It was a very odd week. I was very tired all week. My inconsiderate neighbours helped me out Wednesday and Thursday night with the no sleeping thing. On Wednesday, there were a bunch of people out back from 3 different cars. In addition to the car doors slamming, the inconsiderate bunch were standing around smoking and talking....at midnight. WTF? Middle of the week. Don't people have jobs?? The next night, my new downstairs neighbour had some people over and they woke me up at 10:18pm, 11:25pm, Midnight and 12:25pm - they kept going out on the balcony to have a smoke and kept talking/laughing. Not to mention the fact that the dude keeps slamming the screen door shut. The guy who lives across the hall from me broke his ankle and has to go up and down the stairs on crutches (and he's a big dude too, I think about 6'3"). His hopping/operating of the crutches up and down the stairs is quieter than some of the jackasses in my building.
Besides my lack of sleep, things at the office were "off" this week. We're coming up to a big transition period where most of our casuals are leaving and we're getting a new crop in and I think that has a lot of people on edge. There seems to be a lot of stress and tension in the office. It wasn't an overly positive environment this week. And there seemed to be a good deal of "personal drama" that spilled into the office too. Maybe everyone has spring fever. Who knows. I'm just happy that the weekend's here and I can relax.
I had an absolutely fantastic day today. It started off with me getting to sleep in. I got to pull my summer clothes out of the closet and re-discover things I forgot I owned. I headed out with Stephanee today. I haven't been out with her in quite a while. It was nice to hang out again. Even though I'd been upset with her, I still missed spending time with her. I've spent a lot of time alone over the last 2 months, mostly by choice. I needed the solitude. I spent a good deal of time thinking and reflecting on life and myself and my goals and dreams. I needed to do it. And am happier now as a result. Just like we spring clean our homes, it's nice to do a spring cleaning of our minds too.
Steph picked me up around 11:15 am and we headed out to Dollarama where we nearly froze to death. Their AC works quite well apparently. We then decided to grab lunch and head for the river. We found a nice picnic table and ate lunch before heading down one of the pathways along the Ottawa River. It was beautiful. The rapids were crazy, the Canadian geese were everywhere, the birds were signing, we saw a wood pecker and a hawk and the temperature was perfect. It looked like spring but felt like summer.
After the path on the Ottawa side of the river, we headed into Quebec and took a walking path along the river on the Gatineau side. We were able to get quite close to some rapids there. We then decided that we needed to cool down (partly due to the weather, partly the scenery...) so we headed to DQ for some treats, which we then went and ate at Britannia Beach/Park. After the treats we walked some more and ventured out onto the rock bluff at the beach. We walked most of it until we encountered a large group of spiders so we turned around and headed back. It was actually quite funny. I said to Steph "We might want to head back. I can count 5 spiders on the rock ahead of us". I turned around and Steph was already half way back down the bluff!!!! LOL. We saw a turtle sunning itself on a log too.
After that we decided we needed a cooler destination so we opted for Chapters. I needed a new book anyhow, so it was a good choice. After getting said book, we headed into Starbucks for their half price Frappachinos. I managed to score us a free one too, which one of Steph's husband's co-workers ended up enjoying. Once home, I ventured onto the balcony where I sat and read and drank my Starbucks for the better part of an hour and a half. I decided I should make dinner then. I had a lovely t-bone steak with some corn and a nice salad and a can of Pear Cider. A perfect Saturday dinner. After dinner, I had a very relaxing, very refreshing and very welcome shower. My feet were nearly black from wearing my flip flops all day.
And now I'm sitting at the computer, blogging and thinking about uploading the photos from my day. After this, I'm going to curl up and read for a bit more before heading to bed. I wish I had a light on my balcony so I could read out there. That might be bad though. I might never go to bed.
If you're out in the sunshine this weekend, remember your sunscreen (I did!) and enjoy.
Good Night!
Sarah
