THE INTRO PART
I can honestly conclude that this summer has been a relatively good one--and I feel like it's been long overdue. What made it good? Well, after a long dry spell of pretentiously reassuring ourselves that "Our house is pretty much like a cottage. It's nice to just relax here, and we don't have to spend any money either!", my family went on an ACTUAL vacation this summer. It's been...what, 10 years?
THE PART ABOUT THE NOT-AS-LAME-AS-EXPECTED VACATION
It was about an 8-day vacation in the Canadian Rockies. It was an active, somewhat relaxing trip. Most days were spent hiking. I'm not a big fan of it, and I wasn't actually looking forward to the trip beforehand, but it turned out to be okay. Plus, the outdoor activity helps to justify my excessive eating habits at home. The highlight of my trip was probably going whitewater rafting for the first time with my dad, brother, and cousin. For those of you familiar with the grading system of rapids, we went on a level 2/3. It was fun, but we all conceded that next time we'd have to go with a higher grading to up the excitement. As for the rest of the trip, we spent most days hiking mountains and exploring lake areas. It's amazing how the highway is just filled with trees and mountains--not a building in sight, so it was quite a shock when we got back to the GTA. Still, I've never been much of a landscape person, so after a few drives and hikes everything really starts to look the same.
THE PART ABOUT DRIVING
Also, I've finally gotten around to booking my G test. I planned to do it the weekend of the first week back to school, but I stupidly booked it for the Monday thinking Sept 19 was a Sunday. No idea what calendar I was looking at... Ugh, and missing an entire day in the second week of classes--GREAT start to the term. It's a real pain, and I'm not sure I even know anyone in those classes to get notes off of, but I really just want to get my stupid G out of the way before it expires. -_-" Live and learn--for me, both have been quite painful.
THE PART ABOUT THE MINI NIAGARA TRIP
In the past few days, I've also been in the Niagara-on-the-Lake area on a mini-trip with some of my family. It was another active/semi-relaxing trip with biking and hiking all over again. My aunt made some nice pasta. My favourite part of the dish was the arugula and basil that she topped it with. It tastes amazingggg to have the fresh ingredients on an otherwise slightly-above-average pasta. I highly recommend it!
THE PART ABOUT SCHOOL STUFF
As for school, I'm dreading it. If you didn't know, I just switched out of the Science and Business program into Biomedical Sciences this past winter, so I'm scrambling to obtain all the graduation requirements. Plus, it would be nice to finish school when I'm supposed to (vs. 1 year later because of the co-op program I was previously in). Unfortunately, all this amounts to me taking 4 consecutive school terms with only a few weeks of break between each--and I'm only halfway there.
THE PART DEMONSTRATING MY TYPE A PERSONALITY
I don't really want to rant about my usual life worries because I feel like I've already over-publicized that subject. Just know they're still alive and more than well.
THE OVER-ANALYTICAL, SELF-SYMPATHIZING PART
For some reason, I feel really down these days. Not even angry or irritable anymore, but just apathetic and lethargic. I'm certain it's not depression or anything seriously medical, but I feel stuck between needing major change in my life and being too afraid to leave my comfort zone. I've thought about it, and a lot of it seems to do with the friends I have and the things I'm doing. I feel like I need to meet new people and make friends that are more compatible with me. A change of scenery. I'm not even sure whether it's me or my surroundings that are the problem, and I don't think it will be easy to change either. I don't really know what the next steps in my life are, and when my options are presented to me, it just feels so overwhelming and intimidating. I wish I had more courage, more independence. Can anyone just develop those traits if they work hard enough at it, or are some of us just stuck with what we are? What if what I am is not enough? Nobody wants to consider that alternative, so we optimistically settle with the motto that anyone can do anything if you just put your heart into it. I wonder if that's really the case.
