"P.S. I Love You" Minus the Tragedy

Bonjour mes amis,

Read the title? Yep. That was my day today. Original plan to spend time with the boyfriend was to go around town, snapping pictures, just chatting. Little did I know he had a massive large setup for me in store.

Every day when we wake, we text each other good morning. This morning he told me to check my email before making coffee, so I figured O.K. he left me a cutesy message (as he does that), and jumped out of bed to go read it. Instead it has three attachments; one handwritten letter telling me how much I mean to him and how much I deserve a vacation, one handwritten letter with instructions telling me to go to the Western Union in K-Mart to pick up some money he left me, then go buy myself cough drops, gas, and a coffee, and one map showing me directions for something I'd need after coffee. I love handwritten things, I'm a sentimental person. And I love surprises. He's so sweet!

So I follow the instructions he's left me, and I sit down and enjoy my hot cocoa (I decided that I was so excited I was awake enough without coffee) for a while 'till it's 10:35 and he texts me saying it's time to meet a nice couple he knows. So I follow the directions on the map. Slowly driving down the small street looking for the house with the right address, I see a driveway with a big sign in the yard that read "Your Face, Your Body: Massage Studio." It turns out he didn't know this couple extremely well but they were indeed very nice people. I've never had a professional massage before but this was incredible. Something you have to experience to really explain. It was so relaxing and yet required so much trust and faith but.. Wow. It felt amazing though. An hour later, I dress and thank the wife, Ros, for the massage. She hands me an envelope with my name on it, and we say our farewells. I get in my car and read the handwritten letter inside.

I have a reservation for lunch at Buca di Beppo's. I've driven by it a million times to go to the Ortho and the mall and it was even right by the K-Mart from earlier, but I'd never noticed it till now. It was really cool inside! So many lights and art work and photos and awesomeness. The waiter was really nice too. I ordered what I wanted, and when I finished, the waiter went to take it back to box the left-overs. He comes back and says, "Lunch has been taken care of," and instead of a bill, there's another handwritten letter. I smile and thank him and read the letter.

I have an appointment for a nail salon in the mall! I've never had my nails done either but it's another thing I've wanted to do. I wasn't sure what all he had planned for me but I go there and I have a nice manicure and they paint my nails. They used a ton of different types of goos on my hands. I think the wax was the weirdest. Then for $5 I got a design on my ring fingers. It's really cute but the pictures don't do it justice so I won't even bother posting one here. This of course, came out of the $20 he gave me earlier, as my mother had insisted on giving me money for the cough drops so I had extra.

On my way home, I got to stop for gas so I have even more than I started with this morning.

My love, how every woman in this world isn't head over heels for you, I'll never know.

Á bientot,

Mlle Delphine

Looking to Buy Red Heels for $3

Bonjour mes amis,

For a while I've kinda lost the desire to get new clothes and all that fashion stuff. But someone on Facebook linked something silly from ModCloth so I thought I'd check it out. I ended up just browsing through all of the tops, bottoms, shoes, and dresses. I now really want these:

(http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Hepcat+Dress+in+Black+Licorice)

(http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Shoes/Picnic+Pinup+Wedge)

I don't have anything even somewhat close to this, but I think it would look adorable. Or even a pair of closed-toe heels, so you could have some fun with patterned tights! I've always wanted a pair of red heels/pumps/wedges... and yet the only heels I own are black. Why is this? Because I'm too cheap to spend my money on new shoes. I'd rather spend it on things like shipping surprise birthday gifts to other countries that may or may not make it on time and in tact, so that when I get two teeth pulled out of my mouth I don't have enough money to go buy ibuprofen....

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Khol's Contest to Help Schools Like Mine!

Bonjour mes amis,

Today I have to do something I usually wouldn't ever ask of the followers of my blog and the random friends who stop in on occasion. If you haven't heard about it, Khol's (the giant clothing store company) is giving away $500,000 USD to FOUR schools in the U.S. I'm asking you, my lovely, wonderful readers who so kindly comment and leave messages to let me know you enjoy reading my ramblings, to vote for my high school. The ad is posted to the right!

While it's true all schools are always in need of more funding, my public high school is taking a very hard hit. We're losing 8% of our budget next year even though we have a severe overcrowding problem that needs a solution. As a result of this, additional classes, extracurriculars, and our renowned arts programs are taking a hard hit on top of the normal cuts schools deal with. For example, if a class doesn't have at least thirty students register for it, it doesn't happen that year. For this reason I had to skip French 3, and there is no French 5. Our pianist for the choirs was cut, and now the choir director has to attempt to play the piano while conducting, listening for errors, and coming up with new ideas! The stage manager who creates masterpieces for our school plays, musicals, and one acts, who manages lights and sound systems for all of the community events our auditorium is used for, and much, much, more, also was only given the next year to be at the high school before he, too, gets cut.

