So many events... so few entries!

Well so much has happened in the last week or so! My sister came home, and that was fanTAStic. It's so nice to see her and Jordan! I miss all the silliness!

Christmas happened, which was great. I got one big present that will hopefully come in the mail tomorrow, so I'm quite pumped for that. Other than that, everyone seemed to like the presents I got them, so that's always a plus!

I did a little boxing day shopping, got some new kicks and some jeans, then went out to Ceili's with a whole bunch of people and saw SO many who I haven't seen in a while.

Worked a little, working again tomorrow and Saturday, which stinks because the university is DESERTED and no one cares that we're open.

Yesterday we went to Kirsten's for a fake Tuesday night dinner (since they were busy on Tuesday) and had some yummy hamburger soup. SO GOOD! On my way to their place I stopped at the liquor store to get some beers, and I was SO happy to see Wildrose, my most farourite beer, in bottles now!!! You used to only be able to get Wildrose on tap, then they began to offer in in one litre bottles, and NOW IN REGULAR BOTTLES!!!! Velvet Fog is my fave, but the Brown is a very close second. Even people who don't like beer that much like Velvet Fog. Ohhhhhhhh, so delish.

Shopped today with the G-ma and got some christmas clothes, (well not actually christmassy clothing, but clothing for christmas), and had some delicious lunch at Mercato.

I decided to work at the golf course that I used to work at for New Year's since I'll make some good money. My friends Vanessa and Jess are working too, and it's pretty fun (besides the work part) so it's not like it's all bad... I never have the greatest time ever on New Year's, so I decided instead of spending lots of money for an okay time, I might as well make some moola and have fun with my girls.

That's pretty much the update... Basically just trying to take some time to enjoy my holidays and my time with Kristen! Then back to school. Boo.

Scarred for life...

...by my cat. Well hopefully not for life. But she scratched me, oh she scratched me good. It hurts. A lot. I have a deep one on my chin, then a light non-bloody scratch under my chin down my neck, then another deep one on my lower neck. I kind of look like I got attacked my a knife wielding vilain or something.

How could this cute adorable kitten, who comes to the door everytime I come home, who comes running when I call her, who keeps me company when I'm brushing me teeth, who sleeps on my chest with her head nestled on my shoulder do something so evil??? Well, it's because she's a cat. And as someone once said, cats don't have owners, they have staff. And I CLEARLY did something she was NOT pleased with. So naturally, I was punished.

J'ai fini!

Yahooo!!!!

No more school! (Until January 9, that is, when I start my VERY LAST SEMESTER OF UNIVERSITY!)

So on Saturday, I celebrated by making some caramel almond popcorn. Mmmmmmmmm. I saw it on Martha Stewart, and I just had to make it!

I toasted my own almonds, popped my own corn, made caramel from scratch... It was fun! (I even dropped my candy thermometre in the caramel... that was really fun too.)

You can find the recipe here.

That night I went to the Roadhouse with my girls Vanessa, Jess, Caroline, and Jess's friend Jenna, who was fun too! As always, we had a blast. But, the celebrations took their toll on my the next day, let me tell you! I was NOT feeling good the next morning. I think I'm getting too old for this club stuff. I think I'll lay off for a little bit.

That's a hot pose I've got going on... And Vanessa please don't kill me for putting this picture on here, because I know you don't like it, BUT you can find more and better pictures from the night here, so don't fret!

I didn't end up taking a picture of me dancing around like and idiot after finishing my last paper, but you can just picture it in your head... My stomach still hurts too much to dance around...

Tequila = Death.

Procrastination

This is me writing my paper.

(Other side of me writing my paper.)

This is me getting an idea and writing it down.

This is me realizing that it wasn't the greatest idea and now being stuck with nothing.

This is me sulking because I have more writing to do.

Stay tuned for me being finished and celebrating by dancing around like an idiot!

And to answer any questions, yes, I am that pale (except for when I'm drinking, because then I'm pretty red. Or when I'm working out, cause then I'm pretty red too)... but I like to think that my chins aren't that big... I think it's the camera angle... yeah, the camera angle.

Christmas tree?

