Procrastination at its Finest

Hello world! Greetings from the William-Paige kitchen! I have spent a lot of time here this week, as I made dinner on Monday (meatball soup), Wednesday (spaghetti) and Sunday (tonight - pad thai). I think I need to branch out from pasta in the weeks to come. This week, I want to do a Halloween themed meal, so I switched my dinner night to Thursday so that I can make a Zucker family Halloween dinner tradition - mummies! Maybe I'll even make some themed appetizers... We will see. 

Side note: There was a poster sale on at the beginning of the week and this is the poster I almost bought:

In addition to meatball soup on Monday, I also had my small group meeting class. For this class (EDU 216), it is a year-long six credit course that goes along with my practicum but since there are 40 of us in the class, we meet in small groups once every other week. To create a more relaxed environment, my prof brought chips, Werther's Originals and drinks (non-alcoholic drinks, you party animals). We spent the class discussing our practicums, which was really helpful - I wish we had this class more often. One of my friends in the group, Sara, shared a really interesting activity that she did with her class; she had her students create "profile cards" about themselves to help her get to know them better. This week, I am going to do the same thing with my class: for my grade 6s, they will be making Facebook profile pages and my grade 3/4s will be learning about autobiographies and filling out a corresponding template. 

Speaking of my practicum, I taught my first full 90 minute lesson last Tuesday to my grade 3/4s. It went really well! We played two different drama games, which the kids loved and then did a group activity where each group was given a scenic picture and had to brainstorm a potential story that could take place in the scene. They shared their ideas at the end of the class and it was really interesting to hear what they came up with! My AT was also really happy with how it went and gave me some great feedback as I prepare to teach more and more lessons. Up this week: getting to know my students, in addition to the all-school assembly and community soup day. 

After an exhausting morning, I came home to study for my astronomy midterm. However, I quickly got bored and took a nap instead. I woke up, had dinner, studied a bit more and then prepared for battle aka the midterm. I had a major sense of deja vu when I first flipped through the exam, going right back to my high school physics exams, but eventually, the answers came to me (hopefully the right ones came) and I was able to answer everything, so here's hoping for the best. One of the bonus questions was on the observatory sessions so the staying late and freezing paid off for 1.5 marks. 

Wednesday, after a full day of classes and homework, my friends and I went to the first Donald Lecture Series of the year. The speaker was Dr. Robert Sutton, a business professor from Stanford University. He had some good ideas, talking a lot about how to do your best in the business world and deal with different people in the workforce, so I tried to apply what he was saying to the life of a teacher. The most exciting part of the lecture was at the end when he announced that everyone in the audience was getting  a free copy of his book being released in February. I took the chance to shout out "It's like being on Oprah!" Maybe we should have an automobile professional for the next lecture - we'll get free cars and it will really be like Oprah! 

I stayed up late on Wednesday night to work on my Camp Wenonah application and then dragged myself out of bed on Thursday morning to go for a run. The fact that it was 3 degrees outside did not make for desirable conditions, but I pulled the lulu gloves out and braced the wind and cool temperatures. After running and attending my one class of the day, I went to help out with the LES Outdoor Club, for which we went on a hike to Mont Bellevue, a very small "mountain" behind the local high school. There were 55 kids and 11 adults, so the teacher in charge told the kids to get off the bus and find an adult to hike with. I was afraid that no one would choose to come with me because every other adult was a parent and therefore had a kid obligated to hike with them, but luckily 4 brave souls trusted me to lead them up the hill. We had a lot of fun hiking up and then all the kids tried to log roll down. At  the bottom, I tried to teach them how to play a camp game, camouflage and though they didn't really get the hang of it, they enjoyed playing their own version of it. 

My hiking group - Chelsea, Margo, Brooke and Cody

Rolling down Mont Bellevue!

Following Outdoor Club, I went to a focus group about food on campus. I mainly went for the  free refreshments. It was interesting to hear what other people have to say about the food - people want healthier food options and more variety in Dewies, a shorter line at Tim Hortons, lower prices at the Grill and somewhere to get food in the library. All are valid suggestions. The contract with Sodexo, the current supplier finishes at the end of the year, so a company has been hired to determine what we should do next. In addition to refreshments, I also got a free ticket to the Saturday football game. Way to go, me. 

