Chasing Waterfalls

A few years ago - the year we started dating, actually - Neal and Dylan did a dive course. That’s actually where Dylan met his wife, Jessie. Diving has always fascinated me, and part of me would LOVE to go down and swim through this sometimes-mysterious underwater world.

And the other part of me? Is shit scared.

A couple of years ago, Jessie was doing a fundraiser and I bought some tickets for a free scuba course, and lo and behold, I won. Jessie brought over the textbook and some other materials, and I hunkered down to do some reading.

After making it pretty much all the way through the book, I decided that if I was having panic attacks while simply reading about diving, then maybe actually doing it wasn’t for me.

It’s too bad, because Neal does enjoy it, and he’d probably do it more if we both dove. But the thing is, if it’s a nice day, then I don’t mind going with them and snapping some pictures of things on land. Most of the time, their dives are only for 20 minutes each, and they don’t usually do more than two, so it’s not a big deal.

On Sunday, Neal and Dylan decided to go diving - and thank goodness, because I think it’s been two years since Neal has gone! Since it was a beautiful, hot day, I joined them and we drove down to Sandy Cove, out around Prospect (for those of you familiar with the Halifax area!). It’s a pretty shallow dive, so they were able to go down for 40 minutes each time, but there was much picture-taking to be done, so I hardly even noticed the time.

Boys getting geared up

Duck hanging out, gettin’ some rays!

Purdy flower

As I wandered around, I found a heritage park, most of which is dedicated to the sinking of the SS Atlantic as described on various plaques, including this one:

View from the park

After walking past that gazebo, I saw that there was a wide path going up a slight incline, so I started up. As I walked, I noticed narrow footpaths shooting off to the left. Each one led to a small graveyard - or sometimes just one grave - dedicated to Slaunwhites.

This one made me a little sad (check out their ages), but I don’t think their family could have found a more peaceful resting place.

Sandy Cove as a whole was such a cool spot. That’s one thing I really like about going with Neal when he’s diving; I end up going to places that aren’t necessarily big tourist spots. They’re not the big beaches that everyone goes to.

It’s crazy to think that in 19 days, Neal and I will be boarding a plane on our way to Fort McMurray, Alberta. As our vacation in Cuba back in January was coming to an end, I tried to make us feel better by saying that at least we had another vacation to look forward to this year, but it still felt like a loooong way away. And now, in less than a month, we’ll be out there!

We’re going to Alberta for two weeks. We’ll spend the first week in Fort McMurray as Neal’s sister, Carolyn, is getting married. Although I only met Carolyn and Gord when they came down for our wedding last year, I immediately loved them. Like all of the Guthries, Carolyn is very easy-going and easy to love, and Gord is just as friendly.

Towards the end of that first week, Neal and I are going to rent a car and on the following Monday, we’ll hit the road. Our first stop will be Edmonton, and since we’re only going to spend one night there, we’re going to focus our attention on the West Edmonton Mall. It’s the largest mall in North America - it used to be the largest in the world, but there’s one now in Dubai that is larger - and has everything from a waterpark to an amusement park with a rollercoaster, to a Fantasyland hotel to, y’know, shopping.

We’re hoping that Carolyn, Gord and Neal’s parents will come down with us to Edmonton, but then they’re going back up to Fort McMurray for the remainder of the week, while Neal and I head down through the Rockies.

We’re going to go to Jasper, and on Sunday we booked our lodging. We’re staying in a cabin at Bear Hill Lodge, which surprisingly, had some of the best rates, better than regular hotel rooms. It might be because it’s on the edge of the townsite, but it’s only for one night, and it’ll be nice to have a little porch to go sit on in the evening.

The next day we leave for Banff, and on the way, we’re going to stop at the Columbia Icefields to do the tour, and at Lake Louise. Then we’re spending two nights in Banff at the Red Carpet Inn which appears to be pretty much in downtown Banff. We went onto Google Maps on Sunday to see what the front of the hotel actually looks like, and as we looked at Banff Avenue, I turned to Neal and said, “You do realize I’m never going to want to leave, right?”

