Firstly, I finally got my 'math is delicious' shirt. It was worth the 3 month wait, I can't wait to wear it.
Secondly, something is going right in the world of math. Years of hearing what a terrible job elementary teachers were doing in the math department, and then seeing the results in my gr9 classes seems to be no longer fact. The majority of my grade nines are so very well prepared! They've seen almost all of the current content in some form or another, and are able to link previous knowledge to the new stuff. Awesome.
I love the program the public system uses for Math 9. Sure, it's the same curriculum, but the ressource is wonderful. Sometimes too wonderful (seriously, the author is one wordy dude). Here is the problem. My grade 10s are too well prepared. Everything we have done is review. Not the good kind of review where you add some new twist to an already familiar thing and make it slightly more difficult. Nope, the redundant crappy kind of review where they are all super geniuses and are pretty bored. Ack! If I were super teacher, I'm sure I would make wonderful new ressources and challenge them somehow. I'm not. I'm already developping one course from scratch that has a shitty ressource (confusing and no answer key), and changing all my grade 9 stuff to match the new to me program. I don't get enough sleep as is.
What I want to know is how curriculum people think that this is good for students. Now wonder they all think math sucks, I do too right now. I also know we're in for another 2 weeks of review before we get into any new to them material. What to do? Do I make an executive decision to review at top speed and then test them? Teach only what is needed in detail and call it good? Continue to follow curriculum the way it is set up and bore everyone to tears for the next few weeks? The students don't really mind as there's little homework and I'm guessing it makes them feel good about their skills. I have a new and improved text coming my way (someday) and I know it does get better. There's only so much time I can put into this as my gr12 course HAS to take priority since they're writing a departmental. It just feels wrong to coast along in such simplicity. Do I make them teach it to one another for interest? I wish I would have known I was getting such capable students and could have planned a little better for this earlier...
Help!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
things not to tell your gf
Awww, you look like a school marm.
You're not getting out of this "compliment" no matter how much you try to spin looking like a school marm into good thing. Marm is a synonym for ugly spinster. Not an adjective to describe a cute fall skirt - even if it does have small flowers on it. I, the marm, do not care how much you actually like my shirt and skirt now that you have compared me to an 80 year old nun.
(Aside: later the same day one of my students told me I looked like a hippie. Good thing I don't have self confidence issues or that skirt might never make it out of the closet again!)
You're not getting out of this "compliment" no matter how much you try to spin looking like a school marm into good thing. Marm is a synonym for ugly spinster. Not an adjective to describe a cute fall skirt - even if it does have small flowers on it. I, the marm, do not care how much you actually like my shirt and skirt now that you have compared me to an 80 year old nun.
(Aside: later the same day one of my students told me I looked like a hippie. Good thing I don't have self confidence issues or that skirt might never make it out of the closet again!)
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
getting old(er)
I have always wondered where abouts in life one makes that transition from normal to officially old. You know what I mean, do you just wake up one day and decide it's large floral print dresses (with sleeves), vests and elasticised waists from now on? You donate everything from your younger days to goodwill and that's the end of itÉ I have a feeling it's a more gradual transition and such things creep up on you when you're not looking. It starts off by buying something that's "not so bad" and most likely on sale. Then a second item, similar but worse. Not so bad keeps evolving and before you know it you have several pair of elasticised pants and you refuse to wear anything but. They are practical after all...
The thing that always worries me is that people guilty of such things arecompletelyy unaware. They think they look good! Heck yes my maroon vest, cream collared shirt and granny pants go together! I'm looking sharp today! Where is apple shaped gold brooch? It would complete this ensemble perfectly.
This weekend I bought new shoes. New high heeled shoes. They will look super cute with many of my work clothes. I plan on wearing them with pants sometimes, and here lies the problem. I hate shoes with no socks. In the summer I will tolerate it for the sake of looking good. In the winter, forget about it. These shoes require thin socks, very very thin socks. Trouser socks. Ugh. I feel as if by even considering to purchase something called a trouser sock I have aged myself by 5 years. Of course, I'm talking black ones here. Essentially I'm talking "convenient tights." For now my move is to black trouser socks (could someone work on renaming that for the younger generation of working people? we'd pay more.) but how many years until I think the nude ones are ok? 6 months? a year? 3 years? What comes after accepting trouser socks?
And exactly how many years til I pull my dusty rose pants, cream and dusty rose floral print shirt (with matching crocheted vest for when I get cold) and toddle off to get my hair permed?
The thing that always worries me is that people guilty of such things arecompletelyy unaware. They think they look good! Heck yes my maroon vest, cream collared shirt and granny pants go together! I'm looking sharp today! Where is apple shaped gold brooch? It would complete this ensemble perfectly.
This weekend I bought new shoes. New high heeled shoes. They will look super cute with many of my work clothes. I plan on wearing them with pants sometimes, and here lies the problem. I hate shoes with no socks. In the summer I will tolerate it for the sake of looking good. In the winter, forget about it. These shoes require thin socks, very very thin socks. Trouser socks. Ugh. I feel as if by even considering to purchase something called a trouser sock I have aged myself by 5 years. Of course, I'm talking black ones here. Essentially I'm talking "convenient tights." For now my move is to black trouser socks (could someone work on renaming that for the younger generation of working people? we'd pay more.) but how many years until I think the nude ones are ok? 6 months? a year? 3 years? What comes after accepting trouser socks?
And exactly how many years til I pull my dusty rose pants, cream and dusty rose floral print shirt (with matching crocheted vest for when I get cold) and toddle off to get my hair permed?
oops
As per usual I have become the person I hate. As mentioned, I have been house-sitting for my uncle. Yesterday I went home to grab some clean work clothes. Someone had left me a little message. It appears I have forgotten about my alarm clock. My persistent and dedicated alarm clock. It is so concerned about me waking up, that even in my absence it goes off. For two hours. That's an alarm clock that is very serious about its commitment to me and waking. Too bad my neighbours also aren't as impressed with such a display of affection. It would appear they aren't quite as dedicated to waking up from 6:30 to 8:30.
I will spend the next two weeks pretending to be a ninja, entering and exiting with as much stealth as i can muster, hoping to not run into anyone who lives in my complex. Once in my apartment I will be a dead ninja. They make even less noise than live ones if you can imagine.
I will spend the next two weeks pretending to be a ninja, entering and exiting with as much stealth as i can muster, hoping to not run into anyone who lives in my complex. Once in my apartment I will be a dead ninja. They make even less noise than live ones if you can imagine.
Friday, September 15, 2006
ACCESS DENIED! kinda
I am trying to wrap my mind around my school computer and with every day that goes by I get more confused. You see, the public school board has some kind of "parental control" over all computers. This makes sense to me for general things. No one wants porn pop ups (accidental or otherwise) while surfing the computers in the library. The more I use the internet though, the more I don't understand what I'm not supposed to be looking at.
MSN webmessenger will not work. I understand, kids should be learning, not chatting with their friends at another school who are also "doing research" in the library. My Gtalk works, on average, 50% of the time. I don't really care as I also don't need to be chatting while working, I just think it's really funny that sometimes it works while others it's blocked. So I send off quick messages to Rach just to prove that I can. Small victories against the man.
Now the not making sense bit. It blocks Penny Arcade, but not Least I Could Do. It blocks the Superficial but not Go Fug Yourself. Now I can see how Go Fug Yourself would be missed - the girls are witty and not vulgar - but Least I Could Do? It's a webcomic essentially about sex. It's logo involves a condom. How exactly is that kosher?
No internet radio. Period. Why is this something that should be blocked? Darn you kids listening to music! Learning will be unpleasant!
I also have no idea how they monitor blogs. None of my regulars are blocked, and very rarely will I try to visit a new blog to have it show up access denied. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Yesterday while floating around in the blogosphere what pops up on my screen? A massive cleavage shot. Large, uplifted, scantily clothed boobs. True the article that accompanied them wasn't racy at all, but not exactly safe for work either.
Je ne comprends pas. If you are wondering what I'm doing surfing the internet at work, it's called keeping sane while appearing busy at the same time. In a "normal" job, I would get a coffee break. At school, I check my email or read a blog entry. I love my job, but dealing with teenagers can cause brain damage if you're not careful. Seriously, it's science. Still don't believe me? Stop by for grade 9 math someday.
MSN webmessenger will not work. I understand, kids should be learning, not chatting with their friends at another school who are also "doing research" in the library. My Gtalk works, on average, 50% of the time. I don't really care as I also don't need to be chatting while working, I just think it's really funny that sometimes it works while others it's blocked. So I send off quick messages to Rach just to prove that I can. Small victories against the man.
Now the not making sense bit. It blocks Penny Arcade, but not Least I Could Do. It blocks the Superficial but not Go Fug Yourself. Now I can see how Go Fug Yourself would be missed - the girls are witty and not vulgar - but Least I Could Do? It's a webcomic essentially about sex. It's logo involves a condom. How exactly is that kosher?
No internet radio. Period. Why is this something that should be blocked? Darn you kids listening to music! Learning will be unpleasant!
I also have no idea how they monitor blogs. None of my regulars are blocked, and very rarely will I try to visit a new blog to have it show up access denied. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Yesterday while floating around in the blogosphere what pops up on my screen? A massive cleavage shot. Large, uplifted, scantily clothed boobs. True the article that accompanied them wasn't racy at all, but not exactly safe for work either.
Je ne comprends pas. If you are wondering what I'm doing surfing the internet at work, it's called keeping sane while appearing busy at the same time. In a "normal" job, I would get a coffee break. At school, I check my email or read a blog entry. I love my job, but dealing with teenagers can cause brain damage if you're not careful. Seriously, it's science. Still don't believe me? Stop by for grade 9 math someday.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
you shall be spoten
I think my 50 year old upstairs neighbour is making noise out of spite. Or maybe her 35 year old deadbeat son is doing it for her, he is the larger of the two. Since I went and introduced myself all they have done is stomped around up there. No more music or tv noise, just stomp stomp stomp stomp.
I was polite! Really, I didn't want to be but I was!
Oh ya, they've also taken to slamming doors.
Jokes on them however, I'll be house-sitting for the next week. By the time I get back they'll have forgotten they're supposed to be making a commotion for my benefit.
I was polite! Really, I didn't want to be but I was!
Oh ya, they've also taken to slamming doors.
Jokes on them however, I'll be house-sitting for the next week. By the time I get back they'll have forgotten they're supposed to be making a commotion for my benefit.
Responses
Well by popular (and by popular i mean two...) request, it appears you're interested in what my students have to say.
Period 1
This was actually a less animated discussion than I was expecting it to be. It's a small class and they're very on task, so I don't mind talking about other stuff with them. Of course there was a tangent - they suggested that frustration with homework/school is causing teens to act out. Someone brought up the fact that there's a new statistic circulating out there that the amount of homework students do has increased significantly in the last few years. I countered with the fact that we've been watering down the curriculum - something they also agreed to. I asked what they thought we should do about a "more of less" approach in education, but no one came up with anything. It did make me think about my own homework giving tendencies though.
Period 2
I totally expected these guys to talk through most of the hour and they did. If only to get out of doing math... There was lots of speculation over motive, which of course no one really knows right now. Also some discussion around how violence is becoming a bit of a social disease and different trends in the states. Somehow we wound up talking about violence here at home and got into a very interesting discussion over the whole "east vs west" issues Stoon has going on. I had some help in enlightening some students in how this picture of a "shiny clean east side" and a "gang, crime and violence filled west side" is something supported by the media and east siders looking to feel better about where "they" live.
Period 3
Some maturity issues here - they were more interested in hypothesizing ridiculous scenarios that would require our school to go into lockdown. A pack of cougars? A crazy person with a sword? We covered quite a lot on inequalities...
Period 4
Grade nines. Mostly they were concerned for their own safety and were worried something could happen here. About half had been in a situation in their elementary schools where a lockdown had been necessary (crazy guys with knives apparently). Nothing overly insightful was said.
More exciting was my Human Rights meeting at noon - they are so keen!! Almost all of them want to join my peer support group and suggested (without me telling them that this was the kind of thing a peer support group would do til after) that they'd like to do awareness type stuff for the grade 9s in their ethical living classes! So wonderful.
Period 1
This was actually a less animated discussion than I was expecting it to be. It's a small class and they're very on task, so I don't mind talking about other stuff with them. Of course there was a tangent - they suggested that frustration with homework/school is causing teens to act out. Someone brought up the fact that there's a new statistic circulating out there that the amount of homework students do has increased significantly in the last few years. I countered with the fact that we've been watering down the curriculum - something they also agreed to. I asked what they thought we should do about a "more of less" approach in education, but no one came up with anything. It did make me think about my own homework giving tendencies though.
Period 2
I totally expected these guys to talk through most of the hour and they did. If only to get out of doing math... There was lots of speculation over motive, which of course no one really knows right now. Also some discussion around how violence is becoming a bit of a social disease and different trends in the states. Somehow we wound up talking about violence here at home and got into a very interesting discussion over the whole "east vs west" issues Stoon has going on. I had some help in enlightening some students in how this picture of a "shiny clean east side" and a "gang, crime and violence filled west side" is something supported by the media and east siders looking to feel better about where "they" live.
Period 3
Some maturity issues here - they were more interested in hypothesizing ridiculous scenarios that would require our school to go into lockdown. A pack of cougars? A crazy person with a sword? We covered quite a lot on inequalities...
Period 4
Grade nines. Mostly they were concerned for their own safety and were worried something could happen here. About half had been in a situation in their elementary schools where a lockdown had been necessary (crazy guys with knives apparently). Nothing overly insightful was said.
More exciting was my Human Rights meeting at noon - they are so keen!! Almost all of them want to join my peer support group and suggested (without me telling them that this was the kind of thing a peer support group would do til after) that they'd like to do awareness type stuff for the grade 9s in their ethical living classes! So wonderful.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
trivial
I was going to post, but really, nothing seems to important compared to today's news. If you're out of the loop, this went down in Montreal today. Rach has posted about her day. I'm grateful all her day was filled with was inconvenience.
I wonder what was so wrong with this jerk's life that suicide wasn't enough? Even first degree murder serves a more direct point. By being selfish and picking off innocent people to be noticed don't you essentially become one of the very people we'll find out you were striking out against?
We get it. You're depressed, you were bullied, no one understands you, you got lost in "the system" at school, whatever. Your point sucks. Putting kids in the hospital and yourself in the ground doesn't help anyone.
The increasing number of school shootings makes me feel tired. Tired and very sad.
I do look forward to the insightful conversations this will lead to with my students tomorrow, I simply wish our prompt was different.
I wonder what was so wrong with this jerk's life that suicide wasn't enough? Even first degree murder serves a more direct point. By being selfish and picking off innocent people to be noticed don't you essentially become one of the very people we'll find out you were striking out against?
We get it. You're depressed, you were bullied, no one understands you, you got lost in "the system" at school, whatever. Your point sucks. Putting kids in the hospital and yourself in the ground doesn't help anyone.
The increasing number of school shootings makes me feel tired. Tired and very sad.
I do look forward to the insightful conversations this will lead to with my students tomorrow, I simply wish our prompt was different.
welcome to the asylum
I have no idea what is up with my last few residences. I live in good areas, in nicely upkept buildings. So why do I keep getting woken up like this? I tried to link that, but it would appear I didn't blog about the previous incident like I thought I did.
3:27am. It's Monday night, so obviously I'm sleeping, soundly, as I like to do. It's normally a gift my sound sleeping, because it means I sleep through everything. On really good nights I sleep through entire conversations that I participate in. 3:28am, I am woken up. Confused. Did I move to a crappy apartment just of 20th? There are people fighting above me, screaming obscenities. If anyone had told me where to go and how to get there like that I sure wouldn't have needed a map. I guess if you get into these kids of fights you're not very smart in the first place. Much more yelling, stomping, throwing? and potentially breaking of things. Finally I am able to get back to sleep so I'm not really sure as to how everything got sorted out.
(After introducing myself to the older, defensive lady who lives above me I found out a)it wasn't her fault?!? and b) resolution happens when the cops come.)
It would appear to date I'm the only one to thinks noise that wakes up the whole complex is worthy of reporting to the board, cause when I phoned the lady who takes care of such things it was the first she'd heard of it. Maybe I'm the only one who knows they live in a rental unit? Maybe everyone else takes it for entertainment - better than reality tv!
