December 23: Tuesdays

1. Precious sleep: ‘There are twelve hours in the day, and above fifty in the night.’ - Marie de Rabutin-Chantal

2. Silver Tuesdays: All I wanted was a pair of low-rise, boot-cut jeans. Easy? Not so! After a painful hunt, it ended where it all started (thank you, Jean Machine).

3. Happy convert: $150 (plus tax) buys a 1hr facial in a fancy hotel; $50 buys that same facial - for 1.5hrs - in that same aesthetician's home.

‘If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.’ - Dale Carnegie

December 19: Escalator

1. Table, Restaurant: Looong lunch with Ms. Heather.
2. Escalator, Subway: Chris ascended as I descended.
3. Sofabed, Apartment: Late-night Ocean's Thirteen.

December 6: Sneaking

1. Two little nephews sneaking into bed early in the morning. ‘Oh! I thought you were mummy – but you're Auntie Julia!’

2. With my 4-year-old companion, sneaking pink and blue cream cheese icing and pink and blue Smarties from the carrot cake sitting atop the kitchen island.

3. In hysterics, rolling back and forth with Lukas on speckled white floor tiles after Gymboree: sneaking snow pants onto a giggly, fidgety two-year-old in a Canadian winter in a simultaneously hilarious and exhausting moment.

December 5: Frames and Pictures

1. Guest Surprise – Meeting up once again with the talented women of Frames and Pictures.
2. ‘Guest Straw’ – Sipping on Kat’s strawberry banana milkshake.
3. Guest Beds – A, Sneaking a little afternoon nap. B, Sneaking into a little sister’s crib.

November 30: Hours

1. Nine hours of beauty sleep.
2. Two hours of office work.
3. Six hours of party time.

November 27: Privileged

1. to be imparted valuable perspectives from Canada's aboriginal community,
2. to hear a speech by Stephen Lewis, former UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa,
3. to spend an afternoon in a sauna and spa, followed by a 90-minute nap.

December 1 is World AIDS Day.

November 18: Extraas

It's an official Me Day!

1. I sleep in because I can.
2. I call NYC because I can.
3. I eat the whole tub of Haagen-Dazs Extraas Caramel Cone Explosion ice cream because I can.

November 8: Calls

1. Re-Call: After falling asleep to a meditation CD (one track was titled ‘developing a loving kindness’), vivid dreams and self-awareness.

2. Wake-up Call: J and J, two friends, meet as colleagues and call me together via speaker phone from their office.

3. Call of the Wild: Hot-diggity-dog! Partying with Americans and Japanese, including a photo shoot with all thems all.

September 23: Not Jogging

1. Recovery: A long, deep slumber in my jogging pants.
2. Sunset: Tea on the front porch in my jogging pants.
3. Catch-up: Coursework, blogging in my jogging pants.

August 20: Bits

1. Eyes, closed. ‘Sweet dreams.’ ... ‘Hello again.’ Short, but effective, nap.
2. Toes, also closed, toddling... ‘Good job.’ ‘Raise?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Thanks!’ Short, but effective, meeting.
3. Ears, open. ‘Thanks for listening.’ ‘Anytime.’ Short, but effective, conversation.

Ah Jung, my ears and my eyes... and the wind beneath my wings. Sniff!

August 16: Warm

1. Warm gesture: My boss was extra nice and sent me to the sick room to lie down, which I really needed to do.

2. Warm email: I got to be happy for someone else, whose good news email was titled, ‘Greetings and sunshine!’

3. Warm paper: I hugged the fresh, hot stacks of office paper feeding out of the printer up against my chest and stomach.

‘Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough.’ - Oprah Winfrey

Bonus: Long Weekend

Snacking on cream cheese, popsicles and gummies, my dad and I watched three classic films together this long weekend.

1. The Getaway
2. Scarface
3. Heat

‘All you are is what you're going after,’ or ‘All you are is _____________’ (37,000 Google results).

August 6: Holiday

1. First Monday in August: a holiday in most of Canada.
2. Popsicles on sale at the big grocery chain for $2 a box.
3. My nephew and I took ‘naps’ on the steps of the swimming pool and shared where we'd like to go in our dreams.

July 27: Happy Feet

1. Dreamy: A loooooong sleep, at long last.
2. Boon(y): Corporate discount on stationary.
3. Musical: Happy Feet, one moving movie.

July 15: Stinky Cheese

1. 02:00 - Front porch, downtown houseparty. One of our sexy French Canadians (parce qu'ils sont tous sexy) brings out the stinkiest French cheese. It is wrapped in multiple layers of aluminum, so the whole house doesn't smell like soiled diapers. It is positively the most delicious Camembert I have ever tried!

2. 16:00 - Office. Grilled Salmon on a bed of rice. Pure energy!

3. 20:30 - Homeward Bound. I don't have to work as long as I had expected. Good night. Bonne soirée. To bed!

June 21: Time

1. Time to enjoy Merlin's Lists of 5ives.
2. Time to post photos to 365 Degree View.
3. Time to catch up on email newsletters.

June 20: Dino Dig!

Sweet things happened when I babysat two toddlers overnight and for the day:

1. 06:21 - ‘Good morning, Auntie Julia … Oh no! You had a bad dream? … Which kind was it? Dinosaurs, dragons or monsters?’

2. 08:00 - The kids wanted to watch Baby Mozart, so I got to sleep for 45 minutes.

3. 14:30 - I turned to TVO Kids, home to great Canadian children's programming, to find something interactive to do instead of watching TV. Matthew and I are huge new fans of Dino Dig!

April 24: Giggles

1. Lunch reception: A four-and-a-half-month-delayed birthday lunch in the company of good women. It was so delicious, the thought of licking clean the tiramisu plate actually crossed my mind.

2. Guest reception: An off-hours siesta in a quiet room in a downtown high-rise. Just as I was closing my eyes in sweet darkness, someone else entered, with the exact same idea. I'd call it a dream-like sequence, except she happened to be a friend of mine who scared the daylights out of me and I out of her. Fumbling for our glasses and footsteps, respectively, we exploded into fits and giggles, she all the while shaking her head, repeating, ‘you kill me, you know, you just kill me!’

3. Email reception: I opened an email from a dying, single, childless widower who has decided to donate a part of his wealth - GBP£2,895,700 - to yours truly. He doesn't know me and has never met me but his mind tells him to do this.

March 21: Canadian Tuna

1. 11am - Woke up (slept in, that is).
2. 245pm - Met up with my brother.
3. 1230am - Fixed myself a delicious tuna sandwich. Not the Syrian kind (see February 28 post).

Further, I bumped into a friend's boyfriend at the bakery, Jung called to talk and a perfect stranger smiled at me as she boarded the subway (no idea why, maybe she reads my blog?).

Oh yes, and Happy First Day of Spring!

March 2: Pharmaceuticals

DAMASCUS, Syria

I fell ill today. We couldn’t figure out why, but clearly my body was adjusting to something. At least it only lasted one day – and it was Friday, Jummah, their holy day, when nothing was really happening. So, what did a day in bed mean for me?

1. My wonderful friend took amazing care of me!!!
2. Carole, her friend, brought over pharmaceuticals.
3. Idling time generated an idea: let's visit Dubai!