Running around

We have now entered the errand phase of the trip. The last couple or weeks of the summer are always spent running frantically from place to place trying to get all those last minute things done, as well as seeing all the people we never got it together to see so far...

Whew

Life is good though, seeing lots of folks and getting things crossed off the list.

Are you a list person?

I so am....when we were getting ready to go on the boat I actually had a book of lists. Lists related to different aspects of getting ready, systems lists, house lists, chores lists, most urgent lists, I actually came up with a really cool chart that clearly showed what was most urgent in each of the categories.

Makes me sound quite uptight, but in reality if you are going to try and get that kind of a project off the ground, some really serious organisation is necessary.

I now have a double sided single sheet spread. One side is a calender for the next two weeks, a frantic attempt to not double or (god forbid) triple book myself, and on the other, the list.

This is comparatively non-frantic, unlike getting on the boat, so it is a single list...there are some sub-lists on individual days. We'll get it all done this way though...

It'll certainly wizz by fast, now to locate some camping gear....that's the plan this coming weekend, and to dig up an idea of where we want to go....ho hum homework, fun stuff though.

Any suggestions?

We don't want to car camp, but our canoe is at a friend's cottage so we have to hike in, though we don't want to have to hike very far with all the kit.....

Should be fun.

Hope you had a great Monday, ours was nice.

Cheers,

O

Big houses

I never ever ever want a big house. It. has. taken. me. all. day. to give this place a lick and a promise. I shudder to think what it would take to really get it clean. OMG.

It is a stunning house, love it in many ways, but small places are for me.

On another note the kids were helping, of course, and I have to say they were being VERY helpful and there was no hassle, they were even asking what they could do next. Died and gone to heaven.

Youngest very kindly did one of the bathrooms, she even folded and put away all the towels. It was only later I discovered some were still wet.

Details.

Staggering along.

We're back!


We drove down to Rhode Island to visit cruiser buddies on their beautiful boat. We hadn't seen them for nearly three years, and it was about time. The drive? Not so fun. Especially with my kids...ugh.

Once we were there? Utter heaven. Good friends, beautiful boats, the sea, horseshoe crabs and sea weed and shrimps and and and and....

Lovely, simply wonderful. Photos someday......

We have however run flat out since we got back, indeed we left R.I. at 4am on Friday morning, having slept on their boat, I always forget how stunningly beautiful it is in a calm anchorage in the middle of the night...and drove all day, to go sailing in Toronto on Friday night, with other old friends who were in town. It has been an amazing week because there was a third set of cruiser friends who came and visited us just before we left on this little jaunt.

I am very tired now. We went sailing again today, again a lovely outing, again with old friends, then we had my sister-in-law for dinner, which was fantastic, but I am sooooo tired.

We move one more time tomorrow. Last move before we go in about two weeks.

I can honestly say I am looking forward to getting back to Spain.

Ordered the book reader for my friend who is watching the dog.

At this next place we're staying I am not sure how good my internet access will be so posting may become sporadic. I'll do my best, it is always great out here.

Gonna get up for the closing ceremony? The kids want to.

Hope you had a great weekend....

sleep well,

Oreneta

Bolt

Two bolts here. Did you see Bolt in the 200 meter semi? Totally totally dissed the American runners, slowed down so he would cross the line just in front of them. They did not look pleased. I am DYING to see what he can really do.

AND

We're bolting for a few days, we've got a couple extra days on the car rental now that I have finished work, and we're making a run for it to visit some friends we haven't seen in about two and a half years.

SO good.

Cruiser buddies.

We'll be sleeping on a real cruising boat tomorrow night.

SWEET.

Blame the Olympics, or...a dog is a dog.

The games, they are just killing my blogging, killing it....

Chuck is now sleeping at our house, our buddy had to close her balcony door because he barked at the cats in the street, and had to close her bedroom door because he barked at the cat in the bed, and it turned into a sauna. She moved him home for the nights.

He's being a dog.

But now hunting season has opened up in our area, possibly all Catalonia???...what a bunch of dorks. Shooting at song birds for crying out loud. Adds another level of challenge to the whole adveture of walking the dogs. Ignoring the regular dog fights you have to break up, now there are trigger happy fruit loops taking pot shots at anything that moves. Going to limit the off-leash time the dogs get. It is technically two days a week, but the guys have been out of the woods so long, unable to blast small birds into little more than bundles of floating fluff, that they are out all sorts of days and times, trigger happy. Fun wow.

I think I am going to get our buddy a REALLY big gift. Indeed, I am going to pick her up a Sony Book Reader, which she wants pretty badly. Maybe we'll still be friends at the end of it all.

Seems like Chuck might be coming with us next summer.

That'll be cool too.

The big O

and I don't mean me...

Michael Phelps, what can I say, the man is an amazing athlete....aparently he eats 12000 calories a day as opposed to our normal 2000.

Then there is Bolt....he broke the world record, jogging.

I can't run as fast as the milers do to catch the freaking bus, let alone the speed these 100 meter runners are hitting.

