A Good Day

This winter has been upsy downsy with some seriously freaking cold dog walks, some days of feeling incredibly lazy and useless, and those times when you leave work and it's completely dark and you basically feel like sobbing......... BUT there have also been cross-country ski adventures, twinkly diamond-y blankets of snow, sundogs, and snuggly hockey games watched under big blankets, making things, overall, not so bad. 

Winter Classic under Leafs blanket with my guy

I have had the desperate WHEN IS IT GOING TO END!!!! feelings starting over the past couple of weeks, but I just remind myself that in a month it's going to be mid-March.. and once in awhile in mid-March you get a day where you get to wear NO JACKET... maybe a t-shirt... in 2012 there were even several BIRKENSTOCKS days in March.  So you never know what March can bring.. and it's right around the corner!

I'm busying myself with staying on top of my resolutions (yes, I'm not just all talk - 2.5 lbs of body fat lost; have flossed my teeth all but about 3 nights in 1.5 months.. yessss!!!; regularly studying French with the help of some free online tools.. last night I said to Jeff, without thinking, when he yawned "mon cutie est fatigue".. so I must be getting somewhere!!), backyard birding, trying to really get ahead and organized at work so I don't feel so overwhelmed when field season gets here, and catching up with friends who I see less frequently during the busy summer, which has been the best part of all!  Especially that lots of friends have lots of big, exciting news or are up for long lazy days in pjs, or pigging out to the max (sorry new year's weight loss resolution...)... this makes friend time even more wonderful!

Yes, I am a loser

Days with friends, and their model-adorable children (who are this happy in -25C weather!)

I just wanted to celebrate a glimmer of what felt like summertime today.  It was a combination of many wonderful things that all came together to create a near-perfect day.

1) I got to watch someone I went to elementary school with compete in the freaking Olympics!!!  That was super cool. You might recognize the name Katie Tsuyuki who just narrowly missed qualifying for the finals in women's halfpipe.  Watching her awesome runs today was really inspiring, exciting and filled me with Scarborough pride (stop picturing gang members.. we lived in the nice part, I swear!!).  Seeing Katie was just lovely - we lost touch after elementary school but she was one of my closest friends in grades 6-8 - what a nice way to revisit someone's life.. on national tv! :)  I definitely took a 10 a.m. break at work to stream that.. warnings from the IT department be damned!

2) Though it may seem like the main part of my job is tumbling around outside all summer long, the key thing I was actually hired do is acquire conservation land - we're on the lookout for private lands with high conservation values.. and I found one such piece of land in January.. and we signed the agreement to buy the land today!  If all goes according to plan, the property will close on April 15 and will be a part of nature, FOREVER, spared from development and other major threats.  The grassland birds are singing a happy song.. and so am I, seeing as this was the first deal I'd signed up and gotten rolling - ya!

3) After a day of crucial paperwork flying back and forth I bolted out the door and raced my car through the beautiful afternoon sunshine through Guelph to a massage appointment where I went from 100 to 0 in 4 seconds (I'm the opposite of Top Thrill Dragster).  FAB massage, so relaxing and so grateful my ridiculously good benefits programs pays full for massages.. what a nice treat!  There is nothing better than someone leaning on your crunchy shoulder with their whole body weight and feeling your muscles just melting and relenting underneath!

4) Jeff had news of his annual work bonus today (part of a profit sharing program his company provides), which is scaled based on performance.  Because he took on a massive amount of extra work this year, and the president noticed, his bonus was double what we were expecting!  The smart part of us is like "we should invest this".. the part that's probably going to win is like "we should buy new bikes!".  I have been riding the same freaking bicycle since I was 12 years old.. I think it's time for an upgrade.  Luckily my sugar daddy agrees.  I think we'll probably invest half, and splurge with the other half.  What fun is life without a little splurging!  Hooray for windfalls!  Now if we can just get to work on winning that lottery (if Dave hasn't already made off with the group winnings, that is...)

5) I was dreading the hour dogwalk I promised Bailey (and my reluctantly healthy self) because the temperature dropped off pretty quickly tonight, but once we got out there and had some good tunes pumping it reminded me how much I like walking the mutt and got us one walk closer to SUMMER!  Summer.. a time where a dogwalk involves throwing on sandals and grabbing the leash. NOT putting on big socks, flannel lined jeans, snowpants, giant winter boots, a long sleeved shirt, a fleece, your winter jacket, a hat, mitts and somedays a scarf wrapped around your face.  And don't forget the poop bag.  And your phone.  And your headphones (without music you'll never get through the cold march along the snowbanks, and will instead die of boredom).  I feel like SUCH a diva in winter!

Yes, I look like this most days

And that's all.  A spot of warmth on a chilly day that I just wanted to share with anyone who felt like a read. :)