This is only a small taste of the newest issues are school is facing, beyond the normal running out of paper and that sort of thing. Please, it's a really simple action to click on the ad to your right to vote for Prior Lake High School, and potentially help us win $500,000.

Merci beaucoup et À demain,

Mlle Delphine

No "If"s, "And"s, or "But"s

Bonjour mes amis,

Be it reading poems (Wild Geese by Mary Oliver), listening to music (Taking Chances - Glee, Cave In - Owl City), glancing at the school website ("The real meaning of travel, like that of a conversation by the fireside, is the discovery of oneself through contact with other people." -Paul Tournier), or even reading Facebook statuses ("Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -Mark Twain), I am constantly reminded of my dream to go to school in Québec.

So I'm going to do it. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s about it. Where there is a will, there is a way, and boy do I have the will. If it means I don't get a nice pair of shoes or new clothes for the school year, if it means I have to continue playing my piano by sitting on my bed, if it means I have to hang out at home and save some gas money, if it means I have to skip lunch here and there... I'm going to find the money. I'm going to go to Québec for school. I filled out a few more job applications tonight and I'm going to pick some others up tomorrow.

I'm going to make my dreams into reality.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Money =/= Happiness

Bonjour mes amis,

While I realize this isn't the smartest idea, ranting here on this blog, as I have a link to it from my Facebook and my family has access to my Facebook... But I promised I'd write more and this is the only thing on my mind.

My family is big on bonfires. My mother and step-dad, anyways, and they decided that we were having one tonight. So at 7:30 when the sky was still bright blue, Jeff goes out and starts the fire and then drags us (my little sister and myself) out as well. Soon enough everyone has eaten and then is getting a little bored, so the little sister whines for someone to toss beanbags with her, and of course my step father agrees. Meanwhile, my mother and I get on the topic of college.

You see, I don't really run fresh ideas through my parents, I wait until I've thought them well over and they're pretty solid first, because I generally end up fighting for my ideas. Except, you know, I figured they'd be fighting about the Québec/Canada part... not the following-my-dreams part. Yep. My mother disapproves of me wanting to be a choir director. She thinks I should choose a job so I can be rich and "support myself." I understand this worry she has about me being poor, I mean, she's pretty much lived it her whole life and I see the way it stresses her out, but I'm also not going to be nearly as irresponsible with my money as she. It makes me thankful my father was the one who raised me.

Dad always raised me saying it's all about how happy you are with the job, not about the money. He wakes up every morning, hating his job SO much, but he always goes so that he can support not just himself but his four kids, two of which live with him even though they're adults. Don't worry, they pay rent. Or at least, one does, but that wasn't always the case. For a while my mother was out of the picture and he had to raise us on his own. God bless that man, raising four crazy children by himself!

I guess what I'm getting at, is this reminds me of a promise I made myself when I was younger. I told myself I could chase after any job in the whole world that I wanted, as long as it made me happy.

"Tout le monde m'avait dit que c'était impossible; moi, je leur ai répondu qu' « impossible n'est pas français » et puis je l'ai fait." (Everyone told me it was impossible. Me, I responded to them that "Impossible isn't French" and then I did it.)

And that's exactly what I intend on doing.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Short 'N' Sweet

Bonjour mes amis,

I have been stricken with the strong urge to jump in my car and go on a road trip. I could go somewhere closer like the river, or drive into Wisconsin and kidnap my big sister for a day, or if I had my passport I could cross the border and go see Canada.

Problem being I have 1/4 tank of gas and no money or passport. Seriously though, I really want to, like I spent my morning planning where I'd go if I could just up and leave! Maybe I can get some gas money from the parental units this weekend and go nag my sister and have her fiancé foot the bill for lunch ;) I don't think I've seen her since Easter.

I can't sit still. I'll write more tomorrow.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine.

Here's the Mail, It Never Fails. It Makes Me Want to Wag My Tail!

