Positivity For A Change

Today was a pretty good day. Which was a nice change. I got to sleep in, (in fact I woke up half an hour before I had to go to my grandparent's house to help decorate their Christmas tree) I got into the holiday spirit and helped my grandparents decorate their tree, I made plans to hang out with a friend later in the week and I fixed my schedule for next semester. I got to add Kinesiology and drop Earth Science which means that I actually wanted to take 3 out of the 4 courses I'm taking next semester. Which is something to look forward too. However, at the same time I'm slightly worried about Education and Kinesiology because Education is a second year level course and Kinesiology is supposed to be hard. Hopefully I'll find a way to manage though.

On yet another positive note; (surprising I know) the semester is almost over 1 more week before finals! And then it will be Christmas and who doesn't love the holidays? And because there is only 1 week left it means that I have 1 paper to write from scratch, 1 paper to revise, and 1 15 question multiple choice quiz. And then 4 finals. But I think I can handle it. The finals are the only thing I'm worried about at the moment, well maybe the 1 paper I have to write from scratch too... But all is well and I'm excited.

Course Selection; A Response.

My school did declare today a snow day. Unfortunately they waited until 3:30pm to do so and because my first class was at 8:30am I was already there. I was smart however, I avoided my tutorial because it seemed pointless to go when my T.A. had not attended the lecture and according to someone in an earlier tutorial he was sick and didn't have our papers anyways. So kudos to me for not getting stuck on the mountain. I also went to my high school's Sr. Girl's Basketball game. Where I found all of last year's senior members except for one. Although to be honest the team isn't as good this year as it was last year and the game got painful to watch at times, they did win in the end though.

After I got home from the game, I had to attempt to re-do my schedule for next semester for the fourth time. This is due to half of the classes I wanted being full and many of my back ups also being full. I have finally settled on two classes I want to take (one of which only has 32 spots left, and obviously that is the only one that I have been planning on taking since planning my current semester, so I'm really hoping) and two classes that I am not too thrilled about but they fulfill requirements for things so I'm accepting it. Because my registration is at 7:30am tomorrow I'm remaining hopeful about getting into these classes. I'm trying to remain optimistic about this. *fingers crossed* (I need all the luck I can get)

Course Selection, Snow and Reminiscing

It's almost that time again. Course registration. I had the unfortunate luck(?) of being chosen to have my registration date be the LAST day of course selection. Meaning that some of the courses I wanted to take are already full, some of my back ups are also full. And I haven't even had my registration day yet. I have the pleasure of having my registration day at 7:30am on Friday morning. Most of my friends (if they haven't had theirs already) have theirs tomorrow which worries me greatly as to the amount of courses I will successfully be able to enroll in. 


On the possibly brighter side, we are supposed to receive 10-15cm of snow tonight meaning there is a possibility that school will be cancelled tomorrow. This is something that I am extremely pleased about. Thursday is my least favourite day of the week. I have to get up early to be at school extremely early in order to sit through my least favourite class of the week. Not something I particularly enjoy. This is probably the only upside of your school being on a mountain. Downside: it's foggy often and usually always colder than everywhere else. Upside: when it snows and buses cannot make it up the mountain, school is cancelled. *Finger's crossed that I don't have to go to school tomorrow*


Regardless of the snowfall and status of my school closure I plan on going back to my high school to watch a basketball game tomorrow night. I miss playing, and I miss the girls on the team so I think it will be fun to see them playing and watching with another friend who has also graduated is a plus because we don't go to the same school anymore so we don't always get to see each other. I'm looking forward to it. Although hopefully their school isn't closed causing the game to be post-phoned to a later date...that would be unfortunate. Oh well, we'll see what tomorrow brings. 

