It's Been TOO Long...Fall Term Snap Shot

As I sit and reflect on what has happened since I last updated my blog, I have made a pre-New Year’s resolution to stay on top of this blog. I feel like it’s the end of the semester and I haven’t been keeping up on my homework and now it’s piling up on me. Wait- that is what it is! In my last post I sympathetically wrote about how the dog days of summer were over and I was heading back into the grind of university life. Boy, has it ever been a grind; it has had some bright spots and had some downright earth crashing spots too. I was excited to start the semester and the final year of my BA, but I can tell you now that I am that much more excited for it to be over. To give a summary of my semester, I’ll go course by course: Religions of the World I- The professor is great! She is young, dynamic and extremely knowledgeable. As with any religion course I am always so worried what some people are going to come out with and say evoking a near riot in class, but this professor seems to let people talk, but still keeping a diplomatic feeling. The classroom itself comes with the most uncomfortable seats, but it’s beyond all of our controls. I meet one of the best new friends I have ever had in this class. Finally I have met a mature student who just gets it and gets me. We have so much in common and our friendship is starting to look like that girl friend that you should have in your university days that sticks by you for life. Melissa is a fantastic person. Throughout this semester we have gone through MANY experience together- some exciting, some deadly. Not very often now that a day goes by that we don’t talk, text or email...even our men get filled in at the end of each day! Gender & Religion- Not knowing really what to expect in this class beyond the general course description when I registered, I was a little disappointed. We had so much material to cover I feel that we only did brief summaries of each without digging deeper into each faith or tradition. The professor is great entertainment for a Tuesday night course and it certainly doesn’t feel like we’ve been there for 3 hours after she’s done teaching. Of course, having Melissa in class with me helps, but the teacher tops this one. Sports Marketing- There’s not much positive that I have to say with this course other than that it’s over. The teacher was horrible and I had one of the most negative experiences with group work again. This class had no midterm exams or final exam but rather one individual assignment and two group assignments. We all know how I hate group work and this just reinforced my feelings about it. NEVER AGAIN! Methods & Theories in Religious Studies- Oh, yet another 3 hour night class in the pit of the university. Our classroom has no windows, no ventilation and is in the basement of the engineering building. Not very often has our class gone the full 3 hours simply from the depressing atmosphere that we were surrounded by. This course involved a lot of heavy reading that I had a lot of trouble with at the beginning. The reading included well over 200 pages a week and if you missed a reading, you had no clue what the class discussion was about. The professor is certainly intimidating, but shows her soft side from time to time; I HATE the TA...he’s so condescending and talks like...I can’t even describe it. This is a full year course, so I’m in for the long haul. The teacher has promised she’d look into a room change for next term. Inuit & Aboriginal Religions- Boy, can you think of a better way to spend your Friday night than wondering if the professor is actually going to show up? This is what I have gone through for the last 13 weeks. This professor has to be the worst one I have ever seen. We went a week where she didn’t show up at all and 11 other weeks where she was 15-45 minutes late for class to only talk in circles about stuff that was so hard to understand what she was saying. BUT, it’s over!!! I can’t say that I have learnt anything in this class, but Google has been extremely helpful in completing my take home midterm and take home final exam! Now that you have a snap shot of what my classes were like, I’m sure you can see why I am looking forward to the holiday break. The break this year is a very short one (just 1 week), but it makes the next semester start and finish that much sooner too. The motivation right now is the 7 teachers college applications that I have submitted and waiting to receive acceptance letters. They send acceptance or refusal letters starting April 1st, so the wait begins for that too. I will leave you with this for now, but I promise I’ll post the latest and greatest in the coming days and weeks to get back into the routine. Until then...have FUN! Stephanie