My family has a sort of running joke surrounding christmas trees. My father like everything to be pretty much perfect. He has a fake tree, (a real looking one though), whith perfect lights and perfectly placed ornaments, with garlands around the whole house and (electric) candles in all the windows. He has a very beautiful "perfect" style christmasy house. My mum has different tastes. In her house, we have the chinese new year figurines, which are very neat and OLD. (I think they have been passed down for some time now, but I'm not sure.) We have lights on the bush outside, and the sweetest little reject of a tree ever. We used to make fun of my mum and her Charlie Brown christmas tree and we'd sometimes make her get a "good one", but over the years, we've come to love her poor little tree with sprawled lights and our home-made-in-kindergarden-ornaments. This year, the tree is actually quite full (normally it's pretty straggely), but, it's lacking in the height department.

I give you: the tree!

No, we do not have an abnormally tall chair and lamp... our tree is TINY!!! There aren't any decorations on it yet, but we just put the lights on it the other day. (and by "put the lights on it", I mean I litterally threw them over top of the tree and called it a day.) I especially like the care I took in camouflaging the cord leading up to the lights. It's very nice.

The funny part is that normally when we put the decos on it, the branches struggle to hold up the paper plate circle, and the (broken) egg shell with sequins and yarn glued to it. Everyone always makes fun of our poor little tree, and my mum always defends it saying "well someone has to love the little ones!". She's proud of our tree! As pathetic and meager as it is, it's ours!

Sad, Mad, Schocked, Blue...

I've had a very interesting day. I started the day with an e-mail from a friend telling me that an other one of our friends was in the ICU. He and I weren't super close (he is studying music at UVIC and has been for 3 years), but in high school we were friends, and we actually dated way back in Junior High. We chatted on MSN last week actually and he told me how he couldn't wait to see me when he was home for christmas. (He's actually the one who told me my eyes looked beautiful in the picture everyone hated.) So I guess he got into a skateboarding (or longboarding?) accident and he has a collapsed lung, and I think his skull is majorly fractured. I'm not really sure what else, but something like that. He is in a medically induced coma and they're slowly taking him off the meds. Apparently he's responding to reflex stuff, which is good... but really, they don't know about brain damage and stuff until he wakes up. Horrible. Like I mentioned before, he's studying music, and he's the most amazing musician... He has this raw talent on piano and trombone and he can play a jazz lic like no one else. That's the part that's scary to me... thinking about the possibility of him NOT having his musical talents when he starts recovery. So I'm looking for some pictures of us from when we were in school, because his mum is looking for some to show him to help with memory recovery. I hope I find some.

I went on with my day, since I had a meeting with a prof and then an exam... but all I could think about was him... I don't really know why this is affecting me so much, since we really haven't seen each other in over a year. But it really is... I can't understand it. I guess it's just weird to think of someone I used to be so close with, and who I just talked to, suddenly in a hospital and in a coma. It's really weird.

So whatever, I take my exam, it goes alright, then I call my friend (the one who informed me of his accident in the first place) and we talked a bit, then she tells me some MORE bad news, another guy we went to school with (she was much closer to him than I was) died last week from either an OD or a drug induced anurism (can't spell). This is the sad/mad part, since you just want to shake him for doing such a stupid thing, but he still died, and that's a tragedy. This isn't affecting me as much since we weren't too close, but it's still something that hurts people around me, and that's never fun.

Then I find out that my sister got a JOB which is SO exciting, and that makes me happy... but then I feel guilty for being happy when there's so much sad around me. I also have a shit load of homework still to do, so I have to concentrate.

Another thing that's bothering me is that this accident is affecting me so much, since like I said I haven't seen him in over a year. Why am I so sad about something that happened to someone I barely talk to? I don't know. I just am. Maybe I'm just remembering how close we used to be, or how he's the one who ALWAYS told me how beautiful I am, no matter who I was dating or who he was dating. Whenever I felt terrible or was having boyfriend troubles and felt bad about myself, he'd always say something so over-the-top mushy and cheeseball, but that still made me feel great about myself. I guess I have a right to be sad. No one can dictate my emotions, not even me!

Anyways, I'm happy about the whole happy part, and sad about the whole sad part, and apathetic about my homework situation. If I can make it through the week, I deserve a good night out to relax!

It's Monday

In case you were wondering what day it is.

