Update
I’ve been here in Canada for just over a month now. I had the appointment with the telehealth system called Maple for my prescriptions, and it was the easiest doctor’s appointment I’ve ever had. But there’s a back order on one of them, so I’m hoping that gets filled before I run out.
I’ve been walking every morning. On Sunday mornings I walk to the store to pick up anything I need. I’m still scared about driving.
It looks like the closest place for me to take the English test for the Express Entry permanent residency is in Toronto. That’s not very close. Maybe an hour and a half, or two hours away. So I’ve been dragging my feet on it a bit, but I need to get it done.
Things would be a lot easier if I had permanent residency. My tourist visa will be up at the end of February, so I need to figure it out before then.
I’ve seen on the news where the FBI are apparently considering labeling trans folks as terrorists. I hope that’s just blowing smoke and not something they’ll actually do. That’s terrifying. They keep trying to claim that we’re responsible for the majority of mass shootings, when that’s not true at all.
If anything shows why I cannot go back right now, that’s it. I can’t. My country is off limits to me. And I guess I’m still grieving it.
All the tariffs have been making it harder to get the pineapple powder I rely on for my stomach. It’s been a struggle trying to restock. I just need my stomach to hang on until I can get a decent one.
It is nice here. I like living with my friends—they’ve been super kind to me. They even bought me a birthday dinner to celebrate.
This was the 2nd time of my life I’ve spent my birthday out of the country. The 1st was a few years ago on a trip to England with my friends. We went to the Masham Sheep festival in the Yorkshire Dales, and it happened to land on my birthday that year.
But this is the first time I’ve celebrated it with out knowing when I’ll be back to the US. It’ll be my first Halloween, my first Christmas, my first Thanksgiving out of the country.
It's been getting colder, but I think I’m adapting okay. I’ve been adding layers as needed. It was 31 degrees when I walked this morning. Back in Virginia we’re usually warmer than that for a lot longer. At the very least, we’re not below freezing yet. So I’m still adjusting, but I haven’t felt overly cold at night.
My life is so different now. I can’t imagine trying to survive what’s happening and just riding it all out in the US. If they do declare us to be terrorists, I wouldn’t want to be there. I’m genuinely becoming more and more frightened for my friends still there. The US is just free falling into fascism, and no one is stopping it.
I’m forever grateful for my friends for letting me stay with them, and being so supportive of me.
Inktober
It's that time of year again where all the artists scramble to draw from a drawing prompt every day. This is the second time I’ve ever tried to draw every single prompt. I’m following from a prompt list from someone on Instagram, and not the official Inktober prompt.
It's been fun. Stressful, but fun. The only other time I did it was the same. It’s hard to come up with ideas for all of them, but it’s going well. I’m connecting with other artists on Instagram, and that’s been rewarding. We’re only 9 days in, with the rest of the month to go, but I’ve done them all so far.
I have a bunch sketched out, but not all of them. I need to sit and think through the prompts to come up with ideas to sketch more out, but that’s exhausting to do. At least it’s been a nice distraction from the horrors of the world.
I’m still trying to load all of my art onto my art website. That’s slow going, and tedious. I dislike creating listings, but it’s something that needs to be done. I do that in between all the other things I’m doing for my business.
Sales have increased already for the holiday season. Usually it starts later than this. I honestly wasn’t expecting a lot of sales given how the economy is doing, so I’ll take whatever bump up I can get. Every little bit helps.
The rent is still coming in from my house, and that helps a lot. That’s honestly what’s been keeping me financially afloat while here.
There are days when everything feels impossible, and it’s hard to keep going. And there are days when I feel like everything will be okay. I want to believe everything will be okay in the end. But it’s hard to watch it all burn and keep hope.
“There’s some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.” – Samwise Gamgee.
