Christmas Eve - this is my favourite night of the entire year. My house smells like cookies and bread sticks. The Christmas tree is covered in shiny baubles and presents in red and green paper are oozing out from under its bottom branches. An elderly gentleman cat is snoring among the boxes; he loves Christmas too. Another cat, this one with a twitchy tail and perky whiskers, is curled up on the rocking chair. In half an hour they'll probably be chasing each other through the presents. Christmas carols are playing on the radio in the kitchen, and my dad is in such a good mood about finishing his shopping he hasn't told my mother to "turn down that awful, schmaltzy racket" or drowned out CBC with blues music. One brother is home and later on we'll all pile into the car to pick up the other brother. Then we'll drive around, looking at Christmas lights, "bickering" over who's taking up too much room in the back seat. Once we come home, we'll hang up our stockings by the chimney with care and nestle into our beds while visions of sugar plums dance in our heads. Merry Christmas everyone!

I'm home! The driving was touch-and-go yesterday, but we made it.

We did make a rest stop just outside Oxford. The Cobequid Pass was nasty - it was freezing raining and snowing and we couldn't see more than a few feet of the road ahead. After passing an SUV upside down in the ditch and nearly being pushed off the road by an eighteen-wheeler that whizzed past at twice the speed of all the other vehicles on the highway (most of which had their four-way flashers on), Mom decided she wanted to get off the highway until a snowplow had been by. What really made me laugh was that the eighteen-wheeler was an ice cream truck: Now, I'm an ice cream fan and all, but really, who needs ice cream that badly during a snow storm?

Anyway, I've been enjoying cuddling with my cats and playing Stephen's new Wii. Tomorrow my family is putting up our decorations. Time for Christmas!

Done! Done! DONE!!! My mom will be here in four hours and I'll be home tomorrow!!!!

This is how I feel today, except I'm beating my head, not a drum set. Stupid essay-writing. Only four more days until I can go home. Grumble.

This afternoon, instead of working on my essay, I went to see Happy Feet. I've really been looking forward to watching this movie -- I mean, does it get any better than singing and dancing penguins?! Although I thought the story could have been tightened up in some places, the visuals were absolutely stunning, especially the shots of Antarctic scenery and the part where Mumble goes swimming for the first time.

Speaking of penguins, today is my fellow peguin fan's 25th birthday! This lovely boy keeps me well stocked in hugs and all kinds of penguin paraphenalia. Happy birthday VIP! *HONK*

Ahhh procrastination, it's like we were never parted. And now, instead of only being able to use cleaning as an excuse to avoid writing my term paper, I can write stuff for my blog too!

Last Friday night was the SIM Christmas party. Dee and I got ready together, which involved a lot of singing, dancing, and sparkles. I discovered that my ineptitude for hair only applies to my own head and that I actually make someone else's hair look pretty. I got to wear my pretty red dress (you all know how I feel about pretty red things) and eat potatos, so I was happy with the evening. To your right is a picture of Dee, Emily, and me trying to be sassy.

Satuday evening some of us headed down to the Grand Parade to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree. We had candy from the Freak Lunchbox and got to sing Christmas carols. After the tree was lit there was a fireworks display! Then we all stopped at the Second Cup to get some delicious liquid gingerbread (that is, Gingerbread lattes) and headed over to Fenwick to watch The Muppet Christmas Carol and Elf.

This week I've mostly been either working on assignments or studying for exams. Databases are finally over (they were the equivalent of theory class for me) and now I only have one paper and one exam left to go! This time next week I'll be home!!

Michelle just called me Library Lady and it made my day, so, like a good librarian, I decided to Google the phrase and found this:


According to an online description, Miss Library Lady, published in 1954 is a "career romance for young moderns" in which Jean, a new and idealistic children's librarian, meets Mr. Right on the bus by trying to see what book he's reading. Of course, he's engrossed in Rabelais, and she's only perusing a book of pictures from Spain, because it would never do to have our heroine appear too brainy, even though she may be a little "bookish."