I had my first exam today. It went well... I blabbed on for 8 and a half pages about how the two protagonists in two novels are similar and different in their ways to "climb the ladder of high society in Paris" blah blah blah... bored yet? You should be.

I went to the library because I found THE PERFECT BOOK for my spanish paper on learning and teaching strategies for different learning styles in the acquisition of a second language, but when I got to the library, the librarian told me that I couldn't have the book. Isn't that what a library is? THE LENDING OF BOOKS??? It's a 24 hour loan, which I accept, but she tells me "well if you're not in the class, you can't have it." First of all, she never asked me what class I was taking. (I'm NOT in the class, but still...) Secondly, OBVIOUSLY no one else wants it, otherwise it would be out, considering we're already into finals. Thirdly, no where does it say anywhere that you have to be in the class... it just says 24 hour loan. Why is it in the general library catalogue if you can only check it out if you're in the class? What a tease.

"I know it's for that particular class, but it's the perfect book for my paper, which is in a very similar class, but it's in Spanish, not Education. Couldn't I just take it home tonight and give it back tomorrow morning? Please?"

"NO."

"Okay, well can I take it now for a few minutes, and then come back tomorrow and have it for a couple of hours?"

"FINE. Give me your card." (snatches my card out of my hand and throws it back to me after scanning it)

"Thank you."

Five minutes later... she walks over to where I'm sitting.

"Are you done yet??????"

"Ummmm, no, not yet."

"Well you better bring it back when you're done."

"Okay... no problem." Despite what all those who know me are thinking, I actually was being nice to her.

So I barely got any time with the precious book, and for all I know someone will have it tomorrow. Some special "in the class" person who doesn't want it as much as I do. They won't appreciate the book, love the book, care for the book like I will. I NEED THAT BOOK!

I found another book (in the reject aka for regular people not special IN THE CLASS people), not NEARLY as perfect, and I brought it up to the counter and at first she ignored that I was standing there, then finally sighed and came over, examined the book, and then looked at me in the eyes and said "so what class is THIS one for?" What kind of question is that? Is there a rule that states that the librarians are allowed to interrogate each student who wants to check out a book? I told her that it was for the same class... it honestly took her 10 seconds to react and finally she snatched my card again and decided that I was worthy enough to check out the book. I totally don't get it.

Oh well. I better get that freaking book tomorrow.

NEW Picture

Well, the tribe voted... my picture was bad. I definitely hadn't thought of any of the things you thought of... I actually kind of liked that one. But now all I can see is evilness and maybe a lazy eye? And I always thought that I was my worst critic! Oh well, it serves me right for asking the internet what they thought of my picture.

I'm kind of dreading the whole wedding pictures thing. Now all I'll be able to think about it sucking in my chins and trying to look dead straight ahead (with both eyes) meanwhile trying not to look like I could make someone spontaneously combust if I try hard enough... Oh well, I have christmas to practice. And if all else fails, you can airbrush me right out of the pictures! (Or at least brush my chins down to one singular chin). No one mentioned the chins this time, but I've been taunted and haunted by them too many times before... I always tilt my head up slightly whenever I see a camera pointed my way. Luckily I'm not the ONLY one in the family who has chin(s) problems! Well I guess not luckily... but at least I'm not alone!

Tried to come up with a clever title -- It did not happen

I changed my picture. The one over there... you know... over there. (I'm moving my head in the direction of the picture.)

Is it just me, or do I look
a) extremely young
b) a little bit like my father
c) kinda chubby (which may contribute to option a)

Don't get me wrong, I like it. But I think I look a little hors de normale... (couldn't think of what that is in english... sorry for those who don't speak french. Seriously... what is that in english? Oh, never mind, it's not normal. that was kinda weird)

Anyways, that's my weird random post for the day... It's been a long one (the day, that is) so I'm feeling a little hors de normale.

Tuesday night dinner... and stuff

Last night I went to Kirsten's for Tuesday night dinner... sans the rest of the people that normally go... (aka Kristen, Jordan, and Devin). So, Kirsten (Jordan's sis), Nathan (their cousin), Taylor, Quinten (Kirsten's daughter and brand new son) and I had dinner, watched some TV, and ate ice cream! It was pretty nice. Nice to see them, since I haven't seen them since Kristen and Jordan moved away, and nice to be entertained by a 2 year old. Taylor was so funny, and SO MUCH MORE TALKATIVE! "Quin Quin crying!". SO cute.

