Rebirthdays.

Monica coined this term tonight while we were discussing birthdays, and how the actual birthday is usually pretty lame. People are caught up in other events and forget our birthdays, so the day we actually get to celebrate with our friends is henceforth known as the "rebirthday". Here's looking back at a few memorable rebirthdays in the past:

13th rebirthday
I invited a few girls to my house after school for a small "birthday party", back when I still had energy to plan silly little games. I made a small quiz and they had to answer questions to win the little toys that comprised their 'loot bag'. One part of the quiz was naming parts of the eye because we had just learned eye anatomy in science class. Yes, I am a huge dork.

year unknown, high school
A sizable group friends and I went to Pickle Barrel to have dinner. We found out that they don't give free cake on birthdays, but they will bring a pickle to your table and sing if you want. When it came time to pay the bill, it was a struggle (as splitting the bill always is) but we finally managed it and got up to leave after triple-counting. Moments later the wait staff came chasing after us, saying that we didn't pay enough by $40. (Young hooligans!) After being satisfied with the amount of mayhem they had caused, they eventually 'found' the rest of the money 'under a plate'.

year unknown, high school
My friends and I went skating at Mel Lastman Square. Tristan and I decided to play tag around the rink, and I nearly ran over the same kid twice. (His mother was not impressed. Young hooligans!) Later in the evening everyone came back to my house for cake. And pictures. (My parents' idea.) This might have been the year Tristan and Kevin gave me the hockey stick I used (up until next year - I got a new stick!). There was some year where we tried to go to Mel Lastman to play pickup hockey after the rink was closed and then got kicked out... but probably not this one.

21st birthday
I was shopping in the states with my family, my cousin's family, and another close family of friends. It wasn't until 3pm while we were having lunch at Wendy's that my sister remembered it was my birthday. We left around 6 to head home, and didn't even get to have a proper dinner. I sat in the back of my dad's van eating the crumbs from the bottom of a chip bag with my iPod on, trying to drown out the Chinese opera music my dad was blasting.

21st rebirthday
I volunteered at Evergreen from 1-4:30, and at 6, some friends and I went to Pickle Barrel at Yonge & Dundas for dinner, thus solidifying my identity as the Pickle Barrel Queen because apparently my friends never go to PB unless under my suggestion. Five of my high school friends came, and Little Jon. After dinner, Jen and Adrian So came over to my house to play Guitar Hero, which we acquired for our Wii while shopping in the States.
Little Jon's thoughts on meeting my friends: ""if u guys talked a bit faster itd be like gilmore girls".

I love rebirthdays.

Backseat boarders.