That night, my friends had a bunch of people over for a Halloween Warm-Up party and to celebrate our friend Dave's birthday. I made brief appearances at it but was mainly stuck in my room doing homework. I did come down to sing Happy Birthday and eat cake (made by Hannah). In addition to eating delicious cake, I also finished my Camp Wenonah application and my practicum log. All in all, it was a very successful and filling night. 

Friday, I went to an education workshop with Vicki to prep for our teacher English exam at the end of the semester. Again, it was helpful, and I learned some more grammar rules. I will try to refrain from showing off my new knowledge in casual conversation, but think about it this way - if you make a grammar mistake and I correct it, you are helping me study for my exam and therefore helping the youth of the future! After the workshop, Vicki and I studied in Tim Hortons for a bit and then went to the free church supper. There was a book sale going on in the church, so I picked up some new material and then went with Jocelyn to a video presentation on the Quebec Charter of Values. I do not really understand the Charter, but from what I understand, it would ban people from wearing any sort of religious accessory if they are working in the public sector. I can see both sides of the argument, but really, does what someone is wearing really affect their ability to do their job? I would argue no. Back to the presentation, the discussion was led by the same professor who came last year to talk about being fired from McGill and I am sad to say, he did not do a very good job of leading the discussion - he more or less took over and gave us his whole life story. Regardless, I feel more knowledgeable about current affairs so thank you to Jocelyn for her efforts to make me a more cultured individual. However, we then came home to watch Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Holiday in the Sun, so I do not know how cultured I can really consider myself. 

On Saturday, Elizabeth, Hannah, Jocelyn and I went to the mall to prepare for Halloween! According to Facebook, it looks like most universities celebrated Halloween this past weekend, but not Bishop's! I am happy to report that I now have 4 costumes planned and have almost everything I need for them. I promise pictures documenting the entire costume process next week. I am sooo excited! After a long day of shopping (we shopped, we dropped), we came home and then went to our friends' apartment to hang out for a bit. I then made my first appearance at the Gait since Frosh week but I did not stay for too long. Being at bars really makes me despise tall people. They are always swinging their arms around and hitting me in the head!! But it is helpful to have tall friends that I can always pick out in the crowd! Going to the Gait did remind me of how much I love to go out and dance so maybe I will be a bit more adventurous over Halloweekend. 

Solo cup pyramid!

The boys invented a new game called Mop - you have to mop after every round!

Today, I allowed myself a sleep-in (until 10) and then got up to finish some lesson plans and go to my friend Paul's RA event, Jazzercise. Unfortunately, we did not have the dance studio booked out, so we were unable to actually do jazzercise, so Gaby and I stayed at the gym for a bit. Following that, I helped hand out flyers around town for Trick or Eat, a campaign happening on Wednesday, during which BU students will go around Lennoxville to collect canned goods. Jocelyn and I will be participating and I encourage everyone else to either a) participate if you are a BU student or b) donate to your local food bank this week and pretend you are donating to me. After that, I came home, tried to do homework, ended up on Pinterest, made dinner, did laundry and pretty much did everything except homework. Now, I am in desperate need of an ETB (Camp language for Early to Bed) and so after I bury myself in my textbooks for another hour or so, I will curl up in my trundle bed and prepare for what is sure to be an exciting week! Happy Halloween everyone! 

One of the houses that I dropped off at a flyer at - brains for dinner anyone?

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

PS I would like to have a moment of silence for my friend Gaby's laptop. After a well-fought battle against a can of Perrier, the Perrier won and the laptop is no longer turning on. :(

Getting Involved and Giving Back

Happy 293rd day of 2013! (Thank you Yahoo News)

There are only 72 days left of 2013! Can you believe it? Sorry, I had no other catchy thing to say today so I looked up "Today in History" for some ideas and that's all I felt was worth sharing. I will try harder next time. 

So I am officially in midterm season! My one and only midterm is 2 days away and I desperately need to get back to studying but need to take a break from differentiating between total and annular solar eclipses. As exciting as astronomy is, a girl can only handle so much. So I have climbed out of my studying hole to share with you all that I have been up to this past week. 

