Torn

I am leaving on holiday soon, to a tropical vacation that will involve much hammocking and lounging and, oh yeah, air travel- so I require many books prior to embarking on this journey. As many of you know, I am a most happy member of the Kindle e-book family and have assembled an excellent list of books that I can buy on said Kindle. But I have a problem...sometimes I really like "real" books.

I have some Sookie Stackhouse novels on the list, but since I already have the first 8 in paperback, changing my collection to e-book will leave those books so lonely on the shelf. I want to read the Giller award winning The Sentimentalists, but if I order the e-book, I will miss out on the apparently exquisite hardcover edition. I almost always prefer children's lit in hardcover, because publishing houses usually take a special effort to make them attractive; plus illustrations rarely come through well on the Kindle. So The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate will just have to wait.

And so on and so forth.

I will order some books before I leave, because, honestly, the whole point of the Kindle is not having to haul 10 or more books along with me when I vacation. But I suspect that some of the books might end up being picked up non-electronically in the future.

And life goes on

I am feeling much more like myself. I seem to have adapted to my medication well, although I was pretty tired for the first few days. It's hard to say if that was the result of the meds or just a reaction to the stress of my whole situation. But I am actually starting to feel a lot more energetic than I have in the last several weeks. Looking back, I suspect there might have been more going on than I realized. I thought I was sick, but since I was mainly just exhausted with minor snifflage, I honestly wonder if my heart was doing wonky things previously.

It's beating slowly and regularly now. Thanks, Rhoxal-Bisoprolol! I haven't heard from the hospital about scheduling my specialist appointment, or the echo-cardiogram or stress test. If I haven't heard by tomorrow, I will be placing a call. I want some more information, at least, information that is not proffered by Doctor Internets! Plus we have a trip planned in March to Belize, and I need to know sooner rather than later if there is any reason we can't go. (Other than the insurance issue, which is a bridge I am not quite ready to cross...)Seriously, if this stupid heart of mine interferes with our tropical 10 anniversary celebration, I will be PISSED OFF.

Thanks again for all the love and hugs. It's really nice to know I have creepy internet friends when I'm down and out!

The unexpected benefits of blogging

Returning from our latest visit to Arizona this holiday, I discovered that my Permanent Resident card had expired last January. I am not altogether certain why the agent who admitted me last March didn't notice it, but be that as it may. I had a moment of excitement when I actually had to go to the Immigration area to be re-admitted to Canada, but no worries. However, I do have to renew the card now.

So, today I downloaded the application form to re-apply and discover that I have to account for my days absent from Canada. If I am gone for more than two years out of the five, I might lose my residency status. Now, I have not been gone for that much time, but accounting for all the holidays we have taken over the last 5 years is not an easy one.

Then I realized: I have documented nearly every vacation I have taken right here! No need to try and decipher passport stamps or guess at the days, the sum of my holidays is written for you all. Bonus.

An additional bonus: now that I have documented all the times I left Canada, I have no excuse not to apply for Canadian citizenship. Well, except for the whole bit about swearing allegiance to the Queen....

25 things about me

I have been tagged at least three times for this. Finally, I am getting around to doing it.

1. My paternal grandparents lived in Southern California, so during a large part of my childhood, my family managed to take us to Disneyland once a year. I have probably been there at least ten times. Although I loved many of the rides, my favourite was always Peter Pan. I still get a tingle when I hear Peter say "Here we goooooo!!"

2. When I was very small, I used to listen to my parent's recording of "HMS Pinafore" endlessly. The vinyl discs were stored in a cardboard case, with a photograph of the D'oyly Carte production. When D'oyly Carte came to San Francisco with their production, my parents took me to see it. The curtain rose, and the set was the exact same as the album cover!! I was amazed and delighted, as only a 7 year old can be.

3. I hate peas. I often pick them out of my food.

4. I have been fired three times.

5. I have always alphabetized my music collection. I have never alphabetized my book collection.

6. Speaking of books, I own over a hundred Star Trek novels.

7. For my university graduation present, my parents gave me $1000, which I spent on a week-long trip to New York City. The first two nights I spent at a hotel on Times Square, then I crashed (illegally) at a dorm room at Columbia with a girl I met my second night in town.

8. I drink my coffee black, but I like a bit of sweetener in my tea.

9. I have seen Barry Manilow in concert 4 times, Bette Midler 3 times, the Indigo Girls 3 times, and Barbra Streisand once. No, I am not a gay man.

10. My parents always wanted me to get straight A's in high school. I did not comply. However, when I returned to school at 44 years of age, I got my first (and only) straight A report card.

