Welcome to Hawaii

Aloha everyone! Happy last week of February! And happy last day of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games! I am proud to be a citizen of the country that placed 3rd in the medal count for the Games! I cannot believe that the Olympics are over!! Not to sound like a broken record, but time is flying by! Unfortunately, that also means that deadlines are flying closer and my stress level is flying through the roof. My agenda and to-do list are attached to my hip all the time and I am working hard to climb the mountain of work that I am buried under. In other news, after a long cold spell, the temperatures started to rise this week, meaning melting snow and lots of puddles, but it was perfect for our Hawaiian party this past weekend. All in all, it was a FANTASTIC week for many, many reasons, so here is a look back on it all:

Monday was Jocelyn's 20th birthday so in an effort to decorate at 6:30 in the morning, I tried to put some balloons on her bedroom door, which failed miserably so I gave up on that. I then went to practicum and taught my Olympic-themed lesson to my grade 3/4 class. I set up 4 different stations for my students to rotate through: one had a video to watch, one was a creative writing activity, one was an Olympic discussion and the last was a design your own medal activity, The medal design was the most popular one by far but the others went well also. I got to sit in on the discussion station for a bit where my students talked with each other and shared their opinions on different aspects of the Gmaes. At the end of the class, I got a chance to call them all back to the carpet and ask for some feedback; they all liked the stations and one even said that he wished we could have done each activity for an entire class. I also let them show off their medals to each other and some came up with really creative designs, so I asked them if I could put photocopies in my portfolio. Then, because of the snow storm the previous Friday, many students were absent for the class bake sale so they put out all the leftover desserts during recess and I got to man the bake sale with my students I was so happy when they pulled out the brochures that I had made with them the previous week and put them out on display! Some even showed them to other students and teachers to show off the animals. The bake sale ended up raising over $100 which is double what they wanted to raise! After recess, I did a sharing circle with my grade 6 class and then read with one of my students in the library during library buddies. At the end of each library session, one student reads a story to the whole class, so this week I asked if I could read one. I will have to pick out a book in the library tomorrow morning! 

After practicum, I had my K-E class and a meeting with my prof Sunny, where we talked about differentiating instruction for second language learners. She brought Valentine's chocolates to snack on during the meeting. After that, I went to the gym with the birthday girl, to Provigo and then home to have a birthday supper made by Hannah. She also made Jocelyn a birthday cake and we gave her her presents. I got her a Duck Dynasty "Work hard, nap hard" shirt and knit her a red headband, Hannah got her a "Bed and Breakfast" shirt and Elizabeth got her earrings. We also all threw some food into our gifts. Overall, I think she had a good day. Happy Birthday Bogmate!

Happy 20th Birthday Jocelyn!

It was a late night for homework on Monday and then I was up early on Tuesday to do some more. I went for a run into Sherbrooke and then had a planning meeting with the design team for the Education Gala, which consists of myself, my friend Kirsten and a first year student/former event planner Janet. We started planning a Great Gatsby/Roaring 20s theme but then became conflicted when we remembered that we were serving lasagna, so we may now switch to an Under the Tuscan Sun/Night in Italy theme. We have another meeting Tuesday so hopefully we will finalize it then. After our meeting, I bought my first roll up the rim tea and didn't win, sadly and then went to my two afternoon classes. In my psych class, I found out that I got a 93% on my midterm, which was a nice little surprise. After class, I studied in the Gait for a bit and then met my friends Gaby and Ellen at the student ministry dinner. They were serving a rice and vegetable dish and salad - delicious, as per usual. Then, I had my night class, in which I had a quiz and a Reading Circle group meeting. We are well on our way to putting on a great presentation for Alice in Wonderland. My next task is to find a Queen of Hearts costume! After class, I talked to my mom and dad on the phone before finishing some homework and climbing into bed. 

Wednesday, I got to go to practicum again because one of my friends was unable to go on Monday and was going on Wednesday and offered to take me with her. It was great to surprise my students! It was backwards day so when I got to school I had to do a quick change before they would let me into the classroom! Since it was a last minute visit, I did not have any prepared lessons so instead I helped some students one-on-one in the 3/4 class. After recess, I taught my first full lesson to my grade 6 class, which was an end-of-cycle math exam practice question. It was very nerve-wracking to get up in front of my grade 6s on my own for the first time but overall they were great and really supportive towards me. Tomorrow, I will be teaching them an Ethics and Religious Culture lesson, so wish me luck! They have ERC with a different teacher so it will be interesting to get some feedback from a new source. 

