Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Well I've surfaced from the depths of wherever in the world I've been this past week.

Actually, the truth is I've (no joke) been pretty busy.

Busy sleeping, busy catching up on my HBO-produced television, busy with the NWT blogging awards, busy prepping for the upcoming trip...

IN JUST 10 DAYS!  (Wow, I just counted them on the calendar, and for some reason I genuinely thought there were more days left than that... oops!)

And while I blog a lot (apparently I wrote 300-odd posts in 2007, preeeettty crazy if you ask me), I try to avoid posting for the sake of posting. I write when I have something to say.

I have been thinking a bit about the next year, and how my life could be very different this time next year. Lord knows a lot has changed since January 2008. People I have been quite close with have left Rankin, and some solid friendships have been made. I've actually, for the first time in my life, saved a bit of money (and I'm serious about it being "a bit" but hey, some is better than none, right?). I think the best financial move I've made in the past year was upping my Canada Savings Bond. I started contributing to CSB about ten years ago, when I first got my paper route... but had to cash those in before I went to France in 2006 due to limited cash flow. I started up again when I got the job here with CBC, and they do automatic deductions from my paycheque... so I never really notice that the money's not there. I hadn't planned on making it my "travel fund" but that's what it's become. I last drained it when I went to England/Scotland with Nanny and DD so I should have a hefty chunk of change accumulated by the time May rolls around (my next-next vacation) but I have no clue what I'm going to do with it, haha.

I'll be going to PEI/New Brunswick in May, for my sister's graduation from UNB and *maybe* a little voyage. I'm not sure yet though. By the time I get there, it will have been a year and a half since I've been home. A year and a half since I've seen my Dad and my grampie (my mom came up in May of last year, and my sister and I went on a trip to the UK this August with our grandmother). That is a long freakin' time. I hope I never have to do a long stint like that away from my family again.

Which brings me to my next point. By September of 2009 (just 9 short months - holy cow!) I will have completed my 2-year stint in the north, and I've basically decided that I'll be moving on shortly thereafter. I don't know where I'll go, or what I'll do... but I know I want to be closer to the people who mean the world to me. My family, and my friends. As my mom has pointed out, I could be clear across the country in Victoria, BC and I'd STILL be closer to home than I am now. And she's very right.

So as I look ahead to the next year (hey, I've been asking all the local politicos to do just that these past couple weeks at work) I see one major priority: keep focussed on my own needs and interests. Sure, that sounds selfish... and in a way, it is, but sometimes I do things that aren't in my OWN best interest, and I'm going to work to get better at that.

And I do have ONE blogging New Year's resolution, to dream up better titles for my posts. Normally I just stick to one-word or two-word titles, that don't really tell you anything when you go back through the archives. I think my problem is that I normally write the post title BEFORE I start the post. It's easier to be more descriptive in a title when you already know what you have written about.

Oh, and my final New Year's resolution is to make ice. That's right, ice. You'd think that wouldn't be a big deal, but I've never been able to keep ice in the freezer but gosh-darnnit 2009 WILL be the year of the ice cube. I promise! Haha.