Staying Connected

On a similar note to the last on Blogging, there are multiple ways of connecting with me online.
If you are not a Gather or MySpace user there are two IM options and one VoIP option:
1) MSN Messenger - Find me under m[lastname] @msn.com. Don't bother emailing me at this address though as I don't use it. I do see in "Msn Today" if I have mail.

2) Yahoo Messenger, which I often neglect to turn on primarily because very few of my friends are on it exclusively. You can find me here at mandy[lastname] @yahoo.ca

3) Gizmo - This is my new favourite toy. It's a great, free Voice over IP - which means if you have a mic we can talk for free just like a phone. Sound wise it is much better than any Messenger and more reliable. Gizmo is one of the best options for VoIP because it is compatible with both Macs and PCs - which is good for me because many of my friends and family use Macs (wish I was one of them!). Plus, it offers very cheap long distance rates if you call a landline. (Gizmo to Gizmo is free)
You'll find me on Gizmo with my name.

Mandy

Blogging

I have been blogging a lot more lately - but not here in our "what's new" blog for friends and family.
However, for those persons who actually read this (anyone??) and who might also be interested in what else spews out of my keyboard besides academic papers and proposals (and emails) here are a few links for blogs and my two webpages:
Mandy on Gather (where I do most of my blogging)
Mandy on MySpace
Mandy on MSN
Mandy's Personal Webpage (replacing the lost one)
Mandy's Academic Webpage

Mandy

Holiday Update

The season of back-to-back festivities is almost over.
Ours was very enjoyable this year. No rushing, just meandering to gatherings, enjoying good company, and such.
I apologize to anyone still waiting for their Yule/Christmas card. I didn't do them this year - too busy with my comprehensive exam WHICH I PASSED!!!! (Just heard on Boxing Day)
Instead I threw together this e-card webpage as a substitute. It was supposed to have new photos for all to see, but the digital camera is still not back :( (However, it is done at the shop. Now the warranty people have to deal with the bill and the electronic shop has to courier it back to us - sometime in early January I expect)
The e-card was a catch-up for people who don't read the blog. For those of you who do I guess there are a few new tidbits I can add here about life in our house.

Before the holidays we visited with my grandparents in St. Catharines again. This time we took Darla - we had the realization that travels are more difficult with a dog! Aside from having to rely on the kindness of our host to accomodate our baby (which fortunately our family is very willing to do, being dog people without dogs; Darla is also well behaved) the actual travel itself is a pain. Flying back to Winnipeg this summer for a wedding should prove interesting. Driving is a trial. Darla needs a seatbelt harness!!! She doesn't like the tinted back windows, so she's forever trying to see out the front ones. We took her with us to Rita and Ted's for Christmas dinner. On the drive home the next day I let her sit on my lap just so I wouldn't throw my back holding her back.
Christmas dinner was delicious. Tortiere pie (just like mom's) and turkey with all the fixings. It was actually hosted by friends of my aunt and uncle, who are also dog lovers and insisted we bring Darla. She was the centre of attention and very well behaved. Still, she needs more training when I can get her into spring classes.

Christmas eve was here - a fabulous fondue with Monica and Denis. It was also Denis' birthday, so there was a divine tiramisou to follow dinner. Played cards, drank wine, had a great time. Monica and Denis stayed the night and we enjoyed french toast and hashbrowns in the morning.
And since people always ask me about gifts, let's see... I got ice skates (of course the weather is now WARM), DVDs galore, a couple of fairy t-shirts, fun socks, a vase (that magically did not break in the mail), Jack Johnson CD, green goddess bag, Christmas decorations, movie passes, will be buying books with some money...
Robin got tupperware for his lunches (that was me), DVDs, the new INXS CD, Spiderman window figure, books, gift certificates (he bought a multi-function rotary tool), a cordless drill and bits (almost forgot that one, even though I got it)...
His father treated us to a gorging dinner at red lobster on the 23rd (via gift certificate). Yummmmmm.

