Some Northern habits never go away.

As I'm sitting here at work, surrounded by piles of paperwork that needs to be completed I'm compelled to start Christmas shopping online for items for my adorable nieces and nephews. I find myself drawn to online shopping although I have an over abundance of shopping malls only a 75 minute drive away, Halifax. Yet, I can't help but buy online where I don't have to drive that distance and put mileage on my Caliber. Now, I really don't have to start online shopping now, as most items would arrive in a few days to my doorstep but I just can't get out of that Northern way of thinking when it comes to shipping times. Although, my luck would have it; I have found what I'm looking for, for all four kidlets. We did purchase them some outfits while were in the States but Uncle & Aunt just can't give clothes for Christmas; that would just be wrong!
I can't believe that I have been living in the south for almost 4-months. Sometimes it still seems like it is all a dream, that I should be packing my action packers for the long trek up North; however I know that is not the case. The last 4-months have been a whirlwind, so much to do and buy. Thankfully, the spending spree is pretty much dwindled over the last month, and now we are just purchasing what we need vs what we want...
I'm looking forward to Christmas this year, where I can place a tree in my front window and start a fire in my fireplace, for the last two years I have been watching faithfully the fireplace channel on Bell; this year no more..(Although I probably will, as it is addicting).
Well, I should get back to work; my piles are growing larger by the minute!

58 days til Christmas folks!

To give thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends & family; and may they all have a fantastic,healthy and memorable year.

I’m thankful for so much, I can’t list them all – but if I know you either personally or just as a acquaintance, thank you for being a part of my life.   I hope you all enjoyed the time you spent together with your friends and family.

Turkey Time!

Organized Procrastinating

Have you noticed lately, that the more time you have the less you get done. As I sit here with my XL-Coffee from Tim Horton's I can't help but notice that I haven't wrote a post in weeks. I wish I could say it was from being extremely busy, but alas I have not been. My life is starting to roll up nicely into a tight little routine. So you would think that I could find time to write at least a little...but nope.
So with all that said, Fall is upon us - the leaves are falling and changing the most gorgeous brick red and deep yellow. There is a crispness in the air that makes you want to curl up in the livingroom under a fleece blanket and start a roaring fire (Which I may just do tonight, but in my basement not the fireplace). I love this time of year, comfy sweaters and knee high boots. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I will pack away my summer clothes and take stock of the clothes I have for the rest of Fall and prepare for the upcoming winter season. Hughie and I just got back from a huge shopping spree to help prepare us for the Winter season; you'd think that after living in the North for two years that we would have all the winter-gear that we would need, however that is not the case. When you got dressed for the "GWN" winter blast you prepared by layers after layers of clothes. That got topped off by a heavy parka, sorels and wooley socks. However the East-Coast winters are so much different than the last two years in the North and the 2.5 years prior to that in Manitoba. For those who don't know, East-Coast winters are known for there damp/cold/slushy/rainy weather = -20/25 at the coldest, which means my -40 Sorels and The North Face parka is just a bit over-kill for the winters down here. Although I'm sure I'll get at least a could couple wears out of them as I play in the snow with my fur-kids and take them for snow-walks around the block.
So yes, as I was saying we just arrived back this morning (at 5:30am) from a trip to Boston/Freeport. I of course, spent way to much money but the deals and savings far outweighed any remorse that I may feel. My best purchases was a pair of UGGS in Boston, where they don't have sale taxes and my purchases at The North Face in Freeport; where I purchased a Vest (700 down-filled), a Hoodie, a pair of pants, a new toque and a sweater for $137.99 - that same vest I saw at Cabella's in Portland for $129.99.... Crazy! I also........started Christmas Shopping!! GASP!. I couldn't pass up the deals and purchased an outfit for each of the kidlets, now all I have to do is add a toy and a book to each of them and they are finished....and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, maybe I'm better organized than I give myself credit for.