The Dog Days are Over

After a long yet seemingly short summer, back to school is just around the corner. When reflecting on the past 3 months, I can’t seem to tell you what occupied my time. I took 3 courses over the summer months, 2 in May-June and one in July-August. I am now successfully finished the third year of the BA and about to start the fourth and final year on Wednesday night. While not in school over about a total of eight and a half weeks, I accomplished a few tasked that I had on the back burner for a while. I got caught up and on top of the house chores, cleaned out closets and cupboards and started to stock the freezer for the winter months. I even have the in-law family Christmas presents done- all 9 of them! It is amazing the stuff you accumulate in a house when you don’t try too. We’ve only been in our house for 4 years, yet I seem to always be able to add a few extra bags of garbage at the curb after a week of house cleaning and pare down my closet by 30-40 hangers every couple of months of items that I no longer wear or heaven forbid no longer fit me. There are a few girls out there that I’m sure check their calendars and anticipate the cloths dump of my closet. Surprisingly after each clean out, there are not gaping holes that need to be filled in the closet; however, I am conscious with a rule that for every one piece of clothing that enters my closet, one needs to exit. It’s the only way to keep the other half from noticing the new purchases! I have two more full days off before I head back to campus and I have a long to-do list drawn up. Gardening, lawn care, laundry, baking and the no longer avoidable storage room re-organization top the list. I’m hoping to have most of it done by the time Mac gets home from work, so that I don’t need to answer the “what did you today?” My fourth year schedule isn’t the best one I have built in my schooling career, but it’s going to take some adjusting too. In the fall semester I have class every night except Monday night and only 2 1.5 hour classes during the day. I am going to despise the teacher that accepted to teach a class on a Friday night from 5:30-8:30...come on, don’t you have anything better to do on a Friday night but teach a bunch of university students that would rather not be there?! It is going to be good for getting things done around the house and to study without any distractions. It will be a revolving door at 4 o’clock every day as I head to school and Marc comes home from work...married life will be excellent...we won’t ever see each other to disagree!

Why Do I Love Clothes, Shoes & Handbags?

