But I signed a contract which states I am to make NO public political affiliation.  *sigh* . . . it’s been an interesting night.  Any thoughts from any of you?

I’ve been quite the busy bee today, trying to be as productive as I can while I have the energy to be so!  I never imagined french classes would knock the life out of me the way they have. 

So far today, I’ve done a load of dishes, and have another load soaking, waiting for the ones in the drying rack to dry.  I’ve done three loads of laundry, and just took the last out of the dryer, so it’s waiting for me to fold and hang it.  I washed three loads, but had a fair amount that needed to air dry, so i was able to use just one dryer.  Although I hate doing it, I took someone’s clothes out of one of the dryers and put them on the laundry table upstairs.  Their load was done, and there were no more machines.  Plus, the people who are using the machines have insane piles of laundry on top of them, waiting to go in, so if I didn’t take a machine like that, I wouldn’t have gotten one today.  I also cleaned up enough and separated enough dirty clothes and towels and sheets that I can now see my bedroom floor for the first time in a long time.  I’m hoping to do a little more cleaning in the bedroom, the dining room, vacuum, and clean the bathroom, before the day is over.  On top of this, the kitchen is driving me mad.  I’ve had the vanity in there since Friday night, varnishing it.  It has two coats on it now, the second went on last night, but I think parts of it might need a third, so that will have to get done tonight as well.  It takes 24 hours between each coat.  I’ve had to move the cat food and litter out to the dining room and close the kitchen doors, in order to keep cat fur away from the varnish.  I can’t wait to have it out of there.  I really don’t know if I’ll get my entire to do list done tonight or not, but I’m hoping!!  Cross your fingers for me!

This week shouldn’t be as bad with french, as my classes are with Emmanuel.  I find his classes have a much lower stress level than Roman’s classes, so I am still coherent in the evenings.  I’m pretty sure I have decided to paint my apartment, so I might go after work some night to pick up the paint.  I also might go to Bouclair some night and see if I can find new lamps for my living room.  Two of my lamps got broken in the move, and I didn’t realize until after my claim went in to the moving company.  Some evenings, it feels pretty dark in here!  Bouclair is great though, they have some of the nicest home stuff, and they put great sales on!

Oh, and don’t worry everyone, I DID get some turkey this weekend!!  Kailla, a girl from back home who has recently moved here, made a turkey breast supper for me and her school friends on Saturday, and I went to another turkey supper with Jessica (at her parents house), last night.  It’s not like home, but it did the trick!

To the man who stepped back to let me on the bus before him today - you made my day a little brighter.

To the older woman on the bus from Billings Bridge, who told me it had been raining so much this summer because the world needed cleaning - I think you are one of the most interesting people I have ever met.  I have seen you on the same bus a few times since, imparting your wisdom on others.  It always makes me smile.

To the inebriated man on the bus after work - I highly doubt parents appreciate you telling their children your nickname is “the teddy bear”.  I didn’t appreciate it myself, and I have years on those kids.

To the golden retriever on the elevator this afternoon - I would have brought you home with me!  And from the look on your face when I was scratching your chin and ears, you would of came

To the guy at home hardware - You definitely sold me the wrong brush for varnishing.

To my french teacher - thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain my thoughts about the class.  I think we’re starting to understand each other a little better. 

To the man who usually sits next to me on the bus in the mornings - as odd as it seems, I’ve gotten used to you sitting next to me, and I missed you this morning when you didn’t take the bus.  I guess it’s just nice to have someone semi-familiar around.

And today, I was the one.  The one person who showed up for french class.  Wow, what a day.  Of course it was with the teacher I don’t quite mesh with.  Of course I did twice the work I normally would have to with the others in the class.  Of course we debated for 20 minutes on why you can call an incident an event, but not call an event an incident (a debate which I started, because I didn’t agree with the context of the exercise in the book).  But for once, in the end, I was able to state my point in a way he was able to understand.  Finally - a breakthrough.  Even with that, I really hope at least one other person shows up tomorrow.

To update on the vanity I am refurbishing . . . After hours upon hours of stripping, sanding, stripping, sanding, I finally put the first coat of stain on it last weekend.  Since I am doing it on the balcony, and the weather shifted from end of summer to mid-fall quite quickly, I’m working against time.  And after the first coat of stain was dry - I hated it.  “Just put a darker stain on it”, a colleague recommended.  “I used the darkest stain the store had”, I replied.  Crap.  Today, with a heavy heart, I put a second coat of stain on it.  I had to try, right?  And now, it’s beautiful.  And I am sure it will be stunning after the third coat, and incredible in the finale.  I guess all it takes is a little hope (and maybe a lot of elbow grease!)

