Class Breakdown...or are they giving me a breakdown?

Wow. Two weeks since I blogged last. Well, that feels about right. That's when classes started and I have been BUSY. This is my first time actually trying to juggle five classes and I am so incredibly thankful that I'm not working on top of it. A part of me misses it like crazy and I almost applied to the Starbucks on campus but then common sense prevailed and I realized how crazy of a move that would be. The weather has been a bit cooler so I've mostly just been going to classes, coming home and doing readings and then hanging out with friends. Here's a quick review of what I'm studying.

The US as a Young Republic 

I have this class M/W/F from 9:05-9:55. It kind of stinks to have an early class like that but so far it's kept me on track with getting to bed at a decent hour which is nice. It's also my only class on Friday's so that isn't too bad. The prof is pretty cool. Extremely knowledgeable and enjoyable to listen to except he is LOUD. I'm not sure if he's used to lecturing to survey classes or what but in our small 20ish student class, sometimes he just hurts my ears. He's interesting though and I really like this time period so I'm glad I'm taking the class. I have one major research paper due for this class and I'm still debating my topic. I have a few ideas though.

US Constitutional History

M/W 2:30-3:35 This prof is hilarious. Foul mouthed but not in a particularly offensive way. We just sit there and laugh all class. It is an incredible amount of information because I'm learning the Constitution from scratch but we have a good text book and his lectures are easy to follow. We have two case briefs for this class. I haven't even looked at the topics of mine yet.

Georgia History

T/T 12:30-1:45 This class is a massive amount of work. We have online and text book readings assigned for each class and we're tested in class to confirm that we've done the readings. We have a MASSIVE primary source research project and paper as well. The class is fascinating though. The prof (my only female one) is fiercely loyal to Georgia and specifically Savannah at the expense of Atlanta and all other states. It's a lot of fun. 

US as a Global Power

This class is just once a week, on Tuesdays from 6:30-9:15pm. It's long but the prof gets off topic a lot with little stories and anecdotes so it's not like he's lecturing the entire time. He is really funny as well. I make a point of bringing a handkerchief to class because I'm often wiping away tears from laughing. This is class is probably my most intense as far as course work. Three book reviews as well as a major research paper. I haven't even begun to think about what I'm going to write about so that is a bit scary. This class focuses on the 20th century and I took a similar one from a Canadian view point so it's really interesting. It's the most contemporary time period so it's a nice change. 

North American Public Policy Issues

This is a directed studies class which means we only meet a few times during the semester. I have an academic advisor though and I'm checking in with him regularly on the research paper I am writing. This is hands down the class I am most excited about. I could talk about it for forever but, as my Global Power prof says, to make a short story long, this prof is currently developing a Masters program in Public History and is working really hard to try to convince me to apply. I'm not convinced yet (and that wouldn't be for two years anyway) but this man totally gets me. I feel like I've finally found a title for what it is I want to do and he completely understands my goals. It's awesome. A part of this class is my volunteer placement which is it's own bundle of awesomeness but I'll save that for another entry.

So there, that's my five classes. Four major research papers. Three book reviews. Two case studies. Midterms and finals in the first four. I can do this. Gulp!

Georgia Southern Day One

Well, as you can guess I made it the rest of the way to Georgia without incident. I stayed with Pam, who I know from ScrapShare in North Atlanta on Monday night and finished the trip on Tuesday. I got to Statesboro around 1pm but it took the better part of the afternoon to figure out my way around, get my parking pass, check in, get my room key and then go and figure out phone issues. I'm not super happy with what I have set up but I picked up a bug along the road and I'm not feeling particularly well so it will do for now.

Today was our first day of orientation. It was a lot of sitting and listening. We got some questions answered but a lot of it was just officially repeating what we've already been sent. The international program is quite small, about 40 students over all and only 10 or so are exchange students so we got to know everyone quite well. So far I have clicked best with another Canadian (of all people :P) named Kayla. She actually lives next door and I can tell we're going to be good friends. Neither of us are into partying and we both want to explore the area as much as possible. I'm looking forward to hanging out with her more. There's also a girl from Denmark who is super nice, two guys from the UK, Zack is from England and Ben is from Scotland. They both have super thick accents so it's a lot of fun. There are two students from Morrocco and some from Nigeria but I didn't get to talk to them very much. Maybe tomorrow. All the staff are super awesome as well. Everything you've heard about southern hospitality and friendliness is true. They just embody it. I'm ready to start classes but I guess we have some paperwork to get through first. We have two more days of orientation although tomorrow is only a half day and Friday is a general session for all new students at GSU (international or not).

