Wow!

I got sleepy last night just after 6, so I laid down on the futon and went to sleep. With a wakeup here and there to turn off a light, and move to the bed, I slept until 10 to 8 this morning. Wow! I don't even feel overslept now, just WIDE awake. I've been having trouble sleeping lately, and I think it's because between work and school I haven't had enough time to get an exercise. So, on Wednesday I did some aerobics, and yesterday I got off the bus a good 15 stops too early and briskly walked home. Seems to have done the trick to help my sleep and also let me catch up on what I'd missed.

My work is over now at the University, so I have more time on my hands but it also means no more paycheques coming in, boo. I can't go get another job because I'd only be able to work for about three weeks before I have to go on field school, plus I don't want to work through exams. My Engineering Geology term paper deadline was pushed back to Friday from Tuesday, so that gives me a bit more time on it. I still have my Geochem lab final on Tuesday, Historical Anthropology term paper on the next Tuesday, which is also the day of the final in that class, and an Igneous and Metamorphic petrology lab final the day after that. If posting slows down, you know why :)

I FINALLY have knitting news, although I can't post pictures right now because the fog outside is unbeliveable and therefore the natural light in the apartment is about nil. I finished the bus/class socks a few days ago and wore them, and I've started a pair of thigh-high lace stockings. I was inspired by these, and since I'm poor at the moment I decided to design my own. After a few hours with a pattern book, gauge swatch, helpful websites, measuring tape, calculator, and a whole lot of paper, I came up with my own pattern....only to realise that I've nearly exactly duplicated those socks. I browsed through an awesome stitch pattern book my Grandma gave me from the 70's, and found a lace pattern I liked - not strictly vertical, shorter stitch repeat, easy to convert into the round, and added scallops to the top (since I liked that look from the pattern). Turns out I picked the same lace as the pattern uses, although my scallops are currently pointier than theirs. I can probably remedy this through blocking. I'm going to do a short row heel I think, and a solid sole like theirs as well too, for stability. Mine are done in rose coloured sock wool and will have a cream ribbon run through at the top. So far, I'm about 2" short of the upper calf shaping (working down).

Tee hee

From Elizabeth

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Arts vs. Science

There's a long, ongoing debate as to whether getting an Arts or Science degree is more difficult. Here's the general arguements from both sides:

Arts:
Less Class Time
More research for papers needed
More reading

Science:
More Class time
Labs and practical work instead of reading.

As a past Arts graduate and current science student, I'm here to say, that at least in English/History vs. Geology, this is all bull. I not only have more class hours and lab requirements to fulfill, I have to read nearly as much as I was required to in English, still have to complete term papers, and have twice as many finals to write because I have to do lab finals as well as lecture finals.

I put in at least 30 hours of work a week in class, then I work 12 hours a week, and I still have to clean and cook for myself. I also have an hour to hour and a half long commute each day. Now that I have 2 term papers, 2 lab assignments, 2 lab finals, and a lecture final in the next week and a half that's going to go up to a good 60 hours of school work a week.

I'm absolutely not complaining about the amount of work I have to do. I understand that I chose to do take Geology, and that I need to be responsible for keeping my house clean and eating well. I'm just saying that not all degrees are created equal, and that there is much more work required in Geology as compared to English. In fact, in some of our geology classes we have Engineers and Geophysicists, and they both state that our program is the hardest they have every experienced. Having been through various upper level classes varying from Linguistics, English, Classics, Math, Anthropology, and Geology I have to say that this just may be the most difficult and work-intensive program I have ever been in. And boy am I exhausted.

Sean comes home in 3 weeks. Thank God!

Ryan's questionnaire

Taken from Mossy Cottage Knits

Him: PC
Me: PC

Him: Campfire hotdogs
Me: Campfire hotdogs

Him: Home decorating—natural earth tones and neutral blues
Me: Home decorating—COLOURS. NO taupe/beige/etc.

Him: Pictures—framed, Archaeology themed
Me: Pictures—framed or tacked neatly, Monet

Him: Those English type horses
Me: Clydesdales

Him: Burmese Cat
Me: Silver Egyptian Mau or Calico

Him: Coffee - but I'm trying to cut back
Me: Tea

Him: Classical/Instrumental
Me: Classical/Instrumental

Him: Over-easy Eggs
Me: Over-easy Eggs, but only if I have toast or they're in a sandwich

Him: Coke
Me: Pepsi (if I drink cola)

Him: Driver
Me: Passenger

Him: X-Box System
Her: Nintendo System

Him: VERY spicy
Her: Much less spicy

Him: Dark Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Her: Happy Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Him: Horror fan
Her: Not so much

Him: Painter
Her: Knitter/Sewer

Ahhhhh....

Tomorrow night I fly out to see Sean, I finished more than half my lab assignment today (and we still have a period next week to work on it), I did very well on my Engineering Geology midterm, and I'm having Grilled Cheese and carrots for dinner.

Live is improving!

