You are surely special, I like you, I like you, a-la-la.

Last week was dull, but the weekend was fun.  After a twelve-hour day at work on Thursday (followed by drinks thankfully), we had an uneventful PD day on Friday.  I'd been fighting off a cold all week, and even though Friday was a beautiful day, I came home and crashed for awhile but managed to get some much-needed laundry done.  Friday wasn't much of a party.

HOWEVER, I think after that restful Friday, I was rejuvenated for the weekend.  On Saturday, I slept in, met up with my friend Flora for a sushi lunch, then did a little bit of shopping with her.  After that, I killed a 4-mile run at the gym, then came home, cleaned many of the things, put up my Christmas tree, and baked muffins.  After that, I went out for dinner to a Neapolitan pizza place that I'd been wanting to try.  The pizza was delicious, and I had a sparkling *red* wine which was really different and good.  After that, I ended up drinking wine and watching The Exorcist at home, which was supposed to happen on Halloween but didn't.  Well, we were gonna have champagne with The Exorcist on Halloween, but the champagne got consumed, but The Exorcist was not watched, but November's still spooky enough for horror movies, right?  Watching movies from the 70s is pretty trippy, because movies are so much different now.  They actually would take time to develop stuff.

After my epic Saturday, I had to wake up early this morning to go to a meeting for my Kenya trip.  I'm enjoying the process so far, and getting to know the students and staff I'll be traveling with.  I know this is going to be a great experience for me.

I came home to a couple slice of left-over pizza for lunch, then I headed off to the Eaton Centre to do some shopping.  It was pretty crazy busy, what with the Santa Claus Parade going on.  I think everyone migrated to the mall.  I managed to hit a few stores that I had some good email coupons for.  I bought a bunch of books at Indigo for 25% off.  Christmas shopping well under way.

Anyway, this week promises to more exciting.  I'm supposed to join a running club lead by my insanely-fit friend tomorrow, and then I have some really exiting shows coming up.

On Thursday, I'm going to see Sloan for their TR2012 tour, which is when they are playing the entirety of their 1994 album "Twice Removed".  This is one of my favourite albums EVER, and I'm SUPER EXCITED for this show.  In fact, my next post is going to be about that album and my favourite lines from TR songs.

Then, on Saturday, I'm seeing two of my very favourite bands, Metric & Stars, giving some stadium love at the ACC.  I've seen both of these bands play in little bars, and now it's ACC time.  Now, I'd rather still see them in little bars, but I'm super stoked to see them rock the ACC.   It's going to be awesome.

But first, I gotta get through the running club and a few days of work.

You gotta get up and try try try.

The highlight of the weekend was my 8K race in Grimsby, Ontario, about an hour outside of Toronto.  I went with my friend who is super fit (she's the phys ed teacher at my school, but currently on mat leave).  We didn't run together.  I joked that I'd eat her dust, but in reality, she's probably too fast to kick up dust.

Anyway, it was a friend's birthday party the night before, and the party was all the way in Mississauga.  I decided to go, and swore that I'd leave with the first car that was heading back to the city.  I did, but I had more wine that I should have on the eve of the race. 

However, I guess lots of wine, food, and fun on a race night isn't the worst thing because I did pretty well in the race.  I looked at my time at the 5K mark, and it was my fastest time of the fall.  I finished the race more than three minutes faster than my goal time and I was happy about that.  Yay!

Today I decided to celebrate by joining a friend at a spa for a massage.  It wasn't our usual spa (actually below our insanely high standards when it comes to pampering but whatevs... first world problems), but it really made my body feel better after yesterday's race.  Then I did some shopping at the Eaton Centre.  The Gap had a 30% off friends and family sale so I splurged and got bright red-orange cords (I wanted to join the coloured pants bandwagon), a navy blue cardigan, a cowl-necked striped waffle shirt, and a new super warm winter parka.

After the clothes-spree, I went to MAC for some new foundation.  I also have been running low on eyeshadow, and have felt like a new look would be good, so I got an eyeshadow makeover and I'm pretty excited to master my new look.  And I got new lipstick too.

I met up with my friends Fea and Paola for dinner at a cute diner in our neighbourhood.  I totally splurged on a crazy grilled cheese sandwich with mac 'n cheese and meatloaf in it.  It was insane.  I would have had to run 3 x 8K to make up for that.

