Big Moves, Big News, Intense Days...

Well, I did it. I moved. And I did it the day after the biggest snowstorm of the year, driving a cube van (aka a small TRUCK) and with the generously free labour of my very bestest friends ever!

But I'm not even sure if that is the most intense/exciting/noteworthy event of the last few days...

The last few days have definitely been jam-packed with intensity... From lovely reunions with very old friends, to packing stress, to work stress, to snowstorm stress, and moving stress (which includes but is not limited to anxiety, excitement, grief, optimism, exhaustion and the giddyness that comes beyond exhaustion)... and beyond!

But let's just start "at the beginning" (aka a mere 5 days ago) shall we?

So this is what the day looked like last Saturday morning - my moving day!

And these are pictures of the best moving team, ever!

Above: The Team (0n the load-in end of things); From L to R we have: Devon in front, Alison and Mark in the truck, Thea & Brandon. At my new place, Alison and Brandon were replaced by the amazing Johnny Hall (who can always be counted on to be there for me when I need him!) and my new roomies Laura and Louis.

Above: My Bestest Friends; Mark, Dev & Ali

Would you believe me if I told you that my move, from start to finish, took a mere 2 hours? Well, it did. Thanks to the above pictured (and some not pictured) SUPERSTARS! Sure, I got stuck a few times in the snow driving the cube van, but with what my friends like to call my "freakishly organised" packing style, and the hardest working, most generous and dedicated friends (and new roomies) a girl could wish for, it was all over in just two hours!

And did I mention that I did all this on just two hours of sleep because I stayed up until 5:30am the night before hanging out with an old friend from my Vancouver Youth Theatre days that I hadn't seen for 10 years? 'Cause yeah, that's what happened.

So, once I had returned the cube van (small TRUCK) and the lovely Devon had dropped me off back at home, I unpacked my bedding. Made my first bed in my new home. Took these photos...

My New Room!!!

First Dinner with the new roomies - they treated me to the freshest, tastiest indian food and champagne to celebrate! Yay!!! Below: Louis, Laura & Henry - LOVE!

And then, later that night, after my crazy intense move (and having had just 2 hours of sleep) I went to my long-lost friend David's band's show...

And here he is (below, with me), all growed up... after 10 years... And the totally dynamic and talented bassist of the Vancouver-based band 'Hey Ocean' - they rocked the party big time at The El Mocambo in Toronto on Saturday night!

Of course, all my super fantastic friends were too exhausted after helping me move, so none of them joined me at the Hey Ocean show on Saturday night. So I made some new, super fun (and uh, did I mention YOUNG) friends... We danced up a storm front and centre during the totally energetic and upbeat Hey Ocean show. Good times. Love, love, LOVED IT!

Below: Me and the gorgeous and fun Mor

Below: The Super Fun Girls: Piper, Catherine & Mor!

The following day, February 3rd, was the one year anniversary of my friend Emily's death. So Thea had the really lovely idea of gathering just a few of us together to honour that... I'm really glad that she did. Below: Jenn, Thea & I (Naz was taking the photo). I'll say it again: I'm really thankful that I had the opportunity to gather with other loved ones and think of Emily with love and remember her and laugh and smile and mourn...

On Monday night, Hey Ocean was playing in Hamilton. And it just so happens that my "faux cousin" (aka Holly's neice/Robin's cousin) Lindsay, goes to school there. She's a fun girl whom I figured would be up for a crazy fun adventure so I called her on Monday morning and proposed that I drive out to Hamilton, pick her up from her rehearsal at McMaster University and then take her out to see the amazing Hey Ocean at The PepperJack Cafe in dreary, awful, armpit-of-Ontario, Hamilton. She was in. It was fun. Here we are, with the fun-having:

And the last little bit of exciting news that I have to share is that I have decided that my future holds more exciting, challenging, stimulating and lucrative opportunities for me than working at a bookstore... So, today I gave my notice. As of the end of this month, I will no longer be working for practically no money, doing practically nothing. Hopefully by then some totally fantastically exciting new opportunity will have arisen for me... And if anyone out there has any great offers for me... Be in touch!

Are We THERE Yet???

Ugh, I hate this. I hate moving! Or rather, I hate the sorting, packing and living amidst the chaos of half-packed boxes that goes hand-in-hand with moving. I'm also starting to really resent my job because it's really hard to pleasantly work in a quiet little bookstore while you know that you could be being way more productive at home, actually doing something!

Okay, so I'm writing on my blog right now and not actually "doing" anything. Point taken. But, I've been up for hours - doing the usual, sorting, packing, preparing for another day of moving preparations. Today, Devon will spend the day with me. In a few minutes I will head out the door to pick up a cargo van that I've rented for a few hours from Autoshare (Yay Autoshare!) so that I can bring the couch that I am giving to Thea and her roomates to their place. I will pick up the van, then Thea, then we will meet Devon at my place, move the couch together to Thea's place and then Devon and I will spend the rest of the day doing (at least some of) the following:
- getting more boxes
- dropping off some of the many garbage bags of stuff to give away that I have already assembled
- sorting more
- packing more
And, let's be honest, whining more (that would be me whining, and Devon listening sympathetically, I hope!)

