daisies and dandelions

nope

2008-04-16T13:11:00.001-07:00

the speech pathology director at henry ford called yesterday to inform me they offered the position to two other people and they've accepted, but i was a very strong candidate and it was a difficult decision, blah blah blah. so i didn't get it. oh well, i'm really not devastated. it just means there are other plans for me. there's still plenty of time to look for another job since i don't finish my program until august.

new topic: i'm coming home this weekend and i'm bringing one or two people from detroit with me. if anyone's free friday night around 9 or 10, let me know. i'm thinking bubble tea at pacific mall.

from student to practitioner

2008-04-08T10:01:00.000-07:00

i have a job interview this thursday. an interview as a professional, not a student anymore. scary and exciting at the same time.

this job is a one year contract position (clinical fellowship) designed specifically for new graduates. in that year you complete all the requirements to become fully certified as a speech-language pathologist in the u.s. it's at henry ford hospital, which is a great facility with an excellent reputation in michigan. the slp department at this hospital gets a really wide range of clients because they see inpatients, outpatients, voice clients, pediatrics. they are consulted for/during brain surgeries, they evaluate and dispense auditory feedback devices for people who stutter. there are tons of opportunities for continuing education. so this is a fantastic position (despite the salary...), and it is also very competitive, as you might imagine.

the fact that i was even offered an interview was a pleasant surprise for multiple reasons. first off, i just barely got my application together in time. with less than a week to the deadline, i somehow managed to get three reference letters, get transcripts, tweak my resume and write a decent cover letter. i was so stressed and i felt so bad about giving my references so little time to write for me. but it all came together on the last day and i submitted the application. even after i got the application in, i didn't really expect to be contacted because the program starts in june of each year and i don't graduate until august. so they'd really have to like my application a lot in order to offer me an interview and consider hiring me with a start date in september. but they did.

i have a friend who interviewed at henry ford last year. she said they interviewed 7 or 8 people and hired 3, none of whom were wayne state students. so that doesn't bode well for me, but i'm hopeful. it's the only job i've applied for so far, since it had a specific deadline. and i always knew i wanted to be at henry ford at one point or another, if not as an intern then as a clinical fellow. but like i said, it's competitive and i've been praying!

anyway, the interview is this thursday, april 10th. from 9am to 1:30pm. i'm expecting to be exhausted by the end of it! 4.5 hours is a long time to be perky and putting up your best front. the whole process will include interviews with multiple clinicians, a tour of the facility and lunch. my main fear is getting questions that i'm not prepared for and having to make stuff up. i'm not good at making stuff up, i always feel like the other person can tell and then that makes me even more nervous. but i'm preparing as best i can and the rest is up to the Lord.

LPR

2007-12-13T15:27:00.000-08:00

Mmm...laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR). Apparently, I have it.

I've been learning about it in my voice disorders class. It's when gastroesophageal reflux/acid that causes "heart burn" gets up to the level of the vocal folds and causes irritation. It can cause your voice to go hoarse, it can make you clear your throat a lot, etc. If it's really bad, there are medications that can help control the reflux, but I haven't really been symptomatic, although looking back I can see very subtle symptoms of it (e.g. coughing in the middle of the night, as gastric acid is most likely to go up the esophagus as I'm lying down).

How did I find out that I have LPR?

Earlier this week I decided to calculate my s/z ratio just for fun. This ratio is a test that SLPs can do to screen for a possible vocal fold pathology. The client takes a deep breath and produces the /s/ sound for as long as possible and then does the same thing for /z/. The sounds are the same except that /s/ is voiceless, meaning the vocal folds are apart during production and /z/ is voiced, meaning the vocal folds are together and vibrating. Normal ratios are 1:1. If it's greater than 1.4 it means that /z/ is shorter than /s/ and too much air is escaping between the vocal folds as a result of nodules or polyps or some other pathology. I was shocked to find that my s/z ratio was 1.5. I thought "No way, I don't have nodules or anything, this s/z ratio is bogus". And I kind of dismissed the whole thing.

Then a few days later it my last day at my clinical placement and I finally got a chance to be videostrobed. I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get a picture of my vocal folds. But my supervisor had a hard time getting a clear picture because 1) I was drooling a lot and it was making the picture foggy and blurry, 2) My oropharynx is small so by the time the strobe got past my tongue and epiglottis to see into my airway it was already up against the back of my throat and 3) My vocal folds are pretty far down my airway. Well, anyway, she was still able to get some images and as she was watching them on the monitor she goes "I hate to tell you this, but you have reflux!" What?! Not possible! Reflux is what old people get when they eat spicy food!

So I have LPR. It explains the s/z ratio. When your vocal folds are irritated by the acid they get inflamed and swollen and they may not fully come together during phonation, thereby allowing air to escape. I've had no other symptoms, no "heart burn", no hoarsenes, nothing other than a bit of coughing in the middle of the night, which I have always attributed to dry air.

Here are the pictures. Don't get grossed out. I'm really proud of them : )

Okay, back to studying. I just spent the last hour and a half posting when I should have been spending my limited supply of energy on exam prep and paper writing. Bah.

Haaaaaallelujah

2007-12-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was symphonyful. On Friday I used the free tickets I had to go to a Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) performance of The Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The seats were on the main floor and worth $68 each. I didn't care much for the view. We could only see the musicians at the edge of the stage. It was fantastic music, though. I think my favourite seasons/concertos are Spring and Fall.

On Saturday I went to Handel's Messiah by the DSO and Michigan State's Chorale. It was long, but definitely worth hearing in its entirety. The soprano soloist was the best, as she was the only one who didn't use vibrato excessively, and I think I heard her sing a really high D. The conductor was cool--at times he was conducting and playing harpsichord simultaneously! During the Hallelujah chorus everyone in the audience stood up. It's traditional to do that because apparently King George II stood up at that point during a performance, so everyone else in attendance stood as well. Theories as to why he was standing: he was late and walked into the hall at that point in the performance, he needed to stretch or he needed to go to the bathroom. I also found out that the text/libretto is based mostly on Isaiah, Matthew and 1 Corinthians. I just finished reading 1 Corinthians, so it was neat to hear it put to music.

Go to http://www.tsoundcheck.com/ for cheap student tickets to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Live classical music is fantastic! I've gotta say, I'm not usually a big fan of it, but when it's live it can be pretty thrilling.

American Thanksgiving

2007-12-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago I had my second Thanksgiving of the year. I spent the American holiday with Dawn (a friend from church) and her family. I told her it would be my first ever white people Thanksgiving. Little did I know that white people are the minority in her family! The story is that her parents adopted a bunch of kids, all of whom are ethnic minorities (Korean, African American, Hispanic). Out of 12 kids in the family only 4 are biological. Several years ago Dawn's dad passed away and her mom ended up remarrying a man who also adopted a bunch of kids. Altogether there are 22 kids in the family now! Absolute insanity. But such amazing people. Anyway, it was a fun day...I ate way too much, but that's expected.

The next day I went to the Detroit Institute of Arts for its grand re-opening. Free admission :) My goal is to go to all the museums in the area for free before I graduate. I've already hit up 4 of them on various free admission days, but at least one of them I have to revisit at some point b/c I didn't really get to see everything I wanted to see. Grad school has made me so stingy (let's say...frugal) it's not funny. Not having any income whatsoever after 7 years of holding down multiple part-time and full-time jobs simultaneously will do that to you.

Saturday morning my family came to visit. We went outlet shopping, of course, but we were disappointed that we didn't find any major deals. After Birch Run we went to Chicago Uno Bar and Grill, which is becoming a bit of a tradition now. We always go there for steak after a day of shopping. The next day, after some more shopping, I finally got to take my family to Citadel. The past several times they've come to visit they weren't able to stick around for the service, which is in the afternoon. This time they stayed and I think overall they at least thought it was interesting, but then I didn't feel like the service was representative of Citadel. My parents were also really shocked at the testimonies of youth in the church who had just come back from a purity retreat. A bunch of them stood at the front of the sanctuary and said stuff like "I learned that masturbation is a sin...not that I do it" (haha!) and "After this retreat I've decided not to have sex anymore until I get married" (nearly causing the girl's grandma to have a heart attack at the news that the girl had been having sex at all).

Christmas is three weeks tomorrow! Definitely putting up the tree as soon as I get home. I don't care that it will only get put up a couple of days before the 25th or that it'll probably be ugly since there is no rhyme nor reason to our random collection of decorations. The past three years we've been away during the holidays, but this year we're home and we are having Christmas.

long time no blog

2007-10-19T00:42:00.000-07:00

the past couple of months have been busy and eventful. this has been the craziest semester yet, with four academic courses and clinical placement all day mondays and wednesdays. i like my placement at st. john hospital. it's a mix of acute care and outpatient. in acute care, slps usually get consulted for swallow assessments, whether it's at the bedside or via x-ray. after a stroke, many patients have trouble coordinating all the muscles necessary for a safe swallow, so we assess them and determine if they need to be put on a modified diet that's easier to swallow or if they need to receive nutrition through alternative means. there's also the odd communication eval here and here. in outpatient i've been seeing a lot of videostroboscopies, where a camera is put into a client's mouth to view the vocal folds. it's pretty cool. i'm hoping to get strobed sometime before the end of my placement. in terms of coursework i'm taking language disorders of school age children, motor speech disorders, voice+cleft palate and acoustics of speech. i love the material that i'm learning but i've been complaining a lot about a couple of my professors, and i should stop. ah, pride. last year i read this prayer that was really helpful in showing me what my attitude should be.

so highlights of the past 10 weeks:

egypt! i had a great time. saw the pyramids, swam in the nile, climbed mount sinai and snorkelled in the red sea. i met a girl from arizona who is applying to med school at wayne state so if she comes for an interview i'll definitely see her again. anyway, the trip was awesome and i think i really like being in arab countries. pictures can be seen here.

my car broke down. i was driving home from church and suddenly the stereo went out and wouldn't turn back on. then i had my window down to swipe into the parking lot and i could hear the engine was pretty loud. then, as i pulled into a parking spot and put the car into park the engine just shut off on its own and wouldn't restart. it was actually the perfect way for my car to break down--in a parking spot in the lot outside my building, not out on the road somewhere. totally blessed. so i called josh, my engineer friend who knows a ton about cars, and he figured it was either a problem with the battery or the alternator. i bought both parts and he came over to look under the hood and ended up putting in a new alternator for me.

i gave a presentation in my acoustics class. half an hour before class started i was eating lunch and going over the powerpoint slides with my group members. as i was having a drink of water from my nalgene, some of it splashed onto my pants. wonderful. turns out it saved me from a worser fate than wet pants. i looked down at my lap and saw that there was a huge hole in the crotch! the stitching running down the centre of my pants just below the zipper had come undone and there was a gaping hole through which you could see my underwear. thankfully, i live on campus and i had time to go home and change. on my walk back to the apartment i had my roommate's jacket tied around my waist with one of the sleeves hanging down just so in order to cover the hole.

had a fantastic thanksgiving at home. lunch with the girls on friday, family dinner later that night, dim sum with grandma, dinner at uncle jody's, community service at jaffray, hiking with the family. during the hike coco got lost but then was found. crazy dog running around like a maniac. pictures: here.

saw regina spektor in concert at state theatre downtown. she sang even though she had a cold, which is bad for your voice, but i guess it's an occupational hazard that you can't really avoid when you're on tour. anyway, she is super talented. it was just her and a piano, then just her and a guitar. she has great control of her voice and her music is delightfully quirky.

i'm a CRush member for the detroit symphony orchestra, which enables me to buy student tickets 48 hours in advance for $15. it's a little steeper than the tso $10 student rate. anyway, since i'm on their email list, i got a notification of this free simulcast they were showing of verdi's requiem last friday. basically the orchestra was playing in the main hall, and there was live video feed in a separate hall with food and an open bar. it's this new thing they're promoting to try and bridge the gap between the symphony and people under the age of 40. anyhow, me and a friend ross from citadel went and watched for a bit, but then decided to get late tickets which i had read online were $10. however, the box office people had no idea what we were talking about, so we couldn't get the tickets and went back into the free simulcast, which was still fine, but not nearly as good as being in the main hall. anyway, towards the end of the night, this dso public relations guy came up to us and started asking us what we thought, etc. etc. and we told him what we liked/didn't like. the main thing that came up was that we would rather be in the main hall, but even $15 was a little more than we were willing to pay. i told him that in toronto tickets were only $10 and he was like "i know, i work for the tso as well". his name was tom allen and he has a radio broadcast too, or something. anyway, he said he would let his people know that the $5 difference was significant. two days later, i got another email from the dso and tickets for several shows in the next couple of weeks are only $10! haha, i like to think that we were the direct cause of that, but who knows? back to friday night. after tom allen spoke to us, a manager of some sort came up to us and handed us his business card. he said "i heard you were trying to get late passes to the performance but weren't able to, so here are two free tickets to any other subscription show for the rest of the season". woohoo! so in december we have $68 tickets for a performance of the four seasons.

okay, those are all the updates for now. blogging takes too much time! anyway, things to look forward to in the next little while: missions conference happening at citadel this weekend, visiting london in a few weeks, going to boston for an slp convention mid-november.

not just for the china man...

