Chez Nuclear Sunrisette

My last post here

2005-09-05T13:49:00.000-06:00

I signed up for a new blog this morning. The address is http://minnie2shoes.blogspot.com - see ya there!

Darn Dairy Queen

2005-09-04T23:14:00.000-06:00

I just got back from the fireworks with Kass, Brea, Arielle and Justin. The fireworks were ok, nothing exceptional, but I was amazed at the traffic in the city!! Idylwyld/Hwy 16 was so busy before and after the fireworks. I've never seen it like that.

Afterwards, we went to Dairy Queen. I was exhausted when we got there but after a Peanut Butter Cup blizzard, I'm fairly awake. I know that once I go to bed and start reading, I'll fall asleep so that's good. If I get woken up by a bunch of little punks at 3:00 am again, I will not be impressed. I might even be tempted to yell down to them. That's the second time it's happened!! Grr!

I'm considering changing my blog again. I know I'm being fussy, but as I'm replacing some of the old memories of Stoon (certain areas of the city, etc.) that I had with Jesse with new memories, I think I should change my blog too. The name is actually connected to him and I don't think that'll do. When I do change it, I'll put up a new link.

Maybe I'll take a bubble bath or something.

I'm here!!!

2005-09-02T09:17:00.000-06:00

So here I am in the big city. This week has been eventful yet not. We just got internet after a big long argument with Sasktel which I won't go into now, lest my blood pressure rises too high. The satellite should be hooked up today... it better be hooked up today! Could you go for almost a week without internet and tv? It's definitely harder than you think.

Today is a day for preparing myself for subbing. Stace and I came up with a cool idea - I'm making subbing bags! I bought cheap, big gift bags at a dollar store and I'm filling them with cool games, toys and activities, one bag per grade. Today Kass is coming over and helping me colour file folder games. Ooooooh do I hate colouring now. I can't believe I'm actually saying that, but it's true. Too much colouring and making posters in my education classes (right fellow ed grads?)!!

I've had some social interaction this week, which was nice. Steve and I went for supper on Sunday night, and I've seen Kass and Brea a few times this week. I've talked on the phone with more people than I thought I would actually. Plus I went home (well, to Cudworth) to help mom and dad settle in. That took a nice chunk outta the day.

Oooh ooh! I forgot to mention the job I could have had! I had an interview with the Misbah School (an Islamic school in the city) and they offered me a job teaching 15 2-3-4 kids. I would have taken it but they are a private school funded by donations and stuff, so they weren't offering a good salary, with no benefits. At least with subbing I can get benefits and actually belong to the STF. It's crappy work but maybe it's my "in" for a "real" job.

That's all I got to say for now. Expect more posts from me since I actually have internet now! Larson out.

The curse has been broken!

2005-08-25T18:09:00.000-06:00

Finally, something is starting to go right for me!

The interview that I had on Wednesday was pretty much just a formality. I got there about 20 minutes early (I am my mother's daughter, after all!) and did paperwork - just things like those stupid income tax forms you have to sign and direct deposit forms and stuff like that. Then I went in for my interview. All they said was, "Describe yourself" and "Tell me a bit about your teaching experiences." They politely flipped through my portfolio and then said, "You're approved!" I guess they have several hundred people on the sub list though... so I guess I'll be subbing in middle-years classrooms too, just so I can get work.

Another nice thing is that since the school divisions are amalgamating after Christmas, I only had to do one of these screening interviews. Coincidentally, the other division, Sask Valley, that I applied in for subbing is amalgamating with this one, Stoon East,, so the only thing I had to do with this other one is their own paperwork that deals with stuff before Christmas. They have to do their own screening in collaboration with Stoon East but that won't be until the end of September. Soooooo I won't be getting any calls from them until October.

Which brings me to my new dilemma... I'm wondering if I should get an evenings/weekends job for at least September, just in case I don't get much subbing. I'm thinking maybe Sobey's or Walmart *shudder*... Walmart especially goes through employees like crazy, plus I've worked there before, so I think that would help. I guess I'll see... I just know that I'll be a little bored within a few weeks of moving because there won't be a lot for me to do. I guess we'll see!

Holy moley!!

2005-08-22T18:20:00.000-06:00

I heard from 2 school divisions today!!! I have an interview for a subbing position with Saskatoon East on Wednesday morning, and Saskatchewan Valley School Division said they just do reference checks and that more than likely I would get on as a sub. I was SO pumped when I heard from them!! But now I'm kind of freaking out.

I can't believe that the school year is coming up so fast. I also can't believe that I will actually be subbing... the only teacher in the room... with a bunch of kids. Oh dear, I do hope that I only sub for the really young ones... and really good kids too. I hope I can do this!!

I know that Brea and Kass both gave me feedback as to what they think a good sub is like. Yes, it's definitely important to be fun, but I really hope that I can be "tough" with the kids so they don't walk all over me. I can just see myself being driven to crying halfway through the first hour. (Not really, but you never know.) I was talking to a teacher from Outlook here and she said that when she was a sub, she had activities for "just in case" and then if she became familiar with a class and knew that she would be subbing, the teacher would let her plan the day. I think that would be really cool.

