Tickly

By the time I got home from TO yesterday, my throat was feeling a little tickly. I thought it might have been the smog, but it's been getting worse today, which is not good. I slept in until noon today, which meant that I missed church completely (and unintentionally). I went out to do some errands, even though it was a Sunday. I finally found my new dress winter boots. They are so perfect! I also got some groceries and made a delicious stew for supper. The only problem with the stew was that it didn't know it was supposed to be delicious. The melange of vegetables was great, but for some reason the meat (freshly bought from the grocery store--there's an oxymoron for you) turned out to be tough. Oh well, I need to be eating more vegetables anyway! I haven't really got anything done that was on my list-- I had wanted to spend time on my art and work on the Christmas gifts I'm making-- but I think I'm heading back to bed and rest.

Reunion

I don't know about you, but I find that meeting up with people you haven't seen for years can sometimes be a little dangerous. Sometimes they try to impress you with how wonderful their lives are now--how successful they are by their standards. Or sometimes they have changed so completely you have nothing in common to talk about, except distant events. Sometimes, I find, re-connecting with old friends can be hard on the self-esteem--feelings of being inadequate and not having done enough with my life. Especially if the other person measures success very differently than I do.

Meeting Molesworth, whom had been a friend back in my first university days, when I was gangly, unconfident and uncouth, and the future Mrs. Molesworth was not like that. Boy and I met up with them for a bite of lunch in downtown T-dot today. We caught up on some mutual friends, talked about work, I gave in and supplied them with a rant and we generally had a good time. Molesworth and Boy had gone to the same school aeons ago. But instead of coming away comparing myself with what others were doing, I came away feeling that I had everything I needed in my life--and feeling very happy with it.

I guess some of it depends on where you are in your own in life and some of it depends on what the person you're meeting with is like, too. I'm happy with who I am, whom I am with, and what I'm doing. Even hearing that some of my former fellow students have already completed one (or two) MAs a piece didn't bother me. Sure, I wish I could get there faster, but I wouldn't trade my experience in the 'real world' to live on fastforward.

Molesworth and Mrs. Molesworth live in Montreal, so I was telling them about my French hopes for the summer. They offered encouragment and some strategies. I think I am going to get some books on the particular topic and do some reading so I can improve my vocabulary a bit. If anyone would like to practise French with me, let me know. I'm even thinking of offering to work on some translation for my exhibit, if only so I can practise my French. Sorry for being a little vague about the whole thing, but I'm trying so hard not to get my hopes up, and I'm afraid the more people I explain it all to, the harder the fall if it doesn't happen.

Chilly, chilly

Check out this beluga wearing Santa hat in Japan. But won't it shrink when it gets wet? And how does it stay on?

Took my coat to the cleaners finally. Up side: On Monday I'll have a nice clean winter coat, ready for another season. Down side: On Monday... It's late November in Canada so it's getting pretty chilly. On the up side, again, I'll be seeing Boy this weekend, so he can hug me to keep me warm.

Essay done and handed in, midterm over. Going to make this a nice relaxing weekend. Spending some time with Boy, meeting up with Molesworth to meet his fiancee (finally)-- it's only been about three years since I last saw him. The rest of the weekend I'm just going to hang out with Muggs, do some artsy stuff, maybe work on making my Christmas cards and presents. Muggs is a real good helper, although the glue sometimes gets in her fur.

Self-Revelation Courtesy of the Internet

Your English Skills:

Grammar: 100% Punctuation: 100% Spelling: 60% Vocabulary: 60%

Does Your English Cut the Mustard?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

He's a Great Boyfriend

You guy definitely loves you and knows how to treat you right. You have a five star boyfriend - so make sure you treat him right too!

Is He a Good Boyfriend?

Nippy

A nippy night. A pot of tea and bowl of chilly. Classical and sacred choral music on the radio. Half an hour of flute practise. Warm snuggly PJs. Fairy lights and candles.

Yes, there is a definite chill in the air. It is dark by the time I leave work--just after five-- and tonight the air was frosty. Things will be freezing soon, which reminds me I still need to wrap all my balcony planters in burlap in a (perhaps vain) attempt to see them through the winter. It's not the freezing that kills them, but the freeze-thaw cycle, so once they're frozen they need to be kept frozen. One more thing on the to-do list, but it will have to wait until after payday when I can get out and get some burlap. I also need to get some new dress boots, and some decent gloves-- leather would be nice-- because while I can drive the car wearing my sheepskin mittens, it's always a little easier with gloves.

