ready for fall

it seems i am in the habit of confessions lately.  and here is another one: i am done with summer.

and what is more, i am ready for the cooler days of autumn and the changing of the seasons.

i am sick of waiting for summer to arrive.  it is the third week of august and i had my furnace on this past week!  ridiculous, i tell you.

as much as i am sick of waiting on the weather, i am more excited for the slowing down of my social calendar that comes with september as schedules become more rigid and the pressures of being out and about on any given day decrease.

i have felt such pressure (and certainly, brought on entirely by myself) to MAKE THE MOST OF IT this summer.  although i am sometimes at a loss as to what IT is.  and as much as a walk in the park, a drink on a patio, or a hike in the mountains sound like a lovely way to pass an afternoon, doing it alone is not always as thrilling as doing it with someone.

and while i am being miserly, let me also add that all these festivals and events throughout the city during the summer months are never as good as you expect.  i found myself at the calgary folk fest for the first time this year and every year i always think, 'that always looks like so much fun, why don't i go?'  well, i did go and it was a lot of people in my space, a lot of chaos, and a pain to organise a group of people to meet up and stay in the same area.  all of these events seem to be the same - lots of people (including those dudes with their dogs that insist on taking their shirts off as soon as the thermostat reads 20 degrees), overpriced food, and crowds heaving in the heat/rain/miserable calgary summer weather.

on that note, i am ready for september.  ready for the trees' leaves to change colour and fall.  ready for sweaters, soup, and hot cups of tea.  ready for my schedule to calm down and ready to spend friday evenings at home without any guilt that i should be DOING SOMETHING with bonus points if it is a FUN THING.

i'm ready.

way up

things really are looking up and here is proof:

• the calgary parking authority sent me a cheque.  i am not sure exactly why, but i'll take the $50!
• i gained a few new freckles on my morning run today.
• it is friday and i got to go for a morning run.
• freckles only come when there is sun!
• i used my free starbies drink coupon that they sent me for my birthday because i registered my starbucks card
• i searched through my drawers and found 4 totally wearable bikinis to take to mexico so no need to purchase a new one

a friday night in a german town

happy birthday america! at least i think that today is your birthday, independence = birthday, right?

i just had a greek salad for dinner thanks to an afternoon of grocery shopping and am sitting on my nest’s floor due to lack of furniture (we have a couch but i am sick of the couch) and a sore back, listening to the british forces radio station that i just discovered, and eating ritter sport.

my german friend told me that ritter means knight. sadly, this german friend is in kenya at the moment and can’t help me with other translations. like the damn atm! i finally gave up with the german bank card and used the british bank card, so the machine would speak english to me.

not knowing the language of the local population is a rather humbling experience, to say the least.

nesting is a lot of work and i usually look at the time around 5pm and wonder what happened to the day. i think it is all the thinking that is needed when you are in a new place, it makes time move faster. the nest is getting nestier, but i have suffered a setback when the suction cup holder for the bathroom will not suction. perhaps the wall needs a good scrub before it will stick.

i anticipate a lot of washing and cleaning in my future. i have kaiboshed the idea to buy a washing machine because it just seems like a lot of hassle and lot of money when uniforms can be washed at the army and i can handwash the rest of it. besides, there is a drycleaner around the corner and they can do sheets and towels, right?!

we will see what comes of this set-up, but i did spend yesterday morning washing things in my tub and it reminded me of my sunday morning ritual of washing my ‘little things’ when i lived in south africa a few years ago. sundays in the town of bredasdorp, rsa are a lot like sundays in the town of hameln, germany – not much is open and people are having picnics, walking in the parks, or otherwise entertaining themselves without buying stuff. we have decided to institute ‘german sundays’ when we eventually get back to canada.

the music choice of the british forces radio is a bit too young-lads-heading-out-on-the-piss for my tastes, but i am holding out for the news. it will be interesting to hear what they focus on when the audience is the armed forces.

and that is my friday night. less than a week of this darn army exercise and then i can ditch the radio for real conversation.

friday afternoon emails

may i just take this opportunity to say that i wish that all workplace emails that are sent took on the qualities of the 'friday afternoon email.' the kind that cut the bureaucratic bullshit and say what people mean as people are fed up and just want to go to the weekend. it would be such a breath of fresh air.

confessions

(september 5, 2007)

• i have not been for a run since last thursday and am feeling rather guilty about it


• i had chocolate fudge cake for lunch twice last week


• i have made a rule that i cannot have chocolate fudge cake again until i have been for 3 runs


• i feel as though my life makes more sense when there are rules


• i did do pilates tonight and i really need to get a yoga mat because otherwise my flatmate is going to start wondering why his keeps disappearing and coming back smelling like my feet


• i am having lunch with a man i hope is in uniform tomorrow


• i am pretty sure that i am in over my head at work, but shhhhhhhhhhh..... don’t tell anyone


• i have also been given an opportunity to demonstrate that i can do it


• i am beginning to like the feeling of being protected and taken care of, it is an adjustment


• i made leek and potato soup last night, it was a bit too salty but won rave reviews


• i have been trouble getting up in the mornings lately so i have instituted a bedtime of 9:30pm but it is currently 10:15pm


• i took my newly named laptop (lucille, if you were wondering) for her first spin on kenyan wireless and i think she liked it


• even though i made a rule that i was not allowed to buy peanut butter (due to the unfortunate incident(s) of eating it right out of the jar with a spoon...), i bought a jar but it is just a little one and i have yet to use it for anything but spreading on toast


• i can’t get into The L Word but am really enjoying the first season of Six Feet Under – i am also really enjoying renting bootleg copies of tv shows for my evenings’ entertainment


• i watched Brokeback Mountain for the 4th or 5th time last night and it is still as heartbreaking as ever, i swear it is the music


• i spent last weekend napping, reading, drinking tea, running from monkeys, watching elephants and hippos sloosh around in swamps, trying to locate the top of kilimanjaro through the clouds, eating, and drinking wine and i am not sure why i am so lucky to be able to do that on a random september weekend

• i also spent some time last friday night on the side of a dirt road after dark with a flat tire about 20km outside of the park gates and with a jack that did not work – my job was to sit in the car and not be noticed and not protest about being told to sit in the car, i did pretty well at my job but it was damn scary and thanks only to a truck full of nice men in suits am i not trampled by an elephant, eaten by a tiger, the victim of armed robbery, or any number of other roadside calamities you hear about in this country


• i’d rather be at home today sitting at the kitchen table with a glass of wine with my mom than anywhere in the world – happy birthday momsy

grinding my beans and counting my freckles

i think working at a library might actually be sort of nice. apart from the reshelving, the job seems like something that i wouldn't mind doing. the librarians at my university apparently do not feel the same way because they all (except for that one pleasant one who helped me find a book once) are rather miserable and really not nice to interact with. makes my frustration with school in general that much more irritating.

i have spent my friday evening at a coffee shop studying, reading the newspaper, and baking banana bread. very nice way to spend a friday night in february if you ask me. the weather here is great though, i went for a wonderful run this morning and could have actually used a pair of sunglasses!

so far the first day of my lent has gone well. not an ounce of chocolate has passed my lips. only 39 more days to go.