Let it Snow!

Well folks! It's time to start bringing out those snow boots, the shovels, the hats, the mittens! The time of the year has come! We finally have snow on the ground! Just in time to get us all into the Christmas Spirit! The past few years, we would have a bit of snow before Christmas, then a blizzard after Christmas, looks like it's changed this year! I don't know about you guys, but I'm a Christmas fanatic! It's not because of the gifts, or the food. It's all about cozying up in front of the fireplace late in the evening and having a nice hot steamy hot chocolate along with a good old Christmas classic! My favourite thing to do is watch Christmas movies with a fire going, maybe make some smores. Even now just talking about it makes me want to go home at make a fire! It's not even December yet, but it's getting close, and there's already few who have put up their Christmas lights. I personally think that all Christmas lights should be lit up on the 1st of December. That's always been a tradition in my family. It just makes it that much better. Seeing all these different houses all lit up, with the snow glistening definitely gets me in the Christmas cheer! This Christmas will be even more special since I will be attending the World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa. I will be going up boxing day, and spending the weekend with Shaun's family. We will also be going around to visit old Ottawa which will be full of lights and Christmas cheer. For those of you who don't like Christmas, I suggest trying to watch Christmas movies such as; The Holiday, and The Family Stone. Perhaps even the old classics, such as Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer, even Charlie Brown Christmas! I will say this, I hate the muddy snow, and the wet winters, but this is the wonderful time of the year!

Madagascar 2

This past weekend, I went to the movie theaters to see one of the greatest animated movies of all time. Lately, animated movies have been an extreme success in the box office. Movies such as, Finding Nemo, Kung Fu Panda, Ratatouille, Barnyard, and of course, Madagascar. All of these movies are mistaken for kiddie movies. In my opinion, they're completely wrong. These movies to children, are just funny because of the graphics, and the characters, not necessarily because of the dialogue. Madagascar and Ratatouille are definately my 2 favourites movies. They both have hilarious graphics, unbelievable jokes, and great stories behind it. Madagascar 2 has been criticized at being more successful than the first one. The story is a great one, and of course, the giant pansies are still at it in the wild. I reccomend this movie to everyone who has liked the previous animated Dreamworks movies. It is very important that you pay attention to the characters facial expressions, that's where you get the best laugh. Trust me people, this movie is definately a movie to go see!

Hilarious Cats

As most of you don't know, I love cats more than anything in the world. All my life, I've grown up with cats around me. We got our first cat when I was only 2. She was a female cat, short hair, with a bunch of colors; brown, white, black, and grey. Her name was Sassy, and she lived to be 14 years old. When she first passed away, it tored me apart not having her around, I would walk up the stairs and see a sweater on the floor, and I would think it was her. Whenever I came home from school, I would always expect her to come running up to me. I could never live without pets, because there's just nothing to come home to, they're so funny and loving. Just recently, we got two new kittens so that they could play together. They are both females, Vixen and Xiva and the best part is, they're sisters! They are the craziest cats ever! They wrestle each other like you wouldn't believe, and chase each other around the house. They make toys out of nothing! They play with paper bags, pens, paper, kleenex boxes, their own tails, they're so funny to watch! We've recorded them acting like they're high on sugar! This is a hilarious video of different cats who play with anything. I google these videos all the time because they're just so funny! It's pretty amazing sometimes to see what cats are capable of.
Enjoy!

