Daring to Be » 2005 » July

Birthday gift.
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Well, I’m still young so no complaints right?

I’m a Leo. That’s what I attribute to the fact that every year I make a big deal out of my birthday. But this year? I’m having a perfectly self-centred pout. Because this year, it sucks.

Let’s see… to start with I actually work on my birthday. Horror of horrors I know! But c’mon. It should be against labour laws to work on your birthday, and of course the day after. Then to top things off, D flew out today. And that brings the list up to four (yes that’s right FOUR!) important people in my life who will not be around on my birthday. My boyfriend, my Mom, my sister, and my best friend. D and Mom are both working, Nicole is still in Quebec, and Roseanne’s sister actually has the gall to get married on my birthday!

D spoiled me yesterday though. Made me breakfast in bed, watched Wedding Crashers, went swimming, and cuddled a whole bunch. Not to mention he bought me a gorgeous Nixon watch for my birthday. I’ll say one thing, that boy has taste! Good thing for me receiving gifts, not-so-good for me purchasing gifts. He very much knows what he likes and doesn’t, so I’m going to have one helluva time buying him a birthday gift when his birthday comes up this October.

Anyway. I’m going to be 22 years old tomorrow. I work all day, and then it’s off to O’Shea’s rooftop deck with some friends.

Stop by and say hi.

I just received the most horrible email I have ever gotten in my entire life…

My friend Jenna’s Dad has been really sick since January, and the email was from Jenna informing me that he passed away Monday night.

My heart is breaking for Jenna. I absolutely cannot imagine going through something like that. I’m also worried about Jenna. She’s a sensitive person who was very close to her father. I know it will take her a very long time to get over something as sad as this, and I hope I can be as good of friend as possible and help her out however I can.

I never knew Jenna’s father, but from how Jenna speaks of him tells me he was a wonderful man. A staggering loss for her family; my heart goes out to Jenna, her Mom, and her younger sister.

Just finished reading The Da Vinci Code, enjoyed it tremendously.

D will be home in an hour!

I am finally all registered for school. That wasn’t a huge pain in the ass at all, huh? I’m glad it’s done, and I got into every class I wanted. Not only that, I found out my Art History class from U of R works as my Fine Arts prerequisite for Education. This is good news because it means I don’t have to take a Fine Arts class which equals in an empty spot in my schedule. This results in me being able to take Child Psychology like I wanted!

My schedule is pretty nice. I have a night class on Wednesday nights both semesters. The rest of my classes are in the morning except for my Kinesiology lab Friday afternoons in the fall semester, and my French tutorial Friday afternoons in the spring semester. That leaves my afternoons free for volunteering and working. Let me tell you, I’m going to be one helluva busy girl. I want to volunteer in a classroom two afternoons a week, lead Girl Guides, take a conversational French night class, and work part time. I hope I can fit it all in. I guess I’ll see.

So today not only was I able to register for classes but I also found out my very first student loan has been processed. Goodbye to debt free Brea. I’m just thankful I already have two years of University under my belt with no debt. And I’m thankful I can live with my Mom and save a bundle on rent and living expenses! I’m a lucky girl.

I’m quite excited for school to start. I don’t know why, maybe just happy to be back at the U of S? Or Saskatoon in general? 2005 has been a mighty good year so far, D being a good chunk of why! (I’m such a sap.) The only thing is I’m a bit worried about all of my English classes. You see, I enjoy reading and writing. Unfortunately, I like reading what I want to read and writing about what I want to write about.

Not that any of you care, but here are the classes I’m enrolled in:

Eng 318 (Renaissance and Reformation)
Eng 321 (Shakespeare)
Eng 327 (English Drama 1660-1737)
Fren 125 (Intermediate French II)
Hist 298 (Ths History of New France 1724-1793)
Hlth 100 (Health Concepts for Elementary and Middle Years)
Kin 121 (Functional Basis of Physical Activity)
Nutr 120 (Introduction to Nutrition)
Psy 213 (Child Psychology)

But speaking of reading what I want to read… I finally started reading The Da Vinci Code and right now I’m going to delve into it some more. That and a bathtub.

