Scenic beach scenes

I love scenic photos. This is one I took when we were in AMI. I love it.

Taken with an android phone, no filter

6th Canniversary

It was our 6th Canniversary on March 12th. I partly cannot believe that 6 years has gone by and I partly feel like I have always lived here as its home to us. This is our normal.
People often ask me if we get to go home often and I always think, yes, every day. This is home.
I am really glad we feel that way because I honestly think that perspective helped in our settling in.

I was trying to figure out whats changed about me, from the UK me to the NS me and some of it is to do with growing older and some of it is to do with being immersed in this culture. Its easier to make a list so here goes:

• I am more open to helping people, strangers, friends, whoever needs it, if I can. I have always been helpful but used to hold back for fear of my offer of help being slapped down.
• I am less tolerant of some UK-isms that I see mainly on FB than I used to be. The term "jog on" is one that springs to mind that I dont care for.
• I dont seek the city life. Halifax is a small city and it has all I need. I have come to realise that whats taken from granted in the SE of England and thats not here isnt something I ever think about.
• Country music - love it.
• Animals - we had a cat and I didnt ever envisage my life with another horse. Now we have 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 horse and another kitten on the way.
• A filter - in the UK filters are for the most part undetectable unless you are at work. In fact most people are prouder of their lack of filter than concerned by their level of rudeness. My filter is still developing but I am more aware of being considered rude than the whole 35 years I lived in England.
• Work life - I now use a variety of different terminology that I had never had on my radar before. Sadly I have dropped many British terms.
• Road trips - before moving to NS a three hour drive to Wales was only considered once a year due to the distance, now New York (13 hours away) is totally feasible and done successfully.
• Snow. I will drive in most road conditions now. I draw the line at lack of visibility but snow and ice on the road doesnt stop me.
• Size of house. Our 2500 square foot house blew me away initially, now its normal
• Pool and hot tub - considered something for the wealthy in my old English circles, these are completely for the average person where we live now.
• Big trucks, 18 wheelers carting logs up the highway - yep all normal.
• The coffee here - love it, drive with it, buy it for road trips, have it for breakfast.

Friday

On a plus point

• Its Friday and only a couple of hours away from being the weekend.
• Its daylight either end of the working day. Makes a huge difference to how I feel in the morning.
• I should soon see what impact a possible tax refund will make on our post holiday credit card debt.

On a low point (because there are always a few of them right :-) )

• Its freezing every single weekend. Of course. Its not during the week when I am at work but every weekend it goes there. Minus 25 windchill forecast for tomorrow so no riding for me, I like the skin on my face.
• To find out potential tax refund status I have to file said taxes, this weekend.

HAPPY FRIDAY Y'ALL!

Florida 2017 trip

So we did it, we went down South and we didnt go near the Florida Keys, not once. The purpose was to broaden our horizons by checking out the gulf cost. We started our time in Orlando and ended it there with the beach in between.
It was hard, and it was an expensive trip too which makes me sigh heavily as we are now in a period of austerity once more...

We went to Bahama Bay for 4 days, Anna Maria Island (hereon known as AMI) for a week and back to Bahama Bay for 4 days.
Bahama Bay highlights were me braving the Harry Potter ride at Universal (I faced the fear), Lily showing a really funny and sassy side which I adored, that wet ride that I forget the name of that we all got drenched on, getting to swim lengths every morning in a warm and peaceful pool and mermaid tales for the girls.
We went to Kennedy Space centre which was incredible and emotional for us all, especially seeing Atlantis.

AMI - well, what to say.
Pros: It had stunning sea colours at all times of the day with white white sand. The cottage we rented was adorable. I had some great walks with Chloe in the evening and some lovely walks by myself in the morning. I read alot. The restaurants serve really high end food there.

Cons: No snorkeling at all ( I still havent gotten over it frankly), loads of traffic and I mean loads, a sense of claustraphobia due to the intense traffic of vehicle and people variety and the closed in feel due to the width of the island and the proximity to the mainland.
Long restaurant waits due to the overpopulation of snotty seniors there.
Undertows in the ocean meaning the girls couldnt swim in the sea at all.
A cold pool at the rental and a cold hottub ( whats the point?!)

So for all of us, definately me, its a strong pull back to the Keys where bar t-shirts are worn everywhere and all you really need on top of one of those are shorts, snorkels, flipflops and a tattoo... I like the more laid back realness of it all..... I like snorkeling in warm, calm, shallow seas....

