May I Confess...

Today is the first day of fall. Normally I’m all about the summertime, but for the first time in my life its departure makes me giddy with happiness.

I’ve mentioned in passing that things have been a little rough for the Campbell family this past summer. We learned the hard way that living in some far-flung corner of Toronto as a working couple with real jobs, real commutes, and real responsibilities is entirely unrecognizable from our life as blithe, gloriously cynical graduate students living in the heart of downtown. It’s not that either of us exactly disliked our jobs, our neighbours, or our home in Toronto. (Well, maybe some of our neighbours, but that’s another story…)

Personally, the main thrust of my anxiety and unhappiness came from the fact that I was essentially robbed of quality time. By quality time I mean this: time that is spent either doing something I enjoy, or something that is rewarding. For example, I used to enjoy driving, until I started doing it for approximately an hour and a half each day, always during rush hour in the inner city.

Now we are officially moving home to Kingston. Despite the fact that we have known moving was possible for a while now, and certain for over a month, the reality of what is happening only hit me a couple weeks ago.

If only I could think of a word for an intense, positive emotion that simultaneously describes joy, excitement, and relief. I am joyful because we are going home (quite literally, actually, as we are moving back into the house we love.) I am excited because I have a good job lined up that I know I will enjoy. Finally, I am relieved that I will no longer have to battle with Toronto traffic, and no longer have to spend all day worrying about whether Stella has been let out, and whether she and Napoleon have enough water.

So yeah, that's what's happening.