An Update... Long Overdue

Hello!!! Sorry it's been awhile. You see, I've been up to a lot since I posted last, and now I'm writing to you from my living room in Calgary. That's right, you heard me... living room in Calgary. I moved, see? I got a job (FINALLY) and I'm no longer homeless. Whoopee!

I really tried to make a go of it in Ottawa... I thought it would be home for me. I wanted to be closer to family and friends, but couldn't see myself living in Perth or Toronto; Ottawa seemed a logical choice. The thing is, logic doesn't make any sense at all when emotions are at play, so I soon realized Ottawa wasn't where I wanted to be.

Here are a few photos of some random things I enjoyed in Ottawa

First I went to Toronto to see some friends I missed...

I realized that the last time I really felt at HOME anywhere was in Calgary [Ed.: this is the short version!]. So I made a few phone calls (ha, it sounds so easy!) and made plans to be back out West by the second last week of July.

First I went to the Adirondacks to visit my friend Bart, and had an amazing time. I've never been to that part of the world before, though it is awfully similar to parts of Ontario. Just some different accents and funny money, haha. One of the highlights was definitely visiting Lake Placid and walking in, quite randomly, on a show of aerial ski-jumpers practicing their moves and landing in a big swimming pool, followed by a ride in a bobsleigh. Awesome!

Some photos from the Adirondacks

My trip to NY state ended with me driving straight to the Ottawa airport, sleeping in the rental car (classy!) and checking in for a flight to Calgary at some ungodly hour of the morning. Following that have been a few overwhelming and jam-packed few weeks! Hence, my not updating the blog lately!!!

I spent a week helping Amy pack up her stuff - and oh, how much stuff there was - and made her and her dog Max share their bed with me, so it was a cozy little one-bedroom home for awhile there!!! See, a week later we'd be moving into a three-bedroom place a few blocks away. The day we moved was also the last day of the Calgary Folk Festival, which I had volunteered for, so I had 4 days and nights of free, amazing music.....

Photos of the Calgary Folk Music Festival

So, now I have my own bedroom, and soon we'll have an office set up too so that work-stuff doesn't interfere with living-stuff, you know? I've taken a job in Forest Heights with a principal I know, admire and respect - teaching grades 3 and 4! EEK! After three years of Kindergarten (and a year outside of the classroom!) I'm nervous, excited, and scared. I haven't got a clue what I'm doing, but I'm sure I'll figure it out soon enough! it's a temporary position, which is good, because I'm feeling a bit commitment-phobic lately with my life. Not so much with people, just that I feel a bit hesitant to get too settled. I may still have the travel bug in me, or at least for the time being I'm not in a hurry to accumulate stuff that might make me feel 'tied-down' or something. Weird. Thankfully Amy's got a wide collection of furnishings to make our home homey, otherwise we'd be relegated to milk-crate bookshelves and cardboard box dressers, and cutting things with swiss-army knives, and I might be embarassed to invite people over. So this is my home for now, and it's a good one, and I'm ready to start living again. I feel like I'd stopped for awhile there.

In somewhat related news, I've started a group on Facebook called "Field Trips for Grown-Ups", and I've started a blog for that as well here. the idea is simple: I want to be a tourist in my own city, to keep things exciting and not to get stuck in the life of work (work of life?) again. To see my friends in new settings, to try new things, and have adventures! To have exciting things to write about in THIS blog, haha!!! Anyway, if you're in Calgary and want to join in, add yourself to the group (I think you can find a link on my profile page) so you get updates on planned activities.

Okay, I'm pooped, it's time for bed. Much love, and hopefully this satisfied those few people that emailed me to 'remind' me that I've 'forgotten' to post to my blog! At least I know I've been missed or something!

xoxo