Okay, time for an actual update! I am just finishing up the last of the gingerbread baking for the assembly of my train and house tomorrow. It's taken me nearly three hours to cut and bake all the necessary pieces, just reminding me why I only do this once a year. :-) I'm looking forward to the decorating though - pictures will follow, I'm sure!

I went running this morning, and it was snowing! That made me very happy. It's all melted now though. :-(

Krista flew home on Wednesday, after an extremely frustrating journey to the airport by TTC, the details of which I won't subject you to. We had a really nice time while she was here, and did pretty much exactly what I said we were going to do before she came. :-) On Friday, we went to the ROM (half of which is closed for construction), then to see "The Incredibles" (fun!), and finally to Crocodile Rock, where the men were even more annoying than usual. Saturday we stayed in and decorated my apartment, and my desk at the office. Sunday was Casa Loma, which we walked to since it was so nice out, and on Monday, we were supposed to see Side by Side by Sondheim, but Krista ended up not feeling very well, so just Brenda and I went. On Tuesday, Michelle joined us for the SpongeBob Squarepants movie, and then we all came back to my place to revel in the magnificence that is Lex on Smallville, even if he did end up getting tied up AGAIN and saved by Clark. And then on Wednesday, as I said, Krista headed home. So that was basically my week!

Just before Krista came, we had the first of our Christmas work parties, which was held at the Courthouse downtown. Unfortunately, it wasn't too exciting, and ended quite early. Our own company party is next weekend, and hopefully it will be better!

I've just learned that this coming week is "Russia: Land of the Tsars" week on History Television - guess what I'll be watching all week!

I do want to get some updating done on my other sites before I head to bed tonight, so I'll finish this entry up with a survey stolen from Karen.

29 days until Christmas!!

5 words that describe you:
1.: obsessive
2.: quiet
3.: tired
4.: passionate
5.: normal (according to the Body Mass Index - yay!)

5 websites you visit daily:
1.: FSU
2.: my email
3.: Airmiles
4.: Yahoo News
5.: Amazon

5 CDs you couldn't live without:
1.: Elisabeth - original cast
2.: My Jesper mix
3.: Roméo & Juliette - complete
4.: Phantom - complete
5.: Michael Jackson - "Bad"

5 Favorite Books:
1.: The Idiot - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
2.: Phantom - Susan Kay
3.: The Vampire Chronicles (as a whole) - Anne Rice
4.: The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
5.: Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

5 Favorite Songs:
1.: Music of the Night
2.: Ich gehör nur mir
3.: Les Rois du Monde
4.: Dirty Diana - Michael Jackson
5.: Wie kann es möglich sein?

5 Random Facts About You:
1.: I am really trying to learn German
2.: I sleep better on an old mattress on the floor than in my bed
3.: Decorating for Christmas brings me great joy
4.: Occasionally I tap dance in my apartment
5.: I just ate entirely too much gingerbread

5 countries you would like to visit:
not including ones I've already been to and would like to go back to...
1.: Russia
2.: Italy
3.: Israel
4.: Sweden
5.: India

5 words or phrases you always use:
1.: right
2.: okay
3.: that's no good
4.: really, really, really
5.: I hate my job

5 articles of clothing that are your favorite:
1.: Roots Canada Olympic jacket
2.: brown sweater
3.: long winter coat
4.: grad dress
5.: black skirt

5 favorite movies:
1.: Titanic
2.: The Cutting Edge
3.: Amelie
4.: The Lord of the Rings (all together)
5.: The Princess Bride

5 things you are obsessed with:
1.: musical theatre
2.: figure skating
3.: travelling
4.: Lex Luthor/Smallville
5.: moving to London

5 foods that are your favorite:
1.: bacon
2.: strawberries
3.: cheese
4.: chocolate
5.: ham

5 games you like to play:
1.: Monopoly
2.: Civilization
3.: Minesweeper
4.: Trivial Pursuit
5.: Clue

Hey! This is just a quick note - I'll update more tomorrow or Thursday, but I was getting harrassed by certain nameless individuals at work about my lack of updates, so I shall attempt to appease them.

Krista is still here, though she flies home tomorrow evening. We are leaving momentarily to go see the SpongeBob Squarepants movie (not my choice, though I'm going in with an open mind). But before we go, I will share a few of her pictures from the past week. Enjoy!

Me and a *huge* Christmas tree at Casa Loma

Krista and her date at Casa Loma

Some of the Christmas decorations around my apartment

The outskirts of my Christmas village

The main town

November 14, 2004: 3:11 p.m.

Whew, it's nice to have a minute to sit and catch my breath. This month is just flying by, and I'm starting to get a little panicked that I've only got two Christmas gifts bought, and haven't started on my cards or anything. Soon. I keep saying that.

