Doesn't matter if I pass or fail this chem test ....everyone deserves to use Golden Brown Sugar Cubes in their tea.

Waiting for laundry

Time flies..... I've been marking the days by emptying pill bottles. Hahah, sounds bad right. I'm on this perscription that usually takes me a little more than a month to get through a bottle of. I only half realized this until I thought about how many times I've phoned in Shoppers requesting a refill. Yah, time flies...
So I'm waiting for my laundry. It's only 23:37 but I'm a bit tired. I just cleaned my room (and I mean REALLY cleaned) and I'm making a special effort to keep it half decent. At least for a little while. I went through any bags that I've crammed in my closet and I threw out garbage that should have been gone ages ago. It feels good. It feels good to have my room so clean. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but before I tackeled my room I could not see the floor. Okay that's not entirely true. Sometimes I could catch a glimpse of the laminate flooring where my wall his the floor, but other than that yah. Not much.
Earlier today I was on the computer and just searching random things on youtube. I came across this one vid talking about that tube you can get put into the top part of your stomach, as a last resort to losing a lot of weight. They were mostly talking about how some doctors think it should be approved for teenagers to get in America. Hmmmmm I probably should have payed closer attention to the details. But it seemed to me that the doctors were talking about it rather... casually, and I started to wonder how big of a deal something like this might be in fifty years from now. I mean... maybe by then it will be the most common thing in the world to send kids that are (even slightly) overweight to have this operation done? At first when I heard about this surgery, it seemed like something only those who are dangerously overweight do, in order to drop to a healthy weight. I don't know, maybe it isn't as big of a deal as I think it is. But you never know? Maybe it will be as casual of a surgery as getting your wisdoms pulled.

Food, Cooking, Etc

Wohoo, first day of on-the-road-driving-school. Nothing special to report about it though... just that it's sad that I could have gotten my license last year at this time if I had gotten my G1 on my 16th. Hahah, oh well. My goal is to get my license before I leave for Thailand. That way when I come back I can just start driving and not have to worry about brushing up on my "skills".

I made chocolate chip-banana muffins last night! I think that was my first time making muffins, actually. They turned out really good..... found the recipe online and made a couple of changes. I think it would be really cool to learn how to cook. Well... and bake. The only thing I've really tried to "cook" are finn pancakes.

I'm starting a cook book soon; probably before Thailand. I'll bring some favourite recipes from here to Thailand, and hopefully bring a bunch back at the end of my exchange. I need to learn how to cook! My aunt said it would be really sweet if I could take some kind of Thai massage course while I'm there, too. Apparently it isn't very expensive (compared to what it might cost here) and it would also just be a really interesting skill to have!!!!

We have so much ice cream in the house right now. I think we're going through a chocolate phase. We have some kind of Bryers double churned, extra brownie stuff, heavenly hash, mint chocolate chip, and also one of those four litre pails of plain chocolate. I guess we go through it pretty fast though...

Now that I think of it, we have a lot of good food in the house. There's leftover pizza (deluxe!), those muffins, chocolate MILK! Mmmmm. Chocolate milk is like a rare commodity in our house. Dang- I should really go and get something to eat.
And then maybe if I have time, do my chem.

Northern Thailand!

Okie! So looking back I realize I need to start from the beginning... I haven't talked about next year at all yet. About a year and a half ago I started considering going on a student exchange for a year after highschool. I can't remember if there was one thing that was the main initiator of this thought, but I know it was a combination of my Aunt Barbara (who went on an exchange when she was in highschool), talking with exchange students at school, and a love for plane food (ha). I guess it was after I came back from Brazil in the fall of 2007. So maybe it was longer ago than I thought when I started thinking about an exchnage! Wowie.


Anyways so I started filling out application papers last summer, and in the last four or five months I've been in closer touch with the exchange program. I was interviewed and accepted late last year and then told in January that I was going to Thailand! We more or less got to chose where we would go; we ranked a list of about forty countries in the order of our preference, and based on this and the number of spaces available in each country, we got placed. Thailand was in my top 5... they were: Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Brazil, Thailand. I was reaaally super happy to get put in Thailand. It was definetly a surprise, but the more I thought about it (and it only took a few minutes) the more I realized what an AWESOME place Thailand would be to live in for a year!