I always find that having a holiday on a Monday just throws my internal schedule completely off, and this week was no exception - it flew by!! I also only had a total of 4 classes this week (no I did not skip,   two were cancelled) so I have no idea what I was doing with my time. Tuesday, I had my practicum which was amazing, no surprise there. I got to teach my grade 3/4 English Language Arts class which was really fun. I got to do the pre-class greeting, call them all to the carpet and then lead them in a discussion about what they did over the long weekend. I asked them to only share one thing each, but from a few, I got a detailed description about everything on their Thanksgiving dinner table! We unfortunately did not have enough time for all of them to share and I felt really bad when I had to cut them off, but they needed to do their silent reading and language activities. After recess, my grade 6 class was doing math and I had to take a group out in the hall to go over the rules of divisibility and then later, I took two other students out to review regrouping. Being thrown into all these teaching situations in one day was a lot of fun but was also very stressful as I still feel as though I need to prove myself in the eyes of my students, so I want to make sure I know what I am doing. My Associate Teacher is wonderful though, and has been helping me out every the step of the way. 

This week: wish me luck as I teach drama to my grade 3s and 4s!

I came home from practicum, went to class, went for a run and then to the free student dinner. We finally remembered to bring our own plates with us! They served a turkey dinner, my third turkey dinner of the week. Unfortunately, the turkey made me very sleepy during astronomy, and when I was going over my notes I realized that I had written "cannot measure the size of stars but can do their mom's hair." Hopefully, the real statement behind that will not be on the midterm because I will definitely not know the correct answer.

Wednesday I did not have either of my afternoon classes, so my friend Vicki and I watched the saddest episode of Glee ever and made a video proposal for one of our classes. Later that afternoon, we went to the Humanities Wine and Cheese, which was a social in the Gait for all Humanities students (and friends). As the name suggests, there was free wine and cheese served. A lot of my friends were there and I hadn't planned on staying too long, but I got chatting with some friends and ended up staying for over an hour. It was also a bonus that I was sitting an arm's length away from the food table. I then went to Provigo, came home and made turkey burgers for Elizabeth and me for dinner. It didn't even click in my mind that I was eating turkey for the fourth time that week until I was putting the burger on my plate. Oh well, it was delicious anyway. 

Thursday, I had my first session working for the Peer Tutoring Services and met with two girls to work on their MAT 100 Assignment, a course that I took last year. I was a bit rusty on my fair division knowledge but I hope that I was able to give them a little bit of help (and that they hire me again). I then had my own class and volunteering with the LES Outdoor Club. At Outdoor Club, the students were divided into groups and given a map of historical buildings in Lennoxville. We then took them around town to take pictures of as many historical buildings as possible. My group was able to get to six different ones. Next week, we are going on a hike at Mount Bellevue, a mountain behind the local high school. I can't wait!

That night, I tried out a recipe my mom sent me for cauliflower and chicken chilli and I am happy to report that it was delicious! Lucky for me, the recipe said it was only supposed to serve 4 but made way more so I was able to eat the leftovers all weekend. I stayed in with Jocelyn for the night to rest up for a busy Friday and Saturday. Friday, all second year education students had to attend a conference in the Gait, called CAST II (Conference of Associate and Student Teachers). All of our professors, associate teachers and supervisors were there. We went over how we are going to be evaluated over the year, the program expectations and requirements and picked the date on which our supervisor will come watch us teach our lesson. My supervisor seems really nice, but I ended up spending most of the conference chatting with my associate teacher as we rarely get a chance to talk. Following the conference was the Education Wine and Cheese, so the teachers and supervisors filtered out and more education students and profs filtered in for more finger foods and free wine. It was fun to mingle with everyone, but I mainly sat around with my second year friends and talked about our different practicums. It was fun to hear about how they are going. 

After spending close to six hours in the Gait, I rushed home to get ready to go out for dinner with my two friends that I worked with in the summer, Gavin and Jared, who had invited me out to talk about the fast-approaching camp 2014 application. We took the bus into Sherbrooke and ate at a little restaurant called Antiquarius. Unfortunately, they did not have any English menus, so we all took a bit of a gamble with our orders. I think Gavin ended up with duck and Jared had a boar burger, whereas I stuck to soup and bruschetta. Despite being at such a small school, we rarely see each other around so it was nice to actually sit and catch up for a while, and it was certainly great to talk about camp. By the end of dinner, I even caught myself using camp slang again! 