So then I went home, and watched the Amazing Race. It was pretty good... I'm excited to see the finale! I don't really care who wins between the Bransens and the Linzes, but I really don't want the Weavers to win! Did anyone else notice that Phil's package looked kinda huge in the episode? In all of the little Phil moments, it seemed to really ZOOM IN on his package, and it seemed larger than normal... maybe it was just me. I don't know.

Then today, I had a final, which went alright... then I have lots of stuff to do until NEXT Friday, then I'm home FREE!!! I can't wait. I have SO much to do until then, but I'm trying to look ahead to the FREE part.

It seems like everyone around me is stressed... and it's stressing me out too. I don't like that feeling. Oh well... Soon it's over!

Cold & Annoyed

When I left my house this morning at 9:25, it was -6 degrees celsius and there was no wind. When I arrived at my parking lot, McMahon Stadium, at 9:35, it was about -25 with STRONG winds. I walked the 10 minute walk to my class with wind whipping harsh snow up into my face, and I was the coldest I've been ALL semester. I was very cold. Very very cold.

Also, my computer is being stupid again. I don't really know what's wrong with it, but if something happens and I loose all my papers, I think I might just throw something hard against the wall. (Yes, I did back them up... but only today after it was being stupid.)

I am annoyed.

Girly Day!

So my best bud Katie is going to her boyfriends "real person who works at a real company" Christmas Party. She asked me to help her with her hair and make-up, and since I LOVE doing stupid girl stuff like that, of course I said yes! So after a few tries and some major "I don't think so"s from her, this is what we ended up with! Fabulous!

Isn't she a knockout???

Here I am, not even showered.... lovely!

This is me going home... (notice her in sweats... she had a few more hours to kill before the party, so back in the sweats!)

World AIDS Day

Thanks K for reminding me that it is World AIDS Day. I too, will wear the virtual ribbon!

Getting there...

Well I solved ONE problem... (thanks Gwhiz2k!) but I have a slightly bigger problem on my hands. I have a Trojan Horse. Well I think I do. I had one, then I did the things you're supposed to do to fix it, but I'm not too sure that it went away. A while ago, my mum's computer had one, (which she blamed on ME since I had just linked her printer to my computer), but I fixed hers no problem. But when I "fixed" mine, it didn't do the same things that it did when I fixed my mums...I don't know. I'm confused.

Anyways, I'm hoping my computer doesn't suddenly crash on me in the middle of an important paper. It can't crash until Friday the 16th... after that, I won't mind as much. I guess my lesson is back everything up in the next 2 weeks.

Wish me luck!

Photos

So I've been dinking around with photos on my blog. I'd like to be able to have a photo to go along with my username like some other's have. I can't seem to get it done. Hello doesn't work for me. I've done everything right and it doesn't work. So I've signed up with flickr. I've done quite a bit. But I still can't set my own photo to my blogger blog. I know that I add it through dashboard and then scroll down to photo and I'm supposed to put in the URL, but I can't seem to do it. Blogger keeps telling me that I have an "bad URL". Any suggestions?

Staff Party?

It was tonight. Or at least I think that's what that was.

4 people. Bowling. Already, doesn't sound great.

It started at 6:00. I was home by 7:30. (And the bowling alley was 20 minutes from my house.) It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen. The bowling alley was very.... ummmm, simple? It had a christmas tree in the centre of the room with a little fence around it preventing kids from touching it. A picket fence... weird.

Everyone but me initially went to the wrong bowling alley. I'm not really sure how that happened.

We played one game of bowling. That's all the owner said we paid for. I came in second last.

We got the "nacho platter", which consisted of a bag of Tostitos, a cut up tomato, and a butt load of green onions. On a plate. I asked the 12 year old boy behind the counter where the cheese was. He said it was coming. A minute later, he brought us a bowl of cheese. The liquid kind that you get with nachos at the movies. Wow. We got 2 pitchers of pop. One came in a silver jug, which looked stolen from the antique store next door.