I also think it would be neat to have "brain breaks" if the kids are well-behaved. Brain breaks are where you do activities to take a break from whatever you're working on. It sounds counter-productive at first, actually, because you'd think the kids would get distracted and never be able to settle down. But if you give them frequent breaks they'll be less restless and then work better. (So they say, anyway. I'll give it a shot.)

Wow, I actually posted about something important. This wasn't even an entry where I whine about nothing being new and then marvel at how I actually posted. Life is starting to get exciting! And things seem to be going my way, so maybe this 10-month-long curse of mine is lifting!

A good weekend

2005-08-21T19:47:00.000-06:00

Wow, I actually have something to update about!

Last night Kass and I went to Folkfest. A Folkfest virgin, I had never gone before, and I was SO excited to finally see what all the hoopla was all about. I thought it was really interesting, although I think it's too bad the displays show all the ceremonial aspects of each country and not the everyday lives there. The Romanian pavillion had money and stamps, which I thought was really cool, but that was about it. I guess I've never really gone out of Canada before (other than a 2-hour jaunt through Montana) so maybe it is like that, but most people I've talked to say that it's mostly ceremonial stuff. But it was still interesting though.

This morning Kass and I went to church. It was the first time I had been to church for a few years *blush*. I love churches that have bands; it's much more interesting than an organ.

I guess that wasn't really much to update about. The main thing that's been on my mind lately is that a week from today I will officially be living in Stoon. I can't wait!! I was supposed to be done on Friday but Royce scheduled me for Saturday, which is actually ok. This way I'll get 40 hours in this week and then I'll be done. So then Sunday morning it's off to Stoon to unpack and grocery shop and get settled in. Then on Tuesday I'm going to Cudworth to help Mom and Dad unpack. It will be a busy, crazy few weeks for me, yes it will!

Whoop-de-doo, twice in one month!!!

2005-08-17T20:11:00.000-06:00

So what shall I use this post for? Well, I think today is a day for venting so you, the poor reader, has to read about my llllllllllllllloooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggg day. (Well actually, you don't... but be my guest if you're bored.)

Today was just a long day in general. These last few weeks have been dragging by because I know that I'm moving to Stoon in less than 2 weeks. Today was extra long, though, because Jeff and I had to make burgers. Sounds like a fairly easy task right? Well, it took us 3 hours to make 1500 burgers. It's a complicated process, actually. You grind up the ground beef, put in this protein vegetable stuff (which you have to measure out first), beat eggs, add milk, barbeque sauce and an assortment of spices, put it all in the tumbler, mix it up really good, chill it, then use the patty press which I affectionately refer to as "Old Faithful". It looks like it's about 110 years old and it was squeaking today... really loudly... We tried putting canola oil in some of the joints but it didn't help. I was left with a headache, caked-on hamburger up to my elbows and a cynical mood to boot. Then I took 2 1/2 hours cleaning the whole room.

THEN my stupid grouchy boss grouched at us because we were closing up early. I didn't tell him that it was actually LATER than when we usually started closing. He's been really moody because 80% of the staff is leaving at the end of August.

I've also been working on math centres for myself and Celine, Stacey, Tasha and Tara. It involves a lot of photocopying and editing.. so my back is sore.

Holy, can I whine any more?! Sorry about that...

So on an exciting note, I think I'm going to Folkfest on Saturday night with Kassidy! Sheltered little me has never been to such a cultural event before, so I'm thrilled. I really can't wait to move to Stoon... it'll be really different trying to meet people without going to school but I'm sure my martial arts classes, curling and church will give me a pretty good start.

Speaking of which, I'm planning on going church-hopping for few weeks when I get there. 1) Does anyone wanna come with me, and 2) Can anyone recommend any good churches? I'm baptized and confirmed into the United Church but I've attended Baptist and Alliance. A church-hopping partner would be grrreat!

Hey, I managed to end on a positive note! Atta me!

Okay, OKAY!!!

2005-08-08T15:25:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I'm updating again. Believe me, the lack of updates is not because I'm too lazy... well maybe partially. But mostly it's because I'm impatient! It sucks updating on dial-up... But I'll try my best to start again, and I DEFINITELY will once I move to Stoon at the end of August.

The biggest thing that has happened is that one of my very favourite cousins, Stefan, was killed in a car accident last week. This was devastating to me because over the past year or so we had become really close. We played board games a lot and talked on the phone every once in awhile. It still hasn't really felt like reality to me yet but I know it will soon. The funeral was on Saturday (short and sweet except for the student minister who did it) and I'm glad it's over with. Poor guy...

