He answers prayers....He answers prayers.....He answers prayers.....He's so good to me

I just couldn't help but write the whole verse to that song because just saying one phrase of it made me want to sing it. For those of you who may not recognize it, the song is "God is so good". I think I first heard it and sang it when I was little. Anyways, it is true, God answers prayers and he has answered a big prayer of mine this week.

As some of you (especially Jen, Steph and Becca) are aware, we have been having some problems with the guy that lives in the basement suite of the house that we live in. At first when we moved in, it was the cigarette smoke and the fact that our whole house smelt like it that really bothered us. However, as time went by, there was often a lot of marijuana smoke drifting around too. We had discussed this issue with our landlords (who are his parents which just complicates things that much more) early in 2004 when Becca was still living here because it had come up (I mean, literally, it had come up through our vents) when we had some people over and they asked us why our house smelled like marijuana smoke. His parents were shocked and couldn't believe it. After that, it stopped for awhile. However, exactly a weekend ago, it got really bad again. We were pretty much choking up here it was so bad. I mean, if he wants to do that crap I guess that's his business but when it affects us that is a whole 'nother matter. I sure don't want to kill brain cells, especially when I'm trying to do school! We all got in a huff and I was determined to see if I could get him on possession charges or something just in case the parents did nothing. Anything to make it stop!!! However, I was really tired that night so I didn't seriously look into the legislation on marijuana. The next night it happened again around 10:30 so we called the parents. The father was shocked although he shouldn't have been because we had discussed this before with him and his wife. We resolved that if nothing was done, we should write a letter to our landlords because if its in writing they are more accountable for it. I started praying hardcore because I felt helpless. I did not want to live in a pot house but I didn't want to go through the hassle of moving because I really like the neighbourhood and the house.

So....the other day we got our rent receipts in the mail. No biggie, right? But I saw there was a letter with it and I was like "what's this?" . It was from our landlords informing us that their son will be moving out within the next month. I almost screamed for joy!!!! I never thought that this would be the solution to our problem. They said that they appreciate us as renters and would like to have someone like us and so if we know of any friends that may be looking, we are supposed to mention this place. It would be totally awesome if we could have some friends move in downstairs because then it would be like we have the whole house, up and down. We have a few months because the suite downstairs needs to be finished after Tyler moves out. I'm just praying we can find some friends or at least someone we sort of know to live down there. YAY!!!!!

So I guess one of my goals in the next year is to learn some German. My friend Rebecca, who I met in Peru but who is actually from Germany, emailed me the other day and said she is engaged. Her and her fiance are getting married May or April of next year and she wants me to come over to the wedding!!! We used to joke about how she should come to Canada and I should come to Germany and I remember saying that if she got married I would for sure try to make it. Well, I guess that time has come and I really want to go. I would want to take a few weeks in Europe though to make it worth it. She says that most people in Germany speak English but I want to learn at least some basic German in case some members of her family don't speak English. If I'm meeting her family and fiance (whom I don't think speaks that much English either) and they don't speak English, that could just be awkward. I wouldn't understand a word they would say and so I'd just have to smile and stand there like an idiot.

Does this look like Shopper's Drug Mart to you?

I work at a PharmaChoice pharmacy (used to be a Price Watchers) but for some reason people seem to think we are just like Wal-Mart or Shopper's Drug Mart, which drives us crazy, especially since in our store Shopper's is practically a swear word. So on Saturday this lady comes in and I'm sure she's been in before. She was looking for hand lotion so I directed her to the proper aisle . She asked me if there was a senior's discount and I told her that we give them a 10% discount. She found the hand lotion that she wanted and said "This is much less at Shopper's Drug Mart". I kindly explained to her that we are not a big-box store and we don't have the same wholesalers, so naturally our prices are going to be different. She proceeded to tell me that at Shopper's the discount is 10% and on Thursdays it is 20%. In my head I was going whoopty ding! How exciting! She then asked me if we would match Shopper's price. I couldn't believe it. We do not offer a price match guarantee because we would not make any money that way and would likely have to declare bankruptcy if we did that every time someone marched in and said that they could get something cheaper somehwhere else. So I said no and she asked several times and the answer was the same every time. Then she proceeded to whine about how it was so much cheaper at Shopper's. I finally just said "whatever works for you" and walked away.