3:27am. It's Monday night, so obviously I'm sleeping, soundly, as I like to do. It's normally a gift my sound sleeping, because it means I sleep through everything. On really good nights I sleep through entire conversations that I participate in. 3:28am, I am woken up. Confused. Did I move to a crappy apartment just of 20th? There are people fighting above me, screaming obscenities. If anyone had told me where to go and how to get there like that I sure wouldn't have needed a map. I guess if you get into these kids of fights you're not very smart in the first place. Much more yelling, stomping, throwing? and potentially breaking of things. Finally I am able to get back to sleep so I'm not really sure as to how everything got sorted out.
(After introducing myself to the older, defensive lady who lives above me I found out a)it wasn't her fault?!? and b) resolution happens when the cops come.)
It would appear to date I'm the only one to thinks noise that wakes up the whole complex is worthy of reporting to the board, cause when I phoned the lady who takes care of such things it was the first she'd heard of it. Maybe I'm the only one who knows they live in a rental unit? Maybe everyone else takes it for entertainment - better than reality tv!
Saturday, September 09, 2006
poorly chosen words are the most effective contraceptive known to man
I'm still sick. I'm pretty unhappy about it. While the pus on my throat appears to be gone, my throat itself is still sore enough that I'm maintaining the 80% ice-cream diet. Tasty, yes. Nutritious? I have a feeling no so much. I'm also having issues with headaches, neckaches, and general tiredness. I know, I'm just so much fun.
So I really haven't been up to much lately that isn't school seeing as it occupies the healthiest 7 hours of my day. I have spent an awful lot of time on the interweb, so I thought I'd fill a blog post with funny links. If you're not already reading this stuff, you should ask yourself what's wrong with you. Then, you should start reading.
I just got back into Diesel Sweeties. It's a webcomic I used to read a long time ago, and then for some reason stopped. Starting up again, I'm wondering why in the world I ever stopped.
Questionable Content is another of my favorite webcomics. My "math is delicious" shirt should have arrived a month ago...
Lastly, everyone needs to read Go Fug Yourself. I think they're on a short break for something mysterious called Fashion Week, but I trust they'll be back soon.
I read a ridiculous amount of other stuff on a daily basis, but I'll save that for the next time all I do is sleep and eat.
Parkstar out.
So I really haven't been up to much lately that isn't school seeing as it occupies the healthiest 7 hours of my day. I have spent an awful lot of time on the interweb, so I thought I'd fill a blog post with funny links. If you're not already reading this stuff, you should ask yourself what's wrong with you. Then, you should start reading.
I just got back into Diesel Sweeties. It's a webcomic I used to read a long time ago, and then for some reason stopped. Starting up again, I'm wondering why in the world I ever stopped.
Questionable Content is another of my favorite webcomics. My "math is delicious" shirt should have arrived a month ago...
Lastly, everyone needs to read Go Fug Yourself. I think they're on a short break for something mysterious called Fashion Week, but I trust they'll be back soon.
I read a ridiculous amount of other stuff on a daily basis, but I'll save that for the next time all I do is sleep and eat.
Parkstar out.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
hey marauders how do you feel?
It was pep rally day today. After teaching elsewhere for 3 years now, it made me happy that pep rallies are still as big of a deal as they used to be. Going into others schools and seeing such boring, abysmal pep rallies made me question if I just went to school during a lucky 4 years. People looked at me like I was crazy when I told "tall tales" of how fun, funny and involved pep rallies were back in my day. Hoorah, the tradition continues. Of course technology has added a few perks and a few glitches, but overall it was well done. It would appear that I'm not a very good tatooer - I failed to notice they had plastic on them...
We also held out first Human Rights/GSA meeting today. I was blown away. 25ish kids showed up with more to come. The girl who runs it is totally amazing. She's more intelligent and well spoken than most of the adults I know, myself included. She ran the meeting like she'd been teaching for years, and was up to date on current issues like no one I know. The rest of the kids were eager and had great ideas. Last year they raised 15K to bring over 2 kids from Congo to reunite them with their siblings who attended our school. 15K? This is totally aside from our school charity. On top of the fundraisers they run, they do awareness activities in the school AND were all eager to pick a local focus (on top of the international one) so they could get out in the community and volunteer. Whoa.
I also got the green light to start up a Youth Action Circle. Whoot. I have a feeling I won't have nearly the troubles I did last year getting kids engaged.
On top of all this I will be getting my very own hole punch and stapler. This may sound silly, but when I asked for them at the office I was once again treated like an alien.
We feel so good, huh! we feel so good, huh!
We also held out first Human Rights/GSA meeting today. I was blown away. 25ish kids showed up with more to come. The girl who runs it is totally amazing. She's more intelligent and well spoken than most of the adults I know, myself included. She ran the meeting like she'd been teaching for years, and was up to date on current issues like no one I know. The rest of the kids were eager and had great ideas. Last year they raised 15K to bring over 2 kids from Congo to reunite them with their siblings who attended our school. 15K? This is totally aside from our school charity. On top of the fundraisers they run, they do awareness activities in the school AND were all eager to pick a local focus (on top of the international one) so they could get out in the community and volunteer. Whoa.
I also got the green light to start up a Youth Action Circle. Whoot. I have a feeling I won't have nearly the troubles I did last year getting kids engaged.
On top of all this I will be getting my very own hole punch and stapler. This may sound silly, but when I asked for them at the office I was once again treated like an alien.
We feel so good, huh! we feel so good, huh!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
a family affair
This weekend I went camping in Waskesiu with Sean-o and his family. I was a little apprehensive about going cause his mom scares me, but all was well.
We left town late, got to the lake even later and did not too shabby a job of setting up our tent in the dark. I don't love camping in the Glen, but it was pretty deserted considering it was a long weekend so it wasn't bad at all. We visited for awhile, and then passed out.
I got up early (especially for me, on my long weekend!) and had morning coffee with Madre and Hermana. At around 11 we roused the boys and had some very splendid breakfast. Which of course made the wasps come out to play, but they weren't as bad as in August. I was super impressed with the quality of shower I got to have. Not to mention I didn't fall over while trying to get my pants on without getting them wet. Go me. We went into town with Hermana and her boy to check out the end of season sales. They sucked. Well the sales were great, the merchandise not so much. The sherbet we finally had wasn't on sale, but it was by far the best thing to buy in town. Then, I had a wonderful nap while Sean-o played DS. Our tent was in the most fantastic spot where it was out of the sun, so being in it during the day was possible.
Everyone chatted and did logic/word puzzles while Madre cooked up the most fantastic supper. Well technically she prepared it and then gave it to others to cook. It may well have been the best steak I've had all summer. We feasted on steak and garden veggies, and the later ate cake. The DSs were passed around the fire, conversations were had, drinks were drank.
Sunday we essentially repeated Saturday with a little more sleeping and no shopping. We got home late Sunday afternoon, just in time for me to be re-sick. while more camping would have been good, being sick at home is also good.
Cheers to Sean-o's family for having me out with them this weekend!
We left town late, got to the lake even later and did not too shabby a job of setting up our tent in the dark. I don't love camping in the Glen, but it was pretty deserted considering it was a long weekend so it wasn't bad at all. We visited for awhile, and then passed out.
I got up early (especially for me, on my long weekend!) and had morning coffee with Madre and Hermana. At around 11 we roused the boys and had some very splendid breakfast. Which of course made the wasps come out to play, but they weren't as bad as in August. I was super impressed with the quality of shower I got to have. Not to mention I didn't fall over while trying to get my pants on without getting them wet. Go me. We went into town with Hermana and her boy to check out the end of season sales. They sucked. Well the sales were great, the merchandise not so much. The sherbet we finally had wasn't on sale, but it was by far the best thing to buy in town. Then, I had a wonderful nap while Sean-o played DS. Our tent was in the most fantastic spot where it was out of the sun, so being in it during the day was possible.
Everyone chatted and did logic/word puzzles while Madre cooked up the most fantastic supper. Well technically she prepared it and then gave it to others to cook. It may well have been the best steak I've had all summer. We feasted on steak and garden veggies, and the later ate cake. The DSs were passed around the fire, conversations were had, drinks were drank.
Sunday we essentially repeated Saturday with a little more sleeping and no shopping. We got home late Sunday afternoon, just in time for me to be re-sick. while more camping would have been good, being sick at home is also good.
Cheers to Sean-o's family for having me out with them this weekend!
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
a friend!
Not knowing ANYONE in the public system has been weird. I mean, there's a few folk who have made a point of being friendly and talking to me, but in general it's a busy time of year and I know no one. The size of the school doesn't help with the getting to know people either - few people share rooms, there are no dept offices cause everyone has a classroom, you can print directly to the photocopier so you don't even need to socialise there! It will definitely make getting to know people much harder than in the catholic system where you are constantly sharing different spaces with people.
So I was very happy to make my first actual friend. By that I mean stop by each other's classrooms to say hi and see how things are going friends. Spend an hour talking when we should both be working friends. Yay! I kinda knew who he was before we started talking - I took his job this year and he's a regular at the club. Turns out we both worked for the same shit company in Japan, have travelled to the same countries, and love and have lived in Quebec. I laughed pretty hard when he told my his first stop in QC is always Simmons. Oh SK, you're just so darn tiny!
I was concerned it would be months before I found someone I could harass on a daily basis that wasn't 15. Yay to my neighbour.
So I was very happy to make my first actual friend. By that I mean stop by each other's classrooms to say hi and see how things are going friends. Spend an hour talking when we should both be working friends. Yay! I kinda knew who he was before we started talking - I took his job this year and he's a regular at the club. Turns out we both worked for the same shit company in Japan, have travelled to the same countries, and love and have lived in Quebec. I laughed pretty hard when he told my his first stop in QC is always Simmons. Oh SK, you're just so darn tiny!
I was concerned it would be months before I found someone I could harass on a daily basis that wasn't 15. Yay to my neighbour.
a little lunar eclipse
So life in the public system isn't perfect. A few glitches occurred to me on my second day.
Our department meeting was strange. At my previous school, the math department was like an old group of friends. Sure we did our own thing lots of the time, but when we got together it was fun. Our PD day was more of a stress reliever/visiting session over something more on the serious side. Sure there were some minor disagreements sometimes, but there was just an general understanding that everyone was there to help everyone else. I found my first department meeting tense. It was quite obvious that I'm working at a competitive school. I thought at one point there was going to be a flat out argument over which graphing calculators should be bought. Not really cause anyone had any good points, just cause they felt they were "right." Maybe this less friendly environment is because the department is larger than I'm used to (strange when the schools are the same size...) and the age/experience range is much larger. The other thing I felt was odd was that no one offered to help me out if I needed it. True I'm not a new teacher, but I am teaching a new course. Now I know (well at least I'm pretty sure) none of these folks would tell me to get lost if I asked them for anything, but it was strange not to have the offer extended. Maybe I just exude that much confidence. Ya right. I hope future interactions with the dept are a little warmer - maybe I just don't know anyone well enough, and quite possibly people were stressed with better things to do than discuss who has supplies.
We don't get dayplanners!! I live for my teacher dayplanner. True once I get into the swing of things I will neglect it for days at a time, but it keeps me sane when things get stressful. Yesterday, being quite concerned at why I hadn't gotten one yet - and not being able to plan properly without it - I went to see the secretaries. I don't know if the lady I dealt with was new or not, but the interaction was painful. I might as well have been speaking Japanese for the kinds of answers I was getting from her. At first she tried to tell me I'd gotten it. No, no, I don't want a student dayplanner with a teacher sticker on it. I explained it was large and for teachers. She tried to give me the school calendar. 12 photocopied months with the times of soccer games on it. Ummm, not what I want. I'm getting impatient, I have things to do and I need said planner to accomplish it. After some more very confusing and painful interaction with this lady I come to the conclusion that I won't be receiving a teacher dayplanner. Ever. I'm crushed. Seriously, I understand from a budget point of view somewhere I'm sure this makes sense. However, I would have fed myself breakfast that morning if the money saved could have bought me a planner. Bagels and creamcheese I can get myself, anytime. A teacher planner is not so easy to come by. Today, after trying to deal with it, I went and photocopied some blank pages from my dayplanner last year. I much less stressed just by filling out tomorrow. Is making 196 copies and a bagel cheaper than the book? I doubt it. And it's not bound. Sigh. I'll come up with a better system (or if someone could steal me one from another school that would be very exciting) soon.
Our department meeting was strange. At my previous school, the math department was like an old group of friends. Sure we did our own thing lots of the time, but when we got together it was fun. Our PD day was more of a stress reliever/visiting session over something more on the serious side. Sure there were some minor disagreements sometimes, but there was just an general understanding that everyone was there to help everyone else. I found my first department meeting tense. It was quite obvious that I'm working at a competitive school. I thought at one point there was going to be a flat out argument over which graphing calculators should be bought. Not really cause anyone had any good points, just cause they felt they were "right." Maybe this less friendly environment is because the department is larger than I'm used to (strange when the schools are the same size...) and the age/experience range is much larger. The other thing I felt was odd was that no one offered to help me out if I needed it. True I'm not a new teacher, but I am teaching a new course. Now I know (well at least I'm pretty sure) none of these folks would tell me to get lost if I asked them for anything, but it was strange not to have the offer extended. Maybe I just exude that much confidence. Ya right. I hope future interactions with the dept are a little warmer - maybe I just don't know anyone well enough, and quite possibly people were stressed with better things to do than discuss who has supplies.
We don't get dayplanners!! I live for my teacher dayplanner. True once I get into the swing of things I will neglect it for days at a time, but it keeps me sane when things get stressful. Yesterday, being quite concerned at why I hadn't gotten one yet - and not being able to plan properly without it - I went to see the secretaries. I don't know if the lady I dealt with was new or not, but the interaction was painful. I might as well have been speaking Japanese for the kinds of answers I was getting from her. At first she tried to tell me I'd gotten it. No, no, I don't want a student dayplanner with a teacher sticker on it. I explained it was large and for teachers. She tried to give me the school calendar. 12 photocopied months with the times of soccer games on it. Ummm, not what I want. I'm getting impatient, I have things to do and I need said planner to accomplish it. After some more very confusing and painful interaction with this lady I come to the conclusion that I won't be receiving a teacher dayplanner. Ever. I'm crushed. Seriously, I understand from a budget point of view somewhere I'm sure this makes sense. However, I would have fed myself breakfast that morning if the money saved could have bought me a planner. Bagels and creamcheese I can get myself, anytime. A teacher planner is not so easy to come by. Today, after trying to deal with it, I went and photocopied some blank pages from my dayplanner last year. I much less stressed just by filling out tomorrow. Is making 196 copies and a bagel cheaper than the book? I doubt it. And it's not bound. Sigh. I'll come up with a better system (or if someone could steal me one from another school that would be very exciting) soon.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
wha?
C95 has recently found some deep hidden love for Joel Plaskett and has entered his "new single" high on their regular playlist. Wha? Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Joel. Quite a bit. However, he's been in regular radio rotation on independent stations for his "new album" for at least a year and a half now, probably more. Who exactly decided that he was now ready to play amongst the never ending oldies, 80s and pop/hip hop junk they play everyday in the same order? We are talking about the same radio station that denies the fact that Tegan and Sara (now beloved in the States) exists. I'd like to think that this means they might actually start to play music I like more than twice a day, but I know better. Some Idol winner must have had words with a top exec at Rawlco and gotten their song pulled as punishment. Said exec must have been busy and told the closest nerdy intern to find some replacement Cancon and to jack it up as much as possible to "show that Idol jerk" the power of Rawlco. And the world makes sense again.
Monday, August 28, 2006
a warm welcome
Today was my first day back at school. And what a wonderful way to start off the school year!
We started off the day with breakfast. It was actually a pretty poor showing for breakfast, but I work in a school and it was free so that says a lot right there. Muffins and cheese. Fruit? Nowhere to be seen. At my old school we got free fruit everyday, so I was a little confused at the lack of even apples and oranges but maybe they think juice AND fruit is redundant.
Staff meeting. It was kept pretty short. One AP likes to ramble... I'm sure people will make some attempt to keep him in line. The best part? No mass!! This gave me an extra hour to myself to do stuff I actually wanted to do. Do I feel deprived in any way spiritually or otherwise? Nope. Excellent.
I met with my mentor so she could answer some questions for me. She took me to get school supplies, and somehow I scored a stapler. I know this sounds stupid, but in the world of teaching staplers and holepunchers are precious things. She also showed me a cupboard full of resources that had been left by teachers previous. Excellent if I ever have 8 hours to kill to go through it all...