Let's see, what else... well like I said, I'm moving to Stoon in less than a month. We've moved some stuff in and hopefully we'll be finished moving in a week or so because Mom and Dad are moving at the end of the month too. The faster we get our stuff out of there, the easier it will be for them to go through their stuff and pack. The only problem is that now that I've been spending more time at my new place, I can't wait to get there!!! I don't want to go back to work tomorrow... while the summer has flown by, I think this month will drag on. I think I'll be keeping fairly busy though, because my friend Megan wants me to come visit sometime this month and Kass and I have made plans to go to Folkfest and do a bunch of stuff. Stacey wants me to come to Regina for another visit, Robbie will be leaving in a month and I want to see him one last time before he leaves, and Jess wants to come to Stoon/Outlook for a visit. And I'm only half-done those math centres that I planned on doing over the summer. No more napping in the evenings for me!

I still don't have a job for the fall yet. It's pretty disheartening but at the same time I can't say that I haven't tried. I've put out a ton of resumes and only heard back from that Eston-Elrose one. The tentative plan now is to sub in and around Saskamatoon. I faxed my app away to Stoon today but there's a lot I have to do for the other divisions that are just outside it. I applied at Sylvan Learning too. I think that would be a good job!! I bet it would be similar to my ERDG class where I had to tutor that little boy in reading. And if all else fails, I could work at Superstore as a meat cutter - my Uncle Mel is the head honcho there so hopefully that would give me an "in". As Dad put it, if this whole meat cutting thing works out, I could always fall back on my teaching degree. ;)

Hey I read something cool today: "If the dinosaurs could share with us their secrets to life, would we still make gummy candies in their image?" (The Sheaf, Thursday, March 17, 2005) So smart-ass, yet so profound!

In light of this subbing venture, I was wondering if y'all could do me a favour. ANYONE who reads this, would you please either comment here or email me at meganalarson@yahoo.ca and tell me what you think makes a good substitute teacher AND a bad substitute teacher. I need to brainstorm ideas so that I don't look like a complete incompetent fool when I start subbing. Spank you very much!!!

Check your eyes...

2005-06-19T13:52:00.000-06:00

Yeah, you're reading correctly - I am posting again! Sorry for the delay... I REALLY hate dial-up internet so I hardly ever check my email anymore or read blogs. I'm going to make more of an effort now, I promise.

I have a lot to update you on!! First of all, Jesse and I are on a break, and will probably be broken up soon. I'm sure most of you know this already but for those of you who don't, don't worry! We're still pretty close and talk a lot. We've just realized that we make great best friends and ok partners. My family and I are going up to Carrot next weekend actually and I'm still going to hang out with him for part of it. So things are good with both of us!

Ehm, let's see. I convocated on June the 3rd! It was so exciting. And it was great to see my friends. I'm so glad to be done, and I also got my teacher's certificate awhile back too. So now I'm officially a teacher!

Speaking of teaching, I had an interview in Elrose on Monday. The interview went so well but I didn't get it. It was for a 3/4 position and that's honestly why I think I didn't get the job. When he called he said that he would hire me in a second and he was so impressed and that I was intelligent, articulate and sharp. How cool is that that a director said that???? But alas, I'm trained for pre-k to grade 3 and I think that was my downfall.

Well I better get back to my job hunt. I promise I'll update more!

I'm back!

2005-05-15T01:00:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't posted for a long time. I've been in Outlook all week and then today we moved. I'll back up and explain my week.

I got a job at the grocery store in Outlook. I'll be mostly working in the meat department but I spent all week cashiering just so I know how to work everything. Things are great there - the people I work with are nice, the bosses are awesome and the work doesn't seem to be too bad. Plus I'm living at home and it's nice to be with my family again.

Last Friday Jess came to Regina. We spent the weekend there and I got most of my stuff ready to move. Then on Monday we went to Outlook cuz I started work on Tuesday. I worked till Thursday and then on Friday we came back to Regina. This morning Mom, Dad and Yonny came in and we packed everything up. Yonny spent the night (well I guess "is" spending the night cuz it's technically still tonight if that makes sense).

We went to the Amytiville movie thingy. I really can't remember what it was called but I thought it was good. The boys' opinions differed slightly from mine. I think I liked it the best out of the the three of us.

Anyway that's all. I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm still going to be updating, I just haven't had a computer to update on for awhile.

Want my autograph?

2005-05-05T08:38:00.000-06:00

I felt like a guest celebrity yesterday. I went back to Indian Head for a visit to see the class that I interned with. I had a big mob of kids around me the minute I stepped onto the playground. They all had stories for me. One little guy in my class actually split his head open on the playground that morning and had to go to the doctor and get 4 stitches. That was the biggest news. One girl stated that he was "brain-damaged". He came back for the afternoon because Melona told his mom I was coming as a surprise. I swear, the kids looked at him in a new way. They all crowded around him and asked him questions. That's when the brain-damaged comment came up. So cute!

Oh I meant to tell y'all what I thought of the movie Chocolat. I was not impressed with it. The book was soooo much better. Yeah, yeah, I know that's usually the case but they really changed some aspects of the book for the movie. You know the mayor in the movie, and the priest? They're one character in the book, as the priest. I don't think the word mayor is in it anywhere. I had a harder time following those characters because the stuff the priest did in the book was split up between these two characters. I think a lot of his/their part in the story was lost as a result. Don't ask me how, I just think it was. I didn't think that the priest's temptation was a big part in the movie; the movie consisted more of the daily things in everyone else's life. In the book it's one of the majorest themes! And that was probably my favourite part of the whole book - seeing the priest almost go crazy from the temptation of the chocolate.