We chatted a bit, the 4 of us. Then, we went home. Have you ever heard of a staff party that lasted one hour? I'm still confused. Oh well, at least I got to watch Grey's Anatomy.

All in all, it was the weirdest staff party I've ever been to.

Welcome to my Webpage!

You'd think I could come up with a better greeting than that for my website that I created for Computer Science 203... but I couldn't.

I had fun doing it, though it's a pretty boring page. I tried to make it kind of interesting, but I was sort of at a loss for exiting things to say. It's being graded, so I couldn't make it too juicy! Anyways, you can have a giggle at my super fantastic picture on the homepage. I'm not sure why I put that one since I look like I've been crying for about 10 days in it! (I don' think I was, but maybe...) And if you're in a picture on that website, sorry for not asking your permission... You look nice so it shouldn't matter!

That's my major accomplishment for the day.

Mice?

I can't remember where or how I found this website, but I thought I would share it with you. I think they're pretty funny. If only I could read the accompanying text...

This one's for the bad girl/boy...

Do you think this one would make you smarter? (it's supposed to be a brain, though it doesn't look tons like it here.)

Yikes!!! That's all I can really say... (and why aren't there any nipples?)

I think this one's my favourite! Cute!

Procrastinating...

I got 'tagged' by gwhiz2k... and since I don't feel like doing homework right now, I decided to go along with it! The rules are as follows: Remove the blog at No. 1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog's name in the #5 spot;

1. Blog By Force
2. Kick in the Pants
3. A Goofy Ass Emotional Chick & Her Prerogative
4. Therapeutic Rants
5. Heather's Randomness

The next step is naming five friends at random to "play" and fill it out, but I don't really want to since I don't want people to feel obliged to do it... If anyone feels like filling it out, then go right ahead!

What were you doing ten years ago?

Ten years ago I was in grade 6... I did ballet and jazz dancing, I played the flute (I was probably getting ready for my christmas concert!), and I was friends with some people I haven't seen in ages, and some people who I still hang out with!

What were you doing one year ago?

One year ago, I was in my third year of my degree and my first year at U of C. I was probably taking about how all my profs wanted me to fail, and I was freaking out about some paper. I had just moved in to my apartment with my sister, and I was probably thinking about how I was going to be with my then boyfriend forever. I rarely hung out with my friends, and I didn't do much besides homework and sitting around. Funny how things change...

What were you doing yesterday?

Yesterday I procrastinated and didn't do much homework, went to my aunts house for my cousin's birthday and had escargots and salmon, went home and had an uncomfortable exchange, and then went to bed.

Five snacks you enjoy:

Popcorn Squares
Rice Cakes and Cheese (melted)
Reese's Peanut Buttercups Blizzards
Cucumbers
Potato Skins

Five songs to which you know all the words:

Any song from The Sound of Music
Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind
With You- Avril Lavigne
Doesn't Remind Me - Audioslave (I actually don't know ALL the words, but I pretend to, and I belt it out like no tomorrow in the car)
Mr. Brightside - The Killers

Things you would do if you were a millionaire:

Buy Clothes and Shoes
Travel. A lot!
Buy my family houses (and me too!)
Get a more decent car...
Pay off debts (this SHOULD be number one, but I know that the first thing I'd do would be buy clothes and shoes... so this one gets demoted.)

Five bad habits:

Procrastination
Not being super great with money
Eating when I'm bored
Not drinking enough water
Forgetting people's birthdays

Five things you like doing:

Going out with my friends
Buying presents for other people
Buying presents for myself
Working out
Cooking

Five things you would never wear again: (never?)

This one is REALLY hard....
Tapered Pants
More than 3 pairs of barrettes in my hair
"Mood" shirts
A one piece snowsuit (memories of peeing my pants at the ski hill when I was young are rushing back to me!)
An ill-fitting bra

Five favorite toys:

My cell phone (some kind of LG something... it flips and has purdy colours on the screen..)
My Nikon Digital Camera
My computer, even though its kind of dying
I don't really know what else... I'm not much of a toy person.

Memories...

Because of the events of late, I've been thinking about my summer "abroad" a lot today. (To fill people in, the summer of 2004 I spent 4 months as a live-in nanny in the francophone town of St. Isidore in the north of Alberta) A few days ago, I got a package from Monique (the mum) and inside??? My Carnaval hoodie, some art work from the boys, and the POPCORN PEANUT CANDY MARSHMALLOW SQUARES!!!! (This delictable desert is the reason for my *weight gain* while I was there... I can't stop eating them!)

