New Years Resolutions

Did you know that my face is heart-shaped? I actually have a pointy chin. I couldn't cut ice, like some chins I've seen, but it definitely comes to a point, like the bottom of a heart.

Only you can't tell because of the roly-poly-olyness that's underneath my chin. Which brings us to New Years Resolution (NYR) number 1: to find my pointy face. Instead of making some vow to myself to drop 60 pounds by the end of next year, I would rather have a more tangible goal, one that I can see myself actually working to attain. So I will reach for my pointy face, and hopefully get it (because I've never really had it).

This is the only one I'm going to give you right now. I'm going to think of 5 resolutions for this year, and that's it. Any more than that is unrealistic and hard to follow, and any less is too easy, which means easier to get off track with. I'll think of 4 more between now and New Years. Any suggestions would be helpful.

So anyways, since it's been a really long time since I last posted, I'll get you hep to what's been going on since then:

On the 4th I got a gorgeous new haircut, which I am totally loving, and then ran to campus to hand in my last assignment of the year. After that I proceeded to totally veg out, do some housecleaning, organize some stuff, and plan my holiday baking.

I brought home a pretty little Christmas tree, which my sister and I decorated, and we're having a really nice Christmas dinner on Sunday night before my mom goes to Ottawa for a few days to visit my Auntie Jule.

I prepared a presentation on the human face of Fair Trade for my mentor, Ms. Morris's, grade 12 World Issues class, and then got sick the day before I was supposed to present it, but trucked ahead and did it anyways, despite the roads being a mess from the "storm of the century" that graced us with its wrath on Sunday (the 16th). On Monday (the 17th and the day I did the presentation) we had a few new windows installed, 3 in my mom's bed and bathroom and the main window in the living room. They're gorgeous and an energy efficient. Woohoo!

Anyways, that basically brings us to today, when I baked gingerbread cutout cookies and the pieces for 2 gingerbread houses all day. It was fun.

Here are some pictures to enjoy. Enjoy!

-Laur

Snow, ice, and all things winter

I failed my second shot at my G2. I have to start back at the beginning now. Awesome.
Anyways, the weather in Toronto is literally frightful. This morning I came out of my house thinking that yes, of course the salt trucks have been by, didn't they know that it freezing rained on top of the plowed sidewalks yesterday and now they're all a solid sheet of ice?
It was not so.
25 minutes and a whole new world of swearwords later, I arrived at the bus stop at Clark and New Westminster. 30 seconds after that, the bus came. At least I didn't have to wait in the cold for very long.
But you know what? The horrendously boring classes I had to endure once arriving at school, even the painful trip home with my friend Lia to bake Toblerone shortbread cookies was all worth it because this evening I had the LOVELIEST dinner with my friends. We went to the Pickle Barrel Grand at Yorkdale and just sat and drank pina coladas and ate delicious food and shmoozed for 2 and a half hours, and it was wonderful. This is why I like being a grown up. And this is why I'm thankful that I have such fantastic friends.
I hope December is full of fun surprises this year. Tea dates with friends, baking bonanzas, latkes and Christmas dinner all promise to make this month quite memorable, and I can't wait.
Cheers!

-Laur

The Adventures of Laura in Edmonton

I'm doing a presentation on blogging and travel in my Studies in Popular Culture class in a while. I don't have a travel blog but I think this summer I'll start a separate bit to this one about my experiences in Edmonton and the surrounding areas. Yay! Folk Festival here I come!
-Laur

The bitter taste of...

So, as you may or may not have gleaned from my internet silence, I bombed my G2. I won't go into the petty details, so let's just say I did it to myself and will not be making that one fatal mistake ever again. I have another date set up on the 27th, and hopefully I will come to school triumphant that day.
It's funny how quickly things happen; the other day it got cold, and I mean COLD. Like bone-chilling, finger-numbing, lung-stinging cold. And you know what happened? All the leaves fell off the trees like a scene out of a cartoon season montage. I could almost imagine the "whumph!" noise as I watched them steadily cover my neighbour's car in a sea of brilliant yellow. I wish I had taken a picture.
We're past the midpoint, the point of no return, and I can't wait for December to get here.

We've started answering the phone with "Season's greetings" at work. It is upon us.

