Some experiences

I had a joyful moment yesterday looking at something completely bizarre. I think the joy of it was the fact that so much of the picture didn't fit together. I was on my way to work and had to quickly stop off at the bank. I was rushing a bit so I'm surprised that I even saw it. I was passing by the Tim Hortons and sitting in the parking lot, facing the road, was a flashy cherry red convertible sports car with two people sitting in it. They both looked like residents of a retirement centre or even a nursing home. The woman was wearing a bright scarf that clashed with the colour of the car. And they were both sitting there looking as if all this was completely normal at the end of November. And over all of this, they were blaring some crazy jazz music. It was beautiful. I just couldn't help grinning like crazy. I think the old man might have thought I was laughing at him but really I was just marvelling at how wonderful life really is. Sometimes, I can't wait to be old.
Another funny experience that I had last week was to listen to my mother-in-law discuss the family background of my future brother-in-law, Peter, (my sister's boyfriend, not quite fiance, but other side of the family to my mother-in-law) with the grandmother of a friend of Sarah's!! How crazy is that? It's more confusing yet but i'll just leave you with that.
I have a hair appointment today. There's nothing like treating yourself to a haircut by your favourite hairdresser. Generally haircuts are just regular things that you have to do a couple times a year but my hair dresser is a bit more pricey ($30 a cut?) and the experience is just fabulous. It really is a treat. Besides the hair wash and head massage, I always love the cut. I usually let Alicia, the hairdresser, go crazy on my head and do what she feels would look great on me. I can't wait to see what she does this time.
I took Sat. off so I actually get a whole weekend this week. I am really looking forward to it. Dan will be a bit busy but that's okay because I have cleaning and Christmas decorating that I really want to do. Dan and I are also going to pick up a Christmas tree this Saturday if the weather works out. If I manage my stress right this month, it looks like it might turn out to be a really good one.

Weekly post

I started a "thankyou" note to you all in the last comment of the prev. post but I think that it should be repeated here. Thank you all for checking in on me through my blog and seeing what I'm up to even though my posts have been so sparatic. Thank you for the support.

You know what I hate? I hate it when all you hear from people are how busy they are and how confusing and tough their lives are. I hate it when it becomes a competition to see who's got it the worst. ... wait a sec. that's me! So... no complaining today. Life is what it is. If I'm busy, I'll embrace that (secretly I'll groan) and tell you all about the happy entertaining parts of my life.

Class was short today. We had group discussions, paper exchanges and a fire alarm test thingy. I got to school early for once and enjoyed it. The last 10 min. walk to the school was refreshing, tingly and bright. That always makes for a good start to the day. When I got to school I had a good chat with a class mate, Lori, who I've been having really good chats with. After class I ended up unloading a bit on another classmate who was soo understanding and, out of the blue said, "yeah, i can see how that would be hard. You know, I'm going to pray for you this week" I almost started crying all over him. What a nice guy. God sends angels everywhere, eh? Then, after that, I bumped into an old prof. from Redeemer. He only taught me one course but he remembered who I was and we had a great conversation. He was super helpful in giving me ideas for my latest meandering and was just good to talk with. So my day has been full of conversation too.

Dan is picking up up at the bus station today which I always love. Driving is always a good bonding time for us. Although this also means that he had to wake up at the same time as me which isn't too nice for him.
Larissa and James are coming over tonight and didn't last week because they were in the middle of something big. So they are coming over tonight and I think we'll have lasagna this time instead of pad thai (Dan and I ate it without them). Supper might be a bit late but it should be worth it since it's been a while since we've had lasagna.
So that's all for now. I hope you are all doing well. Maybe we'll get the net at home soon and I can check up on all your blogs.

Its a busy week

It's been a busy week. This post isn't meant to complain at all but mostly to just get my schedule down as much so that I can see it as for you to know where we've been.
Monday I worked 12-8 but I had a paper that needed to be done for today so the morning was spent trying to cram my thoughts onto paper. I worked and came home.
Tuesday I worked from 8-4. Work has been normal, slow, non-eventful... Except for Tuesday. If I'm working by myself and there isn't anything to do I bring a book and kill two birds with one stone (what an awful saying) - research and my job. Well, on Tues morning I was quietly reading when who walks in? Dad Wikk. What a nice surpass. It really was nice to get a bit of a diversion from the everyday plus a bit of a visit in. I love it when people stop by to see me. Living so far away from both sides of the family it is a real treat to see them. So thanks dad. Tues. night I had a shower planned for Hannelle (even though she's already married). That was a HUGE flop. What's the worst case sinerio? No body shows... well, that's what happened. I was at her apartment by myself with hordourves (sp?) while Beth had taken Hannelle out. They returned for the surprise and it was more of a surpirse for Beth and I than Hannelle. Oh well, we enjoyed the food with just the three of us. I got home late that night.
Wednesday morning I tried to finish the paper and then worked again from 12-8. After work I went to Hannelle's again to sleep over.That worked out well as I was finally not late for class. It's been weeks since I've been here on time.
When I get home today Dan's sister, Larissa, and her fiance, James, are coming over for supper. That should be fun. We'll try to relax and just have a good visit. I think I'm going to make pad thai... it's quick and easy. And if Dan likes it they should like it.
Tomorrow I work from 1-5. That means i get the morning to rest. I am very much looking forward to that. I don't know what I'm going to do with my time... hmm. Give me a call if you have a suggestion. Maybe I'll go for a walk with the dog if its not too rainy. At 5 dan is picking me up from work and we are going to a CD release party for our friend Mike Fluit. I'm really looking forward to that. It's been a while since I've seen him perform and I haven't seen his fiance, Meg, for a while either.
Sat. I work again from 8-4 but that gives Dan and I at least the evening together.
Dan has auxilliary training on Sunday morning so I think I'm going to go to his parents place (maybe Sat. night already) and go to church with them on Sunday. We are going to go see his cousins baby be dedicated.
And that's as far as I know.
Now tell me how I can slow down. What can I take out of that week? What wasn't essential for me to do? I need a whole life flip flop. I need to change jobs and schools. Something has to happen. I'm not even getting the essential done in my life. I did get my first cheese made though!!! That was last week Sunday. There should be a post written on that later. Aww.. something to keep me grounded.