More working. Then lunch will my mentor and some of her friends on staff - good people. Taco Time was mediocre as a choice of venues, but considering it was the only lunch offer I had... And as mediocre as my buried was, I do love mexi-fries. Mmmm.
After lunch we had a short "new to the building" meeting. Again kept short. The attendance policy seems straightforward, nothing else too important was said. Followed by a meeting to show all the staff how to use the new attendance program. It's called easy attendance for a reason - it's crazy easy. Somehow there always seem to be several people who get confused when that should be impossible. Now I understand that I understand computers and the programs that run on them more than the average teacher. However, when the lady says "Then you'll click on Add" there should not be an outcry from the room that she's going too fast. It's a button. Click it. How in the world did you get lost and/or confused? Argh.
Off to work on things of my choosing. My neighbour came over to introduce himself, I chatted with a couple of teachers who taught me. Mr. D remembers most of us as "kids who could do English but just didn't really like it." I laughed, cause it's true and it's funny he remembers that 8 years later. Oh ya, and Rach, the staff are WAY to up to date on your family (though Mr. D is also very happy Kels got her shit together, he said he always questioned when she would).
A quick trip to see the principal about my extra curr. It was discussed way back in May that they'd be needing another female SRC advisor. While Human Rights was my first choice, SRC was definitely second. Interestingly enough, there was talk of the Human Rights club needing an advisor at the Staff Meeting... I approached the principal hoping to maybe share Human Rights with someone seeing as I thought I also had to do SRC. Looks like the HR group has a new advisor. It's me! Seriously, I couldn't have wound up with a better extra curr. Working with an engaged group of young people on things of their choosing? Hello. AND I don't have to do SRC. There is so much love going on for me it's crazy. It almost feels like some kind of crazy trap. Two weeks from now all hell is going to break loose or something. Til then though, it's all kittens and rainbows.
Well, I do believe it's time for a free BBQ at my principals house. People were calling this the dark side?
We started off the day with breakfast. It was actually a pretty poor showing for breakfast, but I work in a school and it was free so that says a lot right there. Muffins and cheese. Fruit? Nowhere to be seen. At my old school we got free fruit everyday, so I was a little confused at the lack of even apples and oranges but maybe they think juice AND fruit is redundant.
Staff meeting. It was kept pretty short. One AP likes to ramble... I'm sure people will make some attempt to keep him in line. The best part? No mass!! This gave me an extra hour to myself to do stuff I actually wanted to do. Do I feel deprived in any way spiritually or otherwise? Nope. Excellent.
I met with my mentor so she could answer some questions for me. She took me to get school supplies, and somehow I scored a stapler. I know this sounds stupid, but in the world of teaching staplers and holepunchers are precious things. She also showed me a cupboard full of resources that had been left by teachers previous. Excellent if I ever have 8 hours to kill to go through it all...
More working. Then lunch will my mentor and some of her friends on staff - good people. Taco Time was mediocre as a choice of venues, but considering it was the only lunch offer I had... And as mediocre as my buried was, I do love mexi-fries. Mmmm.
After lunch we had a short "new to the building" meeting. Again kept short. The attendance policy seems straightforward, nothing else too important was said. Followed by a meeting to show all the staff how to use the new attendance program. It's called easy attendance for a reason - it's crazy easy. Somehow there always seem to be several people who get confused when that should be impossible. Now I understand that I understand computers and the programs that run on them more than the average teacher. However, when the lady says "Then you'll click on Add" there should not be an outcry from the room that she's going too fast. It's a button. Click it. How in the world did you get lost and/or confused? Argh.
Off to work on things of my choosing. My neighbour came over to introduce himself, I chatted with a couple of teachers who taught me. Mr. D remembers most of us as "kids who could do English but just didn't really like it." I laughed, cause it's true and it's funny he remembers that 8 years later. Oh ya, and Rach, the staff are WAY to up to date on your family (though Mr. D is also very happy Kels got her shit together, he said he always questioned when she would).
A quick trip to see the principal about my extra curr. It was discussed way back in May that they'd be needing another female SRC advisor. While Human Rights was my first choice, SRC was definitely second. Interestingly enough, there was talk of the Human Rights club needing an advisor at the Staff Meeting... I approached the principal hoping to maybe share Human Rights with someone seeing as I thought I also had to do SRC. Looks like the HR group has a new advisor. It's me! Seriously, I couldn't have wound up with a better extra curr. Working with an engaged group of young people on things of their choosing? Hello. AND I don't have to do SRC. There is so much love going on for me it's crazy. It almost feels like some kind of crazy trap. Two weeks from now all hell is going to break loose or something. Til then though, it's all kittens and rainbows.
Well, I do believe it's time for a free BBQ at my principals house. People were calling this the dark side?
i heart strep
All the paint fumes really started to get to me after awhile. I was tired, headachey and even started having a sore throat. I was pretty happy attributing all of this to living in a house full of melamine paint for a week and a half. Until the mold showed up. The mold that likes to grow on the back of my tonsils.
Doctor time. As much as I love my doctor, it's getting a little ridiculous that it takes 3 months to get a physical and over a week to get an appointment with her. When could you ever wait a week to see your doctor if you were actually sick? Luckily she works in a building with a fairly competent on call staff, so I didn't have too much of a problem with seeing not my doctor.
He is shocked at the pus-yness of my tonsils. I still prefer to call it mold, but I guess in the medical world it's technically pus. Yum. Anyway, he's more surprised that I think it's normal. Seriously, when I looked at my tonsils the morning of I thought they looked pretty darn good for me, and was only going to the doctor so soon cause I knew what they would look like in a day or two. He starts skirting around the idea of me having my tonsils out. NEVER has this been proposed to me as an idea. How to tell who's the crazy doctors? Anyway, we start discussing symptoms and he starts talking mono.
Mono? Dude, did you fail to read in my file that I'm a teacher? A teacher that goes back to work in less than a week? Mono isn't really an option here. Unfortunately with the way I've been feeling, it almost makes sense. He swabs my throat, writes me a prescription and sends me for bloodwork.
I spend the next two days sleeping, finishing my kitchen with much difficulty (hang one door, sit and rest. repeat) and not prepping for school. Two days later I am feeling much better, though still quite sick, but have not gotten any phone calls from the clinic.
For once, I heart you strep throat. You hit me hard, but you're not mono.
Doctor time. As much as I love my doctor, it's getting a little ridiculous that it takes 3 months to get a physical and over a week to get an appointment with her. When could you ever wait a week to see your doctor if you were actually sick? Luckily she works in a building with a fairly competent on call staff, so I didn't have too much of a problem with seeing not my doctor.
He is shocked at the pus-yness of my tonsils. I still prefer to call it mold, but I guess in the medical world it's technically pus. Yum. Anyway, he's more surprised that I think it's normal. Seriously, when I looked at my tonsils the morning of I thought they looked pretty darn good for me, and was only going to the doctor so soon cause I knew what they would look like in a day or two. He starts skirting around the idea of me having my tonsils out. NEVER has this been proposed to me as an idea. How to tell who's the crazy doctors? Anyway, we start discussing symptoms and he starts talking mono.
Mono? Dude, did you fail to read in my file that I'm a teacher? A teacher that goes back to work in less than a week? Mono isn't really an option here. Unfortunately with the way I've been feeling, it almost makes sense. He swabs my throat, writes me a prescription and sends me for bloodwork.
I spend the next two days sleeping, finishing my kitchen with much difficulty (hang one door, sit and rest. repeat) and not prepping for school. Two days later I am feeling much better, though still quite sick, but have not gotten any phone calls from the clinic.
For once, I heart you strep throat. You hit me hard, but you're not mono.
Sunday, August 27, 2006
TA-DA!
I know you've all been dying to see them, my "new" kitchen. I know I never actually finished blogging about how all the painting went, but the gist of it was that it took forever. The highlight was probably me spilling a whole cup of melamine paint the very first time I went to paint the edges of the cupboards. Luckily I did have a drop sheet on my table, not so luckily the drop sheet was not mine. I have no idea if you can wreck a drop sheet, but if you can I did. Sorry Uncle R. The 16 hour wait between all 5 - that's right 5! - coats on the cupboard doors was the killer. A garage or basement would have been very nice. I'm not too upset to no longer be performing acrobatics anytime I need across my living room... Especially the last two days when an complicated set up of tomato steaks and books was used to lifts the doors up so I could paint the edges.
All said and done, I'm not actually done. Turns out I'm not a very good painter after all... I need to redo the two big green walls cause I skimped out on the paint and it looks blotchy in spots. The cabinets also need a little touching up where I missed with the white right near the black. I'm not to upset about that seeing as when I painted that I was crazy sick and barely conscious anyway.
Stay tuned for kitchen reno #2, a much smaller project. I found an awesome corner shelf at Ikea, but will be sanding it and painting it black to match.
All said and done, I'm not actually done. Turns out I'm not a very good painter after all... I need to redo the two big green walls cause I skimped out on the paint and it looks blotchy in spots. The cabinets also need a little touching up where I missed with the white right near the black. I'm not to upset about that seeing as when I painted that I was crazy sick and barely conscious anyway.
Stay tuned for kitchen reno #2, a much smaller project. I found an awesome corner shelf at Ikea, but will be sanding it and painting it black to match.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
i prolly shouldn't have
...but I did. It was about a year and a half ago when I first saw them and tried them on. THE most amazing pair of jeans I've ever had on. They fit perfect in the bum and legs. They also were had a neat lime green-ish wash to them - not too much to make them look weird, just enough to make them unique. Adding to their uniqueness was the waist band - it sits higher on one side. Surprisingly this looks good on me.
When I first saw them they were on sale, for 150$. Ouch. That's not really a sale in my world. In fact, it's more than I'm willing to pay for anything at regular price. I left them, but kept thinking of the magic jeans. I went back a few months later to see if they still had them and/or if they'd gone more on sale. Horreur! They'd come off sale. At 235$ they would not be part of my wardrobe anytime soon.
For a year I've continued to think of them, and want them. I was in Ultimo this week because of a really cute jacket they had on the mannequin in the window (not in my size) - the jeans were still there and on sale for 50% off. They still fit great, I sucked it up and bought them. After a year and a half of still wanting them I figure I'll wear them enough to justify the price.
Tomorrow I will have my jeans - they alter them in the waist for a custom fit, mucho excellent considering everything I ever like gapes in the waist.
Here is what they look like (photos courtesy of someone on ebay). No fear, they look much better on me than on said person's floor.
When I first saw them they were on sale, for 150$. Ouch. That's not really a sale in my world. In fact, it's more than I'm willing to pay for anything at regular price. I left them, but kept thinking of the magic jeans. I went back a few months later to see if they still had them and/or if they'd gone more on sale. Horreur! They'd come off sale. At 235$ they would not be part of my wardrobe anytime soon.
For a year I've continued to think of them, and want them. I was in Ultimo this week because of a really cute jacket they had on the mannequin in the window (not in my size) - the jeans were still there and on sale for 50% off. They still fit great, I sucked it up and bought them. After a year and a half of still wanting them I figure I'll wear them enough to justify the price.
Tomorrow I will have my jeans - they alter them in the waist for a custom fit, mucho excellent considering everything I ever like gapes in the waist.
Here is what they look like (photos courtesy of someone on ebay). No fear, they look much better on me than on said person's floor.
indian intermission
Enough with reno talk for just a sec. Last week Kev and I, not having seen one another in awhile, were making plans to do drinks and/or supper. I suggested we do Indian (knowing it is one of Kev's favs and having no other friends who like Indian food in S'toon). Kev was excited, as was I. Until Kev assured me the only real place to go was the Taj. Ouch - I wanted to eat Indian but I wasn't really wanting to shell out that kind of cash without some kind of special occasion. While trying to think of acceptable options, Kev suggested we make supper ourselves. Done! We took a cooking class together about a year ago, and Kev also took classes while traveling through India so we even had many choices of things we could cook. Kev choose our menu from his cooking classes - we would have spinach paneer, dal, and chapatis.
I arrived ready to cook, fresh ingredients bought from the farmer's market in hand. Side note - check out Lakeview's farmer's market on Tuesdays if you have a chance, cheap and delicious! After touring Kev's new townhouse we got done to business. We would make the paneer first. Technically Kev had already started - the evening prior he took it upon himself to make cheese. Yes, that's right, Kev made cheese to make our supper that much better. With Kev directing, I boiled spinach and then pureed it, pureed some tomato, and prepared the onions and spices. While I was doing the paneer oriented stuff, Kev did whatever it was he did for the dal (lentils).
I finished first, and was set to the task of making chapatis. Chapati happens to be one of my favorite Indian words (and foods actually). Say it, it makes you happy. Chapati! See, if you could taste them as well you'd be even more happy. There were a few issues with the dough (Kev also premade this) seeing as it was incredibly sticky for no apparent reason. I prevailed and soon was attempting to cook said chapatis on the BBQ. This took an unnaturally long time. Kev came to the rescue with some delicious wine that was provided by a friend we have in the Queen city. They were still taking a long time, but sipping on wine, enjoying the awesome weather and french screaming from the kids next door made it not matter so much. In the end we realised when Kev instructed "Not thin like crepes, but more thin like pancakes" he really meant "Thin like crepes." He also produced some kind of neat crispy seasoned bread wafer that we fried up.
While I was busy with the chapatis, Kev finished up the dal, added the cheese to the spinach paneer and set the table. Time to eat! Holy man, if that hadn't take us so long, we could certainly go into business (if only to have 3 menu items...). There was some serious goodness going on. The spinach paneer is now my favorite Indian food to date. I say to date cause there's most likely lots of things I haven't tried. It was the perfect amount of spicy as that I could eat it, and the cheese held together and added just a bit of mild. It was so good I didn't even pick out the onions. That's pretty darn good if you know me. The dal was also wonderful and best eaten with the crispy bread.
For dessert I sliced up some farmer's market peaches - heaven! I'm thinking this should maybe be a weekly occurrence from now on, Kev tells me the Austrian (his newly arrived gf) is also a big Indian food fan, so I don't see why there would be any objections.
I arrived ready to cook, fresh ingredients bought from the farmer's market in hand. Side note - check out Lakeview's farmer's market on Tuesdays if you have a chance, cheap and delicious! After touring Kev's new townhouse we got done to business. We would make the paneer first. Technically Kev had already started - the evening prior he took it upon himself to make cheese. Yes, that's right, Kev made cheese to make our supper that much better. With Kev directing, I boiled spinach and then pureed it, pureed some tomato, and prepared the onions and spices. While I was doing the paneer oriented stuff, Kev did whatever it was he did for the dal (lentils).
I finished first, and was set to the task of making chapatis. Chapati happens to be one of my favorite Indian words (and foods actually). Say it, it makes you happy. Chapati! See, if you could taste them as well you'd be even more happy. There were a few issues with the dough (Kev also premade this) seeing as it was incredibly sticky for no apparent reason. I prevailed and soon was attempting to cook said chapatis on the BBQ. This took an unnaturally long time. Kev came to the rescue with some delicious wine that was provided by a friend we have in the Queen city. They were still taking a long time, but sipping on wine, enjoying the awesome weather and french screaming from the kids next door made it not matter so much. In the end we realised when Kev instructed "Not thin like crepes, but more thin like pancakes" he really meant "Thin like crepes." He also produced some kind of neat crispy seasoned bread wafer that we fried up.
While I was busy with the chapatis, Kev finished up the dal, added the cheese to the spinach paneer and set the table. Time to eat! Holy man, if that hadn't take us so long, we could certainly go into business (if only to have 3 menu items...). There was some serious goodness going on. The spinach paneer is now my favorite Indian food to date. I say to date cause there's most likely lots of things I haven't tried. It was the perfect amount of spicy as that I could eat it, and the cheese held together and added just a bit of mild. It was so good I didn't even pick out the onions. That's pretty darn good if you know me. The dal was also wonderful and best eaten with the crispy bread.
For dessert I sliced up some farmer's market peaches - heaven! I'm thinking this should maybe be a weekly occurrence from now on, Kev tells me the Austrian (his newly arrived gf) is also a big Indian food fan, so I don't see why there would be any objections.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
before
Just thought I'd post a couple of before pics.
Now maybe you can see why I wasn't such a fan of this 80s monstrosity...
Now maybe you can see why I wasn't such a fan of this 80s monstrosity...
Sunday, August 20, 2006
makeover makeover...
Painting a kitchen is hard. More hard when you're by yourself. Well if you're me anyway - I could have used a few more muscles lying around to help me at time, but I managed. Whatever, I'm kind of on a schedule, I don't have time to wait around for help. Also, I'd also used up my free painting help from dad.
