On Oct 17, I had a "retirement" party. It was really a farewell party but I like to say that I am retiring because it feels good to say that I am a 35 years old retired man! ;o) Who can say that at 35? (shh! the others don't have to know that I will be coming out of retirement in a year...)
During my retirement, I intend to travel around the world to discover places, people and cultures. I will also do cool things while wearing shorts, flip flops and shades. Sunscreen?!... maybe. I promise to remember and think of you. I promise to write if you send me your e-mail. I promise to send you a postcard if you send me your home address. And most of all, I promise to have TONS of FUN!
The turn out was phenomenal, mainly because Geneviève was having her own retirement party and Emile was having his engagement slash wedding party :) Yup, we had three parties at the same time and at the same place. One of the most original idea ever! Many of our closest friends came to hang out with us one more time before we leave Cow Town in 3 days. It was so great. We had so much fun and thank you everyone for coming. We really appreciate your friendship and we will cherish it wherever we are. Here are some pics from the party - click.
The week leading up to the party was no pic-nic, we packed and moved our belongings to a few or our friends' house for storage, that was pretty stressful! Gen and I took all of Friday, Saturday and Sunday to do all that. It was a condensed move and we are glad all that is behind us now.
Now, all there is left to do is to pack our backpacks, the ones that coming with us on the world trek. I packed it on Friday and surprisingly, it wasn't all that hard! I repacked it tonight - I eliminated and substituted a few items and it seems to be very decent. So far, my pack weights approximately 35 pounds. When I'll add the laptop and a few other stuff, I bet you I'd reach mid-40 pounds. That's heavy. Perhaps I will repack once more at that time :o)
Two weeks ago, I sold my car and I had a little "moment". It was sad to see somebody remove my plate and put another one on top. My car was with me everyday for the last 8 years... People name their boat, well I name my car: Penelope. She was with me since the rough -40C early mornings practices in Edson, to the low 30's in Calgary... We climbed some steep hills together and we confronted some scary moments like the time when we skid our way between two moose crossing highway 16 near Jasper on a stormy night. And now I am without any wheels... I guess this is a good practice for what is to come during the next 12 months. Speaking of which, "camping" on the carpet this week with our camping mat and sleeping bag is also good training for the trip :) We moved our bed to Cait's house.
It's now Oct 20. We fly to Montreal in 3 days. We fly to Sydney in 25 days.