-Laur

On the road

Tomorrow morning I go for my G1 exit test, which means that if I pass I will have my Ontario G2 licence. That's a pretty big deal, because for a while there nobody, including me, thought I would ever get my G2. I was pretty scared of driving for reasons that now amuse me, but no more. Thanks to an awesome instructor, I'm more comfortable than ever.
Wish me luck, and watch the streets!

-Laur

Mount Fashion

I need to put my laundry away, ASAP. I think I started it on Tuesday. I'm fairly sure, in fact. It is now Saturday night, and there is this colossal mountain of laundry in a basket threatening to topple over on my bed and send shirts and jeans and a few bras (eeeeek!) sprawling all over the floor. I'll get to that. Soon.
To tell you the truth, I haven't been in my house all that often this week. Monday I was barely there at all, same with Tuesday. Wednesday was probably the only day I spend a really long period of time in the house. I borrowed Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now: the complete dossier" from SMIL at York because I skipped the screening of it in Filming Lit last Friday to do some other homework. I'm watching it because it is the film adaptation of Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" that my prof chose to use. Watching it took most of the afternoon. It was a stunning, heart wrenching, mind-boggling film. I don't think I'll ever watch it again, but I'm really glad that I did see it.
Thursday I had a driving lesson after practicum. It was snowing. What an experience! Albert said I did fine, but I was definitely uncomfortable. I have my road test this Wednesday, so I hope his faith in me pays off!
Yesterday I wasn't really home either, I went straight from school to work. And then after work I was inexplicably ill. It was really bad. Maybe my job is finally making me sick to my stomach. Oh dear.
Anyways, this blog is just another distraction that is keeping me from putting away my laundry. I'm going to put on some music and fold and hang up and stash in drawers until my room regains some semblance of order.

Oh, and by the way, I went to the new Wal-Mart on Wednesday before my movie viewing. It was pretty awesome.

-Laur

Hmmmm, the past can sure haunt us...

http://lauraadventure.blogspot.com/2007/05/wa-ma.html

Read this post from May. It is now November. Wal-Mart opens on Wednesday, and there is no Chapters/Indigo building in sight, though the Super Shoppers is gorgeous. Bathurst and Centre is going to become nigh on unnavigable as of Wednesday.
Tempus fugit, yet again.

-Laur

There's just something about a man in a corset...

October is over, and so is the fun, at least until December 4 rolls around. I appreciate my kicks, no doubt, but gosh I wish it could be Halloween every month. As you can see, Mal and I had a pretty amazing time on campus. We were accosted by Spartans, watched Rocky Horror Picture Show in Winters, and danced until our feet bled in Vanier. It was fantastic.
November always gives me something to think about, though, and I have to respect it for that. I have to think about Daylight Savings Time, which starts tomorrow (yay extra hour of sleep before work!) and Remembrance Day, and dressing appropriately for the weather as well as all the assignments I have to do. My OSAP documents just arrived at York so this month I can breathe a little easier, and stop accumulating interest on my tuition account.
It's been interesting watching the months go by from a teaching standpoint, as well. Right now is only midterm for my grade 9 and 10 bebes, and soon I'll be losing my Civics kids to a new and rowdier batch of students. Boohoo.
Anyway, I need to keep on top of my work or there will be trouble, that's for sure.
-Laur

Saturday night was my 21st birthday party, and what a party it was! I decided to have a costume party after a bunch of my friends expressed an interest, and I'm so glad it was successful. We had tonnes of food and drink, a lot of really great guests, and so many laughs I lost count.
I think I'm really lucky to have the quality friends I do. I'm so grateful I have them around.
Halloween is tomorrow night and I'm going to have even more fun with even more friends. Lucky me!
-Laur

Fudge-y?

I had a pretty sweet day besides picking all my nail polish off in the Ed elective of DOOM. Had lunch with my peeps after our presentation, which was also nice, and then got to visit with Irina while we waited...and waited..and waited for the stupid bus to arrive. The weather was GORGEOUS, I love my friends, and I've had a great day.
And I got Pizza Hut and an ice cream cake for dinner. SWEET!!!!!!!
-Laur

21

Today is my birthday! 21 years ago today my mom welcomed me into the world at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and waiting over a month after my due date to deliver. Sorry, Mom, I don't know how many times I can apologize!
I'm pretty excited to be 21 because it means I'm really, REALLY out of my teenage years. That makes me happy. I've come to the conclusion that up until I turned 18 I was basically powerless; I felt unable to exercise any control over my life and I really didn't enjoy it.
I have some power over the things that happen in my life, the choices I make and the people I keep around me, and I think it's going to be good. Really.
So tonight when I get home, after I vacuum and start my laundry and clean my room and drag the Halloween decorations out of the basement to take stock, I'm going to eat my birthday cake and appreciate how sweet it is to be 21.
And Rohit, if you're reading, I'm coming to have a drink with you in Seattle this summer BECAUSE I CAN :D

-Laur

And as I grow up...