There are an awful lot of edges in a kitchen. I don't mind edgeing, put when there is no one painting behind you and you keep having to switch tools it's a little annoying. One of the first things I manage to do - stub my toe. Hard. Next challenge was getting the fridge out so I could paint behind it. This probably involved involuntary swearing. I was a little concerned I was wrecking my floor (by far the nicest part of my kitchen) but I think it's ok. Under/Behind the fridge was surprisingly "clean." I found my vacuum and did some extra cleaning anyway.
So I managed to paint behind the fridge, jammed into a space the size of a fridge. Not so comfortable, but doable. All around the bottom half of the kitchen til I met the stove. The stove was a much bigger challenge to get out than the fridge. I almost gave up and called someone to come help me when finally I won. The stove somehow is not only the exact size of the space it slides into, but it's also the exact size of the space it can be pulled out into. Getting in behind the stove to paint wasn't much fun either. It was at the point that I realised I was trapped in my kitchen and I needed more paint. It was inconvieniently in the dining room. I had another mini battle with the fridge so I could get out.
Nest task, paint around the top of the room between the ceiling and the cupboards. Akward! My hair kept getting stuck on the stucko, finding footing wasn't very much fun either. It was at the time I noticed I'd gotten some goo on my toe from moving the stove. Or not, how bout back when I stubbed my toe I took a huge chunk out of it and it had bled quite a bit. Short pause to clean up my wound. Back to pretending I'm some kind of flexible monkey - I don't really think it's healthy to bend your neck in that position for as long as was necessary, but I did get finished.
The two walls were by far the easiest part, but it did require wrestling with the stove and fridge again. It was easier this time and I managed not to hit the still wet paint with them.
Day one fini. Total painting time - over 3 hours. I wasn't particularily looking forward to repeating that the following day.
There are an awful lot of edges in a kitchen. I don't mind edgeing, put when there is no one painting behind you and you keep having to switch tools it's a little annoying. One of the first things I manage to do - stub my toe. Hard. Next challenge was getting the fridge out so I could paint behind it. This probably involved involuntary swearing. I was a little concerned I was wrecking my floor (by far the nicest part of my kitchen) but I think it's ok. Under/Behind the fridge was surprisingly "clean." I found my vacuum and did some extra cleaning anyway.
So I managed to paint behind the fridge, jammed into a space the size of a fridge. Not so comfortable, but doable. All around the bottom half of the kitchen til I met the stove. The stove was a much bigger challenge to get out than the fridge. I almost gave up and called someone to come help me when finally I won. The stove somehow is not only the exact size of the space it slides into, but it's also the exact size of the space it can be pulled out into. Getting in behind the stove to paint wasn't much fun either. It was at the point that I realised I was trapped in my kitchen and I needed more paint. It was inconvieniently in the dining room. I had another mini battle with the fridge so I could get out.
Nest task, paint around the top of the room between the ceiling and the cupboards. Akward! My hair kept getting stuck on the stucko, finding footing wasn't very much fun either. It was at the time I noticed I'd gotten some goo on my toe from moving the stove. Or not, how bout back when I stubbed my toe I took a huge chunk out of it and it had bled quite a bit. Short pause to clean up my wound. Back to pretending I'm some kind of flexible monkey - I don't really think it's healthy to bend your neck in that position for as long as was necessary, but I did get finished.
The two walls were by far the easiest part, but it did require wrestling with the stove and fridge again. It was easier this time and I managed not to hit the still wet paint with them.
Day one fini. Total painting time - over 3 hours. I wasn't particularily looking forward to repeating that the following day.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
Makeover makeover...
So I decided something needed to be done about my ugly kitchen. Seeing as I'm unemployed and not receiving a paycheck til the end of Sept, that something needed to be cheap. Paint is cheap. All the reno shows I watch have taught me that you can indeed paint ugly away. Or you can make a significant improvement anyway. With that in mind I decided to paint pretty much every surface in my kitchen. If you could paint fridges and stoves I probably would have done that too. For now, it's walls and cabinets.
Part 1: Prep
Turns out I like patching walls. It's fun. There was quite a lot to patch and I kinda cheaped out and didn't do it all. Honestly who is standing on my countertop critiquing the paint between the cabinets and the ceiling. So far no one, and I think it should stay that way. I'm also pretty decent at sanding after the patching, having had a lot of experience when we first painted in my condo. Walls were the easy part.
Ugh. Cabinets. Require a ridiculous amount of screws for their hinges. Sanding the wood piece to "scuff" it wasn't too bad thanks to my dad's "friend" who thought to lend me an awesome foam sanding wedge that just so happened to fit perfectly in the handle part. Yay Lynn!
The cleaning of the cabinets sucked. Lots. If you ever think you may want to paint your cabinets may I recommend that you remind yourself to clean them on a 6 month basis? Not just the front of them, backs too. I figure the front part must be obvious to wipe down, but it's the rest of the cabinet that just keep on silently collecting grossness. My best hope is that paint sticks to clean dirt, cause it's not going anywhere. This dirt has become one with the cupboards. Rinse, dry, tape. The taping was kinda fun, but I've always liked playing with tape.
We're all ready to go for paint now.
Part 1: Prep
Turns out I like patching walls. It's fun. There was quite a lot to patch and I kinda cheaped out and didn't do it all. Honestly who is standing on my countertop critiquing the paint between the cabinets and the ceiling. So far no one, and I think it should stay that way. I'm also pretty decent at sanding after the patching, having had a lot of experience when we first painted in my condo. Walls were the easy part.
Ugh. Cabinets. Require a ridiculous amount of screws for their hinges. Sanding the wood piece to "scuff" it wasn't too bad thanks to my dad's "friend" who thought to lend me an awesome foam sanding wedge that just so happened to fit perfectly in the handle part. Yay Lynn!
The cleaning of the cabinets sucked. Lots. If you ever think you may want to paint your cabinets may I recommend that you remind yourself to clean them on a 6 month basis? Not just the front of them, backs too. I figure the front part must be obvious to wipe down, but it's the rest of the cabinet that just keep on silently collecting grossness. My best hope is that paint sticks to clean dirt, cause it's not going anywhere. This dirt has become one with the cupboards. Rinse, dry, tape. The taping was kinda fun, but I've always liked playing with tape.
We're all ready to go for paint now.
step up
This movie was everything I hoped it was and then some. How can you go wrong with "thug meets ballerina"? The answer; you can't. The only thing that would have made this movie any better was a flying broom interlude. I guess you can't have everything. Unless of course you're a thug learning a tough lesson through dance and love. It's the dancing love that makes the world go round.
See it. You know you want to.
(Dad, maybe you don't actually want to.)
See it. You know you want to.
(Dad, maybe you don't actually want to.)
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
good times
In honour of going to see "Step up" tonight (can't wait, so fantastic!) I thought I should post this. Jeff posted it first on his blog, but it's so good you can watch it twice.
Oh yes, I've changed who can have comments again. Seems some of you are concerned about being found in the real world so you can once again be an anonymous poster. I think it's lame, but you can do it.
And totally non related, how can a blog site not recognize the word blog in it's spellcheck?
Oh yes, I've changed who can have comments again. Seems some of you are concerned about being found in the real world so you can once again be an anonymous poster. I think it's lame, but you can do it.
And totally non related, how can a blog site not recognize the word blog in it's spellcheck?
i like blueberries
I haven't for the 25 years previous to this one. I'm not sure what exactly what I've been holding against the blueberry, but it was a pretty big grudge. I would occasionally eat them if they were blended into something else, something with much more flavour, but that's it. No pie, yogurt, or muffins for this kid.
While I was hanging with Mr. W watching episode after episode of Veronica Mars (so good!), he offered and made me lunch. Then when we were finished Mr. W offered me dessert. Me say no to dessert? I don't think so. Especially not dessert that I don't have to move to get, it's the best kind. So dessert arrives in front of me - the biggest bowl of blueberries and yogurt you've ever seen. There were more berries than I'd eat cereal some mornings. Maybe Veronica had made me so happy I would have eaten monkey brains if you'd have put them in front of me, I'm not sure. I certainly couldn't tell Mr. W I didn't like blueberries now that he'd served them to me. So I dug in. Quelle surprise! They were good! With a little effort I finished the whole bowl (good, but oh so many).
Thanks to Mr. W and Veronica for the new addition to my menu.
While I was hanging with Mr. W watching episode after episode of Veronica Mars (so good!), he offered and made me lunch. Then when we were finished Mr. W offered me dessert. Me say no to dessert? I don't think so. Especially not dessert that I don't have to move to get, it's the best kind. So dessert arrives in front of me - the biggest bowl of blueberries and yogurt you've ever seen. There were more berries than I'd eat cereal some mornings. Maybe Veronica had made me so happy I would have eaten monkey brains if you'd have put them in front of me, I'm not sure. I certainly couldn't tell Mr. W I didn't like blueberries now that he'd served them to me. So I dug in. Quelle surprise! They were good! With a little effort I finished the whole bowl (good, but oh so many).
Thanks to Mr. W and Veronica for the new addition to my menu.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
b-i-n-g-o
Wednesdays is bingo night in Waskesiu. Awesomely I arrived on a Wednesday. Seeing as Rach didn't get off work til 8 and the bingo fun begins at 7h30, we were a little late. No matter, with bingo you can just hop right in. It's because bingo loves you.
I probably haven't played bingo in about 10 years. I remember liking it, but also not wanting to spend money on it. My sentiments are still about the same. The good part is when you play bingo at the lake, your money goes to support the local heritage museum. So you're at least giving to something good, instead of someone's pockets. Go heritage! Also kids are a large part of the bingo crowd so the atmosphere is a little more laid back than the one at bingo places in the city - less dirty looks from the hardcore folk and more funny trashtalk at the tables.
Sadly there was no winning at our table. Maybe there was less bingo love than I originally thought. We were even given good luck dog treats from one of our table mates. Apparently dog bones don't actually bring good luck, not even if you put it in your bra (I wonder who would do that?). Now you know for next time (Rach). The funniest thing is the "buzzing" that occurs. Like a giant bee hive, the room gets very excited as a collective whole when people start to get very close to winning. It's pretty entertaining. The only thing bingo at the lake needs is more troll dolls. It's just not the same without them...
Oh yes, and next time I should win. That was missing too.
I probably haven't played bingo in about 10 years. I remember liking it, but also not wanting to spend money on it. My sentiments are still about the same. The good part is when you play bingo at the lake, your money goes to support the local heritage museum. So you're at least giving to something good, instead of someone's pockets. Go heritage! Also kids are a large part of the bingo crowd so the atmosphere is a little more laid back than the one at bingo places in the city - less dirty looks from the hardcore folk and more funny trashtalk at the tables.
Sadly there was no winning at our table. Maybe there was less bingo love than I originally thought. We were even given good luck dog treats from one of our table mates. Apparently dog bones don't actually bring good luck, not even if you put it in your bra (I wonder who would do that?). Now you know for next time (Rach). The funniest thing is the "buzzing" that occurs. Like a giant bee hive, the room gets very excited as a collective whole when people start to get very close to winning. It's pretty entertaining. The only thing bingo at the lake needs is more troll dolls. It's just not the same without them...
Oh yes, and next time I should win. That was missing too.
waskesiu!
So after quitting, the only proper thing to do is to run away to the lake. You don't have to twist my arm! So Wednesday after visiting with JJ (thanks for stopping in!) I packed and headed off to Waskesiu. An uneventful drive got me there just in time to pick Rach up from work.
Wednesday night Rach and I played bingo (more to come on that). Thursday we started the day off with a pancake breakfast for the United Way. While Rach went to work I went back to the cabin to plan for school and watch the rest of Veronica season 2 - in that order. Well we all know what order that actually happened in. Mr. Webster joined me an episode or two in and we watched right through to the end. Man, so good! If you haven't started watching Veronica yet, you should really get on it. When we finished the season Mr. W summed it up with "that's a good show" and went to join happy hour. Amazingly I also did a very good amount of planning for the Math A30 course I'll be teaching this semester. Go multitasking! I picked Rach up from work and we ordered pizza and hung out til it was time to go to the bar for New Years. Mobadass was playing, they were good as per usual. Friday I finished planning my unit and did some reading (I'm halfway through the summer of my amazing luck if you're interested). Rach forgot some stuff at the cabin so I dropped it off at work for her. Boy do they ever work hard at Parks Canada on Fridays... I showed up at 4h30 and wound up hanging out there with Rach and her coworkers til close at 8.
Friday evening Sean-o, Heather, Dan and Fearless were supposed to be joining me so we could all camp. The Regina crew had some time setbacks due to a small detour to Vegas earlier in the week and didn't wind up arriving til late - Fri evening we all visited but stayed in cabins. I think it beats trying to set up tents at 10h30. Saturday proved gray and not very nice so we spent much of the day lazing around. When we finally got moving the girls, with a little help from teamwork, packed a pic-nic "lunch" and coerced the boys into hiking Boundary Bog with us. Teamwork makes delicous lunches. The Bog is more of a walk than a hike, but it takes you through many of the parks different forests all in 2km. It's certainly the Reader's Digest version of exploring the North. It's also all about the learning. Good times. Parks Canada wouldn't want you to be lazy in your hiking endeavours - they have high expectations. There's even a quiz for when you're finished. Stay sharp! Mother Nature was feeling generous later on in the day and she gave us some sun to eat our lupper in, and continue with the shining so we could get camp set up and not be freezing. High five to Mother N. The rest of the evening progressed as you would expect - food, more food, smores, fire, beach walking to see meteors, good company and eventually sleeping. Tis the good life. I awoke Sunday to the sweet sweet music of Fearless chopping wood on which she would later use to cook me bacon and eggs. Tasty.
That pretty much concludes the trip. We had to leave early-ish Sunday so Rach could get home in time for her own going away BBQ. Mother N was finished with being nice by about 2 anyway - she unleashed some serious fury on someone as we were driving home. I don't think it was us as we cleaned up our campsite and payed our campfire fee.
Wednesday night Rach and I played bingo (more to come on that). Thursday we started the day off with a pancake breakfast for the United Way. While Rach went to work I went back to the cabin to plan for school and watch the rest of Veronica season 2 - in that order. Well we all know what order that actually happened in. Mr. Webster joined me an episode or two in and we watched right through to the end. Man, so good! If you haven't started watching Veronica yet, you should really get on it. When we finished the season Mr. W summed it up with "that's a good show" and went to join happy hour. Amazingly I also did a very good amount of planning for the Math A30 course I'll be teaching this semester. Go multitasking! I picked Rach up from work and we ordered pizza and hung out til it was time to go to the bar for New Years. Mobadass was playing, they were good as per usual. Friday I finished planning my unit and did some reading (I'm halfway through the summer of my amazing luck if you're interested). Rach forgot some stuff at the cabin so I dropped it off at work for her. Boy do they ever work hard at Parks Canada on Fridays... I showed up at 4h30 and wound up hanging out there with Rach and her coworkers til close at 8.
Friday evening Sean-o, Heather, Dan and Fearless were supposed to be joining me so we could all camp. The Regina crew had some time setbacks due to a small detour to Vegas earlier in the week and didn't wind up arriving til late - Fri evening we all visited but stayed in cabins. I think it beats trying to set up tents at 10h30. Saturday proved gray and not very nice so we spent much of the day lazing around. When we finally got moving the girls, with a little help from teamwork, packed a pic-nic "lunch" and coerced the boys into hiking Boundary Bog with us. Teamwork makes delicous lunches. The Bog is more of a walk than a hike, but it takes you through many of the parks different forests all in 2km. It's certainly the Reader's Digest version of exploring the North. It's also all about the learning. Good times. Parks Canada wouldn't want you to be lazy in your hiking endeavours - they have high expectations. There's even a quiz for when you're finished. Stay sharp! Mother Nature was feeling generous later on in the day and she gave us some sun to eat our lupper in, and continue with the shining so we could get camp set up and not be freezing. High five to Mother N. The rest of the evening progressed as you would expect - food, more food, smores, fire, beach walking to see meteors, good company and eventually sleeping. Tis the good life. I awoke Sunday to the sweet sweet music of Fearless chopping wood on which she would later use to cook me bacon and eggs. Tasty.
That pretty much concludes the trip. We had to leave early-ish Sunday so Rach could get home in time for her own going away BBQ. Mother N was finished with being nice by about 2 anyway - she unleashed some serious fury on someone as we were driving home. I don't think it was us as we cleaned up our campsite and payed our campfire fee.
i quit!
