CHRISTMAS!

Wow, after my last little flurry of blogging, i took a whole 8 day holiday! we've had a really great christmas break, with lots and lots of family time. As you can see by the super amused expressions on dad and grandpa, wrapping and ribboning may have gone a little far... hehe.


We got to got the enchanted forrest, which, although is just a drive around a park, is really beautiful. Granny's enjoyment of the whole thing made it well worth the effort.


GREIG AVENUE ROOMATE CHRISTMAS... maybe i'll just let the pics speak for themselves...
Kristie
Andrea
Melanie
Erin


TIMM FAMILY CHRISTMAS: wow. i've spent a LOT of time at home in the last week! Its actually been really nice. really just cool to relax and enjoy each other's company. The relatives all arrive tomorrow, so i'm sure fun and games will follow with 10 people living in my parent's house. i'm glad i'm at MY house!
Mom was all over the practical gifts this year, so AJ and i each got a bottle of vitamins! Hehe. well, at least we'll be healthy!

My sister and i decided on pics of the 2 of us for my parents - have to say, they turned out pretty nicely. The parents and grandparents will all pretty chuffed, so i think we win!
mmmmm... christmas dinner! AND we get it again tomorrow! GOOD TIMES :)

wow

try doing this:

how to never get drunk

Mr Brightside.

Wow, I'm definitely in a blogging mood tonight... 3 posts in 4 hours.
This is one of my favourite songs of 2005. I'm not even really sure why i like it so much. I REALLY liked it once i saw the music video. I'm sorry its a little, um, sketchy for my sensitive readers, but i LOVE it. Its like the whole of Moulin Rouge in under 5 minutes. (QUICK COMMENTARY: I used to HATE MR and then i watched it about 12 times in 3 weeks - thats what getting stuck at camp for 2 weeks by yourself will do (for more background on this weird reflective period of my life, feel free to track down other posts from Sept 2004 or see the one below...). But the moral of the story is familiarity breeds addiction!))
PS: if i was an English major, maybe i'd read into the title and connect MR with MoulinRouge... huh, huh, huh???

MR. BRIGHTSIDE (The Killers)

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home

do you ever drive and imagine home, except you imagine the wrong place? Sometimes when i try to think about the house i lived in before this one, all i can imagine is my home on collins rd in PMB. I don't know why - it happens esp. when i've been on a road trip somewhere and i'm coming back into toon town. But its happened a couple of times, and its kinda freaky. maybe i'm just weird. i think i need to get my head checked out someday.
ANYWAYS - point of this all is that i've been feeling pretty homesick (really more nostalgic than homesick) for PMB, so i was looking up all sorts of crazy things on the internet.
SINCE i love flags, stamps, shields, crescents, etc..., here is the Pietermaritzburg crescent:


PIETERMARITZBURG / UMGUNGUNDLOVU
Motto: Umgungunhlovu.

THERE WE ARE: PIETERMARITZBURG. (TRY SAYING THAT FAST 3 TIMES). I HAD A WHOLE LONG THING ABOUT PMB, ITS HISTORY, ETC, ETC, BUT IT WAS BORING ME HALF TO DEATH, SO I FIGURED NOBODY ELSE WOULD WANT TO READ IT... BUT WITH ALL THAT FACINATING HISTORY UNDER MY BELT, I THINK ITS JUST ABOUT TIME FOR BED (yawn).

dr timm

This is an exerpt of my own little self discovery exercise.... i think its pretty acurrate:

why do I always find best friends when i'm going to leave them? I think (self analysis coming up here:) that i have a little protective bubble... i only fall in love with guys i can't have and i make best friends out of people that i know i'll be leaving/ who will leave me... i've done it time and time and time again in my past... that way - its a self defeating thing right from teh beginning... uggggggggggg!i'm a stupid girl... haha. well, more on that later...


LATER.... :


SELF DISCOVERY RE-DISCOVERED...
so i was trying to remember some of my other self revelations, and went cruising around cyber space...
i found this on the 6th of October 2004... maybe i was a bit of an idealist, but i can't say i'd edit THAT much of it... I do think a lot more now, maybe even concieve of my OWN opinions? Nothing like stopping after a crazy summer to drive you kinda nuts - hehe.

BEWARE>>>> you're entering the depths of carie-catures...

Randomness and conclusions - OCTOBER 6th, 2004

Just got home from camp today, (again) and realized that i do not spend enough time with myself. That seems like a completly mundane observation, but really, there is nothing like 10 days of introspection to drive you to thte point of having to actually get to know yourself. In some ways i feel like i have no real personality... i just check in with the rest of society every now and again and adjust my opinion accordingly... not that i always agree, but i never seem to feel strongly about anything originally. I don't know if that's a bad thing (does somebody want to let me know so i can build my world view around them?), actually i think its really just a symptom of not caring. REALLY tho', back to my point about not knowing yourself, i think its completely possible to avoid understanding who we really are, and what makes up our likes, dislikes and interests. Camp at the best of times can be quite lonely, even with 130 other people running around, but being up there for 10 days with 3 fairly introverted people for company really showed me that i don't really like spending time in my own company. (proof: I watched Moulin Rouge 5 times in 4 days. I mean its good, but...?) I think its why i keep myself perpetually busy with friends and school and church and everything else i get involved in. I move so fast from thing to thing i hardly spend time savouring each moment.