My mom said something to me earlier this evening that really struck a chord. She said "You will find, daughter of mine, that as an adult you must choose 50/50 friends, friends that give as much time and effort to maintaining your relationship as you do." Today I ended my lengthy relationship with a close friend who did not, suffice it to say, give her 50.
I felt really bad for a little while after doing it, like maybe it was my fault that our friendship had failed, that maybe I was the inept one, not her. But that is not the case. I have a group of wonderful, supportive, caring and understanding 50/50 friends who have showed me that. I have friends that know when the time to celebrate Me is, and I know when the time to celebrate Them is. We can talk for hours and never try to outdo each other; we can just listen.
So now I have stopped beating myself up. I hate to hurt people, after watching other people in my life hurt the people that loved them most, but I understand that there was more anger than hurt involved on the opposite side of this situation, and that they probably don't have the capacity to be hurt by my words anyway.
Ending this relationship was the hardest thing I've had to do in a long time, but in the words of Meredith Grey:
"It's over. It's over. It's so over."

-Laur

WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

The cold medication I took today made the walls move. I was sitting in my Teaching English class watching the blackboard dance from one end of the classroom to the other.
Pretty freaky.
I think I'll go to bed now.

-Laur

A-choo!

I have a cold. It came at me out of the blue. One minute I'm partying at AlleyCatz for Emile's 22nd birthday and the next I'm sneezing around Walden Galleria in Buffalo, going through a pack of kleenex every half hour. WOO! Gotta love it! Though I have to say I'm much happier that I got it now instead of later in the month. Having a cold on my birthday would have sucked a lot.
On a happier note, I am glad to report that my Gramma is doing very well. She's in a sub-acute unit in Edmonton General Hospital doing some rehab stuff and generally just taking a breather. She has her own telephone line in her private room so we speak to her almost every night. She already knows the names of everyone in her unit and even has someone to watch the hockey games with. As for her elbow, it seems to be healing well. She says it's always sore, but then again, she did shatter it and they did have to surgically reconstruct the whole thing. The lesson here: DRINK YOUR MILK! Haha, I don't know how much that's going to help when you're 83, but she does have osteoporosis, so I'm sure that didn't help the situation.
Yesterday night we had a lovely turkey dinner with some friends. Everyone tried to stay away from me so I couldn't breathe on them, so I felt like a leper. YAY!

I hope I can kick this cold soon. Less than 2 weeks till my birthday!

-Laur

Black and Decker idolatry

In the words of my absolute cooking show idol, YUMMO! Right now I am, among other things, baking a challah bread in my very new Black and Decker breadmaker, making a reading schedule to organize my troubled mind, and drinking a lovely mug of vanilla early gray tea.
I've been home all afternoon getting things done, this and that, some TV watched, a PowerPoint presentation on the Ontario Referendum completed, a shower taken, and other such things. Wednesdays are a rather wasteful day for me, and I don't appreciate them at all. I go to school for one hour, and then come home again. Sometimes I get back on the bus at 4:45 and go to work, but not today. I'm glad I was somewhat productive, though, because now I can teach tomorrow and I can also get back on top of my readings.
This year, I have to admit, is one I'm not at all enthused about. A lot of my classes are unexpectedly dull, and some of my teachers are downright terrible. I'm trying really hard to keep a positive outlook on things, to stay motivated and do my work, but it's more difficult than I had imagined.
Tomorrow I get to teach, and I'm really excited about that. I like most of the kids and since they don't know me very well yet, I hope that I make a good impression on them tomorrow. I haven't been as proactive as some of my other TC friends in planning lessons and taking charge, but I hope tomorrow marks the beginning of a semester full of learning experiences.
Right now I'm listening to "Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite" by the Beatles on beatlesradio.com. Quite a great site and some very awesome music.
I've also been planning my birthday parties recently, so that's something to look forward to. 19 days until I'm 21. Pretty crazy!
And of course Harry the horse rules the world.