I quit my job, again. It's something I'm getting really good at. So for those of you who are confused, after I quit the Odeon back in April I started working at the Athena. It was a fairly decent job, especially considering I made very decent coin most of the time. There are certainly worse lounges to work at. However, on a whim I realised summer was coming crashing to an end and I still had many things I wanted to accomplish. Turns out work was the thing I least wanted to do. A quick look at the bank account and I quit less than 12 hours later while driving to the queen city to visist Heather, Dan, and Fearless (Sara).
For those of you who are still somehow trying to keep track of my many jobs I now am unemployed for 2.5 weeks until school starts. I'm helping my mom at her store occasionnally (I don't actually get paid in money and it's fun so is that a job?) and I may or may not help out at Diva's if I feel like it. Essentially, I'm just teaching now. How very novel. I think I like it.
For those of you who are still somehow trying to keep track of my many jobs I now am unemployed for 2.5 weeks until school starts. I'm helping my mom at her store occasionnally (I don't actually get paid in money and it's fun so is that a job?) and I may or may not help out at Diva's if I feel like it. Essentially, I'm just teaching now. How very novel. I think I like it.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
would you like to try that on?
More on bras...
I think I mentioned that I've been helping my mom out in her store when I can. Typically I do things like entering data into the computer, getting new stock ready to go, and ringing in stuff. Not so much of the fitting. I know how a bra should fit on me, but I don't really feel too qualified in the fitting of other ladies. While maman seems to have been born with a knack of the fitting, I'm not convinced it's something genetic. Besides, how bad would I feel selling something expensive to someone, only for them to realise in a day that it doesn't actually fit.
Maman and her "friend" as my grandma would call him, and my nan all went to Van for a short holiday. There was need for someone to work for mom so that her only other staff member didn't have to work a 12 hour day. That someone was me. When you are the only person in the store, it's pretty tough to avoid the fitting.
And what a first fitting experience it was! A considerably older lady, who was visiting her granddaughters, who absolutely raved about the store and told her while she was in town she needed to get fitted. Oh great, nothing like high expectations. You see, gravity and age has taken a bit of a toll on this lady's body. It's very difficult to tell how big around someone needs a bra to be, if there's absolutely no way to avoid rolls. The rolls are a fact of life. Also, grandma was looking for considerable "lift." Which is nice and all, but a bra can only do so much! Not even the Oprah bra can reverse the sands of time. Anyway, together we tried on many many a bra. Unfortunately, in the end, we came to the conclusion that we currently didn't have her size in stock in the Oprah bra (which was her favorite). She left new braless, but happy about her fitting. Go me?
I think I mentioned that I've been helping my mom out in her store when I can. Typically I do things like entering data into the computer, getting new stock ready to go, and ringing in stuff. Not so much of the fitting. I know how a bra should fit on me, but I don't really feel too qualified in the fitting of other ladies. While maman seems to have been born with a knack of the fitting, I'm not convinced it's something genetic. Besides, how bad would I feel selling something expensive to someone, only for them to realise in a day that it doesn't actually fit.
Maman and her "friend" as my grandma would call him, and my nan all went to Van for a short holiday. There was need for someone to work for mom so that her only other staff member didn't have to work a 12 hour day. That someone was me. When you are the only person in the store, it's pretty tough to avoid the fitting.
And what a first fitting experience it was! A considerably older lady, who was visiting her granddaughters, who absolutely raved about the store and told her while she was in town she needed to get fitted. Oh great, nothing like high expectations. You see, gravity and age has taken a bit of a toll on this lady's body. It's very difficult to tell how big around someone needs a bra to be, if there's absolutely no way to avoid rolls. The rolls are a fact of life. Also, grandma was looking for considerable "lift." Which is nice and all, but a bra can only do so much! Not even the Oprah bra can reverse the sands of time. Anyway, together we tried on many many a bra. Unfortunately, in the end, we came to the conclusion that we currently didn't have her size in stock in the Oprah bra (which was her favorite). She left new braless, but happy about her fitting. Go me?
wedding #2
It would appear I have reached "that" age. The age where my friends start getting married. Don't worry, I in no way feel inadequate because a wedding is nowhere in my near future. I do enjoy all the fun that goes along with them though!
So Elaine's wedding was a fantastic time. For totally different reason's than Rach's. You see, turns out in wedding dreamland Elaine and I are polar opposites. About the only thing I really liked about the wedding itself was that the ceremony was outside. Oh yes, and of course that my friend was getting married and was crazy happy. That was good too. What made the wedding so great was getting to see people I never get to see normally (E included).
We met up with JJ and her man in Stoon with a few difficulties in the Tim's parking lot. I know, you shouldn't be able to have difficulties when you're both in the same parking lot, but I'm pretty amazing if you've forgotten. Then we ran into a few more difficulties trying to find Marissa's cabin... We try too hard sometimes! Reunited we had time for a quick hug, a change of clothes and had to dash off to make it to the wedding in time. Wade got stellar directions and we weren't late. Thanks to Elaine for drawing us a map (we ALL threw out the one that came with the invite...) and to Marissa's dad for deciphering it.
Like I said, there really was nothing about the ceremony or reception that I loved. But I wasn't supposed to love it, cause I wasn't the one getting married. It suited Elaine and Brett super well, and their families (well Elaine's anyway) were absolutely loving it. A few pieces of advice if you need to plan your wedding sometime soon.
1) Buy a bra/bustier you are actually comfortable in. Needing to manhandle your boobs really takes away from how gorgeous you look. It's your wedding, everyone is looking at you all the time, you look so pretty and then you molest your boobs. There really will be no safe time (except in the washroom) to smush the girls back to where they should be, people are always looking at you.
2) Healthy cake? I know this is awesome for everyday, but it's your wedding, eat real cake. There are a few days of your life I think you should be able to veto healthy sugarfree food and your wedding is high up on that list.
Enough with the critique - cause it was awesome. We had a ton of time to visit with JJ, Wade and Marissa. Understandably not quite so much time with Elaine and Little Amy (not jj's sister) but still a good visit was had. We also got to see the Canwood bar (nicer than you would expect), dance a little, and do a lot of laughing. As per usual I forgot to sign the Guest book. Alas.
The next day Marrisa's mom cooked us a HUGE brunch complete with fresh fish caught by Wade and Marrisa's dad. Seriously, we just kept eating and eating. It was Sean-o's birthday and out of nowhere they produced a "birthday flag" that he was required to walk around the adjoining campsites wearing. Pretty darn funny. We did some relaxing on the beach and then had to leave so we could stop in PA on the way home to visit with Sean-o's family.
It's quite unfortunate sometimes that Canada has to be so darn big - it makes weekend visits like this few and far between. JJ, I think you're up to be married next! ;)
So Elaine's wedding was a fantastic time. For totally different reason's than Rach's. You see, turns out in wedding dreamland Elaine and I are polar opposites. About the only thing I really liked about the wedding itself was that the ceremony was outside. Oh yes, and of course that my friend was getting married and was crazy happy. That was good too. What made the wedding so great was getting to see people I never get to see normally (E included).
We met up with JJ and her man in Stoon with a few difficulties in the Tim's parking lot. I know, you shouldn't be able to have difficulties when you're both in the same parking lot, but I'm pretty amazing if you've forgotten. Then we ran into a few more difficulties trying to find Marissa's cabin... We try too hard sometimes! Reunited we had time for a quick hug, a change of clothes and had to dash off to make it to the wedding in time. Wade got stellar directions and we weren't late. Thanks to Elaine for drawing us a map (we ALL threw out the one that came with the invite...) and to Marissa's dad for deciphering it.
Like I said, there really was nothing about the ceremony or reception that I loved. But I wasn't supposed to love it, cause I wasn't the one getting married. It suited Elaine and Brett super well, and their families (well Elaine's anyway) were absolutely loving it. A few pieces of advice if you need to plan your wedding sometime soon.
1) Buy a bra/bustier you are actually comfortable in. Needing to manhandle your boobs really takes away from how gorgeous you look. It's your wedding, everyone is looking at you all the time, you look so pretty and then you molest your boobs. There really will be no safe time (except in the washroom) to smush the girls back to where they should be, people are always looking at you.
2) Healthy cake? I know this is awesome for everyday, but it's your wedding, eat real cake. There are a few days of your life I think you should be able to veto healthy sugarfree food and your wedding is high up on that list.
Enough with the critique - cause it was awesome. We had a ton of time to visit with JJ, Wade and Marissa. Understandably not quite so much time with Elaine and Little Amy (not jj's sister) but still a good visit was had. We also got to see the Canwood bar (nicer than you would expect), dance a little, and do a lot of laughing. As per usual I forgot to sign the Guest book. Alas.
The next day Marrisa's mom cooked us a HUGE brunch complete with fresh fish caught by Wade and Marrisa's dad. Seriously, we just kept eating and eating. It was Sean-o's birthday and out of nowhere they produced a "birthday flag" that he was required to walk around the adjoining campsites wearing. Pretty darn funny. We did some relaxing on the beach and then had to leave so we could stop in PA on the way home to visit with Sean-o's family.
It's quite unfortunate sometimes that Canada has to be so darn big - it makes weekend visits like this few and far between. JJ, I think you're up to be married next! ;)
Thursday, August 03, 2006
a vanneste is born
So about Rach's wedding. It was fabulous! No bridezilla to be seen, and yet almost all details were taken care of. After some stressful weather "patterns" (no patterns, just total randomness SK style) and an agressive, full military assault by the genetically enhanced mosquitoes it was decided the ceremoney would be held indoors. Slightly less pretty, hugely more comfortable.
Us girls drove into PA to have our hair and make up done, and to pick up the flowers. A big yay to Jan Richards salon! They greeted us with coffee and then made us all look fabulous. Which I consider to be no small feat anytime in the am. We almost had a small incident when the lily for Rach's hair insisted on losing a petal, but turns out it was more head conforming that way. Or so we'll say seeing as the florists didn't have any extras.
Back to the cabin to get dressed and have silly pictures taken. What, you don't normally get dressed in a line? Oh, well you do on the day of a wedding. Also, if you've never seen Lise do up a corset in a small space while trying to get pictures taken from all angles, while in a hurry, you should. She's pretty darn talented. My job of "veil holder/supervisor" was much less demanding.
Ummm, people, we need less pictures of Rachel getting jewlery put on and more leaving so she can be on time for her own wedding. Well, the pictures were nice, don't get me wrong, but it's wrong to be late for your wedding. I say so.
Perfectly on time, for the wedding and to miss the sudden downpour. Let's pat everyone on the back for choosing indoors right now. It only rained for 15ish minutes, but they were exactly when the ceremony was happening. Yay not getting wet!
The ceremony itself was gold. No time for crying, there was way too much laughing going on for anyone to get choked up. Jeff said "I do" about a total of 3 times in the wrong place. At least we all know he's sure about his decision. Rach made sure to include a couple extra vows of Jeff accepting her inability to see a mess and dirty things. He just kept I doing away, so now he's doomed to clean forever. I think he already knew. I signed the wrong thing on whatever it was I was supposed to sign. When you say "write your address" I assume you mean my address. Not Saskatoon. What kind of address is Saskatoon? Be more specific JP lady, I don't sign marriage documents everyday.
Off to pictures. Our photographer was pretty funny, this little Asian lady with an interesting idea of what makes for good pictures. It's all good, she got lots of good ones and having the boys pose "V for victory" was fantastic for the rest of us. It was the only other time that in rained for a couple minutes, but ever prepared, Rach had ordered a big white umbrella just in case such an event should happen. To see all 387 pics, go here.
We finished up just in time to go open up the bar for the rest of the evening and light the tea lights. The hall looked awesome. The food was better. It was so good someone felt the need to take a picture of it. Dessert was AMAZING. Seriously, I still think of the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake that magically showed up in front of me. Did I mention I was the MC? Co-MC actually, Dev also got conned into doing it when 3 other people turned down the offer. Rach wrote out what we had to say and I wasn't required to be funny, so it was okay. Dev and Brent gave a speech to Jeff, with the hilight being them make out on stage. Rach and Jeff's imitation was slightly less good, but we'll blame the crinoline - not much else could get in the way of Rach jumping Jeff... My speech went alright from what I've been told. I didn't cry which was good, I think I managed to speak at an understandable speed, also good. Jeff then thanked Rach's parents for having sex, which is always good times and Rach thanked other people. Nic provided an awesome slideshow, if he gets asked to do many more he may start charging though...
What happened next? Why copious amounts of dancing, drinking and visiting! What else would have happened? Oh yes, more delicious food also appeared later on in the evening. So, quite successful as far as weddings go you may conclude. The most stressful part of the day/night was probably almost running out of ice at 11. Which really wouldn't have been the end of the world, tepid drinks will still get drunk. Just when we thought we were officially iceless, ice magically appeared 30 minutes after it was supposed to. Stress over. The worst part of the evening was not enough Marlito and Chaz time. Those crazy kids had to drive back to Stoon the evening of. So yes, all in all, excellent times.
Us girls drove into PA to have our hair and make up done, and to pick up the flowers. A big yay to Jan Richards salon! They greeted us with coffee and then made us all look fabulous. Which I consider to be no small feat anytime in the am. We almost had a small incident when the lily for Rach's hair insisted on losing a petal, but turns out it was more head conforming that way. Or so we'll say seeing as the florists didn't have any extras.
Back to the cabin to get dressed and have silly pictures taken. What, you don't normally get dressed in a line? Oh, well you do on the day of a wedding. Also, if you've never seen Lise do up a corset in a small space while trying to get pictures taken from all angles, while in a hurry, you should. She's pretty darn talented. My job of "veil holder/supervisor" was much less demanding.
Ummm, people, we need less pictures of Rachel getting jewlery put on and more leaving so she can be on time for her own wedding. Well, the pictures were nice, don't get me wrong, but it's wrong to be late for your wedding. I say so.
Perfectly on time, for the wedding and to miss the sudden downpour. Let's pat everyone on the back for choosing indoors right now. It only rained for 15ish minutes, but they were exactly when the ceremony was happening. Yay not getting wet!
The ceremony itself was gold. No time for crying, there was way too much laughing going on for anyone to get choked up. Jeff said "I do" about a total of 3 times in the wrong place. At least we all know he's sure about his decision. Rach made sure to include a couple extra vows of Jeff accepting her inability to see a mess and dirty things. He just kept I doing away, so now he's doomed to clean forever. I think he already knew. I signed the wrong thing on whatever it was I was supposed to sign. When you say "write your address" I assume you mean my address. Not Saskatoon. What kind of address is Saskatoon? Be more specific JP lady, I don't sign marriage documents everyday.
Off to pictures. Our photographer was pretty funny, this little Asian lady with an interesting idea of what makes for good pictures. It's all good, she got lots of good ones and having the boys pose "V for victory" was fantastic for the rest of us. It was the only other time that in rained for a couple minutes, but ever prepared, Rach had ordered a big white umbrella just in case such an event should happen. To see all 387 pics, go here.
We finished up just in time to go open up the bar for the rest of the evening and light the tea lights. The hall looked awesome. The food was better. It was so good someone felt the need to take a picture of it. Dessert was AMAZING. Seriously, I still think of the raspberry white chocolate cheesecake that magically showed up in front of me. Did I mention I was the MC? Co-MC actually, Dev also got conned into doing it when 3 other people turned down the offer. Rach wrote out what we had to say and I wasn't required to be funny, so it was okay. Dev and Brent gave a speech to Jeff, with the hilight being them make out on stage. Rach and Jeff's imitation was slightly less good, but we'll blame the crinoline - not much else could get in the way of Rach jumping Jeff... My speech went alright from what I've been told. I didn't cry which was good, I think I managed to speak at an understandable speed, also good. Jeff then thanked Rach's parents for having sex, which is always good times and Rach thanked other people. Nic provided an awesome slideshow, if he gets asked to do many more he may start charging though...
What happened next? Why copious amounts of dancing, drinking and visiting! What else would have happened? Oh yes, more delicious food also appeared later on in the evening. So, quite successful as far as weddings go you may conclude. The most stressful part of the day/night was probably almost running out of ice at 11. Which really wouldn't have been the end of the world, tepid drinks will still get drunk. Just when we thought we were officially iceless, ice magically appeared 30 minutes after it was supposed to. Stress over. The worst part of the evening was not enough Marlito and Chaz time. Those crazy kids had to drive back to Stoon the evening of. So yes, all in all, excellent times.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
oh oprah!
