Random pictures and thoughts, expressing how I'm feeling...

I am in a pretty good mood today... Yesterday I fell and screwed my knee up worse than it already was... But I am going to go see my physiotherapist when I get back to Calgary and he will do stuff (like prick me with needles) that will make it feel better. I look forward to it... I have a Steering retreat tomorrow and I worry that we will be playing some active "get to know you" games but if we do, I may have to sit them out. I'm pretty sure most people know me anyway. :P It's Shaun's birthday today! Shout out to him! "Happy 24th Birthday Shaun!!!" I will be seeing him tomorrow night and he will get Christmas, Birthday and Valentine's all in one stop because I don't know if I will see him before Valentine's Day and I still have his Christmas present in my car. Now, I am going to go drive-thru Starbucks (best invention ever! And it's NEW, right by my house!!!!) and get a "Blended Strawberry Lemonade with two pumps of Raspberry Syrup" (SO GOOD!!!!) and then hit the highway. :) I will write more or again later this weekend!

Dwelling on the past...

So today I have done a lot of soul searching... When I do that, I always feel as though I come up lacking somehow... Like, I'm not a good enough person, or I haven't accomplished what I should have, or I have been a bad friend, or whatever... I have decided that once a week, I will spend a few hours by myself, doing what I want. Now, because I know some of you are sickos, I think I should mention that the last two weeks I have gone for dinner and a movie. Yes, by myself. It gave me time to do homework, or read a book while I ate and then I got to see a movie I have been wanting to see. Last week, it was "Glory Road"... I laughed, I cried, I laughed while I cried. This week, it was "Big Mama's House 2." Martin Lawrence is freaking hilarious in this movie! I think it was almost better than the original and I really enjoyed the original... :) Anyway, I digress. Spending time hanging out in my room is all good and such but... *shrug* at least if I am out in public, I can soak up the atmosphere. As many people know, I like to people watch and it's always interesting in restaurants and theatres.

So, in the past week.... My grandfather has been listed on his medical charts as "critically ill" and he is barely functioning. I found out earlier today that the nursing home attendants found my grandma wrapped in a blanket lying on the floor... They had no idea how she got there, how long she had been there or what had happened... *sigh* John has decided he hates life. So he went back to Calgary today and will be back "on Monday... maybe." I went with my mom to this Reggio Emilia opening at the new Jubilee... It was a showing and reception with snacks and drinks... You apparently had to be someone big in Education, at the CBE or University to be invited (mainly) and it was interesting meeting the women from Italy. I saw my grade 2 teacher there, as well as some other people I know through my mom. After I went out for dinner with my mom and her friend Ann. (I am supposed to be planning a 50th birthday party for my mom... I should start making a guest list...) I was at THING on Saturday and even though I wasn't in a very social mood, I went to Moxie's after and it was nice to see my friends. Considering what little social life I have, it's good to get out occasionally. I have been up until at least 4 most nights this week, doing homework and generally thinking too much. I have had a nap a couple of afternoons to counteract it... It's stupid...I also had an argument with a good friend over something that shouldn't have been an issue but we resolved things and he called me this week. It was nice to hear from him... :)

I have to say, I am REALLY worried about my grandpa. :(

I had a long talk tonight over MSN with a good friend. Actually, one of the best friends I have ever had and one of the best people I know... She was waiting for her daughter to fall asleep and then it ended up that she stayed up to talk to me... I thought that was really nice of her... We don't get to see each other or talk as often as I'd like but I know I can always count on her. I just have to mention... She sent me an e-mail (I was going to bed but I went and took my contacts out and brushed my teeth and the computer beeped so I came back to read it... Slightly easily distracted...) and it is a way of keeping in touch with her. I think, out of all of my friends, she is one of the people I miss the most when we don't talk because she helps keep me grounded and she loves me for who I am, not someone she wants me to be... It's nice having a person like her in my life and I don't tell her nearly often enough how much I appreciate her... I hope she knows. We talked a lot about where we are in our lives and where we had pictures ourselves to be at the end of HS. And... our 5 and 10 year plans... It's weird/interesting to think about how much is different now and how much we have each changed.



Now, I am going to bed... I am searching for peace of mind and spirit so I can sleep... I am reaching for my steamed milk and a tylenol for the headache I can feel coming on...

Long and tiring day...

Short version of today: Went to school, sat through class and was tested on a two-handed rhythm, came home, went back to school, sat through a class in which we bribed the prof with Jelly Belly's and then got "brownie points" for knowing that "O Canada" has a second verse and being able to recite it, went to World Rhythm and learned three new dance steps, some new rhythms and then orchestra where the guy one down from me spent the hour he was actually there staring off into space and not playing or participating (when there are normally at least 4 of us and there were only 3 today, one of 3 sitting staring at the ceiling doesn't help!) and then I took my car for a tune-up.

