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.

I luv Language structure, don't u?

This week has been one of a little self reflection and finally productive splat in a drawn out process of finding a passion and wondering what in the world I will be doing when I graduate and (maybe) start my real life. Over the last few years I have grown more and more into a love for language and linguistics. Which got me thinking, why not do my second undergrad in that? One thing that holds me back is that I don't want to pay for another undergrad, of slightly less importance, an issue of pride.
Throughout school I always had great marks in math and science, people said smothering things like "She's the next Prime Minister" (ok, I get the "encourage the child" but what?) or "Maybe you'll be a Neurosurgeon". I bought into it all and now I still have pangs of failure whenever I realize that I'm not either of those things. Somewhere in highschool I lost myself and lost my goals and my passions and I am still finding my way out. I have this part of me that needs to prove myself by taking some ridiculously difficult degree. But linguistics, now there is something to be passionate about!
I found a way to spend two semesters in Spain (or Mexico) once I finish my 4 years at Guelph. It would be without the pressure of taking 5 classes (just 3 per semester!) and plenty of time to travel, not to mention my life dream to become bilingual (geeky? likely)

Which directs me to one of my favorite books. I have read this book twice and I NEVER read books twice. It is called "Spoken Here" by Mark Abley. It explores languages that are threatened and endangered. Languages like Yuchi that have only 13 fluent speakers left, all over 70. One of the most fascinating things about the language is that there is "man talk" and "woman talk". Not hockey vs. nail painting but actually different words for the same things depending on whether the speaker is male or female!
There is also a tribe in Australia that does not have a separate word for blue or green (just one word) because they don't distinguish between the two, but have 5 words for yellow! What we call yellow would actually 5 very distinct colours to these people....

This is getting long, read the book, inevitably I'll indulge myself with some reading tonight and mention a few more facts tomorrow!

A new month, Hello FebRuary

Lets just say that February 2006 unintentionally started earlier than most days. I awoke at 5am, only to find that I would not be sleeping any longer. As ridiculously early as it was, I am thankful for that time, it gave me a chance to spend a little extra time in the word and prayer. I ate breakfast earlier than my eyes usually open and my tummy unexpectedly accepted the food offering of oats and apple-goodness without complaint.
Out the door I made it to prayer, sort of. I happened to be the only one, fair enough, I think Wednesday morning prayer is now a relic so I had yet more time with God (ok and the cool map, i love maps...and my eyelids)
Groggily I sped to my first class in MACS to watch a video about a fancy pants British hotel and how they do ensure quality. My free paper went unread until later, with the face of the now late Corretta Scott King staring off to my right. My Spanish class was enjoyable as usual, where i learned to destinguish between "I am falling down" (ya me caigo) and "I am crapping myself" (yo me cago)....at least that prof really looks out for us students.
Promptly i proceeded to the Cherry grey bus to ride (freely) to RIM for a job fair. Nothing of note except I got lots of free pens, chips and m&ms...most of which I ate on the free bus ride back.
I then had some time to chill in the Clubs office...great place. DG was good today, we looked at James and the concept of trial. How the ultimate goal of it is not perseverence but to Glorify God through perseverence that leads to spiritual maturity. Are all trials suffering? I wouldn't say so, challenging yes, not always suffering. Shout Out, my girls are great!
Project night was tonight with a wonderful turnout. Although my crappy jokes were an expected bust I enjoyed emcee'ing. I would never win any awards for it but since it happened to be the first time I did something in front of a group that mattered without feeling nervous I'll give it a "S" for satisfactory...or snake. Free pizza helped too.

I also, to my shame, watched an hour and a half of TV tonight. I have two channels (only two channels!) and it has sucked me in. What a waste...well the half hour of a American Idol was worth it.

There...my day, I just typed some notes, did some personal admin stuff and into my 18th hour of consciousness I bid you adieu. I promise never to talk about my day as indepth as that again.

And its Friday

Not going to lie, this week has been a bit stressful. The worst part is that I was letting it get the best of me and not turning to God for his guidance and support as much as i should have been. Thats a bad habit of mine, turning to other people or inward before taking it to God.
I have some major big group projects for some of my classes and I think i was letting the fact that they are coming together slowly get to me. Patience I would say is the thing that I have been convicted of again and again but still need to wake up every day and just ask God to help me through the day.

The future, another point that i'm excited for but nervous. I cannot see yet where God is taking me or leading me...I think this semester it finally hit me that I will not be at Guelph forever.
Some things I want to do after school:
-more school! (another undergrad...linguisitics? nutrition? who knows!)
-I want to be a master of something! (just not marketing....)
-spend 6 months to a year in a spanish speaking country (porque deseo que hablar espanol)
-do an internship with CCC (either at HQ or on campus...UBC? Calgary? Dalhousie?)
I am so blessed with all of these options, but which is the right one? Hmmm.

