The time does fly (a.k.a catching up)

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Wow. So it has been almost two months. It is funny, when I don't post I think about it all the time. Things happen in my life, even funny random little things that I want to be sharing, but then I forget and time marches on and then it's been two months....(in my defense we currently have very sporadic access to le internet)

Lots of Big News:

1) I moved to the city. Yay Toronto. I was temporarily staying with G$ (the boyfriend) however (more big news) last week he asked me to move in with him! As in cease looking for another apartment and stay here...he even suggested I move all my shoes in. This must be love.

2) To go along with #1, I got a job! Not a dream job, but it is better than the stress and perpetual brokeness of unemployment. The people I work with are nice, the company itself is really great to their employees and the work is interesting. I have been there on a contract basis since May 16th, but today my boss told me that it was very likely that they were going to offer me a full time placement in August, also awesome as this affords me some luxuries...such as hopefully more $$$ and benefits. hurrah.

3) I have joined a goal based group lead by my friend Tall Glass of water (if I can remember how to insert link I will do so asap) We are meeting on a bi-weekly basis to discuss our goals and to make plans of action how to attack them. This I LOVE as our first meeting was yesterday and today I feel super kick ass as I have already conquered several of my tasks for our next meeting. yay me.

4) I have developed some career focus. This fall I am going to be taking some college courses for a certificate in psychology. I have decided I want to be a couples counselor or a sex therapist. Thoughts?

5) My birthday is in 8 days. I will be 28. Occasionally that terrifies me as I still feel about 19, but on the whole I am happy about it.

6) The biggest news of all is the one I have been avoiding through the 5 other notes. Last month my mum was diagnosed with Lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes) The doctors gave it a primary staging as Stage 1, but she is going for a bone marrow test and an MRI etc just to be sure. When I think about this too much it feels like my stomach moves into my throat and that I may lose consciousness. I am trying so hard to remain positive and strong, but realizing how much the security of her presence grounds me is outstanding. After losing my Dad the thought of being an orphan at 28 overwhelms me. I know that it is kind of nuts to start panicking about things that are so abstract I can barely comprehend them....but that is how I roll.

I miss blogging. In fact this was added on my goal sheet. To blog more. I think I was worried that G$ will come across it...with my old blog, when my ex started reading it it really took some of the joy away from me. I felt I had to censor myself and that is not something that I want to do here. This is an outlet, it is for me and me alone, so I choose not to let him know I do it, and I will just be better about doing it when I have some alone time.---not being able to blog at work has been a new form of torture for me.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to the woman who has given me so much. The confidence to know I can be whom ever I want to be, my love of cooking, reading, drinking wine. The ability to laugh at myself and to be kind to others. You raised me to be respectful of myself and to always remember the importance of family. To cherish my friends and those special moments. I would not be the person I am if it wasn't for you.

Love you always,

Echo

"pro"crastinator

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Lately I have been a pro. A pro at leaving everything to the last minute...a "pro"crastinator if you will. I think it is a personality flaw that I like to be somewhat lazy and leave things to the last minute and then go bat-shit insane when deadlines are all coming up at once. I need to work on making more positive changes.

This one may or may not have come about from an offhand comment from G. When he was leaving the house the other day after drinks with the family, he told my mum that I was really organzied. No one has ever told me that before in my life, and to be honest I kind of liked it. I guess to him I am organzied in some way..the girl vs guy way. I remind him to pack running shoes, to confirm he has his wallet, keys etc. I guess he sees that as organized. I think it's odd that I view this compliment as a challenge.

So...away I go! I am throwing a bridal shower this coming weekend with two other bridesmaids, and for the first time in who knows how long I have everything all ready. No last minute errands to lose my mind over, no freaking out and no insanity! I have everything all packed and ready in bins and bags by the door. I will be able to relax in the morning, tidy the house and take my Nan out to get some groceries...I will still have time to take a leisurely shower, pick out what I will be bringing down with me, and take a calm drive down to Toronto, knowing I will arrive with all I need. It's a refreshing feeling.

Dumpy Day Diva (with pics)

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I was starting off wanting to write about being really depressed today. About not being able to find a job and about realizing that my credit card payment was supposed to be yesterday and not tomorrow...and while I was all about hitting the minimum now I will have to deal with...about feeling like I am stuck treading water and not able to move forward with my life...about just feeling totally lost about what I want to do and what should happen with my life.

BUT...instead I am choosing to write about my trip, to not be the dumpy day diva that I thought I was going to be. I started looking at pics from my trip to post up here and I realized that all really isnt lost. I just had an adventure. With a boy that I really like. So I guess things could be a lot worse right?

We flew out to Vancouver separately due to booking issues and met up Friday afternoon. We stayed with his parents and headed out on Saturday. Saturday night we stayed in Whistler, Sunday we stayed in Lake Louise, Monday Banff, Tuesday Calgary, Wednesday Regina, Thursday Winnipeg, Friday Terrance Bay (just past Thunder Bay) and then Saturday we did a 13 hour tour and made it home. We ate a lot of junk food, sang lots of tunes, I was corrected on many many hip hop lyrics, we made out in every province, and chatted. To be super girlie, I feel like we really got to know each other a bit better...we didn't even really pull out the indepth "getting to know you" conversations, but we spent 8 full days together, 50+ hours being confined in a vehicle. So for two people who have mostly spent time on weekends together, I think that this was good for us.

--Here we are pretending to hate each other
at the Ontario sign. Little did I know it was still about 18 hours home from that sign! Ontario is a GIANT province...we were still about 6 hours from Thunder Bay at this point. We had joked about hating each other by the the time we got to the middle of the country and since that didn't happen we thought it would be good to seem like we hated each other once we got back home.

In-dia Mood For Love

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Getting ready to fly to Vancouver. My Nanny took the two of us out for pedicures today and I got the aptly named 'In-dia mood for love' pink for my toes. While I can definitely say I am not in love with G I could say that I am well on my way...I am curious to see how the week together in close quarters goes. Full update when I get back.