Didn't mean to leave you hanging all alone.

Okay, I am getting into the Christmas groove now.   I've started listening to Christmas music.  Here's one of my faves.  Emo-Christmas music from the nineties? Yes, please! (Best version on YouTube has Spanish subtitles.)



Friday night was my work Christmas party.   It was a whole lot of meh.  The food was average.  Well, the chicken and lamb were above average, but the panna cotta was decidedly sub-average, so I would say the entire meal averaged out to a giant meh.  The place where it was held was downtown which was great.  Some years, they decide to hold it out in the suburbs, which is ridiculous since we're a downtown school.  However, it was lame enough that pretty much all of my friends were willing to call it an evening after the food was served.

It was super cold on the way home, which lead me to berate myself for signing up for a 5K race the next day.  What was I thinking?  Well, when I pulled myself out of bed on Saturday morning, I threw on my winter running gear: a long-sleeved shirt with another long-sleeved zip-up pullover on top, mittens, a toque, long tights, etc.  I threw my metropass, keys, and credit card into my pocket and ran to a nearby coffee shop for a quick bite, and an eggnog latte.  Then I hopped on a bus to get to the park where the race was; conveniently just a 10-minute trip down my street.

It was a cold-ish morning, but beautiful and sunny.  As soon as the race started I felt great.  Running warming me up instantly, and doing something positive like running for charity made me feel better after the negative thoughts from the night before.  I was so glad that I had signed up.  It wasn't a timed race, but according to my RunKeeper ap, I ran at the pace of my personal best.  Also, the best part was the hotdog at the end, and then I ran back to the bus stop and headed home for a shower and a nap.

I spend Saturday afternoon getting my nails done, and then making veggie chili for another Christmas party with friends.  It was tonnes of fun.  We had lots of food, wine, Christmas crackers, silly glasses, and fun gifts.  We did the thing where everyone brings a funny and/or nice gifts and we randomly exchange the presents.  My gift was definitely on the funny side.  I found a giant brown mug that said "coffee makes me poop" and incorporated it into a theme gift with coffee, toilet paper, and magazines.  It was a hit since some of the evening's conversation was decidedly scatological.  Party #2 was definitely a great time.

Today I slept in, and then dragged myself out shopping in the vicinity of the Eaton Centre.  I had saw a pair of Mr. Sparkle socks at Urban Outfitters and decided I should get them for my dad and my pal Mathew.  The store near me ran out of them once I decided to buy them, so I had to drag myself down to the Yonge-Dundas location.  This is what they look like, just in case you don't know what the hell I mean by Mr. Sparkle.



I ended up getting more gifts at the store.  I now have the gift for my annual Student Council Secret Santa recipient.  Yet again, I got a teenaged-boy to buy for, and I always find it difficult buying for teenaged-boys.  But I think I succeeded this time.  I also ended up doing that thing where whilst Christmas shopping, you end up inevitably buying something for yourself.  No one's going to get me these pint glasses, am I right?  (As you can see I've put them to good use already.)



I ventured into the mall for a bit, and got some gifts for my dad and my aunt.  I think my shopping is at about 80% completion.  I just have a few small odds and ends to get, and then something for my mom which is always the most difficult.

When I got home, I started getting all of my cards and gifts ready that need to be mailed.  I also got laundry done, and even finally put up my tree.  As I was going through my bag of Christmas decorations, and came across a cat Santa suit that my aunt mailed me a few years ago.  I never tried putting it on Rilo, because I just assumed that I'd get scratched to bits, but I decided to try on a whim, and look at the result!

Bahahaha!!!  Now I'm going to have to have this made into a card to send to my parents for sure.  Oh man.  Poor thing.  Don't worry, I took it off as soon as I got this picture, and then she spent a good five minutes attacking the hat.  And she's not in the least bit angry at me.  (Maybe I should sleep with one eye open, though...  Hell hath no fury like a humiliated cat.)

And with that, I must go to sleep soon.  Tomorrow I'm taking my grade 9s to the Science Centre which will prove exhausting I'm sure.  I also have so much to do this week that I really hope I'll be able to make it to a post office to mail all of the stuff I managed to pack up tonight.

