| Thursday, July 27, 2006 |
| Co-op Camp Rocks!! |
Well, to update, I survived Co-op Camp. I must say that I have a newfound respect for those people that deal with adolescents every day, like teachers, and especially social workers. We had 39 kids at camp, and a staff of ten, so at times it got a little overwhelming trying to keep the group in control. We also had a few kids that had ADHD, and one that had that and FAS, and we had some pretty major conflicts with these kids over the week, to make a long story short. It was so bad that by Friday I had a major meltdown and a crying fit, but I guess these situations are always learning experiences, good or bad.
But, even with the bad, I am definitely going to staff camp again in the future. It made me feel so good inside and rewarded seeing these kids come together as strangers and leave as friends, and knowing I played even a little part in it. Outside of camp these kids would probably not even attempt to speak to one another and at camp they formed a solid group. One staff person mentioned that one of the participants was crying so much at the end of camp, that she had to ask her what was wrong, and she mentioned that she had never gotten so much respect from a group of people before.
And, even with the stress, they were such good kids! At our rewards night they gave me the award for 'Most Caring', and on my people poster they had the nicest things to say. I wish I had the chance to go to Co-op Camp as a kid! And I'll post some pics when I get them off of my camera.
On another note, I had a pleasant surprise from the Co-op Centre when I got back...I am now published! My compilation on data collection in the co-op sector is now an Occasional Paper from the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives. That was pretty sweet.
Now that camp is over, I can finally complete my thesis revisions, and then have some ME time. I must say I am pretty excited about that! |
posted by angelina @ 1:35 PM  |
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| Wednesday, July 19, 2006 |
| Some overdue pics |
Things are really crooked and I don't know why, but you'll figure it out....
The Knitters: Nicole, Nikolene, Jess, Crystal, Me, Kate, Joanie
Dan and Nara, back in New Zealand now! (Sob)
Playing some cards with Clint, Nara, Dan and Cecile
After the wedding, Nicky, Darcy and Chris getting their dance on at the Scuz
The rest of the wedding party, Nicky and Jason
Bustin a move, Cecile, Dee, Mike and Tanya
Jason getting a little up close and personal with Nicky
Flashing a little leg with the girls: Cecile, Nicky, Me, Tanya, Dee
Me, Darcy's alter ego Smokey Bear, and Chris
Cecile, Trevor and Dee |
| posted by angelina @ 9:21 PM |
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| Monday, July 17, 2006 |
| I can't believe I drank half of the whole thing! |
I am really hurting right now. I don't know what part of me thought it would be smart to tie one on the day before I go back to work. Yesterday was the gift opening for Nicky's wedding....had a few beers there. Then Dee and I headed to Nicky's after cleanup, where we proceeded to clean out her liquor cabinet. Then Jason's best man and I polished off an 18 pack of beers. If it wasn't so expensive, I would be quite proud at my drinking ability! Last night was fun just chillin and chattin. Some revelations were made (well one in particular), that had me thinking for most of the day today about what could have been.....
Anyway, Nicky's wedding. What can I say, it was a fabulous day, and totally worth the stress and lack of sleep and sore feet over the past few months, and particularly the two nights prior to the date. She looked fabulous, my fellow bridesmaids and I looked gorgeous, and the ceremony was perfect- they both looked so happy. I got very emotional during it cause Nicky's father, almost like a second dad to me, cried at the ceremony. It was probably a bittersweet day for him, he gets to see his little girl get married.
The dance itself was so much fun- the high school girls were all out representing. Cecile, Dee, Tanya, Me, Nicky, Deanna were there, cutting up a rug, catching up, drinking our faces off. The groomsmen were some great dudes too, lots of fun to hang out with. There was some face-in-boob action, dry humping, inappropriate groping, and fold-up chair attacks (a la World Wrestling Federation). Yeah, you could say things got a little out of control by the end of the night! I will post some pics when I get home...
Dee is still in Saskatoon at my house and I really don't want to be here at work today- partially because I don't feel good and partially cause I want to chill out with her and have a visit. I also have to start preparing for Co-op Camp which starts this week! I am not rattled yet but one individual in my group has not submitted her lesson plan yet which has me concerned and warrants a phone call to her place of residence! |
| posted by angelina @ 11:50 AM |
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| Thursday, July 13, 2006 |
| Hmmm.....I don't know what to say to this |
| Your Personality Is Like Marijuana |  You're laid back and easy going, so much so that taking a shower is often too much trouble for you!Nevertheless, you're quite popular, and many people enjoy your company. You're rarely turned down.You're prone to giggle fits, paranoia, and forgetting where you are exactly. |
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| posted by angelina @ 5:04 PM |
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| Tuesday, July 11, 2006 |
| An evening of conversation with a bucket of chicken |
My dad is a very interesting character full of contradictions. He says that he doesn't like to talk, but then will blabber like an old hen about everything, especially when he's had a few beers. When I call him on the phone to see how he's been he'll say fine and then say he doesn't like talking on the phone, then when you go to say goodbye he starts talking about his day. It's kinda funny.
Anyway last night he asked me to stop at KFC because my Mom and Buck would be in Saskatoon for supper so it'd be just me and him. When I got home he wanted to go to the bar for a beer. On the walk there I heard about so and so's cabin at the lake, how they got a lot of hail up there on the weekend, how Dad's flowers are starting to grow really fast and look good, how he wished for just a little rain this weekend, my parents' trip to Washington and so on and so on.