One thing I need to work on is the language. I was expecting to learn spanish or portuguese for my exchange, so I jumped the gun a bit and started studying before I knew where I was going. Well... that isn't completely true. I know some portuguese and spanish is similar... so I was assuming I was doing the right thing by continuing brazilian portuguese. Oh well. I'll use it one day! But ....Thai ....is a very different language (which I've recently come to discover). It would be cool to be in a Thai-speaking school, and not an english one, because I would probably catch on to the language so much faster! It sounds like it would be a really cool language to speak fluently.


Anyways, the most recent news is that I have a better idea of where I will be living! And I don't know much about Thailand, but this is the area I was hoping to go to :D The place I was hoping I wouldn't get placed was in a big city. The only one I know is Bangkok. There's gotta be more out there, though! I would definetly like to spend a day or a weekend in Bankok, but I was relieved not to be living there for a year. The clean air of Chiang Mai sounds delicious!

Saudades de vc ....mas talvez da proxima vez, ne.

Questions

Is it okay to explode on facebook? Would it be acceptable for me to fill in my "what am I doing" line with: HJkfhdskjfhjkghASfkj? It's iffy, right. I mean every "friend" that I have on fbook has access to this status of mine and would most likely get the wrong impression of my general attitude towards life. Not very fair to me, or to them. But then where can one explode? On a blog? No. Who sees this blog? I don't know..... so wouldn't it just be better to keep it inside of me and let my head errupt gradually (or not so gradually) in front of the people I know and love the most? I actually DON'T know! But something tells me this isn't the answer. If you have a solution, please contact me.

Since when has everyone known everything about everyone else? Who decides how far is too far, and who is anyone to say what anyone else should or should not be doing? We know who we are..... why do we need people to say it isn't "like us" to do or say something; how do they know? They've only known me for short intervals at a time, so why would I care if someone told me that it's "out of my norm" to do something? They don't know the context of my life. No one knows exactly where you're coming from. No one but yourself.

I have problems, okay. I try my best to make my entries as happy and optimistic as possible. But the truth is! who can truthfully say that they feel happy all the time? No one that I know feels happy all the time. Not me! You know.... one of those days when you wake up, look in the mirror, think: Man, I'm ugly. Miss the bus. Over-react in every possible situation. Try to act a certain way in front of certain people. Go through the motions. SURE... I know I've been there. In fact this is one of those jolly days! Not every one of the aforementioned events happened to me all in this day, but they occur often enough to result in days when I feel like... poop. And they SUCK.

Okay....... making a list of reasons not to be grumpy/mildly depressed:

1. I'm full. I had so much to eat today it's funny

2. I know I'll have an awesome sleep tonight. Stayed up late last night working on French project therefore a good night can be almost guarenteed.

3. I have the BEST semester EVER. I have Lankin teaching me chem, a physed class that isn't half bad, a spare!, and French. So slack

4. Tudo que preciso e tudo que tenho.

5. I'm going to travel the world! There's no limits.... free and able to do as I please with my time.

6. I have friends that I know no matter what happens to me, they will be there.

Yay for reading!

Wrote last exam.... data! And good news is that I got an 81% (which doesn't usually happen when combining me and math). So I finished with a 79/80 in that class. Weeeeo! I was trying to calculate what my grade 12 average could be. Four of my six "credits that count" were in the semester that just finished, so it doesn't take a lot of guessing.
And I was so glad to be finished exams becasue that meant I could finally start reading again. I was trying to hold off on beginning any new books when I should have been studying; it sucked. But guess what! Next semester is going to be a sinch! I have chem, phys.ed, spare, french!
Today I plan on making triple chocolate cookies and also maybe cleaning my room. It looks like a construction zone in there.