Oh, how I love relaxation.

It’s about school once again. Sigh.

The U of S? Has no clue. None. So I was phoned back saying the reason I couldn’t register for a summer session class is because last year I went to U of R. Except I have a letter from the U of S (somewhere, not sure where) that states I was accepted into spring/summer session. Make sense? Nope.

Plus, to top it all off, the person from Student Central who phoned me tells me that I’m a returning student and not a transfer student like the other person from Student Central told me. Which is actually good news, but it proves that perhaps the employees at Student Central have no idea what they are talking about.

I’ve got a number for Admissions I’ll call tomorrow and ask what’s up. At this point though? I feel like giving up and saying screw it to taking a summer English class. It is only 3 credits, which yes helps but even with it I still have to take spring/summer session next year. By the end of this school year I’ll be 9 credits short for my three-year degree. I’m not 100% positive, but I think I can take all 9 credits next spring/summer. And then if I don’t get into Education next fall I can finish up my four-year degree. Won’t take much, if I manage to get 9 credits next summer I’ll only need 6 more credits for a four-year degree. That is, providing that not only can I get 9 credits next summer but that they are also 9 credits that fit into the guidelines for a four-year degree.

I can’t believe I’ve been on the computer all freakin’ day. At least I have pretty much everything figured out. Except for my Native Studies tutorial because all the times say TBA. Not good, I sort of need to know what time the one I sign up for is at so it doesn’t conflict with the rest of my schedule.

Me, being the complete idiot that I am, neglected to remember that unlike Regina, Saskatoon has classes that are multi-term. Result: Brea’s perfect schedule is no longer so perfect.

You want to know how messed up it now is? So messed up that my English degree won’t be happening anytime soon. In fact, to get a B.A. three-year English, it’ll take me four years. Unless I take a summer session class that starts next week, and then take two more next summer. As well as opt for another English class for my fall semester instead of the class I really want to take, Child Psychology.

I talked to Mom on the phone and we both agree that it’s pretty important for me to finish my three-year English degree. That means I’m back at school starting July 27th-August 19th. Except just now I tried to register and it wouldn’t let me, it said my student status prevented it. Yeah, no idea what’s going on. I called Student Central and they didn’t know what’s going on either. Oh well, should be fixed soon I hope. Sort of important for me!

I also found out that I’m a transfer student when I called Student Central. I wasn’t sure because a transfer student is someone who went to a different institution and is now going to U of S, and a returning student is a student who has went to U of S before, and is now returning. I happen to be both. It’s kind of disappointing that I’m a transfer student, because that means I now have to wait until next week to register instead of tomorrow!

I have spent too many hours on this computer today trying to figure out what’s going on. I’m still in my grubs and glasses. Everything else I hoped to accomplish today? Pfft.

Stupid school.

Well, I have all my classes picked out, I just have to wait until my registration date. Hopefully I get into them all… I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t!

I originally planned on taking Intermediate French I this semester and then Intermediate French II in the spring. However, today I called the languages department and was told not to take Intermediate French I because of French immersion. It’d be the same thing, so unless I choose not to get credits from French immersion, that class wouldn’t count for anything. French immersion is 6 credits, while Intermediate French I is only 3, so naturally I’ll take my credits for French immersion. That is, unless I failed miserably. To make up for not taking French in University this fall, I’m going to take a night French class at The Centre for Second Language Instruction. It’s not worth any credits for school, but at least it’ll help me not forget everything I learned at French immersion.

