where the experience ends, the writing begins.

hey dj, won'tcha play that song?

so, my family's been planning this gargantuan reunion in june for all of our family members far and wide, all over the world, in celebration of my god mother's 80th birthday. we've rented the hall, we've organized a program for the entire day's festivities, we've sent out the invitations, and we even started practicing our big family sing-along today.

talking with my aunts at lunch, the topic of line dancing came up - it was actually my fault, because i started joking about how we'd all break out and line dance during the dinner at the reunion. now, the scary thing is that line dancing is NO LAUGHING MATTER in my family, and i should have known that before opening my mouth. nothing makes us happier than to break out into lines and dance till the cows come home - we'll do it anywhere: in the basements of our houses, on the street, in our kitchens, even in public places. we have no shame when it comes to line dancing.

in saying that, my mom suggested that maybe it would be a fabulous idea if we DO keep up with tradition and take a few hours out of the program to "do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight" (no, she really didn't say that, but i'm sure that's what she was thinking in her head :oP). in all the excitement, my aunts giggled with glee and started practicing right then and there in our church basement... (no shame - none whatsoever :oP)

so, because i joked about it earlier, i have now been sent on the mission of finding music for the partaay. eeps... and this is why i haven't left the computer in the last 2 hours. because it's a family event, i can't just pick any ol' top 40 song, so i've been trying to find songs that were more "positive" - songs that would adhere to the musical likings of the older generation, and yet not make the younger generation want to gauge their eyes out with wooden spoons. :oD

here's the list that i've come up with thus far:
"saturday night" - weightfield
"gotta get through this" - daniel beddingfield
"follow me" - baltimore club music
"i believe" - yolanda adams
"heaven knows" - donna summers
"ymca" - the village people
"shackles" - mary mary
"macarena" - los del rio
(still contemplating on the last one, but the grandmothers love it :oP)

any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated :oP

in retrospect: i should really think before joking about line dancing with my family.

so long french vanilla...

stella has a new addiction: timmie's hot chocolate with a mint tea bag (thank you, tess!)

mmmm. it's refreshing, AND doesn't taste as fattening ;o)

other news: i'm still trying to fight a head cold that i caught on friday. it doesn't seem to want to leave my throat :o( the amusing part of it all is that i've had friends atually compliment on how "sultry" and "sexy" my voice has become while i've been sick. oy. silly people. :oS

just because everyone seems to be doing it...

E	Exciting
S	Slow
T	Tough
E	Exhausting
L	Loud
L	Lovable
E	Entertaining

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

... i'm SLOW?! hmph! :oP

sunny day.

sleep is such a precious and wonderful thing - so much more wonderful when it's not disturbed by unnecessary pesky roomate noises ;oP

such a lovely day outside. the perma-smile hasn't faded from my face yet.

tangent: jacrise has a blog now ;o)

tee-hee.

just call me miss saigon :oD

current mood:


i had my interview with the co-ordinator from Educational Services International this afternoon - the missions organization that i'm trying to arrange my last co-op term with for the Fall as an english teacher in vietnam.

nutshell version: after an hour and a half interview of pleasant conversation, the co-ordinator said that she thought i was the kind of candidate they were looking for this particular opportunity (which i have to admit was music to my ears :oP). though it isn't completely "official" just yet (i still gotta wait for them to send me all the proper paperwork in the next 10 days), she basically said that she's already looking forward to meeting me at the end of august when training starts in Cali :oD

that's right folks! no more co-op terms of paper creasing, folding, filing, OR cutting for this chica! i'm finally moving on to bigger and better (and further) pastures! :oP

so, now that the tough part's over and done with, all that's really left for me to do now is hear back from co-op. if everything works out after that, then i guess it's 3 more months, and i'll be packin' my bags and heading to vietnam! i'm très excited!

and so the big man upstairs comes through yet again :oD yay God! after a long week of "slight" academic struggles and domestic frustrations, this has definitely been an incredible way to end the week.

