I've been reading "The End of Poverty: Economic possibilities for our time" By Jeffrey Sachs this week. It's for my International Studies class, but it's so fantastic I had to share. This book is extremely inpirational and eye opening.It makes you realise (if you haven't already) the many mistakes western governments and intergovernmental organizations have made with respect to developing countries. It's also surprisingly easy to read, considering it was written by an economist. The little experience I have with economics is limited to half a semester of Microeconomics 111 which at the age of 19 was painful enough for me to drop the class. He paints a sad picture of multiple communities in Africa, Asia and South America but was still able to give me hope that work could be done to eliminate extreme poverty completely.

If Development Economics is your thing, well even if it's not your thing I would recommend the book.

I'm very wishy washy when it comes to this blogging thing. I write alot for about a week then forget about it again for a month or two. The attempt at making a new blog was kind of pointless, it didn't serve the purpose i wanted so I pretty much abandoned it. So here I am at Lj again, mainly because I need a place to work out my thoughts and deal with some of the anxieties I've been having lately. According to my mother using a journal is a good way to get your mind off of things and work out issues and I can see the potential but sometimes my tendancy to over anylize can be a problem.

School has started and allready the amount of reading i need to do is overwhelming. I tend to fall asleep when I read anything academic, my eyes start hurting and the pages blur which leads to a headache. Especially if im sitting anywhere comfortable, I need to sit at a cubicle or a desk in order to be remotely productive. My concentration levels suck too, I was worried for awhile there that I had ADD but I think I need to start eating better and exercising more. I started weight watchers again (officially) and have a physio appointment next week. I'm also going to spend some of my extra student loan money on personal training sessions to get my ass in gear. My initial goal is to get focused enough for midterms and to lose 10% of my current weight. So far so good. I've allready eaten all my veg. servings and have a crap ton of points left for the day.

It's a little hard to write about the whole WW thing again since I feel like I came so close to it the first time only to gain a large percentage of the weight back over the past 3 years. i won't let that stop me though, I need to stop caring about what other people think and focus on myself. I'm pretty pumped about the fall, and positivity is the most important thing.

Aside from that:

PAX was amazing, we bought a new washer/dryer this week, I'm very interested in all the classes I'm taking and we're planning a Halloween 80s Dance party this year! whoop whoop!

Got my seedlings done. Beans, Peas, Carrots, Onions, Hot Peppers, Swiss Chard and Spinach. This is the very first time I've started seeds indoors so wish me luck! I have dirt underneath my fingernails, My arms hurt but I am soooo happy! It's too bad its starting to get cold out, I'd like a couple more days in the sun to work outside.

I just spent an hour trying to figure out why the password for my flickr account isn't working...gave up after the bagillionth time. Luckily I don't need to log in to post pictures. /sigh

I am super pumped to start my garden and I'm going to try and document what I can on here, just because garden pictures are so lovely.



Seeds! I will start seedlings tomorrow, weather permitting. Thanks to Tal I have a bunch of egg cartons and those should do the trick.

The herbs I bought were already seeded but it's easier that way. I can;'t decide if i want to put them in the grown or make a portable planting box for all of them so i can bring them inside for the winter. Maybe both? The backyard is pretty fugly right now so terracotta pots would be lovely as well.








Thats the lot of em. Lemon Balm, Peppermint, Dill, Cilantro, Rosemary, plus two small planters of Forget Me Nots (My favorite!) I also got some soil, organic fertilizer and some bulbs for a few places around the yard. weee!




Now if the little babies I inherited at the front of the house (Tulips and Lilies, I think) can survive this weekends expected snow, we'll be good to go!

Why do I live in Saskatchewan? Why is it -53? Also, why does it have to be the week that I'm moving?

My wrists hurt, i'm grumpy and the house is full of unpacked boxes.

On a happier note, i made Ryan watch "Once more with feeling" last night.

Any guess what his reaction was?

Things i am currently making:

Irish hiking headband



Quant





And i need to figure out something to make with this:



7 balls of Noro Silk Garden. sooo purdy.


