Thanksgiving recap

I know that this is belated, but Thanksgiving was amazing.
There's something lovely (or horrible, depending on your mood, I suppose) about taking the bus. I managed to get a fair amount of work done, but the 8 hour bus ride to Massachusetts did allow me to stare at the road meditatively and, spend some time completly alone, and just think.
Montreal can be exhausting. By the time I left for Thanksgiving, I was suffering from some pretty bad insomnia. There's just too many distractors and stressors... Living in a city may be great, but leaving the city is great too.
Thanksgiving itself was amazing. What a wonderful feeling, to be in a suburban home (something I can't really say I've done in years), surrounded by family, good food, and cheer. I slept like the dead the whole weekend (8 hours a night!), and stocked up on eating. Well, it is winter. A girl's got to get her blubbler somewhere...
I love family. That's certainly what I was thankful for, this year...

Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to return to Montreal. Everytime I come back, I am reminded of the first time I arrived in this city. I was so frightened; the city landscape looked nothing like anything I was used to... Now I delight at the sky scrapers, the old Five Roses Farine factory, the light-up cross on Mount Royal. I love the delapitaded-looking streets of the Plateau, the seediness of Ste. Catherine, the various bridges linking the island to the mainland... Upone my return, I told a friend of mine:
"I don't think anything could spoil my good mood."

Unfortunately, I was wrong. I learned soon after that my darling cocker spaniel, Amadeus, passed away. I had expected to see him back in Washington D.C. over Christmas, but he wasn't able to make it...