earthquakes, world cup, G20... oh my!

As if the excitement of wedding planning wasn't enough of a distraction! There's been a lot going on in Toronto lately. A lot of out of the ordinary stuff. This is my first World Cup summer living in Toronto. Last time around, I was broke, which sent me back to St. John's between semesters. I live right on the cusp of Little Italy and Little Portugal, so it's been a festive few weeks for sure (well, except for when Italy's hopes ended). Today, there was a win for Brazil. I had to leave the coffee shop to head back home because of all the celebrating on the street--vuvuzelas on the sidewalk and incessant barmping on the street. Flags everywhere. It's pretty cool to see everyone hit the streets like that in celebration (especially given the downtown events of the last couple of days), but it's definitely not conducive to thesis writing! So I have to finish my day's work at home this evening. I kind of have a mental block about that--I can't remember the last time I wrote at home (maybe on a really rainy day last summer)--but it's time to get over it. I can't afford to make excuses these days. The big thing this evening will be to not turn on the tv. It's "First-Timer Monday" on HGTV, and if I start watching, I just can't stop.

I e-mailed my supervisor yesterday and told him I would send him my day's work at the end of each of this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I did this to make myself feel accountable to someone. That's one of my biggest challenges--getting work done when I'm really accountable to noone* but myself. So I just have to write hard for three days this week. Then I go back to a phase of outlining and writing really rough stuff. I've been waking at 4:00 pretty much every morning of late and finding it a challenge to get back to sleep. I'm so tired at that hour though, that I can't even get up and make productive use of that time. I hope that if I meet my writing goals for the next three days that my mind will reward me with restful sleep Wednesday night. I'll need energy to get the creative juices going on Thursday when I start sketching my major analysis chapter.

So here I go... it's Monday evening, 7 p.m., and I will not turn on channel 46. I will clear off the table and get back to work. Wish me luck...