So life goes on. I filled out Becky's peer review last night to submit so she can go to OEX. Pray for her, this is exciting stuff!

Sarah Primmer is here!!!!!!

short winded

Oh my, I owe anyone who ever tried to read my blog and gave up because of the length...what was i thinking? Express your self (in the words of Madonna) in a more concise way, self! Honestly, if someone else's blog is ridiculously long, do i read it? No, well i skim. So I do not expect others to read mine past the billionth line. So today I bought a suit, no warning, nothing I jsut found one I love and I bought it. Its about time, i'm almost 21 and I'm in commerce whether I like it or not so I should own a suit. I'll call it my power suit and start saying things like "Be all that you can be" and "Don't take no for an answer" and "Show them what you've got". I think that sounds powerful.

Prejudices....part 2?

I hadn't realized that my last post was January 1st, I had intended to be a deep and truthful look at my own prejudices that I carry around with me. I did spend a few days reflecting on what I believe about other people but in the end I forgot about it. THe conclusion I came to is that, likely, I'm a racist.
I tired just now to write a blog entry about why i think this and how I'm not actually a racist (and really, I'm not but I have been more aware of my own personal beliefs, attitudes ) but the conclusion that maybe I'm not as perfectly open and accepting as I think I am and not free from stereotypes like I would prefer to believe. Maybe I'm wrong but as a white person maybe I'm uncomfortable with race. Or maybe I'm too comfortable. I have yet to find that balance between love and PC. Comments I make that maybe I would never think twice about affect others in ways even they don't realize (or they do and don't tell me). How flippant can we be about race? Is it really just all fun and games when a large group of one ethnicity (we'll go with white for now) is sitting around and one person that is a minority (at least in that setting) has their race brought up time and time again in ways that are not overtly demeaning or rude and we all joke or talk together about it? I don't know the answer to that.
It always seems justifiable because I say to myself that if I was in the same situation in reverse (ie. the only whitey) we could laugh about being white until the cows come home (is that a long time?) and I wouldn't care. But honestly...how would i know? I've never been there? And I'm not talking one time, maybe after the 37th time it makes a difference and behind my laugh I'd be a little sad and lonely.
Obviously I have no answers to this and I touched on race because of the Crash movie but prejudices are everywhere. Also, black, white, Cuban or asian (little shout out to will smith) we are all God's creation.
On a totally different note I just quit my job at the Frills (no male cashiers there by the way, out of about 40) I can't believe it but I'm a little sad. That will fade once I realize I have those evenings back, they're all mine! hahahahaha.
Another shout out, Lisa, a friend and suitemate from Calgary project this summer surpirsed me with a little visit yesterday. It was great to see her (you, if you're reading it Lisa) since it had been since August! Thats liek my whole life! We went to the Carden Street Cafe, which I would recommend, maybe save an evening visit for a one year anniversary.

Prejudices: Part 1

I watched Crash the other day, a little over the top but it still made me think. Do I harbour any hidden biases on the basis of race (or any other trait for that matter)? Is it because my father often rants about the 'indians getting hand-outs' in Canada (he really is a great guy, but he has his political opinions), is it the fact that I was raised in a predominately middle-class, white environment, or maybe i'm just crazy. I started by googling racism (not to be confused with 'gizoogling'). I guess this is a topic I'll explore for a while; maybe I will reflect on some of these quotes.

"Education is the process of driving a set of prejudices down your throat."
--Martin Henry Fischer
"Most men, when they think they are thinking, are merely rearanging their prejudices."
-- Knute Rockne
(I am assuming that the above is refering to women as well but I could be wrong...)

"One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring."
-- H. L. Mencken

"The latter part of a wise person's life is occupied with curing the follies, prejudices and false opinions they contracted earlier."
-- Jonathan Swift


"I have no color prejudices nor caste prejudices nor creed prejudices. All I care to know is that a man is a human being, and that is enough for me; he can't be any worse. "
--Mark Twain
(I Just like the way he said this, we're all human and all fallen)

"Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices - just recognize them."
--Edward R. Murrow
(Some people think there is no changing our ways. I think on our own this is entirely true; we should still strive to be like Christ and he can change even our ingrained prejudices if he chooses)

One last quote, I think it especially means something being at University (slash being at Guelph) and hearing the noble proclamations of tolerance and acceptance.
"There are a lot of people who like to think they don't have prejudices and that they're open people, and yet, we all have that in ourselves, oftentimes against people of our own race or our own gender or whatever."
-- Jim McKay

One year Anniversary

Of my blog and I! Who knew it would last a whole year? There were a few rocky patches in the middle, I had to travel a few times but we made it against all odds. I think our song will be the Shania Twain song "They Said". For Christmas I am learning HTML so I can give my blog some stylish new duds. Merry Christmas eve all!

