A lot of moving

A lot of moving indeed. In fact, I have accomplished approximately 1/16th of the packing/cleaning on my to-do list. It has been a productive day to be sure.

Today is free day. Free day is a day when people can put stuff they don't want on their front lawns and people can come and take what they want. It was a very exciting event in our household. We are very dedicated to recycling household items, and we ran around the house looking for items to place outside, and then we peeked out through the curtains at the flocks of people who gathered to paw through our stuff and remark at the amazing items that house #753 was giving away. We were so popular, that people were calling their friends on their cell phones and urging them to make the journey to our little pile. Our popularity was likely due to the variety of valuable items which included pepto bismal, a fish tank with genuine fish sludge, and a cassette tape of "A Bug's Life."

I gave away an old winter jacket that I bought for my first winter in Manitoba. It is bright green with white, pink and black stripes. I watched as a very stylish young gentleman with cool shorts picked up my jacket, tried it on, pondered the implications, and walked away with his stellar find. I should have left my phone number in the pocket. Oh hindsight.

I have been blessed in my life to have lived in the same place for 16 years of my life, and moving efficiently has never been a learned skill of mine. It is a painful process of discovering priorities, in order to avoid repetitive labouring.

I am avoiding tackling my bedroom. It is my sanctuary. My refuge of peace, that if tainted and boxed up, will destroy the last shreds of my sanity. I guess it was overdo to be shredded anyway. Here's to shredding...and sleeping (If my over caffeinated body will allow it).

Goodnight all! I hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as I am enjoying mine.

It's all about perspective

It is Friday at last, and I have a very exciting weekend planned. As opposed to my far less fortunate classmates, who are planning to go to Bird's Hill Park (not that great, i've been there), and Flin Flon (I mean, really?!) going out for coffee with friends (can you say 'typical?') and watching movies (its sad, actually). I am going to be at home, packing like a maniac. I am expecting that it will be a truly memorable weekend, filled with dust bunnies, and boxes of textbooks that weigh 5 million pounds. I will be gaining coveted muscle mass, as I lift those 5 million pound boxes. The anticipation is filling me with the jitters and the shakes (oh, wait, that is just the caffiene, or the fear of my own awesomness). At any rate, I am sure that this will be a two-day experience of a lifetime.

P.S. If you would like advice on a "cool" way to spend your weekend, I am accepting monetary offers of $50 and up for free personal advice. Hint: My advice will most likely include catching up on late homework assignments, listening to Beyonce while dancing on one's bed singing into your hairbrush ("...all the single ladies!"), or drinking vats of coffee to increase the feeling of invincibilty, reading about the conservative perspective on social welfare (the entertainment factor is mind blowing, oy!). There are endless possibilities all located within my little brain...sign up today (I accept cash and back massages).

I like my blankets...I don't like fire on people

This morning at approximately 4:30, I heard a bunch of sirens outside my window. I pushed the pillows over my head and tried to snuggle farther down into the covers. Today I read an article about a man who was lit on fire, outside of his house, which is across the alley from our house. Check it out.

A Picture

Beautiful Stephanie took this picture when she was visiting a couple weeks ago, and I am posting it to show off my flower pots, which are remnants of my gardening excursion this summer. I have already uprooted the garden plot, and eaten all the cherry tomatoes. The carrots were too tiny to eat because I was so busy I didn't have time to thin them out. I will do better next year.

CRAZY!

My life is a crazy mesh of events that seem to follow and overlap one another in odd succession.

My busy week largely consisted of a three day course entitled: "Fundamentals of Addictions" during which I sat next to the least sensitive person I have ever met, whose goal was to counsel celebrities who have addictions. She said quite seriously, "I think it will be very busy work." She had a litany of defensive statements regarding the death of Michael Jackson who didn't die of an overdose, but from an "overworked heart." At one point during this three day session, one of the attendees left the room in tears and when she returned to her seat, this person lacking-in-sensitivity leaned over and remarked, "I'm so stressed. I don't know how I'm going to get through this." As my great-aunt Annie would say, she was a very "odd duck."

I also attended a few classes this week, wrote two papers, worked two shifts at the library, and cried on the phone to my mommy.