In a completely different direction, let’s talk about pineapple!  Pineapple, you ask?  Yes, pineapple!  I love fresh pineapple.  Can’t get enough of it!  Or at least that’s what I thought.  My body is now telling me otherwise.   Seeing as how there have been no other changes in my diet, and the problems began as I was eating pineapple in class this morning (try eating pineapple and talking in french at the same time - interesting!).  The more of the wonderful, golden fruit I ate, the more my lips and inside of my cheeks were tingling.  Although I thought it was odd, I didn’t really put more thought than that into the subject.  Then I came home.  Then I looked in a mirror.  My bottom lip is no longer mine, it’s a cross between mine and Angelina Jolie’s.  Too much pineapple is never a bad thing.  Too much pineapple fruit acid however, that’s another story . . .  Maybe I should go out on the town and try to lure a guy to me with my new fancy, swollen lips.  hmmm . . . now there’s an idea!

That’s what I did tonight.  I had a pretty decent weekend, errands, curtains, staining the vanity, naps . . . Everything I wanted in my weekend was there.  I’ve come to appreciate (even more than usual) having a quiet weekend since french started.  But for some reason, even though I was very content today, I crashed.  Really down, homesick (or maybe friend-sick might be the right term), just plain too far into my own head again.  Does anyone have a cure?  Do you just need to crash every now and then, whether you know it’s going to happen or not?

In other news, I’m adding a new tab.  It’s going to be for music I like, to share with all of you.  Check the songs out on youtube, and if you like them, support them.

I did make myself start sewing my living room curtains.  I got a pretty decent start.  One is even hanging (minus the bottom hem being done).  From the looks of it, they’re going to totally transform my apartment, in a good way.  It’s felt like something has been missing here.  I know the apartment isn’t done (I also brought home some paint chips today, just beiges and creams), but something about the look was wrong, and was making it difficult to decorate with the things I have.  Nothing ever looked right.  I’m excited to see how this turns out!

P.P.S. - I’m watching a news recap of the Canadian Party leaders.  The original broadcast was in french, so this one is dubbed in english.  They tried to dub it with voices that sound true to the leaders actual voices.  Harper however, sounds very . . . feminine.

And I am now going to bed with my clean teeth.

I’m frozen.  With the first day of October, came some very chilly weather!

I may have already posted this, I can’t remember, but I updated the about me section.  It’s now silly little tidbits about me and my life.  It might keep growing.

The reading list . . . . well, with french class, the english reading has stopped.  For now anyway.

I find I’m retaining more french from this week’s teacher, Emmanuel.  Every week we switch back and forth between Emmanuel and Roman.  This is my first week with Emmanuel, as the class had him when I was on vacation.  Roman is friendly, but I’m sorry, Emmanuel is superior for my learning style.

This week I made the best cabbage rolls I have ever had.

I had my teeth cleaned today.  For not having them done in around 5 years, she was amazed the state they were in (in that they were much better than they should have been).  Instead of cleaning them with the little motor powered toothpaste thing, she power sprayed them with a baking soda and water mix.  It was odd, tasted bad, and almost stung from the strength of the spray.  My teeth feel super clean though.  She also gave me a little pick thing to clean my wisdom teeth, and re-iterated that my mouth is too small to hold them.  A fact which was clear all over again when she tried to both put fluoride trays in my mouth, and take them out again.  I go back at the end of the month for a cavity fill and to discuss the plan for my front teeth.

I could really go for some deep fried pickles right about now.

I have no energy.  I keep thinking I really want to do things, like start the actual sewing of my living room curtains, or clean, or organize my bedroom some more.  I just can’t make myself actually do it.  At least I got the bedroom curtains done in a weekend energy spurt.  Maybe if I was sleeping better.  I never sleep well when the weather changes.  Time to start my B50 again.

I bought sandpaper, another pair of gloves, and some wood conditioner today.  If I expect to be able to stain that vanity on my balcony, I really need to finish getting it ready.  The cold likely isn’t going to let up at this point in time.

My poll station for vote day is at my apartment building.  How unbelievably convenient is that??

Ok, I’m going to go keep dreaming about those deep fried pickles . . . mmmmmm pickley goodness . . .

One of the books I read this year, 20 Something 20 Everything, asked the question “who are you?”.  And oddly enough, that’s a question I can’t answer.  Do you know who you are? 

