Mission: 2008

In the spirit of things (Merry New Year everybody!) and thanks to the likes of Miss. Brandy and Mr. Michael C, yours truly has decided to throw in her 2 cents into the mission that is 2008. 

They might not be resolutions, as Websters defines “resolution” as 1: the act or process of resolving: as a: the act of analyzing a complex notion into simpler ones b: the act of answering : solving c: the act of determining d: the passing of a voice part from a dissonant to a consonant tone or the progression of a chord from dissonance to consonance e: the separating of a chemical compound or mixture into its constituents f (1): the division of a prosodic element into its component parts (2): the substitution in Greek or Latin prosody of two short syllables for a long syllable g: the analysis of a vector into two or more vectors of which it is the sum2: the subsidence of a pathological state (as inflammation)3 a: something that is resolved <made a resolution to mend my ways> b: firmness of resolve4: a formal expression of opinion, will, or intent voted by an official body or assembled group5: the point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out6 a: the process or capability of making distinguishable the individual parts of an object, closely adjacent optical images, or sources of light b: a measure of the sharpness of an image or of the fineness with which a device (as a video display, printer, or scanner) can produce or record such an image usually expressed as the total number or density of pixels in the image <a resolution of 1200 dots per inch>.  Right.

So, back to what I was saying.  There remains a few lingering incomplete missions from 007, some of which I can will complete successfully with a little elbow grease and wax to ease the cuts in my cheeks from all the smiling I’ll be doing, whether I like it or not.

#1) Be nicer to my nursing colleagues; particularily the 2 I work with in Community who don’t speak or try to speak\write English.

Seriously – this semester in community health nursing I was paired with two colleagues who speak broken, terrible English.  Now, one of them tries hard to speak well and I appreciate that.  He asks for help and accepts correction, and I in turn am patient with him and offer to correct papers for him in my non-existant spare time.   The other one, a masters student in her home country, thinks she’s the queen bee and the only intelligent person in the group.  In fact, she’s said in front of the professor that the other student and I “don’t know anything”.  Normally I am a calm, cool, collected person – but when she sent me an email saying that I wasn’t doing my part of the assignment when she in fact COPIED and PASTED from a website and DIDN’T EVEN BOTHER TO CHANGE THE FONT… I swore and yelled and many other things unbecoming of a lady – but considering that we could have ALL been kicked out of the program I don’t think I was completely in the wrong.  Thus I ended up writing the paper by myself 2 days before it was due on no sleep.  Sigh.  Anyway I intend to keep my swearing to a minimum for the rest of the term and try my absolute best not to end each of my sentence with “I’ll CUT you.”

#2) Go to class – AND pay attention

My Mondays used to start at 8 am… which means 6:30 am.  And end at 9:00 pm.  To follow with a Tuesday that started at 5:45 am to end at 8:00 pm.  Wednesday was quite similar.  Thursday started at 7:00am to end at 8:00 pm.  Fridays started at 6:30am and ended around 6:30 pm, easily my shortest day.  Needless to say I was tired exhausted sleepy retched halfway through the semester.  That inate perma-tired combined with my MDD and the events that happened during final exam time = not good for Carrie’s grades in an attempt to go for her Masters.  So I figure… passive learning when only a medium amount of stress is present is MUCH easier than active learning when all I want to do is curl up in bed and cry.  I’ll have to enlist some friends to help me, but it can be done.  So unfortunately that brings me to

#3) No more blogging in class!

Unless I get some sort of brilliant epiphany, of course.

#4) DOMINATE my GPA

Currently I am thisclose to a 6.0 (mid B), 1 short of the required mark for MNP.   Grades are not official nor are they all posted and calculated, but considering what happened this semester (which I wish I could say was out of the ordinary) that’s not too bad.  BUT; not too  bad is not good enough.  I have a goddamn 129 IQ.. I KNOW I can do better.  And now that I’ve told you (yes, YOU) I have to stand and deliver, just like I delivered the 8 pounds I lost after Jesus Camp!

#5) COMMIT…

This is the hardest so far.  The commitment I am speaking of is semi-permanent and filled with heartbreaking memories and self-fulfilling prophecies (my brother calls it a curse).  I am talking, of course, of the commitment to a player of the Ottawa Senators (who are currently LOSING to Washington 5-2, yes those were 5 unanswered goals) by having his name and number pro-stitched onto the back of my youth large red jersey.

The last player yours truly had stitched onto her back was Damian Rhodes, the love of my life from 1996-1999.  Despite his dismal to average play and subsequent trade and retirement from the NHL, I continued to wear my #1 jersey with pride, confirming my status as an “old school” Sens fan (for someone returning home to Ottawa in 1997) and my undying devotion to the only goalie to get both a goal and a shutout in the same game.

Alas, 8 years later, the time has come for me to say goodbye dear Damian and hello to… well.  I don’t know yet.  Pro stitching here in Ottawa costs anywhere form 80-100$, which was absolutely NOT what I paid for RHODES and 1 on the back of my jersey… 8 years ago.  Of course, 8 years ago it was 48$ for a monthly bus pass (now it’s 60$ and rising).  And also I don’t take this commitment lightely.  In my opinion, you REALLY have to like LOVE the player you’re stitching on your back, that you’re wearing for all to see.  You have to LOVE him no matter what, through good times and bad… and in my case, it was certainly bad more than it was good.  Considering I STILL wear Rhodes sometimes, when I commit, I COMMIT.

The front-runners are Jason Spezza, Mike Fisher, Dany Heatley, and Anton Volchenkov.  My brother has Alfredsson so he’s out of the question, and I am also not allowed to like him should my curse come into effect.  To be honest it’s beginning to look a lot like Jason, as we’ve had an on-again/off-again love affair (in my head) complete with mocking from my brother and a narrowly-missed opportunity to make out in a closet meet at my parents even in the Carribbean.  So long as my dad get’s a Heater jersey, we’ll be the Delivery line sitting in the 300 nosebleeders right in front of those in wheelchairs.  Where the REAL fans sit.

So this year… in fact most likely tomorrow on my lunch break, I’ll head over to Elgin Street Sports and fork over the 80$ and wait the 2-3 weeks for Spezza… when I’ll hope for the best and expect the curse.

#6) Overcome my fear of singing in public (with the exception of the National Anthems, of course)

It seems silly, doesn’t it?  Why would I be paying 48$/month for vocal lessons when the only 2 places I sing are in the shower and at hockey games?  Every time my vocal teachers boyfriend is in the vicinity, I freeze up; but when I’m totally naked in the shower I can belt out above high C no problem?  Considering that I can’t exactly bring the shower to my recital in April this is something that simply MUST be resolved.  Am I even good at singing?  Well… YOU tell me… or you can ask my neighbours and while you’re there, would you mind apologising on my behalf?

Ok… this seems like an awful lot.  What are yours?

~ by Carrie on January 2, 2008.