11. My sun sign is Virgo. My rising sign is Aries. My moon is also in Aries and Mercury is in Virgo. This means I am outgoing, impulsive, and critical. Who says astrology is a load of hooey???

12. The first album I owned was "Magical Mystery Tour" which I bought at the Bell Market grocery store.

13. Nearly every pair of shoes I own is black. Same goes for my dress pants.

14. I went to camp for two weeks each summer for 3 years. My best activities were archery and riflery.

15. Mickey was my favourite Monkee. I really didn't have a favourite Beatle until I was in my twenties and saw A Hard Days Night. Then I fell in love with John.

16. I am happy eating the same thing for breakfast and the same thing for lunch every single day.

17. I have lived in Canada for 9 years. I can't vote here, because I am not a citizen, but I have voted in every U.S. federal election since I was 18 years old.

18. My first car was an orange Honda CVCC. It was the size of a postage stamp. Seriously.

19. In 2001, I moved into a new home. That was the first time in my life I had ever painted a wall.

20. I love to cook. I rarely use recipes any more. And when I do use them, I rarely do everything the way the author does.

21. I can't tell you what my favourite movie or book is; there are just too many to choose from. However, my favourite musical is Sunday in the Park with George.

22. I find it nearly impossible to fall asleep in a seated position. Or when the television is on.

23. On February 17th, I will celebrate my 9th wedding anniversary. On March 24th, I will have been married to my current husband longer than I was married to my first husband.

24. I can usually identify, by name, an episode of ST:TOS within 1 minute of viewing.

25. Since my birth, the number of animals I have lived with is 11 cats, 8 dogs, two budgies, one hamster, one parrot and one rat.

Oh black water

River water is mottled green and black. It reflects the granite rock, the thickly forested banks and the shadows in between as it meanders through the landscape. It only becomes blue when it widens into a lake. Even then, the blue sparkles in the sunlight so it becomes nearly more gold than blue. Our boat cuts through the current, rarely moving faster than 10 km. We often encounter other vessels, but the overall feeling is that we are insulated from the world. It is astonishing to realize that just beyond that bridge or that road, is actual civilization; although the shores are dotted with cottages of every shape and size, it doesn't actually feel like a people-place. It is the river and it is itself alone.

Our journey is one that were we to drive would take us two and a half hours to complete. Instead, we will reach Bobcaygeon on our fourth night of travel and return to Penatanguishene on Sunday night. Along the way, we stay overnight at the locks. Often we are the one of a few boats. We talk to the people we meet; sharing our destinations and plans. We stock up when we reach the towns along the way; trading our shiny coins for goods and food. I find myself appreciating the determination it took the native people and the European interlopers that followed them in navigating these waters. Grant and I have charts and GPS to find our way along this natural river and man-made canal system. We have helpful government employees to help us through the many locks and lift systems we encounter. I try to imagine making this trek without those things; not knowing what is around each river bend; portaging my canoe and all my supplies past the waterfalls and rapids; battling the mosquitoes without the benefit of Deet. The mind boggles.

We have beautiful weather, for the most part. In Fenelon Falls, we are surprised by a thunder shower that sweeps its way across the lake faster than we expect. We are drenched as we struggle to put up our canvas covers in the wind. While crossing the largest of the lakes we meet, the waves pound across our bow and we are soaked again. We lose a canvas bag holding a hundred dollar electric cord that hangs from our bow, and nearly lose one of our kayaks before making the decision to turn into a haven from the waves. We are shaken, but have learned from the experience.

Our trip takes a shorter time than we expect, and we return to familiar waters for the second week of our holiday. But the river has caught our imagination now, and we will follow her again-- perhaps to her end.

Desert View: Light and Dark

And they're off!!

To Tucson until the 15th.

Goodbye, snow. Goodbye, giant blizzard approaching the GTA this afternoon.

Hello, sunshine!!!!

Home again

Got home yesterday at 3:30 pm Toronto time. We managed to do all the laundry and stay up until nearly 11 (4 am Irish time). Actual functioning only occurred up until about 7 pm, but I don't feel jet-lagged today, so the late evening was worth it.

I have fifty gazillion things to do today, so until I have time for a more lengthy post, here are some photos I particularly like from our trip. Enjoy!

Lighthouse at Howth
Howth Harbour

Timoleague Abbey

Sheep

Christ Church-
Dublin

'Til we meet again

There was supposed to be another post between this one and the last, but somehow, I never managed to get around to writing it. And tomorrow we leave for Ireland, so the post-in-between will have to wait for another day. In the meantime, another Off the Back of the Boat:






The first picture shows the unobstructed view we had of the bay.We moored at a dock called Little Dog, an apt name, as 4 of the 6 boats docked there did indeed have a canine crew member (or two, in some cases!) The view often included small boats speeding their way into a small channel on their way to various cottages nearby. The second photo features the BBQ setup that Grant and I Macgyvered. It only takes a minute to set up and is quite handy for cooking.

