I'm grumpy when I don't get my hug.

I'm a grouch who needs a hug. That's all I can say. I've had the most miserable 3 days (apart from my swimming classes and a few subway instances).
Swimming has been so awesome, the kids are hilarious! Apparently one of the boys i teach (he's 14 and called Alex) was reading a gossip magazine the other day before class. His brother, Ryan,  was making fun of him so I asked what he was reading about, he replied "Mary-kate's got an eating disorder and is in rehab" or something like that. Then we got in a big discussion about how the twins are freakishly close. I don't care if they're playing up a guy fantasy and going the whole 'sex sells" route. That's wierd. What girl get's that close to her sister and in such a provocative manner? I've got 2 and I would feel so ackward in any of those wierd positions they do. Anyhow. One of the other kids started doing something wierd and Ryan was sitting behind him, so he slowly started edging away, closer to Alex. Alex then looked at him and was like "Get away from me Mary Kate." It was SO funny. At that time it took me a second to process but I was like hey, that's kinda quick for a 14 year old! He makes me laugh. There's 3 brothers there and the whole lot of them is trouble! Graham will jump in the water in any wierd way so long as it involves splashing me.
I'm so proud of those 3 brothers though. Every year I ask Mrs. Peterson to come in as a guest and do boat rescues, well canoe rescues. Basically if  a canoe flips you can go over in a canoe or another boat and hoist up the flipped one onto the nonflipped one and then turn it over. So we've done that in class the last 2 years and Mrs.  P saw the kids actually do a rescue!!! Some of the boys were out goofing around in the canoe and it flipped, so off the other boys went in their little rowboat type boat and pulled up the canoe and flipped it over the way they were taught! I am SO proud of them. I never thought they ever payed attention to anything we did, but apparently they do!
Kids are so smart, if they apply themselves and actually listen they remember EVERYTHING. This other child I have, he's 3, i think. Anyway, we were going over the rules of swimming lessons and  I told him one of them was no running on the dock. So he said "Why? My uncle runs on the dock all the time?" So I explained he could hit his head and so on. Then we got up to walk to the beach and one of the kids ran on the dock and he stood there, shook his finger and went "No running on the dock!!!!!"

 

Everybody's got a story that can break your heart

Yesterday at work some girls were bitching about how one of the other girls we work with never smiles. I noticed it too and I figured she was just a grumpy person. Then I just stopped thinking about it. I really didn't care, she seemed nice enough, so meh! She and I were on close so we were just busy doing our things, she was doing cash and I was mopping the floor. Then some guy came in with a baby. It was the sweetest little kid ever. She went over took the little girl and gave her a HUGE kiss and the BIGGEST smile ever. It was incredibly sweet. They stayed around and chatted for a while, after they left she turned to me and was like "That's my baby." She was just beeming with pride, it was so cute. She started telling me about her life and all that and it just occured to me that apart from her little child she didn't have much to smile about. She's not the kind of person to bitch about things or anything, I guess I just got her at a moment where she felt like she could talk. I don't feel sorry for her or anything like that, but I just saw things from a different angle. So she doesn't smile ever, she's busy working and trying to make money to support her kid, who cares, it's really not our place to judge.
That whole thing just reminded me of an Amanda Marshall song - Everybody's Got a Story. I meet new people everyday and I know nothing about them, it's just crazy. It makes me a little frustrated with myself too because sometimes I jump to conclusions when someone is bitchy or rude. I judge them really fast and I'm like why she such a bitch? It doesn't really occur to me that something in her life could be incredibly wrong or that she's just having a bad day. Although I'm sure there are those bitchy people.
There's this really nice guy who always comes in and usually gets 2 subs. One of them is a meatball so I call him the meatball guy. Anyway, he and I started talking yesterday and he's actually a really (ew a bug just crawled out of my keyboard.) really nice guy. He never really appeared to be before. He was always kind of short and rushed. So today I was loading the pop cooler and that was beside his table and he and I had a really nice chat. Turns out that I everytime he comes in he's on a break from work so he doesn't have much time. Also turns out the meatball sub is for someone else everytime! It's just kind of funny 'cause know that I know that his behaviour completly makes sense. I guess I've learned my lesson and I'll stop jumping to conclusions about people so fast.
After all, everyone does have thier own story.

