September 15, 2005

Terry Fox, Engagements, school!

TERRY FOX!! this year marks the 25th anniversary of Terry Fox's Marathon of Hope, and I think it's totally important that on sunday, September 18th, people find a way to show their support! either get out there and run, or donate some cash to the cause. Cancer is something that has an effect on us all, and it's so great that something like the Terry Fox run has continuosly been able to give so much money to so much different research.

Do you know that the type of cancer Terry had was osteogenic sarcoma(bone cancer)? When Terry was diagnosed, patients only had a 20% chance of survival. Nowadays, thanks to research, an osteogenic sarcoma patient has an 80% chance of survival. Pretty amazing! So get out your piggy banks!

I am particularly inspired to donate this year and do something about raising money for cancer research as my dad has had to take on fighting cancer himself, and lord knows that if I can do something to help other people's dads not have to go through what our family is just starting to go through, then it's totally worth it to just ask. Terry wanted all Canadians to donate just one dollar each to cancer research during his marathon of Hope. Maybe this year, you can do the same, and maybe more!

Go to https://www.terryfoxrun.org/english/donations/donate/default.asp?s=1 to do a donation using a credit card. It's easy, and it's worth it. I already did in honour of my dad, and for everyone else out there dealing with that nasty cancer bug!

"I'm not a dreamer, and I'm not saying this will initiate any kind of definitive answer or cure to cancer, but I believe in miracles. I have to.”
--Terry Fox

And now, ON to lighter things!!!

It's been a few weeks since I wrote anything on this website, and as pretty much everyone in the free world is now aware, I got engaged to Kate during that time frame! I'm not sure that many people know how I proposed, but there have been requests to know, so here are "the deets"...

Kate was up at Whistler for the last week of August, and on Thursday aug 31st, I headed up after my work shift, as I had the next day off. Now, the standard practice while at Whistler is to get up in the morning at a comfortable hour ( 8,9,10, 11 am... whatever it may be for the day), and pile into Kate's mum's room to have morning tea, everyone piled on to the bed. Or as many as will fit comfortably.

I didn't bring a cup of tea in to the bedroom, but rather Kate's laptop, on which I had saved a powerpoint slideshow that I had been chipping away at for weeks. It was a whole 'the story of stu and kate' sort of thing, ever since we met as teenagers. At the end of it, it asked her to marry me (all set to music for that extra dramatic effect...). when it was over, I cracked out the ring--a band of white gold, with a tension-set amethyst, with one wee diamond on either side of the stone. I had been getting it made by a jeweller on granville island for a few weeks prior. And Kate likes it, thank goodness! (sorry, there are no photos of the ring yet, but maybe sometime!). If yu really want to see the slideshow, I can maybe email it. It's a big file though, and you won't get the music!)

so that's basically that! we're going to have the ceremony and partay on December 30th here in Vancouver!

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school is back in session, and I am now into the final year of my journalism degree, minoring in PR. there was some initial worry that I wouldn't be able to pick up some of the course until fall 2006 / spring 2007, but I did enough begging and yelling to get that sorted out, so this will be my final year!! hurray! Some of the classes seem like snoozers--take 'Advanced Editing', for example. Gah? does this seem like an exciting topic to ANYONE? oh well, it must be done... thankfully, I have Friday's off as well as much of thursday, so it's a relatively short week. It's also a relatively shrot semester for many course I am in, as a work term occupies the better part of November, and a week of December. I have credit for the work I did this sumer though, so I just get five weeks off of class! Giddyup!!!! the PR will still have to be done, as well as the english course I am taking, but that's it. Suh-weet, I say!