Oh and another lesson learned is that we no longer require a 14 day break, it was just too long away from everyday life. (And too darn expensive)

Some photos:

Things that drive me bonkers

Not much really gets to me but there are some things that drive me nuts:

• Bullies - online and in real life. I can pretty much deal with online keyboard warriors as I have come to realise that for the most part that have no interest WHAT.SO.EVER in considering another point of view.    School bullies of around the age 12 and of the girl variety are driving me to distraction right now. What my daughter is facing I swear was not my reality at her age. And lastly - at work - oh the misery of that. Oh the rage I feel when I see someone else at the receiving end of it.
• Lack of accountabilty - if you screw it up say so. If you dont want to complete something own up to it. Dont just leave it and walk away in a non caring manner. Other people are not on this planet to clear up your half finished stuff.
• Bitchy women. Maybe they started off as those 12 year old girls being ridiculous and unpleasant at school, I dont know. They come in all forms and are everywhere. Be they the spiteful ex demanding unreasonable crippling child support even though they have married again and actually share the custody with their ex, or the work collegue clearly resentful of you. Women need to support each other more in success. Exes need to be more reasonable. Lets all be abit kinder to each other please.
• Manipulative people - dont try to manipulate me, its obvious what you are doing and certainly doesnt sit well. I will go above and beyond to help people but the moment I feel that I am being used I am gone. I am saddened but I am done.

And for things that make me happy:

• Online people helping each other on our local facebook page. When the power went out on Thanksgiving I saw many posts asking for advice on finishing half cooked turkeys. I saw lots of advice and many offers of assistance by people who still had power.
• Positive motivating individuals who get somewhere in their life and want to help you with advise on what worked for them. Love it.
• Good bosses - you know those ones that are sadly few and far between. The ones that you want to emulate. The ones that you will jump hoops for. The ones that exude that rare and wonderful personality of caring, motivating, teaching, successful manager. Yeah... I want to be her. Still working on it.

Happy Hump Day

What I love about February, and dont adore so much...

There is typically very little to love about February as I am by now tired of the following:

• Walking dogs around in the evening in the dark. I am tired of walking in the dark. There are no pretty December lights up, its just cold and dark and almost dangerous as footing becomes precarious very very suddenly as I nearly do the splits at full walking speed on ice (not pretty)
• That walk being in painfully cold windchill so my scarf becomes damp from my breathing and then feels horrible. It makes for an even less pleasant walk.
• The feeling that its been cold forever and its got MONTHS to go, ugh!

BUT, I do enjoy some of the small things:

• The fire crackling in the grate, especially at weekends when I love to fall asleep to it at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon for a quick cat nap.
• The pretty pink mornings when there is fresh snow on the ground. I love pink winter skies.
• The bright sunlight and blue skies, even though its so cold.
• Groundhog Day. Love it. Enough said.
• Planning vacations down south, so much fun in the planning of a trip. Less so in the paying for it...
• Working out in the evenings. I have zero interest in this once its warm outside so I make hay while the sun shines.
• Warm fluffy horses standing by hay bales, Ace smells so good.

made it, 1991's dreams to the here and now

Today I started taking a little trip down memory lane and came to this realization:

Back at the start of my working life in 1991, as a 17 year old junior in a little building and civil engineering firm, I made a big plan for my career. I wrote on a scrap of paper " I want to be the Financial Controller of British Airways" and stuck it with tape in front of me on the wall.
Back then, I had no idea what such a role would entail but it was my dream and a plan and I have always been a planner. It helped me through the years of night school that came.
In that job I wrote in the ledgers by hand and delivered hand written rent invoices to pensioners in their home. There was one computer in our accounts office of 3 of us that we shared and I made the tea for everyone at 3pm and answered the phones in reception every afternoon. I called the more senior people by their last names, as did everyone else - Mr Taylor, Mr Suttle, Mrs Taylor.... and I loved loved loved working there. I was taught by Mrs Taylor how to reconcile bank accounts, how to compose a letter correctly "Would you" rather than "can you" when asking for something to be done etc amongst other skills. I was treated well. I was happy. I was a dreamer.

Back then I would walk from my rented room up to be picked up each morning. I would daydream on this walk about living in Canada, always Canada. I dont even know why. 
My daydream always centred around picking mail out of a mailbox at the end of a pathway in front of a big house with a wrap around porch, in the snow. Back then I was consuming Bill  Bryson novels so maybe thats why this particular setup was in my mind.

When I got a car to drive we used to drive from Worthing to Steyning along a country lane. There was a house that I could barely see from the road but I could see the red late eighties VW Golf parked on the drive. Driving my 1982 Renault 5 past it, called Notty (after the plate NOT 149Y) I used to wish for that red golf.

Today as I drove into work I was renminiscing about these times in my life, I do this alot about my life in a happy manner, and I realized that I could check those boxes off.

FC job - I have held that role or a comparable one now since 2012. My current one is the best one though for happiness and responsibility.
Canada - yes we live here. We dont have a wrap around porch but we do indeed live here.
VW Golf - theres a grey one sat outside. Incidentally its the best car I have ever owned.

I feel so incredibly blessed to have lived every single aspect of my life so far.