Montréal, Je t'adore

Bonjour mes amis,

As each day passes, I get that much closer to being able to move to Montréal and hopefully attend McGill University. The closer I get to being in Montréal, the more anxious I get and the more I desire to go! I've been keeping an eye out for things about it for a while now, including regularly checking The Montréal Buzz, reading Montreal 24, listening to la Radio-Canada, and *gasp* paying attention in U.S. History whenever Québec is mentioned. It always catches my attention when people mention Montréal or Québec, and it's probably the lone reason I ever go watch the news.

Finally, today when I was driving home, it hit me. I have these wonderful flowery dreams about the things I want to do with my life... but generally, they don't come true. But today? Today it hit me; I realized I am going to Montréal. I am. Me, Delphine Chevalier, the secret rebel who's always been afraid to do what she wants, is going to Montréal for college. I'm so excited. It's like when you get told something and you're in that initial "OH MY GOD THAT'S SO AMAZING!!" stage but you're still kind of experiencing the shock, and then the shock goes away so all that's left is "OH MY GOD THAT'S SO AMAZING!!"

Accompanying the realization that I'm going to be moving over a thousand miles away and into a different country, of course, came the realization that I'll be moving away from all of my friends and family. Another thing that I realized, though, is that not only do I know I can manage moving, as I've done it before, but this time it won't be as bad. Back when I moved to my mother's house for the first time, I felt alone in this world. I was hardly speaking with my father, my sister was out of the house, I didn't like my brother, my half brother was always out partying, and I didn't have that close relationship with my mother. Not to mention after dealing with some serious family issues for a few years, I had little to no self esteem and thus felt I had no friends (although that wasn't true). This time, I know that no matter how far I go, I have a mother, a father, a step-father, three protective older siblings, one little sibling that looks up to me, and loads of friends that love me. I also know that he will be there with me, and that alone is more than enough to get me through any difficulties my new life throws my way. No matter how hard things get, he always seems to make it better.

I'm not the type of person to shy away from my goals just because I know it will be hard. Usually it just makes me want to accomplish them more. When it comes to Montréal, this proves no different, because I know it will be worth it in the end and I'll learn so much from it.

But now I must return to reading two chapters of U.S. History, the lesson on the War of 1812 and writing about it, completing an entire English project on my own, and three or four math assignments. The scary part? I'm looking forward to it because I know it will lead to McGill, and thus, Montréal.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Rambling Because Life is Good

Bonjour mes amis,

As the title states, this post is me rambling. I don't have any specific topic, I just feel like writing, and I haven't in a few days since this was my first week back in school. But really? Life IS good. I'm managing my classes (Yes, even Physics! ... Thus far) pretty well and on Monday during my open period I get to go chat with my counselor to get the information I need regarding independent study for AP French Language and AP Psychology. I've also been submitting some more applications trying to find a job. Hopefully something will turn up!

Extracurriculars are going well. I'm going to be throwing together a French club as best I can this year, at the wish of Mme Hanson, the district's French teacher. Then the other four days of the week will be teching after school for the school musical. I might audition for the winter one acts or just tech again, I have plenty of time to decide though. In late winter, Speech will be starting and it's my first year doing it even though I thought it sounded like fun last year. Oh, and the information for Spirit Players should be given out at some point next week! I'll have to make a post dedicated to that activity to give you an idea of what the hell I'm talking about.

My social life is ~*amazing*~ thus far this year. I caught the attention of my dream guy over the summer and while I can't give too many details, I can tell you, he is wonderful. Also, I noticed this week during school I'm much more outgoing than I have been in the past and it's nice to see that my hard work is paying off and I'm finally breaking free from my shell. In all of my classes I have people I can chat with (well, except APUSH but all focus is on the teacher in that one) and I always run into random people in the halls I talk to, even if I don't have classes with them. Plus, while I haven't made many plans with people, I am going to go shopping with my friend after school this Friday for new clothes and to get her a dress for Homecoming. We're kinda short on money so I'm just using my dress from last year, all I need are new shoes.

Oh, and did I mention my braces are FINALLY getting fixed tomorrow at 4pm? YEAH!!!! For the past month, the wires have been out of the back two brackets and as a result have been slicing and re-slicing open my cheeks. Pain comes most when I am forced to say "Quebec" instead of "Québec" (although mental pain always accompanies that no matter what) and while doing vocal warm ups in choir.