2007-08-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

on the weekend i went to the grand opening of a laundromat around the corner. they were offering unlimited free laundry so i went with my three loads, which would have cost me $6 to wash and dry in the laundry room of my building. as soon as i walked in i realized i was in for a wait. the place was packed with people and their 50 loads of laundry each. but i figured i could just use the waiting time to study and i would save some money while i was at it.

i signed in (we were all given call numbers), sat down on a window ledge and took out my pediatric dysphagia text. as i was reading i saw out of the corner of my eye a familiar looking red white and blue bag. i looked up and saw a huge pile of maybe 15 hung bak lam bags full of laundry! all of them belonged to this african american lady sitting next to me and we struck up a conversation. i told her i'm chinese and that in hong kong and china we use those bags all the time and then i asked her what they're called in english. she said "you speak english real good--how long you been here?" and then "they're just laundry bags from the dollar store". and today i definitely saw a homeless man with a hung bak lam, too. so apparently they're common here, which i find hilarious :D (on a somewhat related note, what's with little black girls and hello kitty? when i see non-asians with sanrio stuff, it just blows my mind)

well in the end i waited at the laundromat two whole hours and then managed to do two wash cycles before i couldn't take the waiting anymore and just took my wet clothes and dried them in my building. so i saved two dollars. woohoo.

hugs

2007-07-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

i've been told that my love language is physical touch. i love hugs. great big bear hugs are the best kind. when i touch other people i'm expressing affection and when others touch me i see it as a sign of their affection.

growing up at jaffray we were always so careful about boundaries and we made sure guys and girls never hugged. i definitely saw the value in that because when it comes to teenage boys and girls and hormones...well, you know. but i also wondered at the back of my mind whether this was just a hyperactive sense of propriety. here at citadel everyone hugs everyone--guys and girls, young people and old people. so over the past year (it's been almost a year!) i've been consciously adjusting my jaffray mentality so that when a guy hugs me i don't automatically interpret it as romantic interest on his part.

this shift in mindset has also led me to initiate hugs with guys every so often. it's not something i'm entirely comfortable with, but i have done it when i've felt the situation called for it. recently, my classmate's best friend died and my classmate was kind of a mess so i gave him a big hug on a few occasions. also, i hung out with a couple of friends this past weekend and at the end i gave this one guy a hug. these situations had seemed relatively innocuous to me, but it has come to light that in both situations my actions were misinterpreted as romantic interest by either an observer or the hug recipient. awkward...

so what's come out of this is that i'm going back to my old practice of hugging only women, family and someone i might be in a relationship with. of course, if there are extenuating circumstances, such as a male friend needing to be comforted, showing genuine care will take precedence and i may waive this "rule". also, if a guy initiated a hug i would not refuse because that would just be rude. but i think i need to be a little more cautious when it comes to these things, not because i'm worried about what third parties might think, but because being respectful of members of the opposite sex (especially brothers and sisters in Christ) includes being clear about intentions and not cloudying up the water with actions that are easily and often misinterpreted.

if you have any thoughts, drop me a line :)

how old do i look? + summer with citadel

2007-07-15T23:35:00.000-07:00

my parents came to visit this weekend. we went to birch run prime outlet yesterday and found a fantastic sale at the gap clearance store (75% off the lowest ticketed price! best deals: a dress and a dress shirt for $1.75 each). but the most shocking thing of the day aside from some of the bargains was getting hit on twice by 13-year-old boys in completely separate incidents.

the first time i was just walking between stores at birch run, minding my own business. then along came three teenage boys on bikes. they were 13 or 14 years old at the most. one started riding alongside me on the walkway and said hi while his friends rode on the pavement. i glanced over at him, gave him a half smile and kept right on walking. he fell back for a bit and then he pulled ahead and started doing tricks on his bike. after awhile he and his friends just rode off and i was like "what just happened?"

then later in the evening i was at walmart alone in the toy section, looking at transportation themed puzzles. again, i was minding my own business when out of nowhere these two teenage boys show up. they could not have been more than 14 (maybe 15) years old. as they approached they cleared their throats loudly and while they walked by one guy introduced himself. i stared at him for a second, debating whether or not to ask him how old he was, but then thought better of it and just said "i'm sharon" and let him walk on by.

what is going on? do i seriously look like i'm 12? ridiculous. maybe a haircut will make me look older. my parents thought the whole thing was funny when i told them and i actually find it rather amusing myself.

anyway, mom and dad left this morning. i was disappointed they couldn't stay for citadel service but they had to be back in toronto by mid afternoon. today was the start of revival. there's a vacant lot a couple of blocks from the church and we set up a huge tent, chairs and sound equipment and had outdoor service. pastor carey's preaching is loud and he made sure people in the neighbourhood could hear him. we will hold evening services for the next three days beginning at 7:14 in reference to the same chapter and verse from 2 chronicles: "if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land".

other citadel ministries this summer include "urban camping" every other week which involves setting up tents in lots near known drug houses in the community. the men of the church camp out overnight, barbecue, sing and pray in efforts to shut down the drug trafficking. the first one of the summer was this past friday. next saturday night the women are doing a prostitute outreach. we're walking down one of the main streets in detroit doing a prayer walk, distributing water to women on the street, talking with them and letting them know about citadel. back to school rally is near the end of august. it's kinda like jaffray's carnival with games, music and food, but they also give out several hundred backpacks containing school supplies, they sell school uniforms at a fraction of their actual cost and they set up a health clinic (thanks to the many med students at citadel). they also have a job fair, which i have been put in charge of this summer. haven't done anything like this in a couple of years, so i'm nervous. much prayer is going into this!

it's the weekend!

2007-06-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

i never have class on fridays and it's wonderful! i actually have 4 days off this weekend b/c i don't have my usual outpatient clinic on monday. the next clinician has taken over my caseload and i have a small break before my preschool practicum begins.

the next few days will be all about the detroit festival of the arts. it's happening right where i live--in the cultural district, midtown detroit. there will be tons of live music, visual arts displays and street theatre all over campus. i have been looking forward to this for several weeks so i probably won't be doing much studying =S never mind that i have upcoming exams in aural rehabilitation and stuttering. i just wrote an exam in dysphagia (swallowing disorders) and i'm going to enjoy my weekend!

citadel update

2007-05-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

so i've been trying to get more involved at church here, and from week to week that has meant going to service early and staying later to help set up and tear down a/v stuff. i'm starting to pick up on what plugs into what, what it does and why we do it. it's a lot of fun, due in part to the awesome people on the set up team. yesterday we went to a set up/tech training and had dinner and i got to know some of the people in the group.

one girl, maggie, volunteered in thailand for a year after she finished her undergrad. she was actually there when the tsunami hit. now she's living and working in detroit. yesterday she bought an old bmw for $600 and plans to fix it up with the help of josh. unfortunately, she had some car trouble so we helped her push start the car in the church parking lot. it was hilarious.

josh is an engineer who loves to flip cars and houses. he bought a house last year that needed a lot of fixing up and has been working on it since. unfortunately, construction sites are targets for theft, and that has been the case with his house. it's been broken into 7 times since he's had it, once while he was actually home.

most of the people in this group live within one or two blocks of each other and the church. it's amazing. it's totally what arthur envisions for jaffray. it can be done and it's so cool. josh tells me on the weekends he just walks over to someone's house for breakfast. doesn't even have to call beforehand. if they're not home, he'll just head over to someone else's house. any night of the week they'll just sporadically hang out, have dinner, whatever. it's awesome.

aside from tech stuff, i've been pulled into playing trombone for a revival that's happening in july. it'll be a duet or a trio with one or two trumpet players. i haven't played in a long time. it'll be interesting, to say the least...!

it's all booked

2007-04-28T12:29:00.000-07:00

since char is in jordan until august on an archaeological dig and i happen to have the entire month of august off, we had the brilliant idea of travelling together. not that either of us has a ton of money to spare, but when else will an opportunity like this come along? we had to take it :)

so we will be in egypt for two and a half weeks in august touring with g.a.p. adventures, a toronto based tour company specializing in small group travel. char and i originally thought about going it alone b/c we didn't want to be part of a big group on a tour bus, but this is a happy medium. safety in the group (10-15 people max) but lots of choice and flexibility in the schedule, i.e. once we're in a given city we can decide for ourselves which sites we want to visit. it'll be a grass roots style of travel, via train, local bus, sail boat--very rustic conditions. we'll be staying on an overnight train twice and spending two nights on a felucca ship which involves sleeping on the deck in the open.

i have a friend at wayne state named ereeny who is also from toronto. she's egyptian and she might go to egypt with her family this summer. if she does we'll meet up in cairo for a couple of days at the end of the tour. another friend, kevin, lent me his book on arabic so i can try to learn a bit before i go. the Egypt travel guide Let's Go has also been helpful. i've learned that "la, shukran" means "no, thank you". the book has also told me how to avoid water-borne diseases in risk areas: "don't rinse your toothbrush under the faucet, and keep your mouth closed in the shower". sage advice.

eventful week

2007-04-21T22:41:00.000-07:00

i had church's chicken for lunch last sunday, as it marked the end of my lent. it was sooo good you have no idea. then later that evening nicole and i went over to our classmate abby's house to celebrate her birthday. we had cake and played euchre. it was funny b/c i had just learned how to play earlier that day...at church. we had finished setting up for service really early and this guy happened to have a deck of cards on him so he taught me and kelly how to play euchre. it was weird playing cards at church, but i don't think citadel is legalistic about stuff like that.

then on tuesday it was free cone day at ben and jerry's so nicole, abby and i went downtown for it. i had to parallel park, but it wasn't awful, thankfully. we saw the long lineup and put an hour on the parking meter but we got our ice cream in under 15 minutes! so with 45 minutes still left on the meter, we lined up again...and again. so i had three ice cream cones for dinner that day. it was awesome.

wednesday one of the girls (well, women) on the setup team at citadel invited me and kelly over for dinner so we went and had good food and played rook and skip-bo. i brought carrot cake. over the past week i made two carrot cakes and 3 batches of banana chocolate chip muffins. i was definitely on a baking spree. plus i had to use up all the carrots and bananas we had.

thursday i had a meeting at church for the dance ministry. for easter service i joined the liturgical dance group thinking it was a one time thing, but now i think they expect me to keep doing it long term...i don't know how to break it to them that i only wanted to do it once! it was fun and i met some great people. the women are all really nice, but the best part was that i was this one little chinese girl in the midst of 8 or 9 african american women. i fit in surprisingly well; they're all really sweet.

friday i went to comerica park and saw the tigers play the white sox. the tigers lost, but it was a good day b/c we got free stuff: a replica championship ring (for the first 30,000 fans) and a tigers fleece blanket (for a credit card "application" that i know will get declined anyway).

today i stopped by london on the way back to toronto to see doreen :) i hadn't seen her for 8 whole months! we had a delicious barbecue and a good time catching up. now i'm home for two weeks before school starts again.

beatboxing flute player

2007-04-15T23:28:00.000-07:00

i was searching for sesame street pictures to use in therapy and look what came up:

random side note: i made carrot cake yesterday and while i was grating the carrots i grated my finger :( but the cake was delicious, so it was worth it.

gypped

2007-04-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

every saturday i go to detroit's eastern market, which is a farmer's market where you can buy fresh produce, meat, plants, etc. everything's much cheaper there than in local supermarkets and today i bought three boxes of huge beautiful strawberries for $1 each. but afterwards i felt gypped. how could i feel ripped off when the same box costs 3-4 dollars at the store? elsewhere at the market i saw them 2 for $1!! and another vendor was selling a case (8 boxes) for $3! grrr...not that i could eat a whole case...but you know you're a cheapskate when you complain about paying $1 for a box of strawberries.