i've been on perma-smile since 5:30pm friday and lovin' every minute of it!

even nocturnals need their sleep...

current mood:


add another vent-patty on the grill.

i went to sleep early last night, probably around 4am or so after watching "Fame". 3 hours later i am rudely awakened by the blasting of technobeats and high bass, accompanied by hysterical laughter coming from the other side of my wall - *sigh*. you'd think that *some* people would understand the concept of whispering at 7am, when everyone else in the house (yes, even me) is sleeping. normally i try to sleep it off, which used to work, but i think even this time would hit about 8 on the richter scale.

so, trynig to keep my cool, i got out of bed, politely knocked on their door, which was then followed by the sound of hurried shuffling and immediate "shhh" and pause. i asked them to keep it down, they apologized, and i made a second attempt to sleep.

7:15am. the technobeats and high bass aren't heard but the laughter comes back, this time followed by swearing, and louder volumes of conversation. 5 seconds after i'm once again interrupted from my sleep, i hear claudia yell out "SHUT THE #@&! up!" to them from her room. the volumes quickly decrease, and i try to go back to sleep again.

7:20am. i make my way over to their room again and bang on the door for them to keep it down. to say the least, stella's not very pleasant when she doesn't get her sleep. they finally keep it down, and i finally sleep for a good 3 and a half hours.

claudia was right - he only has two volumes. loud and louder. i don't get it. i mean, i understand that this whole situation could really be just a test of my patience and faith, but oy. sometimes i have my doubts about passing this one.

hmm.

in other more happy news: tess is coming up to loo to visit me today and staying over the night! i'm looking forward to the slight increase of estrogen in this apartment, even if it really is just for one night. yay! :o)

stella's been a bad, bad girl.

hmm. don't i feel just a tad


well, it's official. i've joined forces with the darkside (aka erin). when you get caught passing notes by your engl 247 prof, you can't help feel a little bit sheepish. and the excuse of wanting to cure my nostalgia of wanting to relive my high school days, just wasn't going to cut it :oP hmm. well, the only amusing thing about it all was that we were "outstaged" by "infamous spider solitaire" girl just a few minutes after, so our guilt of disrupting the class subsided more quickly than anticipated.

heh. so, i've managed to taint my reputation as a good student. what can i say, i live on the wild side... (yes. i realize that was still a dumb move on our part) :oi

and my essay for rs 221 is still due tomorrow and i've done jack with it. oy. where did all my motivation go?!

random thought of the day: if only i could hoard money like i hoard music.

not comprehending.

The unconditional concern which is faith is the concern about the unconditional. The infinite passion, as faith has been described, is the passion for the infinite. Or, to use our first term, the ultimate concern is concern about what is experienced as ultimate.

taken from Paul Tillich's Dynamics of Faith.

trying to get back into this whole studying groove is getting to be a little more harder than i thought it would be. i already have a test on wednesday, and the 54 pages that i'm required to read for it all read like the above passage. oy. now i remember why i didn't like reading paul tillich when i took rs 267 - after reading those 54 pages, i'm left rather dizzy than intellectually stimulated. hmm. maybe it's just me. maybe it's just the way he writes. maybe i should really start getting my priorities straight and get my "li'l behind" (as cristina puts it) to work...

nah. can't be the last one. :oP

"I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night"

shrek is my hero... :oP

things over in the land of clayfield were slightly *noisy* (read: unbearable to the point where i came thisclose to retreating to a friend's place) once i came back from 'sauga - it's slightly difficult to study when you can hear certain things that really aren't meant to be heard, while your brain is suffocating from second-hand "weeding" - so i decided to run away for a few hours. in the midst of my escape, i bumped into a few good people along the way, and a group of us all decided to head over to princess to watch "supersize me", but being a holiday, there were only 4 seats left, and 10 of us. plan A wasn't gonna fly, so we made the quick last-minute decision to watch "shrek 2" at silver city instead.

