Mmmm... Food!

I made some turkey meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes on Sunday, courtesy of Martha Stewart's New Classics. It was a perfect Sunday evening meal. The sage in the turkey meatloaf makes it particularly tasty. This kind of food reminds me of the wintry Sunday night meals of my childhood when my dad would cook his roast beef with mashed potatoes or make a vegetable stew that would simmer all afternoon.

Oh, I read Ken Levine's blog on occasion, and tonight, I stumbled upon the posts (1, 2 and 3) guest blogger Peter Casey wrote about creating Frasier. That was quite timely with my previous post about my renewed love for Frasier. It's a really interesting account of the development of the series.

In other less fun news, I have to mark a part of 200 stats exams this week. This much marking always turns my brain to mush. Yuck.

Manic Monday

Actually, these days the whole week is crazy. Although I was at a conference yesterday, as am I today and tomorrow. It's a nice change of pace. Things are winding down though overall, which is much appreciated. I've been going to bed early (well, my early which means like 10:30!) and catching up on sleep. My really demanding rotation of my internship is done, and I'm now moving to the therapy rotation, which is much less intensive and doesn't require extra work nights and weekends. That means more time to work on my dissertation, thank God, so I can try to make progress on that bad boy. I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air at the moment, but I feel good. I just feel a sense of self-efficacy, probably because in the last 2 weeks, I've succeded in writing and giving a one-hour seminar, write up and edit six reports, tutor more than my usual night of tutoring, prepare for a dissertation meeting with my supervisor, read up on my new rotation, and keep up with my usual load of patients (with all the prep, patient face time, and post work it requires). I'm pretty proud of myself. Anyway, you'll now get to hear me spout cognitive-behavioural therapy theory for the next six months. Hee.

Other good news, I got the results from my course evaluation from the class I taught last summer, and the students liked me a lot. That's always nice to hear!

Yesterday, I watched the documentary Wordplayall about crossword puzzles. It was quite enjoyable to watch, and now, all I want to do are crosswords! My mom and my grandma both love crosswords so I grew up in that environment. (In the French language, we even have a word for it. The word "cruciverbiste" describes people who like to do crossword puzzles.) I've always enjoyed word-based and reasoning-type of puzzles so crosswords are no exception. Now, I can even do crosswords in English, which is pretty sweet, although I can't do the really tough ones since I don't always have all the necessary cultural knowledge for it. Anyway, I need to find myself a book of crosswords or pick up the paper today or get crosswords somehow... LOL

Technological Woes...Again!

I am having a funeral for my TV. It died a sad death, and would cost 300$ to fix it. So I have to go buy a new one. That may sound like fun, but it isn't.

Now, I just realized that I forgot my speakers that I brought to class tonight to have students listen to some videoclips. I was talking to students as I packed my bag at the end of class, and clearly got distracted. Damn all to hell. I hope they are still there tomorrow morning, because I don't want to buy new speakers!!! This is just the summer of crazy expensive stuff that breaks or gets lost. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

You Knew This Day Would Come...

So I'm in my room, working on my PC this afternoon. Roommie comes and leans in the doorway.
Roommie: What are your plans for September?
Me: Huuuuhhh, what do you mean?
Roommie: Well, were you planning on moving?
Me: Hmmm, not really. I haven't really thought about it. This has not really been a top priority for me.
Roommie: Well, I don't think I can take anymore of the cat. She woke me up against last night. (FYI, I was up until 6:30 am working, and the cat spent the night with me so yeah, not so much! She doesn't need to resort to lying to make her point.) I know it is a bad time for you with the thesis and teaching.
Me: Yeah.
Roommie: You don't have to move right now.
Me: Yeah. I had planned to move next summer, but I'll see. (Because I really want to live where I am a public nuisance.)
Roommie: Plus, I'd like to have a study.
Me: Okay.

Last thing I heard was that she was looking to buy a condo, and I was going to have the place for myself after she left. So yeah, this is something new! I guess I'll move. I'm broke right now but I think I'll take out a loan, and get myself my own place for peace and quiet, preferably in this building or close by.

The neighbour below keeps playing the same f&$?ing cords on his guitar over and over again, and my computer adapter keeps screwing up. I swear I'm about to have a mental breakdown.

Oooooo... Shining New Course Website!

Lookie: Course website!

In other news, I wanted to be able to view something, which required membership, so I succumbed and now have a My Space page. You are welcome to befriend me. LOL

It Was A Good Day!

To say it was unexpected would be an understatement. I had a presentation today, and barely slept last night because I stayed up late to finish up, and then, I was worried and couldn't sleep. I had been feeling stressed for a while about it. I was feeling on edge all morning, travelled all the way to Scarborough, reaped a very heavy pile of marking, and it ended up being cancelled since it was undergrad thesis day as well as Passover so very few people showed up. (it's been postponed in two weeks.) Nevertheless, I got to have a great discussion with a bunch of faculty members, which was a great thing and a good turning point for my day. It just boosted my spirits about my life.

