Weekend fun

So we went out to play this weekend.

Friday night hubby came home and we headed out to some skating before our weather turned again. It was a warm night, the sky was clear, stars were glittering, so to the canal we went. Well, sunshine was determined to improve her skating and. Well, 14 km, 3 beavertails, 1 hot chocolate, 1 hot apple cider, 1 water and 3 hours later and sunshine is now a better skater! She is quite pleased with herself for skating all the way downtown.

I remember when we were younger our family used to skate together all the time. There was a lake in our neighbourhood and we would skate on it and follow the little river that jutted off of it. I used to like skating on the little river that fed into the lake because it was warmer than being out exposed on the lake, especially when the wind blowing.

I remember an one skating excursion when I was a little ahead of the rest of the family going down the little river and I heard a huge crack. Now it was quite common to hear cracks in the ice as you were skating, the ice was quite thick but every so oftenn you would hear a cracking noise. Well on this occaision I thougth I was going through the ice, man I spun around and high tailed it back to my parents and siblings. I was sure my stomach was in my mouth. After that I never went as far down, and I stayed closer to my family.

So here is a pic of sunshine in her skating glory on Friday night:

I officially have

the winter blahs ....

Food is boring, I am tired of being indoors - it is either too cold or too wet. Hopefully the weekend will be nice enough to get out and do something about it - like skate or toboggan or something!

Guess it is time to dig through the cookbooks to find something interesting to eat!

Picture of our Storm on Saturday

Yes, here it is, this was taken at about 9:00 am. Lovely fluffy stick to the ground stuff.


to Dave;

yes little brother, this is to remind you what winter is like while you are in Australia

Winter road trip?

Well, it is mid January and anyone who lives in a snowy part of Canada (as we do) dreams of a trip to somewhere warm. This is certainly true for me right now. Currently it is snowing, and I am sitting here dreaming of sitting on a beach, warm sun on my face and my toes digging into the sand. Instead, a little later I with my family, will be out shovelling snow off the driveway with snow bombarding my face and head.

Growing up in my family, we went south for a few winter trips. I remember mom and dad went to Nassau with friends, and my brother, sister and I were left behind. When they got back we made them promise that the next trip that they went on, that they would take us. Sure enough, several years later they were planning a trip to Freeport, and we reminded them of their promise. So off we went to the Bahamas for ten glorious days. This is one of my most memorable trips of us as a family growing up. I remember on the way down on the plane, that people were praying and singing at one point of our journey. In fact it work my up from a sleep. I remember asking mom why, and she said it was because we were flying over the Bermuda triangle. I remember thinking, wow are they ever weird. Then as we landed in the Bahamas, everyone applauded, and again I thought, ok everyone must be happy we got here alive. Really weird. I also remember putting on my jacket because I was cold, then walking down the length of the plane, going through the door to the stairs to go down and my senses being assaulted all at once with warm air - instantly being hot, and the smell of flowers enveloping every ounce of me. I could not pull off my jacket fast enough, and I wondered where the perfumed smell of flowers was coming from. It was late at night when we landed and I could not see the flowers, so I was wondering what made such a strong smell. It was only the next day in the daylight that I truly appreciated where the smell of flowers was coming from.

The next ten days were a riot, sitting by the pool, going to the market, eating the best buffet breakfast (in my teenage opinion), and having a relaxing time. It was hard to leave to come home. I remember getting ready for the journey back, having bare legs (I wore a skirt home) and sneakers and putting on my light jacket. My brother wore sandalls and off we went on the plane northward. Of course landing in Halifax got to be a challenge because we got to land in a full on snowstorm. In fact we almost did not land there at all, the pilot made two attempts, and said that if he did not land on the third, we were heading to Newfoundland. Oh yeah, somewhere colder. Yipee. Anyway, we did land in Halifax. and off the plane we went. Of course we had to trudge through the snow to get into the airport and mom was lamenting the fact that my brother should have put on his sneakers. I am sure we were quite a sight.

Oh, how I would love to be somewhere warm now ........

Growing

Do you remember certain events that made you grow to become independant?

Lots of events in our lives make us grow as individuals, but I am talking about those events that stand out, the ones that were painful, but when you do, do it, you think "There, I did it".

I can think of two such examples in my life.

The first one is that I had to be about ten or eleven years old and my mother had enrolled me in swimming lessons at a YMCA that was located close to our school. Now the school that we went to was a 25 minute drive from our home, so there was car pooling with another mom whose kids also went to our school. On this particular day, the lady picked us up, took me to the Y and said, "I understand you have new swimming lessons today, well, here you go, see you tomorrow". Off she went for home. I remember standing at the steps of the Y thinking, but what happens if there is a mix up, they don't have my name, or it is the wrong night or ....". Yep, sink or swim time, I slowly mounted the stairs, went in the building, went up more stairs and asked at the desk if they had my name, and the time of my class. I thought for a while I was going to throw up, but sure enough they had my name, and off I went to the ladies change room to get dressed. I remember thinking, wow, I did it and I did not pass out. I am ok and I could probably do this again if need be.

