What to write about?

I have been trying to decide what to write about. We have been here over 4 years now and I see a trend, winter - white, cold. Major minus temps and snow storms and some drama, then tedium into a Spring that always sucks with mud and cold and grey and dead and late. It's always so late. Then summer - bugs, heat, humidity, happy happy happy with how hot it is. Then Fall - warm/hot, beautiful but winter is in the post.

All this has been interspersed with New Years resolutions, house Reno plans, new jobs and vacations (finally they are back) so it's all been a bit of a rinse, repeat lately. We are now hopefully settled in jobs, summer is back and life is sweet. Things and stuff that used to amaze me (big logging trucks, snow plows, beaches) are all normal now.

So... What's new?

I have settled into new pet hates ( didn't take much really) and routines which i habitually like to break up as life is too short. I am kind of tired of hearing about how people need to move west, the taxes are too high, the power company is a monopoly which is the ONLY reason in their minds as to why power costs what it does, Nova Scotia is the armpit of Canada, blah blah blah.

I don't agree with any of it and have to remind myself that it's because I have seen it another way but that doesn't make me the font of all knowledge at all....

So moving on I will continue to love this province, been amazed by some peoples viewpoint and try to still live every day a little differently.

a catch-up

I have been horribly remiss at posting. Its been a long, hard, horrid winter to be frank and I was just about sick of it when we boarded the plane for 10 magical days in Florida.

There was no Disney involved (girls werent digging Disney at all) but we went to Islands of Adventure, enjoyed a lunch at Margarittaville,

 hung out in the tranquil Keys and ate everywhere.

 I got in runs all around Bahama Bay in Orlando and one wonderful, memorable run on the old 7 mile bridge in the Keys, check that one off my bucket list!

Saw this little shark from the 7 mile bridge (it was poss a big shark, I was 30 feet above it):

We saw a little water spout one day, it was awesome although Lily nearly freaked out:

It was a great family time and was amazingly, insanely hot. I loved it! Didnt love the no-seeums in quite the same way though.. they did their level best to ruin things. But,... nothing can ruin Florida for us.

Anyways, we have been home a week and this last weekend late Spring arrived on this little coastal peninsula of Canada and we welcomed it!

We hung out in the garden, had the windows open, hung laundry out (sweet!), walked ALOT and went to the Hurricane Hunters event at the aiport, love a freebie and this was awesome!

Boxing Day

Its Boxing Day and I am feeling that annual post feasting dismay. Not over Christmas dinner, that was amazing and I was "good" for the most part but over the two helpings of desert that I didn't need and then the 9pm pepperoni, cheese and honey mustard dip that I wasn't really feeling anyway but indulged in and then the third helping of desert that I wasn't even hungry for (t was still good)

Dismay over my loss of my old favourite routine of wakening early, coffee, some internet time and then walking the dog. I used to love it. Now I get up early, spend waaay too much time in cyber space and don't walk the dog. I am missing out on the joy of the early morning walk.
Half the issue is that we now have two dogs and I cant take them together, its not enjoyable.

I am feeling the pinch of regaining most of this weight, for not wanting to exersize, for eating badly too often. I want to take the control back and go back to my  fun routines that I used to live for.

So this years New Years resolution list will be going something like this: get in shape, take control back, begin the next decade of my life the way I want it to continue and stop spending.....

Anyway, in the spirit of Christmas, here are some photos,before I go out and walk the dog - its early and the light is amazing.

December 2014

Its almost Christmas, the trees are up in the house, the garlands are draped and lit around the door and up the staircase - pinterest style.  Presents are wrapped, eggnog in coffee has been discovered, Christmas work parties have been attended and enjoyed, food is in the fridge for the BIG DAY and weight is slowly being gained.