There were also a lot of little things. Guillaume's dog Charlie dies and he gets a new one. Guillaume doesn't fall in love with one of those old ladies. There's stuff with Roux and Josephine in the book. (Maybe I shouldn't be giving this away for you.) Yeah, little things like that. I won't say any more that will give stuff away but I will say that I hated how Vianne was portrayed in the movie. She was shown as weak and with a lot of feelings... hmmm.. I guess they just showed her as human. But in the book she seemed so strong and she never cried or got mad. That's what I liked about her.

There's my rant on Chocolat. If you've never seen it, sorry if I ruined it for you. But you're better off reading the book.

Duh....

2005-05-01T20:23:00.000-06:00

I apologize for not updating sooner. I've been at my parents' since Wednesday and I was having problems with my password. Turns out I had the completely wrong password. I feel kinda silly.

But anyway, today I remembered and now I'm updating. As thrilling as my updates always are, I'm sure you really don't care.

I do have big and exciting news though. I'm moving back home for the summer. I'm not sure when exactly; it'll be within a week or two. I don't have a job lined up for sure yet but the grocery store in Outlook seemed interested and Home Hardware said that they would be hiring in the near future. So there are some prospects. I did end up getting the Booster Juice job. I'm really surprised by that because the head cheese didn't seem thrilled with the prospect of hiring someone who was definitely moving away in August. But they offered it to me nonetheless which tells me one of two things: a) that they really liked me, or b) that the other person they interviewed on Friday was really really bad. I turned it down anyway.

Right now I'm reading a book about the Holocaust. It's called Holocost (original hey?) and it was made into or based on a tv special. It tells the story about the Holocaust from the perspectives of a Jew and of a SS officer. It's really neat to see both sides. The officer joined because he needed a job and eventually found himself in a high-up position and justifying what he was doing. And they're both true accounts too. Most, if not all, of the dialogue is fictional but the general accounts are real. The Jew wrote it from a first hand perspective and filled in other parts from interviews, and he also came across the officer's diary, which he could date to the month and year and then construct the story from there.

Wow, that sounded all intellectual and stuff. Tune in next month for Megan's Reading Club apparently... Anyway, there's just dial-up here so I should wrap this up.

Comment people!! (Brea, I did try to comment in yours but the whole password thing prevented it. In retrospect I could have signed in anonymously. Oh well. When I get back to Regina tomorrow I'll leave you a message.)

OK, OK...

2005-04-26T23:44:00.000-06:00

Fine, because Brea, Kass and Arielle all posted today at some point, I guess I will too.

I'm done!!!!!!!!!!! Woohoo!!!! No more university! Sorry to rub it in... I'm just so excited. And my last exam went well too - I studied my ass off for it. I'm not used to having to study actually - in education classes it's like, make a unit plan for your major assignment this semester. So studying is this novel concept that has been foreign to me for ages.

So I guess now I can't talk about school. Oh wait, I'll post the marks I have so far - EHE 258 (personal and community health) - 81; EPSY 322 (special needs) - 83; ERDG 425 (assessing and treating reading difficulties) - 81. I'm still waiting on my English and Religious Studies. I'll keep you posted.

Ok, NOW I can't talk about school.

Tomorrow I'm going to Saskamatoon for my eye appointment and then I'm going to Outlook to see Mom and Dad. I want to go in early to spend time with Yonny. I never get to see him anymore. So that'll be fun. It'll be a nice half-week of hanging out, relaxing, getting used to this new no-school thing (DARN, I brought it up again) and maybe cross-stitching (I'm making some baby things for Yvonne and Molly). Anyone know when they're due, anyway?

So some updates on my jobs - Safeway called today for an interview for the donut deep-frying position *snort*. They wanted me to come in tomorrow but conveniently (and honestly!) I can't make it. So they said to call when I get home and we'll set up an interview. I'll just *ahem* forget to call them. I also had an interview with Booster Juice. It went pretty well and I think they like me but they want someone to continue on in the fall. They have to interview one other person so I won't be surprised if they hire them instead. My dilemma is that if they offer me a job, of course I'll take it, but at $7.00/hour with 25-38 hours/week it's kind of hard to make a good living off of that, especially if I'm saving for teaching stuff in case I get a job. So if another place then comes along and offers me a better job (like, say, the University bookstore which is offering full time hours at $13.00/hour), I would be nuts not to quit at BJ and take that job. So I'm kind of torn right now. Mainly, I just want a job.

I had a nice girls night with Stacey, Celine, Tasha and Tara. It was awesome going for supper and then just hanging out, eating junk food and watching a movie. I actually hate movies but it was more of a background thing. Oh and we listened to the new Theresa Sokyrka cd that I snagged at Walmart. She's awesome though I do find her scat a little cheesy. But I'm sure my opinion will change.