But first, dear readers, I thought I would share this little list with you... What follows is a list of what I found to be a rather entertaining representation of me, over the last year...

WHAT I FOUND ON MY NIGHTSTAND, OR THE FLOOR, NEXT TO MY BED:
The Following Books:
- "One Year Off" (The true story, told through emails, of a family with three kids who sold all their stuff, and took one year off from life to travel the world. I read about 3/4)
- "The Book of Laughter And Forgetting" by Milan Kundera (I read it, but it didn't make it back to my book shelf, apparently)
- "Hey Nostradamus" by Douglas Coupland (Also read the whole thing)
- "Watership Down" by Richard Adams (I'm almost finished it, but I keep putting it down to read other books!)
- "what matters most is how well you walk through the fire" a book of poems by Charles Bukowski
- "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron
- "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire (An AWESOME novel, for adults, the hit Broadway musical was based on this book - sooooo fantastic. My latest read. The best christmas gift I got this year. From my friend Mark)
- "The Organic Entrepreneur" by Maxine Hyndman (I'm workin' on this one...)
- "From Option to Opening: A Guide to Producing Plays Off Broadway" (Awwww, I sure meant well with this one...)
- "Best of Best Women's Erotica" (A great Xmas gift from year's past from Devon - The inscription read that if the city was my boyfriend, I needed some company at night in my own room. Heck yeah!)
- "The Places That Scare You" by Pema Chodron (Also a great book. I revisit it often)
- "Allen Carr's Easy Way To Stop Smoking" (No Comment)
- "The History of Vegas" short stories by Jodi Angel (Some depressing short stories. I think I stopped reading them)
- "The Beautifully Worthless" by Ali Liebegott (Some depressing poetry. I think I also stoppped reading this)
- "Between Myself & Them" Edited by Carol Krause (A great collection of writing about disability & difference, featuring an essay by my good friend Thea)
- "The Same Woman" by Thea Lim (One of THE BEST novels written by a young canadian woman... in my biased opinion)
- "Selected Poems y e.e. cummings" (I like cummings, and Bukowski. It's good to keep 'em nearby, I think)
- "Moral Disorder" by Margaret Atwood (I liked it)
- "Girls Speak Out - A Personal Guide to Self-Esteem" (A thoughtful gift from Tracey last summer, inspired I think by my ideas about creating some new workshops for teens... A good reference)
- "The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie (I borrowed this long ago from Mark, but I don't really feel like giving it back. I like keeping it close by, as a handy inspirational tool)

AND... In addition to all those books, I also have:
- My "Soul-O Theatre Workshop (Creating Your Own One Person Show)" Workbook
- my hand-held recording device
- THREE journals (not including my dream journal)
- kleenex
- 1 pen
- 1 pencil
- earplugs
- "Heat Rub" for sore muscles
- aromatherapy spray to help me sleep (doesn't really work)

I swear, it didn't look like that much!

I think this list is very representative of me... But maybe I need to think about clearing the space around my bed, and maybe I will free myself up to actually SLEEP more when in my bed... ???

New Times With The Old Gang

So...

Friday (Dec 21) was Winter Solstice - the longest night (and thus, the shortest day) of the year. We celebrate Solstice because it is the moment when the earth begins to turn back towards the sun, and very incrementally the days will actually begin to get brighter. We celebrate it because we are celebrating the fact that we have just been through the darkest time of the earth and are now ready to slowly begin facing the sun again. Or more specifically, I celebrate Solstice. The rest of my friends are celebrating the fact that our very good friend Tiina is briefly back in town from Halifax. Also something worth celebrating, in my opinion.

So here are some pics from a little get-together that Alan hosted that night for a group of us that used to be quite "The Gang" a few years back...

Below, L to R: Kurt (blurry because he's moving to get out of the pic, I think. And in town from NYC for the Holidays!), Thea (blurry because she's moving and trying to give Tiina bunny ears. That's Karma for ya), Tiina and Alison, and... oh my, I can't remember the name of Thea's friend who is seated in the lower right-hand corner. I am a jerk. Damn. Sorry !Alan, Tiina, Thea (pronounced TAY-yah, BTW) and Alison...

Below: Not the most flattering picture of any of us, but I wanted to include it because it's one of the only pictures that captures (if even only in fragments) some other key members of "The Old Gang"; L to R: half of Rob, Me, Someone's Finger (my guess is Tiina), Alan (aptly enjoying a beverage), Sandi and a wee bit of Jeremy
It's Johnny Hall! Here's a special shout-out to you my friend; Because reading your recent comment on my blog post about my upcoming move to The Junction made me smile BIG. :D
Kurt, Tiina and Thea... Being the usual, krazy kids!
I don't know why Thea always feels compelled to make these funny faces in photos... (Alison looks excited though. Although I think perhaps here she's just feeling crazed about the fact that it's getting late and she still isn't packed and has to be on a plane to fly home to Winnipeg the next morning at some ungodly hour)
So that was Solstice Night. Otherwise known (to pretty much everyone else at the party as "Friday Dec 21st - the night of the party celebrating Tiina being in town!")

