A couple of my favorite Niagara Falls pictures...


Water cascade

Rainbow

Zzz...

I'm tired. Tired of packing, tired of thinking about logistics, tired of running errands. I'm excited about going on my roadtrip, I'm excited about living in Seattle for the summer, and I'm excited about going back to Boston in the fall, but I'm tired of organizing my belongings. I went to the Salvation Army today to donate a bunch of clothes and a few pairs of shoes (including my Halloween cowgirl boots), and in doing some more packing tonight, I've come up with a few more things that I should get rid of, and I keep looking at all my books and furniture, wondering how much of it I could really give away and not regret later, just so that I don't have to send another box of crap home to my parents or take another box of crap over to Jen & Gavin's house.

I spent over an hour tonight talking to my mom on the phone, and I was reminded once again of what good friends we've become since I've grown up. I think there's always some crossover point you hit with mom and dad (hopefully) where they become friends instead of just parents. My mom and I reached that point pretty early, and even though there have been times along the way when either she or my dad has had to step up to the plate and play the parent trump card again, for the most part, I'm incredibly glad that I can simply consider them friends of mine. I miss being home. Yes, a long weekend is usually the maximum amount of time I can spend there before being ready to leave, but having dinner at my aunt's house a couple weekends ago while my grandparents were visiting made me realize how much I missed being surrounded by family.

I never thought I would be able to completely turn my back on Houston and all the people I've met here just because I didn't have a good experience at work, but lately I've been getting so fed up with the situation here that I've wanted to just leave and never look back. Sometimes I feel like I'm back in middle school with everything that's been going on.

Sorry about the random collection of thoughts. It's a good thing none of my high school English teachers are reading this... I swear, I picked up writing skills at one point, but it's too much work for a blog.

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P.S. I posted my pictures from Niagara Falls/Jamestown, NY/Toronto, but the rest of the trip is still on Josh's camera. Coming soon...

Back from Canadia

The past two weeks have been absolute bliss. To start, I quit my job on May 13th. I spent the next seven days sleeping late, hanging out with friends, shopping, and planning my next vacation. A week ago, Josh and I left to go to New York for Laurie's wedding, stopping to see Niagara Falls on the way to all the usual wedding festivities. After the I do's, we spent about 4 days in Toronto. The last time I was in Toronto was in 6th grade for a class trip, but the only thing I remember from it was the bus ride. I dunno... what does anyone retain from a glorified field trip at 11 years old? I was more concerned about who I was going to sit next to during lunch at McDonald's than absorbing any Canadian culture. Anyway, we had a great time just wandering around the city, even if it was a little chilly for the first few days. We "celebrated" Victoria Day, which was Monday the 23rd, by taking a Toronto harbor cruise at night to see the fireworks the night before. The original cruise we wanted to go on was sold out by the time we called, so the only other option was a cruise with the Party on the Boat. It sounded totally sketchy when I called to reserve tickets, and I was even more skeptical when we got there and I had to hold the carbon paper tight over my credit card so that the Captain could rub a pen over the raised number on the card so that it would show up on my carbon-paper receipt. But it turned out to be a lot of fun, and I got some decent shots of the Toronto skyline from the harbor.

So apparently what I didn't discover in 6th grade is that Toronto is a fantastic city. I had heard it described as a smaller, cleaner New York City, which I think I would generally agree with. People walk and bike everywhere, and even though driving downtown can be frustrating, most of that is expected since it is a major city. The Toronto subway is rising to the top of my list of favorite subway systems - it was clean, we got to sit down during every ride we took except one, and the maximum amount of time between arriving trains is 5 minutes. I think the longest we waited was ~3 minutes. I suppose the whole layout could be a little bigger, but the streetcars fill in most of the subway gaps. I liked the mix of U.S. and European influence on the city and people, and there are so many different things to do - museums, theatres, the symphony, lots of bars & restaurants, the harbourfront, Chinatown, Greektown, Little Italy...

My only complaint about Toronto is that it's apparently bad luck for the Boston Red Sox - they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the game that we went to on Tuesday night. Otherwise, I approve.