Yeah, life is good. :)

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Painting My Face

Bonjour mes amis!

Non, before you flip, I'm not literally painting my face. Or caking on makeup.

The first part of my day consisted of anxiously awaiting my friend's phone call to say he got the gift. I was so nervous that, no joke, my palms were sweating. I mean, what if the painting wasn't as good as I thought it was? Or it was damaged during shipping? Or it gets there whole and he just plain and simple doesn't like it?

Boy was I wrong. He LOVES it!! I was SO relieved. He was talking about how it's the "nicest gift anyone's ever given me" and how it'll be the only thing he has hanging on his walls and how talented I am. But I think the best thing he said, was later when I told him I had just one more question that was important.

"Did it make you smile?"

"More than smile, it's nearly brought a tear to my eye. You made my birthday."

I think I did good. :) And as promised, here's the painting from a low-quality phone camera:

As for the second part of my day, my aunt came over to give us some free samples of Mary Kay products and talk about them, etc. It was actually really fun! The lip .. gloss, I guess? It's not super shiny though, that she had me try on looked really nice, and it's still on two hours later after I've drank and eaten a little bit. Same with the hand moisturizer stuff, and she said it also works wonders on feet. I really liked the foundation, but wish she had cover-up/concealer to try since mine doesn't work as well as I'd like. She had a lot more stuff she left at home, so my mother and I will have to visit her to try eye shadow colors and the like.

I don't know, typing about it here it seems silly, but this stuff just makes you feel good! And that's what make up is for, right? I'm crossing my fingers we can order the lip gloss, once we try one of the cover-ups, concealer, and moisturizer for my face. I have just normal Neutrogena cleanser that works really well but I can tell it dries out my skin. I know we probably won't, but maybe at least the lip gloss. Realistically you could probably get a cheap moisturizer at a department store, and my mother doesn't understand the importance of cover-up and foundation.

Oh, as a side note, I've noticed she's not only bad with technology, she's not the best with reading things in general. A few days ago on Facebook I posted about a few books I wanted to buy from Barnes & Noble and one of them was Princeton's ACT Review (2010 edition) and today she asked me why I'm thinking about applying to schools on the east coast because it's "so far!" Yeah, so far.. *cough* .. and then my mother told her I was thinking Québec. That was fun.

All in all, I've discovered that despite her bluntness, I really do like my aunt. What I don't like is my aunt and mother together. My mom gets much more, how do you say, aggressive? Attacking me for not doing chores well enough, making fun of the hair on my arm, saying I only want to go to Canada because it's cheaper, so on and so forth. Sigh.

Still, the reaction from my friend about the painting totally made my day. Maybe my week!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Surprise!

Bonjour mes amis,

I. Give. UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, it's not what you think, I promise. See, there's this birthday coming up for a close friend of mine that I've been working my butt off the past three weeks or so to prepare for. He, however, is very observant and knows me like no other, so I was terrified he'd realize something was up and the surprise wouldn't be as special. But he also happens to be the person I go to to talk about things when I'm sad or angry or happy and excited! You see my dilemma here? So, now I'm going to proceed to rant about how amazingly wonderful it is, and if it's at all possible that you (you know who you are!) happen to read my blog, you'd best be clicking a new link before I count to 10. Or I will be unhappy. You don't want to make me unhappy, do you???

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10!

Oh my goodness, so at first I had NO FREAKING CLUE what I was going to do to make your birthday special. I have limited options seeing as you live so far away, and I wracked my brain for all sorts of different ideas, and yet nothing seemed fitting. Then one night on Facebook, I saw you mention wanting to get a new tattoo, a phoenix with Celtic knots. My readers, you don't know this, but I am an artist at heart. I've been drawing since I could pick up a pencil, but the past year I haven't managed to at all. Sure, doodles in my notebook, but nothing serious. I lacked motivation. And then I saw it: a bright red and orange phoenix shooting towards to stars with flames trailing behind its wings and tail, with the Celtic knots built into the bird itself. But it HAD to be in color, and I'm absolutely awful with my color mediums like colored pencils, markers, crayons, etc.