I'm off to see a movie now. ttfn

This is me trying to start writing entries again, My life is pretty fantastic right now so for once it's nice to write about happy things instead of emo stuff. Lots of stuff has happened in my life since November, most of it pretty significant.

Deciding to quit hairstyling. This was a hard decision but there were a lot of things that lead to it. My wrists are in pretty bad shape right now, carpel tunnel and tendinitis make it really painful to do anything with my hands. (including knitting /cry) I also never seem to have time to do much other than work and go to school and my sleeping schedule is always so messed up. This may seem negative but many good things will come out of my quitting. I'm taking a month off from work and coming back in march to be a receptionist part-time. I still really like the people I work with so I wont have to be a total bum.

Moving in with Ryan. This was a pretty easy decision, for me at least hehe. I basically live here anyway so it will save me a ton of money and I get to help Ryan pay off his mortgage. Woot. It's kind of in the boonies and its farther from school but the bus goes right by. Plus he has Rock Band, which quite literally, rocks. Have any of you experienced it's magic? You must! We play like mad, especially when people are over and at that point 6 hours can fly by. We had a LAN party this past weekend which ended up being a Rock Band Party most of the time and everyone did really well. Ryan is bitchin' at the drums and Tal's awesome at singing! (I'm mediocre at both)





Drabble came over and we figured, being a drummer he'd be awesome at the drums but it was so different from the actual drumming he spend most of the time squinting at the screen trying to figure out what the hell was going on, it was pretty awesome. He definitely got better tho, so go him!



I spent most of the LAN reading Questionable Content from the beginning which has over 1000 strips. It took me 3 days and almost passing out from dizziness from looking at the screen for so long but I got caught up. I wish sometimes that I could be as witty as the people in that comic, but I guess I'm just not indie enough. Maybe if I listen to more Le Tigre? /shrug

So this is me avoiding taking a break from studying. I've been doing pretty well all morning, except for having to wait for the library to open with the rest of the damn student population. This place is a zoo today and i bet its because everything else run by CUPE is closed. I guess people actually get studying done when they cant hang out in the arts buffeteria? Who knows. It seems like the upper floor couches are now turning into a place to hang out, making it louder and harder to concentrate on my work. (Hence the LJ update) I have a big history midterm tonight and I'm hoping it will go well even though I only started studying yesterday. I feel like working 4 days in a row makes it hard to get any school work done in that time period. Its like Sunday-Tuesday is school and Wednesday-Saturday is work, allthough I need to be able to do homework everyday of the week, especially weekends. I may change my schedual but I've done that so much allready it's a pain to do it again.

Halloween was good this year, allthough it seems like it lasted 2 weeks instead of a day. I dressed up 3 different times and partied a little too much which is probably why I didnt study very much. Also my asthma is going crazy because of the cold weather so I'm over tired and having coughing fits, bleh. May have to go to the doctor, we'll see. On the plus side though Ryan got his furnace so it isnt freezing cold in his house, heat ftw!

1 month until finals, 3 weeks till both my essays are due and 7 weeks until xmas. Should be an interesting 2 months. What does everyone want for xmas?


ttfn

Yay! My apartment is clean! Well almost. I still have the kitchen to do, but i got everything else all shiny. Also, as I was vacuuming my couch I found my favorite hat that I bought in Montreal. I thought I had lost it, but turns out it was just wedged in the back of the couch! hehe. I literally jumped up and down when I found it but promptly stopped due to my lack of bra. ahaha. Anyhoooo...

Life is fantastic and I'm so glad i decided to go back to school. I really like all my classes and am finally getting the hang of balancing work and school. It was a little stressful for the first little while, but I need to get used to not having so much free time. I also started Weight Watchers again, Tammy is such an inspiration and I know if she can lose 50 lbs I can lose 70. Thats my final goal but I am taking baby steps, 10% first, then go from there.

holy shit! My curtains and rod just fell down, directly beside me and I think my heart jumped in my throat. I'm gonna go put them back up now....OK, they are back up, I'm really glad I bought a step stool when I moved into this place, The ceilings are 10 feet tall and I'm..not. I still really liove my place, the only draw back is if I want my windows open or curtains up, theres always creepy people walking down the alley looking into my windows. yuck. thank goodness for the police station 2 feet away.

