Ten See Ya Laters

Here I am, sitting on my couch at the Palace of Milton (will make sense as you read on), about to write my very last entry for this very special blog.  I leave England tomorrow and this experience has been the most incredible I have ever had (and maybe will ever have) in my life. 
The past ten days have been really bitter sweet for me.  I am really excited to move home, to see my friends and family and to start the next chapters of my life.  However, I have had so many goodbyes to say...I can't really find the words to explain how difficult it is to leave a life behind (I know I did it already, in a way, when I left Canada and moved here, but when I did that I knew I would be back.  This time, however, I'm going home for good). 
I have made so many amazing friends here that are such a huge part of my life.  So, needless to say, there have been many tears this week; they have, however, been because of the countless memories we have made together that will always be with me.
Now, as my final blog entry, here are my Ten See Ya Laters:
1. The weekend before school ended one of my favourite people came down to Maidstone for a visit: Matthew Farrah!  This ended up being the last time I saw Matthew (and my birthday sister Nicole as well) before I left for home.  I am going to miss you both so very much - good luck next year and I will anxiously await the day when we can have another sexy vacation together!

2. On Wednesday evening I met up with Kevin (who had been off work the last two weeks of the term due to arthritis) to say goodbye.  This was extremely hard for me - Kevin has been like my dad here and has done so much for me the past two years.  I am going to miss him dearly.



3. The Thursday before school was finished I went out for dinner with my department.  I do feel a little sad about this because we had never once gone out as a department before - and what a shame!  We had such a lovely evening together; they are a wonderful group of people and a wish them all the luck next year at HTC (or wherever it is they may be).

4. Friday June 22nd was an especially hard day for me.  Not only was it the last day of school (so I had to say goodbye to all my students and all the lovely people I have worked with for the past two years), but Sarah was also leaving early Saturday morning for her Canadian summer vacation, so I also had to say goodbye to her. 
I had a really hard time at the after-school goodbyes, hugging (and crying with) everyone.  As much as I have complained about HTC, I am truly going to miss it with all my heart.

After school Sarah and Simon came over before we met everyone at Thai Palace for dinner.  Sarah, bless her, made Kari and I these amazing books entitled "All The Things We Did Together," just loaded with pictures of the fun-filled times we have had together the past two years.  It is such a wonderful gift that I will hold dear to my heart forever.  We then made our way to the restaurant for a delicious Thai meal - the last we would all have together as a group.

After dinner Sarah and Simon drove me home and we said our goodbyes.  Oh man, did we ever cry!  It was raining (a little pathetic fallacy for you) and we just stood outside, getting rained on, hugging each other and bawling our eyes out.  I didn't know it was possible for someone to cry as much as I did that day.  I am going to miss Sarah more than anyone can possibly imagine.
5. That weekend, all the girls went out for one last (or so we thought!) night out in Maidstone at Strawberry Moons (our favourite bar).  It was a very fun, drunken night, as they always are.  Goodbye Moons, you've been a hoot!

6. The next Tuesday I said goodbye to London, and to my love of West End shows.  Brit, Laura, Heather and I went to see Jersey Boys and for a delicious Gourmet Burger Kitchen dinner.  It was such a wonderful day - the show was absolutely fantastic, as was the company.  I am really going to miss how easy it is to just hop on the train and travel to London for the day.  It is such a fantastic city and there is so much to do there.  Oh well, I guess I will have to settle for my own London at home ;)

7. Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I think, were the saddest days of all.  The inevitable had been slowly creeping up on us and all the emotions I had been bottling up inside me needed to be released.  On Wednesday Kari came over for a short time to say goodbye, as her flight left on Thursday morning.  There were no tears but I had to hold them back (Kari isn't one for crying and I didn't want to make it harder for her). 

But on Thursday morning, when Britny left for her Canadian summer vacation and we had to say goodbye, it all came pouring out.  After living together for the past year a half, it's going to be really hard to go without seeing each other every day.  However, Britny also made me the most wonderful gift; she is a phenomenal scrapbooker and made me my very own scrapbook of our time together in England.  She even wrote a story to go along with it - the story of Princess Britny and Princess Sarah who lived together in the Palace of Milton.  I absolutely LOVE it and I have looked at it every night since she gave it to me.  It's the perfect gift and I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends who take so much time to make me such amazing things.

8. On Thursday, after laying in bed bawling for most of the morning about being Britny-less for a long, long time, Laura and I travelled to Sittingbourne to visit Charlotte.  Charlotte just bought a new house AND got an adorable little puppy named Chase.  We had a really great day there; we drank wine, ate loads of delicious cheese and meats on this crazy grill thing, and played with her puppy.  It was a really nice day and I hope Charlotte doesn't miss us too much next year at HTC!

9. On Friday night Mark suggested we have a Last Night Out at Moons Part 2 for Laura (who, I forgot to mention, didn't actually make it out the previous time due to a little too much alcohol consumption earlier in the day).  It was a really fun night - full of drinking games (Simmy: remember your little man!), drunken falls and messy subs galore! 

This was the prequel to mine and Laura's last day together as, the next day, Laura (bless her; she was horribly hungover) made her way to mine and we spent the afternoon and evening watching True Blood and eating loads of pizza and wings - the perfect hangover remedy if you ask me!

10. Mark (commonly known to me as Jr Spell) is my last See Ya Later as he, very kindly, is driving me to the airport tomorrow morning.  I am very grateful that I don't have to leave my life in England all by my lonesome and that I will instead have a friend to see me off. 

Well, there you have it: my Ten See Ya Laters.  To everyone mentioned in this blog: I love you and I'll miss you with all my heart.  And to my dear friends who I have said goodbye to this past week: if any of you die before I see you next, you can be certain I will dance with your dead body!  See you all next summer in Canadialand for the ultimate friendship reunion.  Love yas!
Xx