The end is near. I turn in my laptop at noon and then the adventure begins.

Here's a quick update on the plans:

1. Departure date has been set for Friday Jan 6th
2. Plan is to do two good days of driving Sat and Sunday and hopefully hit the mountains by day 3
3. Planning to spend a couple of days in Ashland OR with Tanya, John and Nathan
4. Then its straight up to Van
5. Got a temporary place for Jan/Feb
6. Start work Jan 16th..that's right work.

Friends keep asking if there will be a going away party. I'd prefer not as I'm not big on festivities centred around me. So its lots of lunches, teas and dinners as I try and see everyone who is important to me before I go. Its just adding to weight gain problems :)

More to come next week as I have some time in between packing my worldly possessions for the move.

Santa's little helper

Wow..a lot can happen in a week. I have a semi-firm departure date...Friday Jan 6th. Aiming to be settled in Vancouver for January 16th. That gives me 10 days to drive across the country and get myself settled into my new digs. What digs you ask? Right...still working on that. Have exchanged a few Vm's with one lady and emailed two others today. All are in my price range and the locations seem good...for a sublet at least.

Have confirmed a co-pilot for the drive. First offer went out to the BF but he's in the middle of submitting all his apps for Grad school so the timing just didn't work. It's too bad, a cross country trip together would have been the ultimate test for our relationship. Co-pilot duties have now been accepted by Ciara. She has accepted the challenge as long as we make it an adventure. So we will be packing our snowboards and hitting any hills we come across. Our route will most likely take us a bit south through the US as we incorporate a visit with our friends, Tanya and John, in Oregon for a few days. That will leave with us a final push of just 9 hours to get us into Vancouver.

Trying to focus on the adventure part and not on the leaving part as I find I am getting a little upset everytime I think about it too much.

Guh...stupid Vancouver dreams!

I know my blog is called A change is as good as a rest but today, I could really use the rest. Went to the Rheostatics show last night at the Horseshoe, it was their Whale Music night. Really enjoyed the opening artist, Great Aunt Ida. Ida Nilsen has a beautiful voice and some rather dark thoughts from the sounds of things. Great Aunt Ida hails from Vancouver so I will definitely try and catch another show out there and see what else they have to offer. Was looking forward to the Rheostatics show, that is until the break between bands lasted close to 45 minutes. They didn't hit the stage until after 11:30 PM. It's a school night kids...oh wait, maybe most of these indy music fans don't punch in before noon. Managed to hold on long enough to hear Queer. Next time I will prep with an afternoon nap so I can make it to the end of the set. God I'm weak.

Thx to Lt. Dan for taking me to the show...oh and for the pizza, movie and cuddle time with Sonny & Michael.

Ughhh...soooo tired.

You know you haven't written anything in your blog for an extended period when the two people you know who read it comment that you haven't posted anything in a while. Let me just say, it's been a hectic few weeks.

I've settled in to the new diggs. Adjusting to having a whole house to spread my junk all over to a small bedroom. I did a great job I think of purging but there is definitely more to be gotten rid of.

Bought a car last week. Well actually a Hyundai Sante Fe. I love it...quite a girly car for me but I got it in standard and had a hitch put on so I like it. Ohh and roof racks to carry my snowboard or surf board depending on where I am. The trip planning is temporarily on hold. Unfortunately my sister has had a relapse and is dealing with her third go of cancer. I've been doing quite a bit of back and forth between TO and MI the past two months to help her out and provide moral support. Unfortunately as result of the steroids she is on I have gained a good 5+ pounds. You read correctly...I have gained the weight. She has an insatiable appetite right now so I have been providing support in the form of eating with her. Had to buy some new pants as the waist bands were digging into my new rolls...its not pretty.

Potential living arrangements in Van fell through as Bill could not find anything in his price range. I'm not too worried about that as Craigs List seems to have no shortage of listings.

Work has been getting busy as I clean up everything and begin transitioning my projects over.

That's all for now.

I've just picked up some awesome photos from a dive I made in Hawaii in August. Here are three of my favourites.

Here I am. All smiles at having just made my first open water decent to 90 feet in the beautiful tropical waters off the West coast of O'ahu.













Reaching the ocean floor we all became mesmerized by the sight of a family of rays hovering about the wreck we were about to dive through.










This little guy swam up to the dive boat as we were loading up to head back.

I'm so tired from all the moving on the weekend I can barely form coherent sentences. Ended up having to shuffle some stuff back to Gilmour as my new room just wasn't big enough for half the crap I had packed. T-bone would love the room...its about 10,000 degrees when you wake up in the morning. I had planned to start running/swimming again once I was settled but I don't know that I am going to need to...I can just sweat the weight off.