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

2007-04-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

Attr. to Bernard of Clairvaux
Eng. trans. by James W. Alexander

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down;
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
How art Thou pale with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn;
How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!

O Lord of life and glory, what bliss till now was Thine!
I read the wondrous story; I joy to call Thee mine.
What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered was all for sinners' gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest Friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever; and, should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

Be near when I am dying, O show Thy cross to me;
And for my succour flying, come Lord, to set me free;
These eyes, new faith receiving, from Thee shall not remove,
For he who dies believing dies safely thro' Thy love.

cheering for toronto

2007-04-01T11:28:00.000-07:00

last night kelly and i took our friendship to another level: we watched her beloved penguins play the maple leafs on cbc. there were some intense moments, but our friendship passed the test and now we are level 3 buddies. *snicker* oh the drama of hockey... : D in kickboxing a couple of weeks ago we were using boxing gloves, so we totally had a mock hockey fight, throwing off our gloves, pretending to jersey each other, etc. we're nerds.

and the tigers are hosting the blue jays at comerica park all this week, but wouldn't you know it, the games are at 1pm and i can't make any of them. what a bummer.

odds and ends

2007-03-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

the weather in detroit right now is absolutely gorgeous. i walked back to the apartment from a friend's house and i smiled the whole way--the sun is out, the temperature is just right for a very light jacket, there's a nice breeze...it's perfect. everything feels so peaceful and beautiful. i suddenly feel like taking coco for a walk.

update on my adult client: over spring break she set up an appointment to meet with me and both of my supervisors. she wanted to make her concerns known again to everyone at the same time. so we did that yesterday and my supervisors were awesome. they countered all of her complaints and fully supported me on every issue. they feel like she's overreacting to everything, and actually suspect that she's racist and projecting her feelings onto me. anyway, they're assigning her to a white clinician now and the whole fiasco is over and done with. but this was an interesting learning experience. in the future i'll have a better idea of how to deal with difficult clients!

i played wii for the first time over spring break. my dad bought one a couple of months ago and he loves it and plays it all the time for exercise. whenever i call home and he answers the phone, he's always out of breath b/c he's been playing. hilarious.

my parents and i visited family friends in new jersey last weekend. this family's amazing--they've been through a lot and have so much faith. the mom has been battling lupus for many many years and she was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. she's physically frail but her faith is so strong. although she is the one who is ill, she is constantly encouraging others, praising God, even thanking Him for what she's going through. she exudes Godliness and she's such an inspiration. the day before we left she got the results of her latest PET scan and almost all the cancer sites were gone after four rounds of chemo. she had tears in her eyes as she showed us the report and praised God with every fibre of her being.

Dumped

2007-03-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

My adult client left me. She’s an older African American woman who has an amazing life story, but somehow things didn’t work out between us.

It all started in January when I gave her a standardized language test as part of a diagnostic evaluation. She felt it was an intelligence test and she said she was insulted despite my many assurances that it was not in any way an intelligence test. She continued to come to therapy and things were okay for awhile. However, other issues came up, such as her bringing her schoolwork for me to edit rather than doing actual therapy for her articulation disorder. And one day she was confrontational, going back to the language test and then she also suggested that I was racist. I was pretty much in tears, lips quivering and everything. Last week we had a conference that included my supervisor and we resolved everything. We revealed the results of the standardized testing and she also agreed to do therapy activities instead of her homework. She apologized for being “harsh” about the testing. Everything was great.

Then this week, she didn’t show up for our Monday session and when my supervisor called her she said she wanted a new therapist. ??? She had a long conversation with my supervisor and apparently she feels that I look down on her because she doesn’t have a college degree. She also feels that there’s a power struggle between us and that she’s going to lose so she wants a new clinician. ????? My supervisor is fully supporting me and is hoping that the client will be switched to a different day of the week so that she doesn’t have to deal with her.

I am a student clinician. My clinical skills are still developing, but I haven’t done anything to justify her accusations. Honestly, I think she is just very sensitive to issues of race and is hyperaware that her speech isn’t perfect. She is paranoid that people think she isn’t intelligent because she speaks African American English and because she has articulation issues.

Anyway, now I only have two clients to think about.

And this weekend is the start of Spring Break (yay!), although I’ll be at the annual conference held by the Michigan Speech-Language-Hearing Association.

Friday seminars I’m attending:

- Outcomes That Count in Aphasia Intervention: Ideas and Applications
The speaker is Aura Kagan, from the Aphasia Institute in Toronto!

- Differential Diagnosis of Speech and Language Disorder vs. Linguistic Difference

Saturday seminars:

- Medical Speech-Language Pathology Forum

- Self-Rehabilitation Following a Supra-Cricoid Laryngectomy: A Case Study

- Developing the Role of Speech-Language Pathology Services in Palliative Care

The best part is going for free as a student volunteer. And of course, free stuff from the booths : D

uh...

2007-02-25T23:54:00.000-08:00

edit: i realize this is somewhat contrary to fasting in secret (matthew 6:16-18) but i had to share this.

citadel is doing a corporate fast for lent. it starts tomorrow and goes until april 6. what we are fasting for: 1) the church leadership nominating committee, 2) purity and 3) wisdom as it pertains to church growth. plus personal issues, like direction post-graduation, among other things.

we're doing a modified daniel fast (daniel 1:8-14) where we will refrain from meat products and eat only fruits and vegetables. thankfully, we get to ease into it slowly. during week 1 we can still eat chicken and fish; during week 2 we can eat fish; but from week 3 on, we will only eat the following:

- whole grains
- legumes
- fruits
- vegetables
- natural sweeteners (i.e. honey)
- seeds
- water or 100% natural fruit/vegetable juice

foods we are to avoid: meat, white rice, fried foods, caffeine, carbonated beverages, foods containing any preservatives or additives, sugar, sugar substitutes, white flour and all products using it (including bread and pasta), butter/margarine, shortening, high fat products and dairy products.

this is going to be so hard. the worst part initially will be going without my morning tea. also, no soy sauce. no instant noodles. and i haven't even begun to think about what to do at home during spring break, what with eating out and mom's cooking and such. for now, i get to spend lots of money on natural peanut butter, sea salt, olive oil, honey, brown rice and other organic foods. and kelly and i totally stuffed ourselves with greasy pizza tonight since it is our fat sunday.

jg

2007-02-22T23:11:00.000-08:00

i wanted to go back to toronto this weekend for vision night...but i had a prior commitment to josh groban. and now that i know that sermons are online, i will definitely check it out afterwards.

i'm seeing josh in concert tomorrow!!! he's going to be at the palace of auburn hills, where the pistons play. now the question is: should i wear my josh groban shirt or not?

free books, internship

2007-02-21T00:19:00.000-08:00

i've been picking up free books here and there over the last few months. i found lance armstrong's autobiography in a pile of reading material in the trash room. a charles baxter award winning novel was up for grabs among other free books at sacred heart. most recently, i found amy tan's the kitchen god's wife in the free section at king's rare and used bookstore, the largest used bookstore in michigan. i tell my mom about the second hand books i'm reading and i can hear the "aiya" look on her face as she tells me to wipe down the covers with a wet towel.

so right now i'm reading the amy tan novel. i've never read amy tan before, but i have seen the joy luck club movie. so far the kitchen god's wife seems to be exploring many of the same themes: mother-daughter relationships, the clash between first and second generation chinese immigrants, etc. but the coolest thing about the book is that one of the main characters, pearl, is a speech-language pathologist. how cool is that? excerpt of a description of pearl by her mother:

But Pearl had a good job, a speech therapist for retarded children, although she told me never to say that. A few years ago, she said, "We don't call them retarded or handicapped children anymore. We say 'children with disabilities.' We put the children first, the disabilities second. And I don't do just speech therapy. I'm really what's called a speech and language clinician. And I work only with children who have moderate to severe communicative disorders. You should never call them retarded."

I asked her to tell me what she did again and she wrote it down: "A speech and language clinician for children with moderate to severe communicative disorders." I practiced saying this many, many times. I still have those words in my purse. I still can't say them. So now maybe Pearl thinks I'm retarded, too. (p. 94)

isn't that cute? by the way, the new buzz word for MR is "cognitive impairment".

i've been thinking about where i will work after i graduate. and i mean that in terms of both setting and geography. it's still pretty up in the air. i thought i knew i wanted to work with adults in a medical setting in toronto, but i'm much less sure of that now. maybe i do like kids. maybe i will go back and work with kids who have autism again. maybe i will work in a school and reap the vacation benefits. maybe i will stay in detroit for at least a clinical fellowship year. but this is not something i am worrying about. i know when the time comes i'll go where i'm supposed to. for now, i'm just applying for my final semester internship (next may-august). the children's hospital at the detroit medical center is looking pretty good to me right now : ) who knows?

edit: besides, it's a sad fact that the demand for speech-language pathologists is so high right now i could get a job almost anywhere. last week i had a meeting with the department chair, alex johnson, during which he took a phone call. he explained to the caller that there are 600 vacant SLP positions right now in michigan. there might be 150 new graduates from the five programs this may. that still leaves 75% of those positions unfilled. crazy.

References

Tan, A. (1991). The kitchen god's wife. New York: Ballantine Books.

Sacred Heart

2007-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about the hospital, all you Scrubs fans. There's a major Catholic seminary in Detroit by the same name. Wayne State Speech-Language Pathology students volunteer there on Friday afternoons to work with international seminarians. It's not ESL and they're not speech or language disordered. It's purely accent modification, so we work on things like intonation, stress placement, some articulation depending on the client, etc.

Normally I work with a student from Poland, but he wasn't here today so I was paired with a Spanish-speaking guy from Peru. He said he had trouble pronouncing d vs. th so I made him practice sentences like Do they do their dishes? and Those dogs are dozing. It was fun. Anyway, during the course of our conversation, it came up that I'm protestant, and he asked me why. Why not Catholic? And it sparked a whole discussion on the differences between the two and then he said "The Protestant faith has some good things, but it is not complete" which sparked more discussion. In the end he said that I should think about converting to Catholicism and that he would pray for me! He was so sweet, but I told him I'm quite certain about my beliefs =D

In Awe

2007-02-05T23:52:00.000-08:00

My family came to visit this weekend. It was wonderful. I really missed them last weekend when I went home with Kelly and I saw her with her family. So I was really glad to see them. They came late Friday night and stayed until Sunday afternoon. They brought a ton of food with them. My roommate Nicole was really happy to see fishballs =D She thought they were weird when I first had them back in September but now she loves them.

Anyhow, my weekend was crazy busy because my family was here and I had all this work piled up. After they left yesterday I sat down and looked at my to do list and I felt really stressed. There was an overwhelming amount of work and I needed to prepare for clinic today and it was just too much. I ended up just putting it aside for a bit and had some quiet time. I've been reading Joshua, and yesterday in chapter 10 I read "And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the Lord God of Israel fought for Israel" (verse 42). I read that and I thought "God, I need you to fight for me". I knew I needed him on my side, pulling things together for me because I'd completely fall apart on my own. After I prayed I did some more work and went to bed. Then this morning I woke up to an email telling me that clinic was cancelled today because of the weather and I had a day off! I was so relieved and thankful. God has been faithful in so many ways these past weeks. It seems like every time I acknowledge my weakness and inadequacy, God responds and answers prayer. So today I was able to cross stuff off my to do list, and I will continue to trust and rely on His provision daily.

School and Stuff

2007-01-28T20:39:00.000-08:00

School has been pretty stressful so far this semester. I'm taking two courses, Speech Science and Phonological Disorders. Those aren't too bad. But I've also started a clinical placement at the Wayne State Speech and Language Center where I see three clients twice a week. Prepping for therapy and writing up reports and evaluations is time-consuming. Plus there's anxiety that I don't know what I'm doing. But things have been going well so far. God has really been pulling me through. And my clients are great. One is an 8-year-old boy with a mild language disorder. I was giving him a standardized assessment and one of the test items required him to use a wh-question. The target response was "Where is my shoe?" This kid was trying so hard and he was being really polite and he kept saying "May you help me find my shoe?" instead of the target. It was adorable, but also bad because I had to score his response as incorrect. He did it for the next three test items as well.

