I’m one in a million

I picked up my student ID today and it made me realise just how different I am from my fellow students.

I must be one the only freshman who:
- Has a mortgage
- Is übber excited to have medical, dental AND vision coverage!
- Actually exclaimed an auditable “SWEET” when realising we have a small life insurance policy
- Looked at the schedule of parties and wondered exactly how one would manage to attend all these mid-week parties on the first week of school. Did I really party all week my first time around?
- Has acne AND wrinkles
- Actually took the time to take a picture of her student ID and edit it. That has nothing to do with me being old… it’s just me being a nerd. :-)



I find it quite hilarious that one of the parties is a 90’s themed party! Complete with 90’s prizes. GAH!

En français s’il-vous-plaît

Yesterday I did my French placement exam. Basically, you write an essay and pray you get an exemption from having to do the mandatory French classes.

It went fairly well, but I find it so hard to judge if what I wrote was ok or great. I reviewed the text three times and each time found accents I forgot to add. Grrr. It’s not like I didn’t know the accent wasn’t supposed to be there, but it’s like the sometimes-absent dot above an i. Know what I mean? The room was so hot I thought I was going to pass-out several times! By my last review I just wanted to get out of there!



Anyway, it turns out that the prof leading the exam was my old French teacher from high school. He even recognized me! He left high school for the big leagues about 5 years ago. He was definitely one of the best French teachers I have ever had. He is so passionate about the French language - it’s contagious! Anyway, when I turned in my essay he asked what I was doing there so I told him about the career change. He told me he still had a story I had written for his class. We had to write a children’s Christmas story. He said he kept it all those years because it was such a great story. I felt touched that he would remember it and even keep it. Too bad I couldn’t use the children’s story instead of the essay. Hah!

Don’t you be takin’ my spiritual energy – bitch!

Pravus never ceases to amaze me. My mother has been seeing my brother’s daughter, RayLynn, on a weekly basis since he passed away. She kept saying how Pravus seemed to be nicer to her. She would also roll her eyes at me for not believing Pravus was turning over a new leaf. She’s changed, she would say, but I refused to believe her. Like I’ve said before; I’m not ready to make nice.

So last week, my sister Suzanne happened to say to my mother, “Mike must be working overtime sending us good vibes from heaven”. In the last three weeks there has been so much going on – You all know my stuff, but my sister Christine is also trying to sell her house and is working on starting to build a new house in the Spring while my sister Suzanne just bought a new house as well! It’s been quite busy in the Changa family. Anyway, for some strange reason my Mom mentioned to Pravus my sister’s comment. What was her response? In her nastiest tone: “What else is new – You and your girls get everything while me and RayLynn get nothing”. What. The. Fuck. Are you seriously jealous of the supposed spiritual vibes my brother is sending us from heaven? You’ve got to be kidding me!

First of all, you can’t say we all have perfect lives while you don’t – believe me – there’s been some really challenging stuff that’s happened in my family’s lives! Secondly, if you had actually put money aside the last five years while living with your parents, you could also own a house today! Don’t blame us – or Mike for that matter for your financial stupidity! Lastly – you are completely insane and I don’t even know why I bother wasting space on my blog ranting about you. UGH.

Finally.

It only took one month…four application requests… lots of stress and headaches… but I FINALLY have my Student LOC! What a freakin’ relief. In the end, I went to my local Credit Union with whom my family has banked for as long as I can remember. I don’t know why it never occurred to me to do this in the first place, though! Actually, I forget that I have an account there because I since living in Ottawa 10 years ago, I’ve always dealt with the Bank of Montreal. The only reason I did so was because I didn’t have access to the Credit Union while in Ottawa. Anyway, the other two banks I attempted to deal with gave me the run-around and lots and lots of wait time (29 days of wait time to be exact). Today I went in to my CU and it was all done and approved within an hour.

I’m officially ready for school!

From slave to the Man to slave to the books

I’m officially done work! It was a strange and surreal feeling yesterday when I left the office for the last time. It’s crazy to think that I will likely never sit in a cube for 8 hours a day, ever again! Not to say I’m not going to work, but my new career I won’t be working in an office.

I’m heading back to school in a week and am nervous as hell. Last night I commemorated the moment with a trip the Staples for some school supplies. As I walked through the aisle of paper and pens, I was giddy and queasy all at the same time. I took me at least 30 minutes to pick out my pens. I had always used colourful fine-point pens at work as they come in handy for proofing, but since I’ll be copying notes most of the day I needed something sturdier… something that wouldn’t smear. There are a lot of pens out there! There should really be a pen testing area at Staples. I ended up picking up a set of gel pens, but I already doubt my decision. Another trip to Staples might be in order.

The rows and rows of supplies were completely overwhelming. What did I need for my first day of school? Should I buy a calculator right now? What if I buy one that doesn’t have the functions I need? What if I don’t buy one and I need it for my first math class. Oh the drama. What about a pencil case? Do I need a pencil case in University? My memory of my former years as a student is so fuzzy! University students should get list similar to grade one students that tells you (or your mommy) exactly what you need. One yellow duo-tang – check. One red pencil – check. One 36 cm ruler – check. This would make things so much simpler. I decided I would stick to the basics for the time being: loose-leaf paper, binders, pens, pencils, and highlighters.



You’d think picking binders would be simple enough. When did binders become so bloody expensive? Whenever I needed anything at work, I just flipped through the pretty catalogue, picked out the goods and gave my list to the secretary. The next day, my toys would magically appear. No such luck as a student. So back to the binders. The cheapest ones were $5 and looked pretty flimsy. The price range for a basic binder went all the way up to $19. What exactly are you going to be doing with a binder that you need to pay $19 for it? I opted for the semi-cheap ones at $8. Even with my minimal supplies, the total still came to $55. Ugh.

Today is a day of complete relaxation. I had originally planned on working on the house today, but you know what? I deserve a day off! The next few days are going to be hectic and busy and I need to be rested for my new adventure.

I’ve got me a plumber.

I’ve finally rented out all three rooms in my house. The trio of borders makes for an eclectic mix.

1 – We have the engineer who works like crazy so I barely see her (so far, three times this month)
2 – We have the sweet supply teacher who seams to be pretty cool. She would be considered my perma-roomie as she really is the only one who is here every day.
3 – Finally, we have the plumber. He’s in his early 40s and is married with kids. He actually lives in PEI and works in Moncton during the week. Which means he will never be here on weekends. He works 12-hour days and just needs a place to crash at night. He’s also offered to fix anything that needs fixing around the house – bonus!



It should be interesting should all three renters be at the house at the same time.

The nightmare room - before and after

This was the room when the previous owners were here.


This was the room before I removed the shelves. They had lots of shelves in that room. The plan was simply to remove the shelves and repaint the room...


After removing the sheleves... hmmm... there seams to be wallpaper here... I wonder what is underneath it?


Ah yes! Faux wood panneling wallpaper!


Ugh


Once all the wallpaper was removed, it was on to repairing the wall!


After painting the walls, I repainted the floor, which was black with splatters of pink paint! One thing I learned... don't leave your coffee cup on the windowsill when painting a floor or you won't get your coffee back for another 24 hours!


Me, realising I lost my coffee.


The final product!


My room is still very much a work in progress, but here is a sneak peak. The wall colour:


This will be my duvet with the fabric for my bedskirt and pillows


This is the bureau I've refinished


I'll post pics once it's complete.