emma leigh’s antarctic blog

well, we changed the clocks last night and i lost an hour of sleep “springing forward.” 

i was on my way to work this beautiful morning and i really got to thinking about spring and daylight saving.

it was almost 45 degrees this morning and insanely sunny, as i drove up through the hills to get to work. what little snow we had this winter has turned grayish black and is starting to melt, leaving all of the roads wet for most of the day. i had my sunroof tilted open and the fresh air was welcome in my little car. my nose was happy for the fresh smell of spring, a smell that has eluded my nostrils since 2005.

that was quite a thought this morning. i was not here last year when the weather started to turn this way. i was delving back into a winter season instead of springing forward like everyone else that i knew.

last year was the first year since 2000 that i actually partook in extra sleep for daylight saving. from 2000-2005 i was working the night shift on a weekend shift, so i was always working when we sprang forward or fell back. for me daylight saving was losing an hour of work and having to stay over on first shift to make it up, or gaining an hour of overtime for staying until first shift came in. i was really happy last year to fall back and gain an hour of sleep. not once, but twice! i was in antarctica the first time we fell back, as everyone i knew was springing forward. and by the time we fell back, i was back at home, ready to cash in my extra hour of sleep again.

i love the winter. i will be the first person to say that we got screwed out of snow this winter and that i wish we had had more snow. however, driving along to work today, and hearing the birds, and smelling spring in the air, a wave of joy rushed over me. i am excited about spring. i can’t wait for mud season to be in full effect and to see the flowers starting to poke through the soft mud in my garden. i can’t wait to see the trees start to bud and the tiny green leaves starting their life anew in the spring air.

come on in, spring. i’m ready.

okay, i promised jana that i would post tonight, so here it is.

we spoke tonight on the phone to commemorate our ice anniversary. a few days ago was the year anniversary of us arriving on the ice for the first time. i had no idea that so much would happen in such a short time, but it has. my life is so different than before i left, and yet so much of it is the same. its really quite odd. i’m still having a hard time dealing with it.

i know that i have been horrible at blogging, but i really want to make a concerted effort to keep up now. who knows how i’ll actually do though.

between school and taking care of (it seems) everyone else in my life, tonight i feel as though i’m crashing. i was hoping to get a day to sleep in tomorrow, but i don’t want my bro to have to go to court alone, so i’ll be there with him first thing tomorrow.

i am crashing for the night though. that’s for sure. my valerian tea has kicked in, and my body and mind have checked out.

g’night all.

well, we made it off the ice okay. i was actually quite convinced that we weren’t taking off. when i was saying goodbye to brad i actually said to him “i’ll see you later tonight.” the entire way out to pegasus i had convinced myself that we weren’t leaving that day. part of me wanted to just be out of there, because honestly, i didn’t want to go through all the goodbyes again. i couldn’t handle it!

i did, however, love the karaoke contest that we had the night before we left. vanessa and i went head to head, and even though it was her birthday i still kicked her butt and won $100. wahoo!

we landed in christchurch, stepped off the c-17 and i felt humid. my hair immediately curled up, and after walking from the terminal to the cdc my hair was back to its normal, frizzy ways. i had forgotten how to deal with it!

cora and i spent our first 2 nights at the heritage in the city center, and then moved on to thomas’s hotel. we both liked thomas’s better, we felt more at ease there. we ate great indian food, i walked around in the grass sans shoes, and we had a blast just exploring the real world again.

its amazing to me how much i have taken for granted in my life. my reintroduction to society has affected me in ways that i can’t even comprehend yet.

today cora and i left christchurch on the train and went north to picton. it was a grand ride and i loved it! from picton we took the ferry to wellington. we’re in wellington now, and not loving it. we leave first thing in the morning for rotorua to thaw out in the hot springs. from there, we’ll stay near the airport in auckland, and then fly to tonga saturday morning!

more soon!