My friend, Kathleen, died on Wednesday. She fought a very brave and strong battle against cancer but unfortunately, the cancer fought harder and meaner. She passed away peacefully at home with her loving husband. She was young and vibrant and I can hardly believe this really has happened.
Fire and Rain by James Taylor is one of my absolute favourite songs and I am going to post the lyrics here for Kathleen and for those who love her and miss her.
Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to.
I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again.
Won't you look down upon me Jesus
You got help me make a stand
You just got to see me through another day
My body's achin' and my time is at hand
And I won't make it any other way.
Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again.
Been walkin' my mind to an easy time
My back turned towards the sun.
Lord knows when the cold wind blows
It'll turn your head around
Well, there's hours of time on the telephone line
To talk about things to come
Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.
Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you, baby, one more time again now
There's just a few things coming my way this time around now
Thought I'd see you, thought I'd see you
Fire and Rain
Friday, 19 October 2007
Saturday, 13 October 2007
Bookkeeping
Saturday afternoon and I'm all over the place. I'm slightly ADHD right now as I am jumping between typing this post, tidying up my apartment and cooking some lunch. I would be much happier focusing on one thing but I am hungry so I need to make something. And what happens is that while my food is cooking I sit down to type and then when I get up to check on the food, I start cleaning. I think once I eat and have some food in me, I will be better at making a game plan and seeing one thing through before starting the next.
I had my class this morning and it was an interesting day for me. I had some insightful moments that are making me think that bookkeeping might not be my thing. Did I mention I'm not a numbers gal? I kinda didn't think that would matter though. Plus, I don't think I understood to what extent I'm not a numbers girl. I'm really not a numbers girl. As for thinking that it wouldn't matter, I kinda thought bookkeeping was all the pre-accounting stuff. I would just take all the receipts, invoices, cheques, account info and make lists and columns out of it. Put it all in the right place and let someone else do the numbers stuff.
Well, I wasn't entirely wrong. It is pre-accountingish and I mostly spend my time putting the right amount in the right column and making sure they add up properly. My problem is that I can't seem to get the actual numbers right. Instead of entering 2000, I write down 200. Instead of 675, I write down 765. Instead on 705, I write down 700. My brain mixes the numbers up. I think I have some form of numerical dyslexia.
So this could get in the way of me being a bookkeeper. It's just that bookkeeper is so fun to spell. Seriously though, I got to class today and compared homework with another student and I had made a few of those transposition errors. Everything adds up at the end so I don't recognize that I am doing this. I am getting the theory part of the class though. We had a quiz today on theory stuff and I got 19/20.
And by 19 out of 20 I mean, 18 out of 20, except that one of the questions was ambiguous and poorly written. It left some room for interpretation and I apparently chose a different one than the instructor did. I got the question right as I understood it and could argue my point and prove that I understood the theory so I count that one as right. The test wasn't for marks by the way, it was just for us to see where we are at.
The other question I got wrong was just a stupid question. It was a multiple choice question about computer accounting. We haven't even touched on computer software for accounting yet so don't ask us a question about it. The question was, "What can't a computer do?" With options for the answer including, post a transaction, update accounts, analyze transactions. I figure you need hands to post the information so a computer can't do that. I forgot that in accounting, the term 'posting' has an entirely different meaning. The right answer was analyze transactions. Ridiculous. Weren't computers invented to analyze information? So in my mind, I actually got 20/20.
As I sat through class, I started wondering what I was doing there. I wanted to be at home painting, or writing or drawing. Am I doing this for the wrong reasons? The explanation and answer of which, deserves it's own post entirely. (See! Post! Totally different meaning)
I flipped to the back of my workbook and wrote this, "I seem to be willing to give up a couple hours a day and my Saturday mornings to work on something that doesn't come naturally and isn't my dream. What if I committed that time to working toward something I already know I want and am afraid to go after?"
That in itself needs another post and a lot more self reflection.
So this is where I'm at now. I will finish this course and hopefully decide fairly quickly what I am going to do about continuing on, or jumping ship. I started this because I really thought that it would be exactly up my alley. But at some point my alley turns right and this program keeps going straight. There are parts of this that I am enjoying but if I can figure out what those parts are exactly and then find them in a different program with other things that I would also enjoy, I think I'd be so much happier.
It's like dating. You date someone to see if they are a good match for you. If they aren't, you take note of what worked or didn't work and try again with someone new who hopefully is a better match than the last. You keep learning what you like and don't like until you find the best match for you.
So that is what I am doing. Figuring out what I like and don't like so that I can make a better match for myself.
I had my class this morning and it was an interesting day for me. I had some insightful moments that are making me think that bookkeeping might not be my thing. Did I mention I'm not a numbers gal? I kinda didn't think that would matter though. Plus, I don't think I understood to what extent I'm not a numbers girl. I'm really not a numbers girl. As for thinking that it wouldn't matter, I kinda thought bookkeeping was all the pre-accounting stuff. I would just take all the receipts, invoices, cheques, account info and make lists and columns out of it. Put it all in the right place and let someone else do the numbers stuff.
