Amanda's questions: (happy now?! :-))
1) If you could take a road trip across the country with anyone in the world, living or dead, who would it be and why?
2) If you could go back in time, where would you go and would you change anything?
3) What reality TV show would you go on and why?

1) This is a hard question. I'm not sure why, but it is. Hmmmmm... I know! I'd go with my great Uncle Knobby. He's dead, but from what people tell me, he was a really cool guy. He was a high ranking guy in the military, and probably went all over the country. It'd be cool to go with him, get to know him and hear some funny family stories!

2) I think I'd go back to when and where Beethoven lived. It was right after the French Revolution in the midst of the Enlightenment, so that would be cool. I probably wouldn't change anything, but if I did, it would be to let the cat out of the bag about his deafness. I think it was tragic how no one knew and they didn' really understand what he was going through. So yeah.

3) The Amazing Race, definitely. I think that show is so awesome! I mean, it's not just reality TV, it's an all expenses paid trip around the world, with cool stuff at every stop. I think it would be the experience of a lifetime.

Questions from Michenn:
1) If you could be in any other faculty, besides Psych, which would it be and why?

2) Do you like penguins?

3) How and where do you see yourself in 15 years? (You should probably be done with school by then, right?)

1) Hmmmm... Picking another faculty/department. I'd have to say music. As you may know, I did flirt with being a music major at one point. I realize I'm not good enough to do music, but that faculty has several things going for it. a) Everyone knows everyone. Now, this can be both good and bad, but focusing on the good, you've got a ton of friends and if you ever need notes from a missed class, you know everyone. b) Music seems to be a much more laid-back faculty than any other. I know the performance majors are fiercely competitive, but there'a a sense of support and camaraderie that you just don't get in other places (like psych, whew boy. When you need a 3.96 to get into clinical you can be sure there are people around trying to screw you over...). c) Playing music is fun!

2) I love penguins! Especially on the Yeti sports page. Hee hee! Who couldn't like penguins, they're soooo cute! (and unlike other cute animals...koalas...I don't think they have violent natures.

3) In 15 years. I will DEFINITELY be done school. I'll be almost 36. Hopefully I'll have my PhD, be in a tenure track position (or have tenure!) at a reasonably good university, be publishing 2 or 3 papers a year, and be a leader in my field! Ha. But more seriously, I hope I'm happy, healthy, married, and have a car, a house, and a steady job. And 3 dogs. That's it.

Colm's questions:
1) if you could pick two era's of your life (elementary, jr. high, university, fetus etc. :P) which one's would you consider your fondest and most enjoyable, and on the flipside, the most trying. why?

2) What do you consider your greatest accomplishment so far in life? how so?

3) we all know that we are born with gifts, naturally gifted at doing certain things in life, or acting a certain way... what do you consider to be your greatest gift or attribute?
Hmmm...
1) Most Enjoyable: University, for many reasons. I don't need to see people I don't like. I've made a bunch of new friends, and kept in touch with those from high school I really like. I finally get to study something I'm actually interested in. I think that's the worst part of lower school levels, you have to do all this crap that in no way relates to what you want to be doing (uh... CALM anyone???). I get to learn things I'm interested in now, things that will actually be relevant to my future. If I don't want to go to class, I don't have to. People are smarter (meaning less inanely intolerable) at university. I feel bad for people who hate high school and for that reason don't go to Uni, because it's so very different (and so much better) than high school.