Saturday, I got up bright and early because the day for Empty Bowls had finally arrived. I think I may have mentioned this event earlier, but essentially what happened was local potters made and donated 250 bowls which we sold for $25 each. When people showed up to the event, they were able to choose their bowl and then enjoy soups made by local chefs, served with a side of bread and an apple. The message behind the event is that even though the bowls are filled up, we must remember that there are many people whose bowls remain empty; the empty bowl that guests take home at the end serves as a permanent reminder of this. So anyway, the committee met at 8am to start the set up and we were working hard until the doors opened at 11. The event was a huge success! My Associate Teacher attended with her husband and she bought me a bowl (the one that I had painted) as a gift, which I was both surprised by and super thankful for. I unfortunately had to leave part way through, but heard that the event was a success right to the end. 

When I left Empty Bowls, I headed to campus for Big Buddies. We all had to wear a Halloween costume, so I was a cowgirl and my little buddy was a lion. She looked adorable! We then took the bus to the pumpkin patch, the same place I went apple picking with my Japanese students back in September. We played at the playground (aka I pushed Hannah on the swing for a solid 20 minutes) and then rode the tractor to the pumpkin patch. She picked out the heaviest pumpkin in the patch and I had the honour of carrying it around for her! We then picked and snacked on some apples and decorated our pumpkin. She was so exhausted by the end of it that she fell asleep on my lap on the bus ride home! 

Hannah and me at the pumpkin patch!

After an exhausting day, I came home and holed up in my room to do some homework for a while, stopping only to take a break for dinner. After another 2 hours of studying, my housemates and I went over to our friends' apartment where they taught us how to play their new red solo cup game called "Mop." The name comes from the fact that you have to mop the floor after every round. Needless to say, I should have worn my purple Hunters over to their place! I did get a chance to play a few rounds and ended with a 2-1 record. Nice job, Erica, if I do say so myself. 

Me "bartending" at our friends' apartment!

Today was a big working day, and I was able to complete a lesson plan, write two blog posts (check out my official school blog for more on Empty Bowls) and study at the library with my two friends for astronomy. After studying in the seminar room all afternoon, I have decided that I would like to get a large whiteboard in my room to practice teaching lessons on. I even have the wall for it picked out! Unfortunately, my hour study break is quickly coming to an end, and I have a load of laundry that requires my attention so I will bid you farewell! Have a wonderful week! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxo

PS I also received a letter from across the ocean from my friend Anna, who I worked with in the summer. I am super jealous of a club she is a part of called the Expedition Society; she goes camping or  mountain climbing every weekend! I will have to write back soon and make my life sound half as exciting as hers!  

Thanksgiving Fun!

Happy Thanksgiving Monday my dear friends, family and occasional readers! I hope that you had a weekend full of love, laughs and good food and had a chance to think about all the things that you are thankful for. I just arrived back in the Bishop's bubble after a lovely trip home to Ancaster, and I think I came back ten pounds heavier! It gets a little bit harder to leave my family every time, especially since I now won't see them until Christmas but I make the most of every minute that I get to spend with them. And being away from them means that I am here with my Bishop's family who make every moment in Lennoxville worthwhile! 

This week, my time was split almost equally between Ancaster and Lennoxville but I was as busy as ever until the moment I left. Monday was a typical class day followed by a trip to the grocery store with my friend Gaby aka the couponning queen. It was a popular day at the grocery store because I saw so many people that I knew - I guess everyone wanted to get the student discount only available on Mondays! I then came home and made pizza for my housemates BUT it was not just your ordinary pizza - one was a butternut squash, caramelized onion and goat cheese pizza and the other was a pesto, tomato and cheese pizza. They were delicious! (Try not to let your mouth water too much while looking at the pictures below)

Tuesday was a great day as per usual! We were almost late to practicum because there was sooo much construction on the way to Magog but we got there just as the buses were unloading. I love my practicum more and more each time that I go because my grade 6s are really starting to welcome me into their classroom. My associate teacher was dealing with some external issues that day so I got to watch over the grade 6s and the grade 3s for a bit which was really fun. I got to help out with the grade 6 science experiment again - this time they were making gelatine disks. My job was to pour the hot water onto their gelatine powder and then distribute food colouring. I had only been prepped on what the experiment was during the recess before the class so I did not really know how the experiment was supposed to go so I felt bad that I wasn't much help when the students were asking questions. Right before I left, I got to read the latest chapter in the story one of my students is writing. He is always so excited to show me his story and I love that he lets me read it every week! After I read it, I always leave him a little note with my thoughts! I can't wait to be a teacher!

Food colouring stained hands after Grade 6 science!

