Today is the day I've been waiting for for the past four months. Today is the last day of my second term at Bruce Power. And boy oh boy, has it been a long and dreary wait. When I woke up this morning, I was immediately ecstatic and excited to realize it was my final day. The night before I was hyper with the thought of not having to go through a term like this again. (I'm aware of the fact that it could, but right now I'm being optimistic.) I cannot wait to break the monotony of my current life.

Last weekend my mom and I had some quality time together. On Friday we chilled and watched a movie together. On Saturday, we ventured out to look at mattresses for my new place. For the evening, I made a delicious recipe called smothered chicken. (It was a mixture of spices sprinkled on chicken, topped with fried onions, mushrooms, green peppers, and cheese.) Finally, on Sunday, I was the perfect date for my mom. I took her out for brunch at the Rusty Gull. We then ventured out to the movies to watch Step Up. (Cheesy but cute.) Afterwards, we went out for a bit of shopping. It was a very pleasant day indeed.

As for my final week in Port Elgin, I spent a lot of time hanging out with Tao and Lauda. On Monday night we went to Strauser's, one of the local bars. It was deserted! We were honestly the only people in there. We ended up ordering a lot of appetizers and playing pool. For pool, Lauda and I teamed up against Tao. Oh my gosh. We got schooled by him. Tao's a freakin' hustler! He would sink every ball in less than 3 turns practically. I of course played like I was in pre-school. I only got off 1 or 2 good shots and the rest were pitiful. But I have to admit, I really enjoy pool... As long as I don't have too much of an audience to mock me.

The following night, Tao's department had a farewell dinner for him at Queen's. Lauda and I also tagged along. I have to admit, I was not impressed with the food or service that night. Every single time I've been to Queen's, I've had terrible service. I guess the entire table felt the same way, because afterwards Lauda heard the waitress make a snarky remark about our table being a "waste of time."

I was amused when Tao whipped out a mooncake to share with everyone. (Mooncake is a traditional treat at the mid-autumn festival in China. It's made of preserved duck egg and lotus paste.) I had had it before and didn't care for it, but I figured I'd try it out again. I ended up leaving my small slice sitting on a napkin. LOL. I forgot how salty the middle was. Lauda also left hers alone. I think the rest of the table felt the same as we did but were politer in actually finishing it.

I was also amused by Lauda's attempts to enjoy her dinner. She and I bother ordered cocktails for dinner, but hers was a strawberry daiquiri. And we were sitting on the patio. And there were wasps. At one point there were 6 wasps crawling around the sugar rim of her drink. LOL. She'd try to shoo them away and take a quick sip. I was impressed because she nearly finished the entire thing! And even after the waitress took away the glass, the wasps stuck around because Lauda was wearing perfume. Poor girl.

Last night was spent finishing up my packing. I felt like thumbing my nose at all the things that had aggravated me over the past few months at this apartment. But I resisted. Instead I hung out with Jean and Liz and cooked myself some dinner. (More correctly: I overcooked myself some dinner.)

And now the end is at hand. I'm packed, and ready to go. I'm counting down the hours till I can escape...