Dec 8.09 6:30am, YQR terminal, waiting to depart

WestJet ladies are funny.

I'm sitting outside Gates D and E at Regina International Airport and it has been a few years since I flew anywhere. I'm getting a feel for it again. Regina isn't an issue; the airport here is pretty simple to navigate and logically laid out. I'm more concerned with Denver's massive, sprawling facility. I know it is enormous and a colleague that recently went to and arrived from Australia via Denver said they do full Customs checks regardless of whether you're heading in or out. Sounds like a hassle and given my recent frame of mind I am not particularly in the mood for no hassle.

I wish I'd gotten more sleep last night. Staying up that late was a huge mistake (even though ripping vinyl records to my iPod is of paramount importance when leaving home for any length of time). My brain is feeling just a bit sub-functional, throbbing ever-so-slightly inside my skull, and my eyes are very heavy. I walked some 20 blocks in roughly -30 degree Celsius weather just to drop off a mitten at a friend's house. It needed to be done but I could have also just gone to sleep and worried about it later. No matter; sleep is the one thing I've never really needed.

I don't know how to feel about all this. It's going to be a great trip, I'm sure, but I'm so goddamn broke right now I'd probably be better off if I just stayed home and worked some shifts at the coffee shop to scrape up some extra cash and work on my debt.

There's a sleepy dude sitting a row over, closer to Gate D. Hopefully he's not the Paul the funny ladies at that Gate have been paging the last 20 minutes, the one whose plane just left without him because he either can't get to the airport on time or can't stay awake once he's there. Regardless, it looks like someone named Paul is having trouble getting to Calgary today.

I'm excited at the chance to decompress for 10 days. At various times in the last month I've felt like I was on my way to an ulcer, a complete mental breakdown, or both. I just want to see my folks and not think about anything. I don't want to think about the break-up, the make-out, my job(s), how I'm going to re-arrange the furniture in my apartment to make it seem less familiar, my debt, my car, my goddamn duct-taped boots, or any such thing. I need some time to be carefree and be alone with my brain. I need to let it run loose and just relax the fuck out.