C is for Chaos...CRAZY FRIGGIN CHAOS!

Okay, so here I am blogging, even though I have a bazillion things to do.

Why you ask?!

Because I'm trying to be a dedicated blogger, and not lose out on perspective comments. (I love comments. I LOVE LOVE LOVE them.)

Plus, as bad as it sounds, there is no better time to blog than right now; when I have a million things running through my mind, and I am pumped on pure adrenaline, knowing that tonight (like almost every night these days) I am going to be up until all hours of the morning trying to finish all of the tasks I have at hand.

Oh CreComm!

A lot of people told me that CreComm would be intense, but this intensity is a lot different than I expected. This kind of intensity -- the CreComm intensity -- is more like chaos.

Complete and utter chaos.

Just when you think that you have finished the bulk of your workload, something else pops up (if your lucky it's just one thing), and you have to find a way to complete the task at hand in the 24-hours that you have during any given day.

If CreComm was my boyfriend I wold have broken up with him by now for being so damn demanding!

However, in a strange (sick and twisted) sorta way, I am actually enjoying this chaotic side of life.

I mean yes, I am working my butt off, and have given up the luxury of a full night's sleep for short little naps in between assignments and school...And sure, I have never worked so hard in my life, only to be "rewarded" was a six or a seven out of 10 on any given paper that I pour my heart and soul into. And of course I understand that my stress levels are comparable to that of a high-risk heart attack victim...

But let me tell you, I have never felt more alive in my life!!

This course is unforgiving, and will chew you up and spit you out if you let it; but I am fairly certain that there is no better way to prepare for the career path ahead than to take it like a champ, and not crack under the deadlines and pressure.

That being said, it is time for me to get on with the bazillion things that I have to do before I can take cat-nap.

Wish me luck folks, tonight is going to be CRAZY!!!

R - The R-word.

Last year my sister told me that I had to stop using the R-word..."Retard"/"Retarded".

She told me that I had to take a pledge not to use that word anymore, because it is derogatory to people living with special needs.

Hmmm, good point sister...

I said okay, and she directed me to the Special Olympics website, where they have an online pledge for people to sign up and commit to not using the r-word anymore.

I signed up, pledging that I would stop using the r-word in my everyday conversations.

Initially I found it very difficult to refrain from dropping r-bombs. -- I never realized that the r-word was a staple in my vocabulary, and that I dropped it about a thousand times a day! It took me quite awhile to come up with new ways to express myself.

Crap!

Anyways, now I am a changed woman.

There have been a couple of times that I have slipped, and the r-word has come out of my mouth, but for the most part I am doing pretty good...

Anyone else interested in taking the r-word pledge?!

B - Bad chocolate covered idea...

I am still awake.

Ugh!

I got the bright idea to get a start on making chocolate covered cherries for our Grad Committee bake sale on Wednesday (chocolate covered cherries are best if they sit in the fridge for a few days before consumption...)

Anyways, I got this bright idea at 10:30 tonight, thinking that it wouldn't actually take me that long. (Earth to Shelley, it takes FOREVER every time you make them...)

So now it's shortly after 1:00am, and I still have a whole whack of cherries to choc-li-fy. (Yes, I made up that word...What of it!?)

But I'm tired, so I am going to put them in the fridge, and continue tomorrow.

Oh, and when I was feeling energetic, and full of bright ideas at 10:30 tonight, I also decided that it would be a fine time to start on my eight thousand loads of laundry that I've been putting off...

And now, shortly after 1:00am, I have a pile of clean clothes, unfolded on my couch, and two loads in the dryer...

I'm going to bed.

P.S. I think I can feel my chin getting bigger.; I ate like three chocolate covered cherries tonight.

Ugh.

U - Uncool man...Super uncool.

So yesterday I had to take my car to school. (I had an appointment before class, and didn't have time to drive home, drop my car off, and hop on a bus...)

Anyways, I took my car to school, and paid seven dollars to park it in this parking lot up the block from Red River. (Which is actually not even too bad, considering that I once parked in the parkade, and it cost me $12...)

After school, I offered my friend Maeghan a ride home, since she is always nice enough to offer me ride home when she brings her car. (Plus, she just lives a couple of blocks away from me, so even if she didn't always offer me rides, I'd be real jerk if I didn't offer, and made her take the bus...)

So we get into my car (which is an absolute mess!) and I start the ignition, not realizing that I have left my "for my ears only" CD in the CD player.

At first the songs on the CD are okay; nothing that I am embarrassed to admit listening to anyway, but as we keep driving, and the CD keeps laying, the songs start to get a little questionable...

Cheesy. Really, really cheesy.

By the time we are stuck in the downtown traffic by the MTS center, I realize that we are listening to this particular CD, and that I am not comfortable enough with myself to share my awkward musical tastes with her yet.

To my horror, the sugary lyrics of Leona Lewis' 'Better in Time' started to play.

"It's been the longest winter without you, I didn't know where to turn to..."

The song, a sappy little ditty about a girl trying to get over a guy, isn't a bad one really. However, it is something that is definitely worth making fun of me for, considering the extent of the song's mushy implications. (I would make fun of any of my friends for listening to it...)

Maeghan didn't even notice the song, since we were talking and all, but I ended up outing myself by quickly switching from CD to radio, and confessing my love for cheesy songs like this...

Ugh.

I am so embarrassed.

(And Maeghan didn't even care, but I am still so embarrassed!)

I know that I shouldn't care what others think about my peculiar musical taste, but just imagine that you are getting into your car with your new school friend, and Celine Dion, or Backstreet Boys (or something of that calibre) starts playing...

Awkward!!

B, Baby...My pseudo-baby..

My sister's little girl Kennedy never ceases to amaze me.

Since I started Cre Comm, I haven't been able to see her as much as I used to; and to me that is probably the only downfall of taking this program.

I am not sure that I will ever have kids of my own (Lets face it, I'm thirty, and there are really no perspective boyfriends, or baby daddies looming in my life...And, my biological clock; well it's pretty non-existent.)


Kennedy is likely the closest thing to motherhood that I will get, and I am quite pleased that I can have the best of both worlds in that respect. (I am her special Auntie, who was the first one to hold her when she was born, aside from her mom and dad. And I do consider her to be like my own kid to a certain degree, if that makes any sense...)


I still see KJ (that's what we call her) often, but my school life does take away from my Auntie life more than I'd like. (Kudos to the people in Cre Comm who have kids, it must be really difficult to find that balance...Keep it up!!)


Ahh well, I have homework, time to get crackin on it...

S - Streeter.

It's 7:13 in the morning, and I am procrastinating.

Much to my dismay, I have to work today. (Hey, that rhymes!!) -- I don't hate my job or anything, but today feels like a day that staying in bed for most of the morning, and then catching up on laundry (and other chores) would be crucial!

I thought about calling in sick, but I just can't bring myself to do it. (One of my biggest pet peeves is people who call in sick when they're not...)

So instead, I am just procrastinating, until I absolutely have to get ready for work.

Yesterday we had our first "streeter" in journalism class. For those of you who are not familliar with what a streeter is, it is essentially this...

1. Steve Vogelsang says: "You'll have a streeter today"

2. We all groan, and begin to panic.

3. Steve gives us an outline of the assignment. (Topics that we can write about, word count of article (+/- 10%), a time limit, and some kind of warning of sorts; "Leave yourself enough time to write your article, it must be in by 10:50am, otherwise it's late...")

4. We all scramble out of the classroom, and desperately search for people walking, sitting, hanging around the downtown area to interview. (We need quotes, and at least two sources that are willing to give their first and last name!)

5. We (hopefully) get our story, and rush back to the classroom to write it.

6. Steve announces the time every so often, and many of us begin to panic even more.

7. A couple minutes to deadline, we all pile around the printer, many of us freaking out.

8. We (hopefully) hand in our stories, and pray that we have no misspelled anything.

9. We try to calm ourselves down, and (in my case anyway) start to feel this insane rush...

And that my friends is what a streeter is.

It was actually kind of fun (in hindsight), but holy cow, it was INTENSE!!

Okay, I have to get ready for work now...

Since We're reliving the 80's anyway...

Dear Cre Comm friends,

Since I am the elderly one in the class, and this song is from when I was a kid (way back in the 80's...) I think it's only fair for me to share this with you...

Since we're reliving the 80's right now, how about we give ol' Tiffany another chance?!

I bet she is probably available for a mall appearance, so we could totally pull this off...

What do you say!?

I...INSANITY!

It's been awhile since I've posted.

They were kidding when they said that Cre Comm was going to be intense, wow!

I am working on two assignments right now; an article for the Projector, and a personality profile for my Journalism class. (well, not the actual personality profile, rather the assignment is a memo to my Journalism instructor requesting to write a personality profile about someone. The personality profile comes later...)

I still haven't found someone to do the personality profile on! (I've got a couple of e-mails into my contacts, and am awaiting replies from them...I figure I won't start panicking until about midnight...)

Anyhow, School. INSANITY!

I failed my first journalism assignment yesterday because of a spelling error! (My friends in section 3 consoled me by telling me that everyone in Cre Comm fails something, but as grateful as I am to my friends for the pep talk, I am still disappointed in my careless mistake. -- I spelled "lightning" wrong! How could I spell lightning wrong!??! At least if my error was a difficult word like "gubernatorial" or "schizophrenic" I think I would be more comfortable with my F...)

It's strange how strict this program is; it's like military training camp for the creative...(Awwe, I can totally picture Kenton and Steve in their cammo-gear...How adorable is that!?)

Spelling error = automatic fail.

Aside from school, I am excited that my sister will be coming in for Thanksgiving!

I had to book time off from work to make sure that our visit was more than just passing one another in the hallway of my parents condo. (Seriously...I think her last visit was probably like that...)

I am so excited that she is coming home; the Cook girls are going to reunite!! And, as an added bonus, I get an extra day off on Monday!

How fantastic is that!?

I already have big plans for when CJ comes home; they include ice cream, wearing sweat pants, and watching girly movies! (Maybe we'll even invest in some face masks if we decide to get fancy!!)

Ahh life is so chaotic right now, but to be perfectly honest; I am so happy about how it's all going!!