Thoughts of the day

TV JUNKIE
I don't know if any of you are keeping up with The Amazing Race this season but I gotta say, it is one of my most anticipated show to watch each Tuesday! (The O.C. and Survivor are close behind.) Rob and Amber (the winners of one Survivor) are KICKING BUTT in the Amazing Race and it is so funny because the other teams just LOATHE them. I love it. I especially love seeing all the cities and countries that they go to, they are all so different and exciting and beautiful. I think Lynnel and I should team up and be on that show and amaze all of you with our blonde smartness. We'd be quite the team. She would eat all the yucky stuff and do all the super scary things, and I would do all the navigating (Chad I don't want to hear about Calgary) and all the other challenges that don't involve eating intestines and risking my life, and then we would win a million bucks! Too bad we're Canadian and don't qualify for it. Another show that has been at the top of my list this year has been ER. Where have I been all these years and not watched this show? It is so good. I can't believe all the years I have missed out on that show. SPEAKING OF EXCITING SHOWS.... I heard the most wonderful news yesterday (once again thanks to John Gormley)... Beverly Hills 90210 is coming out on DVD! If there is any one show that I would actually buy on dvd, it would be 90210. It's only season one though which sucks, but hey if they start with season one, logic has it that they will do season two, three and onward. Keep your fingers crossed!

DINNER AT POVERINOS
Well last night Jeff and I went to Poverinos for supper. I had the blackened chicken and it was divine. Jeff also had the blackened chicken (ahem, MY blackened chicken) because he didn't like his canneloni. It was unfortunate but I did what any good girlfriend would do and shared it with him instead of packing the rest up for my lunch. Well we sat at this table on the second floor, right on the corner of the balcony where we could overlook the entire restaraunt, and we "people watched." People watching is very interesting because they have no idea you are staring at them and making up great big extravagent stories about their lives. Anyway the point of this story is that one lady below us had also ordered canneloni and she only ate half of it before she sent it away, giving Jeff the impression that his canneloni was going to be horrible, and hence, it was tasteless, just as he had hypothetized. Next time we will sit there and Jeff will wait to order until he has seen at least one completely satisfied customer, and he will order what they had. Or he could do what I always do, and just go with what's safe. I'd prefer that so that next time I can take home the other half of my blackened chicken :)

Thank goodness.
I found out on Wednesday night that I don't have to do a presentation for my night class, International Studies. This is an all-year long class and about once a month, we have presentations. At the beginning of the year we all had to sign up, and I chose to do World Health, only because it was the very last one on the list. Somehow I get lucky with getting my presentations cancelled, as it happened in first semester in my Economic Development class, because the prof miscalculated his time. Anyway I am thrilled because presentations scare the crap out of me. My prof is 9 months pregnant and she was planning to teach one more class, but decided instead to waive the last set of presentations and give us an extra assignment. Well PTL. My goal is to make it all the way through university without any presentations. I am halfway there! So this next coming week, my assignments are a six page commentary (for IS), and another 12 page paper for my other geography class, and I'm quite excited about it actually. I am doing it on African Traditional Spirituality and Religion. I think it will be one of the more interesting papers I have done this year.

Plans for today -
Start my IS assignment.
Go to Walmart
Buy a snowmobile toy for a 2 year old.
Eat supper.
Go to Martinsville with Jeff.
Give Alexander his birthday present.
Hang out with Jeff's cousin and her husband.
Home and sleep.

I am more excited for tomorrow night when we are having our big Easter dinner, Turkey and all the works!!!
YAY FOR MY MOM!
And yay for me, because I will help her. You know, do a salad or something. I think that I will just always count on my mom for big dinners because, she is the expert and why try to take that away from her? She may as well remain the expert so that I don't have to hurt her feelings with my turkey dinners :) Just kidding, she will always be the best turkey dinner cook in the world.

Happy Easter everyone!

March Madness

I got home from school early today (because I skipped my last class... I wanted to start my essay that is due tomorrow... but I've been home for an hour and hmm, I still haven't started), and checked the phone, and guess who called? The Federal Government! Are they looking for me? Do they want to offer me a job? Do they want me to be the Prime Minister? All of these truly rational and fantastic thoughts have been racing through my head. Of course they are calling for me. They need me there! They want me to be the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I just know it! How exciting is this. So everyone, get your opinions in to me regarding your foreign affair policies, before I am sent away to live richly in Ottawa, and no longer associate with you lowly common folk. Did you know that Saskatchewan has the lowest percentage in all of Canada for people who have faith in their politicians? Thank you John Gormley for your interesting statistics. I can see why though. We have a wretched NDP governement with Mr. Ugly Calvert (I'm sorry but he really is ugly), that screws us all, plus Saskatchewan farmers get the double wammy screwed-overness by Ottawa. Anyway, I am not here to talk politics. I'm not really very good at it, so I usually just try to stay away from the topic altogether.