I’d love to know the answer to this heavy question, but I think it’s something too deep to even try and figure out. I went out to the Winners/Homesense yesterday with a mission to find some scrapbooking supplies and found myself wondering the rows of clothes, shoes and handbags. I did accomplish my intention of scrapbook supplies along with my clothes and shoe urge. There’s a method to my madness in a place like Winners/Homesense; I wander up and down every aisle looking for the clearance section of each department and see anything catches my eye or if I can improvise with anything. I often find great picture frames or the odd dish at a steal of a price, but this season I’ve found some great clothes. The latest styles of loose fitting shirts/blouses have been in abundance and I’ve capitalized on a few different colours and styles. These are great for teaching in or just pairing up with jeans to head out for a casual night. I don’t normally find extraordinary deals in the shoe section...I try lots on, but when I turn them over to see the price tag, they are quickly returned to the shelf (like the $199 pair of Guess studded sandals I loved today). Yesterday was an exception...I started in the size 6 section and slowly scowered the shelves for anything that caught my eye, and then there was one...brown, beige and orange New Balance casual running shoe (Puma style) that were just calling my name...I fell in love at first sight...I tried the size 6’s on and they were a little light...I then hoped and prayed as I rounded the end of the aisle into the size 7 section to find an identical pair...there they were, sitting on the middle shelf...I tried them on just to make sure and they fit like a glove...I NEEDED to have them! Into the cart they went! Now that I’m back to school I have discovered that I can’t wear my beloved and renowned sandals all year long...it gets a little chilly on the toes walking to 8:30 am classes across campus. Thus revelation has prompted me to invest in real shoes...closed toe ones! I am starting to accumulate a great assortment of styles and colours to match just about everything in my closet. Today I was blessed with a red pair of Hush Puppies’ from my mom that I can’t wait to wear...I just might need to hope for some chilly weather to put my jeans on just so that I can wear them soon. Along with my new runners above, I think I could pass as in style come the next school year. As I made my way out of the shoe section gravity pulled me towards all the handbags...there were so many different coloured ones, all that I wanted...One in particular caught my eye...and no wonder it was in the clearance section for $225.99...needless to say, it’s still on the clearance rack! I am proud of my urge to find a new handbag this time...I haven’t always been able to hold off the urge, just look in my closet and you’ll see the finds I have found. There’s just something that I refuse to pay a whole lot for a bag or shoes because I could have more than one for the outrageous price of one item...quantity is sometimes better than quality (as in the brand name). I do have to admit, not everything that I find is expensive...I am quite proud of a find that I made back in the spring in the Joe department of the Real Canadian Superstore; I went in for a few groceries and stumbled upon a rack of handbags that were on clearance for $4.00 each...I couldn’t believe it...I had to take 2!! So impressed with my deal, I couldn’t keep the second one for an occasion so I gave it away right away and had to explain my great deal. If anyone was to come look into my closet today they would find baskets of shoes (I don’t use a shoe rack because that would be laying out the evidence that I have too many shoes!) and handbags above and below the rails of clothes I have accumulated. I somehow am able to mix and match most things together to make different combinations of outfits and keep each piece in general use most of the time. I’m stuck on the practicality of versatile pieces of clothes, handbags or shoes...it’s almost my way of justifying it! When looking through the racks in the store I find myself comparing what I already have to what I am finding and how or where I can wear the outfit. Often I tend to go on colour binges...black, then blue, and then purple...I feel a red binge coming up!! I have a wide variety of colours on my closet but I am most attracted to beige pants...I have at least 10 pair!!! When I am done with a particular piece of clothing or it doesn’t fit me or my style anymore, I do pass them along to much deserving girls...I have the rule, for every piece of clothing that goes into my closet, one must come out...I stick pretty close to that so that I don’t have more that I really need...and it keeps my wardrobe up to date and manageable. I don’t find myself shopping at specialty clothing stores (other than my splurges at American Eagle- but I hit the clearance rack first and always bring my rewards coupon with me!) very often unless I’m looking for something very specific. Winners is by far my most sought after place to keep my wardrobe current and on budget. I am proud to say I shop at Winners and even prouder to tell of a deal or steal I found while I was there. I seem to even find Roxy, American Eagle, Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren in Winners- why would I go anywhere else? I truly believe that handbags and shoes help make or break an outfit...you need to make sure you have a good bag and shoes just like you need to brush your hair and teeth before going out...when it comes to shoes I’m all about practicality and comfort above trendy and style (no point your feet hurting just walking out to the car) and the bag needs to be proportionate to the items needed to be brought along. Is it just me that has the gravitational pull to clothes, shoes and handbags?

Summer...Sweet Summer

As I lay in my backyard catching up on some much needed vitamin D, I can’t help reflect on what it was like to have a summer vacation. As of yesterday at 1:45 pm I am officially on summer holidays until July 28th. Yes, on July 28th I return to the class room, but in the mean time I am face to face with the blades of grass that I usually despise because I have to cut them. I went this morning to the grade 5 class and it was just oo much for me to handle on a hot day like this...I mean desks are being cleaned out, bulletin boards are being taken down and instead of a math lesson and homework they are playing math games...Those were the last days of school as I remembered them to be...tomorrow they will even have a substitute teacher! Some of the fondest memories as a kid came from our summer vacations...camping in Bon Echo Provincial Park, soccer tournaments, pool parties and who can forget being allowed to stay up later...now that we’re all out on our own those things seem so trivial and everyday. This past weekend I spend the days studying hard for an anthropology exam I wrote yesterday, but the nights were full of what real university students do...heading downtown with a bunch of friends and hitting 3 or 4 bars in the market. I have to say I missed out on a part of my life with my school career and working career overlapping...but I’m well on my way to making it up now! I do have to admit that 4 am is late and then 8 am is a little early...in the same day. But you do what you have to do to be a university student! I’m looking forward to having Marc on vacation with me next week...the weather looks like it’s going to be ok and we’ve got plans to build a deck in our backyard...no more laying on the grass to catch the vitamin D! We felt a little behind the times when our neighbour Bob put up a deck and shed earlier in the summer and the neighbours beside him did it last year...apparently we’ll even have a fence by the time I go back to school...it’s all way toooo exciting around here! I leave you now with a little hope that you will get some well deserved vitamin D intake soon and once my deck is build you’re more than welcome to come test it out.

