Countdown begins

I've just booked a flight to Montreal at the end of July. Eleven or so days in Quebec, at a cottage on a lake, surrounded by gorgeous hills, good food and wine, and lots of family history. I am so excited it almost diminishes my deathly fear of flying.

But this is the first summer of my life that I won't be in Kingston at all. It's going to cause some kind of chronological wrinkle in my mind, where I won't feel like a whole year has passed if I haven't been to the market, had brunch at Pan Chancho, and sat on my parents' deck admiring the garden with a Corona in my hand. I also won't be making it to Toronto, though there is a small chance I can sneak home again in September for a certain royal wedding. Otherwise the next time I see home will be in the depths of winter, at which point I'll have been here for almost a whole year, which is hard to imagine. Then again, time IS flying by faster now that I have a job. (The workdays themselves don't always go quickly, but somehow the weeks do.)

At the office they sent around an email letting people know that work can be missed for World Cup games if they are scheduled for late afternoon. And the amount of England merchandise everywhere is almost overwhelming. I'm waiting to see if it's as mad here as it was in Little Italy during the last World Cup. Is driving around all night honking your car horn in celebration a North American tradition? I'd think that fuel prices here would prohibit it. Then again, those little car flags have been showing up on the British equivalent of camaros and honda civics. Methinks I'm in for some sleepless nights should England actually deliver for once!

And for heaven's sake, when does it start getting WARM in this country??!