Exams! And more important things

Hiiiiiiiii! Long time no chat.... my fault, I know. I don't exactly have a plan regarding what I'll be writing you today, but I titled it "Exams!" so I guess I could work along those lines.
I had anthro today (super easy) and english tomorrow. I should really be studying, or at least making an essay outline right now, but whatever; it's only grade 12, right??? Hhahah it's not like it counts or anything?

Yah, I don't know what else to say about exams... I have data on Monday. That should be a blast. It's just so weird that I will never have another highschool (for example) english class ever again. And I'm sad to end writers' craft and data becasue they were just... good classes! Teachers were good, people were good, the material (vaguely) interesting. But next semester should be fun too... I have chemistry, phys.ed, spare, french! I think it's going to be so easy compared to this semester! And I LOVE chemistry!

Anyways, moving on to more important things, last weekend I went to this sweet warehouse sale at the Colesium (sp?) and I bought this really awesome sweater for only $5. I'm wearing it now, and I just looked in the mirror and thought dang, I like this sweater. I have way too many clothes, but if you only knew how little I paid for them it might make sense to you. For example the pants I'm wearing are ones I found in the lost and found. In other words, FREE. They were in there for almost a week, so all is fair ;D And the sweater... well you know. Even my socks - Old Navy Men's Clearance (a great place). Old Navy is one of the prime locations for cheap clothes... especially if you're up for sailing Men's Clearance.

Another prime location is Value Village. You need to have some time on your hands, but after a few hours of searching through the rubble, you're sure to find some amazing pieces. And an added bonus is that it's very unlikely that anyone else will have it, ahahha. I also highly recommend their jewlery and coffee mugs. Just give them a good scrub when you get home, and they're as good as new.

Earlier on tonight I was looking through an old family photo album.... I love them. This one isn't your typical album; it's one my Aunt made on some computer program (plug in the pictures, customize the layout, text, and colours, click "make album", and they send you a hardcover book!). It's really nice... it's a really good way to keep old pictures that might get lost, misplaced, or ripped one day.

She made the book to keep our family history alive; it's full of old old old family pictures, dates of birth, and dates of death. The first third of the book shows my Grandma's side (starting with her great grandmother, I think) and the second third is of my Grandpa's side (starting the same number of generations back). Then the last third is when my grandparents met, their dating life, their married life... etc. I think it's so cool to look back at pictures of my family. Mostly becasue all my life I've only seen them in their "elderly years". I like seeing the pictures of my Grandma when she was my age and imagining what she was like. I know it sounds dumb, but I had no idea she was that beautiful! When she was alive it never even occured to me that she ever graduated from highschool.

I've been told before that I look like my Baba..... and when I was younger I would look at her and think What! how do I look like BABA? But then being able to see her when she was in her twenties, I can see a little of her in me. I can see her in my brow, and in the shape of my face (circle! :D). It's so exciting!

Almost There

Sometimes life can be so exhausting. Places to go, people to impress. I hate feeling the need to impress people. Or a person. It's a waste of time and never gets you anywhere. Hate's a strong word. It's alright..... just one more week and Christmas holidays will be here! I think I'll survive...

"Buddy the Elf, what's your favourite colour?"

Invitations and Procrastinations

Mmmmmm it's Friday. And the weekend starts now. And isn't that something to be happy about? We (me and my fam) just got back from delivering invitations for a Christmas Eve service (which is at our church, Fort William Baptist on Moodie Street, if you're interested). It was fun: there were probably between thirty and forty people that showed up at 1900 to go door to door, or rather, mailbox to mailbox. Im kind of glad we didnt go DOOR to DOOR just becasue it would seem like we would be interupting a perfect night of nothingness. Or maybe they wouldnt be doing "nothing" but either way, isn't it less of a hassle to just stick it in their box. The weather was pretty good too.... I would say it's no colder than -10 celcius. Then we went back to the church basement for hot chocolate and other good things. The plan for tonight is to watch Elf, which, by the way is a pretty good movie! But like any other, one can only watch it so many times. Someone gave it to me last year for Christmas and I never ended up taking it out of the package, therefore I haven't watched it for more than a year. I'd say now is a good time to take off the plastic and pop it into the DVD player.
I also have two jolly essays due on Monday. The thing that makes them jolly is that I haven't started either yet. But this is how I usually function...... I should probably try harder to get things done before the morning they're due. I suppose the problem is that I always get away with, it making it easier to do the same when the next project comes around. Maybe what I really need is for me not to get away with it. But at the same time- who would wish it upon themselves to do horribly on an important assignment? Not me. Maybe I'll make up for my procrastination by studying for my exams during the break. Or....we'll see.
Oh, and I work tomorrow and Sunday. Thinking about going and being at work.... sucks. But when I'm there I remember it's not so bad and I should actually be really grateful to have a job, especially around Christmas. And it's really a great place to work too.... really friendly staff and it isn't a hard job to do. It's really fun actually, and I need to keep this in mind tomorrow morning when my alarm clock goes off.

