Beach Bum Tour - days 1 and 2

Well, this is supposed to be a beach bum tour. So far, no beach, lotsa bums. My daughter and I had planned this trip several months ago, and I picked her up in Vancouver on Saturday. We first went to our hostel that was booked in downtown Vancouver, but it was in a pretty seedy drug infested neighborhood where the windows were all boarded up...no parking, and just plain bad vibes, so we left without staying and headed for the border instead. Our trip plan was to cross into Washington, drive south until just south of Seattle and head west to the coast, taking the coastal highway aka The Gold Coast Highway down, camping at Coos Bay.

Well, that didn't quite work out as planned. We only spent 2 hours at the border, which is reportedly good, and headed south, but before we even reached Seattle, the weather was shit, snow everywhere and Washingtonians who don't know how to drive in snow. We saw about 35-40 cars/trucks off the road in just a few kms, so we decided not to put our lives in the hands of Washingtonians who do not know how to drive in the snow, and checked into a cheapo motel for the night, hoping weather might improve in the morning. It didn't. The roads were still shit. We decided to head east to the coast in hopes of losing the snow for rain. That didn't happen. We ended up on smaller highways with more snow, unplowed, and very very very slippery roads. Top speed was about 60kms/hour, and average speed was about 30kms/hour. Then some dumbass in a Volkswagen new bug decided to pass us on a hill, in heavy snow, on a turn, on the slipperest section we had come across. She skidded into the ditched in front of us and in order to avoid her, I braked and slid down the incline to the shoulder, getting stuck. There was no guardrail, and each time I attempted to drive either back or forward, inched us closer to the shoulder's edge, where it dropped off about 20 feet. Um, fuck.

So then Amber attempted to flag someone down to help push us back onto the road. Most people passed on by, without even acknowledging her. One shook his head at her, but in Karma's own sweet way, he got it back...once we got back on the road, he was in the ditch...

Finally a Ford Expedition stopped with a bunch of foreigners in it who couldn't speak English. They had no idea what we were asking of them. Great...lets move on. Then another truck stopped, and the guy had 4 wheel drive and as he stopped to see what we needed, he damn near slid into us (he was coming from the other direction). He helped push me back onto the highway, facing in the other direction. We decided then, the Oregon Coast was not worth it at this point in time, and headed back to the interstate. We lost about 3-4 hours, but I just couldn't stand driving any longer on that horrible road. We got through Seattle, and while coming through Portland, decided at 6pm when the roads were still shit, and chains were required (we didn't have any) that it was time to pull into yet another motel.

That wasn't as easy as it sounds. Apparently Portland usually does not get snow, particularly any that stays more than a few hours before the rain takes it away. Nothing was plowed and we got stuck in two motel parking lots. The second one, the owner's son came out to help, along with a few folks who were walking along the street. We were shoved into a parking space in front of our room, and called it a night. I have no idea if we will get out this morning as it continued to snow and nothing is plowed, not even the motel parking lot. The hope is that we will drive out of snow in about 2 hours south of here, so that is our hope...and then we head for the desert, bound for Canyon City, Nevada.

And So The Plan Is

I have no idea if I have mentioned that I am going travelling for Christmas. My 22 year old daughter and I are going travelling together again. She's such a good travel companion, and we have such fun times. It's weird...we can barely live together but we travel together very well...

And so the plan is, I will pick her up in Vancouver, and we head south through Washington, Oregon along the coast, and then head inland towards Carson City, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and then head southwest to Tijuana. We leave Tijuana and spend a few nights in San Diego, then off to San Francisco for a few days, after which we head north again, stopping in Olympia before hitting Vancouver. Christmas in Vegas, watching Cirque de Soleil's Beatles Love...can't friggin wait. New Years in San Francisco, so that should be interesting. We'll be staying in hostels and campgrounds, so sure to have a few adventures along the way. Neither of us have been in that neck of the country, so looking forward to exploring it together.

And that is the plan...Stormy's are yet to be determined...

