chilly

Spent the weekend at a gorgeous country estate in the Southern Highlands for a work conference. It was the culmination of several months of hard work, but it paid off. It reminded me how blessed I've been having such a great team of people to work with these past couple of years. I am exhausted and so glad to be home, but it was a positive couple of days. I got to see a brief snow flurry, sit in front of a massive wood fire, listen to great speakers, and enjoy a beautiful Christmas in July party.

There were also a few small hints that spring is finally on the way! Looking forward to it!

collections

Maybe it's cabin fever from this nevergoingtoend winter we are having, but lately, I have been feeling the urge to get rid of stuff. Amazing how we arrived here with so little, and now this tiny apartment is chock full of stuff I have collected. I seem to be a bit of a collector. I have a jar of shells and coins and bits and pieces I have saved from trips to the beach. I have a million recipes. And shoes... don't even get me started on shoes. It's embarrassing.

I have been in a get-rid-of-it mood these days. Too many books I won't ever read again, clothes I won't wear again, and general stuff I will never use. Time to purge. I feel that way at work too. Lots of notebooks full of nonsense and files full of nothing. Time to throw it out. Maybe it's a spring cleaning thing.

Speaking of spring cleaning, I need to clean the oven and the fridge. Anyone want to come over and do that for me?

perseverance

The last three weeks have been a test of my patience. And a test of my ability to persevere. A coworker asked this week how to spell "perseverance" and I had to laugh at how it's become an overwhelming theme in my life lately. The Husband and I both have been traveling more than we have been home. It takes a toll eventually. I found myself arriving home from the airport late one night last week to an empty apartment and an even emptier fridge. I admit that I stood in the kitchen and ate heated up dim sum from the freezer at 10:30pm. Not my proudest moment. And the heartburn after wasn't so fun either. Though it did keep me up late enough to watch Dirty Dancing all the way through for the hundredandseventh time. "I carried a watermelon?!" Love it.

Work has been especially challenging lately... I have just sat here for 10 minutes trying to figure out how to follow that sentence... and I have nothing. It has just been one big giant challenge. I am not one to back down from a challenge, but this one is really kicking my youknowwhat. That isn't the word I wanted to use, but my parents may one day read this blog, and I would hate for them to think that I use that other word. Of course, I already disappointed them by voting Democrat, so I am not sure why I bother. LOL

Anyway, back to perseverance. And the scarf, pictured above. I started it a few weeks ago, and really made some good progress. I had to consult youtube on how to cast on, since my knitting classes two years ago are but a distant memory now. And I actually stuck with it for like, a whole week. But now, all I have is a half completed scarf. In fact, as I look around, I have a half completed lotsofthings. But this weekend, The Husband and I made some plans and some lists. And made some big decisions. So, I am going to kick myself into gear and get some things done. Because time is a-wasting. And that scarf isn't going to finish itself.

Happy Canada / Independence Day to all of you back 'home'. Throw something on the bbq for me!