Spring City

Hello friends and neighbours! How is everyone doing these days? I am feeling a little better about life myself, so that's good news.  I finally (FINALLY) sorted out all of my EI drama shit. Still haven't received any money, but it's coming, and that's all I need to know. I still can't believe that I had to wait 3 months for my own money. Bullshit.

But life has been good! Spring has graced the city, and I couldn't be happier about it. Spring in Toronto is my favourite time of year...everyone shakes off the dust and cobwebs from the winter and happiness ensues. It's not yet the angry Summer Torontonian, because the temperature hasn't reached fire and brimstone levels as of yet. Everyone just feels renewed and smiles come easy.

Like this one, from my little babe of a nephew, Jackson. He makes my heart so happy it feels like it is going to burst. My brother's wife is due to give birth in the next few weeks, so that too, is making me feel very lucky in life. Babies really are a godsend in so many ways...as long as I can give them back that is :D

Everything is in bloom and beautiful. Which means that my allergies are too.

This Friday past we had an earthquake. It was a 5.1, so not really anything major, but my apartment (which is in a house) sounded like the Titanic sinking. It swayed and groaned and tinkled and cracked. That might be due to the fact that the house is just waiting to fall over. The foundation is so crumbled and cracked that I am not sure how it stayed up. We were talking to one of our landlords about the earthquake and joked about how the house sounded like it was going to collapse and the look on her face was like "Shit. Really?" and then she followed that up by saying "We want a structural engineer to come and take a look at it, but we haven't gotten around to it yet". Cool....keep putting that one off.

It was Victoria Day weekend, or to the Molson-drinking-cottage-going-party-like-the-world-is-going-to-end-crowd...May 2-4.  The long weekend: when it's ok to start drinking at noon, and fireworks light up the night sky for days. It was also a perfect weekend weather-wise. Perfect to go and sit by the water, have some ice cream, and drink beer on my deck afterwards.

Speaking of fire and brimstone weather, we experienced a bit of that this weekend. Sunday was hot, but yesterday was even hotter. It felt like 30C (86F) with the humidity, and shit was it ever humid. I have my first sunburn of the year (and hopefully last, I am paranoid about skin cancer but was caught off guard by how hot it was), and I am currently going through my need-to-adjust-to-this-heat period of eating very little and wanting to move even less. The adjustment period is key, you just need to submit to it, embrace how hot you are, and then one day you wake up and it's 35C and you are as cool as a cucumber (HA! More like delirious).

The water was ice cold and the breeze off the lake was heavenly. 

Today will be spent finishing off the chapter on proteins I have been working on for forever (lots of info to pack in my brain!), coffee, enjoying the thunderstorms, and getting the week started off right.

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your day is great and full of surprises! Good ones!

Life is Meant to Be Lived

Well shit! It's been forever since I posted last. Believe me though, there has been NADA to tell. I have done literally nothing but school and sit on my ass due to lack of funds for fun. Do you know how much that SUCKS? My severance has run out already, since I got next to nothing after tax, and I had to live off of it for three months. THREE MONTHS! Let me just say that the amount that I made at my job in 3 months was over half of what I had to live off of from my severance. I'm not sure who makes the rules in this country, but they suck. I should be getting my first EI cheque in the middle of May, but we will see, as my ex place of work fucked up on my ROEs (surprising) and I may not get my money for a while yet. SIGH.  Ok, rant over.

The weather around here went from being cold and snowy to tropical death hot in a matter of a week or two (not complaining here!). The trees and flowers have all exploded into bloom, and my deck is ready for any willing party participants who like to drink and share wine. Come on over friends!

This really wasn't that long ago.

To this...ahhh. Dave and I have been running so much lately, enjoying this gorgeous running weather. We even go when it's raining...that's how hardcore we have become about it. I think I have found my new exercise. I lost 29 pounds with Jillian Michael's 2 or so years ago, but then I plateaued. I knew I would have to step up my game eventually, and I am glad that I found something I like to do. Because honestly, exercising is NOT fun. So when you find something you like, stick to it for as long as you can!

We had our first ice cream date of the season a few nights ago. I always mark this occasion because it always means the start of summertime for us, or at least warmer weather. It has been hot here for the past week, and I am loving it.

I can't wait until I start getting EI. I mean, what a perfect time of year to get paid to do nothing. I'm not saying that in an asshole ungrateful way; I am glad we have a system in place in Canada to help people who are out of work. I have been paying into it since I started working a thousand years ago, so damn it if I am not going to use it and chill while I do. When I was working my ass off for the past forever, I used to dream of a situation like this, where I could relax and do what interested me, while money still came in. I plan to make the most of it. It's not a whole lot, but who needs a lot of money? As long as I am happy right? And right now I am. The time will come soon enough when I need to get out there and find a job, but for right now I have a whole summer before me of beer and barbecue and enjoying this city and my friends to the fullest.

Life is pretty good, even when it feels stressful and like things aren't going your way. They will eventually, it just takes patience. I heard a saying somewhere that we are never given more than we can handle, and I believe that. So, try to do something for yourself today that makes you happy: have a glass of wine, eat a cupcake, go for a run if that's your thing, or buy yourself that something you have been eyeing for a while. Life is meant to be lived right? So live it!

I Like to Call It Art

Yesterday Dave and I needed to go to the mall so he could buy running shoes so of course, we turned it into an adventure! Also, I felt like I was in a hair commercial all day yesterday. It's getting so long! Finally!

It was such a gorgeous day out too. Kind of cold when we started out, but as we got into our walking groove, we warmed right up. And the sun was just glorious! A perfect Spring day.

