Summer vacation ahead!

Well the chaos of last week has settled into the quiet of this week.  Monday is the last day of class, Wednesday the final and then I'm done and free for a whole month.  I'm going to spend that month in Edmonton with my family and visiting with friends there.   To avoid boredom (like that'll happen) I'm volunteering at the edmonton kids fringe and throwing a baby shower for my sister.  Nothing like a few projects to make time fly before the next round of classes.  I'm a little nervous about the practicum part of the next semesters but I'm choosing to be positive about it.

I heard the rumour this week that the university is discontinuing the early childhood education program.  If this is true that means there won't be a single university in Canada offering a bachelors degree with a specific early childhood label.  Sometimes it seems that I get to things at the right time.  Jeremiah says, "All things work for good for those who believe." and I think that although I couldn't believe that at the time Armin died that this is true.  Not that I'm glad Armin died I just think God works even bad things into opportunities for good. We just have to pull our heads out of our misery to be able to see it and that sometimes takes distance.  I know I'm here at the right time though and for the right purpose.

I had the pleasure of going with a friend to look at wedding dresses, her wedding is still a ways off so this was more of an I'm so excited and oooh pretty dresses trip than an actual shopping but it still was a lot of fun.  She got to try on a bunch of gorgeous dresses and no matter what she put on they looked good.  It'll be a tough decision then but she's got time to figure out what she wants.

On the bedbug front things are looking way up.  I have seen 2 in the living room, (I quickly killed them) but that's all.  I've had no bites since the treatment and the follow up treatment is in a week so I'm feeling really positive that soon this will all be behind me.  Most of my stuff is spending time in garbage bags on the balcony until after the second treatment so I don't have to rewash it all.  So I'm making do with a limited wardrobe and only one pillow and a sheet on the bed.   The cat has started laying on soft furniture again and sleeping on the bed so that makes me happy.  I also took the opportunity to tweak the furniture arrangements because they all had to move so I could vacuum underneath everything.  I'm choosing to think of this as early fall cleaning.  So I'm taking the opportunity to get things in order and cleaned.

BedBugs

Well for a few months I've suspected that something wasn't right in my suite.  I had way more "hives" than normal and then I saw a few weird bugs around the place on a few separate occasions.  So being a librarian at heart I took to the internet to research what bug this was....turns out it was my worst nightmare....BEDBUGS had moved in with me.  So I searched for traces but couldn't find anything....hmmm...weird I thought maybe it wasn't anything...cuz who wants to admit to bedbugs.  However, the bites continued and I saw them a few more times....okay war was declared.  I told my landlord they came in looked saw nothing and said I was mistaken. So I kept watch and put some dust down that said it killed bedbugs, ants etc.  however this seemed to encourage them because I saw them more....which needless to say was starting to freak me out.  So I went back to the landlord and said I was going to call an exterminator so finally they agreed to have the exterminator come in to check.  Today he came and today I was vindicated yes I have bedbugs.  The dust apparently doesn't kill them it just drives them out and forces them to spread....so in doing the wrong thing I kind of did the right thing.  So Thursday to my equal stress and delight they are coming to spray and KILL the little bastards.

The stress is that Thursday is my midterm for this 3 week course I'm taking and I have this list of things I'm supposed to do to prep for the exterminator.  As well everything needs to by washed that's touched the floor or bed.  Since laundry is expensive in my building and there are only 8 machines for 20 floors of suites I'm packing everything into garbage bags and taking it to my parents to use their machines.  I asked the Orkin guy and he said the chance of me infesting their place is low if I keep the things outside until they go into the machine to be washed.  As well I and my cat have to stay out of my suite for 24 hours after treatment.  Normally I'm anti chemicals but in this case I just want the suckers DEAD.

Thankfully bedbugs are like lice fairly easy to kill and don't carry any germs but there is social stigma around having them.  I thought about not sharing this information but I think people need to know that bedbugs are very active in Canada right now and many people have them who didn't do anything wrong.  However they are quite easy to treat but the most important thing is to call a reputable exterminator ASAP.  So please don't judge me harshly or avoid me and my home after it's treated.  I'd hate to feel like I have the plague just because I got a few evil roommates.

Apparently they could have already been in my suite just dormant until it got warm (for once my liking my place cold is a benefit) or I picked some up at the University (which is apparently a hotbed for bedbugs) especially since I have brought in textiles and display items several time.  It's rarer to get them the second way but I did have stuff that was left at the Uni for a few days at a time.  I suspect they were here when I moved in because at the beginning I did have an allergy attack(hives) that I thought might be something in my new suite.  However, it cleared up once fall got cooler (they go dormant in cold).

New Venture

Well I'm taking the leap into personal business by setting up a website and advertising my services as an instructor, as an added bonus it gives me a place to sell my art.  The name is Thirzadune ART Farm a tribute to the farm I grew up on and the family I grew up in.  Thirzadune is the name of the farm I grew up on and it means gentle rolling hills an apt description of the farm.  The website is www.thirzadune.com and it links to this blog as well.  I'm excited about the opportunities this may bring my way but recognize it's going to take some work to get this off the ground.

I am back into classes and it's another super fast 3 week course so I've hit the ground running.  Today I swept through the library in search of books for the research paper and the supplementary texts.  The subject this time is Indigenous Studies 100 and it looks to be interesting but there's a lot of reading and information to wrap my mind around in a very short time period.  I'm glad that I had a good week off in Edmonton to refresh myself because I'll be spending a lot of time in the library for the next few weeks.

Race to the finish

Well this crazy short semester is done and the marks seem to support my feelings that while this is stressful I thrive on the pressure.  I am glad to be done and have a short break before I begin another 4 week course.   So what am I doing with my break?  Right now I'm getting up from a nap LOL late night studying plus early morning exams left me tired so I took a nice nap and now I'm forming my plans for the week or so I have off.  On Friday I'll be packing myself and a grumpy cat into the car for the road trip to Edmonton.  I promised to help get the nursery ready for peanut and I'm excited to help and it'll be a lot of fun. Allison's been told to stop working and stay at home resting so I know she's getting a little bored so I'm glad that I can come help her get ready for the upcoming arrival of this special person.  While it was a little scary to hear that she'd started having some labour pains everything is good but she does need to take it easy.  I'm so glad that her and peanut are fine because they are both very special to me.

 I'm also packing up art supplies so I hope to spend some time crafting with my mom and anyone else that might want to mess around with me.  So far I don't have plans for Canada Day but I'm sure something will come up.  I'm also bugging my wonderful youngest sister who's a physio for a backrub which I need after lugging books around for these courses.  She's been sounding a little down so we're both looking forward to some bonding time and we also have a baby shower to plan!!

I want to visit with my Grandma too while I'm home because it brings her such happiness to hear about my studies and I treasure the time I get to spend with her.  She's in such good health but I don't take that for granted I know so many people my age who don't have their grandparents anymore so I'm going to treasure any time I get to spend with her.  She's so amazing and I love hearing about her life and learning from her accumulated wisdom.

I guess my week off sounds pretty busy but it's sooo nice to be home in Edmonton and able to visit with friends and family.  I'm a little frustrated at how expensive gas is because I've been trying to cut my spending because this last year of school was a little more expensive than I figured but it's always worth the cost to go home.  I think after the summer I'll need to get a part time job just for my own peace of mind.  I have my savings but I'd rather not go through it all just to pay for school even if education is a good investment.  To settle my mind I think I'll make an appointment to see my investment banker while I'm in Edmonton.  Once again I say if you're in Edmonton you need to see this guy and I'm happy to give you his information.  It's free to meet with him and find out how you're doing financially.  The most important thing I learned after Armin's death was how important financial planning is and that it's never to early and you never have too little to chat with a professional to make sure things are all in order.

While I love Regina it's interesting that Edmonton is still home for me.  That should put people who are worried about me wandering far away at ease because while I may wander I'll always come home!

Summertime Beginning

Today I was able to cruise with the top down somehow this simple act made a week that wasn't so great much better.  I think the stress of the semester just really got to me add in I'm still recovering from the bad cold I had and it was an emotional meltdown.  I got through all my schoolwork this week and now I'm taking tonight off before beginning next week's assignments and preparation for my finals.  I've loved the classes this semester and the pace is good but it does take a toll.  I haven't blogged much because I just haven't had much to say.  I mean I have lots of random thoughts but nothing of real significance.  I also haven't had any time to spend on my art so that's been neglected.  I am working on a paper that really interests me.  While in Egypt I was blessed to be able to chat with a few muslim women and learn more about their beliefs and their choices.  Now I'm writing a paper for my religious studies class about wearing the hijab and learning a lot about Islam.  I'd like to go back and revisit these conversations now with the knowledge I have.  This has been the benefit of this course I've been learning so much about what I saw but it sure resparks my wanderlust.