a rainy evening & partying

Recently, I was accused of partying all the time, and if you were to judge by my last weekend, that might be true!

Friday night, due to our forgetting that the Reference Library closes early on Fridays, my Amharic tutor and I moved our location to a nearby pub...and after a bite to eat and a couple of beers -- and a tiny table that couldn't be expected to accommodate our books -- we gave up on the lesson and had a wonderful conversation about politics, alternative remedies and books instead!

Then on Saturday, my daughter and granddaughter joined me to go to Toronto for the celebration of the Ethiopian New Year at Christie Pits Park. My Amharic teacher and his wife invited us to enjoy some Ethiopian coffee.

My daughter and granddaughter had to leave early to go on to a friend's birthday party. I stayed on and as the afternoon brought rain, it also brought music and dancers at the band stand!

I think daughter and granddaughter missed the best part...

By the time I got back home, it was after 1 am, I was soaking wet and tired, but still too happy to go to sleep immediately, dancing around to the Aster Aweke cd I bought called Kabu (sacred rock). I am also determined that I will take advantage of the offer from my Amharic tutor's wife to teach me to dance the iskita.


Hmmmnn...add that to wanting to join a group locally that my best friend's daughter is trying to organize to do belly dancing...I have no idea how I'll fit it all in!...I used to say 350 years, now I need to live 400 years. But I am reminded of a line from the movie Shirley Valentine in which Shirley says

"I have led such a little life, I have allowed myself to lead this little
life when inside there is so much more. And it has all gone unused, and now it
never will be. Why do we get all these feelings and dreams and hopes if we don't
ever use them? That is how Shirley Valentine disappeared, she got lost in all
this unused life."

So, in that spirit, I plunge in, embracing whatever opportunities come my way, planning to arrive at the end, all used up, even if a little frazzled!

Sunday, I ran 20 km, from the Whitby Running Room location to Brooklin and back -- for those who will be impressed by the local references. I just laugh at myself, recalling how, back when I was running only 5 or 10 km, I marvelled at the 1/2 marathon and marathon clinic groups talking about running as far as Brooklin. It just goes to show, you never really know what you can or cannot do, until you make a dedicated effort towards reaching your goals!

In the afternoon, after a short nap (required because I was a little sleep deprived due to my late Saturday night!), I went shopping for groceries. That's not the party part, because I hate that chore; the party part is that I love having yummy and healthy food choices in the fridge for the following week!

Oh, and another bit of good news: I got those bookcases up with lot of help from my friend, Lalith. I can finally, FINALLY, unpack my beloved books! And I'm having just as much fun unpacking them, playing with the memories that handling each book brings back, as I did when I packed them months ago!