We've almost reached... February. Yeah, well, March is just after that, y'know. :)
Almost over... one more day left of January after today. Huzzah. That means Cali very very very soon! And February is a short month, meaning March will be here before we know it, and I am a big fan of March. Spring, baby. Bring it.
New and exciting in my world, I've been pre-approved for a mortgage. Which means soon, like in the next few weeks soon, I will be doing some serious home hunting. I'm aiming to move in mid to late spring, but if I don't find anything I like, no hurry. I'm not buying something just for the sake of wanting to own by a certain date. No, there are certain things it has to have, certain areas I'm looking in (although they are general areas, pretty broad, and there are a few of them), and most of all, it has to be me -- by that I mean I have to love it, it has to feel like home, because it's going to be home for at least a few years!
So yeah. If all goes well, I could be a homeowner by my 25th birthday, or shortly after. Ack, okay, that one's scary -- 25. It's funny, I never, ever thought I'd have issues with 25. Actually, I'm not sure I have issues with 25, but about a month or so ago it was freaking me a wee bit. I think I'm over it now. ;)
Well, back to the books. I have some reading to finish, a seminar writeup and reading response or two to do. Also, I should continue with some cleaning -- my bedroom is sparkling, but that's about all! Cleaning was sorely neglected last weekend, due to a heap of schoolwork I had. That's okay, though, with the exception of my term paper weeks in April, I think the busiest week of my semester is now done. So now I must attack the dust bunnies. (Note: must find a home with carpet -- hardwood drives me nuts. I'd much rather vacuum a few times a week -- which I do anyway, because I have throw rugs -- than vacuum/swiffer and wash.)
Welcome to the middle-slowly-nearing-end-oh-will-we-ever-get-there-is-it-
over-yet of January. This is a month that really should be sectioned off that way, because it's just that long and it's just that cold. Hmmm. Submitted for your approval, the stages of Januaryitis in this land called Canada:
Stage 1: January 1. This is a stage unto itself. Actually, the day itself could probably be divided into two sub-stages:
Sub-stage b):
A-little-more-realistic-once-we-wake-up-with-a-blinding-headache-and-
trudge-out-to-our-car-which-we-now-must-unearth-from-the-
12-foot-snowdrift-that-Mother-Nature-created-while-doing-her-version-
of-blowing-a-meteorological-noisemaker-the-night-before-shivering-
fiercely-as-we-dig-and-dig-and-sweep. But the optimism of the new year and goodwill towards all is still present within us here, and thus, the month is still approached with some cheer.
Stage 2. January 2-15, or roughly thereabouts. This stage is actually known as two things at once. The first of these is something to the effect of where-in-blazes-did-all-the-world's-colour-go-and-what-genius-decided-
upon-the-lie-that-white-is-all-colours-and-black-is-the-absence-of-
it-please-someone-even-show-me-just-a-blue-sky-and-
unearth-a-pine-tree-from-its-white-cocoon-all-I-want-is-colour-and-
sunshine-and-sunshine-and-colour-someone-give-me-yellow-
cellophane-or-a-pack-of-Crayolas-so-I-can-colour-the-windows-because-I-
am-going-to-climb-a-%@*(@%!-frozen-tree-if-I-don't-see-something-other-
than-white-soon. The second and slightly less polite title of this stage is grumble-mutter-curse-grumble-mutter-%#*(@%()*@%)(@()@!!!-
freezing-rain-%*(@%*()@%()-just-pick-one-already-would-you-
%(%@(*%@-snow-or-@)*@%)*@%)*@-rain-hockey-players-are-meant-to-
skate-not-cars-on-roads-or-pedestrians-on-sidewalks. AKA lawsuit season, as our kind city has seemingly decided against salt on the sidewalks of residential streets. Stores selling golf cleats should really be advertising.
Stage 3. January 16-20. Simply known as "Why? Why, dear God, why?" Alternately known as "It's effing cold."
Stage 4. January 20-30. This is sometimes called "Whine, whine, whine." It can also be referred to as "Bitch, moan and complain." Why? Because we are going to do all of these things, all day long, every day, until this blasted month is over. And at this point we really don't believe it ever will be over. There is only so much -90398729835728937598°C (although I'm sure this is about on par in °F) that the people of this fine country can take. We miss our humidex, UV index, and even our mosquitos. Yes, this title offering is valid in Quebec, but void in the GTA and coastal British Columbia.
Stage 5. January 31. Like January 1, this stage can also be divided into two sub-stages:
Sub-stage b):
"What the @%()@%()*@! are we celebrating for? It's February tomorrow."
February is when the heating bill arrives. Due to the extremely sensitive nature of this topic and the rage-inducing effect the words "gas company" have on a vast majority of Canadians during this time, it's really best that we don't talk about it.
So, let's see. What's new here? Well, the winter term has started, meaning I'm back in classes, meaning I'm mighty busy again. Meaning I should have been reading rather than writing about the stages of Januaryitis. Meaning I'm procrastinating. Meaning I have a seminar for next week I should be planning right now. You know. :)
Yeah, yeah, I'm going... books are calling. They get really loud if I don't answer, making it impossible to fall asleep. Well, either that or worries about all the time I should have spent reading. Til next time, stay safe and warm! :)
I've put up a few photos from New Year's for now -- more will probably be added later, along with a few more Christmas photos. I've switched to a PHP gallery, so the photos link has also changed. You can access the gallery here. I still have to change the links on this site, and add some of the older photos to the gallery.
I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's Eve, and that everyone has a wonderful new year!
