It’s the final countdown, da da da da, da da da da da, da da da da, da da da da da da daaa daaadada da da da daaaaaaaa da da daaaaaa.

Next week me and Nancy will be taking yasumi from all our clubs in order to prepare for the big trip. It’ll be a much needed break. All this Japan is making me thirsty. Then its off to the airport, followed by 28 hours in air transport hell, followed by – yee ah hoo! – Canada.

Friends, family, bbq, steak, baked potatoes, deer sausage, frisbree, grass, open space, more than one species of tree, cheap fruit, forks, knives, big salads, no mayonnaise where there shouldn’t be mayonnaise, edible pizza, normal people, a language I can understand, football, ice hockey (I sure hope someone remembered to tape the flames games), swimming in the lake, the big, muddy South Saskatchewan, blazing sunsets, cowboy hats, oversized tires on trucks that don’t look like wind-up toys, golf, Wranglers, people who don’t wear polka dots and stripes at the same time, sidewalk cafes, Mexican food, dance clubs, the wind in my hair and the sun on my face and lots more stuff that I can’t wait for.