Anyway, this past week was busy once again. On Wednesday, Jenn and I went down to get rush seats for Hairspray - since it's closing at the end of the month, they are selling off any remaining seats on the day of the show for $26 each - not a bad deal! So we ended up sitting in about the 10th row. It was an okay performance, but I found it rather lacking compared to the New York production. It felt the same way that The Producers did here in Toronto - like everyone was trying really hard, but it just didn't have that bouyancy that it should. I really hope that Wicked doesn't end up the same way!!

On Thursday I went skating again after my German class, and this time I was the only one left on the ice for the last 15 minutes, so I decided to put some time in on my dreaded (and dreadful) Axel. So I gave it a shot a few times, wiping out rather spectacularly, until finally the rink guard came over and told me I was jumping too far into the circle. I just stared at him blankly, and then he demonstrated one for me - in his hockey skates! I was quite impressed. :-) Turns out he's taken figure skating for quite a while, so he was giving me some pointers. I still wasn't getting it, but I was feeling a little straighter in the air! However, I have been paying for it ever since, as I have the BIGGEST bruise you have ever seen on my right thigh. It is about the size of my hand, and is hugely swollen, so that it sticks way out of my leg. It just looks absolutely hideous, and really hurts if I put any pressure on it. Guess I won't be trying that jump again anytime soon!

In other skating news, the team of Bourne & Tchernyshev that I was so excited about a couple of months ago is not to be. They have officially broken up - and before they ever really skated together! Too bad. But the Grand Prix has been pretty good to my favourite skaters so far (at Cup of China this weekend, Jeff Buttle won, Tanith & Ben won, and Joannie Rochette came third!), and I'm really getting excited about Worlds. Well, I would be even more so if I knew for sure that I had tickets...or how I was going to pay for them!

Krista is coming to visit me this week! We were originally going to go to New York together, but as I have reached new depths of broke-ness, we will be staying in Toronto instead. Still, should be a good time - we're planning on doing a bit of clubbing, checking out the ROM and Casa Loma, taking in Side by Side by Sondheim at Canstage, watching "The Incredibles", viewing lots of trip photos, decorating for Christmas....should keep us pretty busy! She arrives Thursday night, so I have spent some of my time this weekend in trying to put my apartment in some kind of order. It is looking better than it was, though there's still a long way to go!

The rest of this weekend has actually been quite productive for me, since aside from cleaning, I managed to get my theatre site back online, work a bit on my email, read a few chapters of my insurance book, and do some German exercises. Tonight I am planning on relaxing, before the madness of the week starts up again.

Only 41 days until Christmas!!

November 5, 2004: 9:23 p.m.

Yay, Christmas design! :-) Only 50 days left! And even though I've only purchased a couple of gifts so far, I'm not too stressed out about it, since I have a few ideas for the rest of them. I took down my Halloween decorations at home earlier this week, and was sorely tempted to bring out the Christmas ones while I was at it, but I managed to contain myself. :-)

This week was still busy - I had hoped things would slow down after the Halloween madness, but it doesn't look like they're going to. On Wednesday, I went to see a taping of Rick Mercer's Monday Report, which was fantastic. He's so funny. :-) It'll be aired this coming Monday, so if you're in Canada, you can watch out for the back of my head. ;-) Yesterday I had my German class, and then immediately afterwards, I caught the bus up to the arena to catch the tail end of the public skating session, which went so well - my jumps had some spring, my spins were not too scratchy, and everything else just felt natural. I love those days. :-) I didn't want to leave, they had to kick me off the ice!

I don't want to talk about the US election, since it just depresses me to no end, but that is how I wasted my Tuesday evening. And tonight, I've just been finishing up the re-design of the site and adding the "friends" section back to the photo album. I'll just get done re-doing them all, and then decide I don't like the layout anymore. I predict it right now!

Tomorrow, Jenn and I are heading downtown to the Goethe institute (the German cultural centre) to see if we can get some easy books for reading and also to see what kind of movies and stuff they have. And then tomorrow night, a few of us from work are getting together to let loose and blow off some steam with a girls' night out - should be fun!

The rink where I worked last year has been calling me to see if I want to teach skating lessons again this year. Remember when I finished last year, and I said I definitely wouldn't do it again? Well, I still mostly feel that way, but I'm also a little bit tempted. I'm going to try to make a decision this weekend and get back to them. I just don't know!

Here's a picture of some of the people at work at a party we had a few weeks ago. I'm the one on the far left, with drink in hand. ;-) (Click to make it bigger!)

I don't think I mentioned in here that I did end up finding a flight home for Christmas. I'll be flying home on December 24th (which sucks, but it can't be avoided), and coming back January 3rd. Did I mention that there's only 50 days left? :-)