August 28, 2003
In a mere 8 days, I've moved back to Mississaga (took two cars!), gone on my cottage trip with high school friends, and am preparing to re-pack for Waterloo (joy). Ottawa was an awesome experience of living by myself and meeting (yet another) tonne of new people, while the cotttage trip was back to familiarity, although it was still an eye opening experience. Here's a bit more:

Ottawa: Loved it. Considering another term there, although not the coming term. Winter? No thanks. I'm thinking my next summer term, since I'm guessing housing will be easier to find. Laura, Laura, Laura, Laurie, and Matt - thanks for an awesome experience at IRSRC. You know you guys made it all the better with our daily hijinx and all those special days we had to make it all go a little faster. I really hope I can get a job as enjoyable as IRSRC for the next term! Alex, Bruce, Jim, Marnie, and Tara - it was great living with you guys for the 4-months. Good times (although many times Jim was mysteriously absent!). Got the pics from the dinner developed - I'll send it to you when I get a chance (woohoo! all over Canada!). I'm hoping to get a scanner some time soon so I can share them with everyone!

The Cottage Trip: To be honest, it was an interesting experience. Eye opening, as I said before. Very tiring, althought, really, did any of the 21 of us get a decent night's (day's?) sleep without interruption? Oh well, just one week of the year! A little too much alcohol (and puke) flowed for my liking. Why not just pleasure drink instead of drinking to knock yourself out? Nonetheless, strolling the Village of the Blue Mountains, hitting Wasaga Beach with the Streetsville and addition crew, chatting as the sun rose up, and exploring the "Scenic Caves" was enjoyed. Not to mention all the funny "signal" games we played. Thanks for organizing it, Kim and Ping! :o) Everyone - send me the pics!

Well, I think I need to hit the sack now. I have a wedding to attend tomorrow! Take care, y'all!

PS: Marnie - I had cable at the cottage, so I got to watch Canadian Idol! What can I say but FINALLY SHE'S GONE!!! ;o) Took them long enough! Oh, and I wandered into a specialty food shop with my friends and saw some Nasi Goreng powder and thought of you. Good times!

August 20, 2003
Well, after 3 full days off of work, I went back today. It wasn't even a full day, and most of it was spent at the mini-luau. So, needless to say, it was a rather relaxing day at work, spent chasing people to sign the termination papers, singing along to Beach Boys and The Piña Colada Song, giving flowers to everyone. It was rather enjoyable, and I loved the luau tunes. I send my encouragement to Laura B. and Laurie who are stuck Maximizing back in the office! Tomorrow and the day after will be shortened as well, just because of the energy conservation that's been going on.

Well, that's all I wanted to say for now. I'm kinda sad that we couldn't go all out for the luau like we planned, but mini-luau is better than no luau! It was fun prepping for it, and very VERY fun that I don't have to do any Summation entries anymore! Welll... I do have 2 days left, so we'll see if any entering can be squeezed in.

Anyway, I'm back in 3 days! Imagine that... my stint in Ottawa is coming to an end!

August 18, 2003
What am I doing up so late at night? On a night before the first day back at work, no less? Well, praise God that I'm a non-essential government worker, because I don't have to work tomorrow! Marnie announced the news just before I was getting to bed, and a few e-mails from the co-workers confirm it. I even surfed onto the Government of Canada website just to make sure. Well, the news is true, so I'm still up at 12:45am chatting away to buddies back home. It's nice to be able to do that, and have all this time in my hands.

Well, I really just wanted ramble on about that at the moment, so there you are. Oh, might I thank my DL and TL for helping me through some spiritual struggles. Not quite through them yet still, but it's good to have people to dispel and explain things instead of wallowing in doubts.

August 16, 2003
First off: HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY, KIM!!! :o)

So where was I during the blackout? Well, I was sitting in front of my computer inputing data on Summation when the whole office plunged into darkness. It was pitch black... but kinda fun! I grabbed my keys (with a flashlight attached) and headed out into the reception area. Laurie and I shared a chocolate bar, then we called it a day (it was pretty much the end of the day for me anyway). Took the stairs down (thank goodness we're on the 3rd floor!). Came out at the back entrance - quite a funny adventure!

