THEFTED!

1. Favorite childhood book?
the babysitters club, sweet valley, trixie beldon...
2. What are you reading right now? i'm rereading the
Trixie Belden series
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
none yet, but i have to find out where the library is
4. Bad book habit?
i would rather read a novel than do schoolwork. its hard not to give in!
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
 see question three.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
nope, i much rather have the physical book in my hand
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
one... unless they are for school.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
not really. i read as much as i ever do, books get first dibs on my time
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far)? Pride & Prejudice & Zombies
10. Favorite book you've read this year?
there is no way i could ever choose!
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
i've tried other genres but i always come back to my faves
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
romance, fantasy/sci-fi, and young adult
13. Can you read on the bus?
nope, only on a train (not sure about a plane yet)
14. Favorite place to read?
on my couch
15. What is your policy on book lending?
usually only to someone i'm fairly close friends with cuz i know i'll get the book back. i've had to rebuy a few faves before i started that policy *sigh*
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
i used to but not anymore. now i just flip them upside-down while open
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
only in textbooks. if i like something in a novel, i'll write it down on a scrap paper with the intent to rewrite it in a notebook but never do.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
english. i dont know any other languages.
20. What makes you love a book?
good plot, good writing skills, and a touch of romance.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
if i think the other person might like it (whether i liked it or not)
22. Favorite genre?
romance
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)?
ones that would be called "literature" rather than a "cottage/beach read"
24. Favorite biography?
i haven't read many but i did read Audrey Hepburn
25. Have you ever read a self-help book? yep, ballet for dummies and i think there was one on acting...
26. Favorite cookbook?
one that comes with a cook
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
anything by Lori Wick
28. Favorite reading snack?
cookies
29. A case in which hype ruined your reading experience? Harry Potter because i didn't want to read it at first due to the hype. i started reading them after the 6th book came out
30. How often do you agree with crititcs about a book?
i rarely pay attention to what the critics say
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
i hate doing it myself because my opinion is just my personal tastes and others might feel differently.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
french, spanish, latin, italian, gaelic.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? 
at the moment i'd say chicago manual of style edition 16... hating it!
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
i was never too nervous but often not bothered to try
35. Favorite Poet?
published would be shakespeare and milton i guess. nonpublished would be MrAngelicGuy so check him out!
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
i think my record was in the upper twenties or so
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
rarely, it only happens when i dont get to it by the due date and i generally get it out at a later date to read it if that happens.
38. Favorite fictional character?
aisling grey in katie macalister's dragon series
39. Favorite fictional villain?
no idea
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
anything!
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading?
it would be a miracle if i've ever made it to a week without reading something... sigh, five days without a novel just last week *wince*
42. A book that you could/would not finish?
"white biting dog" for a uni class. it was so bad i threw it across the room in protest
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
loud noises, usually voices.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
i tend to like jane austin or nicholas sparks adaptions
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
some of the harry potters, they deviated much more than i liked.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time? at chapters i was in the $100s, textbooks go much higher
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
only textbooks when i forgot to do the reading before class
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
when i just could not force myself to continue the torture of trying to get through it... a rare occurrence because even badly written and boring books leave me wondering what happened in the end.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
sort of. any by the same author would be together or the same genre.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
keep! unless i know i would never read it again (half the one's my gramma gives me).
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
books that were assigned in uni, i still have most of them and should read them since my classmates gave them pretty good reviews...
52. A book that made you angry? i know there was one that had a whack ending but i dont recall which now.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
A Song for Silas by Lori Wick. i am now obsessed with her novels.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? fantasy novels, gimme vampires and dragons and sorcery and...

SUMR

here is what i have learned about post-grad thus far:
it has a grade school class organization system (same 30 kids for one full year)
it has a high school homework level (as in every night and every freaking class)
it has a university topic/time ratio (quickly go over things and hope some of it absorbs)

there are a few things that make things sooo much more confusing...
1. one of my classes alternates teachers. one teaches one day, the other teaches another day.
2. one of my classes alternates rooms. one classroom one day, the other classroom another day.
3. some of my classes have the same teacher, and even they get confused as to which class they are teaching that day (two of my teachers each teach two classes).
4. my profs teach B&M's two sections the same information but continuously get confused as to what they've told the one section and what they have told the other section.
5. a few of the classes share a couple of the textbooks but were not told about this so we are never quite sure which textbooks to take to which classes.

for my homework i have to read chapter eight in one text, as well as chapters 1-7 in another. i have to research and prepare a presentation on the google book project due monday. i have to read chapters 1-3, pages 94-99 & 125-142 of the Chicago Manual of Style (you try reading that thing! *gah*). I have to read chapters 5, 6, 15, and some other random pages in another text. i have to edit a page of story, and two pages of editing on something else (haven't looked at it yet), and study for a test on tuesday (yes, after 3 whole classes we are being tested). i have to acquire a media kit from a magazine. i have to create an editorial staff chart and a production/sales staff chart for a magazine company. i have an assignment due on the 28th, as well as a minimum of three more in early october. i also have midterms right after thanksgiving.

