My original thoughts of flannel bed sheets has always been of a positive nature...  Soft, fluffy, possibly like sleeping on a cloud...  Last night I had the opportunity to try out this type of bed sheet and my opinion of flannel sheets quickly turned negative.

What's worse than spoiled milk?  Milk that spoiled TWO MONTHS AGO.

Here is a photo-list of my most recent hobbies, perhaps it'll encourage a few viewers to mix it up!

I watched a documentary yesterday entitled This World: Mexico's Drug War by BBC and it got me thinking...  How terrifying is it to live in a part of the world where nearly everyone is succumb to the power of Mexico's most successful drug cartel leader?  This documentary exposes how Joaquin Chapo Guzman is ranked as one of the world's most richest and powerful men, his lifestyle is admired through songs and stories, yet he is responsible for the deaths of more than 7000 people during 2009, and so many more since then!

Perhaps the most frustrating thing out of my entire university career (thus far) happened this past weekend...  An extension was given.


I'm usually all for extensions, who doesn't love extra time to perfect an assignment just to show how much of an awesome student you are?  Well this time was a little different, turns out this extension caused me to do sub-par (my standards) on an assignment AND an exam.


Yes.  The assignment of a lifetime, the Art Binder.  The Art Binder is one massive project that consist of 15+ lesson plans -- with examples (not including extensions on those lessons), 9 weekly reflections, art techniques, art supplier contacts, as well as art associations and organizations and the corresponding contact information, not to mention the decorating and personalization that will make your Art Binder, Your Art Binder.  We were given our assignments at the beginning of the semester (week 1) and were told to get started as our binders will be due in 9 weeks  (kind of sounds like a rapidly developing baby).


Nearly nine weeks later, after working on art projects practically every spare evening the time comes to compile the master piece.  I have to admit, I thought I had it under control...  The binder was due the following Monday, which was also the day of our Music exam, only three days prior to two other exams worth 35% and 40% of our grades.  What was  my plan of action?  To complete the binder by Saturday evening allowing all of Sunday to be devoted to studying for the Music exam.  (The two other exams I had been preparing for during the previous week and were far enough away to not matter in this situation.)


My plan of action didn't go as planned.  (Do they ever?)  As of Saturday evening I had finished  complete all of the projects and collecting all of the information, the only thing left was to actually put it together... Shouldn't take too long, right? 

I decided that I would take the evening off and visit a friend.  Which was my first mistake.  (Although I did have fun and met some pretty cool people!)  The night lasted longer than expected, but no big deal.. I would get up Sunday morning and finish my binder, then spend the rest of the day studying for music. That's what coffee is for.  However, Sunday morning came and unfortunately for my music exam my creative side took over and I had to intricately decorate nine division pages, plus a cover page.  This took until about 6:30pm.  I had spent the entire day using glitter and crayons, even had a wonderful boyfriend to bring me McDonald's and help me glue things together, plus a couple of roommates who gave lovely positive feedback and somehow I didn't finish until 6:30pm!  Well, let's get on with the music studying, right?

 First I needed to shower, I was so sore from sitting at the table for hours, actually days and of course, I practice good hygiene.  After the shower I resume my study position at the table, take a quick look at Facebook and you'll never guess what.  My prof had emailed a student to pass on the word that she was giving us the entire class to finish up our binders.  


Just imagine, a boiling kettle whistling at pitches unknown, four babies screaming, an LED light shining in your eye while suffering a migraine, a train rolling up the tracks just in time to sever your left arm, you just missed your bus.  


I felt each of these things at one time.  Not literally, of course, but I was seriously about to have a breakdown.  The way our schedule falls, we have a two hour break before our weekly art class which is three hours long, ergo five extra hours to work on our art binders.  


Just to top things off, my friend also private messaged me saying he's worried about the music exam and is going to focus on that since he got the "okay" from our prof to hand in his binder on TUESDAY.


