For those following my blog these past two months haven’t provided much entertainment. So, I’m sorry to note that it’s not going to get much better for the next little bit.  Hopefully you’ll still find me in your RSS readers once my crazy final weeks of school/papers schedule is finished.

I know I’m beginning to sound like a broken record but I’ve been busy with school of late. While I’m stuck in the basement writing and calculating, Drew’s been tearing apart the backyard. I’ll try to post some of the before/current state pictures soon. We’ve not reached the “after” state yet.

This weekend we’re swooping into Vancouver for a few days and will be visiting with Drew’s aunt and cousins. Saturday will be spent at the Vancouver CSTS and those of you on the wet coast who are interested in what MOT’s been up to might catch a glimpse of him running around Vancouver before the weekend is out.

He’s been pretty subdued since he came home from Afghanistan however it’s only a few more weeks before MOT heads to SoCal. Which reminds me, I’ve got a picture or two of MOT’s final days in the Sandbox that still needs posting.

Not too much new going on here of late. Still swamped with school assignments and papers and watching the back yard being torn to pieces. Hopefully it’ll stop looking like a bomb went off in the yard at the moment. Hoping to see some progress by the end of the month. That said, the yard looks miles better today compared to last weekend. The giant piles of dirt and concrete have been removed and shipped off to where ever that stuff goes.

Mom headed home on Tuesday and can now be found on Facebook. Feel free to look her up if you know how to find her. I’m sure she’d like more “friends” than just myself and Drew’s mom.

Looking forward to our upcoming vacation down south but dreading the arrival of our departure week. I have to write both my Stats & Exp. Psych exams on the Monday of that week. I’ll definitely have earned my vacation after surviving the day.

Remember those lazy, hazy, crazy long days of childhood summer where you ran around the neighbourhood for months on end, eventually complaining of being bored? I miss those days.

I’m not sure when the shift from child to adult happened but all of a sudden I’m watching years whiz by and each New Year’s Day seems to come around quicker than the last. I blinked and a decade past! How could that happen?

These past few weeks have seen my injured mum land for a visit, Drew tearing down the decks in the backyard and chopping tree branches in front of the house, and my nose buried in books as I attempt to finish off my papers in the final weeks of the semester. Two weeks has just flown by and I don’t recall much happening. Like my 20s, I blinked and it was over.

This afternoon I find myself longing for those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer again. I wonder if and when we’ll slow down enough to experience the passage of time in the same way. I have a horrible feeling it won’t happen until 2016 or later.  I’m not sure my desire to return to childhood wonder will last that long.

Epic Change, a charity I was introduced to via Twitter, is a finalist in a contest at Ideablob. Epic Change strives to build classrooms and foster learning in Tanzania. Stacey Monk, founder of Epic Change, has written a blog post about the fairness of Internet based voting for fundraising, calling attention to how students voted from Tanzania in a recent blog post. However, despite any concerns about digital divides in the current method of deciding a contest winner, it’s still a great cause worthy of support.  Take a few seconds out of your day and vote for Epic Change on Ideablob.

UPPERDATE: Stacey Monk, founder of Epic Change, asked that I include the following in the post:

This blog post is part of Zemanta’s Blogging For a Cause campaign to raise awareness and funds for worthy causes that bloggers care about.

Am quite (mentally) exhausted and it’s only the beginning of the week. My calendar tells me I’ve six weeks left in my current courses and five more papers to complete. Then I have to write both exams on the same day. *shudder* I guess I know what I’ll be doing every evening and all weekends for the foreseeable future.

It’s a week late but my final grade is in for my Mil Psych course. I managed to pull off an A- despite not recognizing anything at all on the exam. Ok. I admit. It couldn’t have been that bad since I’d have had to have managed a B- on the exam itself to pull off the final grade I did. I just don’t seem to do well on exams. It’s like my mind is a chalkboard and the slate was wiped clean a few minutes before I sit down to write. Very little looks familiar on exams. And yet I manage to do well on papers and assignments…apparently my “off-the-cuff BS” writing skills continue to improve with age and experience.

Because I’m a glutton for punishment I’m signing up for three courses again next semester. There’s a number of classes that I need to graduate that are only offered once every two years. If I don’t take all of them next semester my graduation date will be pushed back by a year. Not something I want to contemplate. So, once more I’m going to subject everyone to listening to me whine and complain about how difficult it is to balance full-time work and part-time school. I really shouldn’t whine so much since thousands of other adults manage to slog through school in much the same manner each year.

Who am I kidding? I’ll be whining away full-bore until I manage to complete my Master’s degree many decades from now…

Ok, so we all know I’m a big fan of Twitter and charity. I’m especially fond of charities that promote learning (#Tweetsgiving & #Tweetluck come to mind), reading (Kids Need to Read), and foodbanks. Charities that give people a hand up when needed hold a special place in my heart.

Recently I’ve been able to combine these two loves as the #yeg community has started responding to local needs.