Well, I wasn't entirely wrong. It is pre-accountingish and I mostly spend my time putting the right amount in the right column and making sure they add up properly. My problem is that I can't seem to get the actual numbers right. Instead of entering 2000, I write down 200. Instead of 675, I write down 765. Instead on 705, I write down 700. My brain mixes the numbers up. I think I have some form of numerical dyslexia.
So this could get in the way of me being a bookkeeper. It's just that bookkeeper is so fun to spell. Seriously though, I got to class today and compared homework with another student and I had made a few of those transposition errors. Everything adds up at the end so I don't recognize that I am doing this. I am getting the theory part of the class though. We had a quiz today on theory stuff and I got 19/20.
And by 19 out of 20 I mean, 18 out of 20, except that one of the questions was ambiguous and poorly written. It left some room for interpretation and I apparently chose a different one than the instructor did. I got the question right as I understood it and could argue my point and prove that I understood the theory so I count that one as right. The test wasn't for marks by the way, it was just for us to see where we are at.
The other question I got wrong was just a stupid question. It was a multiple choice question about computer accounting. We haven't even touched on computer software for accounting yet so don't ask us a question about it. The question was, "What can't a computer do?" With options for the answer including, post a transaction, update accounts, analyze transactions. I figure you need hands to post the information so a computer can't do that. I forgot that in accounting, the term 'posting' has an entirely different meaning. The right answer was analyze transactions. Ridiculous. Weren't computers invented to analyze information? So in my mind, I actually got 20/20.
As I sat through class, I started wondering what I was doing there. I wanted to be at home painting, or writing or drawing. Am I doing this for the wrong reasons? The explanation and answer of which, deserves it's own post entirely. (See! Post! Totally different meaning)
I flipped to the back of my workbook and wrote this, "I seem to be willing to give up a couple hours a day and my Saturday mornings to work on something that doesn't come naturally and isn't my dream. What if I committed that time to working toward something I already know I want and am afraid to go after?"
That in itself needs another post and a lot more self reflection.
So this is where I'm at now. I will finish this course and hopefully decide fairly quickly what I am going to do about continuing on, or jumping ship. I started this because I really thought that it would be exactly up my alley. But at some point my alley turns right and this program keeps going straight. There are parts of this that I am enjoying but if I can figure out what those parts are exactly and then find them in a different program with other things that I would also enjoy, I think I'd be so much happier.
It's like dating. You date someone to see if they are a good match for you. If they aren't, you take note of what worked or didn't work and try again with someone new who hopefully is a better match than the last. You keep learning what you like and don't like until you find the best match for you.
So that is what I am doing. Figuring out what I like and don't like so that I can make a better match for myself.
Breaking Twigs
This is my friend C, making his fiance M, laugh hysterically while he comes up with imaginative ways to break twigs. I love this video.
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
Another bloody dentist appointment
Well, not literally bloody. Thankfully.
I have lost count of how many dentist appointments I have had since spring. I just know it is a lot. And I mean A LOT. I was back again today for what was suppose to be a simple, 10 minute appointment and my very last one until a cleaning in six months. It definitely was a simple 10 minute appointment but not for the right reasons.
I had an appointment last week to make molds of my teeth to fit me with a night guard. Today, I was going in to pick it up and make sure everything was good. Well, the nightguard was warped and didn't fit my teeth. My dentist, who I quite adore, turned and pretended to huck it out the window. It is for these types of things that I quite adore her. She also once fully jumped into the Superstar lunge (a la Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher) and whisper shouted "Superstar". She is entertaining and lovely and if I had to spend a million hours at the dentist, I am glad it was with her.
So after she pretended to launch my faulty nightguard across 4th Avenue, she told me we'd have to redo the molds and get me back in a week. So one more appointment and then I truly should be done until March. It's been a long,tough haul but I am so glad to have it all done. And I am grateful for my new chompers.
I have lost count of how many dentist appointments I have had since spring. I just know it is a lot. And I mean A LOT. I was back again today for what was suppose to be a simple, 10 minute appointment and my very last one until a cleaning in six months. It definitely was a simple 10 minute appointment but not for the right reasons.
I had an appointment last week to make molds of my teeth to fit me with a night guard. Today, I was going in to pick it up and make sure everything was good. Well, the nightguard was warped and didn't fit my teeth. My dentist, who I quite adore, turned and pretended to huck it out the window. It is for these types of things that I quite adore her. She also once fully jumped into the Superstar lunge (a la Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher) and whisper shouted "Superstar". She is entertaining and lovely and if I had to spend a million hours at the dentist, I am glad it was with her.
So after she pretended to launch my faulty nightguard across 4th Avenue, she told me we'd have to redo the molds and get me back in a week. So one more appointment and then I truly should be done until March. It's been a long,tough haul but I am so glad to have it all done. And I am grateful for my new chompers.
Tuesday, 9 October 2007
Thanksgiving
Another Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone. Now it is Tuesday and most people are back at work. Not me though. I somehow scored an extra day off and I am thrilled. I am spending my day today doing not too much of anything. Groceries, cleaning, blogging, cartooning, writing...I might go to a movie. I guess that isn't really 'not much of anything'. That actually sounds like a lot now that I write it out. How am I going to fit it all in today!?