Thank Christ Monday Is Nearly Over

So I woke up this morning with an excruciating pain in my shoulder. I didn't feel it when I lay still, as in SLEEP. But as soon as I went to prop myself up to swing my legs over the edge of the bed, YOWWWWWWSSSSSERRRR!!!!!! And then something a little more colorful...my neighbors may think Henry has moved back in. No, it was my shoulder. Sigh...what now? I didn't have to work this morning, so that was a relief. I didn't know what struck my shoulder, but at least I had a few hours to find out what I could do. Some ibuprofen and I went back to bed to sleep it off. Well that didn't work. Sigh...now what? I was expecting someone to stop by to look at the treadmill. I needed to get showered and dressed...that was interesting...I couldn't raise my arm more than a few inches, so had to do everything one handed - wash my hair, do up my friggin bra, put on socks...amazing how much we depend on the use of both hands.

I finally get myself dressed, a few squeals and screams later, and I was out the door to the hospital to get my shoulder checked out. I couldn't get in to see my own doc until mid-December...So I had just cleaned off the car, wrangled my seat belt on (now isn't THAT a challenge, with just my right hand to use...). and started to pull out when my phone rang. It was the gal who wanted the treadmill...sigh. Ok, I agreed to wait for her, as she was just coming into town from another community, and the roads were bad. I believed that. The roads ARE shit. Anyhow...now I have to take off the seatbelt, unravel my long hair from the seatbelt as it rolls back into the car...

So I sell the treadmill, she carts it off (with little help from me and my bloody shoulder) and get back into the car, wrangle the damn seatbelt back on again, and it's off to the hospital I go, driving with one hand. Good thing it's my left shoulder...I drive a stick.

Of course, going to the emergency department of any hospital is never quick. Even in small town northern Canada, you can still waste hours and hours. I arrived at 11:45am. I didn't get seen until about 3:30pm. I was at least shown to a chair behind a curtain, so I could nap and drool in private...They took an x-ray (had to take my shirt and bra off...not EASY!) and before I knew it, handsome doc was telling me a tale of woe about my shoulder. Calcified tendonitis. Nothing serious, but painful as shit. Treat with ice and ibuprofen...damn, not even some good drugs to go with it. So back to the car, wrangle the seatbelt on, and off to work I go.

Two separate home visits, and a stop for supper, that's 6 more times I had to wrangle that God damn seatbelt on...I came home and all I wanted to do put on my pyjamas and put my hair in a pony tail...neither of which was easy, and I couldn't manage the ponytail first or last...dammit. Now I will be choking on my hair all night...or strangling in it.

Thank Christ Monday is nearly over...

November Musings

Been so busy and preoccupied lately, my blog has been completely ignored. I'm moving, again. Sigh...I am comfortable with the decision to move, but it doesn't make it any less work. Packing, sorting, moving shit around...seems to be an endless job of late. Hardly time to think it seems. Stormy appears to be fairly unaffected so far by the increase in activity in the apartment, though he has taken to scampering out into the hallway when someone comes, taking off down through the building. And he was never a cat to escape before...probably has a lot to do with all the traffic through here lately with folks coming to pick stuff up. I'm down to the bare basics now, so just lots of PILES of stuff. A pile to go to the Salvation Army second hand store, a pile for the car, a pile left to pack, and a pile to throw out. At least the piles are getting smaller...I also have a pile of boxes that need to be mailed.

Living surrounded by chaos has not been without affect on me though...I hate it! Can't wait to get on the road with A. for our Christmas holidays down the west coast to Tijuana. Whoo friggin whoo! A. has done most of the planning, and I booked all the hostels yesterday. We're hoping for good weather and can only imagine what adventures we shall encounter along our journey. \

I will miss Stormy. He is going out on the plane from Prince George to Halifax to spend Christmas with my folks. Hopefully he doesn't make a pest of himself and enjoys some time with my neice, Miss O. She has met him before and saw him when he was just a kitten. I bought him a sweater today, but it was too small, so I have to bring it back and get another. It looked darn cute on him, but he hated it..acted like it paralyzed him...such drama! I will return it tomorrow and get a bigger one. After I ship him out I won't see him until mid-January when I get out there. I also bought a heated/massaging seat cushion for A.'s car. I may try it out, but won't need it once I move east. She can certainly use it in the Yukon.

It does feel good to be rid of so much of my stuff...

Love Story

I will seek and find you.
I shall take you to bed and have my way with you.
I will make you ache, shake & sweat until you moan & groan.
I will make you beg for mercy, beg for me to stop.
I will exhaust you to the point that you will be relieved when I'm finished with you.
And, when I am finished, you will be weak for days.