I also have a friend who has discovered she, too, is very artistic at heart, although she's been doing a lot of painting. So I decided that's how I would go about this project, although I've honestly never done much in the way of painting. Once or twice in elementary school, really was it. However, I get my visual artistic side from my father and he's always loved to watch that side of me grow, so when I was visiting him, I explained how I had this amazing idea for my new painting and I started telling him all about the colors and the design and everything. It worked. We ended up walking to my favorite art store ever, Wet Paint, and ended up spending way too much on paint supplies. We decided to settle on acrylics since I was pretty new to painting and oils take much longer to dry, not even taking into account how expensive oils are! There was also a big sale on canvas, so I got a box of ten for a great deal. (I love my stockpile of canvas sitting in my room, it's like it's waiting for me to get another idea.)

So then it began. Prior to this, all I had was a rough sketch. When I got home, I began working on transferring my rough sketch into a clean sketch to put on the canvases. Yes, canvases. See, I didn't exactly mention to my father I was planning on giving away this huge project of mine, so I'm making two. Sort of. I'll get to how that ended up later! (Edit: I never actually get to it later. Sorry, it'll come in the second post with the pictures!) But both sketches were on the two different canvases, fully complete about a week after I had started, only a few days before it was time to go to my father's house again. It was a grueling task, and I remembered why I hadn't found any motivation to draw anything in the past year. It's become too much work and not enough play. But finally, I got to start working with the paints.

I had to experiment quite a bit to figure out what I wanted to do. I had grown up hearing my dad talk about how it's better to have lots of thin layers than one thick layer, so that's what I tried to do. It was a slow process, although less painful than the sketching. After I had finished painting the bird's head, neck, and majority of its body, I was struggling to figure out how to give it a feathered appearance. Then I remembered what the woman in the art store had said....

*Wavey flashback*

She was still standing behind the counter, talking about the big options regarding different paints, "And Acrylics have some texture to them, you can really work with the paint."

*Wavey flashback ends*

That was it! I threw out my father's advice about the thin layers of paint and started mixing more paint together to get a small pool on the plate to dip the brushes into. I applied the colors with thick brush strokes, a little like Van Gough's Starry Night, and then would smooth out the edges to give it a bit of a softer, less dramatic look. This way of painting was fun. In a way, I sort of had my own impressionism revolution by breaking away from the rules about art I've learned. I was jumping away from drawing even though I was good at it, I was ignoring what my amazing artist of a father told me about painting, and I did what felt good to me. And you know what? It showed.

Not only did the painting start looking much more awesome and artistic, but I worked on it much more often and for longer periods of time because it was enjoyable. I finished about two weeks after I started, and I had spent an estimated 13 hours painting. During the process, I'd gotten paint quite literally everywhere. I had it smeared across my palm and elbow, I had paint on both of my cheeks, on my shoulder, under my nails, on my thighs and all over my clothing, carpet, and pillow that I'd been sitting on. But it was so much fun.

And now? The painting is finished. I bought his birthday card on Thursday, and mailed the present off on Friday. The expected arrival date is the 19th, which is perfect. The 19th is a Thursday, so it gives them two days for error before it could be late since his birthday is the 23rd, the following Monday. I am SO EXCITED! I love surprises and I really hope he likes it. I've shown several people a quick shot of the painting I took on my phone, and they've all been rather impressed, so I have a good feeling about this. Now I just have to hold up a little bit longer. I'm so tired of answering "pretty boring" or "I worked on some projects (implying homework projects. I don't like to lie!) today" when he asks how my day went. The painting is currently "IN TRANSIT TO E. SYRACUSE, NY US" and it's just a matter of waiting it out. I can keep my mouth shut a little longer... just a little longer.

And thank you, for rekindling the sleeping bed of coals into a living, breathing, raging, artistic flame.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

P.S. I'll post a couple pictures here after I know he's gotten the present.

An Unsent Letter

August 9, 2010

2:00 a. m.

Bonjour mon ami,

Today is the first day I have ever cried tears of joy in my life, and it was because of you. It was late and I had nothing to do when I saw someone mention Love Gives Me Hope so I went and read all of the cute posts. All twenty-four pages until I was caught up. I cried because not only were they as precious as ever, but I realized I no longer was envious of the love these people know. I have someone amazing who makes me feel beautiful and wonderful and loved, every single day. And you don't even know it.