-Laur

Ode to the Porcelain Gods and other such oddities

Do I have to explain? No, but I probably should. From 7 pm to 7 am, September 29th and 30th, I roamed the streets of downtown Toronto searching for meaning in my life through art. The city was alive with Nuit Blanche, a self-proclaimed "all night contemporary art thing", and it was spectacular. The above pictures should give you just a sweet, addictive taste of my exploits that night. I was among friends all evening, and it was memorable.
On a less cheerful note, on Wednesday my grandmother, Amy, took a fall outside her home in Edmonton and destroyed her elbow joint. She's been in the hospital ever since and yesterday they surgically reconstructed it. Gramma is 83 years old, which I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate me divulging, but she's a real spitfire and I know she'll make it through this. I just hope she's able to come to terms with her own weaknesses in this situation and allow the people in her life to help her in every way they can.
Mom and I can't go out there; we can't afford it, financially and time-wise alike, so we have to depend on the kindness of people living 3000 kilometres away from us to get Gramma through this ordeal. I'm not a spiritual person, but I'm pretty thankful she wasn't hurt any worse than she was.
Right now I'm more exhausted than I've ever been in my life, and it's a pretty weird feeling. I need to clean out my backpack of any survival items that remain after last night, and then I can go to bed.
Tomorrow is October, by the way. Tempus fugit.

-Laur

Perfection, plain and simple. She is a huntress, dark and deadly, scanning her domain with the heady power of a queen. Queen of my backyard, queen of my bedroom, and queen of my heart.
There is nothing quite like a cat on a windowsill on a sunny afternoon.

-Laur

Family...who says you can't dump them?

So my sister is an unadulterated megabitch. She actually goes out of her way to annoy my mother and I into not even remotely liking her as a human being.
My mom got home from night school 10 minutes ago and I had some homemade chicken soup heating for her on the stove. What does Sarah do? She starts in on my mother about eating stuff with no nutritional value, how she should be eating good things for dinner. Maybe my mom, who has chronic IBS, doesn't want food with substance for dinner. Maybe her stomach can't take it after a long and stressful day working with ungrateful children. But no, Sarah has to sit on her high horse insulting other people's eating habits when she can binge eat an entire tub of Rolo Extreme ice cream in 10 minutes and then put the empty container back in the freezer.
She continues to grow more and more bitchy and hypocritical each day she lives with us, and I'm hoping soon we can drive her away so she goes and rains her misery on someone else's head.
What a megabitch.

-Laur

8:30 am :(

Here I am in my ISIP practicum class (of course, I'm not wearing the purple wig. That's from when I was working at camp, but that's a whole different nightmare.) We meet once a month at 8:30 in the morning, McLaughlin College 050C. Godawful hour, really, and the traffic is horrible.

This year my practicum course is very different. It is much more serious than my CMYR course was. Lots of lecturing and professional development aspects, employment portfolios and the like. Craziness.

Today after this class I have an hour break, and then I start 6 straight hours of class. 2 hours of English lecture, 3 hours of Teaching English, and 1 hour of English tutorial. Yay!

This is going to be an interesting year.

-Laur

Awesome day

Today I had my first placement day at Thornlea Secondary School and it was a SMASHING SUCCESS! This semester is going to be full of surprises because not only am I teaching English, but Geography and Civics too! I'll be prepared for anything they throw in front of me by the time this year is over.
The day started out with a short staff meeting after I followed my tiny, crazy host teacher around the main floor of the school photocopying, filling a kettle with water, and generally chatting. There was food at the staff meeting (YAY!) and a few speeches, plus I was formally introduced to the rest of the staff, which was really cool.
First period was Ms. Mirrlees' FYNE class, which basically means 12 grade 9 students who are taking English and Geography full year. Their elementary school teachers thought they would benefit from a slower transition into a semestered program, so I teach these kids all year. It makes for a stronger bond and a more accurate reading of skill improvement, so I'm not complaining.
Second and fifth period were both grade 10 Civics classes, which are definitely NOT English oriented. Those should be very interesting to teach. Both classes have some interesting kids in them, though, so hopefully I'll have a good time.
Anyway, even though I was only observing today I felt like I could get up and teach a class if so needed, which is a good start indeed. And the staff at Thornlea are first rate, which I'm really going to enjoy.
That's all until Thursday when I do my second day. Tomorrow I'm on campus all day buying used textbooks, going to a one-hour lecture, and chilling with friends.

