Look!

Can you believe I just registered for all my courses all by myself?

I know. It's crazy.

Seriously, I don't know what it is about it, but every year, and this is the fourth year, registering for courses terrifies me. Even now, when I know what I'm doing, and I only have a certain number of required courses as it is, I was dreading having to sit down and do it. Last year I insisted to Adrianna and Katie that we get together and all do it together.

Anyways, I didn't actually register, as I can't register for courses until Thursday. But I put all my courses in my shopping cart, so all I have to do on Thursday is click a button. Well, two buttons. Two semesters. And more, if you count the buttons I have to click to get to my Student Center, and then to change semesters...well, anyways.

The point is that I did it. And it looks a lot busier than I thought it would, but I also haven't heard back from m department head about whether I can get credit from my years in the youth orchestra. So I registered for everything I need, so I get in, and then if she says I can get credit from that, I can just drop whatever courses I want to.

Even so, I think I've done quite well in organizing my schedule.

*I feel like I should put a disclaimer. In talking about my courses, I'm almost always talking about my lecture courses, i.e. my non-music courses. I do have a lot of music courses, but they're all practical, non-lecture courses.*

Most of my courses are all 200/300 level (that is, first/second year) because they're all electives, with the exception of the one music elective, advanced harmonic analysis. And I'm really only taking that because A) Adrianna (and Katie?) are taking it, and B) the prof is amazing, and I've always liked her courses.

All my courses are on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, which leaves Tuesday and Thursday open for possible work shifts. And none of them come with labs or tutorials.

So that's next year, pretty much all ready to go. I still think it's terrifying. I don't even know why. But this is also the last year to go. Which is still terrifying in it's own way.

I should really go for a walk or something. I feel like I have all this excess registering energy I need to get out of me. Thus the reason for the small paragraphs. (Either that, or I'm just attempting to make excuses for my overuse of the enter key.)

I will possibly talk more about the courses I actually registered for in the future!

~Calminaiel~

"That's why you don't want to get eaten."

Nice Weather...Whaat?

Calgary has been wonderful for the past few days, and I'm really trying hard not to spend it all inside on my computer. Or at least, as previously mentioned, I'm trying to spend enough time outside to satisfy my need to be social, but enough time inside to satisfy my lazy side.

It's a hard life.

But bagels help.

Ken and I went to Great Canadian Bagel, which I love. Their bagels are super good. I think they might put some secret ingredient in them, which other bagel makers are unaware of. Naturally, I'm assuming it's heroin.

I kid, but still, their bagels are amazing. I can never go there for breakfast without buying a dozen bagels. Plus cream cheese to go with them. This time I went for 7 cinnamon and 5 maple (there wasn't enough cinnamon to get a whole dozen, but not enough maple to be able to split it evenly. I felt ridiculous requesting the two odd numbers), with plain cream cheese to go with them.

I'm very picky about matching my cream cheese with my type of bagel. Blueberry bagels must always go with strawberry cream cheese. Cheese bagels must be matched with either cheddar cheese cream cheese or Cheese Whiz. Chocolate chip bagels with chocolate chip cream cheese, obviously. The list goes on. In the absence of the appropriate cream cheese, plain cream cheese or butter may be substituted.

In this case, they did not have cinnamon, apple cinnamon, or maple cream cheese, which I decided would be the best to go with my bagels. So I went for plain. Which is still mightily delicious.

Then, to satisfy my social side, we went to Chinook mall. I wanted to get a new toy from Discovery Hut. But I didn't end up finding anything that A) I really liked, B) was within my budget, or C) that would not encourage me to spent millions of dollars on matching sets or items. I did look at the giant microbes, to see if I could find another STD, since I'd like a new one to bring to MusiCamp this summer, but I couldn't.

You heard me. I'm looking for another STD to bring to camp this summer.