But, I definitely made progress on Project Christmas Groove this weekend.

And any book I’ll ever read, you’d be the line that sticks out to me.

I'm working on getting my Christmas groove on.

I've got a good chunk of my shopping done, and I'm definitely knee deep into the Christmas event circuit.  Tonight I went to a Christmas concert at school (I like to support the kids), and this weekend I have two Christmas parties: one Friday night and one Saturday night.  In between the parties, I'm going to run the 5K Santa Shuffle, because I think paying for exercise is the only way I'd get out of bed to workout.  (And my race fee goes to charity, so yay!  And I'll get a medal.  And I always like races.)

But, I still don't have my Christmas tree up, and I haven't been listening to Christmas music yet. This is odd for me.  I feel like I'm bah-humbugging it, and I'm questioning if it's worth even putting up a tree this year.  However, as my friend Fea said "it's always worth it" so hopefully I have a chance to do that this weekend in between the parties and the race and all of the other things I need to do.

Book Reviews (a la Jabba)

Considering that it's been a busy fall, I've still been able to read a few books; however, I've read more in the past three weeks or so than in the previous three months.  I figured why not review what I've been reading?

The Silent Wife - A.S.A. Harrison



This book has been touted (at least on subway posters) as this year's Gone Girl.  In the genre of dark, twisted suspense novels about dysfunctional marriages, it definitely delivers.  I've lent it to my dad, and to my work spouse, and it's one of those novels that you definitely want to share with other because you really want to talk about the ending, and what you think may have happened.  Don't worry, I won't spoil it here.  If you like a good page-turner, pick this up!  I read it in less than 24 hours!


He's Gone - Deb Caletti



After finishing The Silent Wife, I wanted another book up the alley of a dark thriller about a dysfunctional marriage.  I used Goodreads to find other books like The Silent Wife and decided to pick this one up from my local bookstore.  It was all right.  It centres around a woman whose husband just suddenly goes missing one day, and the fallout from his disappearance.  It wasn't a bad book; just rather mediocre.

Big Brother - Lionel Shriver




Shriver is the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin which is a book so dark and twisted, that I had to read it twice, and then go see the movie.  I came across Shriver's latest at the library, and it sounded intriguing: this book is about a woman whose older brother comes to visit her, and he has gained about 200 pounds since she's last seen him.  He has no place to go, and ends up staying with her and causing great strain on her marriage and life. 

This book is another read with a bit of a twist ending.  I'd love someone else to read this, so I can find out what they think about the ending!  Shriver is an excellent writer, however, this was one of those books where I found I didn't care much for the characters, and some of the plot seemed rather contrived.  However, the quality of the writing and surprise ending somewhat make up for this book's faults.


Joyland - Stephen King



Stephen King is prolific, and his first book of 2013 is a fun pulp fiction set in an amusement park in a beach town in the 1970s.  It's got ghosts, suspicious carnies, unsolved murder, and an exciting climax atop a ferris wheel in a lightning storm.  This was a fun read!

The Dinner - Herman Koch



The Dinner is yet another book that has been compared to Gone Girl, but I had shied away from it because some of the Goodreads reviews described it as overly descriptive and boring.  The entire book takes place over a dinner between two couples who must discuss the terrible crime committed by their teenaged sons.  At first, I agreed with the reviews; this book definitely started off slowly and I started feeling frustrated because I wanted to know what the terrible crime was, dammit.  However, once the plot starts to unravel, it becomes oh-so-horrific, and oh-so-fascinating.  As the novel progresses, you discover that the narrator isn't quite what he seemed at first, and twists and turns abound!  It definitely compensates for the slow start.  In fact, I got so hooked on this book that I finished it in less that 48 hours.

One thing I do notice from my fall book reviews, I'm definitely into dark twisted novels these days!  Wow.  I'd better make my next read a little bit lighter!  Perhaps something about kittens and unicorns?  I do have a bunch of books on my Kobo that I need to get through, so perhaps I'll start something a little less murderous/crime-riddled/creepy/dark tonight.

