Windy Wednesday

It seems I'll always be a half-day behind in my posts. Oh well.

Last night we visited a place in the mall after picking up Syd from camp.  It's a store like Claire's in the States, lots of girly junk.  She wanted some stuff there and I found out they were having a half-off sale so we did our birthday shopping early (to save me some money!) She bought two bags, a belt, a wristband, two necklaces and two rings (one mood ring, of course!). On the way home we stopped at Blockbuster and picked up Superhero movie and The Ruins. Big thumbs DOWN for the Superhero one, stupid as hell. I watched The Ruins this morning and give it a thumbs SIDEWAYS. I wouldnt watch it again.

I made chicken sandwiches for dinner last night and right after cleaning up Aunt Lillian and Hazel showed up. Hazel's picture wouldnt load dammit.

Aunt Lillian....she's in her 80's and still pretty active.

They visited for an hour and promised they'd visit again. Mom mowed the grass while the kids and I chilled out. Syd was in bed asleep by 10 pm, now thats a first!

Us at Frenchy's a few days ago.

Last Sunday. Dad, Mom and Syd trying to set up the tent in gale-force winds.

Colleen's dog Sammy. He's a Shit-Zu (I know I spelled that wrong!)

With alot of time on my hands, and on my brain, I've been thinking. Over-thinking possibly. Examining my life and what's to come. It's scary and exciting because overall I dont fear change. I think I was brought up to enjoy and even welcome change. Living like a nomad will do that to you. My priorities are shifting and I'm grasping the concept of living for the moment (I'm not good at that), I live in the future. I'm going to start a new project (not telling what it is yet!) and I'm feeling good about it. I feel "lighter" since I got here, less manic and worried. Its nice.

Well, thats it for now. The weather is cold (for me) and its overcast today. I'm still not eating very well and my insides are all whonky.  Going to run some errands and then hang back at the homestead. Wheeee! I'll check in again tomorrow. Tata!

 

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Tuesday

Last night re-cap*

After Mom arrived home, just before 6, we ate dinner (burritos prepared by Moi). Megan called and wanted Syd to come over to play so we all piled in the car and toodled over to Colleens.  Mom, Avery and I jaunted to the mall to have a look for some new unmentionables for Mom. It took an hour or so and then we scooted back to pick up the Syd. At 9:30 pm it was still completely daylight. How screwed up does this make me? It got dark around 10:20 pm! 10:20! Very weird and other-worldly. My kids have not been getting to bed before 11 and its starting to show (Syd broke down crying yesterday for no reason) Anyway, I finished Life Lessons, it was very good albeit repetitive. I would recommend it for anyone. I'm half-way through Head-Case by Dennis Cass.

Not really the best writing but vaguely amusing, I should finish it by tomorrow.

As for my eating. Well. I've lost weight. Canada is different in that there isnt as much convenience food. There's a Burger King, a Subway, McDonalds and a Dairy Queen.  A few pizza places with names I've not heard of before and a couple of Chinese places.  Honestly, the fast food is EXPENSIVE. A Happy Meal here is about 5 bucks. They dont even HAVE a dollar menu! When I bought groceries I almost dropped dead. Not only do they NOT have alot of the foods I live on but everything is about TRIPLE the cost of home. I can shop for 4 people, 2 weeks of dinners, 150ish bucks. One week of food here is about the same, even buying NO-Name brands. Insane. I havent been eating and its starting to show. My only pair of jeans, size 6, fell off last night. I need to eat more. Bah!

Averys jock itch, which I'm treating with Tinactin, isnt getting any better. The poor guy is miserable but I dont know what else to do. Its not like when he was a toddler and I could let him run around outside naked. He's 14 and looks manly, if I did that now, someone would call the police. Grrrrrrr.

 

Above was taken at the Radio Tower Station on Saturday.

Later Sat. at the Tidnish beach.

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Sunny day in NS

Sunday, July 6th

Last night I tried my first glass of wine. I had been leery of alcohol since the surgery, figuring it was just one more thing that could add calories. It was good and I only had one so no harm there.

We were invited across the street to Mike and Michelle’s house for BBQ dinner. Their daughter Gina invited Megan (Colleen’s daughter) and Sydney to sleep-over. This thrilled Syd to no end because Gina has Guitar Hero, which they played the entire time we were there. Mom and I and Avery spent a quiet night just hanging out, I got some reading done. Boring, old people stuff. Hehe.

