¿Alguien Dijo Fiesta

First things first: 

Not only is it Jamie's 13th birthday, but it is his champagne birthday (turning 13 on the 13th)! So happy birthday to the world's best baby brother! Jamie, your present is wrapped up in my suitcase, awaiting delivery at the end of April. 

So good evening everyone! I hope that wherever you are, spring has started to blossom! I am happy to report that here at 27 Rue William-Paige we have had our first sighting of our front lawn and the path to our front door is now cleared! All that remains is a small pond at the bottom of the steps down to the road, but as long as you are either a) wearing rain boots or b) have a long stride, you're good. it has been sunny and warm(ish) here for the past week, a nice change from the eternal winter. The challenge that exists now is fighting the urge to go outside and forcing myself to stay inside and study for my exams. 

Alrighty, so Monday was a rough day as it was my first week without practicum. While I missed seeing my students' smiling faces, I did appreciate sleeping in past 6:30am. It was also the Quebec provincial election on Monday, so we all had the day off of school. I did not get to vote unfortunately,  but for those who didn't hear, the Liberal party came out on top with a majority government. I spent most of Monday writing my essay on Matilda and went for a swim with Hannah. For her job in the summer, she had to time herself performing a rescue in the pool and I got to be her victim. I am happy to report that I survived, so I guess we can consider her qualified to do her job. After swimming, I went to the grocery store and then came home to get ready for the knitting club potluck dinner. Hannah made a really good pasta salad, Sarah made brownies and I pulled out all of my culinary skills and chopped up a pineapple. We had a great assortment of food at the potluck, ranging from a curry dish to a vegetarian crock pot dish to a zucchini chocolate chip cake (made by Gaby).  We had a great time eating and knitting, and we joked that we were all acting like stereotypical domestic housewives.  Regardless, it was a great potluck and I was able to finish one of my purple leg warmers - a successful ending to the knitting club season!

Tuesday, I had a group meeting with my Vision School project team so we met bright and early in the library to go over our lesson plans so far. After our meeting, one of my groups members, Ashley and I went to meet with our professor to go over our work. Following that, I had my last Reading Process class, where we celebrated with Tim Horton's coffee, timbits and Easter chocolate. I spent the rest of the afternoon working and made a stop at the gym before meeting my housemates and Gaby at the final Student Ministry supper of the year. We had a great lasagna meal, but I was unfortunately too late to take advantage of the ice cream bar. I just want to extend a giant thank you to the Student Ministry for feeding me and my fellow students every Tuesday throughout the school year. The food was always delicious and filling and it was such a treat to have dinner prepared by the group each week. I will miss the community suppers when I am living on different campuses through the spring and fall. 

Following dinner, I had my last Children's Lit class, which was only a 20 minute quiz, and then went to the library for a bit. I felt really bad because I made a huge ruckus choosing a seat and getting my work station set up and then when I finally went to turn my laptop on, the battery was dead so I had to pack up and move to the computer lab. Sorry to my fellow studiers. Wednesday was the last day of classes - which I could not believe - and I started my day early with a meeting with my Children's Lit professor and my Alice in Wonderland group project team. We discussed how our presentation went and got a really good review, ending with a 92% overall! The class gave us some really nice feedback and it was great to hear that they enjoyed our activities and our costumes and not just our food! Following the meeting, I spent the rest of the morning in the Education computer lab before having my last K-E class. In this class, Dr. Stonebanks gave us some parting thoughts to carry with us in our teaching careers. He said that traditional teaching often seems to follow a script but if we want to be great teachers, we have to be willing to change the words. He encouraged us to remember all that we had learned in his class and not be afraid to take risks with anti-traditional teaching approaches. I hope that I will be able to do this. 

After class, I did some homework on campus and went to the gym before heading home to make dinner. I got in touch with my grade 9 food and nutrition class roots and made spaghetti squares, the dish I made for the high school culminating task. Despite the fact that it was almost identical to dinner the night before, with only a pasta substitution, my housemates did not seem to mind. Following dinner, I holed up in my room to get some studying done for my fast-approaching weekend exam. I also managed to watch an episode each of MasterChef Canada and Hell's Kitchen  - good thing I'm a great multitasker!

Thursday, I had a morning appointment at the Writing Centre to go over my Matilda essay, following which I had to hustle to finish it up at the library so I could hand it in that afternoon. As I was writing, I kept wanting to reference the musical that Elizabeth and I had seen over Spring Break, but unfortunately the opportunity to incorporate the song lyrics did not arise. Anyway, I was able to finish my essay before my Reading Process exam review session and got it to my prof before the end of the day. Also, the Education sweater order came in that day so I was able to pick up my new hoodie. It is white with BU Education written in purple on the front. It was fun to see everyone wearing the sweaters around campus over the next few days. I proudly wore my sweater home, but unfortunately had to take it off to go for a run. Then, Jocelyn and I had a shovelling party before I headed down to campus for work. Since we are in exam season now, my work shifts only go until 11:45, meaning I am able to walk home after my shift, so my sleepovers in Mack are done for the year! Security has also been great about giving me lifts to the front of campus at the end of the night, which cuts a good 7 minutes off of my walk home. On my way home, I ran into my friends Matt and Sarah, who were at the Mardi Gras Fundraiser at the Lion. We had a nice chat outside the bar and I would have gone inside to chat longer, but my bed was calling my name and I didn't want to it to be lonely. 