i thought it was about dang good time for a "feel-good" movie. absolutely loved trying to figure out all the parodies - it's really all about Ariel's cameo and Puss in Boots! :oP

*sigh* there is such thing as "happily ever after", afterall ;o)

God is good. All the time...

long weekend. in some ways, it's definitely been a *long* weekend.

i arrived back in 'sauga from the loo at about 2am saturday morning, from attending the hillsongs united concert. as i pulled into the driveway, i noticed that my brother's car was missing. assuming that he was just probably out with our youth group, i thought nothing of it and walked inside the house, where my aunt was waiting up for me with my mom and dad.

"jandrew's been in a bad car accident. he's sleeping in your room right now. the car's completely gone", my mom said.

earlier that day, my brother was driving himself and 3 other friends from lunch. he was making a left turn at the lights, when a driver in a ford explorer sped to try and beat the red light. not seeing my brother clearly, she ended up hitting my brother's car head on instead.

the entire front of the corolla looked like a crinkled pop can. thankfully no one was hurt. the doctors at the hospital were rather astounded at the fact my brother was able to walk away from the accident with only a few scrapes and bruises. the impact of the collision could have easily done more damage than it did.

so once again i am reminded at how precious life really is - it's like one of those things that you know and keep in the back of your head, but don't really understand until something finally happens to trigger it back into reality. you really never know what may happen in the next 24 minutes, nevermind the next 24 hours. and as much as i hate to have to think about it, the reality is that i could have easily lost my brother on friday afternoon. but through the grace and mercy of God, i didn't.

there are certain things that happen in life that don't have much of an explanation for happening the way they do. God is forever faithful and can handle so much more than any of us could ever handle physically and/or emotionally. no matter the situation, there are always blessings in disguise, even when we choose not to see it.

thank you Lord.

1 more sleep before the weekend begins

since i've last blogged, i've...

- come to the conclusion (after only 3 weeks) that semiotics is poop. so far everything we've learned is just a regurgitation of the obvious... of COURSE any system of interpretants depends on its context. it also doesn't really help if every example brought up in class is a "bad example". flashbacks of linguistics are coming back to me. man... i'm ready to sick my signifying monkey on this class.

- cooked dinner with the cl-11 girls for some very hungry friends. a lovely evening, i thought. lost rohit along the way, but eventually got his voice message saying that he was on his way to our place but then realized he didn't remember where i lived... doh. i'm beginning to think that my whole "polkaroo" theory between him and jp is proving itself to be true.

- had the intent to go to silver city with dinner people to watch "shrek 2", but then remembered i'm broke. so i scratched that idea and watched "the girl with the pearl earring instead" after majority of the dinner people left. hmm. i'm not sure whether i liked or disliked this movie just yet... i think i'll decide that tomorrow (later today).

- been threatened by "sergeant cristina" in that she'll kick my "li'l behind" if i don't get it in gear with my school work... note to self: start wearing shin guards :o)

- started to feel pain in my legs from today's (err. yesterday's) workout. that's a good thing, right?

in addition: those of you who have taken my quiz have expressed your concerns that either it was too easy or too obvious. few of you have said it was difficult. the rest of you admitted to cheating (tsk, tsk, tsk). amidst my procrastination, i've decided to make another one that's slightly harder and slightly more ambiguous. first one to score 90-100, i'm planning to treat 'em to mcds :o) (hmm. yeah, why not? :oP) and for those of you who plan on cheating, i have ways of finding out. ;o)

Take my Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com!

so now my clock reads 3:27am. hmm. for once, i'm actually pooped.

another one suckered into the wonderful world of blogging...

muuuhahahhaaha. bh has a blog!

error-error.blogspot.com

... sucker. :oP

body blast... indeed

exhausted but


i finally made my way to the gym today with kara, and i came back sweating buckets and in slight pain. it's been a while since i've worked out, and i know my body isn't going to be too appreciative of that fact after i wake up tomorrow morning.

abs, freeweights, stepping (of which i'm proud to say i survived in one piece and didn't fall off once!), bicept and tricept curls, and of course more ab work = 60 minutes of ow ow ow.

but i am determined. i am stella. hear me roar.

