The All Niter

I’ve never been great at pulling an all niter. Sure, there were a few very late nights back in university, but I never spent all night studying for an exam or writing a paper and then somehow made it to class the next day. The only times I’ve ever been any good at all niter’s is when fun is involved. I’m a pro at staying up until 7 in the morning having some drinks and laughs with friends. Those are easy.
This all comes to mind waiting in Toronto’s Pearson Airport at 12:30 a.m., waiting for my much delayed flight at 2:30 a.m. This all means I should arrive in Calgary at around 4:30 a.m. While I admit I will definitely take a decent nap on the plane, we all know that a plane nap is not the same as a decent night’s sleep. And it could be even worse than I imagine, since I ended up with a middle seat. I will be very groggy when I arrive back in Alberta, it may be the first time I’ve ever been glad nobody will be greeting me at the airport, I doubt I’d even recognize my mom.
The funny thing about flight delays is watching how people spend the time. People are bonding with other delayed passengers, visiting with old colleagues, complaining about Air Canada, reading, sleeping, eating (someone’s sharing Timbits in a truly Canadian moment), watching movies, or randomly typing on a computer.
I had a great vacation until this point (my apologies to any of those I didn’t see or didn’t see enough of). There was lots of eating, visiting and shopping, and as always some great conversation. The highlights — aside from seeing everyone — were all the kick-ass sales I managed to hit ($169 jacket for $35!!) and of course bringing sexy back. Sure, I was called a fascist at one point, but that happens to everyone at some point right?

Vacation

It's amazing the things a few days away from work can do. Life has been stressful the last several months, and though I had hoped to take off to Spain for a while, huge delays at Passport Canada (by huge I mean almost a month) changed my plans.
So I'm sitting in Toronto, where it is at least 15 degrees colder than back in Medicine Hat, but it's good to be away from it all.
There are several things I realize every time I come back to Toronto. The biggest thing is that I'm really not hip. I may try to be hip, but I'm really not. Once a dork, always a dork.
The other thing I always realize when I travel anywhere is that I am not someone who will ever travel well. Not that I get lost in airports or miss flights or am terrified of flying, but I always look like I'm travelling. I seem to have too much stuff, I'm incapable of packing light. And when I stand in the airport beside those freaks of nature who seem to look good while travelling, I realize how crappy I look. I'm in awe of women who can fly in heels (my feet swell to much for that) or makeup (can't even imagine it) and contacts (couldn't sleep on the plane with those in) and stylish clothes (I'd spill something on myself for sure). I always dread the day when I have to go right from the airport to a conference or meeting, and would need to look presentable.
I had a similar thought while sitting in a trendy chain of vegetarian restuarants today. I'm not cool. Clearly I don't care enough to be cool, which is fine by me.

I know...

OK, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. I've been tremendously busy and that's my excuse. Until I have a chance to provide something witty and mildly interesting here's a quick list.
1. I got a couch, that's right, a couch
2. Celebrated yet another birthday
3. Enjoyed Christmas without the folks, not that I enjoyed it more, but enjoyed it even though they weren't there
4. I've been working a lot
5. I'm on vacation this week and off to Toronto for some much needed R&R
6. There's tennis on again. I still love tennis

I hope that satisfies you all until I get a chance to blog again, hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say soon.