...but I was alive

I just got back from another great class with Darby. It was a level 1/2, so, modified primary (no janu C, no mari B or D, no supta kurmansana) and then some great added backbending at the end (shalabhasana A nd B, bhekasana, dhanurasana, parsva dhanurasana and ustrasana)before urdvha dhanurasana. My practice was okay today. Not especially strong, but okay. The five B sun sals were torture today for some reason...it was really the first time that I've hated sun sals since the 108 sun salutations that I did a little over a month ago. It was nice and warm in the room and I managed to work up quite a good sweat. My tight hips are still frustrating me, but it's my own fault...lack of practice leads to lack of flexibility. I really hope that once I get back to school and have a very concrete routine that I'll be motivated to have a regular practice again, regardless of whether or not I find a class/community with whom to practise. It does bother me (non-attachment be damned!) that I've actually regressed with my practise in the past year, and the notion of actually moving forward again is tempting and lovely...it's a matter of finding the self-discipline to do it.
I did the same class with Darby last week, and despite having to rush out early (Darby's hour and a half classes have a tendency to be more like two hours) to make it to work on time, thoroughly enjoyed myself. Darby's shala has the perfect location: right across the street from Cocktail Hawaii, this incredible juice place. So between class and work last week, I ran across the street, grabbed myself a 'Festival Avocat' (avocado juice, bananas and Arab cottage cheese) and ran to work where everyone proceeded to tell me how gross I was for drinking what looked like green sludge...if only they knew what they were missing!
I only worked three days last week....Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday...Thursday being my last day I really do miss the people and the community. We all became very close, and it was nice to always be working with friends. Thursday night was my goodbye party...about 25 of us went out for dinner (and wine) and then we went dancing until the wee hours. I had a blast. We took a lot of photos. We laughed a lot...and miraculously I managed not to cry.
The night before the goodbye party The Model and I had tried to arrange what we liked to call Skirt Night. A sort of girls' night out...the idea for which had come from the fact that we both had so many skirts that we never got to wear, so we wanted to have an evening of dinner and drinks when we could get dressed up and have one of our usual fun nights out, but in a more ladylike fashion! Turned out that no one could make it to dinner except for The Model and I...which was fine with us, we were actually secretly happy that it turned out that way. We had a really nice meal at Casa Tapas, where we got to chat about things that we wouldn't have brought up if other people had been there...it was really great. I'm going to miss The Model a lot...she's my closest girlfriend here and...she just signed a contract to spend the summer in TOKYO!!!
The rest of the week was farily low-key...despite my assertions that I was going to go out every night last weekend (as it was my last weekend in Montreal), I was simply too tired, and was content to spend time with friends watching movies and just chilling. I went for brunch with friends in NDG on Sunday and then came home and started the packing frenzy.
Ugh...packing. Moving is a bitch.
Yesterday I had a minor crisis as I'd run out of boxes and no one, NO ONE would give me more boxes (including the stores that had a bout a bazillion empty boxes piled up, but who insisted that they didn't have any..UGH!). So, after exhausted all other options I was forced to make the hike over to Westmount to collect boxes from work and then pay the $15 cab fare to bring them back home. Oh well.
So the next few days are meant to be spent packing and spending time with friends. My mum gets here on Thursday to help me tie any loose ends togather. Friday night we're all (my closest friends and my mum) going out to dinner at the best Indian resto in the city (Bombay Mahal up on Jean Talon, just east of l'Acadie....the food there is as good as the food I had in India).
And then...Saturday morning it's time to say goodbye to Montreal. Trying not to think about it...will focus instead on the horrible drudgery of packing. Ick.

"I want to close my eyes and sleep for a year
Tell me that it's only a dream
That it's a nightmare
Trying not to think about it
Trying not to think about it"
--Juliana Hatfield