Thanks for the Questions Grade 5!

Thank you to Mr. Mayo’s grade 5 class at Our Lady of Wisdom School for the excellent questions about my vacation...I’m going to try and answer them the best that I can... During our trip we have been in 2 different countries that speak different languages...in Barcelona, Spain where we started our vacation and will end our vacation their first and most popular language is Spanish. Spanish is similar to French in a few ways so even though I don’t speak Spanish I can slightly understand the locals and they can slightly understand me when I speak back to them in French. A lot of the people that work in the port (where the boat is docked) speak French or English as it is a popular tourist spot with people who are not from Spain or speak Spanish. While we are in France, the first language is French. I am able to speak with the local people a little bit, but Marc and his family are fully able to have a conversation with them. Even though we all speak French, the French in France and the French in Canada are slightly different. I find that there is a little more slang in the Canadian French than there is in the French French. Marc and his family are able to help me with translation if I need it. Marc has 2 brothers and a sister that are fluent in Spanish so it helps when we order a taxi to take us somewhere and we can’t tell them where to take us! I have meet a few interesting people, mostly the employees on the cruise boat that we’re on. Most of the employees are from Asian and south American countries. The employees on the boat work 7 days a week for 12 hours a day. They are on the boat for 10 months of the year before they are able to go home to their families for 2 months. Everyone is extremely happy to be on the boat and serving the people who are on the cruise. We see one employee every day in the cafeteria who greets EVERYONE with a Good Morning...Happy Happy in the morning and at lunch time it changes to Yummy Yummy, Happy Happy...he is like a Walmart greeter that absolutely enjoys his job and the people be greets. Many of our taxi drivers have been very interesting people...they are very knowledgeable about their cities and the history about landmarks. We haven’t meet any famous people as in Brad Pitt or the Pope, but everyone is interesting or has an interesting story in their own way. The best tourist attraction for me so far is visiting the Vatican and Vatican City in Rome, Italy. Being a Catholic, I never imagined that I would be able to visit the Vatican once in my life time but I have been fortunate to visit it for a second time. When you walk into St. Peter’s Square and see the Vatican and the Basilica, it is just like any pictures you have seen. Since I am studying Religious Studies at university it is especially special for me to take everything in and understand the meanings behind some paintings and the history of the buildings. Second to the Vatican is the leaning tower in Piza. Like I said in my last blog post, the tower is still leaning! It is an amazing structure that continues to stand even though it is leaning at 3.99 degrees. There are 294 steps on the inside of the tower that tourist can pay to climb and see an amazing view of the City of Piza. We wanted to visit the beaches in Cannes, France, but the weather was a little too cold for us to get in the water. The waves were about 4 feet high and the wind was gusty, so instead of being cold on the beach we went back on our cruise boat and swam in the heated pool there. The pool is at about 104 degrees F and the hot tub is close to 100 degrees F. Here is a picture of the beaches in Cannes, France, pools and hot tubs as well as a picture of us enjoying the sun beside the pool... Here are some pictures of the Coliseum...Maybe Mr. Mayo will allow me to show you more pictures and describe to you what is in them when I return... The chocoholic festival was not very impressive...I was a little disappointed actually. There was a chocolate fountain that we were able to dip our pieces of cake or fruit in. We actually visited a chocolate store in Nice, France a couple days later and got some REALLY good chocolate there...there was milk chocolate, dark chocolate, chocolate with pistachio nuts and many different kinds if truffles (fancy chocolates). We bought some chocolate to bring back to Canada, but it didn’t make it home...there was a little late night snack that ate it all! Thanks Pascal for the advice not to drink the salt water at the beach...the water in the pool and the hot tub was salt water directly from the Mediterranean Sea and I have to admit that I got a little bit in my face. I don’t make too much of a habit of drinking the pool water so don’t worry about that! Once last picture, here is the boat that we travelled from city to city on...there were 2500 passengers and another 2500 employees working on the boat. I look forward to seeing all of you when I get back to Canada. Please keep sending me questions and I will show you more pictures when I’m back at Our Lady of Wisdom! Mrs. Ranger

The Tower is Still Leaning!

