First off, I’ll apologize: Sorry. For what? For dropping off the face of the planet (sort of) for the past month or so. Let’s just say I’ve been… busy. I should have mentioned it though, rather than just disappearing into thin air. “But you’re on a co-op term! Isn’t that supposed to be your pseudo-break?”: Correct. It’s supposed to be. But it isn’t. Let’s just say I got myself involved in stuff, no not drugs and/or alcohol, but rather stuff like StudentCatalyst. This among other things have kept my mind…preoccupied. The bright side: I got some work done. The dark side: I’m still behind. Somehow. And yes, it appears I’m partial to the use of colons at the moment.
It’s funny though, the more you work toward fixing your sleep patterns, the more tired you get. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been steadily getting more and more sleep (HA like you’re likely to believe me when this post goes up at 4 AM), but am inexplicably more and more tired. Tired enough to crash and miss all the goals in a 5 - 4 hockey game. Tired enough to crash and get 14 hours of sleep on a weeknight. Tired enough to take a half hour nap in the car before driving home after work. Tired enough to think that:
- A series of red water pipes in the stairwell was a Christmas tree
- A Blackberry holster was a book
- A yield sign was a person with an abnormally large head
- A person pushing a shopping cart was a horse
I think you get the idea. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I bank on being able to sleep in on weekends and over the past 2 months have been able to do that all of twice. Maybe I should stick with less sleep. Maybe I’m just insane.
But here we are. It’s almost New Year’s Eve, smack dab in the middle of the holiday season. My last day of work was today, or truthfully, half-day of work. It’s definitely been an interesting term (and year) and at the risk of sounding ridiculously cheesy, I’ve definitely picked up a lot. Though, for the first time ever, I think I can say that a significant part of what I consciously learned was about myself. So all in all, the co-op term exceeded my expectations.
Now here’s the catch with having my last day of work today. Lectures start on Tuesday. I’m moving tomorrow morning (which is really in 4 hours now). No turnaround time? No problem. I’ll deal with it. At least I am dealing with it. I think. It’s been a bloody bugger of a couple days though:
Thursday
9 AM - 5 PM: Work
6 PM - 7:20 PM: Skype chat a friend with some advice on CV writing
7:20 PM - 7:30 PM: Water break
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM: StudentCatalyst Skype meeting
8:30 PM - 8:45 PM: Inhale dinner
8:45 PM - 9:30 PM: Work on rental agreement on behalf of parents
9:30 PM - 10:10 PM: StudentCatalyst Skype meeting (Yes, again)
10:10 PM - 10:40 PM: Confirm with roommates on rental agreement
10:50 PM: Crash
Friday
9 AM - 12 PM: Work
12 PM - 2:15 PM: Goodbye/Birthday Lunch with Coworkers
2:55 PM - 4:45 PM: Buy stuff for living off campus
4:55 PM - 5:30 PM: Talk with Dad on “Making Priorities”
5:30 PM - 6:45 PM: Pick Mom up; Go grocery shopping
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM: Dinner
7:30 PM - 8:15 PM: Start packing
8:15 PM - 9:45 PM: Go meet with person to return parking pass
9:45 PM - 10:30 PM: Confirm with roommate on details of move-in
10:30 PM - 1:00 AM: Pack as if possessed
1:00 AM - 2:00 AM: Get yelled at for finances
2:00 AM - 2:30 AM: Pack as if possessed, but this time pissed off
2:30 AM - 3:00 AM: Show Mom how to download audio off recorder
3:00 AM - 3:30 AM: Polish dress shoes
3:30 AM - 3:45 AM: Haul stuff downstairs to car
~4:30 AM: Crash
Saturday
7:00 AM - 7:30 AM: Get up to haul more stuff downstairs to car
8:00 AM: Ship out to Waterloo
Am I an idiot for spending 45 minutes writing up a tumblr post at 4 in the morning when I’m going to have 2.5 hours of sleep before making a 1.5 hour long distance drive through rain/slush/snow to Waterloo followed by spending the whole day cleaning the house and moving in? Yes. I’m choosing to blame it on the fact (yes, fact) that I need to unwind.
But look on the bright side, I scrapped the idea of starting and finishing Inheritance tonight. How is that a good thing? Well, I wanted to finish it before I moved out, but I’ve come to the conclusion that’s quite impossible now without drastically increasing the odds that I’ll kill myself on the road in the morning (beyond already high odds that I’m sure you’ve calculated already). Oh well, time to finish all 880 pages in two nights so my parents can bring it back to TO on Monday (it’s a library book).
Speaking of my parents, I’ve been feeling rather guilty through most of the term for not spending enough time with my parents. With everything going on, it’s pretty much been work followed by hole up in room. Last co-op, I managed to chat with them on a fairly regular basis. This time round, they had no idea what my job entailed until the term was half over, despite asking multiple times.
But wait, then why am I moving on New Year’s Eve? Why on earth wouldn’t I wait till Jan. 2nd, like most Waterloo kids, and spend some of those few days off with the family? Well…when my roommate asked if he could move in tomorrow, I decided to say yes. Ever since Christmas, I’ve been getting the feeling that I might have outstayed my welcome. Is that a terrible feeling to get on Christmas Day? Well…yeah; it’s definitely not a cheery one. Of course I don’t literally mean that I overstayed my welcome, but getting away seems to be a very, very good idea at the moment. So, I decided, why not? Sure I’m running the risk of spending New Year’s and the rest of my “break” some 150 km away from family and potentially alone (depending on if my roommate decides to go home), but hey, that’s actually a cheerier prospect than staying at home at the moment.
Enjoy the remnants of 2011. It’s been quite a ride, really. Highs, lows, corkscrews… Memories to cherish. Memories to bury.
Yes, I’m a madman. But as always, for those of you who read through my disjointed ramblings and mutterings, thank you. Especially when they’re bloody long like this.
Farewell.