Bullet to the brain.


First of all, if you're going to give an extension, please do so at a time that would benefit the "good" students, not the ones that procrastinate just for the sake of it.  Secondly, if you're going to accept assignments anytime after the due date, what the heck is the point of even having a due date in the first place?!  How is this supposed to help anyone in the real world?  And what about us "good" students who sacrifice other things in life to do well in school because we take it seriously while other students can do as they please and in the end benefit from being careless, unproductive students?!  My prof tried to justify it by saying that "students can do so much more with just ten extra hours".  Not fair.


WHERE IS THE JUSTICE??!!

Needless to say, after that discovery it was very difficult to study for the music exam.  I felt so defeated.  I couldn't bare to look at the binder anymore, I couldn't focus on music, I just did a quick review which actually lasted a lot longer than I intended and tried to get a good nights' rest.


Over a week later I write this and am still rotted beyond belief.  Thanks for reading.

Finding favorites is perhaps one of the best feelings ever.

Mat Kearney -- a long-lost love.

Jam-packed weekends are my favorite.  I'd pass up sleeping in for an exciting and eventful day anytime!  Last weekend was the longest, most enjoyable break I've had in my past six semesters of university, here's what I did:

Firstly, I should say that because I am in the "Professional Year" of my program we have observation days on Fridays, and because there are only five observation days in a 13-week semester I have no class on these days until the observations begin.  With this free Friday and the addition of mid-term break on this Thanksgiving weekend, I actually had five days off!

On Friday I actually slept in too much and felt sick for most of the day.  So I just lazed around watching Pretty Little Liars (PLL), which is definitely one of my most favorite shows!



By the time I got around to being presentable after watching PLL, Tim was finished class and we went out for supper with some friends, then watched the movie The Ides of March.  I have to say I was disappointed with the movie.  My original thinking was "Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, how can it not be good?!", but it was pretty bland to say the least.  I'm not interested in politics, but I recall seeing something in the previews that I thought would make it an interesting movie.  Guess I was wrong.  :(



After the movie Tim and I met up with a friend and went to a coffee house that had been influenced by YC 2011.  A few bands played, a few CDs were given away and a nice bit of coffee was consumed for the wee hours of the morning.

Saturday 11a myself and a couple of  friends took it upon ourselves to hike the Signal Hill trail.  It was somewhat a challenge in the freezing-cold wind, but it was also great!  My first time completing that trail -- will not be my last!



The rest of Saturday afternoon was well-spent trying to bring up my core temperature after our hike.  A successful endeavor once I joined some friends for a bowl of delicious turkey soup!  The evening was spent relaxing and chatting.

Sunday morning consisted of MOSAIC, then a delicious turkey supper at Tim's sisters place.  Drooooool.  We capped off the evening with a visit to my favorite coffee shop!  Yummy cheesecake and cappuccino!



Monday was wonderful!  Homemade waffles with Tim and Jessie for brunch, followed by a few more episodes of PLL!  Then I went swimming with my roommate.  IN A LANE.  Be proud people, remember this post?  Swimming was followed by big, cuddly blankets, snacks and Mean Girls.  Great times with the roomie!  :)



And well, Tuesday I did homework.  But after such a fun weekend I should put a little time into the books, right?

Also, I should mention only one of the above photos are mine.  Hooray for Google images!

Not my photo.  Obvi.

I don't even know what to write.


That has been the biggest issue regarding a new post for quite some time.  As we all know, it is now October, we are beginning the second month of the school year which usually brings along busy schedules and whatnot.  But I'm really not that busy at the moment, which is why I actually sat myself down to write today.


A lot has happened since I returned from the Big Land for school.  For starters, two days driving  through the woods, a few days visiting Tim's family, then another day's drive to visit my family before heading back to the city.  Then a lot of unpacking.  Actually, that didn't happen right away.  A lot of cleaning came first since my room was ransacked, then a bit of unpacking followed by a visit from the police, then more unpacking.


