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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Exams Part Two

Another short post, because, um, hi. Need sleep. Exam one is done and over with. Exam two is tomorrow. Although I crammed like a champ tonight, I feel less prepared for this one, and its scaring me.

So keep me in your thoughts tomorrow morning. I can use all the divine intervention I can get, and I'm being totally serious. I procrastinated too long and studied in a very short amount of time and I fear its all leaking out my ears.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Exams

There's a bit of a lack of blogging, and even blog reading, going on in my world. I've got exams on Friday and Saturday, and a few assignments and a buttload of a reading to do before then, so until further notice, my nose is buried in a book, due to a massive amount of procrastination (what else is new?).

Send good vibes my way, these matter a lot for the transfer process.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

"You're next!"

Its my uncle's favourite thing to tell me at family holidays. "You're next!" Why am I next? Because in order of age of my cousins, I'm next in line to get married and start popping out the rugrats. Good times, good times. With my cousin who's two years older than me getting married next month, I'm the last grandchild that's marrying age that is unwed. And with many friends from high school getting engaged, married and announcing pregnancies, my head can't help but think, "HUH?! ALREADY?! But...but...we're so young!" (VERY early 20s, for those of you keeping score at home)

And good for them, if they're happy. I mean that sincerely. If its right for them, good for them. But when I see someone carting a baby seat around at a party, you'll have a hard time selling it to me that they're happy. Parents who bring their baby somewhere where their friends are boozing hard don't want to be mommies at that point in time. They just want to be like the rest of us, who aren't getting up at 3 AM for a feeding.

I look at some single mothers my age, and watch them trying to balance school (if they haven't already dropped out), the baby, their family, their friends and social life, child support and visits (sometimes supervised - way to choose a winner there) with babydaddy and all I can think is "No. Thank. You." I don't ever want that life. I don't want to live off a combo of welfare, support payments and mothers allowance. Not on your life.

So maybe I'm next. I still makes me want to backhand the person who says that. But you better believe that when I have kids, I'll be having kids because I'm ready to be a mom...not because I was forced to be a mom to a baby that was already here. My test for whether I'm ready for parenthood is simple. When I see on the stick and it says positive, I want to say "YES!!!!" instead of "Oh shit, what now?"

Friday, March 20, 2009

Filling the space...for now.

So um, I did the whole flighty blogger thing again. Sorry about that. I've got a couple posts slowly being written, edited, rewritten and re-edited in my head right now, so until they make it out of my fingertips, here's some survey love, stolen from Angela at Lost in Splendor.


1. If you were drafted into a war, would you serve?

- Depends what the cause is. If someone attacked Canada for no good reason, maybe. If someone I loved got killed in the process, the chances elevate. Things like that. So I guess the short answer is "If I believed in the cause."

2. Do you sleep with the TV on?


- Noooo. I hate sleeping with noise.

3. Have you ever won a spelling bee?

- I sure the heck did. I was a smartypants in elementary school.

4. How fast can you type?


- I have no idea how many wpm, but I'm pretty quick

5. Are you afraid of the dark?


- Not even a little. If I'm in a familiar setting, its peaceful. Plus, I love the stars.

6. What color are your socks?

- White top, black bottom. Sports socks. Its all I wear.

7. Have you ever made out at a drive-in?

- Nope, we don't have one round these here parts.

8. When is the last time you chose a bath over a shower?

- For cleanliness, never. To lounge around, I just use the hot tub.

9. Are you good at keeping secrets?


- Extremely. I love being the only one, or one of few, that knows something, and to maintain that, I have to keep my mouth shut, don't I?

10. Do you talk in your sleep?

- Nope.

11. Do you wish on your fallen eyelashes?


- Naaaah.

12. Have you ever asked for a pony?

- Bahaha, I have a horse. So that'd be a yes.

13. Have you, or would you ever, donate sperm/eggs?

- No way. Those would be my bio kids.

14. If you could enact any new law, what would it be?

- Can I make idiocy illegal?

