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achoo!

Sunday, September 25, 2005

happy 500th post, guys! it's so weird to think that i've had this blog now for a little more than 2 years... so much has changed in my life and even though i'm still dumb-as-a-post and lack common sense, i'd still like to think i've grown up and matured just a little. so, dear readers, thanks for putting up with me through these past couple of years and i hope you stick around for a couple more!

sorry for taking so long to blog - this being my 500th, i really wanted something special or witty to write about, but nothing's really come up and i figure i should probably give you guys your "tiffy fix". (*snort* ahhh, that's good stuff...) while i have nothing really "newsworthy" to write about, i have high expectations for this post: namely, i'm aiming for a post with more than a few sentences in it *and* actual content!

um, so where to begin?

school. ugh. so i've already started my second year of pharm... this is the year where we finally start learning things about drugs!!! hehe, i'm pretty excited about that. second year is all about the over-the-counter drugs, so if you've got any otc-related questions, you can just ask me about them! of course, i won't actually *know* any of the answers, BUT i *can* look them up in my handy little patient self-care textbook! it's the text from my pharmaceutical care course, but it's an actual resource that pharmacists really use, so go ahead and ask away! :p my schedule this year isn't as evil as i thought it'd be, but i still end much later than i did last year. i think my earliest finishing day is thursday at 4pm - last year, my latest class ended at 4pm... but hey, i get monday mornings off and next term i'll have every other friday off, so i really can't complain too much. really, i've just go to get through this term. i think i have around 8 courses? (physiology, pharmaceutics, pharmaceutical care, microbiology, biochem, health systems in society, profession practice, and med chem - a course worth TWO credits!!!) some of the classes are going to be pretty tough - which will be compounded by the fact that some of these profs aren't exactly the best of lecturers... but it's to be expected with school, so i'm sure i'll be able to muddle through it. i *am* looking forward to a few things though: my hospital site visits, actually learning about drugs (!!), and doing some actual compounding. ("this suspension needs more banana flavour, don't you think?" ;p )

anyway, i'll keep you guys updated on how this year goes and whether-or-not i've survived the workload. two weeks in, can you believe that i'm already several chapters behind in most classes?! and i'm actually doing work and trying to do readings ahead of time too!!! contrast this with my previous years at queen's: i seem to recall marco yelling at me and forcing me to take my psych text out of its shrink-wrapping b/c it "pained him too much" to see it in its unused state in october. anyhow, these past two weeks i've been staying pretty late downtown getting work done after school and this will probably continue on unabated for the rest of this year. for any of you who will be downtown for school/work this year, don't hesitate to call me up - i'd love to meet up for coffee/dinner/whatever!

things are really starting to pick up with cpc's purpose driven life campaign. it's actually really neat to see how our church and fellowship are really coming together and working so hard on supporting the campaign, putting together the small groups, praying, meeting the surrounding community, and supporting the leaders. it's pretty awesome to see such passion, you know? for those of you who don't know, i'm going to be co-leading a pdl small group with jon wat on friday nights at cpc (instead of delta). it's kinda scary and extremely exciting at the same time - i've never really lead a small group before, so it's going to be quite the learning experience! but i suppose that's exactly why i signed up to lead a group in the first place; i want to grow and be challenged in my faith. i've realised in recent years that there are so many things that i am capable of doing, but for one reason or another (fear, absentmindedness, laziness, lack of faith/trust) i never get around to actually doing it. really, the only way i can avoid becoming spiritually stagnant is to just go out - out of my little comfort zone - and do it, trusting that God'll take care of me. so... we'll see how it goes... :p nah, but i'm pretty excited - it's pretty amazing that in a mere few weeks, participation at cpc went from 40% to almost 80% of our congregation being involved in one way or another. hehe, i'd like to think of it as God's gentle way of telling us to shut up and just trust in Him. on one saturday, there were only 20 people signed up for the small groups (with 27 leaders available!) and that number increased to 90-something just the very next day! very cool.

