Most people like you, well, they don't dislike you.

I need...

...to drink more water.

...to go to the gym more often.

...to figure out my Halloween costume.

...to turn my brain off every once in awhile.

...to do laundry and clean my apartment.

...to finish knitting mittens for myself so I can start making baby stuff for some school friends who are knocked up.

...to live in the moment; not in the past, not in the future, but in the now.


I want...

...new lululemon pants. Deal is if I go to the gym 3 times per week in November, I get them.

...clarity.

...to be able to do this one yoga pose, where you stand on your shoulders, much better than I can now.

...to actually finish a book. (Something I haven't sadly done in awhile.)

...to feel more energized than I have lately.

I have...

...a lot of work on my plate these days.

...a monster who lives in my apartment and makes it messy (inside joke with my pal Jolene... it's actually her monster).

...fabulous classes, and really nice students who count on me for other things too. You would be surprised that there are teenagers out there who push me to do things like take then gardening in the park near our school, and to work on making the school more ecologically friendly. Teenagers tend to be really good people.

...a quieter weekend coming up. I won't be staying out late three nights in a row. It was worth it though. My midnight Great Lake Swimmers concert on Saturday was awesome, and I stayed out even later drinking tea. (Party animal.)

...tickets to see Feist with Hayden on Monday!

...a season subscription with my work spouse to this year's Mirvish productions. (I saw A Chorus Line last night. It was good. I'm seeing The Sound of Music in November.)

...lots of close friends.

...a great napping buddy in Rilo Kitty. I think I'm going to post another picture of here so you can see how pretty her green eyes are. Oh and I swear I'm not going to become a person who posts a picture of her cat all the time. Just, umm, some of the time.

I ain't freaking, I ain't faking this.

Early weekend update:

Today was a PD Day. Hence, a few of us decided that we would take advantage of the slower pace of a PD Day by going out on Thursday night. We started out by having dinner and some drinks at the Drake (hipster central), and then made our way around the city to various places. It was good times, and I got home after 2 am, which made me feel young and cool again.

I probably didn't fall asleep until 3 am, and had to wake up pretty early for the PD because we science teachers were sent all the way out to Scarborough to do some safety training. The training was actually at the school that I did my first bout of practice teaching at exactly 6 years ago. So it was weird to be back there, and I couldn't remember my way around the school.

Due to lack of sleep I kept falling asleep during the safety training much to the amusement of my coworkers. I guess my head kept bobbing up and down. I still got perfect on the test I had to write.

Since the training was far far away from our school, there was no time to make it back for the remainder of the PD boredom. Shucks. We went for sushi instead.

I just came back from the movie "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" which I've been wanting to see forever. It was cute. I'd give it three stars out of five.

Tomorrrow: yoga, perhaps a little bit of shopping, birthday party, and a midnight Great Lake Swimmers show.

Sunday: Day of rest which means I will not touch the stack of marking that I dragged home.

p.s. Rilo's is doing very well at earning the title of best. cat. ever. She went to the vet yesterday and got a clean bill of health. She's got to put on some weight though. She only weighs 5.8 lbs. Also, I bought her a really punk-ass plaid collar with a bell on it (guess the bell isn't so punk-ass) but she managed to take it off at some point today. I've been hunting around for it, but no idea of where or when it will show up.

Oh sugar spell it out.

Here's some Wednesday randomness. I am well aware that's it's not Wednesday, but I've kept thinking that it is Wednesday all freakin' day, so why stop now?

1) There's an older teacher on staff who always forgets my name. He learned it last year, but apparently it didn't stick. Today he was introducing me to his student teacher and he called me "Ms. Science". I didn't correct it. I like it. Maybe I'll tell my students they get bonus marks for calling me that.

2) It was cold today!! On the way home from school, it actually *snowed*. Little flakes landed on my coat. They didn't stick to the ground, but still. October 21st is too early for flakes to land on my coat.

3) I spent an hour raking leaves today (don't ask) and my back hurts. I feel like a grandma.

4) Rilo has been doing very well. She's such a personable cat. She says hello to me in the morning and follows me around and then chills with me on the couch as I eat my cereal and watch TV. Then, we chill when I get home. Right now, she's mad at me because I have to give her some medicine for her cold which she *hates*. She's hiding in her cat bed now, but I think once she wakes up she'll be over the whole medicine thing. She's a little like a belligerent teenager, and if there's one thing I can handle, it's belligerent teenagers.