15. Have you ever been suspended or expelled from school?

- Never. I should have been but I was Suzy High School...on every sports team, running numerous clubs and committees. Those buggers needed me, so they gave me detention and looked the other way when I skipped it. (If only life was like that)

16. Have you ever eaten dog food?

- Can't say I have.

17. Can you handle the truth?

- Always. And I'm usually the one dishing them out.

18. Do you like green eggs and ham?

- I do not like them, Sam I am.

19. Who did you last shoot a dirty look at?

- That honour goes to...my horse.

20. What kind of car do you drive?

- 2008 Chevy 2500HD Quad Cab (looks a lot like this) Its my precious.

21. Have you ever had a garage sale?

- Yes, when I was a kid.

22. What color is your iPod?

- Blue

23. What’s for dinner tonight?

- Thai food

24. What is the last drink you drank?

- Iced tea

25. How long is your hair?

- Just past mah boobs.

26. Are you happy right now?

- Yes and no. There's things I'm happy with and things I'm working on.

27. Do you drink beer?

- Does a bear shit in the woods?

28. What is your favorite key chain on your keys?

- I don't have keychains. I have keys on a lanyard and thats it. So, um, the lanyard?

29. What DVD is in your DVD player?

- House

30. What’s something fun you did today?

- Made cookies

31. When is your birthday?

- September

32. Where did you buy the shirt you’re wearing now?

- Abercrombie and Fitch

33. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?

- No, and I will shoot anyone who tries to put fuzzy dice in my truck.

34. Do you like pickles?

- Yes but only cold. I can't eat them on a burger cause they get warm. Gag me.

35. What is your favorite kind of gum?

- Mint. And I always have gum on the go. There's some in my room, in my truck, in my purse, and POSSIBLY a pack in my laptop case, but who's counting?

36. Who was the last person to call you baby?

- No one, and it'll stay that way if they know whats good for them.

37. Has anyone ever sung to you?

- Yes. My ears were never the same. Kiiiiiiiiiidding.

38. If you were abandoned in the wilderness, would you survive?

- Sure. I can hunt, fish, build shelter, kill an animal, make a fire. Yeah, I'd be cool. The benefits of country living.

39. Do you like your parents?

- Some days, I do. Some days, I don't. But I love them.

40. Why did your last relationship end?

- Because we were so much alike that we either got along fantastically or clashed like the Greek gods. Once the clashing was far more frequent that the getting along, it was time to call it quits.

41. What song do you HATE?

- Almost everything by Coldplay.

42. Do you like chocolate?

- Again with the stupid questions! Of course I do.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

The glory of roommates

Oh roommates. The fun that is trying to strike a balance between two unrelated people who are living together but not sleeping together. I think the word "roommate" now puts a chill in my spine. I've been through my fair share of roommates over the past few years, thanks to university. (Hang on, I'm counting in my head) 10 in 4 years, to be exact. Some were more than one at a time, thank you very much. I'm a horrible roommate and a great roommate all rolled into one, depending on what time of the day it is, how much caffeine I've had and whether you've annoyed me lately. So lets examine that for fun.

5 Reasons Why The Grown Up Teenager is a BAD roommate
- I stay up late. Really late. If you're a light sleeper, this doesn't translate well. At all.
- I grew up in a big house with lots of space, and tons of land around it. Being cramped into a small amount of space in the concrete jungle (aka a university dorm) does not a happy me make.
- That house I mentioned? There were no other kids. I'm an only child. It's an adjustment living with people under the age of 30. I'm not sure I like it.
- I'm territorial. Probably a spill over from the only child thing, but if a space (my room) or an object is mine, I expect you to stay out and don't touch it, respectively. Borrowing my stuff without asking makes me murderous.
- I'm confrontational. I suck at knowing when to avoid a fight. I'm also blunt. Put those two together and you've got someone who's going to tell you how it is, loudly. Its hurt feelings before.