It's tough to hate Oprah. I don't really watch her show a whole lot, but I still know she does good work. What with all the charities, and the giving. Her teacher show, how cool would that be? I like free stuff, I love free stuff for teachers! Well all free stuff that's useful I guess.
Anyway. Oprah keeps doing shows on bras. She has a mission - that women start wearing good bras. Ones that fit. Now some of you may have missed the memo where my mom bought a lingerie shop. She did, it's good times, I help her and get paid in underwear. Almost like free stuff. Mom's shop just so happens to sell what everyone refers to as "the Oprah bra." Which isn't really accurate, Oprah simply plugged the bra, she didn't actually design it or anything. Tis the power of Oprah. Since April, I've tried on many bra, but never the Oprah. Why not? Well how good could it actually be. There are much more cute bras that mom sells that are pretty wonderful.
Last week Mom receives a huge shipment of Oprah bras and suggests I actually try one on while she actually has my size in stock (seriously people, the population is nuts for these bras). Wanting to be underwhelmed with a craze (and kinda liking the chocolate brown colour that's come out) I agree to try it on. Damn you Oprah, why do you always have to be right about things? It's like magic. So much lift, so much support, so many question as to why other bras exist. I gladly swap the bra I was wearing for my new Oprah bra with no regrets.
While it's pretty darn crazy the influence Oprah has on folks, at least she's loving good shit. It's tough to hate that.
Anyway. Oprah keeps doing shows on bras. She has a mission - that women start wearing good bras. Ones that fit. Now some of you may have missed the memo where my mom bought a lingerie shop. She did, it's good times, I help her and get paid in underwear. Almost like free stuff. Mom's shop just so happens to sell what everyone refers to as "the Oprah bra." Which isn't really accurate, Oprah simply plugged the bra, she didn't actually design it or anything. Tis the power of Oprah. Since April, I've tried on many bra, but never the Oprah. Why not? Well how good could it actually be. There are much more cute bras that mom sells that are pretty wonderful.
Last week Mom receives a huge shipment of Oprah bras and suggests I actually try one on while she actually has my size in stock (seriously people, the population is nuts for these bras). Wanting to be underwhelmed with a craze (and kinda liking the chocolate brown colour that's come out) I agree to try it on. Damn you Oprah, why do you always have to be right about things? It's like magic. So much lift, so much support, so many question as to why other bras exist. I gladly swap the bra I was wearing for my new Oprah bra with no regrets.
While it's pretty darn crazy the influence Oprah has on folks, at least she's loving good shit. It's tough to hate that.
the stagette
So Maid of Honour duty continues. This time a little more up my alley. Plan a stagette. I've also never been to a stagette, but to entertain my best friend while getting her drunk seemed like a much less daunting task than entertaining her aunts.
Now I know stagette's are normally a little on the outrageous side. Strippers, costumes, that whole "party like it's the last time you'll ever be single" thing. However, we're not really outrageous people. And well, Rach hasn't been single for 5 and some years (and when she was, she wasn't a bar whore... thank goodness!) so while I think there were maybe a few guests who were hoping for a more traditional stagette, it seemed only fitting we do it up our style.
Sadly, many of our friends have moved away. Too far away to come home for a Friday evening, no matter how much fun was planned. Don't worry, we don't love you any less. You did miss out on good times, but we forgive you. All in all a happy 9 some gathered at my place to start the evening off. A few bumps in getting us all there on time (hello folks, Lise and I had an itenerary!) but we still managed to accomplish all the fun we had planned.
To start, instead of costumes we leid all of our guests. Then, some chatting and munchies. The down to business. Presents! We had Rach open her presents and then guess who got her what. Shots for Rach if she guessed wrong, shots for the buyer if she guessed right. Rach drank a lot. Here's Rach showing off some nice undies she received.
Then, it was off to our cars for a scavenger hunt! Is there anything more fun? Well possibly, but this ranks pretty high on my list of fun things to do I tell you. Lise and I carefully crafted this scavenger hunt to reflect on Rach's life - from birth to marriage. We scoured Saskatoon for things she loved, that loved her or that caused entertainment to us. Special cheers to the dude at Fudd's who let us all make milkshakes! The following (for those of you who can't tell for some reason...) is a pregnant Sydney Bristow punching out Parkstar, a deadly teacher spy up to no good in Wal-Mart.
Rach's team came out on top (as is only fair I suppose...). Seriously though, when your team's name is "Two brain tumours and a blonde" is there any way you can win? We gave it our best effort, but both HAS and Van have holes in their heads (which they took turns feeling while we were driving between places I might add.) Still good times. Losers (us) bought the winners (not us) shots later.
We rallied back at my place to play a few drinking games before heading out to shake our booty. We took a bit of a gamble and returned to one of our old haunts, and boy did it pay off. Who knew the Hose was still so much fun? Stellar old school dancing fun played non-stop from start to stop. It was so much fun we had trouble getting off the dance floor to get more drinks on several occasions. Now that's some good times. In stagette spirit, we made Rach wear a spinner around her neck. Boys paid a dollar to spin her wheel and have Rach perform a task. Winning task? Pinch a bum. Rach did pinch a lot of bums that night. She pinches with style in case you were wondering. The style of a lady who is no longer on the market. Super-style you might say.
Everyone had had enough of the fun and dancing, but Rach and I decided to persist in our fun having. We arrived at Diva's just in time to do one last shot, and enjoy some more good dancing music. And desperation. So half dancing, but a little on the tired side, Rach and I are sitting/dancing on the side of the dance floor. We're spotted by two boys. Straight boys. Instantly hopeful. They try dancing with us. One dude, obviously more perceptive than the other loses interest immediatly and leaves his friend to fend for himself. He's persistent. He wants to dance with us. We want none of it. Perceptive friend returns to tell Desperate that he's leaving. Desperate doesn't want to give up, he tells Perceptive he'll find his own way home. Rach is uncomfortable. So I step up and perform what is probably the most important Maid of Honour duty yet (and this is not taking one for the team I might add). "Ummm, so ya. If you're hoping on getting some tonight you should probably go with your friend. You see, this is my friend's stagette and she's getting married in a week and that's my boyfriend standing there in the booth." Desperate doesn't even pretend like he just wants to dance with us, he hightails it out of the bar to the sound of Sean-o whooting and Sher(the other DJ) laughing manically. Apparently you hear very well in the booth due to crazy accoustics. Thank you Desperate for making our evening just that much better. Please, stop by anytime.
Shortly after Sean-o drove us home safely. That's right kids, don't forget to be responsible with your fun having!
Michelle:2 , Brooch:0 Boo-ya!
Now I know stagette's are normally a little on the outrageous side. Strippers, costumes, that whole "party like it's the last time you'll ever be single" thing. However, we're not really outrageous people. And well, Rach hasn't been single for 5 and some years (and when she was, she wasn't a bar whore... thank goodness!) so while I think there were maybe a few guests who were hoping for a more traditional stagette, it seemed only fitting we do it up our style.
Sadly, many of our friends have moved away. Too far away to come home for a Friday evening, no matter how much fun was planned. Don't worry, we don't love you any less. You did miss out on good times, but we forgive you. All in all a happy 9 some gathered at my place to start the evening off. A few bumps in getting us all there on time (hello folks, Lise and I had an itenerary!) but we still managed to accomplish all the fun we had planned.
To start, instead of costumes we leid all of our guests. Then, some chatting and munchies. The down to business. Presents! We had Rach open her presents and then guess who got her what. Shots for Rach if she guessed wrong, shots for the buyer if she guessed right. Rach drank a lot. Here's Rach showing off some nice undies she received.
Then, it was off to our cars for a scavenger hunt! Is there anything more fun? Well possibly, but this ranks pretty high on my list of fun things to do I tell you. Lise and I carefully crafted this scavenger hunt to reflect on Rach's life - from birth to marriage. We scoured Saskatoon for things she loved, that loved her or that caused entertainment to us. Special cheers to the dude at Fudd's who let us all make milkshakes! The following (for those of you who can't tell for some reason...) is a pregnant Sydney Bristow punching out Parkstar, a deadly teacher spy up to no good in Wal-Mart.
Rach's team came out on top (as is only fair I suppose...). Seriously though, when your team's name is "Two brain tumours and a blonde" is there any way you can win? We gave it our best effort, but both HAS and Van have holes in their heads (which they took turns feeling while we were driving between places I might add.) Still good times. Losers (us) bought the winners (not us) shots later.
We rallied back at my place to play a few drinking games before heading out to shake our booty. We took a bit of a gamble and returned to one of our old haunts, and boy did it pay off. Who knew the Hose was still so much fun? Stellar old school dancing fun played non-stop from start to stop. It was so much fun we had trouble getting off the dance floor to get more drinks on several occasions. Now that's some good times. In stagette spirit, we made Rach wear a spinner around her neck. Boys paid a dollar to spin her wheel and have Rach perform a task. Winning task? Pinch a bum. Rach did pinch a lot of bums that night. She pinches with style in case you were wondering. The style of a lady who is no longer on the market. Super-style you might say.
Everyone had had enough of the fun and dancing, but Rach and I decided to persist in our fun having. We arrived at Diva's just in time to do one last shot, and enjoy some more good dancing music. And desperation. So half dancing, but a little on the tired side, Rach and I are sitting/dancing on the side of the dance floor. We're spotted by two boys. Straight boys. Instantly hopeful. They try dancing with us. One dude, obviously more perceptive than the other loses interest immediatly and leaves his friend to fend for himself. He's persistent. He wants to dance with us. We want none of it. Perceptive friend returns to tell Desperate that he's leaving. Desperate doesn't want to give up, he tells Perceptive he'll find his own way home. Rach is uncomfortable. So I step up and perform what is probably the most important Maid of Honour duty yet (and this is not taking one for the team I might add). "Ummm, so ya. If you're hoping on getting some tonight you should probably go with your friend. You see, this is my friend's stagette and she's getting married in a week and that's my boyfriend standing there in the booth." Desperate doesn't even pretend like he just wants to dance with us, he hightails it out of the bar to the sound of Sean-o whooting and Sher(the other DJ) laughing manically. Apparently you hear very well in the booth due to crazy accoustics. Thank you Desperate for making our evening just that much better. Please, stop by anytime.
Shortly after Sean-o drove us home safely. That's right kids, don't forget to be responsible with your fun having!
Michelle:2 , Brooch:0 Boo-ya!
Thursday, July 13, 2006
a pleasant surprise
Procrastination is one of my favourite passtimes. No surprise then that today while trying to accomplish things on my google to do list, that I decided to insert "roll coin" before accomplishing "start planning A30." The tin I store coin in has been overflowing for awhile, Rach and I are taking a trip to Calgary this weekend that I will surely spend more money on than I can technically afford, you understand how rolling coins can quickly become a priority.
A $173 priority! I had no idea my little tin could hold so much goodness! I'd say I should roll coin more often, but suddenly having an extra $173 is way more fun. So all totalled with the other coin I rolled awhile ago, I've "earned" myself an extra $224.50 to spend on clothes and house stuff. Whoot! That's 30min well spent.
The only question I have is if there is some very good reason Canada does not have the most wonderful "coin depositors" that Japan has at every single bank machine. Seriously, why do we need to count and roll coin? There exists wonderful little machines that do this for you. You just pour in up to 50 coins at a time and the ATM does the rest. I'm sure the banks have them in the back, why must they keep them from the public? It's not like it's state of the art brand new technology... We're on friendly terms with Japan now, they could send over a boatload with the next shipment of Razors or Wegas... *sigh*
A $173 priority! I had no idea my little tin could hold so much goodness! I'd say I should roll coin more often, but suddenly having an extra $173 is way more fun. So all totalled with the other coin I rolled awhile ago, I've "earned" myself an extra $224.50 to spend on clothes and house stuff. Whoot! That's 30min well spent.
The only question I have is if there is some very good reason Canada does not have the most wonderful "coin depositors" that Japan has at every single bank machine. Seriously, why do we need to count and roll coin? There exists wonderful little machines that do this for you. You just pour in up to 50 coins at a time and the ATM does the rest. I'm sure the banks have them in the back, why must they keep them from the public? It's not like it's state of the art brand new technology... We're on friendly terms with Japan now, they could send over a boatload with the next shipment of Razors or Wegas... *sigh*
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
things you don't want to wake up to #46
I will be the first one to say that I'm not much of a morning person. My mom will jump in screaming second. Anyway, so I'm not very awake during the whole getting ready and showering thing. Sure the shower helps a little, but not to the extent I get the impression some people benefit from their morning showers. Turns out, to be fully wakened, I need a moth to fly out of my towel as I'm about to wrap it around me. Works like a charm. 100% fully awake, adrenaline going, take that Tim's and Red Bull!
A MOTH? Well I think it was a moth, I don't shower with my glasses and it was never recovered... What exactly was a moth doing in my towel? Maybe more importantly, where is said moth hiding now? Why couldn't it just flap around a light until I could make Sean-o kill it for me or trap it under a glass like my previous house guest? Mostly I hope it's not off reproducing itself so I have a family of moths to deal with. Yuck.
A MOTH? Well I think it was a moth, I don't shower with my glasses and it was never recovered... What exactly was a moth doing in my towel? Maybe more importantly, where is said moth hiding now? Why couldn't it just flap around a light until I could make Sean-o kill it for me or trap it under a glass like my previous house guest? Mostly I hope it's not off reproducing itself so I have a family of moths to deal with. Yuck.
it's a shower!
I think you are supposed to know what the duties of a Maid of Honour are before you accept said position. I didn't know, I still accepted. Luckily, Rach isn't crazy so I wasn't expected to plan or pay for her wedding. Also, my mom liked to randomly tell me what I should be doing. Rach liked this, seeing as then she didn't have to tell me herself.
One of the duties was to plan "the shower." Never having been to a wedding shower before, I don't really think I'd have been my own first choice of planner, but Rach had full confidence. And really, how badly can you mess up a shower?
It turns out, it's very hard to mess up a shower indeed. Really, I went with the assumption that we were making the older ladies happy and giving them a chance to give presents and visit. Good assumption! My stellar skills in getting other people to do work for me also came in handy. Lise planned the games, Mrs Webster provided beverages, and I got food from Costco. Turns out those are the ingredients for a successful shower.
Michelle: 1, Brooch 0
(Rachel's threat being that if I was a bad Maid of Honour she make me wear a brooch, a very ugly brooch)
One of the duties was to plan "the shower." Never having been to a wedding shower before, I don't really think I'd have been my own first choice of planner, but Rach had full confidence. And really, how badly can you mess up a shower?
It turns out, it's very hard to mess up a shower indeed. Really, I went with the assumption that we were making the older ladies happy and giving them a chance to give presents and visit. Good assumption! My stellar skills in getting other people to do work for me also came in handy. Lise planned the games, Mrs Webster provided beverages, and I got food from Costco. Turns out those are the ingredients for a successful shower.
Michelle: 1, Brooch 0
(Rachel's threat being that if I was a bad Maid of Honour she make me wear a brooch, a very ugly brooch)
catch up time
Well it would appear I finally have some time in which to properly catch up on my blogging. Maybe I will try to do this in order, but let's face it, I'm so behind I barely remember what order any of this happened in...
Rach has gone and gotten herself a blog now - complete with pictures. I guess I should figure out how those work as well... One thing at a time people!
Rach has gone and gotten herself a blog now - complete with pictures. I guess I should figure out how those work as well... One thing at a time people!
Monday, June 19, 2006
CHAOS!
Ok, I suck. I may be the worst blogger ever. I may or may not go back and blog in more detail about the last couple months, we'll see. From my last post til now, life has been total chaos and so far I'm managing to not let not blogging stress me out as well. Summer is almost here, full of many plans full of doing nothing. Normally I'm not very good at that, so we'll see how that works out...
Since my last post:
I spent my $1000 shopping spree
I found a new job (unfortunatly it adds to the chaos)
I've moved into my condo
My dad and I painted said new condo
Somehow I moved out of my old apartment, got it clean and only forgot one drawer full of kitchen stuff.
I went back down to working half time, which was good since I got a new job, only to be bumped back up to full time for three weeks. ack!
I planned a wedding shower (thanks to Lise for helping and Mrs. Webster for hosting)
I planned and hosted a stagette (again, thanks to Lise for the help)
I officially have a full time job at Walter Murray next year
I have helped translate a textbook
I purchased a DS Lite (nerd alert!)
My best friend got married!
Finals started today.