Anyway, somehow it's Monday again.  I have a dull week coming up.  No concerts, nothing crazy.  Can you believe it?  Hope the rest of you have great weeks!

We'll collect the moments one by one, I guess that's how the future's done.

Winter is totally coming up on us, eh?

I left school today at 5:15 pm and it was getting dark already.  That's the price to pay for that extra hour we got on the weekend. 

I spent my evening baking and searching for new knitting patterns.  I guess that's where darkness and cold is taking my mind these days: to warmth and coziness.

Halloween

I'll admit it.  I usually suck at Halloween.  I leave my costume to the last minute, and end up being something lame (i.e. a witch) OR just borrowing something from the drama department at my school since I'm really good friends with the drama teacher.  Last year I was a giant crab.  It was all right but very noticeable since there was a giant crab in the previous year's school play.

The other irony of this suckage of Halloween is that in my role as a student council co-moderator, I help organize my school's Halloween activities, so people associate me with Halloween, and I feel kind of weird never pulling off an amazing costume.

Well, this year I finally pulled it all together.

As you guys all know, some of my favourite things in the world include science, cats, and jokes.  This summer I was introduced to an internet meme called Chemistry Cat, and unsurprisingly, I really like it.  Here's an example:

I have chemistry cat jokes posted all around my classroom, on powerpoints, on assignments, and on tests.  Chemistry Cat has become part of my classroom's culture.  This fall, I entertained the thought of being chemistry cat for Halloween.

Last Friday (last minute of course) I headed to Wal-Mart and picked up my necessary supplies: a cheap white hoodie and mittens, red ribbon, sewing supplies, and white face makeup.  I couldn't find white fur in their fabric department and really didn't want to/especially have time to go to a fabric store.  Luckily, I saw some fuzzy coloured pillows in their home decor department.  I wandered over hoping they'd have one in white.  They didn't, but I found a white fur rug.  Perfect.

The only thing I was missing was glasses.  I looked all over the mall but no luck.  However, there's a dollar store in my neighbourhood that advertising a good assortment of Halloween supplies.  I found $1.99 Nerd Specs.  Perfect.

I started assembling the costume on Monday night.  After 2.5 hours I was covered in fur, but I managed to attach fur to the hood of my hoodie, make ears using an old headband, and craft my bowtie.  On Tuesday night, I made my paws and my tail. 

Tuesday after school I stayed and decorated my classroom as close as possible to the backdrop in Chemistry Cat's cartoon.  I was disappointed that the chemical formulas made no sense, but copied them anyway.  I got all of the glassware I needed to mimic Chemistry Cat's desk and used food colouring to make my solutions.  I noticed that Chemistry Cat has some mice on his desk so I borrowed some of Rilo's from home.

This morning, I got to school early, got into costume and made it into my classroom without any of my students seeing me.  I covered the windows on the doors so they couldn't peek in.  Normally, I have my door open as soon as I get there, but I left it closed.  They knocked to get it, and I yelled "go away!" and had my student teacher let them in at the last minute so they could walk in and see this:

I think my project worked out pretty well, huh?  They LOVED it.  I had my picture taken about a million times today, even by random kids who didn't know me.  It was so much fun.

Earlier in the week, when we were planning to decorate our homeroom pumpkin, I asked my class what they wanted to do, and they said "Chemistry Cat!" not knowing at all that was what I was going to be.  Little did they know that I'd bring in my leftover supplies.

I finally did not fail at Halloween.  Good job me.  It was nerdy, but nerdy awesome.  :)

Postcards and daydreaming.

Holy heck I've had a really fun last four days.

On Thursday I went out with some fellow teacher ladies for dinner and drinks.  It was totally warm that evening, so we managed to find a place on the Danforth with an open patio and took advantage of the last gasp of patio weather.  Lots of laughs were had.

A couple of us continued on to the Danforth Music Hall for Dan Mangan with the Rural Alberta Advantage.  I'm a huge Dan Mangan fan and he didn't disappoint.  Since the show, I've had the song "So Much for Everyone" on constant repeat.  It was his closing song, and he sang it from a piano stool that he had hoisted above the crowd while we all harmonized along. 