Last night, after I finished a surprisingly lovely day at work (I say surprisingly because it was December 23rd and I work in a retail store - but although business was "steady" yesterday it was never chaotic, and no one was christmas-crazy or anything!), I had plans to meet up and spend the evening with Tiina & Thea...

Thea wanted to watch Elf. I'm not sure that Tiina and I really wanted to, but we laughed at ourselves during our pre-get together Sushi dinner about the fact that we can generally be resistant to anything these days (oh, how we've gotten cantankerous in our old age)!

So, we watched Elf...

While we watched Elf, Thea wrapped presents...

She was well prepared with her "Present Wrapping Tape"

And Tiina taught me how to knit!

Lookin' good Thea!

It was just a super-fantastic night. And now it is the morning of December 24th and I am wrapped up in bed with my laptop, listening to CBC radio as I do laundry in preparation to be away for the next few days... I shall be heading to Oakville this afternoon to spend the night with Holly & Paul, then tomorrow we shall drive to Kingston to visit Holly's family and Robin will drive there from Vermont so I will get to see her too!

But before I sign off for "the holidays", here's one final wierd story I want to share with you: I woke up this morning, in my bed which is in the lower, basement part of my apartment and I was FREEZING! Like, really, really cold. This may not sound wierd to most of you, but it was very out of the ordinary for me. I've actually never found it even a little bit "chilly" in my place, so the fact that I was ABSOLUTELY FREEZING was kind of strange. I thought about texting my friend, upstairs neighbour and landlord, Guntar, and asking whether the heat was broken or something. When I finally got up the courage to get out from under my covers and go the upstairs part of my apartment (technically the rear half of the main floor of the house I live in), where my kitchen and bathroom and entrance are, I saw that my door (which I guess I had forgot to lock behind me when I came home last night) had blown open in the middle of the night! No wonder I was freezing! I think I heard on the radio that it's minus 2 degrees out right now! I wonder how long it was open?!?! Crazy huh?

Well anyways, I better go have a shower and pack a few things.

So, This is Triple M, signing off for "The Holidays".

Merry, merry. Or whatever.

Namaste.

Photos from my walk to work today...

Somehow I am still in awe of the fact that it actually occurred to me to take some random photos on my (also somewhat surprisingly) pleasant walk to work this morning, and that I actually did!!!

Check out what has become one of my regular sights these days:
(Lovely, no?)


Just before I left for work this morning, I came across a card that I received in the mail a few weeks ago from my lovely friend Thea. It was incredibly thoughtful and very apt. The front cover said this:

"THERE WILL COME A TIME WHEN YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING IS FINISHED. THAT WILL BE THE BEGINNING." (Louis L'Amour)

The leftover death-themed Halloween decorations that I passed on my enjoyable walk to my new job today got me thinking about both endings and beginnings. So here is a picture to commemorate that...

Like A Proud Mama

From now on, if ever you run into me and I am with my good friend Thea, I am going to turn into one of those impossible-to-curb, over-the-top enthusiasts. I will introduce you to her and say "This is my friend Thea. You know, my friend who wrote and published the novel." But it won't stop there. I will likely make her show you the tattoo on the back of her neck that matches the one on my forearm (that I designed specifically for me and her and our friend Tiina to get) and I will tell you about how we are BFF's and how proud I am of her; How hard she works, how smart and sensitive she is, what an incredible and inspiring person she is; How proud I am of her, and... How Proud I Am Of Her! And you might be tempted to say, "I know all this already Meghan, I read your blog" But it still won't stop me...

So, check it:
Thea's Book Launch @ Women's Bookstore in Toronto
Friday, April 13, 2007
(If you're COOL, you'll be there)

MEANWHILE, IN PRESENT-DAY NYC...

This morning I had the absolute pleasure of meeting up with my friend (and interestingly enough, Thea's ex-boyfriend) Kurt for breakfast followed by a stroll through Central Park. Oh my goodness, I actually just wrote about my stroll through Central Park - I love it here so much!!!

When Kurt and I parted ways midday today, I made a quick pit-stop at the Apple Store (a very cool space - maybe you can find pics of it online if you google "Apple Store in NYC") because I forgot my ipod charger in Toronto, then I subway-ed myself back downtown, where I got off the train a few stops out of my usual way (an exploration tip from a new NYC friend of mine) and walked home through the West Village.

THE best thing that happened to me all day was when some 10 or 11 year-old kid shoved a flyer into my hand on the Avenue of Americas. In photocopied, yet authentic handwritten child-writing it read:

BUY FAIR-TRADE
COFFEE Buying Fair Trade
-----------------------------------------
Products will help farmers have
better lives with a living
wage. What is Fair Trade? Fair
Trade Coffee is coffee grown
by farmers and bought by
us at a fair price. Just asking
for a cup of fair trade coffee
could be helping lots of farmers
have better lives, and it tastes
no different. Fair trade coffee is
actually in most cases more
organic. Just something to think
about as you're drinking your
triple mocha latte-chino. Nah,
just joking. Help farmers, buy
Fair Trade.

Okay I am seriously going to give up my Starbucks habit. I promise kid, I promise.