I will have three roommates as well but I'm not expecting them to show up until the weekend because classes don't officially start until Monday. That will be a whole new adventure. In the meantime I'm just working on settling in a little bit and finding my way around. It's going well so far!

Update from the Road: Kentucky

Have you ever planned for and imagined something and then had it play out so exactly as you had hoped that it ends up feeling a bit surreal as it happens? That's what the first two days of this trip has been like. I crossed the border at Detroit without issue, met a friend for lunch in Ann Arbor and then made my way down to my first stop in Ohio. There I stayed with friends and had a wonderful time. I got to see the people I wanted to see and spend time with the ones I wanted to spend time with and this morning I packed up and hit the road again. From Ohio on I don't know exactly what to expect but I'm okay with that. It's pretty much a straight shot down I75 and I'm travelling with the oh so helpful advice of "if you get lost you may as well turn around and go back to Canada" :P Anyway, I am feeling very peaceful right now. Yes I am excited but I'm not at all nervous and even though I don't have it exactly planned out, I know everything is going to play out exactly as it is supposed to.

Happy Birthday Ashley

I wrote this post on Friday night but I didn't have internet access on my computer until now. 

I’m having a horrible time right now with missing Ashley. Sunday would have been her birthday and she passed away just a week later. That makes this the first anniversary of her death. I don’t think it would be nearly so bad if I wasn’t heading out on an adventure so similar to when I went to Quebec. When I went to Quebec I didn’t know I would be living with two other students, never mind ones who became such dear friends. How can you miss someone so much when you only knew them for such a short time? These past few weeks I have found myself composing countless emails, texts and Facebook messages to her in my head. I know she’d be ecstatic about what I have planned for this coming year and I wish I could share it with her. It’s not like I don’t have hundreds of other friends but Ashley was special. I think when someone dies they achieve an immortality and their significance in your life grows. I think nothing of shooting off a quick message to any number of friends or family members and getting a short reply, but knowing I CAN’T with her is hard. Instead I have to allow the memory of her short but bright life, inspire and encourage me. Know that she is looking down and cheering me on and look forward to the new friends that I will make that have the potential to touch my life as she did. 

One Word 2013

I've been participating in the "One Word" challenge for a few years. I was introduced to it through Ali Edwards and I posted this definition a few years ago: "A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow." The idea is that you pick a word that gives you a tie post for the year. In the past I've used: Peace, Dream, Discover and last year my word was "Abide".

2012 was a year for Abiding. Waiting patiently. Doing what needed to be done and laying the groundwork in order to make 2013 an epic year. So my One Word for 2013 is ADVENTURE. I think it's rather appropriate. I'm leaving for Georgia in two days and in May I fly to Europe. This will be a year I will look back on for all the memories and I can't wait to start making them :)

Happy New Year!

Just a quick update. Yesterday was New Years Eve and I spent most of the morning packing. I worked from 1-9:30pm. It was a weird shift because it was fairly quiet but then when we were ready to close it got busy. Rather annoying. Plus my coworker was fighting with his boyfriend (via text) so he was in a bad mood so it wasn't my favourite shift ever. Anyway, we got out just after nine and I headed up to my friends place in Guelph (about a half an hour north of Waterloo). When I arrived the group of people there were playing Cranium. They threw a question at me just as I walked through the door and I answered it correctly so both teams started arguing over "who got Heidi". That was a good ego boost :D

It was a nice relaxing evening. We finished the game (my team won), visited, played some crokinole and then the guys broke out the guitars and we ended up sitting around and singing till midnight. One of my friends is a FANTASTIC picker so we were singing gospel songs at a super fast pace. It was a blast. We did the big countdown to midnight and I texted a few friends (while everyone else kissed :P) I left sometime just before 1. It was a wonderful way to ring in the new year.

