The Pirates!

I've been reading a hilarious book. It's called The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists. Definitely on my "recommend" list. Maybe it's not classic literature or intellectual reading, but if you want a book of distracting, fresh, and funny fluff, definitely pick this one up. I think that there's others in the series too, the first one being titled just The Pirates!

I'm learning appreciation!

Yep, it's that time of year again. January sucks, and I say that in the kindest way possible. See, there has to be a January... and a February... in order for our finite human minds to understand that May, June, and July are so amazing. Those living in tropical countries, although admittedly they can enjoy summer temperatures all year round, really don't have the capacity for appreciating the spring and summer months that we Canadians do. By the time winter is over, we're so sick of it that green grass, blue skies and fresh fruit are like a little taste of heaven here on earth.
This is my attempt to be thankful for snow and -12 temperatures. I'm learning appreciation for summertime. Bring on the snow. I'm Canadian. I can deal with it.

So Bored!!!

I've spent the last week doing absolutely nothing. I'm all caught up on my homework, too, which is the sad part. Why do they try to bore the heck out of you all the way through January and halfway through February, and then after reading week and all through March and April they throw everything at you at once? This semester I'm going to have absolutely nothing to do anyway, since I found out that one of the courses I registered for doesn't transfer to the University of Lethbridge anyway. Actually, two courses, but one of them is kind of interesting. And if I was taking only 10 credits, I might die of boredom. So I've decided to drop my Friday morning class, Psychology and Christian Thought, because a. it's useless to me, b. it's boring, and c. why bother doing all that work and not getting any credits for it? So I'll still have thirteen credits, but I'll be paying for seventeen. And I can't even pick up a different course that will transfer, because there isn't a single one that fits with my time schedule. Not even one!
Sigh... life is so unfair. Poor me.
On the brighter side - I never knew I was such a good cook. I like to make everything I can from scratch: casseroles; interesting combinations of vegetables and melted cheese in pita pockets; hard-boiled, fried, or scrambled eggs; salads; fruit and yogourt smoothies; steamed vegetables; pancakes. I haven't tried my crockpot yet, but I probably will sometime this week. It will be an adventure, but I've had pretty good luck so far with trying new things.
It seems like everyone is just trying to make it through January. What a terrible month! December is so full of good food and parties and pretty lights, lots of warm and fuzzy feelings, and of course, time spent with your family (even if they do try to shoot you with BB guns and swear at you - what can I say, I guess we're dysfunctional). Then you get to January, and it's all anyone can do to get out of bed in the morning. No one has any money, the snow that was so pretty in December is dirty and crusted over, and reading week is a whole month and a half away. No wonder everyone is in a bad mood.
I was thinking today about how much I complain about everything. I'm a very negative person a lot of the time. I am really very blessed, but there's always something to whine about, whether it's Taylor's policies, the annoying people that I go to school with (I really do love ... most of ... you guys) or just plain old boredom. But I should try to look on the bright side, because I have a roof over my head, good food, and a loving family. I'm getting out of this gongshow in three months, and then hopefully life will start to get a little bit brighter. With any luck I'll find a good-paying job (or two of them) in Lethbridge and spend the summer in a nice little basement suite. (It'll be so good to see the sun again!!!) I'll spend my weekends relaxing, reading good books, and sun-tanning. It will be lovely. The best part is that it's so close to home that I can go anytime I want. And that's important to me too.
So... here goes nothing. Bring on the boredom, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

A Cooking Calamity

I was just looking at my pictures from the Christmas Banquet. It struck me that my hair is a lot shorter now. I feel butch, even though it's still longer than my shoulders. Hey, at least it's not such a pain in the butt anymore. I paid 30$ for that darn haircut, I'd better like it.
Ah, the blahs of January. I don't particually want to look back at my Christmas vacation, since it turned out to be more stress than it was worth. That's a long story and rather personal, so I'll just leave it for now. However, in spite of my reluctance to think back to how I spent my 2 1/2 weeks of respite from school, I don't really want to look forward into the future. I have a feeling that it's going to take all my determination to make it to reading week.
Right now, I feel like a character from a Grisham novel. (I just filed a 10 page, well-researched brief explaining why my medical problems justify my doctor's note that asks that I be exempt from Taylor's ridiculous cafeteria meal plan.) It makes me extremely angry that I have to defend my right to cook my own meals. Yeah, I know that the administration has to make rules... they need to make money too, which I think is their bigger concern anyway... and so they want to make sure that people aren't just trying to get out of buying a meal plan for the heck of it... but I thought that my doctor's note should have convinced them. Do I have to go into disgusting detail about my disorder, my medical history, my personal problems? Why is the word of my doctor just not good enough? I apologize for the sarcasm, but to me they're just putting another nail in their own coffin. I'm sure not going to come back here next year, or ever recommend this school to anyone who is actually serious about pursuing their academic interests.
I'm so bored. I want to go to the library and get a good book to read, but I can't miss my class this afternoon. Also, a friend from last year is coming to visit this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to seeing her. Perhaps I should clean my room so that it's actually decent by the time she gets here. It smells like fish in here, since I cooked myself salmon last night. Tonight I'm having spaghetti. I like cooking a lot. If the yo-yos in administration force me to buy a meal plan, I'll chuck all the meal cards in the garbage and continue to cook for myself. Maybe I'm just as stubborn as they are - I don't really care. Two can play this game.