All my love,

The Flu

Happy Halloween Henry

oh, and adios, while we're at it. I listed Henry today in the local trader magazine, online. It wasn't long before I had a call from a middle aged couple from Newfoundland who wanted to take him. I knew I couldn't take him when I move, so needed to get him in with someone else, so thankfully a nice lady came and picked him up. So this is a Happy Halloween indeed. Goodbye Henry! Have fun in your new home. Now it's just me and Stormy. The boy.

Call Centres

Yeah. Necessary EVIL. I hate them. And I hate that 90% of the people working there can't fucking speak English. Had a fun go-round with Bell Expressvu's call centre tonight. Sigh. So I received about a dozen or so automated phone messages telling me to replace my smart card. It's just a card that goes into the receiver, looks like a debit card or a hotel room card key. Trouble was, I didn't get the new smart card until about 5 messages in. So I finally get the damn card and follow the simple instructions to replace it. It went relatively smoothly. I called Bell Expressvu to confirm what I was doing was right, because I didn't want to take the card out (which I had never done in my life) and lose all my programming. They talked me through it, and my programming was up and running again in minutes. Groovy.

Trouble was, I kept getting the fucking phonecalls to replace my smart card AND then messages on my receiver, popping up over any program I was watching, telling me to replace my smart card. WTF? So tonight I decided to call them again, and as them, what the hell, people? Of course I got an immigrant who couldn't speak English. He stumbled through the process, told me that the card I had in there was the old one, and to put the new one in. WHAT? I told him I already did that, and had actually already confirmed with someone that the new one was in there. Apparently it wasn't. The card that came with my receiver when I bought it was the new one. They sent me an old one. Great. Ok, so I went through the process AGAIN. He tells me the card is now activated. A message on the screen says the card is being activated and warns me not to touch anything. Don't worry, I won't! Then call centre idiot tries to hook me up with some new programming, "never before seen in Canada!". Fuck off (I didn't say that out loud). If anything, I want to trim down my programming because I don't get a chance to watch it all. I only upped my package for my housesitter this summer. And now I'm moving again, and am too busy to sit around watching ALL the channels. So please reduce my package, please. Idiot tries to sell me the new and improved package again. Fuck off. I am not interested. So Idiot puts me on hold, allegedly for just a few minutes. 10 minutes later we were disconnected. Idiot. Whatever, I'll change the programming some other day. Now let me get back to Grey's Anatomy.

Um, where did all my channels go? I have just 8 or so channels...instead of about 600...WTF? Sigh...I can't believe I have to call those idiots again. I wait for 2 hours as he said, to let all the programming download...2 hours later, and I still have 8 channels. Ok, I can't believe I'm doing it but I am calling them again. Another fucking person who can't speak English...and hers is even worse than the previous idiot. Better still, she's copping an attitude, and talked over me constantly throughout the call! Anytime I tried started to talk, she talked right over me, and dismissed what I said. I explained to her that I had called twice before, and was told each time the card was activated. I asked her why she kept talking over me and didn't let me speak. She told me she did this because I didn't have anything new to say. Um, WHAT? Listen you snotty bitch, I am a loyal customer and you are insulting me, ignoring me, and being rude to me? (I didn't say that out loud...I am generally not as pissy out loud as I tend to be in my head). She promised that my card had indeed been activated. I asked her if there were any notes saying this had already been done twice before. She said "no". Fuck. Great. I asked her then if she was going to put any notes in, or would I be calling back for a fourth time to do this yet AGAIN. She assured me that she was, and that I could destroy my old card. Yeah, right lady. Like I'm going to trust you any more than I trusted the previous two idiots. Fuck off. I think I'll keep the card and see if you did your job tonight or just dinked me around like the other two assholes.

Sigh...call centres. And don't even get me started on the voice activated menus Bell has...they didn't recognize me saying the word ENGLISH, so put me into a Spanish menu...Jaysus H. Christ. And I can SPEAK English.

Crackberry Crumble

I did it. I bought a Blackberry Curve 8330. I friggin love it. I can see how people get addicted to it. All I want to know is why I didn't buy one before? LOL. I didn't have my own cell phone, just one owned by my employer for work purposes. And I didn't want to use it too much. As well, they offer much better long distance plans on cell phones up north than they do on land phones, so to hell with them, I will use a cell! And I couldn't have just any cell...I had been interested in the Blackberry aka Crackberry for some time now, and yesterday was the day. I had gone in there looking for the one they had on sale, but they sold out of them right away. However I still got an awesome deal and an awesome device. Nothing like retail therapy to take your mind off things...as well as give my parents new options for getting in touch with me, particularly with the way things are these days. Now I gotta go play...

