Tuesday, February 8

Suddenly it's midterms and cellphones!

After weeks of quiet and just readings to do.  Suddenly it's midterm season.  Papers are due and tests are next week.  That's okay I'll survive but suddenly the pressure is on and higher this semester.  I made the dean's list last semester, something I'm quite proud of myself for doing.  However, now I want to do it again which means maintaining an 85% average.  I raised my bar and now I'm not sure I can keep clearing it.  We'll just have to see how it goes.

On the weight loss front I'm doing really well, as of today I've lost 15lbs and it's been relatively painless.  I've been helped by my goal to eat more local organic food.  The only downside is that local organic food is expensive. So I've been balancing this with just eating more veggies and less meat.  Come summer it'll be easier when the farmer's markets are full of produce but in winter in Canada local and organic is hard to find.  Eating healthier is a lot easier when you live by yourself, you only have to please yourself and there's no one sabotaging you by eating yummy junk.

The shopping is not going quite as well.  I have made improvements but I still have been buying things and I have a hard time packing my lunch for Tuesday and Thursday's.  That's okay there is still time to keep working on it.  I have been doing better about resisting impulse buys and online shopping.  I only shopped once this month and I took my Michael's gift certificate with me.  Of course I went over a little and then we went to Michael's where I did buy a new pair of dress pants and a sweater.  I could've lived without them and probably didn't need them so it wasn't the smartest decision but they will get used with me doing a lot of fieldwork this semester.

On that note fieldwork is awesome.  It eats up a lot of my time but I love being with the kids.  I spend Wednesday mornings in a grade 3/4 classroom of 29 kids of which 18 are EAL so while I'm supposed to be observing I'm actually getting a lot of hands on time.  In the afternoon I go to a french school and assist the English teacher with EAL (english as an acquired language) students, they are generally in grade 6/7 and I do one on one tutoring with them. I also spent an afternoon at a local prekindergarten which was really great and my favorite experience so far.  Then starting soon I will be volunteering at the RCMP Heritage Centre here, I think I'll be doing class tours but there will probably be other things to do as well.  Due to being in the field so much my coursework seems to be lighter with most of the courses having one midterm, a final or final paper and a reflection piece based on the fieldwork.

I'm looking forward to reading week and I'm planning on heading to Edmonton so that should be good and since I have some extra time this visit I hope I can see some people. I called my Grandma today just to chat and it turns out my Dad was there visiting with her.  So I got to talk to both of them, which was good.  I will also have to spend some time with Grandma when I'm home since I won't be able to be back for her birthday the next weekend.  In order to make this trip better than my last which involved my car getting stuck like 3 times, a trip into the ditch because of black ice and a tow once again from CAA I've got the car going in for a check up and new tires.

I'm also going to get a cellphone .... yep I'm giving into the technology.  I'll probably only carry it when traveling to Edmonton for two reasons: if I get stuck and so I can get in touch with my friends even while I'm out and about town.  The big debate is what cellphone to get so I'm asking for input.  Should I spend the cash for the iphone or do I get something else.  If I got an iphone I probably would carry it with me and use it but mostly as a ipod which I already have so it would be redundant.  If I go with another option then what do people like.
Leave me your feedback and I'd be grateful.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You could just get one of those pay as you go cell phones. No monthly contracts, and you just buy minutes, which is MUCH cheaper if all you want is a phone for emergency situations. Of course, you'd have to see if these types of phones work across provinces (I think they do).

David G said...

I've had good luck with my HTC, my contract is pretty cheap and the phone was only around $25.00 when I got it back in June. It is an android, and so you can rack up data charges is the only thing. My contract is normally $65.00 with telus and that includes Voicemail, and Unlimited Calling to 5 #'s nationwide.

Jen said...

I've got a Blackberry Curve and I really like it. I just changed my plan and saved myself about $10 a month. I can check my email on it, read Facebook updates, send text messages, I've got voicemail and unlimited talk and text with my 5 favourite numbers nationwide. Plus Blackberry App World has some neat free apps you can download.