etc.

It has been very cold in Toronto for a very long time. We’ve had temperatures as cold as -20° C for weeks, and that’s not saying anything about the wind chill. And the copious amounts of snow that fell in December are still with us, not in brown, icy clumps, but in white, frozen drifs, everywhere. And while it has been bright and sunny for most of the past two weeks, the 7 minute walk to my car at the end of the day has been tear-filled, ear-burning, and extremity-numbing. I usually like winter: the warm oversized clothes, socks in bed, the joy of constraining your cat in your lap for hours for the sheer pleasure of the heat. But it’s only January and I am already dreaming of Birkenstock weather.

This is a month of milestone birthdays for my family. My grandma turned 80 nine days ago, and my sister turns 30 today. That whole thing about not being able to choose your family gets me because I feel quite fortunate in knowing that I would actually choose every one of them everytime. Happy 30th birthday Ab!