It's not even that life has been BAD, just stressful. And since Sean isn't here right now, it sometimes spills out into the blog. However, I did have fun on St. Patty's day at Sean's parents, where I brought sugar cookies his mom adored. She even put them away partway through the night so she could save some!

Wedding plans continue to abound, with my bridesmaids going out to try on some dresses now, and at least one groomsman excited about his role :) We don't have a location yet, but outside is the idea so far. We don't even have colours picked, because although I was big on Fuschia and Spring Green, we might not be able to get dresses in those colours. So we'll see. Pink would also be awesome with the embroidery in my dress, but a few other colours would be alright too.

OK I'm all for winter but this is ridiculous

GEEZ. This morning, windchill of -27C. Since it was warm yesterday we had snow, sleet, and freezing rain, and with the temperature this morning that (along with the slush that had formed) froze into a solid 2" of ice on the sidewalks that the city did not salt OR sand.

This was not regular ice either. It was slippery ice. Ice can have many different textures: soft, hard, sticky, slippery. Because of the freezing rain, a lightly pebbled surface was created, which as all curlers know creates an incredibly slick surface that's even more slippery than a smooth rink.

Somebody owes me.

Avo-licious

My lunch today was very avocado-y.

Avocado-Bacon-Tomato Salad:

1/2 avocado, cubed
1 vine tomato, cubed
2 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all together! You could also add a touch of mayonnaise.

I also had guacamole: just the other half of the avocado, good sized clove of garlic minced, salt, and lime juice.

I've been knitting on Mom's birthday present between working on my term papers. I made beef stew for dinner, and cream scones for the coming week.

Tasty.

Who pissed off the weather man?

Comparison:

Yesterday's air temp: 6C - windchill: -1C
Today's air temp: -14C - windchill: -27C

I just went from my blue spring coat back to my parka in one day. And of course now everything is ice because it was all water the day before.

I'm the teensiest bit cranky because I had to do the world's most boring anthropology assignment. A Social Analysis of Architecture, meaning analysing the floor plans of a Victorian mansion and a 1987 rancher, and what they mean in terms of social conventions, displays of affluence, etc. Guh.

I'm also cranky because although I still (heart) my massage therapist cause he's a really nice guy, I am SORE. I had a 45 min session today in an effort to keep fixing all those darned knots, and he spent the whole time on just a few spots on my shoulders where I have huge lumps the size of golfballs. It hurts so bad when he rubs them, like I'm being stabbed, but they did shrink some over the course of the session. I am about to go have a shower because moist heat is supposed to be the best for penetrating to deep muscle fibre, which is where these knots are located (and why they're so hard to get out).

I (heart) my massage therapist...

Ouch! I can't remember if I mentioned (I'm trying not to turn this blog into the saga of Karlie's health and wellness) I spasmed up my back on Wednesday studying, and it wouldn't stretch out so I got to go the the massage therapist. Apparently I have some old notes hideing in there and that's why everything spasmed, so I get to go back a few more times to get them out. Bonus though, because even though it hurt like crazy, I felt soooooooooo much better afterwards. He's gonna get me all cleaned up before I start hiking around Red Lake this summer, and we're also gonna fix my terrible posture.

This weekend is dedicated to ME, since I've been crazy busy doing school work and stuff. Although term papers are creeping up on me, I need some time to chill out before I go nuts working on stuff. I've made it a goal to finish as much of the "Torque" sweater I can, although I'm having to knit it on needles 2 sizes smaller than called for to get anywhere near gauge! I think this is because the yarn is coughacryliccough, but it's in a nice colour and I don't want to waste a sweater's worth of yarn.

I've also figured something out - I really want an mp3 player, so that's going to be my one purchase this summer out of my paycheque. Actually, I might make it out of my tax return so I have it in Red Lake. Then I can send all the rest to bills and things without feeling bitter.

I'm also wanting a digital piano for my birthday (I'm hoping maybe my grandparents can go in with my parents on it?) so I'm gonna enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather today and go to JJH Mclean today to look for something like like this. My birthday of course isn't for a long time, but it'll get me out of the apartment into the *squee* sunshine!

The new Knitty is up!

First, Happy Birthday to my sister - it was her birthday yesterday and she turned 17!

Now, the new Knitty is up! I want to make Torque so much, that I'm actually going to rip out the sweater I'm making now (Knitty's BPT) since I'm only a few rows in and make this instead! I also love Isabella and Bauble, but they can wait a bit.

There were also 4 people on the express bus today who didn't realise it was an express and asked the driver to let them off (all at different stops of course)!!! Not only does it say "Express" on the front, Winnipeg also has a system whereby the Route number of Express routes has a yellow or white background with black numbers (the reverse of regular routes). Even if you can't READ you can tell the bus is an express.

I'm just saying that if you're getting on a bus that you haven't taken before you should confirm with the bus driver that it's going where YOU want to go. I always do this, every time I use a new route.

God has a sense of humour....

You know what it was last week? Around -5C. You know what the air temperature (not including any windchill) was this morning? -27C.

Coupled with yesterday's problems, I'm guessing either God has a sense of humour, or karma is getting it's own back from me finding a beautiful, cheap wedding dress so easily.