-Laur

September

Today is the first day of September. What a relief.
After a summer that was in most senses of the word a bust, I'm really looking forward to the coming year. I know that my experience working at summer school is going to help me in the classroom when I start at Thornlea on Tuesday (that's where my placement is, at Thornlea Secondary School), but for now I just really want to get back in the halls of academia and exercise my brain a little bit.
I have some funny pictures to post. I'll do that soon.

-Laur

Who needs sleep?

The name of one of my favourite Barenaked Ladies songs off the album "Stunt", this song voices my desperate thoughts on the next week. I'm so horrendously busy with so many things to do on top of what I already have, I don't know how I'm going to make it through.
If I disappear for a week, don't try to find me. I'll resurface at Samantha's Labor Day party on September the 3rd, haggard, tired, and ridiculously excited for school to start.
-Laur

Mama I'm a Big Girl Now

Wow...these past few weeks have been pretty crazy. First of all, I handed my laptop over to the powers that be for a few repairs a couple of weeks ago and now that I have it back, I have to reload all of the information I backed up onto it. It's taking a while, but my computer works much better now than it did before.
Also, I'm living away from home right now, house-and-dogsitting for a family on vacation. It's interesting being by myself, and while I'm enjoying myself, I really miss my mom who's in Edmonton right now.
Lately I've been making some pretty grown-up decisions, like applying for OSAP and taking driving lessons so I can get my G2. I understand that some of the things I've been doing (or not doing) are pretty childish, and if I'm going to really make a go of it in the next few years I need to make some changes.
I'm working at Summer Odyssey again, too, as a Trailblazer counsellor. I love the kids, but it's exhausting work and I'll be ready for school to start again in 2 weeks. On top of that I'm pretty excited about my school placement for this year; I'll be teaching English at Thornlea Secondary School once a week until my block in April or May. It should be really good.
So from now on I'll save my sleeping in for the weekend and really get some work done. I'm horribly tired, but I'll live.

-Laur

TubsaTubsaTubsa

So today two guys from Bathfitters barged into my house and now they're stinking up the place and putting in gorgeous new tubs over our old ones. I'm so excited.
I told Auntie Brenda yesterday before she left (miss you, Auntie Penny!!!) that I would document the whole ordeal through photographs, but I've been rather lax with the picture taking so I think I'd better get to it.
We're replacing the baths because both of them have never been replaced in the 25 years this house has been standing, and they were both in really rough shape, especially Mom's (but then again, she didn't clean it for 2 years because Dad was in that room so no wonder) and so Craig, the guy in her bathroom, is doing lots of repairs to the walls before he puts the rest of it up. Also, when it comes time to sell the house, nice bathrooms are a major selling point. Sarah and I haven't been able to use our shower in a few months because there was a hole in the grout on the back wall and it was leaking onto my carpet, so we took to using Mom's, which was oh so much fun. It will be so nice to use my bathroom again, especially now that it looks so good.
Next on our home improvement list: windows, flooring and painting. The windows will be done in the fall for sure, to cut down on our heating bills throughout the winter. Painting may happen then as well, but flooring will have to wait. Boohoo.
On a brighter note, today Mom and Sarah are heading to Ikea to investigate quite a nice half price sale on the kind of Ektorp couches we want for the family room and living room. Yay!

-Laur

Mrs. TD's Grade 7 Summer School Class 2007

Photobucket Album

Enough

I've had enough. Really, it's enough. I can't seem to get ahead at all these days, and it's burning me right out.
The job I'm working right now, with the YRDSB, is AMAZING, but it ends on Friday. I was expecting to go back to camp afterwards, but I guess my career-over-money choice in jobs made the higher ups angry and now I can't go back. So I'm desperately looking for a job, with no full-time prospects in sight, and I swear I can feel the ulcer growing in my stomach as you read this.
I hate money. It's the root of all evil.
-Laur

The next step

Today my baby sister graduated from high school. I'm so proud of her. I made her a card and got her an Old Navy gift card, and she cried.
What am I supposed to make of that?
-Laur

