Thinking of Home

I dont know if my homesickness drove my actions or my actions triggered my homesickness this weekend but I caught another bout of it. The first action was that I took my jewellery off and they accidentally ended up in this configuration which distinctly looks like a map of Australia. . .I even had Tasmania included. (3rd photo)

The next thing was that I was watching the movie In Her Shoes with Toni Collette who's Australian & it was a movie about sisters. I miss my sister - I really felt like going to her place for a bushwalk and having a cup of tea with her. (2nd photo)

The third thing was that I was editing the Aussie Adventures of Warren & Roe all about our Australian trip. (1st photo) It was fun editing it but a bit sad that they're there & I'm here. I was going to go home for Christmas but unless I win the lottery there's no way I can afford it.

As I said before homesickness comes in waves, usually when stuff is happening here that I would normally talk to my family about. I guess my move to Ontario is something I'll be doing alone, without going to discuss it over a cup of tea & a bushwalk at my sister's.

Back to basics

One of my loves used to be skating on street courses like this one with ramps & jumps & stuff. I also liked the vert ramps of 5 or 6 feet high half pipe ramps. Unfortunately as you get older you dont bounce as well as you used to, so after a couple of injuries I gave it up and was tired of competing with all the 12 yr old boys who could do flips & get really good air. But it's very good exercise I do like it. So after driving past this skate park several times near my apartment I decided it was time to get back into it. I went & bought some new skates and got back into the game. Unfortunately its been about 8 years since I did this kind of thing and I'm a little out of practice. . .nothing like riding a bike. You do lose your skills for skating, but I dont think it will take me long to get back in it. It felt good even if it did nearly kill me. I'm so out of condition.

So in future shots you should see that gap between me & land increase!

Warren's Favourite Flowers

He calls these Black Eyed Susan's but I'm not sure the Warren Baker encyclopedia is as accurate as the Britannica. Still they're beautiful just the same.

Herron in Flight

Birds at the Duck Pond

Well there's ducks. . . obviously, then there's sparrow like things that Warren calls Chickadee's but I'm suspicious about its accuracy - they look like Finches or Sparrows to me, and lastly - this is a Herron. It's a big beautiful bird and I caught it in flight also. (see picture above)

Workmates

This is my friend Sabine. She's going to be very sad that I wont be sitting next to her much anymore. I'll still come to Montreal a fair bit but Sabine & I are work buddies. We sit next to each other at work, have tea together, eat lunch. . .ok you get the picture. I will be equally sad not to have my buddy next to me. She's having a hard time at the moment because she's Lebanese and her country is getting obliterated. I cant imagine what that would be like. But she's always smiling.
The next photo is Sabine, Me & Dionne. The third photo is the people I've been working with on a special project for the last 2 weeks. Most of them except the girl on the left are from Bell which is just like Telstra. We've had so much fun over the past couple of weeks & they're really nice people. This is Friday lunch with Michael, Cynthia, Jean-Francois, Lyne, me & Sylvain. They're all bilingual except me. I still find it amazing when a whole Province is Bilingual.

Soap Opera. . .

So I guess you're all wondering what the outcome of last week's Soap Opera was where I said that things are about to change. Well it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that I am moving to Ontario to be with Warren. . . .finally. But like all Soap Opera's the outcome has a twist.

Over the past few months I have been looking for work in Ontario with not much luck due to the fact that any company that hired me would have to go through the process of changing my workers visa. Well finally I found a company that was ok with that and I had some interviews with them. While waiting for the outcome of the interviews with a Call Centre in Kitchener, Ontario, my current employer found out & asked if I would stay but move the Kitchener office. Well after picking myself off the floor I said yes because I didnt want to leave Nordia but I definitely wanted to leave Montreal. So off to Ontario I go to live with Warren & take the adventures of Warren & Roe to a new level.

If you're wondering why I didnt ask my employer earlier about moving to the Kitchener office but they declined as its against office policy. I guess there's always exceptions to the rule and its very much like me to be that exception.

Here we are at our favourite duck pond in Bois Franc. The girl with us is Dionne the HR VP from Scotland who's here for a year to help out with HR. It was a fun day and this time we brought food for the ducks & big fishies.

Forest at Laurel Creek Ontario

This weekend we went for a great bike ride around Warren's house although my butt is still sore. It was awesome. I'l take my camera next time because the scenery is just beautiful.

On Sunday we went to Laurel Creek Ontario. It's in Waterloo which is about 20 minutes from Warren's house. (Ok you can stop singing the Abba song now.) It had everything, a forest, groundhogs, geese, ducks, a lake, a beach (see below for exaplanation of the beach) and a dam.

What more do you need?

Scenery at Laurel Creek Ontario

The first photo is our chosen meditation spot this weekend. When we go hiking we usually sit & immerse ourselves in nature and meditate for about 15 minutes. Today was so easy in this peaceful setting.

The second photo is our chosen Christmas tree, although I'm not sure it's going to fit in the loungeroom, or even the house! Its pretty cool to see real Christmas trees growing everywhere. Mum bought a real one in Australia when we were young with the intention of it blooming into something like this tree, only it never bloomed. It was this thinned out stick like couple of branches which we called a Christmas tree. Eventually we gave up & bought a fake one again. Still - it was fun!