The other thing that is causing anxiety and that is going to take up a lot of time is my research project. Although I'm not required to do a thesis, I do have to conduct some research. The exciting thing is that I'll be working with the department chair, Alex Johnson. He was the president of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association last year and working with him is a pretty big deal. I'll probably be doing something along the lines of phonological awareness as it relates to literacy. Phonological awareness is cool. How many sounds are in "cat"? Can you say "spider" without the "der"?

I went with Kelly to her hometown of Holland, Michigan this weekend. It's about 3 hours west of Detroit and right on Lake Michigan. It was nice. Very monocultural, though. Everyone's a Conservative and they're all white people of Dutch descent. Almost expected kids to follow me around and do kung-fu. Kelly's family is crazy and a lot of fun. Typical all-American family. Also went to Mars Hill, Rob Bell's church.

Anywho, I'm fighting to keep my eyes open and it's time to hit the books.

Life in the D - Part 2

2007-01-20T23:19:00.000-08:00

Kelly and I went to the suburbs tonight to watch The Prestige at a discount movie theatre. The ghetto mall it was housed in was fairly easy to get to, just off 12 mile, but since the theatre wasn't visible from the outside we parked at a random entrance and went in. It turned out that the theatre was on the other end of the building, but No Biggie, we thought. Little did we know that half the mall gets blocked off after the stores close and that we wouldn't be able to walk back through the building to get to the car. So we walked on the outside. The parking lot was dark and deserted except for four or five African American teenagers. We were getting pretty scared at this point. Kelly had one hand on her pepper spray and the other on her cellphone and we just walked quickly and purposefully like we knew where we were going. We passed the group of teenagers and one of the boys called out "Hey ladies". For some reason I said Hi back and then he started saying some other stuff, but I didn't hear because I was just freaked out that we were in a dark, deserted and unfamiliar place and we weren't sure how far we were from the car. Then the girl in the group yelled at the boy: "She too ol' fo' you--She pro'lly a grown woman!" and that made us feel better.

Eventually we got back to the car, but it seemed to take forever. Everytime we rounded a corner we expected to see the car, but we had gone out the wrong doors and had to walk on the outside longer than necessary. We kept kicking ourselves: "We should've brought a guy", "Our moms are gonna kill us" (I had actually told my mom I was going to the movies, and she had warned me to be careful), "We should've paid those guys in the mall to walk us", etc. We also prayed: "God, please get us to the car safely". Well, He did, and we'll know to be more cautious in the future!

My pants are tight

2007-01-17T19:19:00.000-08:00

When I went home for Thanksgiving, I got conflicting reports regarding my weight: some people were adamant that I had gained, others certain that I had lost. Well, over Christmas it became clear to me that it's the former. My dad mentioned that my face had filled out a little and he also kept drawing attention to the belly I've acquired, much to my chagrin.

I've always maintained a steady weight and have never had to pay much attention to it. Looking back over the past four months, however, I can see how this weight gain came about. 1) Compared to a house, apartment living requires a lot less travel between the kitchen, living room and bedroom. 2) I skipped at least half of my ballet classes. 3) I ate lots and lots of carbs.

I can't do much about 1), but this semester I'm going to kickboxing once (maybe twice!) a week with a couple of friends, and I'm adjusting the proportion of carbs I intake at each meal. Also, no more stuffing myself with a second helping rather than have leftovers! The one plus side of my weight gain is that I'm able to give blood, but hopefully within a few weeks buttoning my jeans won't be such a struggle anymore =D

i love morocco

2007-01-10T10:12:00.000-08:00

well i'm back from spain/morocco/frankfurt, and just getting over jetlag. some of my favourite memories of morocco:

we stayed a night in the sahara again, but this time our tents were really out in the sand dunes, far away from the hotel and running water and bathrooms, i.e. we did our business out in the open and then kicked sand over whatever we had done. it was very liberating, to say the least.

we were in fes on our way to our hotel when we drove past a huge field full of people. we were curious so we parked and walked over, and it was essentially a sheep market. there were no other tourists there, so we really stood out, being asian and all. we could hear people all around us whispering excitedly "les chines, les chines!" (moroccans primarily speak arabic and french) and kids followed us around doing kung-fu moves.

while we were there, the people were getting ready to celebrate the muslim eid fesitval that commemorates abraham's willingness to sacrifice isaac. the festival involves eating lamb, so there were sheep for sale everywhere. sheep are some of the naughtiest creatures. either that or they're lazy, or both. these people purchased their sheep but had immense difficulty getting them home. the sheep just wouldn't budge. they'd stand there and refuse to move, even with a string around their necks like a leash, no amount of pushing and pulling would get these sheep to move. so people resorted to transporting them in carts or on donkeys, carrying them on their shoulders, or my personal favourite--holding their back legs and forcing them to do the wheelbarrow.

of all the random and ridiculous things...

2006-12-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

i stepped in cement yesterday.

i was waiting to cross the street and i saw that on the other side some construction workers were filling in a hole with a cement mixer. i thought to myself "i'd better be careful to go around them", but the very next moment i stepped onto the road and felt my foot sink into something cold. in shock, i yanked my foot out and saw the very wet cement on my shoe and pants. there was no caution tape, no sign to warn people. i stood there for a few seconds just looking at my foot, thinking: "did that just happen?" and then trying to decide what to do next. i wanted to go back to my apartment to change, but then i remembered i was on my way to an exam and going home wasn't an option. so i kept on walking, not even thinking to say something to the construction workers (who did not see what happened).

miraculously, no cement got on my skin, even though i was wearing ankle socks. and i'm still hoping, perhaps naively, that the shoe is salvageable : (

Life in the D

2006-12-11T18:58:00.000-08:00

- Last week a man in police custody complained of stomach pain so he was brought to the Detroit Medical Center, which is a five minute walk from my building. While he was in the hospital he stole an officer's gun, took a hostage and drove off in an ambulance. He was caught 18 hours later.

- A homeless man snuck into my building one night, had a nap in the laundry room and walked out wearing several sweaters that did not belong to him.

- A ministry at Citadel of Faith is Security. These people keep watch in the parking lot to prevent theft. Cars have been broken into for a few coins in a cupholder.

- One Sunday Citadel ended service early so that members could go door to door in the surrounding residential areas and hand out Bibles. I was put on a team with a white girl and a white guy. The girl and I took one side of the street and the guy took the other side. A black guy saw me and the girl, did a double take and quizzically asked us: "Are you from around here?" Despite our assurances that we were not lost and that we weren't there alone, he continued to express his concern over our safety and essentially warned us to get out of that neighbourhood.

- On New Year's Eve, people fire guns into the air. One theory for this is that it warns off thugs and lets them know that the household is armed.

Are you scared for me? Haha it's really not that bad and there haven't been any instances where I've felt like I was in danger. As long as I don't get mixed up in the wrong crowd I'll be fine : )

let it snow

2006-12-04T21:53:00.000-08:00

we had our first real snowfall in detroit today. it was more like flurries, but some of it stayed on the ground and it was pretty : ) it reminded me that Christmas is just around the corner! and this year i'm going to spain and morocco with my parents for the second time! i am so lucky. we're also stopping in frankfurt on the way home and i've been put in charge of that day's activities, so if anyone knows anything about sightseeing there, do share. anyhow, it'll be just the three of us since char will be at urbana 06.

this brings me to urbana 03. i attended the last urbana with hannah and doreen and the most random thing happened: we were interviewed for the conference's daily newspaper! apparently students from asian canadian churches made up a large proportion of delegates that year. we happened to be in the canadian lounge one afternoon and someone approached us for the article. it was hilarious. see picture below:

earlier today i looked over some of my notes and reflections from that conference and i thought i'd share little snippets with you:

The multicultural worship was amazing. We sang Spanish songs, we sang Gospel style, there was a performance by the First Nations group Broken Walls, and so on. What particularly moved me was seeing the deaf and hearing impaired delegates. Because they were unable to sing the songs, they signed the lyrics instead, and it was so beautiful to see the many different ways people can worship. The worship leader mentioned that it was a taste of heaven, and it really was. --Personal reflection

If we understand that every person that has ever lived [and ever will live] has been planned and has existed in God's mind for eternity, we come to realize each person's significance, how much they are loved by God, and how important it is to reach them for God's kingdom. It is so urgent to reap the harvest right now because the field is ready for harvest and a crop that is not reaped will rot. --Notes from a large group session. I forget who the speaker was : S

The Asian American [or Canadian] style of evangelism has many strengths, such as its others-centredness, hospitality, service and indirect communication style using gentle persuasion. However, one of our weaknesses is a fear of confrontation, our unwillingness to put others on the spot. We love and serve, but we don't outright ask The Question: What is stopping you from following Jesus? because we fear awkwardness in the relationship. In a postmodern age where people are offended by pushy, arrogant, confrontational evangelism, is it not time for Asians to step it up? --Notes from seminar by Allen Wakabayashi

gotcha!

2006-11-15T12:26:00.000-08:00

all along i've been suspecting bed bugs, but i've had no evidence of their presence other than the bites i get when i sleep on my mattress. normally you might see eggs along the mattress seam or fecal stains on the sheets, but i haven't found any of those. so i've been sleeping on the cot and only sitting on the bed occasionally to read.

but today maintenance came up to my room to inspect for bugs and when the guy pulled my bed away from the wall, he found two fecal stains in the corner:

so i've been put on a list to have my room treated, and thankfully the problem has been caught early on (relatively speaking). after the guy left, i inspected the stains myself and happened upon a dead bed bug. dear marmalade is guarding him now. in the background is the anti-itch cream my roommate nicole gave me for the bites.

cleaning frenzy

2006-11-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

i never thought i'd say this, but here it is: i have come to enjoy housework. i've been cleaning the apartment all day and i'm starting to take pride in keeping my humble abode neat and tidy. things i've done since 9:30 am:

- wash dishes
- scrub stovetop
- take spiral heat things out of stovetop and wash metal dishes underneath
- vacuum living room, hallway and bedroom
- clean toilet
- clean sink and bathroom counter
- clean shower stall
- dust

i had fun today. i had absolutely no idea that good housekeeping could bring such satisfaction. what brought all this on, you ask? well i recently reread elisabeth elliot's let me be a woman; that may have had something to do with it! the book reminded me to exult in womanhood and embrace the qualities that make me a woman. it made me look forward to the joy of creating a home for my husband and family =D

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all."
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.

~ Proverbs 31:10-31

there's more cleaning to do in the next couple of days, but i'm looking forward to a generally relaxing weekend. the past couple of weeks have been intense school-wise and I'm enjoying a bit of a break now. on sunday kelly* and i are hosting a small get-together for some friends after church. she's making chicken and i'm making fried rice! it'll be a nice culmination to the weekend.