The very night before, I had a dream about Monique, so it was kind of a strange coincidence! (And it was her birthday, though I forgot...)

So I've been thinking lots about my summer there and the relationships I made... I can honestly say that I've never met anyone who I related to more in my life... Monique is such an amazing person... If I can be half the mum that she is when I'm older, I know I'm doing a great job. On the flip side, she's still such a fun person to be around... we could sit around, drink beers and talk all night. She isn't JUST an amazing mother to her sons, but a cool fun friend and I am just so lucky to have met her. Her sons are so great too... I learned so much about being a parent and I really learned to appreciate kids. Her husband, Marc, was a really cool guy too... I totally lucked out since I spent pretty much 24/7 with them, we all got along really well! I also met some great friends there. One of them was another person that I instantly "connected" with... (cheesy word, oh well). It's so weird to go somewhere totally unknown and make these "friends for life" and then have to be 8 hours away from them.

So last February, I decided to go to Carnaval, which is a winter festival that is held in St. Isidore with 2 of my friends. We drove up, and were met with this HUGE festival with everything from "claquette" (tap dancing) from all the "yummy mummies" (as their husbands call them) of the town (plus some yummy not-so-mummies) to sleigh rides to cow poop bingo... And the partying... oh the partying. One thing a small town can do is party!!! The first night, after 8 hours of driving, we went to the barn dance... with a live fiddling group playing, an ice bar (the bar was made of ice!) put on my the hockey team, which Marc is a part of so he hooked us up with free drinks, and a whole lot of dancing! I was bombarded with hugs and kisses and more hugs and kisses, and my friends were instantly treated as if they were family. The best part? My "boys" remembered me... even the little one who was not yet two when I left! I never thought I could care about kids that weren't my own so much, but my heart MELT when he ran up to me and grinned!

So the weekend festivities were great... I got to catch up with everyone and I got to get some goodies to take home!

(Katie, Me, and Mo in the picture)

We all ordered hoodies that said "Carnaval de St. Isidore". We had to wait cause they were getting ordered, but not to worry because Marc and Monique were coming to Calgary the next week to catch their flight to Cancun! So we ordered them, and eagerly awaited their arrival!

A week later, at 3 in the morning, a buzz at my appartment door, and there they are, hoodies and popcorn squares in hand! BUT, mine wasn't there because the colour was discontinued, so Mo would e-mail with the other lists of colours. No big deal!

So finally now I get my hoodie, which I'm excited about... I can finally show my St. Isidore pride around Calgary. I grew to really feel like I was a part of the town (which has 300 people, by the way, so not only was I going to a place where I knew no one and they spoke french, I was going to a place where there were only 300 people... fewer than my graduating class!) I have this strange loyalty to St. Isidore, and then my teachers tell me that francophones in Alberta and Manitoba don't care about keeping their french and that they are just assimilating to the anglophone norms, I get all up in their face and tell them "I think not!!!" because I know full well that keeping their french is pretty much their top priority! Imagine a born and raised farm boy voting liberal since they are the only ones who talk about keeping the "frenchness" in the small communities!

I guess I'm just thankful to not have gone to a horribly wretched family to be their slave for 4 months. Everyone I knew that had been a nanny told me horror stories about how they weren't allowed to shower everyday, how they had to stay in their room when the parents were home, and how they were completely miserable for the entire time. (Thanks by the way, for all of those comforting words the day before I left.) I had nannies when I was younger, and I don't THINK they hated it, but I suppose I've never asked them.

This morning I got to talk to Mo on MSN and it was so nice... She's so great to talk to, and she's so caring. She asked me all about how things are since I filled her in on my "life changes" in an e-mail yesterday. When we talk, it doesn't feel like we haven't talked in forever (even though we haven't), and she just knows what I'm talking about... It's great. I guess that's all, it's just great. She's just the best! So Mo, I miss you, and good luck since your baby is DUE TODAY!!!! I hope you don't go into labour in church!

And here's a picture of the hoodie... since I've been looking forward to it forever!