Woof

Fun tidbit for those not in the know: completely overhauling your life and leaving everything behind is hard. Also, leaving all your loved ones sucks. Taking a massive pay cut to follow this whimsical separation is a bit rubbish. Finding out about thousands of dollars of debt after you’ve made the move is even more rubbish. Having to get loved ones back home to deal with the fallout of some of the things you’ve left behind is maybe the most rubbish of all. Not staying on top of communicating with the important people you left behind, because you don’t have the time to answer properly, then you’ve left answering them too long, is total pigswill. Not being there for people when they might need you is sad.

Don’t get me wrong, there are wonderful things about leaving. Leaving one place means arriving in another. I’ve been exploring a great new city, meeting and befriending brilliant people, and in many other ways having a blast. I have a wonderful home, with a corker of a housemate to boot. I have been able to spend time with a guy who I’m mad about. I’ve been able to eat some of the mountains of ridiculously tasty food Vancouver is renown for.

The black dog is back.

The silly old wolf got here the long way around. He decided planes were not his thing, so he lolloped onto a Vancouver-bound freight ship. He arrived a couple of months ago after a brief stop in Japan. He was disappointed he missed their cherry blossom season, but he knew I was waiting here. He’d been sending me postcards along the way (just with muddy paw prints, but I got the message), so I knew he was coming. When he arrived, it was no surprise.

I can’t hate a dog (duh!), but he has to leave. I won’t say much more about him, except this:

Thank you everyone who is still hanging in there. Thank you for dealing with my rambling, and my low moods. Thank you for not giving up on me if I’ve not been in contact for a long time. Thank you for the hugs, real or virtual.

I’m doing a serious overhaul. Something’s gotta give, and I’d rather it wasn’t me.