As for my essay that's due Thursday, I have two out of the five-seven pages written, which is a good start. My Greek midterm is the same day, and I'm a little anxious about that-- my quiz marks have been improving, but I need to be doing better.

Work was good this weekend-- the new computer makes it a joy to work on exhibit material and even do the visitor statistics. No more fighting with the ancient beast that didn't have email, internet, or anything beyond windows 95 (I think, although it might have been a little older.)

A while back I was poking around on the internet and found these bizarre sites:

http://www.jalanjalan.com/letters/index.html
This guy wrote a book-- and made a website-- based on letter he has written to various organizations and their responses (or non-responses). Some of the stuff is pretty bizarre. Clearly this guy has too much time on his hands-- as do you, if you read it.

http://www.averyant.com/more_rants.html
Avery Ant is an animated ant who rants.

http://www.myscienceproject.org/pumpkin.html
A little late for this year, but to keep in mind for next, is this pretty experiment on preserving your carved pumpkin. Ever wonder just how mouldy a pumpkin can get? There are also some... err... interesting experiments that my mother shouldn't check out but that juvenile boys will enjoy.

http://www.randomscripts.com/humor/wwbpage1.htm
If you have epilipsy or other health conditions triggered by flashing light, don't check out this website. Everyone else, keep your aspirin bottle handy because you will need it. This is a collection of possibly the worst backgrounds on the web. The scary thing is, you can download them and use them on your own website. If you do, though, I doubt visitors will stick around very long.

Anyway, I had best get back to my procrastinating. There are dishes to be done, essays to be written (well, I'm down to one essay now) and an exam to study for....

Exciting Things...

Very exciting-- we finally got our new computer at work. It came yesterday. It's going to be so much ncier working on exhibit text, researching, even doing the stats on a machine that works properly. We now have internet and email at the museum, too, so my days of total isolation there are over...

Right now I'm procrastinating on an essay. Well, not procrastinating exactly. I know what the essay's about, I just don't know what I'm saying about it. I don't think I'll be taking another ancient lit course anytime soon.

I've found out about an exciting summer opportunity. At first I wasn't sure about it, but I decided to throw my hat in the ring anyway. Now, the more I think about it the more I want it to happen. It's a long shot, but everyone has been supportive so far, so we'll see what happens.

Questions

Just when I think I know what I'm doing, everything gets tossed back up into the air. Two interesting job opportunities (although slim chances I'd get either) and a good discussion with a prof raises other MA possibilities than what I have been planning for...

Muggs has a new game. She's being playing it for a couple of weeks. She goes to the balcony door and whines. When I come to let her out, she runs away.

I found this courtesy of Legally Blonde.... I'm one of a kind.

HowManyOfMe.com

There is: 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Somewhere There's A Place For Me In A Basket-Weaving Facility

You know I'm having a bad time of it when I make my world-famous brownies and forget the recipe-- leaving out half the cocoa. Today I forgot what time church was, and I was a half hour late. Which was okay, because it was a long service because of Remembrance Day yesterday. I managed to get 2/3 of the service.

Work is stressful. It is taking so much mental and emotional energy to deal with the fibro right now that I am in a perpetual fog-- making school work that much harder to get done. I have an essay I was to write this weekend, along with MANY hours of ancient Greek homework that I don't think are going to get done. I have a Greek vocab test tomorrow and I'm under pressure to do well-- I have been doing too poorly on the last two, and the prof only drops the one lowest mark, so I MUST do better. I now have a battle with the landlord looming to get my leaky ceiling fixed. The super has passed on my messages and letter, but it seems the landlords are loathe to part with money....

I did rather well- surprisingly well- on my Greek drama midterm, but I give the credit to Him. I was in such a fog trying to study for it that I barely studied at all. I still don't understand what the question was. It does give me confidence, though, about this essay I have to write now. I decided to come up with my own topic for the exam, instead of writing about one of the set topics, and I have talked with the TA who has been-- and will be-- very helpful. I still feel a little lost writing a lit essay, but the exam results give me hope.

