I ♥ Montreal

I arrived in Montreal around 8:30 p.m. yesterday and after getting acclimated to the area where I'm staying (downtown near the beautiful Parc du Mont Royal), my friend and I headed towards Boulevard Saint Laurent to check out the club scene. And all I have to say is: Why the HELL is this my first time in Montreal?

First off, it is a straight shot up the interstate to get here. A few tolls, pass a few farms and a couple of McDonald's and it's "Bienvenue Canada!" Secondly, despite my dorky display at the border ("Can I get my passport stamped?!"), the process of crossing into Canada was as easy-peasy as stopping to pay a toll. Actually a bit faster. Toll people, get on that!

And finally, Montreal (or what little I've seen of it between the hours of 10 pm and 2 am) is easy to walk around, bars and even restaurants stay open until 2 am (sometimes 3 am). There's lots of people walking and you feel very safe. And there's a beautiful mix of cultures and languages. Of course, I'm here in the summer so I haven't experience a major flaw of the city: winter. But I'm willing to summer here in Montreal. And maybe all the rest of it makes enduring winter worth it.

Late 20's Wasteland

Day wasted. Or not really. I actually finished reading book 5 of the Song of Ice and Fire series A Dance With Dragons. It was a-mah-zing. (That's funnier if you watch Happy Endings by the way. No really go check out Hulu I'll wait)

Yesterday was also great. Sometimes the stars align and you really get to see who cares. I got lots of sweet birthday wishes and love. Way more than I expected. I got to eat at Hashi in Washington Heights (delicious food, drinks, etc.) and I had some Girlfriends-esque talk with my friends. And my mom made me mac-n-cheese and barbecue chicken.

Other than my ever-expanding waistline it was a great birthday. I do feel this immense pressure to pack in every minute of my NY time but the crazy heat followed by the rain has derailed me a bit. Thursday I head to Montreal and we'll see what I get into there.

Things That Make Me Happy

I'm a simple person for the most part and I try to take pleasure in life's simple offerings. Here's a few things that are currently making me happy.

This video:


For some reason I start to tear up at the "Somebody to Love" section.

My godsister:

Just about the cutest thing ever. And she's planned a whole evening of us playing with her toys. She cracks me up.






My iPod Touch:

My mom spent way too much on me for Christmas but if I had to, I could give everything back but this iPod. I've been on the web and downloading apps non-stop. It's my absolute new favorite thing.

100 Issues for 100 Days: #94

#94: One Missed Call

Today I left my cell phone at home. Though it's annoying (no timekeeper, no way to reach people when I need to tell them something quickly, etc.), the best thing about not having my phone is that I don't feel bothered. I don't feel tied to what I should be doing because there's no one to remind me if I'm not.

After work I went out to dinner without regard to the time or what was happening. To be honest, I couldn't care less if I hadn't gotten home at a decent hour.

I think more people should free themselves from the constraints of cell phones. Whenever I see my students, every moment they can they're checking messages or texting. When I got my cell phone in college, I rarely pulled it out during the day and definitely not during classes. Why do we seem to dread our screens flashing "one missed call"? Do we feel that we'll have missed out on something significant? When did we start seeing a missed call as a failed moment rather than just an opportunity to call someone back?

100 Issues for 100 Days: #65

#65: It Ain't Over Til It's Over

Rundown of my day:

5:00 AM: Wake-up, begin washing dishes and getting together ingredients to cook treats for school event.

6:00 AM: Get off computer after looking up conversion from ounces to cups.

6:15 AM: Get the popcorn started, begin mixing the caramel sauce.

6:30 AM: Trying to figure out where to store the popcorn. Don't have anything big enough to hold all the popcorn I plan on making. End up using garbage bag.

7:00 AM: Caramel sauce still too thin and I need to finish so I can wash up to get to school. Add cornstarch.

7:30 AM: Finish the food. Start gathering everything I made the night before and getting other supplies together.

