This week has been a tumultuous one. Trying to sort out lots of different issues took up a lot of my time and energy. There are still a lot of tricky bits to work out, but we’re slowly making progress.

Because other people are involved, I don’t feel comfortable writing about it in public. (There, see? I do have a private life.) I learned a lot, though, and I’m still learning more. I wish I could share what I’m going through, because talking about things helps me understand them better. Writing is difficult; even talking is. It’s easy to forget that words can only sketch a still-evolving understanding. My mind maps have helped me think, and maybe after a few iterations I’ll understand a few things enough to describe them.

It hasn’t all been complicated, though. As part of my preparations for the working world, I found out what to do about clothes that need to be altered. I’m short and my top and bottom are different sizes, which means it’s difficult to find ready-to-wear clothes that fit me well. Some of my pants needed hemming. A new blazer that I picked up as part of a suit needed to be reconstructed to fit me better. Pants were relatively inexpensive, but the alterations to the blazer cost nearly as much as the blazer itself. Still, I’ll be glad not to have to think about the clothes. As it turns out, getting things done by a proper tailor (High Park Tailoring in this case) is only a little more expensive than getting it done at the cleaners, and you’ll get more advice and chitchat from a proper tailor.

I also dropped my shoes off at a cobbler so that the soles can be reinforced with rubber. I’d been meaning to do that in order to extend the life of my shoes. I like simple designs, and good shoes can be hard to find. I walk a lot, though. Reinforcing the soles now might make the shoes last longer or be easier to maintain later on.

This week has also been quite a week in terms of entertainment. On
Thursday, I attended Jedediah Smith’s long-form improv class show at the Bad Dog Theatre. Gabriel Mansour and Syed Dilawar were also there. Friday, I went to Buskerfest to take some pictures of street performers. I got a Facebook status update from Jed asking about things to do that night, so I invited him over and we watched the fire show. Last night, W-, J- and I went to the Ex. We had tons of fun at the Aquareve show. A waist-high sea of bubbles reduced J- and me to squeals of delight.

Tea was also fun today – nice conversation. I made meringue cookies, which were quickly demolished. I had a number of kitchen accidents (spilled vanilla, etc.), but W- and I both managed to not freak out about it. =) Little things like that make me more confident.

It’s been a jam-packed week, and I’m looking forward to balancing that with some peace and quiet.

Next week is mostly taken up by driving lessons. I’ve signed up for the Young Drivers manual shift course. It’s a bit pricy, but I’d rather pay a little more now for a program that everyone I’ve asked has recommended to me, than pay lots more later if I get into an accident. I also need to follow up with my supervisor. I’d really like to finalize my thesis by the 31st in order to give myself some breathing room for my paperwork.

Yes, I think the main thing I want for next week is to find that quiet, happy center again… =)

Random Emacs symbol: gnus-score-interactive-default-score – Variable: *Scoring commands will raise/lower the score with this number as the default.