All signs point to yes ...

Well, my ultra-organized and wonderful mum pulled together a going away party for her side of the family last night. All of my aunts and uncles and most of my cousins were able to come and it was great. We had great food and even better company. And rock band. I will miss Rock Band in England. As I mentioned earlier, I'm an emotional kid when it comes to goodbyes. Judging by the fact that I was dry-eyed for the entire night aside from a small two minute section on the driveway, I take this as yet another sign that I'm destined for England. I love my family and will miss them lots but I'm ready for this next step in my life! Well, almost ready. I still haven't started packing yet. We leave for Calgary on Wednesday. I'm screwed! Haha. G'nite all!

Holy Cow, Batman!

Tomorrow is my last day of work. I leave in less than a week! Where did the time go? Dear London : Let's do this!

Au revoir mes amis, au revoir ...

So, I don't like to think of myself as a wimpy person. I like to think I can hold my own. For the most part, I'm pretty successful in this attempt ... until I have to say good bye to someone. I am absolutely TERRIBLE at goodbyes. I have moved a LOT over the last 10 years and almost anyone that I've met in these ten years, I've had to say good bye to at some point. They will vouch for me in saying that I SUCK at bidding adieu. I cry a lot and it gets messy.

My goodbyes have begun. And leavin' ain't easy.

I started this experience off by driving to Lethbridge, Alberta this past weekend. I did my first degree here at the U of L and let's keep in mind that I've already said good bye to my friends and family on NUMEROUS occasions. NUMEROUS. More like a plethora of occasions. I haven't even LIVED in Lethbridge for two years. I actually did pretty well in saying good bye to everyone and didn't get too teary eyed at all. Inside I'm thinking "Yay me! Well done!" About an hour later, I realized that I was PROBABLY too hung over from celebrating my 2nd cousin's 52nd birthday with about 52 shots of B-52's the night earlier to even emote any emotion. Dry well from dehydration. Mystery solved. Whatever. I still won that one.

I drive to Medicine Hat later that night and had supper with my auntie and my two little cousins. My auntie and I are super close - she's only 12 years older than me and used to treat me like a little sister. I LOVE LOVE LOVE her little girls ... they are incredibly precious! Needless to say, the 5 yr old gave me a hug and asked me not to leave and I had a meltdown. Poor child probably thought SHE made me cry ... she looked a little terrified. Needless to say I had an emotional trip home that night ... thank God for the lack of wildlife on the highway that night!

The day after that I drove to Regina to grab the last of my mail, get my hair done by my amazing friend Heidi-Wood and to have dinner with anyone who'd join me. I had a really fun day just takin' 'er easy, not worrying about work and getting primped. Went for supper and was happily surprised that 11 of my raddest friends from Regina had come out to wish me bon voyage! We had an interesting supper (rotten lemons and mayo topping on pizza?! yikes!) but an incredible time together ... I love how the majority of my friends can just come together and hang out and get along, even with having never met ... just shows how amazing they all are!
I did SO good at not getting weepy in Regina, too! Was extremely proud of myself ... until my cousin BK shed some tears and then it was Team Red Eyes once again.

I thought I had already said my goodbyes to my extended family at a weekend at the lake a few weeks back. I'm lucky that my extended family is rather close and I get to see my aunts, uncles, and cousins pretty frequently and we all like getting together and having a good time. Leaving the lake I had a little moment of tears thinking I may not see any of them for a year or two. I thought about not being home for Christmas and that hit me like a brick, too ... I always say I'm not coming home and it doesn't faze me but it doesn't make it easier. My mom just dropped the bomb on me last night that we're having everyone here this weekend for family supper. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER pumped to see my family ... I just KNOW I'm going to be "that girl" you know ... the crying one that people point at. AWESOME.

The point of my blog is not to bore you (Too late!? I thought so ... ) but to let all of you who ARE close to me know that leaving you SUCKS! If I could pack you all up and take you with me, I totally would! I hope everyone knows how much I care about them and how hard it is to leave. I feel SUPER fortunate to have such incredible people in my life supporting my decision to go! I'm a lucky girl to feel so much love. OK OK I know ... I'm being cheesy. It's deff time for bed. G'nite kids. 7 more sleeps until my London life BEGINS!
xoxo M

Contract!

Am very excited! After finally getting the chance to talk with a lady who works for my teaching agency, I've been offered a guaranteed work contract. This is exciting to me because now I am GUARANTEED hours in London, which means there is potentially less chance for me to go bankrupt whilst in England. Teaching more means shopping less. Haha. Got our hostel booked for our first weekend in London - staying in a notorious party hostel which could be interesting but really chose it for it's location - it's near Soho and we're more than a little excited to check out some of the musicals going on ... Niki (MY BBF - I had one before Paris Hilton did!) wants us to go see Wicked right away! Everything is coming together and I'm getting pretty excited ... 3 weeks today, and I'm on a jet plane! Only a few more shifts at my night job - thank GOD! I'm getting tuckered out from working so much!! Well, I think that's all I have to post today!
-Megs

Countdown : 21 days to England

I have to start off this blog post by saying I honestly hope this goes better than my failed attempt at Blogging during my time in France. I promise to try harder. Great. Now that that's out of the way ... welcome to my blog! I'm not sure that anyone will actually read it but I know a lot of people have told me that they want to keep updated on my life in the UK. I figured this was probably the quickest and easiest way to do that.

For those who don't know me, I'm Meg. I just finished University, and I'm starting my first major job in my career as a teacher in the UK. Teaching is all that I have ever pictured myself doing and now I can't wait to get back into the classroom! I've dreamed of living in London since I was about 14 years old. I always thought it was a silly dream that would go away, but it didn't. Throughout my interviewing experiences in Saskatchewan and Alberta, I knew my heart wasn't in it. I love Canada and it will always be my home, but I was ready for a new adventure!

During my time in London, I plan to do a ton of travelling! (Hopefully, s'long as my rent doesn't break me! Haha) I'll be keeping this blog up-to-date with pictures and stories about my experiences. I hope you enjoy it!