On Friday, I spent my after school hours picking up parts for my Halloween costume.  If my plan works out (still not sure it will), I will post more on that later.  You could feel the warm weather turning that evening.  I got home in time to have a little nap, then I met up with my friend Jane to see The Wilderness of Manitoba at Trinity-St. Paul's. 

A band called Kite Hill opened for The Wilderness, and I really enjoyed them.  I got completely lost in their music, and it's rare that that happens with a band that you've had absolutely no exposure to.  I liked their set so much that I picked up their album "Rest & Run".   The Wilderness put on a great show too, so I also picked up their new album.  I was very pleased to get two albums, because I was just on the precipice of being in a music rut, but now that's solved.

I woke up on Saturday morning to a chilly, rainy fall day which was not really what I wanted considering that I had a 9:30 am start time for my 5K race at Sunnybrook Park.  However, I put on my new warm fall running threads, a rain jacket, and hopped on the bus.  I was glad to see other runners on the bus.  I suddenly didn't dread the run so much seeing that other people were in the same boat.  I actually really enjoyed the race.  Once I started running, I wasn't so cold, and the rain wasn't too bothersome, other than I had to do some puddle-jumping.  I felt that the race was a big improvement over the Night Race in September.  I ran straight for the vast majority of the race, and I finished strong.  I shaved almost a minute off my time, so I felt good about that. 

After I got home, I spent my Saturday afternoon napping.  It's pretty funny that the Kite Hill album I bought on Friday is called "Rest & Run" because that summed up my Saturday, but not in that order.  In the evening, I met up with friends for sushi and a movie.  We saw "Pitch Perfect" which was delightfully cheesy.  I really liked it.  If you need cinematic candy, go see it.

This morning I slept in, went for a warm dry indoor run at the gym (still gotta get ready for that damned 8K), had a lovely phone conversation with Claire, baked muffins, then had a nice rainy Sunday evening with pizza, movies, and great company.

So in summary, the last four days were lovely and action-packed.

Also, at some point today, the thought floated through my head that I'm happier now than I've been in a long, long time.  I feel that my trip to BC this summer was a great turn-around point for me.  I came back to Toronto feeling awesome and optimistic, and this feeling hasn't disappeared.  I feel like I'm totally me again, and I had lost that for awhile this year, and I'm glad to be back.

And now for yet another busy week.  Planning school Halloween festivities will keep me busy.  And what the what - Frankenstorm?  Eeep.

Happy Monday everyone.

Starts with them, ends with us.

The week's going well so far.  Especially since it's 60% done.  The end of this week/beginning of this weekend promise to be busy and incredibly fun for me.

Tomorrow night I'm going to see Dan Mangan with the Rural Alberta Advantage and the Danforth Music Hall, one of my favourite Toronto music venues.  I'm a huge Dan fan.  I think it's been almost a year since I've seen him, so I'm excited to be reunited with my bearded buddy. 



I've seen the Rural Alberta Advantage a couple of times before too.  I don't listen to their music, but I've enjoyed them each time I've caught them live.

On Friday, I'm going to yet another show: The Wilderness of Manitoba.  Wow, two province bands in two days!  That's pretty special, huh?  My friend Jane likes them, and I'm joining her, even though I know nary a song.  I'm sure I'll like them.  I've heard good things!

On Saturday morning, I'm running a 5K race that I'm totally unprepared for.  I was hoping this fall would be a great running season for me, and it's been all right, but I haven't gotten any faster.  I lost speed over the summer, and haven't been able to get it back.  I don't like running outdoors in cold weather, so perhaps the treadmill and I will have a nice winter together and I'll get my speed back.  I'm also signed up for an 8K race on November 10th, and I won't lie: I'm kind of dreading that distance, but I've committed myself and I don't break plans.  Although if my running buddy for that race bails on me, I dunno how committed I'll be...

After two concerts and a race, the rest of my weekend revolves around movie plans and should be relaxing.  Howevs, I still have to work on my Halloween costume as well.

Busy fun times.  Happy early weekend folks!

It was the opposite of Fire and Rain (you know, the song).

It's finally happened: I had a quiet weekend day!  (Yesterday.)

On Friday, I went to see my friend Jane's friend play at a small cafe.  It was a good time.  I rarely go see local musicians doing their thing.  I mean, everyone I go see has got a record, some buzz, a tour, and so forth.  It's great seeing someone play mainly for the love of playing music.  And it's fun to hear cover songs too!  I enjoyed myself a lot.

