I hate telemarketeers! I have my cell phone with Fido. And a man just called me offering me to switch from à la carte to a package. I don’t want a package. If I did I’d contact Fido myself. When I told him no thanks he went on asking how much a month I was putting on my prepaid service. I told him I didn’t want to chat anymore, I was fine, if I needed I’d call them. His tone of voice went from happy/cheerful to annoyed. Oh well… Stop calling me for nothing! At least I didn’t just hang up in his face…! He should be happy.

I went in at Uni this morning to hand in my Start-Up Package for my Fieldwork class. It’s all the required forms/paperwork, session plans, information, etc. Everything the prof had to see to ok our project and allow us to have our discussion group (which starts next week!!). My classmate and I got an A+ on the Package! Yay! 30/30!

I feel like watching a movie now though I should probably study for my Italian class… But I’ve been waiting forever to watch Mr and Mrs Smith and I received it yesterday in the mail so I’m going to watch that! Studying can wait, right?

Today’s Photoblog picture, Confetti Finale:

I miss going to concerts. I’m going through concerts withdrawal. I went to the Cirque du Soleil Friday but that’s not like a real concert. So when I think about past concerts here are the ones that first come to mind… Maybe the ones I enjoyed the most?

silverchair in Toronto (May 2003), I had a photographer/press pass and was able to go between the stage and the crowd for pics at the start of the show… I was 1 meter away from Daniel Johns! silverchair is the first rock/alternative band I really got into as an adolescent.

Nine Inch Nails & Rammstein in Belgium (July 2005), I made the trip to Belgium especially for that gig. It was awesome! Just so huge, loads of people, huge stage, lots of stage effects/props, and of course the music itself.

Sigur Ros (September 2005), just sitting at the back of the parterre with a view on lots of fans and the stage. The music completely hypnotizing, making me forget where I am. I loved watching the drummer.

Tim Freedman (October 2004), a how with the lead singer of The Whitlams in a jam packed small Sydney concert pub. I was with my Aussie friend. The show started late and finished way late. The songs sounded so nice with only Tim’s piano, or sometimes accompanied by a string quartet/acoustic guitar. Fun/sweet/emotion filled evening.

Matthew Good (October 2005), the gig itself was great, apart from being disturbed by a couple of annoying fans… The best was meeting Matt at his tour bus after the gig!

Jamie Hutchings (September 2004), my first gig in Australia with my Aussie friend, sitting in the most comfortable chair, having a beer and discovering Jamie’s music, lead singer of Bluebottle Kiss.

I was supposed to meet with my Fieldwork class co-leader this evening but she emailed me saying she was so tired and couldn’t make it. She said she’d email me some stuff and drop off important papers for the package we’ve got to hand in tomorrow but it’s 21h45 and I still haven’t heard back from her. I tried calling but there was no answer. It’s ok even if she comes late because I don’t go to bed early… But I wanted to take a shower and I can’t because if she comes and I’m in the shower it won’t be too handy! So that’s the downside. Once I’ve received her part of the stuff I can put it in the document, print it, be happy that it’s all done and go to bed! Can’t wait!

Today I got a lot of paperwork stuff done, from getting a document certified as a real copy to dropping off transcript requests to getting my final reference letter and so on! Just a lot of running around for different things/places… After 1.5 hours I was exhausted and was happy to come back home!

And it seems my website has been slow lately… So I’ve emailed my hosting company. They say they’ve fixed the problem. So it should be better now!

Kling klang ding klung dong klang ding pock kling klang ding klung dong klang ding pock kling klang ding klung dong klang ding pock. That’s the sound of the freezing rain falling on the roof top of the building (right above my head) this morning! It woke me up. But it was a nice sound to listen to as I laid in bed waking up! The freezing rain has stopped now… And I’m still sleepy but I don’t feel like going back to bed.

I had a small nightmare last night! I dreamt about my Fieldwork discussion group. I was in Holland. I had to take care of 2 children until their parents came home but then I also had my Fieldwork group at 15h (the time the Children get out of school)! So I had to rush to get them and then go to my group. The children sat at the table with impatient adults who were tired of waiting for me to arrive. I tried to get things started with an inclusion activity but no one wanted to participate, they thought it was stupid. So one person finally spoke, others followed, but two-three people remained silent, arms crossed. Then the discussion got out of hands and I didn’t know how to bring it back on topic! It wasn’t going too good. Then that’s when I woke up… I went to the bathroom, had a glass of water, went back to sleep. And thankfully that dream was gone.