*kelly = the girl in my building who gives me a ride to church. we've been hanging out a lot. she's funny.

i'm not good luck after all

2006-10-28T01:06:00.000-07:00

well, it's over. how sad...spying on baseball games will have to continue next season.

what now? the red wings! =D the leafs are playing them at the joe louis arena december 9. there are tickets for $22 and $27, but they seem to be sold out. darn.

josh groban's new album is available for preorder from walmart's music downloads website, but wouldn't you know it, my visa check card didn't work there. now i'm ordering from amazon, where i'll pay $3 more for two fewer tracks and it'll arrive two days after release date.

some good news: you can hear josh's london performance on bbc radio 2. just click "listen to the latest fnimn programme", fast forward about an hour and you'll be on cloud nine. the first song is admittedly a little shaky, but he's great after that!

in other news: i joined the church i attend here and officially became a member last sunday. i now hold dual membership with citadel and jaffray. i actually should've joined the previous sunday, but i was stubborn, and finally i think God said stop dilly-dallying. just obey. do you think God would say dilly-dally? anyhow, i had been resistant to the idea of membership at first b/c i'd only be here for a couple of years and didn't want to take membership lightly. but i felt like it was something i needed to do. and now i'm singing in a special choir they're having the week before thanksgiving! it also crossed my mind today for the very first time that i could stay in detroit longer than my 2 years of school. coming into the program i hadn't considered staying behind afterwards to do a clinical fellowship year (required for american certification), but now it's a possibility that i have to consider. lots to pray about.

i saw a tigers game (well, sort of)

2006-10-21T00:47:00.000-07:00

tonight was game 1 of the 2006 world series: detroit tigers vs. st. louis cardinals. along with dozens of other people who could not afford actual tickets, i got to see the game from the top of a parking structure adjacent to comerica park! i went with an old friend who's also studying in the detroit area and we had a lot of fun. although our view of the field was partially obstructed by the humongous scoreboard, we could see most of the outfield and 1st and 2nd base. at first i sat on the ledge of the parking structure to get a better view, but i almost got kicked out for it so i came down and my friend found a garbage can for me to stand on. it was great. later on, i upgraded to an abandoned milk crate. the tigers lost tonight, but it's only the first game. there's hope yet. plus, i'm in the city and i'm good luck for the tigers. the last time they won the world series was 1984, the year of my birth. that's gotta count for something, right? =D

bed bug update

2006-10-16T20:24:00.000-07:00

i think i really do have bed bugs. YUCK. i read the memo my friend received, and although the presence of bed bugs has nothing to do with cleanliness (my room happens to be quite clean), i made myself more vulnerable to them by placing my mattress directly on the floor. i erroneously thought: "i'm only going to be here a couple of years, i don't want to bother with buying/moving a bed frame."

so i notified the front desk today and they've sprayed something on and around my bed. but they're not going to do anything else unless i find that the problem persists. in other words, they'll call pest control if i continue to get bites. but i don't really feel like testing out the mattress...! who wants to sleep on a mattress that's potentially bug-infested?? i've been sleeping on a fold-out cot for the past few days that's happily bug free. i'd really rather not go back to the mattress until i know the bugs are gone...

my lucky day

2006-10-14T23:09:00.000-07:00

today i was torn between volunteering for an event with WSSLHA (wayne state speech-language-hearing association) and helping to clean the church building that citadel of faith rents. citadel won out for a couple of reasons. first, i've been thinking about serving there and since i can't tithe or offer very much, i can at least give my time. second, i'll be volunteering with WSSLHA later this month anyway at a station along the multiple sclerosis marathon route.

after spot cleaning chairs and sweeping floors all morning, i came back to the apartment and in my mail i found a $10 coupon off any purchase over $50 at office max. this was perfect b/c i've been looking for a digital voice recorder so i can record clinical sessions and take speech/language samples. i was with my friend who gives me a ride to church when i got the coupon and she offered to take me to an office max. she's such a sweetheart.

mapquest led us to a closed down office max and we spent half an hour looking for another one, but we finally got there and i found a digital voice recorder with pc link for 69.99. BUT it was sold out and discontinued. the sales guy asked me if i wanted the display model. i asked him how much of a discount i would get. he said "normally we give 10%...but i'll take it down to $50". SWEET! will he still honour the coupon? YES!!! needless to say, i was very pleased. the sales guy was awesome, photocopying a manual for me, replacing the missing USB cable with a brand new one, putting in AAA batteries, etc. so i got a top of the line recorder for almost half the original price and the cherry on top was the excellent service. check it out:

then we went to meijer to pick up some groceries and we got free detroit tiger bandanas. woohoo! then i came home and watched them win the american league championship =D

help?

2006-10-13T15:30:00.000-07:00

when i first woke up with a couple of itchy bites on my arms and feet, i washed all my sheets and sprayed the mattress with febreze. everything was great for about two weeks and then i got itchy again. this is so gross...*whimper*

have you ever had bed bugs? what do you do? apparently there was an outbreak in my building and a friend on the 10th floor got a memo about it, but not me! great...*scratch* well i don't know if i actually have real bed bugs. real bed bugs are big enough to see, according to wikipedia, but i haven't seen any scurrying about my mattress (thank heavens).

i've changed the sheets again and it's working for now, but something has to be done!

to help keep my mind off of creepy crawlies, i've been spending a lot of time on facebook. i joined recently and reconnecting with people from mac has brought high school rushing back to me. what a blast from the past.

fourth time's a charm

2006-10-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

after 3 failed attempts and more than 1.5 hours of walking, i finally got my hair cut! googlemaps found 10 or so hair salons within a mile (not kilometre) of my zip (not postal) code, only ONE of which actually exists. my hair now goes to my shoulders and is one length--no more layers! i also have side bangs and i don't know what to do with them. the last time i had bangs i think i was in grade 3 (almost said "3rd grade") and they went straight across my forehead. now they keep falling in my face and i've had only mild success replicating the slight curl the stylist applied to angle them out of my eyes.

in case you haven't caught on, i'm trying to fight off the american english that's seeping into my system. i can't escape! it's everywhere!! i must confess i've been leaving out the u in words like "behaviour". but on an exam i wrote last week, i decided to leave it in and i now wonder if my professor noticed.

good gifts

2006-09-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? if you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

matthew 7:9-11

when i got my acceptance letter into grad school, i was also told that i was being considered for an assistantship worth about $30,000 over the course of my 2 years. so all summer long, i was praying for it and asking for this "good gift". but i didn't get the assistantship and then i forgot about it. but the other day i woke up thinking about the situation and it hit me that not getting it was a very good gift.

the program is so intense for me, given the extra courses i have to take, that i would not have been able to handle the 20 hours of work per week the assistantship would have required. i'm just managing to stay on top of things as they stand now, and any additional stress would likely make me crazy. thank you, God! You definitely know better than i do! plus, the way i see it is that He is continuing to say (as he has been for the past two years): "let's take it one step at a time". i had just enough savings to pay for my first year of school and i trust that the funds will be there for my second year when the time comes.

for all the other students out there, here's a prayer someone emailed me today:

O loving and merciful God,
my whole existence depends on you.

I ask you to send your Holy Spirit into my heart and my mind.
Fill me with your grace beyond my own personal strength,
so that I can dedicate the time and energy that I need to study.
Give me the strength to resist distractions.
When I am studying by myself,
help me to remember that you are my companion
and that I am never truly alone.

Help my professors to explain things clearly.
Help me to respect them.
Help me to pay attention and listen well in class.
Give me the courage to ask questions when I don't understand.
Give me the humility to ask for help when I need it.

Help me to accept the grades that I get after I have done all that I can do.
Give me a spirit of gratitude for the privilege of studying at this university,
while most people in the world will never have such a rare opportunity.
Help me to make the most of the wonderful gifts you have given me,
and to return them to you with generosity.

You have been with me through rough times in the past.
Help me to trust that you are here with me now.
Give me hope for the future,
and help me to trust that whatever the future brings,
you are already there waiting for me with your loving embrace.

I offer you this prayer through your Son,
my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with you forever and ever.

Amen.

i met this really cool guy

2006-09-23T21:13:00.000-07:00

i went to a seminar today on tracheoesophageal voice restoration. it's a procedure that's done for people who have had their larynx ("voicebox") removed because of cancer and can no longer produce a voice. i won't go into the details, but the result of the procedure is that the person can speak by vibrating the top of the esophagus rather than the vocal folds which have been removed along with the larynx.

the seminar was FASCINATING and it kept me awake even though i had gotten up really early for it. it was conducted by one of the pioneers of the procedure, eric blom, and he is wickedly cool! other highlights included free breakfast (i had a huge cheese danish and a chocolate croissant, and later another cheese danish "to go"), a blom-singer pen and a snazzy certificate.

= )

2006-09-17T23:25:00.000-07:00

today i went to citadel of faith covenant church. i had no idea what to expect going into the service and i got a pleasant surprise. it's very much a black gospel-style service, but about half of the congregation is caucasian and i also saw one other asian person! anyway, the service was really energetic and dynamic and despite its length (2.5 hours!) i really enjoyed it. it's completely different from what i'm used to but i think it could become my church home for the next two years. looking forward to next week already.

i've been going to intervarsity, too. on wednesday i went to a Bible study geared towards med students and this week i'm going to check out the women's group. i also got to meet a bunch of great people at a joint ivcf gathering a couple of days ago. one of them is a fellow torontonian, and two others live in my apartment building, which is fortunate b/c i got a ride to church today!

look what i made!

2006-09-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

the apartment

2006-08-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

as demanded by catherine, here are some pictures of my apartment:

this is my room. it isn't decorated yet, but i've got the essentials. note that my desk is a plastic folding table like the ones used for church lunches =D you can also tell that i don't make my bed.

this is the living room. i am extremely fortunate to have a roommate who was able to move a ton of furniture from her parents' home. all the furniture seen here with the exception of the leather armchair is hers. the day we moved in others were moving out and she saved the armchair (which is in perfect condition!) before they tossed it into the dumpster.

this is the kitchen. please direct your attention to one of the few communal items i brought: the toaster oven. i am very proud of it although i have yet to actually use it.

finally, this is the view from the apartment. this part of town's not too ghetto = P also, i face south-west so i get to see a nice sunset everyday. from here you can see the ambassador bridge between windsor and detroit. it's the blueish structure seen in the distance in the top lefthand corner.

= (

2006-08-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

tonight was my first chance to check email in a week since i've been camping in delaware and virginia and having a blast. however, as i was catching up on all the happenings at jaffray, i felt my first pangs of homesickness. jaffray has been my home for 18 years and the reality of being away and not being able to witness God at work there firsthand is starting to hit me. i'm going to miss jaffray so much! good news, though, is that i have a prospective church home in detroit. more on that later...

duped

2006-07-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

a "severe thunderstorm warning" turned out to be a beautiful evening of sunshine and clear skies. i was disappointed that softball practice got postponed (i'm getting pretty pathetic :) but i ended up going out for the evening with my family and it was nice. then we happened to drive by chief dan george p.s. and the diamond was empty! argh! normally when we practice on a weeknight we get stuck with a little diamond b/c the good ones are booked. it would've been a perfect night for softball, if it weren't for the weather forecast.

anyway, my family and i started off looking for a tennis court to play on b/c my dad got some new tennis racquets from hong kong. we couldn't find one that was open to the public so we decided to go to rouge beach park for a walk instead. i hadn't been there in years. it's pretty ghetto and there's lots of garbage, but i liked being there on the lake. the sun was setting and people were fishing and playing in the sand and there was a small area for beach volleyball. it would've been awesome to have a bonfire going. mel and i had considered this beach for our grad thing last year but had settled on morningside park instead. oh well, maybe some other time.

two more weeks

2006-07-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

this week is my last with one of my kids. i've been phased out of the team and a new therapist has taken my place. over the next couple of weeks new therapists will be coming in for my other two kids as well and then my days as an instructional therapist will be over. *sigh* i'm going to miss these kids. and it's been an amazing learning experience working with them, despite the issues of the company as a whole.

anyway, i kept asking him for hugs and kisses yesterday. he's such a sweetheart. i said his name a few times in a row with a deep sigh "oh d___, d___, d___" and he said it back to me: "sharon, sharon, sharon". he's not at a level yet where he can understand that i'm leaving, but i know our paths will cross again, and i can't wait to see how much he'll have progressed two or three years down the road.

a hole in my bubble

2006-07-11T22:10:00.000-07:00

i've never been one with strong powers of self reflection. i do what i do and i think what i think, but i'm not overly concerned with why i do or think things, especially as they pertain to my personality. if i were asked to describe myself in detail, i might not be able to do it, or it would take me a very long time and even then i might not be certain that it's an accurate depiction.

lately i've found myself thinking a little more about who i am and who i would like to be. offhand comments from different people as well as more pointed observations about a particular trait have been occupying my thoughts.

a couple of weeks ago a good friend told me that i need stability and safety. at first i resisted the idea and denied it, but as i continued to ponder it, i realized that it is true. 2005 was tough for me, never really knowing what lay just a couple of months ahead, whether i'd be in school or working or neither.

along a similar vein, someone else told me that we each see the world through a filter and that we have the choice of expanding the filter, thereby enriching our view of the world. it made me uncomfortable when i first heard it b/c it was in the context of me turning down an opportunity out of timidity, but i was uncomfortable in a good way. i felt challenged to break out of my bubble, to step out of normalcy and routine and predictability. my thoughts on all this aren't fully formed, but anyhow, i think going to detroit is a move in that direction.

speaking of detroit, i'm getting ready to move in to my apartment on august 5th. it's an on-campus residence and i'll be sharing a 2-bedroom 2-bath with a girl in the same SLP program as me. we met a few months ago at the graduate info session at wayne state and when i later heard she was looking for a roommate, i contacted her and everything has since fallen into place. God has really provided : P

bits and bites

2006-06-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

1) i was at loblaw's today buying cherries b/c they're on sale for $1.99 a pound. my mom and i circled the fruit section several times but couldn't find the cherries. finally someone directed us toward the back of the store and there we saw a crowd of people standing shoulder to shoulder around a table and picking carefully through the fruit. as we approached, we saw that all but one of the cluster of people were chinese. we joined them happily. they're good cherries.