KILL ME NOW!

i am already freaking exhausted and it has only been a week and a half. it doesn't help that i have noisy neighbours that keep me up half the night and other neighbours who wake me up early in the morning! also my hours at school are pretty killer as well: 6 on mon, 5 on tues, 8 on wed, 7 on thurs, 2 on fri. classes can go anywhere from 830am until 630pm. admittedly, i find a lot of the readings interesting -except the CMS which is a dead bore to slog through- but it seems like too much being thrown at us all at once. They just don't give enough time for things to sink in sometimes *sigh*

One of the perks though are the "field trips". we had our first one on wednesday where the prof let us out of class an hour early, told us to go on the danforth and find a "scene" to describe. we were to write it in the way a magazine feature article would set the scene for one of their features. the catch was that we had to email it to her before midnight. four of us went walking around together and, after settling on a location, in an hour i managed to write two and a half pages of details (we were also talking and eating and stuff). i didn't even use half of what i made note of or sketched but at least i had a lot to work with! you can read the "scene" i wrote in my previous post called "homework help" if you haven't already. BTW thanks to those who commented on it!

on thursday i found out that my hawt teacher is married with a nine-year-old daughter. sad but c'est la vie, we can all still drool in private *L0L* sometime during this week i managed to talk to the cute guy in my class, a couple of times actually. This occurred because he and another guy in my class -who i call "turtle guy"- were talking near my locker. i decided to jump in the convo -they were there, plus i do things like that- and learned the cracked up kid actually likes analyzing literature and plans to do a thesis type thingie or something on Ulysses (as i said, i only came in partway through the convo).

it is a bit of a mystery as to why he practically tears out of class each week (an after school job? has to babysit a younger sibling? anthrophobia?). he isn't all that sociable; he either sits with one of the other guys or by himself often but never with any of the larger groups of classmates that gather. obviously, at the very least, he needs me as a friend so that he can be more involved *firm nod*

thursday evening my bff from uni came over and took me out to dinner. we went to mcd's, which seems to be usual fare for us as we're always broke (usually me more than her), and then hung out at my apartment for a bit. thankfully i did not have any homework -or so i thought *wince*- so we had a nice and relaxing time.

today was thankfully my two hour day as i'm totally wiped out. i worked on one of my assignments after eating a late lunch even though it isn't due until next month. i really have to get at the readings and other assignments but all i want to do is go to bed! i think i might have to take a nap and then think about tackling it all...

SUMR

i swear i'll write about how my life is going later but right now i'm totally bogged down with school assignments. its fricken insane!!! i need a little homework help though and hence taking the time to write here and now. the class was told to go out on the danforth and then, in approximately 150 words, take the experience and use it to "set the scene" of a magazine article. you know, like the opening paragraph that describes what is happening at that location before moving on to the point of the story?

i wrote two pages worth of details -including sketches!- to ensure i would have a lot of information and observations to work with. i'm going to post what i've written even though i'm unsure if it is any good and i'd like y'all to give me feedback on it, preferably within the next half hour seeing as i have to email it to my teacher tonight.

Don’t Pshaw Tsaa!
Two Sisters Open Specialty Teashop on Danforth

Four college students cluster around a small square table tucked in the back corner of a recently opened teashop: the funky fashionista, the chic chick, the femme fatale, and the girl-next-door. They pass their drinks in a round robin, testing each other’s chilled tea and rooibos while discussing whether the signature flavours had been worth lightening their wallets for.

Soon a couple of businesswomen walk in to order bubble teas before curling up in the turquoise-and-brown Stockholm easy chairs that sit before a fireplace. The ladies gaze in fascination at the display of Chinese kettles and Japanese teacups before they settle in for a comfortable coze.

A friendly pint-sized barista in jeans, uggs, and an over-sized apron walks from behind the counter to offer her patrons a complimentary treat. The banana fritter, a delicious-looking pastry sprinkled with powdered sugar and cinnamon, is a new item soon to be part of the menu at this lovely specialty store.

SUMR

g'day darlins!

this past weekend my plan was to stay in the apartment. most my classmates were all about going out and getting drunk but, not only do i not drink, i thought my first weekend should be spent here... the fact i wasn't feeling too well might have played into that.

the one exception was that i was going to go out with karo to hear andrew play. we were making plans and all that when Karo was asked to babysit so her sis could go out for her birthday. totally understandable bailage and sufficient warning. some of my friends don't bother letting me know a change of plans, leaving me waiting for them and trying to find out if they were running late, in a car accident, or just bailed muchos props to karo for being a better friend though i've only met you once thus far!

by not going out this weekend i discovered that there is someone on my floor likes to absolutely BLAST their music. and before you say to complain to the landlord, she was out for the evening. i tried stuffing a towel in the crack at the bottom of the door but that didn't help. even freaking earplugs didn't keep out the noise but i'm thinking that someone must have said something because it was turned down within an hour. i could still hear it but was able to ignore it for the most part.

i spent a lot of time working on my major assignments. i have to do a whackload of interviews to do so i wrote and reworked and wrote again a bunch of questions that are not too blunt but still get my answers. like, i cannot right out say "how come you didn't see the land mine before your jeep drove over it and injured you?" i have to be more tactful than that i also sent off a few emails, one because i knew the person has a slow week and would get to it on monday and another because i figure it will take time to reply so i might as well send it asap.

my nana called me last night just to see what i was up to and how i was liking classes and such. my nana is really sweet to think of things like that but not only was it rather late and i have to get up for 6:30 but i was trying to finish up my homework. she kept me on the phone for nearly an hour... i hope i haven't gone over my minutes between her and my parents constant calls *shakes head*

today's classes weren't too bad. my first class was with chantel and we had to write a "contributors page" based on our interviews from class on wednesday (if you dont know what a contributors page is, check the index of your fave magazine for where it is, most have them). i think mine turned out pretty well considering we could only do a 5 minute interview and still had to hit 146 words.

