Dogs aren't Just Pets

I love Dogs. My whole family does, and I've grown up with a couple of them over the years. We currently have 3 dogs, a chocolate lab named Sonny who we've had since he was 4 months old, got him almost 5 years ago. And this past Febuary we adopted two old timers, Ceasar and Cleo (patra), two 9 year old Basset Hounds. I love each one to pieces, but if I were 100% honest, I think I just might love Caesar a tinsy winsy tiny bit more. Why?

I'll tell ya, it isn't because he's the cutest, or the smartest, in fact, out of all three he's the 'ugliest' and by far the smelliest with a killer dog breath. Not to mention his front legs are bent crooked (a bone problem overweight basset hounds tend to suffer from) like two brakets sticking out --> )( . But he's my baby.

Now, lately their health is become fragile, both Cleo and Caesar. And since the foster girls are in charge of walking them and feeding them afterschool, unfortunately, they don't give them water when they do and the dogs have became dehydrated very fast, and sick. Up until the point where neither of them would eat (now if you had seen these guys a few months back, they fought with each other sometimes to get more food) until we realized that they haven't been drinking in a few days. That along with some digestive problems, Caesar went very bone thin (when we first got them they were both very overwieght and could have died already, but with us they becaue very fit and healthy) and for reasons we don't know, his nose was stuffy and he had trouble breathing. Last night Caesar and Cleo wouldn't touch their food so my dad gave them water again, Cleo felt better, but Ceasar didn't. We let them sleep in the mudroom rather than in their 'bunkbed shelter' in the garage. This morning we thought we were going to loose him.

He was having horrible shakings, he couldn't control his body and peed, pooped and puked all around himself and on Cleo. It was like he was having seizures, he was crying and in pain. I went to church not expecting him to be alive or better when I got back. My dad stayed with him all morning, while I just cried and sobbed at church, thinking about how much I was going to miss his rough, scratchy nose, his stinky breath, and his sad brown, blood-shot droopy eyes. I had a dog who got sick from rat poison and suffered from seizures, his mental health declined, and he was miserable so we put him down. I wasn't expecting much else for this time. But, my dad came to pick us up with good news, Caesar was alive and is doing better. I nearly started craying from joy. When I came home he was no longer shaking and he could focus his eyes and be attentive. He still had trouble walking and perferred to lay down. My Maverik will live to see another day, and hopefully a Christmas with us, and the New Year. He's now stable and in a slow recovery, he needs to gain strength to eat and gain some meat on his bones before he can be my old baby Caesar again.

Today, when he was alone in the mudroom (because he still couldn't control his bladder and we already had to bathe poor Cleo) I petted and stroke his head, and scratched behind his ear (his sweet spot, he's the only dog I've had who makes a sound of absolute pleasure when you scratch just in the right spot, almost like a cat purring) and I told him that we loved him. That no matter what we might have said or done in the past, we loved him very much. I know he's just a dog, just a pet, and wouldn't understand what I'm saying. But Ceasar is not just a dog, not just a pet, he's family.

"You give and take away, but my heart will choose to say; Lord Blessed be Your name"

Two major events have taken place over the last 24 hours in my family. Firstly, my aunty Yolanda died from Pancreatic cancer. I only met her one time while I was in Peru two years ago, but I remember I sang for her and other members my favorite opera song at the time. I was very sad to hear she was dying, and my fear was where she would go after she left this world, but I have been reconfirmed knowing she's in heaven along with my Grandma.

Secondly, at 5 am this morning my cousin Christell gave birth to her first baby! A baby boy named Joseph (Joey). I think in the north american culture he would be considered my second cousin, but in spanish and russian cultures he is my nephew and I am his aunt :) One life gone, a new one born. I was a bit shocked when I started crying a bit in class when I got the email, I don't know if it was out of sadness or out of joy. Probably a mix of both.

I hope to see my nephew soon, although that would mean a trip down to Orlando :D We'll see....
~Elizabeth

PS: I greatly debated whether or not to put a picture of my cousin in labour....yeah, we'll wait for the new born pics instead ;)

Mid Terms. Need I say More?

Yep. It's that time.