I'm happy to report there seems to be a whole series of these books, including Nancy Runs the Bookmobile, Library Life for Deborah, Molly Qualifies as a Librarian, Librarian With Wings, and Loveliest Librarian.

It's enough to make me swear off buns and glasses for the rest of my life.

I have to say, I'm loving that there's something fun to do every weekend here. After an afternoon spent at the Halifax Shopping Centre, Dee and I took in the Christmas parade downtown. The streets were packed with excited parents and children, the majorettes' batons glowed in the dark, Santa Claus made an appearance, and a bunch of the seventy floats had penguins on them. Then it was time for some post-parade hot chocolate.

Last night a group from school went to a live taping of the CBC program This Hour Has 22 Minutes. I haven't watched that show much since Rick Mercer left, but I really enjoyed seeing how it gets put together. Plus it was a huge bonus to find out that Shaun Majumder is now a member of the cast because I think he's absolutely hilarious! Anyway, it was a fun evening, especially since the tickets were free.

Now it's time to settle down in front of the TV to see if I can find myself in any of the audience shots.

My brother Steve has been visiting me this weekend, so I've taken a bit of a break from freaking out about school for some quality sibling time. He got here at midnight on Friday and leaves tomorrow afternoon, but we've managed to pack a lot into two days.

Yesterday we went to the cenotaph, ate fries from Bud the Spud, were attacked by starlings, window-shopped, walked through the Public Gardens, and sang along to Joseph. Dee and Vinny came over last night and Vinny (who is half-Italian) fed us traditional Italian pasta. After we ate, we all sat around and groaned about how full we were and tried to convince Steve to become a librarian.

Today we were going to go to Point Pleasant Park, but, due to my poor sense of direction, we actually ended up just taking a very long walk because I couldn't find the park. (Remember, I was once in a car that drove to the wrong province by mistake.) We went out for dinner and stuffed ourselves silly, and then we watched V for Vendetta (an awesome movie!).

It's been interesting spending so much time with just my brother. Sometimes the six years between us can feel like a lot, but it's nice to talk with him and realize how grown-up he's become and how many things we do have in common. And just to prove his increasing maturity, tonight I saw him drink a fruit smoothie and eat salad - the most fruits and veggies than I've ever seen him willingly consume in a meal!

So, um, you know those days when you spring out of bed to greet the day with enthusiasm, only to wonder an hour later if it would have been better had you just rolled over and gone back to sleep? This was one of those days. I never spring out of bed, so when I did this morning, I just assumed it would be a productive day. After slogging to school through the pouring rain, spending forty-five minutes before class in the computer lab working hard, but accomplishing nothing, and sitting through class in cold, wet jeans, I was ready to rethink my earlier spring.

Other little things kept happening all day, but the grand finale was when I dropped the pizza I made for dinner upside down in my oven. Now there's pepperoni and cheese all over the oven door, all over the inside of the oven, in the cracks between the door and the oven, and even in the drawer underneath the oven. And because the oven was hot when I dropped the pizza, the cheese and pepperoni burnt onto it.

On the bright side, my brother Steve gets here for a visit tomorrow night. There's going to be some comic book shopping and lots and lots of eating. Yay!

I'm still loving school, but I just skip from assignment to assignment. Nothing is extremely hard, there's just a LOT of it. Needless to say, my blog posting has been suffering...

And, for your viewing pleasure, here's a picture of my costume from the SIM Halloween party. The night was a blast, although I hadn't planned on using my CAA to unlock a van with the keys inside or practicing my first aid skills on someone's bleeding head. In case you can't tell, I was the Paper Bag Princess from the Robert Munch book. This was definitely a librarians' party because there was also a Pippi Longstocking and Peter Pan. Gold stars to Dee for helping to make it possible to sit down in the paper bag!

It's been a hectic ten days since I last posted. Assignments keep piling up, and, much as I love school, it does seem to be taking over my life right now. Every time I finish one project there's another deadline waiting around the corner. Some of these assignments are time-consuming (last Monday I handed in one that was 65 pages long!), while others challenge my own long-held beliefs about my abilties (I actually constructed a database that worked!). I can tell my brain is stretching in new directions, and it feels good.