So, just over a week left of school. A summer of serving (boo, I know), getting accredited, and maybe rennovating my kitchen await. I'm really really hoping life returns to a slower pace someday soon before I pack up and run away to Laos.
Since my last post:
I spent my $1000 shopping spree
I found a new job (unfortunatly it adds to the chaos)
I've moved into my condo
My dad and I painted said new condo
Somehow I moved out of my old apartment, got it clean and only forgot one drawer full of kitchen stuff.
I went back down to working half time, which was good since I got a new job, only to be bumped back up to full time for three weeks. ack!
I planned a wedding shower (thanks to Lise for helping and Mrs. Webster for hosting)
I planned and hosted a stagette (again, thanks to Lise for the help)
I officially have a full time job at Walter Murray next year
I have helped translate a textbook
I purchased a DS Lite (nerd alert!)
My best friend got married!
Finals started today.
So, just over a week left of school. A summer of serving (boo, I know), getting accredited, and maybe rennovating my kitchen await. I'm really really hoping life returns to a slower pace someday soon before I pack up and run away to Laos.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
if i was on death row...
I would want my last meal to be the bridesmaid's dinner we had at my house. Amazing! Instead of the typical bridesmaid's brunch, Rach planned a catered dinner at my house. This dude (I guess I should call him chef) was fan-freaking-tastic! Not to mention he brought everything, including dishes to my house, left no mess, and left me over half a chocolate torte and strawberries in my fridge. All for much cheaper than going out for a nice meal. Not that I was paying, but still. Go dude!
Course #1 - Lady bug salad
Best salad ever! It had a ladybug in it. A big one. It was a peeled tomato with black spots and antenna. So cute. Said adorable lady buy was nestled in the corner, appreciating our tasty greens and the delectable maple dijon dressing it dressed with.
Course #2 - Chicken and veggies
Not just any chicken, chicken stuffed with cream cheese. Very tastily spiced cream cheese. If you have never stuffed a chicked with cream cheese, I'd suggest you do it ASAP. It's like stuffing your supper with love. With the love, we had purple mashed potatoes. To quote Rachel "I never knew purple tasted so good." The were Japanese sweet potatoes and some kind of yam. I wasn't super crazy about the texture (though no one else noticed) but they were tasty. Also, some of the best asparagus I've ever eaten.
Course #3 - Chocolate torte
Now it's impossible to go wrong by feeding me chocolate. It's a given I will love it. However, you can make me LOVE it if you serve it on a banana leaf garnished with strawberries and pineapple.
Best supper ever.
Course #1 - Lady bug salad
Best salad ever! It had a ladybug in it. A big one. It was a peeled tomato with black spots and antenna. So cute. Said adorable lady buy was nestled in the corner, appreciating our tasty greens and the delectable maple dijon dressing it dressed with.
Course #2 - Chicken and veggies
Not just any chicken, chicken stuffed with cream cheese. Very tastily spiced cream cheese. If you have never stuffed a chicked with cream cheese, I'd suggest you do it ASAP. It's like stuffing your supper with love. With the love, we had purple mashed potatoes. To quote Rachel "I never knew purple tasted so good." The were Japanese sweet potatoes and some kind of yam. I wasn't super crazy about the texture (though no one else noticed) but they were tasty. Also, some of the best asparagus I've ever eaten.
Course #3 - Chocolate torte
Now it's impossible to go wrong by feeding me chocolate. It's a given I will love it. However, you can make me LOVE it if you serve it on a banana leaf garnished with strawberries and pineapple.
Best supper ever.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
best day ever
The same day I was planning on quitting the Odeon, I went in to visit/help my mom at her new store. Turns out, she wasn't very busy and didn't need my help. While chatting, I noticed a draw box on the counter. I went to enter my name in said draw box. Mama Parker stopped me.
"You can't do that, you're family" she scolded.
Defiant as ever, I proceeded to enter in Rach's name, followed by my phone number. For good measure I entered 3 times.
"What are you going to do if they phone you and ask for Rach?" queried Mama, not overly pleased.
"Say hello" seemed the obvious answer.
After visiting for awhile longer, I was running a little late in getting ready for work. This is of course why my phone rang, I had no time to answer the phone. Awesomely enough, they asked for Rach. I remembered, and played along, thinking I had won some lipgloss or a gift certificate. No, not on the best day ever. That simply wouldn't do on the day I was quitting the Odeon. I in fact won a $1000 shopping spree at the Scotia center mall. So great. I was minutes late for work, choas abounded, I didn't care.
(For those of you who don't know about the Scotia mall, $1000 is always wonderful, but there are really only 6ish stores in it... I'm sure I'll manage)
"You can't do that, you're family" she scolded.
Defiant as ever, I proceeded to enter in Rach's name, followed by my phone number. For good measure I entered 3 times.
"What are you going to do if they phone you and ask for Rach?" queried Mama, not overly pleased.
"Say hello" seemed the obvious answer.
After visiting for awhile longer, I was running a little late in getting ready for work. This is of course why my phone rang, I had no time to answer the phone. Awesomely enough, they asked for Rach. I remembered, and played along, thinking I had won some lipgloss or a gift certificate. No, not on the best day ever. That simply wouldn't do on the day I was quitting the Odeon. I in fact won a $1000 shopping spree at the Scotia center mall. So great. I was minutes late for work, choas abounded, I didn't care.
(For those of you who don't know about the Scotia mall, $1000 is always wonderful, but there are really only 6ish stores in it... I'm sure I'll manage)
take that odeon!
I've finally quite the Odeon. After over a year of caring and putting in effort to a job where my boss clearly had no appreciation for his staff, I quit. While the working conditions slowly got better and the returned to worse again, it wasn't really that that did it in for me. The owner's lying, and inability to even understand he was lying was the end. It's one thing to lie to customers, one thing to cheat people out of money. He's greek, it's what they do. The lying to and about his staff, staff that only ever tried to help his business was the final straw. Silly man, you can't pretend you're telling the truth when I WAS THERE for what happened. I quit at 2am on a day where I made $300 in tips. It was awesome. He proceeded to lie about how I quit to remaining staff (Oh Nick, will you never learn...). I did feel really bad for the new manager and went back in for one 1.5hr shift where I trained someone and showed her a couple things. However, I am free! It's wonderful. I still keep in touch with all the wonderful people I worked with (80% of whom have also quit, 10% who are in the process of finding a new job) and I never have to work there again. Take that Odeon, I hope you go bankrupt before the Junos.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
F-I-T
No, I have not bought a Honda Fit. But I really really really want to. Damn you parents for providing me with common sense!
So in an attempt to incorporate the word fit into my life in another, somewhat less satisfying way. As of today, I've started running again. By writing about it here, I figure that will kind of hold me to continuing to run.
So you heard it here first. Instead of buying a Fit, I'm just going to get fit. Cheaper yes, better for my life expectancy and general health, yes, but much less fun all around.
So in an attempt to incorporate the word fit into my life in another, somewhat less satisfying way. As of today, I've started running again. By writing about it here, I figure that will kind of hold me to continuing to run.
So you heard it here first. Instead of buying a Fit, I'm just going to get fit. Cheaper yes, better for my life expectancy and general health, yes, but much less fun all around.
Monday, April 03, 2006
unit organisers
At the start of this semester I started a little experiment with 2 of my classes. I started making and using unit organisers after seeing another lady in my department use them. They seemed pretty close to something I was doing already - and of course looked much nicer. The first one was no fun at all to make up cause I had to translate the whole thing and figure out how to use power point (one of those days when I wish I'd retained a little more from uni). Now that I've got a French template all ready to go, they don't take me much time. I wasn't really convinced they were doing anything, however. Until today in my Math 20 class we started a new unit. Quadratic equations boo-ya! Anyway, I had a busy weekend and didn't have time to make up my new unit organiser. Which is of course why a student asked me if there was one for Unit 4. The important part is that she asked. So she must use it for something - even if it is just a divider for her notes. Yay, I'm doing something kinda useful in my classroom!
paris!
So i did some cute quiz deal that is supposed to figure out what European city I should live in. Turns out I'll be hanging with Heather in Paris. It was supposed to let me post a cute pic and everything, but for some reason it won't work. Darn you cool blog things. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
see you there heather!
| You Belong in Paris |
 You're the perfect person to wander the streets of Paris aimlessly, enjoying architecture and a crepe. |
What European City Do You Belong In?
**so it looks like this almost posted like it was supposed to. weird. i'll leave it as is, even though the title is missing.
Monday, March 27, 2006
curriculum troubles
It may make me a bad teacher that I've never really looked too closely at the Math 90 curriculum. It's not that I haven't been teaching the curriculum, just that Math departments have everything set up so nicely normally it's not really necessary. For the most part, I trust my fellow teachers and what they tell me.
The French textbook I'm using doesn't really set stuff up in the way/order I usually would teach stuff - hence the investigating into the curriculum to see exactly what I should be doing. Now it's not that I'm not following the curriculum, cause I am - kinda sorta. Following it as closely as one can considering how obvious it is that elementary schools aren't following it.
Now I know not everything can be blamed on elementary schools, kids are awesome at the "we've never seen that before!" when in fact they saw it in your class, last week, two days in a row. However, from my gr 9s definite lack of skills, and how obviously I'm following what should be more gr 8 curriculum than gr 9, what to do? It's definitely not wrong to travel backwards in the curriculum, but it is annoying. Especially when now it makes sense as to why many grade 10s have difficulty with the course. Spend too much time teaching what they should already know and you aren't able to prepare them for what they will need to know next semester.
Now I know the Math curriculum is under a complete overhaul, which is all good, but who is to say teachers will do anything different? How do you remedy elementary teachers who love reading and hate math? (don't worry, the English teachers have the same complaints in reverse, I'm aware.)
Ok, so really I'm annoyed that while I was pretty aware we were teaching "grade 9 lite" I didn't think I was reviewing stuff that shows up in the grade 6 column. Blah.
The French textbook I'm using doesn't really set stuff up in the way/order I usually would teach stuff - hence the investigating into the curriculum to see exactly what I should be doing. Now it's not that I'm not following the curriculum, cause I am - kinda sorta. Following it as closely as one can considering how obvious it is that elementary schools aren't following it.
Now I know not everything can be blamed on elementary schools, kids are awesome at the "we've never seen that before!" when in fact they saw it in your class, last week, two days in a row. However, from my gr 9s definite lack of skills, and how obviously I'm following what should be more gr 8 curriculum than gr 9, what to do? It's definitely not wrong to travel backwards in the curriculum, but it is annoying. Especially when now it makes sense as to why many grade 10s have difficulty with the course. Spend too much time teaching what they should already know and you aren't able to prepare them for what they will need to know next semester.
Now I know the Math curriculum is under a complete overhaul, which is all good, but who is to say teachers will do anything different? How do you remedy elementary teachers who love reading and hate math? (don't worry, the English teachers have the same complaints in reverse, I'm aware.)
Ok, so really I'm annoyed that while I was pretty aware we were teaching "grade 9 lite" I didn't think I was reviewing stuff that shows up in the grade 6 column. Blah.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
life update
Well, I think maybe I should be more like Heather and make smaller more frequent posts. My big long rants just take too long so I never post anything. Hopefully I'll have some time to come back and elaborate on some of this, but in the meantime this is where February and March went.
- I had a wonderful one year anniversary with Sean (best b/f ever!)
- I organized a slightly less good Valentine's Day
- Went to Calgary with Rach
- Heather came to visit from Montreal
- Went winter camping with the outdoor ed club
- I was "promoted" to assisstant manager at the Odeon
- Got to visit with JJ when she passed through
- I've been pretty consistently almost sick for 2 months
- Survived another round of parent-teacher interviews
- Got crazy kinds of dying sick for one day (no news from the doctor, so all the tests must say I'm fine)
- Have bought a condo in Lakeview
- Had a job interview with the public system (I think it went well)
and all sorts of other little day to day stuff. Now I'm off to sign papers about the condo, tres exciting!
- I had a wonderful one year anniversary with Sean (best b/f ever!)
- I organized a slightly less good Valentine's Day
- Went to Calgary with Rach
- Heather came to visit from Montreal
- Went winter camping with the outdoor ed club
- I was "promoted" to assisstant manager at the Odeon
- Got to visit with JJ when she passed through
- I've been pretty consistently almost sick for 2 months
- Survived another round of parent-teacher interviews
- Got crazy kinds of dying sick for one day (no news from the doctor, so all the tests must say I'm fine)
- Have bought a condo in Lakeview
- Had a job interview with the public system (I think it went well)
and all sorts of other little day to day stuff. Now I'm off to sign papers about the condo, tres exciting!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Eye boogers
The human body has some of the grossest problem resolutions strategies ever. It's enemy - bacteria and viruses - are relentless true, but next time round I'd like to request a different attack plan.
Some strange little thing attacked me a little while ago. It was a minor nuisance really, a strange "high" sore throat (not the typical tonsil sore kind), inner ear pressure and the feeling that I might get a headache at any time. Just might though, no real pain, just annoyance at knowing at any second there might be real sickness coming.
Clearly I was far too indifferent to the effects this germ was having on my body. This was an attention seeking germ-oid that's for sure. It took my indifference and resolve to continue on as if nothing was wrong very personally. I offended the little bugger and he wanted revenge. There was no mistake I would feel his wrath for ignoring him.
Germy attacked my eyes. He rallied his troops and in a surprise attack took me down while i slept. I woke up with my eyes glued together with gunk. An attempt to clean said gunk out proved futile. A shower did manage to get rid of all the excess, but germy and his crew would not stop. I was not aware it was possible for a sinus infection to attack your eyes, but let me tell you that it is. Snot can come out your eyes. Believe me, eyes are none too happy about this happening. For one, you can't blow your eyes. When you have a runny nose, lightly wiping the bottom of your nostril isn't a very effective way of staying snot free, same applies for your eyes. Also, crazy eyelid swelling happens, and some serious red eyes. "Pink eye" does not even come close to accurately describing what attacked eyes look like.
Absolutely not enjoying doctors, especially medi-clinics (germy was smart and waited until Sunday to stage his attack) I held off going to the doctor for as long as possible. I surrendered. The eye snot was getting to the quantity that it was floating around in my eyes making seeing quite a problem. My eyes had turned into sockets of pain.
The trip to the medi-clinic was relatively painless. I didn't really understand what the doctor told me besides "eye infection, tonsils are fine, cold attacked your eyes, take drugs." Turns out these drugs had to come in the form of ointment. Germy wins another small victory. Eye ointment is gross. Essentially it's like squeezing vaseline in your eyes. Being that it's not runny, this is quite difficult as it's very easy to just blink and get it all over your eyelids and eyelashes. Also, when you finally do get it in your eyes, it's not exactly clear so you can't see for a bit. It took 4 days for my eyes to look almost normal again - in the war against germy, several blood vessls in my left eye were broken. They're still healing, though they've faded to a dull yellow and pink by today.
I'm so screwed when that pandemic finally hits...
Some strange little thing attacked me a little while ago. It was a minor nuisance really, a strange "high" sore throat (not the typical tonsil sore kind), inner ear pressure and the feeling that I might get a headache at any time. Just might though, no real pain, just annoyance at knowing at any second there might be real sickness coming.
Clearly I was far too indifferent to the effects this germ was having on my body. This was an attention seeking germ-oid that's for sure. It took my indifference and resolve to continue on as if nothing was wrong very personally. I offended the little bugger and he wanted revenge. There was no mistake I would feel his wrath for ignoring him.
Germy attacked my eyes. He rallied his troops and in a surprise attack took me down while i slept. I woke up with my eyes glued together with gunk. An attempt to clean said gunk out proved futile. A shower did manage to get rid of all the excess, but germy and his crew would not stop. I was not aware it was possible for a sinus infection to attack your eyes, but let me tell you that it is. Snot can come out your eyes. Believe me, eyes are none too happy about this happening. For one, you can't blow your eyes. When you have a runny nose, lightly wiping the bottom of your nostril isn't a very effective way of staying snot free, same applies for your eyes. Also, crazy eyelid swelling happens, and some serious red eyes. "Pink eye" does not even come close to accurately describing what attacked eyes look like.
Absolutely not enjoying doctors, especially medi-clinics (germy was smart and waited until Sunday to stage his attack) I held off going to the doctor for as long as possible. I surrendered. The eye snot was getting to the quantity that it was floating around in my eyes making seeing quite a problem. My eyes had turned into sockets of pain.