Today’s Photoblog picture, Afrikan Flowers:

So ever since I visited that apartment, said I wanted it, sent in paperwork and now am waiting for the answer, I’ve been planning how to arrange the apartment in my head! So tonight I decided to put it on paper…

And I’ve been looking on the Ikea website for things I’d like to buy to combine with what I’ve got and update it a bit… I don’t know if it’ll fit in the budget… Depends on how much the movers end up costing. But for example I’d like…

Poang chair…

Petra curtains for the living room…

Grono table lamp for the bedroom…

Rast simple bedside table…

Malou Fjaril bed cover…

Benno CD tower…

Vika Amon/Curry desk…

Bonny computer chair…

Ethel Gras shower curtain…

And more little accessories…!

I’m back from the Fête des Neiges! The day went by quickly, I was teamed up with a nice gal, there was a lot of stuff to see (as it was my first time there)… But it was cold! Mostly my feet were cold. And that was only during the 2 hours I had to stay at the same spot. When I could walk around it was much nicer/warmer! I liked seeing the puppy husky dogs (too bad they were freezing outside in their cages!! Grr) and the Army’s display of artic gear (tent, sleeping bags, trucks, food, etc).

Now I’m home. I just took a LONG shower to warm up. And I’m in my comfortable clothing. And I’m hungry. I have some left over spagetti sauce that I could eat for dinner with pasta but that’s what I’ve been eating for the last 2 dinners… I feel like something new! Maybe fish sticks! Quick, easy and tasty! Mmmm!

Last night I went to bed pretty early… At 23h I was in my nice comfy bed! Usually I’m not in bed before 00h. But I wanted to get a good night sleep though I had to get up early in the morning! So now I’m up and getting ready to go to work! I’ll most likely be spending the whole day outside so I have to make sure to dress very warmly. There’s nothing worse than being cold and not being able to come home to warm up! So I have leggings, pants, warm socks, my waterproof boots (though they aren’t the good colour, black, but brown), a col-roulé, a shirt, a wool shirt, my coat, scarf, warm mits! And I’ll be bringing an extra scarf, extra gloves and extra socks for if any of the above gets wet/cold and I need a change! How smart of me right?

Today’s Photoblog picture:

For some reason my shoulder muscles are feeling very sore today… Sucks!

So apartment visits today… I had 6 visits scheduled. Out of these 2 cancelled and 4 showed up. 1 couple visited it, liked it, but said they’d call me back if they were interested. 1 girl visited and I could clearly see she wasn’t interested. 1 other couple visited and told me up front it was too small for them. 1 guy visited and he told me right away he was interested and wanted to start on the paperwork. Yay! Then this evening the couple called back saying they were interested! I told them I had to give the guy priority because he told me first but if his paperwork doesn’t go ok then they’d be second right in line, I’d give them a call by the end of next week. I’m glad it’s easy to find a taker! I thought it would be more difficult. But my apart is great price/location wise! So I guess that explains it!

Now I’m doing my Comparing Democracies readings… It’s not fun! But at least now I know I’m on the right track! With the readings we have to write a reading review. The first week I got 1/3 because I didn’t make links to the articles. The second week I got 3/3 as I did reference the articles (but without stating the page). So this week I’ve got everything I need to get a perfect 3/3! It’s just a lot of work for 3%…

I slept so well! My neighbour was nice and didn’t do any noise at all last night (probably because it was late and she was already in bed). But this morning I did hear her at the usual 8h. Why does she get up EVERYDAY at 8h??!! She never sleeps in! And that means I wake up every morning at 8h too!

Today I’ve got 6 people coming to visit my apartment. Hopefully one of them will be interested in renting the place! So visitors coming at 11h, 11h30, 12h, 12h30, 13h and 17h30! I hate showing my apartment because all my stuff is still in here. And I feel like they are peeking into my life! But I’ve got to do it if I want to get rid of this place for when I move to my new nice apartment!

Today’s Photoblog picture:

Cirque du Soleil is awesome. This time again they have brought a new kind of show to us with great success! Less circus, more music experience. Music, dancing, lights, projections on huge screens, circus acts, etc. Wow. My seat was awesome! I was smack in the middle, about 15 rows up. Great overview but still not too far away. On each side of the arena were 2 huge giant screens. Plus sometimes there also was a big curtain covering the arena’s width, the whole lenght of the stage. On these screens projections: old woman, old man, young girl, fat man, and so forth going in and out of doors… flowers and birds… geometrical shapes… etc. Really interesting multimedia work! Then the dancers… They were energetic! The musicians were incorporated into the show… Not like at a usual Cirque show where they are hidden… Now they were a part of the Cirque universe. The acts were amazing from a hoolahoop girl to 4 very muscular pyramid guys. The theatrical side of the Cirque was also present with a long-legged man and a hot air balloon guy linking the different numbers. The finale with Alegria where everyone in the arena stood up, clapping, dancing was great! Delirium really lives up to it’s name. It’s a “delire” this show!

