Packing... so much packing...

So here we are again - I feel like I've spent the whole of the last year and a bit in some stage of packing or unpacking... having moved from my hometown to my parents new house, two months later moving across the country, packing for various trips back home through the year, packing to move back across the country, unpacking what was left over from moving from home, and now packing to move to my new place in the city! Oh my goodness, you have no idea how excited I am to put down some permanent [for at least for three years] roots in two weeks! No more wondering at which home, and in which box my favourite zip up hoodie is! I'm looking at it right now. This hoodie was of particular concern for me this past year, turns out it was in a suitcase of random clothes that didn't fit me anymore!

The shared closet with my sister might be a little... interesting... but that's what storing out of season clothes is for!

In other news, I have my booklist - and it's way less than I thought it was going to be! Sweet deal! And I applied for my student card, so that should be ready for when I get to town at the end of next week - so I can pick up my transit pass, and be so ready for school on the 4th! I also took advantage of the "upload your own" photo for the ID card since I'll probably have some seriously puffy cheeks, and maybe even some sweet bruising from my wisdom teeth extraction next week... I just hope it'll all be gone by the first day of school... nothing like being a swollen chipmunk face for your first day at a new university... introductions of "No, I don't usually look like this. No I didn't get in a fight. Yes the blood drooling should stop eventually..." don't sound like a lot of fun to me.

I'm still pretty sad that I won't be at the other end of the hall from my Emily. I keep thinking about the first day back, and how I really would like for us to be able to help each other rearrange our rooms, and just chill out in each other's rooms... wow... this is making me depressed to write about! So I'm not going to! That's that.

Other than all that sad stuff, and organizational stuff, and packing stuff, I'M SO EXCITED! I've got ten days between moving, and the first day of school so I am going to get my explore on, and sleep. Yes, sleeping is pretty much top on my list of priorities right now! Then a few days after I get there, my friends from home start arriving [lots of my friends are going to be in the city, or on Vancouver Island as well, just at different schools, but I'll still get to see them!], and I'll get to see them! EXCITEMENT! Now back to packing...

Feeling Normal

A little sentiment for a mishmash of a post.

So today has been the first day that I really feel like it's summer. It's probably the fact that it's ridiculously hot - well, hot for me. I'm a "no more than 22" kind of girl, but it's pushing 30 and above today! I'm a hot mess. I've actually taken to my living room floor to keep the heat off, and it seems to be working!

These days there is very little that feels normal in my life... it sounds weird, but having grown up in the same house for 18 years, and now having lived in NS for the past year and put down roots there, it's so strange for me to come "home" and expect to feel normal. Things just aren't normal here! I know I've had the home rant time and time again, but this is a positive step! Tonight is the first night that it feels like my life here.

Maybe it has something to do with my little vacation to my hometown earlier this week. I felt like myself again while I was there. Not even like my university self. I actually felt like I'd never left. I don't know if this is a good thing or not - I embrace moving on, and am doing my best to roll with my ever changing life - but I have to say, it felt good to feel like I was back in my little puzzle slot.

Getting back together with friends, and not having to explain my past, why I am working somewhere I don't consider home, why I went to school 4,000 kilometers away from my family, what I like to do in my spare time, and just being able to have a conversation about the stuff we are interested in, friends, what one another has been up to, what we're excited for, and so on. It's so nice to be with people who know you. And my friends certainly know me - some of them I've known since we were 6 years old! If they don't know me, I don't know who would! It's nice in those moments where you can just pick up where you left off. Some of those moments can be particularly special when you didn't think they'd ever happen again. Sure, attachment can be a dangerous thing, it can stop you from moving on, and getting on with your life, but there's no reason to give up important people in your life if you have no reason to.

Anyway, that's my little spiel about that. I'm just happy where I'm at, at this very exact moment in time. It's a happy place. Then I'll go to bed, and there will only be 17 more days until I get to move to my new apartment, and start my whole new life at my new school... a tad daunting - particularly with the promise of a really wicked wisdom tooth extraction x4. I just hope I'm not swollen or bruised for my first day of school! And I have to remember to take my ID picture before the cutting open of my face...

I just had another completely unrelated thought: can I just point out how amazingly comforting it is to put one's hair in a ponytail and put one's glasses on after a long, tiring day? I don't wear contacts, but I also don't wear my glasses a lot of the time [I'm really bad with it right now, since my frames are driving me mental - I feel like they overpower my face, and they slide down my nose a lot], so when I finally put them on at the end of the day, and can actually read things without squinting, and a whole lot of guesswork, it's always super relaxing. And my hair is finally long enough for a ponytail that I can just do with an elastic, and not a whole assortment of barrets and bobby pins! Win of the day!

Well, that's about all I've got to say for now... I have a feeling I'll be blogging more soon... work is finishing soon, and we'll be back in a time and place where thinking is actually possible - not just napping, and eating. Hope all y'all are having a fabulous August so far!

A quick recap of sushi and ferries

And here we are - back on the island, bright and sunny, good good good. Yesterday was another fabulous day in the city. I met up with a friend of mine for sushi lunch, and some excellent company! It was so nice to see someone from school - I'm really starting to miss everyone for real now. The rest of the day was fairly lazy. The sister and I sat around drinking tea (first in our apartment, then outside the Starbucks down the block); the cherry blossoms were snowing down from the trees, and it was the perfect temperature [cool enough in the morning that it was okay to wear a sweater]. Then we hopped some bus, a train, another bus, and a ferry [the only thing missing was plane, but I did that one for long enough a week ago, thank you very much] and were on our way home! 

My favourite sign at the ferry terminal

I always like the journey from home to home with my sister. We are excellently weird and spend half our time probably annoying the hell out of the other passengers, but they'll probably live, and the dudes playing folk guitar are probably a lot more annoying. The best of these shenanigans [this time, at least] was the bartering that was done over a toonie I gave her so she didn't have to spend all her quarters add-faring for the bus to the ferry. In classic sister fashion, she offered me, instead of the toonie that she found in her wallet, an ice dance Olympic quarter. I accepted this, but upon further reflection, decided that this was an unfair trade and demanded to be reimbursed in full. Instead of taking the quarter back and giving me the toonie, she added a print card to the mix. I thought this was fair, and so there we have it - how we do business in my family. 

My wares

Dear you guys...

An homage to my beloved friends back in my hometown. It was great to see you all [on Skype] on New Years!!! Maybe next year I'll be there in person!