We also dropped by the Lego store, even though I didn't look at anything with too much interest because I already knew I didn't have the money to buy another set yet. Had a good conversation with the Lego store guys, like we always do when I go there.

Drat, I just look at my new Lego fire station, and I think I see the spot where Ken was saying I was missing a piece. And I think I see a piece missing. I was hoping he was going crazy...clearly I blocked the memory of finding out a piece was missing. I'll have to make another trip to the Lego store...

So, after not finding a new toy, and indulging in some Yogen Fruz (mmm...Yogen Fruz...) we headed home to satisfy our lazy side. And eat more bagels.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The End.

~Calminaiel~

(...it's not the end. I'll be back, I promise.)

Horses!

One thing I definitely like about my new job is how I'm always doing something different, and I get to go around and see stuff that's happening in the city.

Not that I'm always at really big events. Last Saturday I was just at an RV place that was having a sale. And before that it was just a hot tub place.

But last weekend I got to go hang out at the MS walk, which was pretty fun. I never realized how popular things like that are, but there were a lot of people there. And a lot of kids and dogs.

Today Eric and I got to go to Spruce Meadows for the first day of the Nationals. I was pretty excited to go, cause I like horses. Not that I got to see any up close, because it's not like the horses in the Nationals just go out for walks to talk to people. But still, I got to see a few of them going for a stroll, and we drove past the field where they were warming up.

It rained pretty badly. Which I actually thought was super fun. There were very little people there, so we didn't have much to do. We were about to start a game of cards when our contact guy decided to move us to a slightly more popular area. Which didn't end up being more popular at all, but the good thing about it was it was right behind the stands for the tournament.

So all we had to do was walk around the corner and we could watch the horse jumping. So we stood in the rain and watched a couple rounds. Eric thought the person from New York was really good, but I like the Calgary person more, even though they got more faults. I liked her horse. He was spooked by this one jump, so she rode past it a couple times in their warm up walk, even though he jumps away from it when they got too close.

But he did really good in their run. The jump was really close to where we were, so when they were approaching it, we could hear his rider clicking away at him, and he just run up to that jump and sailed over it. I was pretty proud of him. Oh, and he had such a lovely prance. I love horses that prance. Ken's horses aren't really the prancing type. Except maybe Sugar, but nobody's riding her yet.

Anyways, I'm gonna be off to UTS here soon. Ken wasn't home when I got back, which I should have expected, since he didn't have his computer or anything with him. But I wonder if he'll come back tonight, cause his phone is currently sitting on the table beside my bed...

~Calminaiel~

"Naked ladies!"

Stay-at-Home Spa Night

This was the best idea I ever had.

I can't remember if I ever mentioned it or not, but I went to Lush and got a huge set of spa materials. This includes things I would regularly use in the shower, such as solid shampoos and conditioners, to things reserved for special spa bath nights, like body scrubs, bath bombs, and heavy moisturizers.

I just finished one such spa bath, and it's wonderful. My skin feels more hydrated than ever before. And not just the 'I sat in water for half an hour so I'm kinda hydrated' feeling. My skin has actually soaked up moisture in a sponge like fashion. All those soaps Lush makes with cocoa butter is amazing. It literally melts into your skin, and your skin just drinks it in. I feel quite content.

Oh, and another amazing aspect was the bath water being so hot I had to ease myself into it. I love baths that fog up the bathroom mirror.

Anyways, on to other news.

A while back Ken and I went to see the military museum, which was pretty cool. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even the memorial room, which put me in tears. I still blame my mother.

I especially enjoyed their temporary exhibit on the war in Afghanistan. (When I tried to spell that, spell check tried to suggest Organist to me...?) It was very cool, especially since most of the rest of the museum focuses on the wars of the past, and then at the end you walk into this exhibit that shows you how all this stuff is still happening. Very cool effect.