For the past few years my friend Leasa has hosted a New Years Day get together and has invited me. Of course I was always back in BC so I missed it. This year I was in town and I told her I wanted to collect on the rain check. Turns out she didn't plan a big bash so it was just me, Leasa, her husband David and their two adorable children. It was actually perfect. We just visited for most of the day and had a big lunch of homemade pierogies and farmers sausage from Saskatchewan. David's dad joined us for dinner as well and he's a Newfie so he's a ton of fun :)

David and Leasa live about an hour south of me and I have another friend in the area so I stayed at their place until 7ish when my friend Nate finished a family dinner and then I met up with him and his friend who was visiting from Peterborough. It was funny because the friend and I spent the whole time going "Oh! You're THAT friend" to each other because Nate has talked a lot about each of us to the other :P It was good to spend time with all these people. I'm definitely going to miss them while I'm on my Grand Adventure but Nate's coming to Europe so I'll see him there.

Happy New Year! Here's to an EPIC 2013 :)

Christmas Music

I posted a few weeks on Facebook about the new Jeremy Camp Christmas album. Somehow I missed that he had released on this year and when I found it on iTunes I was so excited. It has definitely been my number one played album this Christmas. I usually try to do that, just limit myself to one new album per year so I can really enjoy it but some of them become instant classics. My "must listen to every year" favourites include: Kenny Chesney's "All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan", Brad Paisley's "Christmas" and a Various Artists Canadian Christmas Compilation that I can listen to over and over.

This new album by Jeremy Camp is now part of that group. Someone asked me to describe Jeremy's style of music on Facebook and I didn't respond. Normally I would say he's "Christian Rock" but it's Christmas music. It's not HARD rock by any means but for me, it's still rocky. I love it though. I adore his music and having his touch on Christmas classic is just fabulous. One of my favourite lines on the whole album is during "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" when he changes "Through the years, we all will be together, if the Fates allow" to "if the Lord allows".  For someone who chose to not be with her family for Christmas it give me hope and comfort for future Christmases.

In general this year I was pretty good with Christmas music. There were some songs I just couldn't listen to like "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Blue Christmas" but the rest of them were okay. It's funny. I think I underestimated the effect of music and the nostalgia included in Christmas music specifically so it was a separate set of emotions I had to deal with. I think I did pretty well though. And now Christmas is all over and the new year is looming! Wishing all the best to all of you and hoping that in time, we can all be together again, if the Lord allows :) <3 p="p">

Packing

I took my first load of boxes over to my friends house today. They are storing my things for me while I am gone since I am giving up my place. I hope to only have one more car load of stuff to leave there but I'm trying to figure out how I have so much stuff! When I moved to Ontario from BC it all fit in my car. Now that stuff has doubled or even tripled. It's nuts. I got rid of stuff too but I guess I need to pare down even more! Oh well. It can wait until I get back now :P

The hardest part has been packing up my scrapbooking supplies. Knowing I won't be able to use them for another year is sad for me. Scrapbooking is such a defining part of who I am but the way I like to do it (traditional with paper) is not conducive to this nomadic lifestyle I am adopting to this year so I have to let it go for now. Yes there are other ways to record memories (like this blog) but it's not the same as playing with little bits of paper :P

The packing is almost done though. I'll do laundry tomorrow and then most of my clothes will be ready. I also need to pack shoes and boots. I'm dividing them into "take/leave" because I'm only taking one or two pairs of boots. All my warm winter ones are staying in Canada. With average daily temperatures of 15oC I definitely don't need boots in Georgia! Wish me luck as I chip away at this. Only six more sleeps before I leave!

Christmas 2012

This was my first Christmas that I was away from my family. I knew in August when I was in both Alberta and BC for Seth's wedding that I wouldn't be going. I had a few moments where I felt a bit sad but logging onto an airline website and seeing the cost of flying over the holidays cured me of that very fast. A few weeks ago my coworker and I drove another coworker to the airport and I was SO glad it wasn't me getting on that plane. I mean it would have been nice to see my family but I was glad to not do a cross country flight at this time of year. 