Hmm… I’m still undecided whether or not to take a different class in the fall or just take ‘er easy with only four classes. One of those four would have a lab, and another of those four would have a tutorial. So it’s not like I’d really be taking ‘er easy anyway. I looked at some other options and really, my only other options would be to take Cree or Linguistics. If I do take another class, I’m leaning towards Linguistics. I took some Phonetics while in Quebec and really found it interesting. The Phonetic alphabet would be a good thing to know I think, especially with French.

Wow, these posts must be especially boring for everyone! They are mostly for me though, a way to get my thoughts out and be able to make sense of this mumble jumble of school related junk in my head.

Well, I think I am going to change my major back to English. It’s going to be really hard to finish up a Psychology degree while attempting to get all the credit units I need to get into Education, as well as the credit units I need for my teaching areas. Psychology isn’t a teaching area for Elementary ed (no big surprise there!) but English is, so not only will I have a degree in English but it can also be one of my two teaching areas.

Sigh… don’t I wish I wasn’t so undecided about my future when I was younger! Oh well, I’m not ready to be done school now anyway. I am ready to actually be in Education though! I wish I could’ve at least applied for this fall. Unfortunately, U of S requires you to have 60 credit units before you can apply to Education. I have 54 credit units because as a first year I only took 4 classes instead of 5 each semester. Not only that, but I am missing a few prerequisites. If all goes as planned, those I will finish up this year.

Even though I won’t be done my English degree, I’m applying for Education next year. Why not? I most likely won’t get in (it took D three tries!) but at least I should attempt it.

My plan is this: Apply next year with English as my teaching area 1 and French as my teaching area 2. Then the next year I’ll apply with an English degree, but I want French as my teaching area 1 and English as my teaching area 2. The reason I can’t apply with French as my teaching area 1 next year is because you need 18 credit units for teaching area 1 and 12 credit units for teaching area 2. When I apply next year I’ll have 18 credits in English but only 15 in French. The year after that I’ll have an English degree as well as at least 21 credit units in French (maybe more if I ever attend French immersion again like I want to!)

In reality? I think it’s possible I have no idea what I’m talking about. And four years from now? I’ll still be trying to get into Education. I hope not… oh, would life be grand if I got in next fall or the fall after that!

It is the sort of rainy Sunday where one would rather stay in the comfort of one’s own home rather than attempt any sort of productive activity (i.e: work).

Me? I’ll be home sometime after 5 PM.

I ain’t going to lie to you, I don’t particularly feel like updating. But what good is a blog if I don’t update?

A quick recap of the past week:

Started my job, am in love with my job. Enough said.

Went to Coteau Beach located on Lake Diefenbaker where I met D’s parents. Tried golfing for the first time ever.

My Aunt Robin came to the city with her husband, my Uncle Grant, and her son, Evan, to apartment shop for her other son Dale (who graduated this year).

Took many funny pics with best bud Roseanne while at Double Deuce Bar & Grill here in Saskatoon.

D and I checked out the driving range at Wilson’s Greenhouse & Garden Centre. I have to tell ya, golf is growing on me.

Babysat Madison and fell head over heels in luv with D after watching him play with playdough with her for over an hour! Nothing’s hotter than a guy who is good with the wee ones.

Partook in some sampling at Taste of Saskatchewan. Treats consumed included the Samurai’s Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Kabab with roast red pepper mayo, a Greek BBQ Chicken Pita with fries from Sardinia Family restaurant, JD Peppercorn’s Saskatchewan Prairie Chicken Salad, and Ribeye on a Bun from The Roadhouse. To top it all off, for dessert D and I shared quite a gooey confection… a Mars bar deep fried courtesy of Wing Nuts Cafe Inc. Good times that left me with a full belly.

Went out dancing and drinking at the Sutherland bar. I can sum up that night in five letters: V-O-D-K-A! It’s been a long time since this babe drank that much, and let me tell you, there are no plans to repeat for awhile!

D left again yesterday, making Brea one very sad girl. Another week of boredom and missing him looms in front of me. I guess you can expect regular updates again, if only for a week.