potr, bday, TOMS, and other abbreviations

This morning I told Jamie (aka potr) goodbye in the Edmonton airport. Her visit had been one of the events I counted down to this year, and even though it was a week long--the longest we've ever spent together--it went by with the deceptive speed that disguises itself as time passing normally but isn't. Our mothers think we need to relocate closer to each other; we haven't yet managed to say goodbye without tears, but the distance isn't as bad as it could be. Webcam and Skype and MSN manage to tide us over, despite our favorite comparison that going back to instant messaging after being together is like returning to instant coffee after getting a taste of espresso. We hope to be together again in the first week of January 2011.

And thus on August 13 I passed my first adult year. Bye, 18. You saw me meet an online friend for the first time, be legally allowed to drink alcohol but never try it, get a job, quit a job, and be accepted into university. You weren't very good at making me feel like an adult, but it's okay, 19 isn't much use for that either. I think I need a dragon before I'll feel REALLY grown up. And perhaps I could save the world.

TOMS Shoes, short for Shoes for Tomorrow, is a company founded by Blake Mycoskie that gives a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of shoes bought from them. Blake spoke at a leadership conference I attended in the first week of August, and I admired that he runs an organization that is both charitable and self-sustaining. Also they make cute shoes. So I bought a pair from the website, and they arrived today (just as potr was leaving. It lifted my mood a little) in the mail. They look like standard canvas shoes, but there is a little more arch support than I've found in Vans or Keds and they are quite comfortable (barring that they pinch my heels, but I suspect that will cease once they're broken in). Everyone go buy a pair!

In three weeks less a day I move into residence at Ambrose University College. Happily, until then, I have three weeks less a day to kill by finally having the summer holiday I envied of everyone else. I have no plans. That's the idea.

Coming soon: Mexico Day 7. I WILL have these all posted by the end of the summer.