5) I have rediscovered Tegan and Sara's album "The Con". I'm addicted to the songs Nineteen and Like O, Like H.

6) I have come to the conclusion that I don't swear on my blog enough. I mean, I don't fucking swear on my blog enough. Swearing is fun. I'm going to do it more often. I think I hold back on my swearing in real life, because I'm afraid I'll slip and do it in front of the kids. I'm on my sixth year of teachering (typo - I'm keeping it), and I've yet to fucking slip yet. So, I think I can loosen up in real life.

7) I can feel a mental health day coming on. Perhaps Thursday if I'm not too lazy to get my shit together. Taking a day off in my profession is more work than dragging yourself in.

All right, so tomorrow really *is* Wednesday, so happy Wednesday, and randomness out!

How I'd knead into your chest while you were sleeping, shallow breathing made me purr.

Weekend update:

Well, I'll actually start with Thursday. On Thursday night, I went to see the Pan-Canadian Folk Ensemble with Christine Fellows (one of my faves), Kim Barlow, and Old Man Luedecke at the Music Gallery. It was such an amazing show. The Music Gallery is in an old church that's hidden away downtown, and is a great venue. All of the musicians involved in the show were outstanding, and I hadn't heard of the latter two, but they had some great songs that I'll have to definitely add to my library.

On Friday, I came home from work feeling like death. I had a really bad headache and passed out on my bed as soon as I walked in the door. I slept and woke up long enough to change into my pjs, have a hot chocolate, change my facebook status, brush my teeth and go back to be.

On Saturday, I started my new yoga class. It was really good, and I'm still sore from it. I like being sore from exercise, because I figure if you feel it, it must have done something. And, I spent the rest of Saturday running errands because...

Today... I brought this lovely creature home!!!




Her name is Rilo Kitty (after Rilo Kiley... kind of corny, but I like it). I got her at the Humane Society. They found her as a stray about 1 month ago somewhere out in the West End. They estimate her to be between 3-5 years old. (So I'm going to say she's 4.) On her cage it said she was a little nervous, which actually drew me to her since I figure my home is a good choice for a slightly nervous cat since it's pretty quiet. However, when they opened her cage you could see that she was very affectionate and not nervous at all. That's when I decided I loved her. And when my friends Mathew and Becca T were also taken with her, especially since she has such pretty green eyes (see above photos).

She's had a great time in her new home. She's been very brave exploring everything and not just hiding under the couch like they told me she might. She hid under the couch once when I had to tell her no when she tried to climb my bookshelf. I think that's 'cuz she's like me and doesn't like getting into trouble. Anyway, she came out once people stopped paying attention to her and was happy again.

She is a very personable cat. My friends hung around for dinner and stuff, and she was very happy with lots of people around. In fact, I think she's sad that they're not permanent residents.

She's also very very tiny. She's napping on the couch while I blog. She's had such an eventful day since she got a needle, got microchipped, had a confusing car ride home in a box, and then got to explore a new home and got lots of attention. Unfortunately for her, she's got a bit of a cold and had to take some nasty-tasting medicine, but she didn't hold it against me.

All in all, I'm so glad that I *finally* made the decision to get a cat. I loved my cats so much when I was a kid, and it's good to have a feline buddy again. Although, according to Homer Simpson, feline means elephant and I'm not sure why I just brought that up, but I did. Sweet Jebus, I think it's time for bed.

I have a headache. I have a sore back. I have a letter I can’t send.

Dear Prime Minister Harper,

I’m not thrilled about you retaining the above title, not that there was a snowball’s chance in hell of you losing it. Thanks so much for providing us with the $300 million dollar exercise in futility that was last night’s election. A “stronger” minority is still a minority, and I guess Parliament will only slightly less “dysfunctional” than it was before you broke your own law and called the election. My only consolation is that I know that you are really pissed that you did not pull off a majority. All of that money spent on fuzzy sweaters went to waste.

Dear Newly Elected Canadian Parliament,

It’s up to you to put the “fun” back into “dysfunctional”!

Dear George Strombolopolous,

I can say without a doubt your “Darts and Laurels” segment before CBC’s election coverage was the most entertaining part of the evening. And you’re dreamy, smart, musically knowledgeable, environmentally friendly, and you live in Toronto. Why aren’t we dating?

Dear Fall-Out Boy,

I really like your new single “What A Catch, Donnie”. I even like the self-referential bits at the end, which some might consider lame. Please stop writing such fun catchy songs. I feel guilty for liking them. And then I end up admitting about this enjoyment on my blog. Maybe George S. has read all about this and that’s why we’re not dating…

Dear Jack’s Mannequin,

I love your new album and I’m really excited to see you live. Just so you know.

Dear Ben Folds,

My life’s dream is to see you play with a symphony orchestra. Just to let you know, Toronto does have a symphony orchestra, and I’m sure I’m not the only Torontonian who would love to see you play with them.

Dear Apartment,

You are very messy. Clean up after yourself please. What? You say that I made this mess? Okay, I admit it. So can you please clean up after me?

Dear Self,

Stop being so hard on yourself about various bullshit. You can be your own worst enemy. This is unnecessary since you are an awesome chick, even if you do like Fall Out Boy songs. Give yourself a break.

Sincerely,
Christielli

Oh I've got you to thank for this...

Here I sit procrastinating packing for my long weekend in St. Ratford. Last night, while I was doing the same thing, I checked my train ticket, and it turns out that I had booked the late night Friday train, instead of the 5 pm Friday train, which was what I'd thought I'd done. I'd made plans to meet up with my friends for drinks this evening, and last night I made a call to confess my mistake, but of course they said that they'd pick me up from the train station at midnight so that they could see me. Yay!

Anyway, since I have a few minutes, and it's Thanksgiving weekend, here are a few things that I am thankful for:

1) Great friends - whether it be my BFF Becca T, my best guy friend Mathew, my group of 9 from back home, my work pals, or my blog buddies (whether they still blog or not), I have great friends.

2) Great music - how could I not be?

3) Great parents - I don't say it enough, but I do love them.

4) A great job - Most of my days at work make me very happy, and they always make me feel like I'm doing something important with my life. My job fulfills me.

5) A great boss - this week we got the news that they are transferring my boss to another school in, oh, a little over a week now. Crazy. I'm quite saddened by this news, but at least I can focus on the fact that I got to have a boss for over three years who I respect, and who I know thinks I rock.

6) The little things in life that brighten my days.

Today I was shopping in Indigo, which is mainly a bookstore, but they've branched out and become a "cultural superstore". This means they sell all kinds of cool knick-knacks for your home, cards, albums, and such. I picked up a cool new painting for my wall because it makes me happy. When I hang it up, I'll post a picture of it. I've been a little off-kilter for a bit now, and I really can't put my finger on the reason. Perhaps it's just a run-of-the-mill rut. Anyway, I'm going to focus on happiness and stop worrying about silly stuff. I used to be much better at this. The new painting should help me remember this.

I also signed up for a yoga class starting next Saturday.

And, I saw the following quote on a card at Indigo, and I'm going to keep this quote in mind for the next while:

“Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder…”– Thoreau

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to you!

I lost my place but I can't stop this story.

Today I felt a little bit like Oprah, in that I was at a book club meeting with the actual author present for discussion.

My staff book club read a book that was written by an author who is actually a teacher within our board. And, to make things more exciting, it was actually just nominated yesterday for a prestigious Canadian literary prize, but the dude still was able to make it to our little meeting.

Anyway, I think every book club meeting from now on in my life will pale in comparison. It was awesome listening to an actual published author talk about the inspiration for his book, how it got published, and what other people have told him about the book. It was just so cool for a book geek like myself.

I went home with a smile on my face, an autographed first edition copy of a potentially prize-winning book, a tummy full of great food, and I felt a little inspired. This is despite the fact that it is pouring rain out, and I decided might as well just change into my pjs as soon as I get home because I am *not* going out in that again. I'm going hunker down with some hot chocolate and get caught up on my marking. However, the book club meeting makes up for that.

Edit: I didn't mention the name of the book just in case someone from my school board was googling and came across my blog. If you are interested, let me know.

I'm standing up there in a weakened state, and it's not great.

Now that I’ve given my blog this snazzy makeover, I like being able to see my years of blogging neatly categorized into years over on my sidebar.

I’ve been blogging for four calendar years now. 2005 was when I started blogging. I was such a new teacher that year; I think most of my energy was spent earning my stripes as a teacher and getting a handle on my career, especially working in the challenging environment that is my school.

When I think of 2006, what stands out is the end of the year when I was struggling with not one, but two parents being quite ill. This was one of the hardest times of my life, and looking back I’m not sure how I mustered the strength to hold myself together, to keep working, and to travel back and forth to Stratford almost every weekend. But somehow I did.

2007 was the year I got a lot of things in my life in order. I felt that this was the year that I became the better, happier me that I’d always wanted to be, and I had great focus during that year.

However, I’ve felt that I’ve lost some of the determination, strength, and focus that I possessed in those earlier years during 2008. I’ve lost sight of some things that are important to me, and filled my life with things that are supposed to make me feel better, but don’t, really.

I guess what I’d really like is for the 2005/2006/2007 versions of me to come kick the current version of me in the ass and get me back on the right track. Of course, determining the right track is always a little tricky, but I’d trust those girls to find it a lot more than I’d trust this girl here.

Okay, pity party out. Back to regularly scheduled fluff in future posts. Writing that down has just made me feel a heck of a lot better. Also, the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend with a *free* trip home and not one, but two get-togethers with my fabulous friends from high school, who are so are so great at anchoring me, and who are great at reminding me how awesome I am. A trip back home will root me far better than a Coach purse, a late night out partying, endless social butterflying, shoes I don't need, ice cream, caffeinated beverages, or an overpriced hoodie ever will.

It started feeling like October.

Happy World Teachers' Day! Go hug yourself a teacher, or jet yourself over here, give me a hug and then proceed to mark some quizzes and lab reports for me. Thanks.

So it's Sunday evening, and I've had a great weekend. Sunday nights are always kind of yucky, because I suffer from the Sunday night blues, but they are always make worse when I have a stack of work awaiting me... Right now I'm working on procrastinating using as many methods as possible. I've had dinner, chatted with my mom on the phone, tried on my new winter coat (more on that later), and now I'm blogging.

On Friday night, I did some laundry and had coffee with a friend. As you can see, during laundry time, I gave myself a blog makeover and I quite like it.

I had a very productive Saturday. I went to the gym and did some shopping (I realized that I am very low on socks). While shopping, I tried on the brown 2008 version of Becca T's winter coat and I really really liked it. I was very tempted to buy it, but I felt like I'd have to get her permission first. She was away for a work conference for the day so I'd have to wait for Sunday for the go-ahead.

In the evening I had a little nap until some friends called to go to Nuit Blanche. Nuit Blanche is all-night art project with instillations all over the city. It was pretty busy. Apparently 1 million people came out for it. I think my fave part was the light instillation that transformed city hall. Anyway, it was a pretty fun night wandering around with friends, seeing the city streets packed with people, and being confused some of the time. One of the pieces was music being played out of a garbage bin, and I was very confused as to what was the piece at the designated site. Again, thank goodness for friends to explain such things to me.

This morning I was pretty exhausted after wandering around the city the previous night, so I slept in. After discussing the coat issue with Becca T, I headed back to the mall to get the coat. It was sold! However, they had one at a different location, so I ran there, and then ran to meet up with Becca for coffee. I felt like I was on some shopping/socializing version of the Amazing Race. On my way home from coffee, I ran into my San Fran pal who was marking at a coffee shop. We chatted and both lamented that we were spending World Teachers' Day marking (or in my case procrastinating from it).

Right now there are a billion things I'd rather be doing: knitting, having a warm bath, watching a movie. But, unfortch, I really should do my job. :( Boo-urns.

Come sit next to me, pour yourself some tea.

Weezer was really a really awesome show. Really awesome. They've really changed up their stage show since I saw them way back in 2002. Rivers used to be a shoe-gazer rooted in place on stage, but now he engages in fun stage banter, moves around, kicks soccer balls into the crowd, jumps on a trampoline, plays the drums, and lets the other guys in the band play some of the songs. It was such a fun show. They played all of my favourite songs, including El Scorcho (!!!). I didn't know many of the songs from the Red album, but they were great live. Also, hearing old Weezer made me feel so young and brought back great memories from my high school and university days. I love how music intertwines itself with life. It was very appropriate that I went to the show with 5 of my pals from uni days. I love lasting friendships, and I love great music.

Right now I'm flipping back between the American VP debate and the Canadian debate. I laughed out loud when Jack Layton asked Harper if he was hiding something underneath his sweater. Zing. If Palin says the word maverick once more, I am going to vomit.

I really love the new Jack's Mannequin album. I cannot wait to see them in November.

This morning, a coworker in the staffroom commented how tired in the morning I look. Thanks. Much appreciated.

My apartment is a mess. Anyone wanna come over and fix that for me?

This weekend is going to be about getting the messy apartment in order, catching up on work, and catching up on reading and other good-for-me things. It won't be exciting, but hopefully I'll feel a little less overwhelmed than I have lately.

Random post out.