Then, I got home, hot and exhausted from carrying my piles of marking. But I changed into more summery clothes. I did some cleaning, got a bunch of errands done, got my haircut (looking fabulous, if I may say so!), and I finally got a 4 GB nano iPod!!! I had gotten a gift certificate from Future Shop with rewards from my credit card a while back, and I had time today to go cash it in. I love playing with my iPod. We shall be friends forever! LOL

I took a long walk from the Future Shop to the hairdresser. I had such a feeling of peace and joy. The weather was gorgeous, with a light warm breeze. I even got to wear my little ballerina-like flats without socks today! I hadn't felt this happy in a while. Walking is good for the soul. Anyway, I wanted to put positive feelings into this blog. I need not forget them.

I'm currently eating a caramel-flavoured rice cake. Mmmmm. Hee.

Today Was A New Day...

The benefits of just getting out everything that bugs you about someone is that then, you feel better. Thus, my roommate seems to be hunky-dory today. I would like to think too that she realized that she was being a little bit absurb, and that she is trying to smooth things over with me. I'm not really upset anymore although I certainly still think she is a control freak who wants to run my life when she is not entitled to at all. I'm willing to accept some of the criticisms that she brought up as valid (namely when it comes to cleaning & to my alarm clock) although I think that part of cohabiting with someone is putting up with some of their not-always-top-notch habits. The rest though was just a total overreaction but I'll give her (fake) happiness if that's what is needed. I can be nice in that "talking about generalities which are not anything I really care about but that should make her think I care". She has said she'll be moving next spring anyway, at which time I shall take the apartment over, and so I'll just buy peace until then. I guess this is the best conclusion to this story as I could hope for.

I had time to work out today, which was nice. I feel good. The weather is nice here too. The humidity has disappeared, and it's actually comfortable. Thank God.

I got 2 CDs at this used CD store yesterday. I got Liz Phair's eponymous album, which rocks. I also got a CD of Gershwin's songs produced by George Martin, the famous Beatles producer. My choir conducter mentioned it, and I just happened to stumble upon it at the store for less than 10$! It has Peter Gabriel singing Summertime (my choir is singing that this summer), Cher kicking ass on It Ain't Necessarily So (We're singing this too! Cher is so wonderful on this track!), Jon Bon Jovi singing How Long Has This Been Going On, Elton John & Someone To Watch Over Me/Our Love Is Here To Stay, Sting & Nice Work If You Can Get It,... The list of artists goes on: Elvis Costello, Sinead O'Connor, Chris De Burgh, Carly Simon, Kate Bush, Robert Palmer,... It's awesome.

My students' final grades are due tomorrow. They didn't too bad in the end. We have an average of about 67%, including some students who didn't complete all the work. The final was easy but we still only had an average of 69-70%. I actually thought I had made it too easy but I guess not! I loved teaching but I'm glad that stress is coming to a final close.

Okay, back to work for me!

This Is Not Brain Surgery...

Today was a day of self-doubt and sadness and now, I'm just plain pissed off. Self-doubt because I finally finished writing my final exam for my course but I'm so uncertain as to whether it is good. I had students writing to me all weekend complaining about all the material to learn, and now, I had office hours today, and they're all bitching again, some on the way that I presented the material differently from my co-instructor, some on the volume of information. I'm just feeling like I screwed up somehow. Mind you, I have come to learn that students will complain regardless of what they have to do but ugh. They are complaining how tough the material is, but honestly, it's really not brain surgery. Yes, it is a class where there is quite a bit of memorization by its nature but now I'm wondering what I might have done wrong. I'm all twisted up inside. I hope my class evaluations don't suck too much.

I was sad today because I had to finally transfer my health care card and driver's license to Ontario cards. I was allowed to keep them for about 5 years since I was an out-of-province student. This means I'm now an Ontarian. I'm a bit sad about that to be honest. I have nothing against it but it made me miss home today.

Currently, I'm just pissed off because my roommate is being her picky self. 5 minutes before TDS, I turn on the lights and the TV in the living room and put my bottle of nail polish on the living room table. Yes, once a week, I like to change my nail polish on my feet and nails. So my roommate decides to get out of her room, get a bowl of cereal, and come sit on one of the living room couches to read a book. Then, she complains it will smell like nail polish, and how with the AC going and the windows closed, it will recycle the smell, blablabla,... I'm not too happy at this point, but I say: "I'll do my nails later." I have no interest in starting a battle. And then, she's like: "No, no. Go ahead. Really." ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH! Anyway, so I stare angrily at the TV, wanting to focus on enjoying TDS as opposed to being pissed off. After a few minutes her phone rings (it rings constantly so it's always a good trick to wait out the call that will take her away from wherever she is). So then, I decide to do my nails. After they are dry, it doesn't smell. Well, she has to come and open the window in the living room, and in the kitchen. Then, she says good night at 11:30, meaning I have to turn off the TV so she can sleep without the glare of it. I swear, I wanted to unscrew my head and throw it at her. LOL I'm not sure what it would accomplish besides freaking her out. I'm so tired these days that I just can't put up with this shit.

Mostly, I'm just sad and upset. I'm crying, and I just can't stop. Honestly, I'm not even sure why. I think it's mostly because I'm feeling alone in the universe tonight.