Kids are great!!!

So, I haven't gotten a flower from a boy today, but hey, it's only 11. But I was talking with some parents again and one of them had her little 2 year old girl. She's so sweet and so smart, like all her daughters have been. One of the mothers asked me if the Appleby's were going to come to swimming lessons on Wednesday. Before I got to say anything the little girl puts her hands in the air and goes "I dunno, maybe." Which is actually exactly what I was going to say. It was really funny and super cute.
Then there's this other little boy who the youngest in his family and he was playing with a kid who's a few years younger than him. He told the kid not to do something and the kid did it and he looked at him and was like, "Hey! I'm older than you. You're suppose to respect your elders!" It was hilarious. He must hear that at home all the time.
 But seriously, nowadays what kid actually respects their elders because I don't ever see it. I've got a younger sister who seems to think that she's my mother and controls me. And you should see the people who come into Subway, some of the kids are so rude.  It's weird, I remember in grade 7 and 8 at Appleby we always had to stand when a teacher walked in the room. It was just a respect thing. Then it stopped in grade 9. I'm not sure if we got "too cool" or if the teacher's found it annoying but it stopped and I've never seen it happen since.  One of the things that I used to love about Appleby was the seniority, when I first started it was hard core. The grade 12s (the oldest grade) were in charge. They could do whatever they wanted, they earned it through 12 years of being younger.  As I went through my years there that changed. I think it just might be this generation but it appeared that no one at Appleby cared about seniority anymore, except the seniors who were getting shafted because they had to put up with all the seniority before them.  I kinda wish that seniority didn't change because at Appleby anyway it gave people that last year to look forward to, that year that they could finally be in charge of the school. But now the new grade 9s come in and it's like they own it. So annoying.

Kinda pathetic...

It's a little pathetic but today my day was may by a  7 year old. Swimming lessons were over and I was talking to two parents. He catches my attention and waves me over - so I go over and he gave me a daisy, which just happens to be my favorite flower. It was SO sweet. Why do guys have to grow up and not be like that?!!? The kid was so embarressed too, he gave it to me kinda blushed and walked away!!!

What a weekend!!!

I actually had a pretty good weekend, it got off to a rough start and I didn't really get to spend much time with my friends. But I saw most people, so I'm not going to complain much. I would probably have to say the weekend got really good on Sunday when Ash and I went to get our tattoos!!! That was an awesome experience and I'd do it again, but I don't want another tattoo. I'm worried though because my mom told me she won't help me through school this year if I got one - and I did. I'll try my best to hide it!
Anyway, I got a rain/tear drop and Ash got a star - they both look really good. For the record - Ash wasn't scared :-P
So I had to drive back up to my cottage last night and was going to leave at 7ish but I got sidetracked and left at 9. Guess what time I got to my cottage? ... 11 would be when I should have arrived ... however I was only travelling 3km/hour for about an hour and a half. There was a HUGE accident on the highway and it took forever to get by. Plus I was starving, I hadn't ate since 11 that morning, and I had to go to the bathroom. It was pretty frustrating. I heard on the radio they might close the 400 down and that police would direct traffic off the highway - so for a while there I was freaking out. But they didn't and I got to the cottage at 12:30 - so it was THAT  bad.  Maybe it's a good thing I left late - I could have been in that accident had I left on time!
 
 

I'm so excited!!!!