It's time for me to procrastinate cleaning my kitchen and go pick up my paycheck and pay my assorted unpaid bills. I'm also getting rid of my cable, it's a total time suck that I do not need.

Take care everyone!

Why do things always go from good to horrible in the course of a day? School started and I was really enjoying it, very pumped about all my profs. and all the material covered in the classes. I tried to ignore how run down and crappy I had been feeling and put my mind to doing the readings and enjoying them. Then, after a very good history class my French professor sees me waiting for the bus and comes up to say hi. Earlier that day we did a survey for the languages department detailing our French experience to make sure we were in the right class. Because of the French immersion I took in high school, normally I wouldn't be able to take the class but since I've been out of school for 6 years the course calendar said they make exceptions, which is awesome so I registered for the class.

Apparently they changed the rule this summer. This is what she tells me, that there was problem with my survey and that I might not be able to get credit for the class. They got rid of the 5 year rule because everyone's level of French is different. and they can't have anyone taking a class that is too easy for them. This of course isn't her fault, she doesn't make the rules and it was great of her to let me know but there isn't anything she can do about it. So, tomorrow I'm headed to the languages department to beg who ever I need to to get credit for the class, I'll even do it in my horrible broken French because I haven't spoken it in 6 years!! It's so frustrating to think I can't take the class that would actually improve my French and allow me to become bilingual again, I have to take the ridiculously hard French grammar class for bilingual students which will inevitably make me tear all my hair out and fail miserably because I have no idea what's going on. awesome.

On top of all that, I find out at work today that because I'm going part time my seniority level as far as being booked with appointments has gone from 3rd from the top to second last. (out of 8) Never mind the year and a half I've put in there or quality work I've done. I am dispensable and entitled to a hug pay cut because I decided to further my education. I'm also sick and still run down and increasingly emotional but i am attempting to deal with all this. Ranting helps, of course and I'm not about to sit around and not do anything about it. I am going to be focused on solutions rather than problems!

So, if you needs haircuts people come see me! I need to pay my rent!

Today I got some errands done around Broadway, and cleaned my entire apartment from top to bottom. it looks fantastic. I'm also making tasty healthy granola bars and eating cheese curds from the bulk cheese warehouse. life is good. Only one day off this week but vacation kinda makes up for that so i don't mind. I got so much done in just one day! School starts in a couple weeks and I'm stoked. Even bought a fancy new backpack because I'm a big nerd and i have to say it's the awesomest. Been knitting like crazy too but I'm taking a break to study for my journey person's exam which is coming up. yikes! so much to do! ttfn!

I have one more night in B.C and I have to say I'm very sad to leave. This week has been amazing, relaxing and more fun than I've had in a really long time.