I handed in a TWENTY PAGE paper this morning. I admit this 20 pages includes a title page, endnotes and a 2 page bibliography, but still it is the single largest paper I have ever done on my own. I was up till 2:30 last night doing the stupid bibliography which took me 2 hours alone. I kind of forgot to write down the authors of the websites I had used, so I had to go back and double check them all. It was a little frustrating, but I do have to say I am glad we are past the highschool days, where the internet was to be used with "high discretion" because the content was so untrustworthy, to the days of "utilize the internet for all it's worth." Anyway I am always so proud of my work when I get it all printed out and stapled together... hopefully I'll still be proud when I get it back :) This is why I have not been blogging lately. I've used up all my writing energy on papers! In fact, I am about to start another one...12 pages...due tomorrow!

OH my well University is interesting. And extremely eye opening. I was just fuming in my Women and Gender Studies class today, as my lovely prof spent an hour and a half arguing that the Bible was entirely written soley for political purposes for the Israelites, as a code of law (indeed it was this) and not as Word of God. The Israelites made up the concept of a "Supreme God" in order to differentiate themselves from other groups who worhipped numerous gods, which in turn gave them special identity and strength. The Bible was developed only when the Israelite nation began to decline, written with the intention for the Israelites to go back to their former glory. Intermarriage with other groups was forbidden only because it thinned Israelite blood, and since pro-creation is the purpose of life, individuals had to marry and have children. This leads to her entire point: The Bible condemns homosexuality because it defeats the purpose of procreation, not because God (who by the way was socially constructed) considers the practice wicked. In other words, homosexuality is wicked in the eyes of Christians because it does not lead to procreation. And that's that. Which then in turns leads to the "Fundamentalist Christian Right" of George Bush. If you are in University, you probably hate George. That is as far as I can tell so far... I'm not getting into that right now... Anyway she then goes on to the New Testament, in which the Israelites who are now Christians consisder themselves morally superior to the Romans soley because of their "pure sexuality." The human body is dirty and disgusting (um hello, I don't think the Bible says that Professor Out-of-Context, take a Hermeneutics class with Mr. Glubish perhaps?), and the notion of the Spirit is all that matters. The Bible is constantly being reinterpretated to suit the political, social and economic needs of that generation of Christians. It has not been maintained in its orginal form. And finally that the Bible is all Christians need to argue for heterosexuality because they perceive it as the Word of God and that in itself does not call for any sort of rationality or logic. Who can argue against a person's faith? Ultimately, homosexuality is only perceived as unnatural and bad because we live in a "Christian valued" world, whether or not we consider ourselves Christians. Yeah, so that was how I spent my class today. I am considering writing my paper on this topic. However I think I will take the opposite stance as her. Oh I wish I was still in Bible College, everything was so much easier!!!

Again I say, university is very interesting. I have to say that campus ministries probably have one of the hardest jobs in all of the Christian ministry because it is a student body full of rational, logical and "answers only" people. We are constantly being told of the stupidity of Bush and his fundamental Christian values and how he is ruining the entire world. How the war on terroism is a religous war. Everything should be scientific and rational.

Well I've had enough of this.

My Dad is so funny. He decided to buy cookies on his last grocery trip. This on its own is not an unusual occasion. Even with the South Beach Diet a predominant force in our home, we still usually have cookies in the house. I guess this one particular day he was having trouble deciding exactly what kind of cookie he felt like bringing home. So he decided to play it safe... Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you President's Choice innovation for the times you just can't decide on the perfect cookie:

The All-in-One Chocolate Chip-Peanut-butter-Oatmeal Raisin-Coconut-Pecan Cookie!!!

No word of a lie folks, I am reading it straight from the package. So I tried one of these genious All-in-One cookies last night... tastes like a hard oatmeal cookie. Well thanks for trying Dad. We've only got two packages of them to get through! I guess he really had his hopes set high on them!

