Gah. So SARS is back, and my aunt and cousin have landed in quarantine. Every time I say that, people sort of back away from me in fear, which is not cool, since I haven't seen my aunt and cousin since Christmas.
Things here are okay. I never really finished my entry from the weekend. As I mentioned then, a friend of mine from work was beat up by her boyfriend. It was (and continues to be) a pretty scary thing. I have known people before who have been abused, but I guess I've never really seen the direct physical evidence of such, and it's mofo scary.
She showed me her wrist (the one she doesn't have wrapped up in a brace because it's purple and swollen) and she has four black/purple stripes down it. The sort of stripes that would be made by someone grabbing her wrist and squeezing it tightly. She has a pretty large variety of other injuries, all of which are horrific, but this is the one that has stuck with me the most.
I've talked about it with my parents since then. She'd been dating her boyfriend for nearly two years, which from the little I know of behaviour abuse patterns is fairly unusual--for this to be the first instance of abuse. When I told my dad that, he gave me a "how dense are you?" look and said, "No, this is the first time this has been that noticeable."
She is having him charged, which is good, and she is carrying around some (illegal) pepper spray on her keychain. What is not so good is that her mother refuses to believe her. As a result she's been spending a lot of her time off at work. I feel very frustrated by the whole thing, I want to help, and I wish very much there was something very physical and concrete I could do. But there isn't, except support. At least there's that.
In other news: I'm speaking at a reception for high school students who applied to Nipissing as a current student tonight, and today is my one year anniversary with Mike. He bought me the most beautiful ring--white gold and diamonds. And it's a promise ring, which is kind of neat.
I got my marks back the other day, and came out with a 79.90 overall average, so I was all "Boo-urns!" because you need an 80 to get a $500 scholarship, but I got a letter from the school today congratulating me on my 80+ average and annoucning my scholarship, so perhaps they round up. As my mother says, don't look gift hound dogs in the mouth.
I came home arly work today because I was sick, but I think I feel better now.