Shine your Light

This month, I've picked a song called Shine your Light, sung by Robbie Robertson. When I first heard this song, I cried like a baby. This song is featured in the movie Ladder 49. Which is a movie about a firefighter, ( Jack Morrison played by Joaquin Phoenix ) who becomes a veteran at a Baltimore Fire Department. During this movie, his department gets called into a very dangerous blaze that's burning a 20 storey building. As he goes into the building, he finds himself trapped after falling through a floor, and loses track of where he is in the building. While he's trapped, he manages to talk to his captain ( Mike Kenndey played by John Travolta) on the walkie talkie. At some times, due to the smoke inhalations, he falls in and out of consciousness. He starts to have hallucinations about his past life, and his wife his son, and his first fires, which manages to keep him alive. When they finally get to where he is, they had to stop because of the debris, and metal they have to go through to rescue him. The building was burning down, and was on the verge of collapsing. Jack then tells his captain to pull out the other firefighters before he endangers their lives too. Jack Morrison then dies, and when they start his funeral ceremony, the song starts to play, as the scene of his body is being carried out onto the firetruck, with his band of brothers, wife, son, and friends in tow. The lyrics to this song is so beautifully written. The song is about a person passing away, and it's written as if you're talking to that person. You're telling them to look down on you, and help you, and guide you through everything (Shine your light). You're also realizing that since that person's passed, it can happen to anyone, and also to you. Don't wanna be a hero, just an everyday man, trying to do the job the very best he can, but now it's like living on borrowed time. This lyric is the most meaningful to me. To my opinion, it explains you're trying to live your life as best you can, and savour each moment, and memory, yet you never know when it can all end. This lyric also represents a small portion as to why I got my tattoo. It's a script, that says Live, surrounded by cherry blossoms and vines, which are in color. It means I try to go through each day as positive as I can, and live up to my tattoo. Yet there are times where it's okay to be grieving, or mourning, which is the reason of the vines. It also represents how easily life can be taken away from you at anytime, like Angela St-Denis' family. She was so young, yet she was so happy with what she did, and was always involved in almost anything she could do. To me, this song represents a loss of a loved one, and asking them to guide you through, and being there with you emotionally even though they are gone. They're not gone, they're just away.

Fallen Soldier Poem

Today is November 11th, remembrance day. I have decided to post a very nice poem written by Angela Goodwin. This poem truly touched my heart. The way she wrote it, and defined a soldier, makes me realise what these fallen soldiers did for us, and our country. I hope you enjoy it like I did.

A Soldier

There is discipline in a soldier you can see it when he walks,

There is honor in a soldier you hear it when he talks.

There is courage in a soldier you can see it in his eyes,

There is loyalty in a soldier that he will not compromise.

There is something in a soldier that makes him stand apart,

There is strength in a soldier that beats from his heart.

A soldier isn't a title any man can be hired to do,

A soldier is the soul of that man buried deep inside of you.

A soldier's job isn't finished after an 8 hour day or a 40 hour week,

A soldier is always a soldier even while he sleeps.

A soldier serves his country first and his life is left behind,

A soldier has to sacrifice what comes first in a civilian's mind.

If you are civilian -I am saying this to you.....next time you see a soldier,

remember what they do. A Soldier is the reason our land is 'Home of the free',

A soldier is the one that is brave protecting you and me.

If you are a soldier -I am saying this to you.....

Thank God for EVERY SOLDIER

Thank God for what YOU do!

Olympics?

As most of you who don't know this about me, every year here at Garnier, I've had several people who come visit me and look at my progression. I've been learning a bit of sign language (LSQ). LSQ stands for Langues des Signes Québécoise. Which is the french version of sign language. Many people are not familiar with this, but LSQ and ASL (American Sign Language) are two different versions of sign language. Although there are some signs that are the same, they are still two different languages. I've been seeing the same people for the past couple of years now, and just last year, a gentleman offered me and unbelievable opportunity. He informed me of a volleyball team that are hearing impaired, and they play in the Special Olympics. These girls are from 16-20 years old. Depending on my hearing disability qualifications, I may be able to enroll myself into this team. I believe next year the Olympics will be in Brazil. This for me, would be an amazing opportunity to do the two things I love; playing volleyball, and travelling with other people's money! I still have to get in touch with the organization in order to be a part of it. They would have to come and see me play. As for right now, it's just an opportunity for me, since I will probably wait a year or two to look into it, so that I start college, and get my education first, so that I have a back up plan in case it doesn't work out. It's all about taking risks, and for me, this opportunity would be the one that could change my life forever.

Off to Nipissing!