One last thing before I bid you adu. What is happening to our good Saskatchewan neighborly friendliness? This morning my car was stuck in the snowdrift, and as I tried for a good five minutes to get myself unstuck, I stared at my neighbor across the street who was completely ignoring me... he was shovelling his driveway. He had a SHOVEL! He was 10 feet away from me, with a shovel! And THEN he had the nerve to bring out his SNOWBLOWER! I could not believe he didn't help me, especially once the snowblower came out of the garage. He was blatenly ignoring my fricken stuckness. This I know because he kept glancing over and then pretending nothing was happening. Geez guy. Let us get back to our friendly Saskatchewan roots! (And to think I'm from BC!)

The Fat Dutch Kid

This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a very long time:

http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/lyle_24/myhero.html

Enjoy!

What have I gotten myself into?

OH sometimes it is so difficult to get motivated. I watched Dr. Phil today and it was all about people who desperately needed to get a life. And the good doctors advice? Just get up and do it, even though you don't feel like it. Part of the process of maturing is doing the right thing for yourself, even when you don't want to. So although I am not as bad as the people on the show today, I decided to try to take Dr. Phil's advice to heart. It's been 6 hours since the show ended and I have still not started my essay. BUT... I'll do it tomorrow. Haha. Dr. Phil is a smart guy.

We all need to get motivated now and then. Sometimes I have to ask myself what I'm even doing in university. I often don't feel I'm smart enough to be there. I feel like all the other people in my major are more likely to know what's going on, what the prof is talking about, and they all get better marks than I do. But I know that's not true. It is just very easy to get hard on yourself, especially when the going gets tough at the U. And the tough is going right now...
"So Kristin, how far along are you on your essay? .... Ohh. Oh my. Yah, I've been done for weeks... you should get started on that, hey?" I feel like that is every single coversation I have lately. Everyone always seems a chapter ahead, a paper ahead, a seminar ahead...more like a life ahead of me. Like come on people!!! Sigh. I'm just a little grumy and frustrated right now.

In a month, this will all be behind me. Then I get to go to Europe, come home and work all summer and go camping (my new found love of summer) and have fun (maybe even play ball... ME! Playing ball!?!?!) ... and then when August hits, I'll be so excited to get back into it all over again (God help me). So for the rest of March, and the first two weeks of April, my incredible advice to myself (and to you should you need it) ....

Just do it.

***Special thanks to Nike for the super cliched slogan***

P.S. Yah you heard me... I am playing ball this summer.

Yee Haw!

"Honey, WATCH OUT FOR THE DEER!!!"
Have you ever noticed your own facial expression when some random person calls your name? I took note of it at school the other day. . . I realized that I do the old "Deer in Headlights" look when my name is called. Shocked, lost, scared... until I see the face that matches the voice. I'm pretty sure it's not all that attractive. I was thinking that movie stars must have to practice the cool, calm and collected look, for anywhere, anytime and any situation. How often do you see Nicole Kidman looking like she was just struck by lightening? Never! Take note of yourself next time this happens to you, I think that you'll learn a lot about yourself, as I did :) Oh Nicole, if only I could be more like you. Actually, come to think of it, the only Nicole I'd ever want to be is her part in Moulin Rouge... sigh... what a tragic movie...
Anyways, my whole point here is that Nicole Kidman, among many Holleywood stars, really is poised, and I ... I am not so much.

Ride 'em Cowboy
That's okay though cuz I'm a cowgirl! Well a fake one to say the least... I always feel guilty singing "Redneck Woman" by Gretchen Wilson because she is the real thing, and I'm just a poser (However, I can still sing "I'm here for the Party" with all of my heart). Actually, I never knew I could be so "cowboy'd" out! Thursday I came home from school and fell asleep on the couch watching CMT, which I almost never watch, but really should cuz country music is really where it's at. When I woke up Chad called to say we're all gonna wear our cowboy hats and pearl snap shirts to the Longbranch that night. Okay then! Well since I am STILL car-less until tomorrow night, I of course had to get a ride, meaning that once Lynnel and I got there, there was no leaving until someone else wanted to... scary situation. I hate more than anything being stranded. Most people know that if I'm going somewhere with a bunch of people, I almost always drive, JUST IN CASE. Because we waited in line for TWO FREAKING HOURS!!! I was not a happy cowgirl. I would've gone home if only I had a vehicle there. It was very annoying because there was about 8 of us and we were all decked out, and they really should've let us in. Ah well, once we got in by 11:30 we had ourselves a great time, we danced the night away. I was impressed by the boys' willingness to get out on the dance floor and have fun, and they all got better at two stepping as each song went by. Anyway tonight I went out somewhere else for a birthday and was with some people who really CAN two step, so that was fun. Dancing is some of the best exercise that there is. At least tonight I didn't fake being a cowgirl, cuz I know you can see right through the fake ones. That fact was confirmed at the Longbranch, when a guy came up to me and said,

"Ma'am, I thought I should just let you know... you have your cowboy hat on backwards."

