some normality

Its SO good to be back at work, the trip in was familiar if a little wet with the radio on and me singing along. There is a moose loose in Halifax today though which is a tad unusual and its being removed from the parking lot of a seniors complex by Environment Canada and probably a whole stack of HRM police.
Halifax Loose Moose caught

The reason its SO good is because I have been away for 2.5 weeks. 2 weeks of audit and Montreals concrete jungle, well Dorvals concrete jungle. Then I have been at home three working days as was hit by my first ever Gallbladder attack which was MOST uncomfortable. Another weekend trip to the lovely Truro hospital establishment and  I am now on a fat free diet which frankly sucks.

So it was with a light heart this morning that I made my way into my normal life. Well a fat free version but at least the rest is the same.

We have had Pauls Grandparents to stay for nearly two weeks now and the weather has been pretty atrocious, some major rain interspersed with some lovely Fall days but way too much of the wet stuff really but they have managed to get some miles in and explore. I can see through their eyes all the things I used to see as strange or weird and are now just life. It’s a reality check really on how far we have come. The eagles are still being elusive though….

We plan on checking out the tidal bore at the weekend (that’s new to me) and maybe we will see some of those eagles at the same time.

So for now, its back to the grind J Well a Nova Scotia version anyway!
Oh and I would like some new boots for Fall and Winter, you know the brown, smart with a dress or jeans type....

audit, Ikea and hospitals

What a week its been. I was away all week in Montreal on an audit and its a great company to audit - full of interesting things and nice people. The industry is great anyway so it was always going to be a good one. The hotel was lovely, fabulous room, terrible but usable pool (why are Canadian pools SO bad?)
Ikea was amazing - I shot round and bought everything on my list, regardless of price with just the concern that it would fit in my additional bag - it did!
Montreal old town was gorgeous, felt like a European city but I am used to those so being impressed lasted less time for me. Where we are up by Dorval is construction, traffic,terrible roads and impatient people. I was pleased to come home.
I have also been emotionally traumatised at every meal time trying to ignore the high calorie, fat laden glorious food on the menu and go for healthy. I havent been for a weigh in as no ww near the hotel and the same will happen this week  but I am trying hard.

Last night Lily fell in the house and split her chin open, it was awful. It looked like someone had slit it with a knife, I was horrifed. I was then further horrified by the 4 hour wait for treatment at the old hospital in Truro - hideous place - thank God a new one has been built - and the fact that the evening ended with stitches and lots of tears.

So today we are all very tired, I have to do more laundry and loads of ironing and re-pack for tomorrows flight. I feel bad about this. Thank God we have an amazing most wonderful babysitter and Paul is home three days this week. Or I am not sure I would be able to get on the plane.

Ahead is the second and last week of the audit and then I will be home. I am looking forward to that day already

out of depth

Today I am feeling out of my depth in this new country. This has happened a couple of times now and its never pleasant (although of course there are WORSE things)

In my profession there is different lingo, not that many words or phrases but enough to make me feel like an idiot or question what I am hearing. Sometimes the feeling like an idiot erodes away a bit more of my confidence.

I also miss my old working environment and the ease of fitting in. We went to the pub at lunchtime sometimes and I always knew what was acceptable to discuss/eat/drink and what wasn’t. I felt comfortable in my behaviour. Here I am looking to how others behave .

I am changing many words – eg: accounts dept is now accounting, finance director is Director of Finance, authorise is now authorize, soft copies are electronic copies (that sounds so 80’s to me!)

 These are little things but the effort of re-learning what came so naturally is sometimes too much.

I am pleased that I have finally sussed one thing out though, the fact that we chose a good spot to live in, yes its 40 mins from the city but that means that I am 40 mins away  from city life and all the things that I hate about city life.

We live in a little community with a mix of people , there are some rednecks (self-confessed) and some professionals.  Regardless most people are extremely friendly, they lift a hand to wave as they pass, say good morning from their front porch or lawn. Many have big trucks on their driveway, some even putt putt around on Harleys in the summertime, a noise I happen to love.

We are half way between amazing beaches – north and south, we have burgeoning friendships all around us and some great schools. I am yet to meet anyone/ anything I don’t like that I live near to.

So, I shall soldier on, pay attention to all the good things and try to get comfortable with all the new things. Hopefully this “out of depth” feeling will pass today.

back to school

Today was D-Day for returning to school. All preparations started last night with baths and hair and lunch orders. Lilys order made me smile, she requested:

Tuna sandwiches with carrots and cucumber

Extra cheddar goldfish

Mango

Penguin

The penguin was designated as desert as it has chocolate in it. Some discussion was then had round the table as Chloe always classes her penguin as a midmorning snack.

Chloes menu choice was

Marmite sandwiches

Normal goldfish

Banana

Penguin

She didn’t request the carrots and cucumber but she got some anyway!

Of course they got up at the crack of dawn so when 7.30am rolled around everyone was ready to go and catch the school bus.

Lilys backpack weighed a tonne so I met them at school and carried it in for her.

Cant wait to get home and hear how their day went

change afoot

Today its big time raining. I woke up to the sweet sound of it in complete and utter darkness of 6.14am. Its SO dark in the morning now.