So I went back to doing what I was doing and I had to come up to the front counter to get something. Well, here was the same lady giving the same spiel to Quinn! She had brought two different kinds of the same brand of lotion to the front and wondered why they were different prices. I explained that one was original and the other was unscented and that was why there was the price difference. She didn't seem to understand though and so she looked on the bottom of the bottle and saw that one of them was supposed to expire in August and so she thought that was why it was cheaper. I'm just like, oh my goodness, people are so strange...... People like that just bug me. I mean, is there a sign above our door that says Wal-Mart or Shopper's!!!!???? We're a locally-owned small town-like drugstore, not a big impersonal chain store. If things are so much cheaper at Wal-Mart than people can go to Wal-Mart if they want to!!! I mean, half of our staff buys stuff at Wal-Mart because some things there are cheaper. Just stop coming into our store and complaining!!! GRRR!!! If I never have to work again in retail, I can't say I'll be sad.

Untitled Randomness

Yes, it has been almost a week since I last blogged but this past week I just didn't have time to think about having any inspirational/big thoughts, let alone blog them. It was a super crazy week for me, although I didn't really have that much to do compared to other people. I only had 2 midterms this week and a group meeting for a project. I spent the first part of the week cramming for my Wednesday night nutrition exam and then I spent Thursday night panicking about my Exercise Physiology midterm on Friday because I just did not have time to study as much as I needed to. I was praying to God to have mercy on me and help me do well.....and boy did he pull through!!! I checked my mark for Exercise Phys. on Saturday and I got the highest mark in the class.....94%. All I can say is praise God, because it sure wasn't me that got that mark.

I was so glad that the week was over on Friday but I was dreading the weekend because of how crappy last weekend was for me. However, this weekend has so far been a pretty good rebound/recovery from last weekend. This school year I have really come to understand what the joy of the Lord is. You know when you're super stressed out, tired and worried and yet you feel peace and just can't stop smiling? Yeah, that was what I was like at work yesterday of all places! I was like, YES!!! I have God's joy again!!! In times and days like that, I can truly say that the joy of the Lord is my strength because there is no other explanation for why I feel the way I do.

Man, this month has been like a blast to the past for me. First car flirting and cruising.....and then ditzy talk. That's right, I make a very good ditz/stupid girl if I really try (and for all of you who are thinking, "she doesn't really need to try at all" all I have to say is grrrrr...... and SLAP!) So Jen and Steph were over last night until like 3 in the morning and around 2 o'clock we started to get really crazy and hyper. We ended up setting up Jen's digital camera and taking a video of us having girl talk all in ditzy language.....great times I tell you. I miss talking like that sometimes. I mean, not like I was always like that in the past, but Kat and I are pretty good when we get going.

Well, that was a whole lot of randomness, but I hope that will satisfy the appetite of anyone who has been anxiously checking my blog just waiting for a word or two....(don't deny it, some of you check every day, don't you?)

Men are apparently dogs.....but sunshine makes me happy

OK, before anyone of the male sex gets all riled up and sends me threats, let me explain this totally non-sensical title. So I was on my way home and I had just finished my canvassing for Heart and Stroke Foundation. I was feeling pretty good because I had just met some nice people and most of them were pretty generous (this year I collected a whole whopping $60, but it beats last year's $20). I was walking on the street because one guy was cleaning off his driveway and I didn't want to get in his way by walking through. A car with like four guys was turning onto the street I was on and they slowed down and one of them opened his window and shouted "Looking pretty good there! Arf! Arf!". I was just like, "what the heck?" First of all, guys don't ever look at me that way (and I'm glad they don't because this whole incident made me realize I really don't want that kind of attention) and secondly, what makes guys think that barking and acting like fools will earn them respect of girls? Granted, there are some sleezy girls who enjoy that kind of attention and would respond to that, but not me. I mean, my first reaction when some guy hoots, hollers or barks at me is to be repulsed, disturbed, and almost lose my lunch (or supper, or breakfast, or any other food I have just eaten). If any man wants a reaction or attention from me, he'd better be looking at my insides first. And I don't mean my intestines.....

