Goodies

I just found some Christmas goodies given to me on Dec. 23... I am eating them now... note blanche: shortbreads do not survive over a week and still taste tasty.

P.S.

P.S. Mike, I went to drop off your wedding gift tonight and had the best chat with your mom. She is such a proud mum :).... for the others, Mike often comments here and is a friend from Campus Crusade for Christ. He married his sweetheart, Tandy (my former squash partner) on Saturday. I unfortunately couldn't make it back to London for the wedding but from the sounds of Mike's mom, it was quite an *awesome* ceremony. Hopefully when a good picture comes up on Facebook / I get an approval from Mike &/or Tandy to do so, I'll post a picture of them so you can see. God bless the happy couple!

Home again, Home again

Well after spending the night in Waterwoo with my sister Paula, I arrived back in London today around 2:30. Paula has been kind enough to lend me her car while she visits in Toronto this weekend, so I have wheels until Tuesday. Not only did I get the relief of returning to a puppy-less environment, my apartment is, get ready for it, warm! We've been having serious heating problems here and for once our rooms are actually room temperature. Praise the Lord!

Six trips down to the car later, I managed to get all of my Christmas loot & luggage upstairs. Check it out:

If you look carefully enough, you should be able to see this afternoon's project: putting together a new desk chair. I've heard that

this has the potential for being quite the task to complete using all of the parts correctly, but within 20minutes I had a working chair. Here's a picture of my old "computer" chair (I don't even know if you can call it that...) beside the new and improved edition:

I will post more in the next few days chronicling my time in Brockville now that I am back to high speed Internet.

Before you go, check to see what "viewer" number you are -- there's a count at the very bottom of this page that should reach 2000 sometime this evening or tomorrow. Make sure to post a comment to this entry if you're number 2000 for a special surprise secret quest!

Ahhhhh

So I cannot stand how it takes 15min to go from "log on" to "new post", so I am just not going to be posting so much until I return to London on Friday/Saturday.. Just thought I 'd let you know what's going on!

A Cutesy Post Before Bed

Being the news-junky I am, I was scrolling along the CNN stories this evening before heading off to bed and came across this story: http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/23/iraqi.orphan.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview . It's kind of uplifting, even for CNN!

40 readers & only 1 post?

I know some of you reading this don't know me all so well, but I would still appreciate having a variety of opinions to think about concerning my last blog, so post away! Post anonymously if you want to!

Today I became officially single for the holidays. While it is disappointing that things did not work out, I did gain a great friend & for once, have absolutely no regrets with how we tried things out!

Today, while a day of a "last," was a day of firsts: first time I drove into a snowbank; first time I got stuck in a snowbank; and first time I had to call on daddio for help in shoveling myself out of the snowbank. Conveniently I "chose" the snowbank (or perhaps it chose me?) at the end of the driveway to back into so he did not have to come from very far. I have such talent in the winter driving area:-D.

Me thinks that now would be as good of time as any to start practicing as the Staskerator (her new nick name) has gone for a walk and can therefore not bark herself silly (surely her idea of accompanying me no doubt).

Don't forget to post!

Options, Options, Options

I've had too much time to think again today and I'm presently entertaining changing my career/future path again.

Business-Related Schooling Options:
I am too far in to drop this option entirely, I've decided, although theoretically I suppose this is an option.

1. If I don't do an internship, I can graduate with a B. Arts with an Honours Specialization in Music Administrative studies at the end of next year.
PROS: staying in an area I love, gives me something to fall back on if I ever want/have to stop playing as my main career, get to stay at Western for 1 more year (I LOVE it here!); gets me pursuing a Masters in Music faster (the younger, the better in a sense); don't have to go through the hassle of creating an internship for myself; allows me time/ opportunity to do summer playing programmes
CONS: putting myself at great risk for living in a box; have to take more nasty intermediate finance courses; likely restricts my business prospects to music only related jobs; no internship=staying in debt=no car

