GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ

i continue to wait for work to ease up, for solutions to be found, for help to be hired, for office days that end before 7pm, for lunch hours and for a return to a less-busy, more-balanced life.

for now, it ain't happening.

my neighbours above continue to thump so, after a long and stressful day at work, i come home to noise-induced stress. i can't write. i don't want to write. i just want quiet.

my little white-noise machine is helping me sleep, though.

save for walking to and/or from work, i'm not really exercising. and my diet has become crap. a poor diet means one's body becomes ill-equipped to handle stress properly. i've noticed.

but YB and i have just booked ourselves on a four-day road trip to cleveland (which, of course, comes with its own hotel- and fear-of-bedbugs-induced stress).

and autumn, my favourite season, is officially here.

and i keep browsing real-estate listings in the hopes that my perfect home will materialize.

and i keep running my numbers to remind myself that i'm earning a good living and can afford to buy a great place when one comes up.

and, speaking of homes, YB just paid off her mortgage, in full, so she's thrilled beyond measure.

well, would you look at that!

i was off for a whole week and didn't blog once. shoot.

despite my best intentions, life and fatigue took turns getting in the way. i didn't really have as much spare time as i thought i would, and often got home much later than expected or realized i had to leave much earlier than planned. the festival was super-busy this year, and i spent many many hours standing in lineups at assorted theatres. i didn't even finish blogging about the fest, and kind of gave up after three entries. sitting down and writing just didn't happen in any form over the past nine days.

here then, in one abbreviated post, is what you need to know about how life's been:

* i saw 10 films at TIFF. the best of the okay lot was probably Tracks, which tells the true story of robyn davidson and her solo trek across the australian desert in 1977. when she was a teenager (!). the most disappointing was A Promise, which will henceforth be referred to by me as The Blah-mise.

* during the fest, i caught up with festival friends and had my annual coffee-and-snacks catch-up with my faraway friend from DC, which was nice. i chatted with friendly people in line and, overall, was grateful to have a one-week break from the office.

* last wednesday was my mom's birthday, so we spent the day out. we picked up as many birthday freebies as we could, went shopping, had lunch and a free slice of cake, and then sat down for a free movie (Closed Circuit, which was okay) to end the day. i had fun, and i think she did, too.

* on thursday, i went to have my passport renewed. it expires in about a month, and i realized that i'll need it if YB and i decide to go on a short U.S. shopping trip next month. much to my extreme delight, the whole process took four minutes! i arrived at a wonderfully empty time (10:30am) and only had to wait about six seconds before being attended to by one of the government staffers. i should have my new, 10-year passport in a week or so!

* i have a new next-door neighbour. he must have moved in sometime last week. i heard him hammering and hammering and hammering until 10pm on saturday, then caught a glimpse of him on sunday as he went to let his obnoxious, rich-kid-type (adult) friends into the building. i am praying he's quiet -- after the hammering, there hasn't been much noise from his side of the walls. the upstairs neighbours, however, continue to thump and thud through their days and nights, which is slowly driving me mental.

* did i mention i'm now the entertainment editor on a new magazine? that's in addition to being managing editor on the current two. it means i'll get to write about DVD releases, and write or assign out as much (or as little) as i'd like. i'm happy to be doing it!

* my therapist finally returns from her long medical leave tomorrow, so i have my first appointment with her in the afternoon. it's been just over nine months since i last saw her, and i'm not sure how i feel about resuming therapy. part of me still wants to do it, and knows i can still benefit from it, but another part of me has enjoyed the freedom of not being locked into that weekly appointment, right smack in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. i'm sure she and i will discuss how to proceed.

* even though i was off for a week, i am exhausted. i didn't really sleep well most nights, and certainly didn't get enough sleep last night. i'm hoping to be in bed by 10:30pm today.

WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

i'm free!

for the next week, i'm free from work!

free from clients!

free from 10-hour days sitting at a desk!

free from office-related stress!

free from deadlines!

free to see movies!

free to run errands!

free to unwind!

freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

weekend misadventures

so, ericanddan were here this past weekend (yay!), and we did a number of fun things.

on saturday, we had lunch at a restaurant where the food was meh but expensive. then we walked and walked and walked around the city for a few hours. we had iced drinks at starbucks and finished our afternoon together with delicious mini cupcakes.

on sunday, we went to centre island (aka: spider island). it was wonderful. the weather was great (sunny and warm, but not too hot) and the island was packed with people. we each bought a book of 10 ride tickets. i rode the carousel with eric, and the train with dan; they rode the flume and went on the haunted barrels without me (not my thang). i hadn't ridden that carousel since i was a teenager, and it was ever-so-special to ride it again as an adult. we then headed back into the city, had a fantastic dinner of burgers and fries, and capped off the day by seeing Blue Jasmine, which was good but kind of a downer.

monday was the fellas' last day in town. we met up for a 1pm showing of Lee Daniels' The Butler, which was very good and very moving. i think i cried on and off from almost the first frame onwards. something about forest whitaker, i think. afterwards, the guys needed a pre-departure meal, so we ventured into the insanely packed eaton centre, picked up food and went to eat it in one of the empty food courts nearby.

then we said goodbye, which was sad. i love spending time with those two, and their visit provided me with a much-needed break from reality. sadly, we were all so pooped this weekend that we didn't really take too many photos and there will be no post-trip video. but i did take this picture of one of the centre island ferries.