Inaugural Bike Ride

Although the weather the past few days has been cold, windy and rainy, last week was actually bright, sunny and warm. Beautiful enough, in fact, that I took out my 29er single-speed bicycle, a custom Clockwork Bicycle, out for the first ride in at least a year.

Daylight Saving Time

As I have mentioned in other posts, somewhere, I've been going to bed later and waking up later here than I used to do when in Japan. Part of this is likely because I am still not working, and therefore have no need to be up at 6 a.m. But part of it is just that, here, people go to bed at 11 p.m., not 9 or 10 like I used to do. And they certainly never EVER get up at 4:30 a.m. on a sunny, Sunday morning.

And now I see why. The sun does not rise here early in the morning, even now in spring. But, I noticed for the first time last night, even though it is still March, the sky was still light even just before 8 p.m. So - when you can ride your bike or go jogging at 7 pm and not be in the dark, it makes sense that you go to bed later and wake up later.

 

Spring Irony

Today is the first day of spring, and I sit here, gazing out the window, and see... a huge, huge snowfall.

I will admit that I am becoming discouraged by the constant snow and home-bound lifestyle it is leading too. But what can we do about it, really? I mean, short of moving to a more live-able climate? Which, by the way, is what any sane person would do...

But no. I will grin and bear it. I guess I wouldn't mind so much if I hadn't promised a friend that I would use her car to pick up her disabled husband tonight; during rush hour, of course. I am still not at all accustomed to driving in this weather, and if I am going to wreck a car, I'd rather it be my own, not someone else's. But as I still have not bought a car, that is out of the question.

So I either break my promise and cry chicken, or I drive really carefully and try not to fishtail into anything!

Daylight Saving Time

Last night at midnight marked the beginning of Daylight Saving time here in Montreal (Eastern Time). Since Japan does not have Daylight Saving time, this was the first time in thirteen years that I changed my clocks - everything sprang forward one hour.

And now, at 7:15 p.m., I see that the sky is still reasonably light, and I guess, after all these years of early-onset darkness, I appreciate it!

Running in the Rain

I woke up this morning a little after 7 a.m. Sadly, these days, I tend to wake up as late as 8:30 or even 9:00; gone are the days when I was up and active at 5:00! Hopefully that will change when summer comes here to this arctic land. But anyway - as I was saying - I was up a little after 7, enjoyed two hot cups of tea before taking Dexter for a run.

Now, due to his having had pneumonia when I first adopted him, and then the holidays, and then the surgery, and then the snow and cold, Dexter has never been for a real jog before. He loves to run, of course, but has only ever run for a few minutes at a time. This morning the temperature is above freezing for the first time in ages, so I wanted to get out and figured to take Dex with me. However, it was raining. I'd forgotten, but Dexter absolutely hates the rain. So, the run became more of an enforced walk, before I dropped him off at home and then set off again on my own. I then ran just under 5km in the rain which alternated between rain and snow.

It was my first outdoor run in months. I realize now that the treadmill and gym workouts just do not free the mind and spirit as much as real outdoor exercise.

I woke up this morning a little after 7 a.m. Sadly, these days, I tend to wake up as late as 8:30 or even 9:00; gone are the days when I was up and active at 5:00! Hopefully that will change when summer comes here to this arctic land. But anyway - as I was saying - I was up a little after 7, enjoyed two hot cups of tea before taking Dexter for a run.
Now, due to his having had pneumonia when I first adopted him, and then the holidays, and then the surgery, and then the snow and cold, Dexter has never been for a real jog before. He loves to run, of course, but has only ever run for a few minutes at a time. This morning the temperature is above freezing for the first time in ages, so I wanted to get out and figured to take Dex with me. However, it was raining. I'd forgotten, but Dexter absolutely hates the rain. So, the run became more of an enforced walk, before I dropped him off at home and then set off again on my own. I then ran just under 5km in the rain which alternated between rain and snow.
It was my first outdoor run in months. I realize now that the treadmill and gym workouts just do not free the mind and spirit as much as real outdoor exercise.

Re- and De-motivated

My trip to New York and New Jersey was a really good chance for me to regroup; to get my own self back together, to form an action plan for employment, for remembering that the biggest part of my problem was lack of mindfulness. I, a creature who really does need to be alone, had not had even half an hour of solitude since my return in September. Sofa-surfing in your mother's home, while a blessing, is also a bit of a curse!

The extended train journey to and from New York, and the chance to spend lots of girl time with Cheryl (who, it turns out, I had not seen in five years!!!) provided me just a little bit of relief and a bit of focus.

But my current focused job search is not going so very well. My lack of French is a very big detriment, and unless I knuckle down and truly dedicate myself to studying and improving, I may find myself moving yet again. Moving to another province where French is not the main language...

And to tell the truth, I returned here, to my hometown, for a reason - I have an extended support network here. I do not want to relocate and find myself alone in a foreign city again just yet. Oh sure - in the future, I may become bored, and need a chance of scenery, but for now, here is where I want to be.

So - although demotivated by recent responses to my job equiries, I intend to press on. In happy news - I have another three day paid stint as painters-assistant coming up next week!

Main Topics of Discussion in Montreal...

 And

Birthday Celebrations

Saturday, January 22nd, was my 39th birthday. Yep - 3. 9. Which means that in less than twelve months, I will be ... well, FORTY!

When I was really young, I remember counting the years on my fingers to see if I would still be alive in the year 2000, or if I would have already died of old age. Less long ago, I remember dating a guy who was 25, and who said that women his own age (as opposed my my 19!) were old and out of shape ... shamefully, I thought he was right!