Now, I am sitting here contemplating why I am writing on here at all. I know of... one... person who actually reads what I write and even then, I know it's not stimulating but seriously... *rolling eyes*

I have been avoiding some of my "friends" this week. Friendships are two-sided and while I like being there for them when they need me, it's annoying to have them ignore me unless they are having some kind of "crisis." I'm at the point of, "if you're only going to call me/talk to me to complain, get a therapist or start paying me by the hour." Not that I would ever say that but some days it's tempting... *sigh*

I'll tell you what really gets me... people who don't talk to you online or call you all week and then Thursday night act all buddy-buddy, like they want to spend time with you over the weekend... Ok, I like spending time with my friends if it's mutually convenient. But spending time with them because they feel bad for not talking to me all week or whatever is not happening. If they have their own lives and friends during the week and they are making me feel like a charity case in need of a friend, that's not fair to me. If I'm going to put effort into a friendship, I would expect the same from anyone else.

New Topics. (I do that a lot...) Last night, I went online and filled out my TEC application. I hit "Send to Core" and got an error message. So I e-mail the fabulous webmaster and he says he didn't receive it. So today, I filled it out again and re-sent it. I got the confirmation e-mail so it seems to have gone through.

I have also filled out my application for Camp. My problem is that last summer I was MAJORLY honest on it and I felt like it later came back to bite me in the bum. Not cool.... So I am praying a lot about whether to send it in or not and which position I feel called to do this summer. I love being in cabin but... I am feeling kind of rejected considering I haven't even been asked to work any of the winter camps...

Now, as Laurel normally writes at the end of her blogs: Today I am reaching for patience and the knowledge that where I am feeling called is where God is truly calling me.

Should write more often.

So I should update this more often, maybe not daily as I used to but more than once a week for sure. Today I am feeling especially blah... It was a good weekend, all said and done, but it had it's trying moments. Such as being yelled at by my brother because he didn't listen to directions I had given him... Of course, it was my fault and then a friend was comforting me and said he didn't think his "gf" (not exactly but close enough) would mind... Seriously...?!?!?!?! He and I have been friends for eons longer than they have known each other and I don't get why he would have to make a comment like that. Honestly, who cares if she minds, he and I are just friends! And he's one of my bestfriends so if I can't turn to him when I am upset, how fair is that? Anyway, the cab went pretty well, we all had an okay time. The silent auction went okay as well... I was bidding on Roughnecks tickets for John but at the point that the tickets were bidding for more than it would cost him to buy them normally, I stopped. We ended up with $25 for East Side Mario's (door prize), $25 for Montana's (didn't pay that much for it, it came in a package), four passes for movies/mini-golf, a gift basket from Avon, a Pedicure, a Pedicure at home set, a set of shampoo and conditioner, a Grease Poster, a Build-a-Bear and a couple of scarves. It sure looks like a lot written out that way when in actual reality, most of it was packaged with other stuff so it was only something like four items... The proceeds go to a good cause (the orchestra's tour in a month and a bit), and this way we supported it without having to pay money towards the actual tour. I would have liked to dance more but c'est la vie. I helped Julie out as needed and at the end of the night there was some older guy who kept yelling at her over a misunderstanding of sorts and I was there to give her a hug and calm her down. John joked with her and got her to smile and threatened to kick the old guys butt. Matt also gave her a hug and by the time Andrew (her bf) got out there, she was much calmer. It was interesting to meet Peggy's significant other and to see Suzie again... I was thanked by various different professors for my hard work and all I did towards making the silent auction a success. I am trying to work on saying "You're Welcome" instead of "No Worries" when someone thanks me for something.

I spent some time in bed on Saturday due to my head being sore and after the Cab I stayed up to watch part of "10 Things..." (which is one of my favourite movies) and then I went to bed before anyone else because my head hurt. I woke up late yesterday and stayed up long enough to say good-bye to everyone (Matt, Ben and Brit) as they left and then I went back to sleep for a while. I got up again to work on homework and I watched "Grey's Anatomy" (I'm slightly addicted) and then I went to sleep again after taking some major painkillers. I got up this morning anf my head was still pounding and I felt dizzy and nauseous. I slept most of the day, saw the dr this afternoon and tonight, I am going to finish homework and then go to sleep early. I still don't feel well but there isn't much I can do about it...

Short Version of this week...

Monday I had school, then Rovers (we went bowling but I didn't bowl, my knee was bothering me). John came with me and registered as part of the crew. We have a new girl, her name is Shivani and she is from India. She is here on an exchange with the Rotary Club and she seems very nice! The people who went were John, Shivani, Will, James, Cory, Rick, Andy and two of Cory's friends from work (Skye and someone...).

Tuesday was a day from HELL!!! :( I had a migraine when I woke up (the weather must be changing) so I took a Motrin and a Tylenol Max and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. I had class all afternoon so John dropped me off around 12:15 and picked me up when I was finally done sectionals just after 7. We went out to see Holly at work and grabbed something to eat and then came home and he went to work.

