We booked ourselves on to a Sunday morning course at the Harbourfront and were blessed with glorious sunshine at the rink, which overlooks Lake Ontario. I was very anxious as the rink had no sides and started to panic about what I could hold on to. This was before the "battle of the boots" began. As some of you know, I have rather large feet...but they are a woman's feet, not a man's...and there is a difference in shape. This means that when it comes to ice skates, it was a struggle to find any to fit and, when they eventually did, I was hobbling around in pain before I'd even got on the ice due to my high arches having no support. It didn't help that I'd taken 15 minutes to try and pull them as tight as possible but was still flailing around with 'flappy' ankles feeling very unstable as soon as I ventured out onto the frozen stuff. Fortunately, my instructor took pity on me and I felt like a toddler again as I sat on the side of the children's 'pond' having my boots tied.
Sheer terror does not begin to describe the hour-long lesson - my whole body became rigid with fear of coming face to face with the ice. However, I survived without falling and was quite proud of the fact I was able to do the hokeycokey dance without wobbling over! I certainly wasn't the best but wasn't the worst either with one of my fellow non-Canadian classmates doing a very good 'baby giraffe trying to walk for the first time'impression for the whole hour.The next week Liezel and I both ventured out again watched from the fire-pit by Liezel's chap, who seemed to find our ice-capades quite amusing. Our instructors decided we were all looking at our skates too much so after a pretty abysmal attempt at trying to make us skate backwards (!), decided we had to play a game of moving catch. We did quite well at this and for the first time, I felt myself relax. Bad move! I attempted a rather flashy stop move and the next thing I knew was crashing towards the floor with a rather large thud. My head hit the ice and my helmet (they made us wear them - quite sensibly) shot forward crunching on to my nose. Ow!! The instructors raced over and were asking me my name to check I wasn't concussed...fortunately, I got that right...but then they started asking me their names. I hadn't got a clue! It was at that point I realized that perhaps learning to skate at the ripe old age of 38 surrounded by 3-year-olds that bounce and can remember names, may not be the most sensible thing! Thankfully, despite a lot of aching, nothing was seriously damaged and I avoided the black eyes we all anticipated might appear.
As I was slightly black and blue on my rear end, I decided that adding a bit of colour to my life was a good plan. Along with a couple of friends, I went along to an event called Art Battle.
I had no idea what to expect but it turned out to be a fun and interesting night out. The basic premise is that people turn up at a venue. Some of the audience are artists and some are not. All are invited to participate. Four names are drawn at random and these people are give an easel, a canvas, some oil paint, tools and brushes as well as an apron. The 'painters' have twenty minutes to create a masterpiece. During this time the audience, most of whom had beers in hand, circulates to the sounds of a DJ. The audience has no idea who is a 'real' artist although in some cases it became clear. At the end of the round, the audience votes for their favourite painting and the winner is announced. Another round ensues followed by the final. The paintings are later auctioned off. It was really interesting to see the different ideas, approaches and skill of each artist. 
January was a month of change for me as I decided to quit my job as I had landed myself a new one back at the University of Toronto. I left my position at York University and, to be honest, was not sorry to say goodbye to the 3 hours spent on public transport each day. My lovely team gave me a nice send off though and they will be missed. As an unexpected bonus, I had accrued some vacation so was 'forced' to take another holiday!
I booked myself a week in Mexico and headed south to warmer climes once more. I flew to the Yucatan and had a nice week in the sunshine and +30 degree temperatures pootling around some places I'd previously visited in my student days when my friend Jo was living in Merida. I took a great one-day cooking class at Los Dos Cooking School and learned a lot about Yucatecan food, making my own tortillas and tasting the chili of all chili's - the habenero! The course was held in a beautifully renovated house and one of the highlights was our trip to the colourful market.
I also spent a couple of days visiting the splendid Mayan ruins at Uxmal and Chichen Itza, or, as I like to call it, Chicken Pizza! Most of the pyramids are no longer climbable but I was impressed by how much restoration had gone on in the last few years to rebuild some of the destroyed temples.
The end of the week was spent hanging out on the coast at Playa del Carmen and on the island of Cozumel. The beaches were great and the sea was the most amazing colour. All in all, a lovely break and nice to be outdoors in the warm sunshine before heading home to that feeling of walking down the street wondering if your eyeballs might start to freeze soon!
