Screaming Silence [continued]
Posted on August 14th, 2006At last, I can sit down for a little bit without having to think too much about what I have to do!!
You might have gotten the picture that the last couple of weeks (and especially the last few days) have been really crazy for me and, if you have, you’d be spot on; after my last exam on Saturday, I went out for lunch with a classmate (who was my SoftEng frosh leader and then switched out of SoftEng like me!!), then went to rent a car for the weekend.
After jumping through some hoops and getting a little bit peeved at the rental company (and allowing some anger to get out when I was talking on the phone with my Dad — sorry, Dad!), I was able to drive off and get on with my weekend.
It was Bre’s birthday, and her family was also putting on their annual crazy gihumunanormous pig roast so I committed to driving to her place. I also promised to make a card for her birthday, which proved much more challenging than I had anticipated.
You see, I graduated from Grade 1 a long time ago, and all of those arts and craft skills sorta got replaced with computer programming and problem solving skills. Nevertheless, I was obliged to try so I went over to Michael’s to get some supplies. Never in my life did I think that I would be buying glitter. Ever. (Bre, I hope you’re happy with yourself!! 😀 )
I spent a couple of hours figuring out what I was going to do and actually doing it. During the course of the card-making, I realized that it was a lot like cooking: creativity reaps big rewards, preparation is important, and (regardless of how much preparation is done) execution is paramount.
As I was getting close to finishing the card, I realized that I was really running out of time; it was 6pm and I said that I’d get there for 7, and I knew that it’d take a bit over an hour to drive. In a panic, I rushed to finish the card and, regrettably, made some poor judgement calls. Thus, with my relative lack of practice, the card never made it to the Grade 1 potential that I had set for myself. I don’t think it was bad, but I see room for improvement 😛 That said, that will probably be the first and last card that I make in my adult life so, maybe I won’t have to worry about making good on that!
The pig roast itself was quite an experience. Imagine hundreds of people in the front yard with an Elvis impersonator, a clown, a band, volleyball, basketball, pinatas, a dance contest, a barn full of food, and a pig on a spit… that’s some of what was going on that night!
I’m really glad that I went. Despite not knowing the vast majority of the people there, I was able to spend some good time with Bre and Jazz and Todd and Kristy and a few other people that I knew. And since I don’t know when I will see any of them next, it was really worthwhile for me to go (and I hope they found it similarly worthwhile).
I think I got to sleep some time shortly after 3:15am, but I am certain that I was rudely awoken at 6:30am by a rooster doing his thing. Grrr. I’ll forgive him this time since I did have to get back to Waterloo in the morning. The plan was to go to Cameron’s for delicious food with friends from res that I also will probably not see for a long time 🙁
While at Cameron’s, I saw a sweet Land Rover pull in. A white-headed man and his Asian wife and their two children walked in. It was this guy. So I had a chance to dine with him (sorta) with him sitting some 10 feet away from me! I dunno about you, but I think that’s kinda cool.
What was not cool, however, is getting painfully stuffed at lunch. Nobody pulls their freaking weight anymore and they all expect me to be some sort of food vacuum. I don’t know about you, but the only food vacuum I know of is Laura (who is also affectionately called “Whale Who Inhales Food”). Ugh.
On an over-full stomach, I was charged with the task of packing up all of my stuff, dropping stuff off at friends’ places (thanks so much, Kat and John!!), and driving to Toronto and back. Believe me, it was probably as long of a day as it sounds. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do, right?
I had a most excellent sleep last night and I’m really looking forward to relaxing for a little bit now. Most of the prepartion for New York is done, so I can actually not think for a while. The long days of sitting in front of the TV watching 24 will be sweeeeeeeeet.
That all begins on Tuesday, when I head back to Toronto for good. There is a slight chance that I will come back to Waterloo one more time before I leave, but that’s still up in the air. And this weekend, I realized that I’m really going to miss the people that live and are near here. So so much. 🙁