On Friday morning, we leave Banff and drive to Calgary. I’m hoping to meet up with my godmother for lunch before she goes to work, then we’ll tour around the city a bit, and then hopefully meet up with Neal’s cousin who lives just outside of Calgary. On Saturday, we board a plane and - ::SOB:: - come home.

Not that I don’t love my home, because I do. I absolutely love the ocean and the Maritimes. But I’ve also really been looking forward to this trip for awhile now, and I know that like all vacations, the two weeks will just fly by.

It’s hard to believe it’s already the middle of July. Didn’t summer just begin? Of course, around here, we’ve had some pretty chilly and rainy weather - although I suppose that’s nothing different for the Maritimes. It’s only been the past little while that we’ve seen the temperatures climb.

So what’s been happening? Allow me to fill you in!

Neal and I have been wanting to take the car out on a longer-than-usual drive, where we would be taking it out on the highway and for more than the usual 20-30 minute commute we take to get into work everyday. As I had never been to Truro, Nova Scotia (almost an hour’s drive from our place), and neither of us had been to Victoria Park, which is pretty much right in the town, we thought that would be a nice destination. Nancy joined us for the day, and it ended up being a beautiful warm, sunny day.

One of the things I wanted to see in Victoria Park was the waterfall - thankfully the park was really beautiful because the waterfall was a tad anti-climatic, though still pretty.

***

A couple of days later, my great-aunt Barbara and cousin Sandra were in Halifax for the day. They were on a cruise going through the Maritimes, so I took the day off work to spend it with them. Unfortunately, we only had a few hours, but we went to Murphy’s on the Water for lunch, walked along the boardwalk a bit, then I drove them around the city and even took them onto the naval base to show them the church where Neal and I got married.

***

Last weekend, we drove the Saint John, New Brunswick for a self-created long weekend: Neal and I headed up on Thursday morning and came home on Sunday. The weather could have been better, but then again, it certainly could have been worse. On Friday, we waited until Neal’s mom got home from work around noon, and then drove out to St Martins to walk around some of the sea caves created by the Bay of Fundy and to go through the Fundy National Park.

Awww

My lovely mother-in-law:

Ever since I went to a camp in grade 6, I’ve been a little afraid of suspension bridges. I’ve never been a huge fan of heights (although only in certain circumstances), so being on a suspension bridge over a swiftly-flowing river with a multitude of rocks with a bunch of other kids that enjoyed running up and down the bridge and jumping on it to make it shake was not one of my happiest memories of that camp (although, interestingly enough, I ended up loving the rope swing that took you right out over the same river - go figure). So this is me conquering my fears:

***

In other news, I read “Infidel” by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, which is quite possibly one of the best books/autobiographies I’ve ever read. She made me feel very uncomfortable after my Western upbringing of political correctness and tolerance of other religions, but simultaneously opened my eyes to a very frightening reality. If I ever had to choose one famous person with whom to sit down and have dinner, it would be Ayaan.

***

And that’s about it! It’s getting hotter and hotter, so I think that if those possible thunderstorms in the forecast hold off, I may talk Neal into going to the beach!

This year marks the 100th year of the Canadian navy, and last weekend was a big one as far as celebrations were concerned. Halifax hosted the international fleet review - beyond our own ships, ships came from various parts of the world including Britain, the U.S., Germany, Australia, etc., and last week, Queen Elizabeth II arrived to conduct the review of the ships. Neal’s ship, the HMCS St John’s, was the ship the Queen boarded to do the review, and although he didn’t get to actually meet her, he did get to see her in person.