Open your eyes, put it in drive, get on the road, and just go.

This song exemplifies my weekend.



I hopped in the Mini Cooper Zipcar that lives next door to me, and headed northwest to Midland Ontario, the small town that my always friend/former colleague Nancy moved to about four years ago.

I'm from a small-ish town, and as such, I love a roadtrip out of the city to another small town.  I feel great driving away knowing the city is behind me, and that I'm going towards something quaint, quiet and small.  I always get excited when I get off onto the highway and onto a road (County Road 93 in this case) that only has two lanes: one in either direction.

I pulled up to Nancy's house to have her run out into the driveway, give me a huge hug and say "you're right where I left you."  I hadn't seen her in exactly two years.  This happens in adult life: time speeds along busily, and it's hard to see friends especially when distance separates you.  But, when you see each other again and you are exactly where you've left off, you know it's a great friendship. (Literally, though, she had left me in her driveway the last time I saw her at her baby shower in November 2011.)

We had a great time drinking wine, catching up, and heading downtown to catch Hawksley Workman at the Midland Cultural Centre.  It was an adorable small and intimate space, and he put on a great show.  He played a couple of Christmas songs, and lots of old favourites.  I couldn't have asked for a better show.  I've probably seen Hawksley at least 25 times, and seeing him again is like reconnecting with an old friend, so it was a perfect show to watch with an old friend.

After the show we went to the local pub which was low on ambiance, but pretty high on delicious nachos.  I totally scarfed those down.  We took a cab back to Nancy's house, and in the morning, she took me to her CrossFit class in a friend's garage.  She gave me every opportunity to wimp out, but I insisted that I felt fine.  However, as my head was spinning a little during a 2 minute plank, I took back my feeling fine remark.  I managed to make it through most of the workout (except for doing handstands), even though skipping rope and then doing sit-ups wasn't the best on a hangover.

We grabbed some coffee, and then I had to sadly head back to the city to return my car on time.  Autosharing turns you into a Cinderella, somewhat.  However, I pointed out to Nancy that when I'm a guest, I always like to leave my hosts wanting more and that's what I did.  It was a great visit, a super rock show, a crazy workout with a hangover, and I had a pleasant drive home in my adorable car.

On Saturday night, I met up with my friend Karen to see another musical friend, Hayden, at the Danforth Music Hall.  I've seen Hayden, oh, maybe ten (?) or so times.  I've been listening to Hayden since high school, and I love his music.  Even though his music can be slow at times, he puts on a pretty good rock show.  I had a great time, and my favourite part was the encore, when he brought out all the openers to sing along with him to "Don't Get Down".

Today I met up with my friend Wendy for breakfast, and then my friend Eric for dinner.  Both of these were enjoyable meals, and yet again I was thankful for time to catch up with friends that I don't see very often.

One thing I appreciate about myself is my ability to keep up with my friends. It's great to have so many people in my life that remain just where I left them.  Even though it's been awhile, we can always pick our friendships back up where we left off, and the banter and support remains in tact. 

I'm falling in love, my walkman and me, with David Bowie.

Packed Wednesday.  I had a busy day at school, followed by some extracurricular stuff, and then a killer training session.  (My body is sore.)

I'd really wanted to see the David Bowie exhibition at the AGO, but because of busyness and procrastination, the last week rolled around, and I still hadn't gone.  I was holding out for a school night or some time that would be perhaps less busy, but my only chance left was a late night viewing tonight.  So I decided to get a ticket for 9:30 pm tonight.

It was a pretty awesome multimedia display.  I loved all of the stage costumes, and the props from Labyrinth, of course.  (I need to re-watch that.  It's a childhood favourite.)  However, since the place was so packed, I didn't get to see everything in the detail that I wanted.  Oh well, I should live and learn to NOT leave these things until the last minute.  I did the same thing with the Tim Burton exhibition at TIFF a few years ago and same thing.

Now I'm drinking tea and thinking I should make a playlist of my favourite Bowie songs.  I'm no Bowie expert, just a dabbler.  