i learned some pretty kewl things about my classmates. most of us are english majors but julie or julia (not sure which) takes ballet and the other taught overseas for a year, one girl already had an internship at her fave magazine, two were actors (one being the cute guy jesse and the other was either kayla or kaylea), one lived in Paris for a while (was her name britney?), etc. i hate to say it but a fair few of them just do NOT have a flair for writing, there was nothing interesting about how they created sentences or anything

next was a two freaking hour break. i intended to read my chicago manual of style book since we *might* have been asked to read the first three chapters but it took me nearly an hour to get through ten pages it was so dense! i gave up after an hour and started chatting with classmates for the next hour. our course outline said to read it but the teacher never specifically assigned it so no one i talked to actually has read it. guess we'll find out tomorrow if we were in fact supposed to.

my last class is the one that kind of scared me the most. it is the legal side of book publishing which i want to learn about since it is important for any writer to know but also terrifying because its the law and you can really mess things up badly if you don't write a good contract. i did learn that we get the class to understand it but will probably still have to hire lawyers to actually create the contracts and the like once we are working... plus i'm hoping that my future job won't entail anything to do with contracts at all *fingers crossed*

the teacher then divided us into three groups and a topic to research that we have to present on next monday. i was put in with the lovely jaime as well as the cute guy. jesse may be nice to look at and has a great sense of humour, he sure isn't much of a conversationalist; i tried to get him talking but it kinda fell flat. hopefully that is just cuz we don't know each other at all yet... anyhoo, our group was assigned to research the Google Book Project.

i walked to my locker with linsay (pronounced lin-say and not lin-sea), the one who swapped lockers with me, and she mentioned we had a reading that was due for tomorrow. how the heck did i miss that?! she had it written in her agenda but i'm still getting used to using that thing so i have that to do, the research project, and a reading with questions for my first class which i also have on wednesdays.

i'm thinking that jill may not be too fond of me; she doesn't often sit by me and never waits to walk home with me after class though we go the same way. jill doesn't have a locker while i do but it would only make a difference of three minutes to hit my locker before leaving. ah well.

on the way home i noticed that there were cute little paw prints embedded in the sidewalk so either a squirrel or a little kitty or something did not read the sign when the sidewalk was being repaved (or whatever it is they do to fix em). i wanted to take a picture of it for y'all cuz it seemed like a random thing to do but i didn't have a camera with me, let alone a digi one.

Word Of The Day
ENSIFORM (adjective) Shaped like a sword blade. Synonyms: bladelike, sword-shaped, swordlike

Quote Of The Day
"Create the Life that you want, create the experience you want." - denise schon

SUMR

HELP!

i need to write a 500-word profile on an interesting person. I must include a minimum of two sources that provide original quotes. one MUST be the profile-person and the other must give insight into my subject. the article must have a strong focus/angle that reveals "why is this person worthy of a feature story?". it must be written with a specific magazine in mind.

i'm not sure that the idea i had quite fits with the outline of the assignment. any suggestions on who i should write a profile about? remember it has to be someone i will be able to interview therefore someone famous probably isn't a good idea

I am thinking perhaps interviewing a couple college/uni graduates who have chosen to teach ESL overseas... preferably to pay off their school loans. i think it has become a growing trend or something, for even my bff has gone to china for the year. if you happen to know anyone who has done so and is willing to talk to me please let me know!!!

another idea is one my dad suggested: a friend of his was in the military and his jeep hit a mine. i could ask him about the military and his experience with the mine.

what do you think?

SUMR

wednesdays i have eight hours of classes followed by thursdays being seven hours. totally mean right?!?

THURSDAY:
my first class starts at 8:30am and runs until 12:30pm, which is a four freaking hour long class! the good news is that not only does the teacher give us two to three breaks but he's also the hawt one! i have no idea why they listed the wrong teacher for our class but i totally don't mind one little bit. he's not married -or wears no ring at least- and has been in the industry for 15 years making him about early to mid thirties. that seems so old but i'm in my late twenties so its not all that far off. i know, i know, no crushing on the teacher... but he's sure something to make getting up so early in the morning worth it

we spent most of the first portion of class looking at magazine and book covers and saving the ones we liked best onto our flash drives in an "inspiration" folder. it was kinda of fun and sounds easy BUT we could only save ones that we liked and could explain exactly what it was about the LAYOUT or DESIGN that we liked; we couldn't pick something because we liked the picture.

the middle portion of the class we had to do improvised presentations! scary huh? we had to explain what we liked and didn't like about the magazine or book we brought to class with us (i think i'm going to start carrying both a book and mag to every class because i've had to run to my locker twice in three days to go get mine). i used the december issue of harpers bazaar and talked about the colour palette, the font and size of letters, the way the picture was situated on the page, etc.

the last portion of class was where the teacher sat with us one on one and we had to show him our inspiration folder and choose three book covers and three mag covers, explaining why we chose them... or at least that is how he started. this process was taking absolutely forever so i left the room and went to my locker to grab my lunch, came back downstairs, and ate outside the classroom (no food or drink in the lab!). i was starving!