I am doing my usual recap of the year to see if we managed to attain all that was planned, I listed it all here:
New Years Resolutions 2014

• Commit to Combat Timetable - massive fail BUT I do know 50% of the program and its my happy go to in times of exercise planning
• Running - fail again,. I am so out of running. I need to get back into it, I think it helped me enormously in more ways than one.
• Enter races - nope
• Drive to Maine - well we did manage that kind of, we didn't do a long weekend in Maine but we sure did one in New York City which was awesome!
• call my Grandparents - check - I call them a lot, they are not in such good health so I know I only have so long with them to chat to.
• Buy another pair of reefs - nope
• Purchase a pool heater - a nice environmentally friendly solar powered one is in our possession, sadly its not yet connected to the pool
• Volunteer - I have failed here too, finding a new job and then learning that new job has exhausted me this year.
• Project Build a House or Buy a new one - not got much further on that one it seems except we know now that we are not planning on building right now, we may buy but it would have to tick every box as well as have "that feeling"
• Florida Pad - yep we are going back to recheck out Florida
• UK Visit - major check - I was back there in February for sad reasons but got to be there too, so that was a definite upside.

So I need to come up with some resolutions for next year. Next year is a BIG year for me. But I also realize that I need to spend some time reflecting and refinding whats important to me. What brings me to my knees so to speak, that I am actually passionate about.
Last night, whilst watching a remarkably good film called a Big Miracle about saving some Alaskan Whales, I came to realize that I am so very fortunate to be working in a history making project, in an amazing team, for renewable energy... and most days all I think about are the politics and finding my way.
Once upon a time I would have been acutely aware all the time of my part in something great, of my role, of THE PROJECT, and I would have been passionate, driven and excited on the end result and being part of time. I need that back for me. I need to be mindful of this again.

life in the travelling lane

I feel like I have become a pro at travelling to St Johns. I am starting to know the available flight times off by heart. I know that I like the wine on Porter and if I feel like an early 90's era evening flight experience then they are indeed the way to go with dark cozy ambience, never ending flow of free wine in real glasses etched with Porter, little snacks and old days British Airways uniform.  But beware seats 7 and 8 which are right next to the engines and this is a turbo prop plane with no entertainment which is probably just as well as you wouldnt be able to hear it - especially not in those seats!
So -good with a decent book.

Air Canada is still my favourite as its fast and comfortable, has entertainment but alas no free wine. But it has movies, not that you can watch a whole one as the flight is too short... but it has real engines and decent flight times so a good one to sleep on. But I dont want a seat with a higher number than 18 on it because it takes an age to get off the plane.

Westjet - love love love. Theres something just nice about being on a Westjet flight.

Last Friday I found myself up in the Maple Leaf lounge before travelling home on Air Canada, in one of those leather swivelling chairs with a glass of rather delicious crisp white wine in my hand. There were nachos and olives and salad and it was all rather agreeable, I watched the sunset over the runway through the panoramic glass.

I have learnt that I can get winter tires through Enterprise for a small fee (any fee is a disgrace frankly) and I do. That I like driving the Chevy Cruise although not sure if its enough to convince me to buy one and the Yaris uses so little gas that I dont need to refill the tank at all in my week there.

That I dont like a suite at the Marriot, I am happy with a plain old room, and that the Ramada there has great food.

I have learnt to never ever take an early morning flight again but rather to travel out the night before and leave to come home on the Air Canada 4.40pm flight so I am home through the door at 6pm in time for dinner... its all rather nice.

I am not quite a bona fide jetsetter yet but with these Marriot and aeroplan points racking up at speed - I may be there soon....

back from St Johns

Its a Friday night, its finally stopped raining and I am home alone booted off of Netflix as we have only two users on our monthly fee and have lost both ipads. The girls are upstairs, one in each room, with an ipad each watching Netflix. Why cant they watch something together?

I was away for three nights for work in St Johns, although last night was hardly a night as I didn't get to sleep until midnight, it was party central in that hotel, and I had to be up at 4.50am for my flight home. Of course I woke up at 4am, because lets face it, that extra 50 mins of sleep at that point wasn't precious at all.