Even though in all my classes we have 2 tests per term, they're called mid-terms. Which in my mind doesn't make sense, because that would suggest that there would be ONE test half way through the term...right? Anyways, I've done my Microeconomic test, Intro Business test and History & Art test. I have Calculus coming up this teusday (EEK!) and Ancient Greeks the monday after. So far I got my Micro test back, and got 18/20, which I'm pretty happy with. Apparently 90% means an A+, so I can't complain!
I felt that my Intro Bus test was really intense! I ran out of time but got most of it done, however I'm a bit concerned about my mark. Hopefully it won't be too low to drag me down, and that now, knowing what to expect, I will do better on the second test, and lastly the exam. I felt really strong about my History & Art test :D It was easier than I thought it would be, and apart from not being able to remember how to spell Telolilualalalalan (or w/e...) a city in Mexico, I think I aced it!
I'm mostly worried about the Calculus test, mainly because the last two lessons I haven't been able to understand at all from my teacher, but Youtube instructors have helped IMENSELY! I just hope I can learn everything I was supposed to learn in class and get through my assignments and review with little problem, but most importantly, that I will RETAIN what I learn and NOT forget. It happens a bit frequently in math...it's simply not my forte. It's much easier for me to see a picture of an art work and remember who made it, when, what medium, the subject, the title, and symbolic meanings behind the art work and what its trying to convey, as opposed to remembering how to find out the continuity of a limit.
But at least by challenging my mathematically-challenged brain, I (hope) am developing some weak areas of my brain. But, unless I REALLY need to take Intro Cal 2 for third year Economics, and IF I even take 3rd year Economics, this will be my VERY LAST math class EVER AGAIN!!!

So, wish me luck!!!
~Elizabeth

Smells like Freedom!....And sometimes it smells like B.O.

I'd be one of the first people to admit about their fear of public transportation. I don't know why, but I never liked taking the bus, it would be my absolute last resort, one I rarely had to use (thank god! lol) but now I use it everyday except tuesdays! And you know what? Apart from the 11 bus from Main & James to the UoW being jammed pack like a can of sardines, and the occasional 'smelly' person that sits near or NEXT to you, I rather enjoy the liberty I have at been able to take the bus and get anywhere! I figured out my bus schedule and bus stops and transfers all by me self :D I haven't gotten lost once, or took the wrong bus (I have, however, missed one bus thus far). Although with the way my mom's work and school schedule is going, I may be taking the bus less, which is alright with me, because as much as I'm starting to enjoy it, going to Michael's Art store after classes and whatnot, it takes at least 50 minutes to get home, and with my mom it will only take 35 minutes max.

I LOVE UNIVERSITY!!!!

I remember feeling a little scared andd stressed out during my second week because of the heavy amount of questions my Calculus teacher assigned us, but since we've finished with the Review and have gone into Calculus, it has lightened up a lot, and I find I can manage my time quite well, although I probably still get too side-trackted by facebook....I need to work on that :P But another thing that has gotten better, is that I'm starting to make friends, YAY! These two girls in my microeconomics class,  a Jew named Sophie and a Chinese homestay student named Liang (or Jane), I find making friends and connecting with foreigners much easier than with Canadians sometimes, sorry guys :P Sophie is the sweetest and funniest girl you'll meet, and Liang is still uneasy with her english, she's only been in Canada for close to a year, Sophie came three years ago so her english is much more confident. I feel compassionate for Liang because having had 3 Korean homestay students live with my family in the past, I know how hard it is for them to be away from their family for so long. What I love about Liang is how different the culture she comes from is compared to North American culture. She tells me how when she mentions the name of an artist really famous in Asia and no one here knows who she is talking about, she is shocked! That to me is quite amusing, because I'm sure its the same vice versa, but North America does have alot of influence in terms of the media andd music industry across the world, so it would be more likely for people across seas to know someone famous over here, than us knowing someone famous over there. That is something that bugs me, because I LOVE different cultures and have been fortunate enough to live in a different one and experience two others through my parents' homelands. And it is SO rich and the experience just fills you, and I wish North America exposed it more, I think it would help demolish ignorance and give way to an openess and appreciation for people of different cultures. Sometimes I get the feeling that Canadians will look at a foreigner and think "oh look, here's another one," and just walk away, without any interest in the person's background and life story.