i dont even think the teacher noticed. after he talked to a student he would let them leave so i kind of blended in with the exodus of others i suppose. since he had to go through thirty of us and i was at the last table he went to, by the time he reached me not only was class done nearly a half hour prior but all he did was look at my fave from each and ensure my folder was set up the way he wanted it to be. i didn't have to say a word nor show him anything else i included even though i had it all planned out

i would have had an hour long break otherwise so i wasn't late for a class right after. instead i went to stand in line to get my photo id taken and that made me late for class. when my next class started there was only four people in front of me and after waiting all that time, i stuck it out. i mean other girls were late for class when they stood in the osap line so why couldn't i be? if the teacher hadn't taken so long in my first class then i would have been farther up in line and possibly not late for my second class, so it was kind of a domino effect

my last class was supposed to be two hours long but i missed the first fifteen minutes and she let us leave an hour early. she said class would "begin in earnest" next week so i guess she didn't want to overwhelm us too soon. what she did have us do was sign up to volunteer for a book and mag festival later this month called "The Word On The Street" which sounds pretty kewl. Jaime and i volunteered for the "as yet unnamed tent" hoping it will be something fun rather than boring but i guess if it is too interesting we'll want to take part rather than help. i doubt i'll have a chance to check out anything since i'll be helping but maybe i'll go a bit early... here's the website for it http://www.thewordonthestreet.ca/ y'all should come check it out cuz it will be amazing AND, best of all, its free!

after i got back to the apartment i started working on my profile article on a postal worker... or several. after my evil experience with getting my text books i thought i would look into the process of online book orders and such. i have to see if what i have planned fits the assignment and if so i intend to interview Kat, aka PersianKitty. this project is not to be confused with my Danforth Mag feature which i'm hoping to do on the danforth area music scene with a focus on none other than Karoline1982's Andrew who i'm hoping to go see this very weekend.

FRIDAY:
fridays are going to be THE best ever! not only do classes not start until 10:30 but they are only two hours long AND Chantel teaches it. our clique just adores the teachers wardrobe so we're always dying to see what she will wear. and OME her shoes are to DIE for!!!

unfortunately she already gave us an assignment that we have to start right away. some poor souls will be starting their presentations in two weeks but i signed up for about mid october since i knew mine would take some time. we have to research the person who currently holds the job we want to have at the company we hope to work at. Chantel said that mags would be much easier to figure out since they state all the positions and the person who has it in the mag but with books, we actually have to contact the publishing companies to find out the name.

after class the clique (whom i'm now calling the main six of our group) finished exchanging phone numbers as each of us only had a couple of the other's numbers. the plan is that we might all go out with Jill to a friend's birthday bash she's holding at a bar or pub or club or something. i have yet to find out if there is a cover which will nix the deal for me since i cannot afford it but it does sound sort of fun and i'll get to hang with the girls...

anyhoo, i best get onto my homework since i have an assignment due tuesday, a presentation due during week six, and my profile also due in the next few weeks!

SUMR

hey m'dears!

today was the first day of actual classes and i was both psyched and massively freaked out.

first of all, i start at 1030am and go until 630pm with two one hour breaks between classes. i mean, eight freaking hours? *0y* people were starting to tire by the end of our second class, and pretty much devoid of energy by the time we were done. i was okay but that might be because of my month-long stint working two jobs, starting my day at 6am and not getting to sleep until about midnight. this was nothing compared to that!

i was nearly late for class again today but that was because jill and i agreed to meet at the school but i thought that was the public school at the end of my street, at her halfway mark, and she meant the college. i was standing there waiting for nearly ten minutes before i gave up since i wanted to hit up my locker before class; she was already sitting in our classroom.

my locker is st00pid evil! i got stuck with the higher shelf section rather than the lower one. i was offered to switch lockers with the girl next to me but i like my locker number and the girl on my other side is one of the girls i "met" this summer online. i think it might be an idea to swap and just deal with the icky number change, it would be too aggravating to spend a year trying to fetch things from up there

i walked into my first class and what did i see? NEW HAWT GUY! well, maybe he doesn't deserve the capitalization and the title of hawt but he was pretty good looking. there goes the no distraction expectation with a lack of guapos in our program *L0L*

the teacher, while seemingly nice, used terms to the publishing world that i haven't learned yet so i was having a touch of trouble following what she was talking about. AND she spent an hour talking about her career, i highly doubt we needed to know that much detail into her life. she told us we're going to be divided into "production groups" and will be working on group assignments together for the whole semester (other than the first assignment i think). i hope i end up with people i'll like! and maybe the cutie...

for our first hour break a bunch of us decided to hit the caf to get food (two of us brought a lunch) but the food portion was closed. for some reason they were handing out free sandwiches, apples, and cookies so we all snagged some munchies *yAy for freeness* before heading up to the B&M lounge. isn't that awesome? our program gets its very own extra hangout/work space!!!

out next class was editing and we were kinda scared because none of us has edited anything in months (or in my case nearly a year)! this teacher told us a bit about himself, but in ten minutes, including the fact he was a graduate of our program. he seems kind of all-over awkward but i think he's going to be a good teacher... though he totally freaked us out by saying a C or C+ in the class was a fairly good mark but that we needed a B+ or higher to be allowed to copyedit books (as opposed to newspapers or organization's pamphlets and the like). he gave us homework because we didn't get to the work in class *grrr*

sidenote: that room was freaking freezing and requires winter woolies to survive!

our next hour-long break divided us, jill and i went walking up pape while the others hung out at the school. we seemed to have formed a basic "clique" that we travel in: me, jaime, jill, amy, elena, laura. we occasionally get a few others but we six mainly stick together. we got keri and kayla during the first break sitting with us in the B&M room, and the two julias during second break hanging out in the caf (its near our class). yesterday the same thing happened but with other classmates. i wonder if we'll end up being classified as the "kewl" group...?