Today I dropped him off, went to class, came home and cleaned/organized and then tonight I went out for dinner with Will. We went to the Mongolie Grill and it was ok... Sometimes a bit awkward but there doesn't seem to be any way around that. Afterwards I dropped stuff off to Julie for the Silent Auction this weekend and ran over to Rick and Joyce's to drop off a thank you card for Larry.

Now, I am home and I am going to continue cleaning/organizing. I always feel like the place has to be spotless when I have friends over... I am stressing out because I don't think it will be totally clean by the time I have to leave tomorrow. :( I am trying my hardest though! (Who needs sleep? Honestly!) I do need to get a bit of sleep so I can function to drive tomorrow though... Whatever, back to the grindstone!

Today in point form.

Today I did the following:

- Slept in until 11am (because I could and I have been exhausted recently).
- Hung out with my grandpa.
- Went shopping with my mom and brother.
- Dealt with my dad on a number of topics.
- Went to Ken and Trevor's birthday party (the pizza part, I was dealing with family stuff before it).
- Talked to Ben, nothing was really resolved, in fact, I felt worse after.
- Picked John up and organized groceries for the week.
- Drove to Lethbridge.
- Talked to Holly about the Cabaret.
- Talked to my mom and found out my grandpa is at the ER at the Lougheed because his back was bothering him so much.
- Now... I am going to bed.

Interesting... Birthdays and THING and such.

I keep forgetting how much blogging at the end of the day calms me down... It helps me get to sleep and it's no wonder if that's the case that I haven't been sleeping so well lately.

Hmmm....

This weekend has been quite interesting thus far...

Friday night I went out with Taryn, Jan, Ben, Mika and Stephen for Taryn's birthday. The six of us went to the Wildwood pub (which was actually pretty nice) and then Ben and Stephen left and the four of us went to Karouzo's for their karaoke night. I sang "These Boots Are Made For Walking" and "I Will Survive" and Mika sang "My Way" and we did "If I Had $1,000,000" together. Taryn didn't sing but she did get sung to and she had to do a muff diver (it's a shot) from between some random guys legs. It was pretty amusing and we took tons of pictures/videos. :) I was expecting a call from Ben and never heard from him and Laurel and I talked while I was on my way home. I miss talking to her at random times during the week...

Today I slept in and then went to the bank (to get a new debit card, mine hasn't been swiping properly), to Axe Music (to pick up a silent auction donation and look at/buy a Djembe) and then to Chinook to find a dress for next weekend (the Cab is next Saturday). I spent some time hanging out at the mall once I found a couple of dresses and put them on hold and then met up with my mom to get her opinion and to buy one. We also went to the Build-a-Bear Workshop and made a bear to go with the "Valentine's Gift Basket" that we are making for the Silent Auction. His name is "Valentino" and he is white with a blue nose and he is wearing a tux (complete with shoes) and is holding roses. He is VERY cute. :) Afterwards, I went to the church and worked on some homework and played Zuma while I waited for other people to show up and THING to start. The talk was really good and it created a lot of conversation/discussion afterwards during small groups. After THING, we went to Moxie's and I talked Trevor into going with us. It was awesome to hang out with him, I don't get to do that very often. I sat at the same end of the long table as Matt, Trevor and Britney. It was nice to get a chance to converse about things that weren't mainstream... Meaning, we talked about a ton of different things, basically from the crude to the lame to the indepth, hard hitting stuff. It was interesting.

Now, I'm home and going to bed P.D.Q. Tomorrow I am doing some random stuff, including shopping for the rest of the stuff for the basket with my mom and going to Trevor and Ken's joint birthday party or "BIRTHDAY PANDEMONIUM" at Fish Creek and then Ken's house. Eventually, I will drive back to Lethbridge as I have class on Monday morning... For now, off to bed I go!

The last couple of weeks in a nutshell...

Ok, so I haven't written anything on here in a couple of weeks... There are reasons for this, some of which I will get into in this entry and others I'm not going to touch. Also, I don't figure anyone is reading my blogs anyway, so I might as well document what has been happening for myself.

I'll start at New Year's Eve... I spent time with my mom (which was awesome!) and then went to the Cave to hand out pizza and then to Ben's to hang out. The people at Ben's were Elisa, Jameson, Ben, Meghan, Taryn, Cory, Ryan, Naomi and Alessa. We played "Would You Rather?" and then after everyone else had gone home, Meghan and I started watching "Coach Carter" until Ben got back from driving people home. I had a dry New Year's... Yes, that's right. Nothing to drink.