And with that, he tipped his hat and galloped away on his horse into the sunset. It was incredibly romantic.

Goodnight ya'll.

P.S. Feel free to comment on New Year's Eve weddings while you're here, even though I didn't talk about it tonight! Don't be shy!!!

My Loved Ones

For the eyes of Carmen and Alison:
How excited was I to see comments from two of my most LOVED girls that have never commented before?!!! SO HAPPY!!! Carmen, your blog is very... educational! Haha, I know it's for a class, that's too bad, perhaps someday you will do a "Thoughts of Carmen" one. I would be thrilled. And the reason I didn't mention you and... who did you take to grad again??... just kidding, I know!... anyway was because the video was taken right before leaving for the banquet I think... you weren't in it. You were busy taking pictures of your beautiful face in your own backyard!!! By the way, your grad date is engaged, I saw their picture in the newspaper about a month ago! I'll write you soon. And Alison, wow that is crazy that Leon competed against Michael Buble!!! I would definitely choose Leon over Michael ANY day. No word of a lie.
I miss you both a lot.

Bridesmaids and Weddings

Now if only Lynnel and Tania would comment. And Tanis. Because I KNOW you're all reading this!!!! You are girls that I love too. And so many more.... Kristy-Anne, my sister... I shouldn't start naming names because I'll forget someone... Oh man how am I ever going to get married and choose bridesmaids? This is something that keeps me awake at night!!! Hehe. Seriously!!! Speaking of weddings, I would like to take a poll on what everyone thinks of a New Year's Eve wedding??

***And don't look too deep into this question, there is certainly no diamond on my finger, and won't be for awhile!!!!!***

So are we for it or are we against it? Everyone is always looking for a good party on New Years anyways. So yeah, let's hear what you think.

E for Effort!
So away from wedding talk and moving a GIANT step backward, Jeff came home from Mexico on Monday night, and already he is in Edmonton as of this afternoon, because he now has business meetings there. I told him today that I am in dire need of an exquisit and expensive bouquet of flowers because he has been gone so much. He agreed, but that doesn't mean I'm getting any. Okay, so even safeway flowers would make me happy. I shouldn't complain seeing as I did get gifts from Mexico, my two favorites being a Hard Rock Cafe tank top and a silver chain necklace. All I ask for is for him to actually TRY to get me something I like when it comes to gifts, and for him to hit it right on the nose is becoming an excellent quality of his. He has always been good with gifts. Within the first month of us dating, he came home from Regina one day with a fall jacket that he saw at Old Navy (this was back in Oct, 03, before Stoon had one), and he just figured I'd like it.

You gotta love a man who gives good gifts!

Monday is nice

Blog Reflections
Lately I have been thinking about something very serious. It's true. I just don't know what I should do about this. You see... I really want to change my template on my blog from very pink... to something not quite as pink. I'm just too scared I'll lose all my work. Oh sigh... maybe if Kristy-Anne wins a car with "Roll up the Rim to Win," I'll take it as a sign that perhaps I really should take a leap of faith and change the template. (See her blog if you don't know what I'm talking about).

Anyways, I have also realized something interesting about blogs. I think that I enjoy reading people's comments almost as much as reading people's entry's. They are really fun! Plus you can go "blog exploring" from one link to another, and you realize all the people you know that you didn't know they had a blog, and it can go on and on forever. Blogging is a very interesting way to interact with people if you ask me.

Grade 12 was a long time ago
I just watched a home video from the day I graduated high school, and it was really funny. I went to grad with Denver who was the hottest grad date of the year 2000, Lynnel and I even bought him a plaque. Haha. So in this video was me, Lynnel, Denver, Chad, David B., Oliver and Scott Newton. I should've taken all those boys to grad with me! That would've been a good time. But the video brought back lots of fun memories of high school with these people, and I'm glad that I'm still good friends with most of them... two of them have moved away so I don't keep in contact with them anymore, but still... memories are fond. Especially you Lynnard. Hehe, at least I didn't call you that OTHER nickname that Chad and I have for you! But Elim youth used to rock my world in high school. Sometimes I miss those times very much indeed.