Pretty vs. Talented

Remember the days where musicians weren't necessarily the best looking people, but they were actually talented? I was born in the 90's so I don't, but those were good days for music. This is part of the reason that I love Youtube. There is so much undiscovered talent on there, I have my favourites who I'm hoping will get discovered. Like today one of my subscriptions posted this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2RA0vsZXf8&feature=recentu
 it's a cover of Nelly's "Just A Dream" and it gives me chills everytime I watch it. And I suggest that you check it out. Because I cannot understand how these three aren't famous yet. They are all so talented and it is so much better than half of the popular crap on the radio.

This may have something to do with the fact that I'm a Broadway fan at heart, I live for the voices of people who don't require autotune. I'm a big Regina Spektor fan (who most people probably haven't heard of). I love people who put emotion into their music and are actually talented. I guess I'm just so sick of Justin Bieber, Rhianna, Ke$ha and all of the rest of the music on the radio these days that all sounds the same. Just because you're good looking doesn't mean that you should be famous. I know that they can make anyone sound good these days but I'd rather have an ugly celebrity who had real talent.

The Pillar of Strength Crumbles

Support. A simple enough word, a simple enough concept, but it makes a huge difference. It can be the difference between being mediocre and fantastic at something, it can be the difference of actually wanting to get out of bed in the morning and wanting to curl up and hide under the covers for a while.

Growing up I never really felt like I was fully supported by my dad when I was playing basketball, the same way my sister feels like he doesn't support her when it comes to her cheer leading. Message to all parents: It is one thing to support your kids financially and provide for them in that sense, it is a completely different matter when it comes to emotional support. As much as we may complain, we actually do want to see you at our games. (Even if you're yelling may embarrass us.) Believe me, it feels a lot better to have someone there than it does to constantly have people asking you why your parent never comes to your games. We understand you're busy and can't make it to every single one, but coming every once in a while is much appreciated.

There are enough people trying to tear you down everyday. Everyone has that one person who is relentless when it comes to lowering your self-esteem. Try to avoid them and if you can't try your best to ignore them because chances are they're lying to you and they're wrong. Surround yourself with good people who care about you and don't give up too easily. To anyone who is depressed and thinking about suicide, no one can help you unless you let them and suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Find your rock, because everyone needs a rock. That is someone who is stable and consistently there to support you through whatever you need help through. Stay positive.

Up Until Now I Swore To Myself That I'm Content, With Loneliness

I don't know if it's the winter blues just starting to hit me or what it is. It could be perhaps the fact that I go to a school located at the top of a mountain where most of the time it is cold, foggy and grey plus the fact that it is basically completely concrete because the architect mostly designed prisons. Maybe even just the stress of school? Whatever it is, I've been feeling a little bit down lately. It could quite possibly be loneliness or the fact that University isn't really living up to all of my expectations. But with high expectations always comes disappointment. But who really knows?

I just feel like something is missing.  I feel like I should be happy, but I'm just not quite there yet. Maybe it's just a growing up thing? Life after all is a learning process where the only real way to learn anything is the hard way.

What I SHOULD Be Doing, and What I'm ACTUALLY Doing Are Two Completely Different Things

What I SHOULD be doing right now: probably working on writing my Humanities paper.
What I'm ACTUALLY doing right now: looking at/finding pictures to put into the collage picture frames that I got for my birthday.


Sadly for my paper (and myself really because I'm going to end up having to write it at some point) I just cannot muster up the motivation to do it right now, and I should really be getting to bed soon anyways. It is a school night after all. I'm just not really in the mood for writing papers or sleeping right now. I also discovered to my dismay that the science class I was hoping to take next semester only has four spots left. Sadly this course is not offered every semester, and my registration day is not until the 26th. Which means zero chance of me getting in. (Although on the plus side the other courses I'm hoping to take still have lots of room so hopefully it stays that way) Therefore today I spent some time looking at back-up courses and found another science course that appears to be interesting. This science course doesn't require labs so that is also a plus I suppose. Me being the Arts student that I am, I'm not really a big fan of labs. Wasn't really a fan of them in high school either. Just a personal thing I guess. 