New Year's Day I went out for dinner to the Spaghetti Factory with my mom and brother. This was the day my grandfather started feeling worse than he had been before. He felt crummy enough that he cancelled his dinner plans and was in bed by around 5pm. That night I went back out to my cousin's place to spend some more time there, with them, instead of by myself. Their kids are awesome! :)

So, MWF I had physio. I was supposed to have a JC appointment on M but I moved it to R and then to F and eventually ended up cancelling it and booking for next Sat. Monday I had made plans with Anders to play Monopoly. I played the risky way (spend all your money so you go bankrupt, thus ending the game) but we were still at it for about 3.5 hours. Tuesday I hung out with Laura and then went shopping with my mom. That night, I went to a movie and dinner with Ben (We saw the newest Zorro movie and went to the Olive Garden). It was fun... :) We wandered the Asian supermarket by the theatre, saw the movie and then went for dinner. Afterwards we went back to his house and watched "Wedding Crashers" (which he had never seen and I had bought that day) and then I went home. Wednesday was pretty uneventful... Physio and hanging out with Laura for a bit. My grandpa had surgery to remove cancerous cells from his head that day and he also had to have a skin grsft so I spent the night sleeping on the floor in my Grandma's room so if he needed anything at night, I would get it for him. I found out that my dad was on his way home that night... Thursday I went to Denny's with Ben for "Brunch" and then we went to Chinook and wandered and shopped. He got some new jeans (they are nice) and I got a couple of scarves, a set of flip flops and I built a bunny at the Build-a-Bear. My mom called while I was at the mall to say that she and my grandfather were at the Foothills. His family doctor figured he had an absess on his liver and had sent him over to see his specialist. The admitting nurse in the ER mis-read the forms and told him to wait for the attending and then, when they realized their mistake they pulled his name from the GP list, then they tried to get in touch with the specialist and he was gone so they put my grandfather back into the GP list but he still have 12 people in front of him as he had lost his spot in line when they pulled him. I went and took them both something to eat and picked up a few things my mom had asked for (namely, his meds and a set of slippers). He was in so much pain that sitting up was hurting him and making it hard for him to breathe. His doctor had said that if it was an absess, they would drain it and would probably get close to 2L of fluid out of it. That explains why he hasn't had much of an appetite, why he hasn't been feeling well and why he has been having problems with his clothes fitting (he had gained 17 pounds and 10 inches in his waist in a month which is what made the doctor take a second look). That night I went back to Laura's as my dad came back from B.C. My mom called around 10:30 to say they were home from the hospital, my grandfather had had enough and told the nurse he was leaving without seeing a doctor and when she protested, he said if he got worse, he would call 911 and come in by ambulance. Friday I did some running around and had physio and then before my JC appointment I stopped at my grandparents to make something to eat, check my e-mail and order my textbooks online. I put something under running water to thaw (those were the directions) and left it for about 15 minutes while I waited for the internet to not be dumb and the tap was barely on so I didn't think anything of it. I had checked the stopper, it appeared to be out so that it didn't hold the water in the sink and then I left it. When I came back to it, the sink was full and was overflowing onto the floor. It was all over the kitchen floor and when I went downstairs to get towels and blankets to sop some of it up, it was leaking into my room through the ceiling. Needless to say, I panicked. I cleaned it all up and nothing was damaged or anything (THANK GOD!!!!) and then I was soaked and exhausted so I cancelled my JC appointment and then went and sat down to rest. After a bit, I mopped the floor (with Mop and Glow) and then warned my grandfather (he was laying down and knew nothing about what had happened) that the floor was a little damp from my mopping it and I left to go back to Cochrane. I figure the 7-year story rule applies on this one... *sigh*

The weekend... Saturday I hung around Cochrane and played with Emma and watched some T.V. with Laura. Afterwards, I called and text messaged some friends to see if they wanted to do something. Sandra, Ben, Meghan and I went to the Club and had something to eat and then went for a swim and then bowled. Ben is a superstar bowler apparently and the first game he killed all of us... After bowling we went up to the 818 for something to drink and we split nachos. Matt came by while we were there (we were watching the Flames game) and we all left the club around 11:30pm. Sunday I was at my grandparents, where I packed to go home (back to Lethbridge anyway, the one place I'm not a "guest"...), and then out running some errands and then to the TEC AGM. It went well, it started later then planned and then when we finished (actually, when my mom called in a panic), I left. I drove back to my grandparents (which wasn't in the original plan) to check on my grandpa as he hadn't been answering the phone. Dad was refusing to go over and Mom was in Lethbridge (she had driven John down) and she was freaking out so I went over. Turned out, he wasn't answering the phone because he figured it was my dad. (Dad was being a complete jerk all day...) After I made sure he was fine, I drove back to Lethbridge in time to fall asleep (I was exhausted) in time to get enough sleep to function at school the next day.