We celebrated Yule with the coven on the 22nd - more good food. And I celebrated Yule myself by driving out to the airport to pick up Alisha for 12:13am on the 21st. I brought her back to our home because she wanted to see it and meet Darla. We yacked for a few hours, and then it was back to the airport for 5:30am as she completed her flight from England to Winnipeg. Four hours of driving the 401 in the dark... Fortunately it was good road conditions and little traffic at those hours. Got home myself at 6:30 (as her flight would have been taking off) and stayed up to drive Robin to work for 8. We went early and had breakfast at the Morning Glory Cafe, which was the perfect end to my all-night event. It was a good day.


Before all the official holiday festivities we had a house warming / Yule party here. Our first party! It was a great success, even with only half the expected guests (the weather was frightful). There was a lot of food! Good food! We played Cranium, girls versus guys. I don't even recall who won.
All that remains for festivities are two new years events: New Years Eve with the coven and our families playing Cranium or Things and New Years Day with Robin's cousin watching movies. Yep, nice and relaxing!

So what's in the future? Well I have one more exam to prepare for - another comprehensive exam, this time in my specific chosen fields of specialization which are: sociology of religion, new religious movements, and religion and late modernity and pop culture. I am actually looking forward to my readings! I'll also have to write an exam to demonstrate that I am competent in French (which I am, well was... will be with a quick refresher) so that I can declare it the second language for my PhD. That'll all wrap up in May, from which point on I will be engrossed in research and writing for two more years until I complete my PhD.
And Robin? Who knows. He's not on any 'program' schedule right now :) So his actions might be more random... or he'll just keep working for MSN taking calls.

As for other future possibilities... you'll just have to stay tuned.

SHCI

I just learned that my old highschool is closing and having a 50th anniversary/reunion this summer.
http://silverheights.sjsd.net/Silver%20Heights%2050th

I'm not sure how I feel about that right now. It was certainly a reminder that I need to reestablish contact with my former classmates. When I lost my former yahoo account I also lost all those contacts (one of many things). Now I guess I'll slowly have to dig them up again from the great wilds of the internet - hopefully with the aid of some networking friends.

I probably won't make it to the reunion. We have a wedding the month before in Winnipeg and I can't stay a month with my studies ongoing. But I am planning on organizing a reunion of my immediate classmates for 2008 on our 10th anniversary.

In other news... well there's not much else. I'm reading reading studying studying... and Robin waiting waiting to get the new XBox 360 once the initial craze is over and we can actually find one in stock.

Beings Online

To anyone who has been on MSN lately, you may have noticed that Robin and I are signed on at the same time. Now, assuming it is the evening and Robin is not at work, how can this be? The answer is simple: I got a new laptop for my office. And it's way faster! :)
As for other new news... we're going to visit my grandparents next week and drop our broken digital camera in TO to be fixed.
Darla has been spayed and has since taken to making herself dens and stole my new reading chair. You should see the two of us squished together in it. On the plus side (and the reason I've let her sleep in my chair) she is becoming more independent. She doesn't have to be at my feet 24/7. Since giving her a box for a den in the basement she even goes down there on her own now too. This is great because she used to have a lot of separation anxiety; one night at the vet's and she's doing much better.
What else?...hmm... We are finally planning a housewarming party :) Which will also be our Yule party. Yeah, it's a little late, but there was just so much to do in the form of settling in, then getting Darla, my schoolwork etc... Unfortunately, if you don't live in the area I suspect it would be difficult to attend our party. But anyone willing to come down mid December is more than welcome!!

Samhain rit and crazy neighbours!

Last night the collective met at a local member's home for an open ritual. Many
of us dressed as witches of various sorts. (I was the most colourful amongst a sea of black)
It was a great ritual and included a walk through the nearby cemetary.
Unfortunately for my friend, her neighbour is the local crazy fundamentalist
Christian. And she's not crazy just because she's a fundamentalist or Christian. She refers to my friend as a satan worshipper and makes a lot of trouble for her and is always making trouble in the neighbourhood. Her house and car windows are covered in
text about the rapture and being saved by Jesus. She called the cops on us "satan worshippers" last night. They drove by, looked at the "witches" (really witches dressed as such) and "demons" (not really demons, but the children of witches) on the porch and laughed at the crazy lady and her friends as they continued on their way. I think the cops get a lot of crazy calls from her...
Poor crazy lady, I'm glad I don't live in her world. On her other side is the most wicked halloween house ever (wicked cool for me, wicked damned for her I imagine). That neighbour loved us singing down the street and admiring her decorations. She came out to turn more of the display on for us.
The crazy neighbour has also covered her house in plastic... apparently she gets egged a lot at this time of year because she harrasses all the local kids as well. Our other theory is she's trying to keep the demons out. I think she's creepier than the stereotypical old witch/woman in the haunted house... but then, I like haunted houses and witches.