Anyhoo, I don't know what I'll be posting about from now on. Perhaps I'll use it as a proper journal and talk about feelings and crap. We'll see. Everyone have a good week!

I guess it's that time again...

2005-04-24T08:35:00.000-06:00

I guess I should post again. It's been awhile. I can't say a lot is new with me, other than that I have one test left, Religious Studies. I'm studying my arse off for it because I want to do really really well... and I typed out my notes and it's 12 pages single-spaced, 10-size Times New Roman Font with the margins reduced to .5 inch. That's a lot of stuff to memorize. I don't really know how to memorize!

The other day I went job-hunting. You'll be soooooo jealous of what my prospects are so far: a donut deep-fryer at Safeway (ha ha!) and a part-time, minimum wage deli worker at Extra Foods. The Extra Foods one looks pretty good, the manager was pretty sure there'd be a job for me so it's a start. I can always start working there and quit when I find something better.

Tara told me to look on my U of R Online Job Board. In the past I've never been able to get it working but I finally did last night. It's a really poor setup but I found about 6 more places to apply, ones that will pay a little more, hopefully.

I'm so excited at the thought that on Wednesday I will go to my parents' house and I can relax... I could cross-stitch all day if I wanted to!! It will be weird, but wonderful. I've decided that two books on my summer reading list are The Life of Pi and The Da Vinci Code. I've heard lots about them and I just want to see what they're about. Leave a comment if you can recommend any other good ones!

This is just weird...

2005-04-20T08:23:00.000-06:00

I'm back in Regina now. I had such a good week at Carrot. It was so nice to just hang out and not have the stresses that just being in a city, any city, can bring. I don't exactly know what I mean by that but it just somehow makes sense. Anyhoo. I did do a lot of studying though. I don't want to, especially because we had our last class on Wednesday and I'm still in that mindset that hey, I'm done! But I know I'm really not.

Yesterday I got home pretty early because I had an interview with Funspots. I applied for the position of day camp program leader. It's a day camp in the city here and apparently it's a really good one. I think the interview went well but we'll see. A lot of people applied so I won't get my hopes up too much.

Last night Megan and I went for coffee (yup, one of my best friends is named Megan, only her name is pronounced Meeee-gan, not Me-gun like mine). It was really nice to catch up with her. She's in middle years ed so we now have a different circle of friends and totally different schedules. But we've still kept fairly close and I'm playing the piano in her wedding this summer. That's gonna be awesome! I guess it's taking place in a big cathedral-type church or something.

Today I have a busy day. I have shopping to do this morning, appointments with some doctors in the afternoon and then an English study session with a few people from English. 4 heads are better than one. That's what I say. Not the most exciting thing to do with people but I'm so excited for this final. It'll mean I'm done English!! Yay!

Look at me go!

2005-04-16T14:10:00.000-06:00

Wow, I posted yesterday and look at me go again. What a rare occasion!

We ended up going to Tisdale yesterday to drive Jamie there. When we were dropping him off at his friend's house, I saw these little apartments and they made me think of you Kass. Where are the ones you'll be staying in?

Last night I made soft chicken tacos and we watched eXistenZ... well, sorta. I managed to stay awake through the slow part (Jesse's words) and then I slept through the interesting part... apparently, anyway.

I woke up this morning to Jesse saying, "Hey, on TLC they're redoing a classroom." It was While You Were Out.. pretty cool but I don't know if I would want someone redoing my classroom. Maybe later on when I'm more confident in everything I do in teaching but not when I'm first starting off. Anyways...

Then I went to the drugstore this morning to have some of my eyedrops transferred over to CR here. I had to mention, "No, I'm not the Megan Larson from Nipawin." Grr, everyone always mixes us up. So yeah, I got new eyedrops and antihistamines (gotta love allergy season) and then went home. That's a good story hey? I know i was going somewhere with that....

Oh yeah, I saw the paper today, and apparently the teachers are ready to talk and negotiate and stuff. So I'm gonna be all political and throw a question out there for you to respond to: Do you think the teachers deserve a raise? If they do, what do you think it should be? (For those of you who don't know, the original proposed was 0-1-1 which means that the first year they won't get a raise at all, the next year they'll get a 1% raise and the next year another 1%.)

I personally think that they/we (oh my gosh, I'm almost a we!!!) deserve a better raise than that but it has to be realistic. The MLAs get raises according to how the cost of living goes up or something like that, why shouldn't teachers? But then, why shouldn't all professions?

So that's my question. If you have an opinion, voice it. It'll be fun...

Happy birthday Jess!!!

2005-04-14T22:13:00.000-06:00

It's Jesse's birthday today! Happy birthday!! He liked the present I made him. For those of you who don't know, I made him a day-by-day calendar that has cool quotes for every three days. I had the pages laminated and coiled. It took me freaking forever but he liked it so it was worth it.