Conclusion to this journey of self discovery:
I like musicals that i can sing loudly to.
I like to escape to somebody else's reality and escape my own mind.
I want to have some sort of fairy tale romance and marry prince charming "come what may".
I don't like broccoli.
I kinda like cooking, esp when somebody else is in charge.
I like puzzles.
I love sunrises and i like taking pictures of them, even tho' i suck at photography.
I like photography.
I like washing dishes, hot water and soap all the way.
Lonely people don't really care if they know you at all before they tell you their sad stories, and mostly they don't really care if you think anything about their situation. They just need to talk. Old people have facinating lives and stories.
I am not patient.
I am scared of bears and cougars.
I have a very sad life which revolves alot around my computer.... recieving 56 new emails and only 1 phone call should indicate something.
Perfectionists annoy me. People who do half ass jobs annoy me.
I am bad at dealing with finances.
I don't like responsibility, but i can't stop people giving it to me.
I hate making major life decisions and watch movies (or anything really) instead of thinking.
I really like talking afternoon naps in the sunshine.
Appearances don't really matter when it comes to love. They are a good interest factor, but i really don't care.
Friends are precious and should be cherished. (that means dedicating 100% to them when i'm with them, not trying to be everything to everybody).
I can't be everything to everybody.
The world will continue really well without me.
My friends like me for who i am, not what i can do for them.
The ones who care want to know all the small details of mundane life.
Friendship is often a very onesided thing and figuring out that you know every detail of somebody's life and that they hardly notice when you're around (or not) is pretty depressing.
Major revelation: if i give up on friendships they will die, and the other person will honestly not be able to fix it because it is all in my head!
I like to play outside and run around, but i like to be a lazy couch potatoe too.
Making life timelines is a silly idea. I want to live life to the full and experience it all. Carpe Diem.
I want to marry my best friend.
I don't care if i date one guy or a thousand before i get married.
i want to have children, but definately not for a long while.
I am a people pleaser and suck at saying no to things.
I suck at loving God. I am really self centered and will do just about anything to avoid contemplating my own mortal fallibility and STUPIDITY! Especially in relation to His perfect wisdom and knowledge.
I do many unexplainable stupid things. It's a mystery even to myself.
I am competitive and have to compete with myself to keep me motivated. Good thing about the stupidity. I can convince me to do just about anything.

Pretty conclusive thinking for somebody who doesn't like to think about anything real in my head.

Well, enough with that for now, more to follow if i feel the need for more self definition. Thank you God for your "special" plan of unemployment. Guess i'm getting the time i need to evaluate where i'm going in life...

- car

Dressin' up in style!

Nix and I got all spiffed up and went out to the Youth Banquet last

night... What fun!  i ended up with tiny fairy wings and she ended

up with a little polar bear stuffy, but it was good times for all. Then

we had a sleep over involving Titanic, boy talk, prank calls and am.

MickyD runs... hehe!!  I wish she could stay forever! At least we

have another month. AND CHRISTMAS IN BETWEEN!

YIPPEE!                                                              

Till later,C
 

Nix industriously trying to keep the driveway clear. Stupid snow just fills it in again!

Granny made us all warm fuzzy's for christams! Mine shines!

 

GUESS WHAT! LIFE IS ALMOST NORMAL AGAIN! Rochelle's home, school's done, exams are finished (!!), snow's here, yippee!! Here comes CHRISTMAS!

 

since its a fad... me in colour

yeah... i guess...

Your Power Color Is Teal

At Your Highest: You feel accomplished and optimistic about the future. At Your Lowest: You feel in a slump and lack creativity. In Love: You tend to be many people's ideal partner. How You're Attractive: You make people feel confident and accepted. Your Eternal Question: "What Impression Am I Giving?"

What's Your Power Color?

BAHAHA!! NUMBERS AND ORDER??? I don't know about that! I would be bored out of my brain!!!!

bgcolor="#999999" align=center>Your Career Type: Conventional

You are orderly and good at following a set plan. Your talents lie in working with written records and numbers in a systematic, orderly way. You would make an excellent: Bank Teller - Bookkeeper - Court Clerk Mail Carrier - Post Office Clerk - Secretary Timekeeper - Title Examiner - Typist The worst career options for your are artistic careers, like comedian or dancer.

What's Your Ideal Career?

INSOMNIA!! URG!

Bloody hell! why am i still awake at 2:41am the morning OF the day i have to write an exam?????? Stupid body! and terrible people who have kept me up far to late the last couple of nights! GRR!

ack.
well, i'm going to go lie down again and TRY to get some sleep. maybe i'll try to study some more. that usually helps.

1 down, 4 to go.

kinda sucked at the rhythmic side of the music exam today. ironic since i should understand rhythms better than most. prob explains my sucky drumming skills. ah well. at least i'm a recorder player extrodinaire. only prob is the only people willing to pay for my recorder skills are trying to make me stop and go away. i could prob do pretty well in front of random business'... hehe.


Dad and Gran (oh come on dad - give us a smile!)


At the Festival of trees: wow! I wish i was in any way artistic! Some of those are amazing!! Here Nix and I are kissing Frosty. Need somebody to kiss at this time of year! Hehe.



AJ and Nix admiring the beauty of the trees around them. Ah. Shiny lights!
The girls (minus Nix) at the festival of trees.
Where i spend most of my life: the Education building. At least Amanda and Leanne make it bareable... Too bad we've run out of time for adventures!

Jingle tills, budget's killed, lalalalala...

YUP - its definately THAT time of year again. I really need to go get my christmas pressies. Don't get me wrong- i love buying Christmas presents for people - in fact i usually invest some time and try and make something little, but i HATE HATE HATE walking the malls in search of SOMETHING (anything) that will do. it just doesn't seem like the right motive somehow.

But i should get on my crafty bandwagon and start making some cool stuff. Hmm.. nothing inspiring has hit me yet. The last 2 years hit me right in the middle of studying. AHA! that's probally the problem. i just haven't started studying yet ;) I've been distracted... hehe - you know who you are!

well, back to being UNdistracted! (The music plan just needs objectives for each lesson and then i'm DONE DONE DONE!) YIPPEE!

CT

The fun goes on and on...

so i did a whole bunch of work today - pretty much got my unit plan sort of finished (woohoo) and then went out for dinner and a movie! Nix, A'ge and i went to BP's and then a couple of us went to watch "in her shoes".... $4 and 2 hours never to be returned. ah well. we had a good evening anyway.

ANYWAYS- Christmas is swiftly approaching, and since i haven't posted a SA christmas carol lately, and i'm clearly giving up on formatting - here's another gooder:

Hanging with the fam.