Crapped Out

So to speak. I choked down 5 bottles of the lemon mix, the cayenne tablets, the senna, and followed that up with two giant size slices of pizza...yeah, pizza. I lasted until about 7:15pm. I rethought the whole idea and decided it was not the right time or cleanse for my particular body. With my fibromyalgia, bursitis, and knack this year for getting colds (5 so far!!!) I didn't feel I needed to tempt fate further by compromising my immune system with 10 days without eating. Granted, eating pizza is not particularly healthy...so my new plan is to buy more healthy foods when I go grocery shopping this Friday, and just eat healthy, get on the treadmill regularly, and just take better general care of myself instead. Let's see how that plan works.

And how did I feel today? Well, I managed the drinks well enough, but about 2pm my stomach started to roll, rather, LURCH as it all churned around down there, and because my bursitis was so bad this morning, I ended up taking some Tylenol and ibuprofen for it (it's the only over the counter combo that works) and the ibuprofen is likely what contributed to the lurch. I also have a pounding headache, which is normal for caffeine withdrawal, except I don't drink tea or coffee, and am not addicted to Coke or Pepsi (like my sis).

So there you have it. Master Cleanse - 1, Me - 0.

The Master Cleanse - Preparation

Yup. I'm gonna do it. I've thought about it for a few years, ever since I first met folks who did it. They crapped out early, just 3-4 days. My daughter started it yesterday and is doing well with it so far. Her roommate and a friend are also doing it with her, so I was inspired to finally try it myself. I am off red meat today, only liquids tomorrow and then on Wednesday I begin with the cleansing lemonade.

The ingredients are simple and I have modified it to suit my taste and availability of ingredients here in the north. I'll be taking senna laxative tablets at bedtime (instead of the tea - tea makes me gag), and taking the cayenne pepper in tablets instead of in the drink (the idea of that powder floating around in my lemonade makes me gag) and then the drink will be just maple syrup (the real stuff), water and fresh squeezed lemon juice. There is a salt water drink you are recommended to drink in the morning, however I don't know if I can do that...reminds me too much of all the times I nearly drowned in saltwater ocean...

The photo is not mine, but ripped off from someone else. I chuckled when I saw the baby wipes, but know why they are there...my daughter informed me that her laxative tea worked VERY WELL today...and I was reading on one of the web boards that there may be a burning ring of fire as toxins exit the body...nice.

One also cannot have alcohol, pot, tobacco, or any other non-prescribed drugs during the cleanse either, so smokers will have a hard time with it. My daughter's roomie has already broken THAT part of the fast and puffed back 10 ciggies today.

They also do not recommend any strenuous physical activity during the fast, as you'll likely pass out. I don't think I'll have any difficulty there...heh heh.

So there you have it...I'll post as often as I can on my progress (though not so much on the bodily functions, thank you very much). I have visions of passing out downtown as I walk from one office to the other, at the feet of a crack addict...let's hope that doesn't happen...

The Boys In Bed

They barely fit in there together, but often they cram in and curl up together. Cute.

New Inspirations

I moved the furniture in my apartment again. Nothing new. If I'm not moving homes, I'm changing around the one I'm in constantly. Today is was bringing the desk from my bedroom out into the living room so I could put my computer on it. I usually like sitting down at the coffee table on a cushion, but it's getting harder and harder to get up sometimes, from that position...ARRGGHHH, I'm getting old. Now my computer is on the desk. The desk is in front of the big living room window that overlooks Tin Can Hill, and at the moment, the moon is shining brightly at me. The northern lights will be out before long, and I'll see them from my desk too, with the lamp off, of course. So I think I may have moved to a place of new inspirations...and I have those five journals to fill up with them.

ADENOCARCINOMA

That's the cancer my dad was diagnosed with this week. It's in his bowel. They don't think surgery is an option at this point. They do think it's been there a while, growing silently. If he had a colonscopy 10 years ago, they might have found polyps and could have removed them before they became cancerous. Anyone over 50 should get a colonscopy, whether they have any symptoms or not. It could make a world of difference.

Account Department...yeah, right...

So some I got this email in my box today...lol...only a complete idiot would fall for this. It's like writing a letter to your teacher and signing it, Tom's Dad...it was so bad, I had to post it, with annotations...

