Happy Birthday Keith/Bon Voyage Bari

I just got home from my last day of work at CenturyVallen. I have worked there 5 years and I loved it. I can't say I "loved every single minute" - because I didn't, but overall I loved it there. It was really tough to say good-bye. I only choked up 3 times, though, which is really good for me. It's hard to cry when everyone is saying how jealous they are of you: I was beaming most of the afternoon! I got lots of good pictures, too. For those of you who are reading this and are from Century: I'm going to miss you all very much. I will be sure to stop by when I get back, and - schedule permitting - Rod and Ken both say that I'll have a job if I want it when I get back.

For those of you who are still planning on coming to the going away party tonight, I plan on getting to Rosario's just after 8:00, but I am habitually late, so you probably shouldn't show up until between 8:30 and 9:00 just to be safe. This is now a joint party for me and a birthday party for my brother (his birthday was on Tuesday) so I am pretty sure that we can classify it as a "gong show!" I hope you all turn up!

Cheers!

No Self-Control (or Dinner at The Keg)

Wow. I love The Keg. It is my favourite restaurant, I think. Scrap that. It is definitely my favourite restaurant! I am never disappointed when I go there and tonight was no different. Yesterday was my brother's birthday and last weekend was my dad's, so we went out tonight and it was great! But I ate so much that when we got home my mom had to rub my back like I was a little child... it was worth it, though.

I can't believe how quickly the time is coming until I have to leave. I know that I've said that like 3 times now, but it really is unbelievable.

Hannah, your peanut butter is as good as bought. Yup... good old-fashioned chunky peanut butter, just like home. It's chunky alright, extra chunky; just for you.

Nicole, I bought your batteries. They are right next to Hannah's chunky peanut butter.

I get to go to the dentist tomorrow. I love the dentist. Good night everyone.

A trip down memory lane

It's good to see where you've been: it helps put where you're going into perspective. My trip to Saskatchewan was really great... as great as a trip to Saskatchewan can be, that is! I got to see every one of my uncles and aunts (on my dad's side) and all of the cousins too (save for one or two). My grandparents had their 60th wedding anniversary, which is as surprising as it is fantastic. And it was funny for me because, as not all of you know, my dad is the only one of the seven kids in his family to move out of Saskatoon, making him the rogue uncle; which makes my brother and sister and me the rogue cousins. It's always kind of fun for me to see the smaller cousins and cousins removed look at us cautiously and whisper to their parents, "Who are those people?" Then during the course of the night they realize that we might actually be okay, and they don't look so petrified!

When we were in Regina, we drove past the house I grew up in. We try to do it everytime we are in Regina, but don't always make it, and it has been quite a while since I have personally seen the old place. It is in a quaint neighbourhood that is relatively well kept, except for the roads and sidewalks, which are in absolutely horrendous condition, but that is the fault of the government - not the homeowners. I think the most interesting part of the visit for me was the observation that there are now squirrels in the neighbourhood. I feel ripped off! I wish there were squirrels living there when I was a kid! Then again, if there were squirrels when we were growing up Jenn would have, no doubt, lobbied for rabbits and gerbils and hamsters in addition to her relentless plight for cats and dogs. And, if that were the case, I would probably be a 23-year-old wacko sitting on the front porch with a bee-bee gun cackling wildly and shooting at everything with fur! Or not, I suppose, but it's entirely possible.

Out of town

Hey, I forgot to mention that I am out of town this weekend and I am just lucky that there is an unsecured network. I probably won't have anything to write, but I doubt I'll be able to write it anyways. We are in a hotel in Regina right now and will head to Saskatoon tomorrow night. Oh glorious days. Laters!

This was me at 1:00 this afternoon

Man, it took a long time to grow this much hair!

This is what's being donated

We were able to get 4 ponytails because I have so much hair! Wait, I guess I mean HAD... that's makes me sad.

Here is the final product

It's shorter than I wanted, but I don't hate it. I guess I even kind of like it - but I can't say I really like it. It's only okay right now, but in 3 months it will be great.

My crowning possession

I really like stuff, so I've tried to accumulate as much as I can, and I have succeeded in getting quite a lot of things. My favorite thing isn't what you'd expect, though. It isn't my bed (as much as I like to spend time there) and it isn't my TV or computer (as much as I like to spend time with them) and it isn't even Winston (believe it or not). My favorite possession is also my favorite accessory... and my favorite toy... and my most memorable feature. Yes, my favorite thing that I have is my hair. I have been growing it out for about 7 years now and I love it. People stop me on the street and tell me how nice it is, you know? Okay, enough of that! The reason I am writing to say how nice my hair is (like you all weren't thinking it already) is because I'm cutting it all off tomorrow. Some of you are shocked, I'm sure, so let me (quickly) explain. I was thinking about gettitng a pretty substantial haircut before I go to Germany for the main reason that this much hair takes a lot of time and hair products (products=money) and because I don't trust anyone but my own hairdresser. So I was going to cut off 6"-8" when I found out that Locks of Love asks for (a minimum of) 10". I realized that there wasn't much difference between 8" and 10" and I realized that if I cut off 8" it goes in the trash and if I cut off 10" it can be used for something wonderful (please check out their site) . So here is a picture taken by my mom after my shower tonight; tomorrow that hair is gone.