I've complete my bursary application for school, and am praying (and soliciting prayers) that I will get something in the way of money. God has always provided just in time before, month by month, and I trust He will continue, but sometimes it's hard not to see things from the human perspective.

As I mentioned, I have done quite poorly on my lat two Greek tests. I am going to try a new strategy for studying, as suggested to me by a fourth-year student. The problem is that with the fog I have such a hard time memorizing thing-- I understand things, but if I can't memorize them than I can't prove that on a test. I wind up making dumb mistakes all over the place. My second Greek midterm is coming up on the 23rd, and it's going to be hard.

There are other things I keep meaning to blog about, but I can't remember them anymore. Hopefully things will improve on various fronts soon-- a break from the fibro would improve things enormously, but the fall is always a really rough time because of the weather anyway.

If anyone wants some reduced-chocolate brownies, let me know. If I'm up and mobile, I'll let you in for some.

Remembrance Day

Just like doing tons of museum Christmas programmes 'ruins' the Christmas spirit, so does doing military programmes spoil the Remembrance Day spirit. I was Remembranced-out before Remembrance Day even rolled around....

Tylenol 3 Is Not A Study Aid

Things to blog about:
1) The mindless, time-wasting computer games that got me through my first degree are getting me through my second;
2) Big Sis is getting a cousin for Muggs (a kitty cousin, that is);
3) Muggs is currently licking the ketchup off my hotdog;
4) Still no word from the super re. leak;
5) I can write a thoughtful two-page paper on the day it is due from start to finish in an hour and still catch the bus on time;
6) I can actually get up in time to write the two-page paper before catching the bus;
7) I have successfully managed NOT to 'lose it' on a certain idiot in my tutorial-- instead, I just snicker along with the rest of the class;
8) I'll think of more after my 4:00 nap.

If You Missed Out Trick-or-Treating, I Still Have Some Candy Left....

This year for Halloween I came up with the perfect disguise. No one would recognize me. I disguised myself as... (wait for it).... PERSON TAKING A NAP. I wore an incredibly creative and realist costume consisting of POLAR BEAR FLANNEL PAJAMAS. To complete the disguise, I cuddled up with a TEDDY BEAR and a BOOK underneath a DOWN DUVET. I wasn't going to bother buying candy, but I figured since I'm in the city maybe I should have some on hand, and there are kids in the neighbourhood. I bought a 50-piece box of Nestle chocolate bars, a 2 lb bag of Rockets (remember those?) and a bag of 25 O Henry Bars for Halloween. Nobody came by. I have given some candy away at work, but I am still let with a substantial amount of candy. The one great thing about being an adult at Halloween is you get to buy your own candy, so you're guaranteed to like everything you get. None of that orange candy corn stuff. I remember one year at Halloween I lost my loose tooth in a caramel. I didn't like those soft caramels at first, but I grew to enjoy them. I never liked the Tootsie rolls, and I much prefered store-bough candy to apples or bags of popcorn. Of course, mom didn't buy us pop and chips, except for treats, so I always liked getting those, too. I remember one neighbour would give out cans of pop, and one year I got something called Tahiti Treat. I should look for it, for old times sake, see if they still sell that stuff. But I'll finish my rockets first.

Yesterday the bathroom ceiling was leaking AGAIN. This is the FIFTH time, since I moved in January. I have spoken to the super, and I have emailed him, but I've yet to hear anything back. So yesterday I sat down and wrote a nice but firm and assertive letter outlining all the details of the leak (right down to how much water leaked yesterday-- 4 cups) and asking him to let me know what the plans were to deal with the problem. Seeing as there are rotting bits that come out of the ceiling with the water, and the ceiling is somewhat concave at the leak points (yes, plural), I await with trepidation for the morning when I awake to find the bathroom ceiling on the bathroom floor. Muggs won't like finding her litter box and food dish under a pile of plaster and wood.

TGU (The Guy Upstairs) is back to being his noisy self. I finally screwed up the courage to leave a note in his mailbox asking him if he could kinda keep it down because it can get pretty loud down here. At least I'm not in the other half of the building-- they have a new tenant there who plays her loud music 24/7. I think four of the tenants complained about it, and I hear that the super distributed copies of the by-laws to all involved. Rumour is she'll be moving, but at least there's peace. TGND (The Girl Next Door) seems quiet for the most part, but then only our bedrooms adjoin. Usually I don't hear her, but she does have her boyfriend over on weekends and... well.... there ARE some noises I would rather not hear. Perhaps I should give her a can of WD40 for Christmas to take care of that squeak?