So let's see... this week has felt like Christmas. There's been something exciting on every day.
Monday - Mom and Dad came into the city
Tuesday - Mom and I hung out in the morning, then my class and I went to the Owl for supper
Wednesday - Last day of classes ever! We went to the Owl afterwards. It was fun watching everyone get drunk cuz BOY did they!!! Plus there were quite a few education students so that was cool too.

Today was a great day too. I got up at 7:30 (which sucked cuz I didn't actually get to bed until 2:30 cuz Tasha spent the night and we stayed up talking and eating McDonald's), finished packing for my trip to Carrot River, then I went to Marvel to get my nail fixed. As the chick was fixing it, their teacher came up to me and offered me a "complimentary pedicure". I've never had a pedicure before so of course I jumped at the chance. It turns out it was that student's last day and she was really bored so I got one for free. It was awesome... the massage was great; I didn't know that you got a calf and foot massage too. The only thing that sucked was that I had to walk 5 blocks to my car afterwards so my legs were all tight and sore again anyway. I had to walk very very briskly cuz I was parked on a 2-hour parking street and it was like 5 minutes over. I walked past a guy writing out a ticket but there wasn't anything on my car. :D

So I drove up Albert Street and stopped at Blockbuster to pick up a movie that Jesse wanted me to bring, then to 7-11 for some snacks on the way, then to Conexus to cash some cheques. The drive up was fairly uneventful. I was exhausted as I didn't get a lot of sleep and it was starting to hit me. I alternated between the CD Yonnie made me and talk radio, where Murray Wood was talking about schools that are testing out same-sex classes. It was really interesting. Apparently a school in Moose Jaw and one in Stoon are testing out same-sex grade 7 and 8 classes. I thought I would be against it but they said that they still get some time to socialize with members of the opposite sex. One guy called in and said that he participated in something similar, where they had same-sex classes for math and phys ed. That seems like the best plan from what I heard cuz all of the other classes are co-ed.

Anyway, I digress. I was between Melfort and Tisdale when I got a call from a lady from the City of Regina. I forgot that I had applied for a job with Funspots. So I have an interview with them on Tuesday afternoon. Funspots is like a summer daycamp in Regina. I think it would be an awesome experience.

I stopped at Tisdale to get some bold-blend coffee cuz I was EXHAUSTED by this point. Jesse had just called to say that he was on his way back to Potato Stream from Hudson Bay so I figured we might meet up somewhere along the road. I had just given up on the other side of Arborfield when I saw a red car parked on the side of the road. Jess had taken back roads and figured I'd be coming along pretty soon so he stopped at the highway to wait for me. I almost didn't recognize his car at first! He's lucky actually, I slowed down quite a bit between Crooked River and Arborfield because the roads were horrible and I didn't feel like losing my car in a pothole. If I had gone at the same speed I would have passed that road before he came to it - I guess he had gotten there only a couple of minutes before I did. It worked out anyway.

So we went to Sing's Cafe for supper - mmmm Chinese food!! Then we came back and had birthday cake - mmmm double fudge cake!! Now Jesse is showering and then we're gonna watch the Goonies.

I think the plan for tomorrow is to get up early and study (who wants to think about homework when you just had your last university class ever??) and eventually drive Jamie (Jesse's brother) to Tisdale and come back. On Saturday his aunt and uncle are coming in for some supper thing and on Sunday I think we're going out to my aunt and uncle's house. It should be a fun weekend. :)

I'll try to update again this weekend so my next post isn't a billion screens long. Sorry guys! Thanks for reading the whole thing!

An end in sight!

2005-04-11T09:25:00.000-06:00

By the time I lay my head down on the pillow, I will be finished every university assignment I have left. Remember your last few weeks of high school? That's what I feel like right now. The only difference is that I NEVER have to go back to school if I don't want to. I probably will, because I'm interested in the special ed program, but you never know. I also realized last night that I could be a full-fledged teacher a month from now. That is so scary and exciting!

In other news, Mom and Dad are coming in tonight. We're going out for supper! What do you think - Denny's, Grainfield's or other? We refuse to go to Kelsey's, Montana's or Poverino's. The first two are my parents' restrictions, with good reason because I'm so sick of them. The latter is my refusal. The past two or three times I've gone there, I've gotten sick. It's really good but I hate throwing up and that's exactly what happens when I go there. I don't know if it's the heavy homemade pasta they have or what...

This week feels like the week before Christmas, I swear! So today I'll be finished all my assignments, tomorrow we're going to the Owl (the campus bar) for our last reading class (Glenda is an awesome prof!), Wednesday is the last day of classes and Thursday is Jesse's birthday and I get to see him!!! This also means that I have to finish his birthday present. I can't tell you what it is because I think he reads this, and he's been nagging me to tell him. On Friday I'll update and tell you what it is. Oh yeah, this also means that I get to go to Carrot on Thursday! I haven't seen Jess since Easter when he left Regina. :(

Anyhoo if I keep writing I won't get my last two assignments-from-University-ever done so I better go. Au revoir!

