My final assignments are pushing close to fifty pages. Each. Keel me.

My final countdown (we're leaving for Venus!) rundown looks like so: one more week of class, one week off, four weeks of in-class teaching, and then one week at community service project. Then I will possess that expensive piece of paper called le BA of Education. Dun dun duuuuuuun.

I've been playing Zelda lots to keep me sane, and we've been watching all my Sailor Moon tapes. (Don't judge me. They're from, like, ten years ago. I recorded the episodes right off the television in a geeky/copyright breaking phase of my youth. We are enjoying ourselves, if only for the classic 80's slang - 'What's your damage?', 'Let's have a fabu-party!' etc.)

Today we all sat through a presentation from the health nurse in London so we'd know what resources we could pass onto our kiddies. Some of the books were terrifying, I will tell you. Not that I've given much thought over explaining the Birds and Bees to children (mine or otherwise), but I will tell you that it would not be through most of that kid-friendly literature. (Do I really want to be reading to an eight year old; "Oh, this is the vulva? Do you have a vulva?") The afternoon was certainly not a complete loss, as we were given free technicolour condoms. They may or may not have been blown up like balloons by the oh-so-mature roommates that evening.

And as a last note of updating-goodness, I entered the creative writing contest on main campus. I spewed it out the night before the deadline, so I don't have high expectations. I meant to write something awesome, but deadlines. They are sneaky sneak and come out of nowhere!

My Dad sent me this email, regarding renovations to the upstairs washroom:

We took down the false ceiling so the bathroom will have a cathedral ceiling like the other rooms. BUT… there were some very strange things in that room. When I took down the drywall we found things like a young women’s dress, skirts, nylons etc. I will fill you in later but it was really weird. I am really wondering what went on there.

I have always suspected something like this would happen.

Happy Valentines, ladies. <3

I was woken this morning by the doorbell, (which I ignored because I was spending my Saturday morning the way I always do - in bed, warm and braless). Finding the door unanswered, our caller goes for the telephone. Which, at the least, makes me think it's something important and perhaps getting-out-of-bed worthy. And it was! Courtesy of Ylisa (who is off for a weekend adventure with her boy), I have a huge bouquet of yellow roses, pink carnations, and daises. <3

Amber and I made a trip to the store and prepared adequate return gifts/thank yous for Ylisa: a cake that is decorated with plastic jungle animals in more-than-suggestive positions, and a love note with v-day word magnets, and a garden plaque that no longer welcomes you to the garden, but to the sex garden. Quite good.

Also got to meet up with CHERRY, who has made a surprise adventure to London this weekend! She gave me a Valentines/Birthday present of Hello Kitty nature (eieeeee), plus a kiss on the cheek. <3 (It was so good to see you, Cherry. THANK YOU!)

I have a sweetheart, who lives far away, and I'm missing her today of all days. But I'm wearing the scented oil she sent me (named Cheshire Cat! <3), and I've finished a letter for her that I'll send off tomorrow.

Today is bitter and sweet and chocolatesque. I am eating cookies.

You will not regret watching this (NSFW): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqt3Zb7BItA&e

I bought a pretty dress for the charity ball at the end of the month, yay. Got it on sale too, which is bonus. <3

I'm starting going to a writing group again tomorrow, so hopefully that gets me going again with writing. I had a resolution to write 500 words a day, and for the most part I've been keeping to it, though I've been slacking lately.

It's hard because my SAD has definitely kicked in. I missed my first two classes this morning in favour of staring at my ceiling and feeling disconnected from everything. Then I read for a bit, thankfully.

I'm trying to always be reading a good novel so I have something to keep me engaged. Hopefully this will help. I'm speeding through Inkheart right now.

Safe and sound in London. There is no food at all in my house. We have plans for an epic grocery store and Costco trip tomorrow to stock up.

Amber and I are trying to buy less frozen meals, trying to branch out and try new healthy recipes etc. Any recommends, ladies? What's going on in your kitchen? besides table sex

Happy New Year, friends!

I'm sorting through my resolutions, one of which is to stay in touch better here. <3

I have eight (and a half) hours of Costco work left and then I'm doooone. Hooray. Probably heading back to London on Saturday, and I've got the I don't want to go back to school, wah whining going on.

BSG season 4 comes out on Tuesday though, so that is happy.

I have two bones out of place in my feet. My father is spending his evenings slowly working them back into place. I limp everywhere. Gross.

Happy Christmas, friends. (Especially to you, Sarah! You know why! Eieeee!)

I'm having a somewhat crappy break. Cause I'm only home for two weeks, and I work every one of all of those fourteen days unless it's a stat. I need the money, yes, but still. No break for moi.

Got a nasty head cold too. I've spent all day chugging back meds and hoarding the tissue box. Jeez.

BUT. Christmas is le good. Got books and movies and video game and monies. (And condoms from Amber, which was hilarious hide-from-le-parents fun.)