This week... Monday was MY first day of class. It went ok, I only had one class but it was good. I did some running around with my mom and bro in the afternoon and then went to my Rover meeting. Tuesday was a long day... I start class at 9:25am, I have one class and then a break for almost 3 hours. I went home, packed a lunch and then John dropped me off for my afternoon classes. I have class straight from 1:40 to 6:30pm and by the time I got home, I was exhausted. My classes are pretty fun though... I have a History class that might kill me... We are working on listening to popular music and picking out the rhythms and meter in Musicianship... I learned "Oloonkatiza Moobiledi" (I sounded it out, it's an african phrase and I have no idea what it means) and some other drumming rhythms in my World Rhythm class... We got some new pieces in Orchestra and a new clarinetist. She sits behind me in the section... Wednesday and today were pretty much repeats of the previous two days... Except... Tuesday night I got an e-mail from one of the advisors for Fine Arts saying that I was missing a pre-req for one of my courses and if I didn't get a form signed and in by tomorrow at 4pm, I would be removed from the course. I panicked, e-mailed my prof, the chair (who is also one of my prof's) and this guy back. Wednesday I ran around trying to find the prof (who wasn't one campus all day) and the chair. It ended up that the chair gave the other advisor the prof's home phone number and she called him for me... He gave me permission to stay, she signed it off for him, I took it to the chair and he signed it and then I dropped it back off to the advising office. Turns out, when I got home I found out that the guy who had originally e-mailed me had talked to the prof as well and was going to give me until Friday to remedy the situation. Yet, when I was sitting in his office fighting tears, he didn't mention it to me. (GRR!)

So, today was ok, all in all. We listened to more pieces in Musicianship. Dee, Ash and I all did very different pieces... Dee did a yiddish fiddling tune, Ash did "Crazy Frog" and I did "All Along the Watchtower." In Canadian History (the class I was fighting to keep) we listened to Canadian Folk Songs. Specifically, the one I knew and could sing along with was "A la claire fontaine." In World Rhythm we spent most of the class dancing and it sure worked up a sweat! It was fun tho, we did it to a rhythm that he taught to us as "Ta-co Bell is good." They rearranged the Clarinet's again, I'm sitting one chair further up in my section (one of the girls who sat ahead of me is now a section up) and one of the girls who used to be in that section was moved up as well... I came home and watched "Beauty and the Geek 2" and did homework and now I'm pretty much ready for bed.

Tomorrow, I am going to wander the Imaginus poster sale after class and then head for Calgary. I have physio at 3:30 and Taryn's birthday party at 6. It should be an interesting evening...

Good week... Good friends... :)

It has been a long week and I flipped my sleep schedule completely around but I got to see my friends a lot so it made for a good week.

Monday night I had people over to watch movies. Sandra, Meghan, Matt and Ben came and we watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Fantastic Four." Ben came when we were most of the way through the first and Matt left before we started the second. It was a good group of people and we had fun.

Tuesday night Sandra, Matt and I went to Elisa's house (Ben's sister) and watched the Flames Game with Kirsten, Ben and Josh. Afterwards we went and found food (KFC, then DQ to find out it was closed, then A&W) and went back to Ben's and watched "Four Brothers." It was kind of frustrating because Kirsten had a modnight curfew and Matt offered to drive her home but Ben ended up driving her. Matt left like 5 minutes after they did and by the time Ben got back, the movie was over and Sandra and I were leaving. I would have hung out for a bit but... I'm not going to sit around waiting to see if he's going to come back... Afterwards I stopped at home and picked some stuff up and Sandra picked up her car (which was at my house) and I went to Victory with her. We had a sleepover and it was cool to meet some of the people she goes to school with the next day during lunch.

Wednesday I went to Pizza and Prayer at Trevor's new place. It is cool to see him living on his own and in the North! :) The people that were there were: Laurel, Ken, Christine, Ian, Trevor, Sandra, Amanda, Matt and I. It was a good night. Afterwards, I went to see "The Family Stone" with Shannon and Stephanie and then I went out to my cousin's house in Cochrane.

Thursday I ran some errands and then Matt, Meghan and Ben came to my cousin's to spend the night. We watched a bunch of movies ("Into the Blue," "Rebound," "American Pie presents Band Camp," "Man of the House" and "Hitch," not in that order...) and Matt fell asleep during the second to last movie and I went to bed just as the last movie was starting. I needed to get some sleep. :)

Today, we got up and I made "breakfast" (Eggo's and orange juice) and then everyone left around 1pm. I went into Calgary for Physio and then came back out to Cochrane and put "Cinderella Man" in and almost immediately fell asleep. :) I woke up around 10:30 and then decided to watch a couple episodes of "What Not to Wear." Bedtime soon... :)

Merry Christmas?

Ok, the day started out ok... I got to sleep in a bit and then my mom and my brother came over and we opened packages. I opened my packages from my friends when I first got up and I never seem to realize how loved I am but they made it very clear that they care and that was awesome!

After we opened most of our packages, John had yet to open some of his. He had a hissy fit about the dress shirt and ties my mom and I had gotten him and because he got a few pieces of clothes, he freaked bout us "hating" his taste in clothes... I think he has good taste but I did pick and choose the stuff for him for a reason... :( He didn't end up opening the rest of his gifts until later in the day... "Crown Prince" much???

Anyway, my dad didn't come (which wasn't a big surprise, he had apparently gotten upset with my mom earlier in the day which wasn't fair as far as we were all concerned) and my grandma joined us later in the afternoon. My grandpa went and got her and brought her home... She was "doing laps" (as Will referred to it once which was kind of hurtful at the time but that was what she was doing) and then she laid down for a bit... She kept asking to be taken back "home" and only opened like four of her gifts. It hurt that she didn't open most of her packages... But there wasn't anything we could really do. The day took a turn for the worst when my grandma disappeared during dinner... She did something I can't even write about... And my mom threw up after it and then was really upset in general because she was picturing herself in 30 years and was sad... I didn't know what to tell her other than to not worry about it...

