Day 1 - Intro

***Sorry for the terrible layout and stuff -- this is as good as it gets right now***

Okay I've never had a blog before. When I was a kid, I had a diary that I named Kimber, after the "normal" side of Jem from Jem and the Holograms. I don't even know where it went, and the last time I remember writing in it was when I was in grade 8 and a kid from my school died. I might have talked to the guy once in my life, and my friend Alison had a crush on him, and he had one of those "step" haircuts -- the one that's shaved from about the ears down and then full on top. Yup. But I remember crying a lot when that happened...I think, sadly, that when you're a kid and someone that you were even remotely familiar with died, it seemed to hit harder.

When Jen and I were packing up my books and CDs last week, I mostly refrained from doing the whole nostalgia thing with old books/journals/letters/cards. The small blue suitcase filled to the brim with those things stayed closed except when I needed to put stuff in. However, I did come across this one notebook that I have no recollection of even writing in. I chose to only read the last entry before placing it in a box, but the last sentence was something that Jen and I had a good laugh over: "Radiohead, I will never forget you."

I can only hope that when I look back on this blog, it will contain similar gems to that one.

So just a quick rundown of the past 2 weeks. I left my job that I've been at since graduation 7 years ago. They gave me lovely going-away dinner, and my boss proposed the possibility of continuing to work as their sound editor from Vancouver. I'm sure I'll be writing about that more in the coming weeks as I start the actual job search. I'm really really really glad that I opted to quit a week before leaving...packing was, as is to be expected, a nightmare. I mean, it's hard enough going through everything, trying to pare down what belongings you no longer (or never did) need, but then there's also trying to decide what can go in boxes with the potential of not seeing them again for over a month, and what needs to come on the journey. I tried to get my friends and neighbours to take as much perishable food as possible, but we still ended up throwing out a lot. We had 6 bags of garbage when all was done, plus a sad bag of dead plants from the porch. I had to give up the giant rubber tree that's in our bedroom, which was pretty upsetting. That thing's been in the Davies family for quite possibly 2 decades (maybe the same length of time as my beloved couches, to which we also bid a fond farewell last week). In a stroke of luck though, for a Christmas/housewarming gift to my brother this year, I separated a small sprig from the tree and attempted to start a new plant from it. That way, we would both have a piece of the rubber plant that we grew up with. So when I learned that I needed to part with my tree, I arranged a swap with Michael. And now the new rubber plant sits in one of the cup holders in Umberto! Let's hope it survives the trip.

I've pretty much been a big bag of tears since the goodbyes started last week. Jen came out to the barn with me on my last day with Hijack and took a lot of photos. I haven't been able to bring myself to look at them yet, but I bet they are fantastic. That last walk with him to the field was a killer. I've been through a lot with him, including a year where he had a hole in his hoof so big that they weren't sure it would ever grow back. He was off for a year with that, but I visited him all the time and was overjoyed when he came back to full health. I've already told the barn owners that they can count on me coming back over the Christmas break to see him multiple times while I'm home. (Yes -- I will be coming home to Oakville for the holidays! I already can't wait!)

Anyhow I've exhausted myself emotionally and won't go through all the hard goodbyes that I've had to say over the past 2 weeks, but I've realized that it's only really a "see you later" for the most part. I'm sure that the next few months will be very telling of which relationships that have grown for such a long time will continue to grow, or branch off into a new kind of friendship, or sadly, end. It's a reality of these life changes, but I am feeling really positive about most of the amazing bonds that I've formed with those who are close to me. The sadness continues to seep in, and I'm sure it will manifest itself in a lot of different ways in the coming little while, but it will all be okay, somehow.