I get to go home!!! I'm super excited! I'm leaving tomorrow after work, so I'll get there around 9, then I think it's midnight madness... I'm not sure what's going on with my friends there, but I know some people will be there!  Well, K just said she'll see me - so I guess that means that she'll be there! Originally I was suppose to go back to the cottage on Saturday night - but that's been postponed until Sunday night... Ash and I have a very special appointment that we absolutely can't miss. It's about time we did it, we've been planning for 8 months! I'll write about it later... but it's pretty exciting. I can't remember if I've written about it before.
 
Today while reading the paper, lol, hush, it's not that uncommon. Anyhow, on the front page of the Globe was a picture of a mother and her 4 year old daughter. The mother's a diabetic and has cancer. Yesterday they decided to sleep in and the little girl woke up and found her mommy unconscious. So she called 911 all by herself and very calmly, told them her mommy's sugar level was low, and gave them the exact address of her house. She then put her pet in the backroom and unlocked the door for the paramedics, then she led them to her mom and then to her medication!! Apparently she has those magnetic letters and numbers on her fridge and 911 was up there. That's not the first story about a little child who saved her mom's life though. There was one a while back, possibly in June. It was a similar story to this one, the child called 911 when she found her mom unconscious. The mom and daughter were on an interview, it was really sweet. It's so amazing that these kids who haven't even reached Kindergarten are capable of calmly calling 911 and saving their mom's life.

"Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snow flakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes...

silver white winters that melt into spring. These are a few of my favorite things!"

So, last night there was a HUGE, HORRIBLE, thunderstorm. It started up here about 2, lighting the works... The lighting was constant, blinding white flashes and then little flashes in between. The thunder wasn't so bad until about 2:30. Maddie was sleeping over at Jens and I was alone in my room. Anyone who's been to my cottage knows we've got skylights, so I felt like I was surronded my lightening. One of the big cracks of thunder got to me and I headed to my mom's room. She saw me coming and pulled down the sheets on the other side of the bed. I climbed in with her and cuddled into the blankets. Her room isn't much better, it's got a skylight and window facing the lake - but she was in it. She was pretty sleepy and being the religious person she is kept saying, "God Bless us everyone". So I said, "Thanks Tiny Tim!" But she really didn't get it. There were some more HUGE cracks of thunder and at one point I resorted to crawling under the covers. Mom was wondering how Maddie and Jen were doing because Jen's parents were both in the city.

At about 3:10 the phone rings, I'm next to it so answer it and it was Maddie. At first I thought she was checking in with us, then she told me what was going on. She said, "I'm at the MacFarlanes, Jen's boathouse is on fire and her phone is dead." I was shocked and kind of sat right up and told her I'd be right there. So I got up and put on some more decent clothes got in the car and drove down to the MacFarlanes. Maddie and Jen came running out to great me, both so scared. Neither of them knew what to do. They said they were up because of the storm and went downstairs to check on the cat and when they came up they smelt smoke, looked out the kitchen window and the boathouse was blazing. They frantically went for the phone but the line was dead. Mrs Joyner (lived next door) and her daughter and her had been up in bed with each other watching the storm as well, they saw the lightening hit, a little spark and then the whole boathouse was a blaze, caught quick because of the gaoline and paint thinner. So the daughter was in the car at the Nicholsons honking her horn and the girls went and got in with her. They couldn't go to her cottage though because it's a mere 20 feet from the boathouse and if anything else caught it would bbe burnt as well. So then they ended up at the MacFarlanes. We looked out from her deck and the boathouse was just a big mass of flames. Totally gone. It was so scary.

Jen was crying and talking to her parents so they decided to come right up from the city. The Bracebridge Fire Department is a volunteer service. The men carry around pagers and anytime they're paged volunteer themselves. They were out to Jen's cottage in 25 minutes from the call - which considering where we are, is awesome. We're at least 10 minutes out of town - that's on a good day, not when the rain is blinding. They all did an awesome job so kudos to them!