I have to say I am enjoying my summer. I've got a new job, which I really enjoy. It gives me enough hours to have steady summer income, but enough free days during the week so I feel I still have time to go out and enjoy the warm season. I still hope to enjoy some more summer adventures. Mainly things like little trips out of town, or doing things around Calgary I have not done, like park exploring, or the Calgary Tower, or Fort Calgary.

I'd also love to go riding more this summer. I know Ken doesn't always want to go out, and I generally want to go out with him, so we'll see how much I actually end up going out.

I'm also trying to find a good balance of splitting my time into going out and doing things, and just staying in to relax. I really like to go outside, because it obviously doesn't stay this warm in Calgary for too long. But at the same time, summer is my down time, and it's nice to have time to just relax inside. So I'm still working on that. My new job does help with getting out of the house. Remotes are always exciting, cause I'm always in a different place, which can be interesting.

Especially last weekend, when we were at an RV place in Airdrie. I actually really liked one of the RVs there. I kept walking around it and thinking that as a student living on my own, that's really all the space I need. It was very cozy. Plus, we kept joking that the monthly payments were lower than rent, and I could just park it on my parents' street so I didn't have to spend that much money on food.

I've recently started thinking of how I really would like to get a place on my own. I like the condo where I am now, and I like my roommates and everything. I've just got hooked on the idea of having my own living room, and my own kitchen, and just my own entire space in general.

But at the same time, I'm not going to get ahead of myself. There's no way I'm going to start looking for something like that until I'm done school, and start making some serious money. And I don't even know if I'm going to want to make serious money right away. I might just want to make comfortable money and just hang out and party and live as any person in their young 20s might live.

Don't ask me how any person in their young 20s might live. I realized that's not the best way to word what I'm trying to say, but I'm also too lazy to try to go back and fix it.

My point is, it really bugs me when people ask me what I want to do with my life, and such on. I don't know. I'm 21 right now, I'm not really worried about a career. Like I keep saying, if I turn 30 and still don't have a real career happening, than I might worry a little, and start looking into that. But at 21, I'm fine just having a job that pays rent. Well, food would be nice too, but as long as I'm in town, Dad will always be willing to have me over for dinner. He has yet to turn me away.

~Calminaiel~

"Hey, they're playing musical instruments!"

Sad Face

I'm in a terrible mood. I usually prohibit myself from accessing the internet, which includes facebook and blogging when in said mood, since I'm not a huge fan of people who just whine on the internet to get attention. However, perhaps if I can explain my bad mood to my readers, hopefully without excessive whining, than perhaps I can move on with life.

First of all, I have three dance shifts at the Jack to work in a row. Well, two now. I just finished one today. And although I have previously admitted that I don't like getting up in the morning, I almost wish I had taken the morning shifts. I'd have to get up in the morning, but at least I'd have the late afternoon and evening in which to actually do stuff. Instead, I have the afternoon shift. So I start at 2 and go to 9:30ish. And I don't feel like I can get anything done before my shift. Yes, the time itself is there, but the looming of my shift coming up would definitely be distracting.

As such, I feel like these days will just be spent waking up, going to work, going home, going to bed, and repeating. Which doesn't fill me with a sense of joy for the upcoming days.

Especially since both my birthday and mother's day happened this weekend, and I have yet to actually see my family. And since I have the aforementioned shifts for the next two days, and then another day shift after that at the university, it doesn't seem like I'll actually see my family for a while. Which sucks, cause they had a special dinner tonight which would have been my birthday dinner had I not been working.

And I have a messy room which I would really like to clean, but again, does not look like I'll actually have the time to do until June.

I suppose that's it really. And I did really have a good time doing that gig in Medicine Hat, and I did have a good birthday shopping around in Medicine Hat with Heather, Amy, and Dori. But still. Usually I do something with my family, and that hasn't happened yet. Seeing them hasn't even happened yet. Mom's planning another birthday / Graham's graduation thing, but it looks like I might not even get to do that, because guess where I have to work?