I would also like to note how much I love the chairs in my classrooms at school. They're all on wheels (Michelle, you might be dangerous in these rooms), most have adjustable arm rests, and they're all padded for fabulous lumbar support. This might not seem like a big deal, but when you sit in these chairs for three hours at a stretch, it's nice if your behind isn't numb or your back doesn't crack when you stand up again.

Ahhhh, fall in PEI: my favourite time of the year in my favourite place in the world.

After some unexpected adventures on Friday afternoon, the carload of four Islanders plus one Manitoban hit the highway for a Thanksgiving weekend at home. Unfortunately, we didn't get into Charlottetown until almost 11:30pm, so there was no nacho outing; however, my mom had made brownies and Socks (who was still in pretty rough shape) purred for me and let me scratch him under his chin.

Saturday was turkey day at my house. It didn't start out well. Just before my mother started to bake the pumpkin pies my dad decided to fix the leaky faucet in the kitchen. In the tradition of repairs in the Gauthier household, the five-minute job turned into a trip to two hardware stores and Mr. Plumber, while my mother, who now had no water to cook with at all, became more and more frazzled. I took Dee (my "Friendly Manitoban" visitor, who by now was probably wondering what she had gotten herself into when she agreed to spend Thanksgiving with my family) to Mike's fantabulous apartment so we could use the shower, and then we spent the afternoon wandering around downtown until we were thought it would be safe to return to the house. The sink eventually got fixed (although my poor dad will never live this one down) and Pam and Liam came over to help eat the huge, delicious turkey dinner. Then Lynda joined us and we all went into town to walk the boardwalk and introduce Dee to the cannons in Victoria Park.

Everyone else had Thanksgiving dinner Sunday. so it was PEI sightseeing day for Dee. We hit up New Glasgow, Green Gables, the National Park, and Rustico. By far my favourite part of the day was when Dee, who had never seen the ocean before, blurted out, "It's the ocean! With waves and everything!" Despite a stranger warning her that "this isn't Hawaii you know," she waded into the water to have an Atlantic ocean frolic while I recorded the moment for her family.


Liam drove us back to Halifax yesterday, and today I returned myself to the land of assignments and deadlines. On the bright side, it looks like my brother might come visit in November, and it's only two months until Christmas break begins.

Socks came home this afternoon. He's doing much better than yesterday; he even ate a little once he was back in familiar territory.

As for me, after class tomorrow morning and some packing, I'm headed home for Thanksgiving and a weekend of pampering my cat. I'm even bringing a classmate with me. Dee is from Manitoba, so she's excited about coming to PEI and seeing the ocean for the first time!

So, anyone up for nachos at Gahan tomorrow night around 9:30?

Socks' operation went as well as could be expected this morning. His heart held up under the anasthetic, so the vet was able to remove both eyes with a minimal loss of blood. He spent most of today sleeping, but last I heard he was sitting up in his cage and making friends with the hospital staff. Tomorrow he gets his first meal and my mother is going in to sit with him for a while so he won't be lonely. Hopefully Socks will be home on Thursday and then on Friday I'll be able to see my super pirate kitty for myself!

A few days ago my beloved cat, Socks, developed glaucoma in one eye. According to the Glossary of Feline Terms, glaucoma is a disease of the eye "caused by pressure within the eye as a result of an inbalance between production and drainage of aqueous humour, a fluid produced by the eye" and is the major cause of feline blindness.

Now, my kitty is fifteen years old and has been already been blind for the better part of a year, so aside from potential complications and some discomfort on his part, it looked like he was going to be just fine. My family took him to the animal hospital in Southport, where, after a bunch of blood work, the vet said the glaucoma wasn't the result of any other disorders (like kidney failure or thyroid problems) and that, aside from his eye, Socks was a very healthy cat for his age. She gave my mom some pills and salve to take home, and at first it seemed like his eye was getting better.

Unfortunately, last night in the short span of time between when Steve went to bed at 1am and Dad woke up around 7am, the eye got much worse. When Socks went to the vet this morning she said the eye is unsaveable now. There is no other solution: tomorrow morning my cuddly cat will have one or both of his eyes removed.