Brenda and I decided to go snowboarding today. She got a new board recently and wanted to try it out, and I inherited her old one and was anxious to give snowboarding another try after nearly giving myself a concussion two years ago. We put everything in the car and headed out around 10 am. Our destination was Dagmar Resort, out in Uxbridge.
We finally arrived around 10:45, after nearly getting lost on all the unmarked roads. We bought lift tickets, suited up, and hit the slopes.
I decided to start off on the bunny hill and figure out this whole toe edge business. Last time I boarded, I spent the whole time on my heel, or on my butt. I overheard this one guy teaching two girls how to board, and tried to pick up some pointers from them. But I didn't want to do the exact same drill that they were running, or they'd know I was stealing hints.
Anyway, I was still thoroughly crappy for several hours, but I managed to make it down the hill facing the top (so backwards) without flipping entirely over like I was wont to do.
Brenda and I met up around 1 o'clock. She had started off on the bunny hill with me, but went off to other hills after a bit since she's already pretty comfortable on her board. We went to the lodge to grab a bite, and then afterwards, I decided to try the green hill with her. It's a longer hill, so I can actually do something before reaching the bottom. Plus, it's got a proper chair lift, which is faster than the conveyor belt thing that brings you up on the bunny hill.
My goal for the last bit of our snowboarding day was to learn how to turn and use both edges going down the hill. Turning onto my heel edge was okay for me, but I'd always wipe out turning right, onto my toe edge. (I go down left foot first.) So I set off and totally wiped out going down the first stretch, trying to turn onto my toe. As I picked myself up, I heard voices from the sky. I looked up and saw two guys - one in a red jacket, the other in a green jacket and army-fatigue snowpants - yelling belligerently at me from the chair lift.
I stared confusedly at them, and the green guy continued to yell something about leaning onto my toe... or heel? By that time, they had passed me, so I just shook it off and made my way down the rest of the hill.
For the rest of the afternoon, they'd keep yelling things at me from the chair lift. Random things including such words as "Heel", "toe", "lean", "edge", and "momentum". On one run, I was trying to turn (and failing), and one of the guys was yelling, "HEEL!! HEEL!"
I was panicked. "HEEL?!?!" I called back. And they replied, "HEEL!"
So I went onto my heel, and promptly wiped out.
After a few runs I was starting to get the hang of turning, so when they saw that I was doing alright, they'd whistle or go "YEAH!" until I got so self-conscious and nervous that I'd wipe again. (Then they'd go "NoOooO".) It got so irritating that I'd try to time my runs so they'd just be at the top of the hill when I went down, or I'd be at the bottom of the hill (where I wiped out less) when they were overtop of me, so I wouldn't look so novice anymore. They would never talk to me at the top or bottom of the hill, like normal people though. They'd just keep shouting from the safety of their overheard carriage like some sort of sports commentator.
The only thing that gave me satisfaction was when it was my turn to watch them from the lift and the guy in the red jacket ran into a pole.

Things.

Things I did this exam period
☑ only buy coffee in a lug-a-mug
☑ sleep for twelve hours one night
☑ write Christmas cards
☑ finish reading Can You Keep a Secret
☑ eat a Tim's breakfast sandwich (3, to be exact)
☑ Study and make eye jokes with Katie and Heather
☑ Watch the Back for Good music video a million times
☑ Eat ratatouille
☑ Pick up my diagnostic kit

Things to do over the holidays
❒ play Wii
❒ have a facial
❒ see h/s friends
❒ bake... a lot
❒ play piano
❒ sing Christmas carols
❒ watch a movie in theatre
❒ print pictures
❒ sharpen my skates
❒ cook dinner for the family
❒ have bubbletea with Deb
❒ renew my driver's license
❒ have a KFC chicken bowl
❒ try snowboarding again
❒ get binders for next term
❒ get good at ophthalmoscopy (I just practiced on my mum and saw nothing)
❒ have a drink in the States (I'll be legal!)

What are your holiday plans?

Cheque this out.

Because of all the money I've spent of late, eating out and buying exam snacks, I logged in to check my bank account information today. I started banking with PC Financial in university because there are no fees, the interest rates are good, you get unlimited free cheques, and you can use CIBC bank machines, which are readily available on campus. I also have the PC credit card so I can get points to spend towards... groceries, I guess?
PC Financial doesn't have any branches, which works out fine for me because I prefer to do my banking online. I check my account every once in awhile to check my balance, see if checks went through, pay bills, move money... Anyway, the newest feature that I noticed today is that images of checks that have been processed are actually available under the transaction history! So if you don't remember what "CHEQUE #49" for $58.43 was made out for (and if you've lost the duplicate), you can click the link and see a picture of it!

Anyway, that was my random "that's-so-cool" moment for the day.

It's Christmastime in the regional municipality.

While the rest of the world is putting up Christmas lights and malls start playing Christmas music, December means only one thing for Waterloo students: exams. In the past, Christmas trees, carols, and cookies were the last things on my mind. I never finished exams till the 20-something-eth of December, so by the time I got home, the big day was already too close to properly appreciate the hype.
This year proved to be different. First of all, we have our first ever real Christmas tree. On Tuesday, mum and I put on a Christmas CD and decorated the tree, selecting ornaments from our stash of decade-old baubles that would be fitting. When we finished, my fingers were all sticky with sap, and the tree was decked out beautifully! Unfortunately I didn't plan ahead so there wasn't enough time to bake cookies, but that can wait till I am done exams.
When I got back to school, I had to transition back into exam mode. I was delving into my microbiology notes when, around midmorning, the Conrad Grebel choir started singing carols outside the DC entrance. And then later some reps from the food bank came around giving candy canes to everybody.
'Tis the season to be jolly.. even if we do have to study!