I've gotten to know a couple of my neighbours, and I credit Muggs with that. When people see you with an animal they're more inclined to talk to you. When I take Muggs for a walk, people will stop and comment on her. I guess seeing a cat on a leash is somewhat unusual. Anyway, my neighbourly friends, whom I keep friendly by feeding them baked goods, are great people and it is kinda nice to be included in the news and scuttlebut of the neighbourhood. The older fellow who is the landlord of the place across the street is very friendly, too-- I don't know if I wrote about it, but shortly after I moved in he loaded me up with homemade smoked meats, smoked cheese and homemade wine. He's Hungarian, I think. Anyway, whenever he's around working and he sees me either parking my car or pulling out of a parking space, he always comes over and "helps" by waving me forward and back. It could be that he just doesn't trust my parking ability-- and I wouldn't necessarily blame him-- but I prefer to think of it as him being neighbourly and helpful.

Speaking of parking spaces, I drive my car to uni on Wednesdays, when I only have one class. Classes are 50 minutes, so I can easily park on the street because the streets surrounding the school are all one-hour parking. Last week the parking ticket guy watched me park my car, all the while with a smile on his face. After I got out of the car he smiled and shook his head at me as he commented on my parking ability. He was amazed that I could fit it in so neatly into such a tiny space. My car is not a small car (my next car will be, though!)-- it is a Buick-- but by no means an incredible monster either (eg, not SUV or Hummer). Turns out I managed to park it between two vehicles with a maximum of six inches between my bumpers and the other cars... My car has great speed and manouverability, but, alas, I am not always able to park it quite so neatly and precisely.

Muggs can't decide these days whether she wants to be in or out. I guess when the sun is out it confuses her, and she goes out expecting it to be warm and then turns right around and wants to come in. She likes to go outside and use the garden instead of her litter box, which is fine by me, but I do get a little tired sometimes of being at her beck and call every time she thinks she wants out or in. Of course, after being inside for maybe two minutes she will decide that maybe the weather has changed and she'll want to go outside again. This has been a terribly rainy fall, and it is not unfrequent for Muggs to look at me with an accusatory look as though to say the weather is all my fault. At night she has taken to sleeping on the floor more often than sleeping with me. Unfortunately for her, one of the warm spots on the floor is right beside the bed, so more than once I have forgotten to look for kitty and come dangerously close to squishing her with my feet as I get out of bed. In my defence, though, she is a dark-coloured kitty and when it is dark and/or she is laying in a shadow, it is hard to see her. Poor kitty.

The weather has been pretty nasty on the fibro, I must confess, and it has not been a great month or so for me. Added to that has been the usual stress and busy-ness of schools (midterms are over, all well-done) and the definite stress of work. At work we are down to one interpreter-- that's me-- when we should have three. This means even though I don't have to take all the shifts, I am still doing three people's work. I have decided to take measures at work to, as Boy says "control expectations." Dig my heals in a little, if you will, and quit picking up all the slack. I am only one person, and working on TWO big exhibits AND doing ALL the other usual things around the museum in only 8 to 16 hours a week is UNREALISTIC. And I just don't have free time to run around doing work-related errands during the week, either.

Anyway, better go, Muggs wants in. Happy November, and maybe the weather will turn from rainy to sunny... even though November is usually cold and rainy.

Oh, don't forget Remembrance Day on November 11th, and Veteran's Week November 5th to 11th. Wear your poppy (make a NICE donation to the Legion, those poppies don't cost 25 cents anymore) and thank a war Vet for his or her contribution to making our country safe! (Of course, if you really want to develop a good appreciation of their contributions, come visit the military museum and learn about the gruesome side of WW 1 & 2.)

Losing Myself in Google Earth

My sister asked me when I was going to update my blog. I should be doing something useful right now, like updating my blog or doing homework or making Christmas cards. But I'm having too much fun with Google Earth, which I just downloaded. So far I have found Boy's House, Boy's Work, the Farm, my Work, my current uni, my last uni, Uni in Wales, the Gower (I think).... This is way too much fun. I could make it even more educational by looking up actual Greek places... hey, why not?....