Finally made it to Ontario

With the help of Ellie and Katrina who arrived in the morning, the goddamn heavy box made it into Kelly's van.

First stop was my sister's to drop off Luna. She was remarkably quiet during the whole ride up and wasn't too stressed by either the kids or the new surroundings. Sally, the dog is another story, with their first meeting being somewhere between world war 3 and the Terminator -- with Luna playing the part of the insane cyborg. My sister has affectionately dubbed her "The Psychopath" after being alternately purred at and scratched within a 3-second span. As long as the big dog is outside, Luna is very happy.

Max simply took over my mom's apartment, much to the chagrin of Casino, my mom's cat. She obviously recognized all of "her" furniture from when she lived with my mom before and has made the smoothest transition into her new home of all the kitties. She has cried a little bit, as she seems to be missing her "sisters".

I've already started unpacking, which has caused some friction with my mother. Her colour scheme is monochromatic black, brown and white, and she was not impressed by my fluorescent yellow and red chili-pepper plate from Mexico. I also tried to integrate some pink into the decor, which wasn't successful either. She also didn't appreciate the naked blue vodka bottle man, or the Cuban booby carving. We do not have the same tastes, obviously.

Phase one of the move is complete. Next week, I start work at Kelly's restaurant and finish up on the Korea paperwork. I'm extremely tired, and missing Montreal and all my friends. My mom has dial-up internet, so no guarantees of regular e-mail checking or posts.

Une fin de semaine a La Pocatiere

La Pocatiere. La Pocatiere: c'est une place qui restera toujours dans mon coeur et mes souvenirs. Apres avoir passer 6 ans la, plus long que n'importe quelle autre place, je crois que et j'espere que j'aurais toujours le meme sentiment quand je visite: que j'arrive chez nous.

C'est vrai qu'a chaque visite, je remarque des differences. Mais, ce sont jamais des changements bouleversants. L'essentiel reste: les amis, les traditions, la neige!

Cette fin de semaine etait, pour moi, un temps de repos. Une belle occasion pour reconnecter avec des gens avec qui j'ai travaille. Je pense que je suis chanceuse d'avoir eu cette derniere fin de semaine a La Pocatiere pour voir tous les gens du College, pour discuter avec Myrianne de ses projets a venir, pour rire avec Madeleine, pour deguster des bons repas prepares par Edith, pour prendre un bon cafe avec Carl, pour voir Valerie et Stephanie - toujours en forme et souriantes, pour parler "sur le balcon" avec Maude, pour voir les enfants de Dominique, Isabelle, et Miguelle...

J'espere venir voir tout le monde a mon retour de la Coree. La Pocatiere, c'est la place ou je sais que je peux toujours trouver des amis.

Bye bye Sweet Jane

Today, Jane and I go to La Pocatiere. There, she will live with new "parents".

I wonder what she will think of it. Will she think that I've abandoned her? She's had a pretty sweet life with me-- fattening up on my food while she lounges in "her" papa-san chair. Do cats have memories? Will she remember me and the 9 years that we spent together?

She was a stray, taken from the euthanasia room at the SPCA when I was working there. She spent her first week hiding behind the toilet, the next week hiding under the bed and subsequent weeks biting me. She's tamed down quite a bit! Over the years, she's moved with me three times, lost her "boyfriend" Luke, put up with a lot of temporary cats coming through my door, and now she gets to take a 6 hour train ride...

I'll miss you, Jane.

Wasn't this why I didn't want to go overseas?

I hate moving.

I mean, geez, I've done it enough. I should be a pro at this by now.

Looking around the apartment, trying to figure out which box something should go in... and then cleaning! There's so much dust and cat hair everywhere, that I can't stop sneezing. Maybe I'm becoming allergic to cats? Ha! Wouldn't that be the cherry on the sundae?

The past weeks have been a blur of saying goodbye to friends while mentally checking off what still needs to be done (charity run - done, furniture - done, cut off utilities - done, banking - not done...). It's not a lot of fun so far.

As much as I've given things away to friends, to charity etc, I also find that there's a lot that just ends up getting thrown away as garbage. Am I right to feel guilty because of this? And, in only 2 days, I will be taking Jane to La Pocatiere (once again to say goodbye to friends, but also to leave behind one of my most faithful companions for the past 9 years). Is this hard? Yes.

Will it all be okay in the end? Yes.

In one week, Kelly will arrive and we will load up her truck, and I will finally say goodbye to Montreal. Until then, please excuse me -- I've got another box to pack.

Hey time... just slow down a bit!

It's strange how time works. A single afternoon may drag on "forever", and yet years can pass in the blink of an eye.

Yesterday was my last day of work - it was great to hang out with Mike, Natalia, Alexei and Steve, as well as the boyz from the 9th floor (David, Shyam, Ben, Denis, John). Even better was the fact that Ellie and Katrina also made an appearance.

I've got less than two weeks left in Montreal, and a few too many things (it seems) to fit in to the time that I have left here. This past week was a blur of tying up all the loose ends at work, while meeting friends (Ioana, Brigitte, Zena...) for "the last time" before I leave Montreal. Even worse has been having to put off seeing some of my friends (Martine, Sean, Jason...) because I am too busy, tired, etc.

My apartment is a disaster, and I'm starting to feel the heat of my final deadline -- will I get it all squared away before then? The end of Phase One is almost here, and I've got to start getting ready for Phase Two (Ontario and final visa preparations). From where I stand now, it seems like I will be arriving in Korea in about 100 years. Of course, given the way that time flexes and stretches, I'm sure that it's going to go very quickly. Too quickly.

So much for maintaining status quo for a year!

Eeek

I am still trying to figure out how this all works....

I still have time before I actually move, right?