I guess I should toss this out there as well:  my tv and xbox360 were stolen while I was away. 


I've never had anything stolen from me before...  It's a weird feeling.  I'm a very possessive person, I take good care of my things and all of a sudden someone thinks they deserve to have my things.  But why would they deserve it if it wasn't theirs to begin with and they're willing to deny someone of their hard work and money?


I have this big idea that stealing from a store is way less of a big deal than stealing from someone specific.  See, when you steal goods from a store, they don't really belong to anyone specifically.  The company owns them and if it's a big company like Wal-Mart, then they're probably used to this thing and it's nothing personal.  However, when you come into someone's house and take their stuff, then it's personal, it's like I've been taken advantage of.  I can't really explain it any other way.  But what I can explain is how this event has caused me to not really settle in.  Like I said, it's the second month into the school year, and I have had no desire to write this post.  It's the post that has to happen for me to continue writing here.


No desire equals no structure.  Or at least poor structure.  Sorry for the lack of structure.  I'm just writing.  And it's my blog so I can write haphazardly if I want to.  Basically this is the first draft of what I needed to say to continue writing about my little life, so as long as it's down (in whatever form) I can move on.


Honestly, this is getting me down and even that is weird.  It's not like my puppy died or anything.  


I wish I had a puppy.


I should probably end this here, if there are any updates on my stolen property I will post.  As for now i'm checking out prices of televisions (pretty much can't go without) and I'm leaning toward a PS3 to replace my xbox360.  Secondhand, of course.  I'm not willing to put the full price value of my own money toward a system to have it stolen again.


I'm bitter.  I know.

Last night Tim and I made home-made hot chocolate for the first time.  It was delicious.  (Tim claims it was too chocolatey.)


The following recipe yields four servings, if you'd like to adjust the recipe for two servings, simply half the ingredients.  Enjoy!
_________________________________________________________________


Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoon  sweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 squares (1 ounce) semisweet baking chocolate - broken into pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream

Dishwashers were invented to spare the human race of having to scrub their dishes and utensils, (how physically taxing), in order to clean up after a meal.  They work by spraying a mixture of hot water and dish detergent then clean water to rinse the detergent off the dishes.  Sounds like a great way to get a helping hand in the kitchen, right?  Wrong. 

If you watch any television, I am sure you have seen a Tampax commercial or two slamming the UbyKotex brand into the dirt.  I know these two brands are in competition with each other, but it was starting to drive me crazy seeing how many different ads Tampax had developed against Kotex specifically when I had failed to see Kotex defending their own name.  I don't really watch a lot of television, but enough to notice that Tampax was all about not caring if their tampons come in a little black box, or even 98 rainbow colours, they just want them to work.

UbyKotex -- not exactly 98 rainbow colours, but you get the point

Unfortunately I cannot find the two commercials that express these opinions, if I do find them at a later time, I will post them.  However, I did find the commercial I saw for the first time last night -- UbyKotex stepping it up in a sarcastic come-back commercial.


Have a look:






Not only is her sarcastic tone bashing all of the other ho-hum tampon commercials, but she is actually relating to most of the female, 18-24 year old population in this add.  Who wears white on their period?  What the hell is that blue liquid?  Why would anyone want to twirl and dance because of their period?


Basically all of the other commercials out there have these fantasy-land period week girls when all that UbyKotex is doing is providing the same product in a different package.  And hey, if I want to pick up a black box of rainbow wrappers because it makes me feel like a rock star during my period, then I will.

It's really not that hard.  For a long time I thought that preparing a bowl of french onion soup was very tedious and time consuming.  It was just last week that a friend of mine actually told me how easy it is.