At around 5 Jen had calmed down and her parents were on their way, the fire was almost out so I decided to come home so I could get some sleep before work 3 hours later. I teach on the MacFarlanes dock so at first we worried about debris but most of it had drifted off. Madds came home at about 6:30 when Jen's mom got up. Today while teaching swimming lessons 3 canoes came by and 2 boats. Jen's mom was walking the dog with Mrs. Kingston who I'm sure wanted to see the gossip of the Bay. Mrs. Peterson had come down last night when she saw the trucks.

Up here we're all a close community and it's nice to know were here for each other. I've known most of these people since I was little and most of them knew my Dad when he was young. In fact, Mrs. Peterson was his first kiss! Last year the morning after the first day of the black out some families walked around making sure everyone had enough to go on and that they all got through the night okay, it's nice to have that sense of family up here.

Life just sucks...

Today was crap, up until a certain point when I decided that I had to get the hell over my problems and just be happy. I mean sure I'm entitled to a few 'I feel crappy days' but sometimes it gets out of hand. I've had a very good life and I feel like I'm so accomplished, so why should I bother feeling like crap.
At work I was dropping EVERYTHING and running into EVERYONE. The nickname Clutzy was definetly appropriated for today - in fact I have 2 new bruises forming from my clumsyness. I just wanted to sit down and cry. I'm sure most people have those days - where absolutely nothing is going the right way. Then of course I had some bitchy customers who were being, well, bitchy and I didn't need that - even the guy who hit on me really obviously couldn't cheer me up. I just felt worthless.
After I got off work I was walking up the HUGE hill to Shoppers. It's 30 degrees outside and I was boiling (wearing all black from work...). While in Shoppers I spent a lot of money on things I didn't really need - Shopping therapy usually works. However at the same time I was fretting over money issues. How am I going to afford my two tuitions, rent, phone bill and then groceries?! It's just not going to happen, and as I learned last year - I can't rely on my dad for it. Then all of the sudden I decided I wanted to have a good day, I didn't want to sink myself further into a hole worrying about money and how I was going to cope. I'm sure I'll find a way and there really isn't a need to worry about it. So I put the 30 dollars I spent at Shoppers, the 25 dollars I needed for my police check for school, and the 25 dollars I needed to order cheques behind me and decided that I just don't care anymore, no more worrying because that won't solve anything!

So tonight I'm go to see Spiderman 2 (it's cheap night... only 6 dollars)! I'm going to have fun and make sure that this horrible day turns around into a better one!

Most people don't know this but... I have a half sister named Marianne... these are her two sons, my half nephews - Javier and Diego... aren't they cute?! 

What an awesome week!

I had the most super week ever this past week! It was really great - last week Monique was up for the weekend so we had lots of fun, then K and Ash came up this weekend and that was lots of fun. Not to mention the fact I saw Sarah (my older sis) for 2 days, and signed the lease for my apartment! Oh ya, and my 14 year old cousin was here all week - he's a pretty funny guy. Now everyone's gone and it's mom, Maddie and I and it seems so quite! I worked tons last week, saw Jon, saw the Terminal, played lots of scrabble and overal wasn't too bitchy. It was great. I also got shammered one night. That's lots to do for one week! In Bracebridge anyway!! So it was really awesome and was good...

So.. This week... Tomorrow I start swimming lessons AND I CAN'T WAIT!!! The kids are awesome and I can't wait to do something I love so much, it will actually make my days! Then I get paid Friday - really? What's better than that! I also go back to the city on Friday - yay!! Apparently that's midnight madness, so that will hopefully be fun. Saturday I might just get a tattoo - and I'm also going this volleyball work game thing with a friend. Then depending when I work I head back up - hopefully not until Sunday... But I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll be working 7AM Sunday morning. Hmmm I also might see King Arthur on Tuesday night - it's 6$ here in Bracebridge!!! ... You don't get much better than that!!! I also have to find time to do all this paperwork stuff for school - that's kind of boring but I have to do it.

If you got this far than good for you, this was a pretty boring post but I felt the need to write something.