I opened on Christmas Eve and then packed up and headed up to my friends home in Mount Forest. It was a wonderful low key Christmas Eve and morning. Brenda and Regan (above) and I played a very close game of Upwords, I convinced everyone (Brenda, Regan, Grace and Esther) to play a Canadian Trivia game that I bought at Value Village (which meant it was 15ish years old, but still fun) and we watched the original Grinch. Along with lots of hanging out and an amazing meal cooked by Esther.

Christmas morning we slept in...well, I was up around 8am which is good considering how much I've been opening (that means 4am wake up calls) and then we opened stockings. I hand't really thought about it so when there was not only a stocking with my name on it, but a VERY generous stocking, I was surprised, touched and very thankful. It was all thoughtful gifts like gum, candy, bath products and an iTunes gift card. Consumables that I don't need to worry about packing. Perfect!

After breakfast (show above) we headed over to Oma's for Christmas dinner. The best part about joining this particular family for Christmas is not only are these four dear friends but the whole extended family is as well. Every one of them is a good friend of mine and it was a pleasure to spend Christmas with them.

The family is Evelyn (Oma) and her four children: Brenda, her husband Regan and three children Grace (left), Esther and Stefan. I have known Stefan's wife Susannah since she was born and her family for many years before that. Margaret was there with her son Adam. Ruth and her boyfriend Jody brought their two adorable children Hope (left) and Jonathan (below). Kids always make Christmas more fun! The youngest is James who is married to my BC friend Sharlaine. They were married just two months before I moved to Ontario and Sharlaine and I have become great friends since we moved here.

So many awesome people made for a great Christmas. It was fun watching everyone open their presents. They draw names so each person got a decent larger gift and then a small gag gift from someone else. Some of them were hilarious, if you know the inside joke. It was a lot of fun. Of course we had a scrumptious Christmas dinner including turkey and all the fixings and then a huge dessert table as well. We finished the evening with various games but I left a bit early because I was fighting sniffles/allergies and I had to open on Boxing Day. 

The whole time I was keeping in touch with all my extended family via text message as well. I have decided that my sister in law Robbie is my favourite because she texts back the fastest ;) All in all it was a good Christmas. My family would have been better but considering this is the choice I made, it turned out just fine. 

Secret Santas

My family is kind of past the gift giving stage. At least for us. I definitely don't have money and my brothers make more than they know what to do with so they can buy whatever they want. Instead I participated in a few Secret Santa gift exchanges and that gives me my fill of trying to buy for people. I had three this year. One with the girls from church. It was a generic exchange (no specific names) so I bought one of the awesome gift packs from Starbucks and contributed that. In exchange I got a mini cupcake maker. One of those appliances. I think if I wasn't moving and trying to get rid of stuff I would be more excited because it IS a cool gift. Unfortunately I'm just thinking of what to do with it while I'm gone. Oh well.

The second exchange was with the French Club Executive Members. I got my friend Jenelle who is a history major with a French minor (like me). I had a heck of a time finding something. After visiting Chapters three times I finally went to the little local independent bookseller in town and the owner hooked me up with a great book in about five seconds. It is a book of "Britishisms" and she LOVED it. Turns out she's on a huge British kick right now so it was perfect. In exchange I got a book called "Mugged by a Moose: True Tales to make you Laugh, Chortle, Snicker and Feel Inspired". It will sit prominently on my bookshelf in Georgia :D

The last exchange was with my Starbucks coworkers. I drew Matt who is a newish barista so I had to do some work to figure out what to get him. He and his wife are expecting a daughter in February so I went with that theme and made them this picture for the nursery. It's in the colours he described and he was very happy with it. I also threw in some home made cookies, because who doesn't love cookies?

Josh had my name which made it the easiest gift to buy ever (his words but it's true). He is a music major and he's been teaching me about classical music over the past year or so. He bought me a boxed set of the complete works of Sibelius. He gave it to me at 5am Monday morning when we were just starting our shift and I was SO excited. I've been enjoying it immensely ever since and I keep trying to tell people about it but no one understands how awesome it is...except him. But that's okay.

So there we go, it's a week before Christmas and my giving and receiving is done. I kind of like it this way. Less stress and I still had fun.