I'm not awesome at writing so i'll give you al the gist of the trip in semi-point form:
Monday:
-flew into vancouver, met my parents, my brother and his girlfriend and stayed overnight in richmond.
Tues:
- drove to the ferry,hoping to see whales and all that crazy stuff during the crossing but only saw a single seal as we were pulling out (i'm told this is typical)
-arrive in Nanaimo and drive 2ish hours to Campbell River to catch the ferry to Quadra island, almost run out of gas in the process.
-miss the 2:30 ferry wait for an hour and see my first starfish and mini jellyfish in the marina.
- take the ferry to Quadra, and drive to the cabin which to my surprise was more rustic than i had expected but it was so beautiful it didn't matter. Right on the ocean, beautiful knicknacks everywhere, lots of neat stuff on the rocky beach.
- Take the ferry back to van. island with just my mom and pick up Ryan from the airport in comox. (get lost on the way back)
Weds:
-Went to the small shopping area on Quadra and to my excitement found a really amazing yarn store right beside the grocery shop. Went in, bought 115.00 worth of Noro silk garden plus 2 other skeins of locally produced yarn. (i know i'm crazy) Total: 140.00
-Take a wildlife boat tour with a great guide named Aaron who knew exactly where to go to find all sorts of neat stuff. Saw Orcas right up close, seals, bald eagles and porpoises.
Thurs:
- All day sea kayaking trip. I was dreading this due to my fear of deep water and sharks but got over it and was neither drown nor eaten. Arms were really sore half way through but the guides were amazing and encouraging and I made the entire trip without having to be towed.
Fri:
- Found a really nice sandy beach and relaxed for most of the day, found 2 starfish, one purple and one orange and a sand dollar. Peter thought it would be funny to put the starfish ontop of a dead crab to see what happened before after. The starfish actually ate the crab from the inside out. crazy!
Sat:
- took off with Ryan to comox to see where he used to live and to get smoked salmon. cam back and made a salmon dinner for the family (Ryan rocked the bbq
- got drunk on champagne then played Cranium and passed out.
Sun:
-Lazy day for me and reg, catherine and mom. The rest went Salmon fishing and caught a 6 fish which totaled 70lbs. woot!

That brings us to today, got up early and took Ryan to the Comox airport then drove to Victoria where I currently am now. We stopped breifly on Douglas street where I found an AMAZING yarn store and spent another 80 dollars. I have no idea how I'm going to fit all the yarn in my bag. I'll prolly have to carry most of it on the plane.

I'm writing this on my parent's friend's macbook, we are staying at their house for the night and it's so beauitiful here. They have an original Picasso and a Matisse hanging on thier wall among other things. Their whole area is full or huge oak trees and flowers and there's a family of bald eagles that live in the trees 2 houses away.
wow. i'm tired and my hand hurt from typing but i'm off to bed now, most of the pics are on facebook if you wanna check em out.

also im not checking the spelling or typos on this thing so sorry if it's a rough read

Yes it's been awhile. I'm at work so i'll keep this breif. Things have been good, I registered for classes in the fall and applied for student loans. Work is going awesome but I'm looking forward to going part time.

It's 3 am and I just got back from year end inventory at work. I don't think I ever want to do another physical count ever again. I'm over-caffeinated, nauseous and contemplative but I'm sure a good nights sleep will make things better. Alot has happened in the past few months, most of which I never anticipated but I think I'm doing pretty good. There are still things I need to work on to get my life on track but I'm dealing with things as they come.

Note to self: Grande Mocha + Redbull + Beer + Cookie = Blech.


I'm off to pass out now.

I gave my notice for going part-time at work last week. It went better than I expected and I even got the schedual I wanted. Starting in September, I'll be working 20 hours a week and taking classes at the university. I'm taking it slow at first just to see if I can actually pull it off. My last attempt at University didn't go so well but I am alot older now and i know what I want to do, so that makes a difference. At first I wasn't looking forward to the summer and just counting down to school, but work isn't horrible and I get time off in august to go to Victoria. positivity ftw.

Watched the Heroes season finale today, I was pretty impressed, allthough it wasn't as epic as I thought it would be. You know what is epic? Milo Ventimiglia's hair. That man can work the fringe like nobody's business. If I ever met the guy the first thing I'd grope would be his bangs, seriously. He's def. the hottest guy on the show, I don't get all these Sylar fanboys/girls out there. I mean, those eyebrows and the whole, I'm gonna eat your brain thing doesn't really do it for me.





rawr.


They are painting my windows tommorow, which means I have to be out of my place all day and I have no idea what I'm gonna do. If it was sunny I'd go hang out by the river, but it's been so yucky out lately. bleh. Maybe i'll go to a movie or something, enh.

I just watched the first 12 episodes of Heroes in like 2 days. zomg. The show is fantastic and I am in <3 with Hiro. He's so damn cute! I never expected the show to be that good but I was soo wrong. woohoo.

In other news, Money sucks, my living room is a disaster and i'm off to watch more tv.