Anyways, to the "bright" (hahahaha) part of my post....sunshine. I am truly like a plant....I need sun and water to be healthy. This last week for me has been really really rough for no particular reason. Its just one of those times when I am struggling through another nasty bought of depression. I haven't felt this down or helpless for about a year. I realize that it takes awhile to work out and work through depression but it makes you feel so dang helpless, inadequate and lonely. I mean, when I'm depressed I like to go out to try and cheer myself up but I'm not super good at socializing on the best of days, and when I'm depressed I'm even worse at it. So if I do manage to drag myself out when I'm depressed I usually don't really interact with others which leaves me thinking that no one cares and then I feel even more depressed and just want to go home. However, when I get home, I get more isolated and feel even more helpless and lonely. Its a nasty cycle and I'm praying God will show me what I need to deal with in my life and how I can start working through this. Anyways....Saturday was a really, really bad day for me. As soon as I woke up I wanted to cry and I felt totally helpless and hopeless. I'm not even sure why. I needed to go out and do my canvassing for Heart and Stroke but I really did not want to. Even as I was walking along, I was ready to cry and had to work really hard to hold it back because I didn't want to show up on people's doorsteps with blotchy eyes. It was a gorgeous day and the sun was shining. The people that I talked to as I canvassed were all very nice and some of them even gave (YEAH!!!). By the time I was done, I had been gone about 1 and 1/2 hours. I felt much better after I got home. I think it was because of the sun, exercise and fresh air. I know something like sunshine promotes the release or creation of serotonin which makes you feel "happy" and I think it definitely worked for me that day. I mean, I wasn't bouncing off the walls with happiness, but I felt like there was at least some hope. The same thing happened to me today as I went out. I was feeling kind of down when I went out and when I came back I was feeling better. I almost think that part of it may be the fact that I got to talk to some very nice people as I canvassed cause I know that cheers me up, but I also know that sunshine puts in me in a good mood, especially when I can be outside on a sunny day. I am most productive and optimistic when the sun is out. I find it easy to study when the sun is out, but hard to when it is dark or cloudy....kind of weird. I hate how my mood is so affected by the weather.

Good times....good looking guys

Wow. This is a record for me. 2 posts in one day!!!

Its been a good year since I've done any serious cruising and I didn't realize how much I missed it. I mean, there's great music, cool cars, and good looking boys. Plus, car flirting is relatively harmless. Kat and I went out with Kristin in her new yellow Cavalier. We attracted a lot of attention and had a lot of guys checking us out. I think the ones we really had hooked were 3 guys in a Mustang. The driver and the guy in the back were really good looking. They kept checking us out and pulling up beside us. When we decided to pull a U-ie and they were beside Kat and I shot the good 'ol "here's looking at you two-fingered shot gun" (hard to explain in words, but makes sense when you actually see it). We laughed so much about that. The driver was just shocked. No one really wanted to race us off the line though. We had one really good-looking guy in a Ranger pull up beside us at several lights but he always chickened out. Oh well, maybe next time. Once I get the 'Bu back, I think I might just have to go for a cruise......

I can't believe I'm witnessing this in university

Seriously, some people just should not be in university yet. I felt like I was ten years old getting a huge lecture that was meant to intimidate me. I'm telling you, it took me right back to elementary school.

So it all started last week when I wrote my ADMN 260 (Organizational Behaviour) exam. I'll admit, I hadn't studied enough, but I thought that I would do fine because its just an introductory class and it borrows from a whole bunch of disciplines, so I thought it would be one of those general exams. Our prof wasn't there that day (we already knew that she wouldn't be there because she told us she had to go to Australia that week to defend her thesis) so there was some other lady supervising. Our class is fairly large and we are in the nice admin classrooms on the 6th floor of the Education building which means that it is fairly easy to cheat if one wants to. Therefore, half of us were sent to another similar room to write the exam. Anyone can see that 2 rooms and one supervisor is a problem. Anyways, the exam was actually really tough. I was so lost and seriously didn't know how I was going to fill up the page for the short answer. Our classroom was dead silent until the lady that was supervising came back in and asked "Are you guys finding this exam really hard? Because they are really vocal in the other classroom". Then most of us either nodded our heads or made some comment on how much we had studied (not I...) but how little it was helping us now. Then, for the most part, we were silent again and continued writing. You could see people from the other room walking by and some of them even stopped in to mock us and said "What, you guys find this exam hard or something?". However, I was stunned and outraged when one guy, after handing his exam, came back into the room 5 minutes later, picked up his exam and went back to his desk to keep writing. I thought the lady was going to call him on it, but instead she just told him that if he actually wrote something, the chances are that he would get something right!!!!!! I coudn't believe it!!!! She allowed him to keep writing!! She was also letting people make phone calls, go out for smokes, etc. It was all ridiculous, both the exam and the supervision.