After practicum 2.0, I came back to campus to go to my afternoon class and then I went to the health clinic for the first time because I thought that maybe my wisdom teeth were coming in. The nurse did not really know what it was so just suggested I do a salt water rinse four times a day. Ew. Good thing it is almost reading week so I can go home to my dentist dad. After that, I had planned on going to the gym but Hannah called me from home where they were experiencing Internet problems, so I ended up on the phone with Bell for 45 minutes. When I was finally transferred to someone who seemed able to help me, he said I needed to be at home, so I had to pass the task off to Hannah. After another hour on the phone, the Internet finally came back on, so thank you to Hannah for dealing with the Bell representatives. I still do not know why we had a problem. Ohh technology. Finally, I was able to go the gym and then came home to make pizza for dinner for my housemates. I made one Greek pizza and one pesto-tomato-mushrrom pizza. Both were delicious, if I do say so myself. After dinner, I debated going to the library, which did not end up happening; instead, I watched the Olympic recap in my room and then helped my sister select which high school courses to take next year. I hope I was able to help! Oh yes, and while talking to my family, I got to send a birthday shoutout to my 6 year old puppy Sophie! Happy Birthday Soph the Loaf! Hope all your doggie dreams come true this year (though you can still only have 12 kibble per meal, sorry)!

Thursday, I was able to sleep in a little bit and then got up to do some homework, watch some skating and go for a swim. I had my two afternoon classes; during my second one, a group of girls came in about halfway through and informed us all that the Canadian women's hockey team had won gold which was super exciting!! After class, I went to the Gait to help with our Golden Key fundraiser at Happy Hour, where we were raising money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. We had a "Guess How Many" pitcher of candy, a photo booth which funny exercise equipment, a hula hoop contest and lots of GK swag to give away. The event was a success, though I felt bad because I had to leave about halfway through to quickly run home, grab my bag and run back to Mackinnon to work for the night. But I got there just in time to start my rounds! While I was on duty, a couple of the boys were outside in the Mack courtyard building snow forts and having a snow ball fight. They told me that I could not come outside but that I could stand by the door to let them in when they were finished. I didn't realize doorman was a part of my job description. Later that night, all of the Mack RAs were up in the kitchen together making Kraft Dinner for themselves and some residents, so it was fun to get to hang out with all of them in between rounds. It was a pretty quiet night because there was a big party in Sherbrooke so nothing exciting happened. On my last round, I did not expect to see anyone since the building had been quiet, so I wore my pyjamas...of course every resident I saw commented on them. But it did enable me to get to bed earlier than 4, so despite the fashion violation, it was a good choice on my behalf. 

Vicki enjoying some late night KD

On Friday, I got up, typed out some notes and then went to the gym with one of the Mack residents. I then came home to do some homework, shower and get ready to go the mall with my housemates. I am happy to report that I have so far been able to stick with my one Carrefour visit per month. I was able to get a cute shirt for $5, some Hawaiian decorations from Dollarama and some things from Staples for my teaching portfolio. Around 4:30, my lack of sleep from the night before all of sudden hit me, so Elizabeth and I got on the next bus home to come back to Lennoxville. Once we were home, I passed out for 2 hours and slept right through Sarah's dinner. When I woke up, Hannah's friend Allie, who came to visit for us for the weekend from Ottawa, had arrived. I looked a bit like a drowned rat/zombie when I woke up, but I didn't seem to scare her off too much, which was a plus. We had a pretty quiet night, and I had planned to go to bed early but somehow ended up researching NYC plans until 2am. Oopps! I am just really excited to plan our itinerary and actually go! Just 9 short days from now!!

Saturday, I got up, did some readings and went for a run. The path that I wanted to run on was still covered in snow, so I took a new route through a different area of Lennoxville, which was good except for all the puddles! I then had Big Buddies, at which the theme was Sugar Shack, so Hannah and I got to eat pancakes, build a snowman, go on a horse and carriage ride and have maple syrup on snow. So much sugar! All Hannah wanted to do was ride the elevator in the SUB and play tag, which was fine by me. 

Hannah and me on the sleigh ride!