Shoot shoot shoot

2005-04-10T08:14:00.000-06:00

So last night I was laying in bed, half asleep. My foot started to itch so I lazily scratched it, not paying attention. All of a sudden I jumped awake because... my gel nail popped off.

You're probably thinking, so what? Just go back and get it fixed. The only problem with this is that the two girls who were qualified to do it at Marvel graduated on Wednesday. The two girls there now haven't even started their nail tech course or whatever it's called. So hopefully the teacher will do it for me, or some professional place will do it for free.

It makes it really hard to type. The nail underneath was pretty long but it's pretty thin. Not as thin as everyone said it would be (although maybe that's because there's still a bit of gel on it) but it still makes it difficult to type. I don't want to break it but I still have two assignments to type out!!!

What a pain in the arse. And it's Sunday, so I'll have to put up with it for a day. Grrrr!

What a beautiful day!

2005-04-07T11:20:00.000-06:00

Omg, someone actually posted in my blog!! *sniffle* Thanks Brea!

I finished my English essay! Yay! This is the last English essay I'll ever have to write! Ever! It was way too long though. It was supposed to be 1500 words... but she wanted 5 sub-topics to compare/contrast. My essay is 2100 words and she'll just have to deal with it. To be honest, when we first started reading Chocolat I thought it was gonna be really lame. But the book is really really good. After my final I'll watch the movie. Apparently there are lots of differences between the book and the movie and I don't want to confuse myself for the exam.

What else... we had speech paths as guest speakers in our class last night. It was especially interesting because I actually worked with one of them during my internship. She remembered me but thought I had interned in a different school. So when they were talking about the case studies of actual kids they work with she said right in front of the class to me, "I worked with you but I don't think you worked with any of these students." So afterwards I talked to her and once we got it straight where I interned, she said, "Oh then you probably recognized Eddie." Well, they hardly changed the name but I caught on right away. He's a pretty unique kid; he only says vowels but he can follow directions perfectly fine, so that indicates he has speech problems, not language problems. She told me what adaptations they're going to start doing for him which was really interesting. I gotta go back there and visit all of them - I miss them!! But anyway, I felt all important and stuff talking to the guest speaker afterwards.

That's all that's really exciting these days. Today is my last day of classes for the week. Boy I love having a 4-day school week! Tomorrow Celine is having a candle party (that we don't have to feel obliged to buy anything at) so that should be fun just to hang out with everyone one last time before classes end.

Oh and happy birthday on the 5th, mom!!

Markku Uusipaavalniemi is a funny name!

2005-04-03T11:46:00.000-06:00

I get such a kick outta that name. When I searched for it online I spelled it Marc Neucipovelnami. It definitely did not get any hits. (In case you're wondering, it's the skip from Finland.)

I've already been out and about this morning. I had an allergic reaction to my medication last night (bad rash of hives on my arms) so I went to the doctor to confirm it and get new medication. Apparently my bladder infection is gone so I didn't have to get new stuff. That's cool cuz I hate taking medication.

Other than that, I'm making pretty good leeway on my homework. I'm working on my English essay right now. Does the fact that I enjoy writing English essays make me a geek? I guess the topic I'm writing on is pretty interesting. I'm writing a comparative essay on Vianne and the priest's attitudes regarding food and how religion/the supernatural play a part in it in the book Chocolat... or something like that, I'm still doing the research on the first part. It sounds really confusing but it's actually really interesting and it won't be that hard to do.

Perhaps I'll wash my car today. When I went to the doctor the car wash was really busy but maybe I'll check again later. It's so nice outside!!!

[insert title here]

2005-04-01T11:20:00.000-06:00

Ain't it sad I'm too uncreative right now to insert a title? I don't even know why I'm posting on this cuz I've been sitting here for ages doing homework anyway. But let's talk about something different. (Well, I will, I guess. You can't really talk back right now. That's like the nurse saying, "Are we ready for our bath now?" "Nope, I'd rather take one alone, thanks.")

In my reading class we've been tutoring kids who have reading difficulties. Mine doesn't actually have any big difficulties but it's always good to get extra help. Yesterday was their last day so we met with the parents for half an hour and the kids for half an hour. My kid and I just played games with magnetic letters, which he loves. And he got me a present!! I got a $25 gift certificate to Earl's! I've never been there cuz I heard it's so bloody expensive, but now I know where Jess and I are going on our next date! Oh yeah, I got him a present too. I got him a big Knock-Knock book and a package of mechanical pencils. It sounds lame but he absolutely FLIPPED when he saw the pencils. I used one one day and he was enthralled by it, I would imagine because it looks like a pen. He asked if he could have it and I was actually going to give it to him but he forgot it when he left that day. So I slipped in a package of 6 into the middle of the book.

Here's his favourite joke from the book:
Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Icy.
Icy who?
Icy your underwear!!!

7-year-old boys... what a sense of humour!

Today I'm going to get my first allergy shot at 1:00! I'm very excited. I hope these will help my eyes a bit, especially when we go camping in the summer. By the second day I'm always miserable.

