What do you think?

Hey, do you like my new blog layout? It's long overdue and I've been enjoying how other people have revamped their blogs, so it was time :)

Tonight, I'm hoping to attend a workshop at the library about urban agriculture and growing gardens in the city so you can grow food for your family. I'm excited for it because it will show how even in the city you can use the space you have to grow food, and one of my goals this year is a) actually grow something edible, b) keep said thing alive, and c) eat or prepare the something. I'm thinking herbs are the least ambitious, but hopefully I'll get some ideas tonight.

My hairdresser told me it's the thing right now to eat avocado for your hair, so I thought, why not, and bought an organic one at the market last time I went. It went mushy really fast but I spread it on some rye bread to make a sandwich for my lunch, with brie, so we'll see how it goes, I'm a little leery as to how those two will go together. I have my side of edamame that I like having at work, yum. My coworker across from me emailed me some vegetarian recipes, including chocolate quinoa crepes, and they look really good. I need more motivation to cook things, and I'm not a very good vegetarian because I don't eat enough beans, grains, etc.

Just now, I signed up for a 10k race on May 1st, which should be interesting since I've been sick for a while and haven't been training at all. I was going to drop down to a 5k but since I'm not signed up for any other races this spring, I think I'll stick with it. It feels weird, usually I do 1-2 half-marathons in the spring, but not this time. Oh well. It will probably be my last race before my birthday- for some reason I always notice that on the registration because it asks how old you are on race day.

I guess that's enough rambling for now. When I'm home, I'm hoping to hit up the local library since they keep getting rid of books when they're not read after one year, and I'm sure I'm missing out on so many good ones, and there's not much I can do about it other than buy the ones I can when I am visiting:) Yes, I know, I'm such a nerd...they're usually kids' books, too...I really need to get more adult fiction for my bookshelf, heheh.

Happy Easter, everyone! Thanks for reading! ...xo...

Kind of fitting for just before Easter

It's been quite a few weeks. Just when I'm trying to sort out work/school details, life keeps happening...a memorial service/celebration of life, baby shower, poetry workshops, two fundraiser events (MS Walk and CN Tower climb), and I've had a lingering cough on top of everything. There hasn't really been much time or motivation to write...and I don't even have kids or anything...how do people do it?

I need to intentionally scale back some of my social stuff- it's not like I'm tremendously popular but I like to attend different events or activities and have a hard time saying no, and that doesn't tend to go well with studying lots, I hear:)

The lady in my church who died, whose celebration of life I attended on the weekend- it's hard to believe she's gone. I don't think I grieve well, if such a thing is possible- I tend to regress to five-year-old capacity and have a hard time absorbing loss, even if I'm not close to them. I have a number of close friends who have experienced significant loss close to them, and it's not something I can fathom. I don't know what I'd do, and I don't want to think of the possibility. See what I mean about acting like I'm five?

One thing I've noticed is that coming into contact with death makes me want to go visit my family more often, spend time with them, not miss out on anything I'd regret. It's that urge to hold them tighter as if to keep them safe. It's a big part of why I'm seeing my family at Easter, admittedly.

I came across a poem a number of years ago, in Patricia Maclachlan's book, Baby, which pretty much sums up my reaction to death, or expresses it the way I can't. I've returned to it several times because it's so honest, and I'd like to share it here:

Dirge Without Music

Edna St. Vincent Millay

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground.
So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind:
Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned
With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned.

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you.
Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust.
A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew,
A formula, a phrase remains - but the best is lost.

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love,
They are gone. They have gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled
Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve.
More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world.

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know. But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.

I don't mean that to be depressing, but rather an affirmation of life with all its joys and small moments of beauty. You should read it in context (borrowed, albeit) in Baby; it's a poignant tale told beautifully by one of my favourite authors.

Wishing you a warm rest of the week (come on, Spring!) and a happy Easter with loved ones.

xo.

Some fall photos- LOLA fest and a race

One of many art exhibits, this was hung over the main stage during LOLA, and I couldn't get over the beauty of it; it changed the whole look of the park.

Do you like how you can see the cathedral and high-rises in the background? The shows usually had a better turnout, but the weather was rainy on and off. I was volunteering part of the time so didn't get that many snapshots, unfortunately.
One of my favourites, Leaf Bird, from Chicago. It was their first time playing outside of Chicago, and they had a laid-back, folksy feel. I'm glad I happened to catch this.
This one is a little bittersweet- Liz's shiny bronze cowboy boots she got at a thrift store, next to her pile of baggage, the day before she moved to the States :(
Lisa and I just after her first half-marathon, in Toronto, last September. She rocked that race, and I did pretty well too- all in all, lots of fun.

Phew! Now that I've overloaded you with photos, maybe it's okay if I post a few without ;) Still, I'd like to get better at photography, so that could motivate me to take more photos. That, and the fact that it's finally SPRING!!

Later!

Catching up with some photos

Leyla & Ben with Jenny and me on the stairs on the way up to a lookout in Montreal. We were getting together, the three girls, to hang out before Liz's wedding and maybe find a dress- none of us did, but it was so great to spend time with each other again.

The cross at Mont-Royal, I think

Sandbanks Provincial Park with my high school friends, our once-or-twice-a-year hangout weekend in which we gallivanted about on the dunes, toured some wineries in Prince Edward County (a fantastic wine region), and played board games:)

Jenny came to visit last week, and I had a couple days off from work to see her before her second Africa trip. We found two spots to hike right by London, which, I regret to say, I had never yet been to! It was just the ticket, slogging through snow, being in nature, ahhh :)

These holes in the snow were crusted over with ice- looks cool eh?

Jenny and me, squinting in the bright, yet overcast, light

These are a little out of order since I can't move them around- our lovely mid-March snowstorm. Pretty, but we were so ready for spring already!

I've got a few from fall yet to post...