OH! Having Nix around is SOOOO much fun! Here i'm showing her the craziness of swimming outside when it's -20... i was pretty proud of her... she totally did the polar bear roll (TWICE) in the course of our little hottub adventure!

Here A'ge and Nix are working on the masterpiece to be known as "the gingerbread wonder". Oh the skill of these Timm Girls...

The only catch to all this fun stuff is the fact that i have 4 finals and my music unit to do... hehe. MEH - priorities right?

DON'T WANNA DO HOMEWORK!

i really really really really really really really really don't feel like doing homework. Unfortunately, my assignment for tomorrow is not going to do itself. and the stupid psych paper is DEFINATELY not doing itself. Heck the rest of my group isn't even doing it. BAH. it really isn't the group - its just hard co-ordinating all of our efforts. i dunno. I CAN'T WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS! if i can get this silly music unit plan done for monday AND the psych paper, i'll be done handing crap in until JAN 4th - at the very soonest!! Oh wait. AFTER i hand in my Foundations paper on the 9th. ah well. it will soon be done :)

They're HERE!

 MY FAMILY'S HERE!!!!!    Granny and Nicole arriving at the airport, 11:35 Monday Night.... wow... Granny looks OLD in that wheelchair. But turns out she's just wiley... you'd be surprised at how many perks there are to being in a wheel chair at the airport. Something to keep in mind apparently.

      This one's  
of the fam getting all decked out to face the Saskatchewan winter. (even thought it was only about -12, thank the Lord!)

UGG... Stayed up till 2:30 just chatting... this morning was a brutal experience!

BUT!! THEY'RE HERE!!
YIPPEEE!!!

More SA Christmas Carols

I was going to take Evan's advice and just post links, but i really wanted to put these up. But i put i the other way this time so you can relieve your aching neck!

I MONTH TODAY UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

Friday procrastination!

This song is a LOT bit more country than i like, but i really like the lyrics, and honestly how badly could somebody with the name "CARRIE" do? Even if she has one too many r's... ;)

Artist/Band: Carrie Underwood
Lyrics for Song: Jesus, Take The Wheel
Lyrics for Album: Some Hearts

She was driving last Friday on her way to Cincinnati
On a snow white Christmas Eve
Going home to see her Mama and her Daddy with the baby in the backseat
Fifty miles to go and she was running low on faith and gasoline
It been a long hard year
She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention
She was going way to fast
Before she knew it she was spinning on a thin black sheet of glass
She saw both their lives flash before her eyes
She didn't even have time to cry
She was sooo scared
She threw her hands up in the air

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all on my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel

It was still getting colder when she made it to the shoulder
And the car came to a stop
She cried when she saw that baby in the backseat sleeping like a rock
And for the first time in a long time
She bowed her head to pray
She said I'm sorry for the way
I've been living my life
I know I've got to change
So from now on tonight

Jesus take the wheel
Take it from my hands
Cause I can't do this all my own
I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
To save me from this road I'm on

Oh, Jesus take the wheel
Oh, I'm letting go
So give me one more chance
Save me from this road I'm on
From this road I'm on
Jesus take the wheel
Oh, take it, take it from me
Oh, why, oh

CRAZY VIDEO

CRAZY (Simple Plan)

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CRAZY?

"Crazy" - Simple Plan

Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look, I see
Young girls dying to be on TV
They won't stop till they've reached their dreams

Diet pills, surgery
Photoshopped pictures in magazines
Telling them how they should be
It doesn't make sense to me

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on?
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

I guess things are not how they used to be
There's no more normal families
Parents act like enemies
Making kids feel like it's World War III

No one cares, no one's there
I guess we're all just too damn busy
And money's our first priority
It doesn't make sense to me

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on?
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

Is everybody going crazy?
Is everybody going crazy?

Tell me what's wrong with society
When everywhere I look I see
Rich guys driving big SUVs
While kids are starving in the streets

No one cares
No one likes to share
I guess life's unfair

Is everybody going crazy?
Is anybody gonna save me?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on?
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something, something is wrong

Is everybody going crazy?
Can anybody tell me what's going on?
Tell me what's going on?
If you open your eyes
You'll see that something is wrong

Our Home & Native Land

How much of this did you know??

Saskatchewan is located in western Canada. It is bordered by Manitoba to the east, Alberta to the west, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the American states of Montana and North Dakota to the south. Saskatchewan covers 651,900 square kilometres. About half the province is covered by forest, one third is farmland, and
one eighth is fresh water, mostly in northern Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan’s ecoregions include boreal forest in the north, aspen forest in the central part of the province, and grasslands in the south. The Cypress Hills in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan rise hundreds of metres above the surrounding grasslands and represent a totally distinct ecoregion.
Saskatchewan’s varying terrain means that it includes several different ecosystems and is home to many different plants and animals.
Saskatchewan is Canada’s sunniest province, averaging from 2,000 to 2,500 hours of sunshine annually. The city of Estevan in the southeast leads the country with an average 2,540 sunshine-filled hours each year.

Saskatchewan’s Emblems of Nature –

Provincial Bird – Sharp-tailed grouse
Provincial Animal – White-tailed deer
Provincial Tree – White birch
Provincial Flower – Western red lily
Provincial Grass – Needle and thread grass
Provincial Mineral – Potash

Superman's song

i realized yesterday because of the wise words of a smart friend (and maybe a little prodding from Our Heavenly father) that maybe I've screwed up yet again. Wow, its been quite a week. Without going back into the whole journey mistake, i realized that maybe some of the things i said were more a reaction to feeling attacked than an honest emotion. I also realized that while i believe strongly in the freedom of speech, and i try to express myself honestly here, it is a public forum, which has the power to make people see things from certain angles. This effectively can be one sided gossipping - shouting out to the universe to take my side in a debate which is not about sides or right/wrong, but about listening to what God tells us to do. i was not listening, i was a little kid who was annoyed cos i got a talking to. So I'm sorry for spouting off that way. it most definitely was not a Godly way to behave, REGARDLESS of any of the issues involved.