Well folks, the clock is ticking. It's now time to start getting into gear, and visit come college campus. This weekend, I will be going to Nipissing University with Andrea. Her older sister Meagan, is currently a student in her 2nd year, and also a Don at the residence. So we will be experiencing a bit more of the college campus, and of course, the residences. Nipissing University is also a campus shared with Canadore College. They share the same campus, but they're two different schools. Just like Durham College and UOIT. These colleges are further up North, in the mountains, where the rocks are, and there's not much city life except for downtown. Which is what I love, I would love to live up North and not be around the city. This is one of the many reasons why Canadore would be my 2nd option. My first however is without a doubt Fleming as I've told you before in my other blog. A couple of days ago, I received a call from Fleming College, and it was a female student in her 2nd year who was telling me about the College, and also asking if I had any questions regarding Fleming. It shocked me when I found out that their services for students with disabilities, such as; hearing impairment, are free! The most useful service for me would be a note taker. Which involves another student, who is able to take notes in my classes, and then gives them to me. Also, Victoria McDonald, is undergoing her 1st year, and she has made the Varsity Volleyball Team, and she's been talking to her coach about me. Letting him know that I will be attending Fleming next year, and the positions I play. He already wants to meet with me at the end of the month when they come to Durham. That's not all, he would also like to have me practice with his team, in order to see how I cope with team play, and my skills. When I will be coming back on Monday, I will have plenty of details of the campus up in North Bay, for those of you who are considering going to Canadore, or Nipissing. The truth is, it's never the same hearing about it, than seeing it with your own two eyes. So I suggest you get on down there and experience it for yourself!

Little things to help your English

How can spelling mistakes be prevented? Many of you are probably thinking of the program on Microsoft Word that corrects it for you automatically. For handing in written work, such as essays, or journals, and short stories, many students make spelling mistakes. Now I will let you all in on my little trick that has helped me for as long as I can remember. Chatting to your friends on MSN, can have a bigger impact than you can imagine. On MSN we tend to use smaller words so that you don't have to write everything, but the truth is, because you're so used to typing like that, it will eventually affect your writting. When I was in the 7th grade, I was horrible at spelling, when I started to go over my corrected English projects, I realized that my mistakes were how I used to write on MSN, but at the time that I was writting these projects, I didn't even realize it. I decided to start writting full sentences, and with the capital in front of every sentence in my conversations. Some of my friends thought that I was delusional, but it had helped me incredibly. I hardly have any mistakes when I type, or when I hand in most of my work. Another thing that has helped me ever since I was little, were the subtitles, or closed caption on my TV. There are some channels that don't offer it, but the majority of them do. Because of those subtitles, I learned many new words and learned how to spell better, and read better. In a way, it helps my brain function, and multi-task, because I'm learning to read, but also paying attention to the screen. Little things like these, can really improve your technique of writting, reading, and spelling mistakes. Trust me people, it works!

Prom Overrated?

It's the year every student looks forward to. Graduating from high school, and celebrating by having your prom. Prom is known worldwide as a ceremony, where many people like to have a good time, and also get intoxicated, and wound up getting pregnant. The truth is, times have changed drastically, many parents still believe prom is a night where you make the big mistakes. Come on people, it's going on 2009, we have a whole new perspective on things. I went to prom last year as Jacob Bolduc's date, and I have to say it was fun, but I would not do it again. I've made up my mind that I will not be joining anyone this year. We have just found out this week that we have until Friday to buy tickets for 60$, and the price will go up another 10$ the week after, and again for the last week of October. Everyone thinks the same, it's too expensive, and you worry about having to buy 2 tickets, and finding a date already, prom's not until June! I agree that prom is a bit expensive, the way I think of it, the school should pay for a part of it. It doesn't have to be half, but even a quarter would help. I'm sure we have loads of money stashed away that are being spent on TV's in the classrooms that we don't even need! They've been there for a year already, and I'm sure we've used it for about the amount of fingers I have on my hand. When you truly think about it, girls have to pay for a dress (150-200$), many girls will pay to get their hair and makeup(130-150$), the limo (50$), and on top of that, an extra 120$ for prom tickets! All together that's sums up to about 500-550$! It's outrageous! We need to worry about saving money for college and university, not for prom! The way I will be celebrating my senior year, would be going camping with my friends, and playing beach volleyball, laying by the fire at night making smores, and meet other graduate students from other schools. In my opinion, our prom, is nothing but 6 hours of getting ready, about 4 hours of taking pictures, and another 2 hours of dancing, then having to wake up at 7 or 6am to go camping. Prom is overrated, Garnier prom, is definately nowhere near other high school proms.