So this weekend we were able to start up the pond for the summer. Mom always says that she never feels like the backyard is truly up and running until the pond is functioning again, so I guess that's a load off for her.
Auntie Brenda arrived on Friday evening for a few days. She flies out again this coming Friday morning to go to Edmonton, just 24 hours after Gramma arrives FROM Edmonton. Auntie Bren will enjoy some quiet time at the house on Falconer Court until Gramma gets back on July 4th, and everyone will accomplish what they need to.
Sarah's grade 12 drama class staged their final presentation on Monday night, and Sarah did splendidly in both her scenes, the first one entitled "Benson and Hedges" and the second one called "Blithe Spirit." Both of her characters were quirky, to say the least, and she was very funny. On June 28th she'll graduate from VSS and leave high school behind forever, and I think we're all ready for it. It hasn't been easy, but she made it through.
This morning Mom, Auntie Brenda and I made a foray into Markham to the Sandylion Sticker Factory to buy stickers for Auntie Bren's kindergarten kids, and then we went to Sheridan Nurseries to buy water plants for the pond. The nursery always has as lovely functioning designer pond set up in the front area, so I took the opportunity to get a nice picture of the two sisters enjoying their visit.

New info as it comes! Right now I'm suffering from a nasty summer cold and not really up to adventuring or writing anything seriously interesting, but once I'm well again I'll write about my upcoming weekend, which should be about as adventurous as they come.
Ciao for now!
-Laur

On top of things

10 days since my last post, OOPS! I've been so busy lately, I haven't had much time to do anything at the computer other than curse at York university and make telephone calls to the Faculty of Education. But that's a different story altogether...
Anyways, I've picked up a hobby. I've never had a hobby before, and I must say that I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Some of you may consider writing to be my hobby, but it isn't. Hobbies relax you, calm you down and chill you out. You do it purely for the mindlessness, not for the superior achievement. Writing I do as I breathe; it sustains me. My hobby, however, is pure pleasure. I've taken to refinishing wooden furniture, and as strange as that sounds, I'm rather good at it.
The first items I decided to refinish were the old Muskoka chairs hanging out in my backyard. We bought 2 of them almost 10 years ago and maintained them the first year we got them, and then never did again. So I took them out front to my driveway, sat down in the sun in front of them, and sanded them until it felt like my arms might fall off. First with coarse grit, then with fine grit, until you could almost see their original blond colour. They had turned a flaky, ugly grey from mold and rain damage, as well as snow and such, so getting them back to something other than yucky was a huge achievement. Then Dieter the wonder-neighbour told me he had some outdoor furniture stain I could use on them, so I painted them twice with it and now they look pretty nice. I have muscle definition in my arms now from sanding, so I think I might keep at it.
The second item I decided to refinish was my kitchen table-top. My mom bought the solid pine table at a Sears outlet 27 years ago for $60 because the surface had a few scratches in it. Shortly thereafter she met my dad and he said he would refinish it for her. 27 years later, I did it instead. I sanded down past the varnish and the stain and made the table-top smooth and clean, and then painted on 2 coats of stain in the shade "Gunstock" (I didn't choose the name!), which is a deep shade of brown-red. Then I put on 3 coats of varnish to keep the table gleaming and clean. It looks fantastic, like a whole new table. Next summer maybe I'll remove the legs and refinish them, too!
These two projects took me the better part of 5 days, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent on them. Listening to Q107 from a clock radio in the sunshine is how I'd rather spend my days. And who cares if my new hobby isn't feminine! I accomplished a lot, and I'm really pleased.

Pictures of the projects to come.

-Laur

The Patio Project

So we finally did it! We finally pulled up the back patio and extended it! It looks so good. We did the front walk, too, which needed to be done badly. Everything looks so great! I can't wait to have a backyard party so everyone can enjoy it. Woohoo!!!!
More pictures to come as it is completed. We were rained out yesterday so we couldn't finish it up, but it will be perfected over the course of the week. Still a lot to accomplish, but yay! At least it's been started!

Backyard partying it up,

-Laur

Events and pictures.

This little heartbreaker right here is the newest member of the extended Bell family. Her name is Maggie Bell and she now belongs to my Uncle Jim and Auntie Reta in Nanaimo, B.C. (yes, birthplace of the delish bar!)
Isn't she gorgeous? I'm so envious.










Next on our list is Ashlea Collis's bridal shower. Ashlea lived across the street from us on Peter Andrew when I was a little girl, and from the time I was old enough to go to school she walked me to and from Westminster P.S. until she moved away. She was a pretty special friend and babysitter, and we were so glad to be invited to her bridal shower. Her fiance Eric is a really nice guy and treats her really well. The shower was at the Finch Garden chinese restaurant and was hosted by her mother and aunts. A good time all in all.


















