Reading Week Recap

Reading week is almost over and I've barely done any reading. I'm not sure that is too surprising. I had been working really hard for the two weeks leading up to Reading week, so I think I needed the break. The beginning of the week was filled with the usual mundane tasks such as cleaning the house and grocery shopping. Sunday, Jeevan was in town and I got to see her and a few other friends for supper. I returned home after supper and baked Tenie's grandma's tasty muffins-I was going to call them world famous, but I think that would be over exaggerating a bit. Earlier that day, Jetta, Carmen and I were picked up by Carmen's dad and we went to her Oma and Opa's for lunch. We ate so much food and my dumpling had the money in it. (I guess it's a tradition that Carmen's Oma hides coins in the dumplings). Carmen laughed and said, "I knew I should have kept that one for myself." Jetta got to go outside after lunch and play in the snow. Carmen's Opa's backyard is fenced in-for the most part-and we were able to keep her corralled in there. She had so much fun running with her face in the snow and jumping through it. She is so small that she had to hop through the depper stuff because she kept sinking. It was cute. Monday was rather uneventful. Although I did go out to lunch with a camper I had this summer, her husband and her friend. The three women of the group-me included-had guide dogs and we spent the entire lunch basically talking about your dogs. I kind of felt bad for her husband because it is a topic he can't really join in on, so I tried to change the subject, but it always seemed to come back to the dogs.
Tuesday, Chris and I played Scrabble and he beat me by only nine points.This is a miracle because he's amazing at Scrabble and to beat him is nearly impossible. Wednesday I hopped a bus to Toronto and then took a Go Bus with a bunch of people I worked with this summer at camp, to Oshawa.
One of the guys we worked with, meet us and his mom drove us back to their house. We spent the rest of the afternoon sledding down the giant hill he has in his backyard. Jetta got to run around wih Lotta, another guide dog, and Floss, the family's pet. The dogs would chase us to the bottom of the hill and always beat us back to the top. Jetta and Lotta kept getting in trouble for eating the frozen compost heap. Brats! That night, we sat indoors, sipping hot chocolate that Nathan had made for us and eating cinnamon buns his mom had made in the bread maker. We talked about the summer and how we wanted to go back but weren't sure if that was going to happen. Ming and Meagan pulled out pictures from the summer and Nathan eventually got his. Meagan had brought jellybeans, but they weren't no ordinary jellybeans. They're the ones with crazy flavours-not Jelly Bellies...the cheap rip off kind. :) Those had been a hit at camp, so she had brought them with her to remind us of the summer. Nathan tried the whole evening to stick them up my nose or in my ears, but fortunately for me, I'm quicker than he thinks. :) He also took pleasure in digging out the buttered popcorn flavoured ones and feeding them to me-they're so gross!
Thursday we got up and headed out to the train station again. I stopped over night in Toronto witha friend. We ordered in supper and watched a bit of TV. I wasn't very talkative because I had cramps to kill a moose, but it was still nice to see him. Friday morning I caught the 6:30 bus back to Waterloo and spent the rest of the day sleeping, having an over the phone interview for Women for Women International, and buying beads from the bead store with Carmen.
Last night we watched Brigit Jones' Diary 2 and made necklaces and earrings for ourselves. She had brought back peach wine that her parents made and I actually liked it. She had stopped in at one of our favourite dessert places and bought us cake for dessert, which we definitely endulged in. We also spent part of the evening running around a bridal store trying to get the plans in order for the bride's maid dress I need. My friend Jason is getting married in July and he asked me to stand up in his wedding. He emailed me the dress description and style number yesterday, so I spent a part of the day phoning bridal stores and trying to figure out which store had the cheaper prices.
The dress was a size ten, but Carmen managed to tighten it up enough for me to sort of get a feel for it. It's a long, satin dress that has a gathered skirt. It is a deep red and the back is lace up. Oh and it's strapless. I'm not too sure about the gathered skirt, but the rest of it is pretty. I'm a bit worried though because it's a heavy satin and the wedding is taking place outdoors in the middle of July. I think we are going to sweat our asses off. Either way, I'm still looking forward to the wedding. Tenie's also getting an invitation and I hope she decides to come. Jason says he'll be sad if she doesn't.
We've also made plans to go camping this summer. I'm pretty excited. Jason says he's going to leave his dog at home though because he figures that the dog will pull the tent down on us. lol
Anyway, I think that is pretty much it for the week. Today will be spent doing work that I have neglected and going over to feed Chris's cat. Tomorrow will probably be th same, but with a twist. Tenie's coming home tomorrow so I was thinking of having a picnic on the living room floor. We're all feeling like we need spring to come soon and since it is still the dead of winter, I thought I'd transform the living room into a spring get away.
So I guess I'll leave it at that for now. I have to go read Stearn and write a four page paper about how death impacts a person's life. Woot, woot! :)
PS: It's a beautiful sunny day out there, so if it's sunny where you are, get outside for me. I'll be stuck in here writing for the greater part of the day.