Avec toute mon affection,

Mlle Delphine

Week One: Exercise

Bonjour mes amis,

Right now it's Thursday evening, meaning tomorrow is Friday, meaning that my first week of attempting to exercise will be over. I must admit I'm rather disappointed with myself. I'm so lazy. Once I get going I'll work hard and feel great afterwards, but the problem is getting started! Monday I ran on the treadmill, Tuesday I didn't have time, last night I went for a run in the park, and tonight I did nothing even though I had no excuse. Tomorrow I'm going to run on the treadmill again, I think. Then I'll be at my dad's house for the weekend, and on Monday I'll return to starting the Slim in 6 program. I used it over spring break and it was an incredible work out!

As far as food goes, my only bad day was Tuesday. In the early afternoon a friend treated me to Dairy Queen and then after dinner, E's family served chocolate ice cream with raspberries. It was so good. Other than that I ate pretty well!

Next week I have to work harder. I promised a friend I would, which by itself should be enough motivation, but beyond that I don't want to be the last one to finish come gym (Aerobics, to be specific) in the fall. First time I've had any gym class since Freshman year. Ick. Plus, I just plain need to get in shape. I can do this!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Tagging: Not Just for Facebook Anymore

Bonjour, mes amis,

I was just looking at random blogs and there was one saying she got "tagged" to answer a survey thing, kind of like how Facebook does it. Except at the end she tagged everyone who read it. I guess I can, I don't really feel like posting anything else super interesting and it gives me an excuse to start adding more than boring text to my posts. Allons-y!

1.What shoe size are you? Quelle pointure êtes-vous?
Size 8 - 9 depending on the brand, but usually 8 or 8 and 1/2.

2.Where do you work? Où est-ce que vous travaillez?

I wish I worked.

3.Favorite piece of clothing you own? Qu'est-ce que votre vêtement préféré?
My fedora, of course! Excluding accessories, I'll go with my newest shirt. Black, racerback with ruffles on the chest, loose fitting with the elastic on the bottom. Makes me wish I had some necklaces to layer with it.

4.Your favorite blog? Votre blog préféré?
I love reading all of my friends' blogs, but honestly, Two Beans or Not Two Beans wins this one.

5.Do you have any pets? Est-ce que vous avez animaux domestiques?
Yep! We have the family cat, and then I have a kitten named Sir Galahad. He's adorable even though he's not really a kitten anymore.

6.How many siblings do you have? Combien de soeurs et frères est-ce que vous avez?
I have a brother (25), a sister (22), a brother (19), a step-sister (11), and a half-step-sister (17). What's a half-step-sister? It's my step-sister's half-sister, of course.

7.If you could live anywhere where would it be? *Too lazy for conditional tense*
Québec. I love you France, but right now, I'm day dreaming constantly of college in Québec.

8.What were you doing before this? *Too lazy for French*

Ironically, tagging my friends on Facebook. It wasn't a survey-type thing, though, it was Henry Thoreau's "Friendship." :)


9.Your favorite food? Votre nourriture préféré?
Perogies, hands down. The real kind though, homemade, not icky frozen ones.

10.Do you have a middle name? *Hey, I don't have to write in French*
Yes I do.

11.Your favorite websites? *Lazy*
Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, StumbleUpon, Gmail, Dirpy, and College Fashion (no particular order to that).

12.Who do you tag? *Lazy*
French Bean, E, and Kayla!

Wow, I'm much more tired than I thought. Good night blogger, tomorrow I will catch you up on today's events!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Bonjour, mes amis,

If I went to college in Québec, it's not really much more expensive than the schools here even though I'd be an international student. Now, if I was a resident of Québec, I could get my education for ridiculously cheap. For example, at the University of Minnesota, I could pay $18,800 a year to go to school in my own state. If I went to McGill University, I could pay $15,000 a year and that's in another country. Not even just another country, in a major French-speaking area of the world! Impressed? It gets better.

Now let's say I go to a college that doesn't have such a big name, like known across North America. But still a very good school... How about Sherbrooke University? This school doesn't just have a program for Music Education, it has a Masters degree specified for Choir Directing! If I was a resident of Québec, I'd be paying $3,888 a year. No, that's not a typo. Three thousand and eight-hundred eighty eight dollars. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, and it doesn't end with me being in debt until I'm 40!

From what I've seen, it doesn't sound too awfully hard to become a resident, and I have a friend in the area who could definitely help me out. I can't believe I could actually go to college in Québec for less than four thousand dollars a year! That's ridiculous! And I LOVE IT. Je t'aime, Québec! I see you in my future, small student loan debt.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

AP French Language

Bonjour mes amis!