2. Don't do an internship, graduate with a Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies, Honours Specialization in Management & Human Resources, in 1.5 years (1 yr and 1 semester... might be able to be 1 yr + summer... not 100% sure)
PROS: gives me something to fall back on if I ever want/have to stop doing anything music-related as my main career, get to stay at Western for even longer!; don't have to go through the hassle of creating an internship for myself; preparing myself for a brighter financial future; don't have to take any more nasty accounting courses (HR stuff all the way!)
CONS: no internship=staying in debt=no car for a wee bit longer; I might always wonder "what if I spent more energy on music"; could leave music altogether and be bitter about that; it would be a stressful next 1.5 years cramming in all these extra courses

3. Do an internship, graduate with either the BMOS or the BA depending on if I take courses while I work & in the summer
PROS: gives me something to fall back on if I ever want/have to stop doing anything music-related as my main career, get to stay at Western for even longer (2 years!); preparing myself for a brighter financial future big-time; BREAK FROM CLASSES (I have done summer school for 2 summers now, which means I've been in school non-stop for way too long); money & money now = reduced debt = car = money for a masters = new friends = new city (potential)
CONS: 2 more years at Western is a long time... this would mean 6 in total; might have to spend 1.5 years away from all my Western buds; have to go through the hassle of creating an internship; I might always wonder "what if I spent more energy on music"; could leave music altogether and be bitter about that at a later date

Thoughts on which option you like best? Pros & Cons I missed out? I WANT THEM!!!!!!!! Don't shy away people!!! Post, post, post!

Shralalalala We're All Done Exams!

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

This seems to fit in with the snowy weather & celebratory-ness of the boys finishing exams today :)

And the break continues...

Did I mention that I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy exams are done?! I am having SUCH a great time

:-D

Yesterday was a fairly uneventful morning & time at work, but the afternoon proved to have a lot of fun in store. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I arranged to have my hair done for the first time in a while. I went to the same place that I've had it done the last few times, but opted for someone different this time.

I was looking for some more brightness as my blond hair is slowly going more and more brown as I get older. With the encouragement of my mom's permission to put it on her Visa, I gladly ordered up some highlights. I forewarned my new hairdresser that I wanted fairly natural looking high lights as I only get this done once in a new moon (I think the last time was August? maybe even before that...). Anyhow, I also forewarned her that my hair is very sensitive to taking colour as almost every hair dresser who has touched my hair has told me this. The longest time I recall ever being in foils was 15 minutes and that was probably too long (I definitely had some bleached-white streaks but it turned out to not be sooo bad because it was summer time).

Yesterday, however, I set a new record and was in foils for over half an hour. My lovely new hairdresser decided to take on another client while I was sitting under the heater and I think she must have lost track of time because another hairdresser who was working nearer to me came and took the heater thing off after looking worriedly at me for a while after the 20-minute mark... When my hair dresser did finally come over, I took a mental picture of her deer-in-head-lights eyes as she opened the foils to see if my hair was done. I was rushed over to the sink where she took them out mighty quickly. She explained that some toner-downer was needed to stop/reverse the abundance of chemical reactions going on in my hair and that I have "very sensitive hair. Did I know that?" For the record, this toner stuff REEKS... peee-uuuu...

Needless to say, at this point I was kind of anxious to see what my hair looked like and lo-and-behold, when wet, my hair is a lovely array of orange (yes orange!), black (I've *never* seen parts of my hair this dark), brown, blond, & bleach-blond, aka white. I was quite stunned. I still am quite stunned. To top of the unexpected variation in colours, I discovered that she thought chunky highlights would look better on me than the thinner natural-looking ones I was asking for. Note to self: never let someone with pink in their hair do your hair...

Perhaps the weirdest moment of all was when she gave me the most confused/somewhat disgusted look when I answered he "So what do you think?" question (my answer was something like "this was not exactly what I was expecting...") I left more mad than upset and didn't tip a hair dresser for the first time ever.