This is not a Bowie song, but a song about Bowie that I've liked since high school.  As I was walking to the subway from the AGO, I had one of those moments where it seems surreal that I have lived in this city for so long, and so many places have fond memories or bittersweet memories for me.

We'll laugh until our ribs get tough.

Do you guys find that as you get older, and perhaps have accumulated more and more friends, and your days get more and more packed, you have such a hard time keeping up with all of your friendships?  I certainly do.  I feel like I have so many great friendships that I just am not able to give them the time they deserve.  But I try to improve on it.

This weekend, I had lots of good friend time. On Friday evening, I had my monthly "date" with my friend Elaine.  We try to book time together once a month, and it's quite effective.  (Although I think we missed out on our August and September dates.)  We joke that we are once-a-month friends, but I find in adulthood, seeing any friend once-a-month is a lot.  Other than my friends from work, and my pal Mathew, I doubt that I see any of my friends once per month.

Last night, I went to the wedding of my friends Rachelle and Jesse.  They are both friends from my university days, and they fall into the category of friends I definitely don't see often enough.  I think the last time I saw them both was at my birthday.  (Gah, so long ago.)   I was very happy to be included at their wedding though, and it gave me a great opportunity to get caught up with other friends from my university days.  In fact, we talked about how even though we don't see each other all that often, it's pretty great that we are still in touch when almost ten years has passed since university.

Getting to the wedding turned out to be a bit of a comedy, and gave me more time with my friends Jon and Ali.  I perhaps didn't leave my house with quite a bit enough time to get there safely.  I had gone for an excellent winter run in the afternoon.  It was sunny, and there was a bit of snow on the ground and not too much snow.  I ran 6 km in a respectable time.  After that, I needed some time to warm up, and then I took my time getting ready.  I was starving by the time I left my house, and stopped at Starbucks for a snack since I still thought I had plenty of time to get to the church.

St. Andrew Station was closed this weekend, so it meant that I had to take an alternate route to my destination.  I could switch trains twice and avoid waiting for a streetcar in the cold.  When I was on a train going south from St. George Station, there was a power outage that delayed the train.  After waiting a minute, I decided to bolt to the street to grab a cab.  I texted my friend Ali at the same time, and she and her husband were luckily in the area of the station, and swung around and got me.  (Good thing because there are always no cabs when you need them.)

We got there just in time, and it was a very lovely wedding.  As I said before, I had a great time catching up with my friends, and on the way home, my friend Jon said "Christy, we need to hang out more because I laugh a lot around you."  Awww, it's true.  I do sometimes laugh hardest around my longtime friends and I need to devote more time to those friendships.

The good news is that I'm making good on this goal already.  Today I read somewhere that Tori Amos is releasing a new album in the spring.  It's called "Unrepentant Geraldines" which I think is an excellent title, and of course I thought of my best Tori-friend Eric, and realized I hadn't seen him in a ridiculously long time.  I texted him, and we have a date next Sunday evening.  Then, I got a text from my friend Wendy (who I haven't seen since March) and she's in Toronto next Sunday too, so I'll see her in the afternoon.  And I made a phone date with my friend Alison, who lives in BC, for tomorrow.

Also, next weekend I'm going to see my friend Nancy who I haven't seen since before her baby was born.  I think the kid is over a year old now!  They live in Midland, and I'm heading up there to see Hawksley Workman on Friday.  So excited.

The great thing about all of these long-time friendships is that they still are in good health despite the fact that life doesn't let me see my friends as often as I used to.  I think that's how you know when friends are truly special.

Oh, winter crush all of the things that I once loved.

I am in love with the Daughter album "If You Leave".  It's beautiful and sad, and even though it makes me emo, and potentially weepy (if I've had enough to drink), I still love it.  Get it.  I know nothing about the band other than I love this album.

Tonight was parent-teacher interviews.  At 5:30, the official start time, people were just slowly filing in, and there wasn't anyone at my seat.  A colleague next door to me said "hey I think you'll like this YouTube video" and tried to load it on his phone.  Then a parent walked up to my desk, so I said "show me later".  I didn't get a break until about 8:00 pm after that.  It was an evening of much talking, but I enjoyed it.

