Packing, part the first

Today, I started packing. I found all of the Rubbermaid totes in the house that I'd used to bring my clothes back from Edmonton, and emptied them out onto the floor of our downstairs TV room. I found a pair of red teddy bear-spattered fleece pants that I haven't worn in 2 years and likely never will again. I also realized that I have more clothes than I ever thought possible. I have nine skirts! How did that happen? I also have at least twelve variations on the sweater: cardigans, a sweater vest, a duster, hoodies, pullovers.... It's time to get picky. As I have trouble with sartorial choices, taking at least ten minutes to pick out an outfit even on the most casual of days, this is going to be a little difficult. I may need to resort to outside help!

Preparations

Wow, it's been a few months, hasn't it? Since my last post, I have worked in Edmonton for May and July, gone to Europe for five weeks, and then returned to Calgary.
This Monday I flew to Vancouver for my visa appointment on Tuesday morning. I got to stay with an old friend of the family whom I rarely see since she moved out to the Coast, go shopping and of course sample fantastic West Coast sushi. My visa appointment on Tuesday was very straightforward: I went down to the French Consulate on Pender Street and got buzzed in, and then waited for not even ten minutes before I got called up (I was there at least twenty minutes before my appointment time!). I gave them my documentation and they checked it all out, before taking my fingerprints with a cool little machine and my picture as well. Then I had to run down the street to buy an Expresspost envelope at the local Shoppers Drug Mart- I had brought an envelope with me, but they suggested Expresspost so that I could track the package. It would have my passport in it, after all! After this relatively painless experience, it was off to Granville Island for lunch, and then the airport to return home.
This afternoon I decided to track the package online, just for kicks, and found out that it had arrived at 11am this morning! While I was researching getting a visa online, people said it could take up to three weeks to receive, and so it was important to leave plenty of time in between your visa appointment and your flight out of Canada. Therefore I was very surprised that it didn't even take five days for the Consulate to process my visa. It's a relief to have it already, to be honest, and now all I have to do is get my packing done....now that's going to take a while!