*roar*

you got served... ferreal!

YO! you got served!

barely made it through the bad acting and the quick-change camera angles - if it wasn't for the awesome breakdancing, it would probably be down there with "gigli". i don't recommend watching this movie for the acting or the really cheesy attempts to be ghetto (ie: whassup whassup yo? don't be trippin' aiiight? holla if y'all know how we do - let's DO dis!) - hmmm... now that i think about it, it was like a breaking rip-off of "bring it on", but i'll give this movie an A for effort... *sigh* one thing is fo' sure: these boys' moves are as smooth as chocolate - ooh! kinda reminded me of high school days where we'd all stay after school and watch "da crew" goof around in the hallways before the teachers or janitors kicked us out. *double sigh*

too bad there weren't any special features on "how to breakdance" like there were on the "honey" dvd. guess i'll have to practice on my own ;o) ... err. maybe after i vaccuum and mop the floor first :oP

*triple sigh* this whole week has just been movie after movie, blog after blog... could i be any less productive?

in one word? yes.

just five more minutes :o)
(and no, the essay hasn't been started yet)

the calm after the storm...?

just came back from mcdonalds with ed and claudia to satisfy my mcflurry craving. yes, i realize that it's 3:10am. but when you're on pms, time just doesn't have any restraint on ice cream... especially if it's strawberry shortcake. yum.

today was definitely one of my better days.

managed to make it to 2 of 3 of my classes today. in semiotics i learned that "sex really isn't in the eye of the beholder, but is semiotic" - to say the least, there was quite the number of frazzled and blushing faces in today's lecture. in poco lit, we continued examining the kelly gang of australia... i was slightly thrown off when we looked at pictures of little kids dressed up for "kelly kids day" - for those of you who are unaware of who the kelly gang were, they were irish-australian outlaws (bushrangers) that were considered national heroes - the robin hoods of post-colonial australia. hmmm. don't get me wrong, i fully respect and appreciate australian culture, but does anyone else find this just slightly disturbing?



i was MIA in 247 american lit, but that was because i had an appointment... with american idol. :oP well, that was just mere coincidence (yeah. right. hehe). i figured that since i've already read the readings for class, as well as already read Little Women for next class, i figure i wouldn't be missing much tonight. but it was a good decision to skip class today because i was pleasantly surprised by an unexpected visit from livi. haven't seen her in ages, and since her church meeting was coincidentally cancelled (not for american idol), she decided to drop by. after about two hours of good coffee/hot chocolate, and half of american idol, we were able to catch up with what's been going on in each other's lives for the past 6 months. she was truly a sight for sore eyes - it was wonderful.

vietnam updates: i set up an interview with the coordinator of the organization responsible for my missions placement in vietnam, and she sent the applications to me through e-mail. she gave me 4 days to fill them out and find people (friends and family) who can be references for me. may 28 is the day. if all goes well, then hopefully i'll be serving there in the fall.

and then there was "Troy"... for a tuesday cheap night, there weren't that many people at silver city catching the late show. i enjoyed the fight scenes - kinda reminded me of braveheart in some ways, with the massive armies in combat and the recurring display of thighs and all. as usual, brad pitt was amazing (read: dreamy). yeesh :oP i was dazzled by all the bicept goodness *sigh* there's just something about greek mythology men and their flowy hair and beards, and skirts... :oP *happy sigh* hmmm although, i'm still rather confused about the whole achilles romance with bresies - is that what really happened?? if it did, then i think that the teacher forgot to tell us about it in grade 9 english class ;o) overall, i was contented with it, but at the same time i think i let my greater expectations disappoint me slightly. but with orlando bloom, brad pitt, AND eric bana (who i'm adding to my favourite male celeb list), i was easily swayed to appreciate the movie on a whole :o) note to self: find a man who has nice flowing long hair, blue eyes, knows how to handle a sword, and whose legs look great in a skirt ;o) ohhh yes. and his name must start with a "brad" and end with a "pitt" :oP