Dear account holder, (ok, it's not in capital letters, for one...)

We are constantly working to ensure security by regularly screening the accounts in our system. (and randomly emailing people we don't know) We recently reviewed your account, and we need more information to help us provide you with secure service. Until we can collect this information, your access to sensitive account features (like WHAT?) will be limited. We would like to restore your access as soon as possible, and we apologize for the inconvenience.
How can I restore my account access?
Please visit the Resolution Center (who knows where this would take you - I deleted the link) and complete the "Steps to Remove Limitations."
Completing all of the checklist items will automatically restore your account access.

Sincerely,
Account Department. (not only is there a period, which doesn't belong there, it is capitalized...but account holder isn't. What a bunch of friggin idiots.)

Dueling Remotes

So I was beginning to thing my remote was possessed...then I quickly came to the realization that someone in my building must have the same remote control. At random moments, the on-screen guide would come up and it would look as though someone was going through the guide, and then sometimes the channel would change. When I was watching a movie on playback (I have a PVR) it would stop the movie and go somewhere else. This morning it was particularly annoying, so I called Bell Expressvu and asked them WTF? Apparently the remotes have addresses, and someone must have bought one/moved in with one with the same address, as there are only 200 possible addresses. I told the voice on the other end of the line that I initially thought my remote was possessed, and laughed accordingly at the idea. Then he told me he gets calls all the time from people who think their remote is possessed. Seriously. One girl was in tears he said, near hysterical. What an idiot...hahah...so we changed my remote address and here's to hoping the problem has been successfully dealt with.

Henry is Such a Chameleon

Henry. What a riot. He was supreme little bastard a few months ago, the devil in a fur coat and now he has mellowed into such a wonderful cat. At times he is as good as any loyal dog who comes running when I call him, and flops at my feet, ready to be adored. He runs around with his toys in his mouth, and appears slighty retarded stunned. Maybe he is FASD...after all, I did adopt him from an alcoholic...he is still very much a cat, and loves to groom himself, and chase his mice. The fake fur mice are he and Stormy's favorite toys, though Henry tends to eat most of them...Stormy figured out early on they were fake, and stuffed with acrylic, not the good stuff. Henry still hasn't...or he enjoys eating acrylic. Mostly it's the fur he's after, I'm sure. Then there are the mice he chases off the balcony. More fake mice. I find them, bellies swollen in the rain, among the weeds on the grown below. I saved one today, the other was hopeless. He is also a scaredy cat...wicked coward. He will run to the bedroom in fear, looking for a bed to hide under. Only the bed is now on the floor(because he won't stay out of the boxspring)...so he just cowers in the dark on the desk under the lamp.

He is sleeping quite well now and I rarely hear from him in the night or early morning. He may scratch a second at the corner of the bed, but one GIT, and he's stops and goes about his merry way, usually flopping on the desk beside me, or climbs up on the windowsill of the bedroom window. Of course, I can't put the blinds down, or he would rattle them to get behind them to see out the window. Anyone who has a cat in the house, knows you cannot keep a cat from seeing out the window. They WILL see out, either with a razor slice through your silk curtains, or chewing and mauling your blinds. So I compromise by keeping the blinds halfway up, and keeping the curtains closed. In the summer there's a blanket over the window anyhow to keep out the midnight sun, so it doesn't really matter if the blind is up or down.

He gets along well with Stormy. They chase each other around and around the apartment, surely sounding like a herd of elephants to the neighbors below. They don't do it in the middle of the night (that I know of) so I don't worry too much about it. After all, they are just CATS, not 12 year old boys, or 150 pound dogs...Stormy and Henry still groom one another, though the whole suckling thing has taken a backseat...thankfully...and Stormy's nipple has finally healed.

He doesn't enjoy being up for long. He doesn't mind being picked up and is actually very snuggling at first...but then something catches his attention and he is GONE...off and running.

So I'm glad I didn't give him away now. I would have missed out on a really nice cat. And isn't he so very photogenic? What a chameleon...or is he a comedian? He sure makes me laugh, and has certainly changed over the course of the past few months.