I was mighty glad the Kenyan got the silver in the women's marathon as well. There's a sport I never ever want to try. Never.

Wow.

Not only that, but they showed the films the kids made at camp and they were F.U.N.N.Y.

and we had friends over all evening and more are coming tomorrow!!!!

Two, well three more days of work. Yahooo!

Hope Chuck is fairing well.

Sunscreen

Got a patch of basal cell carcinoma taken off the side of my nose today, that is a form of skin cancer, though an extremely benign form, very very rarely causing any problems, it just kind of eats away at the parts near it. No biggie.

That said, it was fairly yucky getting it taken off, I will spare you the details, and it is no thing of beauty at the moment.

I suppose what I really want to say here is....wear the sunblock, wear a hat and keep your kids covered up. Sun exposure, especially in children, is really really detrimental.

Just sayin' .... cover up.

Getting serious with the quirkiness

Alright, *rolling up my sleeves*

Quirkiness.

You read about number 1, my apparent inability to roll over in my sleep, though I can grind my teeth.

Number 2, ...pause to watch Michael Phelps win his 6th
gold medal at the games.... I bought my first bras, make-up and high
heels this summer. Please not that I am not a child, nor an adolescent.

Number 3, I will eat anything that I like for breakfast. Anything, as long as I like it.

Number 4, hmmm, I have a strange affinity for wild animals this summer.

Number 5, the Catalans would definitely say, and even in TO it's a little odd, I wear hats. A lot. And I like them.

Number 6: the man has suggested several, a) I bug him - I will point out that
he has been here less than a week, how bad can it be... b) I am learning Catalan c) I live next to a castle in Spain. While these might be nuts, I am not sure
that they are quirky. So for number 6 I will say that....I keep my hair
long and straight - kind of hippy-ish - chiefly because it is easier for my husband to cut, and I only have to get him to cut it once a year, maybe twice.

Ta daaaaa.

Kinda boring I guess. I think I am maybe more weird, or unusual than quirky....

I tag anyone who wants to do it...

Have a lovely Friday.

Cheers,

Quirky deferal...

Got to work at 7 this morning, worked straight through till 5:45, slurping sushi while I talk and work with a group....then went out to dinner with an old friend. (had sushi again).

No great blog post, but how bad can a day be that includes dinner with an old friend and two servings of sushi?

Quirkilicious

Jason tagged me with the 6 quirky things meme...I'll play. The problem of course is that I am completely devoid of quirks. It is everyone else in the world that is weird. Really.

*snort*
OK

OKokokokokok,

The man is out sailing right now, if not we could have an interesting marital time as he tried to come up with quirks that he could mention without offending me. It's kind of fun to put him in those very nearly no win situations sometimes and see how he gets himself out. I'm just sort of playing with him...

but he's not here.

SO

Lets see.

Quirkiness number 1. Too bad the kids are in bed, I am sure they could come up with something....moments later.....I just poked eldest awake. She says that I am all quirky, nothing stands out. Now that seems a contradiction in terms doesn't it? Is it entymologically possible to be entirely quirky?

Hmm, still at number 1. Here's one: I seem to have largely stopped rolling over in my sleep. I wake up with a very sore shoulder and then roll over. Why oh why can't I seem to do that while still sleeping? I'm told I can grind my teeth while sleeping, why not roll over?

Number 2: Ooops...I got caught up in the Olympics, more quirkiness to follow....tomorrow.

Three things.

I was talking to a man at work today who has lived in three different countries. One thing he said has stuck with me and made me ponder. He said that Americans were much friendlier than Canadians. Now I used to think that strangers talk to me, but I now realise that I talk to strangers all. the. time. Allthetime.

Does that make me a little more American.

Second thing, the man has been here for a few short days, and I was talking to him on the phone at lunchtime and he was totally brushing me off. "Yeah, yeah, OK, like bye"...I called him on it, asking if he had an important meeting or something. Turns out he was making popcorn.

Oh, OK honey. Better focus on that popcorn. *wink*(He's a man, the man is. A man who lived alone for two months. Cooking popcorn and talking at the same time....naaauuuaaaa.)

By the same token, he is at the perfect stage of jet lag, he woke up 45 minutes before me; by the time I got upstairs, the kids' lunches were made, and so was my tea. Piping hot.

Now how good is that? Need to focus on the popcorn honey? No problem AT all.

I love my kids, thank goodness there's only two of them

I love love love my kids like a mad thing.

I am also so very very glad there are only two of them.

We had a friend over for the weekend, a kid who is one of my kids very best friends in the world, and who we know like another child of our own we have spent so much time together. I love this kid too. Completely.

It is just that the vibe is so different with a third child here. I was a wee bit cranky today...the kids were whining, complaining, yelling at each other, not the other child, that one I was ready to keep, but mine? OMG.

Fortunately they go to bed and are sweet and adorable. Actually, when there were only two of them together, any two, it was much better, but as soon as there were three the dynamic changed completely, OMGGGGG.

Glad I only had two. Very glad.

Dog blog

Chuck is MIS.BE.HAVIN'.

