It's terribly late, but it's been such an eventful few days I'd be remiss not to include more of the events that happened than a moment in front of a derelict house...
Point form!
- I got in touch with two lovely people from my past currently living in BC using Facebook today. As I joked to one of them, it's moments like this that make me change my mind whenever I swear that Facebook is no good. One of them particularly was a very nice encounter, which will hopefully culminate in exploring Vancouver with a person I have always liked, but have barely seen for nearly a decade. Here's to reconnections!
- I had a lovely five hour drive in the sun from Saskatoon to Edmonton that took me from -35 weather to -6 weather. In winter, going up 30 degrees is a fabulous thing
- I listened to a great audiobook on the way. Too good - at times I would realize I was totally driving autopilot and try to get myself back to reality... which would last about another five minutes before I was steeped in imagination again.
- I psyched myself up for the weekend that's turning out to be madness - one boudoir session, four client meetings, shooting an all-day wedding on Saturday, banking, dropping things off at my accountant... the fun starts tomorrow at noon with a boudoir session with a lovely lady!
- I picked up a new, much larger dog crate for Murphy from a lady that was extremely pleased to get it out of her basement, and happier still when I said it would be well used with us. I wrote an outline of Murphy's accomplishments to our breeder:
Murphy is a really good dog! He's been learning lots in his training classes, and though we find it hard to get him to make noise to go out, he's pretty much potty trained now as long as we pay attention.
We have transitioned him to being in the main room when we leave, which is a much better solution than the closed room we started with. Now that he can stare mournfully out of the windows waiting for us when we are away, he's happier. Not happy, of course, with the humans away, but okay!
I found a bigger crate for him tonight and bought a luxuriously soft bed to go with it tonight, and a few toys that I deemed not easily destroyable. I know he likes to destroy things utterly, but he'll get greater satisfaction in life if I make it take a long, long time, right
Murphy is so fast with the rag on a string game that I am fairly certain that
lure coursing would be a good activity for him. He will pursue the string even with major distraction, and he is very smart about it. Trying my hardest he catches it every minute or so. I am biased obviously, but he might have the makings of a champion courser. Looking forward to seeing him run full out after the winter is over.
- I tried buying some low-to-no prep food from Superstore this evening. There is NO room in the fridge here, so I am going to go ahead with my plan of bringing a cooler with me and circulating two ice packs daily (There's just enough room in the freezer for that) after tonight. Tonight I just put the milk jug at an angle and tried not to feel guilty about it. I put less than a square foot of groceries in, so I really don't think I should be feeling guilty at all. Things I am trying - individually packed orange juices in cartons rather than juice boxes so I only drink one at a time, pre-made salads en masse as my main course for several days with a package of pre-cooked and cut chicken to share between them, mixed berries, and a couple of other fruits and veggies that I like. I'm going to go super healthy and see if it makes a difference to my energy levels. Also, tonight I plan to sleep until I wake up on my own or until 11am, whichever comes first. It's likely going to be over ten hours in any case, which is fabulous. Tomorrow night, sleep at least ten hours again. I'm going into this with my batteries charged, not just my camera batteries!!
- I had a burger at Montanas and splurged on some mini donuts. I believe in celebrating on weekends when I am making several grand in what's supposed to be my low season. =)
- I went to a "Christ-centered Yoga" class on the recommendation of a friend. She didn't come herself the first day because she was feeling sick, but I actually found the practice of yoga rather rewarding in this context. The class leader was lovely and took some time to help me modify some of the progressions to make them work for me. I felt extremely relaxed, focused, and today I feel sore like I had a serious workout, which I suppose I did. Wasn't it Charles Atlas who was convinced that it was stretching that makes us strong? At any rate, I will be continuing and I suspect it will become a natural and normal part of my life. Those who know me well and are hearing this for the first time likely have a look of disbelief. Yes, yes, I went into the den of femininity and came out alright. It was scary, though, trust me.
- I've started reading a book I came across almost randomly. It's the perfect book at the perfect time, right before my Sabbatical. It's called The Happiness Project, and it's about a woman who spent a year trying to find her own personal way to increase happiness in her life. I nearly cried reading the first chapter, because it was as if someone had written a book exactly for me, exactly for this time right before I start my own project, what I'm calling a sabbatical, with the intention of changing some big things long term. I am excited about continuing to read it and the dozen or so other books that are in a stack on the kitchen island, a product of browsing GoodReads for similar books to ones I've already loved.
- I am planning Valentines this year (Paul and I alternate Valentines and our Anniversary. This year it's my turn for Valentines.) and I have some fabulous plans with a theme of romance and fun. I hope some of my grand plans turn out as awesome as they seem in my head! Paul and I will have four days off of staycation at the very beginning of my sabbatical, which is going to be amazingly awesome - a weekend, a stat holiday, and one day off for Paul, and the first four days of six weeks for me.
- I designed the wedding invitations for my best friend Michael. I teared up while I was doing it. They really loved my design. I can't wait to get one in the mail and see it in print for the first time. Our trip out to Toronto in May is going to be a wonderful time to spend with them.
- There has been a marked improvement in my mood on and off lately - I'm not consistently better all the time, but my periods of worse are fewer and further between. Life is getting better! Yay!