Bonjour mes amis,

Today I woke up to the sound of shattering glass... on my carpeted bedroom. I love my kitten. I then proceeded to clean it up, get dressed, throw on shoes and grab an umbrella to go across the street in a solid downpour to check the mail for my movie. It hadn't even come yet. It was about nine in the morning. Heh. Heheheh. *Twitch* I went to bed after two in the morning. What's wrong with me? Why can't I sleep in until noon?? Je suis malade! T.T

As for the retelling of yesterday's tale:

I ran out to grab the mail again (Er, not again since it was first? Je ne sais pas.) except this time it had come, and a letter from the College Board came! I had it opened before I made it back across the street, and guess what? I PASSED!! I get college credit for World History, assuming my college of choice in Québec accepts it. I know McGill does, and that's a definite possibility right now. I just saved myself about $1-2,000.

When my mother came home, of course she asked about it and had some things to say, and then she went through the rest of the mail. Oh look, my driver's license came finally! Sweet! It had a bad picture though and I knew it, so I hadn't really been looking for it.

"And Delphine proves her dorkiness yet again! She notices her score on a test but not that her driver's license came." Thanks Mom. Love you too.

I also started my day off with listening to a Yale professor lecture about music. It's pretty cool, I found it with StumbleUpon and it's got a ton of free lectures you can look into. I also went on iTunes and grabbed a bunch of free ones from elsewhere. There was some stuff on French, but either it was really really basic or a level or two above me, unfortunately.

As for my blog, I found Blog This! It's actually pretty neat for Google Chrome users. It gives you an icon next to the address bar that you can click and it'll open up a new window with a new post, starting with a link to the page/title and whatever text you have highlighted. I tried it out with the video I posted a few days ago (and granted, you can't highlight a video..) but I did like not having to come all the way to blogger when I felt like sharing that.

I think I'm going to wait until noon before I check the mail again.

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

Red is Bad, Green is Good

Bonjour, mes amis,

So... I still haven't gotten around to looking at any colleges in southern California yet (yes, that's a possibility) but I've looked at a handful in Quebec or nearby. So far? Nothing dream-like, but I'm making progress. The other day I realized my notes were getting far too messy and unorganized, so I put the main categories I'm looking at into a spreadsheet. Once I get more colleges I'm actually liking the sound of, I'll go into more details. Here is my college search thus far:

Yeah. See that big red block? That's the schools that don't have decent (or any) Music Education programs. I won't be going there, but I figured I'd keep them on the list just so I know what I've already been through. The U of MN is my backup college if all else fails, but so far it looks like McGill University and Laval University are doing the best. But still not very strong in some areas, either, unfortunately! I need a school that's cheaper than $30,000 a year, has a decent Music Education program, and is around Montreal/Ottawa. You wouldn't think it's that hard, would you? But I'll find one, just you wait and see. Even if it's not super close to either city, if it's within a three hour drive I could do that.


Alright, now you're wondering, "Why Montreal/Ottawa? I thought she said Quebec." Yeah I said Quebec, and I meant Quebec. But I don't really want to be on the other side of the continent in Quebec (the city) and I do want to be near a big city. I think I'd die without being able to make weekend trips to some place fun! Plus I know a couple people in the region, it'd be nice to have them help me get used to living in a totally new country without any family around.


Now I'm just rambling because I'm tired and all sorts of other things, so bonsoir, mes amis.



À demain,
Mlle Delphine

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

The Perfect Guy

Bonjour, mes amis,

It has been brought to my attention that I've never had a decent date.

Or present.

I've had three boyfriends... None of them even paid for the first date. I've never gotten a flower. I've never gotten a teddy bear. I've never gotten chocolate. Nothing. Nada. Zip. How does that work?

It made me sad.

Until I daydreamed up my perfect boyfriend! He'd be really fun to be around and a funny guy, but when it came time to be serious, he'd be a total sweetheart and listen, and he'd talk to me when he needed someone too. He'd be very intelligent, smarter than me (this may be my dork coming out, but.. smart guys = hot guys). That said, he'll of course be cute. He'll have an open mind, and he'll have a wide taste in music. He can pla- I mean, *could*- play the piano and the guitar.

And then he'll ask me to dinner and he'll bring me a rose. He will refuse to let me pay, and I'll only let him because 1. I'm flattered and 2. It's the first date and no one's ever spent money on me.

Some day. ♥

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Good News, Guilty News

Bonjour, mes amis!

What do you want to hear first, the good news or the guilty news? Let's start with the guilty, I like finishing things on a positive note.

Guilty News: I restarted World of Warcraft (WoW) yesterday morning. I've already played for a total of eight hours. Although it's not like I've had anything to do the past two days, so that's not *so* bad. It's that or sit on Facebook for hours. However, one of the positive things I did with my time is the....