Anyhoo, so the story continues as I realize that it is now shortly after five, meaning that I've spent waaaaaaaaay longer than anticipated getting my hair done and unless I pay for a cab, I'm going to be more than fashionably late to Dunc & Jess's Christmas party. God was good and sent me the best cabbie ever to my rescue. He told I looked mad so I told him the story and he said something along the lines of, "You know, I have really horrible customers sometimes too, but I figure I can't let them ruin my day. So you should just put that behind you, smile, and go have fun at your party." It was just what I needed and within an hour of being raving mad for having orange-black-blond-white chunky highlighted hair, I didn't feel so bad!

So what to do now? I've considered going swimming to see if the chlorine could add some green so I could be a rainbow for Christmas, but alas, I'm just going the wash-wash-wash-and-repeat method. A few people have assured me that it's not that bad, it's just...different... which I suppose is ok... Time will tell if I can handle this "Western-girl" look. :S

Ok enough about the hair. Here are some photos from the party:

The infamous "Green Dessert!"

Who says university students & young marrieds are too old for crafts?! This is my Christmas ornament that I made using a styrofoam ball, fabric pieces, & a butter knife.

Making said craft... You can almost see some orange-ish hair in this photo, but it is pretty dark.

I'm not too sure what tomorrow has in store, but perhaps I shall start my Christmas shopping? What do you guys all want?

I LOVE being done!

I got a lot accomplished on this, my first day of nearly a month of holidays :-D

This morning I trekked to the gym, in the lovely rain that lasted all day, and discovered that although it is uncomfortable to run or walk, the elliptical and bike work just fine. This was fairly relieving & I feel *so* good having finally done some more focused exercising that isn't speed walking from one place to the next.

After the gym I finally got my anti-virus software problem sorted out. Just like I have for the last three years, I purchased the university-endorsed anti-virus programme this summer to use for the school year. This year however, my subscription expired on Dec. 1.... so yes, up until today, I was going firewall [my Windows Firewall was off too, I discovered today :S] & virus protection-free. Turns out the company gave out the wrong verification codes to the university causing many others like myself to have this problem. After reinstalling it with the new code, updating my protection, and then scanning through all my files, I only had 32 cookies and 0 viruses. Yay :P

Speaking of cookies, I went on a bit of a baking splurge this afternoon. I made some biscuit dough so I could make a pizza (finishing of veggies in the fridge), shortbread cookies (SO good & I didn't burn any :D), & green dessert. Green dessert is something that my grandmother used to make, particularly for holidays, that has become the pinnacle Christmas dessert for all Hurrell's. It involves a crushed chocolate wafer + butter bottom topped with lime jello, extra sugar, and condensed milk. I'm really excited to see if it works out properly (it takes about a whole day to set) but I will have to wait until tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'll be starting my Christmas shopping & getting my hair done for the first time since August (at least I think it was August).

DONE!!!!!

DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!
DONE!!!!

Oh the relief!
I am sooooooooooo happy to have some non-studying, non-cramming time :D

Tonight I'm going to see the Salvation Army Band at Centennial Hall. Should be fun! My first brass band concert in at least 5 years!

All full up!

I don't think I can cram anything more into my brain.

101 reasons why I went into music.

I think I'm going to go procrastinate some more.

Study Study Study

That's all I'm really doing right now. Tuesday I spent 16.5hrs on campus on six hours of sleep. That was fun. I feel like I'm on vacation but only in the sense that I'm eating out a lot :S On the plus side, my finance exam went pretty well on Friday, considering I covered well over 1000 pages for it in the 72hrs prior. My jury went OK as well too although it was probably only at 85% of my best - I blame lack of sleep, zero humidity (reeds don't like that at all), & worrying about passing my finance exam 45min later. I did notice that I am becoming more at home on the stage though; definitely growing in my confidence levels.

Tomorrow will be my last big study day as my final exam, accounting, is Monday at 2. Theoretically I should be back to daily posts then!

This is what I'm walking to school in...

This picture does not do the current snow storm justice; Brrr!!!

And seeing as I should be studying anyways... this poem is courtesy of mumsy:

'Twas the night before finals,
And all through the college,
The students were praying
For last-minute knowledge.

