September...already!

Happy Labour Day!

Oddly enough, whether in Canada or Jamaica, this day has always been about doing the very least I can do and still make it through the day.  Maybe because I always work so hard every other day, on a day declared a holiday in honour of workers, I just want to sit on my backside and do nothing.

Today, so far I have managed to fold and put away laundry, and tidy our bedroom and living room, because I didn't get around to it yesterday during my regular housework day.  I didn't try very hard, I will admit, I haven't felt like doing much this weekend, even moreso than my usual "It's the weekend, leave me alone, I just want to vegetate" way.

However, I did manage to go out yesterday and mow the heck out of the lawn.  Most of it, anyways.  Just when I started to feel like I couldn't do much more, G came out and took over and finished up by doing the part of the lawn that is the hardest, the slope leading down to the street level.  Honestly, the state of the lawn was beginning to annoy me, and I am pretty sure the neighbour was giving us the evil eye every time he looked at our lawn and compared it to the pristine verdant carpet he calls his lawn.  We can't afford the lawn guy, but that's no reason to let ours grow over as much as we sometimes do, I am sure.  I like to do things on a regular schedule, but G is not that organised.  He notices things need to be done when they are far gone, generally, rather than relying on a programme of regular maintenance to keep things in check.

I am not sure what happened to August.  That general feeling of running behind that I mentioned in August's post continued right throughout the rest of the month, and it ended as it had begun, with me feeling like I had lost the plot and needed to do something radical to get back on track.  Whatever that radical thing was, though, I didn't quite figure out, so September started the same way.

I did manage to achieve a few things, for one, I hit 8 push-ups and 8 pull/chin-ups in a set.  That, I consider pretty awesome, and can't say enough good things about +Tim Berzins, the coach who got me there.  After an entire month of plugging along at assisted chin-ups and incline push-ups, I felt like quitting and bawling because I wasn't progressing, but he said to just keep working on the assisted movement, and what do you know, the full movement came after.  I've gone back to lifting weights three times per week, and doing yoga two days per week as of August 31, but I am still adding in push-ups and pull-ups to keep that goal in play.

Also in August, I started keeping my Day Book as a Bullet Journal, an analogue organisation system I came across on the Evernote blog.  So far, I think I haven't written as much in it as it is meant to record, but as it's my first month using the system, I am thinking that as I make the system my own, I will record more and more in it.  I am trying to move more towards my Day Book being a log of my day's events, activities, and thoughts, even inspiring quotes, instead of just a planner for work hours and bill payments with a monthly goal/to-do list.

The calendar is sliding towards the coming fall, due on September 23rd.  It is still quite warm, and very summery today (I am typing this wearing tank top and shorts!), after a scary couple of weeks when it looked as though summer was over and cooler temperatures were coming in early.  Thanks to a "Colorado Low", we had a few wet, foggy, cool days when the high temperature hovered in the low 20's and refused to budge much past 21 *C.  However, the summer weather is back, although leaves are changing here and there.  I will "allow" this, it is September, after all.  Personally, though, I am not pulling out any fall clothing before September 23rd.

I am working hard to make sure I don't try to lump the last few months of the year together in my mind, I want to keep looking no further than the current month.  I need to re-set goals for September, add them to my Day Book, and get this month sorted before it also gets away from me.  

Yes, the inukshuk wears a toque.

Nipper and Ariea like to join me for meditation sometimes

Nipper thinks my meditation pillow is his.

Let's talk about...the weather

No discussion about moving to Canada from Jamaica would be complete without questions on the weather.  Of all the contrasts between the two countries, perhaps that would be the most immediate and uppermost in minds.  I have been here just under a week now, so it's about time to have that discussion.

Officially, it is spring, and the northern hemisphere's summer starts in just 9 days.  From Canadians, including G, I keep hearing how "hot" it is, and inwardly I smile.  Yes, I suppose for people used to temperatures in the minus twenties (degrees Celsius), it may seem hot now, with the sun shining and the humidity hovering around 50%.  For someone used to temperatures hovering near 34 degrees with 80% or more humidity, the weather now is simply pleasantly warm.

On my first day, it was windy and cool, say around 22 degrees, so I wore a long-sleeved workout top and yoga pants and was comfortable.  I plan to acquire some more long-sleeved shirts, knit or jersey, as I was very happy to have that single shirt (the only long-sleeved shirt I own) on Thursday.  Saturday morning was another morning to be happy for long-sleeved shirts, as it dawned cool, foggy and wet, and stayed that way until late afternoon.  On Saturday, with my long-sleeved shirt in the wash, I had to resort to a hooded sweatshirt over my t-shirt to remain appropriately warm.  Surprisingly enough, the temperature rose, the rain and fog cleared off and the evening was very fine.

People you meet in stores and on the street will comment on how "hot" it is, and try to forecast the summer's heat.  Having experienced a northern summer before, I know something of what is to come, and I am interested to see if this time it is the same or worse.  I cannot expect it to be better, although perhaps the fact that I am in the rural part of the province, as opposed to being in a city, as I was then, will make a difference.  It remains to be seen.

Today it is windy, and somewhat cloudy, which over-shadows the warmth and heat that arose earlier in the day.  It is cool, in the mid-twenties, low humidity, altogether an agreeable and tolerable temperate day.  As time goes on, of course there will be more to say on the weather, but for now?  It's quite nice.