My plans for yesterday got moved to today, so instead I watched the Dan Mangan documentary "What Happens Next?" on the CBC while drinking delicious tea from my Vancouver mug.  After that I read and napped a bit, went for a run, tidied my apartment a bit, had a nice hot bath and finished my book, and then stayed up to watch SNL.

I also had an opportunity to take some time and just process.  Think.  Reflect.  You know, all that stuff that I often keep myself too busy to properly do.  However, I realized that I'm in a good place right now, and although things in my life haven't played out they way I wanted them to in say, oh, January of this year, I'm really glad they didn't.  I tend to be a know-it-all when it comes to my life's direction, and this year has constantly proved to me that I don't know it all, and that I most certainly cannot predict the future.  Thank goodness!  I think things have turned out way better for me with the universe in charge of things, as opposed to me and my preconceived notions, and I'm thankful for that.  I have to get better at living in the moment, and it's a work in progress, but it's progressing.

On Thursday, I had a fun impromptu after-school dinner & drinks, followed by some shopping.  My friends the Alans (there are two of them and they are absolutely hilarious and there for you in a pinch) had helped me with a project at school so I told them I'd take them for coffee.  However, we all were in agreement that something stronger might be in order, so we went to the new Bier Markt in Etobicoke.  I had delicioius Leffe beer from Belgium (may be my absolute favourite beer) and mussels and fries.  It reminded me of my day trip to Bruges in March.

After that, we headed to the mall to shop.  I ended up splurging on a pair of amazingly cute boots.  My calves aren't skinny, (I like to think they are muscular from running) so when the boot fits, I go for it.  In addition I got some fall running clothes (long pants, long-sleeved shirt) for my upcoming races.  I actually left my necklace, in the change room of Lululemon, but thankfully they held onto it, and one of the Alans picked it up for me.  Also, the Alans are awesome dudes to shop with.  They'll just sit on chairs outside the stores that I want to go to and happily play on their phones and then approve of my purchases when I come out.  Everyone need Alans, I tell you!

Here's a shot of my new boots, complete with Ms. Rilo enjoying a new place to sit inside the shoebox.

 

So, with that I'm going to go for a run in the cemetery and try out my new running threads.  Then I gotta go grocery shopping because I'm going to make chili for someone awesome who is not feeling so well.  Then it'll be a movie night!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Whatever and ever, amen.

I just finished a string of five consecutive very busy days and I collapsed onto my couch today after school.  I'd planned on going for a run this evening, but I was way too exhausted. 

I'm feeling the need to slow down a bit.  My friend Paul asked me to a couple of upcoming concerts, but I actually declined, can you believe it?  My fall concert schedule has hit its limit.   I need some evenings to chill, read, clean, run, etc.  I hate saying no to anything but sometimes I have to.

Anyway, the Ben Folds Five reunion tour from Monday was amazing!  They played so many Ben Folds Five songs from the 90s, plus a few (but not too many) new tunes, and just one lone solo Ben Folds song.  It brought me back to being 17/18/19 that was for sure.  I listened to so much BF5 back then and it's crazy how music can bring you back in time.

Also, Doc Martens are back, hey?  I even see kids at school wearing them sometimes.  I've brought out my old black Doc boots, which I'm pretty sure are from the days when I was 18/19.  I'm glad I hung onto them!  I wore them to BF5, and I'm pretty sure I probably wore my Docs when I saw BF5 play the same venue back in 1999.  Deja vu AND deju shoe.  (Okay that was bad!  I'm sorry!)

I went on a tea shopping spree last week.  David's Tea is amazing.  I splurged on three 100 g tins of loose leaf tea: birthday cake, red velvet cake, and organic stormy night.  They are all extremely delicious.  My favourite may be the organic stormy night.  It takes like a delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookie in tea form.  It's amazing. 

I'm also loving this dress that I bought at anthropologie back in September.  It's made out of wool, and it's getting cool enough to wear it.  :)  I wish I had the cute shoes that this model has.

I'm feeling the need to go on a mini-shopping spree.  I need some fall running clothes for my upcoming races (neither of which I'm remotely ready for), and some new comfy shoes for work.  Maybe I'll go tomorrow.  :)

And tomorrow's Thursday, right?  These weeks fly by.  I've got a low key weekend so far, which is great.  I need it so I'm not passing out midweek like I did today.

