offer to be trained up as the next worship leader. I have other passions in my life and I just do not have the time to commit to it.

Green-Eyed Monster

I was convicted today of being a ravenous monster with my time. Maybe that was for effect but to be completely honest, I value my time highly and I am often wary of parting with it. But I see you in the clubs office! Yes, thats true. That really hit me where my priorities are. I have friends in other things I'm involved in, but to just sit and chill, I'll always veer for the clubs office. I don't see myself living out my faith because I am greedy. God has given me time, given me life, and I should be using it for His glory. Hopefully this isn't a one day revelation. Lord, keep convicting me.