Here is a song i heard driving on the way home from school... sometimes there's nothing but to keep on going, doing the right thing even though it involves thankless, payless work and dirty phone booths...
Being shaped - ALLOWING God to shape us is sometimes not a fun endevour, and i think he must shake his head at how thankless, payless and unpleasing his work with us is, but then every now and again we get it, and glimmer in the darkness and please him...
We're called to the same thankless, dirty work - putting aside ourselves and what pleases/angers/saddens us and just be obedient. [ESPECIALLY when we're in the wrong ;)]



Superman's song - Crash Test Dummies

Tarzan wasn't a ladies' man
He'd just come along and scoop 'em up under his arm
Like that, quick as a cat in the jungle
But Clark Kent, now there was a real gent
He would not be caught sittin' around in no
Junglescape, dumb as an ape doing nothing

[Chorus:]
Superman never made any money
For saving the world from Solomon Grundy
And sometimes I despair the world will never see
Another man like him

Hey Bob, Supe had a straight job
Even though he could have smashed through any bank
In the United States, he had the strength, but he would not
Folks said his family were all dead
Their planet crumbled but Superman, he forced himself
To carry on, forget Krypton, and keep going

Tarzan was king of the jungle and Lord over all the apes
But he could hardly string together four words: "I Tarzan, You Jane."

Sometimes when Supe was stopping crimes
I'll bet that he was tempted to just quit and turn his back
On man, join Tarzan in the forest
But he stayed in the city, and kept on changing clothes
In dirty old phonebooths till his work was through
And nothing to do but go on home

Blessings,
Carie

We three tourists

AH YES... the trials and tribulations of visiting the beautiful RSA...
                (sorry once again for the craning of neck... but its the only way possible.)

went hottubbing tonight. it was  a good relaxing evening. (much needed) Now to tackle the monster load of homework... uggg. goodbye world.

but in the spirit of advent which i somehow neglected right after my first post, here's a M&E Christmas carol. (You have to turn your head, otherwise it ends up too small.)

Paraded out

SO we survived the parade, and only lost 1 kid. (Sorry Carissa). It was a good time all around - not sure i'd want to do it again any time soon, but you know. We had 20 kids show up instead of the 6-8 that we were expecting, so we had a whole schlep with taxis, etc. The most unfortunate part about it all (apart from it being pretty cold) was that we had to sing Christmas Carols for like a whole hour. Don't get me wrong, i like Christmas Carols, but usually only when i'm christmas caroling the week before christmas. a whole month and a bit before christmas is a bit much. ESPECIALLY WHEN ITS "SANTA CLAUSE IS COMING TO TOWN" AND RUDOLPH THE RED NOSED RAINDEER 6 bagillion times.
Anyway, now i'm wiped.

Ugg. This weekend has been WAY too fun and WAY too little work intensive. Gonna be a busy week...

PS: in the spirit of impeding christmas cheer, i thought i'd add some Madam & Eve Christmas cartoons in a sort of advent calender kind of way. ENJOY!
(this one as you may notice is about that stupid damned raindeer. i might scream if i have to sing that song again anytime soon!)

I'm in a parade :) Come check it out!!

Midtown Plaza proudly presents the 15th Annual Santa Clause Parade Sunday November 13th at 1:00p.m. This year's theme is 'A Pioneer Christmas' and is expected to capture the imagination of all ages with a wide variety of colourful and festive decorated floats ranging from musical marching bands and dancing entries to horse drawn entries, from days gone by, bring out the creativity with this year entries. Listen for Santa Claus shouting Ho, Ho Ho as he makes his way through the parade route and settles in on the 2nd level of the Midtown Plaza for photos. The parade route starts on 19th street and Third avenue, winding its way up Third avenue to 23rd Street, over to First Avenue back down to First Avenue to 20th street.


Should be fun.. hope its not TOO cold.

Hazel Eyes

i love this music video...

Watch Video:

BEHIND THESE HAZEL EYES (Kelly Clarkson)

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The madness of it all

In the last little while i've watched two very moving films about vetrans - coincidentally they tied in with Rememberance day today. Last night (or this morning actually) i was walking down by the river looking at the monuments and thinking about all the people who have sacrificed for us. A couple things really stood out to me as i stood and thought about memorializing these unknown heroes.
1- the madness of war. The old 16th century mental asylum in London, called Bedlam Hospital, is now the British War Museum. Coincidence? I think not.
2- How easily we forget. The slogan "lest we forget" is there because we ARE forgetting. It seems so long ago already. It may have been a little exagerated by the one movie, but they pointed out how bemused Veterans would be to watch us play a game of paintball.
Without being soppy or anything like that, in this moment, i give them thanks.

Ramble? Me? Never.

I was surfing around blogworld, and read Scott's latest post "Monday, November 07, 2005 - The Only Sure Thing". Check it out. its pretty thought provoking.

Man - i've wanted to post for quite a few days now, and the most enthusiasm for anything that looked like constructive anything was to post yesterday's pic.

Tuesday was awesome. We did our first teaching experience at school. With Leanne, i taught a lesson on heroes to a group of 9 kids from a gr3/4 split class. WHAT FUN! it was very affirmning, because, somehow this college has a way of scaring all the spirit out of you. WHAT IF I MESS UP AND SCREW UP SOME LITTLE KID'S LIFE FOREVER??? (etc, etc, etc)
I'm also feeling a lot more capable in this college now that i've realized that i do (somewhere) inately understand what it means to be a teacher, adn i actually do want to be that person.
Yesterday i had to do the 10 min teach (that i wrote about the other day) on South Africa. It went really well, adn everybody actually seemed interested. Mostly in "Madam and Eve" which is to be expected, since it is one of the best cartoons in the entire world. But anyway. Its all done now. So that's a relief.

