Oh! Canada.

There once was a girl (a Very Tired Girl) who flew too many times to too many places in too few weeks. Some flights were for pleasure, some flights were for sorrow, but it was generally agreed that there had indeed, been Too Many Flights.

Yet this Very Tired Girl soldiered on, taking one last trip on behalf of her job, because she really did want to go and see what was what in this mysterious place they called "Canada."

So she flew away, and was heartened to meet up with a team mate in the depths of O'Hare International. Together, the girl and her charming cohort bravely navigated the weirdness of Customs, and uncovered the intricacies of the Toronto subway system (hurrah for TTC!), and made their way to the designated meeting time and place, where they were greeted with loud huzzahs and many cheers for having made it.

As you can imagine, this was energizing to the Girl, and she began to feel Not Quite So Tired. The city was exotic (Ooh! Look at all the signs in French!) , stimulating (Ooh! Look at all of the lovely shops!) and challenging (Ooh! Look at the angry driver trying to run your touristy-self over!), and it thrillingly reminded her of her ancestral home. She was happy, and enchanted with all of the new experiences (though surprised that Canadian dollars are presently almost equivalent to US dollars. It had been a long time since she had known the exchange rate).

And there was work to do, and colleagues with whom she discussed and debated the issues surrounding their jobs and the working out of solutions, and big fat group dinners and the Opening of The Store (which was tremendous, and exciting, and believe it or not, brought tears to more than a few eyes) . It was excellent, and the Girl was well-pleased at playing a small part in the success of the event.

But underneath the excitement, The Girl was still tired, in spite of all the loveliness, and missed her Boy-O, and her quite needy pets, and longed to sleep in her own bed. So she boarded
another aeroplane, and another yet again, which she would fondly remember as The Last Plane Ride Ever (or at least for Six Months), and she made it back to her Boy-O and pets and her very own bed, and it was good, and she was Very, Very Happy.

(The Still Very Tired Girl would like to extend a special shout-out to the Mom-O, whose gift of a very cute and stretchy purse garnered many compliments and enabled the Girl to bring back Canadian Chocolate. Thank you.)