Now after that bit of self loathing, we'll move on to the positive points, before I crush my own ego!

5 Reasons The Grown Up Teenager is a GOOD roommate
- I'm neat and clean. I'm not the kid who will leave dirty dishes in the sink, dirty laundry on the floor and not clean my room for months. I can't do it. Dirty makes me unhappy
- I'm good at listening, and giving advice when solicited. If I'm asked to keep something in confidence, I do.
- Because of my territory issues mentioned above, there's no risk of me invading your room, borrowing or using your stuff, etc. I can't be a hypocrite!
- You'll never wonder what I'm thinking. I'm not the person who keeps everything to themselves and explodes on you when you're unsuspecting. If you tick me off, I let you know. We resolve. We move on. Simple.
- I cook well and own a quad cab Chevy truck (my country roots are showing). No, those have nothing to do with each other, but since they benefit me the most and roommates secondarily, I combined them. I like cooking for people so roommates get the fringe benefits, and having my truck makes me immensely popular because not only does it have just as many seats as most sedans, it also has a ton of storage space in the bed and towing capacity. Makes for fun weekends, and I will say no more.

And now, just for fun...

Tales of Epic Roommate Fail
-I had a roommate who had never cooked before. This girl could burn water. She did these three within a week: when told to "wash" the rice before she cooked it, she used dish soap. Bubbly rice. Next time, she was told to add salt to the rice before she cooked it. She added enough that it could have been cut and sold as horse licks. Third: she put long grain black rice in with Minute Rice. It came out purple. Purple, I say.
- Same roommate, same year. She was in the bedroom next to mine. Her boyfriend came for a weekend visit. They were, ehm, enjoying each other's company and both felt out of bed at 2 AM (single bed in res), onto the floor, which was concrete covered in thin carpet. Bang.
- Different roommate, same year. She got a bottle of wine from her cousin who got it from his roommate, who pilfered it while working at his uncle's winery. I'm sure you can tell where this was going. She drank the whole bottle that night, in between eating Miss Vickies salt and vinegar chips, because the wine was over fermented and repulsive. She went into the kitchen while tanked to get a cup of water, and while standing at the sink, she fell sideways into the fridge, bounced off, fell backwards and cracked her head on the ceramic floor. This wouldn't be nearly as funny as it is were it not for the fact that after she landed with a hard *crack*, she said "Don't worry, guys! I didn't feel it! ....But I probably will tomorrow...."

So your turn. Lets hear some funny roommate tales. More epic fails to add to my list. Rant away. I love hearing these stories!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The internet is a trip back to immaturity sometimes

Earlier tonight, I wrote a frustrated Tweet about feeling ready to burn my Twitter, my blog and anything else associated with that Internet community. I may or may not go through with it; I plan on taking tonight to sleep it off and see if the anger wears off in the morning before I shoot things all to hell.

That said, the blogging community disgusts me sometimes. Its not that people blog, or how personal that get. That's their call and they have to do what's right by them. Its how people behave towards each other via the Internet that's absolutely sickening some days, and today, was enough to make me want to remove myself from any association with any of it.

People get some really big balls when they're on the Internet. Its easy to hide behind the safety of a computer and comment on someones blog anonymously. Its also easy as hell to comment with your name, or Tweet about them, or write a post about them because you probably never have to face them again, right? You don't know them, they don't know you, and you can hide behind the safety of your laptop, writing snarky judgmental things you wouldn't have the guts to say in person.

Maybe growing up in the middle of nowhere changed my perspective on all of this. I try not to publicly say things about someone if I couldn't look them in the eye after saying it. I'm used to having to look the same people in the eye, day after day. The people I went to school with were in my class every year, from kindergarten to grade 12, no exaggeration. I'm used to facing the consequences of bad mouthing someone. They find out, and having to face them sucks. Period.