The second time was when I was seventeen and about to go in university. We were living on the Atlantic coast of Canada and it was the weekend before university was to start. My parents then called me into the livingroom to tell me that dad had been transferred to the city where I now reside. I had the option of being able to stay where I was and go to the university I had been accepted into, or tranfer up to the big city and go to school there. I decided ok, I will move. So fast forward to a week later, dad and I are on the plane and hit the big city University. After the morning run around by the university, it was time to pick my classes. Dad then says to me "Are you ok to pick your classes, I gotta go to the office, then get back to the airport so I can go home". "Uhh, OK" I said, when inside I am thinking "don't leave me", but Dad says, "Ok, cya" and I watch him go down the stairs and out the door of the Admin building on campus. I am sure my heart was pounding and the person next to me could hear it, but I swallowed my stomach, got registered, got back to where I was staying, picked up my books, and headed back to class for that night. I remember being really lonely that night, wondering if I had made the right decision .

I think this experience was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but standing on your own two feet usually is.


Thought for the day
Independance is a hard lesson to learn.

Am I too choosy?

Am I too choosy about who I consider a friend? Am I closing myself off too much?

As I am getting older, I seem to be getting more selective as to who I spend my time with. I don't know if it is because I am getting older and I can't be bothered to make new friends, if it was because I was chronically ill for a long time and just did not have the time to invest in friends, or living in a big transient city that does not allow for long term friendships, or is it because we are so busy with our lives that we just can't poke our heads up to say hello to our neighbour? I just don't know.

Where do people make friends?

We don't live in the city where me or my spouse grew up, so that leaves out childhood friends. Sure we keep in touch with a few of them, but we only see them when we drive 1200 km to see them. So that leaves out Friday night get togethers. Hubby has work friends, but they too are wrapped up in their lives, running kids around everywhere, as are we with sunshine.

Have we gotten too busy? Are we too wrapped up in our lives?

I just don't know what the answer is to any of this ...

Good Service sometimes is hard to get

Okay,

I am going to rant now.


Several years ago, we put an addition on to our house. We put in a four season sunroom that is located off of our kitchen. It is beautiful, and it is a place I love to spend my time. It is bright, I can see the birds and at night we can see the stars through the roof.

Herein lies the problem, we have a leak. Now we have had the guys out three weeks prior to christmas to have a look at it. Well they came without warning when no one was home, and they thought they fixed it. They caulked all around and then took off leaving a bill (we thougth it was under warranty). Well, of course we had rain/snow and still we have a problem. So we called them back and out they came and took apart stuff looking for the leak. Told me it was probably the roof and we would be on the hook to pay for that to be fixed, but they told me that when it rained that weekend, to make note of where the problem was and they would be out to fix it on the following Monday. So dillegently we watched, made note that it was coming from the glass and guess what. They have not shown up or even called. Hubby has called and left voice mails (heaven forbid anyone answer a phone), and here it is the tenth of January and still no one and we still have a leak.

Why can't anyone guarantee their work? Why can't they answer their phone? Why can't they return a voice mail? Why can't people show up when they say they will show up? Is it really too much to ask for? Does anyone take pride in customer service anymore?

Okay, there is the end of my rant.

Thought for the day:

Patience is the companion of wisdom - St. Augustine

Sunday night

9:16 pm and am hoping that my little sunshine gets to sleep soon. She is going to be a bear tomorrow in school when we get back into our routine.

I like routine. When I was laid off several years ago and I was upset, it was not so much because I had just lost a job I really liked, but because I did not know what to do with myself the next day, where was I going to go. I like order. Must be the virgo in me.

Anyway, back into a routine we go. Hubby went back to work this past Tuesday, and Sunshine is back in school tomorrow. I know she is going to be absolutlety wiped by the end of the week. She has enjoyed the holidays and bed time has slid big time. I pity the teacher tomorrow. I suspect a lot of grade three kids are going to be pooped.

Tomorrow the big plans are to clean the house and do some knitting. Yep, back to my obsession that was sadly neglected over the holidays. My fingers are itching, I have grand plans, I foresee many dollars spent on yarn! It is the perfect time of year to hunker down, sit by a fire with either a good book, or some yarn and knitting needles. Before I know it, the snow will have melted and we will be planting spring flowers!

Question for the day:

How about it, join me by the fire and tell me what book you would read, or what you would do!