The Furry Thiefs-or so I thought

Happy Saturday to everyone-it's teh middle of February and hopefully that means that winter is almost over. Since the weather has been so chilly lately, I thought I'd try to warm everyone up with a silly story: one that comes from the silliness that is my life.
Although it does not start with "once upon a time," it is guaranteed to be interesting.
Yesterday morning I woke up early to finish studying for my social statistics exam. I had been going crazy all week trying to get two other assignments done and study for a different exam. So, I felt like I should put in a few hours before the exam to make sure I would do all right. Thursday night I had returned home from night class completely exhausted because that was the class that all of teh assignments were due in and I had written the other midterm that morning. I had not had a nap and I had been up since six, so I immediately crawled into bed. My eyes were bugging me, I think partially because I am fighting some kind of cold and partially beause I was tired. (Just so you know, my eyes are prosthetic. That means essentially that they are made out of a sort of plastic and I can remove them). And that is what I did...well, only one at first. I pulled my right eye out Thursday before I fell asleep because it was bothering me the most, but I woke up in the middle of the night and the left was also starting to become irretated. Now, as every responsible eye owner does, I put my right eye in a container before I went to sleep to ensure that it did not get lost. Unfortunately, I was not thinking straight when I took the left out and just left it sitting on my bed side table. When I awoke Friday morning, I looked on my bed side table for the eye, but it was nowhere to be found. In a complete panic, I began searching frantically behind the dresser, under my bed, on the floor, in the front hall-I was beginning to fear that somehow it had gotten tangled up in my housecoat and I had accidentally taken it outside when I relieved Jetta. I cououldn't believe that it was gone. Prosthetic eyes are not cheap, and it is nearly impossible to get into see the guy who makes them-he is a very busy man. Not to mention, I had exactly two hours to get my ass to my Stats midterm. After some more fruitless searching, I just gave up. I had decided that the cats had stolen it and that it was hidden in some dark, unknown corner of the house. I tried to calm down by eating breakfast and trying to study, but I couldn't focus. I thought that if I took a break from scouring the house, I would somehow find it later-and hopefully in time for my exam. As I flipped through the calculations for the mode, median and the mode, I felt the panic overwhelming me. I ran upstairs and woke Carmen up (it was 8:30 in the morning), and exclaimed "the cats stole my eye!" She bolted out of bed and tore downstairs. The two of us resumed the search. I had hoped that with the help of someone else, and someone with working eyes nonetheless, the eye would be found. She asked me where the other one was and I told her, but insisted that the left was not with the right. Not believing me, she opened the container and said, "here it is." I said, "no, I already know there is one in there." She laughed and said, "1 2, I can count to two you know," and handed me both eyes. I was so embarrassed, but we had a good laugh. Through the fuzziness of sleep, I must have put the eye in a safe place after all and therefore, my cats didn't actually steal my eye. I'm not sure there is a lesson to be learned here-maybe except that, take bot out at the ame time and put them in the same place. :) Either way, both very expensive eyes are where they belong and not in my cats' mouths.
I hope you've enjoyed my little story. Hopefully there won't be a "next eime" to this story, but if there is I can assure you, you'll get to know all of the gory details. So in hopes of this never happening again, I will end this blog with:
The End

"Shameless"

(Ani Difranco lyrics again)
i cannot name this
i cannot explain this
and i really don't want to
just call me shameless
i can't even slow this down
let alone stop this
and i keep looking around
but i cannot top this

if i had any sense
i guess i'd fear this
i guess i'd keep it down
so no one would hear this
i guess i'd shut my mouth
and rethink a minute
but i can't shut it now
'cuz there's something in it...
this is my skeleton
this is the skin it's in
that is, according to light
and gravity
i'll take off my disguise
the mask you met me in
'cuz i got something
for you to see
just gimme your skeleton
give me the skin it's in
yeah baby, this is you
according to me
i never avert my eyes
i never compromise
so nevermind
the poetry
(slightly modified because not most of song is correct. Just selectted what sounded right).

