LC and the City: Comfortable Silence. Excitement in Tow. Life as we knew it.

January 17, 2011

Ernest Hemingway once said "write drunk, edit sober".  So that’s what I’m doing.

Today was a great day.  I started it off with baileys in my coffee.  Our little secret okay.  It was just a tad of alcohol, nothing to worry the bosses.  It was such a small amount anyways that I probably secreted it by the time I was done my long enough commute to work.  Then I got some really great news at work, that is meant to be confidential and so it shall remain.  But so it is known, I am over the top excited and feel my work is recognized so with that said, it most definitely calls for a celebration. Since 8:30 am, when I received the news, I’ve been anticipating this moment: favourite sparkling wine in hand. So great.  It’s well deserved on so many levels.  On the career front but also in the physical front because I worked my butt off at the gym tonight that the copious amounts of alcohol I will drink tonight are already worked off.  Ok, so Im exaggerating in the amount of alcohol I will drink. Let’s be real, I have to work tomorrow. Copious is not what I will drink.  More like a few well polished glasses of wine over a span of a few hours.  It’s my treat, Hence why I’m writing sorta kinda maybe drunk.  Is it sorta? Is it kinda? Is it maybe? Well, the only people that can answer that question are the people in my house tonight.  Unless you inquire within, you'll never know just how crazy I will get tonight.  Are you the cat and has curiosity killed you yet?  I’m corny.  Let’s move on.  Had Mr. Hemingway really thought it through when he said we should write things while drunk.  He probably envisioned a more poetic outcome, where when alcohol touched the lips of those well spoken, the words then spoken likely came out more eloquent and more beautiful.  Fast forward to present time and here’s me, plopped in my bed, sporting some seriously hot pink lipstick because I was bedroom modeling, ¾’s done my bottle of wine and just finished watching jersey shore.  Definitely not Hemingway material.  I shall redeem myself.  Composure, where are thou ? There you are.  I am composed.

Yesterday afternoon, my sister and I took to the road to make our way back to Toronto.  Through the grace of God, we did not get any of the unpredictable weather patterns that usually hit northern Ontario, more specifically, that bloody snow belt that we call Parry Sound (note: I use bloody instead of the f word).  I swear I’ve had heart attacks before due the threacherous driving conditions.  Sheer ice and terrifying snow squalls will stop even the healthiest 27 year old heart dead in its beat.  

It began with a heartfelt goodbye to my parents. Never fails, I get into the vehicle after waving goodbye and my eyes are watering so much that I can’t see.  I appreciate my parents so much that I take these goodbyes as if they are my last because as this past weekend has taught me, with the passing of Richy and also with the 8 month mark of the death of my fake little brother, it really can be our last.  

I am in charge of the first half the drive.  Just call me Captain Lynda.  Nothing else.  Not Lynda, or LC, or lyndy, or lindin, or lyndaliscious.  Captain Lynda.  I am one with the road.   We’re 20 minutes into the ride and we’re famished so we opt for Harveys seeing that our options are limited.  I have not eaten fast food since my stint in highschool so you can imagine the discomfort I’m experiencing at the thought of what I am about to order.  Cha is trying to make this as comfortable a process as can be for me.  She kindly tells me that she too will order a grilled chicken burger, like there is comfort in numbers, knowing that someone else will order the healthiest menu choice.  Solidarity sisters.  I laughed like a maniac at this because only I would need someone alongside me in a Harvey's drive thru; a walk-through of how it's done and someone there to let me know that everything, in the end, will be fine.  

As we sat there in comfortable silence, Cha blurted out "I'm going to make every day exciting".  Just like that. A sweeping statement to take every day and make it outstanding, to grab not just life but the days that comprise your hopefully long life by the proverbial balls.  To define exciting is very subjective.  I may think your excitement is utterly boring and vice versa.  So there is no one list of exciting-things-to-do that can help you do the same.  It can be everything from the small things like trying a new restaurant to the very outlandish of going on a trip.  The sky is the limit.  And even at that, I think the limit is further than meets the eye.  It's all about getting that engine running, re-igniting that burning desire to always want to do something and most importantly, keeping your smile, the one you wear on your face and the one inside that keeps you warm and fuzzy.

Side story: Somewhat recently, I had been telling my parents a story about a boy.  I said that I was going to go for it and grab life by the proverbial balls.  My dad immediately freaked because he heard me say I was going to grab this boy by the balls.  No Dad.  Don't worry.  I don't grab balls on the first date, as I joked with my mother :)

Like she was there for me during my horrible experience in the Harvey's drive thru, I too shall be there alongside my sister in this quest to make our every day exciting.  Solidarity sisters in drive thrus and in life adventures.