plans for the rest of the week include:
wednesday - going grocery shopping with the girls for our dinner party on thursday
thursday - class and cooking up a storm for our guests :o)
friday - united live concert
saturday - dentist appointment (yup. they finally remembered me... after a year and a half)

let's hope that gray skies are gonna clear up, cuz stella's put on her happy face :oD

we jammin'... we hope you like jammin' too

there's just something about bob marley that makes me wanna sip pina coladas on the white sandy beaches of a tropical paradise... mmmmm...

much needed especially during a gloomy day such as this.

one love man. one love.

and the cheese stands alone...

yup. that's me. the lonely cheese.

i really don't know why that dang farmer is in the dell, but he doesn't seem to want to leave my head :oP


just a tad...

the apartment is quiet. i can hear the birds chirping happily outside - it's 4:12am according to my clock. they're on time as usual.

my initial plan was to let the sleepies take over in the next 3 hours. however, seeing that i just squashed a huge bug that had more pairs of legs than the number of people who live here (including boyfriends), i think i'm going to retire early and hide underneath my covers. plan b is to pretend that monster of a bug was just a figment of my own delusional state of mind.

eeps!

it's just another manic monday

It's just another manic Monday
I wish it was Sunday
'Cause that's my funday
My I don't have to runday
It's just another manic Monday

-- from The Bangles' "Manic Monday"

***

another day, another... blog :o) after 3 hours of traffic on the 401, i'm finally back in the land of loo. it's a shame how even 4-day weekends seem so short. but at least i can say that this week has gotten off to a happy, non-dramatic (well, as can be expected) start. drove down to "the coke" and spent the morning and early afternoon in deep girly chit chat with tess over brunch, which was scrumptious and expensive (frigging $7.91 for a bacon/ham melange?!). following brunch, we decided to head back to her place and take a trip through memory lane - looking at old pictures (something that i've been doing a lot this weekend *shudder*), reminiscing about old and current crushes (holy crap, we liked a lot of boys back in the day... ;oP), and laughing till our sides swelled... it's times like these that make me realize how girly i really am (this cookie isn't so tough afterall :oP)... *contented warm nostalgic sigh*

and so begins week 3... i think i could get used to the idea of coming back to waterloo on mondays :o)

jellybeans and dutch dreams...

spent the afternoon at sankara's *new* bachelor pad after church. with a bucket of kfc, a jar of jellybeans, old picture albums, a messed-up scrabble game, ice cream from dutch dreams, and good people, you've got nuttin but faboo times in store. it's been a while since we've been able to act completely crazy and dorky with each other (well, maybe not THAT long). hehe... btw, any scrabble game with the words "geek" and "poo" just spells trouble... haha (pun intended). when you're playing scrabble with a computer graphics major, an english major, and a linguistics major, and the longest word you can come up with is "retaper" (which to my knowledge isn't even a real word), it's sad... amusing, but sad. :oP

highlights:



hmmm. why do "spirit fingers" come to mind?? the other pic is of charlene and me making our dutch dreams come true! mmmmm.... too bad my banana and strawberry never made it into my mouth. i hope the sewer enjoyed it as much i would have... *sigh*

other weekend news: spent the rest of the weekend sleeping, eating, catching up with old friends, and cooking up a storm... oh. and in the midst of everything else, wrote my first article for toadlane. woohoo! do i really have to head back to waterloo so soon? :o(

clayfield 11 drama updates: i've been informed that *someone's* boyfriend likes to pee and poo in front of an audience. hmm. yes. well... "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!"

dilemma.

so i come out of the shower and my mom is folding clothes with a very awkward, unsettled look on her face. before i say anything, she blurts out to me, "daddy's slightly unsure about your decision to go into missions in the fall"...

i knew this was coming. my parents seemed waaaay too lenient at the beginning when i had told them my decision to use my last co-op term for teaching english in vietnam. though, i don't blame them at all for feeling the way they do, and i respect them for it. after talking to my dad, he raised up some pretty heavy concerns: money, culture differences, distance, short-term focus, etc. - he would rather prefer me to head out into missions after i complete my undergrad. my rebuttal was that this opportunity is all for God, and whatever challenges i may face, there's nothing He can't do - i gain nothing earthly by going to vietnam, and this whole experience would give me the discipline, humility, and humbleness that i seek, while putting the gifts He gave me to His use. both of my parents completely understand why i would want to go, but as parents it's just a matter of being able to let me go. but i strongly believe that this opportunity didn't just fall into my lap by mere coincidence, and i fear that neglecting it would put me back into my own "safety zone" - something that i feel i've been doing for far too long in my life.

my brain says yes. my spirit says yes. my heart is torn.

so here i am, sitting beside myself, trying to figure out whether i should stick to my "God" instincts, or whether to obey my parents.

until i make the final decision, prayers for guidance and direction are strongly needed.

*sigh*

Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
I have taken an oath and confirmed it,
that I will follow your righteous laws.
I have suffered much;
preserve my life, O LORD , according to your word.
Accept, O LORD , the willing praise of my mouth,
and teach me your laws.
Though I constantly take my life in my hands,
I will not forget your law.
The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your precepts.
Your statutes are my heritage forever;
they are the joy of my heart.
My heart is set on keeping your decrees
to the very end.

Psalm 119:105-112

oy.

it's 3 something in the morning, and i'm chatting with a *slightly drunk* (read: highly intoxicated) rohit right about now, and i'm finding it pretty um... amusing. doubt he'll remember much of this conversation once the hangover subsides, so i've decided to record some highlights just for your (well... our) enjoyment:

robohit says: man..
robohit says: you know
robohit says: i'm sorry ... i know you're taking what i say at a grain of salt cuz i'm tipsy
robohit says: but i do mean it estlle
robohit says: perhaps..
robohit says: i mean it more that what i say when i'm sober... cuz i've lost my inhibitions
robohit says: i can say things like "i think your'e hot" and "i think you're wonderful:

***

robohit says: but really estlle...
robohit says: i think you're beautiful. inside and out.
robohit says: and all that i say about hoping to end up with a girl like you.
robohit says: i mean it
stella - in sauga till monday morning! says: LOL you realize i'm blogging about this conversation right at this very moment right?
robohit says: nooo
robohit says: no fair
robohit says: i'm tipsy
robohit says: but i do love you estlle

***

stella - in sauga till monday morning! says: holy crap how much did you drink?
robohit says: not much actually
robohit says: i don't think i'm drunk..
robohit says: i just don't feel like hiding stuff anymnore
robohit says: i feel like being open
robohit says: btw you've got an incredible voice
robohit says: i mean.. not just in singing
robohit says: but you're falsettto or whatever it's called
robohit says: it's beautilful
robohit says: when u pronounce just regular words.. i think it's beautifful

***

oh rohit, you make me smile - just for the record, i think you're a beautiful person too :oP
hopefully the headache won't be that bad tomorrow ... err - later today ;o)

hmm.

looking at the current results of my quiz, none of them were under 50. that could mean either 3 things: my friends really DO know me that well, they cheated (*coughcharlenecough*), or i just talk too much ;o)

i guess i'll just have to make the next one harder... hehe.

i'm back home in sauga now, and planning to stay here till monday morning before heading back to the drama that is waterloo... i'm thinking that hiding out here for the next 3 and a half days will be good therapy for me.

