The great thing about visiting home is the friendly faces.
Just out of nowhere, my niece, Miss M. decided to come to Vancouver for the night. I haven't seen my baby girl since....summer 2010? And in that time, she's grown up, finished high school, gotten a job, and is planning for her education; but she's still my baby girl. She still the fun, silly character she was when she lived with me, and I've missed her. Her active Twitter activity has helped us keep in touch, but it's not as good as the real thing. The real thing lets us get into the goofiest fake shouting matching in front of my parents, like siblings.
Another friendly face was a former work colleague of Etienne's, who moved out to Vancouver earlier this year. His wife got a job out there, so they went, despite the uncertain career situation he was in. Like us, he is a fairly young policy analyst who worked for the Federal government at a time when job futures with the federal government are somewhat uncertain for so many. He's not had the best of luck with his job search out there, as policy jobs in Vancouver aren't prevalent. The provincial government (largely centred in Victoria) has a hiring freeze on, and the feds aren't hiring much. City jobs are few and far between, and largely focus on planning. So it's a tough go, which I knew, as I've been trawling the internet for months, trying to get a policy job out there. Despite this, he's doing well, and that's encouraging.
Of course, it's always nice to see my parents and the family dog, Mojo. I know they are lonely out there, as none of Dad's friends and most of his family don't come out to Vancouver to see him, but they seem to do just fine, and since they got Mojo, it's been easier to get through the daily grind of retirement/semi-retirement.
Friendly faces...
...Wish you were here.
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