December 15, 2012 ~ ten days until Christmas

Well then, am I prepared to celebrate this year away from my family and friends.  Farther than before?  I don't honestly know.

I have been lucky enough to have been invited to the mainland by such a variety of the eclectic people in my life.  This year I have turned everyone down.  I have days off through christmas and some I will celebrate with my cousins, but I am returning to Nanaimo to celebrate the days themselves at home.  Maybe I will make myself a lovely dinner, maybe I will order in pizza...who knows.

I've now decided to stay in Nanaimo right through to June 29th, 2013.  That will be the end of my "Year of Adventure".  What's next?  I just don't know.

Recently I returned to Vancouver to attend a holiday party with the Buccaneers of the Black Fleet I was able to stay with a good friend.  During this time I visited with only a rare few of the people in my life.

Going to Vancouver and thereabouts I am a tourist in a location where I lived from '97 to '12.  That is a long freakin' time to feel like a tourist now each and every time I return.

In all honesty I have only been back four times.  Two of those involved wedding prep and a wedding, the next for a birthday surprise and this last one for the holiday party.  I did not get to see some people, some people were lucky enough to see me and some unfortunately I haven't seen at all in over 8 months.

Through technology I am able to keep up to date with posts on FB and Twitter, G+ and the like.  I have snail mailed with others and a few more with Skype.

I was asked this last visit if I miss Vancouver.  The answer is No.  I miss my friends.  The people I could call up and chat with, go to lunch or dinner with, drinks with, sporadically take wee visits with or have.  The people in my life, those are who I miss.  My people.

November 17, 2012 ~ two weeks until my 36th birthday.

Normally about this time I'm talking to everyone about plans.  This year, nada.  I am totally meh.  Is it because I'm on the Island away from the mainland and that's depressing..probably to be honest.

At the end of this month I will have been six months into my Adventure.  I have now decided that I am going to stick with this apartment until the end of June 2013.  The end of my year of Adventure.  There is no reason to move out of here and then again come June once I have decided where I am going to be and what I am going to be doing.

I have been now at this Receptionist position for approximately five months. I work the 11p to 9a shift.  I am now self-employed and do not receive any type of benefit package.  I have some shifts where the telephone is crazy busy with calls and other nights where there are none and I don't want to sleep and I don't want to be caught off guard.  It's a very weird position that I've placed myself in.

I have been lucky to have friends come over to visit with me. Not too many but there have been some.  I have come to realize that I really don't know how to make friends.  How the heck did I get lucky enough to have the ones I can count as friends into my life?  Friends of friends, first time clickings...its a really weird situation.

My cousin and I have created a workable balance here in Nanaimo.  I know he misses his wife and daughter terribly and I do try to keep the positive BUT having someone to speak with about the positives and bitch about the negatives who knows EXACTLY what we're talking about and dealing with I think has helped us both.