Christmas in Toronto

One of the reasons I moved to Ontario was so that I could explore the city of Toronto more. It is Canada's largest city and it has lots to discover but I have been awful at visiting. I'm not really sure why. I used to go into Vancouver all the time and Toronto's not that much further away. I guess I just need a reason. Anyway, Sunday evening Grace, Esther and I packed up our ice skates and headed into the city with the intention of skating at Nathan Phillips Square and then checking out Eaton Centre. We left Grace's car at a shopping mall just off the 401 and then I drove us down towards the city centre.

In typical Heidi fashion I kind of aimed the direction I needed to go and started driving. Initially I knew I was going the wrong way so I just waited until it was convenient to turn left and then drove that way for awhile. The road curved, and split and I turned once and then I was on a major road which I took until I could turn left again. I was reading street signs but I hadn't actually looked at what road I needed to be on. Sure enough, within about five minutes, our EXACT DESTINATION showed up on the left!!! Amazing! I totally just stumbled on it. Yeah me! LOL

So this was our destination. City Hall (above) which I've never been to before but it's pretty distinctive, and the ice rink at Nathan Phillips Square which is right in front of City Hall. Can you see the CN Tower peeking through the buildings?

I haven't been ice skating since I left BC. I bought skates in January when I had time before Ashley's funeral (Collingwood has a Canadian Tire. How convenient.) But last winter was too mild and I never got a chance to use them. It took a bit to get going but I was impressed with how fast I managed to move. The rink is a good size so it didn't feel like you were going in tiny circles and it wasn't very busy which was nice.

The crazy part was the weather. It was WARM. Seven degrees Celsius. You can see from this picture how wet the ice was. It makes for a pretty picture! As long as you didn't fall, the wet ice was actually kind of okay because otherwise it was really chewed up. The wet ice was smoother if that makes sense. I managed to stay upright the whole time as well which is good because otherwise I would have been soaked.

We skated for close to an hour and then changed back into boots and stashed the skates in the car. Then we walked around the outside of Eaton Centre and back through the inside. I posed with a mannequin...

Esther posed with a tree...

And we found the massive Christmas tree and 20 foot tall reindeer inside. The stores in the mall were closing by the time we go there which was fine because we weren't there to spend money anyway. Mostly it was just nice to walk around and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the city during the holidays and spend time with each other. I'm going to miss these girls an awful lot while I'm gone!

Friends understand when friends need to stare off into the distance

 I worked over 42 hours this week. I'm exhausted. I didn't have any exams (the last one isn't until Tuesday) so working was my primary focus. Today after work I met up with these three amazing ladies. Kerri, Erin and Heather. We were thinking of watching a movie but instead we just chatted and then made an amazing run to Uptown Waterloo for some treats. We bought pizza, tea from DavidsTea and cupcakes from Honey Bakery. We brought them back to Heather's and proceeded to polish it off. I ate an entire half a pizza plus my cupcake. It was amazing. We're all pretty fried with it being the end of semester and we're trying to not get too depressed with the fact that this is the last time that we'll see each other so we just quietly sat around and visited. It was nice to be able to just be with people who understand how done we are and who didn't mind that we packed up around 6:30 so we could all go home and keep studying. I love these ladies. The next time we see each other will probably be in Europe. That excitement makes parting easier.

It's amazing what a few hours can do

I kept track of everything I accomplished today. It's a rather impressive list if I do say so myself! It's amazing what actually having time can allow one to do.
- Worked 5-9am
- Attended Meeting
- Attended Christmas party
- Talked to three profs about school work and planning for the future
-Dropped off old laptop for recycling
- Bough travel health insurance
- Picked up guide books and maps
- Bought part of one Secret Santa gift
- Picked up school transcript for France Application
- Confirmed registration for winter semester
- Talked to business office re financing
- Picked up second Secret Santa gift
- Called BC Student Loans, scheduled a call back
- Submitted Certificate of Immunization to GSU and received confirmation of receipt
- Received one of two letters needed for France
- Confirmed accommodation for travel to Georgia
- Called Rogers regarding phone contract
- Posted on Facebook about phone for input
- Spoke with BCSL, confirmed that I don't have any action until January
- Made ginger molasses cookies
- Talked to Mom
- Assembled first Secret Santa gift

I still have lots to do but it sure feels good to have achieve this much and I'm a lot less panicky today. (and yes Karin, the chocolate helped :))

So. Much. To. Do.