"What fills up your time these days? Beginning October 2nd, we'll be getting together for great food and informal chats about important questions in life such as: What On Earth Am I Here For? For six weeks, we'll be meeting on fridays around 7pm to study Rick Warren's best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life. It presents a unique take on finding the purpose for your life; described as the "anti-self help book," PDL instead offers the refreshing idea that your life is not about you."
if this sounds like something you'd be interested it (and you want a free copy of the book), just call/email/msg me and i'll be glad to give you more information! :)

so, to prep for being a small group leader, we've had a few meetings these past few saturdays. the one we had this saturday was pretty fun - we did "mock small groups" where we got to roleplay (exaggerated) different types of people we might encounter, negative and positive. my role? was definitely negative. i was the "aggressor" and it was pretty much my job to criticise and insult everyone in the group. surprisingly, it's much harder than it sounds, trying to be nasty to people - but i got a few good jabs in. :p poor amy though, she was the brunt of my attacks - it wasn't personal!!

anyway, at the beginning of the first leader session, my brother had posed us this question: if you could have 3 wishes, what would they be? the various responses people gave ranged from 'having the leafs win the stanley cup' to 'seeing true - perhaps undignified - sincere worship at cpc'.
i thought long and hard about what my three wishes would be, and for the time being, here they are:
1) that i will be a competent person. this is something that would be especially important with my potential career as a pharmacist. i don't wanna, you know, kill anybody or anything... :( now let's be clear, i don't think i'm a walking disaster, but i wish that i could be assured competence when i'm feeling a little less confident in myself. (fred had originally misheard me and thought i said "confident person", and i suppose both are true... when you do things competently, you often exude a certain amount of confidence in your actions.) wrt leading a small group, competence to me means being a good leader and (to a degree) knowing what i'm actually talking about!
2) that i would love people more. i want to love people more. people want to be loved, and i know i've got lots of it to give. the problem herein is loving those who aren't my friends or family. i mean, there's nothing really special about caring for and being nice to those you already love, it's much more difficult to do if for the people with whom i have nothing in common, the people i've just met, and the people who seem just plain unlikeable. that's the tough part, and that's the part i want to really work on. especially as a small group leader, i really want to make the new people to our church/fellowship feel welcome, build relationships, and really, truly, sincerely care for them. not saying that every new person will be unlikeable, but i'd really like to go beyond the few hours on friday nights and be a part of my group members lives, you know? i want to ask how they're doing, how their weeks went and actually care about the answer.
3. i want to be able to tell stories/explanations/ideas in a linear fashion. yeah... i'm terrible at explaining things. it can be quite a hindrance when i'm trying to get a point across (or when i'm telling someone what happened on the latest episode of whatever-tv-show), but i *think* my friends find it slightly endearing at times? (i hope!) :s

um, as for the other realms of my life - they're good. (one might even say they're "crisp"):p i've really been blessed with wonderful friends, and family, and... :)

my parents are both doing quite well - my dad hs recovered quite well and likes to disregard any dietary advice i give him now that his gallstones are out :p - and i've been enjoying those little moments with them when i can. i haven't been home too much these past few months, but it struck me today at dinner - listening to them banter and be lovingly antagonistic to each other - that jon and i are really quite lucky to have such loving (and quirky) parents. last week we were celebrating the mid-autumn festival at my uncle's and, i gotta say, i love my (extended) family too! the cousins induced me to sing made-up songs dedicated to floor lamps and also march around our neighbourhood at night with our little lit paper lanterns (but not at the same time!).

friendswise - my goal is to stop being so antisocial when it comes to my non-mci-or-delta friends... so hopefully i'll be able to get to know my pharm friends a bit better (gotta start networking!). i'll be stuck commuting from downtown later, but they're worth it. :) in the meantime though, i'm having fun with my lovely deltians, whether it's talking about paying the landing strip or remington's employees with double leg dinners and grape drink (not juice!) or accusing certain people of employing the table-talk cough while playing euchre... love you guys!

and as for the other alluded-to category... tiffy is very happy. there's no comparison. :)

a few random notes:

- veronica mars! the second season premiere is this wednesday night!!!! unfortunately, it's only playing in the states on upn, as ctv still hasn't picked any air dates for the second season. :( seriously, guys, if you haven't seen it, you've got to! best. show. ever. (i managed to get many, many people hooked on the show - if you want episodes, i've got 'em on cds!)

