Tick, tock...

...goes the countdown clock! Less than a week left in the Yukon. I feel a bit panicked, yet I know that if I forget anything, I still have three weeks on the Island to finish things off. But I have to sort out the rest of my life up here - little things like closing a bank account, sorting my clothes (and various assorted...stuff...), packing, re-packing and then doing it again. And the big things like visiting with my friends. I have an extraordinary group up here, diverse and joyful and kind - I sometimes feel they're more than I deserve. I'll shortly be exchanging visits with them with visits with my diverse, fun, kind, and amazing friends down south. Spending time with all of my favourite people before I go is definitely the right thing to do.

Despite all these endings, it doesn't feel "final." I'm taking that as a good sign, as I don't believe I won't be back in the Yukon. Its fingers are too tightly wound around my heart to let go for good. I'm taking memories with me - the words and encouragement of my friends, artwork, photos, memories - I won't forget, but it won't quite be the same.

I'm just feeling a bit reflective, but funnily enough, despite taking the last few days to take more photos and whatnot, I'm not leaving with any regrets! Not everyone has the privilege of living in this beautiful place (not everyone can or wants to), so I feel extraordinarily lucky to have lived here for as long as I have. It's been good to me in many ways, and while I feel a little envious that others will be staying, I'm also ready to make this leap, wherever it takes me. I can't not follow this urge or I know I'll regret it.

And no more regrets! :)

The Whitehorse Horse, overlooking the city in the Whitehorse valley below.

Beautiful fall colours. It's been a wonderful fall season.

England is a definite GO!

Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls, Juneau, Alaska.

Well, what can I say? I've been working hard this summer and spending most of my off time sorting, purging, packing, mailing, working and saving for my move (I keep writing "trip" like I'm just going on a little holiday).

You'll notice I've set a counter on the left side of the page (----->). I started the clock at about 70 days and it's faithfully ticking away my days here. I'm down to 14 more days in the beautiful Yukon and 35 to the UK. I honestly can't believe how fast the time has flown by. I had all these plans to do all these wonderful things during my last summer here and I've done hardly any. But that's okay. I'm feeling a bit unsettled, being in this between place, so not having overmuch to do has been helpful in this transition.

I had to let my beautiful Bylaw go to a new home. He was terrorizing my landlady's cat and it was simply unfair to her, although he is a sweet boy generally. Three months in and there was no change in his behaviour, so I put the word out and just 12 hours later we had a response from a wonderful lady and off he went shortly thereafter. I'm acquainted with this lady through some of my past volunteer work and my landlady has known her for years. He's gone to a very loving home, where he's the only cat and will have all the attention. I haven't been thinking about him, so that's a good sign. It means I'm not worried about him. I do miss him at night and when I get home in the evenings after work, but I know he'll be well taken care of and that's all I wanted.

You'll notice that my goals (over there ----->) have also been met and exceeded. That goal was achieved today, when I received my pension payout. The rest of the payout is going into a locked in RRSP, which is fantastic. I am thrilled. This whole venture has had piece after piece slip seamlessly into place and I can't believe how much I've achieved in such a relatively short period of time. I started this proverbial ball rolling in March and I have just over a month left until I touch down on English soil for the first time in almost 20 years.

I have mixed feelings right now. I'm going to miss the Yukon desperately, but am so excited to be starting off on a new adventure. I'm going to be a big bucket and just stay open to things, see what happens. Everyone I speak with about it is so excited for me, so the enthusiasm is much appreciated. I'm stopping in Victoria for several weeks - I fly out of Whitehorse on October 6 - to visit friends and then on October 26 I board my cozy Club Class flight for a 10.5 hour flight to London Gatwick where I will be met at my early morning arrival by my brother and SIL. After that...well, it'll unfold minute by minute.

I had a last doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning and got my records on a disc to take with me - handy! I was also happy to learn that my doctor, unlike some (most?) does not close his patient files, so it means that if (when) I come back, and assuming he's still practicing of course, I will still have a family doctor. Exceptionally good news, when the Territory is so desperately short of doctors and so many have never had a permanent family doctor. See? It's all meant to be.

I've had a couple of house/dog sits over the summer which went very well and were good experience. Work has been great for the most part. I've enjoyed it, although I'm finding it difficult to find things to do right now as it's quite slow. I push paper around and flip through things and fuss enough to fill 8 hours. I have no idea how. Anyway, only 6 days left and then I have so much time off I won't know what to do with myself! ;)

But I was long, long overdue for an update. It's not overly newsy, but if it were, it would be ridiculously long and I'm not that focused right now. I'll spend some time getting caught up with all your blogs before I head south, too. At least I can take you all with me!

Sunday chit-chat.

Caribou on the Alaska Hwy, April 2011. They like to lick the salt off the asphalt, so you need to drive with caution because it can mean they're all over the road.

Technically, it's not yet Sunday night here, but what the heck? Here's my contribution to the chatter. :)

• Reading? "The Christie Curse" by Victoria Abbott. It's a cosy mystery, very well-written, about the supposed play that Agatha Christie wrote when she disappeared for eleven days.