Last Friday (I’m a little behind on my updating, so by this I mean June 25), the dockyard had Family Appreciation Day. It was a beautiful, hot sunny day, and as Neal had it off, I arranged to get off work at 1pm so we could go walk around the “Centennial Village”. We got some grub and each had a beer before going to board the HMS Ark Royal (from Britain), an aircraft carrier.

HMS Ark Royal

Up top, they had some Harriers:

… and some helicopters:

Neal’s parents came up on Saturday, and after supper, the four of us headed down to the dockyard to see (GASP) the Colin James concert! It was so AWESOME! I absolutely love Colin James, and regret not going to see him when he played at the casino a couple of years ago. But it was all worth it - Neal found some reference to a show earlier in the year where the tickets cost around $40, and these ones were only $10, so definitely quite the deal!

On Sunday, we puttered around a bit in the morning, and then headed back down to the dockyard to go on the USS WASP, also an aircraft carrier, but one which is significantly larger than the Ark Royal. Neal and I were on it before a couple of years ago, but it wasn’t a formal tour like this one.

(A little blurry, but still pretty cool)

We joked that this guy looked like he was part of the space program, but Neal figures he has something to do with aircraft firefighting.

Down on one of the lower levels, they had a bunch of tanks and hummers, etc which they encouraged us to climb upon and go into. So of course, Carl and I obliged!

Pretending to drive the tank - it’s a good thing I’m not claustrophobic because the Marine closed the “hatch” and everything! Sure is a cramped life those military guys lead!

Boys and their guns…

My handsome hubby in the driver’s seat of a hummer

It was an awesome weekend - we definitely spent more time downtown on a weekend than we normally do!

And so, another week begins…

The weekend was pretty good. On Friday after work, I had a reception to go to. I only intended to be there for an hour, particularly since it was such a beautiful, hot day, but you know how it is. I had a glass of wine, had my arm twisted by one of the waitresses and ordered a second one, which was just when Neal called to see if I was ready to go. When I told him that I had just ordered a second glass of wine, he said that as he had just bought a cup of coffee, he’d just drink that and then call me back.

I had my phone turned down really low so that it wouldn’t disturb anyone, and the first time he called, the vibration of the phone was enough to make me realize that he was calling. Not so the second time he called. I was chatting with a couple of the organizers of the reception when I felt a tap on my shoulder, and there was Neal. The organizers were awesome, though, and told him to get himself a beer. As I had already finished my second glass of wine… you guessed it: I had a third.

And so, after working all week, three glasses of wine and a trip to the grocery store and Blockbuster, it was no wonder that I was exhausted when I got home. I managed to stay awake for “The Book of Eli” (pretty good movie). What I wasn’t expecting was to feel so extremely and inexplicably exhausted all day on Saturday.

Seriously. All I wanted to do was sleep. After breakfast, I curled up on the couch for a few minutes. Puttered around and tried to do a few productive things, then we went for a short drive. That tuckered me out and since we were going to a BBQ that night, I had a nap for 45 minutes.

Somehow, I managed not to fall asleep in my plate of steak and potato salad, and we got home a little after 11 pm.

Sunday was much better and I spent a lot more time outside. I did some weeding, went to Home Depot to get some more plants (I appear to have a problem!), we (I should say Neal) planted the rhododendron I bought last week, we went to the gym, I finished cleaning the house, and made beef enchiladas for dinner. We each spoke to our fathers for Father’s Day, then Neal did some studying for a work-related test he has coming up and I read on the couch in the evening while listening to the thunderstorm.

So, although Saturday was slow and less productive than I would like, it was a pretty good weekend!

Talk about having writer’s block.

I’ve been trying to work on a novel, and so far I’ve written nearly 230 (handwritten) pages, but I’m just not feeling it. I like the story, and I do have ideas for it - ideas that often pop into my head at inopportune moments, such as when I’m at work, or on the ferry, or in the shower, or doing housework/yard, etc. - but it’s as though I can’t seem to get the words to flow onto the paper. My motivation, when I actually do finally sit down and pull my notebook onto my lap, is lacking.