Next year will be my first year since sixth grade that I haven't studied French in school. If I leave it be, the colleges I apply to will see "French II" and "French IV." Two years of French. Most colleges look for at least two, if not three or four. I wish I could take four years of French! I'm thinking to solve this dilemma, I may independant study AP French Language. A friend of mine who graduated this year said that on his applications, they didn't even ask for scores, just how many and which AP tests he'd taken. Granted, he took like 20 something because he's a genius, but still. Even if I don't get college credit, it could still help me get into a better college!

From the looks of it, the test is challenging, but I think if I really studied and took up the offer to practice avec mon ami en français, I could probably pass it. I'm still waiting to get the letter in the mail regarding my score on the AP World History exam I took this May. It should be coming soon! A few of my friends were thinking about studying AP European History but I don't think that is going to happen, and I don't think I could handle the course load of two AP history courses on top of the challenging math and science courses I'll be in next year.

But I could keep my open period that I signed up for and just do independant study so it shows up on the transcript, and then take the AP test in May. Unfortunately, the school isn't going to pay for it since the AP French Language exam isn't offered here, so it would be the full price, around $80 or $90. Comparing those prices to the prices of a college course, however, makes them seem much nicer. Not to mention it'll be coming out of my parents' pockets, not mine!

What do you guys think? Should I add a third year of French to my transcript? I do want to go to Québec for college, and I'm going to France after I graduate. I adore the language. The passion is there.

À demain et merçi beaucoup,
Mlle Delphine

My Friends are my World

Bonjour, mes amis!

What a day! This morning I finally was able to spend an hour or two chatting with a dear friend of mine who's having a rough time, and I feel so much better. I was pretty stressed out and worried for a while but I do believe all will be well again in due time. :)

Afterwards, I rushed to go pick up E, as I'm visiting the cities this weekend, so we could enjoy our day. It was supposed to be brunch, but I don't think I got there until a little after noon because I really needed to speak to my troubled friend so I could relax. I've known E since the early years in elementary school so it's always nice to get together with her. We ate at The Neighborhood Café (Hmm... Does that count as un mot francais?) and chatted about how stupid boys can be. Afterwards, we stopped at Jamba Juice, which by the way, is the best smoothie place ever, and then headed for the river. I love the Mississippi River.

It was quite peaceful... until we were disturbed by a bee and both decided it was time to leave.

We hung out at her house for a while and fixed up her blog situation so that her personal life doesn't get mixed in with her obession over Doctor Who. Alright, I'll give her that David Tennant is pretty cute! I haven't seen the newest doctor though. If you're interested, you can keep up with her at http://sonnetscrewdriver.blogspot.com/ (DrWho) or http://ere1414.blogspot.com/ (Whimsy).

While we were chatting, we ended up reminiscing about the different French teachers we've had over the years. I've never had the same one for more than a full year. In fact, I've only had two for full years and I've taken four years of French! Those were the two teachers we both shared, and it was agreed upon that our first teacher was the best we ever had. Asseyez-vous, levez-vous, asseyez-vous, levez-vous, asseyez-vous dans la poubelle. He was really awesome, I can't do him justice just by writing about him, but I can say that I owe it to him for my passion of the language! And then we found him online. We emailed him, and I do hope to hear back from him soon.

We also visited a local store and such but I had to head back home for dinner. It was definitely a de-stressing day and well needed! Merci beaucoup, universal powers that be, for giving me something in return out of all of the worrying I've done the last few days.

À demain,
Mlle Delphine

EDIT: Monsieur C replied! And remembers us! Today is a good day.

College... in Quebec?

Bonjour, mes amis!

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

Wouldn't that be SO AWESOME?! Okay, here I go trying to explain to my evil councilor why this is a good idea and why he shouldn't talk me out of it like he does to all my other friends and their ideas. Also, for my friends who are now panicking about me going away to Canada. *Clears throat and the screen does the wavey fade out and in again to another scene*

I want to major in Music Education and become a choir director. French, however, is something I could never give up, and so every time I search for colleges, I have to look for a music program and a good French program. Realistically, I know there are some out there, but they tend to be very expensive or in remote areas I'm not so fond of moving to... and to be honest, I want to go to a decent school, not some random place in a town of 400 that conveniently is affordable. No, money is not my primary concern, but it is a concern. I expect to be in debt until I'm forty and I want to make sure that every single dime was spent on me enjoying my one life. My father will be taking me to France after I graduate from high school for a couple weeks, and as much as I'll love it, I know I would never be able to afford to go to school there. So, I guess I could study abroad for a semester or two. But then I had a better idea:

Why not go to school in Quebec?