2) congratulations are in order: the long awaited pride and prejudice (BBC miniseries) is now in my possession for one whole week. when i placed a hold on the DVD at the public library, it was early january of this year and i was around 350th on the waiting list. almost 6 months later i finally get to watch it and have the satisfaction of knowing i saved the rental money.

3) proverbs 10:9 says "whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out." the longer i work for this company, the more i realize how unethical, deceitful and manipulative my boss is. i won't go into all the details, but suffice it to say that she's essentially stealing from families that can barely scrape together the funds to pay for therapy services. i've said it before and i'll say it again: you'd think people who devote their lives to kids who have disabilities are good people, but not all are. there are people out there who take advantage of these kids. i read psalm 10 yesterday and it pretty much describes the most evil person imaginable. unfortunately, it also describes my boss perfectly. it ends by calling on God's justice:

12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. 13 Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? 14 But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. 15 Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.

16 The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. 17 O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear 18 to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.

eureka!

2006-06-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

the other day i was talking to my mom about potty training and she reminded me how difficult it had been for me to become nighttime toilet trained. i was fully trained during the day, but i was wetting my bed until i was about 8 years old. i would go in my sleep one or two times per night and i wouldn't even know it unless my mom checked on me and woke me up to change the sheets. my parents tried everything to fix this problem, from drinking chinese herbal medicine to a metal thing taped to my leg that would beep when wet : P i even underwent anesthetic at the hospital for the doctors to make sure everything in my system was in working order, all to no avail. eventually i just grew out of it, i guess. sorry if this is all too much information.

anyhow, then i remembered a recurring dream i had as a child. i would dream that i'm waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. i get out of bed and start walking down the hallway. the whole house is dark except for some moonlight coming in from the window. as i approach the bathroom, i see ronald mcdonald watching me from the shadows on the other side of the bathroom door. again, my deepest apologies if you're creeped out by this! but that's just it--i've never been afraid of ronald mcdonald as far as i can remember, unless there was something going on in my subconscious. and i didn't put these two childhood experiences together and realize that there there is likely a connection between them until a couple of days ago (14 years after the fact)!

in other news, the awakening won their first softball game of the season yesterday! 3 more and we have a good chance of making the playoffs : P

my father's daughter

2006-06-10T22:23:00.000-07:00

that's who i am. i've always been told that i look just like him--a "beng yun". but i take after him personality wise, too, and i see his influence in my life daily. from him i inherited and/or learned many values and philosophies, my love of music, my grass allergies, my contempt for poor driving (i'm trying to extinguish this one), and so on. he taught me not to be too wussy, how to use a saw, how to drive a humongous car. i love my dad!

i was thinking a lot about my dad today since father's day is fast approaching and he and i got to hang out a bit this afternoon. he helped me get a bike ready for tomorrow's rick hansen wheels in motion fundraiser. we spent almost two hours in the garage fiddling with the bike, adjusting the seat and handlebars, pumping the tires, and i just thought "i have a great dad". i love my mom, too, of course (by the way, for mother's day, char and i made a scrapbook using some old family pictures that can be seen here), but today my appreciation for my dad was particularly salient. i have the utmost respect for him and i hope one day to have that same respect for my husband : P

Strangely Enough

2006-05-29T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today was a bad day at work. It started off with nasty traffic, thanks to the TTC strike. Pedestrians were going WAY faster than motor vehicles on Yonge. I ended up being half an hour late for my morning home session, but it was okay; I just stayed an extra half an hour and the family was understanding. Anyway, session was a kind of rough throughout and for the final 35 minutes my kid was in full-blown tantrum mode. There wasn't much to do except put him on the sofa and wait until he quieted down, but every time he started to calm down and I approached him he started screaming and headslapping again. Eventually the mom came down and ended the session since time was up, anyway, but it was just bad all around. Onto my afternoon session with another kid. Normally this kid is really easy to work with; he's very high functioning and most people wouldn't even notice that he has autism. But he'd had an off morning and it carried over to the afternoon, so when I arrived at his school he was already teary and complaining of a headache. When we went home he had a major meltdown flopping himself on the floor and crying really hard and screaming "I hate session". After awhile I managed to calm him down, but later on he ran to the washroom and threw up.

That about sums up the work day. But as bad as it was, I didn't feel crappy on the way home. I had a very nice evening, in fact. Much of it was spent in the backyard putting yard waste into paper bags and carrying it to the curb. Char and I should have just carried the big paper bags to the front one at a time, but they were heavy and we didn't want to exert the effort. So we tried to place two of them on a large plank of wood-ish material and lift the plank instead. But it was too flimsy and the bags kept falling off. Finally we got a platform with wheels that my dad uses to transport sound equipment. We placed two bags on it, strung a rope behind the front two wheels and pulled it to the curb. I'm sure we looked like idiots (or geniuses!) to the neighbours. It would have been much faster and easier to have just carried the bags to the curb, but it was more fun our way. Of course, it escalated into us pulling each other around the backyard at super high speeds and even giving Coco a ride.

analyze this

2006-05-15T00:40:00.000-07:00

i wasn't sleeping well a couple of nights ago and had a weird dream. i was at holly and caleb's wedding, but for some reason, holly asked me to wear her wedding dress. i stood at the front of the sanctuary in her white gown with no groom in sight b/c she and cae had gone off to tim hortons or something. i was anxious because the dress felt loose and since it was also strapless, it was starting to slip down. then three chinese harps were brought on stage and nathan, stephen and eric began to play. and that's all i remember. pretty weird...

Tripods!

2006-05-13T22:49:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite childhood book series was the Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher (pseudonym for Samuel Youd). It's good! I reread it a couple of months ago and realized that there are many details and references I didn't fully understand as a kid, but I had loved it nonetheless.

The original trilogy was written in the late 1960s and a prequel was written in 1988. It's about Earth being invaded by aliens who roam the planet in gigantic, 3-legged metal constructions. They control humans with 'caps' that are welded into their skulls. The book series describe how a resistance movement is formed and its quest to free mankind from the tripods' oppression.

I recently found out that the books are being turned into a movie and it's set to come out next year. I'm so excited! My mom loves the series, too--in fact, she introduced me to them. So we will definitely go see the movie together when it comes out.

Our Lady Peace

2006-05-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

if you went to an OLP concert would you be able to differentiate them from their opening band?

the concert started at 7pm sharp and as the lights dimmed and people started walking on stage, we were puzzled that the john labatt centre was only half full, but we cheered our hearts out anyway. then the stage lights came on and this guy who clearly was not raine maida was standing on stage. oh, right, the opening band. okay, so we sit through the 20-minute set and some of us clapped politely while others heckled (*cough* dor) and called for OLP. after a short break the lights dimmed again and we think "this is it! here they come!" but it was yet another opening band. by the time they were finished it was 8 o'clock. alright, now it's time for OLP, right? that's what we thought, too. so the lights dim for the third time and everyone's cheering and the band starts playing. we don't recognize the song. but it's gotta be OLP, so we think "they must be introducing a new song" and groove a bit and clap along. then they do another new song, and another and then finally the singer starts talking and introduces himself as daniel. huh? does OLP have another lead singer we don't know about? where's raine? what's happening? partway through the group's 3rd or 4th song a guy who is clearly raine maida walks on stage and joins the group. finally, it begins to dawn on us that this was a THIRD opening band for OLP. it took us forever to figure it out, being the doofuses that we are. afterwards we realized the singer didn't really sound like raine and the stage setup didn't look like OLP (there was a keyboard at the front of the stage with bunches of flowers on it), and yet we didn't fully piece it together until late into their set. we were so certain the next band MUST be OLP (who has three opening bands??) that we fooled ourselves into believing it was them.

anyway, it was a good concert when it finally started at 9. i liked how they mixed up their songs a bit, putting the lyrics of one into the music of another and changing the melody, etc. there was a ton of audience interaction--a bunch of people even got to stand on stage behind the band. raine walked out into the crowd a few times and everyone tried to touch him. he took a picture of himself with someone's camera. he even asked someone to record on their mp3 a new song the band was about to perform and then upload it for everyone to download afterwards. i think it was called "kiss on the mouth".

another item of note was the girl sitting directly in front of us. the whole night she kept climbing up and down the seats and dancing w/ no inhibitions whatsoever. then we also smelled pot and after awhile we pieced it together and figured she must have been high.

all in all a great day yesterday. prior to the concert, i had spent the day in london w/ dor's friends from western. they're a fun-loving bunch and i really enjoyed hanging out with them. had some nice chats. lillian and i also thought back to last december when i was visiting and how the two of us sat on the couch so worried about speech-language pathology and wondering if that was God's plan for us. six months later everything has fallen into place and we wonder why we were so anxious. silly us!

Kemis sings Edmund

2006-05-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

You have to see this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVvsjty7FPw

heading south

2006-04-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

it's final--i'm going to the states this fall. i'll be attending wayne state university in detroit for a 2 year m.a. in speech-language pathology. it's exactly 6 consecutive semesters of coursework and practicum so i'll be done at the end of summer 2008, if all goes according to plan.

i'm excited. as much as i love my family i have wanted to go off on my own for a bit and this is the perfect opportunity. plus it's a great program at an amazing price. since ontario borders michigan, wsu has a "good neighbour policy" where ontario students get to pay the in-state tuition fees. the cost ends up being similar to what i would pay if i were to go to a canadian school.

speaking of which, i did not get into any canadian schools. i wasn't even waitlisted this year, as i was last year. i think the reason for this is that my gpa last year was higher since it didn't include my abysmal last semester marks. anyway, if i add this year's and last year's applications together, i'm 0 for 7 in canada. yet i got into all 5 american schools i applied to. in any case, i'm very thankful i got in anywhere at all and can only attribute it to God's grace.

He reigns!

2006-04-16T19:42:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite Easter songs is In Christ Alone. The first time I truly sang the words was while I was on a missions trip to Nashville. We were at Belmont Church where every member of the congregation worships zealously--young and old. The lyrics were particularly powerful to me that day for some reason, and as we sat in the pews singing the 3rd verse I desperately wanted to stand. Just at that moment every member of the congregation jumped to their feet in worship and celebration and tears welled up in my eyes. May we never lose the joy and wonder of Christ's victory.

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ alone! - who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand!

Learn Chinese in 5 minutes...

2006-04-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

I found this in my email account. Someone sent it to me when I was in high school and I saved it and forgot about it until now. The first half I found hilarious but the magic wears off a little toward the end.

Are you harboring a fugitive? : "Hu Yu Hai Ding?"
See me A.S.A.P. : "Kum Hia Nao"
Stupid Man : "Dum Gai"
Small Horse : "Tai Ni Po Ni"
Did you go to the beach? : "Wai Yu So Tan?"
I bumped into a coffee table. : "Ai Bang Mai Ni"
I think you need a facelift. : "Chin Tu Fat"
It's very dark in here. : "Wai So Dim?"
Has your flight been delayed? : "Hao Long Wei Ting?"
I thought you were on a diet. : "Wai Yu Mun Ching?"
This is a tow-away zone. : "No Pah King"
Do you know the lyrics to the Macarena? : "Wai Yu Sing Dum Song?"
I got this for free. : "Ai No Pei"
Please, stay a while longer. : "Wai Go Nao?"
Our meeting was scheduled for next week. : "Wai Yu Kum Nao?"
They have arrived. : "Hia Dei Kum"
He's cleaning his automobile. : "Wa Shing Ka"

throwing stones

2006-03-26T14:45:00.000-08:00

SWEEEEEP!!! HURRRRRRYY!!!!

curling is fun. we all have bumps and bruises from slipping on the ice, but they are well worth it. nathan and kelvin were excellent skippers, giving brad gushue a run for his money : P

for more pictures, click here.

a great day

2006-03-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

this morning i parallel parked between two cars for the first time since my last driving exam (two years ago?)--and it was perfect! i did it on the first try and under pressure, too, because i could see a car approaching in my rearview mirror. i was so proud i took a picture of it with my camera phone, but i don't know how to get it from there onto my hard drive.