I was bored at work today So I did my co-workers hair. I <3 40's style hairdos.

lookie!












TTFN

I attended a really awesome hair show today at the exhibition grounds. Work paid for the tickets and gave Kandace and I the day off so I think it was worth it for all the techniques we learned. Not to mention all the free stuff. woo woo. I spent most of my time back and forth from the Paul Mitchell booth to the Main Stage, mostly because I'm a Paul Mitchell fan girl and their platform shows are always fantastic. This time wasn't any different. There are days I wish I worked at a salon that carries their color line and other services because i think the opportunities for inspiration would be endless. Maybe I wouldn't be so eager to go back to University. When I got home to put away all the stuff I got there, I realised how much hairproduct I actually have in my bathroom, and it's pretty scary. The worst part is, thats not everything. I have more in my shower and bedroom. I need help.



I aquired a couch and a ficus tree this week. daysieface moved to Vancouver yesterday and needed to get rid of some of her stuff, I was happy to oblige. It was quite an ordeal getting the couch here but it made it thanks to Tony, Eric and Stace. They actually carried the damn thing from her place to mine which is about 5 blocks because it wouldnt fit in Erics truck. I was very impressed. After some re-arranging i think I have my living room how i want it, but we'll see if I think of anything better. Until then, it looks like this:

I'm back from Edmonton, considerably poorer but refreshed and ready to get back to the real world. I spent about 100 dollars at the MAC store alone but makeup like that is always worth it, hehe. I also got some new fantastic shoes and a couple shirts. I think if my mom had been around (She's currently in Iceland with her parents) I would have spent less time shopping, but it seemed like thats all there was to do. I got my taxes done and will be receiving a very large return so i'm excited about that. It's enough to pay for a semester of Univeristy, books and everything. Life is good.

One slight setback from being gone for 5 days: they put new windows in my kitchen and livivng room but i wasnt around to get my valubles covered and out of the way. I came back yesterday, the new windows were on but there was dirt and dust EVERYWHERE. All over my brand new monitor and my desk and bascily anything withing a 4 foot distance from the windows. I'm kinda pissed they didnt bother to clean up after themselves but it was an excuse to mop the floor. I got everything wiped down and organized and I even got the curtains back up myself. I also rearranged the living room a bit and i like it alot better this way. Did I mention I LOVE my apartment? It's nice even when its messy. I'm going to spruce it up with some easy to take care of plants and some art right away, so if any of you are looking to get rid of houseplants, send em my way. I will try really hard not to kill them.

Here are some recent pics of myself and my apartment:










I'm off to do more cleaning, I hope everyone's week is going well and good luck to anyone whos moving or doing finals. TTFN

I didnt have any problems recovering from my birthday, but in my slightly delirious and hungover state I started looking for ways to get out of the city. University in BC, jobs in Europe, etc. I quickly got over that notion after drinking copious amounts of water and returning to my senses. I am happy here, I'm just not used to being happy here. I have a fabulous albeit messy and neglected apartment and prospects for education in the fall So I think I'm doing pretty good.

I spent my 2 days off sort of cleaning and lazy-ing about. Good times. I always say i'm going to be more productive during my time off but it never happens. Work was average, I didnt have any crazies or dirty people. Did a whole shitload of haircuts and very few Colors. FYI: 8+ haircuts in a row is tedious repetitive(and low paying) hell for hairstylists. I did almost 4 days straight of just that. I can't wait for people to get their income tax back, maybe then I can actually make some money. We also had to to extra cleaning to do because the big head boss guy is on his wait to evaluate the salon tommorow. I'm just glad I have Tuesday off and then I'm headed to Edmonton on Saturday. I somehow managed 5 days off in a row so I'm off to Etown so my dad can do my taxes. (Seriously) I'm just slightly desperate for a vacation.

Tonight was spent doing laundry and (again) sort of cleaning. I'm all queasy because I ate a hot rod and my pseudo-vegetarian stomach doesn't like digesting meat. Blah. It's veggies and tofu for me tomorrow, no exceptions.