Back to Reality

Yesterday it was sunny. The bright hot sun bared mercilessly down from the cloudless sky. We 'escaped' the heat of our apartment last night to head towards the water hoping for a cool breeze. We found it, sort of. As we walked away from the apartment, I commented, "Well, looks like Summer decided to come back".

It was possibly short lived.

Today, the weather is sort of like my mood. A little hazy and confused. The wind this morning was unbelievable. We shut the windows and balcony door because it was threatening to tear the place apart. With it came a light cloud layer, soft but grey. The sun tried several times to break through with little success.

The wind has calmed a bit to a stiff breeze, but it's cooling and refreshing. However, it's very humid. Even sitting here in the apartment has left the back of my legs sweaty from the heat I can't feel.

I had good intentions for this Sunday. I wanted to go to the beach, lather up with sunscreen and soak in some rays while reading a book. But alas, like last Sunday while we were away, my plans were dashed by cloud and cool breezes. Not ideal beach bumming weather to say the least.

I did however, finish reading my book. A week and a half ago I took out three 'summer reads' from the Library. You know, 'Chick Lit', although I'm pretty sure these women authors would cringe to hear me call it that. It's something you would hear an elitist reader say as a way to make you feel like you don't have very sophisticated reading tastes. "Oh, that's just some 'Chick Lit'". Truth be told, I don't care one bit and I really wanted some 'lighter' reading. Not lighter in that it has no plot, character development or emotional content, but simply something I could get absorbed into with my mind being totally overwhelmed. I have been on vacation after all.

The funny bit is, that the bigger my belly has gotten, the fewer brain cells I seemed to be using or at least have access to. Baby brain apparently is very real and as my Mom jokingly told me, it sticks around for quite awhile, then you get a reprieve after you're done having kids. Then menopause hits. Thanks Mom. Very reassuring.

All joking aside, I mentioned before that my previous (and overly ambitious goal) of reading the Giller Prize winner list this year was scrapped in favour of Harry Pot.ter. And given that the next movie is due to come out on Wednesday (and I desperately want to see it) I felt it a good goal to read the entire series. And I have. All except the 3rd and 4th books which I happened to watch the movies for and didn't feel like reading the books right after. I know, I know, lame...

Anyway, having finished the 7th book a week before my vacation, I was itching to get into something else. A library visit ensued. Work stress being what it was, it had been taking me a long time to get through any novel lately. What I happily discovered in my week and a half off, is that given some down time and lack of an alarm clock waking me up far earlier than I'd prefer, I can devour books whole with great pleasure (and a little gusto). Three books in 10 days is nothing to laugh at. I loved the last book so much I went back this afternoon and picked up the sequel (and to drop off the ones I'd finished).

Time to delve into another couple of chapters before I worry about dinner. Oh, and there's a funny little story that accompanies one of the books I read. If Fate aligns for me and this turns out, I might have a pretty funny story to tell for Show and Tell this week.

And yes, I realize this is two posts in a relatively short period of time. Consider it my way of making it up should things be absolutely insane with work this week. Considering the difference in my blood pressure (for the better) while I was on vacation, here's hoping I find a way to keep it at bay.

Maybe the wind will blow away the slight anxiety I'm already feeling about stepping back into the office tomorrow. Maybe more reading will help. Who knows...


P.S. Just as a note about the baby brain, you should have seen the typos I had to fix in order to make these two posts legible. It seems that being on vacation does not help with my typing skills.