Song of Hope

All things bright and beautiful You are
All things wise and wonderful You are
In my darkest night,
You brighten up the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know that You are near is enough
God of heaven come down,
Heaven come down

All things newI can start again
Creator, God
Calling me Your friend
Sing praise, my soul
To the Maker of the skies
A song will rise

I will sing a song of hope
Sing along
God of heaven come down
Heaven come down
Just to know You and be loved is enough
God of heaven come down,
Heaven come down

Hallelujah, sing
Hallelujah, sing
Hallelujah, sing

Crispy Crunch

Have you ever noticed how weird Crispy Crunches are? You take the first bite and it's not so bad. But then before you know it the chocolate's disappeared, and all that remains is this chewy carmel, brittle-like guck, that refuses to be swallowed or chemically digested. Terrible! I'm at the Hallowe'en candy stage where all there is left are the rejects. So I've the plain Lays chips, Double Bubble gum balls, gummy body parts (fingers, noses; etc), a variety of coloured suckers, and Crispy Crunch bars. Things like this. I wasn't planning on eating the candy I didn't want/like, but I gotten into this little routine where every night when I'm reading, I end up eating this unwanted loot. One time it was all of the Nibs, the next night was all the rockets....... and this continued until there was indeed very little left.

No sweats

Booooo. Just found out that I'll be working all this weekend. I just got my job back, will explain more later. But I think I'm working a total of 16 hours or something. I mean.... sure it's GOOD but blaaaah. I'd say the worst part is not being able to wear sweatpants on the weekend. I work in retail and I need to be in "pants" hahah (darn). In other words, no sweats. I guess I'll just have to settle for wearing long-johns under my jeans, or something. Good job I probably won't have too much homework, otherwise I'd be .....not in a good situation. HAH

"Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be."
Kurt Vonnegut

Full moon, November 2nd

Caramilk chocolate

"There was no meteor shower," Dianna says bitterly. Only kidding, hahah.... but I actually didnt see one particle of comet debris in the entire night sky. Go figure right! And despite it being 315 in the morning, I gave it a good long 15-minute look. And because it was 315 in the morning, it didnt take too much convincing on my part to go back to bed. I hear we might catch a glimpse of the same shower tonight though? It's still within the Leo. Just find the Big Dipper and pretend its dripping, and you'll find it.
Today in Writers' Craft we watched Stranger Than Fiction. Which is a fairly good movie, by the way. And although Ive seen it before, I still look forward to finishing it tomorrow.
The last couple of days Ive been having this mad chocolate craving after I get home from school. So I decided to make hot chocolate today. After I had made it and poured it into a mug I bought at Value Village for under a dollar, I plopped a square of caramilk into it. It was probably the best decision I've made all day. By the way to get the correct spelling of "caramilk", I decided to search my Halloween candy bag to find one. I was about to toss it back into the bag and then though, oh what the heck. And I ate it. Maybe I'll regret it when supper somes around, I dont know.

Meteor shower!

Woooooo..... just finished doing five hours of English! I'm really glad to get it done, but I hate being on the computer for that long. I feel like my brain's leaking. But I just wanted to say that I'm really excited! Because there's a meteor shower tonight! And the prime time to be watching is between 300 and dawn, so I should probably go to sleep NOW if I want to see some of it. Good NIGHT