Efforts of the Day

The fabric came from a former roommate, C. She lives in BC now. She was travelling through Indonesia a some years ago and brought a piece of hand painted fabric back. It was just a scrap, not even a half a metre. She gave it to me when we were roomies in Cape Breton. I've dragged it from one end of the country to the other, and now up here, not really sure what I wanted to do with it. I wanted to pick the right project. I'd been planning the purse for some time, and hadn't done anything about it. Last night I marched off to Wal-Mart, fabric in hand for a contrasting color, and stronger than this fabric, to add to wear and tearability of my purse. $4.29 later, I had a metre of lime green drapery fabric. This morning I set about making the purse. With a few breaks in between to stop at Tim Horton's and a second run to Wal-Mart for a zipper, stopping by to see a few friends along the way. Now I have moved into the new purse. Just big enough to carry everything I like to have with me, and not too bulky that it needs it's own postal code. The strap is long enough to wear the purse cross-ways, so I don't have to keep pushing the strap back up my arm to my shoulder. For some reason, I do not appear to have any shoulders to hang a purse on. It probably has something to do with the fact that my big head that sits on my big neck takes up most of the space on top of my shoulders. The giant head/no neck issue is genetic, thanks to my dad's clan...

Moving on...the purse turned out pretty good, and I can't wait to head out with it. Who would have thought I would write a whole post on a purse...

A Judgement Call

Well, last night I was going to have a calzone for supper, one I had bought at the grocery store. It was outdated by about 3 days, but I thought, what the hell, heat it up anyway, it looked fine from the outside. So I did. Then I cut into it, and a foul stench arose. The processed meat inside was two-toned...I made a judgement call and threw it in the garbage. I know some may have eaten it, bragging they have a cast iron stomach, however that is not me. The last time I did something like that, eating something with a little "kick", my stomach revolted in several ways. I was given strict orders from my stomach not to let that happen again...

Yoga...and Cats

Well, I began yoga today, at home. I had purchased a yoga mat and DVD nearly a year ago, and had not even viewed the DVD, or unrolled the mat other than to inspect it when first purchased. Shameful, I know. But today is the beginning of a new path. Or at least the attempt at a new path. Balance.

It began with gathering what I would need - a yoga mat, a blanket, a chair, and a belt/scarf. I also needed to reposition the telly a bit so I could see what the heck Leann was doing. The cats were rather interested in what I was up to. I spread the yoga mat on the floor, and they immediately moved in - "mat? for me? how nice of you! Let me go spread myself and my fur all over it". I shooed them away by flicking a couple of toy mice in another direction.

Forget it, what I was doing was clearly more interesting. "What is she doing on the floor? I should go walk over her so she knows that I am here. Let me begin with stepping over her face, lingering every so slightly so she can smell my belly."

We began with breathing exercises. It was hard to concentrate on breathing in and out, being mindful of the path my breaths were taking...when I'm shoving cats out of my face, kicking at Henry to stop clawing at my yoga mat, and trying to hear what Leann is telling me. They finally relent and opt to observe from just off the yoga mat. Fine. Improvement.

I found the pose for the breathing exercise to be somewhat excruciating, due to my lower back pain. I'll have to find a way to resolve that...and playing hookey from physio probably wasn't a good idea.

Then we were into cat/dog pose, child pose, mountain pose, and sunrise pose. Yoga may look like a lot of standing and sitting around, but I was sweating by the time we were done. Leann assures me that I will get better at it with time and practice. I'm sure she is right...but my body is disagreeing with Leann at the moment.

Yoga, day one, complete.

Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Anyone who knows me, knows my views on God, prayer, relgion, etc. So when my good friend M. suggested I read this book, I was of course, skeptical. However, wishing to stretch my mind, and see what it was all about, I borrowed the book from her. She is part of a book club that meets regularly, and so knowing she has been doing some serious reading, I took her suggestion to heart. I didn't begin the book right away, as I had another one on the go, but I was still on vacation, so knew I would soon run out. I began the book as I began my journey back to the north.

I friggin' loved it. Absolutely, without a doubt, an awesome book. It might not be for everyone, and I can certainly see why, but for me, at this moment in time, it was the perfect book. It is about a woman who took a year off from her regular life, and travelled to three countries. Italy, where she learned Italian and discovered some of the best Italian cooking (Eat). She then went to stay at an ashram in India to learn how to meditate, pray, and improve her yoga (Pray). Her last stop was Indonesia, where she fell in love, and learned about balance in her life (Love).

The book was humorous, touching, and inspiring. Thanks M. for suggesting this book. And for a little taste of my favorite quotes from the book..."mosquitoes big enough to rape a chicken"; "time to trade that wishbone in for a backbone".

