It’s the first day of February! January is over, for those of you who had a case of the January blues. And here in Calgary, the weather today is unseasonably warm, the snow is melting, cars are filthy. This warmth is in sharp contrast to earlier in the week, when it was minus 37 with windchill. I went to pick the boys up at lunch – the boys who went to school wearing snowpants, parkas, neck warmers, hats, mitts, and boots – and was sadly disappointed with the sight of them sprinting across the icy playground to meet me, hatless and frozen. Mark, in particular, cheerfully popped out of his school door wearing only his coat, and unzipped at that. By the time he made it to the car he was blue, and I asked him what he was thinking. “Well, the sun was shining,” he said, “So I thought it was warm out.”
The blue skies of Calgary in the winter can be deceiving. There is a very special breed of Calgarian who ignores the information on the temperature gauge and instead dresses based on what the sky looks like. You can see these purple legged people everywhere, running along the pathway system, wearing shorts despite the minus 20 temperatures. It appears that I have birthed one of these people.
But hey, it’s Friday, it’s February, AND it’s a PD day, which I love. I am still in my sweaty yoga clothes, the kids are in their jammies playing Poke Park on the Wii, and I’m trying to figure out what to do with the giant batch of vegan sour “cream” I made yesterday. I was reminded after I made it why I avoid soy. Possibly this can be used as an ingredient in some other recipe; it certainly cannot be used on its own because NASTY. Oh well, either I salvage it or I forfeit $1.49 worth of soft tofu. The consequences are not that dire.
I went shopping at Costco yesterday, which isn’t generally my favourite thing to do, but thanks to short lineups and the fact that only one person disparaged my choice of almond milk, it wasn’t too bad. At least I wasn’t buying this:
These really leave those “Bee Mine” or “I Choo-Choo-Choose You” cards in the dust. The dust, I say! Quit Stalin, I shall say to my husband. And he will shake his head at me, brow furrowed, probably wondering why his wife is such a nutcase.
For example, this morning I was scrolling through news headlines and saw “Ed Koch Died In The Closet.” The first – the very first – thought that went through my head was how did he die in a closet? Did he fall into the closet, and did no one find him? Poor guy. Then I read the article. OH. Light bulb. I took that for a sign I needed more coffee.
Then, to top off my nuttiness, I realized that there is a whole folder of messages in my Facebook account that I didn’t know was there! A sweet note from a woman at the Yoga Shala, from OCTOBER that I had obviously never replied to since I didn’t know it was there. Rude! Also in that folder, this classy note from an unknown stranger:
Hello, I am Oscar. I am 45 year old and i am italian live California. I came across your profile and it would be my pleasure if we can be close friends…
Is this how people meet people these days? It creeped me out – possibly unfairly. I mean, maybe Oscar just needs a friend. A CLOSE friend. Anyone want to be Oscar’s friend? Anyone?
The sun is shining and it’s minus 25 today. Also, my knee hurts. And it’s my sister’s birthday and she’s not home but if I wait to call her until she gets home I’ll probably forget, and this is stressing me out. In other words, it’s February and I still feel january-ish. Blah.
Don’t be sad! Leon Trotsky thinks your hotsky! You’re the Kim Jong Illest!
It’s only one degree below zero here today, and the sun is shining! The worst part of the year for me is the January – March run, so I spent the morning cheerily telling myself “we’re a third of the way there”!
Having temps warm enough for all of us to get outside for an hour helped everyone’s mood. Even mine, and I was occupied in picking up, um, poopsicles exposed by yesterday’s freakishly warm temps and pouring rain.
Tell me again why I have a dog?
Anyway, yes, January is behind us, and for today anyway I’m refraining from calling it “Fuckuary” although I’m sure I will start again in a week or so. 😉
I’m going to Pa Ingalls you. “February is a short month, March is spring, then the trains will be able to get through!”
Sorry Pa. You’ll have to wait for May. Try not to eat your family.
BWAH HA HA HA HA HA.
Perhaps this winter I’ll learn to twist hay. That’s aerobic exercise, right?
WAIT A MINUTE.
Perfect idea: The Long Winter Diet & Fitness Regime. I’ll write a book. Nothing but hard bread twice daily, and hay-twisting for hours. I’ll get on Dr. Oz and make a zillion dollars.
I love the valentines. “Let us be comrades / because you are great”! Perfect for a classroom exchange! (I’m imagining how shocked I’d be and how hard I’d laugh if one of my kids came home with one of those.)
I ONLY JUST FOUND THAT FACEBOOK MESSAGE FOLDER TOOOOOO. I was mortified, because there were several that, by not responding to them, I looked like I was totally blowing someone off. NICE. There were also two from someone wondering if I was “real.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
That’s how I felt! And I’ve probably seen this woman in passing! She must have thought I was HORRIBLE!
Is it wrong that the valentine’s cards made me aware that today’s crop of dictators, despots and political philosophers don’t have names that lend themselves to cheesy puns? Well, I guess Putin has possiblities. And sure, Castro is still TECHNICALLY alive. But still: that’s kind of sad.
I went to the dentist today & you have to take your boots off in the vestibule. And because I’m a rule-follower, I did this. And because I’m a long time patient, I knew to bring indoor shoes, aka my orange Birkenstock sandals. Someone in the waiting area asked me if I’d worn them TO the office. It’s -1ºC, but still! THAT’S CRAZY TALK!