The third photo is some fluffy plant that I dont know the name of. I'll have to investigate to see if I can find its name. For now I'll call him "Fluffy." There were whole fields of fluffies.

Warren's favourite trees

Warren loves his trees. Remember his love of the Australian gum tree? Well this weekend he introduced me to his favourite Canadian tree. It's a Birch Tree. They are very pretty and apparetnly have great wood for Warren's carpentering. . .but only if the tree is dead to start with. He would never kill one of these babies.

Butterflies

This cute little guy was very obliging and stayed still while I snapped some photos. I was quite surprised at how close he let me get. I studied him for quite sometime. I actually took it as a sign from the universe, maybe a hello from a spirit guide or even a relative. I dont know why - it just felt like a sign. Butterflies dont have a long lifespan but they make their mark on the world. I've been around for 37 years and feel I'm still yet to make my mark.

There is some stuff happening at the moment that I should be able to reveal next week. It's like soap opera where you feel compelled to come back next week to find out what happened. I can assure you it's very positive and for the first time since I got here I feel that my life makes sense. Thats a good start. It's only taken 7 months. For the first time I feel peace. I feel like I'm on my way to being able to make my mark.

Geese

Geese are everywhere in Ontario. Warren waited until I got down to the water to warn me that they can be quite nasty sometimes if you get too close to them. They can come after you. Fortunately I was able to photograph the cute ducks without incident from the geese behind me. I think these ones are used to people. We were about 100 metres from the camping ground.

Ther tree with the orange berries is called a mountain ash. It's quite pretty but the berries are poisonous.

Comparisons

One of these is a beach in Australia, the other one is a Canadian beach. I wont tell you which is which. :-)

Yes Canada is not world renowned for its beaches. . .now I know why! We wouldn't even call this a beach. However the surrounding scenery was beautiful just the same.

Wild Apples

These were just growing near the forest at Laurel Creek. I've never had a wild apple before. We ate one - it was really nice.

Typical Canada

So when I think about Canada, even before I saw it - this type of scenery is what I imagined. Peaceful setting; a pine tree lined lake front, an old rugged jetty to launch your canoe off. . .just like this one. This is Laurel Creek Conservation Area about 20 minutes from Warren's house. I asked him why he hid this from me and took me to the ones next to highways & jails & industrial areas. He said he's never been here.

Its amazing how much of your own backyard you dont see. Warren's eyes are opening up to Canada from an outsiders perspective and he's really enjoying it.

Canadian Cricket

Yes - Cricket exists in Canada. . .but not much. This is the first sign of cricket I have seen in Canada. Some Canadians don't even know what it is! Imagine something you've grown up with all your life that EVERY Australian knows about is unknown to the average Montrealer.

But here it is! A cricket match! Ok they were all Indians (from India) playing and we know that India loves cricket, but they were still Canadian!!

A didgereedoo in Montreal?

The first photo is me, Nat the Bachelorette, and Sabine. I cant say Bachelorette's are my cuppa tea & I left early after dinner. But it was fun meeting a whole bunch of Lebanese & 2 Australian Lebanese. The 2nd photo is Sabine & Nada the Aussie. So they spoke Arabic all night which is very confusing. I'm still getting used to the French.

The 2 Aussie's came from Punchbowl in Sydney & were very Aussie & very nice. Fortunately for me they spoke Arabic, French & Aussie so I felt at home. . .especially seeing as they had a didgereedoo.

Waiting for food

Waiting. . . .waiting. . . .waiting. Bella got hopeful when I stood up but then realised I had that stupid flashing thing in my hand instead of food.

I, on the other hand could do with some waiting for food. I havent exactly gotten my weight under control yet as planned. It would help if I knew which city to settle in. I'm still in limbo between Ontario & Montreal so I dont get into a routine, or if I do it gets broken.

But that should settle down soon. Just like the puppies, I am waiting, knowing the time will come and hoping that every movement is that very step. I guess I'll just sit. . .and wait. . .

The kids

Like all kids, these ones like to carry their toys around & leave them all over the house. The one in Bella's mouth looks almost pleeding to be let go.

These are my friend Shelley's dogs and I love them. Shelley thinks I'm coming over to see her, but really its the puppies!!! (Ok and Shelley & Jeff too)

This weekend I had a BBQ with them & their friends on Saturday and on Sunday we wathced some movies. Shelley's partner Jeff was bagging Shelley out for being a big scaredy cat while watching Amytville Horror. We watched it during daylight so we didnt get nightmares and we were able to sleep. Jeff was saying how "unscarry" the movie was & how we were just chicken. He said to Shelley not to wake him up with nightmares later. The funny thing was. . .it wasnt Shelly who ended up with the nightmares!!! hahaha

Friday Night Haircut

So get a good look at this hair because this is the only day it's going to look as nice as this. Why is it that you can never do your hair as good as the hairdresser?

So this Friday I went with Pierina to get my hair done at her hairdressers which is very French. Not much English spoken there. I'm just glad they understood me enough to give me the right colour & cut. You never know what I could've ended up with. . .but then I had Pierina translating anyway.

I like it out where Pierina lives in St Lazare (1st photo). Its half an hour from work and considered "the country." And you do go past lots of horses, cows & a few goats. Pierina gave me directions to go home but one street she said go right & she meant left. I rang her from the graveyard saying "I dont think I'm in the right place somehow. . .this doesnt look familiar.