So I just got back from grocery shopping. It’s a small grocery to get the stuff I didn’t have or was running out for the week. So here’s a look into my grocery bag!

Bagels and croissants for breakfasts/lunches…

Fruit, apples and mandarines…

Basic essentials, milk and eggs…

Stuff to make a taboulé salad, couscous, parsley, lemon, tomatoe, chick peas…

Some vegetables, salad, carrots and potatoes…

Some meats, bacon, chicken drumsticks with BBQ spicing and fish sticks… Usually I buy “normal” meats/fish… Steak, fish filets, etc. But this week I felt like easy stuff!

Juice, frozen packs, because I drink a lot of it and this is less expensive!

Some general items that were running out, olive oil, salt, little juice packs for when I go to work and mayonnaise…

So that’s what I bougt this week for a total of 47.65$!

So this morning I got out of bed at 9h45 and 1 minute later the phone rang! Great timing! It was my mom. The people managing the building of my (hopefully) new apartment had contacted her to fill out an extra form to do the credit check. They also wanted me to fill it out. So my mom gave me the contact name and company number, I phoned them, got the form faxed, filled it out, scanned it, faxed it back through my computer. The lady told my mom that she’d give us the news (of the acceptation hopefully) very very soon, in a matter of days.

So today I’ve got a ton of stuff to do… Send off information to moving companies to receive quotes, fill out my Université de Montréal online application for Masters, do groceries, do homework of reading Comparing Democracies, plan my discussion group for Fieldwork and study Italian. And of course tonight I’m going to the Cirque Du Soleil which I saw on the news this morning got pretty good reviews for the opening of the show last night!

Today’s Photoblog picture:

This morning I got up at about 8h15, made my bed, got dressed, had breakfast, cleaned the dishes, tidied up the apartment. Why would I do all that cleaning so early in the morning? Because someone was coming to visit my apartment! She arrived at 10h as scheduled and it took me about 15 minutes to show her around and answer questions. I wished I had a mind reading device to really know what she was thinking! When I visited apartments I was really open about what I liked and did not like, stating it to the person renting the apartment. Everyone should be open and honest like me! She said she liked the apartment and would call me later. We’ll see.

Then I typed up a whole long post and lost it.

And I left for errand #1, bring the paperwork for the new apartment I’m renting. I also had another quick look at the apartment and I like how much more spacious it is compared to mine now! 2 couches would fit perfectly! So maybe my Dutch friend who’s moving back home can sell me his (cheap hopefully) and would have a piece extra of almost new furniture! We’ll see later. Now I am also ready to ask quotes from moving companies to see how much they’d charge me for the move. And March 1st… What day does that fall… Argh… A Wednesday! I have a full day of school… I guess I could miss the morning class, move and go to my evening class. Anyways… I’ll arrange that later!

Then errand #2 was to print the posters for my Fieldwork class discussion group at a professionnal printing place. It’s a colour poster and I didn’t want it to look shabby/ugly. And I didn’t want to waste all the ink of my printer on these posters… So it was easier just to go to Dossier.

Finally was errand #3 where I went to see my Italian 201 professor to hand him the UQAM reference letter form and schedule pick-up for the Université de Montréal reference letter. He’s very nice! I’m glad I had him as a prof. Now I’m doing Italian 202 and it’s way different. The professor has a completely different teaching style.

Then I came back home. It’s now 15h40 and I think I will watch a movie before starting on homework… Just because I feel like changing into comfortable clothes, wrapping myself in a comfortable polar blanket, closing the curtains, lay on the futon with a ton of pillow/cushions and do nothing for 2 hours. I’m going to watch Sahara…

Tomorrow Friday I’m going to the Cirque du Soleil Delirium show at the Bell Centre. Saturday 2 people are coming to visit my apartment. Sunday I’m working at the Fête des Neiges.

F@#(*@&#*@k! I just had a long post done and then hit the wrong button and lost it all. Grrrrrrrrrrr! Why doesn’t it auto-save??!?!?!!?!?!?!? And it’s not the first time I screw up when trying to post. I don’t feel like writing it all again right now… So I’ll re-write it later when I get home from different errands.

Today’s Photoblog picture:

I just watched Supersize me. It was a nice movie… I am happy that I don’t like McDonalds. I only eat there when I don’t have a choice (for example working in a neighbourhood where there isn’t anything else and I didn’t bring my lunch) and that’s not often. When I do have to eat at a McDonalds I never know what to take… All their food is yucky to me. And now that I’ve seen what it can do to someone… And geez what a catchy song they have in that movie on the DVD menu/during the credits at the end!