Thanks-for-giving Turkey!

As you all know, it was Thanksgiving last weekend, most of you have probably celebrated it with your parents and had some good old fashioned turkey with the stuffing, the cranberry sauce, the gravy, the mashed potatoes, the pumkin pie, the sugar pies, the vegetables. My Thanksgiving did not go as planned. The day before Thanksgiving I was at my boyfriend's house where we were playing MarioKart Wii. My best friend Andrea who now lives with her dad in Newmarket, had decided to drive down and surprise us at his house. Boy was I shocked! We had all started to talk, and hang out, by then it was around 11. After this, Andrea had asked me to stay over at her house, but see, I had to get my parent's permission of course, but by the time I got in the house, my parents were sound asleep. I didn't want to wake them up, so I thought, why not let the kittens do the job for me? I opened their bedroom door, slowly walked in without making a sound, and placed the kittens on their bed. I walked out, then I heard my mom coughing, I thought to myself ''GREAT! She's up!­­'' I walked back into the room, and let her know that I was going over to Andrea's and will be going back to Shaun's house bright and early in the morning. As we got to her house, it was about quarter to one in the morning, and I was dead tired, yawning constantly. Her mom was still up, and we decided to go into Shopper's Drug Mart and buy some munchies for a movie night. We started to watch Dexter while eating chocolate and chips. I started to fall asleep about 10 minutes into the DVD. The same morning, I had woken up with an unbelievable neck pain, it had been because Andrea took up the whole couch! We woke up around 7:45am, in order to get to Shaun's for about 8:30 since Andrea had to drive back to Newmarket for 10. We decided to do a wakeup call, and boy was he surprised! Andrea had left around 9, and I decided to take a nap. By the time I had gone home, it was around 3, I was dragging myself up the stairs. For once in my life, I was not looking forward to the delicious Thanksgiving meal. I had fallen asleep in my room, even with my aunt and uncle downstairs, and got woken up around 6. I went down to eat, the food was just not working for me, so I decided to go back upstairs and get my beauty sleep. I started to smell some pie, but decided not to go back downstairs. I had slept my way through Thanksgiving!

Something New

I was thinking about it in class today, and I've come to the conclusion that I'll be doing something a little different than the others. I will post a music video that I'm in love with once a month. This month, well actually it's been one of my favourites for the past couple months, but it plays on the Country station on TV, and also on the radio at 95.9, and 95.3. This song is called SarahBeth sung by Rascall Flatts. The song is about a teenaged girl who has just been diagnosed with cancer, and it explains how she deals with it, and how she finds out. The saddest part for me, is probably the chorus, and the last verse, it talks of her going off to prom with her first love. Not only did she lose her hair by then, her love shaved his head too in order to make her feel more comfortable. This is probably one of the first few videos that have managed to bring me to tears. I find the video really shows us how it's like to be diagnosed with cancer, and that it could happen to so many young people. With my mom being a breast cancer survivor, and my uncle just recently going through chemotherapy for lung cancer, it affects me that much more. If anyone you know is diagnosed with any type of cancer, this song really reaches out to you.

