Kelly Date November 29, 2009

Hello from Wolfville, Nova Scotia. This week was a bit slower for me as I've started finishing up a few of my projects. It's nice to have some of the work done with, but the down side is that I'm getting a bit bored. I like staying busy and suddenly find myself with a bit too much time on my hands. However, I still have a couple weeks of school left and have to get through that before I have to time to brainstorm any new adventures.

I did get some great news though as I was awarded the SSHRK scholarship that I applied for about a month back. It's worth $17,500.00 so it will go a long way to covering my school expenses next year and help with the cost of my research project. I figure it took me about 20 hours to put the application together so it works out to about $875.00 an hour. I'd stay that's a pretty decent return for time invested lol. I was thrilled to get the award actually and it is a huge relief financially as well. My thanks again to all those who helped out in any way. I appreciated the support and encouragement.

The only funny thing to happen this week was a story on the local radio station. Some of the cultural differences here in Nova Scotia can be quite entertaining. A news story on Thursday had me in stitches. A lady had centre stage telling about a run in she and her husband had with the police. So you have to picture a heavy Cape Breton accent her, long winded details, and a slow paced sharing of events. I'll do my best to convey the tone etc.

Apparently she and her husband had gone down to the grocery store to pick upa few things ya know, we did't need much. My husband went to the smoke shop. Well I tell ya, I come out an da polece were alroun our truck - pears da polece hear'd about a boy gone missen and taught my husband had gone and done it. "Well, holy dinah....you should a hear'd em all. They took my husband an me to the polece stations...and asked us lots of questions bout where'd we'd been an all...even made him empty his pockets lord sakes. Now everyone round here is gonna tink we did it...and we did't. Holy dinah, they pologized though for all the troubles."

Ha, I could barely contain myself I was laughing so hard. She relayed these details in a most serious manner and all I could do was giggle. Funniest thing I'd heard in a while. God, you simply have to love the accents around here. Absolutely priceless. It was so Cape Breton in every way. In all fairness, I realize that I too have an accent but somehow I don't think it is nearly as charming heh!

I've continued to work at my jogging and seem to be getting a little better at it. I seem to jog more than I walk now and Mr. Finnigan is loving it. He gets to be out a bit longer than we would normally during school days and he gets a good run out of it as well.

Until next week then. You have an absolutely fabulous week!

Kelly Date November 22, 2009

Greetings! I have accomplished much this week. I have two of my courses almost completed and working on finishing up the third here shortly. On top of that I even managed to attend a couple of presentations this week on Aboriginal studies. They were both quite interesting. The first addressed issues of violence against Aboriginal women and the second was on the killing of sled dogs in Nunavut by the RCMP back in the 50's and 60's. I won't go into the details but I learned a lot from the speakers and it sure broadens your outlook on things.

What else did I do this week.....oh yeah, I won a photo contest! One of my photos was selected for the school art magazine which was exciting. I've included it here in the blog today at the top. It was a photo I took while in Cape Breton - I stopped to take in the view at one of the many lookout points and noticed the graffiti on the guard rail as well as the little Inukshuk. I thought it was cool and apparently so did the judges lol. I was a bit surprised by their choice actually as I had submitted several other very nice photos but this was the one they liked. Oh well, I was still please to have even one selected.

Next up was the Olympic Torch Parade through Wolfville. I had never been to one, but was able to sneak away from a meeting early to get a few pictures. The one I've included here is of the designated runner headed down main street and after that there was a huge celebration in the commons area. I also got a great picture of an elderly man who came out to see the festivities. He was quite happy to have me snap his picture. I was amazed at how many people show up for the event. The crowd in front of the pavilion was quite large actually with music and entertainment and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

Oh, one not so great bit of news.....I have to move tomorrow....again. Yuk! I'm am tired of moving and even though it is only one flight of stairs down it seems like work lol. I've been shuffling things off and on for the past few days to make things go a bit quicker tomorrow which should help somewhat. I don't even have to move the heavy stuff and I'm still complaining lol. Did I mention I hate moving......

I have nothing further of any consequence whatsoever to report but will wish you a great week and sunny weather. Until next week then......

Kelly Date November 15, 2009

Hello! This has been a fabulous week. I've managed to get so much done and out of the way - permanently. The semester is close to over and it feels great! It's been a lot of work and I have put so much time into it, but its paid off and I can actually start putting some of the work behind me. Next semester of course is a whole new deal, but at least I'll get a bit of a break over Christmas.

However, I've not been able to get much done except homework. I did manage to start taking Mr. Finnigan for some long walks though. I take along some good music and go

all over the place chugging along to some good old songs. Fin loves it of course and it takes about an hour to get all the way down past the Blomidon Inn and back again. He is busy sniffing everything along the way and peeing on every available post, pillar, and beam lol.

The only other interesting thing to report was that the weather was weird today. I spent most of yesterday and today doing homework, but when I went to go for our walk today it was warm outside - but not just warm it was also wet out. Not raining or terribly overcast or even foggy but the air itself was wet. It was the strangest thing - I'd never experienced a

nything like it. It must be an east coast thing. Wet, but not wet lol.

I'll be back next week with hopefully a better update, but for now that's all folks. I uploaded a couple of older pictures. They from the presentation I did in October on Aboriginal ecotourism. They were my favourites; Namibia, Africa, Alert Bay, BC, and Kaikura, New Zealand. I thought they were beautiful pictures. Enjoy.

Kelly Date November 8, 2009

Hello again, this week's blog, out of necessity, is going to be a rather short entry as I'm so very tired today. I managed to get much done this past week, but I really pushed it today. I spent approximately 12 hours studying, working to get a particular project done on theoretical frameworks. It might sound boring, but it isn't lol and for the most part I very much enjoyed the challenge of just trying just how to figure it all out.

However, I am so completely done in I can't seem to think of the least little clever thing to say. It's funny, but it one of the projects I've been procrastinating on, but once I overcame my worry that I wouldn't be able to do it, things worked out quite well. At least I hope so. In the end, I guess my prof will tell me if I made sufficient effort or not.

I did take Mr. Finnigan for a good long walk and took a few pictures of the ducks to include on the blog. The mushrooms are from a field near where I live and it's one of our favorite places to walk. I love the shapes, colours and texture, which makes a good picture. I'm not sure about the faming on this

one, but I'm took pooped to hunt for a better one lol.

I hope you have a great week and I am sure to have a lot more to say next week!