how am i gonna be an optimist about this?
Happy New Year, my friends! It is making me feel spectacularly old to know that 1994 was 20 years ago now, and that I'll turn 30 this year. Actually, I'm not really freaked out about turning 30; I just have a hard time believing that the years have gone by so quickly! I'm looking forward to doing something really fun for my birthday this year, which means I've got about 6 months to figure out what that might be.
I am, once again, writing to you from the bus. We're leaving DC and heading up to Baltimore next, supposed to arrive in Philly at 4:30. From there, I'll have to hop on the PATCO to retrieve my car from the parking lot in Jersey where I left it, and then head up to Hamilton to pick up some stuff from Becca's mom that I'm bringing back to Toronto for Becca. And then I will meet Kristian at her place in Titusville for my last night in the States before I drive home tomorrow. So today and tomorrow will be busy days, but the last few at Kelly's parents' place has been really relaxing. All in all the whole trip has really been fantastic, and I'm so glad I was able to make it happen. I really missed everyone, and it's been great to see so many friends. I only wish I could see them all more frequently!
To recap the last few days, after arriving in Hampton on Sunday, Kelly picked me up from the bus station and drove us to Williamsburg, where we pretty much headed right for the Cheese Shop. We got our sandwiches (I got my usual roast beef and provolone on French bread with house dressing and loved every crumb of it), and then she was kind enough to buy me my own bottle of house dressing, even though they were $15 a pop! When we found out the price, I told Kelly she didn't have to buy me one, because I really wasn't expecting them to be that much, but she just gave me a look like I had told her there were little aliens dancing on the countertop and bought it anyway. :p She said it would've been mean to take me to the Cheese Shop and have the house dressing right there in front of me and then not let me get any, and I very much appreciated the gesture. I am going to have so many yummy sandwiches with it when I get home!
We ate our sandwiches at the bookstore, as we did when we were still students, then had a first for both of us by actually driving to and parking at the Leafe. I'd brought my mug, so we shared a mug of cider with black currant, as well as their soft pretzels, and just sat and chatted for awhile. After nearly leaving my mug there, Kelly and I took a stroll around campus, just to see what's changed since we were there. We couldn't get into any of the buildings, of course, as it was Sunday night in the middle of winter break, but just being on campus was great. It felt right, as it has always felt right for me to be there since the very first time I set foot there. It also reminded me of how much I miss being able to walk everywhere, like I was able to do then. I hate having to drive everywhere now and that there's almost nothing that's close enough to walk to.
Our desire for nostalgia satisfied, Kelly and I headed back to her parents' place. The next day, we went shopping for a bit, so I could spend the rest of my Old Navy gift cards and she could spend some Barnes & Noble gift cards she'd received. I was rather disappointed, because despite signs advertising the same 75% off throughout the store sale as I'd seen at the other Old Navy, almost none of my intended purchases rang up as being on sale, which meant I had to put a lot of things back. I did, however, end up getting a really cute navy blue sweater dress, which I'm looking forward to wearing, and a couple of tank tops, so it wasn't a total wash. We went to a few other stores to look at things and pick up groceries, then her parents took us out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Tuesday, we pretty much had a lazy afternoon and watched a whole bunch of Once Upon a Time episodes on Netflix while lounging around in comfy clothes. Eventually we got up and prepped some stuff for the New Year's Eve gathering we were going to at Kelly's friend Ernest's place. There were a bunch of people there who seemed nice enough, though I didn't really talk to anyone in depth. We had a nice time though, and there was toasting when the ball dropped, and it was a decent way to ring in the new year.
Yesterday was another mostly lazy day, which was nice and relaxing. I only wish I could have continued with my knitting - I started another sweater last week, but by Tuesday I'd gotten to the point where I need to separate the sleeves from the body. Normally this would not be a problem, but all of the things I would need to do that (stitch holders, shorter needles, etc.) are in one of the bags I left in my car when I got on the bus to come down to Virginia, so I can't do anything until I get back to that stuff later today. Kelly got to test out her new crockpot for dinner last night, and she made ropa vieja that ended up being pretty tasty, despite the spiciness of the sauce she had me taste ahead of time. And then this morning, we got up extra early at 6 so that she could drive me back to the bus station in Hampton, and here I am.
It'll be good to be home and sleeping in my own bed again and not living out of a suitcase, and I have definitely missed my kitties a lot. At the same time, I am not even remotely looking forward to going back to work on Monday, and I know that I'm going to miss all the friends I've seen on this trip even more. Well, hopefully I can make it be less than another 2 years before I come down again, or maybe I can convince some people to come up and visit me in Toronto. That would definitely be nice. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely New Year's, and enjoy the upcoming weekend. I'm going to go listen to a podcast and watch Maryland go by outside the window.