I've been watching an episode or two of Dexter everyday after work. That show is brilliant. Seriously.

Am so full on turkey and cheesecake. We're going to throw on Muppet Christmas Carol soon, and I'll probably nap through most of it.

What was your favourite Christmas goodie this year?

Hallowe'en at my house! <3 A selection of pictures. (Warning: blah blah blah, lots of images, be wary, blah.)

( le pictures )

 I've been sitting on this for a bit now, but apparently most of you know anyway, so I don't know why Amber asked me to be quiet about it, grr.  But, yesh. 

AMBER AND ANDREW GOT ENGAGED!   I GET A SISTER!  

eiee.  <3<3<3

And for my first act of soon-to-be sisterly duty, I handed her Breaking Dawn with the apporpriate warning of IT'S HORRIBLE.  Gods.  Chapters is sending me some werewolf fiction in the mail, so hopefully that will take away the nasty aftertaste of crap vampire fiction that isn't even fiction but more like fanfiction omg Stephenie Meyer what is wrong with you?  /rant

 Tim Burton's next film is Alice in Wonderland.  Depp gets to be Monsieur Hatter.    Y/Y?

 I was just catching up on eljay, but there is too much to comment to.  I am such a neglectful wench.  It's so easy, I think, when you aren't checking here every day.  I liked it in high school when we all posted 239467x a day even though we had just seen each other, hah.  

I'm browsing through chapters.ca's bargain book section, contemplating splurging forty bucks (the magic number to get you free shipping) on random, cheap books.   But that's forty dollars I shouldn't really be spending.  I'm wondering if I can justify it since I picked up a shift today which would more than cover it.  I likes books.  I wants books.  I want to read something that makes me put the book down half way through because I need to write, you know?  

I read an article today in the paper talking about fonts, and following the hardcore fans of them.  Like, people that go to font conventions.  And get in fights over which fonts are good and which ones are horrible.  They quoted someone who said their current favourite was Calibri, because it grows on you the more you use it.  Haha, I agree.  I wrote my thesis with that font.  <3 

Ms McBride came through my line at work today.  She is un-retired and teaching (only a few classes) at Banting.  Wtf.  

 Wrote my third (of four) exams last night.  It was not the best exam of my university career, but I just don't care anymore, my gods.  And when I say 'not the best', I mean I may have almost cried in the middle of it, hahaha.  But then I was just like, whatever, nothing you can do now, just write like a mad woman for the next three hours and then you never have to think about this course again.  

The course itself was brilliant; I wish I had more attention to give it than I did.  It was basically the influence and spread of Western art and literature since The Dawn of Time.  (Nah, we went from Ancient Greece and Rome to end of the 19th century?)  Visual art, literature, music... The prof was great, but it was a cultural overload every lecture, so the exam was just GUH.  Way too much to remember.

So that ended at 10pm.  Went over to Ylisa's place for a 'no furniture party'.  These are common in university towns, when summer exams hit and people are slinking away as soon as theirs are finished.  Those of us few with late exams end up walking the campus with our fellow ghosts.  Since Ylisa was roommate-less by this point, what better time to have a party?  (And since the roommates took all of the furniture with them....) 
Lots of people I didn't know there, but we played games and (they) got drunk so it didn't matter much by the end.  I slept over there on a mattress in the living room sharing it with Ylisa and her boyfriend.   And, lo:

Me:  *molests Ylisa*
Ylisa:  Rowr. 
Him: Rowr?  What rowr?  I want in on the rowr.  
Ylisa: No.  Go away. 

I'm that good.  XP

Had to do the walk-of-shame this morning though, as I went to campus (from Ylisa's) to hand in my thesis, wearing the same clothes I came to school in the night before.  Hair a mess and makeup flaking.  And of course I run into my TA from the exam last night.  The look he gave me. 

(Thesis finished up at 53800 words.  154 pages, 1.5 spaced.  I couldn't bear to double space it like I should have.  The thing cost me nearly $40 to print and bind as it was.  I am so so glad that its handed in and done with.  I hope my profs don't kill me at the length, eek.)

Japanese exam Saturday and then I'm done my entire undergraduate degree.  Scary scary scary!  

Got up, ate a banana, thought about life and then went back to bed.

 I have my first exam in eight hours.  Oh dear.  Instead of cramming by way of my monster pile of flashcards, I just spent the last ten minutes counting my monster pile of flashcards.  Three hundred and one.  aksdhgaksdjhaskdjuagsjdhatsd.   I'm gonna go hide out in the candy mountain candy cave until tomorrow is over. 

Cherry is in my bed. <3

 It's like no matter sad or angry or hurt you are... Charlie makes it all better.  Because it's a land of sweets... and joy... and joyness.  

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5im0Ssyyus)

The HP version is also worth a chuckle, if only for the endline, god: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTzFjVRsKA4