!!!!Happy Birthday Tom!!!!!

Today, the man of the house...

..is one year wiser!!!

Babe, I love you soooo much. And could post pictures and stories and mushy things about you all day...




But I don't want to make anyone puke



considering I'd have to talk and talk and talk


Because it would take a while



To express

how much




I love you

!Happy Birthday Babe!

Giveth and Taketh Away

Our kitties.

Two out of three were getting better. One was getting worse. Some sort of skin irritation was occurring and the one kept loosing more hair. It isn't surprising for foster parents to find extra health ailments in animals and I knew it was time I called the vet.

What I thought would maybe be an allergy or something, with an outcome of creams and ointments, would have been terrific news, in hindsight.

The kitties are gone.
For real.

Over the phone they were tentatively diagnosed with a skin condition... Transmittable (and easily treatable) to humans, but a real concern for cats. We were asked to bring them in for a diagnosis by the vet.

"So, after the tests I'll come pick them up and they'll stay with us again?" I asked over the phone.

pause

"Candice... Treatment is very expensive... We just don't have the resources..."

Oh, no.

"Okay, so I'll take them to a different vet, and we'll take care of it. Is that okay?"

"I'm sorry, but treatment can take months, it's transmittable... And it's not pleasant for kittens to have. You'll have to bring in all three considering they have been in close contact with each other. I'm really sorry to have to tell you this."

I was shocked.

I felt like a traitor coaxing them into the cat carrier. Those three little tykes went in without a fuss (they were actually purring) knowing that I would never hurt them. Thinking that everything was going to be okay.

I picked up Tom from work, and we dropped them off together.

Uno

Dos

Tres

I'm not phased by having to disinfect our apartment (which my beautiful husband did, so I wouldn't have to find their toys and such), nor that I have, indeed, contracted it.

But I am phased by the fact that these little guys had such a short life, ended by a simple condition that we simply didn't have the resources for. I am phased by the fact that, besides our foster home, these guys have had no home. So please, please, think of these kitties with me, just for a moment? They will be at the SPCA for a few more hours, can you offer them your thoughts, have them mean something to a few people before they leave? They have meant something to me, but for such a short time. Maybe that can be rectified by having more people think about them???





I am reminded to rejoice in trials. I am honoured that God entrusted us with the few weeks of their lives. It's better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, and I'm really feeling this. When we reach out and attach ourselves to others, it increases the odds for heart break.

I am reminded that human infants die everyday from simple conditions, with known treatments, due to a lack of resources.

I am reminded that death is inevitable, and it is not our physical health that matters, but our spiritual health.

I am reminded that seemingly 'unfair' things happen, but all for a reason.

I am reminded that it's time to throw the taboo of talking about Jesus out the window, considering everyone around us will die at some point, and we won't always be given notice, allowing a few minutes in the car on the way over to ensure our loved one has accepted Christ as their saviour and offered their life to him (assurance they will go to heaven).

I am reminded that there are those around me that, if they died tomorrow, I would feel forever guilty of standing idly by, hoping my actions and indirect words would prove sufficient... and they would come to me and ask to be ministered to.

I am so thankful for this reminder, for these kittens, and for this trial.

Rest in Peace

Ask and you shall receive

I've often struggled with this:

How is it possible that we are more than willing to open our home to discarded cats, while hundreds of humans live on the street, women are battered, and children are in fear their own homes?

I feel sick that we live comfortable little lives, in our comfortable apartment, and not really willing to *really share* with those who need it. We share, sure, from afar. But we aren't willing to get as 'inconvenienced' with humans as we are with kittens.

Feeling this conviction, Tom and I have looked into refugee and immigration programs that hook up people new to Canada to those that can offer a short-term place to stay. To our amazement, there are no any such programs in Montreal.

We've gone to an information session on foster care (for actual children, not cats) and learned about the process and entailment of being foster parents, but considering we were leaving within 6 months at the time, we were on no real use to them either.

So we've continued taking in cats.

But now I've been reminded that God prepares you for things to come. He lays passions on your heart before you know why.

And sometimes, you don't need to go looking for opportunities... One may just knock on your door.

Cat Names

Okay, so the voting is over an we've had a stupid tie. So I'm squashing "democracy" and naming them myself.

Scabby McWierdSpots I, II, and III. I'm not really worried about which one is which.

Seriously, they all have this crazy, patchy, flaky, spottiness going on and all I see is kittens that I have to take care of for so long that they end up and jump-on-my-leg-and-try-to-climb-it-y and run-around-my-apartment-and-hide-y and big-and-ugl-y. A couple of things that currently bother me in this world: kittens and cyclists.

I wonder what Candice is going to think about me commandeering the blog to rant.

Grad Photos

I got 'em done!!!

Were able to track down a gown and cap for the photo shoot, went out and got my hair all dolled up, met our photographer in the evening, headed to over to campus for a few hours, and had a lot of fun!

Expensive venture you say? Let's see, the cheapest price quotes I could find:

• Gown rental: approx $35
  
• Hair up-do: $32
• Professional photographer: $100 per hour (x 2 hours = $200)
• Prints: Pay per picture ($$)
  

Total = I don't think so.


Instead:

• Gown: We were able to track one down through a friend of a friend who didn't happen to return hers. It's not exactly a gown for McGill, but unless I didn't tell you that in this post, you'd never know.
• Hair: A curly-do from a girlfriend of mine worked beautifully.
• Photographer: Our camera (which was a gift to begin with), and a young budding photographer. She just turned 16 and loved the opportunity to get some experience.
  
• Prints: Electronic (for now)
  
• Cap: This one was the missing link for a while.... Until our neighbor moved out and in a frenzy asked us to throw out (or keep) anything that was left behind. Guess what I found???
• 'Scroll': Rolled up piece of paper.
  

So, not only did we get grad photos done, but were able to hang out with friends, get additional informal couple shots, own the digital copies, and not break the bank.

Now just to touch up and re-adjust the prints, and actually graduate!

Alright, let's pick 'em!

Sidebar voting, on now!

A Purpose Driven Life

Some time ago my friend gifted me this book. Although I feel guilty that it has taken this long to get started, now that I am started (and only four days in) I can already feel the impact. It's powerful.

I challenge you...Seriously... Whether you are a believer or not, to read this book. I'll even lend you mine if you'd like (but you must wait til I'm done!). The format is to read one chapter (like, 5 pages or 3 minutes) everyday for 40 days.

Really, why not?
What have we got to loose? To gain?

Name those Kitties contest!

We have numbers 17, 18, and 19 here with us at the apartment, and I thought it'd be fun to have you guys name them!

Please submit suggestions for these three siblings, then I'll take my favorites and post them on a side bar for voting.

SO go on, name these (2 month old) kitties!




Number 1: A shy little girl, has upper eye infection and rhino (a cat cold)





Number 2: Easy going, cuddly boy. Always on the move, hard to get a still picture of! Has fur missing from face... Don't know why.







Number 3: The schemer. Her cat-cold doesn't slow her down from trying to attack anything possible... Including the dust pan (?) A quick thinker and jet black.

What are you lookin' at?

What a minute, what are you looking at?

The past 10 days

Here's a recap:

On Tuesday (last week) we drove outta town after Tom was done work and headed straight for T-town.






(Notice the laptop and rented GPS- symbols of our road trips... Not to mention pulling up to random hotels hoping for open access wireless)

We got into Mississauga around midnight. I was pretty excited for the next day. I've never been around Toronto and area before; I've only visited the airport on a few occasions.

When we did head out the next day (after submitting papers I was working on in the car and at breakfast) we headed out!!!!

We swung by the building I would be visiting the next day (!!!)


Then drove through Mississauga, Port Credit, downtown Toronto, and the High park area. *Then* we hit up Niagara falls...



And Hamilton, and Cambridge, and Guelph, then back to Mississauga to our hotel.

God graced us with a long day to allow us to get around to so many places. Do you know what I mean? Don't some days just fly by while others, although you would assume that they would, don't? And you're like "Well, I guess we have time for *this*." Which, in the end, *this* played a larger role in your life path than ever expected.

Like something opening and you get a peek inside.



We had our hearts open and just wanted to be 'spoken to'. And I want to say that in the least lamest way. We weren't expecting a postcard to fall from the sky with the name of our next home. But we also didn't expect to fall in love with somewhere we never planned on visiting. Why aren't we planning on staying in our beloved Montreal? Good question, but that's for another post. However I can honestly tell you our hearts are already breaking.

Bu I digress.

Now where were we?

Oh right, Thursday morning.

Tom drove home at 4:00am to make it to work (relatively) on time. I prepped for my interview and did all the background research I could on the lady I was speaking with.

The visit was nothing short of amazing. Their lunch room was big, bright, full of portraits of sponsor children and Area Development Projects from around the world. There was free fair-trade coffee, a chapel, you name it. I loved it. The lady I spoke with was fun and very experienced. I learned a lot, which was exactly what I was hoping for.



Then I flew home.


I had a huge deadline on Friday, which I actually managed to meet. I got The Green Light from my visors, and the umbilical cord has been cut. I'm on my own until July 31st - the hugest deadline of my life thus far. My entire project must be completed to enter round one of evaluations. Thankfully there will be round two after feedback before submitting for real. Did I tell you I have my defense booked as well? August 27th. Yes, August 27th this will all come to a close. (Well, one part of it will drag on). But the masters will be over. I will take my bow and escort myself from the building. This chapter will come to a close.

Gulp.


Anyways... I did what any good student would do when they are given a deadline of their lives... I took a week off!!!

Oh yes. Had a fantastic weekend. Then my cousin flew in on Monday and we've been touring around Montreal and our lovely West Island since. Among others, we visited

The Biodome


The Observation tower

The Notre Dame Cathedral


and Canada Day at the Montreal's Old Port.


She left his afternoon and now the fun's over, and it's time to get back to work.

Because that deadline is one week closer!

Happy (belated) Canada Day!

Spent the day at Monreal's Old Port.
More to come on the events of the last 10 days!

Evidence of a Road Trip?

most recent charges on the MasterCard bill:

1) Avis Rent-a-Car
2) PetroCan
3) Days Inn Mississauga
4) Ultramar (gas station)
5) PetroCan
6) Tim Horton's
7) Tim Horton's
8) Tim Horton's
9) Esso
10) Esso
11) WestJet
12) Eso
13) Tim Horton's

:)

Back in Town

Trip went well!
Details to come.
Flight was late.
Looming deadlines called for wee hours of the morning.
Coffee is good.
Sleep is better.

Gone 'touring'
Doing that a lot lately.
Diggin' the extra income
but not the extra stress.

A little prayer for my wife?

I know, I know, its been a long time since I popped my head up on this blog, but this is really important...

My beautiful and talented wife has a an amazing opportunity to talk this afternoon with an organization that's been in her heart for a very long time. True, her time is booked pretty solid over the next bunch of months... But after that we have a big opening to pursue some of our dreams. Keep her in mind, about 1:00pm ET.

(Side note: On my 5 1/2 hour commute into work this morning, I realized that I've been averaging about 40 km/h over the last 40 hours, even when you count in time spent sleeping. Yikes!)

(And: Oh yeah! If you can believe it, she packed me a lunch for work today, and took it with us all the way to Toronto to make sure I'd have it, if I had to drive straight in to work today, which I did. I'm pretty spoiled.)

Like I need more evidence that my husband knows best...

A few weeks ago, on a Sunday morning, I just wanted to stay in bed.

Muffled voice from under the covers:
"I don't want to go to church. I want to stay here"

Stern voice from a well dress handsome husband:
"The car is leaving in 15 minutes, you'll be in it."


So, we go, and wanna know who gave the sermon? World Vision's director of church relations.
If you know me, you'd know that I'm a pretty big fan of World Vision, and you'd know how pumped I'd be if our pastor invited us to join he, his wife, and this gentleman from World Vision for lunch.

Yeah, try super pumped.

You'd also be sure to guess that when offered a tour of Canada's head office in Mississauga and maybe a chance to meet the nutrition team if we were ever in the area, I'd nearly fall over.

We followed up with that lead, and started infiltrating the organization, arranging dates, and getting contacts, but things got hectic in a hurry for everyone involved. The opportunity seemed to be slipping, I kind of thought I didn't stand a chance.

Then, by "chance", after one of our presentations in front of the church, a fantastic young couple came to talk to us about CR, our work there, and how maybe they could be involved.
In this conversation we learn they are visiting from Mississauga.
We mentioned we wanted to visit there soon.

"Why?" she asks.
Well...

"Oh, World Vision! My mother in law is on the board of directors of there, let me take your e-mail and I'll pass it on to her..."

God opens doors, doens't he?


Long story short: Guess where we are going next week?!?!

Scenes of the night

.



When we were up cranking out some work last night, we heard some yelling going on outside (approx 12:00am). This was strange, considering our quiet town is usually, well, quiet at night. We couldn't hear what exactly the man was yelling, but Tom figured it was a boater trying to navigate to land (the canal is only a few meters from out place) and when you're talking or shouting on a boat on the water it tends to carry. So we carried on with out business.






BANG!!!




Lights flicker, I thought for sure someone was shot. (12:23am)

{We were scheduled to walk to campus yet before the night was out (a few meters the other direction), but there was no way I was leaving now.}




BANG!
BANG!


And eventually...

Sirens




My word! Our safe quiet little town!



So I went to visit the washroom, and a little something outside the washroom window caught my eye.









That's a little over a block from our place.






The town's power went out.



Some of our neighbors began taking things out of their apartments and filling their cars to leave. I was like, Tom??? We listed our most valuables that had to come with us if we were evacuated... They were all electronics!!!! lol!

We were never evacuated and we eventually got to bed. Quite the excitement for our quiet town.

Bean Burgers

Just in case anyone missed it, a few of us have a recipe blog goin' on over here.
I just added Tom's amazing bean burgers... check 'em out for a healthy alternative to ground beef!

Watoto

We had the pleasure of attending a Watoto concert last night. These kids are amazing... And so are their stories. I cried all evening.

I think Pastor and Mrs Skinner, the founders of the Watoto organization, are shining examples of how one person can make a world of difference. These orphans (found in dumpers, outdoor toilets, on the doorstep, or escaped from a boy's army) are brought into a loving home, given an education and supported until they graduate university! Now this does have the potential to change a nation.

Our church sent a mission team to Watoto late January. The 13 church memebers built a classroom on the gorgeous proporty owned by the mission and the money we raised pays the salary for two school teachers to teach in it. Each child at Watoto requires 8 sponsor families giving $35 a month in order to support them until univeristy graduation. The recession is taking it's toll... Some sponsors have withdrew their monthly pledge, food costs are rising, and the orphang is becoming overcrowded from the greater amount of children being abandoned during this difficult time.

Yes, Pastor and Mrs Skinner have done amazing things, and are a fantastic example of pouring one's life into serving others.. But they could not do this without the help of generous people around the globe. And without the help of generous people, babies are going to have to be turned away. I can't even get my head around that.



And just last week I was complaining about the rising cost of my coffee...

Debut of Darling Dobie

I've been given permission to share with you a poem that a young friend of mine recently composed. She's in middle school, and amazing with words. I'm sure you'll agree! She was looking for some feedback on her recent work, so we decided to publish it here on the blog.

Let her know what you think!

Tears to Stars

I was reborn today, but in doing so it means i died,

and as i wept for my earthly self, the lord sat with me and cried,

he cried for every time i rejoiced and every tear I shed,

every time I was hurt, every drop of blood i bled,

i asked him why he cried and he answered me with this,

"am i happy for you, now you can join me in bliss,"

i felt a pull, he took my hand, as we began our ascent,

the lord was kind enough to show me parts of my life as we went,

he showed me the times when i had sinned and when i saved,

I'm shamed to say, my road of life is with sins, paved,

we slow to a stop as we reach the golden gate,

we look back upon my life as it's done we wait,

"have you anything to say about the life you left behind,"

"no" i say "i am forever yours as you were always mine",

he smiled and pushed the golden gate ajar,

i am in his kingdom now, I know he can never be far,

still i weep but i know soon I'll stop to cry,

and as my tears burn my cheeks, his burn in the sky.

Darling Dobie, 2009

Does this bug you?

A Little Something I'm working On

Holy Macro!

I've been holding off on publishing some photos of my new kick for a while now, just cuz they aren't that great yet. But I figure if I have to wait until I've mastered apeture, shutter speed, ISO, white balance, depth of field, and the rest of it all at the same time (and lets not forget focusing, framing, lighting...!) you'd never see them. I can tell I'm getting better though... Now I can at least look at my photos and name what's wrong with them!! lol.

Oh well, this way we can all see my progress (um, hopefully).

Now all I need to find me is a few crazy bugs, flowers, and sunshine. Where do you suppose a few of those are hanging out?

eye see you too

A Good Laugh

Although my initial efforts were futile...And worth a good laugh (and I don't mean at me wearing those bulky runners with my slim-pants)





After my handsome hubby pierced a balloon, as well as multiple nieces and nephews (nailing balloons, not Tom piercing them),


I was determined to follow shoot.




Did you see it????

Here, I'll point it out for you, just in case.





Mid-flight my friend... Heading straight for a white balloon. Won me (and mine) a gift of wonderful frappuccinos.

Looooong Weekend

Just came off a 40-hr work-weekend.

Now it's time to get back to... work?


Tom made a discovery in my data set on Sunday which was about the equivalent of a roof caving in to a carpenter. Thankfully, no one was hurt. But we did get to spend the rest of the weekend making up for it. And now, although we lack sleep, we are only about a week behind.

This is going to be a looooooong project.

Scrubby Glovies

Oh so handy, oh so works-so-well.

Here's a post.

I'm stressed.

The question is: 'How?'

...Am I going to graduate on time?
...Am I going to get this apartment packed up in time?
...Am I going to be able to put in sufficient time to study the beautiful Spanish language before we go?
...Am I going to get this degree wrapped up at lightning speed?
...Am I going to get the fundraisers off the ground, continue my personal preparation for the trip itself, finish all the details, fulfill obligations...
...Am I going to actually value doing my masters enough to sit down and actually do it, even when it's so beautiful outside and my husband is so fun to hang out with?
...Am I going to get things done when all I want is to have visitors and travel all summer?

How? !

So far, the approach has been to work crazy hard and drive myself nuts over it...But then a few nights ago, when I headed to bed in the wee hours of the morning, yet again, and found myself still lying awake and staring at the ceiling an hour after getting there...Wondering "How?" over and over again (and starting to convince myself that if I wasn't sleeping I was wasting time, and should head back to my desk), I thought of another idea.

Give it to God.

God is all knowing, he knows more about my project than I ever will. He personally knows my supervisors, the work that lay ahead of me, my deadlines and schedule...And he cares.

This doesn't mean I won't be stressed, but if I follow right, things will work out right. Maybe not the way I would like or how I've planned, but the way they are suppose to be. Until then, I'll hunker down, work hard, but will hopefully sleep better at night.

--
Side note: You should probably prepare yourself for mainly school-related posts over the summer. Blogging about stress is a great release for me...

Ah, University Shopping

Today was my first day at my 'new job'. We toured for a young girl and her father from Ontario, and another young girl and both her parents from Tokyo. They were all visiting Montreal to check out a university prospect for their daughters' futures. Many, many questions from the parents, silence and white faces from the prospective students.

I seriously kind of got choked-up about this. It brought me back to when my parents and I university shopped when I was finishing high school.

See, I'm from a small town with no universities in sight. So where I come from, reality is that if you want to get a higher education, you're leaving town come graduation. This is the same reality for parents: if you want your eye-apples to get an education, your going to have to say good-bye come graduation. High school convocation is a right of passage in Dauphin. It means it's time to fly. Those that don't go right after high school, usually don't go at all. Which is fine, except Dauphin does not have a lot to offer young adults.

So, off we went to shop for my future. Both parents took the day off work, and I the day off school. First up, BU in Brandon, Manitoba. I easily remember this experience, it was the day after my 18th birthday...I slept all the way there...'nuff said. We looked at dorms and classrooms, talked to an advisor and went out for lunch. It was an interesting option.

Next up, UofM in Winnipeg. My mom and I hit the road for this one a few weeks after Brandon. The place didn't stand a chance after I saw the stoplight on campus and giant parkade. We didn't even bother going to the information session in the afternoon; if this campus was big enough to need stoplights, it was way too big for this country girl to make it. So instead of going to the info session in the afternoon, we went to Red Lobster (ah, those were the days!) to celebrate the decision: Brandon it was! Smaller campus and closer to home, to be honest, these were the deciding factors.

I was to move in with my older cousin on Cornell Bay in Brandon. My home town was just two left turns from there; 200kms mind you, but it was just two turns and then a straight shot home.

I remember the first days of university like it was yesterday. My mom drove me in to Brandon to drop me off. It was like kindergarten all over again. She knew I had to go, I knew I had to go, but neither of us were ready for it. We drove into the 'city' the night before, and slept in the same bed...We talked 'til like 4:00 in the morning. We talked like girlfriends do at sleepovers, giggling and laughing and staying up way too late. I honestly feel like that night we transitioned from mother-daughter friends, to friends that were mother and daughter. In the morning she dropped me off at orientation, then proceeded to fill my apartment cupboards with food, printer with paper, closet with laundry soap.... I, on the other hand, hated orientation. First off, they didn't have my name on the list, so I was thrown in with some irrelevant-to-my-interests group and had to wear a hand-bombed name tag. I eventually left. I cried to my mom, she talked me through it, then we went to the mall, then out for dinner. Then, oh then, it was *that* time. The moment that took 18 years, 7 months, and 1 week in the making. The moment when my mom had to leave. At this very moment it would be official: I was moved out. I was at university. I lived in Brandon. My mom was leaving *my* apartment, to drive 200kms home.

Then, she left.

It was official.

I cried.

I found out later she cried all the way home, too.


Let me ensure you, I was not on my *own* at that point. Very far from it, in fact. Because of my parents hard work and value of education, their children were merely asked to strive for their dreams, while they did everything in their power to help make it possible.

Thank you mom and dad, without you I would have never made it.
Without your encouragement, I would have never gone.


And probably nor would those two young girls I toured around today.

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Are you feeling more self-confidence when looking others in the eye?
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Have no fear, go meet with your supervisors, and they'll squash all of that for you!!

Break the near silence

I know, I know... I've been pretty quiet on here the last week or so. Not too much excitement, and the excitement that has happened, is yet to be fully sorted out, so it's not quiet ready to be published on the web. But here are a few things anyways, as mundane as they are:

- The semester is officially over, as indicated by an updated transcript with a few more letters on it. I'm trying my best to remain humble about those letters... Am I allowed to say YYYYeeee-ssss!!! ?

- My eye ball is doing very well... The first day was about the equivalent to having a fork stuck in my eye, tongs down, but everyday has been considerably better than the last. Tomorrow it will be a week since surgery...Apparently I have another week to go before I can move up from bath to shower again. I can hardly wait.

- I've found myself a casual- very part time extra employment for the summer; I had to find *something* to take care of that pesky spare-time of mine! I'm a tour guide for McGill's MacDonald campus! Really, all this means is that prospective students book a tour and I show them around the place for an hour. This position is suuuuuper sweet for me because it's only an hour at a time, once in a while, and it's across the street (so I don't have to pay for transportation nor spend time communting), and it isn't too many hours (this is important because I have a stipulation as to the amount of hours I'm allowed to work because of my funding). I'm really excited about it, I think it will be great to get a break from my work every once in a while and get some extra cash taboot.

- We already have one visitor booked for this summer...Any other prospects we should know about?!?! ;)

- My cousin is coming down for Canada Day. She'll come a few days before, and her and I can bum around Montreal shopping and sight seeing for a few days. Then we'll head to Ottawa for the big day. Tom and I had such a fantastic time there last year, we can't wait to do it again. We may stay the night in Ottawa at my other cousin's (which is a cousin of this cousin as well.) I'm also looking forward to gripping about masters' work; she's in a graduate program at the University of Manitoba.

- For my project, right now I'm in the middle of number crunching with statistical analysis software. We are slowly becoming friends. Emphasis on the slowly. So far my dataset is super-ubber boring. I can totally see how some are led to falsify results so they have somehting to talk about. Not I though, I almost prefer it boring... It means that they may not trap me into publishing, because no one will want (never mind pay) to hear about it (meaing I may actually get done on time!)

DIY Homemade Cappuccino

Ingredients:

• Donated, used espresso machine from older cousin, provided while en route to Montreal from Winnipeg with UHaul
• Espresso beans ground to perfection and picked up at an Italian bistro in downtown Montreal
• Cute latte mugs provided by your mother
• The Wonderful Web for directions on how to use your Italian machine (instructions only in said language)
• A year to perfect the foaming

And, voila!!!

Eye see you 2

Well, here's the update.

I went to the eyeball doc, showed her my portfolio of wonky eyes (plus stayed up super late the night before, which usually triggers a tired Lefty), and asked if she could fix it. She said Yes.

The day I met with her she had a cancellation for a local anesthetic surgery on May 22, which she offered to me. Wow, that's fast! Especially considering I waited 9 months to get in to see her for my first consultation.

Then, oh then, I made the mistake of googling the procedure, and I watched a video of the operation. GAH! Put me under, my word, please put me under!

So I was moved onto the waiting list for a general anesthetic surgery. If I were to book it straight up, I would be living in Costa Rica when they called, so I went on the last-minute waiting list.

Then they called, last minute, and now I'm scheduled for a general anesthetic surgery to fix Lefty tomorrow morning!

And now, I'm super nervous.
GULP!!!!

Sickos!

Is it just me, or is, like, everyone ill?

My husband, dad, mom, friends, extended family, fellow plane passengers, and exam-writing undergrads are ill. And, now, even my anonymous blogger is sick!!

Dear little immune system,

You have been terrific all winter; this is the first winter we've made it through without getting ill! So please, keep doin' your thang!

Love,
Me

How are you feeling??

And, they're off!

Heeeerrrrre we go again!

Winding up for another whorl-wind weekend.
We best take lots of pictures - It's gonna be another quick one.

Tom - 60 hours (amazingly, not a record)
Candice - 100 hours


!!!Can't wait to get this party started!!!

We're all in this together.

Well said.

Job Security

This world we live in. How could it be? Exam time + a threatening message written on a bathroom wall = security guards at every major intersection of the university hallways, at every entrance, and at the top of every flight of stairs. At work, on every floor, there are at least 2 guards...One in uniform, one undercover.


Montreal has good reason to take these kinds of things seriously. The memories of a recent high school incident in 2006, and the infamous PolyTech in 1989 make these things no matter to try and call a bluff on.

When you have one plan, and your supervisors have another

I had a beautifully planned spring.

April:

Finish last assignment by 15th
Work FT 16th-22nd invigilating exams while enjoying a beautiful week 'off'!!

• 'Off' meaning working full-time downtown with an hour and a half commute both ways... but once I was home...My time would be ours, oh ours! I could delve into photography books! Practice with the cam! Scrapbook a page or two!??!?! The options were endless, and I was so looking forward to them.
  

Visit Mb 23-28

• Visit, play, relax, enjoy!!!
  

Work 29-30

then...

May
Complete literature review and officially submit it by the end of the month.

June-July
Process the statistics from my data, analyze results...compare/contrast against literature...etc.

August
1-30th Write, submit, present, & defend.
31st - 'graduate'!!!!

Then I received an e-mail from my supervisors

"Please note that both ** and I will be traveling a considerable amount this summer. We require your statistics to be processed by the 15th of MAY" [Emphasis mine]

GAH!!!! 15th of May? How???

"We would like to meet with you on the 29th of April to discuss your progress."

Discuss my progress? I'm just finishing up my work for the full-time semester here. That's progress to me...But I have a feeling they aren't interested in hearing about that progress. They want to see the work I have(n't!) done since last meeting in March. Oh common' I have (correction: had!) scrapbooking planned ladies!!! Sigh.

--

Looks like I will have something to do during that commute and between 11:30pm-6:45am, the only hours I will have available to increase productivity. That's too bad because I had plans for then too: SLEEP!

Wordless

Going out with a bang! (Or bust)

Well, today is my last class. (Ever?!)
Yup, today I will be done attending courses for this degree. (Hopefully!)

And what am I doing in class today? Giving a talk on health status in refugee camps and how epidemiological research has contributed to the establishment of the minimal standards that aid agency are required to follow, whether these are being met, and potentially more culturally-appropriate solutions to reducing child mortality due to diarrheal illness in these settings.

A light subject, I know!

I find the topic quite fascinating. I have a pretty good PowerPoint presentation prepared (Tom is *amazing* with graphics and animations!!), so it all comes down to performance. I'm a bit nervous, which is funny because I'm usually not this nervous about these kinds of things. The assignemtn isn't even 'worth' that much, but it seems like such an important talk. Maybe, just maybe, could it be related to my passion for the subject matched with the fact that this is the LAST ONE for the term? The last day of classes for the degree? Knowing that this is the last academic presentation I will be giving before the BigGahuna in August?

Probably.

I killed her with a cup of tea

Remember the last time I wrote? I was all tired and stuff, and was going to go consume something?
Well, I choose a cup of candied tea.
{Note to self: When tired, step away from the laptop.}

Then I killed my friend with it.

My beautiful, beautiful computer, Red. Gone! She was a good friend, counselor, and colleague. From the beginning of my masters to (the idea was) the end. We've pulled late, late nights and early, early mornings. We've worked allllll day, so many days... In the car, in the plane, in the bus, in the train. We'd SAS and Word and surf all at once. We'd write papers with EndNote and run SAS with index. We'd practice presentations and programing statistics. We'd graph and play and blog and bust. We'd surf and chat and go every where together...and...sniffle!! SOB!!! RED!!!! NOOOO!!!

"This is NOT happening!"



Her name was Red. She was beautiful. I loved her.

But with a cup of tea, she's gone.

She will be so hard to replace (for a multitude of reasons!) But she is irreplaceable in the friendship that grew over so many learning experiences together.

Red, you will be missed.

pseudo-post

Because I haven't blogged in a while!

Random life updates:

• This week coming up is the last full-week of classes (maybe EVER!!!!)
• We are ridiculously busy because this is the last full week of classes
• We did the 30 hour famine this weekend... it reinforced my love of food (for comfort reasons too ... there were 80 youth in total!!)
  
• I start invigilating exams in two weeks. Lookin' forward to it.
• We are working hard on the C.R. stuff. Lots, and lots, and lots of things to do...We have been asked to do a presentation for the board in two weeks!!
  
• My aerobics classes ended last week, I'm really going to miss them...But don't mind having a weekday night back.
• I hope your weekend is going well.
  
• I'm exhausted.
  
• I'm going to go consume something.