I almost wonder if I need to know who I am, or if I should.  Won’t I keep changing?  As the years go by and I grow, won’t my views, thoughts and dreams change?  Aren’t they all a part of who I am, and what makes me, me?  So if they keep changing, won’t the person I am keep changing?

I know, I’m getting very philosophical on yo’ asses (I don’t know, for some reason I just needed to type that!).  Realistically though, even if I don’t know who I am, I think I am becoming more me.  I think I have come into my own a lot with everything I have faced over the last few years.  I’m more comfortable in my own skin, and in front of crowds.  I know more of what I want in certain regards.  I even stopped by the college while I was home, and one of my favorite instructors looked at me and smiled, saying “You sound so grown up”. 

Life has been interesting for me folks, and I’m sure the best is yet to come.  At least I hope so.  Maybe in 40 years I will be able to say “this is who I am”.  But for now, I’d rather dance in my living room, and enjoy the ride.

I should have known at the very beginning that it was going to be a strange day.  Less than 45 minutes after rolling out of bed, I was crossing the street and entering the parking lot for my office.  There I am, crossing the parking lot, when all of sudden - SPLAT!!  Pigeon poop lands on the pavement about 10″ in front of me.  No joke.  Do you know how close 10″ is?

Next I went to the cafeteria for a coffee.  With the stress of this week, I’ve been figuring I deserve to revert to my morning coffee routine for the week.  The next thing you know, I’m standing in line, having a conversation with a woman about how much she doesn’t like the new napkins in the cafeteria.  Although I’m sure I had a hundred better things to do, I felt like humoring her.  After all, I feel her pain, the new coffee cups and I have been having an ongoing battle.

French class was interesting all around today.  It was basically a day-long quiz.  In the morning there was a written quiz, and in the afternoon, two portions of oral quizzes.  One of the girls mentioned she had to leave a little early for a doctor’s appointment, and the instructor made a joke about sneaking out the back door.  Next thing you know, she’s making a joke about how “the back door” is a completely different thing in english.  We killed ourselves laughing, while he was completely confused.  We spared him the details!  Oddly enough, about ten minutes before that, he was talking about how dark chocolate is an aphrodisiac.  If only he knew how close he was!

And yes, she was a she.  Hence MA dentiste instead of mon.  See?  I’m not totally language incompetent!

So yes, I had an appointment with my dentist today.  This was my first time visiting a dentist in Ottawa.  I wasn’t nervous, because I knew how bad of shape I had let my teeth go to over the last 4 years (mainly the first two of those 4).  I chose an inconvenient dentist in regards to location, but I had a recommendation for her.  I was also assured she wouldn’t be one of those condescending, “how dare you do this to your poor teeth!!!”, dentists.  All the more reason to travel out of my way in my opinion.

The appointment went well.  She was friendly, as was her assistant.  The receptionist dealt with me as if she knew me all my life as well.  The examination was an hour, and was only a “new patient” exam, to see what kind of shape my teeth are in, and what needs to be done.  Appointments would be made for those things after. 

It turns out, even though I thought I likely had a cavity in every tooth of my head, it’s only sensitivity.  In reality, I only have on cavity (Other than my wisdom teeth, which I’m not counting)!  I was able to get an appointment for next week for a cleaning, then I will go back at the end of October to have my cavity filled, and to finish checking things out and see if the cleaning ends up turning anything else out.  She said there are a few areas she would like to watch, that there are no problems now, but could be problems later if I don’t take care of myself.  She’s also recommending I have my wisdom teeth out.  The top two both have cavities in them, and the bottom two apparently are never going to fully come in.  She said my mouth is too small to hold them, and they will eventually need to come out.  I’m ok with that.  We’re thinking maybe some time next year.  She’s not being pushy about it like the last dentist/specialist I went to, so it’s not a concern to me. 

The final item on the tooth update - my two front teeth.  I think everyone knows I’m not happy with them.  Both of them are chipped, and one is darker from a fall when I was younger.  On the appointment at the end of October, she’ll be able to tell me if that tooth is actually still alive or not.  Then we’re going to discuss my options a little more in depth.  I could have both teeth bonded, which would be covered by my dental plan.  Her choice is porcelain veneers, which are more expensive than bonding, not covered by my plan since they’re cosmetic, but are stronger than bonding, less prone to staining, and last longer.  Decisions . . .  I know the veneers would likely be a better choice, and I should wait until I can fully pay to have that done.  My concern is though . . . won’t veneers stop my teeth from looking like my teeth?

One way or another, I will have a new ’crest pro health’ smile soon enough!