It wasn't quite the lovely Canada Day weekend we had hoped for. The wind simply wouldn't let up and although the temperature wasn't too bad, we found ourselves stuck in the boat for most of the weekend. Not much wildlife this weekend, perhaps due to the cottagers speeding by, although we heard a loon calling several times. I actually saw more wildlife when we got back to our marina. The estuary near our slip had an otter, a blue heron and several Canada geese in it.

I read nearly three books in that time, so it wasn't a complete bust. What books? you ask? Well, I finished the last of my Pern books and then started and finished Armistead Maupin's latest (and most likely final) chapter of Tales of the City: Michael Tolliver Lives in 6 hours. Actually, a bit less than that, if you count the time I spent making and eating dinner. Needless to say, I can recommend it heartily.

Then I reread HP and the HBP. I thought I should, just before the new one comes out. It still makes me tear up at the end. Anyway, that took another day and brought me no closer to formulating any good theories about what will happen next. I doubt Harry is a Horcrux,but I am still a bit worried for Neville. And finally, I started Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. Figured I should see what the fuss is all about. It's well-written and so far, I have found only a few things that I disagree with him on. We'll see...

I have a stack of books to take with on holiday. This time I made a conscious effort to have the books I take be in paperback form. But I still need to take a lot with me, as you can see from my reading speed when reading is all I am doing.

So, off to Dublin and Counties Cork and Kerry for the next 12 days. Here's hoping for clear skies and safe journeys. And a happy return.

Almost that time again

The boat went into the water on Friday. We went up last night and spent the day cleaning and getting it ready for occupancy. Unfortunately, next weekend we have commitments that will keep us home for the weekend, but the following is the long weekend, baby!! And we are so THERE!

Then you can all expect additions to Off the Back of the Boat:

Or you could just come see it for yourselves!

And I dream of Africa

I think the noise woke me first, but the glow of the laptop as Grant walked into the bedroom was what made me sit up. The clock read 3 a.m. and there was an elephant at the watering hole. We watched as he drank and then retired to a small grove of trees to tear branches and leaves with his trunk and lift them to his mouth. After a time, the camera moved to a herd of zebras (is there a special word for a group of zebras?). One zebra rolled in obvious delight, a baby nudged his mother's withers. I fell asleep to the sound of African birds celebrating a beautiful day.

And I dreamed of Africa.

Hurry, it's waiting there for you

Sigh. It is looking more and more like we will not be going anywhere for March break. Both Grant and I are longing to escape all this snow, but realistically, our finances just would not let us book another trip to Tucson this year. This year is supposed to be all about getting out of debt; luckily, Grant is making considerably more money with his new job and we can actually see the light at the end of that particular tunnel. If we could just sell the old boat, we would be laughing.

Except, it is likely that we will be going to Ireland in July. Once again, it will be with the band, so we will only have to worry about my expenses. Still, it won't be cheap by any stretch of the imagination, so prudent spending is necessary at this point. (Says the woman who just bought two new pairs of shoes...) Then we will have all the expenses of the boat this summer. Gas is just not getting any cheaper, is it? Maybe we should have learned to sail.

In the midst of all these tedious budget worries, I have managed to develop a desparate need to go on safari in Africa. I can honestly say that Africa has never been high on my list as a vacation spot, but recently it seems like Africa has decided to stalk me until I give in. It started when the fabulous Adventure Girl fulfilled her African safari fantasy (scroll down for the African posts). Then, a member at the WD gave us the Africam, which has become a daily visit for Grant and I. We get ridiculously excited to see all the wildlife, whether they are monkeys, zebras, or water buffalo. One night we actually saw rhinos fighting with each other. We can remain glued to it for hours, listening to the birds calling, watching for creatures. Now imagine actually being there!! I want to sit on the veranda at one of the camps or bounce in a Land Rover across a dirt road while the real thing walks past. I want to see the Kalahari and the Okavanga Delta. Africa is calling me and it's getting louder every day.

Of course, a holiday like that will not come cheap. But I think we need to pay a trip to a travel agent and find out more about it. And start saving some pennies for La Belle Afrique.

Hasta la vista!

We are off for the next ten days to Tucson, for some family time, some golf and some tamales. May I wish you all in advance a very happy New Year. See you in 2007!