tangent: my dad was able to tape the last 2 episodes of american idol, and the last 2 reunion shows of survivors all-star for me. all i gotta say is, DANG NABBIT! :oD

mean girls...

feelin' rather


it's raining now, but thankfully the sun shone through most of the day - long enough for the duration of our bbq. after moving from grill to grill, we finally settled ourselves at the A1 patio of WCRI. the turnout was great, and the food was awesome. today was definitely a good day for a good bbq, and i am happily stuffed :o)

today's festivities were followed by heading down to galaxy to watch "mean girls" with my own posse of mean girls. even this was probably geared to a young(er) audience, i genuinely loved this movie - even the guys we forced to watch it with us laughed along and liked it too :o) scary enough, it actually brought back a few memories from my elementary/high school years. of course, i was never a part of the "mean girls" clique, but i could probably relate better to cadie's character... well, minus the short skirts and the fact that i sure as heck didn't look as good and well-groomed as she did at the age of 17. *sigh* the wantingness of trying to fit in with the "in crowd"... the memories... :oP hmm, i thought that this was a little more "mature" for a kids movie, but nevertheless, it was much enjoyed :oD

*happy sigh* it feels great to finally be able to blog on my very own computer :oP

and to celebrate finally rekindling my relationship with my beloved internet, i've decided to compose a li'l quiz (inspired by claudia)...

Take my Quiz on QuizYourFriends.com!

drumroll please...

WE HAVE INTERNET!!

*cartwheels*

:oD

here a blog, there a blog, everywhere a blog blog...

(yes, i'm still in dp - hopefully we'll be getting internet back up and running by this coming monday *cross fingers*) man... already the second week of school and i find myself heading to bed as the birds sing their early morning song... it's a peaceful thing to fall asleep to - definitely much better than the noises some things (or people) make when they go "bump" in the night. i blame my early start on nocturnalness on the fact that my classes start no earlier than 1:30pm. but i'm getting used to the plethora of evening classes - it helps knowing that that's when my brain switch finally turns on. :o)

i think i may already have an essay due next week for my rs 221 de class, but instead i've chosen to catch up on my urbana books that i bought this past december, along with other books that my friends have gifted me for some "spiritual enlightenment". i just finished reading Boy Meets Girl by joshua harris (same author as I Kissed Dating Goodbye) and it was an interesting read... i thought it was a little extreme in some areas, even a little on the cheesy side (ie: courtship cops?!), but people have warned me that it would be, so in some ways, i expected that... reading it actually made me feel more reassured though, knowing that someone else agrees with me in that singlehood isn't a terminal disease that everyone else treats it as. :o) next book on my list: The Screwtape Letters by CS Lewis. really looking forward to reading that one, though i know it's not going to be easy once reading assignments, midterms, and essays kick into full gear... and of course, there's the random renting and watching of movies till the early hours of the morning that may distract me - hmm. maybe it was a bad idea to install that dvd player thingy into my laptop :oP

while i've been catching up on my blog readings, it kinda makes me wish i had some exciting adventures to write about in this blog, other than the usual rants, vents, mundane but sometimes happy adventures - wish i could write something about spontaneous trips to europe, or driving across the country, or going to alaska just for the heck of it, or even something about lions and tigers and bears (oh my); but instead, while it seems like everyone is having a blast elsewhere, stella can't come out to play... *sigh* so for now, i'm looking forward to things picking up the pace in june and july... ;o)

on another note, seems to me that my friends who have been keeping up with this blog thus far have been slightly worried about my welfare, more than they need to be ;oP - i checked my e-mail and cell phone voice messages today and there were a lot of "estelle, we haven't heard from you in a while, are you okay?" messages, and i even got a voice message that said "i'm sorry for your loss - your time will come soon..." - but that one was from a paid advertisement for funeral directors (pretty morbid if you ask me), so i'm not really sure whether to count that one. :oP well, all humour aside, just to let y'all know, i haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth, and i'm doing fine. really. i'm fine ... really.