"Not a Pretty girl"

(Ani Difranco lyrics)
i am not a pretty girl
that is not what i do
i ain't no damsel in distress
and i don't need to be rescued
so put me down punk
maybe you'd prefer a maiden fair
isn't there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

i am not an angry girl
but it seems like i've got everyone fooled
every time i say something they find hard to hear
they chalk it up to my anger
and never to their own fear
and imagine you're a girl
just trying to finally come clean
knowing full well they'd prefer you
were dirty and smiling

and i am sorry
i am not a maiden fair
and i am not a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere

and generally my generation
wouldn't be caught dead working for the man
and generally i agree with them
trouble is you gotta have yourself an alternate plan
and i have earned my disillusionment
i have been working all of my life
and i am a patriot
i have been fighting the good fight
and what if there are no damsels in distress
what if i knew that and i called your bluff?
don't you think every kitten figures out how to get down
whether or not you ever show up

i am not a pretty girl
i don't want to be a pretty girl
no i want to be more than a pretty girl

Salt Attack

So, it's winter in Canada again and we all know what that means! Rock salt is out in abundance. I know I've ranted about this nasty, toxic crap before,
but this morning's walk to and from swim practice got my blood boiling again.
So let's talk about the weather. It's minus 14 outside with a wind chill that makes it feel closer to minus 30. What happens to water when it gets below
zero? Anyone? Oh, it freezes! What happens to water when it's minus 14 outside? It stays frozen. Technically if one had an ice storm before it got so cold
out it could be slippery, but right now in Waterloo, it is not icy. In fact, the sidewalks are covered by a pretty fluffy layer of snow. Now, in order
to clear one's sidewalk when there is 3 or 4 inches of snow on it, one uses a shovel. (For anyone who doesn't know, you can pick one of these amazing tools
up from Canadian Tire, Zellars, Home Depot...you get the idea). Then, one goes outside with scarf, mitts and hat and their brand new shovel and you clean
your sidewalk. Well, at least that is what you think most people with some commonsense would do. Unfortunately, people in Waterloo-and most of Southern
Ontario for that matter-seem to be lacking commonsense. Instead, they go outside and dump rock salt on to the snow in hopes that it will evaporate. Has
it evaporated yet? How many times have you done this? Did you not notice that the once fluffy, light, non-threatening snow turns into heavy, sloppy slush
that then freezes into the very thing you were claiming to get rid of? That is right! It turns into ice, which you didn't have in the first place. You
just made ice! Now that we've had our science lesson, let's move on to the wonderful effects of rock salt.
Rock salt is toxic. It is a poison that leaks into the earth, which then in turn seeps into our water systems, which we drink and then it floats through
out blood stream. Rock salt is a cancer causing agent. It not only hurts humans, it seriously damages plants and animals as well. If we go back to grade
two and remember our lesson about the eco system-are you remembering-we will remember that humans are at the top of the food chain and we eat everything. (Can you picture that circle of little children with their arms outstretched with colourful yarn reaching from their hands, creating this giant web? That is the food chain! Keep that visual in mind for the duration of this entry). That everything
that we eat is eating the everything that the toxic rock salt has soaked into. Is anyone figuring out what I am saying here, or do I have to be more forward?
Rock salt also destroys inanimate objects. Cars, boots, pants, roads, sidewalks...they are all eaten away by salt. It erodes stuff people! Haven't you ever
noticed when you go for a walk the white grime that sticks to everything? That is salt and it is eating your everything! This is assuming people actually
walk anywhere. Maybe I'm giving the general public too much credit. I forgot we're all too much in a hurry to walk-we drive everywhere. Don't get me started
on gasoline. lol
Now here is my biggest concern since it effects me directly every day. The salt ruins my dog's feet. Poor Jetta is always limping whenever we walk places.
Sure, I slap her boots on her paws, but is that really necessary? It is a traumatic event for her to wear her boots-I don't know any dog who likes to wear
them. I almost carried her home from practice today because the salt was so bad. It felt and sound like we were walking in a gravel pit. Can we say a bit
excessive? Why is the university putting salt down on snow? They have little plough thingies they can drive around and push the snow out of the way. No
one can slip on snow! It's snow! If it's cleaned properly and maintained, no one will fall and break their necks.
Now granted, there are times when things do get slippery and it is necessary to have some form of ensuring that people do not hurt themselves. It's called
sand! In Northern Ontario, most often, sand is used to create traction. It's cheaper and it doesn't saturate the earth with poison! So what, you have to
clean it up afterwards. Quit being so bloody lazy. There are other alternatives I've read about as well, but I am not completely sure of their names and
effects so I won't mention them here. I now if you google "rock salt" and such things, you will discover its dirty little secret. My roommates and I bought
stuff from the pet store that is pet friendly. It takes the ice off just as easily as salt does and it doesn't leave as much of a mess. It's not toxic
and it doesn't hurt Jetta. She's not afraid to walk out our front door.
People need to be more aware of what they are doing to themselves and the environment around them. The weather we've been having this winter should be a
good indicator of that. Don't believe me? Ask the polar bears about how they feel about being placed on the endangered species list.