We are going to start running together. It has been torture waiting for the weather to finally get nice enough to go outside and run. Running indoors, in place, just isn't the same thing to me! I want to be outside, enjoying the scenery. So it's exciting that we are going to get fit together.

Pit stop to re-fuel. I hate mall food. More than life itself. It's so gross.

We passed some swings on the way home. You all know I can't resist swings. Swing face!

God I love him. Look at him: waiting patiently, holding all my shit, while I swing and carry on like a toddler. Seriously, I love you Dave.

There is just so much amazing art around this city. I wish that the city left it alone and didn't clean it up or paint over it, I love it.  It makes for such a colourful and vibrant place to live. I know there are gang signs and whatever there too, but it doesn't bother me. I don't know, maybe it should, but it really doesn't. 

I WILL stay rad, thanks for the reminder!  We were standing under a bridge and dodging bird poo at this point, we could hear it bombing all around us...had to get out of there quick :)

Oh dear. And here is where the 'photo shoot' began. Like most amazing things, this was not planned...it just kind of happened. Classic excuse.

Oh yeah...we went there. Why the shocker Katherine? Why?

IIINNNNN West Philadelphia born and raised...I have no problems being this big of a loser. What does this say about me?

These pictures remind me of pics of my dad and uncle when they first came to Canada and were in some kind of greaser gang.  They are standing in your typical grandmother's basement, holding a gun with pictures of topless girls on the walls. These pictures are hilarious. You can tell they thought they were so badass when really they just look like little skinny white boys being ridiculous. 

The photographer. He really drew the gangster out of me, captured some pretty real and harrowing photos of life in the city. I mean, I was scared.

We ended up having a really awesome day. A couple of hours in the sunshine will do that. You have no idea how grateful I am for it when it decides to show it's face (unless you do!)...it really is a blessing.  When we got home we went for a run and Dave broke in his new shoes. It was awesome running together...we pushed each other and supported each other...it was great!

Tonight will be about going for another run, eating an amazing home cooked dinner, and relaxing with my love.  

What are your plans for this sunny Monday?

American Graffiti

It was 28C here yesterday (82F), it was crazy. Especially since it might snow overnight tonight. I mean, it probably won't, but it is going to be chilly enough that it might.

I went and picked Dave up from work, and the plan was to go home and barbecue and beer it up.

Except that this happened in a matter of seconds. 

We still busted it home in the hopes that we would have enough time to open a beer, drink it fast and get our burgers on the barbecue and inside before it all started.

No such luck. As soon as we went out there, downpour city. I drank from inside while Dave stood under an umbrella and cooked our dinner. Sigh. Canadian weather I tell you. It was sunny and hot almost, all day, and then the rain came. And today, it rained alllll day, and now it is bright and sunny. Sheesh.

At least I got one day in without my winter jacket. I felt naked and light on my feet. I may just refuse to put the thing back on, but hopefully, I won't need to!

Happy Friday folks!

Busy Spring Time

Hey there friends and neighbours! It seems my blogging did not pick up once I had all the time in the world to blog, in fact, it seems the opposite has happened.

To be fair, school has been taking up a big chunk of my days. Not that I am complaining! I love the program I am in. LOVE IT. I am learning so much already and it's a lot to take in, but for some reason I am not bored and want to study all the time (loser). Have I found my 'thing'? I hope so! I had been wanting to take the natural nutrition course from CSNN for a while now, so the decision to register, even though it was thought out, at the same time it was a 'why the fuck not?' kind of decision too. I figured if anything, it would keep me busy and if I didn't like the career path I could take when I finish in two years, at least I learned something and kept my brain active, right?

Except that I am loving it, and the many career paths I can choose from once I am finished are all things that sound fantastic to me, because they are about helping people. And that is what I have always wanted to do! 

The weather around here lately has left much to be desired. So gloomy and yuck. Yesterday and today have been nice...the sun is shining and the temperatures are finally warm. But it will go back to doom and gloom tomorrow. That's Spring in Canada for you. We were so spoiled last year when it pretty much went from Winter to Summer, no Spring in between. It was glorious.

Flowers are starting to show themselves, to shake off their winter shrouds and be free again, like the rest of us are waiting to do. I can't wait to get out on my deck and start cleaning things up a bit, and plant some more and enjoy warm nights with barbecue and beer.

I can't wait to not have to wear this freaking winter jacket anymore.

Taking this nutrition course has made me hyper aware of how my body works and how the things you put in it work against your body functioning properly. This is a GOOD thing, but at the same time, isn't, because I really like beer and things that aren't necessarily good for me. No, it's a good thing. I can do with not eating pizza or chips for a loooooong time. They can be special treats. But really knowing what eating those kinds of things does to the inside of your body? You can never un-know. And having that knowledge, you would be abusing yourself if you kept doing it. At least I am hoping that sinks in, I need a kick in the ass right now.

I said to Dave that the hardest thing about becoming a nutritionist will be hearing friends and family complain about an ailment or something that I KNOW will be diet related, and telling them to improve their diet by doing this or that and the symptoms will go away (for free mind you. I would tell them for FREE where I would charge strangers 40 dollars an hour for that advice), and they won't want to hear it. They will brush it off, telling me it's not that, it's something else. And I will sigh and write them off as dead to me as far as nutrition advice goes. Hahaha! Just kidding.

Other than school though, I have just been enjoying my life not working. It's still weird to me that I am not, but the time will come soon enough where I will be out there looking for a job. It will be nice to make my own money again.  But for now, I am just going to enjoy it. Who knows where life will take me? At this point, I can do anything I want!

I hope you guys are enjoying your day! I don't ever know what day it is anymore, but I hope that you are enjoying it whatever day it may be!