"Izz Back"

Two has returned! She was staying with Mom for the last month and a half - see Mom's post about it HERE. She is still in the 'ignoring you, who are you again?' stage. She hasn't been sleeping on the bed, coming to sit with us, greeting us in the door, or coming when she is called. She is a bit nicer to Jason, than she is to me and she did let me brush her for a bit today. However, in general we are still in her bad books for some reason and she doesn't want to have anything to do with us.

A Commute Comparison

Monday's commute to work on the TTC:
- wake up late, the snooze button is my friend
- feeling tired and sad
- dreading returning to work after the holidays
- look all over the house for pieces of clothes, that may or may not be clean
- outfit feels uncomfortable and unattractive
- grab a few grapes on my way out the door
- so insanely cold outside; feet, fingers, and face freeze
- have to walk slow because the ice on the sidewalk is terrible
- unable to find my metropass in my purse
(kind streetcar driver lets me on anyway)
- continued frantic search for metropass proves fruitless
- not enough change to pay the fare when I transfer to the bus
- an attempt to break a $20 bill at McDonalds fails due to their lack of change
- wait forever for a Dufferin bus, many come but there isn't room
- crowded bus arrives and I have to squeeze in
(kind bus drive lets me on after only paying $2.25 instead of $3)
- bus and/or crowd of people smell awful
- floor of bus is covered in water and slush; bus is warm, making me sweat
- had to bring second pair of socks for the commute home, feet are soaked
- high school students talk incessantly, about nothing
(I do get a seat after the mass exit at Dufferin Station)
- sitting on a sideways seat squished between two people
- purse and lunchbag on my lap, the bulk is adding to the heating and sweating
- bus is announced to short turn at Queen
- scramble for phone to text my boss that I might be late due to the short walk
(the walk up the hill to work ends up being fast, nice, and refreshing)
- forgot to wear the new watch I got for Christmas
- hat hair
- dress shoes kept at work are in worse shape than I remembered
- fan in the office is making a loud and distracting noise but is on too high a shelf for me to reach
(when I get my computer turned out, I find out that I did arrive in time, a couple minutes to spare actually)

Friday's commute to work on the TTC:
- wake up after hitting the snooze button a couple of times
- feeling refreshed, healthy, and awake
- a basic but cute outfit can be made from the pile of clean laundry piled on my desk
- enjoy some canned peaches
- warm but still softly snowing outside
- a light sprinkle of snow of the roads and sidewalk that has yet to turn to slush
- streetcar arrives moments after I get to the stop
- a TTC token in my pocket, replaced by a transfer on the streetcar
- streetcar is clean and travels down St. Clair West quickly
- someone walks by and I catch a brief scent of nice perfume/cologne 
- I daydream but still manage to catch my proper stop and get off without issue
(miss a mostly empty bus that passes me as I approach the stop)
- a quick transfer with no waiting, a bus comes quickly and I can get on
- after a few stops I am able to walk to the back of the bus and stand out of the way
- the bus nearly empties at Dufferin Station, I get a seat and few people get on
- bus driver negotiates the busy street smoothly, the bus is quiet 
- a double seat to myself, I can see people walking dogs out of the window
- lots of squirrels in the big park
- the driver opens the back doors for me just as I reach them
- walking to my building I pass some nice infrastructure projects we have been working on and they look good
- run into the building's superintendents, have a nice walk-and-talk
- watch Jason gave me says I'm 15 minutes early
Needless to say, I had a good commute today!

The Trick Is To Be Regular

I have decided that in order to meet my goal of posting every day in 2014, then it would be best to have some 'regular features' on a Always Standing. I have had these things before, for instance: Salad Club became a Thursday feature for a little while, and whenever I go away themes pop up naturally.

