Old Photoshoot, ha ha.

On May 18, 2007, when we were still in Orleans. Sean, Jade, Alex, Joelle and I were bored. So we decided to do a photoshoot, on account of Sean is studying that at University next year. Anyway, I was sorting through the photos today and playing with them a bit, and I thought I’d share!

First, here’s Sean, our brilliant photographer. This picture was actually taken by Joelle or I, and then skanked up for Seanzor, by yours truly.

Here is me, in sepia, enjoying the view of something to my left!

This is moi and Joelle having lots of fun!

The four girls… aren’t we adorable?

And me, looking dreamy, lying on the floor, in black and white. (I love this one!)

There are LOADS more, including some really hot Joelle-with-skateboard shots, and Jade-with-guitar. It was a pretty sweet night, and we were pretty bored! Ha ha.

Also, here is a colourization I did of a photo of Anny:

Toronto, Parliament and FYI

Okay, so our computer at home is BROKEN!!!!! So, there won’t be any news from me until we get to Quebec.

So, I’d better keep this short, but, to keep you up-to-date until I can write more:

- Our trip to Toronto was great!!! I LOVED teh CBC Museum!! I saw puppets from The Friendly Giant and Mr Dressup, and it was great!!! Oh and the Tickle Trunk was there!! Yayyy. Toronto Zoo = not as good as Calgary one!!!

- Our visit to Parliament was excellent. Question period was hilarious. The Memorial Chamber was kind of sad. The library was GORGEOUS and my number one reason to become a federal politician, ha ha.

Bye!!

A few pictures

Well, here are, atleast, a few pictures of our shenanigans on Joelle’s b-day!

Thanks to Sean’s camera on his phone!!

The gang at the restaurant:

The view of Parliament from the Alexandra Bridge:

Us, walking over the bridge, into Quebec:

Me, sitting on Maurice “The Rocket” Richard’s stick:

Alex and I singing to Nsync’s “Bye Bye Bye,” on the bus home:

What a great night!!!!

An actual update about all the actual stuff actually going on. Actually.

So, when we last left our heros, they had just volunteered for Youth Action Day.

The following day, they were off once again, to volunteer for the Tulip Festival. Tulip Festival takes place every May. The main point of it is to show off the lovely 10,000 tulips we receive from the Dutch Royal Family as a thank-you for allowing them to take refuge here during World War II. We were told that some people would be working at 8.30am, and that others would start at 11am. So, we showed up at 8.30am (at 2 different parks- Major’s Hill and Commissioner’s) and nobody from the festival was there. And they didn’t show up until after 11!!! We were all sort of angry, since we all got up early, and then we sat around for ages. Anyway, Anny and I eventually walked to the Gliebe to get a coffee, so whatever. The day was pretty much unorganized and uneventful. Anny and I were working in a boutique. We didn’t get volunteer shirts though, so we sort of just looked like obsessive compulsive people, folding shirts at random. After 6 hours of that, we were allowed to leave! Yay. We went and looked at tulips. Some of them were FREAKING BRIGHT!!! AHHHH. Ha ha. The red ones almost blinded me!!! At 6, Natasha picked us up, and we went to the other park to get everyone else. They had been working all day, with NO WATER. So… yeah, it kind of sucked on both ends!!

That night we did our obligatory house meeting, and then International Prank Call Joanne (our PL in Kelowna) Day commenced!!! We spent about 10$ on phone cards, and left about 20 messages, that were about 5 minutes long each. It was pretty awesome.

Monday, not much went down. I’m house manager this week, so I pretty much cooked and cleaned. We worked on our Welcome Package for the group following us.

Tuesday (yesterday) was Joelle’s birthday!! Alex, Jade and I made a big banner and paper chains to decorate. Then I made a chocolate cake (from scratch!!!!), and Alex decorated it. Because we’d been cleaning, and felt ugly, Alex and I got all skanked up. Then Joelle came home, so we all sang “Bonne Fete,” and she blew out the candles. We’d all agreed to go out for dinner, so we went to Tucker’s downtown! It is like this huuuuge buffet. I always forget that I’m a vegetarian until I go out to eat, but the veggie food was pretty good. I had two big plates, and a huge plate of dessert!! We then decided to walk to Quebec so we could all go for a drink, so we walked across the Alexandra Bridge, and found a place called The Whip. Ha ha. Sounds kinky, but actually, it was just a taverne. So, we all had a drink, and then walked back to Ontario and took the bus home. Good times, overall.