This last batch of photos is from Friday's foray downtown with Ms. Morris's grade 9 geography classes. For those of you who don't know, Ms. April Morris-Rulens was my absolute favourite teacher in high school. She was also a real inspiration to me, and in the end is who inspired me to go for teacher's college. She remains my mentor, and after I graduated from VSS and had my first year in University she was hired to be the head of Geography at Richmond Green SS in Newmarket. Shortly thereafter she found out that she and her husband were expecting a baby girl, and we've been connected and catching up ever since. Every so often myself and Evgeny Aizenberg (see above with sister Polina), also a big fan of Ms. Morris, go see her and help in her classroom. This time she had planned an Amazing Race-style adventure for her students in the downtown core, and Ev, Polina and I acted as Checkpoint B in Kensington Market. Other checkpoints were located in Chinatown, Union Station, Queen's Park and St. Lawrence Market. It was sweltering hot and some of the kids got lost and had to be rescued by yours truly, but we had a pretty amazing day.

-Laur

The Long Wait

Sorry it's been so long since my last post. I've been extremely busy with work and renovations. As you can see, we've starting pulling up the back deck in anticipation of relaying it properly. So exciting!

The garden looks amazing, hence the many pictures I've posted, and I can't wait for things to keep blooming. I planted a pot of climbing pole beans, so hopefully soon they'll germinate and we can eat the fruits (or vegetables) of my labours haha.

Today is Sarah's prom and everyone is in a tizzy. After the craziness ends I'll blog more.

-Laur

Mother's Day

My mom is the greatest. I don't even want to get started on why she's the greatest because I'd go on for days. So I'll just say that she's the greatest and no one will contradict me.

And she loved the ice cream cake.

-Laur

Wa-Ma

Nothing new to report. Went to Wal-Mart today with Sarah and got too much nice-smelling body stuff and a really cute top, which I didn't try on before buying.

I'm LIVING ON THE EDGE, KIDS! WOOOOOO!

In other news, look at the cuteness of my iGoogle page (pictured above).

There's a little fox and some ducks and a crane, and at night (because it adjusts to the time of day) there's a little glow worm with a lit-up butt. SO CUTE!

I hate to confess it, but I really love Wal-Mart. It's scary and disorganized and the people who work there are somewhat useless (LOVE YOU ALEYA!) but I always find such awesome stuff there. Like coconut-scented handcream and the aforementioned cute top. There's one opening up near me in November, and I'm secretly so excited. Obviously not a secret anymore because I just told you, but yeah. Very excited. And there's rumours of a Chapters/Indigo opening up in the same lot, and the Shoppers Drugmart from across the street is getting its own brand new superbuilding. November is looking like a very eventful month.

My day was nice and that makes me happy. Tomorrow is Mother's Day and Sarah and I ordered mom an icecream cake because she's trying really hard to stick to her gluten-free diet. I hope she enjoys it.

Jamocha Almond Fudge, y'all.

-Laur

Another Grand Adventure!

So I had an adventure today. It was a gorgeous, hot and sunny day in downtown Toronto, the perfect conditions for exploration, discovery, and unexpected surprises.
Check out this public Facebook album and see the pictures for yourself:
http://yorku.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2148964&l=19b02&id=48910835

Let me know what you think! I'm not photography genius like Nazia is, but it'll do.

Can't wait to see what the rest of the week will bring!

-Laur

Spidey

So I saw Spiderman 3 yesterday. Don't waste your money at a big theatre to see it. Just watch it at a small cheapie theatre. I swear, if I have to watch Tobey Maguire cry one more time I might throw something expensive at the screen and then regret it terribly.
However, I had my beautiful and totally lovely friend Valerie over later on in the day for a baking BO-NAN-ZAAAA in which we experimented with the traditional Nestle Tollhouse recipe and made quite a delicious batch of peanut butter-chocolate rainbow cookies. She even brought me a gift in gratitude for inviting her over. What a sweetheart!!!
I started, at my friend Ola's urging, a recipe exchange group on Facebook a few days ago and it's now 48 members strong with 9 different recipe discussions and 7 recipes posted. I love it! If you're on Facebook, look it up: Laura's Super Delicious Recipes. I have yet to post the recipe that Ola actually wanted, but I'll do it soon.
The internet is a wonderful and distracting thing.