I am feeling a need for Pauls spaghetti bolognaise for dinner tonight . Its feeling Fall-like, the rain is running down my office window in sheets.

I can see salad going out the window to be replaced by root vegetables.

Burgers will change to cottage pie. BBQ weekends will morph into roast dinners. Hanging outside all evening will turn into catching up with some new series on TV. Dry weekend evenings will be firepit evenings with hot chocolate. There will be no more pool but walking the dog with my Old Navy Fleece on. I may even go back to the early morning dog walks with my PJs on as its so dark that I can get away with it again, that will please Duke no end.

There are seasons in my life now. Each season comes with new rituals, and new photo opportunities.

Lily starts school tomorrow, she is SO excited about this. Chloe is in Grade 3 and I know is also pleased but its less bouncy about the whole thing.

Hurricane tracking and strange dog behaviour

Today I am tracking a new hurricane thats out in the Atlantic - Leslie. There seems to be a fair amount of chat about its potential to turn up here as an uninvited guest and I LOVE storms. The current view being aired is that it may land next Monday - just the day I plan to fly out to Montreal with work.
I WANT to go to Montreal but I dont want to be away from my family if they are going to experience a Hurricane.
I dont want to miss the event frankly but equally I dont want to be miles away wondering how they are, potentially not being able to contact them and worrying about Lilys new found storm phobia.

Given that Lily HAS this new phobia should I feel guilty about still liking storms?

And the dog is currently behaving weirdly, he wont now come out of Chloes room unassisted, its like hes afraid of the doorway. That started yesterday when he was left for 40 mins alone, I am wondering now if we have a ghost - you know the paranormal activity kind!

2 sleeps till school starts and my plan to get the girls to bed early last night failed as we took the dogs for a walk at about 7.20 and got back at 8.30! There were some beautiful clouds out and a great sunset. There was one cloud that was frankly disturbing - it was black and like something out of Independence Day with downward reaching spikes. It was huge. I tried to sing its praises to Lily, I love clouds, even freaky looking ones.

Labour Day weekend

So its Labour Day weekend - not Labor (I checked) and now its Monday and the last day of my three days off. Yesterday went from 2C to 28C - a swing of 26C in 5 hours, gotta be impressed by that!

We had a great time at a friends yesterday, we were more acquaintances at first but after a few hours together, some fine food, a walk with the dogs and a long chat about driving to the US complete with maps, books and deep discussion I feel that we are more "friends" than before.

One of the things about moving here is that you up sticks and move your life to another English speaking country thats a fine mix of all things US, UK and actually neither. Theres lots thats the same but much that isnt. It can take some time to adjust. And you lose all your friends completely. Yes they are still there, on skype (or some arnt) but friends that you can drop in on and chat too over a coffee are gone. You certainly have no-one that you can sob too when you have a sucky day.

So you need to build new friendships and of course that doesnt happen overnight. I have a new appreciation of people that I get on with.

I still walk around here in wonder that we got here though, although frankly some things that rocked my world for so long are now normal to me now - big trucks, stop signs, Tim Horton drivethroughs.

Unfortunately I have eaten too much good non WW friendly dishes this week, mainly due to portion size so I am not expecting a great result this Wednesday. I am also very sore from my Flow Yoga of yesterday morning, every friggin muscle aches.

The girls are back to school this Thursday (Lily starts for the first time) and getting them to bed early is still a battle. There is 3 sleeps left until the big day so tonight is going to have to be back to target.

So today I have plans for weeding, cleaning the pool, maybe getting in the pool, doing some volunteer Lantz Rec work and maybe just maybe going to the Lake. What I do know is that I dont want it to be manic, I want to enjoy it, take it slow and relax at the same time.

its frickin cold!

OMG I am cold. I came downstairs this morning at 6.50am to be met with such a cool room that I honestly believed one of the windows had been left open. I soon realised that
 a) No window was left open and
 b) there was a severe frost warning last night.

Its like 16.8C in the kitchen right now and the heating is now on in here and the family room. Its actually COLD outside.

For about a week now the weather has been decidedly different, a marked change in the season is definately upon us, although the days are warm - around 22C so it feels like a nice British summer time day, the evenings are cool and the mornings are cold. I am waiting for my love of Fall to kick back in, I think it should once my grieving for summer is over. This is most definately why we need to become snowbirds. Once this grief is done and  I get over myself I enjoy Fall and then winter but come March I have seriously HAD ENOUGH of the cold.

Yesterday we went down to Theodore Tugboat to spend our Teambuy ticket that I purchased back in June, a family of 4 trip for just $25, instead of $64.99. Unfortunately Lily decided that she did not want to partake in this as the boat might fall over. She went on it last year happily enough but no amount of reassurance did the trick, Paul and Chloe went off alone and I was left on the dock with Miss Lily.

When we got home we went for dinner at Bitars - our local restaurant which is a fine take on the beloved Tapas bar in Horley. We spent a voucher from some friends for having Miss Lexus to stay for 10 days and had a very nice meal.

Today we are off on a visit to the Truro area for a BBQ and the likes. It promises to be a lovely day, I think I will need to take some layers frankly.