- ok, so i have a feeling that most people at delta are going to wuss out on me, but does anyone want to catch the body worlds exhibit at the science centre? it's the anatomical exhibit which uses real (preserved) human bodies on display. when i did that queen's campus tour a few years ago, my favourite part was definitely the anatomy lab - it was so fascinating to see what's really inside our bodies and how intricately put together they are. so yeah, queen's/mci ppl/science nerds: i'm looking at you! the exhibit's around 'til february, i think, so there's plenty of time to catch it. who's in? (if there's time, we can go on that fun, dizzy-making, spin-y centripetal force wheel-thing! just learn from younger, foolhardy tiffany: moderation is key... to not throwing up.)

- ppl i miss: amy, bun, queen's ppl, the bunny

- according to the height chart in the church basement classroom, i'm on par with a sixth grader. (well, atleast if i go visit my old elementary school broadacres i won't be mistaken for a fifth grader! huzzah!)

posted @ 10:27:00 p.m.

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Monday, September 05, 2005

had a blast with the gifty boys and girls at ebru's last night. (also, informally known as "meet the boys" night :p) man, i love those kids <3

today, the mci reunion continues with the excursion to the ex with erin... international pavilion wares (and, consequently, debt), here we come! oh, i weep for my account balance... [i paid off my tuition last week and since my habit of spending money on foodstuffs and useless pretty things continues unabated, my bank account is presently in a sorry state :*( ]

posted @ 12:12:00 p.m.

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Saturday, September 03, 2005

just a random picture posting. i was just looking at some of the pics on my computer, and this one is so genius that i can't not put it up! i can't decide which is better though: the fact that those guys' hands are supposed to move, or that it's above a maternity clothing store. now this is the real montreal! ;p (oh, the good limes, good limes...)

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having a pretty relaxed day today. kinda nice b/c it's been pretty hectic lately as i've been trying to meet up with various mci-ers before they head back to (gulp) school. (was originally supposed to meet up with nat, but i couldn't get a hold of her... atleast i'll see her tmw at eeb's.) read a little, watched some daria, listened to some music, and got a chance to talk on the phone a bit today, so i'm actually quite content with my seemingly boring day. :) and besides the "good talk", the highlight of my day was that i got to see just how well tammy's accustomed herself to the jet-setting life in glamourous seattle.

[added the next day]
ended up going over to ju's place with brandon and kalam in the evening... played euchre 'till the wee hours of the morning. wow, now there's a card game that i can actually win at - no bluffing required! (besides poker, i'm also quite terrible at 'cheat'.) had lots of fun hanging out with the westenders, even if our game of "truth or truth" was pretty lame. hehe, it was like high school all over again... (except with slightly more inappropriate topics of conversation at times) :p

posted @ 7:33:00 p.m.

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Thursday, September 01, 2005

i've unwisely let my curiosity get the better of me again. i recall doing the same thing 3 (?) years ago, and it only made me more neurotic and unsure of things. but... things are different now; i think i've changed and grown up a little since then, and i don't think i'm going to play the comparison game this time around. (phew!) it's scary, but i just gotta trust. :)

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things around here have been busy, but quite good. daddy's sore and still tires easily, but he's doing well - getting better with each day. :) i met up with the girls on monday to help nater pick up things for her new place. always lots of fun with the girls! after checking out the local shopping "hotspot" (walmart :p ), we went to the yellow bean cafe where we had some interesting conversation topics (unrealistic expectations women have about their bodies, grade six "changes", the inconvenience of boobs...) let's just say that guys would definitely not have felt comfortable with us that night at all! hehehe, and if you were to glance over at our tables, you would have seen a lot of hirsute legs :p afterwards, we headed back to anika's to lug in her large and comfy (we can attest to that!) mattress and just hung out some more. got made fun of alot too. and have seen what i would look like if i decide to grow a mullet... (not. pretty. but i'd fit in with those kingston townies!)

tuesday, i went out with felix and anika for bubble tea. had a great time - i think we were at the tea house from 8-11:30pm that night! spend the night getting made fun of again (goodnaturedly, of course), talking about the "fourth year shuffle" (of desperation :p), middle school "peaks" and crushes, and about different points of christian faith. tonight? i'm going out with the girls again downtown! :D

all in all, having a good (and busy) week. i miss todd though. :(

posted @ 1:12:00 p.m.

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you are now exiting tiffanyville.