Random side note: There's a rule in my house that the Christmas tree isn't allowed to go up until after my birthday. Because my birthday is officially over, the Christmas tree went up today. I find this slightly unbelievable. My sister rudely told me to remove my Birthday cards from the T.V. stand where they were being displayed (they had been there less than two days) so that she could decorate it. She also kept yelling at me to stop sitting around, yet every time I asked her if there was something I could do to help her she would reply "not right now." But I'm just the misfitting middle child. 


Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a grinch, I have holiday spirit. I just think that putting up the Christmas tree this early in November is a little bit much. Oh, and it wasn't just the tree, it was pretty much EVERY Christmas decoration we have. Now the family room, living room and bathroom are all decked out with holiday spirit. It kind of makes me wish we had a real tree instead of an artificial one because 1) they smell better and 2) if my sister tried to put it up this early, it would die by Christmas so she would have to wait a little bit. Like I said, I'm not a grinch, I'm all for the holidays. I love sitting down with my family, exchanging gifts, all the great food and the good times. But am I really that crazy to think that mid-November is early for the Christmas tree/Christmas decorations?

Another Year Older ≠ Another Year Wiser

Pretty good birthday weekend. I got everything I needed to accomplish done. I'm proud of myself. So the fun began last night when the girls came over. We hung out, played some games and did some karaoke. Had lunch with the family today. Finished the night off by watching Toy Story 3. Which is too cute! But of course my dog is nuts and she goes crazy for squeaky toys. So naturally every time one of the aliens squeaked she kept trying to figure out where it was coming from. She even went behind the T.V. because she couldn't figure it out. It was pretty cute for some of it because it just looked like she was really into the movie.

Pupdate: She is doing a lot better. We just have to keep an eye on her for any signs of a decline. She's acting more and more like her old self, which naturally means that we have to watch her like a hawk because occasionally she finds a way to sneak up the stairs and she hasn't gotten the okay for that yet. So shes acting mischievous again. So as irritating as that can be, it's a very good sign.

Here's looking forward to another fantastic year full of fun and learning! And let the countdown to Christmas begin! (42 days) Here's to more fun times with family and holiday spirit! Cheers!

Random Ramblings

Now that I have survived my midterm, my "To Do" list has shrunken dramatically. It now consists of 5 things, only 3 and a half ish need to be done this weekend.


My "To Do" List:
1. Psych Article Summary (Experimental) -high priority, due Tuesday
2. Psych Article Summary (Non-Experimental) -high priority, due Tuesday
3. Archaeology Article Summary -high priority, due Tuesday
4. Start Humanities Paper -medium priority, due Thursday
5. Study for iclicker quiz next week -medium priority, quiz Thursday
Which basically means I need to get the article summaries done. (the first two are only 300-400 words, but sadly the 3rd one is max 5 pages summarizing a 20 page article and explaining how the article is relevant to human evolution.) 


Random topic change: I'm a total Gleek so relaxing after my midterm today consisted of goofing off and killing time until Glee. At which point I was very excited because I love Glee and I love Darren Criss. For those of you who don't know Darren Criss is "Harry Freaking Potter" and He's "totally awesome!" (Naturally you will only get those references if you have seen AVPM and/or AVPS (A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel) if you haven't, search them on Youtube, they're hilarious)


Regardless, here's looking forward to a fabulous birthday weekend (for me)! And don't forget to take time out on Thursday and Remember all those who've fought for our freedom, without their sacrifice we wouldn't have what we have today.

Do Homework, Meet Hedley, Study and Party!

This weekend was a pretty good one. I got most of the stuff that I wanted to accomplish done. (Just not as much studying as I wanted to get done...) But there is still time for studying so it will be ok, hopefully. But Saturday I got to go down the states and shop, I got 2 pairs of shoes, (1 pair of adorable black flats, and 1 pair of wedge sandals) and I got a sweater dress because it's getting cold now. On an even better note, Hedley was in my city last night for the premiere of their tour DVD "The Show Must Go...On The Road" and it was super exciting because they were there like sitting only feet away from me! And afterwards my two friends  and I all got to meet Tommy! Needless to say, it was exciting.