And now, at the ripe old age of 39 - I feel young and energetic and fit and happy!

And, it doesn't hurt that I spent my evening at a really good steak house called The Keg, eating fantastic steak, and drinking good wine! Pics will follow when I take them off the camera but for now, check out The Keg here

http://www.kegsteakhouse.com/en/locations/QC/montreal/old-montreal-keg/

Happy New Year 2011!!

It is now January 2nd, and I only now have a few moments (and am coherent enough) to blog a bit.

New Year's Eve I spent not out partying exactly. No, me and an old friend, Isabelle, went to an Irish pub downtown at noon. And we had our first beer at 12:01. We drank continuously, running up a bill of 180 dollars, by the time we had to stop at 5 p.m. or so. We taxied home - her to her grandmother's, and me to a friend's place where there was a house party that continued until 1 a.m.

Really, I've come to the conclusion that, at nearly 39 years old, I just can't drink like I used to! No more 13 hours of drinking for me in the new year:)

Otherwise, it was a lovely way to bring in 2011 although I was able to make myself wake up to watch the sunrise. I think this is one of the first years when I did not watch the sunrise - a.k.a. hatsuhinode....

Embracing Winter in Mont Tremblant

Go big or go home, as they say. Winter is here, and instead of hiding from it, I accepted an invitation to go to Mont Tremblant, a popular winter (and even summer) retreat about an hour and a half north of Montreal. Some friends are renting a lovely country home there with a lovely fireplace even. So, I spent a couple of days taking mountain walks (my muscles still remember hills and I did quite good at the walks!), and relaxing with a cold beer, and warm wine, in the evenings.

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Christmas in a Christmassy Place

A very brief post this time,  just to say that Christmas has really snuck up on me, and I really am not at all in the holiday spirit. This is because for the past many years, I've not even bothered to acknowledge the holiday, and more often than not, I'd wake up on a beach in a gorgeous, Asian and non-Christian country,  and enjoy a breakfast beer.

This year I am determined to still enjoy the breakfast beer, and I plan to do my Christmas shopping tomorrow, and will be done by X-mas eve.

I am not going to go into a rant about the superficiality of the season, and I actually to wish I were in the spirit.

The Beginning of the End of a Dry Spell?

I have done, pretty much, nothing over the last two and a half months since leaving Japan. At least in Japan I was travelling and exploring and preparing for 'the big move'. Once here, I spent about a month adjusting to new things, getting back in touch with old friends, and participating in activities where I could make new ones. And of course, I was waiting for my big delivery from Japan.

And then....

I stalled.

I have been procrastinating pretty much since then, although enjoying my time doing little things like spending a week on a paid painting job (yay!), visiting a spa, doing dinner with friends, etc...

But I have not:

• Been maintaining my blogs


• Working on my new Joomla-run website


• Taking photos


• Working and developing my skills in Photoshop


• Working, period, except for the aforementioned week-long low-paid painting job

But this morning gives me hope that my dry spell is ending. I am currently working out how to install Ubuntu (again) on my Windows 7 netbook. As some may recall, I experienced a total hard disk failure last August or so, and had to replace the disk. I did not then install Ubuntu again, but realized last night that I was missing it quite a lot. So I started to install using the Windows Installer called WUBI. Which did not work no matter what. So, I figured to do a real install. That, it seems, did not want to work either, as it did not recognize my Windows OS. Seems that I have to shrink my windows volume first. I tried to do this, but had no luck as Windows decided it could only shrink the volume by 700 mb.Huh. So I am currently defragging, and will try to re-size again... Worst case scenario is that I lose all the data on my Windows side. No biggie as it is all backed up anyway.

On the job front, despite being told two days ago that I was not a good fit for a particular job, I am still feeling motivated and getting my cv out there. The big thing holding me back is my absolute lack of French. Anything I had thirteen years ago is now gone. I did start taking private lessons, but the teacher was - pardon my French - a real bitch. I was about to find another, better, more centrally located teacher, but a friend insists I could learn by just speaking more with him an others.

So that's what I'm doing - using French whenever I can, and not taking the easy (English!) way out.

Cold, Snow, and Learning to Paint

In case I wasn't quite certain that I was, indeed, back in Montreal, the 25cm of snow dumped on us, and the -10 degree weather, has reminded me.

I want to post pics - although cold, although disrupting traffic and general get-out ness, the newly fallen snow is quite beautiful.

My very short term goal is to definitely post a photo tomorrow! (Another reminder that I am back in the north, is that it is pitch black already, and not even 5p.m.

In other news, although I am still among the unemployed, I have an interview at an agency next week, and, more fun than that, every day this week I was working on a temporary (but paying!) job as a painter's assistant. Sounds lame, but I had never even held a paintbrush before, so I am learning a lot this week, and was even praised for my work. I'm sure I won't be allowed to paint the first coat of straight lines or anything, but exciting just the same.

I took this in one of the newly painted rooms with my new iPod Touch (4th Gen), which I had to buy last week to replace my old one, which had become faulty, and then which I completely destroyed when trying to self-repair!

First Real Snowfall

Yesterday, November 27th, was the first real snow of the year here in Montreal. Not that much fell really, just about 3 cm, but it was enough to coat the streets with a slippery slickness that made driving a little more challenging. It also coated the now-bare trees with a beautiful, almost mystical dusting which made for a lovely Saturday spent indoors watching the snow fall.

And of course, I have not yet taken any photos, but now I can see a lot of great possibilities for photo ops in the upcoming months.