What's in a home?

Having four walls and my belongings with me in Waterloo while I'm at school gets the job done, but there's definitely something special about entering my home in Toronto after a long absence and letting myself be overwhelmed with all the memories and emotions that fill it. My lovely friend Bee is in the process of registering for household gifts, which prompted some reflection on what a 'home' really is. What do you need to have in a house to make it a home? The obvious answer is the people: home is where your family and loved ones are. But I think it also has to do with familiarity: knowing which floorboards to avoid so they don't creak, where the best groove is on the couch, and exactly how fast to run in socks so you can stop in time to not fall down the stairs.
This time, though home is still generally the same, there have been a few changes since I was last here at Thanksgiving.

1. We have a Christmas tree. A real one! Mumsie and I will decorate it this afternoon when she gets home!
2. We have a new massage chair that reclines and basically massages your whole body - neck and shoulders, waist, butt, legs, feet. It is heavenly.
3. There's food in the fridge! And lots of fresh fruit and snacks. I'll get to stuff myself well for a couple days till I have to go back and have nothing to eat.
4. They eat brown rice. My mom's on a health kick. But she doesn't even eat rice at dinner! So she is on a kick to make everyone else eat healthier too I guess.

I have to get back to studying so I'll have had done something before my mom and sister come home from work.
Another thing I was thinking is that the one-year death anniversary of my dog is approaching and I miss her, psycho or not.


A house is made of walls and beams;
a home is built with love and dreams.

Take this.

Back For Good by Take That is a song that holds a special place in my heart. I'm not really sure why. Sure, it's a good soft song. It reminds me of watching music videos on TV with my sister, I guess when she was just getting into the pop-music-obsessive teenage stage, and music videos used to be cool, and I was exposed to whatever she was infatuated with. I also remember clearly that one day I was blowdrying my hair at the edge of my parents' bed and my sister told me to shut up because Take That was having a press conference to announce that they were breaking up, and I didn't see why that was a big deal. The music video for Back For Good is very distinct; it's greyscale, and they're singing in the rain, which the Backstreet Boys (in my opinion?) later mimicked in their Quit Playing Games video.
Anyway I looked it up on Youtube today for fun, and when I watched the whole thing through again, I was flabbergasted at a) how boring it was, and b) how bad they dance. Most music videos that I can think of usually had some sort of plot, and/or crazy sets and costumes. They are just sitting around, singing and playing guitar in the rain. And dancing. Their dancing is absolutely atrocious, compounding my assertion that white boys can't dance. I felt sort of bad watching after awhile. So I guess in a way it's good, because it'll make me get back to studying now.
And here goes... my first time posting a video.

Saturday lurve hiatus.

Mmm, Saturday morning. I cleaned the whole apartment this morning, had breakfast (oatmeal and a mug of hot orange pekoe), and read/am reading The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

In the kitchen she saw that Krista had left her geometry homework on the table. Carmen eyed it lustfully. Krista had left off in the middle of the second proof, and there were eight more to do.
The house was silent. She grabbed the papers. She studied them and grabbed the pencil too. She began working. Geometric proofs were pure joy. You started out with both the problem and the solution.

That is the sort of enthusiasm I need for this exam season. I am tired and restless and want to get out of Waterloo, to go home to see my family and friends. I want to put up a Christmas tree, and bake cookies and pies and brownies. I want to catch up with old friends, and play with my diagnostic kit (I chose Heine).

For the next two Saturdays, I will have exams at 9 am: perception and anatomy, respectively. So I have to soak in as much as I can of this last beautiful Saturday morning. I'm gonna keep reading and make some lunch, and hopefully hit perception for a bit before hockey tonight.

Happy studying!!