Now what I need to do is study like a lunatic for tomorrow's Archaeology midterm and then do my article summaries, write a paper and study some more for other quizzes. Sadly the cycle never ends. But this week brings me something to look forward to, my Birthday. It is nice because it falls on a four day weekend for me. And I get to do the small party thing with a small group of friends at my house, and then I get to do the family thing the following day. It's going to be a good weekend.

Step 1: Admitting You Have A Problem

I am extremely proud of myself right now. Despite all of the other things I have going on, I managed to sit down and finish some reflections for Philosophy (I have now successfully completed the required 10 worth 10% of my final grade) If you knew me you would know that this is an accomplishment because they aren't really due until tutorial the week that we're reading the article you do a reflection on, and you have the entire semester to do 10 and I am such a procrastinator.*

*Not the worst procrastinator in the world by any account, but the kind of procrastinator who is like "My paper isn't due until the following Thursday, and because it's Friday (the week before it's due) I'll do it over the weekend. (Saturday rolls around...) Well I have all day today and all day tomorrow I'll start it later. (Suddenly it's Sunday) It's not due until Thursday I have lots of time. (By some insane occurrence it is Wednesday where I don't get home from school until like 5:00pm) and I'm like oh...my paper's due tomorrow at 8:30am I should probably get started." I then sit there for the next like 4 hours writing this thing like a mad woman. Stomach rumbling due to lack of sufficient dinner (really a lack of ANY dinner at all) going "dinner is for people who have time for such frivolous activities! I have a paper to write!"

So that took out a chunk of my "To Do" list. But it still looks like this: (as of this moment right now 11:22pm)
1. Finish Humanities Paper (Monday)
2. Finish Philosophy Paper (Monday)
3.Study for Archaeology Midterm (Tuesday)
4. Psychology Assignment #2 (2 Article summaries) (Tuesday November 16th)
5. Archaeology Article Summary (Tuesday November 16th)

But because I was good today (probably due to the added motivation of a fabulous shoe sale on Saturday causing me to lose a day of homework "accomplishment" for an extremely worthy cause) maybe I can keep it up and get these papers done in a hurry (I'm nearly done my Humanities paper I just have to re-write my conclusion) and study. I'll probably hold off until next week for my article summaries because I have a four day weekend next week due to Remembrance Day, although that 4 day weekend does include my birthday so we'll see. And the studying for the Midterm is more important because it is worth 30% of my final grade.

Pupdate:
Off to see the vet tomorrow with fingers crossed because I have a growing suspicion that she is getting worse. Pain-wise she seems to be getting better, but when I took her for a walk today she wasn't walking normally and wouldn't always walk on her back left paw. Which is a sign that the vet told us to watch for. Here's hoping that all will be good and that what my grandma says really is true and "things always seem to have a way of working out."

The Final Countdown

There are four weeks left this semester and then the final craze commences. I have a paper due on Thursday, another one due Monday, a midterm Tuesday, and three article summaries due on the 16th. That's just the craziness coming up in the next week or so. Plus my birthday falls in the middle of it so I probably won't have much time (if any) to celebrate. Which is upsetting because a break would be nice. After these final four weeks are over and December begins, it's time for finals. Which means lots of studying.* Anyways, here's keeping fingers crossed that I pass and survive. My puppy still isn't better yet. So it would also be really helpful if she got better because I would really appreciate it and it would give me one less thing to stress about. I'm taking her to the vet on Friday to see if the steroids are working.

*Studying coming from a combination of the words student and dying. It refers to any length of time (usually a ridiculously long one) where one is immersed in the reading/re-reading of books and notes in order to attempt to retain enough information to at least pass, but hopefully obtain a decent grade on the test and in the class.