The Pressure's On

It is our last year here at Garnier, most of us have been here for 6 years already! It's crazy how fast it went by! This being our final last year, the college and university field is weighing in. It's already stressing me out by having to pick at least 3 colleges to apply to, plus another two, just in case. I have looked at programs at different universities, it's amazing. I can remember being in grade 7 like it was yesterday. Time really does fly by alot faster than you can imagine. Picking colleges and universities can be quite challenging. We have to figure out what programs we want, where we want to go, there's alot of pressure there. We still have a couple of more months to figure it out, but for early acceptance, it's already this month where you need to apply! It's crazy! For those of you who still don't know what to do, now's the time to see a guidance counsellor and try to narrow your interests into a program. I'm set, but there's still that pressure into what I'm going to do afterwards, and if I even get accepted! I've got my fingers crossed for Fleming College, where I would be renting a house with one of my best friends, Victoria, who is already a student at Fleming. The upside is that it's not too far away from home in case anything happens, but it's still living without the parents! I never thought the day would come!

The Lottery

The very first time that I read the short story '' The Lottery '' was back in 2007, I don't really remember what my first reaction to it was. I think I was a little shocked with the whole outcome, with the person who had a black spot dies. It was a little twist that I wasn't expecting, but then this morning, when we had a discussion about what it could symbolize, and we started to give examples. I was starting to realize, we base our lives on our own morals, but we can't decide our fate. It is not in our control to be born where we were born, or who our parents are, or what country we were born in. It was our fate. Although, living where we are, we start to build our personnalities that are formed by the ones who surround us, and the problems we have to face. We can be in control of our lives, when I see people on TV, where the drugs and alcohol ruin their lives, it's because they were the ones who decided to try it, and they were the ones who knew what it could do to them, yet they did it anyways. It is not in our hands to decide the fate of another human being. We do not have the rights to that. When people who murder others, they are put in jail for a certain reason, who are they to say that it's their time? It is not our responsibility to decide the other one's fate.

My first Big Leagues Game!

This is definitely a night to remember. It all started out with my dad's boss who happened to get the hockey tickets from a contractor. He offered them to my dad, and he sure took them! The tickets were over 180$! We got them for free, but the greatest part, they were amazing seats, row 24! It was Saturday night at the ACC, a pre-season game between Stanley Cup Champions, the Detroit Red Wings, and the Maple Leafs. I was ecstatic for the whole day, as soon as I walked into that arena, it was finally hitting me that I was at the big leagues. I had gone with my dad, the game didn't start until 7 o'clock, but of course, I was too anxious, and decided to get there for 6. The clock was counting down on the big screen to game time. About a half hour before, both teams had come out on the ice and started to warm up. I started recognizing a few names, Hossa, Cleary, Osgood, Joseph, Antropov, Pogge, Meech, Blake! I was getting pretty into it. Throughout the game there was alot of contact, which is why I love that sport so much. There were a couple of fights that occured on the ice, and you can bet I was standing on my feet yelling " FIGHT! FIGHT! " The twist of that, at the same time as the big fight was happening on the ice, there was a big outbreak in the stands! There were several security guards that were breaking it up, and a couple of cops. It was so intense to have seen that at the same time as the game. I had alot of Leaf fans around me, which I wasn't too fond of, I would boo everytime the Leafs scored, and cheer when the Wings made a goal. It was amazing to hear the pucks and the sticks hitting the ice, the cheers of the crowd, it was an amazing night. I suggest you just for once, to go see a Big League game, it really is worth the money to go once in a while. I even ended up on the big screen twice! That doesn't happen to everyone. I will never forget that night, it was unbelieveable! Detroit had won 4-3, it was a close game. The Leafs had 23 shots, while Detroit had 20 shots, if I remember correctly.