AND i got a second acceptance, this time to the university of vermont! WOW!! i want to go there : P it's in burlington, apparently a beautiful city. it's also close to montreal and it's a good school. it just costs more than clarion. but i'm excited to have options!

i'm pooped

2006-03-18T15:01:00.000-08:00

quite a bit happened this past week or so. although some of my recollection is hazy due to my having caught a cold, here are some highlights:

last saturday i went to see lord of the rings at the princess of wales theatre with my family. i had been looking forward to it for several weeks and had had such high hopes for it. it's not that it was terrible, but you just can't compare it to the movies. if i had seen it before seeing the movies, i would probably have loved it. it was four hours long with two intermissions and the theatre was hot and the seats were uncomfortable. the hobbits were amazing, though. before the production even started a bunch of them were on stage catching fireflies and having a party. their dances made me laugh, too.

i came home from work on tuesday and read a note that my mom had left for me. while i was out, clarion university in pennsylvania had called informing me of my acceptance into their master's program! it was totally unexpected and i didn't even fully appreciate it at the time b/c i wasn't feeling that well and just wanted to sleep. but i now acknowledge that it is by God's grace alone that i got into this program. it definitely wasn't on my own merit. if you knew what my gpa is and the average gpa of those who get into speech-language pathology, you would have to agree that God has been very very gracious. i haven't heard from other schools yet, but i expect to within the next 3 or 4 weeks. very excited to be going to grad school! i had already been working on plan b in case i didn't get into a program: teaching english in hong kong : P

i attended teens conference senior as a coach this year, so i had a busy wednesday and thursday. my co-coach was none other than ray lee, who used to attend jaffray and was one of the founding counsellors of hosanna. it was great to be paired with him--what a wonderful learning experience. the event was humbling in that it made me very aware of my weaknesses and what i need to work on. i still have a lot to learn about mentorship, but i have an awesome example to look to.

that's all for now!

dance!

2006-02-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

i used to take ballet and jazz lessons at the pickering school of ballet, but i stopped during high school and university. i had gotten to a point where i had to either continue and take it really seriously or focus on other interests and school. i picked the latter mainly because i just wasn't that good and knew there wasn't much further i could go. but i've always thought about taking up dance again for fun and after several years of making excuses, i've registered for some classes.

i'm back at psb and i'm taking hip hop twice a month and adult ballet twice a month. it's all very exciting, but i have a lot of catching up to do. these classes started last september and they're already finalizing their routines for the year-end recital. although i've chosen not to be in the recital, i still want to learn the dances as much as possible. my first hip hop class was on monday and much of it was spent trying to follow along with the steps. it's very fast-paced and free--so different from ballet. the girls in the 14+ hip hop class are all 13-15 years old (although they look at least 17 or 18) and they guessed my age to be 16. my ballet class will be the total opposite; the other students will mostly be middle-aged women. still, it should be a great experience and i'm finally getting some exercise!

are you a stickler?

2006-02-07T23:21:00.000-08:00

one of my piano students gave me one of those page-a-day calendars for Christmas. it's based on the lynne truss book "eats, shoots and leaves", which i subsequently borrowed from the public library. the book is about punctuation (but it's not what you think!), how important it is to language and why we need to preserve it.

it starts with a story about a panda that enters a restaurant and places an order. upon finishing his meal, he takes out a rifle and fires a few rounds into the air. as he leaves, he tosses a wildlife manual at the shocked waiter. opening it up to the entry on pandas, the waiter reads that the panda "eats, shoots and leaves".

what's the difference between its and it's? dogs and dog's? how often should you use a comma? what's the point of a semicolon? what is a semicolon? what's an ellipsis? should you use a colon or a dash or parentheses? where should you insert a hyphen? does any of this matter?

in her book, truss clears up common myths about the uses of various punctuation marks. she separates the strict rules (such as its vs. it's) from personal preference and also provides information on the history and development of punctuation. i highly recommend it. the only downside is that once you read it there is a good chance you will become hypersensitive towards your own punctuation, as has been the case with me.

truss makes a compelling case for the preservation of punctuation and calls all sticklers to unite and fight back against its misuse. she half-jokingly suggests refusing to reply to emails that contain punctuation errors, or sending it back corrected. she also recommends carrying around correction fluid and red marker to remove unnecessary punctuation and to fill in missing ones.
.
"The reason to stand up for punctuation is that without it there is no reliable way of communicating meaning. Punctuation herds words together, keeps others apart."
.
"The practice of "pointing" our writing has always been offered in a spirit of helpfulness, to underline meaning and prevent awkward misunderstandings between writer and reader."
.
"Punctuation directs you how to read, in the way musical notation directs a musician how to play."

you're running free

2006-01-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

pongo (milky) wong

june 1 1995 - january 5 2006

i love you and i miss you. i'm sorry i wasn't with you at the end. i hope you know how much you were loved in our 3 and a half years together. i'm sorry i didn't walk you more. thanks for always bringing a smile to my face. i loved your goofy looks, your sneezes, your little farts when you walked up the stairs. i didn't really mind when you snuck onto the sofa. thanks for putting up with coco's bossiness and letting her sleep on your cushion sometimes. i loved how you barked up a storm when someone was at the door but were afraid of lightning, cellphones and vacuum cleaners. i love you and i miss you. and i think coco does, too.

happy new year from morocco

2006-01-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

having a blast here in north africa. spent new year's eve dancing with locals in the middle of the sahara. heading to spain in a couple of days. will be home soon!

p.s. typing on an old sticky moroccan keyboard is a pain in the butt.

i'm it

2005-11-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

tagged by dor.

five random facts about me:

1) i have been sleeping on the floor in front of the fireplace for the past month. but this morning we finally got our furnace replaced and now we can all thaw out. i can put away the snowsuit.

2) i have this fascination with the armed forces. i used to want to be in the army, among other things, and as recently as fall of 2003, i spent an entire weekend exploring http://www.forces.gc.ca reading everything there was to know about being in the reserve. i was seriously considering basic recruit training for the following summer. obviously that didn't happen.

3) the same lady has cut my hair my entire life. she shaved my head twice when i was a newborn.

4) the one movie that had me crying from beginning to end was "i am sam". i watched it in a florida hotel room; my parents and sister were already asleep, but i stayed up and watched the whole thing, uncontrollable tears streaming down my face in every scene, running to the bathroom every few minutes to get more toilet paper (i don't know why i didn't use kleenex). my dad woke up at one point and just stared at me, not sure what to do.

5) many many years ago i got a valentine with my name severely misspelled as "shrin". shrin spelled backwards is nirhs.

enough about me. now you're it: char jennifer catherine herman dorinda

i may have permanent hearing damage...

2005-11-23T18:52:00.000-08:00

http://www.268blog.blogspot.com/

slumber party II

2005-11-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

a bunch of us went to visit lyris in rochester this past weekend and all seven of us squished into her bachelor apartment to spend the night. we left early saturday morning, driving the 3 hours or so to rochester, with an unnecessarily lengthy stopover at a niagara falls denny's (a different one from the OOX trip!) due to exceptionally slow service. kelvin was our driver, and karen, who was supposed to be our navigator ended up dozing off, so we named her the napigator. anyway, once we got there we did a gazillion things: lyris showed us the university of rochester, we walked along the erie canal, almost watched a college football game, went bath & body works shopping, had mediterranean food, walked along a different part of the erie canal, saw (heard?) the rochester philharmonic orchestra and toured the eastman school of music, during which time lyris gave us a private concert. she's amazing on piano!! needless to say we were exhausted after day 1, so there was a lot of slumber at this slumber party. the next morning we wolfed down our breakfast of cup noodles and headed to the church that lyris attends. after the service, we went to the beach for a stroll along the boardwalk and took *s* club pictures of all of us jumping in the air. then we had savoury crepes for lunch, drove lyris back to her apartment and headed back to the ferry dock. we took the CAT back to toronto, which didn't save us any time or money and it was slightly nauseating during rough waters, but we got to play rummy and poker!

it hurts

2005-11-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

i was bitten on my left arm yesterday, matching the bite i have on my right arm from saturday. no blood or anything, just some tenderness and missing skin. one of the kids i work with is a biter. normally i can get my limbs out of the way in time, but i happened to be carrying him when he decided to bite and i didn't think dropping him would have been the best plan of action. but even with the biting he's a really cute kid. he's 3 and doesn't have any speech in the normal sense, but he does communicate. the other day, he needed help stringing beads so he looked at me and said a forceful "AAH!". after i guided his hands and he got the bead to the end of the string, he then said the exact same "AAH!" each time he needed help thereafter. it was amazing.

another kid i work with has some gas problems. he is constantly burping and farting, and the little room we work in doesn't have much ventilation...and it doesn't help that all he does is eat chips! they're supposed to be his reinforcer, or his reward for doing his therapy programs, but he doesn't seem to care much when i give him a piece. it's probably b/c he gets chips all the time outside of our sessions, so it doesn't mean much to him whether he gets them from me or not. anyway, overall work is going well. the travelling hasn't been too stressful...yet. just costly.

slumber party

2005-10-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

our house has no heat right now. it's getting fixed today, but we were without heat over the weekend and it was FREEZING. so saturday night, all four of us plus coco and the guinea pig slept in the master bedroom and turned on the fireplace. pongo had to stay downstairs b/c he sheds too much, but we gave him a sweater. i can't remember the last time my whole family slept in the same room other than at a hotel. it was kinda fun, except char kept stealing the blankets.

three decades ago...

2005-10-19T00:13:00.000-07:00

...a band was formed. made up of a group of men who loved music and simply wanted to serve God through it, they are still going strong today. "the channels" started off as just a band, performing at local churches and leading worship at teens conference. they recorded cds and did a couple of stints on chinese christian television. as their reputation grew, they began to travel extensively to other cities to perform, became involved in promise keepers for chinese canadians and began to do overseas missions. since its humble beginnings, band members have come and gone, and one was even lost to cancer. but these men have seen God's grace and faithfulness, and they are still fully committed to the ministry He has called them to.

this weekend is the channels' 30th anniversary celebration. they will be leading worship, performing and sharing about their ministry experiences on friday and saturday night at toronto chinese community church. it's jointly a fundraiser for showers of blessing evangelistic ministry, so tickets are $15 that can be purchased ahead of time or at the door. if you're in toronto this weekend, think about coming out and supporting these ministries. you'll come away touched and encouraged by the amazing things God has been doing through them.

Blessed

2005-10-12T16:54:00.000-07:00

I have been handed a job on a silver platter. A current co-worker at the Youth Job Centre referred me to an autism service and since I “came so highly recommended”, I was essentially given the job before my 5 minute interview even started. I am now going to be working as an Instructor Therapist for children who have autism. It’s what I do now (with the little boy that I tutor) but in a team with other therapists, Speech-Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists. I am so so so so blessed. It’s very much related to what I want to do in the long-run, I get to work for a great organization and I can totally see how God has forged this path for me. I’m going to have to remember that and hold it close to my heart because I already know that there will be bad days when I won’t want to do it anymore. But I think this is where I’m supposed to be for the next year or so and I’m excited about what I get to see and learn and do.

I still haven’t heard from the other job that I had an interview for. It’s really weird. There was a position at the Canadian Hearing Society as a Community Employment Development Worker and I really wanted it. Out of the 7 jobs I applied for in mid-August, I wanted this one the most, but I thought chances were slim that I’d be contacted for an interview. Much to my surprise, I was called 6 weeks later to come in and meet them, but after the interview I never heard from them again. Was my interview that bad? : P When I didn’t hear from them by the day they said they would call, I called them and since they weren’t there, I left a message. They never returned my call. It’s common courtesy to call regardless of the hiring decision, so I was a little disappointed by their lack of follow-up. And even though the position was in Waterloo, I would have relocated at the drop of a hat. But the Instructor Therapy position is most relevant, given that I want to go into Speech-Language Pathology. So everything has definitely worked out for the best. Never doubt God’s plan or timing.

