What's up with me...

Sorry I've been MIA in the last few days. Real life has definitively intruded ^_^; If you've left any comments on my posts, I will get back to you... and I will try my best to blog-hop tomorrow.

So what's up with me? Well my parents are really enjoying my dad's retirement and as a result, my sister and I have been cooking in the past few days... For those who knows me, they also know that I don't cook. LOL. It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, it's just that I never had the opportunity to learn... The kitchen is really my mother's domain and she guards it well :) And when I was younger, my grandmother used to live with us... so she was the one in charge. The most difficult I find is that me and my sis, we're not familiar with what we have and what we don't have... so we end up almost everyday at the grocery store ^_^; We also buy in very small quantity so the food don't spoil... Figuring what to eat, buying everything, cooking, etc... it's a lot of work LOL... which reinforce what I've been saying when people are impressed with the amount of books I read - reading is all I do. I don't have a family to take care - so no cleaning, no cooking, etc. Have to say, cooking as really cut in my reading time ^_^; As a result, I've been re-reading a lot for the past week - takes less concentration.

Here are some pictures of what we've been cooking... and yes, I did take pictures. Proof! LOL :)

For those who are wondering, yes we've been eating lots of chicken... the reason is, we bought a pack of chicken breast at Costco... Let me tell you, it's A LOT of chicken ^_^;

Another thing that has cut in my reading time is tennis with the US Open. I have to say, I haven't been into tennis much this year... especially after my favorite player retired last year... but I ended up really watching the US Open... and it was a great tournament this year!! I'm so happy about the winners, Kim Clijsters and Juan Martin Del Potro! I love Kim and am so happy that she's back. As for Del Potro, he's quickly becoming one of my favorite players... and also, finally, some new contenders!! You have to mix it up to keep it interesting!! Anyway, great tournament this year...

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to catch up with things this week-end, since my sister and I drove to Quebec City. We went to visit my uncle and his family. Basically, just spend time together. I always felt sad that me and my cousins (on either side) aren't very tight. Sure, it's fun when we see each other, but we don't go out of our way to e-mail or call each other :( Sad... and while Quebec City is only 2.5 hours away, it's all about scheduling... My cousin works part-time on the week-end, so she's always busy. My parents are busy at the temple on Sunday and I work Saturday nights :( Anyway, I did make some time so we could see them... This was the first time my sister and I went on our own. It wasn't too bad.

The weather was gorgeous, and lucky for us! Because my aunt had a surprise for us on Saturday: a canoe outing! Basically, it was a 17.3km long canoe trip... We went bright and early - she booked us at 9.30am... My aunt and sis shared a canoe while I was with my uncle... the only problem is this was my first time driving a canoe... It's not that easy. Something else my aunt didn't predict... the river water level...

Let just say it hasn't rained much in the past few weeks... so it was low... the lowest it's been in a very long while!! People stopped on the side and told us how brave we were LOL! Oh, it was fun, don't get me wrong... but let just say my uncle got out of the canoe a couple of times to pull us through the rocks LOL. After 5.5 grueling hours though, we had enough and we were quite pleased to get there :) (I don't have any pics of me, because I was the one with the camera... but hopefully, my aunt will send her pics soon...)

Overall, I had a great week-end... which kind of makes up for today... Shitty, sucky day at work :( Ugh!!! So frustrating and stressing - my boss is back from vacation and it shows. Also, I hate cell phone companies. There there simply to steal our money!!! Ugh.

But let's not think of that... let's think of the good times I had... and what I'm going to eat tomorrow! LOL :) I'll also try my best to work on some reviews :D So how have you all been lately?

Quebec City trip

Hi everyone!!

I'm back!! LOL, actually, I came back yesterday, but was so tired... Anyway, today is my first day of vacation!! woohoo!!! LOL :) It's been a while since I had one of these :) No plans really...

So I thought I'd post some pictures... We only went from Saturday morning to Sunday evening, but we still managed to bring a lot of things. It was funny, because you'd think that we'd be gone for a long thing, looking at how we were packing. The neighbors were sitting on their porch, both when we left and came back LOL :)

I drove to Quebec City which is a 2.5 hours drive. I tried driving back when we returned, but could only managed half of it. I was too sleepy. Seems like I can handle morning drive very easily, but I always have difficulty in the afternoon.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip. We did a lot of walking around. Quebec City is celebrating their 400 years anniversary, so there were lots of people everywhere. I had a cramp on Friday night while sleeping and so, now, my calves are really stiff :( But it was well worth it to see my uncle and his family.