our last class was with chantel, the one who interviewed me and accepted me into the program. i had heard that we weren't going to have her this semester and i was not happy about that but it turns out that we're apparently not getting the cute teacher but this other not-so-cute guy (i'll find out for sure tomorrow). anyhoo, chantel told us about her career, taking maybe twenty minutes but she was interesting to hear about.

she handed out all the assignments for the semester so we would have them, and can think about them if we wanted to, though the first is not even due until october. one is writing a profile article and having to interview people, the person the profile is about and someone close to them... or something like that (i left my notebook in my locker). the other is a feature article that may make it into the magazine "On The Danforth" that the college produces and the neighbourhood gets. we have to write a story relevant to the danforth and i have a tentative idea about that, but its still stewing.

in that class we got to divide into groups and interview each other for five minutes. that is NOT much time to learn much about anyone with no preparation time to think up questions. we're going to write little blurbs on each other in the form of a "contact sheet" which is apparently in most magazines. i think i'm going to like this class

when i got home from class i found a delivery notice for a package i assumed to be my school books from chapters. i was hoping that if they didn't fit in my mailbox they might try to knock on the apartment door or leave then with my landlady. no go there but i was hoping. what i got instead was the notice with these words: "you may pick up your item with a government issued photo id bearing the same address as the item".

say what?!?!

i just freaking moved and there is no way i would have anything with my name and address on it let alone a government issued photo id! i tried calling the post office to ask about it but only got a buzzing sound. i tried sending a query to canada post to inquire but they didn't give me the "reason" option i needed. i called home and asked my dad to call ANY post office to ask them about it... he called the post office my package was at and got though. he explained the situation and they said they'd take my drivers license and the delivery notice if i came right away.

i practically ran to the pharmacy -not a shoppers drug mart- which was north and east of my apartment. it took me maybe ten to fifteen minutes to get there and it felt kinda sketchy and smelled like garbage *nose wrinkle* there is no way i want to again go north of my place ever again because then things start to reek

as soon as i got back to the apartment i ripped into the box and sure enough it was my books. i pulled them out to make sure it was the right books and noticed something... one book was covered with black dirt smudges while another book had a torn and wrinkled cover. i am so totally not impressed by whomever packaged my books!

so the summary of all this is: hot guy, decent teachers, kewl new friends, and possession of all my textbooks. not too shabby for a first day of school

SUMR

this past weekend has been pretty crazy!

THURSDAY: mum tells me that dad was not able to borrow a trailer and he didn't bother to rent one either though mum told him to. needless to say i was freaking out trying to decide what could fit in the car and came to the conclusion of only my clothes, my laptop, my bedding, and maybe my tv would fit.

FRIDAY:yet another appointment at the dentist. it required FOUR needles of freezing after that it was packing, packing, and more packing because i did not yet pack my clothes. while trying to pack said clothes the parentals kept calling me to do other things and answer a bunch of stupid questions. needless to say i didn't get any of my clothes packed until my parents went to bed... i was up until nearly 4am!

SATURDAY: the good news is that my papa didn't need the trailer after all and we could have it so da picked it up. but even with the trailer not all my things would fit. its a good thing that i sent up books and movies with my parents on a previous trip because none would fit on this one. it was only cooking things, clothes, my couch, etc.

because i was up so late i decided to sleep until a 10am since dad said he wanted to leave at noon. i figured dad could load up the trailer while i slept but he got up early and so wanted to leave early but no one woke me up. dad wanted to load the couch first so he played on the computer until i woke up. the really dumb thing is that my parents have no issues waking me up for less important reasons (such as mum wanting to know if your shoes match her outfit) and yet they didn't wake me up to take the couch out of my room

needless to say, not only did we not leave early but we didn't leave by noon either. we hit the road sometime between 1-2pm and made pretty good time since there was only one area where traffic slowed to a crawl. my parents helped me unpack a fair bit since we had three trailer-loads of boxes and they didn't leave until around 11pm. i stayed up past 4am trying to unpack the rest of the boxes but didn't quite succeed before crashing.

SUNDAY: the bell internet technician was to come anytime between 8am and 8pm with a warning call an hour prior. i did NOT get said call so i was woken by the pounding on my apartment door and had to greet the guy in my pahjahmahs and a bathrobe

apparently my computer/connection was being evil because buddy had to call in for assistance. since i had nothing better to do and didn't want to stand over they guy's shoulder i started unpacking my books and movies and organizing them on the shelves. i was still unpacking up to about 1am the following morning.

MONDAY: i had only one box full of papers left to unpack and my clothes to organize but i decided not to bother with the box and do the clothing later. yes, i want my clothes organized so i can find them easier when running late in the mornings

needless to say, it didn't get done at all as i instead read a book while chillaxing on the couch. later in the evening i dug out the photos i brought along and made some collages for my wall since i dont have any tools to hang the pictures i did bring along. i still wasn't tired nearing 2am so i took a graval and zonked.