Now I'm going to clean Guimauve's cage, cause it might give me a sense of purpose. Or at least it will distract me for a while.

~Calminaiel~

Go Time

Okay, we're down to the last week of classes. Surely with only one week left, I will find the effort needed to sit down and write the last couple essays and papers of the year?

Response: Probably not. And don't call me Shirley.

But in all seriousness, I really do need to start getting stuff done. Last week! As before mentioned, I am both ecstatic and terrified of this fact.

And yet as it is right now, I am sitting in bed, drinking white tea, and contemplating playing computer games once I'm done this, and probably continuing into the wee hours of the morning, even though I have rehearsal tomorrow morning. Oh well.

Apparently I have a new roommate. Did you know about this? I didn't, until this afternoon when I went home to grab stuff, and there were guys in my house I didn't know, and the spare room suddenly had a bed, a desk and computer in it. Crazy stuff.

Anyways, we have yet to be introduced. I feel kinda bad cause I didn't speak to him this afternoon when I came home, but that was just because I was kinda in a hurry, so I just wanted to grab stuff and go. Our only interaction so far has been seeing each other in the living room while I was rushing to grab stuff, and passing each other in the hallway while getting ready for bed.

Oh, but I do believe he's a drummer. He had a practice pad in the living room with him, and that's all I've heard him do while getting ready for bed tonight. Not that it bothers me. On the contrary, it's very amusing how Guimauve can't figure out what this strange new sound is. He's also not sure whether he should be afraid of it or not.

Hopefully I'll have more updates on this mystery roommate soon.

I still haven't figured out my whole summer job thing. Brigadoon is starting to look like not the best decision in my life now, since I've just realized that means more evening which I will be unable to work. And thus unable to make money. So I'm thinking I really need to get a day job of some sort. If nothing else, it'll be awesome to make extra money over the summer.

I'm saying nothing of my recital, because I don't feel like it. But it's still happening.

~Calminaiel~

"There's always a guy."

Praise

So, remember a few days ago, when I was insisting I wasn't sick?

Yeah, I'm sick.

This morning I was pretty sure how I felt was how people must feel just before they die. It kinda sucked. Just a really sore throat, coughing, runny nose, stuffy head. The works. However, the day wasn't as bad as it really could have been.

First of all, GDP isn't in town, so we just watched a rehearsal as part of conducting, which I pretty much got to nap in. I mean, I paid attention enough to get some details I can write our assignment on, and then I started to let myself doze off. That definitely beats having to conduct with a cold.

Then, since GDP is away, Amy was conducting Wind Ensemble, and she let us out super early. Which gave me a chance to go home and rest. And rest I did. I got home around 3, changed into pajama pants, and basically just crawled into bed. Around 3:30 I dozed off and didn't wake up until 4:45. Then I dozed until 6. At which point I had to go to the bathroom, and I figured I may as well sit up, since I obviously wasn't sleeping anymore.

Anyways, I'm feeling not a whole lot better, but slightly less than death, which I take as a good sign. It could also just be the mentality of staying at home. I forget who I was talking to, but we were saying that you always feel more sick when you have to actually do things, but when you can just rest and stay home, you automatically feel better.

I get this a lot whenever I'm too sick for work. I'll feel terrible, and then as soon as I decide I'm too sick to work, and I call in to say I'm not coming, I instantly feel better. Obviously not 'Oh, I'm magically healthy' better, but just in a better mood. More relaxed, less stressed, less worried. And that just helps with the physical stuff I suppose? That's what I'm going with.

Of course, I'm also of the mindset that mental and emotional health can totally affect your physical health. I also think that they're often the more important than the physical. In certain cases, as least.

I feel my ability to write coherent sentences is starting to leave me. It could be the sickness, the drugs for the sickness, or maybe I've just been sitting up too long and the blood is draining from my head.

~Calminaiel~

"I've had so much drug medication...medication for dru-...drugs...ugh."