So Saturday, after eating lunch, we walked around Old Quebec. The weather was really nice, so it was great :) My cousin, whom I haven't seen for 2 years, went on a camping trip. So she only joined us for supper with her boyfriend. It's kind of strange, because she's always been my little cousin... and for her to offer me beer and introduce her boyfriend, just strange.

We went to a steakhouse. Took us a while to find a place to eat. My uncle doesn't go out often, he's more of a homebody. All in all, the food was pretty good, but the service a bit slow... and forgetful ^_^; Actually, they completely forgot my order... Luckily, I only ordered a chicken Ceasar salad, otherwise, I'd probably have waited a long time.





Next morning, we went on a loooong walk LOL. My cousin had to go to work, so we didn't get to hang out. I like the third picture where my sis and dad are posing, LOL :) I tried to imitate them in the last pic :)

Overall, a nice week-end. Wonder when is the next time I'll see them...

As for my first day of vacation, a bit boring. Brought my car to the dealership because there was an oil leak. Turns out they are missing a piece so they'll keep the car overnight. My mom was gone grocery shopping, so me and my sister were pretty much stranded home. Then, we lost power for about 2 hours... So I napped... and I woke up all groggy and uncomfy. I'm trying to slowly clean up my room... it's not that bad, but yeah, I have a bit of work to do LOL :)

Good news is that I read and finished Sea Witch by Virginia Kantra :)

Increase in school fees in Quebec province

Nope, this is not going to be about books. I've been reading; however, no wowzer :( and no books that ask scream at me to be reviewed... so I didn't have much to say... till this evening.

This evening, I went to pick up my sister as usual; however, I got stuck in a street. Couldn't turn, couldn't back up, couldn't go forward. The cause? A student manifestation about the increase in school fees... I was a student a few years back, so I should feel sympathetic to the cause... instead, it just angers me sooo much! Let me give you some background... in the 60's, Quebec's government has frozen the school fees so they would not increase over the years... and so, they haven't for nearly 4 decades. On an average, a semester at any university in Quebec, for a Quebec resident, is 1,300$ CDN. This is the cheapest in Canada... hell, it's probably the cheapest in America!! What they plan is to increase the fees by 50$/semester for 5 years. Okay, at the end, it's going to be a total of 500$ and that'll be a bit under 2,000$/semester... and that's a lot for some ppl... I do understand that... but do you know what the students were manifesting about?!? What they wanted?

FREE SCHOOLING!!!

Okay, so now I'm going to contradict myself with some stuff I said in the past. In the past, I said that I felt that in America, we were buying our degrees. That because we were paying for our schooling, at the end, all you needed to do was pass your classes and you'd get your diploma. My complaint is that because we have to pay, I think that the quality of the education offered here is not as high as the countries with free schooling. Also, there is less competition in America... it should be considered as an advantage; however, because we know that we'll have our diploma at the end, we don't push ourselves as much. So that being said, I'm still realist... We are never going to get free schooling anywhere in America, Canada or Quebec. That makes manifesting for this cause useless and seriously, the students that were out there? Naive.

Even with the increase in fees, Quebec's universities will remain one of the most affordable and cheapest in Canada and America. Quit whining. Yes, it's going to cost you more... but the rest of Canada is already paying more NOW. Does that mean that Quebeckers won't be able to pay and make it, while the rest of Canada makes it? Are you saying that Quebeckers are this useless? I read an article earlier this year that said that Quebec and Canadian students were making approximately the same income and paid about the same rent and etc. So it just annoys me all the manifestations and revendications... and all their arguments. I don't think that more ppl will attend universities because of the free schooling. I mean, yes, those who can't afford it now will have a chance, but that doesn't mean universities are going to open their doors wide open. Similarly to Europe, there'll be more competition and you'll have to work real hard to stay in. So no, not more ppl will attend, just more ppl will have the chance...

So anyone has thoughts on this?