Sometimes screw-ups yield nice surprises...

Seeing as how the dollar is as high as it is right now, I figured that tonight would be a nice night to go to the currency place in WEM and buy me some Euros. I reminded myself before I left the house that I had to stop at a bank and get some money first but, of course, I forgot… until I had parked at the mall, that is. I decided to get back into the car and drive to the nearest CIBC because I was fairly certain that there wasn’t one inside the mall (little tip: there is, and it’s right next to the currency place). By the time I got there and back, found a new parking spot and finished my transaction, I decided that I had better visit the facilities to avoid an uncomfortable car ride home. Were it not for this chain of events I would not have seen an old friend outside the washrooms, one I haven’t seen in a long time and was absolutely thrilled to bump into. That makes me feel pretty excited inside – that whole butterfly effect thing. But more than the excitement of the small things making a difference, I start to feel very sick about what a scatterbrain I am, and I dread having to pack my suitcases in less than 2 weeks time. Actually, the packing part might not be so bad; it will be the unpacking and realizing all the shit I’ve forgotten part that will suck. So, I was wondering if anyone has any tips for me? Things that you’ve forgotten and wish you hadn’t, or things you almost forgot, but remembered in the nick of time? Anybody?

Let's get this business out of the way

I guess that this is my first "official" post, since I am about to send out the email telling everyone that this blog actually exists. I have found that there are 4 main questions that everyone who finds out I'm leaving asks and, since I know some of you weren't even aware that I am going away and I haven't had the proper chance to speak to others, I will list them here along with their answers (and a little bit more because I always like to give more information than necessary, but I'm sure you all know that):
1. Where are you going to in Germany? I will be attending the University of Munich. I will be living right in Munich in the student residences. My room is 14 square metres and includes a bed and mattress, desk and chair, armoire, kitchen and bathroom. While I am very grateful that I have a private kitchen and bathroom in my room, I am curious to see how they will fit it all in 14 square metres.
2. What will you be studying? More of what I'm studying here. German is my minor, so I should get some credits for that, and linguistics is my major, so I will probably take a bunch of LING courses because I am really interested in it. I have been, basically, told flat out that any chance of getting my LING credits transferred back is slim to none because I only need senior level courses at this point in my degree and they really don't like to transfer those. I love red tape. So, since this might just be a wasted year in Germany (school-wise) I might just take whatever the hell interests me. Fuck'em!
3. Why Germany? Well, aside from the fact that German is my minor and the only other language I speak...? But seriously, it's because they were throwing money at me and I couldn't help but put my hand out and catch some of it. I got two different scholarships: one to pay for tuition and one to pay for living expenses. The scholarship one pays for the FULL tuition (which is sweet), but the living allowance won't quite cover everything, but it's still pretty sweet, too. I will have to work in the International Centre at LMU (The University of Munich has, like, 5 different aliases and this is one of them; it stands for Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet. Get used to it, it's the one I'll use most often.) to earn the living allowance, but it shouldn't be more than about 15-16 hours per week. We'll see exactly how much when I get there.
4. Are you getting excited? No. Next question. Just kidding! But I kind of can't believe that this is a real question that people are asking me. I guess it's human nature to repeat the obvious, and I bet I ask the same sort of question all the time, but still... The truth is that, while I am really excited about going, I am almost more scared than excited. I am about to leave for about a year (for those who don't know, it will be 10-11 months, I'm not sure yet.) and I have never even moved out of my parents' house. I feel so bad for my mom because her mini-me is leaving and I don't know what she'll do for the year. And Ashley, my best friend, what can I even say about her. Not only am I going to be gone for a year, but every time I've come back from Germany before I have been a total moron when it comes to things like sarcasm and, for those of you who don't know, English is actually Ashley's second language; her mother tongue is Sarcasm, so, in actuality, she's losing me for more than a year because it will probably take me a good 2-3 months before I can even understand her again. I know that this is the experience of my life and all that crap, but it's still really hard to think that I am just going to go somewhere completely new and start over in a sense; I am excited, yes, but I am equally terrified.

Okay, well, that was relatively painless. I hope you all keep checking back to see what I'm up to over the next year. I don't leave for two weeks, and I might be pretty busy over that time, but I will try and write at least little something on here every couple of days before I go so that keep your attentions and you remember to check back when the exciting stuff happens!

Getting Ready to Go

Well, the time is really flying by now. I leave in 3 weeks as of the time I'm writing this. I can't believe the summer is over. I'm not even close to being ready to leave. But I digress, this is actually just a test post to see if I really have any idea what I'm doing. Here goes...