After the ritual we had great food and shared ghost stories and crone stories, which was a lot of fun. Probably my best halloween/samhain yet. Crazy neighbour included - she just made it more interesting.

Robin's off at work right now bedecked in orange - complete with an orange troll-hair wig he found yesterday!! Crazy crazy. I wish I had my digital camera to take photos! I've taken film pictures, but I can't easily upload those and by the time I get them developed and to a scanner, it's far too late. Oh the joys of digital!! Maybe I'll get Robin to pose for the webcam when he gets home. I can take a photo with that. The quality is crap, but better than nothing.

End of October Update

Robin's birthday and thanksgiving weekend was quiet. We shared a yummy Thanksgiving lasagna dinner with Candace and Jon, Robin's cousins here. Our own turkey dinner plans were cancelled when nobody could make it :( Veronica was supposed to be in town with her BF, and we had originally planned our dinner to host our non-Canadian friends here, but they also could not attend. So no turkey for Robin and I. It was very very sad. Candace and Jon came over for a very delicious bakery cake to celebrate Robin's birthday a day early. (Again, nobody else could make it of Robin's acquaintences... hmm...) I had to work/TA on his birthday. Oh, wait, Chris did drop by on Robin's birthday while I was out.
Robin's dad visited just this past Thursday as part of a brief visit of family in Ontario. We had a wonderful day of walking the dogs (Darla and TJ - Alan's dog), visiting the St. Jacob's market, eating delicious food, and playing cards. (I kicked butt, not that I brag about such things. lol)
I needn't bother mentioning that I have been very very busy. That's not fun to write about. I did finally receiev a copy of my MA thesis in the mail. It looks so pretty and complete sitting on my bookshelf. Also framed my diploma and have my three diplomas so far hanging in my office.
I have ordered a laptop for my office from Dell. I was originally determined to get a Mac, an iBook to be exact, but I finally caved. It was within my budget and it had everything I needed EXCEPT I don't think I could live with a 12" screen as my primary office computer for all my writing... So I found an equally good Dell notebook with a 15" screen. My laptop will be even more powerful than my HP desktop here... I think that's kinda funny. More memory and faster processor (that will be awesome, although this one usually seems fast enough... and I'm quite hard on it, running many programs at once all the time). And I just realized that this comp is a celeron (yuck) while the laptop is a pentium (yay). Hey, what can I say, this computer was a great price, and has served me very very well.
Robin will like that he can chat with his friends in messenger more. And I'll like that I can be up in my office, as far from his noise as possible. That and closer to all my books, files, etc. We already have a wireless router (and the laptop is wireless) so networking will be easy.

Our digital camera broke the other day. It just froze up - open. The lens is exposed and it won't run on to shut down/close it! The nearest place to have it fixed in all of Southern Ontario is Missasauga and since the camera is open we don't want to ship it... so next drive out to Niagara Falls we'll have to swing by TO. So don't expect any photos soon.

I think that brings us up to date. Halloween plans include fun for me, sitting at home for Robin. I have an open ritual tonight and my coven ritual tomorrow night. So Robin gets to hand out candy. I suppose most people had their parties last night on Saturday. Candace and Jon are having a post-halloween party next weekend, but we already have a religious studies potluck to attend that night.
Darla goes in for surgery to be spayed on Wednesday and we will finalize the adoption that day as well. Then she'll be all ours!! :)
She and the cats get along great now. Between Darla and Gryphon I'm never walking alone. They're always at my feet and in and out of eachothers way. It's very funny. Gryph rubs up against her all the time as they both stare out the back window/door.