• Buy a box of onion soup mix
• Make the onion soup mix as per the recipe on the box  (add your own onion, if you like)
• Divide the soup up into oven-safe bowls
• Add croutons or a slice of bread to the top of the soup
• Sprinkle grated cheese (preferably pizza mozzarella) on top
• Place in oven on "broil" until cheese is melted and golden brown
• Enjoy!

Perhaps chefs in fancy restaurants make the broth themselves... and perhaps some people make their own croutons or bake their own bread.  Perhaps even some people own cows and make their own cheese.  Unless this is the case, preparing a bowl of french onion soup is easy-peasy and really doesn't take a lot of time.  (Seriously, you just put the soup mix in boiling water for five minutes!)  

Have you noticed that I have fallen off the face of the Earth?  Miss me?  Well, I'm baaaaaack!


If you have wondered where I have been and what has been keeping me from updating this blog with petty accounts of my life, I have been driving this...

*May or may not be updated frequently.

Paul Mitchell curling iron

Camping combo from Wal-Mart (Rollback $98)

A banana split.  Not that hard, right? Well apparently no-one around here sells them.

Canon PowerShot SD 1400is (14.1MP) Thank you, Tim for an early birthday gift!

Sea Kayaks

This is the warning that appears at the top of a webpage tab when the internet fails to complete your request.  Sharing internet is a bad idea.  I'm not even the one actually sharing the internet, it's my boyfriend's living arrangements for his workterm and it's terrible.

When you open up four tabs and hope for the best, you're bound to get the worst.  Perhaps opening up four tabs is asking a little much of a crappy internet connection, but hey, having to wait to click the inevitable "Reload" on the warning page goes a lot quicker when you have three more clicks to make.  Also, by the time you finish the fourth, the first page may have already started to make some sense!

Forget about images altogether.  Yes, they're there but they may not load.  Best to expect the worst and avoid disappointment when you can't see who was at Terrilynn's party or what Rachael, Jake, and Susan are discussing on Nicole's Facebook wall.

Be cautious about your accomplishments, or should I say "almost" accomplishments.  You may think you have completed something, but if the above has already happened, you may lose your work the  moment you leave the current page.

This post for example, may or may not make it.

Not my favorite restaurant, actually I rarely eat there, but it has come to my attention change is underway.  I have witnessed many changes in the Old McDonald over the years; no more Treat of the Week, salads, apple slices, and milk have made a way onto the menu, heck -- I haven't seen a statue of that goofy (yet scary) clown in ages!  The restaurants themselves have even undergone a transformation away from crazy kid-fun (aside from the Playland) to what I perceive as a more "ski-lodge" feel.

Although I've never been to a ski-lodge, I do feel it is a bit out of character to have leather couches and fire places in a fast food restaurant.  Not to mention the granite table-tops, and flat-screen televisions everywhere... where the hell is the jacuzzi in this classy restaurant?

The change that is most recent to this Golden Arches chain, the change that is provoking this post is what is happening in the great UK.  Have you heard?  It's not hard to find, I found it on the homepage of Yahoo! Canada.  McDonald's in the UK is eliminating the need of cashiers as all of their restaurants will be "self serve" as far as ordering and paying goes.  Yep.  Just walk on up to the touch-screen computers, place your order, pay, hope all goes well, get your food, eat.

I see only a few minor problems with this idea:

1. Job loss - Okay, being a McDicks employee can't be the greatest job in the world, but it is a job.  I've been recently trying to find a job myself, it's not easy.  I can't imagine what's going to happen to all the uneducated people when their best chance in life is giving out free smiles and even that gets taken away from them.

2. Credit/Debit Only - Good grief.  How many times did you walk in to any store as a child and toss a bunch of nickels and dimes on the counter and ask for as many one-cent candy as you can get?  Okay, well what about all of the homeless people who we give our change to?  They can't go buy a Happy Meal with that now...

