Loving the summer

I was out for a walk last night with my mom (we do this every night, pretty well), and I realized that this is the first time in years that I haven't detested the summer. I normally am dying for it to be September for a few reasons: I tend to have super stressful & crazy summer jobs, I'm not a huge fan of the heat, and I've always got a new school year to look forward to after Labour Day. This year, none of those are true. I don't have any summer job this year, and I'm loving it. It's been hot here, but not brutal, and with two swimming pools at my disposal and a nice air conditioned house, I'm dealing, and I'm wide open for September. It's quite refreshing, actually. I love the fall, because it is to me the most gorgeous of all of the seasons, but I'm liking August too.

On the job front, I've actually picked up four days of work doing some research for a consultant who works for the consortium of all of the Ontario universities, so that's going to be a lot of fun, and good for the bank account too. I've been hunting for positions to apply to for the past few weeks, and I'm hoping that I'm going to hear about an interview with a major car manufacturer, who have offices about five minutes from my parents' house, very soon, as my application has been passed up to the next level of the company. I'm not really in any rush to get working, though. I've got lots of non-work things that I need to do (SSHRC & fellowship applications, research, etc.) and as this is the first time in about a decade that I haven't had a job, I'm enjoying it.

Lots of fun stuff going on in the next few weeks too. The hubby and I are going to a big Muslim wedding on Saturday, so I'm looking forward to experiencing something new, seeing friends, and eating great food. I've got dinners planned with my two favourite aunts, a dinner this week with my Queen's education girls, my mom goes on vacation on Monday, we might go up to Cavan to see my other aunts for a weekend, and my dad and I are going to work on the bathroom remodel that he's doing in the ensuite. I love getting those kinds of practical skills: we're going to do plumbing & electrical, drywall, tile, install a vanity, cabinet & new faucets, and order the glass door for the shower. I know the mechanics of doing all of these things from working at Canadian Tire for so long, but I rarely get to apply them in a practical setting, so I'm looking forward to it.

On my own house front, the hubby & and I went to check out the townhouse complex that we're interested in buying into in the spring. The location is phenomenal- right between King St. W. and Queen St. W., about 10 minutes by streetcar to the University subway line, and walking distance to the Ex. The houses themselves are adorable, really beautiful inside from the pictures that I've seen, and totally affordable. Even my mom, who hates the idea of me living in Toronto because she doesn't like driving there, is excited. We also went window shopping for some furniture, which was fun. Another great thing is that the townhouses are directly south of the design district, which means that I've got all of the fantastic furniture and fabric stores essentially on my doorstep. Woot! I'm so thrilled at the prospect of decorating, you would not believe it.

My plan for today is to apply for some more jobs, start writing a rough draft of my SSHRC proposal, call up some more friends to make plans, hem some pants, go for a long walk, and inform the principal who might have a job for me that I'm not coming back to teaching. Random, but productive. Yea for being unemployed in the summer!