The prognosis is relatively good, although there are no guarentees. Socks will have to stay in the animal hospital for a few days, but hopefully he'll be back at home with his plastic collar by the time I get there on Friday night. In the meantime, I wish I could be there, but at least it's only four days now...

On the brighter side of things, today is my dad's birthday. Happy 55th Daddy!

As I'm sure many of you know, last weekend the eagerly-anticipated Invasion of Girls (Lynda, Laura, but alas, no Michelle) descended on Halifax. The purpose of this visit, as Laura has described so well in her blog, was to sigh over Mr. Darcy in all his glory in the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice and to compare the beloved P-p-penguin biscuits with the Australian TimTam. I am proud to say that both missions were successfully completed.

However, chocolate cookies and Colin Firth were not the only excitement, so here's a rundown of all the other adventures we had over three days:

I met up with Laura on Friday afternoon, after nodding my way through my Reference class. We lugged her stuff up to my apartment, and then headed downtown through campus so she could see the Management building, where I have all my classes. She agreed with me that the open design and the floating staircases were a bit freaky for those with a thing about heights, which made me feel much less silly. (I am getting used to it though. Now I can walk up and down the stairs and I'm fine as long as I don't look over the edge.) I was also able to point out what must be the most obscene statue I have ever seen. I still can't believe this thing is on a university campus.


Laura and I continued downtown to enjoy some French fries from a chip stand in a truck, a visit to MEC, and my first ever visit to a sex shop. Yes, that's right, I have now been in a sex shop and I don't even think I blushed.

Then Lynda arrived and we headed up to Quinpool Road for a delicious supper at Quincy's. The restaurant was picked solely because of their slogan: "Like a diner, only finer." Plus their sign advertised sweet potato fries as their speciality, and us Confed Centre girls like our sweet potato fries!


Saturday morning we headed down to the Farmer's Market to check out the cinnamon rolls at Mary's Bread Basket. Then we browsed through the many, many booths (it wasn't quite St. Jacob's, but it's close), picking up a few veggies for supper that night and a beautiful boquet of sunflowers. After that we walked along the waterfront to see Theodore Tugboat!!!


And then, just in case we hadn't walked enough already, we headed up Citadel Hill for the view and to Pete's Frootique for some more Penguin biscuits. (The white building to the right of my finger and in the background in my apartment building.)


That evening we cooked up a huge spread (including the excitement of the garlic press with incredible squishing action!) and ate to the sounds of The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" wafting in the window from the big concert.


Then it was back to P&P. One of my favourite moments came as Darcy removed his cravat and vest in preparation for his dive into the lake at Pemberly. Suddenly Laura burst out, "Oh yeah, take it all off!"

Unfortunately, Laura had to leave early Sunday morning, but after a little lie-in Lynda and I headed down to Smitty's for breakfast. Stuffed with waffles and hash browns, we stumbled across a poster for Word on the Street, a book festival down at Pier 23. With nothing else planned, we decided to take it in. Lynda enjoyed the discounted books from St. Mary's bookstore and I drooled over the amazing children's lit selection from Woozles.

Then it was back up to the Public Gardens with a short stopover in front of the Lord Nelson, where everyone was waiting to see Mick Jaggerm make his exit. We waited for fifteen minutes or so, but then we got bored, so we left. We walked through the gardens, which in hindsight might not have been a good idea considering Lou's fear of ducks and pigeons, and then headed back to my place for a little more lazing around. Lynda left late in the afternoon and I prepared for a week of assignments...

Laura, the Lady of A Lot

More hijinks to follow...

Today's exciting news: I have a bed!!! After sleeping on an air mattress for two weeks (which is actually not as bad as it sounds) tonight I will slumber peacefully under a fluffy duvet on a pleasantly firm mattress. Hopefully this will also help to get rid of the horrible crick I've had in my neck for the last few days....

