I've Been Tagged!

Arzu, my crazy geeky knitting gaming friend, has tagged me. These are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random, arbitrary things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post and link to them.
5. Let each person know they’ve been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Thing the First: I always thought I'd like to go into nursing when I was younger, so when I was a teenager, I became a candystriper at the local hospital. I worked thousands of volunteer hours, and while I found it a rewarding venture, it convinced me that nursing just was not for me.

Thing the Second: I have a thing about clothes... I cannot wear the same outfit without a nice long delay in between wearings. Say, a month. This little peccadillo goes a long way towards explaining the size of my closet.

Thing the Third: That being said, the majority of my garments were purchased from second-hand shops. I love me a good Value Village/Salvation Army crawl, and indulge once or twice a year. I usually spend the princely sum of about $100 and come home with several new outfits or separates.

Thing the Fourth: I believe my love of second-hand clothing is genetic. Both of my mums love a good Sally Ann crawl. I love it when we get the chance to do it together.

Thing the Fifth: I did not get my birth mum's shoe gene. She loves sexy, spiky-heeled shoes, and loads of em (you should have seen her in the stylish shoe shops in Zagreb, trying to fit just one more pair of gorgeous Italian stilettos into her luggage.) Me? I love my Chacos (often with socks... expat Vancouverite that I am) and when I wear heels, they're chunky and practical. And I only have a few pairs.

Thing the Sixth: I am a huge tea lover. I have in excess of 40 (!) varieties of tea in the house and may consume over 3 litres of tea a day. I enjoy loose variants of green tea the most, but there's a soft place in my heart for herbals, Earl Grey Creme and other premium loose teas.

Those are my Six Random Things. I won't tag you, but feel free to consider yourself tagged. If you take this and run with it, it'd be fun if you commented here and told me so!

Coming Up for Air

...huh? Pardon? I have a blog? Wow. Guess I better update it! :)

College has turned my life on its head, in mostly a good way. I have a full load of six courses, and I love them all... but especially Java. This week I hammered my first ever program together, and despite the sheer terror of only vaguely having a clue what I was doing, it was mad fun and exhilarating as hell to successfully run it for the first time.

The transit strike continues to run my life. The inaction of every side involved is crazy-making. There have been days when I have arrived at college 6 hours before my first class and stayed 3 hours after my last class, just because that was the only ride I could obtain. Dudes... it sucks in every way possible. My laptop and my knitting are my constant companions as I sit on the floor in a hallway somewhere, feeling a little like a bag lady.

I'm still knitting on The Socks That Never End (TM) ... they are both up to my knees and I'm finishing off the cuff. (Please, God, let them be done soon.) I'm almost done one sleeve on the Kauni cardi. I've sewed up a skirt and top in the sewing room; pics when I get the chance.

I will now return to my regularly scheduled weekend. Enjoy it, despite the nose-hair-freezing coldness.

Enough is Enough

I am filled with absolute fury to be held at gunpoint by OC Transpo and the city. Although I have a truck, I chose not to put snow-tires on as I was planning on a winter of taking the bus to school. Even if it was worthy of the brutal snowy slushy greasy Ottawa roads, there is no parking available as thousands of other students are forced to drive now, as well.

I was lucky for the past week as DH was off of work and could play taxi, but as a new week sneaks up on me and takes him back to work, I realize I have no way of getting to school and back.

Edited to add: Thank you for your kindness, but I'm not asking for helpful tips on carpooling groups and shuttle buses; I know my options and they all freakin' SUCK. I am simply ranting to let off some steam before my head explodes.

Things I Learned This Week

• The college campus is big. Really big. I have several classes back-to-back at opposite ends of the campus, and spend an inordinate time walking briskly through the maze of corridors and stairwells. I must average 5 kms a day, just running from my locker to various classes.

• Textbooks are freaking heavy. Combine the sheer weight of my book-bag and the amount of travelling done in the average day, and you have a heck of an ad-hoc work out. I had had enough by Friday and went forth and bought my new best friend.

• I have given up pretending I am not a total geek. The program director was discussing the program stream and possibilities, and I swear to God I got tears of joy in my eye to know that I had this wonderful opportunity ahead of me.

• I love this subject matter so much that I was excited (!) to have homework.

• I am aware that perhaps the sheen may have worn off the concept of homework somewhere around week 9.

• I have 7 weeks of holidays a year, despite working through the summer. That's more than I had in my job! Dudes... I have "study break"... a week off in the middle of February, which I understand many students traditionally spent in Mexico or Florida.

• Me? I'll be in Nanaimo. Close enough! :)

I Love School

The first day was a blast and I can't wait to start all my other classes!!! Each day this week is like munching my way through a box of Purdy's chocolates... I don't know exactly what it is but I'm pretty sure I'll like it.

(Speaking of which. Why do only you spoiled Westerners get Purdy's stores? It was insult to injury to move out to Ontario (which is bad enough on its own) and then discover I had to do without really good chocolate.)

The Best Laid Plans...

I had such plans for the last three months. I made a list of all the projects I would get done, reveling in the vast amounts of free time I had at my disposal.

Today is the end of my happy little sabbatical, and as I look at my list, I see that everything I did on it, I did within the last two days, in a panic to be able to cross something off.

I did, however, play massive amounts of Guild Wars, and knit, stitch and sew up a storm. I got a lot of those projects done, and I suppose I ought to feel good about that, but yet there's furniture unpainted and spots on the walls yet to fix.

It's funny how I seem to be more efficient when I have something else on the go. I anticipate ramping up to be my old efficient self after the routines of school settle in.

I am very excited to start my big school adventure tomorrow; opening yet another chapter. I hope you begin your New Year with equal anticipation, excitement and hope.

New Year's Eve

The New Year's Gala at the Hampton Inn was wonderful. The food and wine never ended. It made me wish I could take my left-over food home as I would never be able to dance had I cleaned my plate for all of the seven courses. The DJ and band kept the dance-floor packed, but not so much that us ballroom dancers couldn't carve out a wedge for ourselves. The company, two other couples from the studio and their family, was wonderful. What fun! Wayne and I danced until 1:30 in the morning, and he almost had to carry me up to our hotel room because my feet hurt so much.

That's a tradition worth making. I hope we'll do it again next year!

My fascinator drew much favourable comment. Only one other woman wore one, a tiny veil-and-feather jobbie that looked spectacular on her. Here's the full effect of mine.