3.  Touch-Screen Computers - How do they possibly expect the elderly to cope.  Who doesn't know a sweet old grandmother who loves those greasy fries?  Who doesn't know a sweet old grandmother that cowers in fear at a cell phone?  I can't even imagine the frustration these touch-screen computers will bring to all.  What if they need to be re-aligned?  What if they get worn out?  How do you place a special order?  What happens when the order is still wrong? Most importantly, how can computers even replace humans? Oh, wait, even more important:  are smiles still going to be free?

Right now this is only beginning in the UK, it's only a matter of time before it makes its way to the US, then to Canada.  I don't like the way it's looking.  I do use the self-check outs at Wal-Mart, but honestly, I think it's a different case altogether.  When you're ordering food, even if the cashier doesn't get your order right, you can still tell them they're wrong.  How is a computer going to react to criticism?  Probably won't get you the manager.

Summer Job Hunt Status

This question is perhaps the one I dread the most, and since I'm in a new place for the summer I get asked this question a lot.  You're probably wondering why I dread getting asked where are you from so much since the answer seems rather straight-forward...  Actually, for me, there really is no simple answer.
As a small child I have moved with my family four times, finally settling in one town, (which I will refer to as "Western Head"), for all of my grade-school years.  Now the answer seems even simpler, right?  When asked where are you from, I should simply reply "Western Head".

INCORRECT

From my experiences I have gathered that when people ask this question, they generally do not mean in which town did you spend your last 15 years, they actually mean in which land does your family name hail from, so simply replying with "Western Head" does not suffice as neither my mother or father have family ties in the area, leaving So-And-So to continue on and on about this family or that family, and whether or not I have met Bob down the lane.

Sorry, I don't know Bob.

Assuming that So-And-So is trying to figure out where my family name comes from, perhaps just saying "England" or "France" would do the trick, right?  Well I think it would be quite obvious that when I speak I have no hint of an English or French accent (although I can do a good fake one), so I cannot possibly declare I am England.  In the event of my fake accent convincing the inquisitor, a whole new can of worms would be opened such as what brings you here, when are you returning to England/France, what is that land like, etc.

Often, I give up and explain that I grew up in "Western Head", but my parents are from "Blueberry Hill" and "Stephen's Point".  Most times this leads the inquisitor to make a link to someone in my family, thus avoiding admitting that I am not here from England or France, and I have never actually met Bob down the lane.

To be honest, yesterday was the happy day but I was too tired to write anything before bed so here it goes!

Step 1:  Dream Creation Station: Create yourself a very desirable dream that does not seem far from reality.
- My boyfriend is going on a work term in a some-what isolated community, I am out of class, looking for a summer job.  The thought of being separated for another four months is nearly unbearable, since I am not bound to anything this summer, why not tag along?




Step 2:  Draw Your Map
- To make this vision a reality many things have to be accomplished.  First, the boyfriend has to want you to go with him.  That's a big one.  You need a place to say, a job, and someone to rent your room over the summer.  So far, the boyfriend does want me to come (Yay!), I do have a place to say, job prospects are looking good, and someone has agreed to rent my room.  All systems are go!




Step 3:  Set Sail For Your Final Destination
- You have to leave at some point, so why not now?  I am currently en route!




Step 4:  Failure to Present Written Agreement
- So here is where I dropped the ball.  I had arrangements for someone to sublet my room for the summer.  Most of the arranging happened in person as well as on the phone.  When I began sending emails with important information, such as rent payment methods, and received no replies, I began to worry a little that my subletter was not going to forward his money in time.


For a little closure I decided to call my subletter to verify that he indeed receive the emails and was ready to pay the first months rent.  Within seconds of the conversation he informed me that he had been sending me emails as well, apparently neither of us had been getting these emails.  My subletter continued to inform me that two days after agreeing to sublet my room, he changed his mind and accepted another more permanent living arrangement and had emailed that information to me.    Because the emails are lost somewhere in cyberspace, I have no written agreement on the arrangements that were made and it is simply my word against his, which may or may not hold up in court if it had to.


