SUMMARY 3

Over the last twelve weeks, i have learned that leisure is what you make it and that sometimes you need someone to guide you and teach you new skills to enjoy a new experience. There are a number of new activities that I have tried during this semester that I probably would have never tried if it wasn't for someone there to educate me along the way. I've noticed that many of us tend to judge others' experiences based on what they see, but until you try it you will never be able to feel the real adrenaline rush, and the emotions at that point in time. For me, paintballing was a brand new experience, and believe it or not, I was experiencing Flow throughtout the whole day activity. There were several constraints that prevented me from doing this before such as: The cost, the pain that I would have to endure, and the company that I would bring along with me. I've also learned that the constraints do prevent us from doing some leisure activities, but the best way to resolve this is to sacrifice a little. Determining one's values is the first thing to do. If it's something that is really important to you, and you know that by you doing it will make you happy, then sacrificing something less important is the first step. Ie: My Dominican trip that I took at the beginning of the semester was a sacrifice I had to make. Although it was not very expensive, i knew that by going I would not go on another trip before the summer. I decided to go because of the price, and I knew it would be worth going with the friends I went with. And I was right. My attitude has changed in the way that I will no longer judge others' leisure preferences because I haven't tried them. And up until now, all of the things I've tried, and never thought I would have been awesome.

SHOPPINGGG

Last weekend was so crazy that I didnt even have time to sit down for a minute!
Usually my weekends consist of boring activities like doing homework, cleaning the house, and sometimes seeing friends when our schedules dont conflict. But last weekend was awesome! Friday night I ended up going out for supper with my friend that was here from Toronto. AND I HARDLY EVER GO OUT FOR SUPPER!! Saturday i worked but WENT OUT FOR SUPPER AGAIN for my friends graduation dinner at a resto called El Gladiatore in Laval, getting home was a fun little adventure in itself! I missed the hockey game which sucked but I wasnt too sad since we lost again Boston anyway. And sunday, My two friends and I drove down to Vermont to go shopping!! I've been wanting to go to Hollister for such a long time now, so we finally did it!
On the way back we had to go through the duty office and they ended up charging us a ridiculous amount of duty and even searched our car on a freezing cold day...what morons!!
SO i had a great weekend filled with excitement and this weekend will suck cause i'll be doing schoolwork :(

Summary #2

Over the last few weeks, i have realized that i have become a leisure educator. I have not only educated myself about what my leisure values are, but i have also leisure educated my mother as well. Being a nurse, and not having much leisure time, my mother had her values and choices all backwards. Sometimes people don't realize what they think is leisure actually isn't until you point it out to them. I, for one, thought some activities would not be leisure because they are not those that I usually participate in (ie:Paintball). Now that I have tried a few unusual activities, I have added new things to my list of things to do when I have spare time. Especially lately, I find myself busy and happily occupied since my " regular" activities are getting old and boring. I am no longer experiencing Flow and that is why I was forced to try new things and challenge myself on a whole new level. I now feel more motivated and aware of my values as a leisure educator.

my silly weekend!

This weekend I chose to do a leisure activity that i have never done before...This activity is paintballing! For my brother's friend's birthday, he decided that he wanted to round up all ''the guys'', and play against each other. I wasn't supposed to be the only girl, but it somehow turned out that way and it was still fun. The first few rounds I didn't get shot, but the last round, I got shot about five times in the same spot..On my head and in my ear!!! It actually really hurt but I didnt notice a bump on my head until this morning!!

Summary #1

After reading through my blogs, I can say that I truly value my leisure time even though there are some constraints that prevent me from enjoying it on a regular basis. Especially with my conflicting school and work schedule, i rarely get to do the things I enjoy. School is the biggest constraint right now because of all the work and readings I have to do, but whenever I think I have a day off, I usually get scheduled to work. I am grateful that these are my only constaints right now, because when I get older, I know that my career, family, and my children will somehow get in the way; therefore I enjoy myself and travel as much as I can before life gets too hectic. I can now say that I understand what events are considered leisure, example: my trip to Punta Cana. Every single move I made during that week-long trip was freely chosen, everything made me very happy, and I returned back home feeling completely satisfied.

My weekend!!!!!!

I would just like to share with you what I did this weekend...Don't get too excited, it was nothing spectacular at all! But the best part was that I WENT SHOPPING!! I absolutely love to shop! Some might even say that is my favorite leisure activity! (haha im a nerd i know!) I found the nicest pair of black high-top converse shoes and i've been looking for them everywhere so i'm extremely happy about that! I probably should have been outside enjoying the gorgeous weather while it lasts, but that plan totally went down the drain... I also went to the Habs practice this morning which was pretty cool! I never really got a good look at Kurt Muller but I did today and he is very good looking!!!! So ya, I had a pretty sweet weekend, and i got a haircut too which is always fun!! :)

My vacation!

This past week I went on my first all inclusive vacation. I went to Punta Cana, Dominican Repulbic and had an amazing time! We got really lucky weather wise, we just missed Hurricane Ike, and left before the next hurricane was scheduled to hit. We got to go shopping and drive through the town to see how these people really live when they are not on the resort. It was a real eye-opener since I have never been to a country like this before. The most exciting part of this trip was that I got to swim with dolphins!!! Even though it was only for a few minutes, it was worth it!