I had a momentary panic attack tonight. It set in during church when my mind was relaxed but I started going over everything I still have to accomplish in the next just over three weeks. So much paper work and arranging and planning and PACKING and I'm working 40+ hours which is great because I need the money but it's overwhelming. Anyway, I reached out to a few people and they talked me down and I'm okay now (aside from a headache from crying). I sent a few messages when I got home and arranged a few things. I added to my list too. I'll do more tomorrow and I know it will fall into place but man, it sure gets overwhelming!!! Wish me luck!

Truths I have learned

Hey blogland. I know I've been totally MIA again, and I truly do miss blogging. I think about it but somehow I never get her to post. Anyway, this is a bit of a vague post because I'm not about to post the gory details of how or why I learned these truths but suffice to say, I have some incredible friends and awesome people in my life and I thank God for them daily.

Recent Truths I Have Learned:

It's good to be human.
It's good to feel.
Things are rarely as big or as important as they seem in your head.
Life is too short to be spent worrying.
It's not what you do, it's how you do it.

This semester has been interesting in it's own special way. A good lesson in patience but also a lot of growth. I have an incredible 2013 lined up and I'm super excited for it, but I'm not quite ready for this year to be over yet either.

Welcome to Year Three

Summer's gone and I hardly blogged at all. It's not even like it was all that busy, I just never got around to it. Anyway, instead of burdening myself with trying to recap it all, I'm going to start with today. My first day back at school. I'm in my "third year" but I'm technically a half credit short of being a "third year" student which is why I titled this "year three". It's confusing. I know. It will get more confusing as time goes on. The bottom line is, after this year, I still have two full more years to go to complete my undergrad. It's all good.

So, first day back. I have four classes again this semester (hence why a four year program is taking me five years, because I'm only doing four classes at a time instead of five). This semester my classes are all on Tuesdays and Thursdays with one tutorial on Friday. I start on Tuesday (today) at 10am with African History. I took this class for two reasons. 1) I know nothing about Africa and I think it will be interesting. 2) I heard the prof speak at a History Students Association conference a few years back and I loved him. After the first class, I still love him and I'm super excited for this class, although not so much the readings that go with it (they look depressing, I'm sure they'll be interesting though).

That class runs for an hour and a half (well, 80 minutes but for arguments sake, 1.5 hours) and then I have a 1.5 hour break. At 1pm I go to my "Canada Before Confederation" history course. Again I took it for two reasons. 1) I love the topic and think I want to pursue this era. 2) I haven't heard great things about the prof and I want to form my own opinions because there is a chance I'd have her for upper level courses in the future.

Then I have a 1.5 hour break (are we seeing a pattern here?) and at 4pm I start what might be my favourite class. It's officially called "War and Memory in North America" but it deals specifically with the War of 1812 followed by World War One. We have some really cool projects to do and we've planned a field trip to the battlefields at Niagara! Oh, and this prof is amazing. I haven't had him but I've heard fantastic things and judging from the first class, they're right.

After that class I have a short 30 minute break and then I head off to Quebec Culture IN FRENCH for three hours. I have been apprehensive about this class, even after talking to the prof. I'm happy to report that I understood a lot more than I had anticipated. After hardly doing any French over the summer I managed to understand the majority of what the prof said tonight. Granted she has a pretty anglicized accent but she still speaks fairly quickly so I was a bit worried. I'm going to have to work hard but I have easily a dozen friends in that class so we're planning weekly study sessions and I think we'll do well.

Thursday is the same as Tuesday minus the three hour class. Also, the middle one (Canadian History) doesn't have a lecture on Thursday's but sometimes there are what she calls "remedial classes" which are essentially tips on how to do the assignments or what to study for the final. So that's what I'm up to! The other day's I have open for working and for my campus club activities. I'm very active in French Club again, a general member in the History Students Association and, most scarily, a Co-President of NASSA (North American Studies Students Association) eek! And speaking of, I have work to do. Wish me luck!