-Laur

Karma? Tres weird

Well, I must have been very good in the last few months because in the previous 48 hours I've been luckier than I have been in MONTHS!! I got the Summer School Tutor job with the York Region District School Board, which is AMAZING because it means I get my foot in the door with them, AKA easier time finding a job with them when I graduate from York.
Then City of Vaughan calls me and tells me they want to interview me for an Assistant Director position. I couldn't take them up on it, obviously, but I'll probably still have a position in August if I want one. Yay!!!!
AND I'll be picking up shifts at Kids Come First Childcare Program, which means little work for muchos dinero! Double yay!!!
So the time of being anxious is over. Hopefully my hair will stop falling out soon (jokes!) Now I can't wait for the onslaught of family, starting at the end of May with my Auntie Jule and going into June with my Auntie Brenda and my Gramma. YAY!

-Laur

Congrats, Lise!

Shout outs to my bestest twin Lisa!!!! She got her G2 today WOOHOO!!!! After 2 years of almost insurmountable difficulties, she's given fate the finger and is now automobiling all around Brampton! OH SNAP!

First stop on the Lisa-Laura roadtrip: Michela's house so we can pick her up for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! Best summer ever!!!!!

So excited. Can you tell? Maybe I should pick up where I left off with my driving lessons 2 years ago...


NAH!!!!!!!

-Laur

The Garden

As promised, pictures of the newly maintained garden. Mom and I spent the majority of Saturday, Sunday and yesterday raking out leaf cover, trimming people-eater trees, and spreading a multitude of mulch in our front and backyards. We also put down fertilizer on our poor abused grass.

Sunday was mulch giveaway day in the City of Vaughan so mom and I went to Garnet Williams Community Centre to get some mulch. By 2:00 we had run out of what they gave us so we went back for more and the guys at the mulch mountain laughed at us. Not cool, but whatever.

When I got back my girls from Shakespeare showed up and I had to ditch the garden for studying. Boohoo.

Anyway, everything looks very pretty. We have a lot of flowers blooming or ready to bloom and because we got the garden start-up out of the way so early, the beds should be well-established by the time we start pulling up the patio.

I got a sunburn, too. Vitamin D makes Laura happy :D

-Laur

Smiley :D

Hmmmmmmmmm what a day what a day what a day :)
The back of my neck is sunburned. I couldn't be happier. However, I do plan on using sunscreen tomorrow.
I spent the most tremendous day gardening with my mother. We lopped the top off our weeping mulberry bush so it looks like an amazing piece of modern art, and then we started on the backyard. Tomorrow we'll go pick up free mulch at GAWCC, and then start edging the beds. We're in control and on track in terms of landscaping this year, and it feels good. Why the sudden obsession with gardening? It makes me feel good. I like the feel of the sun, the exercise of using the rake, bending to pull up deadfall, and pruning new growth. I love the smell of the cut plants, and the new earth between my fingers. It's all just one big sensory smorgasbord.
Pictures to come, kids. I promise.

-Laur

YES!

My backyard from the 2nd storey
Xander looking quite fetching

The weather gods took my hint, the jerks. What a gorgeous day!!!!!!!! But tragic in that I didn't actually go outside to enjoy it until 7 in the evening. I have a Shakespeare exam on Sunday night and I had some girls over to study today, so I spent the day inside. As I said, tragic.

So today I took the most interesting picture of Emily on my phone. I came upstairs to deposit my computer back on my desk, and the kittyface was on my bed. Not unusual, as she likes to immerse herself in anything that smells like me, but she was sitting in what I like to call the "stuffed turkey" pose. Both of my cats do it and it's so interesting to watch them. They sit down on all fours like an Egyptian sphynx, but instead of stretching their legs out in front of them, they tuck them right underneath their chests, causing them to resemble a stuffed turkey. Emily's version of the turkey is decidedly smaller than Xander's, but she looked so amazingly neat and tidy in that position. She was on the corner of my bed, and the contrast between her black fur and the aqua-coloured jersey sheets was stark. She's so lovely. I want my friend Nazia to come photograph her.

Anyways, tomorrow is another LOVELY day and I plan to spend most of it outside in my sideyard, cleaning out the garbage. I have to break at noon because I'm going out to sushi with my dad (GASP! I know, don't lecture me, I'm only doing it so he'll leave me alone for a while) and then we'll get back at it. It will be so nice to have a clear space to walk through to get to the front yard.

Happy spring, everyone!



-Laur