Waiting, Wimbledon and Weather

Such a British title! But nonetheless quite apt right now. I'm back at the HI hostel in Montreal, and sitting on the couches in the common room waiting for Quentin to wake up so we can check in to our dorms. But I'm in no rush as Wimbledon is on, so I'm watching seeds being knocked out left, right and centre (bye bye Kuznetsova, Jankovic, Davydenko). Incidentally, Wimbledon coverage over here is just not the same with advert breaks every end change - tis most frustrating and just not BBC. And to give a nod to the third W in the title, the weather looks to be chucking it down outside, with some thunder storms in the distance. So not quite the 30 degree sunshine I'd anticipated, but I've missed humid summer days and evening storms and would quite like some good forked lightning if that's the case.

I definitely have that "home-coming" feeling right now, on return to a familiar place. And the mix of French and English is far more prominent over here, and both Quentin and I are enjoying being back in it. We're here to meet up with Becks and Laura who are currently in Toronto and will be making their way over to Montreal this evening! Excitement mounts.

It's especially good not being at work right now. I've been in charge of the store a lot recently, which is good because I tend to work better when left to my own devices. Also, and I recognise this might not be considered "working better", but not having a boss makes following live BBC tennis updates a whole lot easier (when we have no customers for hours what do you expect?!). However, I did discover nine pairs of shoes missing the other day, presumed stolen. Meika has called a staff meeting, which I'm not disappointed I'm missing (it was 9am today).

Our house seems to grow exponentially. On Thursday night we had 18 people sleeping there. A mix of people staying over after a night out, temporary lodger friends and a group of people on a delayed trip to the Island all camped out on our basement floor. We're going to be one more for a month or so with one girl in the friendship circle staying whilst she finds somewhere to live. We're currently at nine. Really, it would be worth our while starting up an official hostel of some sorts and earning money from this. We all really enjoy having a different mix of people around, and the saying "the more the merrier" really does ring true.

A definite highlight of the past few weeks was the Coldplay concert we as a house, plus Q's friend Jeff went to. We had, by some miracle, managed to get hold of tickets for the floor, eight rows from the stage. View was fantastic. The energy and vibe of the whole evening was infectious and the music was, of course, top. Definitely one of the best gigs I've been to :-)

But now, back to waiting. I haven't been sitting around a hostel internetting away the time for a good few months now, and it's quite nice to indulge for a bit. Good grief, have just looked at the Murray match score and Andy has run away with it and is all of a sudden 6-2 and 3-0 up in the second. Last time I looked he was 2-2 in the first. And Roddick is looking rather pensive and glum in a press interview - has he lost?! I can't find an update. Nope, he's through. Goodness knows what he'd be like had he crashed...

Probably best to stop this structureless diatribe, but hope you enjoyed a small insight into a section of my day. Might try and wake the slumbering boy and find our rooms. I feel some fresh air and a shower would be un bon plan right now....will write again soon!

xx