Friday was my first day that I did not have to be on campus for any meetings, appointments, etc. However, Macky was having a rough time again, so I decided to take her to ITS to have them open up the back and see if they could figure out the RAN drive problem. They looked inside for me, reset the parts and gave me a complimentary screen cleaning. I went for a swim and then had a workshop with Dr. Stonebanks' wife Melanie who taught us how to use an online Learning Evaluation Situation creator called DotPlan which is going to be so, so useful!! At the end of the workshop, I was able to talk to her about my group project's unit plan and she gave me some great input on that as well, as she had done a similar unit with her students when she was still teaching. Following the workshop, I had an information session with all the students going on exchange in the fall to pick up information on applying for a VISA. Also, applications to my school officially opened on Wednesday so this week I will mail in my official application to the Université Francois-Rabelais! Keep your fingers crossed for me! I have picked out most of my classes and now just need to get them approved and then I should be all set! The one problem now is my VISA application as I need to do it before I leave for Disney World for the summer. Hopefully, this will not be a problem...

The meeting went until dinnertime, so Gaby, who is also going on exchange to France in the fall and I  went to the last free Friday church supper. They changed the location for it, so we had to go on a bit of a hike to get there, but it was definitely worth it. There was ham, mac and cheese, quinoa casserole, bread and salads and about 4 different kinds of pie for dessert! Gaby gave up desserts for lent, so I felt a bit guilty enjoying my sampler of pies in front of her, but she did not seem to mind too much. Luckily, it is almost Easter so lent is almost over. I admire her commitment to no desserts, as I don't think I could have stuck to it with the dessert spread they had there!

Following dinner, I went back to Gaby's house to study before heading home to rest up for my exam.  During one of our study breaks, we checked out the residences at UFR and watched videos of the different room styles, which was a lot of fun. Saturday, I woke up and walked to campus with Hannah, who also had a morning exam.  I spent the next 3 hours recalling everything I knew about the Reading Process, and I am happy to say that I think my exam went well overall. There was a lot of writing required, so I needed to give my hand a little break after finishing. 

Then it was time to come home to get ready for our FIESTA! On my way back from campus, I went to Provigo to get ingredients to make mojitos and the only thing they were sold out of was soda water. Who runs out of soda water?? Luckily, the drug store next door had some, so the day was saved. While walking, I called my brother to wish him a happy birthday, realizing mid-way through singing that his birthday was the next day. Oh well. I just really wanted to be first. After my trip to the store, I came home to a s a Mexican themed taco dinner prepared by Elizabeth and then we had a house cleaning and decorating pre-party. Thank you to our friend Kirsten who assisted with the preparation. Hannah, with some assistance from Jocelyn, made two different pinatas and Elizabeth hung up a pin the tail on the donkey game. We really wanted to get in the Mexican spirit! And then before we knew it, guests arrived and it was time to stop siesta-ing and start FIESTA-ing! We had fun Spanish/Mexican playlist on for a while and we had a costume contest for the best dressed guest. We had a few people sporting sombreros, some all-inclusive resort guests, a border worker, a destination wedding group - quite the variety. I was dressed as the Mexican flag. The night was a lot of fun, making our final party of the semester a definite success! 

Pin the tail on the donkey! 

Recipe: http://australianfood.about.com/od/alcoholic/r/strawberry_mojito.htm 

Mixing my mojitos! 

I was wearing green tights and had the eagle design pinned to my skirt to complete my flag costume!

Today has been a typical Sunday, with studying, procrastinating and a late evening run, just to get out of the house for a bit. After finishing this, I am going to make my cheat sheet for my exam tomorrow and then work on my professional portfolio for a bit before going to bed to rest up for my final busy week. I have an exam tomorrow and my professional interview on Wednesday. I also have to finalize my exchange forms, choose my residence at UFR and send everything across the pond. I have two last assignments to finish up, a Golden Key Dinner on Wednesday and an Easter supper with my friends on the weekend. It will b my first Easter away from home, but I have a lot to do and have only two weeks left in Lennoxville for 2014 so I have to make the most of every moment of my time here!

Oh yes, and as of today, there is only one month left until I jet off to Florida! Sunshine and Mickey Mouse here I come! 

Wishing you a wonderful week! 

All my love, 

Erica xoxoxoxoxoxox