I finally got this damn thing to work

Well, it's been quite the adventure just trying to log in with the new blogger. You know, I was happy with the old one. Screen readers don't like it when people make things complicated-their users and t computers complain loudly. Oh well, I think I've figured it out now. I was going to write about our archaeology formal experiences, but by the time I finally got into this damn thing, it was time to go...supper needs to be cooked by someone. So, alas, my story will have to wait for another day.

HAXORED AGAIN!

Lindsay here, again. haha. ok so I know y'all have been noticing some changes around here. I'm not too sure if it's quite done yet, we'll have to see how Jess likes it. Also, I'm trying to find a great user friendly guestbook for here, any suggestions? Well, enjoy the new changes for '07! CIAO!

"Waiting on the world to change"

What is it about this time of year that always makes me feel so restless? February always seems to go so slowly and it's the shortest month of the year! There are so many things swimming around in my head right now-most of which are problems I have no control over. I think I hate that the most. I'd rather be able to do something about things-have a definite plan of action, but instead, I'm here just writing them down so that my head doesn't implode.
First of all, why is it that it is nearly impossible for me to get people to take me seriously? I know I like to laugh and I'm usually the outgoing, positive one, but sometimes it would be nice for people to take what I say and place some value in it. If my friends can't even take me seriously, then why would strangers? It's like my friends think I'm the sweet, emotional one and this means anything I try to say is worthless. The only time they believe me is when it comes to health issues and athletic stuff. Just because swimming is a huge part of my life does not mean that I only know swimming or anything athletic. Last night, when we went shopping, Carmen asked me about running shoes for the gym, which was nice that she finally respected my opinion about something enough to listen to me, but this seems to be the only time. People seem to think that my rants about environmental activism or social issues are just that, rants. They don't think I make any valid points and if I do, they are lost in the "there goes Jess again" mentality. There's no respect. One of my other friends is a Sociology major along with me and whenever she opens her mouth and spews out the same shit I do, they sit up and listen-they think it's a more serious issue. It's frustrating. Usuallly when I tell them about Sociology stuff, I try to change the language so that they understand what I am saying. I filter out sociology specific words so that they know what I am talking about, but that just seems to decrease the conversation's validity. This has been an issue for a long while, but for some reason today it's bothering me.
Secondly-and perhaps this has ties to my first complaint-guys seem to think that I am a brainless piece of ass. They think they can manipulate me and use me for their means. Perhaps I am too trusting, but that does not mean that I do not catch on to their ill-intentioned plans. One of my friends has decided he likes me. He's liked practically every single one of my other friends, but for some reason he is now stuck on me-stuck on me longer than the others. He tries to convince me, every chance he gets, to go out with him and that I like him back. He implied that I'm smart enough, but not too smart and he likes my body. Yay for him! Again, just because I am an athlete does not mean that everything about me revolves around physicality. I want a guy to appreciate me for me. To take me for everything that I am-the entire package not just the aspects he has decided suits his needs. Sure I am positive and cheerful, but I have my dark days and I need someone who will be able to hold me up on those days. People seem to think that I can stand on my own two feet all of the time and since I am the one who looks after them I don't need looking after. That is great, but sometimes I can't pick up your pieces and put you back together. Sometimes I need someone to put me back together, but people don't seem to recognise that. I am always just giving and rarely does anyone ever recognise that and try to give back to me. I grow tired and my energy leaves my body and I feel my inner self being covered by a heavy sludge, slowly shutting down because it can't take it anymore. Most guys I meet have decided that I can look after them-that I can put them back together. Granted, I am nurturing, but sometimes I need to be nurtured. I want someone to take my good with my bad, my dark with my light and to know that I do hurt. I can be the silly girl who asks you to step out of your comfort zone and enjoy life, but I'm not always the rock you can stand upon.
This doesn't just go for the men in my life, but my friends too. Quite often, I let my friends pick the movie, what we're eating, what outing we're going on because if I suggest anything they just say no. (I think I am talking specifically about my roommates here). I'm a social person and it seems like if I don't agree to do what they want to do, I get stuck doing nothing. For example, tonight we're going to the Archaeology formal, which I am definitely looking forward to. Problem is, I had asked them to go to Charity Ball last year and we agreed that this year we'd do both formals. Tenie informed me yesterday that we're just going to one and that it's the Archaeology formal. I'm not in Archaeology. I don't know half the people that are going to be there, but Christena and Carmen do. It's their element, so we're going. This happens all of the time. Next weekend there is a concert I thought would be fun to go and see, but neither of them seem very keen even though I know Tenie likes that kind of music. She just keeps saying that she'll think about it. It's less than a week away-I don't thin she'll be coming. When we went to go see Greenday, I had to twist her arm and practically make all of the plans to get her to go, but now whenever she talks about it it's like it was her idea and it was the best thing ever.
Thirdly, I'm frustrated by all of the bureaucratic crap that seems to congest my life. I know that this shit will always frustrate every day tasks, but sometimes I just wish things could happen without incident. Some days I could care less, but then there are others, like today, where it just gets under my skin and I want to start a revolt. ODSP decided that Jetta expired the other day and so pulled her off of my cheque without informing me. I receive the ODSP receipts in the mail and they're in print, so of course I don't read them. Carmen happened to be scanning the latest one and noticed that the amount of money that had been deposited was smaller than normal. I phoned the office and they informed me that they didn't know if Jetta still existed or not. I told them that was fine, but instead of assuming, next time perhaps they should inform me. The woman was quite rude and cut me off and forwarded my call onto another person. I got a hold of my vet and everything was straightened out, but it's annoying that every time I turn around I have to deal with the government screwing up. This has recently happened to another guide dog user I know, so I am certain that the system is extremely flawed. Another ironic thing that happened was that I received a scholarship from the School for the blind. Not that I am not grateful for this money, because I most certainly am, but the letter of congratulations they sent me was in print. This seems very rediculous to me. If you have access to a braille embosser and you are sending a letter to a blind person, would it not make sense to braille it? It's just little things. Why do I always have to conform to the sighted world? Yes, I live in one. I also live in a heterosexual, white, able-bodied world, but that doesn't stop other minority groups from speaking out. So why should I have to remain quiet?

