Shoulders, Hips and Sneezes

Point-counterpoint: The rush when I push my body from back-bend to downward-facing dog, followed by the few days I spend sneezing, snorfling, sniffling and just generally feeling lousy. There's not much else to say other than I have a cold, along with everyone else in the universe. (The universe being restricted to my school, office and home. Oh, and those people sniffling on the train - yes, I hear you.)

I am struggling to achieve some kind of balance between work, studies and social life. I haven't had to in a while and I don't particularly enjoy the sensation of losing control. The last item is in fact necessary to my sanity.
When I (over) hear people talking about how they are already skipping sleeps and studying for hours I take the opportunity to renew my vows-of-sorts. The first and foremost being that studies will never, ever be more important than sleep. The second being that school is not life, it just gives me some tools with which to enjoy it.

This, by the way, is how I justify rolling out of bed at 6:15 every morning to get to my 8:30 class on time. If for no other reason than I like to get my learning out of the way in the morning I will continue to construct morning-centric schedules even if I do let loose the occational grumble.

I don't write as much when I'm sick. In fact, I think I'm going to construct a nest out of tea bags, tissues and Tylenol and hibernate for a while. It's better than discovering that my sneezes are the biological equivalent of shotguns...over and over again... in the office... where I'm trying to keep the sniffling and tissue pile to a minimum.

It didn't work.

Your truly,

The Sniffle Queen.

Reasons to Carry Change on Campus

I've been diligently packing my own lunches in an effort to save for exchange studies. There are days where my meals are somewhat sparse. It's days like these that I am most glad for the coins lying dormant in my wallet.

Reason One for carrying change on campus: SASS (an acronym I just coined) Student Associations Selling Snacks.
And what glorious snacks they are too. As I wandered along looking to find hot water for my packet oatmeal (yes, that's lunch), I happened to spy several people passing me bearing some kind of treat wrapped in a newspaper cone. I was not about to live in curiosity, I sought the source.
Minutes later I was the proud owner of three beautiful samosas, drizzled in sweet sauce (of some ambiguous red-brown colour) and wrapped in my very own newspaper cone. Such savoury delights beat packet oatmeal any day. I paused between classes to take in some sun and enjoy my meal. Never before have I been more glad for the Anthropology Student's Association, and for the tooney* sitting unspent in my wallet.

That might be the one and only reason I continue to carry change on campus. You never know when something delicious might be a few errant coins away. Oh, and it keeps me from buying subsidized food.

Did I mention I was going on exchange? I might have. Well, I am so ... surprise!  It's not for another year but there will be plenty to talk about until that point (and don't think I won't, my friends).

*For those not in the know: Tooney - Canadian coin valuing two Canadian Dollars. Also, it's two colours and has a Polar Bear on it.