After practicum, I went to class, and then for a run and then to the student ministry dinner. I had astronomy class that night and we got to go to the observatory and look at a star cluster through the telescope. This was helpful because my topic for my final project is a specific star cluster, the Pleiades. After that, I came home and skyped my friend from Western. She was telling me about how she had broken her knuckle playing football on her rez team and was possibly going to need surgery! (Update: right now, surgery is not needed but she is being reassessed in two weeks). 

Wednesday, I had an Empty Bowls meeting in between classes and then a Student Alumni Association meeting at the end of the day. I am really excited for SAA because the goal is to make the committee more well known on campus this year. One of the things we are looking at doing is having an alumni lunch series in which we invite alumni in to chat with current students, which I think could be really useful for students. Also, in my education class that day, my prof had his wife come talk to us about teaching because she recently graduated from teacher's college and is now starting her first permanent contract. It was really helpful to hear some of her tricks of the trade; my favourite part was seeing her Pinterest board because she had some great classroom resources! I then spent an hour following class adding to my teacher pinboard! It's things like this that remind me that I am in the right program! 

Thursday, Elizabeth and I got up bright and early to leave for Montreal together. I got dropped off right at the airport and was so early for my flight that I was able to get on an earlier flight which got me home an hour earlier! Unfortunately, my mom was stuck in horrible traffic (as there were 3 accidents on the highway) so I had to spend some time in the airport. I made a stop at Starbucks, got a free tea sample at David's Tea and contemplated getting a ten minute manicure. I then accompanied my mom on some errands, including a dangerous trip to a shoe store (may or may not have picked out my birthday and Christmas presents) and lunch at William's Cafe. When I finally got home, my dad picked me up to go the Buffalo Sabres game. We went out for dinner at the Lexus Club at the arena; we chose the buffet which was so delicious! The game was not very exciting, as the Sabres lost 4-1 to Columbus but I did win a $5 gift card to Subway (which I gave to the usher because it is only valid in Buffalo). My dad also went to town at the gift store and got himself a hat, some sport utility gloves and a Tyler Ennis doll! We thought it would be funny to include him as a passenger at the border but despite the fact that he was buckled into the back, the border patrol did not even notice him. :(

Pumpkin Spice Latte in the airport!

Father-Daughter Game Night!

Friday, my mom, brother, sister and I took the Go train into Toronto to spend the day at the Eaton Centre. When we were all in elementary school, we used to go to the Eaton Centre every December on our PA Day so it was fun to relive our childhood tradition. After our shopping trip, we were supposed to meet our old babysitter and her new baby at her husband's burger joint downtown but she had to cancel last minute due to a catering emergency. We still decided to go to the burger joint, The Burger's Priest and I am happy to report that the burgers were delicious! I had one called "The Priest" which was a cheeseburger with a deep fried mozzarella-stuffed mushroom cap on top! While our meal was delicious, we really wanted to meet our babysitter's baby so we are already planning to go again the next time that I am home. 

On Saturday, we drove up to my mom's brother's cottage for the day. The weather was absolutely beautiful! Jamie and I went for a swim in the lake and then Lauren joined us for a paddleboard and kayaking session. It was just like being at camp! As soon as the sun went down, it got super cold so we went inside to enjoy our Thanksgiving dinner, prepared by my Aunt Jody. Since she provided dinner, it was our job to provide breakfast so we made pumpkin loaf and pumpkin pancakes. I wish that we could say we made them from scratch but we picked up the mixes at Indigo. After breakfast, we headed home and went over to my dad's house for the rest of the weekend. I met my friend who is still in high school in the afternoon to talk to her about Bishop's and concurrent education programs. She wants to apply to ConEd science so I invited her out here for a tour and a sleepover! I hope she decides to make the trip out! I can practice my tour guide skills on her! 

This morning, I went out for breakfast with my friends from skating to Cora's. It is a tradition for my friend Elena and me to go to Cora's every time I come home from school but this time we invited our other friends along. After breakfast, Elena and I went for a walk along the Bruce Trail and passed two waterfalls. We also decided to climb up the stairs at the end of the path but despite our superb physical shapes, we were out of breath by the time we got to the top as there were 300+ stairs!! Did I mention that we were wearing our fall coats and boots while everyone else was wearing tank tops and running shoes? Though we were not prepared for exercise, it was still a really nice walk. When I got home, I helped to prepare our Thanksgiving Monday "linner" (lunch+dinner) which we had around 3:00 in order for me to catch my flight back to school. I would like to send a shout out to Terri who made everything from scratch (right now to the cranberry sauce and pie crust). Side mention to Jamie and my dad for the bacon wrapped asparagus and the spetzla. After eating way too much food (again), my dad took me to the airport and I flew back to school. I got a ride back to my house and now here I am, gearing up for another exciting week!

