Thursday Grab Bag

Last night Mark and I headed out to Whitby for a belated birthday dinner. I gathered up my mom, dad, and grandparents, and we had some pretty wicked sushi. Ok, Dad, Mark and I had sushi, while everyone else opted for food that is cooked. It was really nice, and made me appreciate what a great family I have. I feel so loved and valued, and genuinely enjoy everyone's company. WARM FUZZY FEELINGS ABOUND.

Mark and I came back into the city this morning - he's at school and I've been having a pretty great day in the apartment. I did laundry, read the newish New Yorker, had myself a white chocolate mocha (mmmmm), a surprise call from my favourite Londoner - a dude who is renowned for his bad phone habits but has been making a habit of proving us all wrong over the last few months. Also, I checked out the gym that is a mere 2 minutes from my apartment. I think I will join, fingers are crossed for membership assistance. I've also checked out a bunch of job postings. My heart is currently not in it, for fear of landing some sort of mediocre position that will ruin my chances of attending the annual family-in-law ski Christmas. I'm still hoping for non-mediocre positions though.

I found a new internet radio player, Iceberg Radio, and the Canadian Indie station has been consistently awesome for the 30 minutes that I've been listening to it. They're currently playing the We're Marching On song that was in my head for 2 months this summer while I traveled. Speaking of traveling, I've not stayed true to my promise of posting pics. Here are some random ones:

KITTY!

I am still sick, but ALMOST not sick anymore. I've spent a lot of the past week just lounging around the apartment, and this little gal has been an endless source of entertainment and company:

I caught Kurt's cold.

I know I've been neglecting this space lately. It's not that I've been busy or anything, I've just been not in a very bloggy sort of mood. Lots of good stuff has (have? has.) been happening lately, like... getting engaged. That's probably why I've not been blogging - it feels so weird to write that on the internet. Mark and I are really, really happy! We haven't put much thought into planning yet, except for a rough 'next-fall' idea for the date.

I've also been thinking about the whole 'engagement' process. My current ring is from a No Frills vending machine (the first one was from Dominion, but it broke and was quickly replaced). I really love the sentiment of these rings - its very sweet and surprisingly personal. I'm not sure that I want to replace it with a 'real' ring though - I've always pictured myself as just a wedding band girl, no big shiny thing on my finger (also surprising, normally I am transfixed by shiny things whenever I walk past them). I also don't want poor Mark to feel like he needs to spend a small fortune on so that I can feel like I'm fitting in with expectations. I would much rather have that money put aside for something that will benefit US - like a house account or something like that. I guess my mind is pretty made up and this is all myself coaxing myself into bucking tradition.

In other fantabulous news, Rafael is finally here from Cuba!! After a year and a half, Sharon's Canadian family is complete! IT was so great to see Rafa again - the last time I saw him was their wedding, and I had never dreamed that it would take this long for him to get here. He and Sharon seemed so happy together, very much like an old (well, half-old HAHA) married couple. I can't wait for double dates and being there as Rafa experiences so many new things :)

Birthday shoutouts go to Megan, who is not nearly as old as I am, but still supercool. Mark and Kurt and I spent a whirlwind 24 hours with her and Derek in Mtl last weekend - good times were had despite we three Torontonians wimping out at midnight and leaving the Montrealers out partying till 4am. I think we made up for it on Sunday on our wonderful croissant-fuelled walk through Parc LaFontaine with its multitude of cute dogs.

AMBUSH!!!!:


Kurt has to sit by himself because he is a smoker:


There is a puppy nearby!


Heading home, with energy!