Last Week of Classes

The semester is screeching to a close, and I am coming to terms with all of the work that I need to finish. I have all of April; one huge research report, three exams (one for pronunciation, easy as pie and two really difficult ones, statistics and research methods). Oh and a statistics problem set that I'm trudging through at the moment. I find the professors notes completely confusing, and it probably doesn't help that I have Shakespeare's As You Like It on DVD in the background.

I re-discovered the wonders of the public library last weekend. I had been just getting books from the university library, they had everything I needed for school, plus I could find the literary classics, slightly dated travel guides and even 1980's knitting pattern books. But when I went to the main branch of Edmonton public libraries downtown, I just wandered around drooling. There were so many books, magazines, audio books, CDs, DVDs that I would love to look at! How to choose between fiction, travel, crafts. I got too overwhelmed and put most of it off for another day. They also had an annual booksale in a basement parking lot. Library booksales are increidble, and you would not believe the number of tables (or the number of people!) Thankfully, I made a logical decision to limit myself, which also allowed me to finish looking in under two hours. After all, I have a very small bedroom, and no bookshelves.

This may sound weird, but my other big excitement last weekend was doing my Canadian tax return! This is the first year I've done my own Canadian tax return (I figure Dad's accountant needs a break), but it's not intimidating after having figured out tax returns in four other countries (one in Chinese). Plus, I found that one of the programs, ufile, is free for students, and it was a breeze! Amazing. Even if I had to pay, it would be well worth it. No extra forms to fill out about student credits or income from two provinces, it's all taken care of.

And my last bit of news, which may make some readers jealous (and hungry) is that I went to Red Lobster this week! I hadn't been since I lived in Ontario, and apparently they don't have them in the Maritimes (strange?) But it only took two bus rides and a short walk to find one in Edmonton! The salad tasted the same, the biscuits were divine, and the whole resturant had the same feel as the one we used to go to in Thornhill. I was really wanting to get scallops, but I eventually thought they might not be as good in land-locked Alberta in winter as they are fresh from the sea in Digby! I went for crab linguine instead. Here's a picture I found online to remind you...