After this night is over, I always feel like it's the official start of the Christmas season.  I should put up my tree this weekend.

This weekend I have a wedding to go to.  I'm looking forward to it.  Two of my friends from university are marrying each other and it's adorable.  I know it'll be super fun.

It's raining out.  I daresay I'm ready for snow.

Tonight I talked a couple of my friends to go for post-interview drinks at the Granite, which I consider my local pub.  (How self serving.)  We drove by the giant light up holiday tiger in Koreatown (will get a picture) and I felt excited for the season.

Although now I'm home, I'm listening to this awesome oh-so-emo album and thinking about how many things that I love about my life, but how there are things that I'm wistful/nostalgic/regretful of.

Oh well, that's life.

At least I have lots of people to laugh with.

This song.

I'm up far too late with this discovery.  My friend Matt in Winnipeg told me a few weeks ago to check out this album, but when he tweeted a lyric from this song today it sucked me in.

Dark.  Lovely.   Awesome.

You always did prefer the drizzle to the rain.

Lots of stuff to catch up on here, I guess.  I survived getting my report cards done.  The Mayor of this city keeps getting more and more ridiculous.  Life continues being really busy.

Friday was a PD Day.  It was our staff day of reflection, and for the second year in a row, we went out into the community to do volunteer work.  My friends and I signed up together to volunteer at a mission for the homeless and socially isolated.

Before our day of service, we decided to meet up for breakfast.  I found a cute vegetarian diner a few steps away from where we volunteered.  It had a wall lined with Pez dispensers which was awesome.  It was great catching up over coffee and chocolate chip pancakes before we went off.

At the shelter, we split into two groups: half of us sorted canned goods for the food bank, and the other of us sorted clothing for the clothing bank.  I was in the clothing group, and I spent my day going through boxes of donations looking for warm things for the winter: coats, hoodies, and things that would be good to layer.

The work that I did affected me.  As you all know, I love clothing and fashion, and I love going out and finding new things, and looking fashionable makes me feel really great about myself.  As I sorted through unwanted items that I knew would be used by people in need, I felt really sad knowing that not everyone gets to make choices about fashion the way I do.  I know it's really superficial, but to not even have the power to make yourself look good must be frustrating.  Or I guess it really made me realize that something that I take for granted, isn't available to everyone. 

We were all in the back room sorting, while the clothing bank's employee (who was a real character) brought new finds out onto the racks in the area where people could look for clothes.  I overhead him trying to find a new winter coat for a woman, but there wasn't much at that point.  Later in the day, I came across a brand new coat (with tags) in her size and I hope it somehow got to her later. 

We got a lot of work done.  The storage room at the clothing bank was a disaster when we got there, and we got it completely cleaned up and unpacked lots of extra boxes too.  It felt good to get work done for another organization, and again, I'm left feeling really thankful that I was lucky enough to get an education, and find a good-paying job that I love and that affords me all of the material goods that I want in life.

I hung out with my friend Mathew in the evening.  We set out to do some Christmas shopping, and ended up buying mostly stuff for ourselves.  (Isn't that how it always happens?)  I don't usually have much luck at Winners, but I ended up finding a really nice designer wool coat for less than half price.  It looks really good on me.  I was going to try and get another year out of my current coat, but I knew I'd found a great coat.  Bring on the cold weather!

On Saturday, I went on a cross border trip with friends from work.  I didn't buy very much at all, mainly just junk from Target.  I went for fun times, and fun times were had.

Today I slept in and then headed off for one of my happy Kensington Market Sunday afternoons.  I went down there to get my hair cut, and also did some real Christmas shopping at the Blue Banana Market.  Yes, I actually got all gifts, and nothing for me.  Then, I treated myself to a grilled cheese sandwich at The Grilled Cheese.  Yum.

Now I'm getting some stuff done, and then I'll curl up with a book.  I could totally use another day of weekend, that's for sure.

