68 Days To Go And I'm Not Slowing Down!

Wow! Getting down to the two month mark. I cannot believe how quickly time has passed since I've been living here...with as slow as my ten hour work days, 6 days a week go I'm amazed at how fast 7 weeks went! Here's a recap of what I've done since I've been here:
-Stayed at the hotel twice
-Eaten at all five of the hotel restaurants, plus four non-hotel restaurants
-Left the Island once
-Biked the 8 miles around 3 times, through the middle once
-Watched a sunset from the far side of the Island
-Visited Fort Holmes
-Went ballroom dancing at the grand with some friends
-Found a church home
-Lost several games of tennis
-Saw the awesome supermoon shining on the waters of Lake _____, not to mention some of the most incredible stars I've ever seen!
-Went on 4 dates, with 4 different people ......I mean, hey.
-Went hunting for ghosts in the hotel, and did not find ANY I might add
And finally...enjoyed a lot of long hours going on bike rides, walks, and just hanging out with the many many friends I've made so far. So here's what I still plan to do before I go! (t-minus 68 days to get it done..!)
-Go on a carriage tour
-Go on the haunted tour of the island
-Have a ghost experience...this may be the most difficult thing on the list..
-Roast marshmallows at a bonfire!
-Go for a perimeter ride of the island after 12am
-Eat at all the restaurants I haven't tried
-Be introduced to a famous person staying at the hotel
-See the Hotel Orchestra play one evening
-Play bocci ball and croquet
-Win a game of tennis
-Get enough punches on my coffee rewards card to get a free cup
-Successfully turn a tourist away from going into Starbucks and direct them to the local place down the street!!!
-Ride one of the oldschool bicycles that have the HUGE wheel on the front and the TINY wheel on the back
-swim in the lake and not get frostbite
-Go parasailing
-Get a ride on the owner of the hotel's boat..Actually, I'm going to make this number 1 on the list.


That's what I've got.
My ________ Island Bucket list. Huh. That sounds a little too cliche...I'll probably get a call from my brother complaining about it. Oh well! So I have 8 weeks and a few days left here, and a lot I still need to get done. I'm hoping to get a good start on this seeing as I have....drum roll please,




TWO days off.



IN A ROW!!!!




This Thursday and Friday. Needless to say I am extremely excited. Before I came over here to write I was going over in my head the things I want to do before I leave, which must be what prompted this weird rush of list-making. Anyway! There's one thing I want to tell you about before I go. Many of the things that were on my "have-done" list, I'm sure you're all relatively familiar with...all but one. Yes, I went ballroom dancing! It was a very impromptu thing. A friend and I, Rhonda, were going for a walk one evening, around 10pm. We were walking past one of the bars downtown that had a live band doing a cover of piano man, which is a waltz. Because we are those people, we stopped, and began waltzing in the middle of the sidewalk. Then, all of a sudden, she grabs my hand and asks, "Hey! Do you have a dress????"



Psh. Do I have a dress.



Yes, of course, I say. Why? "We're going dancing," says Rhonda. Well where in the world would we go dancing? "The Grand Ballroom."                   Oh.
So 10 minutes later we were walking up the hill in our dresses with one of the other girls that lives in my house. We got there as the band was playing some classical music, so the three of us went right out and did our own (horribly techniqued, of course) version of each dance they played. Because we got there so late, we only got to hear about a half hour of music, but it was so much fun!! Where else can you decide at 10:00 at night to go ballroom dancing, and then ten minutes later be dressed and on the floor with two friends?
So much fun. I'm hoping to have many more nights like that one before I leave here, but whether I do or I don't, I can hardly be disappointed. In the 7 weeks since I've been here, although I've never once left work with my whole night planned out, I've never been disappointed, and I have yet to have a night that I would label as "lazy" or "boring."

The real world is going to take some getting used to, once this is all over.