There is much going in my my life.
My Uncle Andrew is having severe (debilitating) headaches. His twin died of an undefined brain degeneration (like a tumour but not) about 5 years ago, and now my Uncle has been incapacitated with blinding headaches and very similar symptoms. My Uncle Tony went through years of testing, and medications, etc, etc and eventually just wasted away. Andrew refused to have any sort of testing done on himself at the time, and now we're wondering.
I have had headaches as a part of my life since i fell on my head when i was 12. These things freak me out like nothing else. I should go to the doctor and MAKE him do some sort of test or something.

I'm also developing some awesome friendships with people i've sort of known for a long time and am getting to know better. I'm excited about that.

There are many other things too... but i have to get to class in the next 6 mins.

have a good day!

pray without ceasing

Rainbow words

For one of my classes, i have to do a 10 minute oral presentation on something i'm passionate about or find interesting. Now, i am a fairly boring person, and do not have any interesting talents or skills, so i decided to resort to the standard old "what's interesting about you" ice breaker question... My retort after hazardly scrambling through the mind-fields of my brain (get it, haha... its a pun.. MIND fields). ANYWAY.
I was trying to find a little mission statement i had written for myself a couple weeks after moving to Canada, in order to try and remember exactly how i felt. Isn't it odd that i can't really recall exactly? time definately dims emotion i guess. But i found this little list of words i found funny/ weird and my description of each one, which i obviuosly wrote to somebody in SA. And then i found that i had apparently emailed it to Daniel at some point, and he "RE-TRANSLATED" it for me... so here goes the unabridged retranslation of "WIERD CANADIAN STUFF".

*** PLEASE NOTE: i do not hold myself responsible for how condescending or sarcastic i sound in this post. Please keep in mind that i have done much "CANADIANIZING" in 6 (wow, 6 already) years. ALSO: although immigrants are generally nostalgic about the "homeland" - where ever that might be, we all made the choice to be in this great country, and we would go back to where ever if we really didn't like it. So for all of you true -blue Canadians... I REALLY DO LOVE YOU :) ***

Daniel's retranslation of English....
(I hope you don't mind but I took the freedom to "re-translate" some of your words back into REAL english)

WEIRD CANADIAN WORDS…
Traffic light - robot - one of those machines that does your work for you
Christmas orange - naartjie - some wierd spelled SA swear...
Band-aids - plasters - drunks...
horn - hooter - boob
trunk - boot - cowboys wear these
sweater - any form of jersey (or so it appears, I’m still not clear on the issues of bunnyhugs, sweaters and cardigans…. ) - jersey is what sports teams wear
turn lights - indicators - indicators are signs... and they're called signal lights in the first place...
hockey - general word to describe violence in Canada. Seriously talked about and very competitive (heck the country’s under snow for 6 months a year, you have to find a descent winter sport. I’m still (very slowly) getting into it) - GO OILERS GO!!!
Binder - file (with spaces for 3 hole paper, not 2) - something you hang in a filing cabinet
Crap - trouble (considered normal language [even used in church] whereas “damn” is considered to be of the 4 letter list à different cultures, different swear words.) - also what comes out of your "ice"
Diapers - nappies - when a little kid has a nap
Pacifier/soother - dummy - YOU... hehehe (couldn't resist)
Flashlight - torch - indiana jones uses one in the cave...
Trolley - foofey slide (trolleys here are called shopping cart) -foofey is a dumb dogs name... not sure how you make a slide out of it...
Teeter totter - seesaw - underwater animal like a seahorse...
Beef jerky - stuff that looks and acts like biltong, but smells and tastes vile!!!!!! Avoid at all costs. - you have no clue what's good for you!
Mail - post - long vertical thing (usually used for fastening signs and lights)
Zero - naught - you tie knots (learn how to spell!)
Elevator - Lift - brings you up the ski hill
Truck - lorry - it's spellt Lorie and is a girls name
Van - combi - short for combination
White out- tippex - you only know one brand? why pick on tissues vs. Kleenes then???

Other engigmatic canadiana:

foyer (pronounced “fooyeeeaa”) .:. unrecognizable
aluminum- pronounced “alooominum”
about - pronounced “a-boot” [not really. but its a fun stereotype]
bunny-hug - a jersey type thing with a hood and big pocket in the front (like a nun) where you can clasp both hands together in the pocket (nobody knows why it’s called a bunny hug.)
Bannock - flat, tasteless (in my experience, but I’m no cook) native bread
weather - the most discussed subject in Canada -> it’s practically a national pastime
toque - a beanie (who knew?) apparently a beanie has some difference (like ear flaps or something… another grey issue for me, and generally somewhere I don’t go…. Makes you look intelligent not to ask questions about other people’s (often odd) headgear.
Crazy carpet - piece of plastic with cut out spaces to hold onto as you hurtle down a snow covered hill. Haven’t’ experienced this yet, heard reports of concussion. Still under deliberation. (similar concept to tobogganing)
Snow boarding - surfing on snow (except you’re tied on, and it’s generally a recipe for visits to the x-ray dept of the hospital. (another sport under deliberation…. Umm , no) [NOTE: I wrote this a couple weeks after arriving... SNOW BOARDING ROCKS!!]
Spitz - edible sunflower seed (can be flavored… put the whole thing in your mouth, extract the seed and spit out the shell [takes practice, I end up gobbing:- seeds, shells and all]
Loonies, toonies, quarters, nickels and dimes - Canadian currency. Respectively - $1, $2, 25c, 5c and 10c (the loonies are named after loons (birds) not mad people, and I have no ideas about the toonies.)
Santa clause - father Christmas
thank goodness they pronounce it “zed” not “zeee”

SOME OTHER WEIRD STUFF...
> You don’t see the same stars (this may be obvious to the seasoned astronomer, but I never thought about it before)
> The toilets/ drains etc flush the wrong way (someone told me this and I investigated, I do have a life)
> The lights switches go up to turn on, not down
> You drive on the wrong side of the road (and in winter the govt sprinkles salt and sand on the roads until they look (and feel like) dirt roads
> They don’t have such thing as spray deo. When we eventually found some (in some tiny chemist) it stinks and feels like hairspray
> They have no idea about shaving cream/ water fights… what a sad life!
> Social introductions include: “lets go for coffee”
> People that have bicycles have special spikes in the tires to stop them slipping on the ice
> O henry, jolly ranchers, and gummy bears are need to know kinds of sweets (refer to the point on avoiding very intellectually damaging stupid questions)
> Living on the prairies provides you the opportunity of the lifetime to learn all there is to know about agriculture. Unfortunately, I’m a heathen… don’t know, don’t care.
> All the doors and windows have screens on them for summer, if you venture out without bugspray, you’re likely to be carried away by some huge mozzies
> Country music is accepted as the norm… they have only ~ 5 decent (local) stations, and country is one of them (damned people have my dad hooked, so guess what we have to listen to in his car………..)
> Foreigners (such as I) have to watch how we say words like "ice", "birch", etc... as they sometimes have some negative reactions...