Today, Alex and I did some major cooking, which was fun, but made slightly unbarable by the +27 temperatures and lack of wind! I made peanut butter cookies for our trip, and bread (which was perfect and squishy… the secret? Add a bit of milk!!). Alex assembled 2 lasagnes, one meat, one veggie, for tomorrow night’s dinner, since we’ll be baking muffins and more cookies tomorrow. Oh, and we made a red bean rice salad for lunch tomorrow. Plus there’s leftover pasta salad from today, ha ha. Tonight for dinner was a hot chicken sandwich, which is like… a chicken sandwich with gravy and peas on top. Weird. I didn’t have any, since I don’t eat chicken, but everyone enjoyed it!!

So, yeah, tomorrow is another big day of baking for our trip…

….oh my goodness, our trip!!

I don’t think I mentioned it, but we’re going to Toronto this weekend!!! We did the excursion, and seriously, it was sooo close, I didn’t think we’d make it! Anyway, yesterday we got it from regional office, with a few things to fix, so I fixed it and sent it in. Then the lady from there called me, and told me that Carleton Place will be there the same day, and that they got a discount at the CN Tower. So, I called the CN Tower and got the same discount, which will save us 100$! And then we got the excursion officially approved!!! Yayyyy. So, I’ll be chillin’ in Toronto this weekend.

Next week is our last week here! On Monday we’re doing a planning and organizing workshop. Tuesday is the French Organic Workshop we’re hosting, that I mentioned briefly. Wednesday is Meet Your MP Day, and Friday is our Final Presentation! Then, I think we’re volunteering at Tulip Festival again on Saturday, and Sunday will be dedicated to cleaning and last-minute wrap up, etc.

Then we’re off to rotation camp, for all the debriefing etc. And before you know it we’ll be on the 5 hour bus ride to La Pocatiere!! In no time at all I will be at home again!!! That’s scary/exciting.

Speaking of home, my mom and dad said I don’t even need to find a job for a month after I get back, as long as I sort of do a house manager thing there. I.E. cook and clean. To which I say, NO PROBLEM. I’m used to cooking and cleaning for 10 people! Four? That’s childs play!!

Oh, and FYI, May 7th was ONE YEAR of consecutive blogging on this thing!! Whooot. It’s the longest I’ve gone without jackrabbiting somewhere else! I think it is a sign of maturity, or something. But probably not.

Happy Bday Joelle!!!!!!!!!

Today, Joelle is 18!!!!!!!!!!! Yes!!!!!!!!

We went downtown for dinner to celebrate and then went to Gatineau (Quebec) for a drink!

And that is all!!!!

Spider-man and Camp Clean-Up!

Hey. Yup. Hi. Going to get on this.

So, Spider-man 3 came out last night. To celebrate we had “super hero”-themed dinner. Alex, Jade and I went as the Powerpuff girls. There are pictures somewhere, but I obviously have been pretty awful with the whole posting-photos-thing as of late. So… yeah.

Then, we found out that Gwobs won this draw thing at his work. He won 125$ and because he is very nice and so super, he took us all to see Spider-man!!!! Yayyyyy. It was funny though, because we all got out of our costumes, and went to the theatre, and they were having a costume contest!!! Argggggg. Ha ha. Anyway, the movie was quite awesome. There were loads of funny bits. And emo-Spidey which is like ahhhhhhh-be-still-my-heart you big, nerdy, emo LOVE!!! Not to mention Topher Grace and James Franco are HOTTTTTTTT. Sizzle. Gahhhh. The whole movie is just a droolfest.

Today we volunteered for Youth Action Day. It’s organized by the United Way to help Ontarian high school students get their 40 hours of community service done. Ha ha, community service. First we went to this big hall-ish thing, kind of like The Space in Calgary, and we had breakfast and got some nifty t-shirts, ha ha. Then we drove out to Rideau Hill Camp. We worked on getting the camp ready for… ermmm…. camping season. I helped clean out some cabins and rake leaves and twigs. We saw lots of dead things too, like a squirrel’s head, and a deer’s leg. Oh, and when we were cleaning matresses there were mice in one. One of the ladies KILLED THE MOM MOUSE WITH HER FOOT AND THEN THREW THE BABIES IN THE GARBAGE!!! It was sooo gross, and Alex and I were working there and we’re both vegetarians, so… yeah. We weren’t very pleased. Lunch was yummy though, they made us vegetarian chili. We also got a certificate that said we gained 8 hours of volunteer-ness. Which made us laugh, since we all do an average of 35-hours of volunteering per week already.

Tomorrow is our first day volunteering at the Tulip Festival. I have no idea how that will be, since last week they called and said we couldn’t volunteer because some people have facial piercings. But, apparently they really needed us, because they relented. And in protest, Sean went and got his lip pierced yesterday.

Next week I’m house manager as well, so that will be fun. I hope. Then only 4 days left of work (because I’m pretty sure we get the whole day of the 16th off to meet our MPs).

Oh, and on the 15th we’re holding an organic workshop at our house. In French. So, if you want to come, then, YAY. Ha ha.

This is pointless!