This carried over into the walk back home and supper. I heard more about their vacation, their trip up to the cabin this weekend (which by the way is about five miles from Mildred, where the guy that shot those RCMP officers is from)- and how they encountered roadblocks and helicopters and such. Last night I may have even talked him into coming to visit me in Ghana.
I don't get nights like this with the old guy that often, so they're nice when they come! |
| posted by angelina @ 11:45 AM |
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| Monday, July 10, 2006 |
| Tick Tock Tick Tock |
There's so much that I want to do before I leave, but now I am starting to realize that I don't think I will get around to it. Here's a glimpse of some of the stuff I wanted to do this summer:
1. Finish crocheting my crazy granny square blanket, among other knitting/crocheting projects that never got completed.
2. Take a shopping trip to the States.
3. Sew a bunch of skirts, or even just learn how to sew.
4. Read a few books that I bought over the years but never read entirely, like 'The Gulag Archipelago', 'Anna Karenina', 'Elizabeth I', and the 'Time Travellers' Wife'.
5. Take pics of some sentimental things for a photo album for my trip, like canola fields, wheat fields, a prairie sunset, the house, my family etc.
6. Bring world peace.
Well the last one was a bit of a stretch but I think it's still important! Anyway, time's rollin fast, it's almost the middle of July, I still haven't finished my revisions, Nicky's wedding is this upcoming weekend, Co-0p camp is next week and, I agree with Fanger, procrastination is at an all time high, at least in this neck of the woods.
This weekend was a nice social reprieve from the solitary confinement I've been unecessarily imposing upon myself. Saturday night was Fluff's cotillion celebrations, which were fun fun fun! And Sunday I helped Nicky with wedding prep, including bagging a few hundred bags of jelly beans and getting the champagne flutes for the head table.
Last night I saw Dan and Nara for the last time before the head back to New Zealand. We played cards with Squeeler and Clint, and chatted about life's mysteries. I've only had a handful of times to hang around with them the last two weeks, but they have had a lot of visiting to do over this time so I understand that. Having Dan around makes me realize how much I miss having him around on a regular basis. He's a good friend, quick to say he's proud of you and never afraid to tell you what he thinks, even when he thinks you are being stupid! I pinky-swore both him and Nara that I would visit them in New Zealand before they made it back to Canada. That's a promise I will bust my ass to keep. |
| posted by angelina @ 12:52 PM |
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| Saturday, July 08, 2006 |
| Everyone else is doing it, so why can't I? |
| So I decided to try my hand at some html and in tribute to my upcoming trip, I have changed my blog template. I tried to find something that says 'Africa!' and this is the closest I could find. It kind of reminds me of savannah and a safari. Comments are much appreciated. I have to still figure out why my pic looks so stretched out, but all in all I am pleased. |
| posted by angelina @ 11:53 AM |
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| Wednesday, July 05, 2006 |
| The elusive medical clearance letter |
There is only two things to do when you're pissed off about something: blog about and wait until an appropriate time to rag someone out for said pissiness.
I had an appointment with my Doctor on Thursday to get a letter stating that I would not die from any known ailments while overseas. She said, no problem, she does them all the time, their office will call on Monday when it's ready to pick up. Sweet. So I arranged to stay in Saskatoon to wait for the phone call as I need to send all my essential info to Ottawa toute suite!
Monday comes, no call. In the afternoon I call over to the office and I get the answering machine, saying they're closed for the holidays. Well geez. So I arrange to work another day in Saskatoon. Tuesday afternoon I call again. The receptionist I spoke to didn't know what I was talking about and tells me to call back in half an hour. I call back- she says that I will have to get it Wednesday (today) because their typist is away. (and you needed a half hour to deduce the typist was away- why?)
So I am starting to get a little red, and tell her that I had to make arrangments to be in Saskatoon in order to pick this letter up. She apologizes and tells me that they will have it ready Wednesday, and that they are open until 6.
Well as of now it is 5:51. I left work early to make sure I was in Saskatoon before 6. I went over to the office and it looked suspiciously dark. Yep. Closed right down. The beatch is comin out tomorrow morning. |
| posted by angelina @ 4:49 PM |
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| Monday, July 03, 2006 |
| He ain't heavy....he's my brother |
Yesterday I got home from spending the night in Viscount, and my roommate tells me that my brother and a mutal friend got boozed in town and were planning to come up to Saskatoon and head over to his dad's house. I'm like, whatevs- I might go over. But I didn't cause I was so sleepy!
Fast forward to 3:33 am when I get a phone call from my brother:
Me: Hello (in my man voice cause I was sleeping)
Buck: Angie, what were you doing, sleeping?
Me: Uh, yeah.
Buck: Oh yeah, well uh, how would you feel about picking me up? I'm ready to get my sleep on here.
Me: (getting angry) There's cabs in Saskatoon Buck.
Buck: (getting irate) Well can you just come pick me up!?
Me: Fine!
I hang up the phone, and head out to the car. I am at the end of the block when I get another call:
Buck: Um yeah, Steve's here and he's gonna drive over.
Me: Okay.
I proceed to drive around the block, and get back into bed. The end result of this debacle is that I am so angry that I can't get back to sleep for another hour. This morning, my brother figures that I just rolled over and went back to sleep after he called the second time because there wasn't enough time between the phone calls for me to get up and get in the car. My how drinking skews your sense of time! |
| posted by angelina @ 8:56 AM |
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| Me, Myself, and I |
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Alias: angelina
Where I'm at: Kpandai, Northern Region, Ghana
In 500 words or less: I am now done my schoolin' and you may all call me Master! I'm currently livin it up in a small town in Northern Ghana, and it's a blast being the only 'obruni' (white) in town!
Step into my mind, if you dare
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