Hell Week is Over

I don't guarantee that I'll be posting more but maybe. I call last week Hell Week because I worked roughly 30 hours at Headstart and well over 20 at Starbucks. Headstart is a program on campus for incoming first years. It runs on random days in May, June and July but last week it was five days in a row (I worked four of them). My roll was largely directing traffic and making people parked in the proper lot. I did that morning and afternoon for two-ish hours each time. In between I helped students with online registration for classes and then led tours in the late afternoon. It was exhausting but a lot of fun. It has helped to break up the summer but I am sure glad it's over. Being on your feet for eight hours at a time at Starbucks is one thing because you're generally always moving and doing things. Being outside in the HOT sun and standing mostly in one place is a different kind of exhausting. It it has been HOT. And humid. It makes me question my sanity regarding moving to Georgia. I keep reminding myself that I'm going in January though. Hopefully it won't be too hot.

Anyway, Headstart is done and I'm back to just working my 30ish hours a week at Starbucks. It's almost like being on vacation! LOL

Stoney Creek

A couple of months ago I was hanging out with Heather and Kinsey and we were discussing (among other things) our summer plans. I mentioned that I wanted to take advantage of the activities planned in remembrance of the War of 1812 and Heather informed me that she has a friend who is a War of 1812 reenactor! I went home that night and immediately added Ryan as a friend on Facebook...or maybe he added me. She messaged him to say that we needed to meet. (Can you tell which one is him? LOL) I've been chatting with him infrequently ever since. Picking his brain about reenacting and the upcoming events. 

Sunday, June 3rd I had an evening church service and Ryan was in Hamilton at the first major event of the year. The 199th Anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek. Heather had been away for most of May so I talked her into coming to Stoney Creek with me so we could catch up (it wasn't that hard to convince her). It was a grey, overcast day. I had on a hoodie and I wore it all day. At one point it warmed up and I pushed up the sleeves but that was as hot as it got. Still when I got home my nose and cheeks were rosy. Stupid UV rays! Anyway, it was actually good weather for an event like this. Too much hotter and it would have been miserable. 

We arrived just before the memorial service (second picture) and afterwards went up the monument to see the view. After that we wandered around and took in the sites. We tried oat cakes made by someone on site, learned about early 19th century diseases, listened to musical performances and sat for over an hour and listened to "Tecumseh" (left). He was a very passionate speaker and very engaging but I got bored. Heather loved him though.

The main attraction was the battle at 2pm. It was preceded by an artillery demonstration (that's Ryan on the  cannon crew). The battle was fully narrated so that us "civilians" could tell what was happening and why. It was fascinating. There was a small group of Americans portraying the "other side". It ended with a moment of silence for all the fallen.

Renactments are interesting to watch, especially when the British are involved in their red coats. 

Heather and I after the battle.

Ryan and Heather. I can't wait until the next event!

The Shallows

A few weeks ago I met up with my friend Steph for drinks at a new cafe in town that I recently discovered. It was a gorgeous day so we sat out on the patio and then went for a walk through Uptown Waterloo and browsed in the shops. We ended up in a bookstore where I picked up a few books from the bargain bin. As I was paying I made a comment about hoping I could concentrate long enough to actually read them. I'm finding that my ability to lose myself in a book for hours on end like I could when I was a kid is gone. I was questioning if it has just been the books I've been reading (are they not that interesting?) or conditioning from working as a receptionist for so many years where you're constantly interrupted. The owner of the book store asked me to wait and he went and pulled a book from the shelf entitled "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains". I almost never buy full priced books but this one looked so interesting that I just did it. And luckily it was. The book itself is pretty full of stats and results of studies and surveys but the bottom line is that the inability to concentrate that I am feeling isn't unique to me and the culprit is actually the internet!

One passage that really stood out was near the end.