Anyway, this turned out to be quite a long post!
I mostly just procrastinating to avoid homework. I'm not sure WHAT exactly i should be doing... more to the point, i don't know WHERE i should start with all the work i SHOULD be doing ;)
MEH
i think i might just go read a book instead. Ostrich style. Pretend its not there.. maybe it won't see me.

tata.

tag, you're it

I got tagged by Anna, so here are the 5 Things i totally don't get:

> How this place can be +35 in summer and -400 in winter
> How i can be doing everything i like and still not be happy some days
> how i can EVER be ready to be a teacher! Ah! Scary! so many things to think about!
> how i can spend hours analyzing other peoples/ character's emotions, but the thought of doing this indepth makes me a little uncomfortable...
> how relationships and friendships can bend and turn in such wierd and irrational directions

And now it’s my turn to tag. I tag Marlene and Beth. What do you just not get?

hope you have the bestest day yet!
C

MAD SCIENTISTS AND FULL MOONS

Today was a fun day. I did my music teaching lesson this morning - yes i choked out "London Bridge" all by myself - and it went pretty well, if i say so myself. Then we played pattycake songs (you know- the ones where you clap hands with somebody else... AH... my childhood lives again.)
My lab was cancelled for the day, so i picked up some resources to take a look at for my annotated Bib. and then headed out to McNab to set up our "dissection". I have to admit, i was a little bit worried... in comparison to the Haunted house, i thought our thing was going to be WEAK, but we got some pretty decent screams out of it, so I'm pretty happy. (the good ol' head popping out from under a box trick worked its magic once again!)Haha.

All weekend I've been helping out at the Haunted House. I can't say enough about that place. One of the (single) mom's decided that she'd set up her WHOLE house - living room, bedrooms, bathrooms, dining room, kitchen, EVERYTHING as a haunted house, and she advertised in the newspapers and radio. She put up all these FANTASTIC decorations, and got the community center kids to carve pumpkins. Then each day (Fri - Mon) she had kids come help out being vampires, murderers, victims, etc, etc, etc. WOW! it was truly amazing. I have such huge respect for a woman who can pull a whole community together that way. I've never seen anything like it in McNab before. Unfortunately there wasn't the greatest turn out, especially tonight with the darn rain, but the kids were involved with something SO great, I'm proud of them, and i think they must be proud of themselves.

ANYWAY, i should get to the homework I've been neglecting all weekend.
BUT HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Carie

don't be afraid

More random quotes from Blue like Jazz

I know these are a little scattered, and definitely random - just things that struck me as i read it...
I've finished it now.. REALLY interesting read. I'm looking forward to reading more of his stuff.


"Andrew would say that dying for something is easy because it is associated with glory. Living for something, Andrew would say, is the hard thing. Living for something extends beyond fashion, glory, or recognition. We live for wheat we believe, Andrew would say. If Andrew the Protester is right, if i live what i believe, that i don't believe very many noble things. My life testifies that the first thing i believe is that i am the most important person in the world." (111)

"If loving other people is a bit of heaven, then certainly isolation is a bit of hell, and to that degree, here on earth, we decide in which state we would like to live." (173)

"Living in community made me realize one of my faults: i was addicted to myself. All i thought about was myself. The only thing i really cared about was myself. I had very little concept of love, altruism, or sacrifice. I discovered that my mind is like a radion that pics up only one station, the one that plays me" (181)

"If we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus." (185)

"At the end of the day, when i am lying in bed and i know the chances of any of our theology being exactly right are a million to one, i need to know that God has things figured out, that if my math is wrong we are still going to be ok. And wonder is that feeling we get when we let go of our silly answers, our mapped out rules that we want God to follow. I don't think there is any better worship than wonder." (206)

"And that's when it hit me like so much epiphany getting dislodged from my arteries. The problem with Christian culture is we think of love as a commodity." (218)

Blue like Jazz

I have started reading a book called BLUE LIKE JAZZ by Donald Miller... which I've really enjoyed so far. There are some fantastic quotes which really spoke to me as i read them, so i highlighted them, and I'll prob be putting them up here as i find them.

"I can't explain how freeing that was, to realize that if i met Jesus, He would like me. I never felt like that about some of the Christians on the radio. I always thought if i met those people they would yell at me. But it wasn't like that with Jesus. There were people he loved and people he got really mad at, and i kept identifying with the people he loved, which was really good, because they were all the broken people, you know, the kind of people who are tired of life and want to be done with it, or they are desperate people, people who were outcasts or pagans. There were others, regular people but he didn't play favourites at all, which is miraculous in itself. That fact alone may have been the most supernatural thing he did. He didn't show partiality, which every human does." (pg 47)

This is part of Ch 9, and although its really long, it really captures what I've been feeling for a while, but have been too chicken to say out loud for myself. I mean, i haven't been teaching, but i feel like it still applies to me. So here you have it... my life in Donald Miller's words:

