Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Snow days

How did Australians get so good at making candy?

Lately I've felt very...blah...and I made no secret of that fact. When I was in school and swamped with work, I remember still having the ehergy to do more, more, more. Now that I have a day job that I can actually leave at the office, I'm mysteriously too exhausted to even handle my usual stuff, let alone to take on more. I recently had this conversation with a friend of mine, a fellow overachiever who is experiencing a similar post-degree slump. We lamented our respective lack of zeal and wondered when we had gotten old.

I had an epiphany at the bus stop on Sunday. It's winter. it may not have looked or felt particularly wintery in these parts, but it is undoubtedly winter. In the wintertime, we are told as children, the trees lose their leaves but they are not dead - only resting. Similarly, the cold and dark have driven me indoors and into a dormant state...a time for reflection, recuperation and re-evaluation. There arebig decisions to be made and big changes for which to prepare. And nobody can be "on" all the time - as much as I try to be.

I hereby command everyone to give themselves permission to be a turtle for the winter. What's the fun in always being fun?

As mentioned, Nova Scotia's weather thus far has been decidedly un-wintery As if the Earth herself couldn't decide whether or not it was really time to go into Pod Mode. Chalk this up to conicidence, psychology, divine intervention or whatever strikes your fancy, but by the time I got off another bus later that day, snow was blanketing the ground. I put down my hood, lifted my face to the sky and felt the soft kisses of the fluffy white flakes. Somebody else seemed to have shared in my decision...

It's almost my birthday. Wish me lots of fair-trade, vegan chocolate cake with fudgy icing.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

So I suppose I should update...

It has been a most busy time, what with agonizing over law school decisions, doing the Christmas thing and working at a Big-Girl Job. I really shouldn't complain about the first, seeing as how there are lots of people who would be thrilled to get into just ONE law school...but it's ridiculous how a couple of the registrars' offices want my $200 deposit at a ludicrously early date, far too early for me to make a truly informed decision. The life of a smart chick is so hard. Can't they take pity on me for being socially inept, having demanding parents and approxiamting the social life of a monk throughout my undergrad just so that I could get into their esteemed institutions? Can't they at least let me extort big scholarships from all of them BEFORE I hand over my own money?

Chrismas was nice despite my bizarre illness (it's like a cold except that I've been getting one symptom at a time and staying sick for unusually long). We did the colossal 20-pounds-of-mashed-potatoes family thing and I ate some tofurkey. All of my gifts were useful, which makes me immensely happy and relieved. There's nothing like Christmas to undermine year-long efforts to simplify one's life and reduce clutter and consumerism, but my family and friends seem to know me by now.

And now - try to contain your excitement - I have a new desk by a window. Life is good.