One month...another countdown

Early on in this blog, I did a countdown and now I'm about to start another.

The first time, I was counting down the weeks and days to my move to Halifax for a year of newspaper designing. Now I'm counting down the time left before I can move back to Ottawa and get my life back to normal again.

So, in one month from yesterday, on December 23, I will begin the big move. My friend Tonia will be arriving at Halifax airport on the evening of that day. Her sister will be meeting me at my place earlier on, and together we'll drive to the airport to pick up Tonia and then we'll be off to Amherst, where their parents live. We'll spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Amherst. Then, on Boxing Day, Tonia and I will set our sights westward and head HOME!

In the time before December 23, I'll be going to Ottawa for a week to find myself a place to live. I'm hoping to find something really close to the office. I really don't want to have to contend with the bad driving conditions we can get in Ottawa sometimes in the winter. Seems like every time we had a snowstorm, I got a call from the press and had to drive back to the office to fix a page so the paper could get printed. I hated that. And now that we have more papers/publications, it's bound to happen more often.

At least now I know how to access the server from home. Perhaps I can talk them into giving me a few programs on my home computer and then I can fix pages from home! Heyyy... hmmmm.

Anyway. I can't wait to get back to Ottawa. This year has been great in many ways, but it's been bad in others. I've gained a bunch of weight. I don't know how much, and I don't wanna know how much...but it's gotta come off. I may try Nutrisystem. Or I may just plan out a daily menu and follow it religiously. The other thing that's been bad is that I've been extremely isolated here. Haven't really made any friends...at least not people I call up and go out and do stuff with. There's one gal, but we've only actually done it twice in this whole time I've been here, so I don't count it. It's been bad for me psychologically that way. I've become very reclusive.

Kinda strange, what with all the travelling I've had to do with this project. I've hardly slept in my own bed since the beginning of September.

Speaking of beds, I'll need to buy a new one. The one that's waiting for me in storage in Ottawa had gotten pretty lumpy and creaky over the six years I used it. I want to get a really good mattress this time. Something that'll last, support my back properly and let me get a good solid night's sleep. I'd been fantasizing about getting a king-size, but I have to be realistic. I'll settle for a queen. But that means I'll have to give up the bedframe I've got. No biggie. I don't really like it much anyway - it was a freebie.

What else? Well, I guess you can say I'm taking a big risk by moving back to Ottawa. I'm not really sure if I'll be happy in my job there for very long, if things turn out to be the same as they were when I left. It was just too stressful, too crazy...and nothing ever changed. I'd like to stay in that job, mostly because of the pension, and sure, I'm good at it and the company appreciates me and stuff. I'm an approval-slut so I get lots of that in this job.

I took the day off today. I'd intended to work from home, but I didn't. Blah. In a way I feel bad about it, in a way I don't. With all the time I've spent on the road lately, I figure I owe it to myself to pamper myself a bit. So that means I'm now on vacation for the next week! I'm off to Ottawa on Sunday, so wish me luck finding a nice, affordable place to live.