I don't think I've ever been so excited for a month to be over. January 2014 has definitely not ushered me into the new year with grace and warmth. I rang in the new year holding onto my mother's hand, worried about what was wrong with her in the back of an ambulance. I haven't been that scared in a long time. Following that visit (she's fine now), after trying to hail a taxi in downtown Montreal at three in the morning when all the bars and clubs are closing post-New Years' bash for half an hour, I caught a chill and fell sick for two days. The metro broke down a few times, causing me once to have to walk through the tunnel (getting motor oil on my new tan coloured pants), which dipped into my paycheck a bit. I'd been taking this all in stride until a few days ago, my computer broke down.

I have no idea what happened. The people at the Apple store have no idea what happened. All I know is that when I went to restart my computer, I was met with the grey screen of death. My Macbook ended up wiping itself clean when all other troubleshooting methods failed. My documents, backups from my old blog, music, and thesis, were gone. To top that off, I also broke my glasses the next day. Needless to say, things haven't been going well.

Tossing and turning, now trying to balance a heavier work schedule and going back to school, I’m a mess. I’m way too stressed out, and I’m trying to drop any extra weight where I can. Out of all the ends I’ve clipped, cutting out my Japanese courses, which I was so excited to start, has been the hardest part. I was really, really, really looking forward to progressing with my lessons and figuring out the language. But is it worth stressing my head over? No. I’ll get over it, and I can always practice with my Japanese friends since the Teach Yourself Japanese self-teaching course pack I bought is quite easy to work with.

2014, the year of remembering that with all things, to take each one one at a time.