When I'm home in Canada...

It's funny how after one year, I still feel the need to add some sort of qualifier to the noun "home." I mean, my apartment in Japan is "home", but Mississauga is also still "home." I wonder how many years it would take for me to think of Japan as "home" without any qualifiers (not that I want to put it to the test, though!).

Anyway, I'll be back in ONE WEEK!! It feels like a both a long and short time away. Long because there's so much I need to get done before I leave, and short because one week really is no time at all (especially when you're busy).

Compared to my last visit home (Liz & Alan's Excellent Adventure), I've got a lot less already planned for my time in Canada. Aug 2nd I'll need to get to Square One bright and early to get my driver's license renewed (it expired in April!), then Aug 3-7 is WAY camp. Then hopefully on the 9th I'll be meeting up with Jen and Syv. I've got doctor and dentist appointments on Aug 11th (and hopefully I'll be able to get my health card renewed on that day as well). After that, the next thing I've got a date for is the softball tourney on Aug 16th.

Of course there are other things I've got planned but don't have a date for:
- family dinner (with Nathan)
- meeting up with my friend(s) from teacher's college
- BSGE (Best Small Group EVAR!) reunion
- meeting up with a former colleague from Woodlands

Then there the things I'd like to do, but haven't yet arranged:
- dinner with an old family friend
- a trip to the Monster Factory
- checking out a friend's coffee shop, Manic Coffee
- dinner with school friends
- visiting my old workplace (Scotiabank)

Man, now that I'm sending out emails and trying to get dates to meet up with people, it seems like I'm not going to be as free as I thought I'd be. -_-; I don't know if that's a good thing, or a bad thing. I mean, it's good if I have a full schedule because that means I'll have made good use of my time back home. On the other hand, second term is pretty hectic, so it'd be nice to be well rested before going back to work. Ah well, I guess that (getting rest) is what my afternoons will be for.

The hard part about growing up is that people's free time gets limited to nights and weekends. Even though I'll be in Canada from the 1st to the 19th (almost three weeks!), in practical terms, I only have 17 full days (and nights) to work with since I arrive at about 11:30pm on the 1st and fly out early in the afternoon on the 19th. When you consider that five days and four nights will be taken up by WAY camp, that leaves me with only 12 full days and nights to work with. @_@ Hard to believe I was worried that the trip would be too long!

Now that I've started planning, I'm getting excited about coming home!! I can't wait to see everyone!! And to go to church!! (I haven't been since April, but that's a story for another post... ^^;;) And to be able to READ!!! I'm definitely going to be hitting the library on free afternoons!!