After Big Buddies, I hung out in Tim Horton's for a bit, streamed the Olympic Figure Skating Gala and planned one of my lessons for practicum. I then went to the SAQ and came home for dinner made by Hannah, which was soup, cheese and bread. I did a bit more homework after dinner but then it was time to get ready to go to HAWAII!! (Aka decorate our house for our "HaWINE-in" themed party). We put up our Christmas lights, a birthday banner, balloons and (my contribution) the current Hawaii weather forecast. We then all got ready in Hawaii-esque outfits, ranging from crop tops to colourful Hawaiin shirts, topped with leis and visors. Then, to really get wild, we gave each other temporary tattoos from McDonalds. Mine was a figure skater on my back. We are pretty cool people. 

After the tattoo parlour shut down for the night, our guests started arriving. Some people really got into the theme - my one friend Sarah brought pina colada drink mix, and her and our other friend Elliot brought pineapples! They were several Hawaiian shirts, a few grass skirts and lots and lots of leis! Unfortunately, our student budget did not allow us to replicate the exact temperate of Hawaii, so that part was left to the imagination. We had 4 birthdays to celebrate - Jocelyn, our two friends Maddy and Sarah and Hannah's visiting friend Allie, so Hannah and her assistant Allie made a carrot cake for the occasion, which was, as usual, delicious. It was not our busiest party but it was a good number of people for our little house and people ended up staying into the wee hours of the a.m. A lot of people were pulling all nighters until the hockey game. To show our Canadian spirit, everyone in my house got up to watch the game, though majority of us dipped in and out of sleep while watching. Luckily, every time I heard the goal buzzer go off I was woken up so I got to see all of the goal replays. We woke up to watch each player get his medal, for both Sweden and Canada. Actually, quick side story here - back at Christmas, my grandpa bet my brother, cousin, two uncles and Darryl that Sweden would win and everyone else bet that Canada would, so now my Grandpa owes each one of them $20! He was probably hoping they would all forget by now - sorry Gramps! I knew I should have gone in on the bet! So congratulations Canada!! We all knew (except my grandpa) that you would bring home the gold! 

Don't forget your sunscreen! 

TLC presents: Lennoxville Ink

Following the game, the normal person thing to do would be to go back to bed, but when I have ever been anywhere close to being normal? I made myself some breakfast and cleaned up the house, did some laundry and then planned my second lesson for Monday. After that, it was time to go to public skating; luckily, Allie had brought her skates with her so Jocelyn, Hannah, Allie, Sarah and myself all went down to the rink together. Elizabeth was catching up on her sleep and writing a paper. We met up with our friends Mitch, Phil, Mark and Chris there and skated until 2:45. At the rink, there was a fundraiser for the Pink Ribbon Society going on, so Jocelyn and I made a donation to get a post-skating hot chocolate and baked good. Then, I had to run over to Paterson for a group meeting for my Alice in Wonderland project, where we made the "invitations" to our presentation. They are little teacups that say "An invitation to play croquet with the the Queen...Don't be late or off with your head." We also planned out our stations and Dom started working on our photo collage that will run during the presentation. Our presentation is the second week after reading week so we still have some time to finish everything up. 

After my meeting, I went to the library to study for my midterm and then came home to have tacos made by Elizabeth and finish up some laundry. I did some prep for practicum, made my lunch (and dinner because I am on duty tomorrow night) and now have to go put my clean sheets on my bed so I can catch up on the sleep I did not get last night. I want to be well rested to teach my two lessons and read my story tomorrow - good thing I will also have a Keurig cappuccino to help me out! I also have knitting club tomorrow, which I am excited about since I have not been in a while! I miss my knitting buddies! I have to start a new project though since I finished my hat and Jocelyn's headband. I think I am going to try leg warmers, Hannah said she would show me how to add stitches. Not that I have much free time to knit at school but with three big bus rides coming up, maybe I can squeeze some time in then! I have just 4 days left in Lennoxville before I head home to Ancaster for few days and then hit the road for NYC! Before that though, I have lots to do here at school, including a midterm and an assignment due before the break. Luckily, we have reached the end of my most recent week here in Lennoxville,  so we can all go to bed now and rest up to enjoy our last week of the shortest month of the year!

Wishing you a wonderful week! Make sure you tune into Glee which starts up again on Tuesday night! 

All my love, Erica xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

PS Here are some photos from the Fashion Show Photo Booth! 

Let's be serious, we should have been models! 

PPS Congratulations to my friends Sarah and Katelyn who are the club heads for the BUMT Reading Circle program. Their club won an award for Outstanding Community Service on Thursday night!

PPPS Shout out to all the Nexxice teams that competed at Nationals this past week! They all came within the top 4 of their categories and I couldn't be a prouder number 1 fan!