one picture frame

Last night Erin was kind enough to map out my route to school for me on the Ottowa bus website. She wrote down all the directions, double checked that I'd been paying attention and told me to text if I had any troubles. I distinctly remembering to put the directions in my jean pocket, thinking I'd wear the same jeans the next day. My first bus came at 7:30 a.m.

Unfortunately, I was not on that first bus, or even the one after it. No, Erin knocked on my door at 8:10. I jumped out of bed and into my clothes. As I was throwing my hair into a ponytail, Erin came in with instant coffee (the best I've ever had!), a muffin for breakfast and a bag of food for the day. I love Erin. : ) She's like my Ottawa mom.

I made it to the first bus stop in record time, considering when I'd woken up, but had to wait for the bus. It took me to St.Laurant mall, where I was completely lost. The signs didn't help at all. There were stairs and fast moving people and escalators and bus fumes and flashing lights and numbers and I found gate 1B rather coincidentally. There I stood, and then there I sat, observing, whilst waiting for bus 124. As I observed I noticed that bus 95 and 96 seemed to pass through alot. I mean, there were a lot of them. Every few minutes. 20 long minutes passed before 124 came, and it was crowded with delightfully lurid highschool students.

They all got off eventually and I found the street the school was supposed to be long. It was a long street though, and I couldn't remember what intersection to get off on because the directions so kindly written by Erin were in no jean pocket of mine. (I later found them in the sweater I had been wearing. Does your brain sometimes misremember little details like that?) So I was texting Erin, sure I was lost, sure I'd have to loop back around, sure I might not make it to class at all today.

She texted me the correct intersection and then BAM, there it was. So I hopped off and found myself in the 4000 block(s) when I needed to be in the 3000 block. Walking, happily walking at nine in the morning. Oh hello elderly gentleman, mowing the lawn in the early morning, no shirt I see? Hello ladies briskly walking to- somewhere else and back. Hello studded gentleman who won't look me in the eye as I pass.

I walked past where the school was supposed to be. Address-wise it didn't exist. I walked up the block and back. Crossed the road and tried a bit down that street, but no luck so back again. Then I looked up at the mall sign and there it was. 2339 Ogilvie Road, Beacon Hill Mall. There's no way my school's in a mall I'm thinking, so I text Erin the great news (we discovered later I had been trying to attend class at my school's post box...) and she tells me she'll figure it out. So I'm standing across the street from this mall.

And I realize I'm standing across the street from a mall.

And then I'm walking down the halls of said mall to the thrift store where I'm informed that it's half off everything until noon. One bracelet, one picture frame (it's fantastically random I assure)and one pair of shoes, all for five dollars. Am I good or what? Unfortunately, then Erin told me to phone Pat, who told me he was coming to get me. Poop. No half price second hand clothes for Chantal.

Once in the school(ten min. drive away from the mall...) my lungs were instantly filled with the wonderful white dust of drywall. They had torn out the carpet and hacked down the walls of two rooms, making us a larger classroom. Day one in our new school consisted of renovating it. Yes. We are building our own classroom. We had a constant assembly line of students carrying plywood, insulation, drywall and other various items out to the garbage bin, all the way behind the strip mall behind us. It was nice to get fresh air and uh, show off my muscles at the same time... ; )

Three of us girls took our coffee break, with apples,and were made fun of by DK, who declared we were the girl version of the construction workers eating their lunches on the skeleton of the building. Not exactly but ok. We met a few of our buiding neighbors as we carried stuff to the bin and they filled their lungs with cancer. They were all very friendly. A cake was brought for Breanna-who's birthday is today.

We bailed as the boys were vacuuming all the dust they had created with hammers and shoes to eat poutine at the house, le maison, not my house, but The House, a resteraunt. I'm tired now so there may just be a lot of silly run one sentances. Yeh.

The Riders were on the tv behind my head, which was awkward to look at so I stared at the people staring at the team from my province. We had a nice ol' chat, a nice ol' time, shared over some good poutine. Mine had 'breaded chicken' in it, which was really just cut up chunks of a singular chicken finger. Way to go pub. The mall was nigh and so three of us girls were quite simply drawn to it. We shopped together for dress pants and shoes and face washes and soap and jewellry. It was grand. Especially all the bogo! I had never heard of that term before, buy one get one half off. Or buy one get one. Dependant on the store. Steph was a big fan of getting the staff to call other locations to see if they had her sizes. She's an ambitious bus taker she is.

I took the bus to find a Joe (extrafoods brand) and did on my way home. I walked all through their clothing section and finally asked the clerk. She gave me awful news: they don't make my gitch anymore! I stumbled upon the fact that I somehow only have seven pairs, when I was doing laundry I counted. That's awful! Highly inconvenient! And now I can't even get more! I don't know where else to buy gitch, oh the horror, ooohhh. Def. tired.

So then I got home and made basmati rice and fried some chicken and heated some frozen veggies. I mixed that all up and added some orange spice that was on the counter, not thinking to smell it first. Hola spice Erin!! I sat on the counter listening to deathcab as I ate my rice out of a bowl with a fork. My evening consisted of the deletion of old Facebook albums, which really is just so freeing. I drank a whole pot of green tea (which is probably why I'm so tired, caffeine puts me to sleep now) as I proverbially cleaned out my photo closet. Such a good feeling. I really don't like to be tied down, do I? But now the floor is closer than it's been all day, the swirling patterns of the dusty carpet drawing me closer, drawing me down. I'd best go to bed while I still have the mental capability. Night all.