Today's exams actually went quite well. My Historical Archaeology midterm was really weird to write, since it was 3 long answer questions in 60 minutes. I scribbled like crazy, and all my information was good and relevant, but I really don't feel like I answered the questions at all, mostly because they were like this:

Discuss the history and archaeology of L'Anse aux Meadows. How does it differ from other New World colonizations?

Well, with the amount of information I read and we took notes on in this subject, I could have written for all 60 minutes, and I still wouldn't have covered everything i thought was important. Ergo, I didn't get down everything I thought was important :P But really, how much can one write by hand in 60 minutes? And I really spent only 5 minutes of it NOT writing, for turning pages and briefly thinking lines through.

My Engineering Geology exam however went very, very well. I knew the answers and worked them through confidently, and I had MORE than enough information for the last question in particular.

Now I'm studying for Geochemistry, which I have tomorrow. There were issues with the first time he gave the test (which I missed) because...well, first let me explain about the class. It's a fairly difficult subject, and our professor is actually a Grad Student, whose advisor (and usual professor for the class) is currently on sabbatical. The notes he's using are hers, but they're kind of disjointed (apparently the class was very hard to follow when she taught it). To make things worse, our professor is Russian, and doesn't speak English well. It's not that he lapses into Russian at any point, but he translates literally from Russian as he speaks, so that grammar and terms often make no sense. (Think Yoda but worse with a thick accent - cute in a puppet expounding Jedi knowledge, senseless in a complex science class).

Anyway, the initial exam was 12 questions, of which you had to answer 8. Each question was weighted differently, and he stated at the top of the exam "The goal is to get the most marks possible". What he intended was that your exam would only be marked out of 100 if you answered the 8 highest valued questions. Otherwise the highest possible mark you could obtain would be below 100. Since this wasn't clearly stated and the class did poorly as a result, he's reissuing the midterm, and that's when I'm writing it.

I dunno if I'm any good Geochemistry or not, I guess we'll find out tomorrow. I've been doing a mediocre 75 in the labs so far.

Grrr

I'm so mad at myself - I've left things I need to study with at school, meaning I have to go to the University - a good hour long trip at least, not including the time I need to get my stuff. Sometimes I can be SUCH a moron! I have already studied for two of the three midterms I have on Monday and Tuesday (2 Monday, one Tuesday) but I need to review my stuff.

EDIT *#@$%!!!! I seem to have lost my notes on over 12 hours of required reading for the midterm I have tomorrow. I can't BELIEVE it! I am usually insanely organized with my school notes, I have no idea what's happened to me. I think I may have left them in Dryden at my parents house.

On Friday I went swimming in our building's newly repaired pool for the first time. Lots of good exercise, but my hair felt awful afterwards because I don't have a chlorine shampoo. I went to Shoppers to get some chlorine shampoo but they didn't have any at all (???) so I at least got some ENO to put in my hair as a rinse - I know that we used to use Alka-Seltzer to rinse our hair after swim practise when I was on the swim team, but I'm not sure if the ASA in the Alka-seltzer is what did it instead of the Sodium Citrate. Since ENO is just Sodium Citrate, I'm not sure if it'll work, especially since the internet seems to be telling me that ground-up aspirin (ASA) will work to remove chlorine from your hair...any other suggestions?

Yesterday when I went to look at bridesmaids dresses and fabric swatches, I browsed through the bridal gowns as well, and came across one that looked almost exactly like the designer dress I loved from a magazine. I tried it on (they had to pin me in as it was a size 16) and it looked lovely, and the price was right - $598! VERY cheap in terms of wedding dreses. I have to order it in the next 6 months to get it on time for the wedding, which is next summer.

Sad feelings

For the first half of my shift at work today (Database entry for the University's Faculty CV program) I listened to my 2004UAMC disc. UAMC stands for University of Alberta Mixed Chorus, and it's a very large (up to 16o people!) choir I belonged to for the 3 years I went to U of A. I had a wonderful time in that choir, and it not only comprised my hobby, but most of my social life.

Then, I decided to leave U of A to be closer to home when my Dad was diagnosed with MS. Although I wouldn't go back and change that decision at all (after all, I'd never have met Sean!) but I do have three great regrets: I left two of my best friends in Edmonton, I left behind my original path to Geology...and I left behind my choir.

Listening to the music gave me a huge smile, and I could hadly keep from singing along and I know I was tapping my feet - especially to Gospel Mass! However, as soon as the song ended, I wound up in tears.

For me, singing in harmony with other people is an experience that gives me chills. The very first choir practice I went to left me tingling, and dazed all the way home. It is a powerful way to bond with people, and gives me such intense joy. As I said in this post music is essential to my life, and it's been missing now for almost 3 years. For 3 years I've had no choir and little to no piano access. I had a wonderfully singing class for my two years at Lakehead, but it couldn't compare to choir.

I'm not sure what I'm gonna do about this yet, but it needs a solution.

I can't keep crying at work every time I listen to my choir CD's :D