There is a time when every person who encounters Jesus, who believes Jesus is the Son of God, decides that they will spend their life following him. Some people, like the Apostle Paul, make this decision the minute the meet him, the minute they become a christian. Others, like the Apostle Peter endure years of half - hearted commitment and spiritual confusion before leaping in with all their passion. Still others may enjoy some benefits of God's love and grace without entering into the true joy of a marriage with their maker.
Not long after i graduated from high school, i found myself leading a college group at a large church just outside Houston. I cherished the role, at first, because it was a place of honor. I studied the Bible for hours, putting talks together that students enjoyed. It started as a substitute teaching job. The college minister couldn't be there one week, so he asked me to fill in. When i was asked to speak again, i jumped at the chance like Homer Simpson at a donut. Pretty soon i was teaching all the time. I swam in the attention and the praise, i loved it, i lusted for it, i almost drowned in it. The more attention i got, the strange i became. I was on my way to having my own religious television show. Okay, that's a bit much, but you know what i mean. I was a smiler, a hand-shaker, a baby-kisser, a speech -giver. I said things like "God be with you", and "lord bless you". I used cliches like a bad novelist.
I led the college group for a couple of years and enjoyed it at first, but it wasn't long before i felt like a phony. I got tired of myself. I didn't like to hear my own voice because i sounded like a talk-show host.
One afternoon i made an appointment with my pastor and told him i was leaving, that i was going into the world to et my thinking straight.... I've tried to put words to it, you know, but i can't. I'm just really tired. Mentally drained. I feel like i am jumping through hoops or something. I don't feel like God is teaching through me. I feel like i am a fake person, you know. I say what i need to say, do what i need to do, but i don't really mean it....
I suppose what i wanted back then is what every Christian wants, whether they understand themselves or not. What i wanted was God. I wanted tangible interaction. But even more than that, to be honest, i wanted to know who i was. I felt like a robot or an insect or a mysterious blob floating around in the universe. I believed that if i could contact God, He would be able to explain who and why i was.
The days an weeks before a true commitment to Jesus can be terrible and lonely. I think i was feeling bitter about the human experience. I never asked to be human. nobody came to the womb and explained the situation to me, asking for my permission to go into the world and live and breathe and eat and feel joy and pain. I started thinking about how odd it was to be human, how we are stuck inside this skin, forced to be attracted to the opposite sex, forced to eat food and use the rest room and then stuck to earth by gravity. I think maybe i was going crazy or something. i spent an entire week feeling bitter because i couldn't breathe underwater. I told God i wanted to be a fish. I also felt a little bitter about sleep. Why do we have to sleep? i wanted to be able to stay wake for as long as i wanted, but God had put me in this body that had to sleep. Life no longer seemed like an experience of freedom...

There is something beautiful about a billions star held steady by a God who know what he is doing. (they hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz.) And as i lay there, it occurred to me that God is up there somewhere. of course, i had always know he was, but this time i felt it, i realized it, the way a person realizes they are hungry or thirsty. The knowledge of God seeped out of my brain and into my heart. I imagined him looking down on this earth, half angry because his beloved mankind had cheated on him, had committed adultery, and yet hopelessly in love with her, drunk with love for her.
i know a little of why there is blood in my body, pumping life into my limbs and through into my brain. I am wanted by God. He is wanting to preserve me, to guide me through the darkness of the shadow of death, up into the highlands of his presence and afterlife. I understand that i am temporary, in this shell of a thing on this dirt of an earth. I am being tempted by Satan, we are all being tempted by Satan, but i am preserved to tell those who do now know about our saviour and our redeemer....
I lay there under the stars and thought of what great responsibility it is to be human. I am human because God made me. I experience suffering and temptation because mankind chose to follow Satan. God is reaching out to me to rescue me. i am learning to trust him, learning to live by his precepts that i might be preserved." (95 -101)

shine

Tonight was a really fun night. Spent some time hanging with some great people over supper and then just chatting. My roomies were watching "Coach Carter" when i got downstairs, and i caught the end of it, which is the most powerful part. This is a great quote from the movie, which applies pretty well to life i think...

Our deepest fear is not
that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
that most frightens us.
Your playing small
does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking
so that other people
won't feel insecure around you.
We were all meant to shine,
as children do.
It's not just in some of us,
it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated
from our own fear,
our presence automatically
liberates others.

carie

yay, women heroines

"But history, real solemn history, I cannot be interested in... I read it a little as a duty, but it tells me nothing that does not either vex or weary me. The quarrels of popes and kings, with wars or pestilences, in every page; the men all so good for nothing, and hardly any women at all -- it is very tiresome" -- Catherine Morland in Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey (1817)

"It is difficult to imagine or to underestimate the price many of these women paid in the currency of loneliness, self-doubt, ridicule, and insult. They were often considered to be in flagrant violation of the laws, written and unwritten, of God and man. Many were jailed for their beliefs and activities. They were seen to be violating the natural order, the way "everyone" knew things were supposed to be. They persevered against odds that should have been overwhelming--and they triumphed. "
--Phyllis J. Read and Bernard L. Witlieb in The Book of Women's Firsts

ANGELS AND DEMONS

I think my kids are trying to remind me that they're not little angels... in fact, they're little holy terrors! SERIOUSLY! Some days i come home ABSOLUTELY sure that i NEVER EVER EVER EVER want to have children! Yesterday and today are good examples!

Yesterday they were running around like maniacs and just DYING to start a fight. I stopped one strangulation, and next thing is a bunch of bigger boys looking to beat one little "shit stirrer". Then i'm suddenly dealing with half the community!
Or today, when one little kid freaked out when he wasn't allowed to destroy somebody else's artwork... he was crying, then screaming and yelling. Eventually we told him that he had to go home and he started screaming "i don't want to go home" over and over and hanging onto the door frame. We finally put his shoes on for him and deposited him on our doorstop where he continued to stand and scream. UGGG> its so hard to deal with a kid being that upset, but there's no other way to calm him down. I don't think i can explain to you quite how emotionally painful it is.
Otherdays (like tonight) one little kid is just so desparate to have me stay that he won't get off my lap, even though he normally won't stand to be touched. He's the toughest little 6 year old i've ever seen, who just really wants to be loved. He spent about an hour and a bit working on paper mache with me. What 6 year old boy do you know that will do that? i dunno. and he just really wanted to be hugged before home time. I stayed an entire hour after work with him, just because he seemed to really need it.