I did a good purge before this move but from the looks of it I am going to have to be a little more ruthless before the big move. For example..the green woolrich cardigan is great for the cottage but really..how often do I wear it? My goal for the next month is to get through all of the toiletries I have amassed over the past few years. I'm going to have the softest feet and the best complexion once I get through all of the scrubs and peels and what ever other things I have squirrel away in that box.

I have a crush...all be it a futile one, it's still a crush. His name is Craig Davidson, the author of Rust and Bones. Craig was one of a panel of authors that RC moderated a discussion with on short stories as part of the IFOA on Friday night. He's smart, cute in a good outdoorsy Canadian Boy way and in possession of that self depreciating kind of humour I so adore. The collection of short stories was excellent by the way. I was sucked into each story by the depth of the character development and awed at his ability to depict such a wide range of scenarios in such detail. And the story lines...where he came up with some of them I can't imagine...and what kind of research do you do on a sex-a-holic porn star?

Things are looking good for the move on Saturday. I've rented a car, my room is packed and I've mentally sorted out what is going in storage and what is to be taken to my Dad's house (hockey equip/golf clubs etc.). I even managed to clean the fish bowl last night. I figured Sparkle and Sarah would want to make a good impression when they meet their new landlord. Speaking of S&S...I can't believe they are still alive...its been almost a year since they came home with me from 3 & 4's wedding. Now I'm starting to worry about what to do with them when I move out west. Can you fly with goldfish? I'd hate to leave them as there does seem to be a bit of a precedent of pets dying soon after I either go on vacation or move (poor Miss Mew...it still breaks my heart to think about my leaving her).

Last night when emptying a wicker basket from under my bed I found a pearl earring I had given up for lost. This provided me much joy as I had contemplated discarding the lone earring just the night before and decided to hold on to it.

Tonight, I tackle the baking supplies.

It's been a busy few weeks.

Spent Thanksgiving in Michigan with the family. Bought myself a Kitchenaid Mixer at Target...saved myself about $100 even with the exchange! Woohoo..let the baking begin. Had to leave in it MI as I took the train home and it was a little too heavy to lug on the subway and bus. Hoping to pick it up when I head down for American Thanksgiving Nov 24th.

Am in the process of madly packing all of my possessions for a small move this weekend. Moving in with a friend until the big move in January. T-bone found a great new roommate so it works out well. It's given me the kick in the pants to start organizing my shit, ensures T-bone doesn't have to go with out a roommate for any extended period and helps out CH who could use a few spare $$$ what with Christmas coming. I am taking all of my clothes and personal effects...furniture/books/surfboard etc are stay put for now. Thanks T-bone!

Have started researching moving companies. Found a great site Move It that gets you quotes for movers. I've received two so far, the first was for $802, the second $617. This is way less than what I was quoted by Mackie Movers....$2965. The big difference (other than Mackie's nickle and dime costing) boils down to what each estimates the weight to be for a one bedroom move. Mackie used an estimated weight of 2500 lbs while the other two used 750 lbs. I'm thinking I am more in the 1000 to 1500 range. This weekend I hope the do a quick audit of what I really plan to take and then get some more accurate quotes based on a more realistic weight estimate.

The more things change, the more they remain... insane.
Michael Fry and T. Lewis

Waiting to hear from Bill on how his condo hunting is going in Van. In the mean time I continue to check the rental listings to see what's available. Today I found two short term leases for about 2 months each starting in the new year. I'm thinking something like this would be ideal as it would give me the opportunity to find a place I like rather than feel rushed by going out there one weekend and feeling forced to take what I can get. I've emailed one to see if it is still available. Ohh...and one of the places even requires you to care for their cat while they are away...how great is that? Yeah...I'm a freak

BR has just sent me a number of property listings for Van. He's heading up there next week to check some of them out and if all goes well make an offer. It's great being on such good terms with the Ex (high school/uni) that he wants me to be his tenant and that he is seeking my input on the properties he is looking at. He's a good lad!

Can't wait to start looking through them. Yee ha :)

Its go-time now... less than three months until I wrap up my close to 9 year tenure with the big FI to start a one year leave of absence. Needless to say there is lots to do in the next three months; find a place to live in Van, figure out what is coming with me and what is staying and oh yes probably most pressing; come to grips with the fact that I will leaving my comfortable little existence here in the big smoke to venture off to the West coast on my own.

Figured I would begin documenting the move plans here and then use the blog to keep friends and family up to date on my goings on once I make the move. My ramblings might also help explain why I have a deer in head lights look the next time you run into me.

So...read on friends and know that I'm already starting to feel sad at the thought of leaving you.