Solaris

I’m covered in grime and dirt, sweating from my brow and my hair is a mess and I couldn’t be happier.  There is something to be said about a fresh cut lawn.  I always get a sense of pride when I look out my front window and see the grooves of my lawnmower in the short grass.

                             

That is our new Lawnmower; we had it for quite sometime but I have not gave it the attention it needs.  

It is a Solaris SP21HB.  I love it! Not because it is self-propelled and we own almost a acre of grass but because it is battery operated and doesn’t run on gas.   Now some may find this is a huge mess especially when you have to charge it every time you want to use it but I find it very environmentally sound.  You can even purchase, if you’d like, solar panels to attach to the machine so it continues to be charged while cutting the grass.

The Solaris has three different blade levels depending on how short or long you’d like to cut your grass.  I however like the lowest setting, however with that said the battery doesn’t stay charged near as long but I have no problems taking two days to cut my lawn – you should stop to take a water break after cutting half an acre anyways.

The Solaris is VERY easy to operate, it is as easy as pushing a button and holding onto a lever in order to operate the mower and turning off is just as simple; just release the level and pull out the little green grip from inside the battery area…plug in your charging pack and you are good to go…until the next time you want to cut.

I give the Solaris a 4.35/5.00 – I’d give it full points but the beeping gives me a slight headache when it is idle while you are stopping to pick up twigs or acorns.

Miss it?

Since returning from the GWN, I’ve been asked the same question over and over again. 

Do you miss it? 

I usually just nod, and say I feel “bittersweet” about the move south.  Basically, just so people will move on from that dreaded question.

What I would love to say is NO!! I don’t miss the North but  I miss aspects of my life up there; the simple way of life;  Not having to worry about bills or car payments…or putting on makeup, wearing comfy clothes 24/7, everyone waving at each other…..

Although the more I think about that question I realize the one thing that I found since I moved back South and didn’t realize was missing when I lived in the North was ME.   Only now as I sit here I only truly realize that for the last two years living in the North, I was missing ME.  I’m a very independent person, that is one of the things I love about Hughie and I. We are individually independent and co-independent all at the same time.  Up north, I was dependent on Hughie.  While there was a good many reasons why that was a good thing, but the one dark- thing was that I lost my independence.  I didn’t have a “out” a place where I could go willingly and freely to spend some “me” time.  I was stuck in the land of ice and snow.  I only realize now how much that was eating away at my soul.  I was not the person that people know me to be.

With all that said, when and if I get asked that question again; which, I know will happen – I can honestly say No I don’t miss my life in the North because I found Me again when I moved South 

Don’t misunderstand me, I enjoyed living in the GWL, I have stories and pictures that will last a life time, and god willing when and if I have children/grandchildren I want to sit them down and tell them about the two years I lived in the North amongst the Inuit.  If I could go back in time I would do it all over again.  Although if two years down the road the opportunity presented itself again, I’m positive  I wouldn’t be so willing to jump at the chance at another adventure North.

So there you have it, Do I miss the north…. No… I honestly don’t miss the North, however I do miss certain aspects of my simpler life, just not enough to do it again.

Tidbits

I feel like I haven’t posted in forever, I find it hard to find a few minute or two to sit down and fill you all in on my life amongst the trees.  Things have been going very well for Hughie and I, so well that I would hate to mention about all the good things just in case karma comes back around and kicks us in the ass… So for that reason I’ll rant on about random life happenings:

Work:  Work for Hughie and I for the most part is fantastic, I’m enjoying my job and the people I work with; and who would thought the amount of “interesting” people you’d run into during a shift at a medical clinic.  Hughie has the same thoughts as I do, unfortunately or fortunately he deals with them in a whole different way that I do.  The only negative is our lack of time together, things are much better than they were when in Selkirk, but it is hard to get anything done when we are working opposite shifts.  Lucky for Mr. Fidler, I’m a pro at cutting the grass, painting and cooking – so all he has to do is to keep his man-cave organized and clean. 