I am, once again, writing to you from the bus. We're leaving DC and heading up to Baltimore next, supposed to arrive in Philly at 4:30. From there, I'll have to hop on the PATCO to retrieve my car from the parking lot in Jersey where I left it, and then head up to Hamilton to pick up some stuff from Becca's mom that I'm bringing back to Toronto for Becca. And then I will meet Kristian at her place in Titusville for my last night in the States before I drive home tomorrow. So today and tomorrow will be busy days, but the last few at Kelly's parents' place has been really relaxing. All in all the whole trip has really been fantastic, and I'm so glad I was able to make it happen. I really missed everyone, and it's been great to see so many friends. I only wish I could see them all more frequently!
To recap the last few days, after arriving in Hampton on Sunday, Kelly picked me up from the bus station and drove us to Williamsburg, where we pretty much headed right for the Cheese Shop. We got our sandwiches (I got my usual roast beef and provolone on French bread with house dressing and loved every crumb of it), and then she was kind enough to buy me my own bottle of house dressing, even though they were $15 a pop! When we found out the price, I told Kelly she didn't have to buy me one, because I really wasn't expecting them to be that much, but she just gave me a look like I had told her there were little aliens dancing on the countertop and bought it anyway. :p She said it would've been mean to take me to the Cheese Shop and have the house dressing right there in front of me and then not let me get any, and I very much appreciated the gesture. I am going to have so many yummy sandwiches with it when I get home!
We ate our sandwiches at the bookstore, as we did when we were still students, then had a first for both of us by actually driving to and parking at the Leafe. I'd brought my mug, so we shared a mug of cider with black currant, as well as their soft pretzels, and just sat and chatted for awhile. After nearly leaving my mug there, Kelly and I took a stroll around campus, just to see what's changed since we were there. We couldn't get into any of the buildings, of course, as it was Sunday night in the middle of winter break, but just being on campus was great. It felt right, as it has always felt right for me to be there since the very first time I set foot there. It also reminded me of how much I miss being able to walk everywhere, like I was able to do then. I hate having to drive everywhere now and that there's almost nothing that's close enough to walk to.
Our desire for nostalgia satisfied, Kelly and I headed back to her parents' place. The next day, we went shopping for a bit, so I could spend the rest of my Old Navy gift cards and she could spend some Barnes & Noble gift cards she'd received. I was rather disappointed, because despite signs advertising the same 75% off throughout the store sale as I'd seen at the other Old Navy, almost none of my intended purchases rang up as being on sale, which meant I had to put a lot of things back. I did, however, end up getting a really cute navy blue sweater dress, which I'm looking forward to wearing, and a couple of tank tops, so it wasn't a total wash. We went to a few other stores to look at things and pick up groceries, then her parents took us out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Tuesday, we pretty much had a lazy afternoon and watched a whole bunch of Once Upon a Time episodes on Netflix while lounging around in comfy clothes. Eventually we got up and prepped some stuff for the New Year's Eve gathering we were going to at Kelly's friend Ernest's place. There were a bunch of people there who seemed nice enough, though I didn't really talk to anyone in depth. We had a nice time though, and there was toasting when the ball dropped, and it was a decent way to ring in the new year.
Yesterday was another mostly lazy day, which was nice and relaxing. I only wish I could have continued with my knitting - I started another sweater last week, but by Tuesday I'd gotten to the point where I need to separate the sleeves from the body. Normally this would not be a problem, but all of the things I would need to do that (stitch holders, shorter needles, etc.) are in one of the bags I left in my car when I got on the bus to come down to Virginia, so I can't do anything until I get back to that stuff later today. Kelly got to test out her new crockpot for dinner last night, and she made ropa vieja that ended up being pretty tasty, despite the spiciness of the sauce she had me taste ahead of time. And then this morning, we got up extra early at 6 so that she could drive me back to the bus station in Hampton, and here I am.
It'll be good to be home and sleeping in my own bed again and not living out of a suitcase, and I have definitely missed my kitties a lot. At the same time, I am not even remotely looking forward to going back to work on Monday, and I know that I'm going to miss all the friends I've seen on this trip even more. Well, hopefully I can make it be less than another 2 years before I come down again, or maybe I can convince some people to come up and visit me in Toronto. That would definitely be nice. Anyway, I hope you all had a lovely New Year's, and enjoy the upcoming weekend. I'm going to go listen to a podcast and watch Maryland go by outside the window.