Will that be two Masters or one?

I just read Luke 16. It talks about money and how someone who is trustworthy with little will be trustworthy with more and the opposite being true as well. Christ also states how we cannot serve two masters, either God or money, not both. Well it seems obvious enough, all money is God's anyway. I want to serve the Lord all my days. But do I act like it? Not gonna lie, I worry about money. Too much. I am thinking about doing another undergrad after this. The problem? I will have to do it solo, no parents. Oh no. What is my problem? If that will get me where Christ wants me, where I can best serve...uh, he'll provide it. I can't join staff (don't even start with me, i mean headquarters not campus anyway) I'd have to raise so much money, ah! Uh, he'll provide it. What is my problem. Lord, I want so badly to be in your will. Don't let my attitude towards money get in the way.

Possibly pathetic

The title refers to my new found home. I spend about 1 hour a week (maybe) at the McLaughlin Library in Guelph during school and I have now spent over 5 hours at the Sault Ste. Marie public library in the last two days. Ok mostly today, got there around noon, parked my keister after a quick trip through the reference section breaking only for the occasional bathroom trip and to purchase some National Geographics. There is something about NG, even when it was published over 20 years ago and wholly irrelevant today, that I just cannot pass up. Today I learned about American and Western Samoa...in 1985. Maybe I'll take the time to find out how the islands are doing today.
In the library today I solely missed the little uncomfortable cubicles and the main floor sitting area with the nice black chairs. Although much cushier, the green mini-sofas (it seemed appropriate to use sofa and not couch in this context) just weren' the same. It may have had something to do with the fact that the sitting area could hold, at its maximum capacity, about 18 people. I think I have grown used to disappearing in a crowd at the school and have quite enjoyed my anonymity in a black chair (or cubicle) amid a sea of other similar looking students doing similar things in their own similar chairs.
So what am I reading is probably where I was going with this. I checked out some books yesterday and started on a few of them. One by Max Lucado, Being Just like Jesus (or soemthing to that affect), while slightly anecdotal/sermon-y the message is good. I think the tag line is "God loves us just the way we are but too much to let us stay that way". I was definitely challenged right off the bat to consider what my life might look like if I lived it with Christ's heart. Not easy (although completely expected) to admit that it would be pretty much wholly different. More on that as the book continues I suppose.
Today in the library I learned about food additives (if using orange zest in food choose a California grown orange because Florida oranges are only the colour of their name due to a harmful dye used in the ripening process), the Commonwealth, the History of Medicine and few other choice topics. Hopefully I keep up the reading, I think this past semester has been literature deprived.

For You...

A thousand times over. That sentence right now gives me chills. I have learned so much just from it I may not be able to describe how much. On my 8 1/2 hour bus ride home (uneventful, a little fun, thanks for asking) I read The Kite Runner. It felt so good just to read, never mind an amazing story of unconditional agape love, loyalty, sacrifice, forgiveness and a little international politics. I must admit to not being a person who typically gains more from a book than just a good read, life lessons, not something I look for. I don't think I could avoid it with this.
The story is of a young boy, Amir, growing up in the 70s in Afganistan when it was rising up to resemble a modern society. His father was a well-known and respected business man, a stoic man who valued pride and a widower since Amir was born. There was always a rift between literature-loving Amir and his athletic, 'manly' father. On their estate lived a father and son who were known as Hazaras and considered subhuman by most of the afghan culture. They lived in a mud hut and worked as servants in Amir's home. When off duty, the young Hazara boy, Hassan and Amir were best friends and grew up together.
I can't give away much more, I actually wished I hadn't even read the back cover of the book before reading it because it just gives away too much. This must be read for yourself.
Little Hassan loved his friend Amir completely unconditionally, while Amir, in trying to find himself, often took out his frustrations on Hassan. What got me is that Hassan would always say "For you, a thousand times over" whenever Amir asked something of him. I can just picture Christ saying that to us, to me again and again. If we could only understand how completely he loves us. I mean, a thousand times over isn't even close to the number of times Christ has forgiven me and will forgive me. A thousand times over. Do I challenge this devotion every time I choose to sin and essentially spit in his face? It just killed me to know that He will just take it and then when I come and ask for forgiveness Christ just says "For you...". Wow. Maybe I"m way off, but thats how I feel. I can't even tell you most of what I learned without giving away the book!
Its a must read, and when you do I would love to talk about it!