Most trying: Although high school was a close second, I'd have to say Jr. High. I HATED Jr. High. Gym played a big part in it. So did my classmates. I remember one semester I got 64% in gym (which is a whole other rant) and to make the honour roll you had to have no grades lower than 65. My average was over 90, even with the 64, but my classmates were all like "that's so not fair, you shouldn't have made the honour role... blah blah blah". So I think the general pettiness of Jr. High made it bad. And people started acting like asses in Jr. High. Friends were very transient and people could be your best friend one day and hate you the next. Then there was the Candice situation. She thought it was her personal mission in life to beat me at everything. Too bad she didn't. But at our grade 9 awards night, I got highest average, and because of "fairness" the runner up always got student of the year (dumb system if you ask me) so she got a standing ovation and I got a smaller trophy. I'm not bitter, really :-) but she seemed to take it as she was better. We were friends once upon a time, but then she got to the annoying stage and yeah. So Jr. High was DEFINITELY trying.

2) My greatest accomplishment in life so far. Hmmmm... That's a tough one. I would have to say making it through university. A lot of people never go, or drop out, or end up doing something they hate. I love my faculty and my department, and I feel like I've really found my niche. I'm doing Honours next year, which is a huge deal. I could have very easily not gotten in, or gotten a bad supervisor, but I got my first choice and I'll be doing something I'm really interested in. I think the thing I'm most proud of, though, is paying for school myself. I know I've bitched and complained about it at times, but I feel like I've gotten so much more out of it knowing I've paid for it all myself. And I had NO MONEY coming out of high school. I think it's the feeling of self-efficacy, I did it for myself kinda thing. So yeah.

3) My greatest gift or attribute. Yikes, this is hard, especially to pick something without sounding conceited. Ummm... I think it's probably my ability to read people. I can know pretty much right away if I'm going to get along with someone. I can usually tell what someone's intentions are. And I think that I'm pretty good about looking past "emotional facades". I can usually tell if someone's upset about something (and I try to make them feel better) even if they're putting on a happy face. So that's it I think.

Well, I need to go eat so I can go to school. Have a good day and GO FLAMES!!!!!

Ah, the first weekend of (relative) freedom has come and gone. Nice! It felt so good to be able to sleep in this morning and not feel guilty about sleep taking time away from doing work. Ahhhhh!

And how about that Flames game?! I hated hockey until about 2 months ago, but now, now I realize that there's just something about it that makes it fun to watch. I really don't get it. I think initially it was the goalies kicking the crap out of each other (and who said violence in sports in bad!) but now, I must admit, I'm on the Flames bandwagon too. I hope they win tomorrow. Last night was a heartbreaker. Triple overtime, come on! I'm sure they'll win it in Vancouver tomorrow though! GO FLAMES!!!

I grabbed this off my friend Jenn's LJ. If anyone wants to, go ahead and do this:
I want everyone who reads this to ask me 3 questions, no more no less. Ask me anything you want. Then I want you to go to your journal/blog, copy and paste this allowing your friends (including myself) to ask you anything.

So that's pretty much it. I have to go work on a lab (does it ever end?) and I have to get up early tomorrow to take Lady to the vet. Then I have to go to school for an orientation meeting. Maybe we'll get fed. Mmmmmm... Food! Later!!

Ah, another school year is almost at its end. What a nice thought! This year has been busy, hectic, stressful, busy, long, busy, nerve-wracking, busy... I think you get the picture. The last class I'm going to is today at 5. I have to hand in a paper. It's not quite done yet... So what am I doing? Procrastinating as usual. Stupic consciousness. It has been the single largest contributor to my stress and frustration this semester. It didn't help that I got some feedback about my paper 2 DAYS AGO!!! Arggghhhhhh!!!!! But Bodner's taking my class (or whoever from my class is going) out for beer and appetizers after class at Bugaboo's, so that should be fun.

In bigger, more exciting news, I went on Tuesday to preregister in some classes. Fun times. I won't have to battle the registration demons much this year, and that's a good thing. The lady I went to see called me yesterday to say that she'd forgotten to get me to sign a form. She also had something else to say. She was like "Oh, and I wanted to let you know that YOU'RE BEING OFFERED AN NSERC (bold added for emphasis)." I freaked, I was like "you're kidding me! What! I can't believe it!" So yeah, that's my big news. Bodner didn't say anything on Tuesday, so I'll have to corral him today and find out what in the bloody hell is going on. I don't know anything about this, other than I applied and got rejected, so we'll see what's up. I don't even know when I start. I have this sneaking suspicion, though, that it's May 3, which gives me exactly 3 days off. Yikes!