Thanksgiving with the Zuckennedys!

So I guess I should take a moment to say what I am thankful for, as it is Thanksgiving and all. I am thankful for my wonderful family and all the love and laughs they constantly share with me. I am thankful that I was able to have such a wonderful weekend at home with them. I am thankful to have my two homes in Ancaster and my home in Lennoxville where I live with the best four housemates that a girl could ever ask for. I am thankful for all of my friends, both here at school and across the country and for all of the time we spend together. And I am thankful for all of you who made it all the way to this point of my post! Now, I must go and get ready for my practicum tomorrow and catch up on the sleep that I did not get this weekend!  

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxooxo Happy Thanksgiving!  

Who are you running for?

Happy Sunday everyone!! I hope that this finds you well, no matter where you are and that you had a fantastic week and a great start to the month. Back on Monday, I thought that this week was going to be really rough for me, as I had a lot on my to-do list and did not think I would have a moment to spare. However, I surprised even myself with my work ethic this week and here I am with only a lesson plan for Wednesday left to complete (excluding my big projects that are not due until November). To reward myself, I am going to go to bed early. 

Official House Photo organized by Jocelyn

So as I said, on Monday, I was feeling quite overwhelmed because my list of things to-do seemed to be a mile long. Projects, readings, lesson plans, meetings - you name it, it was probably on my list. On top of that, it was my night to make dinner as well. Despite having all this to do, after my classes, I went to watch the season premiere of Glee with my friend Vicki in her rez room, and we are both such "gleeks" that we were crying tears of happiness by the end of it (I won't say why because I do not want to spoil it for anyone who has not watched it yet). Following that, I came home to make okonomayki (Japanese pancakes for my housemates. I was not sure at all how it would turn out but it ended up being pretty good and received decent reviews from my diners. 

My first attempt at Okonomayaki!

On Tuesday (aka the best day of the week) I went to the second day of my practicum. Sadly, I did not document my outfit this week but I wore a green sweater and a black high waisted pants in case you were wondering. I got to be in charge of one half of the grade three class while they worked on writing myths and I helped to scribe for one boy who was having trouble writing. I also set up a science experiment for my grade six class and we had a question and answer period about being a university student. And then (here comes the exciting part) I got to eat lunch in the teacher's lounge! Talk about feeling grown up! 

Tuesday afternoon, I helped the potter making the bowls for our Empty Bowls event apply base glaze to a bunch of pots. I know, I know, you are wondering why someone trusted me with anything slightly artistic but the ones that I glazed turned out just fine!! Tuesday night, we went to the student ministry dinner but we were a bit late to arrive and so when we got there, the line for food was halfway down the street! Word is spreading about the student dinners; there are more and more people every week. So we have promised ourselves that we will get there earlier this week to ensure we get to the front of the line. After scarfing down my dinner, I went to astronomy class, following which we went up to the observatory but by the time the telescope was set up, the sky clouded over and we were not able to see anything. Better luck next time. 

Wednesday I met with a prof to discuss my application for my year abroad. It was very helpful; he gave me some recommendations of schools to look at, and I really like the prof, so we ended up just chatting for a bit. Then, in my next two classes, we discussed lesson plans in both, making for  total of 3 hours of lesson planning!! Welcome to the life of a teacher.  I did not mind because it was very helpful and I love doing it, so it was not really that bad. I spent the rest of Wednesday doing a lot of homework by I took a break to watch the premiere of MasterChef Junior - wow those kids can cook! They range from 8-13 years old and are already way past me in terms of cooking skill. I can't wait to see what else they are able to cook for the judges! 

Thursday, I went to campus to help out with the first part of our Empty Bowls event. We were putting on a free bowl painting session for the community, so Lucy (the potter) brought down 90 of the bowls she made and people were able to stop by and paint a few. It was a huge success, with appearances from the BU principal, the SRC president, the Champlain director and many other "dignitaries" as we were calling them. A lot of my friends stopped by as well which was nice, and we painted a few bowls together. While I do not see a glazing career in my future, it was certainly a fun experience. 

Vicki and I painting bowls!

