Blogging has not been high on my list of priorities lately. I’m sure you’ve noticed.
The scary part is that it SHOULD have been on my list. Because when I blog, I feel more sane, I feel more centred; and boy could I use some sanity these days.
So I went on vacation at the end of August. It was the most fun I’ve had in years. While I was on vacation, several things happened. I got to drive across the country with my best friend. I got to meet Billy’s family. I got to hold a baby. I got a cold. I left my suitcase in Maine and wore the same clothes for a week afterwards. I slept in Schenectady. I surprised the heck out of my mom. I went to the Ex with my mom and my sister. I got to hang out with Amy and Jer and Bill. Billy told me he loved me. I got a new job. I got to visit my family some more.
What was that? Oh yeah. I got a new job. Oh…the other part…yep. Buddy finally clued in. He told me that the whole reason he’d come on the trip was to get up the nerve to tell me how he felt. Completely not why I’d invited him…but interesting nonetheless.
So the night he told me, it was about 3:30 am, maybe 4:00 am. I told him I didn’t know how to respond because I wasn’t interested in having my heart broken again. I played it cool. Even Joanna would have been proud of me.
The next morning at 9:30, I got a phone call at my sister’s house. It was my boss 3 steps up the food chain. He tracked me down through 411.ca and took a chance calling his way through the Toronto phonebook. (ASIDE: It’s really quite annoying that everyone on this coast thinks that if you’re from Ontario you must be from Toronto. I ALMOST wish he hadn’t been able to find me!)
I was offered a new job in Amherst, NS. It meant moving 2 hours away from my very well-established life in Halifax. It meant moving away from my Gaelic classes, my beer night, my social network, and my friends. But it also meant finally being offered the job I’ve worked my ass off for for the last 6 years. It meant a substantial raise. It meant I could afford to buy a house. It meant moving away from the boy that had just finally clued in. Of course, I accepted.
You know how they say to be careful what you wish for? Well…They are right.
My stress levels have been insane lately. I haven’t had time to think, breathe, or even do laundry since the beginning of September. I’ve been living in an hotel since 2 days after we got back from vacation.
I’ve been eating in restaurants every day for 2 months, and not working out. I have been working 12 – 14 hour days. I have been trying to dig my way out of the pit into which I was thrown when I took over the new store.
I will learn to like it here, but I’ll never love it the way I loved the crew in Halifax. I don’t actually LIKE most of the people I’m working with. I’m tired to death already of the constant whingeing, complaining, and crying about how much their lives suck. They should try MINE for a day if they think life is hard.
We got a lot of the mess cleaned up. I did the budget for next year. My inventory is only two weeks away. We are no where near being ready for a thorough and accurate count. I have no choice. Saturday, November 3rd we start counting, and we count until we’re done. For better or worse, that’s the number we will start 2008 with.
I have been treading water, and I’m not doing well. I’ve been bobbing, and spluttering, and several times it’s felt like I was going down for the last dunk. The last couple of days have not been *so* bad, but I think I’ve just stopped caring so much.
Oh, and did I mention that during all of this I bought a house? My very first house? That I took out a mortgage, organized a withdrawal from my RRSP, found a house, offered, counter-offered, found a lawyer, and then finally bought a house? Yeah. That wasn’t any extra stress that I didn’t need. Much.
So I took possession of the house on Friday past. I came over and cooked a frozen pizza in my oven, and did a load of wash. My stuff is still all in Halifax, so I had to make something that required not pots, pans, or utensils. It was great.
The more time I spend in this house, the more I love it too. It’s going to be a very comfortable place to be. It’s going to be *Home* and I’m very happy.
I’m here now while the cable/internet guy hooks up the wires. Apparently there’s never been a hookup here before, so he’s had to run cables, and drill holes, and all manner of things. It was supposed to take 15 minutes, but because of the wiring, it’s been an hour and a half already, and he’s not close to finished. Yikes.
I need to get back to work so that my office manager can leave. Have I mentioned she’s a batty old cunt? Because she is. I hate her. (I am being as kind as I can here—scary, no? But enough about her for now. More about me!
I spent the last two weekends in Cape Breton, and what a great time that was. The first weekend was for Celtic Colours. Billy and I drove to Sydney to see Shooglenifty and the Tom Fun Orchestra play. What a great show it was. We had a blast. The drive was pleasant, the show was awesome, and we added another cheap and crappy motel to our repertoire.
Then last weekend, we drove to Louisbourg for a wedding. It was a couple of people that Bill had gone to university with. He was very anxious about the wedding for some reason, but we had a great time once we got there.
I got sick on Sunday. I thought it was self-induced, but as we drove closer to Antigonish I started feeling worse, not better. We had supper with his folks, and then drove back to Truro. I continued on into the city in my car to pick up my rent from my old roomie.
I hit my house, dropped my bags, and went to pee. I then climbed under the covers with my clothes on, and passed out. This was 9:50 pm. At 12:30am I woke up and commenced to toss my guts. I vomited on and off until 5:30 am. I ran out of things to toss at about 3:00 am but I’m no quitter, so I kept on trying. Good times, I tell you. Good. Times.
I slept all day Monday, even though my intent was to spend my day off at work. I didn’t get up to head back to Amherst until 2:30 pm. I got to the hotel at about 6, and by 8:30 I was back in bed.
Suffice to say that last week SUCKED.
(If that really sufficed, you could have skipped over the last 3 paragraphs. Oh well. Sucks to be you.)
Argh. It’s 4:30. I’ve now been gone for almost 2 hours. And I had just come back from lunch when the phone rang. Doesn’t make me feel terribly responsible. Although I was at work just after 7, and I’m there until 9 tonight…so I guess I’ll make up for it. But I wish I was having a nap right now! Maybe I will…I can go lay down in the car and wait for the phone to ring/the cable guy to finish/Godot.
More later, poppets. (man, it feels good to be back.)