TUESDAY: i did not hear my alarm go off so i dont know if it did and i slept through it or i set it wrong and i didn't have time to check because i had only an hour to get ready. what did wake me up was the slamming of the back door of the apartment. it is really freaking loud and was waking me up every time someone used it. i just hope i get used to the sound soon so the early birds dont wake me up all the time

i managed to shower, dress, do my hair, do my make-up, and eat breakfast in seventy-five minutes. i wanted to leave the apartment by 8:15 so i could get to school early to see how long it took to walk to school -i was giving myself 15 minutes- and find my locker and all that but it so didn't happen. i didn't leave my place until 8:37 when orientation began at 8:45. i jogged/speed-walked and got there at exactly 8:45 but what i didn't realize was that i had to sign in and so i was technically late to the orientation itself.

i can't say i missed much since a video of random animation set to music was playing until 9am that a prior class had to do as a project. i didn't hear half of what the speakers were saying because i was at the back of the very large room and they did not have mics. i didn't learn anything relevant until we went to our "breakout sessions" in which we were separated by course and got to listen to a few of our teachers (one of which is hawt!).

i finally met Jill whom i've been talking to online and is in the same class as me. i also met jackie but it was only for a couple minutes in the main orientation when the MC asked us to introduce ourselves to the people around us and jackie was sitting in front of me (shes in a different program). during this i also met jaime who i was sitting beside and is in my class.

in my class are amy, laura, elena, marissa, and a couple other girls whose names escape me. there are only three or four guys of the 60-70 students in the program. jill said they all looked alike: tallish, shaved heads, and those stylish chunky glasses (they're kinda rectangular with wide arms and made of plastic), even our hawt teacher looks similar! i dont think jill saw the short, older asian guy standing at the back i kinda of like the look -the glasses are hawt!- but jill, laura, and a couple other girls were discussing that there were no attractive guys in our class to distract us from our work. i was thinking "but what about the teacher?!?!" *L0L*

i met other classmates just after the breakout session and a bunch of us hung out together killing time. we had an hour until lunch in which we were getting free food and student packages and the like. we were technically to go back to the orientation but couldn't be bothered and later heard we didn't miss much.

a couple girls decided to head home and the rest of us hit up the bookstore. i was surprised to see it is the size of a freaking walk in closet... literally on par with my bathroom or galley kitchen i'm thinking. the guy did not have my order form let alone my order ready AND it turns out that they dont take the payment from the credit card they ask for so it isn't paid for either. what the heck is the purpose of pay-in-advance ordering if you have to grab the books yourself and pay for them in the store?!?

the food was rather gross and i couldn't eat much of mine; it was noodles, cold chicken on a stick, and a samosa. i ate two cupcakes though thankfully i took the time to eat breakfast this morning or i would have been starving! we hung out in the quad for about an hour. i was going to look for my locker but since jill was leaving and passes my street on the way i decided to walk with her instead.

i can hardly wait for classes to begin tomorrow!!!

SUMR

so on saturday is the big move to Toronto and i am starting to stress. or rather, my mum and my brother are stressing me out.

mom has been telling me to do way too many things at once and then gets mad when i cannot do everything at the same time. We had a huge family fight about it last week, she wanted me to do three things at once and i was attempting to do one at a time and finishing each but she wanted me to jump from one to the other at her say so. needless to say, after about an hour or two of this i screamed back at her and our yelling caused dad to come deal with us. Mom tried to get him on her side -she's all about trying to force people outside the argument to take her side- and he actually thought the same as me (prolly because she does the same thing to him).

on top of that mom has has been harping on me about going through boxes that i'm NOT taking and organizing them to her satisfaction. she has been harping at me about my tshirt blanket which i realized was not going to get done before i left yet she wants it finished to her liking. she wants me to pack up all my things, including my clothes which i thought should be left until the last day so i dont have to unpack just to get dressed. she made me repack boxes three times until she was satisfied and then complains that i didn't have more done. the other day she accused me of packing one too many tupperware containers when i didn't pack them, she did. she has been driving me crazy!

to make matters even worse there is my brother. if you recall, about two years ago my brother begged me to take over his cell phone. he wanted to get on a family plan with his wife but didn't want to pay the cancelation fee for his phone. we tried to get it switched over into my name but since osap doesn't count towards my credit rating i'd have to pay a $200 deposit, money which i didn't and still don't have.

we agreed that i would take the phone over, paying the bills but keeping it in his name. yes, this meant i was improving my brother's credit rating but at least i had a phone. my brother said i could use the phone until i was able to get my own and right then and there i told him that won't be for a while since i was saving up for school and wouldn't be able to do so until i managed to get some sort of credit to avoid the deposit and had a full time job to which he said he was fine by that.

i should have remembered this was my brother and stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.

two days ago i sent my brother a text message asking for the number for customer care since he gets the bills sent to him to keep an eye on what i'm doing with his phone -which i think is an invasion of privacy but i can't do anything about it- and thus he would have the number. he asked why i needed it and i told him i wanted to inquire about getting the number changed because i had to have a toronto area code for my apartment door buzzer to work.

then i got a text message from his wife butting her nose into it saying my brother was at work and he couldn't deal with me and i'd have to explain it to her. i sent my first text message at noon, around the time my brother was waking up, the fact that he did not reply until he was at work is not my fault and since he sent it to me then he obviously had time then. i did not reply to her because mum was being nosy and checked my cell phone, relaying that text to me, so technically i didn't get the message and therefore cannot respond to something i didn't get.

a couple hours later he called and said that i wasn't allowed to change the number, to make any changes, in fact i wasn't allowed to use his phone anymore and had to get my own. i tried to reiterate the fact that i did him a favour by finishing his phone contract and that he said i could use it until i was able to get my own. he didn't even let me say that much let alone further explain why i had to change the number in the first place. i wouldn't have said anything if it weren't for the fact that he has to give permission for me to make the change and i assumed he would just outright cancel the account if it suddenly showed the change on the bill.