• Listening to? My landlady in the kitchen upstairs. Birds singing outside. :)

• Watching? It's the two-hour season premiere of "Long Island Medium" today and I'm really looking forward to it. I love her. To the point I actually sent her a 'thank you' card last year! Just said she was, essentially, awesome and thank her for sharing her gift with so many people.

• Cooking/Baking? Chicken something today with rice. I'm trying to focus a BIT better on my diet lately. Baby steps. A lot more water and not quite so much sugar.

• Happy you accomplished this week? Graduated yesterday! Hurrah!! Great ceremony and even though I didn't participate, I attended as a guest and enjoyed the proceedings. I also learned that I made the Dean's list, and graduated with honours. So proud of myself! There were six of us in my program who made the list, a great representation, and 23 all together. I also officially resigned from my library job, which made me very happy. I should get a bit of a pay-out from that, which will go directly to my RRSP and sit there until I need it.

• Looking forward to next week? Clearing out some more stuff from my place. I'm losing my momentum, and have recruited a friend next weekend to help me organize and sort stuff out. Once more of the large furniture items have gone, I think it will make it a bit easier. I've already taken some stuff upstairs to my new room and have to keep reminding myself that all my winter gear will be mailed ahead of me, so I don't have to concern myself with that once I have set myself up.

• Thankful for today? Some rain to help clear away the last of the snow; fresh spring air (at last!). Talked to my mum for a bit.

• *Bonus Question* Do you ever "gamble", play the lottery,BINGO, sweepstakes, etc? I used to buy lottery tickets fairly often, but haven't years and have never played bingo. I spend all my money on books! Haha!

Sunday night chit chat

Here's the Gangsta crew after spending a week building those concrete bins you see behind us. Wow...That feels like a lifetime ago now.

And here we are, in another time and place. Time for Sunday night chit chat, something I haven't participated in in AGES.

What am I 

Reading? "Cat Trick" by Sofie Kelly. It's one of my standard cosy mysteries and has two magical cats in it. The first couple of chapters were really awkward and while the murder has just happened, I find I already don't care because we knew absolutely nothing about the victim. Just his name. I at least want some interaction with the victim and a few people so I can get to dislike (or like) him or her. No hearsay bad behaviour, which is what this is, so far at least. I'm hoping it'll pick up.

Listening to? My landlady and some friends laughing upstairs. I think they're making dinner together. Fun!

Watching? I'm not sure what's on tonight, actually. Probably something on HGTV or one of those channels. May 12 is the season premier of "Long Island Medium" and I'm really looking forward to that! I love her.

Cooking/baking? Nothing at the moment. I had an early dinner and reheated some chicken and rice. I have turkey breasts for tomorrow and will try to think of something relatively creative for those.

Happy I accomplished this week? I finished College!!!!! :) I'm really proud of myself and feel very happy and hugely accomplished. I also got myself a part-time job, and two house-sitting jobs over the summer. That's a lot in a week. Well, at least in my weeks!

Looking forward to next week? I have an eye doctor's appointment tomorrow, a doctor's appointment on Friday, I start work full-time on Tuesday and am alone in the office on Saturday (!), I will be doing some work for the p/t job as well as there is a trade show on the weekend that we'll be attending, and hopefully selling and clearing out some more stuff at the house.

Thankful for today? Sunshine at least, if not spring temperatures yet! An interesting new job and a relaxing evening ahead of me. :)

*Bonus question: What is your preferred method of contacting someone? Definitely email/computer (like FB or something). I'm terrible, however, when it comes to actually sitting down and emailing something long and newsy - I tend to shorter notes, which is why it's actually easier to contact me on FB. I spend far, far, FAR too much time on there and most of my friends send me a note on that.

I can't believe it's over already!!

236 days ago, I started College. I remember feeling nervous and awkward the first day, but  also very excited. Fast forward 8 months and it's all over! Yesterday we had our final exam and, well, that was it.

Definitely bittersweet. The ladies I met and shared my time with were amazing and I will miss them. I felt like I was on holiday for 8 months and it's come to a rather sudden stop. It was a bit anticlimactic because instead of celebrating together, we drifted out of the room one by one as we finished writing the exam and dispersed from there...We have one last, short meeting on Monday morning and then that will be it until graduation on May 11. I won't be attending as a graduate (I don't do stages), but will be in the audience with a friend from last semester and we'll be cheering the class on. I think she's getting us pom-poms... :)

This term was a bit of a struggle. It was more theoretical, less practical, and I was less motivated. I just couldn't seem to get a rhythm going and it dogged me all term. It was frustrating, but perhaps part of it was knowing we were on the downhill coast to the end and I didn't want to finish. I have to admit, though, that the last month was a real struggle and part of me is very glad to just be done.

I start work full-time on Tuesday, and am wondering how I'll adjust back to the "real" world.  I'm going to miss the free time and early days, for sure, but I know it won't take me too long to get back into a routine. It sounds like it's going to be busy and I have a lot to learn, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm very lucky that my friend offered me this job, as it means that I'll be getting paid from the get-go, rather than spending another month without any income. I'm using it as my work experience (practicum) for the last credit of the program, too, so it's a win-win. I can start paying back my debt a month earlier, which is good, because it's very big...