It's the least wonderful time of the year.

Report cards are due on Thursday. 

I feel like this year, I'm more behind on paperwork (my least favourite part of work) than ever.  My extracurricular projects have been time-consuming (yet oh-so-rewarding), and life outside of school has been busy with more trips to Stratford than usual.  On top of all of this, I do not have a student teacher this semester, after having one for about five semesters in a row, and I really do miss using that opportunity to get caught up on work.

So you might not hear much from me until Thursday.

Also, I'm keeping in mind the people of the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan.  I feel a particular closeness to that country, even though I've never been there.  Over half of my school's student body is Filipino, as are two of my closest friends, and my sponsored child is from there.  She seems to be okay as per emails from the organization and my quick self-taught lesson in the geography of the Philippines.  However, one of my students lost some family members, and another student has been there for a couple of weeks due to a family emergency and I haven't heard anything yet.  The people of the Philippines are very much in my thoughts right now.

Student Council and the unofficial Philippines club are working on some fundraising activities.  It's great that the Government of Canada will match any civilian donations to relief efforts, so if you are able to donate, please do.

Red Cross

UNICEF  (Actually if you donate to UNICEF, it looks like your donation will be tripled... Matched by the government and Loblaw Companies.)

This lonely morning, this lonely morning.

Got the new Best Coast album on vinyl today.  It's catchy fun stuff.



I have nothing really to blog about today.  I mean there is the whole mayoral scandal.  Somehow, the Simpsons summed this up in a clever throw-away gag years ago.

So why write any more about the giant mess that is Toronto's mayoral crack scandal?  He needs to step down so much.  I would say this even if I agreed with his policies (which I obviously don't).

This Best Coast album is really short.  Only 7 songs.  I wish I could train Rilo to turn over records for me.

And that's all I have.

It's the only way I can tell you like letters in wartime do.

Weekends go by way too quickly even though this one had an extra hour.

On Friday night, I ended up staying at school until almost 6 pm.  I had gardening with the environmental club until 4 pm, then I ended up staying later helping my friend Fea and Student Council with a project.  This meant that I didn't really have time to go home before the Matt Good show at Massey Hall, so I did my best to fit all of my school things into just one big bag, and set off for the show wearing my Hunter rainboots, since that's what I'd warn that day since it was a bit rainy, and I had gardening after school.  Wellies aren't the most rock 'n roll, but oh well.

I got my ticket debacle solved (yay!) and then took myself out for some dinner and browsed around the Eaton Centre for a bit.  At the show, I decided to splurge on a Matt Good tshirt, because it's really cute and has gold arrows on it, and also a glass of red wine.  I got up to my seat in the top balcony just in time to catch the opening band, Gentlemen Husbands, who were pretty good.

As always, I forget how much I really do love Matt Good.  He put on a great set.  I loved hearing old MGB songs like Load Me Up, Apparitions, and Hello Timebomb.  I also loved hearing some of his earlier solo work like the song Weapon, and a reworked version of While We Were Hunting Rabbits.  I bought his new album Arrows of Desire (you understand the Tshirt now!) earlier in the fall, but didn't really connect much with it.  However, as often happens with me and music, once I see the songs live, I fall in love with them, and the album has been on heavy rotation all weekend.  It's quickly becoming one of my favourites of the year.

Saturday was a yucky rainy day.  I slept in and finally dragged myself out in search of a new cold weather running outfit.  I used to be a happy treadmill runner, but now I don't like it as much, and I want to be able run in single digit temperatures, and even when it gets below zero.  I knew that today was going to be around 2 degrees Celsius, so I really wanted a new outfit so I could get out today.  I ended up getting new running tights (my old ones are too big and fall down when I run), and an awesome running pullover from Lululemon.  The pullover is brilliant; it's got mesh panels to let you breathe, but it's made out of a soft warm material.  It also has "cuffins" which are like built-in mittens that you can take off if your hands get hot.  No need to mess with gloves/mittens!