After dinner, my mom and grandpa took my grandma home and then John took mom home and went to Amanda's and I went to see "Rumor has it" with Sandra. It was good ending to the day...

Open House, etc...

Last night was interesting...

I am not going to go into a run through of my last few days as a play by play is a good way of me winding down sometimes but in retrospect of a couple of days, maybe not so much. So I will touch on the highlights...

Tuesday we got back into town and I spent some time at my mom's school. Afterwards, John went to the CAVE and mom and I drove out to Cochrane to see Laura, Jason, Anders, Jack and Emma. We gave them their Christmas gifts and Anders and Jack their birthday gifts as well and I hung out for a bit and chatted with Laura after my mom left to go pick up John.

Ben called around 10 and I made plans to meet him at my house around 11 so we could go rent a movie (it was too late to go to a theatre) and I left Cochrane around 10:30.

Ben and I met up and unloaded my car and then went to Blockbuster and Wendy's. We went back to my place and watched "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and then sat and talked. He left around 4:30am.

The next day I hung out at the house and spent some time with my grandpa, went to my J.C. appointment and then to see my physiotherapist. Turns out I'm not nuts, I did screw up a tendon in my knee and he worked on it (ultrasound, electric stimulation,etc.) and did acupuncture. I felt better but sore after and went to meet my mom and brother (anyone ever notice you take out one letter and it becomes "bother" I wonder if there is a reason for that...???) at North Hill. John greeted me with "Luke's getting married!" and I was surprised but happy for Luke. (He is a friend of John's who has been around for years and I know his older sister's.) We did some Christmas shopping, organized food and beverages for the Open House the next day and then went in our separate directions. I ended up at Shaun's house with Ben and Shaun and we watched "Must Love Dogs" and they both rolled their eyes and such but it was cute in a sappy kind of way... :) I dropped Ben off at home and then came home and crashed.

Wednesday was our Christmas Open House... I spent the day running around and picking up food, decorating the house and generally, trying not to panic. Our first guests arrived at 4:45 (or so) and we hung out for a while before anyone else came. It was a good night though. The final list of who came was fairly short and mainly my friends but it was fun. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves at least. The people who came were: John, Mom, Papa, Britney, Taryn, Laurel, Kurtis, Jackie, Ben, Matt, Korrina, Katrina, Jan, Shannon and I. Six of us crashed in the living room for the night... It was an interesting evening. I don't know what else to say about it... I had a good time overall and my friends seemed to as well. Some people did or said stuff they may regret later but that is typical of a gathering where there are many people.

We went for a walk to find a park and tried the elementary school by my house first. Turns out, there is a park there, it is further back in the field than we walked and we went to this other park that has skating rink by my place instead. We split into girls and guys and talked and such and then walked back to the house. A few people added layers of clothes and then we went and laid in the field across the street and looked at the stars. Matt and I had found Orion while we were walking but we were looking for the dippers. We found the big dipper just before we went in but we were having issues finding the little dipper... Could be that we were slightly intoxicated at the time... :) When we got back, we put on "Raise Your Voice" and Brit, Matt and Taryn fell asleep almost immediately. I sat in the kitchen and talked to Jan until a little past 3. We talked about a lot of random stuff. It was a good conversation.

In the morning, we cleaned up a bit and then at noon(ish) Ben and Britney left with Brit's dad and then the rest of the people who had stayed helped me clean up the rest of the dishes, the furniture, the food, etc. I vacuumed the living room, hallway and dining room and around 1 Matt drove Taryn home and Jan to a train station.

I then went to get my hair cut and then back home to meet up with my mom to finish off Christmas shopping. My dad was here when I got home tonight so I am going to bed early. I am going to get as much sleep as I can!

Last Exam!!!! Lunch and a movie... :D

Last night I watched most of "Roll Bounce" and from what I have seen so far I really like it. It is different from most of the other movies I have watched lately and is a nice change of pace. I watched it until I was feeling pretty sleepy and then went to bed. Not majorly early, but earlier than normal.

This morning my mom called at 6:45 to wake us up to make sure we got up for our exams. Ash called around 8 to say she was leaving for school and she would see me there. John and I left here around 8:45 and he dropped me off. (I don't know exactly what he did after that until he picked me up...) I told him I would call him when I was done and needed him to come get me as he had an exam this morning from 10-12 and I had until 1:30 to write my exam if I needed it.

