Window of opportunity

Thanks to my friend Todd I am online in the Peg and it's so nice. I really do feel a bit out of sorts not being able to go on my computer whenever I want. It's just habit, like breathing & coffee in the morning. Anyways, it's not painfully cold here, only -10ish, so I'm not freezing to death. It's almost nice with the snow and everything. Very Christmasy. I got to go to the Toronto Zoo when I was in Hamilton. It was AWESOME - except Charles, the male silverback Gorilla, was a little shy and I couldn't get a really good picture of him. I'm hoping my other pictures turned out okay - there were also Orangutans, Gibbons, a Komodo dragon...and I saw the Keeper who I used to see on Zoo Diaries. We also went on a mini wine tour around Niagara (Ravine, Peller Estates, Chateau des Charmes) and I went to see Harry Potter again. I cried even more this time! I went to see Body World (across from the MTS Centre) with Cousin Mikie yesterday. I was not as grossed out as I thought I would be. The way everything is displayed created a much needed distance from all the blood & guts stuff. The most interesting thing was that they were able to display all the blood vessels - there was one whole body of blood vessels as well as an arm, a foot, and some other bits. I just don't get how they were able to get it all out without damaging it. Amazing. Gross, but amazing.

I guess that's it for now. Except that I started cleaning out my Mom's cupboards and found a can of tomatoes so old that it actually ballooned out. Yuck!

Merry Christmas!

Outside

I got my hair cut today and then went or a walk at Crescent Beach, through all the trails there. It was crisp but it wasn't raining and only started to drizzle as we were on our way back to the car. As usual my bird photos were not successful but there are a few decent ones to share! Some day I will be able to take amazing photos of birds. Some day...

Festiveness

So, the bathroom (minus the tub), the living room & kitchen are now clean! Three cheers for me & over a week off. Not AMAZING progress but progress nonetheless. I got a bit side tracked with Recordshop Tycoon & Papa's Burgeria. I kicked a$$ at the Recordshop one - but unfortunately there is not much to add on to so I am played out. The Burgeria one was a bit harder. I did okay but the customers always had to wait way too long or I overcooked the burgers or something. Anyways, I finally decorated for Christmas - last year I didn't at all - and I really like the festiveness of it all. And, of course the Bumble always makes me happy.

By the way Hal keeps eating this plant. It doesn't matter where I put it. But, I guess it's sort of a type of pruning so hopefully it won't die.

Entertainment...

So, I just watched The Road, with Viggo Mortensen. Wow. I had a hard time watching several scenes, I almost turned away but I managed to force myself to keep going. I highly recommend this movie if you can handle it. It's a post-apocalyptic film, but not a Mad Max kind of idealistic kind of thing. It was horrible & gritty & emotional. The characters were dealing with a complete collapse of society, no food, nothing and just trying to survive. I also watched Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - much less emotional but if you like comics, superheroes, and Indie bands which I do than it's good entertainment. I rented Pretty Bird as well, with Billy Crudup & Paul Giamatti but I'll probably watch that tomorrow.

On Friday I read approximately 500 pages of a 596 page book, the rest was read before I went to the Zoo Saturday morning. It's called In The Woods by Tana French. It's about solving a murder & the main character had also experienced some tragedy when he was a kid & lost his 2 best friends in the same place that the murder happened. It was obviously very absorbing & I couldn't put it down. I have to say that the ending left me very unsatisfied but I respect a story that does not tie up neatly in the end so I still recommend it. I bought more books yesterday, way more than I should have but the latest Wheel of Time novel is out and I bought a couple travel books on Africa to help jump start my travel plans. Work was such a nightmare this past year that I have still not really done any actual planning yet. Luckily I also came across this site thanks to Twitter about volunteer options in Namibia & Botswana, etc. so that was interesting as well. I'm looking at about $1500 U.S. for 2 weeks which is way more than I was hoping for but I should be able to pull it off if I can get a really good deal on my flight & not loose it and quit my job during the summer...I may need to get medicated though to stick it out. It's for the greater good, or at least my greater good.

Things I am doing while I am NOT AT WORK!!!

I went to the Aquarium yesterday and saw some interesting creatures:

A huge Sea Turtle

A toad.

I forget what these were called but apparently they are a delicacy in Mexico & are endangered.

Some fishes.

A snake.

Pygmy Marmoset.

Jellyfish.

Then I ran out of batteries... But it was a great day. I also shopped up a storm, the best purchase by far was the 'side-sleeper' pillow from Ikea. It's the SH&#!!!