I spent all my hours before dinner yesterday doing homework. Which means that I finished it...yay! That gives me the rest of the week before school on Saturday to read ahead so that I can follow along in class. I am definitely one of those people who does much better if I don't procrastinate. If I waited to do all of my homework the night before class....I wouldn't do it and then I'd skip class and then I'd be too embarrassed to go back the next week and so I'd never go back and then I'd be a drop out. This is actually how I failed grade 12. Seriously. I failed grade 12 out of embarrassment.
We had our Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's last night and it was really good. It was nice seeing everyone and we had fun. His wife is a great cook and there was so much yummy food. In addition to the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, she had cooked up lots of different veggies so we had our choice of parsnips, broccolini, brussel sprouts, yams, and green beans. I ate them all. At my grandpa's the night before, we actually forgot the veggie section of dinner so you could have turnips or....well that was it really. The turnips were delicious but that was it for veggie sides. I have a giant plate of leftovers that I will be eating soon for lunch.
My dad had a DVD to show us when we got out to his place yesterday. He had taken some of our old movies to be transferred from a reel to DVD. It was just about 5 minutes of footage. Mostly of my older sister L playing softball when she was about 10. It is pretty adorable. At the very end of the clip there is a bit of footage of my other sister S and me. S is running around trying to dodge the camera and I am trying to figure out how best to keep the camera on me. It's pretty cute. Hopefully I will get a copy of it soon.
I was also able to collect some wine and dollars over the weekend for my wine drive. So far so good. I think I might start making some rounds next weekend to collect from people. My goal is still $500 and 50 bottles of wine.
I spent all my hours before dinner yesterday doing homework. Which means that I finished it...yay! That gives me the rest of the week before school on Saturday to read ahead so that I can follow along in class. I am definitely one of those people who does much better if I don't procrastinate. If I waited to do all of my homework the night before class....I wouldn't do it and then I'd skip class and then I'd be too embarrassed to go back the next week and so I'd never go back and then I'd be a drop out. This is actually how I failed grade 12. Seriously. I failed grade 12 out of embarrassment.
We had our Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's last night and it was really good. It was nice seeing everyone and we had fun. His wife is a great cook and there was so much yummy food. In addition to the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes, she had cooked up lots of different veggies so we had our choice of parsnips, broccolini, brussel sprouts, yams, and green beans. I ate them all. At my grandpa's the night before, we actually forgot the veggie section of dinner so you could have turnips or....well that was it really. The turnips were delicious but that was it for veggie sides. I have a giant plate of leftovers that I will be eating soon for lunch.
My dad had a DVD to show us when we got out to his place yesterday. He had taken some of our old movies to be transferred from a reel to DVD. It was just about 5 minutes of footage. Mostly of my older sister L playing softball when she was about 10. It is pretty adorable. At the very end of the clip there is a bit of footage of my other sister S and me. S is running around trying to dodge the camera and I am trying to figure out how best to keep the camera on me. It's pretty cute. Hopefully I will get a copy of it soon.
I was also able to collect some wine and dollars over the weekend for my wine drive. So far so good. I think I might start making some rounds next weekend to collect from people. My goal is still $500 and 50 bottles of wine.
Sunday, 7 October 2007
Umbrellas and boots
I should be doing homework right now. I didn't have school yesterday because of the long weekend which was great since Friday was JM's birthday and we were out late celebrating. I would have been in no shape for school Saturday morning. The best part about not having school this weekend though was that I got to cut my homework time in half for the week. Two weeks to do a week's worth of homework.
At least that was my plan.
I haven't opened my books since class last Saturday. So now I have to do a week's worth of homework in a week. Not so bad I know...it could be worse. I still have a week to do it and although I'm not likely to get much done today, I know I will over the next three days.
Instead of doing homework, I am listening to music and making a bunch of cd's. I have made about 3 for my Aunt S. and will likely make some for my sisters too. All I have on my rotation these days is the Once Soundtrack, the Across The Universe Soundtrack and a cd my friend C made for me.
It is the rainiest day today and I kinda love it. I can hear the rain pouring down outside and I keep getting up to go stare out the window at the puddles and people running by with their umbrellas. The umbrellas are usually black or some other dark or muted colour. On such a gloomy day, I would love to look out my window and see a rainbow of brilliantly coloured umbrellas. Brightly coloured brollys are hard to find though. I went shopping recently for a new umbrella. Green. Bright green. I want a bright emerald green umbrella. The only one I've ever found was a child's umbrella and far too tiny for me. Imagine how lovely it would be if you walked down the street on a rainy day and every umbrella you saw was a bright colour.
I did find some lovely bright gum boots though. Bright red with rainbows, clouds, hearts and lightning bolts on the sides of them. These might clash with my green umbrella when I finally find it but who cares. Clashing bright colours on a gloomy day is only all the more fun!
Here is a pic of my awesome rain boots!
Saturday, 6 October 2007
September 24, 2007
This is belated post for my dear friend MC, who celebrated her birthday on Sept 24th. Happy belated birthday M. I am so happy to know you and am grateful to have you in my life. Plus you are painfully adorable.
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday!
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