I wrote my exam in the prof's office and honestly, it was less distracting than writing it in the classroom would have been... He kept walking in and out of the room which was distracting but I tried to ignore him. He didn't get the school laptop for me which was fine, better even, as I prefer my laptop. But I could have pointed out that with the fact that I was using my laptop, and most of my notes for that class are on the laptop... *eyes-rolling* I guess he didn't think of it and I wouldn't cheat but it is weird that it didn't even cross his mind because he's the prof who is SO worried about cheating due to the fact that he is the chair of the department... It's the same as plaigerism as far as I'm concerned, it could get me expelled and that would suck. I knew someone last year who used to bring crib sheets into exams and I was surprised she never got caught. She has since transferred elsewhere but it always seemes stupid because she always failed the exams even when she cheated... No comment on that one... But on this exam, I guessed on a few definitions... I know what they are but they are processes rather than definable terms so I also showed how they are done and the ones I guessed on I was talking to Ash about after and she said she thinks on a couple we were way off from what the other said but we will have to wait until we get the exams back to see. I asked her about something I wasn't clear on and from what she told me, it sounds as though I may have been way off on one of the concepts we went over in the past couple of weeks... We'll see.

In the middle of my exam my phone rang... It was a surprise for many reasons. Firstly, because I thought it was on silent. Secondly, because it was my brother. (Apparently, the whole "I'll call YOU didn't register...) Thirdly, I couldn't find it and that wasn't so good. The good thing was the prof was out of the office at the time...

I only hit one question that I wasn't sure of... The rest of the exam was ok. But it's over and that's the best part!!! I am done for the semester... Now, I wait for marks! *gag*

I got upset with John this afternoon over a list of things but I'm not going to go into that.... I will leave it at I am frustrated and can't do anything to fix it.

I went for lunch with Ash and we made tentative plans that turned into solidified plans later this aft to go see "Just Friends" tonight. We went to Moxie's for lunch (I had a gift certificate that Geoff had given me last Christmas... I go to Moxie's a lot and had used one but not the other, it's weird that way...) and then we had to go get John to his exam. Just as we got home, Holly was leaving to go to work. Ash and I dropped John off for his exam and then I dropped her off at home. We sat in her car and talked for almost an hour... It was a good cnversation. :)

I stopped at Shopper's and picked up a few things I have been meaning to get but keep forgetting and then went and sat outside the college to wait for John to be done. When he was finished, we came home, I ran through the shower and threw in a load of clothes and then went to meet Ash for the movie.

It was a cute movie! It is something that has parts that could feasibly happen in real life and it made it hard to watch at the beginning and then made it more endearing as it went on... There was one part where he is singing "I Swear" in the mirror and it's freaking hilarious! That song came out my grade 7 year and it's their grade 12 grad... Oh boy... :D

Now I'm home, I'm going to go grab something to eat and finish "Roll Bounce" and then finish packing and sleep... I have to get up early tomorrow to get John to his last exam and we need to have the car loaded and ready to go before we leave...

***I don't know how often I will be online in the next couple of weeks... If anyone needs me, please call my cell... Love you all!!! :)***

Mini road trip...

So last night Shaun and I talked until just after 3 and then I finished watching a DVD. I watched "Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo" and then fell asleep around 5am. I slept until 11:30am or so and then got up and packed some stuff into my car and John and I drove to Claresholm and met mom around 1:30. We hung out and visited with her for a bit and then come back to Lethbridge.

We went to the mall and picked John up a phone at Rogers so he now has a Lethbridge cell phone. The guy we dealt with at Rogers was really nice and said he'd give us a deal on accessories so we should go see him again sometime. We said we would. :) We grabbed something to eat at the mall and wandered until they closed. John picked up a ring and I got a couple of sets of earrings and we each got a piece of jewellery that can be worn around the neck. We hit Michael's and bought a Santa wine box for our grandpa and some ornaments for our cousins.

We got home and Holly came over and she and I played LIFE and John studied while I made dinner. Vicki stopped by to drop off a Christmas gift to me and wish me a Merry Christmas and it was great to see her. John and I had pasta (Holly had already eaten) and then she and John started to watch Coyote Ugly and I am going to go watch a DVD in my room.

Ashleigh is supposed to call me later in regards to our test tomorrow and I am going to bed early as the exam is at 9am tomorrow. Prayer please! I am so tired I need sleep... *yawn* I still haven't talked to Ben and I am worried because that is abnormal but... I can't do much of anything. I haven't talked to Matt today either but I'm sure I'll talk to both of them at some point tomorrow online. (I hope.)

Gone to watch that DVD and go to bed early!!!

News, tired, a missed exam and the second Christmas party of the season...

So, last night I blogged and then figured I'd read for a bit and head for bed. So I chatted for a bit longer on MSN to Meghan and such and then waited to see if Ben would show up online and when he didn't, I headed for my room... But around 1:40am the phone rang. John and I both answered it and it was my dad wanting to talk to John. He and I both stayed on the phone and he and dad "talked." It was more like dad talked and John listened. John asked dad why he has been acting so out of control and he told him he has been scaring people and dad said that he hasn't been doing anything wrong. The call progressed, he said a ton of untrue things that were degrading to my character and integrity and finally started yelling and swearing at John and hung up on us. We took the phone off the hook at that point...

