Nancy and Jeff aka "Ma and Pa"

Today it's really starting to sink in that I am actually going to be leaving Canada in less than 2 weeks. It hasn't fully clicked in my brain yet that I'm going since I've been so busy with my mounds of school work, but I've been having moments where it's becoming more real. I have spent a good deal of the day today clearing out my apartment. This has included selling items on Kijiji, as well as throwing out several garbage bags of junk. It is slowly getting emptier and emptier. I took a nap because all of the hard work. I was woken up by a phone call from my neighbour Nancy. I refer to Nancy and her husband Jeff as "Ma and Pa," because I am basically like their adopted daughter. They live in the building next time mine and I spend as much time as I can visiting with them and their two sons Elias and Evan. I met this family originally last summer, and we've been great friends since. We play our weekly TV bingo on Wednesdays, where we all end up yelling and swearing at the TV in good fun. They also took me camping for the first time ever in my life last summer. When I had said I'd never been camping their response was, "WHAT? You've never been camping? That's it, we're going camping next weekend!" And so we did! I loved the experience and I have them to thank for it.

                                                My first spiderdog! It was delicious.

                                                        Our awesome fire

                                                             "The hotel"

                                                   We took a trip to the beach

                                               Needed a nap after the beach

         Love bbq! I ate all three pieces of chicken, two baked potatoes and some corn

So now that you have a little bit of a back story on this family, we go back to why Nancy was calling me earlier. I had previously told them that I was going to come visit today because I finally wasn't drowning in school work for a change. Nancy asked if I had plans for the evening, which I did not. She and Jeff said they wanted to take me out to dinner before I went away to Australia, so we are going out to King's Buffet tonight. I honestly can't express how amazing these guys are. They treat me like gold and I'm going to miss them so much when I leave. I wish I had only met them sooner in life. They really do treat me like their own daughter and take care of me. One time I slept in by accident and was late for a mock interview we were doing in class right when I woke up. I panicked because it takes me over an hour to get to school by bus and I never would have made it on time. I called Jeff and Nancy and told them the situation, asking if I could possibly get a ride. Jeff was ready and outside in 5 minutes flat, no questions asked. He also offered to drive me to school the day that I had my graduation photos because I had spent 2 and a half hours doing my hair and he didn't want it to get wrecked. A couple of days ago, Nancy called me up and asked if I had eaten. I responded with a "not really" and then she said, "Ma made goulash! Come over and get some so that you can take it back and eat it while you do your work." I had delicious goulash and garlic bread that evening for dinner while I worked on my assignments.

                                                 This is the delicious meal I had!

These people care about me so much and it brings a few tears to my eyes right now as I write this, just thinking about moving away and not having them next door to me anymore. They really have been like parents to me, as well as good friends. Their whole family is great, always welcoming me over. I don't even have to knock when I go over to their house, I just walk right in and I'm welcome anytime. They've even stated that if and when I ever come back to Canada, I'll always have a place to stay with them if I need it. To top it all off, they both took the day off of work to drive me to the airport and see me fly off. Words can't even express how grateful I am for everything they've done for me already, and everything they are still doing. I now have tears rolling down my face that are both happy and sad. Happy because the fact that they care so much makes me feel so good, and sad because it will be so hard to say goodbye. It's going to be a pretty emotional day when I leave. I'll definitely be keeping in regular touch and never forget about them. I've known them for less than a year and we're already like family :)