What was first discussed as a relaxing day on the boat proved to be a full day of visiting and travelling. We started out via taxi to Florence...about 1.5 hours away from the port...once at Florence we embarked on a race through the city to see as much as we could...churches, museums, bridges etc...we took plenty of opportunities to take scenic photos and relish in the memories of our last visit to Florence and close the book on the chance of returning...Our excitement rose as we headed to Piza to see the leaning tower and the surroundings...we can officially confirm that the tower is still leaning...ever so slightly more than it was when we first visited in 2004!! We didn’t climb the interior this time, but took time to tour around the adjoining park and do a little shopping...I set out on our European vacation to bring back another leather handbag/purse as I did in 2004...one of my fondest memories of our last trip across the ocean was purchasing my leather purse in Piza...I added 2 more to my collection today...and if I remember correctly I paid less today for the 2 than I did for the one five years ago!! Both purses are black, one more of a small purse that can hold the minimum essentials and the other a midsize handbag that I can use for night and day (big enough for my school stuff, but not a gym bag size!)...I had the best lemonade slush I have ever had in my life...I wasn’t too sure about slush, but it wasn’t like the typical Canadian Slush Puppy you got after a hockey game or public skate...it was real lemonade that was partially frozen...just what I needed to boost my back up after a long day of visiting...back on the boat was the chocoholic festival on deck 12...yummmmm, but I ate too much!!! Reality is starting to show its face again to us...we have just one more day of exploring before we have to strategically pack all of our things up and make the trek back home...the topic at the dinner table tonight was the destination of our next trip!!! Hopefully the day tomorrow in Cannes & Nice, France is as beautiful as today was in Florence and Piza and we can enjoy it to the fullest.

There’s something special in Rome, Italy

With an early start to the day, we were off to Rome, Italy and Vatican City. The weather was perfect for the day long events, over cast, yet warm. We purchased the hop on, hop off tour bus excursion to be sure to see all the important locations throughout the city. It worked like a charm! Starting out with a bang, we visited the oldest sporting venue in the world...the Coliseum. Marc and I had been there before, but never inside. With a short line up for tickets we decided to take this last opportunity to tour inside and see it for ourselves...it was fantastic...we could finally place the events and the proceedings that happened 1900 years ago and try and imagine an event in action...the steps were steep, the building made of brick and stone and the tunnels underneath the stage for the fighters and their combatants (lions, jaguars, tigers, elephants etc)...after leaving the Coliseum we toured by the State capital building and the tomb of the unknown soldier...the monument is guarded 24 hours a day, everyday...you are not permitted to sit on the steps leading up to the monument nor to talk once within a certain distance of the tomb...our travels continued to the Pantheon...a dome covered chapel that has an opening in the top for the sun to shine in...the tomb of the first king of Italy in housed there...with a slight detour we found our way back to the tour bus and hoped on to the next stop...the Vatican and St. Peter’s Square. This was the location that I was looking forward to the most...It has peaked my interest even more since going back to school and studying religion, but this time I could take everything in and connect the dots between the meanings of statues, paintings and names...I can’t imagine being able to go to the Vatican once in a life time, but I have been ‘blessed’ to be able to go twice...I took lots of pictures this time to remember this forever...with the day winding down we headed for the tour bus to take us back to the train station for our 1.25 hour train trip back to the port to board the boat... The evening was a quiet one with the daily dinner in the Grand Pacific dining room at the Captain’s table and then retiring to our cabin to catch up on homework and the news of the day. Tomorrow we’re off to Florence and Pisa...we’ll see what the day brings us...hopefully it doesn’t lean too far to one side than the other and we’re able to handle what is thrown our way... P.S. – the seas are a little rough tonight...we can hear the waves hitting the boat from our cabin, but the sway isn’t as bad as last night.