Life:  Hughie and I spent his birthday hanging out with the whales.  We drove the 75 minute drive to a 5-minute crossing ferry, then drove another 25 minutes to yet another 5-minute crossing ferry to arrive on Brier Island – a cute little Island were everyone knows everyone but at the same time caters to non-locals.  While we were hanging out in a frigid arctic, Hughie’s mom sent us a book  “things to do in NS”.  One of those things was a Whale Watching tour (Brier Island Whale Watching Tour).  We studied the area and ask questions to our friends that have been there before, and the more we heard about it, the more we wanted to go!  So go we did this past weekend.  Hughie celebrated his 32 birthday out on the Bay of Fundy and the Ocean amongst sea creatures 100x the size of our little zodiac.  It couldn’t have been a better day.

Cameron –aka Car:  I finally got my car officially registered for the NS roads – for the last month I was driving with a temporary license plate.  While we were unpacking all our worldly-goods from storage we came upon my old Sunfire license plate (2007). I thought how funny and nostalgic it would be to see if they can put Keileigh’s plate on Cameron….they had NO problem with it, and it also saved me $$$ that I would have paid for a new plate! Crazy and comforting at the same time.

Chakotay & Sekaya:  LOVE NS.  They relax for hours outside in the shade rolling around on the grass.  Playing with each other and shed like they are going to be bald tomorrow.  This has been the longest shedding ever.  I think they shedded their arctic coat months ago, and now are shedding the hair they would have shedded if they didn’t have a arctic-coat.  Sigh!  So much hair, I’m constantly walking around with a swiffer.  But I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I love my fur-beasts.

There ya have it, not a lot of information but enough to keep you going.

A few other notables.

1. Love my clothes line.

2. Love my dishwasher

3.  Not a fan of recycling, something to be said about sending your garbage to Kugaaruk’s dump.

4.  Love the sun, heat and humidity – I’m no longer a pasty white – I’m actually almost a light almond!!! Which is a huge stepping stone for me.

Relaxation

I have found a new kind of relaxation – one where I can sit back with my feet up on my deck and just listen to the sound of nothing floating around my back yard.  I hear no Hondas’ or sleds’, no kids yelling and crying, no one asking “Do they bite”…..it is peace and quite at its best.  The area we live in does have their fair share of kids – although I have yet to see them, every now and again I can hear a splash and giggling coming from a house kitty-cornered to us in the back and that is all.  I sat outside yesterday afternoon for almost 2 hours, and besides getting a slightly redish burn, I didn’t hear a peep.  Now when I say I didn’t hear a peep I don’t mean I didn’t hear the odd bird flying by or Greenwood’s Air Force base doing their formations – but to me that adds to the charm of my back yard. 

Our home is finally coming all together.  We finally received our Fridge & Stove from Futureshop and we determined that we will never purchase big ticket appliances from them again.  Our bedroom is finally organized, minus one big box of clothes and a slightly disorganized closet (but that is mostly my better-half’s mess….lol).  The living-room set we ordered has arrived, and we will pick it up on Tuesday and our guest room is all set up and just awaiting visitors.  [Just call ahead so I can take the dog’s blanket off the bed and remake the bed with the “good” linen].  The only two rooms that look like a tornado has hit them is the basement aka Hughie’s Man-Cave and Hughie’s office.  The only reason being is that we are wanting to paint them prior to organizing the items in there.  Although the more I think about it, it may be beneficial to organize the office and throw drop sheets over the items verse the way the room is looking now.  It shouldn’t take much to paint the upstairs office, but the basement is going to be a bit of a chore.  Should be fun either way; I enjoy painting. 

I look forward to the near future where my house is all in order, so I can sit back and take a breather from reorganizing and cleaning and get ready for a trip to the States, Christmas and best of all the huge BBQ party we are going to throw.