Things I Did on my Day Off

It was really, really, really hard for me not to go into the office today. I actually had people Friday night trying to find my building security card in my purse so they could take it away so that I wouldn't be able to get into the building. But then they remembered that on the weekends there is a security guard that has to buzz you in anyway. So instead they made me promise I wouldn't go in. I thought about it off and on all weekend but I didn't. Instead, here's what I did on my day off...

I slept in, I mean I really slept in. I think it was after 10AM when I finally rolled out of bed.

Then I did the dishes. You see Sunday was a really busy day. In the morning was the Easter Service as St Silas, and the evening both my flatmate and I were involved on the worship team. So that meant an early dinner and us having to fly out of the door last night shortly after eating as we had to be at a rehearsal for 5:15 (which we were still late for) and then after the evening service we were invited to a friends place for drinks. Didn't get home until after 1AM so the dishes were still in the sink when I got up this morning.

I made a pot of coffee, plugged in my laptop in the lounge and opened the curtains and curled up in the chair pushed into the bay window to bask in the morning light.

I looked to see if I had any emails (so those of you out there that read this, I really like to get emails on Saturday morning, hint hint, it makes me feel connected and loved). I got caught up n all the blogs I follow and then it was time for the Saturday Guardian. I'd purchased it Saturday night, but never got around to reading it. There were no comics in the Guardian, I miss that from the Vancouver Sun, Saturday's paper always had the colour comics.

During this I listened to some music. You see I just found the volume knob on my laptop that I didn't realize was there. It's very small and black and it's just to the right of where I plug in my headphones. Up until now I've been very disappointed in the audio of my laptop as it wasn't very loud. But that's because I've only been adjusting the sound via the volume icon in the tool bar.

Things sound much better now. So while reading the paper I listened to Ray Lamontagne's Trouble. A friend had mentioned he was listening to it on Friday and I was thinking to myself I don't think I've played it since I moved here:



Saturday's paper is big (all those supplements) so next I had Amos Lee playing, it's his self titled debut album:




Then when I was finished the paper I worked on loading my pictures from my camera onto my flickr site and to accompany this task I put on John Mayer's debut EP Inside Wants Out. This album was one of those unexpected finds. Back when John started hitting the airwaves, I'd liked what I heard and went in search of his debut album. This was what I thought I was buying. However, when popping it into the CD player what I discovered I'd purchased was his lesser known independent release. Much of what was on the disc was solo acoustic tunes (just him and his guitar) that would later make it onto the full length album with a full band. I never did end up purchasing that first studio album as I knew it would lack the emotion that I loved with the EP. It's still one of my favorite albums:



So my lazy morning is now the afternoon and I need to get out of the flat. I decided to walk down to city centre and see what was playing at the movies. I picked something brainless that I knew my flatmate would have absolutely no desire watching, Mr Bean's Holiday


Much better than the first Bean movie as this one played out more like one of the TV episodes, i.e. minimal dialogue, mostly situational physical humour. It was also filmed in France so I was enjoying looking at the countryside as I'll be spending 5 days in Paris in May.

Walking back from the movie I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a chicken to roast for dinner. I haven't cooked much in the last few weeks. No, let me rephrase that, I haven't cooked from scratch very much in the last few weeks due to the long nights at the office. Cooking is a bit of therapy for me, but getting home at 9 or 10 at night means I've got zero energy so I've been relying quite a bit on prepared dishes that the stores here offer a plenty. I tell you, if you don't know how or don't like to cook, this is definitely the country for you.

So whilst preparing my Citrus Spiced Roast chicken I've been listening to Ryan Adams, Love Is Hell Volumes 1 & 2:

Ryan is doing a good job of reflecting the mood I've been in for the last week or so. I've been in a real blue funk and it's been a tough slog trying to get out of it. But I think being blue every now and then is good for the soul. I tend to take more pictures and get outside and go for long walks to be alone with my thoughts. Being so busy with work I tend to shove my emotions away and just fly on adrenaline. So when I do get a break everything floods in at once and it's hard to process and I can feel a bit overwhelmed. Having the 3 day migraine didn't help much either.

But it's now late, the chicken finished cooking and has already been carved and eaten (it was wonderful in case you were wondering). I'm more than happy to email you the recipe if you're interested.



The day is just about over and tomorrow it's back to the organized chaos of the office.