notable

so far this christmas break

1. my baba, who is 88, was giving my littlest sister tips on her dance dance revolution technique. "taylor, you stand too far forward your back foot doesn't reach" and "taylor, can't you look down when you play? look where you stand that's why you get all the boos."

2. i ate meat. i still don't think i could go to a restaurant and order a steak or anything like that, but it was christmas dinner and i had a little bit of turkey. it was delicious, that's a fact. but i don't think it's going to be a common theme in my life. i'm happy being a vegetarian. am i still a vegetarian? well, i don't know if i still want to lay claim to that title. it's either all or none, there's no middle ground. but all of a sudden after dinner last night it clicked again and i'm feeling good about the meat-free lifestyle. we'll see. i'm not making any rules or laying down any guidelines. i'm just gonna see how i feel.

3. victoria is home. i can't really explain how hard this has hit me over the past ten days. i guess homesickness is the appropriate phrase for how i've felt. last christmas or even at the end of this summer i would have said i was "going back to school" because that's all victoria meant. but in a week i'm going back to victoria. i'm going back home.

4. i vowed not to go skiing. snowboarding. and yet i've agreed to two days of it. gaby and i are going to attack the slopes in a beginner snowboarding class tomorrow, unless i can get out of it somehow. on saturday we're all trekking out to big white for a day of "fun." pete's super stoked on it and so is my little sister and i don't know why i agreed but if i play my cards right i can sneak away to the lodge and drink coffee all afternoon, make it out for one last run and pretend i've been ripping it up all day.

5. jeffrey. umm. best ever.

start with the end in mind

last exam celebrations. taryn style.

step 1.
have a nap.
(intersperse with pleasure reading, a highlight of life without school)
current read: oryx and crake by margaret atwood

step 2.
rent christmas movies.
picks: elf, christmas with the kranks, the santa clause 2

step 3.
get snacks.
picks: pepsi and salt & vinegar chips

step 4.
watch the santa clause 2 (on vhs!) and eat snacks at 4 in the afternoon.



yahoo.
but i am done like dinner.
half way through third year. half way through my degree.
(half way? halfway?)
to kelowna on the 16th and back to victoria on january 1st.
all i know is that i will be trying not to kill jeffrey (or let my mom kill him) who is coming with me, checking my marks compulsively, scoping out all the best toboggan hills in kelowna with my littlest sister who is the most enthusiastic person in my family and spending new years with pete. the rest of it is very up in the air and as long as i don't get conned into going to the ski hill it will be a very merry christmas.

hippo hero

my new favorite website:
christmas radio stations!

i feel like i have some serious christmas frenzy and no outlet for it so all i do is scan the radio for stations playing christmas music and come home and listen to more christmas music. pretty sweet, ja?

ps.
i want a hippopotamus for christmas
only a hippopotamus will do
no crocodile
no rhinoceroses
i only like hippopotamuses
and hippopotamuses like me too

i'm totally down with this song, man.
"mom says the hippo would eat me up, but then / teacher says hippo is a vegetarian"?
lyrics don't get better than that.

man, christmas is the best.

misinterpret

misinterpretations get me every time. life is good. brilliant. tiresome. fun. stressful. everything that it should be and sometimes more. sometimes, like with anything, there are moments when it gets to be a bit overwhelming. but there are many more moments when i can't believe it is actually this good. it was never my intention to give you the impression that i was unhappy, or more importantly that there was some sort pete & taryn drama. i don't really know how life could be better, even the exams aren't as much of a drag as they usually seem to be.

christmas is approaching and this afternoon i am going to watch the santa clause with tim allen and draw pictures and eat popcorn and i am very excited about it. not quite as excited as i am about the prospect of having a drawer full of clean socks and underwear, but that's a different story.