I called a bunch of places in and around Calgary to ask about donations towards the Silent Auction at the Big Band Cabaret. So far, a lot of places were really receptive. There were a few that I know my friends really enjoy dealing with that were not as receptive as I would have hoped and I found it very disconcerting. I have a few places I need to fax the letter to and a few others I need to stop by and drop off the letter to once I am back in Calgary this weekend. Next week (or in the next couple of weeks) I am going to drop by a few places where I either know people or places that are uniquely Lethbridge and see if they would be willing to donate anything. One of my favourite donations so far is my friend Felicity works as a massage therapist and has offered to donate two half hour massages. :) I think that's awesome and I may have to bid on one of them myself! I have called a variety of different places... The list so far looks like this:
- St. John's Music
- Long and MacQuade
- Felicity
- Calgary Jewellers
- Mountain Equipment Co-op
- Camper's Village
- Music Makers
- Axe Music
- Rideau Music
- Guitarworks
I also talked to my mom and my cousin and they recommended I call or drop into and ask:
- The Cheesecake Cafe
- Chatters
- Calgary Winter Club
- Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra
- Canto Music Society
- Theatre Calgary
- Alberta Theatre Projects
- Storybook Theatre
- Lunchbox Theatre
- Calgary Roughnecks
- Calgary Hitmen
- Calgary Flames
I am going to make some more phone calls tomorrow and hopefully fax the letter in as well to the places that have requested it be faxed.
In talking to my cousin, I got updated on how life is for her, how her kids and husband are doing and some advice... I do not always welcome advice but she's older than me so I generally smile and nod and thank her when she is finished. I have to admit... when people tell me, "I know what you are dealing with..." or "I know what you are going through..." I feel like yelling at them, "YOU HAVE NO IDEA!!!!" but it doesn't seem like it would make much of a difference... :( Idigress. We were talking about how each of us is doing.. I haven't talked to her in over a month and the last time I tried to call, I got her mom (her mom lives in BC so that was a surprise to begin with) and was told she was in hospital (she was really sick before they moved here and had surgery right after they moved here and has been fine ever since) so I was pretty worried about her. But I hadn't been able to get a hold of her. So I was glad I was able to get a hold of her and that she is doing much better than what I had last heard. She is dealing with some of the same health stuff I am right now, it makes it easier to relate to her somehow... We got to talking about how life is here and how school is going... I admitted that while school isn't going that badly, I dropped a class because I wasn't doing as well in it as I would have liked and was having a hard time retaining the information. Also, my brother and I haven't been seeing eye to eye lately. She and I talked about it and a lot of what she said made sense. I was in tears a couple of times... Mainly because she actually got what I was saying. That doesn't happen very often right now... She is an older sister and her younger sibling is a brother and she has felt the way I feel right now... Most of my friends don't get it. I was actually surprised that she does. Anyway, she told me that I need to prioritize my life and that I should be #1 on that list. And that I need to make sure that my health and welfare are at the top of my list with school somewhere after that and then my family and friends lower on the list. I was surprised to hear that because a lot of people expect that family should be higher up. She pointed out that I should worry about what it's going to take to get me through school and working and such which means that my health and schoolwork are at the top of my list and everything else may need to take a backseat for a while. I like that she doesn't push me. And that she said that if I don't get a chance to come and visit them before Christmas, I can come over after Christmas and we will have a Ukranian Christmas in January and I can see the family then... I was touched... She said, "your bed will always be here, for a night, a weekend, a week... whenever you need it. You know that." I appreciate that. I may just go spend a few days there while they are gone over Christmas break... So, after an hour on the phone, I felt a bit better about the situation here. She had some really good advice about my brother... like, "let him take the bus or call a cab..." which I thought was great! I may have to see how that works in the next little while...
I met with my history prof today... He completely confused me... I went for advice on how to blend my paragraphs together or how to transition from one to another... All of a sudden, he's going through "Mary Had a Little Lamb." I was okay with the rest of our conversation until he started reciting the rhyme and referred it to certain parts of my essay and then he partially lost me and I think I understand but I guess I will see as I continue to work on it. One of the things he said that bothered me is that I am signed up to take a specific course next semester that he said he wouldn't recommend due to not having the prerequisite. I can have it waived but he said I may drown without it. The problem is, the course he would recommend conflicts with another course I have been wanting to take since last year. The other problem, the course I am registered in and the one he says I should take are required for my degree (one or the other) and the one I want to take isn't required, it counts as an elective. Now I have to change my registration for next semester...
I got home late this afternoon after everything I was supposed to do was done and I did devo's for a while. I did "point and shoot" devos and landed on a passage in Romans about the body working together as a whole. I didn't write it down but it talks about how certain parts of the body cannot work without other parts and it always makes me think. I closed my Bible and opened it again and it fell open to 1st Corinthians... After this past weekend and the devo I led at the Steering meeting, it does hold a lot more meaning (I spilled my guts) but I read it... It made me tear up a bit. But afterwards I prayed and felt a lot better.
I had a conversation with a friend tonight about patience. He said it is something he needs to work on and I said it is something I struggle with as well. When he asked me to elaborate (because I know what he is working on) I summed it up with one word: "LIFE." I am trying to be patient with relationships, both friendships and otherwise, past, present and future. I am trying really hard not to anticipate too much what could happen and focus more on the here and now. There are certain people I feel I have to be more patient with than others but I think that is typical. I am trying to be patient with my family. At times they are driving me nuts and I am lettign them take a lot of my emotional energy that I just don't have to give right now. Health... I haven't been feeling well lately. I have been put on new meds to try and balance out my sleeping patterns and help me to eat and nothing has worked so far but I'm sure that if I wait, something will happen, eventually. I have been praying a lot about this because it is something I have been working on for a while. I find it odd that over the summer, while I am getting regular sleep but I am more active, I feel fine. I come back to school, I get less fresh air and sunlight and less activity and I am feeling crappy again. It's a vicious cycle. :( I am also trying to be patient with school. Rather than thinking, "I only have this many more courses" and anticipating things, if I sit back and let things go as they should, I will be fine. I also need to not procrastinate and be more patient with myself when it comes to my work. I know my stuff but I tend to second guess myself every step of the way. It's not healthy...
I did realize something this week. I used to have this little voice in my head (it was my voice, I'm not crazy) that, when I got a mark back on a test or assignment, would say, "what happened to the other ____%?" depending on the mark. Like, an 85% would be, "what happened to the other 15%? But a couple of weeks ago, I got a midterm back in History. Now, this is a course I loathe but am taking because it is required and I was convinced I had failed it. I went in thinking, "I bombed that, give it back to me, I don't care." But I got it back and had a 75% on it (or thereabouts) and I thought, "yes!!! I did way better than I had expected! Yay!!!" Which is a much healthier response. :)
All in all, I had a very productive day. Granted, my two papers are no closer to being finished. But I did some other things I have been meaning to... Including talking to my mom (which I needed to do) and talking to some friends I have been missing online... I will see you guys soon I hope...
I am going to go get some sleep, or try to...
As per earlier:
Mary Had a Little Lamb,
Whose Fleece Was White As Snow,
And Everywhere That Mary Went,
The Lamb was Sure to go.
It Followed Her to School one day,
Which Was Against the Rule,
It Made the Children Laugh and Play,
To See a Lamb at School.
(Seriously, what the heck???)
1 comment:
Blogs! They are great ways to vent and to let everyone know whats going on.
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