i've been paying the stupid bill on time for the last two years and just now he's worried that i'll stop paying it and give him a bad credit rating? he obviously isn't smart enough to realize or even ask if i budgeted for the phone bill in my expenses for the next year though i told him about it any time he called (which admittedly isn't all that often). not only that but since the contract is finished the account can be canceled without penalty if i find i'm not able to afford it any longer. mom thinks his wife is the instigator in this, putting worries in my brother's head now that i'm going off to college.

i became so frustrated at him that i threw the phone onto the couch. i wanted to scream at him -i wanted to say that since i save him the cancelation fee he could very well pay the deposit so that the phone could be changed to my name- and hang up but i knew that would just make him cancel the phone service on me. since mom gave me the phone she could very well deal with him (she was sitting on the other end of the couch at the time of the throwing). i did raise my voice a bit which brought dad into things again. he yelled so loudly my brother thought my dad took the phone and was yelling at him. dad managed to calm my brother down and explain things -dad is the only person my brother occasionally listens to in our family- and now i have a time limit of getting my own phone by next summer. great timing huh? at the moment that i no longer have any money left and no job i'm to get my own phone.

i keep hearing how wonderful my friend's siblings are and i wonder why can't my brother love and care about me? even siblings on tv who are fighting get along better than my brother and i do at our best. why cannot my mother be more lenient about not everything having to be done her way in her timing?

as scared as i am to be living on my own, i can hardly wait until i am.

**********************

LATER:

i just got back from the eye doctors and, whatdoyaknow, but i needed a new perscription. i really, really hate those yellow drops they put in your eyes. not only does it sting but make your eyes all sticky, and yellowish, and keep your pupils huge for hours. light = pain. Laur or Karo want to go eye glasses shopping with me in Toronto sometime this month?

when i got back i asked dad what he was going to be doing today because i have a million errands to run. he was mad i haven't done them before but *gasp* i haven't had time or they are errands that had to wait until september when i'm covered by benefits etc.

i am still attempting to read "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" which seemed like such an awesome idea but reading it is equivalent to walking through mud. even if it is worth it in the end, you still have to slog your way through it. its taken me nearly a week now and i can usually read a book in under three days! there is no way i'm going to get to the other two books i wanted to read before moving on saturday...

SUMR

i have had the WORST day ever!

okay, maybe not THE worst but it was right up there. today was one of my favourite person in the world's wedding and i had the most difficult time trying to get there but i just couldn't miss B's wedding!

i wasn't able to sleep until about four this morning which totally threw me off the "schedule" i've been trying to do of gradually getting up earlier and earlier each day until i made it until 7am so i'd be set for classes. since i was up so late i intended to sleep until noon since i needed to be fully coherent for the drive but that didn't happen.

let me back up a bit: my dad was supposed to go with a friend and his truck/trailer to take a bunch of my things to toronto last weekend but my dad was sick. they agreed to go this weekend but dad's friend backed out a couple days ago and said he might be able to do so mid next week. mid next week is not only mere days before i actually move in but it wasn't even guaranteed. why am i telling you this you ask?

because just after 9am this morning my parents come bounding into my room waking me up to say we were taking a road trip to Toronto. with our car. the one they promised i could have today. and that i was supposed to go with them. even though i told them for the last two weeks it was B's wedding.

needless to say after so little sleep AND that news i was not a happy camper i practically yelled them about the wedding -the one that was not only written on the freaking calender but the one i reminded them about the night before- and told them i wasn't going to toronto but deseronto.

thankfully my aunt said i could borrow her car to go to the wedding so my parents picked it up while i tried to go back to sleep for another couple hours... that so didn't happen. not only did i need to tell my dad which boxes i wanted to go up (though they were all marked "toronto" and sitting in the living room) but i needed to get out of bed because it too was going to toronto (i now have a single mattress on the floor here and will have a mattress and a boxspring on the floor up there).

i helped my parents load the car and the trailer that papa loaned us. i did not grouch at my grandparents who stopped by nor one of my dad's friends (not the one that was supposed to do the toronto trip) but instead made a double batch of biscuits for the potluck wedding reception.

side note: do not bake when you're tired. not only do you loose count of how much ingredients you've put in but you also forget to turn on the oven to warm it up and turn off the oven when you're done with it.

so everything is packed and my parents left by 2pm, i had the food made, i had my outfit planned, i had the prezzie ready and waiting by the door... obviously it was time for a nap. i just settled down and about fifteen minutes later i was just about to drift into sleep when the phone rang. it was my "date" saying they were not going to be able to come and forgot to call and tell me last night

i tried calling my other bff's but they were all out of town -either on a last fling before school or already moved to school. i tried a couple of other friends and even one of my cousins but they either were also out of town, had prior plans, or did not get the message i left until too late. less than three hours before the wedding and i was dateless.

i tried to sleep until about 330 but i was just too tense. i knew this was not a good thing since driving on so little sleep is bad enough, but me doing it is practically a disaster! i forgot that i run a little slower when i'm exhausted so an hour and a half wasn't enough time for me to get ready -shower, makeup, dressed, hair, snack. i didn't even leave my house until 5:30 which was when i planned to already be there!

since i was tired from no sleep, tense from going to a place i've never been in a car i've never driven, and really late i just don't make very good decisions. in my own freaking town i made a wrong turn and managed to hit a dead end. i made another wrong turn and ended up on the wrong street but thankfully i figured out where i was quick enough.

i stayed fairly close to the speed limit even though i was running so late because knowing me i'd end up getting stopped by cops and ticketed which would make me just give up and go home. i nearly missed the turn i needed to get on the road which would take me straight to deseronto but quickly switched lanes and got on it at the last moment (good thing no cars were nearby).