Thursday afternoon, I helped out with the LES Outdoor Club again and this time, the students were identifying different trees on their school campus based on the leaves and fruits of the tree. I wanted to teach them a game from camp called tree dates but there wasn't time. Following that, I met with a few of my Empty Bowl Committee members for a tour of the church that we will be hosting our event at. On the tour I learned that the church director who was giving us the tour is the twin brother of my landlord! Just another example of how small the Eastern Townships are! 

After a quiet night in on Thursday, I went to the library on Friday morning, followed by a workshop for an exam that all pre-service teachers have to take. It is an exam on English grammar, to show that you know not only how to use correct grammar but also how to correct students' errors. The test is two parts: the first part is fill in the blanks and multiple choice and the second is writing a letter and an email to parents. I will hopefully be writing it at the end of November. Following that, my friend Vicki and I spent the afternoon together, with a trip to Provigo, an astronomy assignment party and then dinner at the church (it was another free one). That night, my housemates had a games night at our house and had our friends over to play Bananagrams, Monopoly and Scattegories. I had the absolute worst luck in Monopoly (I went to jail three times) but I won 2 of the 3 rounds of Bananagrams!  

My new purple laptop case arrived on Friday!
Macky is no longer naked!

Saturday was the second best day of the week because it was the first day of BIG BUDDIES!! My little buddy Hannah is adorable but sadly, she wouldn't pose for a picture with me (or for anyone). We had a circus themed event at the Gait, complete with a magician, apple bobbing, pie in the face and popcorn. However, all Hannah wanted to do was chase seagulls, so that is exactly what we did. I had so much fun and I assume that she did too since she asked if she could come back on Sunday! I can't wait to see her in two weeks when we will go pumpkin picking together. 

While I was at Big Buddies, Hannah had let one of her frosh use our kitchen to bake cupcakes for her friend's birthday so that night, we delivered the cupcakes to her residence. I was experiencing total deja vu being back in rez on a party night so I left to meet up with Vicki and two other RAs, Erin and Tony. While I was there, my friend Gaby texted me asking if I wanted to take her spot in Run for the Cure the next day as she wasn't able to go anymore. I had forgotten that she had asked me the week before but thought that it could be fun, so I said yes. I then quickly came home to go to bed and rest up for the run.

I met the Pink Ribbon Society team on campus at 8am to head the race this morning. I luckily had one pink athletic sweater to wear the event as it was in support of Breast Cancer! I had always wanted to do a Run for the Cure but had never had the chance to participate in one so I was extremely excited to go. My friends Sara and Katelyn were also running in it so we, along with the rest of the club arrived bright and early for our team photo at 8:40am. I then got my face painted, made a sign for Alyson, my skating coach who was diagnosed with breast cancer during my final year on her team, and got ready to race. The park where the event was held was beautiful and the sun came out as we were running which was a nice change after the chilly morning. There was a great assortment of snacks post-run as well. I am so happy that I went and I will definitely be participating in Run for the Cure every year from now on, no matter what city I am in! 

BU Pink Ribbon Society!

Myself, Sara and Katelyn pre-race!
My sign says "I am running for my skating coach"

Modelling our beautiful face paint!
(Later, I accidentally wore my face paint to the gym...)

As for the rest of today, I finished an astronomy assignment, went for a swim and did some laundry and  will now spend some time finishing my lesson plan. Sad story - the activity that I made my lesson around involved using the NASA website but it is shut down due to the all the problems in the US government!! Hopefully my prof will understand. :(

On another note, just 4 sleeps left until I make my triumphant return back to Ancaster for Thanksgiving! I will be home from Thursday afternoon until Monday early evening which is considerably longer than my last trip home. I am super excited to see my family and friends who will also be home from school so I cannot wait! Elizabeth and I head out at 8am on Thursday morning and I will catch my flight after dropping her off at the train station. See you soon Ancaster!

And finally, here is an exciting bit of news - Sherbrooke is getting a Starbucks (and there is a rumour about a second one) but there is one for sure opening at the new Target at the mall! Luckily for my wallet, it is far away so it will only be on special occasions but I want to find out the day that it opens so I can be there for the grand opening! My housemate Sarah is equally as excited as me so I am sure that she will come along to purchase celebratory Starbucks drinks! 

So I will leave you with that as I dive back into lesson planning! Have a wonderful week everyone! Go get yourself a pink ribbon in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month! Enjoy the beautiful weather we are having before it goes away for another year! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo