I finally got some sleep!
Yay! After work on Saturday, I had a quick bite to eat, watched a bit of Sniper 2, and took a nap. After about an hour and a half or so, I watched a bit of tv, and went back to sleep. The rest of the day weekend pretty much followed the same pattern (yup, it continued on into Sunday as well): wake up, watch movie, sleep. And somewhere in between all of that, I had something to eat. What a better way to spend the weekend. I haven't done this in a long time.

Español 200 - 1st class
New class, different classroom (which I don't like because it's not as "cozy" as the other one), and only 10 people are in this class (8 of whom were in my level 1 class). Since we have the same instructor, we did a brief review on the last unit of level 1, and continued on with the new material. In this class we learned how to ask and tell time (¿Que horas es?), as well as study the verbs querer and ser. And of course, the class ended with a song. I wonder if he does this to help us learn the language, or as an entertainment thing?

Laundry
Yup, I did more laundry. Even though it seemed like a lot, it really wasn't (only 3 loads - and they were all pretty small). Now if only I can get to my ironing...

Stagette
[Sidenote: I have had no sleep since Thursday]
Last night was Grace's (Irma's sister) stagette. My brother and I went to the usual to watch the hockey game, and the rest of the girls met us there later. Once the girls got there, a few of them were wearing their "theme" shirts, which meant I had to put mine on. We had a couple drinks, and went on our tour of Whyte Ave.

Highlights:
• "pickle"
  
• "can't hear you"
  
• revenue = $25

Happy Easter!
[Sidenote: I still did not get much sleep]
My family and I had brunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousin at Café Lacombe in Crowne Plaza Hotel. We met at 10:30 am and I was starving. The food was not bad, and I was able to sample most of it. I made sure to make room for dessert. ;-) One thing I thought was really cool, was this harp made of chocolate. Hmmm, do you think they'd notice if I walked out of here with that?. After brunch, we went home and I went straight to sleep, since I haven't slept since Thursday. I can't remember how long I was out for, but it was a long nap. I felt much better afterwards.

Oh, and before I forget...
Happy Belated Birthday Bern!!

Español 100 - Lesson 12: Final Class
We spent about an hour in class finishing off the material, and at the end we got our certificates for completing the course. Since there were only 6 of us in class (7 including the instructor), we continued the class at this mexican restaurant where we had some food, and a cerveza or 2 (I had sangria). We hung out there for a while, and then out of nowhere, my instructor pulls out his guitar? I had no idea he brought it with him, so I was a bit surprised. So there we were - all 7 of us singing spanish songs in the middle of this restaurant. A couple of people were kinda looking at us weird, but it was all good. We sang La Bamba, Guantanamera, and 3 other songs (I don't remember the titles).

Now that I've completed the course, I have to say that it was a good class. I can't really say that I've learned a lot, which is my own fault for not reviewing the material, but I enjoyed it. I've also signed up for level 2 with the same instructor, so that should be a good class as well. I should probably read over what I've learned so far before next week...

Random Thought
Have you ever noticed that when a class is nearing the end, the number of students attending gradually diminishes? Our spanish class started out with about 20 people, and ended with 6. Maybe it's because it's a non-credit course, so those that don't finish the course don't really care. But if you took that class, wouldn't you want to finish it? I mean, the whole point of taking the class was to learn conversational spanish. So does that mean that all those students who "dropped out" learned it in less time than everyone else? Or perhaps, spanish just wasn't for them?

Finally, a day off...
With the exception of my mini vacation to Philadelphia, the last time I took a day off was in December. And as usual, the day was jam-packed with stuff to do. I left the house by 9:30 am, and my first stop was to pick up some office supplies. Then it was off to my doctor's appointment for my annual physical (gotta love those - NOT!). After the doctor's, I went to the motor vehicle registration office to get another driver's license. The next stop was a medical clinic (actually, it's more of a lab), so they could do a blood/urine test, since there isn't a lab in my doctor's office. By this time, it was about noon so I went home to get a quick bite to eat, before heading out to my hair appointment. Then I had my hair appointment (for a trim), and headed back to the mall to drop off some drycleaning. Of course, while I did that, I ended up shopping. At first I wasn't really in the mood to shop, but then I saw these black capris, and since I don't have a pair of black ones, I bought them - along with another pair of capris and a tank top. I know I shouldn't be shopping right now, but I couldn't help it. They were on sale and the last one in my size! =P After the mall, I decided to drop off the office supplies I bought earlier, at the office. I know, it's my day off and I shouldn't be at the office. But it was the end of the day anyway, so I knew they were getting ready to shut down. Besides, I was getting a bit hungry, and I remembered that we had cake and ice cream in the fridge (what an excuse!). For a day off, it sure seems like a full day of work.

Random Thought
Is a day off really a "day off"? I mean, sure you get a day off from work, but when you end up running around doing errands, it doesn't seem like a day off. Shouldn't a "day off" be a day where you just stop and veg out at home and do absolutely nothing? I suppose it's up to you if you decide to do stuff on your day off or not. I guess what I'm getting at is, a day off isn't really a "day off", but rather a "day to do other things besides work" - things that you normally wouldn't be able to do during the week because you work. Does that make sense?

Clean, clean, clean
My agenda for today was to clean out my closet. And that I did. I took almost everything out of my closet and sorted it out according to (i) stuff I don't wear, (ii) stuff I need to dryclean, and (iii) stuff I need to wash. You don't really realize how much clothes you have until you actually empty out your closet. I had clothes which I had drycleaned about a year and a half ago, which I haven't worn since then, and they don't fit me anymore. After I had everything sorted out, I started to do some laundry. I think I did about 6 loads (because of the different types of loads), and I'm still not completely done. And while I was doing my laundry, I went through my shoes. I cleaned/sprayed/protected shoes which needed to be cleaned/sprayed/protected, and rotated the fall/winter stuff with the spring/summer stuff. It was a lot of work and I even got a workout out of it from running up and down the stairs between the laundry room and my room.

Shoe Inventory - Final Count
The results are in. I have 44 pairs of shoes. Why is the final count lower than what was previously estimated? I either (a) haven't worn them in a long time, (b) they're out of style, or (c) they're worn out. So there you have it. You should receive a full "report" via email. [Disclaimer: final results were tabulated and verified by the accounting firm of MMSF =P]

The week in review...

Tuesday - went to the gym.
Wednesday - watched co-workers play their final soccer game. Unfortunately they lost 4-5. :-(
Thursday - went to the gym.
Friday - I signed up for swimming and had my first lesson. There were only 3 of us in the class (me, Gabriella, and Cola (sp?)), which was good. The other 2 had some experience in the water before, and they were in it to improve their strokes. Seeing as I've never been swimming, I was starting from scratch. I have to say I think it went OK. I blew bubbles out my nose and learned the front float. I'm determined to learn how to swim and ultimately I want to be able to do laps.

Lost my driver's license
I just realized I lost my driver's license. The last time I had it, it was in the back pocket of my jeans. But when I went to get it, it wasn't there. I figure I lost it sometime on Thursday.

Home again
I'm actually home again on a Saturday night because (i) I don't feel like going out, and (ii) I don't have my ID, therefore I won't be able to get in anywhere. Oh well.

Español 100 - Lesson 11
Even though my classes are usually on Wednesdays, I decided to go to tonight's class instead. Partly because I'm watching a couple co-workers of mine play soccer on Wednesday, so I altered my schedule. But getting to class was a bit of an adventure. I had emailed my instructor earlier this morning about an idea for our last class. He had mentioned that perhaps we could have the class outside of the classroom, like at a restaurant or at someone's house or something. So I suggested that we go to this mexican restaurant, since it'll kinda have a spanish theme to it. Plus, they make really good sangria! ;-) But I'm digressing. Anyway, I also asked my instructor if I could sit in on tonight's class, since I wouldn't be able to make it on Wednesday. He said that was fine and gave me the room number where they met (they're in a different classroom than we are). So as usual, I parked my car in the parkade (had a bit of trouble with the parking thing - it wouldn't give me a ticket), and headed to class. Problem #1: the room number he gave me was for the general office of one of the departments. Uh OK? So I went down to the registrar's office to ask them for the room number. Problem #2: apparently there's some kind of privacy act thing that they can't give out that information. So they sent me to security, and told me to ask them for the room number, so that they could escort me to the classroom, and verify with the instructor that I am supposed to be in that class. When I got to security, the lady just gave me the room number. Problem #3: she gave me the wrong room number. So I went all the way back down to security to get the right room number. And finally I got the right one and made it to class - 10 minutes late.

I was a bit surprised to see that there were only 7 people in class (compared to our class of about 20). But I joined in and I have to say that this class was dull. Not so much spanish, but the people in the class. They weren't lively at all. But I made it through class, and we finished the rest of the material we had to go through. ¿Hay un banco por aqui? Está a dos calles. I'm looking forward to Level 2, which I signed up for last week.

Quick Return Nevermind
I mailed my tax return April 1st, and got my refund check in the mail today. Woo hoo! Talk about quick turn around time. It's not much, but at least I don't owe any money. Wait a minute, it's actually my GST check. Oops. I guess I got a bit excited when I saw the government envelope. I thought it'd be a bit soon to get my tax refund back, but I guess it was wishful thinking.

Reminder to self
Sign up for swimming ASAP (since classes start at the end of the week).

I think I'm hearing things...
I can hear music, but I don't know where it's coming from. At first I thought the radio in the kitchen was on, but I checked, and it's off. It kinda sounds like it's coming from outside. Maybe it's coming from the neighbors? Or maybe it's just time for me to go to sleep...

Mission Accomplished
We (being me and the other bridesmaids) found our dresses for my brother's wedding. Yay! I'm so glad we were able to find dresses that we all liked. The weird part was, we found the dresses in the first store we went to. How's that for luck?! At first we put the dresses on hold, just in case we happened to find something in another store, since these dresses were a "final sale". After walking around, we all decided to go with our first choice. Once we got our dresses, we looked around for shoes and purses. We didn't find anything, but we still have a bit of time before the wedding. My biggest concern was finding these dresses. But now that that's out of the way, I can concentrate on my next assignment: getting ideas for the wedding since Laura (Shelley's sister) and I are emcee-ing the event. That should be interesting... ;-)

I'm noticing...
...that the past couple of posts have been either on Tuesday or Thursday. Have I, or am I, that busy. Or maybe I just don't have anything interesting to talk about. Or maybe I do have something interesting to talk about, but forget about it. But then it wouldn't be interesting now would it? =P

Español 100 - Lesson 10
I really need to review my spanish more. I'm starting to forget some things. And we only have 2 classes left. Then Level 2 starts (which I still have to sign up for). We're still working on units 4 & 5, learning how describe things based on their proximity to each other (la izquierda, la derecha, enfrente, etc.).

Other observations:
• my instructor shaved his head
  
• my instructor always seems to be wearing blue socks
  
• my class seems to be getting smaller and smaller as the course is ending

What's wrong with this picture?
It's April 1st and we're still getting a bit of snow. Just when everything was starting to melt too. Hopefully this is the last of it...

Productive morning
Even though I didn't get into the office until 11:20 am, I still had quite a productive morning - booked my annual physical; finished my tax return; dropped off camera to be fixed; booked hair appointment; and looked into taking swimming lessons (yes, I'm finally going to learn!).

And it looks like I'm going to have a busy evening as well - go to the gym after work; run some errands; do laundry; and maybe start on spring cleaning my closet.