I love them. I really do. i can't imagine not being part of their lives, and not having them as part of mine. But somedays i'm pretty sure that i have no need for any sort of contraception. (not that that's a problem, fear not!)The desire for sex is pretty strongly out-weighed by the fear of producing kids!!! Motherhood seems like the scariest thing that any person can possibly take on. Especially alone. i can't tell you how high my regard for single mothers is. what a huge job.
And i get to try and "mould these young lives" (somehow ???) by teaching them for the rest of forever.... huh. career change anybody !?!? Kidding, but that's a huge responsibility in itself. I hope i'm up to it.

anyway - its been a long day, so i should pack it in.

Carie

Putting the beach in a jar

I realize that i created my "quote board" for this purpose, but since this is a larger quote, and one that i found in about February, when it was REALLY meaningful to me. I still really appreciate it, and in fact it was stuck to my mirror (before it fell off the wall and shattered. Here we go with the bad luck...) The book is by James Peterson. I'm a horrible B.A. and didn't even write down the title or pg number, but here it is:

"Living life is like putting the beach into a jar. The point isn't to fit everything it; it is to attend to the most important things first - the big beautiful rocks, the most valuable people and experiences - and fit the lesser things in around them. Otherwise the best things might get left out."

*and before you go on a bandwagon about the "most valuable" people, STOP. You know what he means. Don't over analyze!

gotta teach a lesson in front of the camera tomorrow.. uggg!
better go find something to wear.
love!

Falling

MAN - i love fall. Its gorgeous, but so fleeting. I wish i could capture every element of the colours, brief warm winds, sound or leaves rustling or crunching, smell and beauty of the sunset hitting those leaves and making a golden glow. its hard to describe.

This is the physics building, and tho i admittedly shudder when considering spending time in that dreary building, it is most definatly stunning from the outside, especially with that kind of frame.

McNab is going really well. I have really appreciated being back with the kids, and am SO impressed with Annette, the new director person. She is fantastic, and has already found so many sponsers and donations, and has some terrific ideas. I think she is going to be a huge plus for the kids. It would just be so much easier if we could find (even 1) quality person to come work with us everyday - it makes the program a lot less crowd control and a lot more relational. Its funny - looking back over last year, i realize that i am an idealist, who manages to disguise all the bad in the good. I forgot about all the angry, abusive families; FAS; and the kids'desparation to be loved... It doesn't make working there bad - in fact, i feel like i'm actually doing something worthwhile - but it does break my heart. somehow in the chaos of everyday i find myself loving them and really worrying about them, even while i'm being stern with them for hitting each other or whatever. it totally gives me new respect for foster parents. It must be so hard to love your kids so much and then have them leave you. I don't know how they do it.

anyway - i should get to work.
Carie

Rough day?

You know you've had a rough day when...

 

ALL GOD'S CHILDREN

It’s the song of the redeemed
Rising from the African plain
It’s the song of the forgiven
Drowning out the Amazon rain
The song of Asian believers
Filled with God’s holy fire
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation
A love song born of a grateful choir

It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
It’s all God’s children singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

Let it rise about the four winds
Caught up in the heavenly sound
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals
To the faithful gathered underground
Of all the songs sung from the dawn of creation
Some were meant to persist
Of all the bells rung from a thousand steeples
None rings truer than this

And all the powers of darkness
Tremble at what they’ve just heard
‘Cause all the powers of darkness
Can’t drown out a single word

When all God’s children sing out
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns
All God’s people singing
Glory, glory, hallelujah
He reigns, He reigns

QUOTATION

WOW! Today is my 110th post. I missed my 100th birthday by mistake - ah well. happy birthday blog. I decided to count, since Beth's blog turned 22, and it seems like i've been doing this forever. I have - i'm just a very inconsistant poster :)
I was thinking back to the beginning of blogging, and realized that my intent from the beginning was to post a great quote after every post. Clearly this hasn't happened, so i decided to put up a quote board. This is for the literary wonders out there, and also for the less published, but still funny everyday quotes. So if you have something to add - go hard!

have fantastically brilliant day. (it is friday you know!)
love!
Carie

check lists

YAY! ASSIGNMENT DONE > Check
bath and early bedtime > Check!

nighty night!

THANKSGIVING DINNER? THAT'S KABLAMO!

As you may have guessed, i'm supposed to be doing homework right now. instead i decided to make up a picture collage of my life. Granted, its not my WHOLE life, although it sure feels like it... esp the girl juggling her computer, cell phone and stupid term paper. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! Why is it taking me so long to do this stupid assignment ???

This is Thorvoldson: it actually looks a lot like that today. Kinda windy but still nice Gothic power to it. Its always so dark and creepy inside. I love it! And those are peole coming and going  - it looked like that about 2 days ago... amazing... the wind came last night and today - and now all the leaves are suddenly gone. Winter is on the way (CHOKE CHOKE)

 And this is my home sweet home in Saskatoon... middle of nowhere! But at least we get to be in the middle. If we're going to be somewhere. Middles are important right???

ANYWAYS, i should get back to the wonderfully exciting world of curriculum analysis before i go for supper at the 'rents. THAT'S KABLAMO!

later.
C

Growing up!

I'm almost a real grown up! I bought my own freezer today!! It is only 5.5 cubic feet (which means i can pick her up and carry her by myself, if that gives you some idea of her size) but i'm happy :)  Isn't she pretty? I need to come up with a good name for her! Now i can actually make and eat real meals on the limited time frame that i have.. yay yay yay. laziness right here!  i'm so excited. I may have to beat my roomates off with a stick, but hey.

anyway - its my sister's birthday today, so i need to go find her  a nice prezzie, then go set up her birthday meal / party (its really only  my family - does that count as a party??)

later!
Carie