... really :o)

week 2...

it's monday and i'm back at dp again. good news is that we finally have a phoneline running in clayfield 11. yay!

after 2 classes and 1 tutorial, i finally made the quick decision to drop psci 350A - just wasn't my cup of tea. didn't really turn out the way i wanted it to, and i must admit, those economical charts and graphs of supply and demand, along with the endless references to NGOs and GNPs intimidated and humbled this english major. my confidence is slightly bruised, but i think i made the right decision to drop it.

so, in it's place, i've decided to swap courses and take engl 247 - american literature and pop culture instead.

"I think I made a wrong turn back there somewhere..."

bad move: i started singing "didn't cha know" by erykah badu in the shower this morning, and i still can't seem to get it out of my head... (grr. it just had to be THAT song)

well, it was a long first week of school, but fortunately i've been able to find sanctuary in the comfort of my own home, back in 'sauga. however, it's been far from a relaxing weekend. aside from this past week's adventures of midnight coke float runs to niagara falls and last-minute shopping sprees, this weekend only gave way to even more action-packed goodness.

friday was bh and abby's wedding. the bride was lovely, the groom was handsome, the ceremony was short and sweet, and the reception (after we finally realized that the hall was on Derry and not Goreway) was full of good times all around. as expected, i was approached with the popular "are you going to be next?" and "when is your turn?" questions from family members/friends several times during the night, but i managed to dodge them gracefully. it was indeed a night of great music, great food, great friends, and last but certainly not least, my date (who happened to kick my ass in linedancing and ditched me on the dancefloor for his *imaginary* partner :oD) was pretty great too. as if the night couldn't have been any more awesome, we topped it all off with a few (read: seemingly endless) hours of MARIOKART DOUBLE-DASH on gamecube. i still yet have a bit to learn (ie: L and R button breaks on sharp turns), but "estellekins" is determined to whoop ass :o) *sigh* one day...

my cousins from michigan, along with my godson nathan and his new sister alexa also dropped by for a visit this weekend - it's incredible, yet scary how kids grow up so fast. one day they're just small little bundles of joy, and the next thing you know, they're running around all over your house, wanting to touch (read: break) anything and everything they can get their hands on... and yet, somehow you still let them do it anyway because they're just so cute when they do end up breaking something.

all in all, a wonderful weekend - and it's not over yet. it's definitely times like these that make ya realize that life doesn't suck that much afterall :o)

spring is definitely in the air... and it smells like poo

i've shifted from the engineering computer lab to dp. seems like we'll be getting internet in a week - how i'm going to hold out till then, i'm not sure :oP every time my mouse cursor hovers over the messenger icon, i'm reminded that i don't have internet yet... sweet, sweet, internet... how i miss you so.

day 3 in waterloo - i have semiotics in 1/2 an hour. seems like this term is a bit wonky - yes, i realize that it's only been a day and a half of school, but oy. i dunno, for some reason i've been feeling rather lonely and reserved these past few days - i'd blame it on the "once a month" bug, but that's probably the least thing i'm worried/irritated about. last night, i had to air out my room for 2 hours in order to get the smell of weed out of my sheets, my clothes, my room... *sigh*

... my patience is slightly wearing thin, but i'm keeping the faith that things will eventually get better.

back in the 'loo - and the cycle begins again

finally moved in and settled back at good ol' clayfield 11. *sigh* school hasn't even started yet, and here i find myself already on campus, in the engineering computer lab checking e-mail and blogging away because our phone and internet lines aren't hooked up yet... yeeeesh.

in other news, i finally got to see "love actually" today. i thought it was rather cute. i agree with jp on the whole "gimmicky" thing, but it worked for me - warm fuzzies and all. and of course, hugh grant and colin firth were very pleasant on the eyes :oP

new term, new blog...

i thought that this would be an appropriate way to begin this blog...


(the caption of this cartoon is "i am never going to work again.")

here's to new beginnings!