2005-10-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

did anyone catch the beginning of the leafs opener yesterday? right before the national anthem, the announcer said one of the corniest things i’ve ever heard in my entire life:

“the passion that unites us all…the passion that unites friends…the passion that unites strangers…the passion that unites families…” gimme a break…

some other things i did yesterday:

- cleaned up pongo’s diarrhea
- found and played from an old amy grant Christmas songbook
- watched "dodgeball"
- went to mitchell’s to look for dramatic musical material
- read chapter 13 of my textbook

today’s to-do list:

- view on-line lecture
- watch "the day after tomorrow"
- change the guinea pig’s shavings
- read chapter 4

i’m looking forward to thanksgiving! it’s my second favourite holiday after Christmas. there’s something about autumn that really gets me—the brilliant colours, the crisp air (just cool enough to wear a sweater), the family gatherings, the apple-picking, going to sherkston—i love it all!

boy, was i wrong

2005-09-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

i thought i was ready for school again. i was looking forward to taking a couple of classes after a long summer break. and i've always had this idea that i'm one of those people who keeps going to school on the side after graduating, just for the fun of learning. but maybe that's not me. it's the end of september and i'm still not in school mode yet. i bought my "human brain and behaviour" textbook just yesterday and it took me an hour and a half to get through the first half of chapter 1. i so don't want to be in school right now.

on another note, i had an interesting experience the other day with regards to my job search. i had applied for a job as a "computerized note-taker" where you attend college/university classes for people who are deaf and takes notes for them. the hourly pay is really good and considering i'm a part-time student right now (sigh), the part-time work hours would be perfect. the job posting mentioned schools like george brown, seneca, centennial, etc...places in toronto. but the phone call i got from manpower, the recruiting agency, went something like this:

mp: hi, is this sharon?
me: yes, it is.
mp: i have your application here for computerized note-taker.
me: that's right.
mp: do you have access to a laptop computer?
me: not at the moment, but i will get one if i need to.
mp: do you have access to a vehicle?
me: yes, i do.
mp: are you willing to travel to mississauga and brampton?
me: umm....i think that's a little too far.
mp: okay, bye.

and that was it. pish posh.

passion toronto

2005-09-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

i went downtown today to attend a psych class i'm interested in taking. i'm not officially registered for the course b/c there isn't any space right now, but i'm hoping someone will drop it soon and open up some space. anyway, since i was on campus already, i decided to attend the "passion toronto" meeting that was being held at hart house.

passion toronto is an event happening on tuesday, november 22 of this year and it's organized by passion conferences. held at ricoh coliseum at the exhibition place, louie giglio will be speaking and worship will be led by chris tomlin, david crowder band and charlie hall. i'll admit that before today, i wasn't really into the whole passion thing. but at the meeting, i found out what passion toronto is all about and i'm very excited about it. it's a night of worship and prayer that's geared toward university/college students. passion has recently done similar conferences in boston and new york, and it's really targeting these intellectual centres, cities that we typically perceive as unreceptive to the Gospel, even hostile toward it. i was reminded of how important campus ministry is (a somewhat late epiphany) and how vital it is to reach these students who are the future leaders of our society.

another great ministry that also targets the world's "movers and shakers", so to speak, is ravi zacharias international ministries. it seeks to "reach and challenge those who shape the ideas of a culture with the credibility and the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ." definitely look into rzim if you haven't already. i've heard ravi speak a couple of times and i've read some of his writing and let me tell you his stuff is gold. rzim takes up a unique and critical role in fulfilling the great commission and is well worth supporting.

the summer draws to an end

2005-09-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

i've been playing hard these past few months, really enjoying my summer. what better way to finish it off than by packing in every last possible drop of fun? some highlights of the past week:

last tuesday, i attended the jays vs. orioles game with the awakening staff courtesy of uncle kin and auntie helen. it was fun, and the jays actually won--that always helps. my ears are still ringing from the heckling and deafening boos (for palmeira) of two avid fans seated directly behind me--patty and adrian :)

wednesday night, i saw "legends of kung-fu" at the princess of wales theatre with my family. it was an interesting mix of dance and martial arts. at times it was a little too artsy (i.e. men in spandex+interpretive dance), but there was also one beautiful scene where chun-yi the monk and a "seductress" were sort of dancing while suspended in the air by something that looked like a curtain. of course, there were many chinese people in attendance, and at the quietest moment of the entire show, a cellphone rings and a man goes "wei?"

thursday was an awesome day with my gal pals. we drove to niagara falls, had brunch at a very expensive denny's and saw the horseshoe falls from the canadian side. after that, we crossed the border and went to "cave of the winds" at niagara falls state park. what a great experience. i highly recommend it to anyone visiting niagara. you're given a big yellow poncho and a pair of cheap sandals, you take an elevator to the bottom of the bridal veil falls and you get pounded by the water cascading down. it's exhilarating. after the cave, we went outlet shopping, got in trouble at customs getting back into canada and then had pho in mississauga.

on friday, my family and i left for detroit for some quality time together and some more outlet shopping. had some amazing steak (and i never order steak) at the uno chicago grill at birch run. i actually closed my eyes involuntarily with each bite, savouring the experience. in terms of shopping, here is a sample of some of the deals i found:

gap swimsuit top .99
gap skirt 3.99
alyn paige dress 3.00
tommy hilfiger t-shirt 4.99
aeropostale smock top 3.99
american eagle cord blazer 16.99
banana republic jacket 24.99

i think i've done enough shopping to last me for the next few months : P anyway, we'll be back in toronto monday evening. we have to get back in time for the filming of a promo video for the channels' 30th anniversary celebration.

in the words of jeremy camp

2005-08-31T15:20:00.000-07:00

i will walk by faith
even when i cannot see
because this broken road
prepares Your will for me

it's becoming clear to me that i haven't fully surrendered my will to God. there is one big "high place" that i've had for many years now: speech-language pathology. i've wanted it badly and i expected that i would get it, and i allowed it rather than God to define me. but that road is broken right now and i'm coming to peace with whatever He has prepared for me. it may be that SLP is still in my future, and it may not be. but i know that whatever happens, God is in control and He has a plan--a plan that is better than anything i could ever dream of. for His will is "good, pleasing and perfect" (romans 12:2).

miscellaneous

2005-08-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

i'm currently reading "a farewell to arms" by ernest hemingway. i've had it for a long time (actually, it belonged to my mom) and i've tried to read it several times but never got past the second chapter. now i'm on chapter XIII and still not entirely sure what i think of it. there are bits of italian in it and i don't know some of the words, but the story is starting to get interesting. american frederic henry has been wounded while serving in the italian army and he's waiting at the hospital for his british nurse friend miss barkley to arrive.

i have seven days of work left, officially. they may keep me on part-time for a few more weeks in september to finish up some paperwork and to close off the program. beyond that, things are still wide open. i've applied for two main types of jobs for after my current one: instructor-therapy for children who have autism and more employment-counselling related work. right now, at the non-profit youth job centre i work at, i am a summer job developer. on one end, i work with students/"clients", helping them to apply for jobs, critiquing their resumes and providing interview tips. on the other end, i also work with employers and help fulfill their hiring needs through job fairs and other means and i try to create more job opportunities for my students. so i've applied for more work along these lines and i guess we'll see what happens.

going camping/cottaging this weekend, next weekend is aletheia camp and the weekend after that is outlet shopping in the states : P i feel kinda bad asking for three weeks off of teaching piano, but...oh well. i'm looking forward to the break.

briefly...

2005-08-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

i've been back from longlac for over a week and i'm only now finding some time to post a few words on it. it's been crazy busy from the moment i got back and any spare time i've had has been spent reflecting on the trip.

the kids were a lot of fun and it was a very cool experience to be on a first nations reserve. i've written a few letters to some of the kids that especially touched me: shaelyn, hannah and krystina. what i've come to realize is that with this type of missions trip where you're building relationships and planting seeds, the trip itself is short-term, but the missions has to be long-term. our team plans to keep in touch with the kids we met there by sending letters, emails and care packages. this way we can nurture the seeds that were planted and continue to love and care for them even though we're a 15-hour drive away.

wicked wedding yesterday! congratulations to holly and caleb. i know that the God-light that shines through each of you as individuals will shine even more brightly as you are united in marriage and in Him.

heading to longlac!

2005-07-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

praise God for opening the door--i'm going!

today i was officially granted three days off of work to go to longlac (a first nations reserve in northern ontario). as summer staff, i am not entitled to any vacation time whatsoever and since we were understaffed, my manager said no to the missions trip. but thankfully, a staff member came back from maternity leave last week and i was given two and now three days off! i'll still only be going for part of the trip, but considering i had zero days at the beginning, this is a huge blessing : P

i've had a special burden for first nations people this past year. it really started while i was in nashville exactly one year ago, where i had an interesting encounter with a native american woman at a greyhound bus station. she was carrying her daughter's ashes in a pouch around her neck and as we were talking, her anger and bitterness about the events surrounding her daughter's death left a deep impression on me. after the summer was over and i returned to school, i happened to take several courses in which i learned about various aspects of first nations languages and culture. shortly after i wrote a paper on the ojibwe language, dan told me about the ojibwe and cree in longlac and i've been geared to go ever since.

the team will be heading out to longlac on the 16th. we will be working primarily with the children, running a week-long vbs during which we will introduce Jesus and present the gospel. i'm particularly excited to work with some of the kids there who have special needs.

for a taste of the language, here is the Lord's prayer in the western dialect of ojibwe (and here's the website that it's taken from):

Nosinan ishpimi eaivn,
tvkkijiinenjigade iu kidishinikazouin.
Kitogimauiuin tvpitvguishinomvgvt.
Enendvmvn tvizhijigem oma aki,
tibishko iuidi ishpimi.
Mizhishinam sv nongum gizhigvk iu gemijiia.
Gaie uebinamauishinam iniu nimbataizhiuebiziuininanin,
ezhiuebinamauvidua igiu mejitotauividjig.
Kego gvguedibenimishikaen ninguji jishobiziia,
gaie mitaguenimauishinam mvjiaiiuishvn.
Kin sv kitibendam iu ogimauiuin, gaie iu gvshkieuiziuin,
gaie bishigendaguziuin, kakinik apine go kakinik.
Amen.

i'm lovin' it

2005-06-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

this is my first real summer in many many years. i've always had some sort of studying to do during the holidays, whether it was summer school or music theory, and i always had schoolwork at the back of my mind. not this year. i made the decision not to do any theory (even though i still have a few courses to do before i get my a.r.c.t. diploma) and since i've graduated, no summer school!

now it's all about the weekends (as much as i love my job), and they've been awesome so far. from grad bonfire to birthday celebrations to bridesmaid stuff to softball, my weekends are packed with activity and i'm playing hard : P looking forward to more great times throughout the rest of the summer.

Dear Old Dad

2005-06-23T23:38:00.000-07:00

My dad wanted to take me out for ice cream yesterday. I thought it was really sweet of him to offer, until I realized he also happened to have a toothache and that the cold ice cream would conveniently help ease the pain. Still, it was a nice gesture. We couldn't find a Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins nearby so we ended up going to McDonald's. Halfway through my Oreo McFlurry I almost died of brain freeze, so what's left of it is now sitting in my kitchen freezer for another day (mom didn't want me to throw it out :).

For Father's Day, I promised my dad that we'd get a professional family portrait done. We've never done it before, so I'm really excited. Did you know that Walmart has ultra-cheap portrait studio packages? For $4.95 you can get a 10x3, two 8x10s, three 5x7s, four 3.5x5s and 21 wallets. It's absolutely ridiculous! And there's no sitting fee or anything. But it's pretty stingy for a Father's Day gift. So we'll go to Sears instead, which will have a nicer atmosphere and will probably be much more professional.

here we go...

2005-06-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

i had always told myself that i would only blog if i were to go away for school. i had this notion that i need a reason to start blogging, otherwise it isn't legitimate. but now that i'm probably not going away for school anytime soon, i've found another reason to blog: convocation and thus the dawn of a new era in my life. and while i am still in this ceremonial state of mind:

i hereby declare this blog begun (open? online?)