I have returned!
I am back home in Canada!

But first, let's recap.

Friday was hectic. I had pretty much finished packing by Thursday, but there was still last minute stuff...and then I wanted to give the apartment a cursory cleaning. I'm sure they'll be charging me to tidy it anyway, but I figured I'd leave it in respectable shape. I didn't manage to get out the door to take care of my final errands until about 3:30...and I hadn't counted on the traffic. By the time I returned by digital cable box, mailed my last boxes, and dropped off my housewares at Goodwill, it was past 5, and I didn't get back to my apartment until 5:30. Problem: both my apartment office and the car rental place closed at 6. Second problem: I had told isle_of_woman to meet me back to my place around 4:30. Luckily, at 5:00 I saw her car on the highway as I was exiting to drop my stuff at Goodwill, so I knew she hadn't been waiting around for an hour. But when I got back to my place, her car wasn't there. Nevertheless, I turned in my keys, and headed over to the car rental place - and found Jody there waiting for me. She's so awesome! Anyway, I returned the car and signed the forms at 6:00 on the dot. Whew!

Then, Jody and I drove up to Brea, where we joined parsnipodoom and shironiku for dinner. Alas, most of the gang couldn't make it, but I got to see them the previous week. We followed up dinner with a trip to the Cold Stone Creamery, for some ice cream deliciousness. Then back to Jody's place, where we hung out for a bit - playing with Lego and watching a few episodes of BBC's 'Coupling'.

Jody and I stayed at a Radisson hotel by John Wayne airport, so that we wouldn't have to worry about getting up early and rushing to get there. And luckily, I started up my laptop this morning to check the status of my flight. It was scheduled to leave at 12:45, but was now leaving at 3:30. This was a problem, since I had a connecting flight in Chicago. So we hustled over to the terminal, and was told that I had been rebooked onto a flight leaving Chicago on Sunday morning. It was unclear whether that would mean sleeping in the terminal building. I asked if they could maybe find a flight out of Los Angeles airport instead (since there are far more flights from LAX). And yes they could. There was a flight departing at 1:05, which would get me to Chicago in time to make my connection. So, Jody and I dragged all my bags (including a 70 lb behemoth) back to the car, and drive the 40 minutes north to LAX. We got to the check-in counter a little after noon. And I was told that I was cutting it too close. Thankfully, the agent was able to rebook me on a completely different flight, connecting in Dallas. And it all worked out. I made it home, as did all of my stuff.

Because Karen isn't getting back from Florida until tomorrow (and I have to pick her up at the airport), it was more economical to rent a car than to take a cab. The downside was that when I got home, there was a foot and a half of unshovelled snow on the driveway. Now, I could have called up the city and asked for permission to park on the street overnight...but I had enough energy left over to start tackling the snow. I dug out just enough to get the car in. I'll tackle the huge bank (caused by a passing snow plow) tomorrow.

It's rather peculiar to come home for good by plane. While I'm glad that Karen and I didn't have to spend 4 and a half days driving across the continent in the middle of winter, that drive does serve a symbolic purpose - closing the chapter on the whole living away from home thing. Flying home makes it feel like I'm just visiting. But it'll sink in soon enough. New job starts on Monday morning!

I got to talk to Jody by phone tonight, which I was grateful for. It was tough saying goodbye to her at the airport, and we're going to miss each other tons...but I felt it was important to establish that our friendship will endure. And I'm so grateful for the time that we had. :)