A cupboard party

It is November 1, 2011, the sun is shining, the sky is clear, and I have been in Toronto for exactly one month today. Couldn't be happier.

In honour of this momentous occasion, Mel, Peter and I are having a cupboard party tonight. Due to our paranoia as a result of ongoing pest (i.e. cockroach) issues - adding to which, I have discovered, we also have mice - we haven't actually put anything away in our kitchen cupboards. I think I can accurately speak for all three of us when I say that it drives us all nuts, but as long as the cupboards have been empty (after, of course, the first couple of pesticide treatments), we haven't seen any roaches in them. As soon as anything is placed in them, the little (insert profanity)s have shown up within hours. But it's been a couple of weeks now since our kitchen was treated a third time, and I think we're ready to give it another shot. It's time to move in. So I'm going to pick up some wine and we're going to stock the cupboards. Fitting, no?

It feels rather surreal to think that I've been here a month now. In a sense it's flown by. After all, a month is not exactly a huge, significant amount of time. Although I feel much more comfortable getting around and using the transit system here, I still really don't know this massive city all that well which will, of course, come in time. I do know how to take the subway to Queen Street, though, which is a marvelous street to stroll down. However, in other ways it feels like I've been here much longer than a month. I don't like being unemployed. It's boring. Sure, I'm filling my time job hunting (I will admit that that kind of went to the dogs last week though - I got rather lazy). But it's exhausting, and although I am receiving a comfortable income on EI I'm not exactly loaded and Toronto is expensive. I don't have a crazy social life. Have been looking into different volunteer opportunities and hope to get in somewhere soon. It'll help me network and fill my time and be fun.

The other contributing factor to my feeling as though I've been here so much longer is how much I miss my mother. Waah. I miss her terribly! I am aching for a big Mama Bear hug.

In any case, I'm still plugging along. I looked in the mirror yesterday and realized that I've lost weight - from all of the walking I'm doing I would imagine - and physically feel great, which boosts my emotional health too :) I also just feel stronger and more confident. I feel like the whole world is open to me, like I have so many options, and it's exciting. So cheesy, right? I know. But I can't help it. And besides, it is, I do, and it is. I must also make note of exactly how privileged I am to be able to say that and feel that way. I am one of relatively few people on this planet facing as few barriers as I do as a white twentysomething female living in a country like Canada.

So. Here goes a new month. Bring it on.