Tearfully proud

You must go to see this picture. And then this picture.
They say a thousand words.

I'm at my parents which means unlimited internet. Mom and Cass keep saying i'm going to get to the end of the weekend and realize that I forgot to socialize and missed it all. I did LOTS of that last night though and I'm still socializing while blogging/googling/emailing. So I think this is okay.
Most of my googling centres around my hobbies. It might be about yogurt and cheese making, gardening, chickens or (the most recent) ducks. Mom is going to hatch chickens and ducks for me in the classroom and I'm looking how to raise the ducks. What do they need and do I have the right facilities for them. I'm already getting excited about next spring and it isn't even winter yet.
In my wanderings I found this amazing website, the new agrarian. I have a lot more that I want to read in it but there is this one essay (he writes tons of essays for some reason) that I just can't get over. He's touched on so many thoughts/issues that I've been thinking about in the last little while so I want to cut and paste it here, with some of my thoughts. Its just a few paragraphs and I'd love it if you read more but here are just a few snips that i most appreciated:
(excerpt from The Halfway Homestead)
FOR SEVERAL YEARS, since we were first married, Kathy and I have planned a future in which we would buy more land where we could have big gardens, livestock, pasture, barns, a workshop, and a bigger house. At one time, we thought we would be there by now, but we are still working on it. For the time being, we have a house that is small but nice enough and an acre and a half of land, most of which is wooded, in a suburban neighborhood
...
But there are limits to what we can do in a backyard, and as the "homestead" kept getting pushed further into the future, we started growing frustrated. The problem with dreams deferred is that they can quietly become dreams forgotten: you have to keep moving toward what you want, even if by baby steps. And I felt that we were stalled.
...
After all, every homestead is a halfway homestead. No real homestead ever quite lives up to the dream; life is a compromise between ideal and necessity. We can never be or do everything we'd like — but that fact doesn't absolve us of the responsibility to try. So we try, every day, and we move forward by baby steps. And ten years, twenty years, a lifetime of baby steps adds up.
Too many of us who want change in the world envision the world we'd like to live in but never figure out how to get there from here. It is daunting to think about a divide so great, so I advise trying not to think about it. Keep the end in mind, but focus on the small things you can do rather than the big things you can't.
And so the halfway homestead is our answer to the question What can we do right here, right now? It's about putting down roots where we are, rather than holding back until we're where we think we'd like to be. It's about taking the scenic route, enjoying the ride, and holding open the possibility that we might find a better destination than the one we had in mind.
I am attracted to this website and the way this guy writes because I have similar dreams. I would love a homestead with a barn and big gardens. I am excited to go online and find so many other people out there who also have the dreams that i have. I like reading about what people have done and are doing. When he talks about the dream being further and further into the future and how that dream just seems to die off, I understand what he's saying. My dream hasn't died off but I get the small sense of urgency to do something now or else it might. That's why the chickens and the Mozz has been such a good thing for me this summer. It has really helped me start to live my homestead dreams but its also developed them and made me dream more. I love his last paragraph about the baby steps towards a dream. Not just because of homesteading dreams but dreams of goodness in life in general. Lately I have been really pushing for answers about how to be environmentally aware. I have been hearing a lot about the environmental wreck in Kenya because of Sarah's blog and my heart bleeds with hers. I feel like I not only want to do something but I HAVE to do something. Now. But how? How will what I'm doing make any any any difference? Really. Show me exactly what I can do. It frustrates me to not know. And the small steps seem frustrating themselves. But then, I read this paragraph and I think about how my dream of a good world and how if I just hold up that dream as a future goal and only focus on that I'm afraid that it might become "a dream deferred" and it might quietly die. I need to work in the small steps and do what I can right here and right now. I'll take that scenic route.