hamilton tomorrow...

so tomorrow is my OT interview at mcmaster. aghhh. honestly, i'm feeling a little nervous (ok, maybe more than just a little), but i've done my research and practiced hard, and i still have one more night to prep so hopefully things will be ok. :)

i still can't get over fine i feel with everything that has happened. although i was disappointed at how things panned out at first, i can honestly say i'm feeling quite at peace with it now. i'm actually surprised at just how at peace i feel with everything that has happened. i think i'm starting to discover what it really means to not worry about tomorrow and really believe and trust that God knows what is best. finally.

wish me luck!

book nook: twilight

twilight
stephenie meyer

i bought this book off chapters.ca because: 1. i wanted to see what the hype was all about, and 2. i needed something to take me up to the $39 minimum so i could get free shipping. haha. anyway, i ended up buying the mass market paperback copy because it's cheaper and even though it took me a while to actually start reading it (i had a list of other books i wanted to get through first), i eventually did.

if you've never heard of twilight before (i.e. you live under a rock), the story is quite simple: there's a vampire (edward) and a human (bella) who are "perfect" for each other so they eventually fall in love. however, the thing is that bella's blood is the most appealing (and appetizing) blood ever for edward, so there's an internal battle between him wanting to be close to bella, but also wanting to eat her and drink her blood at the same time. bah hah. oh the irony. read the book to find out what happens.

anyway, now that i've read it, i have a couple of thoughts:

1. stephenie meyer's writing style is atrocious.
okay, it's not that bad...but it's definitely not very good either (no offense). i understand that it was written for teens, but come on that doesn't mean it has to read like it was written by a teen. even harry potter is considered children's literature, but rowling definitely doesn't write like she's 6. instead her writing is just so much better in terms of its narrative, descriptions, and even vocabulary. hahaha, i can't help but feel a little mean writing it, but trust me: meyer's writing style is bad.

2. i'm hooked.
i know. i was surprised too. at the beginning of the book all i could think about what how bad the writing was, however by the end of the book i had been sucked into the twilight series. so wierd. case in point: i saw new moon (the next book in the series) selling for $9 at walmart so i bought it. and i'm going to read it soon. heehee. i guess despite her bad writing style, stephenie meyer did something right.

i recommend this book if you're into at least one of the following: chick flicks, vampires, easy reads, and books for teens. oh and i definitely think that it's more a girly book than anything so guys, you will probably hate it.

p.s. i want to watch the movie now. the guy who played cedric diggory from harry potter is edward cullen so chances are i'll secretly be rooting for hufflepuff throughout the whole thing.

gordon

i met him on my first day at my first long-term care home at my first job as a music therapist. he was one of the first residents i really talked to and i could tell he was one of the "good ones". i don't know if it was because of his love of music and chinese food, coupled by the fact that i was both a musician and chinese, but whatever it was, we really connected from the very beginning.

he was a silly guy who loved music, animals, the outdoors, sports, and (up until he had his first stroke) singing and playing his hawaiian steel guitar which he talked about frequently. he was kind and brave, having served our country for six years, but despite whatever horrible things he saw overseas, he came out of his experience with his heart and humour intact.

he was gordon - a great man and my favourite resident - and i always looked forward to seeing him whenever i went to this particular home. our sessions together were always full of laughter, singing, great conversations, music, good times, and time always seemed to pass quickly.

sadly i found out this morning that he passed away yesterday, just shy of his 89th birthday. even though he wasn't the first of my residents to pass on, the news of his death has hit me harder than the others. i only hope that i was able to impact his life in some way or another for the past two years that i knew him, because he certainly made an impression on mine.

rip gordon - even though you're gone now you'll always be my favourite resident. you will be missed.

three of seven

so i heard back from mac and i got an interview for the occupational therapy program! this means i made it through the first cut and i am still in the running. :)

as for the PT program i didn't get an interview but i'm completely fine with the rejection (maybe even a bit too fine) which just tells me that physiotherapy, even though it's an amazing profession, is just not for me.

time to start prepping for the interview!

three down, four to go.
(since i technically don't know if i'm in or out of the mac OT program yet.)
.....
applied: 7
rejected: 1
waitlisted: 2
accepted: 0

skillet | m o r e . f a i t h f u l

All the things my feet thought to be firm
Are falling with urgency
Tearing back my false sense of security

Some say things change, nothing stays the same
But the sweetness in my ears
Safe in your arms speak the words I love to hear

You have been more faithful than the morning sun
You have been more faithful than knowing the night will come
You have been more faithful than the changing of seasons

All things I thought that I used to know
Are falling down again

Our disillusionment is how we grow
Some say things change, nothing stays the same
In a world of inconsistency
When everything's a lie,

What can cause my heart to believe

You have been more faithful than the morning sun
You have been more faithful than knowing the night will come
You have been more faithful than the changing of season
.....
this is such a great song. even after 10+ years, i still love it.

book nook: the thirteenth tale

the thirteenth tale
diane setterfield

i snatched this book off the shelf of the library as i saw that it got a lot of great customer reviews at chapters.ca and wanted to see if this book was really that good.

the novel's protagonist is book-lover turned biographer, margaret lea, who is commissioned to write the biography of vida winters, a well-loved british novelist. the book centers around ms. winters telling her true life story before it's too late and uncovering hidden secrets of her past along the way, with a few secondary story lines coming into play from time to time.

i enjoyed the vivid descriptions found throughout the story which made it easy to visualize the scenes described, and thought that the story-telling aspect as a whole was good. unfortunately, i didn't enjoy the story line nearly as much and while i thought it started off strong, i found the ending of the book disappointing; it left me wanting more a better ending. haha.

considering this is her first novel i think setterfield did a pretty solid job, but in the end was it that good? ummmm, it was alright. it wasn't a great read, but a good one.

two of seven

i got my second response to grad school applications via mail today: wait-listed again for the speech-lanuage pathology program at UofT. i suppose it's better than a rejection, but i'm still feeling pretty discouraged, disappointed, and frustrated. gotta keep waiting, hoping, and (most of all) trusting.

i guess speech just isn't for me...

two down, five to go.
.....
applied: 7
rejected: 0
waitlisted: 2
accepted: 0

one of seven

i got my first grad school application response via e-mail today: wait-listed again for the speech-language pathology program at western. even though it's not my first choice, it's still disappointing. oh well, it's better than a rejection and i suppose this means there is still hope. :)

one down, six to go.
.....
applied: 7
rejected: 0
waitlisted: 1
accepted: 0