Anyways, being here is NOT getting my paper finished, so I'd better jet. Have agood BSD to anyone who is partaking in the festivities. I'll be at work. Whee...

Well, I'm procrastinating, so I'll post something! Surely blogging is much more fun than writing a paper about positive mood and disease, right?

Question, why do my dogs have this compulsive need to destroy every toy they own??? I'm so careful to make sure they each have their own set of toys, but they still fight over the same ones! They've destroyed at least 3 toys in the last 3 days. Especially Lady. Yikes! They chew through tennis balls, unravel and EAT rope toys, seek out the squeakers in stuffies then rip the stuffing out. I even got them a toy with NO stuffing. What did they do, you ask? They ripped it open (collaboratively) and killed the squeaker then started ripping the fuzzies off the OUTSIDE of the stuffie. Nothing is safe, just ask my sister's ice tickle bear. He's going to need some minor reconstructive surgery. I don't even KNOW where his nose went, though I have a fairly good idea. I don't know what to do. And Lady has an affinity for eating rubber toys. Ugh. Any ideas???

So, the school year is almost over. What a happy thought! Just a few more days left... Then freedom! Well, I can't really say that. I have to study for and take the GRE, start doing research for my thesis, finish painting, maybe I'll even have a summer job, we'll see I suppose. I'm really looking forward to next year though. I'm only taking one "real" class per semester, so that should be super good. I was loading a presenttion yesterday at school and Bodner asked me if I'd gotten my letter from the department yet. There was much "yes, and I'm so excited, blah blah, ramble" and a hearty handshake. It's gonna be great, I can't wait! It's kind of crazy to think that next year at this time a lot of us will be graduating. Scary stuff!

Anyhoo, my dogs are trying to kill each other, so I'd better go break it up. Happy Easter!

Wheeeeeee!!!! I FINALLY got the much anticipated letter. I am officially in Honours officially working with Dr. Bodner! Life's grand. That's pretty much it.

PS- When opening mail, make sure the envelope is empty before you freak out about stuff. (and no, I'm not the idiot I'm referring to, it was a fellow comrade. He he...)

So, 11 days of school left. Wait, strike that. 9 days of school left! I can count the days on 2 hands!!!!! This translates to 5 465 classes, 1 465 lab, 4 411 classes, 2 411 labs, 4 497 classes, 4 211 classes, and 2 437 classes! The semester spawned by Satan himself is almost over!!! Yippee!!!!! I can hardly wait. Soon, it will be summer. Maybe I'll even have a job and be making money. What a concept...

On the plus side, this past Tuesday was the best Tuesday of the semester. I'd even say it was a good day! Shocking, I know. It is unfortunate, however, that my having a good day correlated (I'm such a dork) with 2 of my friends having terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. The universe is funny like that. But If me having good Tuesdays is going to bring about so much more badness in the world, I'll go back to having bad Tuesdays. For the sake of everyone else. I know it's a big sacrific, but I can do it!

I have a special commendation to make (thanks to Jenn and Amanda for this, wouldn't want to steal someone's idea without properly citing it...). This commendation is for Cara. I doubt that you read this, but I think you deserve one all the same. Even when the world knocks you down, steps all over you, then kicks you, you deal with it gracefully. I admire your strength and resiliance. I wouldn't have been able to handle the situation as well as you did. So yay for you!

On another note, breaks between classes stink. Majorly. Trying to find ways to kill time is very difficult. And boring. I'm lonely. Sigh... Why do people have to have classes when I have a break. This blows...

Anyway, I should go. Amanda, I hope the concert tonight is awesome! Have a good weekend everyone.