As for my England plans, they're rolling right along. I bought my ticket a couple of weeks ago - I'm going Club Class (aka Business Class) on Air Transat. It was a smokin' deal - $1177 o/w, including taxes and fees! Granted, it lands at Gatwick, but what the hell? Bigger seats, our own check-in desk, priority boarding, champagne - yes please! Go on, live a little. It was still over $1000 cheaper than some of the one way economy tickets into Heathrow, so I was happy to pay. Plus, although I'd've liked to go with KLM, I don't happen to have the $17 000 needed for a ticket (you can check that price yourself. I'm not kidding.) Having a ticket makes it very, very real. I leave at the end of October.

I've been listing things to sell, and now that I don't have school, I can focus a bit better and start selling more seriously. I've let a lot of things go - my books, oh, my books... - but every cupboard, every drawer, every closet has something in it! How does one person collect so much stuff?! And most of it I never use. It's insane. I'm moving upstairs in June, so I have to be very thorough. Once the bigger furniture is gone, it will be easier to spread things out and see what I've got left. Not sure I want the hassle of a yard sale, so likely I'll be donating a lot of stuff, but we'll see. I made $315 towards my trip last week, so that's pretty impressive. I've updated my sidebar to keep track - I'm almost at $4K already!

As for what I want to do when I get to the UK, I'm not sure. I'm not worried and am just opening myself up to the experience. I'm not looking for a career, which I'm hoping will make it easier for me to find work. My skills are quite well-rounded, so I know I'll find something. I've been looking at the job ads around Southampton and there seems to be a lot of work available; of course, I have to remember there's also a far larger pool of competition as well, so I have to make sure my resume looks perfect. I know there's a reason for me to be going, so I just need to focus and it will continue coming together.

Now I'll also have time to get caught up with everyone's blogs!

Have a great weekend all!

Revelations

I'm feeling secure enough now to share my upcoming changes. School is almost over, I already have a job secured and I'm focusing on getting myself organized...

...for a move to England!

Yes, that's what I said. :) I've been feeling "homesick" for a couple of years now and over spring break, I was feeling particularly drawn. I don't know the reason for it, but it was very heart-centred and brought me to the verge of tears several times, which is highly unusual in itself. I'm not an (openly) emotional sort, so this really hit me hard.

Anyhoo, I've talked with my brother, a cousin, my sister, my landlady, friends - they're all very supportive and willing to help me. I'll be landing on my brother and SIL in London for a few days, then moving south to Southampton to stay with my cousin for "a while." I don't want to stay forever, but I'll need a fairly permanent address to use for job searches and that will work nicely. From there, who knows?

Why the change? I'm not really certain, apart from it being like a harpoon to the heart. It feels more like a NEED, rather than a want, although I'm not sure how permanent it will be. I am a dual citizen, which makes it somewhat easier and more convenient, and it's not like I can't come back if things don't work out. Part of me is simply feeling like a change. I'm not getting any younger and if I don't go, I don't want to spend the next years regretting that I didn't when I had the chance. I'm getting too old for any more regrets. I'm open to a new adventure and to whatever awaits me.

Work-wise I don't know what to expect. I've got a wide range of skills, so am not worried about finding something - as long as it's not illegal, morally reprehensible or tests my integrity I'll be happy. :)

So the summer will see me working hard to save, start paying down my debt, divesting myself of almost everything (keeping my winter things...and some books I particularly want to keep), renewing my British passport and readying myself for my new adventure. My landlady has already laid claim to my cat, which pleases me no end, so he'll be moving upstairs with her. As much as I'll miss him, it would kill him to move that far. He's about 15 and very shy. Besides which, I have nowhere to take him to, and that's not fair to him. I think this is his way of letting ME go, seeing as I've had to say good-bye to two so recently. He's been through a lot as well, so this works out well for both of us.

I've secured a job starting full-time in May, they are aware that I'm leaving and they are okay with that. The position is essentially temporary, so it works out beautifully. My landlady has also offered me a room upstairs for $300 per month so I can save!!!! I'm still thinking about this, but it would make things much easier in the long run, particularly with the amount I'll be able to save. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to have to make up my mind quite quickly, as I'm planning on leaving in about 6 to 8 months time and I'll need to save almost $10K in that time, so I have a fund to land with...

So. There you have it. If I could leave now, I would, but it just isn't feasible. Perhaps I'm planning too much, but I don't think so.

I. AM. SO. EXCITED!!!!!!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It's one of those (mid)life-changing chances, but I'm being plagued by second thoughts and doubt about it already, which I believe is expected and reasonable. But fear has no place here.

I haven't entirely made up my mind yet, but am already taking steps towards it, despite the apparent suddeness of it.

I'm not going to say just yet what it is, but suffice to say it's pretty big. And pretty awesome.

Dinah xo