"The influx of competing messages that we receive whenever we go online not only overloads our working memory; it makes it much harder for our frontal lobes to concentrate our attention on any one thing. The process of memory consolidation can't even get started. And, thanks once again to the plasticity of our neuronal pathways, the more we use the Web, the more we train our brain to be distracted - to process information very quickly and very efficiently but without sustained attention. That helps explain why many of us find it hard to concentrate even when we're away from our computers. Our brains become adept at forgetting, inept at remembering. Our growing dependence on the Web's information stores may in fact be the product of a self-perpetuating self-amplifying loop. As our use of the Web makes it harder for us to lock information into our biological memory, w're forced to rely more and more on the Net's capacious and easily searchable artificial memory, even if it makes us shallower thinkers.

The book talks about the lull of electronic stimulation and how our brains have been reshaped and reformed to need it. On one hand it's a bit depressing but on the other, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one feeling like this and it CAN be reversed. It just takes dedicated time to rework those neural pathways. Interesting stuff!

Distillery District

I'm having adventures faster than I can blog about them! Let's see if I can catch up a bit here.

I do realize the irony in following the previous blog post up with this one but I want to stay chronological here. So after posting about how much I like doing things with my friends, Wednesday, May 30th I headed into Toronto by myself. My destination was the First Parliament Interpretive Centre. I need to back up though and give a bit of background. Before I moved to Ontario I was at a ScrapShare Washington Retreat and discussing my plans with my friend Linda. She suggested that I connect with her friend Wendy who is involved in some of the fields I am looking at employment opportunities in. Wendy and I added each other on Facebook and then life got in the way. I moved, settled into school, went to Quebec and took my epic road trip last summer. She moved between Ottawa and Toronto and got divorced. This year when school ended I contacted her again and made plans to come out to visit. Wednesday was that day. 

I was late leaving Waterloo but traffic wasn't too bad so I got to Toronto around 1pm. Wendy was waiting for me and greeted me by name when I walked in. We started chatting and talked for probably two hours straight. It was great. We discussed the exhibit and how it developed, her involvement and the other places she has worked. From what Linda had said I knew Wendy would be a good resource and I was right. We discussed the job market in our field in Ontario, ways to network and a bunch of other things. The exhibit itself is a temporary one so it's mostly just informational panels. I didn't take any pictures but it was interesting to read and a good introduction to the War of 1812 bicentennial events happening in Ontario starting this year.

 The exhibit closed at 4 and I left just before that. Wendy directed me to the nearby historic Distillery District (which is where I had ended up parking my car) and because I wasn't in a rush to get anywhere, I hung around for awhile. I browsed through the shops, ate the lunch I had packed while people watching and treated myself to some fabulous chocolate and a tart from the bakery. In a store called Bergo I found THIS. I first saw it in the MOMA gift shop when Meredith and I were in NYC. I also recently pinned it on Pinterest. I know you can buy it at uncommongoods but I found it for cheaper here. I don't know what I'll use it for. I have no need for a creamer but I've regretted not buying it for two and a half years so I had to get it. Interesting side note. I had a feeling I would find it in that store. All their other stock was similar gadgets and by the same designer so I was working my way through looking closely at each display. Just before I found it I got a call from Meredith. We had been playing telephone tag so I was expecting her call. I also had a pretty good idea of why she was calling. The day before I had learned that one of our elementary school classmates had passed away. I don't even know the last time I saw or spoke to Laura but she used to live across the street from me and we played together a bit. This is really random but one of the clearest memories I have of Laura isn't even about her. It was of Meredith telling me, in maybe grade 3 that Laura had said that her older sister was "bleeding from between her legs". It was the first I had ever really heard of menstruation and I remember Meredith sounding really concerned about Laura's sister and the fact that it could happen to us. I also remember responding in that "I'm-younger-than-you-but-the-oldest-child-in-my-family-calmness" that "There must be an explanation for it. We just don't know what it is yet". Anyway, as I said. Random. The point of that segue was to say that just after I hung up with Mere I found the creamer so in a weird way it felt like she was there with me this time too. Anyway, this has gotten kind of long and rambly. I guess I can finish up by saying it was a nice, relaxing, productive day and I can't wait to get back to the Distillery District and to other parts of Toronto over the summer.

BlackBird Vintage. Another amazing shop that was like having my Pinterest boards come to life. It was everything I could do to hold back and not drop major $$$!

The chocolate shop