A final question for the comments section:
So what are you dressing up as for Halloween? (Or did dress as?) I don't care how old you are, everyone should dress up for halloween!!!
I'm going to be a "fluffy bunny" witch. I've got a pointed hat with colourful stars and moons. Colourful clothes. Tons of crystal and witchy jewellery layered on. Wings and a colourful wand (which I made for a Harry Potter viewing years ago). But the most fun part is all the buttons I made with foamy! They say things like "Gardener-arian Traditionalist" (on a flower), "Charmed Ones Apprentice" (complete with the show's symbol, which was fun to cut out!), "My name is Lady Serene Dancing Unicorn Dream Weaver", "I do not worship Satan," "Some of my best friends are muggles," "What would Goddess do," and "My great great great great grandmother was Burned in Salem [as a witch]. Never again the burning times." Okay, so some of this may be controversial, but it's fun. And of course it's satire, just incase anyone reading is starting to fume. I am fully aware that most of what I am wearing is stuff I own and wear, just not all together and in this manner... And for those who just don't get it at all... it's an inside joke in the Pagan community.

Running for the Cure

On October 2, Robin and I walked for the cure for breast cancer at RIM Park in Kitchener, Ontario.
Thank you to everyone who sponsored us with donations. We appreciate all the support we have received.




Here is Robin, in the midst of everyone waiting to begin...




...at the start line.




Here is a small section of participants coming over a hill in the background. We were somewhere near the front of the middle section.




Here I am, at the side of the trail we walked, in a stinky field. It was not a good day to wear black (too sunny), but it's my pink ribbon shirt.




Robin runs the last leg to the finish line...




...and joins the other runners and walkers celebrating their finish.




If you are realizing now that you forgot to donate... there is still time :) I've receieved more than one inquiry about this. Go to https://www.cibcrunforthecure.com/html/personal_page.asp?track=1399027&languageid=1

3 More days until Robin's birthday... (October 6).

What's new

So, what's new...
school is in session.
The days and especially the nights are getting colder.
Yesterday was the autumn equinox.
Robin still works days Thurs-Monday. I have my school stuff and TA for RS100A.
Darla went into heat not long after we rescued her.





She gets along fine with the cats. Jenny goes wherever she pleases and makes Darla very jealous! Gryphon is less bold and generally avoids the dog, but he can also stand right next to Darla.

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And finally, we finished painting my office. Yesterday I completed it with a 4-drawer filing cabinet I bought from UW surplus sales for only $50.








We've also finished all the painting the bedroom, but it's not in photographable condition. And we replaced one of our ugly light fixtures (see office photo for example of ugly lights) - the one in the dining room. Just have the bedroom and my office to go...

Robin and I are the proud foster family for this beautiful dog. She doesn't have a name right now, but we'll think of one soon. She was labelled Cream by the shelter. Needless to say, I can't call to a dog called Cream. I am assuming they named her for her colour.
She has a great temprament. She is not aggressive or noisy or fearful or possessive. However, she has never learned any commands at the age of 2 or 3. So this is where our work comes in to prepare her for adoption :) She is a great dog! When I think that she was going to be put down because the shelter she was at was overfilled, I know that she is a very lucky dog. She of course does not know this.
She is a german shephard cross, perhaps with some stocky cattle dog. Her snout is quite foxish. She has a lot of energy, but she's also quiet and restful now when we are inside, even though she has not been here 24 hours. I am very impressed.
Who knows, we may even adopt her :) Although she's smaller than we are looking for in a dog. And I would be just as happy to find her a home elsewhere and be able to rescue another dog, no matter how much I come to love her. I'm certain I will love every animal I rescue - but if I were to keep them all I would limit how many I could rescue in my home.
We have yet to acquaint the dog and cats... the cats are hiding upstairs. They seem to come out when I walk the dog, because they are eating their food.

So that's what's new here. Classes start again soon, although I just have the one I TA to attend Thursday evenings. The rest of my work is self-directed reading in preparation for my comps.