After that, I ran by David's Tea to buy myself my very favourite tea of theirs: Santa's Secret.  It's totally too early for Christmas anything, but it's my favourite tea, and I'll probably go through 100 g of it in a months.  It's a creamy black with candy cane bits in it, so it tastes all sweet and peppermint-y.  Yum.

After my retail therapy, I met up with my friend Karen at a pub on the Danforth before we hit up The Danforth Music Hall for Joel Plaskett.  It was a solo acoustic show where he was joined by his dad for a few songs (awwww).  It was great, and he played a lot of rare songs that I hadn't heard in awhile from older albums such as La De Da and Ashtray Rock.  It was a lovely show.

Today I avoided the Ford brothers' radio show (but read all about it afterwards) by going for my cold weather run in my new running threads.  It was such a nice day for it!  Even though it was cold, it was sunny, and all the leaves are still changing on the trees, so my route through Mount Pleasant Cemetery and residential streets was picturesque.  I can't wait for more cold weather runs.

I spent the rest of my afternoon running errands and now I'm roasting some chicken and sweet potatoes for my lunch for the next two days.  It's going to be another insanely busy week with work and workouts, but that's OK.  I think I'm getting more and more used to life being so high speed.

What I want to do this evening is to have a glass of wine, a hot bath, and read a book for awhile because I don't think I've finished a book for a month which is CRAZY for me.  Good thing baseball season is over.

We're long gone.

Life is really busy.

Halloween was fun.  I only really participate in Halloween at school.  It was a rather fun but tiring day.  The Gru & Minions group costume was a hit.  Well done us.

I'm rather tired right now.  It was a busy day, preceded by a busy Wednesday.  I had a long day at school followed by a killer workout at the gym.  Then, I met up at a Boston Pizza (ugh, I know but they have big TVs) with my friend Mathew to watch Game 6 of the World Series.  We'd thrown our proverbial hats in the ring with St. Louis (allegiance to bird teams), but they lost.  Oh well, it was fun.

This weekend is going to be super fun.  I have two concerts: Matt Good @ Massey Hall on Friday and then Joel Plaskett @ The Danforth Music Hall on Saturday.  Let's hope I get into the Matt Good show... I had a bit of a debacle with my tickets, and it should be OK, but I'll say that for sure when I'm in my seat.

I'm seriously going to sleep really early tonight.  My body is sore, and my brain is dead.  I guess that means I'm keeping myself challenged these days?

This is how we do.

I just had the laziest weekend ever.

Well, it wasn't that bad.  I got most of the stuff done on my weekend to do list.  (Save for marking. I skipped out on the marking.  I will pay for this choice later.)

I watched baseball, knitted, and curled up in bed (new sheets!) with Netflix documentaries.  I read a little tiny bit, got a much needed mani-pedi, and took myself out for sushi.  I don't think I really saw another person all weekend and that was okay.

I did manage to extract myself from my apartment today for a long run (10.79 km).  I've been looking up half marathon training plans because I really want to do the Goodlife Toronto Marathon (half of it anyway) on May 4th of next year.  I won't have to start training until the new year, but I'm really excited because I know that I can do it, and never in a million years would I have thought I'd ever run a half marathon.  Until I start my formal training in the new year, I'll throw in long-ish runs when I can.  Also, I realize that winter's coming up, and I have come to the point where I really love running outside, and not inside on a treadmill, so I think that next paycheque, I will go invest in some nice cold weather running gear!

This week will be busy, being that it's Halloween week, and I really need to get my marking caught up on.  I think I'll just be pulling late nights at school each day this week.  Could be worse, I guess.

Also, you might be thinking right now: hey, Christielli, how are you going to follow up last year's epic Halloween costume? 

Well, this year's costume isn't going to be the epic masterpiece of last year, but it will be OK.  It's going to be a group costume.  One of the Alans (who was PSY last year) is going to be Gru from the Despicable Me movies, and ten of us are going to be little yellow Minions.  We have store-bought Minions costumes that we got in September.  Gru's costume is easy.  We have a fake nose, bald cap, and I'm knitting his long striped scarf.  Done.

I'll let you know how it goes, and have good Mondays!  :)