The trip to the medi-clinic was relatively painless. I didn't really understand what the doctor told me besides "eye infection, tonsils are fine, cold attacked your eyes, take drugs." Turns out these drugs had to come in the form of ointment. Germy wins another small victory. Eye ointment is gross. Essentially it's like squeezing vaseline in your eyes. Being that it's not runny, this is quite difficult as it's very easy to just blink and get it all over your eyelids and eyelashes. Also, when you finally do get it in your eyes, it's not exactly clear so you can't see for a bit. It took 4 days for my eyes to look almost normal again - in the war against germy, several blood vessls in my left eye were broken. They're still healing, though they've faded to a dull yellow and pink by today.
I'm so screwed when that pandemic finally hits...
Friday, February 03, 2006
backwards ne?
Feeling safe is a funny thing. I've travelled to some pretty sketchy countries, I teach in a school where there are kids carrying knives, I don't always lock my doors etc. But, in general, I feel safe.
Until I see a police officer or police car that is. Since moving to City Park area, I haven't really ever felt unsafe either. Until of course, I see the cops. One morning, very early i might add, one was doing a walk around the apartment complex behind me. Kinda feaked me out. Didn't help that the policeman didn't say anything to me. Then, a week or so ago, as I was coming home there was a cop car driving s-l-o-w-l-y down my block. Totally freaked me out. I felt scared just walking from my car to my front door. I almost phoned my roommate to tell her to have her bf walk her to our door, until i re-thought what a paranoid freak she can be and decided that might cause her to have a heart attack AND move out on me.
My question is, what is wrong with out law-enforcement, that they make us feel unsafe instead of the opposite? Maybe this should just be "what is wrong with me"? I'm well aware I could keep rambling on here, but I should do something a little more productive than blog for a little bit. : )
Until I see a police officer or police car that is. Since moving to City Park area, I haven't really ever felt unsafe either. Until of course, I see the cops. One morning, very early i might add, one was doing a walk around the apartment complex behind me. Kinda feaked me out. Didn't help that the policeman didn't say anything to me. Then, a week or so ago, as I was coming home there was a cop car driving s-l-o-w-l-y down my block. Totally freaked me out. I felt scared just walking from my car to my front door. I almost phoned my roommate to tell her to have her bf walk her to our door, until i re-thought what a paranoid freak she can be and decided that might cause her to have a heart attack AND move out on me.
My question is, what is wrong with out law-enforcement, that they make us feel unsafe instead of the opposite? Maybe this should just be "what is wrong with me"? I'm well aware I could keep rambling on here, but I should do something a little more productive than blog for a little bit. : )
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
i want a cat
I'm house-sitting for my uncle right now while him and his wife are on a cruise. It's made me miss my cat. Their cat Lucy (or girly) is just so darned cute and loveable. So really, I want a cute, friendly cat. Not just any punk cat will do. If it could be slightly crazy too, I think that would be fun.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
christmas fun
From December 1st to now has been one good time after another. December is such a happy month (unless you are a university student, which i happily am not). So much visiting, socialising and general goodwill towards men (and women). All this with my new paint and cleaner surroundings, the happiness never ends. Well I guess sometimes it does, but that's another post.
There were many casual gatherings, lots of hugs and laughs, and much wishing I could see every one who came home to visit on a more regular basis. I think I also wish every one was as happy as they are at Christmas at least one day a week. Don't get me wrong, Christmas time is pretty great, but would it kill people to be "christmas-y" the rest of the year as well? By the time Dec 28th rolls around people are already throwing out their elbows in the mall and on the sidewalks in an effort to prove they are busy, focused and most definitely mean business. Hey, I'm not doubting your business, but what's wrong with happy business?
This year was also a little different in that I spent a lot of time with my family and very little time running away from my family to be with friends. It was really nice. And probably a huge hint that I'm getting older and more responsible or something. Okay, just older. And of course there is the terribly delicious table full of goodies my Nan reals me in with. How do you say no to a table full of goodness? If you're me the answer is you don't. No use fighting a losing battle.
I spent a very nice New Years with friends at Sean-o's. Sean-o spun us some wicked tunes all evening and into the morning hours. That Sean-o, he sure can spin things. Things like plates and records. On New Years, it was mainly records. I shall credit the good music and company with my temporary abilities of staying up til crazy hours while not working.
In typical me style, I fell stupidly sick New Years day, and didn't wind up recovering for a full week. This did extend my holidays an extra two days, but considering I'd planned on doing at least a little work before going back to school, that wasn't quite the treat you'd think it was. The being at home part was good, the having to work extra hard now isn't quite as good. Aside from a massive coughing attack today in period 3, I'm pretty much back to healthy as it gets.
There were many casual gatherings, lots of hugs and laughs, and much wishing I could see every one who came home to visit on a more regular basis. I think I also wish every one was as happy as they are at Christmas at least one day a week. Don't get me wrong, Christmas time is pretty great, but would it kill people to be "christmas-y" the rest of the year as well? By the time Dec 28th rolls around people are already throwing out their elbows in the mall and on the sidewalks in an effort to prove they are busy, focused and most definitely mean business. Hey, I'm not doubting your business, but what's wrong with happy business?
This year was also a little different in that I spent a lot of time with my family and very little time running away from my family to be with friends. It was really nice. And probably a huge hint that I'm getting older and more responsible or something. Okay, just older. And of course there is the terribly delicious table full of goodies my Nan reals me in with. How do you say no to a table full of goodness? If you're me the answer is you don't. No use fighting a losing battle.
I spent a very nice New Years with friends at Sean-o's. Sean-o spun us some wicked tunes all evening and into the morning hours. That Sean-o, he sure can spin things. Things like plates and records. On New Years, it was mainly records. I shall credit the good music and company with my temporary abilities of staying up til crazy hours while not working.
In typical me style, I fell stupidly sick New Years day, and didn't wind up recovering for a full week. This did extend my holidays an extra two days, but considering I'd planned on doing at least a little work before going back to school, that wasn't quite the treat you'd think it was. The being at home part was good, the having to work extra hard now isn't quite as good. Aside from a massive coughing attack today in period 3, I'm pretty much back to healthy as it gets.
Friday, December 30, 2005
sanity
I gave notice at the end of the November long weekend. This really didn't give me much time to find a new apartment or a new roommate for December. Luckily Rach's little sister was looking to leave home so that solved problem number one. For many people it is confusing that I now live with my best friend's little sister (including their family), but it works quite well. Now to find a place.
I looked at lots of places and they were all "OK." Blah. There wouldn't be any trouble living in any of them, but nothing really great. Considering how many times I've moved over the years, I was hoping to do a little better than just ok. I was hoping to finally move somewhere I could stay and love until I bought something. Something that felt like my home. Just as I was giving up hope and getting ready to settle for the least blah of the blahs, I found it. A townhouse in City Park, end unit, nice size and layout, newly rennovated. It's selling feature - paint! The owners have a hatred for eggshell white that rivals my own! Our kitchen and hallways are a nice shade of yellow with blue/turquoise cubboards, our living room is a very nice shade of green, Dani's bedroom is a blue and mine is a brown. It's wonderful to live somewhere that's not white and sterile. Yay to having a home.
We moved in December first and a few days later I realised exactly how unhappy I'd been with my previous living arrangements. Magically I was back to my old self again. My short temper with poor Sean-o and my students all but dissapeared. I started laughing again. Regular customers at work commented on how happy I seemed. I started sleeping and relaxing more. I should have started blogging more, but Christmas was right around the corner and there was so much to be done!
I looked at lots of places and they were all "OK." Blah. There wouldn't be any trouble living in any of them, but nothing really great. Considering how many times I've moved over the years, I was hoping to do a little better than just ok. I was hoping to finally move somewhere I could stay and love until I bought something. Something that felt like my home. Just as I was giving up hope and getting ready to settle for the least blah of the blahs, I found it. A townhouse in City Park, end unit, nice size and layout, newly rennovated. It's selling feature - paint! The owners have a hatred for eggshell white that rivals my own! Our kitchen and hallways are a nice shade of yellow with blue/turquoise cubboards, our living room is a very nice shade of green, Dani's bedroom is a blue and mine is a brown. It's wonderful to live somewhere that's not white and sterile. Yay to having a home.
We moved in December first and a few days later I realised exactly how unhappy I'd been with my previous living arrangements. Magically I was back to my old self again. My short temper with poor Sean-o and my students all but dissapeared. I started laughing again. Regular customers at work commented on how happy I seemed. I started sleeping and relaxing more. I should have started blogging more, but Christmas was right around the corner and there was so much to be done!
the stress
So, I know I am a terrible blogger and email updater. But at least there is some explanation, mainly the stress that was my old house.
I believe I mentioned earlier that I moved. I have since moved again. Why so much moving you ask? I have learnt that I need to live in a clean environment to be happy.
You see, the first move involved me moving in with a very swell girl I met at work at the Odeon. She's also a teacher with a couple side jobs, and she was looking for a roommate to help pay her mortgage. When I viewed her house in the summer when I was thinking of moving, yes it was a disaster, but she spoke of cleaning, finishing renovation, and it was (and is) a very cute house. Added bonus being I liked her enough to think we'd make good roommates. To help fix the first two problems, it was decided I'd move in in October instead of September to give her a little extra cleaning time. I gave my notice, my landlady was sad to be losing me as a tenant and I was looking forward to living with my new roommate and doing roommate-y things. Eating supper that wasn't popcorn, watching girly tv shows etc.
The end of September came and I started moving my stuff in. It was very obvious that no progress had been made in the way of cleaning or renovation. It would appear "some things came up." Not really having any options, I moved in anyway. Thus commenced a two month decent into hell.
You see, this was no ordinary kind of mess. This was a super mess. A house eating kind of mess. This kind of mess would make the people on that TLC show about organizing rooms want to eat babies. There really is no was to describe the utter madness that was to be my new home. Imagine if you took the contents of 4 homes and then jammed them into one small wartime house. Now buy new furniture for the house, but have nowhere to put it, so randomly keep it in boxes where it will fit. Now flood the basement so you have to throw everything around to get it out of the way. Add an argument between yourself and the house so the house decides to vomit it's contents up at you to prove a point. Create one path to walk through the house and clean one chair off so one person may sit. Voila! That's about the best description I can muster. I'm speaking very literally when I say the entire house except the one path,chair and folding table beside the chair was stacked a minimum of 3 feet high in stuff.
Stress mounted. My bedroom and a small area around my desk were the only Oasi of "clean." I spent my days trying to spend as little time as possible at home. My home stressed Rach out and that says a lot. Sean-o was very concerned. The stress got to a point where I couldn't even recognize it as stress anymore. An ultimatum to the roommate was made - progress on the house must be made, or I would be moving out. She seemed to understand, you really can't be in denial about something like that. I was hopeful for change. The agreed cleaning date came and went. A desk was cleaned. Much anger ensued. Frustration hit an all time high. I gave my notice.
I could go into detail on the frustration, but I have a feeling this is a long post already. My ex-roommate and I still get along very well, she is still a great person, however we have very different opinions on what an acceptable living arrangement is. I think I've done a pretty good job of not taking out my frustrations of spending 2 months in hell on her. Considering everything, I think that's pretty amazing.
I believe I mentioned earlier that I moved. I have since moved again. Why so much moving you ask? I have learnt that I need to live in a clean environment to be happy.
You see, the first move involved me moving in with a very swell girl I met at work at the Odeon. She's also a teacher with a couple side jobs, and she was looking for a roommate to help pay her mortgage. When I viewed her house in the summer when I was thinking of moving, yes it was a disaster, but she spoke of cleaning, finishing renovation, and it was (and is) a very cute house. Added bonus being I liked her enough to think we'd make good roommates. To help fix the first two problems, it was decided I'd move in in October instead of September to give her a little extra cleaning time. I gave my notice, my landlady was sad to be losing me as a tenant and I was looking forward to living with my new roommate and doing roommate-y things. Eating supper that wasn't popcorn, watching girly tv shows etc.
The end of September came and I started moving my stuff in. It was very obvious that no progress had been made in the way of cleaning or renovation. It would appear "some things came up." Not really having any options, I moved in anyway. Thus commenced a two month decent into hell.
You see, this was no ordinary kind of mess. This was a super mess. A house eating kind of mess. This kind of mess would make the people on that TLC show about organizing rooms want to eat babies. There really is no was to describe the utter madness that was to be my new home. Imagine if you took the contents of 4 homes and then jammed them into one small wartime house. Now buy new furniture for the house, but have nowhere to put it, so randomly keep it in boxes where it will fit. Now flood the basement so you have to throw everything around to get it out of the way. Add an argument between yourself and the house so the house decides to vomit it's contents up at you to prove a point. Create one path to walk through the house and clean one chair off so one person may sit. Voila! That's about the best description I can muster. I'm speaking very literally when I say the entire house except the one path,chair and folding table beside the chair was stacked a minimum of 3 feet high in stuff.
Stress mounted. My bedroom and a small area around my desk were the only Oasi of "clean." I spent my days trying to spend as little time as possible at home. My home stressed Rach out and that says a lot. Sean-o was very concerned. The stress got to a point where I couldn't even recognize it as stress anymore. An ultimatum to the roommate was made - progress on the house must be made, or I would be moving out. She seemed to understand, you really can't be in denial about something like that. I was hopeful for change. The agreed cleaning date came and went. A desk was cleaned. Much anger ensued. Frustration hit an all time high. I gave my notice.
I could go into detail on the frustration, but I have a feeling this is a long post already. My ex-roommate and I still get along very well, she is still a great person, however we have very different opinions on what an acceptable living arrangement is. I think I've done a pretty good job of not taking out my frustrations of spending 2 months in hell on her. Considering everything, I think that's pretty amazing.
the conclusion
So before I make a proper update I think I should end the mmm bop story.
While being the part time home of many hooligans, ruffians and future low life of Saskatoon, Feehan also houses some very ambitious, motivated and creative kids. Many of these students find themselves in a young, trendy, opinionated and challenging teacher's law 30 class. This class just so happens to occur in period 3, the class in which our Christmas hampers are put together. What does this have to do with mmm bop, well at first not much.
Said teacher's creative students really wanted to go the distance this year for their Christmas hamper. These are generous folk, the kind who make us all wish we were better people. They brainstormed ways to raise as much money as possible for their family. And then, they came up with a goal. They made a deal with their teacher that is they raised $400 dollars for their Christmas hamper that he in turn would let them wax his legs. A contract was signed. Work commeneced. These kids went all the way - bake sales, asking families, allowances and precious work money was all collected for 2 weeks. The goal was met, an appointment with an esthetician was made.
Would these crafty students let it stop there however? No! $400 was not enough for these gianormous hearted gr 12 students. They devised a second money making scheme, this time the profits being donated to the stop the bop charity. The deal? To view the waxing of the very popular teacher's legs you would have to pay $1. A pretty good deal considering it's rumoured he screamed like a little girl... These wonderful students raised another $400 in admission fees that was donated to stop the bop - meaning for the last week of school we could all enjoy Christmas carols instead of the mindless spasms of the Hanson brother's vocal chords. Thank you Law 30 students.
On a final note, said teacher has girlier legs than I.
While being the part time home of many hooligans, ruffians and future low life of Saskatoon, Feehan also houses some very ambitious, motivated and creative kids. Many of these students find themselves in a young, trendy, opinionated and challenging teacher's law 30 class. This class just so happens to occur in period 3, the class in which our Christmas hampers are put together. What does this have to do with mmm bop, well at first not much.
Said teacher's creative students really wanted to go the distance this year for their Christmas hamper. These are generous folk, the kind who make us all wish we were better people. They brainstormed ways to raise as much money as possible for their family. And then, they came up with a goal. They made a deal with their teacher that is they raised $400 dollars for their Christmas hamper that he in turn would let them wax his legs. A contract was signed. Work commeneced. These kids went all the way - bake sales, asking families, allowances and precious work money was all collected for 2 weeks. The goal was met, an appointment with an esthetician was made.
Would these crafty students let it stop there however? No! $400 was not enough for these gianormous hearted gr 12 students. They devised a second money making scheme, this time the profits being donated to the stop the bop charity. The deal? To view the waxing of the very popular teacher's legs you would have to pay $1. A pretty good deal considering it's rumoured he screamed like a little girl... These wonderful students raised another $400 in admission fees that was donated to stop the bop - meaning for the last week of school we could all enjoy Christmas carols instead of the mindless spasms of the Hanson brother's vocal chords. Thank you Law 30 students.
On a final note, said teacher has girlier legs than I.
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