What has happened to me?

I used to love writing. I couldn’t get enough of it. I was compelled to write. Now? I’d much rather do other things. When things are quiet and I pull out my notebook while sitting on the couch, I realize that I would prefer to read whatever book I’m reading at the moment. Or watch something on TV. And it’s not the atmosphere, sitting on the couch in the living room. I used to think that was the problem - too many distractions, plus it’s a room geared toward relaxation and chillin’ - but I found I had the same problem when I worked in the office downstairs. Plus, I sit at a desk all day; the last thing I want to do in the evening is sit at yet another desk (and yet, here I am, but we’ll ignore that for now). I’d prefer to sit on my comfortable couch. So that’s what I do. With my notebook and pen, my research notes beside me within easy reach and… nothing. Well no, I do usually manage to scratch out a few words, maybe even a page, but it’s almost a painful process.

I remember being so involved in a story that I’d get excited, time would stop, the sounds of the world around me would fade, and my pen would fly across the page. Now I’m lucky if I finish an entire sentence without hesitation.

So what happened? Is it the story? This has happened before. It happened with the Partridge Island story. It happened with another story I was trying out. Now it’s happening with Deirdre. So I’m kind of thinking that it’s not the story. It’s me. Was writing a stage of my youth and now that’s over? Now that I have a serious job and a house to take care of and a husband I want to spend time with and an actual social life - am I just too busy, in both body and mind, to write?

I keep telling myself that it’s okay, that I can just take a step back. Not write. Maybe drop in here more often than I have been. Read more. Wait until that story pops into my mind that just won’t be ignored. And maybe it won’t happen, and that’s okay too. But I’ve gone through “dry spells” before, where I’ve tried various stories on, found they didn’t fit and had to discard them. Then one would reveal itself and suddenly WHAM! I was back on the horse!

I told myself that last week. I brought Deirdre down to the office in the basement, intending to take a “break” from writing, or from my futile attempts to force myself to write. This time, it wasn’t a decision made in the midst of frustration because I didn’t have enough time to write, or enough energy. It was a decision made while calm. It was okay.

I think it was the next day when I thought that maybe all I needed was to review my research notes and I would be inspired.

A few days later, I had brought the notebook back upstairs and tried to write. Again.

But it’s just not working, and I can’t force it to. This time, I have to give up. And so, before I head to bed, I will bring the notebook, and my notes, back downstairs. I will read and live life and go to work and go for walks and update here, and hope that one of these days, my Muse will pay me a visit again.

‘Cause you know what, Muse? You’ve had a long frigging vacation.

I should probably have some music on, because the house seems too quiet.

Neal was sailing for 5 days last week, just Monday to Friday, so that wasn’t too bad at all. Still a little weird, I’ll admit, but after having him on course and then a shore posting for roughly 16 months, I think it’s to be expected that I’d come home from work in the evenings, look around the house, and think “Now what?”

But luckily, he was able to come home on Friday, and we did a lot of the normal weekend stuff: our Movie Date Night on Friday with pizza and beers (and rum and cokes, mmm), some errand-running on Saturday, and then we went to visit some friends at their new house on Sunday afternoon. Neal brought his bag down to the ship after we left Angela and Will’s, and I had made Shepherd’s Pie on Saturday with enough leftovers to carry us through, so when we got home, we got to spend some nice quality-time with one another.

Then it was up at 5 a.m. so that Neal could be at work a little after 6. They typically like to get going early in the morning when they’re heading out, so that means a ridiculously-early start to the day. Last Monday, Neal took a cab, because it would be crazy for me to be at work around 6:30 in the morning, but there would have been no point in me going home as I’d only have to turn around right away and come back in. This Monday, however, I had scheduled to have the day off as the furnace guy was coming to do the annual cleaning. I also have an orthodontist appointment this afternoon, so I figured this would be a good day to get both done.