For Anyone Who Cares

My hostel in London:
Astor Hyde Park Hostel
http://www.astorhostels.com/hydepark.htm

I sold my car... to a girl in capris...

I'm really going! I booked all my flights yesterday to Prague, and also a night in London. I've even booked a hostel for the first night in Prague. It's so cute!! Here's a link: www.arpacayhostel.com if you're interested. The rest of the stay in Prague is at the University there, and we all stay in dorm-like apartments. I'm just going a day early, so I needed an extra night. On the weekend, we all go to Vienna and spend a full day there too. I'm still looking for a hostel in London, so if anyone knows of anything cheap, leave a comment. I've stayed in a hostel in London once before, but I really have absolutely no idea what it was called! Too bad because it was really fun. Hostels are really great because even if you stay in a room with 12 other people, you get to meet people from all over the world, and you can hear 10 different languages at any time in any room. My dad and I just realized today that my mom and I are actually on the same flight to Toronto! She is going to be meeting my dad in Romania and what a coincidence that we just happen to be taking the same connecting flight. So I guess I'll say goodbye to her in Toronto, when she flies off to Frankfurt, and me to London. What world travellors! This is certainly going to make finals go by easier, with something really great to look forward to.

Well on another note, I just sold my little Geo Metro for more than what we paid for it. Yippee! I am buying my aunt's little Sunbird, and it only has 98,000 kms on it. And the most important thing of all... AIR CONDITIONING! This is a true luxery, one I have never experienced in my own car before. I am thrilled that it has this. Also I have really missed having a 5 speed manual. Automatics really don't cut it for me. So after all my complaining of my stupid gutless automatic crappy defroster Geo Metro, I am finding that I'll actually miss the little piece of crap. I made sure that a suitable buyer got her. A girl, about 17 years old bought it. Well her dad bought it, but that is besides the point, she'll be the one driving it. I am glad I could pass along my friend the Geo to her (even though she was wearing capris...I'm such a hyprocrite), because she will really like it. Except when she remembers that Saskatchewan is a desert in August. And when she goes to defrost the back window and realizes she has to keep her finger pressed on the button if she wants to actually see out the back. Hehe. I forgot to tell her that. But when I bought it, they forgot to tell me that too, so I'm just passing it along. So I guess my dad is flying to Calgary next weekend to up my new/old car. And its red. HOT!

Well, I'm off to go hibranate in the library at school. Books, books, books. Sigh.

A Special Announcement

Are you 17 or 18? Are you a girl? Do you go the University of Saskathewan?
Well I HAVE NEWS FOR YOU!!!
It may be March, but it's NOT summer!!! It is not time yet to wear sandles and capris, as cute as you may look in them. I know it's tough because Old Navy just came out with brand new stock and you just have to wear the latest fad, but for crying out loud, it is still winter. Here in Saskatchewan, that means you wear things like sweatpants and parkas. You look retarded. This morning while I was walking to Place Riel, I so badly wanted to throw a girl in a snowbank just in case she had forgotten that she is not in Mexico.

I feel better now that I have cleared that from my mind.

Today Lynnel and I did something amazing. We went to the gym! Someone should really have a fireworks show for us. We went to the PAC gym at the university and it was just that... packed that is. As annoying as it is to wait for a treadmill, it is even more motivating to see so many people actually caring about their wellbeing. So I really hope that I don't follow my "old" gym schedule (meaning never), and that I go much more often. Never mind the fact that we were starving afterward, and went to Kelsey's and shared bruchetta :)

A note to all my commenting friends who shunned my reality tv habits... You were right. I disown reality TV forever after last night's Bachelorette finale... She said no to them BOTH!!!! I, the viewer, felt cheated and appalled. Who cares if you break up in 3 months? You were on TV for MY entertainment, not YOUR personal interests!!!

Okay I take one thing back. I don't disown all reality TV. Just the Bachelor/ette ones.
Survivor, I STILL LOVE YOU!!!

Well the whole reason I wanted to post today was simply to have a March Archive spot. I was getting tired of only having December and February. It looked so awkward and sad missing January and all. I'm hoping that this will make it a little less noticeable. I also hope that December doesn't get mad that February has a new friend, and that February still remembers to talk to December.

(I think I may have just given readers too much insight into my loserish mind.)