A year of trying not to be a lazy slug – two months wrap-up

Two months ago I wrote this article I said I would try and stop being lazy and anti-productive. Looking back at all the things I listed I realize I have succeed in almost all my challenges. Here are the wrap up of these last two months: 

♦ Watching 3/4 episodes of a serie in a row:
Due to the winter break I had plenty of time to read instead of watching tv shows. But even now that the break is over I keep watching one episode at the time and not two or three in a row. I am also back in class which means I have a hell of a lot of books to read, rather I like it or not (here’s my november wrap-up).

♦ Being clued to my phone before bed: 
I can say I mostly succeeded on that. I try to read before bed instead of going through my instagram etc.

♦ Buying things I don’t need: 
Ok, I confess I failed. I failed pretty baddly. I said I wanted to thrift the things I wanted, and I did. But I did buy things I didn’t need (as you can see here) But it was books, so, that doesn’t count. Does it? 

♦ Lay in bed all day when the weather is fine: 
Oh well, the weather haven’t been fine so that clears up the question. However I did go out a lot more (I even took photos).

♦ Complain about everything: 
There’s not point in arguying: I failed. I love complaining way to much to stop. 

♦ Do nothhing productive on the internet: 
I think I did quite well, mostly because I read a lot more and knitted a lot as well (have a look here and here).. Although, I still watch cat videos from time to time. 

♦ Being to scared to go out: 
I wanted to socialize a lot more. In some ways, I did. I’ve meet a girl in uni with whom I spend some time. Unfortunately, she was an exchange student and had to go back to Italy at the end of December. I guess I have to get myself out there again and try to make some friends. 

Conclusion: I think I did well in general. I haven’t made drastics changes in my life, but I tried to respect these challenges and be a little more productive. I just have to keep it this way.

The 6 months wrap-up

Six months ago I packed my suitcase(s), took a deep breath and went on a plane that took me far beyond all the things I have ever known. I left my beloved France and headed to Canada where, I must admit, the climate is a tiny bit different (cold you said?).

During those six months I went on with my studies and realized just how much I loved it, I enjoyed admiring the leaves slowly turning from green to beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red. I went up the Mont-Royal to have a glimpse at the whole town and went to the Biodôme to watch the sloth they had there in september. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with my roommates and (badly) cooked a turkey. I then went Black Friday shopping and spend way to much money on clothes and books. I lived my first snow storm and felt like I was gonna go skiing each time I went out. I went to the Old Port to see the fireworks and froze my fingers so bad they doubled size. I finally got myself to read other books than the ones I had to read for university and discovered the joy of buying secondhand books pretty much every week. I saw a marmot outside the university and made friends with a squirell in the parc Lafontaine. I ate a poutine after doing my Christmas shopping and, talking about Christmas, celebrated it without my family this year. I went Boxing Day shopping with my boyfriend on the 26th of December and offered myself Harry Potter Film Wizardry for my HP collection.

Sometimes I have the feeling I haven’t done much since I arrived, and maybe I should go out more. But then I realize… I live here. I bloody live here, and I have all the time I could possible need to have a look at pretty much everything, and I am going to enjoy this time, that’s for sure. Starting with ice skating on the parc near my place.

White Christmas

My family and I aren’t not crazy about Christmas. We don’t do big Christmas parties with our aunts and uncles and cousins; we are not family centered, at all. This has everything to do with the fact that we aren’t that close to each other, unfortunately, we don’t quite get along because we arevery (and I mean VERY) different. But Christmas is special to us in the sense that it brings us together. It’s the only time of the year when we can put our differencies aside and enjoy spending time together, as a family. For a few hours, we eat, and chat, and laugh and we all forget about what usually keep us apart, and it always feels really good. 

But this year will be very different for all of us, because I won’t go back to France for the holidays. The flying tickets being way to expensive, my boyfriend and I have decided to stay in Montreal this Christmas. For the first time I won’t be spending Christmas at home, and I have to admitt it feels pretty weird imagining my whole family sitting together and leaving my chair empty (although I am sure my brother would gladly take it, it may not be empty after all). As much as it pains me I do believe my boyfriend and I will be making a fantastic Christmas of our own, and hopefully, I will have my very first snowy Christmas. 

And you, what does Christmas represent for you? 

Let it snow

I have loved snow for as long as can remembrer but I can’t say I am used seeing snow. Indeed, there’s not much of time (not to say there’s none of it in fact) in South France. On the rare times it does snow, it never stays on the ground and it always kills me. The idea of having a snowy winter here in Montreal truly appeals to me. It snowed for the first time maybe three weeks ago. It was not much, but still, it was snow, and it made my the happiest! The weather is really cold now and there’s snow more and more often, for my greatest delight. 

How about you, is there any snow where you live?
And how much do you like it?

Autumn, what can I do but loving you?

Autumn is most definitely my favorite season of all. Beside Halloween, that I’m not very familiar with, everything about autumn seems like heaven to me. Big sweaters and scarves are out again, drinking liters of tea everyday is not that annoying because the weather has gone colder, I can snuggle in my pjs and fluffly socks when I don’t feel like going out and the colors are amazing.

If autumn, and therefor cold weather, comes slowly in the south of France, the leaves started to turn red a while ago in Montreal. Being a big fan of this time of year, I was undubtelly looking foreward to it, and I must say I was no disappointed. I have been told that the Mont-Royal was gorgeous during autumn and that I absolutely needed to see it. To my delight, they were very right.

We took a walk in the park a few days ago, the weather was perfect, the sky was blue, the air was fresh, and the colors up there were simply breathtaking. I felt like a child again when I walked among the dead leaves, and had a hard time trying not to chase every squirells that I would get my eyes on (needless to say there was a million of them). We found a path were there was not much people, for the most visited part of the park were crowded (I guess people here hurge themselves to go out before the big cold), so it was nice to be (somehow) alone and enjoy some quiet. We reached a point where we could see the whole town above, man, how gorgeous it was. At that moment, I realised, I am living here, in this city, an ocean from home. And I think I like it.