But, as crazy as it sounds, I kept wishing I was at work today. Sure, it was nice to drive Neal in, then come home and crawl back into bed for a couple of hours, but work provides a really nice distraction. Luckily, I had enough forethought to decide that I would not do any big cleaning on the weekend, preferring instead to spend that time with Neal, AND knowing that I’d need to have something to do today. And so, after I got up, had some toast and tea and read for a bit (and boy, I think I might have picked the wrong time to start reading one of Laurell K. Hamilton’s books, what with Neal being away for two whole weeks! What? TMI?), I got started on scrubbing both bathrooms, sweeping and washing floors, dusting, washing dishes. I had lunch and then mowed the front and back yards, raked up the larger clumps of grass, then decided it was high-time for me to sit down and relax with a second cup of tea. And so, here we are. I still have 45 minutes before I have to start getting ready to leave for my appointment, and once I sign off here, I’ll change the sheets on the bed, tidy up the bedroom a bit, and if I can squeeze it in, I’ll vacuum.

After I finish at my appointment, I have to stop in at Hyundai because the sales rep called this afternoon to say that he had forgotten to get some info off the car (organized, he is not). I still have some Shepherd’s Pie left for supper, then I’ll go hit the gym. The evening should go by pretty quickly because after my workout, I’ll shower, iron clothes for tomorrow and make my lunch for Tuesday. By then, it should be close to bedtime, so I’ll fire off an email to Neal and call it a day.

So I’ve managed to fill my day. But I’m still feeling a little lonely. I feel mildly ridiculous for feeling that way when this is only a 2-week trip, Neal will be in Newfoundland on the weekend so he should be able to call me once or twice, and I’m used to his trips lasting a month or more. But like I said, when it’s been 16 months since you’ve been exposed to this sort of thing, you definitely fall out of practice! And so, despite my best attempts, I will heave a sigh of relief tonight when I crawl into bed to go to sleep, knowing that the next morning I will get up and go to work, and that will make the rest of the week go by quickly. Then, as long as I make a couple of plans with some girlfriends on the weekend (and this being a long weekend), then those three days shouldn’t drag by too slowly.

I was very happy yesterday when I found out for sure that Neal would be coming home for the weekend. He had been out sailing for 5 days, and although the plan was for them to come home for the weekend and then go back out for two weeks to go to Newfoundland, there was a possibility that the Sea Training guys would decide they needed two more days to get ready for the two-week trip. Where the ship is just coming out of re-fit, anything is possible. Well, truth be told, when you’re talking about the military in general, anything is possible!

As I was really hoping that they’d be coming back, I drove the new car downtown and paid for parking. There’s one place where you only have to pay $10 for the entire day, which is quite good, really. I figured that as Neal hadn’t seen our car since he had already gone when it came in for pick-up, he’d probably appreciate seeing it right away.

We absolutely love it. The seats are comfortable, there’s tons of room, it’s nice to have A/C again (although I haven’t used it too much yet as it hasn’t been super-hot) since it stopped working in the Focus awhile ago. We’re “breaking it in”, but honestly, we can’t wait to load ‘er up and go on a road trip!

Since my dad asked for pictures of the interior, here we go:

As I’m sure you can figure out, the cup holder/armrest thing folds back into the seat, but I thought I’d pull it out to show that it came with this model. It’s nice because in a lot of cars, you have to get one of the higher trim lines to get that, but I think it’s even in the lowest one with Hyundai (ours is just one step up from the base, since we wanted air-conditioning and a few other features like the ABS brakes, etc.).

The back seats are SO easy to fold down!!

SIGH. Love.

***

Last night we watched “The Box”, which was a really good movie. It was a nice change, since it seems like most thrillers today are jam-packed with action, whereas this one was very much on the suspense side. It definitely reminded me of a Hitchcock-type film.