It's a strange paradise.

Today I had an excellent Skype conversation with my dear friend Becca T in Paris.  We tried to Skype earlier in the week but we had a time difference fail.  I thought she was five hours ahead of Toronto time, but in reality it's a six hour time difference, so she had to go to bed before I made it home for the call.  Thankfully we could reschedule today.

This call was especially excellent because I couldn't help but remember that when I visited Becca T last Paris in March, both of us were struggling with things in our lives.  However, we both had tonnes of great news to share with each other this time, and it was really nice.  No need to drink wine along to Kanye West's "Runaway" these days. 

The rest of my weekend was really fun too with parties, concerts (Beach House - awesome), and time for many friends.  I even had time for a two hour nap today.   Yay!

I'm really excited for tomorrow because I'm seeing Ben Folds Five for the first time since 1999.  They were my favourite band in the world at that time, and they broke up after that tour.  However, they've reunited and I'm so excited to see them again, and even at the same venue.  (The venue's name has changed though.  The Warehouse is now the Kool Haus.  Lame, eh?)  I'm so excited and spent some time thinking about what classic BF5 songs I'd like to hear tomorrow.

I know they'll play this one.  But with the original swears.



Happy Monday everyone!

Sing, cry, or bang your head against the wall.

I wanted to write about how I've been feeling an overwhelming amount of positivity in my life lately.

BUT... I've been on the phone with a telecommunications company for over an hour and a half because I noticed that they combined my account with someone else's account.  It's really messed up.  AND I hadn't used my Kobo in awhile and it won't charge up.  Grrrr....

Really though, these little things are not important and I have to get back to the overwhelming positivity that's in my life right now.

As my friend Nigel said to me as we were enjoying the outdoors at the leadership camp I was at on Wed/Thurs/Fri of last week: "in life, you have choices... either sing, cry, or bang your head against the wall."  I think I'll sing.  :)

I had a great time at this camp I went to.  The kids were fabulous.  Work-wise, it was a super-relaxing couple of days, except for having to stay up until 2:30 am at night ensuring no one sneaked out of their rooms.  I had some good times with great colleagues, like during one afternoon when we sat on a porch overlooking a valley with gorgeous fall foliage and we all gasped because there was a SLIGHT breeze.  Oh the humanity.  Another time, I told my friend Nigel that I'd seen the kids mixing chocolate milk with orange/passionfruit juice and we dared each other to do it.  It was rather nasty.

I also had a really nice long weekend.  Well, when I got home from camp on Friday night, I was in bed before ten pm because I was exhausted.  On Saturday, I took the train to Stratford for Thanksgiving.  I had a nice dinner out with my pal Vern, and spent some nice time with my parents on Sunday, including winning two out of three cribbage matches with my dad.  On Monday, I came back to Toronto for a nice fall run in the cemetery, and then I went to see Frankenweenie which was a great movie!  I highly recommend it, especially if you are a big Tim Burton fan.  It was goth-tastic.

I'm sitting here STILL ON HOLD with the telecommunications company.  Going on two hours. 

I've got some fun stuff coming up this weekend. A party, a baptism, a concert, and my first Kenya meeting.  I'm looking forward to it all.

And yay for short weeks!

All I wanna get is a little bit closer.

I had a super fun weekend even though I skipped out on this year's edition of Nuit Blanche.  I'm okay with it, there's always next year.

Anyway, since it's late and I wanna read a bit more of JK Rowling's A Casual Vacancy before I go to bed, I'll turn my weekend into point form.

- On Friday night, I went out for dinner at one of my fave restaurants in the city: The Ace.  (Hey wigsf - you should go there and try the fried chicken, it's delicious.  I'm curious to find out what a fried chicken connoisseur like you would think.)  It was a fun time.  I had some really yummy Belgian Bourbon ice cream, which was way more chocolatey than bourbony.  Also, I think we had plans to go light on the wine, but then it turned out we should have bought a bottle.  Wine by the glass gets pricey, yo!

