I got ready to be ready and I put effort into it.

I had lists, a plan and motivation. I even had plenty of energy up to a certain point.

It’s not like I was taken by surprise—I know exactly when I’m leaving, I buy my own plane tickets and I pick my travel dates, thank you very much.

But I didn’t feel ready at all 48 hours before the trip.

Classic story of life—everything was under control until it wasn’t.

Okay, work for a start. I work a lot, even though it may not look like it—I regularly get hate mail from perfect strangers who pity my husband “slaving at home” while I’m “living the dream life and spending his hard-earned cash,” which was pretty funny during the pandemic because Feng was out of work and I’m the one who never stopped working.

Anyway, normally, I don’t even book time off and turn down assignments. Work slows down in the dead of the winter and in summer, so I deal with urgent requests and complete a few projects but I work less and I can relax.

My plan was based on this reasonable assumption. I’ve been working seven days a week for the past two months—except when we spent three days in Toronto—but it was fine because according to my list, major projects would be completed by the end of June for top client satisfaction and a much-needed break.

Except that work didn’t fucking stop coming. I put major projects on hold constantly to deal with other urgent requests.

I should have stopped working on Thursday night to start tackling my travel to-do list.

I ended up doing both at the same time.

I’m tired.

On top of that, life in Canada is exhausting these days. Nothing is straightforward, easy and fast. I wasted a few days renewing my IDs in May. Grocery shopping takes much more energy and time (… and money) than it should because it’s impossible to shop rationally, you have to shop around to find deals and find what you need, period. Even the weather is exhausting—hot, sticky, occasionally smoky with terrible air quality.

Thinking about it gave me the energy I needed to finish packing.

Montreal-Paris, just Mark and I this summer again.

Should be fun.