However, the weekend consisted of such delightful things that as hard as I try, that scared feeling that the world is crashing down refused to linger.

On Friday, Janna and I played a rousing game of scrabble. Janna is brilliant. She gave me pointers and I still lost by 200 points. I suck at scrabble.

On Saturday, Katie and I went to Farm Fest, a delightful invention of music, food sunshine, and dancing, all on the premises of a Manitoban farm. The dancing was rather difficult, as I had a very full bladder, and being the odd one that I am, I have a strict aversion to porta-potties. I ended up using the two-hole out-house instead. Which is rather difficult in the dark. I almost missed the hole and was almost interrupted by some guy who wanted to show off the aesthetic delights of the tile and grouting in the outhouse to some girls. I missed this particular element of beauty, as it was pitch black and the overpowering smell was a little, well... overpowering.

Yesterday, Katie and I made Pizza.

It was a hard week that ended well.

Oh, and did I mention that I am moving in 8 days? Crazy. I feel crazy.

Deliberating

Today is Labour Day. Ironically it is a day of rest before the work begins. I am taking a breath.

A deep breath.

A breath of life, laughter, and rest.

I am breathing the scent of cut grass, and ripening tomatoes, and beeswax candles.

I am aware of the year of work that I am about to embark upon. And today, I can state with a positive, trembling voice that it is going to be ok.

I hope.

May you who are also heading back to school or embarking upon new adventures this week feel the peace that surpasses all understanding and enjoy this day for what it is.

Notice

When loneliness comes stalking, go into the fields, consider
the orderliness of the world. Notice
something you have never noticed before,

like the tambourine sound of the snow-cricket
whose pale green body is no longer than your thumb.

Stare hard at the hummingbird, in the summer rain,
shaking the water-sparks from its wings.

Let grief be your sister, she will whether or no.
Rise up from the stump of sorrow, and be green also,
like the diligent leaves.

A lifetime isn't long enough for the beauty of this world
and the responsibilities of your life.

Scatter your flowers over the graves, and walk away.
Be good-natured and untidy in your exuberance.

In the glare of your mind, be modest.
And beholden to what is tactile, and thrilling.

Live with the beetle, and the wind.


Mary Oliver - Excerpt from her poem, "Flare"

Apologies for this (and other things)

Get ready for it...Self-awareness at its most blatant is circling the air in thick fumes and settling across my shoulders with a shudder of severe exaggeration and melodramatics.

After indulging in vast amounts of peanut butter and chocolate chips, I have spent the evening remarking upon this past week.

PLEASE NOTE: I am currently unemployed and waiting for the Tuesday to occur so that I will have finished at least one day of this dreaded school year. I am not usually this bitter towards academics, and I actually have a great deal of fondness for the scholastic institution, I am just having a moment. Hopefully a brief one.

FORMULATIONS:
1. I am pretty surprised that I am studying to be a social worker.

2. I am utterly and completely bereft of finances due to my lazy and procrastinistic nature, which is causing havoc with my ability to pay for the aforementioned schooling. Today I received a white scrap of paper with an obscene amount of money that represents a mere quarter of this fall's tuition. Ouch. I cannot even buy those beautiful prismacolour pencil crayons that are just sitting there useless in the store waiting for some rich person to snatch them up and give them to their five year old godson who will drop them on the floor, thus breaking the fragile lead encased within. hurmph.

3. I am a pretty foul friend, when all is said and done. I will not weasel my way our of this one, but I take full ownership, and merely state that I am still learning and developing. Even though I have a brain capacity similar to a pubescent, my intentions are sometimes good.

4. I like simplicity. I hate clutter. I hate mess. I hate useless knick knacks that have no meaning for my existence. I do not consider my 9 potted plants as clutter. They have a use in that they provide me with oxygen. When you live with 8 other people, you loose your oxygen much faster.

5. I can walk twice as fast in the summer than I can in mid-winter. I timed it today. Probably due to the fact that winter includes 2 factors such as wind and snow pants, both which can slow one down.

6. I like this band: Taken by Trees

Apologies for the sardonic nature of this post. It has been a long week.

Rain

Newest roommate Bethany showed me this video...and it pretty much sums up my entire existence of the last couple days.

My thoughtful conclusion: Roommates are essential. All of them.