- On Saturday, I procrastinated, read, ran, then FINALLY started my spring cleaning.  (Don't point out it's fall, please don't.) I managed to get rid of two huge bags of clothing, yet I still am short on closet/drawer space.  Still, I feel like I got a lot accomplished.  During my next spring cleaning bout, I shall attack the bookshelf.

- Today I continued with the spring cleaning, then got a mani-pedi which was great.  I got it a colour called Bad Romance - it's black with purple sparkles.  Then I went to another fave restaurant, Tabule, for my dear work spouse's birthday.  It was a good time, but a short time, as three of my pals have young kids and had to take off.  Still, it's great to have a delicious meal with a bunch of great friends.

- I've also listened the crap out of this song this weekend.  LOVE IT.



- I'm also really into the new Dragonette album Bodyparts.  The above song and this album make for a fun fall soundtrack.

Anyway, that was my weekend.  From Wednesday to Friday, I'm going to be out of town.  I was invited to chaperone the school's leadership camp at an outdoor education centre so I figured why not?  The kids are good and most of the activities are planned by the staff so I'm hoping I can sit beneath lovely fall foliage and read.  (I'm sure it won't be the relaxing time I have pictured in my head.)  On the bright side, it gives me an excuse to wear my $100 lululemon camping pants that I bought for my one and only ever camping trip in the summer of 2010.  I knew they'd pay off.

Oh, and lastly, I contributed to my good friend Claire's I Love Your Blog series where she interviewed me about blogging!  Check it out!

Happy Monday folks!

Maybe come September I will feel brand new.

I love when you randomly find an awesome thing on the internet.

I just found this.  Kathleen Edwards.  Take Away Show.  In a Paris soccer field.  Love.



I have to say that I'm really feeling her song Sidecar these days.

Also, I'm now craving Paris like anything.  As I do most days.

Speak plain he said.

I liked this Monday, even though it was a Monday.

School was fine.  Classes were good.  Had a long student council meeting, but that's always OK 'cuz I like spending time with those kids. 

After that I dragged myself to the gym and put in a pretty decent run.  I have a 5K race coming up at the end of October and then an 8K at the beginning of November.  I do not feel ready for either, but feel like I'll get there if I keep on running.

After I got home, I turned my computer to the MuchMusic stream of the 2012 Polaris Prize.  The Polaris Prize is the Canadian version of the UK's Mercury Prize, and I enjoy it because it is an awesome celebration of great Canadian albums. 

As I started watching the stream, I made myself a grilled cheese sandwich (best dinner ever always) and planned some espionage on the phone with a friend/former colleague as I made my dinner.  That's talent.

I watched the duration of the award show and I really enjoyed the performances.  My faves were Cold Specks, Kathleen Edwards, and Feist (of course).  I also enjoyed checking out Grimes, because a few friends have been talking about her, and Cadence Weapon was pretty good too.  

I was super happy that Feist won the prize!  As you all know, her album Metals is one of my favourites, and I found that it has wound itself through my life in the past year, so I'm really happy that it won.  

It's funny, when I started listening to Metals, I think my life was more like the first track "The Bad in Each Other" and now things have moved on to the final track "Get It Wrong, Get It Right".

Yay Feist.

When they love you, and they will, tell them all they'll love in my shadow.

Right now I'm addicted to the Japandroids' album Celebration Rock.  It's on the Polaris Prize short list, and I feel that I'm probably late to the party, but I'm glad I'm there.  This album is eight gritty rock songs, and I love it.  It reminds me of stuff I listened to eons ago.... perhaps Attack in Black or The Get-Up Kids or something.  I'm trying to put my finger on it.



I like this video of their because it was filmed at one of my favourite Toronto rock venues: Lee's Palace.  In fact, I'm going there tomorrow night to check out Rich Aucoin, who blew me away this summer at the Wolfe Island Musical Festival.  It's a late show (he comes on at 11 pm), but oh well. QUIZZES FOR ALL on Friday, I say!  :)



I think I posted the above music video before but I think a repeat is OK because it is so freaking good.

I went to the spa today after school.  I am so relaxed right now.

I have so many excellent concerts coming up this fall too.  Fall is the best season for sweater-wearing and concert-going.

And it's the weekend in two more days.  Mine will be fun I know it.  Hope yours is too.

Oh Monday, Monday I'm done with you.

One of this things that I did this weekend that I didn't mention last post was to change up my hair colour a bit.  I felt that my hair got washed out this summer by the sun, and was looking a bit mousey brown.  So, I bought a dark brown hair dye (one that I've used before), and used it on Saturday morning and was quite happy with the results.

Over the summer, I forgot how any sort of change in my appearance becomes a talking point for students.  And not just those in my class... I got random comments from kids in the hall, former graduates back to visit, student council members, and staff members too.  I rather felt exhausted about hearing about my hair by the end of the day. 

Here are some of the comments that made me laugh a bit.

"Miss!  You dyed your hair!  Is that a physical change, or a chemical change?  Or maybe a bit of both?"

"Holy shhhh... You dyed your hair this weekend!"  (I appreciated the self-censoring here.)

"Miss, what colour was your hair before?  I liked it then.  It was nice." (Said by the sweetest kid ever.  I kind of wanted to un-dye it.)

Interestingly, I think the boys noticed way before the girls. 

Also, this makes me want to get my nose pierced or maybe a tattoo just for fun.  I wonder what the reaction would be like for those.

Hold That Thought.

I had a really great weekend.  It included things like:

- a marathon Friday night BBQ with the work clique
- two lovely runs through the cemetery on cool sunny fall mornings
- lots of social plans: afternoon parties, dinners, brunches, drinks, etc.
- lots of enjoyable conversation
- making sure I was awake by 10 am on Saturday to buy tickets to Toronto date for the Sloan Twice Removed 2012 tour

Suffice it to say, I'm pretty wiped from the weekend, as per usual.  I could have totally used another weekend day to read, watch a bit of TV, knit, and figure out a new running playlist for the fall.  I think "Summer Running 2012" might have to be retired.

Hope you all have great weeks!  I'll leave you with a song from the new Ben Folds Five album that I particularly love.  I'm so glad that the first album in 13 years from BF5 has not disappointed me.

Calling on the backlines.

Lots of nice little things happening in the past few days.

- Lots of nice emails from various sources.  Most special = an email from last year's student council president wishing me a good first meeting of the school year.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: the kids are all right.  Thoughtfulness rocks.

- Skype dates with Becca T and Claire.

- Time to read.  I finished the Great Gatsby!  I no longer have that huge literary hole (but I do have many others).  I liked it as I do any well-written tragic tale.  Now I'm reading a dark thriller by Gillian Flynn called Dark Places.  She wrote the current bestseller Gone Girl which I wish everyone would read so I'd have people to talk to about it.

- An advanced download of Ben Folds Five's first album in thirteen years: The Sound of the Life of the Mind.  I'm on my third listen and I really like it.  There are songs that break my heart with beauty and bittersweet lyrics.  It's out on September 18th for those of the rest of you.  (I'm special because I pledged this album on Pledge Music and will get an autographed vinyl copy of it soon.)

- Starbucks has brought back my fall favourite: the salted caramel mocha frappucino.  Delicious!

- Today I was treated to a small Stars concert at the historic Masonic Temple Concert Hall (which is now an MTV Canada studio) thanks to my friend Karen.  She got us on the guest list.  I knew about the concert.  My pal Mathew, who was there too, told me about it, but for some reason I didn't register that I should go.  Anyway, I'm glad that Karen got us in because I got to see Stars play three songs from The North (Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Get Love, Backlines, and The North).  It was really great and we were so close.  Man, I love this band!

Anyway, I've got lots of good stuff coming up too.  Remember how I thought this was going to be a quiet weekend?  Nope.  I've got plans every day (two on Saturday).  Maybe a bit of quite next weekend?

I am so much better than I used to be.

Right now I'm catching up on emails, etc. after passing out on my couch for two hours.  I have had an insanely fun few days, and I think the fun kicked my ass a bit.  Actually, my first week back at work pre-kicked my ass, and all of the fun just added to me being completely shattered.

On Thursday night, I went for dinner and a JKS show with my friend Paul.  He was running a bit late, and as I was waiting for him on the SE corner of Bathurst and Bloor, my friend R (super fit phys ed teacher) ran into me (she was mid-run), and then I chatted with a group of three former students.  I guess that's the intersection to be if you want to see people!