After the exam, there were so many complaints on the discussion board for that class that the prof created a whole 'nother board just for Midterm feedback. I even discovered that some of the questions were on the stuff that we hadn't taken yet (I was preparing for today's class and was reading over the chapters when I found some of the definitions from the test). We all expected to discuss it today in class. When our prof came into class today, she had the associate dean and another lady with her (I think she's that angry secretary that we call the "evaluation Nazi" because she rips the evaluations out of your hands before you are finished when you are actually working on giving a prof a good rating. But enough about my experiences with the Admin Admin). We all thought that they were there to talk to us about how bad the exam was. However, the forms we were handed were on academic misconduct. The associate dean said that he had had so many people come to him and complain about the overt cheating that was going on that he needed to address it. He said that he had reason to believe that there were about 12 individuals involved; the worst case he has ever seen in 10 years. The dean wanted him to scrap the entire class but he said he would rather not do that because he believes most people have integrity and he realizes that that would screw a lot of us over. Thank God for that! They got us to fill out forms saying which room we had written in and if we had observed any academic misconduct or anything out of the ordinary. I think most of the stuff was going down in the other classroom because I was talking to one of the other girls who was in there and she said there was a lot of talking and stuff. They've decided that because of everything that has gone on, they can't guarantee the integrity of the exam and so they are not even going to mark or return it and the extra marks will be shifted onto our next midterm and the final. So that means our next midterm is going to be huge because its not until March 17th!!!! (And in the faculty of Admin the prof can't change the date of a midterm after it has been submitted and that is why our prof wasn't there in the first place for our midterm because when she set the dates she didn't know she would be called to Australia. Her not being there is what started things out and snowballed into this huge thing!)

I'm telling you, its all a big mess and its ridiculous becuase some people were asking "what is academic misconduct and cheating, I'm so confused". I 'm sorry, but if you don't understand what cheating is or how to properly conduct yourself in an exam, you shouldn't be in university. GRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That' my frustration of the day. Even if it doesn't make sense, at least I got to let it out.

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

I can think of plenty of other options that I would have rather been......even Hitler.

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

OK, so I've never heard about this movie, but apparently I can't find myself which I totally agree with because every time I think I know who I am or think I am satisfied with who I am one of two things happens a) I realize I was wrong about who I thought I was or b) I realize that I am not satisfied with who I am but don't know how to change it.

Blessings in curses

Even though I was completely bummed about my car being wrecked up, things are going pretty good. I finally got a hold of my adjuster today and my car is enroute to the place I want it to be fixed at as I type so I actually might have it back in time to head home for a bit of spring break. I had decided that this week I would try to get to a hold of my adjuster 2 times and if he did not call me when I was available (I explicitly told him each of the 2-3 times I called him back last week and left messages when I would be available and which number he could reach me at at that time) I complain and try to get someone else assigned to my claim. However, I actually managed to catch him in his office today and things are on their way. I thought that when my car actually went to the autobody shop I would see if they could give me a courtesy car, but actually I've been managing just fine. Because I'm stubborn and hate imposing on other people for rides I have been walking a lot in the last week; to school, to work, to church, the Curves and I have actually enjoyed the benefits of it. Over the past month I lost 10 pounds and I think 5 of that was just from walking these past 8 days. I think after I get my car back, I will continue to try to walk a lot. However, sometimes its frustrating because when I'm bundled up I don't have very much freedom of movement so I can't walk very fast and also, my glasses fog up and I can hardly see. Taking them off wouldn't help any either!!! Oh well, so far I haven't frozen. I think the coldest I've walked in is -33 (with windchill) and I was sweating!!! So I think I've got the layers/bundling up thing down pat!