HAXORED! haha

Lindsay here. The reason why I'm missing from the photos is because I seemed to be the only one with a camera> I looked really pretty that night too *pouts* lmao j.k ok so anyways a direct link to the new years photo album is:
http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c338/jessNjetta/New%20Years%200607/

as jess said, enjoy ;)

Shop Till We Drop

The girls and I headed out to the mall this afternoon after Tenie had finished working at her professor's lab. (She draws pottery and gets paid for it. Plus, it's great experience). We hopped the bus, which took about an hour, and ended up at the mall. I was starving and it was absolutely necessary to feed me before the shopping trip could continue. We stopped in at the Body Shop and I finally got my hands on the lotion that I like to use. I run out about a week ago and I've been going nuts using other stuff. :) Since my skin gets so dried out and itchy from being in the chlorene so often, I have become a lotion snob. We then headed over to Lasensa where we all indulged in pretty underwear and Tenie and Carmen found great bras for tomorrow night's formal. The chocolate store was the next stop. Tenie bought us chocolate covered strawberries in the shape of roses and they taste amazing! I have never tried chocolate covered strawberries before tonight and I was seriously missing out. Of course I bought Jetta her doggie friendly chocolate covered cookies and she was very excited. The sales clerk even gave Jetta a huge free cookie and she got a piece of it in the store-she promptly polished their floor with her slobber. There was chocolate body paint for sale and it was very intriguing to discover that there were nutritional facts listed on the label. What is our world coming to? Tenie and I conducted our own social experiment while walking to the bathroom. She said jokingly as we left the chocolate store, "you never hold my hand anymore!" So I grabbed ehr hand and we wandered down the mall holding hands. It was interesting to note that people loooked twice, but because I had the dog they decided it was a form of guiding. Next time we will have to conduct this research without Jetta and see if people's reactions change. (I am guessing they do). Man, I like fucking with people's heads!
After three hours or so of shopping we've returned home to watch a movie, eat chocolate and get our toes painted. (Oh and drink rum). Tomorrow is the archaeology formal and I am looking forward to it! Last year it was soooooooo much fun-I'm pretty sure there is a blog somewhere in my archives about that night. Anyway, Carmen has arrived to paint my toes purple for the occasion, so I better get going. I'm sure I'll be back on Sunday with a million stories about Saturday night

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Well, as promised the New Year's pictures are up. I am not sure why, but Lindsay seems to be missing from them. Hmm, we'll have to work on that. Either way, you can go to the link that says "my website" and there you will find the pictures. Lindsay arranged them nicely in a little album. So have fun and happy viewing!