A Melancholic Move

I apologize that I haven’t posted anything in, well, a VERY long time. I feel like it’s been busy since I last posted, and I guess it has, even if I feel like I may not have accomplished very much. But maybe I have? I’m not convinced, yet.

I left off last time saying I was ready to come back to Canada. Ready to be close to friends, family, love…

I really enjoyed my last week in New Zealand, after seeing penguins and dolphins and having my last ditch effort at surfing in NZ I made my way up to the very artsy Christchurch, where I saw an incredibly astounding array of public outdoor art, visited the museums and botanical gardens, listened to the crazy old "wizard" rant about... well nevermind. It was great. I tried to go swimming with the dolphins in Kaikoura but apparently that's a popular choice to so I "settled" with swimming with some seals instead. Which involves, mostly, pointing and going OH! (and consequently inhaling sea water in your snorkel) as a seal ZIPS past at a lightning pace... and then swimming on hoping one of them gets intrigued by your awkward swimming and comes close again. I met up with Bart in Kaikoura, shared a ferry ride back to Wellington, and the next day made my way up to Auckland again. And then, HOME!

Last photos from New Zealand

Right after I got home my Grandmother got really sick and for that I was so thankful to be home, to see her and know for myself what was happening with her; not to have to deal with stressed out phone calls from the hospital and wondering what was happening from so far away. She spent some time in the hospital in Kingston, was eventually transferred back to the Perth Hospital and now she is back home. She’s a strong woman, and it’s good to see that she’s bouncing back with gusto. I’m so proud of her.

There was snow on the ground, which was GREAT. Everybody here was grumbling about it, because (YES) it was cold, and I guess it had been a particularly long winter. I guess in some parts of the country it’s actually STILL cold and snowy (in MAY!) but by about 3 weeks after I got back it was all gone around here.

I enjoyed a trip to Toronto about 2 weeks after being back… it went by so quickly and I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to. Next time, I tell myself. I did get a quick visit in with Joh (oh Joh!) and Belinda and Amy made it all the way from Calgary. Also got to see the Toronto contingent of my family… It was short but very very sweet.

Photos of Perth, Ottawa, Toronto

Then began the adventures of house-sitting for my friends Sarah and Darren and their beautiful boys. Nik came with me for the majority of the time. I’m sure it sounded like a pleasant enough idea at the time to him… countryside, gorgeous home, peace and quiet, close to home… and then about two days in the basement flooded and we had no heat or hot water. Whoopee! Heehee. It really wasn’t that bad, but it did test our patience, among other things. Poor Sarah and Darren, getting that phone call from me on their vacation… poo! Oh well. We had lots of fun with the dogs; Lucy (the resident dog) and Koru (the visiting dog) became best dog buddies. I also managed not to lose either of the cats to coyotes or the darkness of the night, or the sea in the basement, so that was good!

Photos of house-sitting

Nik’s oldest niece celebrated her 5th birthday not so long ago, so we took her to Ottawa for the day. She wanted to see dinosaurs, and eat ice cream. Sounded like my kind of play-date! Haha! She was literally bouncing off the walls with excitement. It was pretty darn cute. We had a fun lunch out at Zak’s Diner (good for sundaes with gummy worms in them) and then toured around the newly (and currently being) renovated Museum of Nature. It’s looking fabulous, so if you get a chance to go sometime, go! The last time I saw dinosaur bones was in Lethbridge, and that was a while ago; whatever I learned there I’ve since forgotten and I’m sad to say the same about whatever I learned about dinosaurs that day at the Museum. I managed to retain some random facts about seal’s milk and musk-ox, but that’s about all. I think I was a little distracted trying not to lose the buzzing Abbey!

Photos of Museum Adventures with Abbey

Now I’m back in Ottawa, and I’ve just newly moved into a sweet little summer sublet close to downtown. It’s an apartment (part of a house) that a law student is renting to me until the end of August. I’m hoping that by then I will have heard about a job with the school board… in my experience it’s never been easy getting a clear answer about anything from a school board, and I suppose it’s not going to be any different here. Wish me luck (I think I’ll need it!). In the meantime, I continue to look for something either (a) lucrative or (b) fulfilling. Soon I’m just going to jump at whatever job passes me by though because I sure could use an income! Now I’m only unemployed, no longer homeless! These things take time, I keep telling myself.


Photos of my Summer Apartment

Next plans? I don’t know. I’d love to be working, start saving up some money for my next adventure – whether it be to have fun on the weekends here in Ottawa (river rafting, anyone?) or acquire some camping equipment for the summer, looking forward to being a tourist in my own city (is this my city now?) – or look towards traveling some more at some point. For now, though, I’m just focusing on the here, the now, the being happy for everything that I have, the place that I am in… Most importantly, to cherish everyone I hold close to my heart, the warm sun on my face and the food in my belly. Life IS good.