Ten Things I Love

Here's how it works: you get a letter from someone who has done this meme, and then you write. My letter is N. I got it from Hope. If you want a letter, let me know and I'll give you a random one.

1. Now. I am learning to love now, anyway. I have spent so much of my life in the past or the future. Yoga is helping me to appreciate that all I have, the only real thing in my life, is the now.

2. ‘Nog. I didn’t used to like egg-nog, but I have been introduced to it, with milk and a bit of Baileys, and it’s quite good. There are those who think I’m a wiener for not drinking it straight. I’m sorry. It reminds me too much of the first milk from a ewe, all thick and sweet like sugary glue. And if you’re wondering how I know what that looks like, I’ve had to milk a ewe when her lamb wouldn’t nurse. And yes, I tasted it. People use to drink sheep milk, and I wanted to know if it was sweet like the books said. It is. Like egg-nog. So now I dilute my ‘nog, and all is well with the world.

3. Nails (as in fingernails). When they’re pretty and not breaking, that is. I had my first ever manicure last year and it was so nice. I just use my hands so much that it isn’t easy to maintain a well-groomed hand. Every time I see someone with beautiful hands I wish mine were like that too. Kind of.

4. News. I like to listen to the news on CBC Radio when I wake up. Yes, it’s depressing sometimes, but it makes me feel like I’m aware of and connected to the world around me. I started this habit when I was in Rosebud, where if you don’t make an effort to be aware, the world just passes you by and suddenly there’s a new prime minister and you didn’t even know there was an election. Okay, it’s not that bad…but almost.

5. Nosegays. That’s an old word for flowers, and it encompasses two things I love, flowers and old words. Especially flowers picked out of the wild, which then bring that wildness into the house, and old words used naturally and with no thought of trying to appear intellectually superior to the surrounding throngs.

6. Northern Lights. The first time I saw red northern lights I was sitting up in bed at the house my parent’s very nearly bought, looking through my large window in awe at the sky above the Hawthorne trees. I think the first time I heard northern lights was at that house too. We lived there for the last few years that I lived with my family. It surprises me that it took that long for me to hear the lights I saw every winter until I moved to Southern Alberta.

7. Novels! How could this one come so far down the list…well, it’s not in any particular order. Novels. I love reading books, and I really love reading fiction. The latest on my reading list has included Ender in Exile, Bird by Bird and Twilight. Yes, I’m reading Twilight. And yes, it is very enjoyable. If I had my way, I’d actually get a comfy chair at work and sit and read novels all day long until I had read 80% of the books we have (the other 20% don’t interest me…reference books, books on sports, etc.).

8. Numbers. Certain numbers, anyway. I have this weird things about numbers and days of the week, and certain months as well. Some seem to me to be round and soft; other are sharp and adventurous. I prefer (generally speaking) the sharp and adventurous numbers, week days, and months. Unless they are perfect in their roundness, and not dorky at all. February 28th is perfectly round. September 17th is perfectly sharp. May 5th is a stupid mix, trying to be sharp when it really should just give up and be round, but it never will and so it makes me feel irritable and jittery. I have no problem living through the day of May 5th – I just don’t like how it looks on paper, or how it sounds, or how it feels in my mouth or ears. M should make up it’s mind instead of sitting on the fence. Gah. My favourites? 7. 7 and maybe 9. 4 is decent too. And Thursday wins for days of the week, hands down. I’m not sure on months, since so much depends on what day of the month it is. My least favourite numbers are 5, and 3. And Monday.

9. Necks. I notice necks on men, the way they slide into shoulders and arms and torsos. Necks, manly necks, are so amazingly hot. I cannot describe my attraction to necks. And a beautiful graceful neck on a woman will capture my attention and I’ll find myself staring. Perhaps I am a vampire at heart. Necks are beautiful.

10. Nuzzle. This could go along with necks, I guess; a seductive nuzzle on a neck is pretty nice (ha! Alliteration!). But there is something so tender about nuzzling too. Just watch a newborn lamb being nuzzled by it’s mother, and you see right there how immediate the bond is between the two of them. I know they’re animals but I think they feel love too. And to see love between anything outside myself fills me with a peace about my life and the world around me – that it will all be okay somehow, because other people (and beings) love.

Working Joe

I spent the first few weeks of January searching for a job. It was an eye-opening experience. It made me realize that at least half of the jobs I've had in my life were handed to me on silver platters, and that I've never not gotten a job I applied for.

It shocked me that I had to hand out over 20 resumes before I heard from anyone. Of course, then I heard from 5 of them. Which is apparently good odds, but still a little blow to my ego. Fortunately one of those jobs was the one on the top of my list, and that's the one I got. Yeay! Especially since I was beginning to think I was unemployable.

So now I spend my days shelving books, finding books for people, selling books to other people, ordering books for some other people, and then shelving some more books. Surrounded by books all day is very relaxing to me. The only down side so far is how dry my hands are getting from handling paper all day. I'd forgotten about that until my skin started to turn white. Ouch. But hand lotion was invented for book-sellers and now I use it excessively.

I'm happy.

It's a relief.

Now I just have to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life and I'm all set.

Moving On Into the New Year

I sit in my new apartment and look around. I live in Calgary now. It's a dramatic way to start the new year, moving from a town of less than 100 people to a big city but although I'm an actor that's not why I did it. It's surreal but I like it. The apartment, anyway. I haven't been here long enough to know if I like the city yet. The apartment is looking like home as we spread out our junk, finding hidey-holes for all of it somehow.

We. S. and I are living together now. It's something that four years ago I wouldn't have thought I'd do but I am really enjoying this now. I'm not sure what changed. Well, I did, I guess, but I'm not sure why. I just know I'm happy I made this decision and that is all I can go by.

It's going to be a vast learning experience though. I know that already. We are so different in some ways and too similar in others. I notice this keenly as we unpack. I am slow and relaxed, finding, in an almost zen fashion, where things want to live. He is all go-go-go, wanting to get it all unpacked before bedtime.
However, I am very particular with the kitchen and where things go - I've moved enough times to know the feng shui of kitchens and how dishes and food need to be oriented to the stove, fridge and sink - and so is he, but in a different way, and we have our first fight in our new place. It's short lived. We compromise. I put things that are important to him on lower shelves so he can reach them easily and the rest goes where I want it to.

My interlude is over and the unpacking must continue. I'm going to Banff tomorrow for the day so I'll get my rest and relaxation then - but now I'll go. Happy New Year, everyone!