Super Quick Post

I don't have internet at home at the moment, so I'm just making a quick post on my lunch break at work.

The only real update I have since last week is that I moved into my new apartment over the weekend. Unfortunately the day I moved was pretty much the muggiest day in the history of mugginess, so it felt like twice as much work as it actually was, but everything's all moved and now all I have to do is unpack.

I really like my new place a lot, and I kind of like moving because it's a good excuse to de-clutter and re-arrange and it just feels good to have a bit of a fresh start. My roommate hasn't moved in yet (which might be a good thing, since I kind of have boxes of stuff all over the kitchen floor at the moment), but I can't wait to live with my best friend again.

Well, like I said, this is just a short fast post, so that's it. Hope everyone has a splendiferous week!

Stuff and Things

Since it worked out that I was the last one to do a story post, I didn't want to do another one, so I'm just taking a free week this week. The rest of y'all can do whatever you want. :)

(Also, I wasn't sure if we were going to do Sarah's suggestion of listing off options for directions the story could take; if anyone wants that just let me know and I'll add some on my last post.)

It's actually been a while since our last free week, so I guess I do have some stuff to talk about. I finally started working. I got a job at the local community college working in their Employee Relations office, which deals with employee grievances, student complaints against employees, and bargaining with unions. I'm kind of disappointed about the whole thing, really. From what we talked about at the interview, they said it would be part photocopying/filing, part database work, and part research. I've been there slightly more than half the total time I'm hired for and so far it's been all photocopying/filing. I know that it makes sense to hire students to do that stuff, and I don't mind doing some of it, but after four straight weeks it's getting pretty old, and I'm upset that they misrepresented what the job was when they were hiring me. On the bright side, though, at least I'm getting paid, and have something to put on my resume, and have new people to be references. Not to mention a reason to leave the house on a regular basis.

Speaking of house, I'm going to be moving very soon, probably this weekend coming up. I'm reeeeeally excited about it. This is mostly because I'll be moving back in with my best friend/former roommate, who I've missed a lot this past year that we didn't live together, even though we did still hang out fairly regularly. Partly it's also because I don't really like two of the three people I currently live with, so I'm looking forward to getting away from them. It's not like we hate each other or anything, they just have some habits that I'm not crazy about... like slamming doors, or taking my food, or having their loud drunk friends over at 3 am, or not checking with the rest of the house before inviting someone to stay with us for two weeks. So, yeah, it will be nice to get out of here. Though I'm not really looking forward to the actual packing and moving and unpacking.

About a month ago now I volunteered at the Jazz Festival, which was so much fun. It's my favourite festival in the city, all the music is always so good and I love getting to be a part of it. Not to mention getting to see the shows for free in exchange for doing something as simple as selling tickets or emptying garbage cans. The two highlights of the festival for me were Mike Essoudry's Mash Potato Mashers, who put on a heck of a show, and Besh o droM, whose show ended up being the most massive dance party.

There was something else on my mental list of topics to discuss, but I seem to have forgotten what it was, so I guess I'm gonna wrap up there. Hope the rest of you are doing well!

Catching up and whatnot

So, easily the biggest thing going on with me right now is that there's a possibility that I'm going to be moving to Canada (specifically, the Vancouver area) sometime in the next year or two. Ok, that sounds really out of the blue, so I should probably explain.

My boyfriend and I have been planning on doing this at some point for various reasons, but he's had absolutely no luck finding jobs here. I mean, not even retail or food service jobs. While he's still looking here for now, we're formulating our own plans of him moving back and me following him.

It's exciting precisely because it's so vague; I can be all giddy that I won't have to have a long distance relationship anymore, get to marry the man I love, and explore a new country, but I don't have to work out all the financial details yet or deal with my parents' reaction (I'm trying to slooooowly work into it, so that by the time we're ready to move it won't be a surprise), or the stresses of trying to gain citizenship.

Other than that, I've found a part-time job to supplement my meager income, though the new job still hasn't trained me yet so I can't start. I've been cutting back on spending - both due to only part-time work and now to start saving - and have been surprised to find that it's kinda fun.

Sometimes it can be an interesting challenge, like "here's what's in my fridge, what can I make for dinner tonight?" I realize that it's fun to me because I know that I do have a little extra if I need to grab something from the store, whereas if I didn't have that option this probably would be depressing instead.

I've been returning to my less expensive hobbies like knitting, playing through video games I own, reading, writing, exercising (which is much needed), learning French, and as mentioned above, cooking. While I enjoy a fancy meal or going out to the movies just as much as the next person, it's nice to have something simple to do, and since I'm introverted I don't mind being on my own for it. Though I'm totally splurging to go see The Avengers this weekend, whooo!

Speaking of cheap hobbies, I knit my first pair of socks! Well, err... my first single sock, I'm still working on the other one. It's a family tradition to give each other silly socks every year for Christmas, and this year I've decided to make them by hand - and I'm starting now so I don't freak out in November. While some of the yarn is more expensive, even at $10 a ball, a pair of socks takes me easily 20 hours, so all things considered that's still a good deal, and I find it fun and relaxing too.

Thoughts from Nostalgia

I've been feeling pretty nostalgic lately as I'm getting ready to move since I've lived here my entire life. It's a fairly bipolar feeling, since I end up being excited to move to a city one day, and freaked out and sad the next because I don't want to end up leaving my friends and the only place I've ever really known.

I have a bucket list of sorts, people to see, places to go, before I leave. On Friday it happened that the person I was meeting up with got delayed, and so I got to cross something off my list that I didn't think I would have the chance to.

I wandered over to a local ice cream and candy shop that I haven't been to in at least a decade. I ordered a simple sundae and sat on a bench outside to eat it as I watched the wind rip through the street and the miscellaneous passersby.

There's nothing inherently special about that place, but it immediately brought me back to long summer evenings spent with my family out on those benches, eating and laughing before going home after a long day and falling into bed. Of course the memories are blurry, just like most memories, but comforting nonetheless.

Yet as much as I want to cling on to these places, I think it's probably time for me to move on. I've realized that a greater and greater portion of my conversations are about the past - people that used to be friends, shared experiences from years past, etc. That rapport is great to have since the common experiences create a foundation for other communication, but I can't help but think that I should be looking forward too, not just back.

The things I'm nostalgic about and that I'll miss the most are really all about the people attached to them and not so much the thing or event themselves. When I'm feeling optimistic, I think about the fact that I'll now have all sorts of room to create new memories with new people. And, there's always the bonus that I haven't ever really been able to experience the feeling of going away and then coming home to a familiar place, since I've never left.

So please pardon me if my next few blogs are sappy and/or overly nostalgic, I'm assuming that's just part of this transition and that as I settle in and create new relationships and memories it will start to lessen.