It only took me 31 days, but I finally made good on my New Year's Resolution of: in abscence of ski hills to obsessively ski, go to the gym regularly. Day 1, survived.
One of my guilty pleasures is Gossip Girl.
One of my even guiltier pleasures? I log on to NY Magazine after every new episode to read the Reality Guide. Really.
http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/01/gossip_girl_recap_14.html
A month + 1 has already passed since Christmas day, my friends. it seems surreal to look back to a month ago and realize I was back home, as since I got back up to Wask, it feels like I never left. That the brief 3 weeks (-1 day) interval in the outside world never occured. And yet exactly one month ago, Chris and I were enjoying Nuit Blanche at Ski Bromont, skiing til 2 in the morning. It was a wonderful night, on black diamond trails, with a good friend I get to see once a year. I miss nights like those. Simplicity, but out of the ordinary.
I am, by nature, a gregarious, social creature. While I do not need to be constantly with people and constantly entertained, I do require 2 things: social interactions and things to do. Sometimes (read: frequently) up here in Wask, I'm missing both of these elements. I don't require constantly being around other people; I can amuse myself just fine. However... I do believe the effects of isolation are starting to get to me, sometimes (see: research on said effects.) I've resorted to spending the evening tonight talking to complete random strangers online. Which is completely out of character, but has helped reduce some of the inevitable blahs related to a bad teaching day.
I'm finding it harder, now, in the After-Xmas part of the school year than the first half. Work keeps me busy and helps the time fly by, but... since I got back I'm finding this harder to endure than in the fall. It might be the frigid temperatures of the last week that basically kept all people inside. It might be not having a roommate to interact with at home this time around. It might be the lack of another something from last fall, and the way things were that I miss. (No, I won't go into details. I'm learning).
While my Farmville farm has flourished after months of abandonment last summer, and my planning and correcting is usually done immediately for once... I don't know. This whole way of living is not, on a long-term basis for me. Lesson learned. I won't, however, change my mind or even consider doing so, now that it is definately made up. I'm a Taurus, my friend, we're notoriously hard-headed, and once a decision enters my Taurean brain, (work, place, relationship, etc, etc) it doesn't depart.
I'm attempting to find new ways to stay amused. And to develop patience in waiting for answers to come to me (oh, believe me, it's taking everything I have right now to wait and see.I do wish I'd learned the lessons of: decision-making sooner and this all could have been avoided. Sometimes, we have to live with our mistakes and can't hide from them at the ski hill, with friends, or at a cafe. C'est ca la vie). And honing my Jeopardy skills. But, I'll admit it: I'm lonely on a few different levels, a lot of the time. 5 months to go!
Completely irrelevant link recommendation: The Crow and the Butterfly. I cannot listen to this song without it eliciting images of the Maine coast.
I've come to a new appreciation of the black bear.
No, don't worry, we're not having a repeat of last August when one was frequenting my yard and driveway.(Sidebar: flip flops and bear droppings do not a good mix make).
Last summer when I left for the north, i left a 2 thirds finished book in the bathroom.
It turns out I left the not 1, but two books I was reading over xmas back home as well. I guess I'll read them at Easter. In all fairness, Childhood was not all that engrossing, and I had already read Queen of Palmyra. Great book, more tomorrow when my brain is more fully functional.
Fun fact of the day: trout fish in the St-Lawrence tested positive for anti-depressants, thanx to the Montreal waters they swim in. Happy fish, no doubt.
Can't sleep, yetis will get me.
It was too cold to get groceries, so I dealt with so-so mediocre soup for supper.
I've been taking pictures of the food I make lately. Yes, I'm a touch bored (winter without skis).
I never thought I'd be grateful for CBC, of all channels.
Hopefully there's some skiing on this weekend. Living vicariously.
Cat summoned for jury duty in Boston. Seriously.
Polar Bear Pics, slightly blurry as my flash was being wonky. Kinda not for those eating at the moment....
Je pelte.
Tu peltes.
Il pelte.
Nous peltons.....
Lesson learned: shovel your stairs and deck regularly. Particularly in a Northern climate.
Reason: If you do not, when you finally get around to doing so, it will not be entirely pleasant.
Description of consequences: It took an hour to hammer/dig/chip away at/shovel the icy/snow mess that was the entrance to my home. I entertained ideas of making a type of ice slide with it, and sliding down to the ground like a penguin every day, but better judgement prevailed.
The only way said experience was tolerable was to crank my iPod up to a deafening level and shovel to Three Days Grace. Angry music is shovelling music, my friends.
Did I mention I didn't bother to buy/send myself a shovel while down south and am dependent on borrowing from others? That could be another Lesson subject right there.
I'm in a bit of a post-Holidays back to reality funk.
DDO Civic Center is on TV. Intense nostalgia for Becket. And home.
It's just been one of those weeks. Flew by, but not that a boring, empty weekend stretches ahead of me.... a bit down, feeling lonely and wishing I was back home skiing.
I decided to play tourist and take a drive around during the holidays. Pictures of my 'hood back home in the Townships:
Not feeling homesick, or nostalgic.
It's simply that the box I mailed myself, arrived today, and it kind of triggered an "oh yeah, pics!" response.
I've been back a week now. It went fast, and yet, it seems surreal that a week ago, I woke up back home. Time plays tricks.
Some images from the Granby Zoo, the week between Xmas and New Years!
I love going to the zoo in the winter. Less tourists, more snow... a little odd to see zebras playing in snow, though!
Step 1: Finally decide that it's time to start the 3-4 loads of laundry just begging for attention. Teaching in the nude is frowned upon up North, you see.
Step 2: Realize that washer will not turn on. Pull washer away from wall (approximate time required: 8 minutes. Approximate weight of 1970s washing machine: 8 tonnes, give or take 1 elephant).
Step 3: Fiddle with wires, and hookups, and widgets and gadgets. Try to feel like you have some semblance of an idea what all of said widgets do.
Step 4: Contortionist/trapeze act to get out from behind washing machine. Put washing machine in its rightful place. Clean floor from brown goo that has appeared during above steps.
Step 5: Fiddle with buttons. Oh, it works! Success. Or so one would think.
Step 6: Laundry complete. Remove, insert into dryer.
Step 7: Press GO button on dryer. There will be no public nudity or smelliness tomorrow!
Step 8: Halt victory celebrations and festivities. Dryer doesn't want to work.
Step 9: Yank dryer off of wall. Oooh, delightfully lighter than washer.
Step 10: Realize thingees cannot be accessed without moving 8 pound washing machine. Repeat Step 2.
Step 10: Realize during the washing machine battle, metal shiny thingamabob came unhooked. Re-hook it.
Step 11: Realize that the shifting of the washing machine and dryer has subsequently trapped me behind them.
Step 12: Take 5 minutes attempting to squeeze through and jimmy machinery.
Step 13: Attempt to crawl over. Failure.
Step 14: Jump. Success!
Things learned in 24 hours: washing machines from the rock ages are heavy.
Also learned: citronnella candles are apparently only for outdoor use. I am not a mosquito.
Ok, I'm in love with several apps (weather! ski trails! Timmy's GPS!) but the one that I find the most amusing is my Cree Language app. That;s right. My iPod is loaded with translator, syllabics converter, and syllabics chart. How cool is that?
Boxes, boxes, boxes!
I've been unpacking since Thursday evening; some end is finally in sight. That is, until the boxes I shipped arrive in the next few weeks.
The walls are too bland and white for my taste. I suppose this is something I will just have to deal with.
Went wandering to try out my new snowshoes today, since it was my favorite type of day: sunny, -10, wintery.
I actually get 2 TV channels. One of which is CBC, so I'm popping popcorn (microwave miraculously came back to life...), and getting ready to watch hockey.
Ok, ok, so as hard as leaving is (I didn't cry this time! Progress!) I'm actually rather glad to be back in Waskaganish. Miiight be heading out Monday for a week in Ottawa/North Bay/Mtl. Trying to get out of it to work on... well, work, but if not, c'est pas la fin du monde.
Slept til 1:48 PM. Travelling by plane, even without a time zone difference, kills me.
Goodnight, cyberspace
Oh, what a sketchy airplane. If you don't believe me, google image search: interior, beech 1900. They actually, after the 2nd stop, made all of us in the back get up and sit in the front to balance out the weight, as the luggage is in the back end, much like a car trunk.
My keys (which I lost in the bathroom of the Granby mall yesterday) turned up at security today. I won't have to break & enter my own home on Thursday afternoon.
It seems weird to think I'll be skiing Wednesday night, and at pottery in Wask on Thursday night. I've gotten used to it being a day, day and a half trek to get from Here to There (or vice versa), that makes flying direct feel a little surreal.
I probably won't be home until Easter/Goose Break, ergo 3.5 months. Trying to stock up on fun, skiing, and essential items. I've discovered you can pretty much order anything online through Amazon... if only I could get a credit card, alas.
Not taking my skis... but hoping to get in a few days of skiing during the ski trip if all works out... debating having my skis shipped by Canada Post later this winter. We all know by now that, regardless if I'm up North or in Shefford, Canada Post has a personal vendetta against me, and are hellbent on losing/near destroying 3/4ths of my mail. I find it more comical and funny than anything at this point...
Bed time.
First blog post of 2011.
I love a new year, in its first days. It's all shiny, and new, full of unknown.
What will happen? Will I lose my car keys, and house keys for both North and South? Wait, I already did that today at the mall...
Not much to report. Much shopping, all has been shipped North. When it arrives, I'll post pictures of my new favorite decoration items.
I swapped in the giant Eiffel Tower for a more transportable reasonable one.
Not that, of course, a giant metal Eiffel Tower is ever either of those criteria, I suppose.
A few last days of freedom from work and stress.
Not that getting everything ready to head back, and fretting over term 2 marks is relaxing.
I'm fine with going back to Waskaganish for another 4 month stretch... I do, however, have a ball of stress and dread whenever I think of work, teaching, math, etc. Reading facebook statuses assures me that other teacher friends are living a similar heartattack waiting to happen...
