Mid-March Update

Hi friends, did you forget all about me? If so I wouldn't blame you, seeing as I've been all quiet-like for the past month or so. I have to admit that every time I "return" to blogging, I secretly think to myself, This will be IT, the time I will really stick with it and blog several times a week without stopping, to infinity and beyond! And then, life intervenes, and reality smacks me upside the head and reminds me not to be so foolish. You know those women who can balance family, career, home life, leisure activities, volunteering, stuff they're passionate about, and just life in general with apparent ease? Yeah, no surprise here, but I am soooo not one of those women.

But enough hand-wringing over my blogging delinquency. To dive right back in, I present to you an update in the form of the following very boringly-titled list:

Stuff I've Been Up To Since February 10th
-Normal weekly events: workouts with my friend V, household chores, meal-planning and cooking, ministry meetings, church activities, shifts at work, etc.
-I implemented anti-insomnia measures (no caffeine after 3 pm, dedicated time for light reading to unwind before sleeping, dark room with curtains drawn, more consistent bedtime) that have so far been successful. Huzzah!
-Wilson and I celebrated Valentine's Day with our annual trip to the "Fondue Feastivül" at Biermarkt. Delicious! ♥
-Uh, so, February ended. I don't really recall what else happened, but I'm sure it was busy. And fun? Yeah, probably also fun.
-Oh right! I got sick in February - at the end of February, to be somewhat more precise. And now, less than a month later, I'm sick again. Fun times! (Actually I can't complain - both of these colds have been pretty minor and have taken me down for less than a week, which is less recovery time than normal).
-We helped our friends (who have also been downstairs neighbours since we moved in 4 years ago) prepare their condo for sale and move in to a house in mid-town. While I'm happy that they now have more space for their growing family, I'm sad to see them go and to lose some of the sense of community I've experienced here. :(
-After much research, I decided on an awesome coffee-maker to buy with a gift card we were given last Christmas. It is such a luxury to set the automatic function the night before and wake up to freshly-brewed coffee the next morning. Now if only I could get the water-to-coffee ratio nailed down! (Seriously, I put in 4 cups of water and somehow it makes 8 cups. How is this possible?!)
-We busted out the air conditioners and they have saved me from many a sleepless night in these record-breakingly high temperatures. During which time the heat is still on in our building, I might add. Yes, I realize it is still March, but it was almost 30 degrees with the humidex today, people! Hello!
-I wrote down a "weekly schedule" to outline which tasks I want to accomplish on any given day of the week. (Mondays are my only official "day off," Tuesdays are for workouts, cleaning, prep for ministry-related stuff like Bible studies, and date night ♥, Wednesdays are for workouts and cleaning the house, etc.) Then I tried not to freak out at how much I want to fit in to every week.
-In light of the above, I bought a daily planner which is broken down by hours and started recording everything I do during each day. Hopefully after a few weeks of this, I'll find I'm wasting less time and getting closer to accomplishing everything on my weekly schedule. Or maybe I will realize the schedule is unrealistic and needs to be re-vamped...
-My old runners had been worn into the ground, so I finally went to the New Balance store and scored a new pair of running shoes and a pair of cross-trainers for the gym. As an unexpected result, I am now the proud (?) new owner of The Squeakiest Shoes of All Time, which henceforth will render any stealth operations/sneak attacks completely impossible. I'm not kidding - I was getting stared at while walking around in the drugstore this afternoon. These shoes should have come with a warning label. Or maybe earplugs.
-The lovely Kat invited me to an exhibit about the Game of Thrones series, which was lots of fun. We met at the Tiff Bell Lightbox theatre (I'm sorry, am I the only one who finds "Tiff Bell Lightbox" the most annoying and pretentious theatre name ever?) and pretended to be cultured enough to know what we were doing and how to get into said exhibit. (Hilarious FAIL at that!) We thoroughly enjoyed the tiny but well-executed display of props, photos, and behind-the-scenes video clips, and then had a catch-up session over tea and brownies at a nearby coffee shop. Simply lovely!
-I read Incarceron (a futuristic dystopic YA novel - seem to be reading a lot of those lately!) by Catherine Fisher.
-My dear friend, Jo, treated me to lunch on the Danforth at her favourite Greek restaurant, and afterwards we had gelato at Dolce. It was a perfect summer day; it just happened to be in March. :)

And the most important update (which deserves its own paragraph and shouldn't be stuck in a boring old list)? Are you ready? Can you feel the excitement?

I'm going back to school!!!

Wellll.....not exactly "back to school." That's a bit of a stretch. But didn't that sound dramatic?!

The truth is, I've signed up for an online course, which begins next month. I am soooooo x infinity excited for this class! You have no idea. Like, I wouldn't shut up about it for at least a week or two after signing up for the course. Poor Wilson had to endure many random "Hee!! I'm going to be a student again!!" comments during opportune (and inopportune) moments at any time of the day or night, often accompanied with goofy grin and spastic hand clapping. But since he's such a sweetie, he's still very happy for me and completely supportive of my decision.

Oh man, I can't wait to tell you more about this course! But since it's almost midnight, it will have to wait for another post. All I can tell you is that I ordered my textbooks today... and on that cliff-hanging note, I bid you all goodnight and sweet dreams. xoxo