7:44 AM: Oh shit! Hop in the shower. Come out, hop into my outfit.

8:00 AM: Can't find the lights I need for the haunted house.

8:30 AM: Finally find and gather everything. Out the door! If I left it too bad.

8:47 AM: Just missed the bus. Next one not til 10 min. Start looking up cab companies but the next bus is early.

9:05 AM: Time to transfer. Next bus is in 6 min. Put down the bags I'm hauling.

9:30 AM: Arrive at work. Put my bags down and run upstairs to watch my students perform their skits for Humanities class.

10:10 AM: Only a third of the way through and I'm light-headed. Haven't eaten anything.

10:15 AM: Someone brought pastries today. Thank God!

10:50 AM: Skits are over. I have a bit of time before lunch duty begins. Check-in with my boss. Return emails.

11:00 AM: Co-workers start to arrive. Send them to my office to finish prepping for this afternoon's event.

11:20 AM: Lunch duty starts.

12:30 PM: Have to stop 3 kids and remind them to finish chewing their lunch before coming out to recess.

12:40 PM: Lunch duty over. Jump in to help prep.

1:10 PM: Checked in with other teachers, they brought next to nothing for this afternoon's event. Gotta make a Wal-Mart run!

1:20 PM: Before I leave set up snack for the afterschool program and get attendance sheets.

1:25 PM: Out the door. Spend about $60 at Wal-Mart.

2:00 PM: Get back to school. Parent meeting! Need the receptionist to translate for me. Mom is a Spanish-speaker.

2:30 PM: Out of meeting. Luckily student is a star. Nothing but good things to say. Time to start getting redy for the event.

3:00 PM: Lord, help me not to hurt these children. Pulled in a zillion different directions.

3:45 PM: Down to the wire. Some kids can't pull it together and all I want to do is pee. Headed to the bathroom when another crisis hits.

3:50 PM: Crisis averted. I can pee.

4:00 PM: We're supposed to start but everything's not ready. Kids start lining up.

4:20 PM: Gotta start even if we're behind. The little kids are afraid of the Spooky Walk. We have some criers.

4:45 PM: First transition smooth. High school students are doing excellent.

5:05 PM: Second transition easy-peasy.

5:25 PM: Where are the extension cords?! Found them. Then found out I don't need them. Tme for the costume contest.

5:45 PM: They want to give two kids a tie. Send a teacher to make up more goody bags. I did not plan for this.

6:00 PM: Everyone got a prize. Kindergartener is crying cause he didn't win. Slip him some Play-Doh.

6:15 PM: Surprised to find the majority of the areas cleaned up. Time for the nitty-gritty. Vaccuming.

6:30 PM: Discover the kids spilled some fake blood on the carpet. Down on all fours scrubbing.

7:00 PM: Think I got it all. Checking the kitchen one last time.

7:15 PM: Inventorying what's left. Setting aside the good stuff as treats for the high school.

7:30 PM: Beat, afraid to go into my office cause it's one more thing i'll have to clean.

8:00 PM: Just got home, thanks to a ride from a co-worker. So glad I didn't have to get on the bus.

8:05 PM: Put down my bags. Realize I still have to cook. Want to pass out ... get up and make some spaghetti.

8:30 PM: Pour a glass of wine and sit down to eat. Now all I have to do is blog.

100 Issues for 100 Days :#14

#14: Lazy Hazy Crazy Days

One thing I love and hate about Northern California during this time of the year is the weather. This is when the summer is really kicking up. The past few days have been 80-90+ degrees and absolutely gorgeous. The problem is that it's so incongruous with what's happening around you. School starts about nine hours from now and if I want to be at the beach, I can only imagine how the kids feel.

It's also tempting to spend your time outside of work at the bar or restaurants a.k.a. spending money. My solution to that is usually to stay inside. Today, I watched about 3 movies and twisted my hair, which is an all-day activity. But I would have loved being on a beach. So school starts tomorrow and summer is officially over ... and I'm already looking forward to the beginning of summer again.