As I said earlier, I have not been receiving his emails.  As I said even earlier, I am already en route, which makes problems like this catastrophic.




Step 5:  Have a Great Landlord.
- Although it is difficult to do, choose a landlord wisely.  My landlord is expecting income from me, he had already warned me that it is my responsibility to pay rent regardless of who is living in my room.  Through all of the stress myself and my roommates have put him through these past few months, he has managed to remain calm, which in turn calms me in this very stressful time.  That's about as good as I can ask for right now.




Step 6:  Believe in the Power of the YES
- I really mean have faith, pray, believe things will work out, but there's a cool video involving the prior.  I am still posting ads online, calling everyone I can think of, trying to fill my room from a distance.  And I have to say, I have wonderful people around willing to help in any way possible and I am very thankful for that.




I definitely have been screwed over in the most inconvenient way, but all in all, it's just a bump along the road to my final destination.
May you all learn something from this guide, even if it is just the YES dance.


Cheers.

School is so long gone that marks are already out and I still haven't managed write a decent post.  I have been busy with packing and organizing and whatnot, but I just have no interest in writing any postable topic.  There were a few attempts, however, the drama in my life right now consists of failed friendships and annoyance with my parents, and although sometimes it's good to vent via blogger I do respect the privacy of the people in my life and feel that I should keep my thoughts on these topics off the web.  For now.

As an apology I will leave you with a video.  Although a little repetitive, this video contains the melody that managed to get me out of my two-day-slump, I hope it does some good for you as well.

I'm not going to lie, I am definitely one of those people who lives vicariously through other people's lives.  It's not that I am incapable of doing exciting things in my own life, I do have goals/dreams (see last post), but for some reason or another, I never really get around to experiencing the things I'd like to experience.


I began to notice the extreme degree to which I live vicariously just last semester.  I was at the mall, chatting with a friend whom I haven't seen since his excursion to Europe at the end of Summer.  Although this individual had a rather odd trip, avoiding the most usual tourist-y places, I was eager to learn every detail about it since, I myself, have never had the opportunity to experience Europe first-hand.  It was his response to my prompting him to tell me even more about his trip that he stopped and said "Are you sure you want to hear more?  Most people just say "oh, what a trip!" after I mention my near-fatal car accident...".  I assured him that I don't get out much, and would indeed like to hear more as later I'll probably just live vicariously through his stories.


Pretty pathetic, but true.  I probably tarnished any degree of coolness I appeared to possess when I mentioned my satisfaction of vicarious living.


A second extreme and pathetic incident in which I noticed exactly how insane my satisfaction of vicarious living is getting was what prompted the idea for this post.  I shall paint the picture for you:


I'm at my boyfriend's house, sitting on his bed after finishing what seemed like endless hours of studying (which in reality was probably just one or two), he is sitting at his computer desk reviewing notes.  His feet are happily perched upon the edge of the bed, toes looking right at me. (Literally, I drew a happy face on his big toe earlier tonight.)
While looking at Tim's feet, I let my mind wander back to a time when Emily and I would take turns in massaging each other's feet.  Emily had a special trick for me, she'd pull my toes to make them crack, (if you have never experienced this oh so delightful feeling in your toes, I encourage you to walk up to Emily's house and demand she pull your toes), anyhow, as expected, I got the urge to have my own toes pulled.
If you have never attempted to pull your own toes, trust me, it is very difficult and unsatisfying.  So I proceeded to pull Tim's toes to watch him enjoy the feeling, and, since I am so easily satisfied in living my life through another person's, my urge to have my own toes pulled diminished.


Yep.  Pretty sad.

On the side of my Facebook News Feed page, there is a Livingsocial ad for a local bucket list.  This ad made me realize that I have never actually created my own bucket list, despite my constant rambling of how there are many things I would like to do in life.  Since today is a somewhat flop, I think I'll create my bucket list as a post so you can all see.  :)