Going home took about half an hour - a regular trip, once I get on the bus, takes about 10 minutes. Not too bad, but I had to wait half an hour for the bus to come! Anyway, I rode about 15 minutes and walked the rest of the way back. The house was nice and cool since we have the A/C blasting 24/7. I finished off my Haagen Daaz right away, then we walked over to Hull (nice to live so close to Québec, where all the lights were still on) to have dinner. The wait for food took one and a half hours! It's understandable though, since everyone from Ottawa flooded over to get food since no one could cook. Came home by taxi after 10pm. The streets were not jammed anymore (I got a shot of Preston with cars lined up beyond the eye can see just before we left home for dinner), and it was dark enough that we could see the stars above. We got some candles ready and then filed to bed.

On Friday, we had an unexpected holiday since all non-essential government workers were urged to stay home, and power hadn't been restored. Well, Jim and Tara had to work since they worked over in Hull, but Marnie and I didn't really know if we had to show up or not since we used up the batteries we had for the radio. I called home and found out we didn't have to go, so I headed back to bed. At 12:41pm, I heard Marnie shout my name and I looked over at my alarm radio clock and it was flashing! We did the dishes soon after (since we had to conserve water, we left all the dishes piled) and made dinner around 3pm since the news said that we could expect rolling blackouts. Let's see... that was just yesterday! Marnie and Tara rented a movie and after watching that and Third Watch, I went to bed.

Took a much needed shower after two days (haha... go water conservation!) this morning... so nice! Headed out to Rideau Centre with Marianne for a few errands and now I'm here updating this page. I have exactly a week left here in Ottawa - I did some packing yesterday. Just some essential stuff has been left out until Thursday for the final pack. Time is flying by here!

Anyway, I think I'm gonna go make myself some dinner and then head out to my last time at fellowship at OCAC. So I'll ttyl... and hope everyone is doing okay post-blackout!

August 11, 2003
The weekend was a blast. Loved it! Started off with a rendez-vous with Marianne at our usual spot (gonna miss that corner... I *really* should get a picture of it sometime!) and then headed off to Pure Gelato (finally!) for some gelatos. You can mix three kinds in the small cup, so I head Pera (I'm guessing that's Italian for Pear), Toblerone and Orange, and Green Apple. Yum! Thanks for the treat, Marianne. You *cough*asian you! Afterward, we had dinner at her house (BBQ... mmm) and then went mini-putting, McDonald's-ing, and card playing with her Ottawa buddies. A meeting 3 and a half months in the making! It was an enjoyable time. After a round of Scattergories back at Marianne's, we tucked in for the night.

In the morning, we had two Canadian Tire excursions (heehee... thank goodness Marianne snagged the last shelf!), met Sarah, watched Save The Last Dance (yes you who suffered as long as I have - you know who you are... I finally watched the ending!), then headed home for the night. Thanks bunches and bunches to Marianne and her family for being so hospitable to me! It's nice stay at a gorgeous and clean house after a month and a half worth of depravation.

Sunday's house dinner was awesome. As Tara would say, "Absolutely BRILLIANT!" We all scurried around (well, not really, I was mostly seated or standing, whipping away at egg whites or heavy cream with Bruce) making our dishes, which were honestly all excellent. Kinda freaked out that the semi-freddo wouldn't turn out since 2 hours of whipping at the egg whites and it still wasn't stiff enough!, but thank goodness Jim stol... *ahem* borrowed the hand mixer and my problem was solved! Anyway, everyone dressed up and we even dressed up the dining room table (table cloth and everything!), then had a buffet styled dinner. The chats were nice (man! I am such an ignorant Ontarian! kinda neat that our house has at least one representative from each area of the nation!) and the wine flowed freely. I tried to drink some, but it just tastes bad. Coffee or tea or juice for me please! Can't wait to develop all the pictures... and get a scanner.

Anyway, yeah. There are some things to look forward to this week... meeting with the Deputy Minister tomorrow! It's 45 minutes, and it's with all the co-op students. I hope I can make up some stuff to say! Last time we had to say why we decided to work there. This time is probably feedback about the work environment and things we observed or whatever. We'll see! The DM's a nice person. It'll be okay. Moving on... there's also the luau shopping tomorrow! That's going to be FUN! Can't wait. Then there's dinner with Ying and that's about all the excitement I've got planned for the week.

Two weeks left here. Less, actually. Time flies! Anyway, take care all!