Think about it, I'd be doing all of my learning in one school so I wouldn't have to be uprooted every 4-9 months. It's a major French-speaking area in the world and most any college I look at will be taught in French, and they have programs to assist the students whose native language isn't French. I wouldn't have to worry about whether or not there is a good French program all while being pretty immersed in it, and I know my ability to speak the language would increase drastically. Then I would be able to focus my actual classes on getting my major and it would save me money in the long run since most language classes are a handful of credits.

As for the actual going to school in another country, I think it would be an incredible opportunity. I've always loved seeing new places, but visiting them on vacation is never the same as actually living there. Simply moving cities was an intense culture shock to me because my hometown was all I ever knew. Now I know the surrounding metro, but I feel like I'm still missing out on so much. I know it won't be easy to move to a place so far away, and I know I will miss my friends and family, but I don't believe that life is about living inside of your comfort zone. I also know, from experience, that I will be able to stay in touch with anyone who truly cares about me and that I'll make amazing, new friends while I'm there! I have learned so much about the way other people work, about other places, but most of all, about me. Going to a university in Quebec would be another opportunity to keep learning about the world while still moving onwards and upwards in my life, and I think I would be a fool to not take this opportunity.

*The screen wavey fades out and back into real time* What do you think? Somewhat convincing? The wording and rambling is going to happen no matter how much I edit this paragraph because I'm not the best speaker, so I figured I'd leave it as is. I'm actually really excited at the prospect of going to college in Quebec! I've been doing some research on it but know I still have more work to do before I can prove to my councilor that I know enough about the difference in systems.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Odd Dreams

Bonjour mes amis,

It's 5:27 am. I went to bed at midnight. I cannot sleep... So here I sit, with me, myself, and I. I had some sort of weird dream last night that made me really solemn and I don't really know why. The only part I can remember is talking to a girl from my school named Mary, about another girl who seemed to be completely made up, but had committed suicide. Mary told me that the other girl stole her phone, she knew it because they found it in her things, and the guilt was just too much. I asked how they knew she stole her phone. She said she guessed they didn't.

There's absolutely nothing I can connect that to right now. There was more to the dream I can't remember, though. My Canadian friend, Ryan, was somehow in the mix. I don't remember. Dreams are funny things... it's my third one this week. Kinda odd how you can have no dreams for months, and out of no where have them again. People say that when you stop dreaming it's because you've lost your soul. Does that mean I've found mine?

I'm not particularly religious. I believe in science over faith in these sort of things. But still, one can't help but wonder, because there will always be more questions and science will never have all the answers.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Thus Far in my Quest to be Employed

Bonjour, mes amis!

Alright, I kept mentioning the job but never actually writing about it, so here it is. Wednesday, I got a phone call from Cub (it's a grocery store) around 10:30 in the morning. That's rather early for a girl who stays up until 1 or 2am regularly. Anyways, the guy on the other end of the phone introduces himself as Matt and he begins the phone interview process for me to become a cashier.

Matt: Name a time you had a big project to complete, and tell me how it went.

Me: Well, *Stifles big yawn* in my english class we had this optional project to do, *Stretch* ...

You get the picture. Well, he had great things to say about me, so he went ahead and sent me on to the interview process with the manager at the store. We originally scheduled it for the next day at 3pm but it turns out that there was a big all day "meeting" (I found out when I arrived they had done lots of wine testing) and so we rescheduled for Friday. At 10am. *Groan!* But I was too excited to be brought down by the fact I was getting up early for a job I didn't have, so Friday rolls around and I get dressed up and go to my interview (mind you, I woke up at 8:30 to get up and look nice and awake!). This man was very pleased with my availability and the like, and he even introduced me to the woman who would be my direct supervisor if I got the position. He said he would call "today or tomorrow." The rest of Friday afternoon I spent clinging to my phone like I was a mother with her newborn child. No call. Saturday I wake up, and start to think they're not going to call. Joy. So I try to talk to a friend about it.

Me: ... Yeah, and they really liked the fact I'm pretty much open whenever!