So here we are Sunday already. Time really is flying. Mom wants to do some planting today and I want to do some more reading. (I started Life Lessons). Colleen and her son Marcus will be coming to pick up Megan around 10 am so they’ll probably stop in for awhile. At 1 pm I’m taking Syd to Frenchie’s (a discount clothing store) because we didn’t pack enough for her and she needs clothes. And that’s about it for the day, I know it sounds fairly boring and it is but that’s exactly how I like it.

We ended the day off with spaghetti dinner (prepared by me).  Dad stuck around and even set up the tent in the yard for Syd. Steven (my cousin) showed up after dinner and we sat and talked for an hour or so.  Once everyone had gone Mom and I had a chance to color our hair (wheeeee!) and sit and talk for awhile.  It gets dark around 10 pm here so it doesnt feel like night and we stay up much later than we are used to. 

Monday

Got Syd ready for the theater camp this morning, she will go all week and I think Mom is paying for it. I kept asking how much it was and she kept shushing me so I dont know if its free or if she got some sort of deal. She dropped Syd off before going to work this morning, leaving Avery and I to fend for ourselves.  I'm at the library and was going to post pictures but ALAS, forgot the damn battery for the camera.  So no pictures today, maybe tomorrow. Not much happening tonight. I'm making mexican for everyone and will probably get some more reading done.

The weather has been nice. About 75-77 with a constant wind.  The wind is actually a good thing because they have some hellacious bugs. At night the mosquiotoes are so thick that it looks like something out of a horror movie. I will not go outside when there is no wind. In Virginiawe have big horseflies but here they must be twice as big, seriously. Oh and I think they have canines because I got bit and I could swear there are tiny teeth outlines.....no shit.

Anyway, I gotta run. Avery has been on his WORST behavior since we got here. I just dont know what to do, he acting out all day long and I'm having to seclude him to his room alot. It increases my stress level and makes it really hard to do anything fun.  I'm hoping that its just him acclimating and maybe I'll get lucky and he'll calm down soon. A girl can dream cant I???? Tata.

Playing Ketchup

July 4, 2008

Circumstances beyond my control have kept me offline for longer than I definitely WANTED to be. I’ve been chomping to get a post up but well….you know, shit happens.

The trip started out on Tuesday morning and was fairly uneventful until just after lunch. Something I ate decided that it didn’t like me and I was VERY sick. This slowed us down considerably, seeing as I had to stop often to run to the bathroom. Grrrrrrr. I don’t know what did it either.

We stopped for the night at a Comfort Inn $68, not too bad, the room was clean and it was quiet. I was whipped and we all slept like the dead.

 

In the morning, feeling much better, we took off around 6 am. We made much better time and reached the border around 4 pm. The border crossing was easy, we didn’t have to wait and they only did a cursorily check of the trunk. We stopped briefly to say hi to one of my Dads friends, they live right ON the border and it is really back in the woods. I wish I had of taken some pictures but as usual, didn’t think of it until after we were driving away.

After stopping for dinner at a truckstop (ewww, not tasty) we pushed on. The last two hours were hell but we arrived around 10 pm. My Mom was standing outside the house, vibrating. Hehe.

That was Wednesday and today is Friday, I’m just getting around to writing something down. Yesterday I took some pictures of the garden, which is spectacular. This woman can grow anything and she does. Her house is the last one on the street and although I had seen pictures of it, it looks bigger in person. Don’t get me wrong, the house is tiny but once you’re inside it feels bigger. The wind blowing off the marsh is pretty constant and it keeps the bugs down but it also makes it COLD. I brought summer clothes, not realizing that their summer is like our fall. Luckily we all brought one pair of pants and some sweatshirts, which we are wearing daily. I miss Virginia, boo hoo, my tan is fading.

 

Child #1 is highly confused and is not happy with the whole setup. It will take him a week or so to get used to everything.

 

The Poppies.

Mom has a phenomenal garden. I swear that she can grow anything, anywhere.

The dead trees in town (that had Dutch Elm Disease) have been cut half-way down and then carved into various things by a local artist. They vary in content and even in placement.  I thought the trees were carved in place but I guess the entire trunk is cut, carved somewhere else and then replaced. Odd.

This is an eagle carving that we walked past near my Moms house. There are a bunch more of people and animals, I'll try and snap them while I'm here.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to The Festival On The Marsh.  Its a big artist thing held by Mount Allison U in nearby Sackville. It looks like it might be fun, I'll try and remember to take some pictures. Okay, thats it for now. I'm hoping to get a post up at least a couple times a week. Fingers crossed.

 

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