August 6, 2003
Few things. One. My scholarship came through! Same amount as last year... helps out so much! Praise God - what can I say? He provides. Always. :o) Two. I'm working on my work term report already! Getting ahead of the game! It's so easy to write though... I hope I'm doing it right! Three. Thanks for all the spiritual from my friends - especially TL and his DL! You know who you are. ;o) It's a tough walk, but I think I'll make it...

Anyway, really, I just wanted to come on and post some lyrics. Decided to plug in the speakers to the computer again to listen to some new Sense Field stuff, and the good old free and legal MP3s as well! Enjoy!

SONG OF THE MOMENT

You know it's time for us to step it up
Another level now 'cause we finished warming up
So we rise up elevate to maintain fill up with octane
And fan the flame we regain all the names
The enemy took away
And like a green beret we will lead the way
Into battle so have no fear we will draw near
So that we can persevere like a gondolier
We headed straight to the top nonstop
Set shop at the top of the Rock
You'll feel the aftershock after we rock the spot
Cause you forgot these soldiers won't turn and walk
We take hard knocks come back for more
Cause we're hardcore we fight for the One who died for (you)
And like Saigon we're on the frontlines
And we carry on to the end times

Now that it's on, we're out in the front of this marathon
With our armor on, stay strong we drive on (drive on)
Our echelon pressin' on 'til we reach the top
And you know we don't stop (our echelon)
Now that it's on

We're on the enemy's hit list
I'm hopin' you get this
You're takin' a risk when you resist the one who made you exist
Evolutionists we got love for you too but we're breakin' down
Walls seeking out the truth
I'm a soldier in this army of One
Like I told ya the battle's already won
So about face move outta the way I gotta pray for you
And this is how we do

"Echelon", Pillar (from Fireproof)
Awesome, amazing, smooth but rocking tune from Pillar. Love it! I wish I could rap as fast as they could! I also wish I could be on fire as the lyrics describe. What's stopping me? I'm not sure...

August 5, 2003
I don't think it's a good sign when one starts counting down the days to departure. :oP But, there are 18 full days left here. I wanna go home now, but when I leave, I would probably wish that I never left. Work is getting a little bit over-boring. There's nothing much I could do to alleviate that. I suppose finishing that one nasty 3-day-long-to-enter binder is relieving. Working on the luau is bliss! *sigh* Mixed blessings, mixed feelings...

Oh, it's official. Marnie got me hooked on Canadian Idol. I even *gasp* phoned in last night! We were pretty accurate with the results. The wonder is why Karen-Lee got voted off but not Jenny. There must be Jenny groupies out there. She's slightly too out there for my tastes... anyway, Richie, if he had a little more feeling to his song, would have probably gotten my vote. It's too bad he's out... he was an intriguing contender. Candida just sang off tune yesterday... and I don't like that J. Lo vibe or whatever she's going for there. Just not for me. I predict Audrey will win hands down... that girl is amazing. Anyway, I can't believe I'm writing all this!

So I've been doing lots of reading on Toronto Star. Nothing like the hometown(-ish... Mississauga News just doesn't quite measure up). I think I would like to be part of a flash mob... maybe a meaningful flash mob, not yelling Marco Polo or whatever they have. It sounds hilarious though. Look out for me coming your way doing some weird stunt! Haha...

Anyway, not much happened over the long weekend. Shopped (even though I really need to save up... but also needed some gear for the upcoming cottage trip), ate, slept, ate, slept... haha. Read(!) more than half of Henri Nouwen's The Road To Daybreak. Pretty interesting, since I've visited a L'Arche back when Becca worked on one. I got a bit of the Catholic mentality too... I'm not sure what to think about icons and statues, but I can definitely draw parallels with using songs to help me think about God. It's sort of comforting reading about a priest struggle through some of the day-to-day things that I go through. I hate the fact that this spiritual life will be a life-long journey. But what else can I do, right?

Well, that's all for now. There's a bunch of things I'd like to do before school starts up. Let's see if I can start fitting them in...

August 1, 2003
Hello all... happy August! Not much to say, but I do have to say that I better not show up at work on Monday since it's Civic Holiday! Oh, and the co-op party planning is going well, and it's been really fun so far! Must also add in that gelato day was enjoyed - pistachio and coffee is great!

Alright, all for now. I'm off to either a) dinner, b) short story writing, or c) fanfic writing. Take care all, and have an awesome weekend if I don't update again!

PS: Missing y'all back home lots and lots! :o( Wish August 23 would be here...