First up was @SirThinks foodbank challenge. Many may not remember back in the day when a number of military members lined up at foodbanks because they couldn’t afford to both house and feed their families. Former CDS Hillier refers to that period in the CF as the “days of darkness”. I doubt many CF members who lived and worked through it would disagree. We were fortunate enough not to need the services of a foodbank at that time but there were days when we’d be sorely tempted. While we’ve donated over the years, when @SirThinks posted his 200 items for school lunch challenge on Twitter last week we couldn’t resist picking up the guantlet.

That event got @SirThinks and I thinking about other ways to support local foodbanks in a more formal manner through Twitter. The near weekly #yegsafetymtgs (nobody works, nobody gets hurt) seemed like the perfect place to launch a collection for the local foodbank. All that remains is to iron out the details.

As I’ve babbled many times over the year(s), I’m a big fan of a charity co-founded by Edmonton’s own Capt Tightpants, Nathan Fillion. Kids Need to Read purchases books for children’s school libraries - often in the poorest districts - to foster learning, imagination, and a love of reading. The charity was co-founded with PJ Haarsma, an author of books for young adults. Tonight I was once again Tweeting about my wish to hold a fundraiser in the #yeg Twitter community for this organization and luckily for me, marketing and promotions chica extrordinaire @Out_Inc has taken up the guantlet. My continual whining has inspired her to consider promoting one charity event that the #yeg Twitter community can sponsor at a #yegsafetymtg each month.

The timing couldn’t be better. The second part of #TwilightYEG, @ZoomJer’s fundraiser for local womens shelters is taking place tomorrow night. The first half - collecting tips through charity bartending at LUX - raised just over $400 towards the $3000 goal. Hope we surpass it tomorrow evening. There’s still time to buy a ticket online at the #TwilightYEG web site or you can get one at the door on Wed. evening.

Crappy Town Update:
Regular readers may recall that we recently won an auction to “name a crappy town where you’re the hero“. Many towns were available on a number of planets. Our town is on Persephone.

The auction concept was based on an episode of our favourite show and funds raised are going to support CSTS’s Equality Now fundraiser.

We’re still waiting to hear if our Crappy Town name for the upcoming QMx map of the ‘verse is acceptable. Haven’t really thought of a possible second choice so keep your fingers and toes crossed that option one makes it pastthe cutting room floor (and FOX lawyers).

NOTE: posted from iPhone. Will update with links later when at a computer.

Upperdate: Added links 11:20am May 20th

We’re off to the first half of the #twilightYEG fundraiser this evening. The actual ticketed event is taking place next Wednesday evening but today we’re having a special pre-event at LUX Steakhouse during our normal #yegSafetyMtg. Tips made by guest bartenders for a few hours this evening are being donated to the fundraiser.

Yeah. I know. If you don’t tweet the above sentences make little sense. Course, you don’t need to tweet to help raise funds for a great cause. #twilightYEG’s goal is to raise $3000 for the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation. Proceeds from the events go to local women’s shelter(s).

This has been a pretty productive week for #yeg charities. @SirThinks responded to the the @yegfoodbank’s pressing need for lunch items and donated 200 drinking boxes to the cause. He then challenged everyone in the #yeg community to match his donation for other items that could be included in children’s lunches. This morning Drew dropped off 200 peanut-free granola bars to the food bank and we’re keeping the challenge going. Here’s hoping someone else picks up the gauntlet soon.

I’m off to meet Drew, @SirThinks and the gang for #twilightYEG (part the first). Hope to see you there - or at #twilightYEG (part the second) on Wednesday.

Spent the past 72 hours+ completely offline while getting re-acquainted with Drew. No interweebs. No cell phones. No Twitter or email. Figure it’ll be pretty slow around here for the next few days too. Got 6 months separation to make up for. Go make your own fun

The Austin Browncoats held a unique fundraiser for Can’t Stop the Serenity 2009. CSTS is an annual event hosted by Browncoats and celebrating a little film titled Serenity, on or around Joss Whedon’s birthday, to raise funds for Equality Now.

With QMx at the helm of a new map design for the ‘verse, the Browncoats offered the opportunity to ‘name the crappy town where you’re the hero’ a la Jaynestown episode of Firefly.

There’s no CSTS in Alberta this year. I know. Hard to believe considering Edm is the home of Captain Tightpants himself. Since We can’t afford to go to Van or TO for a weekend we needed to find some way to support the cause. This auction seemed like the perfect opportunity.

It offered an opportunity to name one of a preset number of towns in a list of available planets. The town names will appear on an upcoming map of the ‘verse. Flans influencing canon and raising funds for charity. How cool is that?

Unable to resist I threw our hat in the ring for a town on Persephone. As happy winners with a town to name (and hero to declare) I must confer with my soon to be home hubby for our submission.

Suggestions welcome. No guarantee we’ll select your idea but all will be carefully considered before being discarded in favour of something odd. This should keep me busy for 2-3 minutes.

Got a call from the base today and hubby is due to land in #yeg two hours earlier than previously stated. We’re starting to get very excited about his impending arrival. Just three more working days before I bring him home…