Colorful days

Here they come! Free concerts, events and films…

Weather-wise, it’s been warm these days. We had a mild winter this winter as we can really number the days when it went brutally cold. Maybe because I was expecting it to be worse based on my previous winter experience (my first winter in Canada). One thing for sure, my snow boots are still in shape this year. The Spring, on the other hand, is pretty rough. According to the news, this year has the highest pollen counts. When I moved here, I thought my allergy was gone as I didn’t suffer at all last year. Well, either because it was higher count or my immune system was acting  up, the allergy got me real bad this year. Since allergy medicines are over-the-counter drugs, the insurance doesn’t cover them. I had to switch around a couple of brands to finally find the one that works for me. This morning, I took the last one left and hopefully, this is it for the season. 

This weekend is a long weekend for us. We are off today – Victoria day. I heard most Canadians spend their holidays in cottages. For those of us remain in the city, the place is pretty empty despite the tourists.

I’d like to think that I have pretty much adapted to the new place. I have made a few new friends, established some routines that would totally occupy me and color the days. For instance, I have fully acquainted myself to this nearby public library and made good use of the membership card. It’s all FREE and it’s surprising to find some recent books and DVDs. The only caveat is that we can only borrow for a week and the new releases are non-renewable. Often time, I attend to those free book events hosted by Indigo bookstore. They can be really inspiring sometimes. Another thing that helped me was this gym membership. At first, I was pretty much wasting away the membership as I kept skipping until I found a few exciting gym classes. I am glad I chose this gym as the other one I tried only offer classes that were led by video tapes. The one I joined actually have real instructors and there are a few classes everyday. I have explored the zoo, museums, the science center, the parks, the center island, the clubs,  and restaurants. This year is a huge step up for me as I spent most of the time last year feeling homesick. I wonder what next year will be like, hmm….