So Pete’s in Berkeley for two weeks, and I am envious of his escaping Montreal in February for California.  It is cold and wet there by Bay Area winter standards, but it’s still 60 degrees warmer and with 100% less snow and ice than here, and Pete reports that on his walk to campus yesterday he was overheating in his unlined jacket while Cal students shivered past him in wool caps.  (What do Uggs look like without winter salt stains, I wonder?)  I also envy him the daily walk past Trader Joe’s on College Avenue, though I’m having  a hard time picking just one or two small non-liquid or non-gel for him to smuggle back to Canada for me.  As far as I can tell, everybody has their own personal list of favorite can’t-miss items at Trader Joe’s, and it’s difficult to think of one or two desert island (desert country?) items I’d like as opposed to an entire cart full.  I will, however, be putting forth regular and increasingly not-so-gentle reminders that an assortment of See’s buttercreams heavily featuring Scotchmallows would be a welcome and considerate gift for the wife at home, particularly given that she elected not to visit California because at the time of ticket-booking she was waiting two hear about two jobs that she just managed to place second for.

Despite that, though, I’m feeling downright sanguine.  (Now I want to modify my emotional vocabulary to see if I can refer to myself exclusively in terms of humoral theory.  How are you feeling today, Katie?  Oh, rather phlegmatic.)  I honestly don’t know whether this is an actual phenomenon, or just me being a spaz, but what I hate most about Pete’s multi-week trips are the couple of days before leaving.  I’m just fine (sanguine!) once he leaves, but I hate the feeling of wanting to go about my business, but feeling obligated to somehow Make the Most of our Time Together, the day or two before.  Like, instead of surfing the web, I should be doing something to actively enjoy his company before he leaves.  Now that he’s actually gone, I can get on with things.

I have a lengthy mental list of stuff–both fun and work-related–to do, so the first part of the month should fly by.  Historically, February has been excellent.  For whatever reason, our Madisonian social calendar coalesced to present one or two unique yearly social engagements each weekend.  Part of this was coincidence, and part, I think, because the sharpest edge tends to come off the weather in February, and people are just fed up with self-indulgent hibernation.   My plan is to extend the spirit of Madisonian February into Montreal February, and make a conscientious plan to have it kick ass.  Sure, one part of this is meeting a revision deadline on the 16th–anything but fun, but something that, if done well, means moving on to my next chapter sooner than not–but, as I type this, I’ve also got a new camera lens winging its way slowly to me from British Columbia that I am super-excited about.  I’ve been saving for months, alternately drooling and fretting about whether it was a gross misappropriation of funds.  (Better equipment, after all, does not a better photographer make.)  But I got a surprisingly good deal on it, which means that I could afford to buy it now, and not sometime in April, and… ugh, so excited.

I also drove Pete to the airport two days ago, which made me feel like a total bad-ass.  I haven’t driven around the city since May, so I’m not exactly familiar with the roads, let alone driving like a (crazy) Montreal driver, but–all things considered–I actually had a lot of fun, did not get lost, and found that my pedestrian- and metro-based knowledge of the city gave me a significant amount of intuitive directional knowledge.  I also swung by the store on the way home, and had the immensely satisfying feeling of filling up a cart with value-sized packages of Kleenex, toilet paper, and paper towels.  And, judging by the confidence with which I topped off the gas tank, you’dve thought I’ve done it more than 25 or so times in my life.  And I parallel parked like a pro, in one smooth backwards curve.

Yes, February should kick ass.

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