Liam was here for a (too) short visit last weekend. We filled Saturday with a visit to the Peace Pavilion on the Dartmouth waterfront, a giant trip to the mall to get more things for my apartment, and some time spent downtown so he could ogle the camping gear at MEC and the cameras at Carsand-Mosher. As a bonus, Liam brought over some boxes from home for me that included exciting things like plates and spoons. My mom sewed me a set of curtains for my bedroom and sent me some cute pictures and a bright yellow tea tray. With little touches like these my place is looking more settled every day -- just in time for the invasion of girls next weekend!

And finally, I had a confusing ten minutes in computer class today as I listened to my prof go on and on about all the different tools in a database and he kept mentioning swords. I couldn't understand what swords would have to do with databases -- until I realized that with his thick Lebanese/French accent he was actually saying "sort". Suddenly things made sense. I'll take S words for $500 please.

The baby pigeons are gone. John, my superintendent, "eliminated" them while I was in class on Tuesday afternoon. Even though I know there was no other solution to the problem, I feel horribly guilty every time I hear the mother pigeon outside the window. It might not even be the same bird, but my conscience still translates "Squawk, squawk, squawk" into "Baby killer!" I guess at least now I can start using my balcony...

My Management Without Borders lecture today provided a reminder of just how varied my classmates' backgrounds are: When we were discussing the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and its impact of the public image of Shell, a girl spoke up who grew up in the same town as Saro-Wiwa and whose father worked for Shell. It's hard to get more first-hand that in a classroom discussion about an event that happened eleven years ago on the other side of the world! Although there are many important lessons I learned at UPEI, there really is something to be said for being in a class that isn't primarily made up of people who all have (relatively) similar life experiences. Also, it's hard not to be impressed when your professor announces that he won't be at next week's lecture because he will be speaking at a UN meeting in Paris!

And finally, Michelle has the internet! Yay!! And Liam is coming tomorrow! Yay!!

Well, this weekend was certainly action-packed!

Friday night Roisin (a friend from Waterloo) and her boyfriend, Ryan, arrived in Halifax after a week spent camping in the Maritimes. I'm pleased to report that they made it over to PEI and loved it. Ryan even got his first glimpse ever of the ocean! They stayed at my apartment Friday night, which gave me a chance to show off my new digs for the first time -- and Roisin was suitably impressed by the lack of holes in my carpet. We went for brunch on Saturday morning and then wandered through the Public Gardens for a bit. Roisin and Ryan went downtown to do some shopping and I went to the bookstore to spend $170 on two tiny textbooks. The two of them left for the airport in the later afternoon, so I did some reading and took a little nap.

This morning was brunch at The Thirsty Duck with people from SIM and then a city-wide scavenger hunt! Team Gazeebow Unit (no, that's not a misspelling) came in first place, so I am now the proud owner of a Halifax bookmark and $5 in Tim Horton's money. Both of these things will come in handy! I also finally got to see Katie, picked up a few plants at Pete's Frootique, and got to have a nice chat with Rachie.

Now for the first full week of classes...

Last night was the long-awaited Keith's Brewery tour. Most of the first-year SIMs (there are 54 of us!) and a few of the second-years toddled off to the waterfront to watch women in wench-dresses and men in suspenders explain to us how hops and grains and water become beer. Then they gave us a drink (no, I didn't have any) and sang us "What Do You Do With a Drunken Sailor?" It was a fun half hour, but I can't believe people pay $20 for the experience.

After the Bewery we moved on to the Henry House for dinner (where I'm pretty sure I saw the guy who sold me my couch). During conversation with some girls from out west I was appalled to discover several large gaps in their knowledge of Eastern Canada: 1) they did not know PEI was famous for potatos; 2) they thought Cape Breton was a town in Nova Scotia, not an island; and 3) one Albertan thought that Nova Scotia was a three-hour FERRY ride from TORONTO! That being said, these girls are extremely nice and also excited to be in the Maritimes, so I think I'll just educate them about Atlantic Canada as much as I can. After all, it's not their fault they're from Western Canada... (I'm just kidding Laura!) Actually, I'm really enjoying getting to know my classmates, even the Albertans. ;)

In other news, the two pigeon eggs on my balcony have hatched. I thought I heard peeps last night, so I went out today to check -- and there are two scrawny, ugly little baby birds in the nest. I thought that baby birds would at least be cute! I guess I was picturing yellow chicks or something...