The other day my mother called me fat. It was actually kind of hurtful. She called this other girl fat and she totally isn't. So then I was like, "Then you think I'm fat?" and she replied, "Yes. But you already knew that. Didn't you?" Well gee, thanks mom, I knew I was chubby but fat seems so harsh!!! So now she's making me salads all the time trying to get me to lose weight. I told the gals at work - one of them said "Who needs enemies when you've got family like that." It's also an ongoing joke with anyone who was there - it's kind of funny - I'm okay with it too, I've come to terms with my weight problem, LOL. Meh!! It's what's on the inside that counts anyway, right? She can be pretty harsh sometimes - and I see myself becoming her - not totally in the mean way, but in some ways, I'm so scared I'm just going to turn into her - what do I do?!!?! !

If we always used our brains...

we'd never fall in love!!
Ain't that the truth. In fact I think with me if I always used my brain I would never be happy. I'd be thinking too much about stupid crap that doesn't even matter. But hey! I don't always use my brain!
Today is a really, really good day. I mended things with an old friend and chances are she (and hopefully a few others) are going to come see me this weekend! That put me in an awesome mood and I think I might just be able to get through this week.
Sarah (my older sister)is back in town and she comes up tomorrow for Maddie's b-day so I get some family time. That's one of my favorite times ever. I love it when we're all together!
Then on thursday I get to sign my lease... yay!!! I'm moving out! Thank God! Now about having to save money... ack... issues with that. Especially since I plan on maybe getting a tatoo this weekend... which takes my money away. I can't afford this. But I'm going to do it anyway because it makes me happy (can you tell I'm not using my brain for this decision :-P).
I think by the time this day is out I'll have not used my brain a couple times, we'll see where that lands me!

Oh, I get it now!

The other day I received this big envelope filled with information on Con-Ed, which is the program I just got into. It's a program done at Trent but through Queens. At first I was really confused as to how it works, but it's all coming clear now.
I'm enrolled at two different Universities for two different programs. So I have 2 student numbers, two tuition fees, and twice the paperwork. At Trent I'm taking my Bachelor of Arts, and at Queens I'm taking my Bachelor of Education. Since these two universities do the program together I'm able to do my first 4 years of placements in Peterborough, or even Oakville. I just need to attend the class once a week at Trent, then of course all my other classes for my degree in Sociology. Then my final year (the 5th one) I actually go to Queen's. I kind of always got this, but never fully understood it until now. Which is a good thing, seeing as it's my life for the next 4 years ;)

I saw the coolest fireworks ever!

On Canada's Day I went into town and I saw the fireworks, with Jon of course! Afterall he and I have been going together for 5 years! So we were watching them and of course they were mostly the typical thing. Until I saw I think the coolest one I have ever seen. It was a heart!! It was so pretty, and had I been there with someone who I was interested in it could have been a pretty romantic/sweet moment. I thought the heart was really cool, so now I'm telling everyone the fireworks were awesome. Despite the current consensus that they sucked.

My summer is slowly getting better. I'm really tired from work everyday. I've been working 6:30 - 2, which is horrible 'cause of when I wake up. But I've survived it and I have tomorrow off. Apparently when I get home from work I'm a huge bitch. Yesterday I'll admit I was. Today I was perfectly happy, my cousin came running and gave me a big hug and asked if I'd make him lunch. So I said sure. Then I put my sisters SURPRISE cake in the freezer. Her stupid ass friend decides to open the freezer and go "Oh Em! Did you just buy that cake?" Come on, use your freaking brain, I mean seriously. She knew it was Maddie's b-day this week and she manages to say that in front of her. I just wonder why some people don't think before they talk.

I worked with a girl at work today who's best friends with one of the guys who I know. It's so random! Once again, I think working in Bracebridge is going to make me say that alot! Since it is a small town and everyone knows each other!

So, I think that I've bored you talking about my life. And I can't think of anything profound to say. Gee, like that's a surprise ;).