my mum was great and told me three things i would pass on my way to ensure i was on the right road so i managed to get to deseronto alright after that... but i had to find the location of the wedding still. i got to the correct street but on the map dad gave me the place was supposed to be at the very end of the road but all that was there was a field. i turned around and went to the church a block away assuming it was there.

i asked the people outside if there was a wedding there and they said no. they asked what the address was and i told them and they figured out how many houses farther i had to go back where i just came from. i couldn't just "look for cars" because cars lined the entire road.

i didn't even realize it was in someone's backyard until then! (i might have been told this by B but forgot). i hiked my way back thankful that i forgot to put on my heels and was still wearing my driving shoes of pink flip flops. i had to sit on the grass in my dress but c'est la vie. i truly lucked out that i just made it for 6pm and -as per usual- the wedding started fifteen minutes later than the designated time.

the wedding was lovely and i think the shortest i've ever attended B's dress was amazing (it was red and looked great on her) and the groom's outfit was awesome (he wore a long jacket that B made for him, a bowler type hat, and running shoes) and the flower girls were adorable (blond twins with matching dresses in blue or purple). i felt totally special when B and A were walking back down the "aisle" and had to stop for pictures to be taken that B said hi to me

because the wedding was so short i found myself with an hour and a half to kill before the reception started. i figured i would just go there and sit in the parking lot reading (yes i did bring a book for this reason). i took a good look at the map dad gave me and off i went.

well, it turns out that the spot dad marked was WAAAY wrong. i ended up out of town searching for an address that didn't even exist! so i'm driving up and down this road a few times looking for it, and each time i stop for a few minutes in a park. i tried to text B the first time but never got a reply, the second time i text my parents hoping they were home and could google map it for me, and the third time was because there was a bug in my dress that i had to get out (i think it got in from when i was sitting in the grass).

thankfully, because of the bug, i saw the playground (i was in the boat docking area) and in that playground were kids and if there are kids there has to be adults who can get me unlost so i hopped back into the car and drove down to the other end of the park and had every adult watching me as i did so. there was a cute guy but i figured he must be married if he's there with kids so i walked up to a group of three mum's and asked them for directions.

not only did they point in the OTHER direction than dad had me going but they also gave me landmarks to watch out for until i got there and a timeline of how long it should take me. i accidentally drove past it because it was squashed between two other buildings with more showy signs but got myself turned around and headed back. since i was now on the wrong side of the road to park AND i saw a driveway to a parking lot behind the building i turned around again until i got into the parking lot.

since i was wearing my driving shoes that needed to be switched to my heels and i had things all over the floor, the front seat, plus the back seat i decided to get my things organized before going in (i still had a good twenty minutes). someone was watching me and thought that i was a kid breaking into a car and going in and out of it and came over. i did not see them and bumped my head on the roof when they called to me. they apologized and explained and i just thought, "greeeaaat i am all gussied up for a wedding and still look like a child."

i finally went in and brought B's gift and my contribution to the potluck of biscuits. since i didn't know anyone i helped the people bringing food from the kitchen to the table, went to the bar and got a glass of water, and basically stood there trying to decide where to sit. i finally located some people about my age and asked to sit with them. they didn't mind my sitting there but neither did they talk to me.

someone took pity on me and introduced herself and we got talking. i'm fairly certain she said she was the groom's sister, R. i ended up sitting with her and some others while eating but soon after they disappeared, R to ride herd on the screeching twins and the others who knows where. i ended up talking to R's boyfriend and her uncle (i swear that the uncle looks a heck of a lot like christopher walken but with long hair) until i decided it was time to go home. i did want to stay for the dancing but i didn't even have enough energy to feel like dancing and that is telling you a lot!

since i hadn't seen B in nearly an hour i had to hunt her down. i left my purse at the table and didn't realize for a good five minutes or so and had to go back for it. it turns out that half the guests were hanging out front of the building *L0L* i didn't leave right away because i wanted to visit with B for a bit but a few others were leaving and she had to keep going to say bye too them. i managed to hang out with B a little but ended up talking more to... bah! i'm sure B said he was a relative of some sort but cannot recall what exactly.

i was glad i managed even a quick chat since B doesn't like driving to Toronto and i knew i wouldn't see her in a bit. i was totally shocked that she brought the movies she borrowed from me ages ago to the wedding, i figured she'd be so crazy with all the planning to even think of those, but B's amazing that way.

anyhoo, i said bye to B, cut through building so i wouldn't have to walk down the driveway/alley in the dark, and got in the car. it is kinda creepy there with no one around and very little light so i immediately locked the doors i text my parents to let them know i was on my way home and headed out.

even though i thought that i should have taken a more main road home i took the same route i came up seeing as i now "knew" it. it was freaking pitch black other than the orange moon in my rearview mirror and what my headlights illuminated in front of me. it was totally freaky and my imagination was going berserk thinking about what if the car broke down and i had to wait for help. that just reminded me of the story where a serial killer was on the roof of a car that had broken down the the husband walked for help and was killed and the wife was in the car and the killer was slowly scratching through the roof of the car with his nails and... yeah i was starting to scare myself silly.

thankfully i made it back to town with only one moment of slight confusion (i figured it out before making a wrong turn though so proud of me!). my parents still weren't home but did arrive about an hour later. what started out as a really horrible day turned out pretty nice.

here's a pic of the blanket i made B. i did it in shades of green plus creme since that is B's favourite colour (i do not know A's fave colour so he'll have to deal with it. sorry A!)

SUMR