After that I gotta pick up a few groceries. Robbie is coming into Regina from Moose Jaw for a cabaret of some sort and I'm gonna make him soft chicken tacos. Yum..... that is my absolute favourite meal these days.

On Tuesday I'm getting my nails redone. They're driving me nuts. I filed them down myself last week so they were a little shorter, but they've already grown long again. My nails were so short originally that they put fake tips on the ends, and I noticed that they should be growing out soon. It'll just be my real nails underneath the hard gel stuff. I tried for an appointment for today but they were booked solid so Tuesday it is.

Oh, check out this link: www.kn.sbc.com/wired/fil/pages/listdisabilime.html - it's a hotlist I made for my resource binder.

That's it, that's all I got. Happy April Fool's Day!!

Some clarification...

2005-03-30T22:38:00.000-06:00

Ok I guess I should clarify this. NO I'm not going to have a baby, at least not for many many years. I was just curious, that's all. I was watching The View this morning (one of my favourite shows) and one of the chicks is named Meredith. One of the other chicks, Elizabeth, is very very pregnant and due any day. That's all! Don't worry!

Look at me go!

2005-03-30T15:28:00.000-06:00

Jeepers creepers. Did I mention that I have 7 major assignments due between today and the last day of classes, which is like 2 weeks away? Not impressed.

I FINALLY finished my resource binder. I probably should have put it into a 2 inch binder but it does fit into a 1 1/2 inch. That's a HUGE assignment for 40% of my mark. 2 weeks of work for a big binder. That's nuts. Now I gotta get cracking on my other assignments. I asked my English prof for an extension yesterday but she said no, sympathetically at least. She said that I would need a doctor's note and that if she did it for me she would have to do it for everyone. She's so bloody rigid it isn't even funny. So I'm gonna email my rlst prof and ask for an extension because his paper is due on the same day as my English paper. Cross your fingers, knock on wood.. for my sanity's sake.

I really can't think of much else to say. I guess there's a temporary job in Nipawin in a grade 3 class. If I have time to breathe in the next few weeks I'll apply for it. That would be awesome, hey?! And Kass, we could visit each other lots if you're in Tisdale.

Ooh I have a question for all of you. ANYONE who reads this, please leave a comment. Even if I don't know you. If you don't know how to leave a comment, click on "[number] comments" at the bottom of this entry. (There, now you have no excuse to not leave me a comment!) The question is, do you think Meredith is an old-fashioned, ugly name?

I'm just taking a break from cleaning my room. I decided to do a really good cleaning BEFORE I started most of my assignments so I had no excuse to put them off. Now if I have to take a break I can "tidy", not "cleanse and purge".

Remember, I want comments!

My personal pity trip

2005-03-27T22:25:00.000-06:00

Happy Easter everyone! Yes, I say everyone because I now know that more than one person actually reads this pathetic thing!

My Easter was very good. Jess and I went to my mom and dad's for the weekend. Uncle Grant, Aunt Robin, Yonny, Brea and Auntie Darlene were there too. It was awesome to have other relatives there too because I haven't actually spent a holiday with my family in about a year or so. The way things have worked out, we've been at Jesse's every holiday. It was so nice to be on my home turf and spend more than just 4 or 5 hours with everyone. We had a great supper today too - turkey, my mom's special carrot casserole that is the highlight of my entire YEAR, etc. It was a great weekend.

I did forget how horrible dial-up is though! I brought my psych resource binder home with me in hopes of getting time to work on it. Fat chance of that. There's so much stuff to weed through on the Internet, at least what I needed, so I finally said screw the Internet and I did as much as I could offline. I know exactly what I'm doing now, I just have to actually do it. I have 2 sections completely finished; I have 9 to go. I'll pretend you care and keep you posted. For once I don't have anything on the agenda for tomorrow except for class tomorrow night so I could theoretically stay up late late late tonight and get lots done. I've already brewed a big pot of coffee.

I really like that plan not just because I'll get lots done if I'm on a roll, but because it's gonna be hard to go to sleep tonight by myself. It was just MEAN of Jess to stay in Regina for three weeks and let me get used to him being with me all the time again. Now he's back in Potato Stream, 4 bloody hours away, and I don't think I'm gonna get to see him for 3 weeks. I shouldn't, anyway, because I have 7 major assignments due in the next 2 1/2 weeks. Not cool! That's part of my pity trip but most of it is just Jesse not being here.

I'm glad he's back with his parents though because they really missed him. And I'm excited too because he has improved SO much since he left there three weeks ago. He hardly uses his crutches at all anymore and he's so much stronger! He said his dad commented on it right away; I think he was proud. I find it funny how one's self-perception can be so different from others' perceptions of them. I knew what size he was before he jumped, which was pretty skinny and scrawny, but because he was in a wheelchair for 6 weeks his upper body is much more muscular and defined. Don't laugh Brea, I know he's still skinny but the muscles that are there are much stronger.... kind of like my Wal-Mart muscles from 2 summers ago.

Anyway this was just a little distraction from my resource binder. Take it easy!