The concert was awesome.  I saw JKS (lead singer of my favourite band ever, the Weakerthans) back in March when he played with a full band.  This time, it was just him and a back-up guitarist.  It was a great show!  He played lots of new stuff from his solo album, and many Weakerthans old favourites. I can't believe that some of these songs have been with me for so many years.  I remember discovering them back in university.  How times flies.  But lots of things stay the same: like hearing the songs "Pamphleteer" or "Aside" live is always great.

For his finale, he stood on a stool and sang "Virtute the Cat Explains her Departure" out into the crowd.  That song breaks my heart because it's about a lost cat, and well, if Rilo ever got lost I would be devastated.

On Friday, Mathew and I did go for Thai at a hole-in-the-wall place he loves and it was excellent.  We then watched the Hunger Games, which was good, but not as good as the book, as is the case with movies.

On Saturday, Heather and Jolene came down for the Night Race, and we had a great morning/afternoon of wandering around the city.  I splurged on a couple of new books, and got a great birthday present for my work spouse (a pin based on elements!).

The race was fun.  The most hilarious part was this year's race shirts were NEON YELLOW and we decided to wear the ugly things.  The race itself went well.  I was slow, but at least I didn't score a personal worst.  The lights we had to wear on our head had a battery life of 17 hours, so our joke was as long as we beat that time, we were good.

On the bus ride home from the race, we heard girls in their twenties planning on going out after the race.  We were tired, but I insisted that we go to a pub in our race gear and have beers and nachos so that we could feel young too.

Heather spent the night, so today we did some shopping and lunch, and then caught a movie.  I'd wanted to see the documentary "The Queen of Versailles" during HotDocs in May, but it sold out.  It's now playing at the Varsity.  It was quite good.   It's about a really rich couple who started building the largest single-family dwelling in the US, but then got hit by the economic crisis.  It's a great conversation movie, that's for sure.



After that, Heather caught her train, and I went home and baked some treats for tomorrow's student council meeting.  After that I passed out on my couch.

And soon it's Monday.

Hope it treats you all well.

Good luck, bad luck, survival. Sleep is my friend and my rival.

I thought that I'd be slowing down in September.  It's a loaded statement for a teacher to use the words "slow down" and "September" in the same sentence, but you all remember the summer I had, right?  There was no slowing down there!

Tomorrow night, I'm going to see my dear John K Samson (lead singer of the Weakerthans) play somewhere on Bathurst.

Friday I have plans with my dear friend Mathew.  We're playing it by ear, but I'm hoping our ears will bring us to Thai food.

On Saturday, my friends Heather and Jolene (both from high school) are invading my place and we're doing the Energizer Night Race (5K).  That's the night-time race I did last year where I had to wear a light on my head.  It was super fun so we're doing it again.  I'm so out of good running shape (too much eating and drinking this summer and not enough exercise despite the Grouse Grind) but I figure this will set a good time to obliterate when I do another 5K at the end of October.

On Sunday, I might get a chance to relax before another week.  Next week/weekend seem quiet, and maybe it'll stay that way.  I gotta get back to my knitting, reading, and watching of Breaking Bad.

Hope you're all enjoying September too!

Well the only way I see this happening is in an extended ride north.

Made it through the first day.  The first day is always a breeze.  Well, not really this year, in that the AC in the school was COMPLETELY down (as opposed to a regular day when it's half down), and we were all melting.  I wore pants.  Big mistake.  My mom told me a cold front is coming soon.  I asked if it would be entering my school, because that's what that building needs.  It retains heat like a mofo.

Anyway, it's too soon to tell if my classes are good.  I am optimistic they will be.  I've got all grade tens this semester.  I like grade tens.  They know what's the what, but are still humble and do their homework. 


Now for some randomness.

I enjoy musicians who maintain really great mailing lists.  Today I got an email from Hawksley Workman announcing his fall tour and it was beautifully written.  Tonight, I got an email from Stars about their new album, The North, which came out today, and same thing. 

I went on a mission to find a bag that will hold ALL of my stuff.  I am tired of carrying a gym bag, a lunch bag and a purse and sometimes more to work.  And I'm too old for a backpack.  I found a tote that will carry it all, I hope.  Tomorrow is its test.

I baked muffins for the science/math department at school as a treat for tomorrow since we have a morning meeting.  I haven't baked in years.  I don't know what came over me.

ANYWAY,  the point of this blog post was to let you know I survived day #1.