It seems only fitting to begin my time in Halifax by reflecting back on my year in Waterloo. Those twelve months in 2004 and 2005 were filled with a lot of firsts -- my first time living on my own, my first experience with graduate school, my first time navigating a public transit system, my first tornado warning. I learned a lot while I was in Ontario, and I'd like to share some of what I consider my most interesting discoveries. Be warned though: just because I thought it was exciting or significant doesn't mean it actually was!

1. No matter what Ontarians might think, a creek on campus is not a substitute for the Atlantic Ocean.
2. The thrill of being able to visit The Gap whenever you want never wears off, even if the only thing you buy there in a year is a pair of jeans.
3. There are stables in the parking lots of most grocery stores in Waterloo so that Mennonites who have to do a little shopping have a place to tie up their horse and buggy.
4. A podium makes a good place to hide your shaking hands on your first day as a teaching assistant; however, never underestimate the authority that comes from being the one writing on the chalkboard.
5. It is possible to sleep for 20 hours in a row.
6. It is also possible to function for two days on three hours of sleep. (I think Michelle knew that already.)
7. Rosie O'Donnell is extremely polite.
8. Never wear a new skirt out in public without first checking if you need to wear a slip.
9. Don't let your boyfriend drink unattended with your classmates from Ireland.
10. Getting mail instantly makes your whole day better, especially if it's not a bill or a pizza flyer.
11. It says something about your neighbourhood when the closest stores are Mario's Pizza, a porn shop, and Lucky Super Convenience.
12. It is possible to pick up the instrument you haven't played in six years and make music again.
13. Thunder storms are not as enjoyable when you're by yourself.
14. Never order furniture online from Sears, unless you're prepared to spend hours on the phone trying to find a human to complain to when you've been sent the wrong-coloured couch. Stupid Sears.
15. After the first five minutes of terror, riding on a motorcycle is surprisingly fun.
16. In graduate school you sometimes have to curse as part of a seminar. Try not to blush.
17. When Mel rubs my head it makes my headaches go away.
18. Always have an air-conditioner for your tiny, top-floor apartment. When it hits 40 degrees outside your body will thank you.
19. There are cats that live behind the Parliament Buildings!
20. Having friends drive across three provinces to visit you makes you realize how lucky you are to know people like that.
21. When you're in a Greek restaurant and someone lights something on fire behind your head and yells "Opa!" it's not necessary to scream or duck.
22. If you're ever going on a car trip with Catherine and Mike be prepared to sing gospel music.
23. Meeting your neighbours in Ontario isn't impossible; it just takes longer.
24. Open the steam vents on your pots before you try to boil carrots.
25. When your carrots have exploded and your fish has turned to ashes, waffles make a good supper.
26. Big cities are filled with wildlife (for example: foxes, bats, rabbits, eagles, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, swans, ducks, geese).
27. Some students will cheat no matter what you do to try to prevent it.
28. The architects of Hagey Hall didn't believe in windows.
29. The combined malevolence of a literary theory class can actually cause the death of a famous French philospher.
30. No matter how cute your red Mary-Janes are, they should not be worn to walk long distances if they cause mammoth blisters because then you'll end up walking through downtown Toronto in barefeet -- and that's just gross.
31. Smiths Falls is a chocolate-lover's heaven.
32. The inside of Mr. Dress-Up's treehouse is a little disappointing.
33. The oranguatangs at the Toronto Zoo have been known to use their food bowls as boats in attempts to paddle across the moat of their enclosure to escape.
34. It is possible to create a wall of Shreddie boxes over 5 feet tall when you eat an average of one and a half boxes of Shreddies a week for a year.
35. There's no place like home, but sometimes another place can come pretty close.

I've made it through the first day of SIM orientation, and with these tips in mind, I think I'm going to make it through the next two years too.