I sit here after spending the last two days running on coffee and adrenaline, glad I took the rest of the day off – this past Valentine’s day weekend was an absolute whirlwind of adventure, but I’m glad to be back (and to not be flying anywhere else for a good little while!)!

The week leading up to V-day was pretty crazy.  The situation at work is – well, I’m still totally in limbo and there’s been no word on whether or not I’m staying yet, and as of right now, I heard we may not even know until the first week of March – which, if I wait to hear, means I have only three weeks to job search.  I don’t want to start early and have to worry about going to interviews while I’m still working and could very well be told I get to stay at my wonderful place – but at the same time, I don’t want to leave it too late and be unemployed at the end of my term if I’m not being kept on.  It’s pretty stressful there right now, but I’m holding onto the hope that whatever is meant to happen will, and praying that it’ll be revealed to me sooner rather than later. Sweet had a crazy week at work too, so by the time the weekend rolled around, we couldn’t be happier to be spending the long weekend relaxing and then heading off to TORONTO to see one o my favourite bands in the whole world!!

Saturday night we went to see Valentine’s Day, hoping it was going to be just as good as Love, Actually.  It wasn’t; it was kind of a ripoff, pretty pointless, but sappy enough to get us both in the spirit, and we came home and shared wine and Rock Band sing-offs until we fell asleep.  We awoke on Sunday morning to fresh snow, and spent the morning snuggling inside, cooking breakfast, and watching episodes of Glee.  Can somebody tell me why I only discovered this show now?!  We’re almost done the first season (so no spoilers!) and we’ve both been blown AWAY at how amazing it is.  It’s hilarious, wonderfully cast, and gives me more goosebumps than standing outside for more than thirty seconds, and we went straight out and bought the first volume of the soundtrack that afternoon.

We also had a kind-of couple’s massage – I’d apparently left it too late to book (I thought a week would be plenty of time!) so the couple’s room was fully booked, but we both went at the same time in separate rooms for some relaxation. Well, for him, anyway.  I took advantage of the fact that this massage therapist stopped halfway through to examine my spine and leg movements and diagnosed me with something that’s evaded countless doctors, chiropractors and therapists for years.  Because he’d had the same thing.  It’s been about ten years now of this pain becoming increasingly worse, and now chronic, and I’ve tried more stretches, exercises and tortuous methods in the hope of relief than I can even count.  He explained what he thought the problem was with complete certainty; something I’ve not seen in the vague and frantic diagnoses of other specialists who’ve been quick to get this anomaly out of their offices.  I’m going back weekly for the next month (exhausting my coverage for the year, but for some reason I totally trust this guy), so fingers crossed.  I left however with my hip flexor going into TOTAL spasm after being shown a stretch, and hobbled out in tears barely able to walk, but remaining hopeful!  At home, Sweet set me up with blankets and an ice pack, and after a few hours it calmed down enough for us to carry on with our Valentine’s day plans.

We exchanged gifts, and ended the night with a fancy dinner at The Keg. This past week I’d read a great deal of blog posts about how Valentine’s day isn’t a big deal for people, how people shouldn’t need a Hallmark holiday to tell people how they feel about them… but I think it’s a lovely holiday.  Even when I was single I took the opportunity to send cards to friends and family telling them how much they mean to me, and yes, people should do that throughout the year, but if Valentine’s is the one day some people do – then for one day, maybe the world can feel that much more love.  I feel naive and childish in feeling this way, in a world so quick to condemn February 14th as invented, saccharine, money-grabbing rubbish – but I see it as just one more day in the year when the world focuses on love instead of hate, and I count my blessings for having an amazing fiance, family, and friends like you reading this right now.

The night was wrapped up with packing, in eager anticipation for our early morning flight to Toronto!! I’d never been before, and luckily here in Winnipeg it was a holiday, and we were heading out to see the almighty Mumford and Sons. I’d come across them about a year ago, and ordered in their album from the UK as soon as it was released last year, and soon wrote a 5-star review of it for Frequency Magazine.  They were heart-wrenching, foot-stomping, banjo-picking masters of the poetic, and we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see them live – even if it did mean red-eye flights and a couple of hundred dollars to get there.  My heart jumped a little when I saw they’d sold out, and at the singer’s surprised happiness to see everyone singing along, despite the album not yet being available in North America.  There was an excited, energetic buzz filling the room; they commanded the crowd dressed in vintage waistcoats, rotating instruments, and had the crowd jumping up and down pumping fists while on the edge of their seats two tracks later in awe at the raw passion, soul and mastery of lyricism in front of them.  It was nothing short of stunning, and I hope they get the worldwide recognition they deserve. And let’s hope so – today, they were talking about them on CBC Radio 2 (apparently the album is finally out this side of the pond!), and tonight, they’re going to be on The Late Show with David Letterman.  PVRs at the ready! 🙂

I uploaded the videos I caught last night here on my YouTube account 🙂 It was the perfect end to a wonderful day of exploring the city on foot, seeing old friends, enjoying a city so full of culture and singing our hearts out.  We went up the CN Tower (very scary!), checked out the CBC building, did a little shopping (nice hats?), ate amazing food and explored Chinatown.  Between getting back to the hotel at midnight and having to be up at 3:30 to walk to the nearest airport express bus stop we’d completely exhausted ourselves with adventure. This was such a great weekend 🙂