We were going to go see “Robin Hood” tonight since a) I had a gift card from work for Administrative Professionals Day (that’s what work called it, but I think it was just a Worker Appreciation Day type of thing), and b) I really wanted to see it. But since it only opened this week, it wasn’t a total surprise to get to the theatre and find out that it was sold out. Since it’s a long movie, we wanted to go to the 6:45 showing, and the next one, at 9:45 was a little late. So instead we came home, and we’ll just go see it when Neal gets back.

Oh at last! After a longer-than-expected wait, I had a much-welcomed voicemail message when I returned to my desk at one point this morning: the guy from the dealership called to say that not only was our car in, but I’d be able to pick it up today!!

And so, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to our new car! (She remains nameless for now, until Neal is around to weigh in. Or I get inspired)

The 2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring GL:

I LOVE the colour!

Look at all the room in the trunk!

Once the sales rep got out of the car (he showed me where various things were in the car, and then asked if I’d be so kind as to drive him up to his car which was parked up a hill - although he did irritate me in the past couple of weeks, he was nice enough to come pick me up to bring me to the dealership to get the car) I literally squealed with delight!

Of course, I’m a little nervous driving it. Well, no. “Nervous” isn’t the right word. I’m just cautious, as I’m sure anyone with a new car would be. But I don’t think I’m as grandmotherly as I very well could have been!

Is it time to drive to the bus terminal to go to work yet???

There is one thing that would have made picking up the car tonight even better though - if Neal had been sitting next to me (in the passenger seat, of course!). He’s sailing for the next 5 days (well, we’re hoping it’s only until Friday and that they get to go home for the weekend before going out for two weeks, but there is a slight possibility he could be gone the whole time, which means he’d be away for 3 weeks straight). Hopefully he will get to come home on the weekend so that he can drive it around a bunch too!

Ahhh, Friday afternoon. Isn’t that the time we all wait for, the time when we look at the clock and realize, “Oh my god! It’s the weekend! Time to go home and drink beer and eat pizza!”

Normally, that would have been me forty minutes ago. Today, however, I came back to my desk and realized that the cell phone was ringing - that phone never rings, so I knew it was Neal.

Apparently, someone on his ship - in his infinite wisdom - decided that 4pm on a Friday would be a good time to start “cleaning stations”.

Um, WTF?

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of this ship so far. They’ve been keeping them late - and often with very little or no notice - and this morning they even made them go in for 7 a.m. It’s bad enough for Neal and I, but I really feel bad for anyone on the ship who makes special arrangements which then have to be altered on the fly at the last minute when the higher-ups decide to keep them late.

Anyway. Not much I can do about it. I would’ve grabbed the bus home, but by the time I got the call, I probably wouldn’t have made the bus I needed, plus we always grab groceries on the way home anyway. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before he’ll call and say that they’ve released them - to which I will respond with “Run for it!!”

***

How about some more bitching?

Neal and I bought a car - a Hyundai Elantra Touring - which we are very excited about. Know what would be even more exciting, though? Actually having the car. I really don’t have the energy right now to go into all the details, but basically, they’ve messed up with the dates a couple of times, then a railcar came loose on some shipment, and that’s backed up all of the subsequent shipments. The customer service at the dealership we went to is horribly lacking, insofar as I have been the one to call. I called and complained about the customer service (or lack thereof) to the sales manager yesterday and told him that when we’re spending close to $20,000, we should not have to be chasing them for answers. I also told him that I really feel as though once the papers were signed, that dealership didn’t care about us anymore.

Totally unacceptable.

So of course, the sales manager said all the things you would expect a manager to say. But then totally forgot about the fact that I specifically asked for a copy of the sales agreement to be faxed over to me, and had to write a fax to him this afternoon expressing my utter disappointment in the dealership.

I’m sure they all hate me over there, but I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass. I just want my goddamn car.

***

Y’know, I woke up in a really good mood today. Honestly, I did. Then people happened.

I will be in a good mood again. Once I get out of here and start hanging out with my husband.