Whoa.

Holy bejeezus, why is it -12C right now, with snow compacted into a deadly arena of slippery ice all over campus? Why is it exam time again? How is it December already? It seems like just yesterday that it was halloween... and the day before that, I had just moved back to Guelph... and Father Time's trying to tell me that another semester of university has come and passed? Argh... so many plans unfulfilled, things undone, people unmet, books unread, cooking experiments unconducted, plans unfollowed. I don't exactly remember when, but I feel like that at one point this semester I was in good shape... and the next thing you know, I've struggling to keep my head above the water, treading water for survival. I can't say that I haven't had a lot of fun this semester... I've had plenty of that. But I just feel like I have little to show for it, except a significantly lighter wallet, a crapload of pictures, and a whole lot of long weary nights working away.

It just seems like one big blur when I look at my past semester from a detached perspective. Sorta like if my head was floating around, just looking on at my body run around, like a chicken with its head cut off. There has been way too much of that. And essentially, the past three weeks have been hectic, but fun. I've been working hard, and playing slightly less hard. The weekends haven't proven to be very rejuvenating... I'm often too busy doing things, or completing assignments to relax at any rate. And now I'll describe them according to no sort of chronological order, whatsoever.

One of the weekends, I went to Alderville, a protected Black Oak Savanna run by Rick Beaver, a First Nations dude. For some of the exploits, check out some pictures here. That was a good time, although negligible amounts of work was done. Another weekend, I went to Toronto to visit my cousin and aunt. That was enjoyable too, getting a chance to get out of the university scene, even for just a little bit, and getting to see some familial faces, as well as seeing my 3 year old nephew. He likes trains.. soo kawaii!! (cute) :) The act of bussing into Toronto was kind of an adventure in itself. It made my psyched to go travelling, that's for sure. Another friday night was spent at a potluck, with my applied ecology class (whose 20 paper I have yet to begin in earnest), followed by a night out on the town. Pictoors can be seen here
There's also been three birthdays in this past month that I helped celebrate... my dear Katie, Paul, and Livia's B-days (who incidentally enough are going out) :D So those have involved in massive amounts of DQ cake, pressies, and food galore. good times all around. :D
I also went to the Enviro Sci End of Semester Bash, for kids in the same program as me, so people spanning all four years were present, I think. It was a good time. I won a door prize, even! Check out a picture here. A $15 gift cert to one of my fav restaurants in Guelph, Carden St. Cafe. huzzah!
Oh, and Katie's mommy and brother were able to make it up the weekend following to help celebrate it, as well as visit the christmas craft fair that happens at the U of Goo.. This, as many things it seems, also involved in copious amounts of good food, otherwise known as yummy restaurants, and apple pie. Yum. And I finally watched Finding Nemo for the first time... I highly enjoyed that movie.. so cute and fuzzy and heartwarming...
I think that actually, it made me a wee bit homesick. For the span of roughly a weekend, I really missed home in Vancouver... partly stressed induced, partly induced by seeing other families here, but I missed my mommy's cooking, the lack of class-going, the oceans and the mountains, and of course, the goodness that are my friends... :)

One of the neat things about having a digital camera, is that essentially, you can distill the essence of your past into a series of photographs that evoke the memory whenever they pop up on your screen. I've enjoyed that muchly. Almost as much as I enjoy my camera's ability to take pictures of complicated or wordy overheads in class. hahaha...

And speaking of which, in the apt words of my friend Henry, there's work "streaming out of every orifice of my body" Ugh. gruesome gruesome image, but pretty true. Here's my deadlines for the next two weeks:

Final Exams:
Soil 3050 (land utilization)- Dec 5 (25% of mark)
Met 2030 (Meteorology and Climatology)- Dec 8 (40% of mark)
Tox 2000 (Principles of Toxicology) - Dec 8 (25% of mark)

Term Papers
Envb 3300 (Applied Ecology and the Environment) - Due Dec 8 (30% of mark) ~ 20 pages
Soil 2120 (introduction to environmental stewardship) - Due Dec 9 (20% of mark) ~ 5 pages

It's mostly the fact that I have 2 exams and a 20page paper due on the same day that frightens me. Arghh... Speaking of which, I should probably spent some more time on it again.
And dammit, I need to make these shorter, dammit. so solly for the longness.

Good night all, and best of luck on exams!

| Feeling: Cold |
| Listening: Femi Kuti - Scatta Head |