I highly recommend this book.

Score at Cotton Ginny

Anyone who knows me, knows my addiction for Cotton Ginny. I've been down south for 3 weeks now, and hadn't even set foot in one. Then today I had a feeling that I needed to go, before I returned to the north. And boy was I glad that I did. I scored big time! I bought 5 pairs of socks, 7 tank tops, 4 other tops, one blouse, a pair of shorts, two skirts, a pair of capris, and a scarf for $130. Yes, 22 items for the bargain price of $130. They had wicked sales on today, 70% off of any red ticketed item...and usually that means just a few things, but today it was numerous things, and I stuck to all sale items and still hauled in big! Often I have a hard time finding everything I want in the right size, but today lady luck was with me. Now I have to figure out how to get it all back...where there's a will, there's a way...

Cape Breton Tour

I had a terrific journey to Cape Breton this past weekend. It began with a drive down the Cabot Trail to take my parents to visit some friends in my mother's hometown. I stayed for the night, then headed out the next morning to join some friends in another part of Cape Breton. We were to camp for the night on an island in the Bras D'or Lakes, however the weather failed to cooperate, no surprise. We did actually go sailing to the island, had our supper on the beach, and then it began to pour, so we all headed for the boat again, skipping the tent setting up session...with no bathroom, it would have just been miserable. So our good friend R. set up a tarp over the outdoor seating on the sailboat and we hung out under that, drinking, laughing, recalling old times, creating new ones. Fabulous time. I slept outside as did my friend M., under the tarp. The tarp however, only covered our bodies as far as our shins...our feet were out all night and were soaked. Luckily it wasn't cold, but I did get eaten alive by mosquitoes...some of them were big enough to rape a chicken...(stolen from Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert). The next morning we pulled out early and went back to A. & R.'s for some divine breakfast quiche...thanks A.!

After the soggy sailing excursion, M. and I headed for her hometown, where I spent a few days in her recently renovated home. We hung out, chatted, ate, and recalled old times. It was a wonderful visit, and I left feeling both refreshed and inspired. I borrowed the above mentioned book from M.'s, and read it on the plane ride home...it was such an awesome book. I also fell in love with her mirror...shown here.

I then left M.'s to head back down to where my parents were, spending another night in the tiny community before we headed back towards Dartmouth the following day. We stopped along the way to visit some relatives I hadn't seen in a while, and landed at home later that night.

Return to Waterloo

My friend S. was good enough to meet me in Ottawa and we drove back to Waterloo where I spent a few days, reconnecting with old friends and revisiting the campus at the University of Waterloo. There was construction everywhere and several new buildings or additions. Renison College seems to have gotten the most noticeable overhaul, and I had a guided tour from a former employer - the director of development and alumni affairs. Thanks again, C.! I had lunch with another former employer, a gal who teaches in the Wardrobe/Drama dept (I used to sew costumes for her), and an old friend/classmate. I had supper with two former BSW classmates, and we had a visit from Merlin the rabbit...later that night I had a beer with another former classmate, S.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with a former professor and sharing a research idea I had. He took my information down, and my cards and offered to see what he could do to see it get off the ground. I wasn't expecting to present the idea, but we found ourselves in conversation, and it spilled out...we also had a grand conversation about the north, and he shared with me a hair raising tale of paddling the Yukon River...with absolutely no prior experience about 30 years ago.

I also managed to squeeze in a short jaunt to Len's Mill Store to score some good linen fabric. Tomorrow I'll be making some skirts. I also scored more fabric today in Halifax. As well, I picked up a couple of t-shirts, one from the Sociology Society. I used to be a member when I was doing my first degree, and hung out in the Soc Society office to offer help to other students. Sometimes I forget that I am more than a social worker...I am also a sociologist...heh heh. I LOVE people watching...

I checked out the library where I spent so many hours too, often with my good friend N. We usually stayed until it closed, at 1:00am, during exam time. We would load up on Pringles and Snapple, and head upstairs to the 10th floor (known as the quiet floor) and study our little hearts out. She is STILL studying...and entering her 3rd year of medical school at UBC.

It was great to get back to campus as I hadn't been back since I graduated the last time in 2002. I wasn't able to hook up with everyone I hoped, but I did revisit some old haunts...including the gift shop, bookstore, and tunnels that run under the campus.