Got to the airport, through a seemingly endless line at security where I now seem to need three trays for all my stuff -  laptop out of its bag, ipad (essential Netflix whilst away), my phone, my handbag with all its charging cables (which likely alarms the scanner person although maybe (s)hes seen it all before), my clear bag full of lip balm, mascara etc, my coat, scarf, my boots, my belt..... it takes about half an hour to get this lot in all these trays and I am prepared mentally for it all before I even have my turn. (Many people are not prepared and they are they ones wearing all the lace up boots and with three laptops)
God only knows what it will be like when it gets really cold and I move onto my serious winter outdoor wear. I think I might faint with fatigue dragging it all through a heated airport......

So even with the threat of turbulence from the pilot  as I was snuggled into my scarf, covered by my coat, no legroom due to my laptop and bag shoved under the seat in front (got to make space for those people that WILL NOT check in anything) and with my new pillow thing, I was asleep as we took off.
I even missed the drinks round which was a shame because I was majorly thirsty.

This of course resulted in having to buy a Starbucks crème brulee, which I am not technically allowed due to its ridiculous calorie and fat laden count, while I waited for my little checked in bag to make an appearance.
I drank half and threw the rest out... took some willpower that did!

So here I am, nothing to watch, this is after all N America - there is nothing on normal TV, even though we pay an arm and a leg for it each month, hubby out having a beer with his mates, and no Netflix availability to binge watching The Killing (REALLY good)

I mean, I should be in the hot tub, its stopped raining.......

October in one post

An update is required before winter is full on, so here is October in one post:

Dogs
Alpine arrived at our back door trailing blood from a really deep cut on his leg, it was a mysterious one and we still have no idea as to the cause but he ended up at the emergency vets (naturally!) on a Sunday and we ended up with a $600 bill! Awesome!
Poor thing had a splint for a week following where he was like bambi on ice and we had to source him some baby socks with sucky bits on the soles to enable him some traction on the floors in the house.
He was a mess for two days and then quickly healed. Pity for him prevailed for a while and he now believes hes allowed on the bed, hmmmmmmm.

Dukie seems to be regressing to being the puppy that he never really was which is a blessing. Its plainly apparent that getting Alpine was possibly the best thing we ever did for him (and Paul)

Horses and riding
Appear to have made a comeback into my life, the girls are enjoying riding lessons and I am enjoying back in the company of horses. I am thinking I may ride again next year - maybe...

Pauls Birthday
Came and went and his present from Amazon has still not arrived and its now November.... we decided to hit Montanas for a family dinner which was all decked out for Halloween and had one of the best meals ever there. For once I bypassed the fish, we all bypassed an apertizer and in true North American style went for steak, mashed potatoes with gravy, skillet mushrooms, corn and southern beans. Delish!

New hair
Got a new haircut, I may just attempt to not cut it short for a while and see where this goes.

Halloween
Rocked as always. Girls went with Paul who was dressed aptly as superman and came back with garbage bag worth of stuff. There is some serious chocolate in the house which is not good.
I wish I could say that I dont care for it but thats simply not true. Too much is finding its way into my hands.
The neighbourhood, by the way, surpassed itself with the decor. I can see why this is Chloes second favourite holiday - after Christmas of course.

Rain and weather
Halloweens lovely cool but mild and dry evening was swiftly followed by a weekend of rain, and lots of it. It feels like it never ended, went on and on, rain rain rain. (Its raining as I type this! Where are we? Seattle?)

Anyway we took advantage of the damp yet mild temps to cook up new recipes from Pinterest, all healthy to try and counter the candy overdosing somehow, and they have all been successes, we now have found new food to add to the usual suspects.
I also have found a new Netflix show and bingewatched three episodes last night whilst listening to the wind and rain through the open window at 9pm which was a little odd for this time of year but very very nice.

PS: Its been gorgeous, when its not been raining

PPS: It snowed this morning, it was only a flurry but it was noticeable, it existed and it contained snow. #wintertiresareon!