But its one thing for someone in elementary school to talk badly about someone else. They're young, they're immature. But when grown women (or men!) do it online, its pretty sickening. When I read a post that's slamming another blogger for a choice she made, or hating on a particular group of mothers for choosing not to use product X or parenting school X for their baby*, I wonder what grade we're all in. Really? What's next, people? The note that says "Are you mad at so-and-so? Check yes or no"?

Can we not all just live our own lives, and celebrate THOSE on our blogs? Can we do it without calling someone out that we don't even know? Talk about your friends, your family, your life...and don't worry that you don't agree with the decisions strangers make.

The next time you're contemplating posting a negative Tweet or blog or comment about someone, ask yourself how it would feel if you ran into that person the day after they read what you're saying, and had to explain it to their face, and see if you still think its the right thing to do.

*I'm not linking to any of the posts that set this rant off. A couple of them are pretty asshat-ish and don't need any more publicity from me than they're already gotten.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Roasted chickpea snacks

So from time to time, other bloggers I love post some recipes they've made, so I may be doing the same, if a recipe astounds me or is an old family favourite that some people would like to be let in on.

Today's recipe is roasted chickpea snacks. Bethany Actually posted on Twitter about making these the other day, and linked the recipe. Now I'm a self proclaimed hater of all things that are hot-spicy. I love me some flavour-spicy but hot-spice can suck it. Right after I suck back a pitcher of water if it hits my tongue.

So needless to say, I was a bit skeptical about putting curry powder on perfectly innocent chickpeas. I mean, what did they ever do to me? Then I looked at the recipe and watched both of the authors children taunt me by eating and loving them. If kids could stomach them, so could I, dang it.

So I made them. And they are DE-LISH.

The original recipe link is right here. This is not my recipe, all credit to whoever came up with these delicious morsels. But either way, I've copied it below. Variations would definitely work, and I want to make ranch ones next. Yummity yum yum.

Roasted Chickpea Snacks
Total time: about 1 hour, most of it unattended roasting time

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained, rinsed, drained again, and spread on paper towels to dry
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt or half as much table salt (more if there's none in your curry powder)

Heat the oven to 400. Heat the oil in a small pan over low heat, then add the curry and garlic powders, and stir until fragrant. Turn off the heat, pour in the chickpeas, and stir gently with a rubber spatula until they're coated with the oil and spice. Spread them in a foil-lined rimmed baking pan and bake for forty-five minutes to an hour, shaking the pan every ten minutes or so. When they're done, some will be brown and crunchy and some will be golden and still a bit soft in the middle and, ideally, none will be totally black.

Make them, enjoy them, remember that chickpeas are healthy and scarf em down, and report back to me with any amazing variations.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Shredheads

Now I really have jumped on the bandwagon. I think I shall declare myself a Shredhead. Click on that link if you wanna join in the pain, I mean fun. This is all Christina's fault, and you are to blame her in my obituary if Jillian Michaels kills me.

So with no further ado, let the honesty begin!

a) Before pictures
Haha, you are funny. Between not being comfortable with my weight and not releasing my real name or location, pictures are a no no.

b) Tag Line
Bathing Suit Body by 2010 (I'm being realistic, peeps. If I lose as much weight as I want to by the summer, I'd have developed an eating disorder. Slow and steady)

c) Weight
190 lbs. (Did I REALLY just write that? Oh shit, I did)

d) Goal
140 or less.

e) Diet Plan
More veggies, less chocolate. More meals. I only eat twice daily, its probably not helping my metabolism much.

f) Personal Rules (not eating carbs, only drinking water)
No girly pushups, no fast food, nothing pre-prepared (no microwavable dinners).

g) Shred Plan (how often, what level, etc.)
At least 5 times a week, preferably 6 or 7. Level 2 or higher, and no less than 5 lb weights, dangit.

I'm going to be realistic with myself. A loss or gain of a pound or two doesn't make or break. Its usually water or a food baby. I'll celebrate or kick myself in the butt if its 5 pounds or more. I'm using heavier weights and doing the more advanced moves because I'm an athlete, I can take the butt kicking.

Wish me luck!