Justin: If you don't get the job they just found someone with more work experience, I know all about operating a business. That includes the hiring process!

Alright, so I've never actually been employed before... But c'mon, I woke up at 8:30am, got ready to go, and made it to my interview with fifteen minutes to spare and a smile on my face. Finally reading all of those silly news articles paid off! I felt confident, I didn't fidget, I didn't smile too much but I did when it was appropriate.. Things like that. And they really liked what I had to say.

Sunday comes, and I've more or less forgotten my hopes of the job. I wake up this morning to my phone buzzing.

Me: *Groans, smacks phone* .. Wait.. *Leaps out of bed, clears throat* Hello?

They had five people interviewed for the position. I was "very highly ranked" but didn't get the job, however, he wants me to get interviewed at another store for a produce position tomorrow. He said I'd be stocking shelves and that sort of thing. Most joyous day.. But hey, even though it's about twice as long of a drive (if not a little more) at least it's at 10:30am so I have time to get there without waking up earlier than before.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Non français... je suis fatiguée.

Qui-êtes vous?

Bonjour, mes amis!

I broke up with my boyfriend this morning for many reasons but the most important, I think, was that I need to rethink where I stand. Two years ago I knew exactly who I was and where I stood, but my Sophomore year of high school seemed to steal some of those morals away. My dear friend Kayla, over at That's Legit, inspired me to create a post about me. Who am I?

I like people knowing where I stand.

I hate hiding who I am. It's very important to let others know what you believe in, what your dreams and goals are, or even just what your favorite color is.

Tolerance and open-mindedness are very important.

That said, I realize that not everyone is going to be on the same page as me or agree with everything I agree with, nor will I always agree with them. Therefore, it's important to always be mindful of others. For example, I am not religious, but I like learning about different religions because it gives me an insight on the life of others. I cannot stand close-mindedness on either side of the argument, even if they agree with me. We must understand others in order to get along with them, and while we may not always agree on the same points, we can agree to disagree.

I'm a dreamer.

I like reaching for the highest of goals and dreaming up crazy insane perfect futures for myself. It's easiest said, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

I love chanter (to sing).

Ohhh my goodness! A year ago I didn't really understand this one, that's for sure. I mean, I sang when I was home alone, but that's about it. I couldn't drive yet and my siblings certainly gave me hell when I was younger for singing in the shower, so I avoided that as well. On Halloween this year I was at a party and my then-boyfriend heard me singing along to Cascada's Everytime We Touch (don't laugh, it's catchy..) and he suggested I join choir. I was placed into Women's Chorale which is mostly composed of Juniors (versus Choralaires, the choir where most Sophomores are put) and I was instantly in love. Everything from the amazing director, Mr. Hassig, to the girls in the choir that made me feel welcome, to the songs we sang, to the difficult struggles I had trying to get up to their level... I love it.

My worst subject is les mathématiques.

I've always been ahead of the general students but behind the honor students when it comes to math. So, as I've always been in honors math, I've always struggled very much in math. It frustrates me to no end when I can't understand something because I feel very awkward asking my math teachers for help. It's the only class I need actual help from the teachers in, but next year I will be in Pre-Calculus Honors and I can't put it off anymore. Luckily, I'll also have two handy tutors available to help me out. I'm actually a little excited for the challenge next year. I know I can handle it if I work hard.

I'm a geek.

I like school. Yep. Pretty much. ...No, I'm not mentally ill! Or at least, not to my knowledge. I like getting to see my friends every day and I like learning. My teachers were all so awesome this year, too! But yeah, not gonna lie, it's mostly the learning. If I could learn for a living, I so would! I challenge myself in as many areas as possible every school year, even the ones I know I'd never really want to go into *coughmathcough*.

I can't stand seeing people upset.

Seeing other people upset makes me upset. I care. It's a strength and a weakness, but I'd say it's definitely worth it. I love helping people get what they need; it makes me feel good. Shouting matches make me cringe, though. I hate it when anyone yells in anger, be it friends or parents or random people on the street. It just gives me a negative feeling, you know?

I'm addicted to Facebook.

'Nuff said.

I love making nouvelle amis (new friends).

Listening to other people's lives is very interesting to me. I enjoy talking with old friends and new friends and people I've never met before. I'm pretty open about things too, so if you can think of anything else you'd like to know, never be afraid to ask! (:

À demain,

Mlle Delphine