Saying goodbyes

This, my friends, is a shout out to the group of wonderful girls I have had the priviledge of living with for the past semester. Mere, Christina and Katrina, thank you for all the random moments and the not so random ones. Katrina is mostly one of the most talented people I have ever met and I think the most downright open and honest about how she is feeling. Since feelings are still not my forte I have learned so much from her....and should probably learn even more. Meredith is so incredibly creative I love it. She knows how to make the dullest things ridiculously fun. Christina, oh Christina. Didn't even think I would meet her until mid semester since she was always up in the air when I first moved in. Actually in the air, as a flight attendant. She is one of the most fascinating people ever, I must say that I would give quite a few things to be half as adventurous as her.

Tonight was family Christmas, as we prepare to say goodbye. I will be returning to a house full of other wonderful ladies next semester. We spent hours (yeah i think more than one hour) decorating gingerbread men and a house. After a few trials and errors it turned out pretty nice. Dont' use margarine in icing, it won't harden! I think the most fun was creating our gingerbread fauna, creating personalities for them and taking them for a photo shoot with the samaritan's purse catalog (which i recommend by the way, great organization, don't know what to get someone? Give a family in africa some chickens in their name...woot woot). I made angsty teenage Gabe with a blue mohawk and sweet silver belt and girlfriend Lucinda with a sweet off the shoulder top. Katrina won the award for best work with a headless person, Christina created open-heart-surgery man and mere made some sort of little scottish gremlin...hmm.

Get to know those girls if you have the chance....I highly recommend

Revival?

Today was Sunday. While I have to admit that I worked on the Sabbath it was still a great day. I stayed at Becky's last night to spend some time with some wonderful girls from Western, veronica and hannah! Of course a big Congrats is needed for Lauren and Trevor for their engagement. Definitely one of the most Christ-centered couples I have met, muchos blessings on you guys....you're in my prayers.
What really got me today was the sermon in church today and the recent results from Porn Nation. So, Porn Nation has now come and gone but I don't think it did so without making waves. While it was probably the smallest for turn out for any event we have had God worked in incredible ways. Michael Leahy presented the gospel and I would guess 85% of people stayed for it. I have never heard anyone tell such a large group of students about a personal relationship with Christ in such a real, honest way. I know that even if some people only sat there to be polite they heard something that could someday save their lives.
Praise report though: 10 people from Guelph and 14 from the other two schools accepted Christ at the talk. I can't even describe how fantastic that is. So humbling.

Then today, Pastor Dave was talking about the year of Jubilee and how it was a time every 49 years (I think?) where God rights injustices, prospers land, returns land to who it belongs to, rights wrongs. It is a time of revival. The scripture he used is Is. 49:8-13, 61:1-2 and Luke 3:14-21. One of the most amazing things were the stories of revival happening within the last 100 years. When I say revival I don't mean just quite a few people coming to Christ at a time but full out, God's Spirit making the presence of the LIVING GOD known to everyone in that area. There was an area in Ireland in the 1930s that revival happened in and thousands and thousands of people knew the presence of God, they were 'alive to the awareness of God". How cool is that? Crime plummeted, talk of Christ was everywhere...all aspects of life were changed by God's Spirit.

Thats what I want to see in Guelph! God can do that, we just have to pray! We also need to be a in a place where all the glory will go to God. We cannot change hearts. But we can be used!

lets not get kicked off

This is a quick blog, a sanity blog lets call it. I needed a few minutes away from my notes about how to retain customers and get them to use self-service technologies....I am still not sure how this will be relevant for the Kingdom of God but I sure want to be used! Anyway, tomorrow is the big day, the unveiling of Pornnation. It is this speaker from the US who expereinced the loss of almost everything dear to him because of his addiction to pornography. There is lots ot do but I have a great team and a great God on my side. Hopefully my ambition to continue updating on the event (Nov. 17th!--pncanada.com--check it out!) won't wear out once i don't have to study any longer.

A test

Here is my pet (or its supposed to be a pet). I was inspired to name him this after studying Spanish for one day. It is pronounced A-sool...he is touchy about that.

[url=http://bunnyherolabs.com/adopt/showpet.php?b=bWM9aGVkZ2Vob2cuc3dmJmNscj0weDFlOThiZSZjbj1henVsJmFuPWthdGll][img]

the first week: a reflection

Well its mid first week and wait a second...I'm in Guelph....oh wait and I'm still in Marketing...with a minor adjustment...no coop. Thats right, i'm suffering from cognitive dissonance...perpetually telling myself that I'm doing the right thing with my life. More later as I am mooching a room and this person wants to sleep....tata