I needed air. I needed space to breathe. I needed to go out. So I went for a drive. I drove around the Westside for a bit and then stopped at Mac's to get a Froster and talk to Will for a few and then I figured I'd head home. A few turned into over an hour. I left home around 2:30, got to Mac's around 3 and got home just after 4.

I went online when I got home for a few minutes before heading for bed and the bestfriend of one of my oldest guy friends was online. He had recently told me that he and his common-law wife are expecting a baby. So tonight he told me that the friend that we have in common is getting married in July and that he and his "wife" are getting married shortly after that. I said congrats to him and asked him to pass my congrats on to our friend as I haven't seen or heard from him since he moved in with the fiancee. I didn't say the last part, it is a known fact to this person. He spazzed out about something to do with "I better be invited to your wedding when you get married" and then he "wasn't getting in the middle" and then went offline. I am puzzled and perplexed as I don't really know what prompted the first and why the second as I wouldn't put him in the middle. He has tried to be the middle man and I won't let him. I also talked to my friend Shaun as he was up studying for an exam he had to write at 8am today.

I went to bed around 5 or so and then got up around 11. I got into the shower at noon(ish) and John rapped on the bathroom door about 10 minutes later. I was in the process of rinsing my hair for the final time so I yelled for him to wait and then turned off the water. All I could hear was something about an exam so I got out and quickly dried off and opened the door enough that I could hear him. It turns out that the exam he thought was today from 4-6 was this morning from 10-12 and he had missed it. He found out by one of the people in his class coming online and saying "Dude, why weren't you there this morning? It's not like you to miss an exam." Full blown panic attack!!!! Due to the stress and anxiety he and I have both been dealing with all week, I was surprised neither of us was in tears last night over dad's stupidity.... Hell, I almost cried for him over the missed exam... I threw my contacts in and grabbed clothes and we booked it over to the College to try and find his professor. We found her, explained what has been happening and the mix up of the times written down and he can write the exam on Tuesday. *HUGE sigh of relief*

I made it to the mall where I was supposed to have my hair done at 1 by 1:20 (my friend Laura was supposed to do it originally but had to cancel as she got called in to work more hours) and I was glad I had washed my hair already because she just needed to finish blowdrying it and then flat iron it. It is gorgeous straight and I felt much better once it was done. We stopped at Music World on the way out and I bought the Il Divo Christmas CD... It is amazing... They are amazing...Anyway, John and I hiked out to my car (it was parked outside Jysk at the far end of the mall facing the highway) and then went home.

When I got home I began to peel potatoes (I was supposed to bring mashed potatoes to dinner tonight) and realized we don't have a potato masher. I had done about 4 out of the 12 that needed doing so John took over while I ran to Safeway and bought one. By the time I got back (about 20 minutes later), the potatoes were peeled, chopped and ready to be cooked. We turned them on and I went to work on other things.

I talked to Sandra online and then on the phone, Laurel on the phone, wrote my Christmas Cards for the Rover Crew, talked to Matt on MSN and made the mashed potatoes, got dressed and did my make-up, all between 3 and 6. By 6:15 I was on my way to the Rover's Christmas party.

I got to wear my "No Place Like Home" shoes again. :) We had a traditional turkey dinner and I had sparkling apple juice, punch, eggnog and water to drink... I seriously felt like I could float... We opened presents and I drew the number 7 so by the time we got to me, I chose a fairly small gift (on purpose) and got a set of coasters and shot glasses with the suits of the deck of cards on them. They are pretty cool. :) Joyce got the gift I brought and she seemed to really like it. Joyce and Rick gave us all little snowmen and we had dessert and then helped clean up and left to come home. I drove Cory home.

On my way, I stopped at Safeway, Blockbuster and Liquor World. I picked up Cherries, a couple of DVD's and a bottle of Yellow Tail Chardonnay. I figured I would have a glass of wine when I got home (no drinking and driving for me!). When I was in the liquor store, I was talking to Shaun on the phone and the guy behind the counter was giving me kind of strange looks and then kind of laughing at my side of the conversation. I should probably point out that I am all dressed up, talking about kinds of white wines and the fact that Liquor Depot owns Liquor World or something and about some guy who bought 12 bottles of Arbour Mist wine and a bottle of scotch... I'm sure my conversation was weird sounding. But the guy in the store... He was kind of cute... I may have to go back sometime. :D

I got home, the bottle of wine went into the fridge (where it still is and will probably stay for a bit) and then I hung out and talked to Matt online and then Laurel on the phone. I just made chocolate chip/chunk cookies and I reheated some mashed potatoes and I am going to go watch a DVD with a glass of milk and some cherries. Meal #2 of the day at 1:30am. :)

I am going to bed once I am either a) done eating or b) the DVD finishes. We have unplugged the phones in our rooms tonight and our mom is going to call us in the morning on one of our cell phones to figure out what time we are meeting her in Claresholm tomorrow. Off to watch a movie!!!