How do you?

How do you pack up your whole life?  What do you decide is important to take with you?  Do you take all your prized possessions, knowing that there is no way that they are going to fit in the space where you will live?  Do you only take what's essential?  How do you decide what is essential anyway?  I guess I could live without a few of the hundred books that I own.  But which ones are the absolute most important ones to take with me?  Should I leave all the kiddie books behind, so I appear more educated than I really am?  Maybe I should bring them...then it would appear that I'm a kid at heart.  I guess I should take my dictionary, Bible and Jane Austen's complete works.  

How do you say goodbye to your family, your friends and the house you came home to as a bride?  I knew what I was getting myself into when I said "I do", but I guess all the waiting for life to start for a couple of years,  got me use to the idea that this day would never come.  How do you make your friends understand that you want to spend as much time with your parents and husband and not them.  Because you honestly don't know when you will see your family again.  Maybe weeks, maybe months.  And yet you want to say goodbye to your friends, because you love them.  Am I a selfish bitch for wanting to spend my remaining time with my husband and not them?

How do you say good bye to all your favorite stores like Target?  Your weekly godsend, because it's not going to be in your new country that you'll be living in.  Walking up and down the aisles, week after week, checking out all the good deals, and things that you can fill your home with.  My favorite place for impulse shopping....Gone, once you cross the Bridge into Canada.  Of course the closest Target is 1.5 hrs from your house, and you have to go through customs, but I don't think that's going to work every week.

How do you say goodbye to an area that you lived in for close to 9yrs?  Should I go around kissing the river, my favorite buildings, and hug every tree in my front yard?  Do I say good-bye to the neighbors that I barely know?  I have to say goodbye to my hairdresser.  She'll kill me if I don't.  

I look around at the mess around me: Piles of clothes, books, photos, and hygiene products (they are cheaper here than Canada), wondering how it's all going to fit in my car.  Also wondering what to pack first.  The task is completely overwhelming.  Of course this isn't' the 1st time I've moved, nor the last time.  But then again, I've never moved to another country to live with my in-laws either.  

Maybe I should pack my sanity first. 

While driving

You never know what you'll find, when you go out driving. Take for instance last week. My cousin and I went to Norval. While looking for a bakery, which we drove past, we saw the oddest thing. Off in the distance, we saw turrets and towers made out of timber. It was strange.

So what are two pretty girls to do? We investigated it. The gates were open, and we were the only ones there. It was a Ukrainian Catholic Church. That's right. I never knew such a thing existed and I'm Catholic. Go figure. It was stunning, and the property alone, looked like we were well...in Russia. It was beautiful. I happened to have had my camera on hand so I got a few shots. Unfortunately, I didn't have the SLR. Just another excuse to go back and take more pictures later. Maybe I'll get up the courage to go inside.

Norval

Growing up I was a HUGE fan of Anne of Green Gables. Lately, I've been reading the Author-L.M. Montgomery's diaries. Her life was not based in any happiness that can be found in her books, except for the strong theme of a girl searching for love and acceptance. Something she longed for in her own life.

So, while visiting my in-laws last week, I decided to visit the only place she loved more than her childhood home of Prince Edward Island: Norval, Ontario. It's a small charming town. She lived there for several years with her husband and two sons. Her husband was the Minister of the Presbyterian Church, and she lived in the Manse, which was on church property. I also got to see a garden dedicated to her. And her beloved China Dogs: Gog and Magog.

It was beautiful Fall day while in Norval. I just wish I had my good camera with me.

Internet High School

A long, long time ago, I was in high school. I was just an average kinda girl, easily passing between a few of the cliques: The Nerds, Some of the Elite, The Peps, The Jocks, and the Artsy Crowd. My Graduating Class was 250. We all went to Grade School, Middle School and High School together. I knew something about every one of my classmates. I grew up in a small town, what can I say.

Since I graduated and moved on with my life, I see things like MySpace and Facebook popping up. So of course I joined. I found it fun to reconnect with people from school. It's amusing to see who they became, what they do for a living and what their kids look like. Most people I found were happy to hear from me.