Good News: I've begun learning how to play "River Flows in You" by Yiruma. I've figured out all of the notes on the first page (I'm not so great at working with keys other than C) and I can actually play about the first two lines with both hands! Hurrah! And, I'm also looking to buy ce pupitre pour mon piano. I shouldn't have too many difficulties convincing my parents. After all, they already spent $80 on the keyboard but I have a hard time playing with such an awkward height difference. The stand is only $20 and it's adjustable, plus I have $10 so they really would only have to chip in half. What's $10 to get me to use an $80 instrument?

As a result of both of these, I probably won't be doing any more double posts a day ('probably' being the keyword here). However, I should still be posting every day or two. I know I won't be able to resist rambling to my small audience here for long, nor exercise my French when my WoW buddies get tired of it. :P Now I have some cleaning to do to ensure the parents will be happy to spend $10 on me!

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Yiruma; Reflections

Bonjour, mes amis!

I've been listening to this song on repeat all morning. And I was listening to more of Yiruma's pieces last night. It's eerily beautiful, the way it make me feel so peaceful and just forget all the worries the world holds. This is why I love music the way I do. This is why I could imagine myself dedicating the rest of my life to music... choir is definitely a favorite, getting to use your own body to create this type of magic is describable only with music itself. Yet, I've always loved the sweet sound of the piano.

I played the clarinet in fourth grade and liked it, but I hated practicing. I tried the flute the next year but I wasn't a big fan, so in sixth grade I returned to my clarinet. In seventh grade I gave up band, and therefore my instrument, in order to have other electives since I knew I wanted to learn French. How cruel, to make me choose between my two biggest passions, French and music! So for a Christmas present that year, my father signed me up for piano lessons. While I liked playing at the actual lessons, I hated practicing at home on our piano. It was out of tune, the keys were worn and chipped, and some of the strings must have been loose because a few keys, including middle C, you had to press hard on quickly to get any noise out of them. My teacher never knew I didn't practice, and she still called me a natural. I think she was just being nice, yet at the same time, I did quite well. Dad promised to fix it up but never did. He's forgetful and we aren't made of money. So, I quit piano lessons when the school year ended.

The next year I started voice lessons. I liked to sing but I was very nervous. I slowly became more comfortable singing with a piano and my voice teacher, but I still couldn't practice at home. My teacher was from New Zealand and she traveled back home for the holidays. I chickened out of calling her a month or so later, and we never heard from her again. We never got our money back, either. Little did I know, those voice lessons would help me get into the choir of my choice in high school.

I went to three Halloween parties that night, my sophomore year, and this was the last and the best of the ones. I went with my then-boyfriend who could conveniently drive to all of these places. He was also in band and choir, and he planned on majoring in music. At the party, I was sitting at a table with him and some friends who were chatting, and the friends got up to go dancing but I wasn't really in the mood to dance. Instead, I heard Cascada's Everytime We Touch, and started singing it with the best quality voice I knew how, just sort of having fun, you know? But he leaned in close to me to listen and I pulled away. Just like before, still rather shy when it comes to singing around others, though I'd gotten better. I kept singing. He did the same thing. I started laughing. Third time, I decided to ignore him and kept singing anyways. He told me I should join choir. So I did (with some debating, of course).

After some rushed practices with him and an old friend, the director gave me my voice check and decided to put me in the more experienced choir. While he felt that I was still at the other choir's level, he figured I would quickly outgrow them because of my prior music experience. I truly hope he was right about that, and I do feel like I grew a lot this year in my musical abilities. I had another voice check at the end of the year which would determine my placement in choir next year, either the same one or up to Concert Choir, which is the best and only mixed choir we have at the high school. This time instead of critiquing me, he actually complimented me. I'd say the hard work paid off.

As for summer? I'm dieing without choir. Every time I get in the car to go somewhere, I turn on the radio and sing along. An alumni was going to start a summer choir but never did. I begged my parents to buy a keyboard, fully intending on using it. Unfortunately it didn't come with a stand or anything, so we don't have any place for me to place that has a decent enough height got me to work with. If I get this job, which I will write about tomorrow, I plan on putting 1/3 of every paycheck away for college. The rest will be used for gas money and other things. The first thing I want to buy is a stand and stool for my keyboard. Then I can learn another one of Yiruma's beautiful pieces, "River Flows in You." The second thing I want to buy is an AZERTY keyboard. French and music are my two passions in life. I hope that somehow I can make them blend into my future, no matter what career I pursue.

À demain,

Mlle Delphine

Je suis desolée pour le petit utilisation de français! Mon réflexions était pense d'en anglais, alors je les écrivais en anglais.