Most were quite sleepy,
But none touched their beds,
While visions of essays
Danced in their heads.

Out in the taverns,
A few were still drinking,
And hoping that liquor
Would loosen their thinking.

In my own room,
I had been pacing,
And dreading exams
I soon would be facing.

My roommate was speechless,
His nose in his book,
And my comments to him
Drew unfriendly looks.

I drained all the coffee,
And brewed a new pot,
No longer caring
That my nerves were shot.

I stared at my notes,
But my thoughts were all muddy;
My eyes went a blur,
And I just couldn't study.

"Some pizza might help,"
I said with a shiver,
But each place I called
Refused to deliver.

I'd nearly concluded
That life was too cruel,
With futures depending
On grades earned in school.

When all of a sudden
Our door opened wide
And Patron Saint "Pro-crast-in-ate"
Ambled inside.

His spirit was careless,
His manner was mellow,
But summoning effort
He started to bellow:

"What kind of student
Would make such a fuss
To toss back at teachers
What they toss at us?

On Cliff Notes! On Crib Notes!
On Last Year's Exams!
On Wingit and Slingit,
And Last-Minute Crams!"

His message delivered,
He vanished from sight,
But we heard him laughing
Outside in the night:

"Your teachers have pegged you,
So just do our best...
Happy Finals to All,
And to All, a good test!"

Yippeeeeee!

:D :D :D :D Heather went on a real DATE last night! Yippee!!!! :D :D :D :D We've been entertaining the idea of dating for a few months but I think we're both on the same page now :D. In my own (and his) best interests, I think I'll be refraining from divulging info on here for quite a while.

Yesterday I spent close to six hours at Weldon with my Finance textbook, so there's not too much by way of interesting news that way.

Today Fil & I journeyed to Burlington for a Christmas Concert with Symphony Hamilton at the Royal Botannical Gardens. Despite the poor weather, we made excellent time and managed to not drive off the road or into any oncoming vehicles.

I took a bit of time to do some exploring between the "sound check" and the concert and the RBG really is quite a beautiful place -- and I'm not really all that much of a nature lover. There was this one room with a nifty arrangment of 125-ish pointsettias in the formation of a Christmas tree (vertically stacked on each other somehow). It also had the biggest Christmas cacti I've ever seen. I found this kinda cool as my family has a Christmas cactus that has been passed down through the generations (from what I understand-- mom, you made need to correct me on this) and I often think about my family when I'm performing. This is what a Christmas cactus looks like for those of you who don't know:

So pretty!

In keeping with this week's theme of finding the peace of Christ in busy situations, watch this video if you have the time. Andrew (from the house fellowship; Joia's brother -- there's a link to her blog on the right hand side) sent this to me and really reaffirms some of my more recent perceptions on busy-ness.

Ok... early to bed, early to rise! Nighty night!

...It's been a while...

So another fun week on the crazy stress front. New discoveries in life include:

• a potential job with RIM for my upcoming internship
• a great lesson / actually feeling quite prepared for my jury a week from today
• discovering that my jury was originally scheduled from 1:15-1:30 (convenient seeing as I have a Finance exam at 2)... now it is scheduled from 1-1:15...
• finding peace through the early chapters of Deut.
• exciting chats & thoughts about a general global, cross-denominational church-wide movement towards "returning to roots"... (even though that concept is interpreted different ways)
• a possible stress fracture in my left foot... whoever told me that if your foot is broken, you shouldn't be able to walk on it was lying (according to my doctor). I should have x-ray results by this time next week to see if that's what I really did [in September and have been resisting going to see a doctor since...].
• how important it is to have fellow Christians, actively listening to the Lord, helping you find Christ in every action & situation... also extrapolated to how important a Christian partner for life is.
• finding enjoyment in my journey, even though it is full of busyness
• it is a very good idea to read the bios of people you're performing with... today I discovered that the tenor for the Hamilton Concert performed at La Scala & in NYC for a while a ways back. Coolios!

Praise God -- only NINE MORE DAYS TO GO!