Happy

I have been thinking about what it takes to be happy - and have decided that sometimes it is not much.

On Friday morning I taught my last class for one of the courses I am teaching. This course has been very stressful. It was on a topic that I am not overly familiar with and that has nothing to do with my research. It was a large class. It was a 100-level course, meaning that there was a huge variety of people in the class - from 4th year Psychology honours students to 1st year Chemistry students. I was always behind with it too - finishing lectures at 1, 2, or even 3am the night before. Ugh. But at 12:30pm on Friday it was over (except for the final exam, but it's not hard to get a computer to score 80 multiple-choice questions).

I had planned to take Friday afternoon off as a reward (a great idea because I only got 4 hours sleep the night before), and had finally booked a haircut, something I have been trying to fit into my schedule for 3 months now. My hair was LONG! And if you know me (which you all do) you know that I have an insane amount of hair. So I hopped on the bus and headed downtown. It was a nice temperature on Friday - sunny, and jean jacket weather. I went in to the salon and everyone was commenting on how much hair I have - it was ridiculous. So I chatted with the stylist about what needed to be done (cut a bunch off and thin it out - as usual) and so began the most relaxing hour I've had all week - maybe even all month. Exactly what I needed. I left the salon feeling like a million bucks. Still sunny outside at this point, and I was going to walk home, so I stopped at the Starbucks on the corner and got a Frappacino. Then I walked the 5 blocks home sipping it, listening to my iPod (yay for the Stars!) and enjoying the sun.

I still don't know where I will be living next year. I still don't know when my thesis will be finished. I still don't know when I am moving.

But that Friday afternoon - that my friends, made me happy.

me and julio