January cures

I’m slowly reading The Little Friend. It’s unfortunate that there doesn’t seem to be much time for reading these days. I know that a major part of the reason I managed to read 50 books last year was largely because of the first five months of the year in which I was taking the subway every day.  It makes me a little sad to think about all the reading I was doing over the holidays and how the only book I’ve managed to finish in the past couple of weeks was Deenie. But that’s modern life these days– overly scheduled busy-ness. I was reflecting this morning that for someone who prefers to be at home, I definitely seem to spend a lot of time out of the house…

But it’s a hard thing to complain about when I’m doing so many things I enjoy. I met with my writers group this week, which was immensely helpful not only for the insightful feedback but also for the deadline to produce something. Deadlines are a gift! If I can stay on track to produce a story or a chapter every month for the rest of the year, as per my 2014 resolutions, I will definitely be in good shape to finish one of the things I’m working on right now. It’s so exciting to look at a project and realize that you’re past the halfway point to a complete first draft.

The January Cure on Apartment Therapy is continuing to inspire me. I haven’t completed all the daily assignments (some aren’t really applicable…and some are TOO applicable/impossible right now, if you know what I mean), but I’ve done a few and have gone above and beyond on some of the others. I did a quick reorganization on my closet after I finally switched up my summer and winter wardrobes, and now that my hangers are full of things I haven’t looked at (much less worn) in months, I’ve got that impatient, tingly feeling that suggests I might be able to get rid of a few more things soon. I have too many skirts where the waistline is at my hips (why??) that I never feel good wearing anymore.  And though there is something nice about my thrifted cashmere sweaters (um, mostly that they are super soft lovely cashmere), none of them are cut to fit in contemporary or flattering ways. You’d think the fact that I paid $1 for each of them would make it easier to let them go, but I get so excited about bargains and thrifty finds that sometimes it actually makes it harder.

The other good thing about organizing my closet – even with the rushed, incomplete job I did – is remembering what clothes I have and actually wearing them. This is another good reason to try to thin things out: so that I can actually see what’s there. It has been a major help to have most of my dresses temporarily packed away because I have a lot of them. (With dresses, it is definitely harder to concede that there are too many. There are just enough!)

I’ve still been taking a photo every day, but at least half of them are pretty mediocre or random selfies. This one probably seems equally random, but it was a lovely breakfast prepared by my husband last weekend:

The most important meal...of the week

Yum!! In other news, I am really ready for this cold weather to be over. It's so stabby cold and sunny bright out there that it reminds of me of Winnipeg. I can hardly wait for it to be -16 tomorrow, which is rather a sad observation.

Winnipeg and a 2004 flashback

I returned home today from a week-long visit to Winnipeg. It was a whirlwind visit with barely enough time to see everyone I wanted to see/do everything I wanted to do (and let's be frank with my priorities here: eat what I wanted to eat -- I never made it my-favourite-of-days-gone-by Thai restaurant around the corner from my former apartment, and by the time I made it to the King's Head, the kitchen had closed as far as fish and chips were concerned). But one thing that happened that I was thrilled about was a gathering at my friend G's place.

When I lived in Winnipeg, G's place on Gertrude was the most frequent and regular haunt for our Wednesday night writing group. Like lots of other writing groups, this one originated from a university writing course and gradually grew to include other friends who liked to write. We exchanged work, gave feedback, drank tea, snacked, and chatted (these last few being the three constants). Even though many of us had different aesthetics and divergent types of projects, it was wonderful to get feedback from other perspectives and feel support for one's endeavours. Plus having a weekly writing date was a terrific incentive to produce new work.

By a very happy coincidence, another Gertrude St. alumni was in town the same weekend and G was kind enough to invite us both over for dinner. Not only did I get to see (and chat with) G's beautiful wife, see (and hold!) his delightful offspring, I got the pleasure of revisiting those fun times in 2004. We ate yummy takeout Thai food and talked shop about writing, comics, reading and learning. G is a teacher now, bringing his inimitable enthusiasm and creativity to Winnipeg high school students. I hope they realize how lucky they are!