The one's I am thinking about right now are:
Mid-Week Update - I was thinking that I mention friends off and on Always Standing and I could provide some little updates about what people are up to, where they are now, etc. I don't have 52 friends, so this can't last weekly for the whole year, but could get me started for the first few months.
Caterday - A post about, or from the perspective of Two every Saturday. Or maybe just a picture of her being adorable, she is pretty easy to take pictures of because she is adorable all the time!
Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

Not Every Day In 2013

Reviewing my New Years Resolution from 2013 about blogging and I did not fulfill it. I had decided pretty early on that instead of trying to blog every single day in 2013, I would do 6 days a week and allow myself to skip one day. Well that would mean about 312 posts last year, and if you look on the left-hand side, I only did 234. It was a big improvement from the previous few years, but it still isn't up to pre-2010 standards and I have yet to ever have a year that Always Standing has more than 365 posts. If you look at the breakdown, like all resolutions, I start strong and then have a weak June and off and on weak months after that.

So, I am trying again - My resolution then is to BLOG EVERY DAY IN 2014 so that the number beside it reads at least 365 by this time next year. And again, this will hopefully, up my readership, mean more comments, improve my writing, and better document my life. (A reread of last year's post and it says "document this amazing year that I plan to have" and this time I am not going to make near as bold a statement.)

Speaking of blogging...
Remember to regularly check out the two blogs listed in My Links:
- Mom's Travel Blog - She recently did a great post reflecting about her first year of blogging and I really agree that it becomes more about doing it for yourself than for others - however, I am still the type of writer that lives for the comments. Unless she is travelling and using vicarious travelling as a daily diary, then mom is posting a little more than once a week.
- Steph's Photo Blog - She has always been good and seems to be getting better and better! With Stephanie Beach Photography taking off the way it is, I was worried that Steph's blog would become less personal, but it hasn't. She posts about once a week, a combination of client shots and personal ones.

Also, check out the funny writings of my GeoConnections' Girls:
They don't quite post enough or consistently enough to show up on My Links yet, but when they do bring something to the internet it is always amazing!
- Generic Blonde Musings - ERin's blog started back in the summer and follows her life back in Edmonton. She spent a couple of years in Ottawa but has moved back west again.
- Whispering Swede Nothings - Anne's blog to document her time in Sweden as she works on her Masters. She has always had the funnest posts, even previously on her personal blog. Also Sweden seems crazy. It looks like Anne is posting about twice a month or so.

Chilled By The Wind

In true Canadian fashion, I am going to talk about the weather. My social media has been filled with pictures and comments about the crazy snow and ice in Southern Ontario for the past few days. Even though I was talking about how cold it is here less than a month ago, I thought I would post this report from The Weather Network:

There is also a Wind Chill Alert that has been issued by Environment Canada:
Extreme wind chills from minus 30 to minus 40 today and tonight. Frigid and strong westerly winds are producing widespread dangerous wind chills of minus 30 to minus 40 today and tonight. Extreme caution is advised for people heading outdoors. Exposed skin may freeze in less than 5 minutes. Moreover, it is also suggested to help prevent freezing of pipes in buildings, one could turn on the lowest tap in the house and let it run as a pencil-thin stream or fast drip while keeping indoor temperatures a little warmer at night. Wind chills will improve slowly on Wednesday as temperatures rise slowly and winds finally begin to ease.

Puncuation Matters

----------- from Monica, found in a magazine in a plane

Let's eat Grandma

Let's eat, Grandma

Commas save lives.

Resolutions For 2014

This year I am going to try to take better care of....
My Body
(exercise, eat better, moisturize, etc.)
My Apartment
(keep it tidy, organize the kitchen, clean etc.)
My Boyfriend
(listen, more massages, cook, etc.)

New Years Eve Is Now

Since work starts tomorrow, tonight feels like a less intense New Years Eve. I won't be staying up until midnight but I have started to think about my resolutions. Being away from the office for the last two weeks has been a nice break from responsibility. Today we had to go grocery shopping and it was one of the larger trips we have had. The power outage, time spent at The Cottage over the holidays and our recent trip to Ottawa has meant there was no food in the house. I am feeling ready to move forward and start 2014, last year had some terrible moments. I don't want to dwell on them so instead I will list some great things about 2013.

2013 Included:
- Jason moving in
- Kristen & Noah's Wedding
- Huge birthday weekend at The Cottage
- Stampede!