I personally have felt more like a foreigner coming back to Canada in 2002 than I ever did while living in Mexico, because the people are so kind, so open and are interested and accepting of people who are different then them. They introduce you into their culture so you feel at home, and I miss that ambiance. But I pity those who have not, and might never, experienced that. It is very different to travel across the globe and experience the food, sights and music, than it is to live a day in the shoes of a person in that country, which is why I exult the Explore Programme so much because you really become immersed in the culture of Quebec, you live with Quebecois, you eat quebecois food, you speak french, you hear french music, you watch TV in french, etc.

Anyways...this turned more into a rant than an update, but watevs, this is my blog, and I can do what ever the bloody hell I want! (as my Ancients Greek teacher would say). Speaking of Ancient Greeks, I did my first quiz. I thought I have 100% but turns out I made a mistake on one of the days...oh bullocks. Just for the record, I shall now NEVER forget that the Peloponnesian League was formed between 510-500 BC. Not 550 BC....okay so I got 97%, yay! Not bad, I just hope I do as well on my essay, and future quizes and tests in other courses. I still don't know how I did on my first Cal quiz...although it was only a review quiz, and we have like 8 quizzes altogether in one term that makes up 10% of my mark, so I won't stress too much about those. And YAY for being able to understand limits!!! I've actually discovered that you can search on YouTube for math help! It's BRILLIANT! For once, YouTube is not JUST to waste your life away on it :P hahaha.

Well I need to finish reading chapter 3 of Intro to Bus, finish the reading for Family, Gender & Sexuality unit in Ancient Greeks (ooh boy...:P) aaaaaaaaand, work on my commission (YAY! Commission! getting paid for doing artwork! Now my dad can't say I WASTE my time drawing!)

~Cheers!

Elizabeth

PS: Did I mention how much I love my Ancient Greeks class?...

Double Calculus, the Cause of my Quarter Pounder- Pitiful

Crikey, I've had a bloody hell of a day! Today was my first Tuesday, which meant I had Calculus, Business 1 and History & Art, but on top of that I have a Lab for Cal at 2:30-3:45. Lab, I now realize, is an excuse to have ANOTHER class. So by the time my mom picked me up at 4, I was so brain dead, stressed, tired and hungry (actually it was more nerves mixed with cravings, with a tad of hunger) that I expressed how badly I wanted greesy food; a cheeseburger and fries from McDonald's in particular. So my good mother, also tired from school and work, said we could take a treat for today and we went to McD's and each had a quarter pounder (which i haven't had before), medium fry and medium drink. We consumed about 550 calories. By the time we were done it was 5, so we figured, we won't be hungry for dinner :P. Which is a shame, because my dad is cooking now that both my mom and I are at university.

Honestly, this will be, forever, the last math course I ever take in my LIFE! I don't particularily enjoy it, because my teacher goes too fast and doesn't write out or explain all the steps. I'm hoping this is simply because we're doing a review (of all the algebra and calculus we've learned in the past 3 years in 4 classes) and that she won't be like that when we start the actual course, or I may have to drop it. Because I can't keep up at a fast pace,  my brain just doesn't work like that. I like taking math slow and at a pace where I understand all the steps, and I get faster with practice, but not as fast as some people. I still take my time with all the little steps because otherwise I will mess up and get confused.
Other than that, I really enjoy my Intro to Business 1 class, the teacher really gets us to voice our opinions and thoughts and talk about things not necessarily related to the class topic of the day. My History & Art teacher is great, although we haven't gone into our course yet, she did a sweet thing today by taking us through the UoW Library page and showing us all the different databases we can use and how and where to search for resources for our papers, such as journals, books, videos, peer-reviewed journals, etc. That's helpful because we can use it for all our research assignments and essays. I'm still anticipating the day she'll bring our student access cards for the Winnipeg Art Gallery!!! I'll go the very next day or that very day! I really, really, really want to see if their art supply store has A3 sized sketchbooks, or close to that size, because I really want one. :)

Anyways, I shall try keep you all posted of anything significant or otherwise that happens.

~Elizabeth

PS: realized my blood donation day is next monday...not yesterday's monday.