A Must-Read Author

Some of you may not know, but I hate reading books, and by the word hate, I mean can't stand reading a book! The worst books to read are the ones they make you read at school, especially the french ones. They're always about stupid subjects. Although, I will admit that I did like '' The Outsiders '' and also '' Lord of the Flies '' they were alright. But the ones that get me going, are the crime books written by famous author, Max Haines. For my 17th birthday, I asked for some good crime stories. My dad bought me 3, 2 of which were written by Max Haines. So far, I'm reading the biggest book I've ever laid a hand on, and I LOVE it! It's The Collected Works of Max Haines, Volume 5. It's a big book, combined with a bunch of little 4-5 page stories. The way he writes, is as if you were there, in those times. There are 3 parts, Celebrity Murders and other Nefarious Deeds, Which includes; Charlie Chaplin, Jimmy Hoffa, Martin Luther King, Ted Kennedy, John Lennon, Marilyn Monroe, O.J Simpson, and many many more. Murders strange but True, and Murder most Foul, which I can't wait to read! Max Haines is an incredibly good author; he uses an unbelievable technique that connects the readers to the story. If you are a crime fanatic, his books would be my number 1 choice to read!

My advice for Sara

My advice for Sara would be to live her life to the fullest, and not let anyone tell her what she can, and can not do. Out of my 17 years, I've learned that the world is not what it seems. It takes alot to trust someone completely, I still haven't found anyone to tell absolutely everything to. I believe that there is no secret to a happy life, why should someone want a perfect life? Life's about taking chances and taking risks. The best thing for her to do would be to believe in herself and be confident in everything she sets her mind to.

Drunk Driving causes death of 3

Pickering family crushed after drunk accident

Three members of a Pickering family have passed away in a drunk driving
accident. A pick up truck had been seen driving on the wrong side of the road
when it collided with the family's van. The father Roger, 52, the son Paul, 21, and
the youngest daughter Angela, 15, were killed. The survivors Angela, 52, and the
eldest daughter Theresa, 22, were treated at the hospital and were later
released. They had both been badly bruised.


The St-Denis family were on their way to Florida for a two week vacation. Angela,
52, had told the family she wanted to take a vacation as a family because it had
been a while since they had the time to do it. On December 23rd, 2006, it was
early morning, around 3 am, their van was struck by a pick up truck driven by
Jeremy Grimes who had been drinking and driving on the wrong side of
the Pennsylvania highway.


Paul, 21, and Roger, 52, were pronounced dead at the scene. Angela 15, had
been thrown out of the vehicle and onto the pavement. There was a nurse who
had witnessed the accident, and rushed to save her. She had said she had a
pulse for about 10 seconds, and it slowly faded away.


The family were involved in many community services. They voluntarily worked
for the St-Vincent's Kitchen located in downtown Oshawa, On. where they served
meals for the poor. Angela, 15, had donated her hair to cancer, and was also a
member of the RCSCC where she played the trumpet in the band. They had
donated her a bench in her name at the Ajax Waterfront. The family had also
been very involved with ''L'Assomption de Notre-Dame'' Church in Whitby.


Jeremy Grimes was charged with drunk driving but was later released on bail.
Police had been working on getting a search warrant to go through his house and
belongings in order to get further information for a clearer view of what had
happened.





Down below is a momerial video made by the RCSCC

Don't tell me to calm down!

Let's say your day is just not going too well, you didn't get enough
sleep, your cranky, you don't have time to put up with anyone.
You tell your best friend, or even your boyfriend/girlfriend that you're
not feeling too good about yourself today. Most of these people are
looking for some positive attention to make them feel better. If there's
one thing I know about this situation, the last thing you want to tell that
person is to calm down. For some people, that makes them feel good, but
if I'm having a bad day, the last thing I want to hear is ''Just calm down''.
When I hear those words, you have another thing coming, it will just be
like a ticking bomb, and that would be my last tick.

You know what really grinds my gears?

You know what really grinds my gears?
The majority of the time that I go out, and get a chance to meet some
nice people, they sink down in my book when they start to sing the
famous song sung by The Police, Roxanne. If I had a penny for everytime
someone sang that song to me, I would be a millionaire. I'm not over-exagerating.
Over the years, I have come to find that song more aggravating than a month year
old baby crying in the middle of the night. I've been trying for a while to just get used
to the fact that my name is well known, but it just hasn't happened so far. What grinds
my gears even more, is when my closest friends purposely try to get them to
sing it just for me to make me feel special.