BUT, I noticed a weird thing lately....as if High School never left some of them at all, if I didn't hang out with them, they want nothing to do with me now. Those tough cliques I couldn't penetrate back then, I still can't now. I attempted to be "friends" with P. We graduated together and growing up P always felt he was better than me . I guess he still feels that way because I'm not one of his "friends". M. lived down the street from me, we hung out, helped each other with homework and attempting to plan a class reunion together. She's in town right now. Did she call to say let's get together? No. She's meeting with another friend from High School though. I know, because I went to leave a message on her Facebook page inviting her over and I saw their postings back and forth. I didn't leave her a message. If she wanted to get together, she would have said something.

Several other people have restricted me from looking at their personal pictures, ban my request to be their Internet "friend", or have restrictions on what I can look at on their page. It cut like a knife when a former neighbor J restricted my access the minute we became friends via the net. I lived next door to him for 15 yrs! We played together when we were little and he restricted me from his pictures. Now I could understand if I was a criminal or made his life a living hell growing up, but neither of those are true. We exchanged two brief emails. It was obvious from the tone that we would NEVER be exchanging Christmas cards.

Maybe I'm too sensitive....I do take it personally, how can you not? Rejection from those that you literally saw each school day for 12 years, is pathetic! There are no words to describe this. I grew up, I guess they didn't.

Confession

He-who-shan't-be-named found my blog last night. No Name always had access to my blog since I never hid that I had one, and even suggested reading it. No name refused. No name was PISSED at what I had written, especially the way that he was portrayed. Apparently in my attempts to be funny and sarcastic of things that involved him, he saw otherwise. According to No Name, I made him seem like a completely incompetent bubbling idiot.

In attempts to make amends to He-who-shan't-be named, I am no longer allowed to discuss him. Which will be VERY hard, since we don't have KIDS OR PETS. I also had to delete anything that even mentioned him. I deleted most things and heavily edited former posts...

I was reminded while being reprimanded that I wasn't perfect. Nope. Never said I was.

So to He-who-shan't-be-named this is for you.....Your wife is a BITCH! I get mean when my blood sugar level is low. I say inappropriate things to people all the time (and I don't mean half the things that slip out). Sometimes I really don't care about hurting other people's feelings, because I'd rather have them hear what I have to say than pussyfoot around the topic. I'm blunt and make no apologies for it. My way is always better. I have a very short fuse on my temper. I hate people that don't know how to drive and take too long in line. I hate when people are late or worse make me late. I rarely have patience. I forget things quite often unless it has to do with something completely random or with a celebrity. I constantly change topic and get bored easily. I am a huge pack rat and for the life of me can't figure out how to get rid of my daily nemesis: Paper. It drives me crazy that I have piles of paper all over the house and can never manage to get rid of them. I hate having to pick up all the clutter that I leave around the house absentmindedly. I am a slob.

These are my HUGE fault that I live with every day. I know them, I own them, and yet I try NOT to be this way all the time. I'm sorry.

Happy 4th of July

My husband and I had dinner with my parents last night to celebrate the 4th of July. I told my Mom that I would bring a fruit salad for dessert. But early in the day, I decided that I needed something besides that, so I made a tart. It was super easy to make for all those skeptics out there. My Dad was amazed and told me take a picture of it. While eating, he looks at my husband and tells him to get out his running shoes. That if I continue to cook this way, he'll just end up gaining back all the weight he's lost by going to the gym. Naturally, my Dad stole the rest of the tart to eat. I guess he's the one that needs the running shoes now.


So we didn't go to a firework show either. My Dad went to bed, my husband and Mom talked politics and religion in the house, and well...I got out my compact digital. There is a firework setting on it, that I just had to try.

O.k. so, I really need to be at a show in order for them to come out properly. I was too far away for the one's the neighbors were shooting off. I think it was only for the professional ones, although some of the neighbors had VERY sophisticated fireworks.
It's super hard to see where exactly it's going to explode in the air, so I missed most of the "bloom". I need more practice. Anyone wanna light some more fireworks for me to try?
"And the rocket's red glare...the bombs bursting in air......" Happy 4th!

The Garden

I decided to go hang out in this beautiful garden about 20 minutes from my house the other day. They have a Japanese Garden that I've been dying to photograph for a while. Guess what, it's only open on Wednesday and Sunday's from 1-4pm. Naturally it wasn't either of those days when I went. Today after I finish volunteering, I finally made it to the park. I got there early and spent time reading a new book on a bench while being devoured by bugs. Once I got into the Garden it was filled with lots of little kids running around. How I managed to get some of these shots, I'll never know. Enjoy.