Hey, this is just a pointless note, because I actually don’t have anything to say!

I have a cold. My throat is sore, but… nothing much has happened these last few days!

Sunday’s gallery visit was fun! We drove all the way there. From Orleans, to downtown Ottawa, which is about 20 minutes. We drive by the gallery… and Anny announces that she left the tickets on the fridge! So, we drove all the way back to the house to get them, and then back. So, in total, it took us about an hour and a half to get there!!! Ha ha. Most of us were fine with it, since really, what do we have to do on Sundays anyway? But Natasha was a bit angry, because she was the one driving, and obviously, driving on the busy highways is not a fun was to spend Sunday.

The exhibit was great!!! It was Ron Mueck’s collection of these INCREDIBLY realistic sculptures. They were just…. so real. Like, some of the most simple, yet emotional moments of human existance, just… there. On display. It was awesome. I also enjoyed a section called “Deconstruction.” They did some interesting installation art there. It was pretty sweet. And, not to sound odd or anything, but the gifshop was AMAZING. I didn’t spend anything!!! In fact, I left my wallet at home to prevent myself from even spending a penny! But I wanted to buy practically everything!!!! Ha ha.

That’s all I have to say!!! BYE!!

Dorking Out On Saturday Night

So, to prevent myself from spending money that I do not have, I have condemned myself to the Katima-house tonight, instead of taking a trip to the customary hang-out called the mall. In celebration of this historic event, I am spending the night “being a nerd,” and reading odd gamer-nerd comics and playing on the computer. So far, it is going quite well, and I am enjoying myself. Ha ha.

Last night, Anny, Natasha, Joelle and I went to the National Arts Centre, to see this dance performance called bODY_rEMIX. It was a really great modern show, two Acts, with loads of naked people using crutches to… erm- dance. It was FREAKIN SWEET, but difficult to explain. Joelle and I sat together in the orchestra, and Anny and Natasha were on the balcony.

Today we volunteered at the Home Support Cafe thing. It was pretty much fun, but overall uneventful.

Tomorrow we’ll be at the National Art Gallery. I suppose you’ll see the pictures… if I post them that is… you know how I am. I’m unreliable. I suck.

I’m sorry.

I feel badly.

I’m going to go cry now.

Gahhhhhhhhh, why am I such a failureeeeeeeee ?

Ha ha, dorky enough for you?

I’m outie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISSY LISSY!!!

Commitment to Improve

I am the proud owner of a CTI.

Yes, I am that badass.

Oh my God, Harry Potter, my love!!! + Sunday in the City

Ahhhh the full-length HP trailer is out!!!! It looks SO AWESOME!!!! Too bad I’ll have to see it in French first… not that I have anything against the French, but it won’t be the same… I’m praying for an English copy in La Pocatiere as well! Anyway, here’s the link if you haven’t seen it yet:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLud6yM47u8

While I’m here, I may as well write something! Umm… today we went downtown to learn about Tulip Festival and volunteering at it. I was deemed “bilingual” in my interview! Yayyyy. So, I’m working at either information or the boutique. Then we spent a nicee afternoon at Byward Market and along Rideau and stuff, which was great. And of course, we checked out a Earth Day thing at Parliament. And the Eternal Flame is back up, so we saw that too!

I can’t be pasty this summer. Usually that is my goal, but yesterday was Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) and we spent the whole day picking up garbage along Des Epinettes and a bit of Jeanne d’Arc, as well as in the ravines near our house. One is Yves Richer Park, but I don’t know the other one. And anyway, even though I applied SPF 30 twice during the day, I still tanned a bit, so I gave up. I don’t know if I tanned today, but I probably did since it was 22 degrees and I was outside until 3.30pm.

Oh yeah, and then Rob’s billet, Phil, came over for dinner and to talk to us since he was a Katimavik part and just came back from Canada World Youth. He only had a month break between the 2 programs!!! That’s crazy!! Anyway, it was cool to hear more about CWY.

Oh, and we had our house meeting tonight, which went well. I love it when meetings go well since everyone is so happy! Ha ha.

I read 2 French novels this week. Granted, they were for young teenagers, and one was The Babysitter’s Club, but it was good times!!!

We finally finished our excursion protocol for Toronto. The trip would be from the night of the 11th until the night of the 13th of May. I hope it gets approved!!!! Please please please katima-gods, approve our protocol!!! I didn’t do as much work on it as I did for the Vancouver for obvious lack-of-knowledge-about-Toronto reasons. But I did do the SMART objectives, which are my specialty! If there’s anything I can so, it’s take information and make it sound educational! That’s how I passed the written protion of my biology diploma! Ha ha.

Anyway… no pictures from Easter have been uploaded yet, but I’ll try to get them uploaded this week!!! I’m sorry, I know you guys have been waiting on the edge of your seats, I’m sure!