He's staying with a friend in Spain while the man is here....if it keeps on like this it is going to be a long long month for our friend.

Long.

Peed on the couch...twice.

Scared the cat so thoroughly that she won't come out to pee or eat, all afternoon and night.

Barked over and over in the night, two nights running.

Towed my friend around on walks, all the time.

Ate all of her dog's food as well as his own, twice.

Though she claims he is having some charming moments, she locked him out of her bedroom at night so that he won't maniacly chase the cat all over the bed at night, and he is OUTRAGEOUSLY happy to see her and her dog in the morning. OUTRAGEOUSLY. She is charmed, she says.

She's leaving him at our place for a bunch of the time so the cat can eat something and have a pee from time to time.

HO hum

She's going to try homeopathic Bach Flower remedy on him. If it helps, that would be great.

Hope it doesn't trash the friendship. Gonna have to get her a good gift.

A really good gift.

The man is in the building

'nuff said.

Have a great evening.

Overheard.

We had a friend's kid over for dinner tonight. I overheard one of the girls telling the guest that they have to finish ALL their dinner if they want ice cream after because I am REALLY strict.

Ummmm.....

Yeah,

Just call me Mommy Dearest.

Since when was THAT really strict?

$$$$$$$$$

We watched "The Last Mimzy". Pretty good, I liked that a lot. Have to ponder a bit why I thought it was so good, a nice balance of tension, I liked how the kids led and the parent's listened. Neat neat neat...

Then - super cool - we went swimming in the pool after dark..they have these funky disco lights that keep changing colours, especially with the jets on...really neat. Glad I listened to the girls and we went. Only a few bug bites, though how a mosquito could land right below my eye and sit there long enough to bite me without me seeing it, I will never guess.

Never.

Got a 649 ticket? My boss got me one. She must be pretty confident I love the job and would do it again, even if I was stinking rich. She may be right too.

Weird stuff.

There are these ads on a radio station I listen to while I am driving sometimes, and they are for some kind of in-car emergency alert system, that monitors the car, can call 911 for you, and the lady or gentleman at the help center can contact you and talk to you in the event of an incident. Presumably through the radio or something.

Aside from the sheer big-brotherishness of this, which I just don't feel like getting into. Really, I don't, but it is creepy. That aside, there is something else a little odd here. One of the commercials features a man who has been knocked unconscious by the accident, and the help lady is earnestly calling 911 for him. He then comes to, wondering (rather poorly) what has happened. The lady starts to talk to him, explaining the situation, and all I can think of is this poor bleeding sap who is stuck in his smacked up car, with a whopper of a headache and slowly returning consciousness; then, then..... the freakin' car is talking to him.

Wouldn't that kind of mess you up?

Sailing sailing over the lake so blueish....

WHAT a fabulous day...sailed, the kids and my folks swam in the (very) cold lake. Read 18 degrees at the surface...much colder lower down.

Many years ago, I embraced and came to love my inner wimp when it relates to cold water swims. I did not go in.

Gosh I adore sailing; and reading my kids stories at night which I also managed to pull off. 2 for 2.

Starting a new book that I have been dying to read, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. He was and I guess is a climber who was in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and decided that he could not simply walk through the area and walk away.

Since a 1993 climb on Pakistan's K2, he has dedicated his life to promote community-based education and literacy programs, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan

Looking forward to the book. I certainly like what he has been up to.

Finished up the the 100 mile diet which was excellent and thought provoking...and I am in the middle of From Me to We, which is a re-read and well worth it....so nice to get my hands on books that I really want to read....so nice.

No movies today...people and activity. Youngest swam twice even. That girl just loves to be running around.

New camp starts tomorrow, this should be excellent except for the 6:15 start to the morning. *groan*

The man will be here soon soon soon, but not soon enough.

tick tock tick tock tick tock.....

Story time

I have to say, I LOVE reading to the girls at bed time.

LOVE. IT.

We have been slipping away from it in Spain, and it is the very first time I have managed it here. That is a very sad fact indeed. I am going to have to make a much stronger commitment to making bedtime stories happen regularily.

That said, what are your favourite books to either have read to you, or that you have read aloud? C'mon, there must be tons of good ones, and this way maybe we can all find a new one.

I love any and all of the Arthur Ransom books...well, there is one I am not so fond of.

Youngest loves Ramona, it's OK...I love Sophie, which the Brits will recognise, and maybe can tell us the author as I can't remember and it is fantastic.

The Cimorene series was amazing, actually called the Enchanted Forest Chronicles(?) by Patricia C. Wrede....fantastic, we read a bunch of them back to back one day in the Bahamas while waiting for weather, I wasn't sure my voice was going to make it, but it was so worth it.

Also anything at all by Patricia Polacco.

Oh, I could go on and on....Nomad asked me to put up a link to a list somewhere....I may do just that, but the three or four of you who are not away for the long weekend, you can also put up some selections you love.

I am just so glad I got to lay in bed with the girls and read stories. The world is balancing out right again.

Quiet for the long weekend.

I picked up my friend's dogs ashes today, but that was the only low note. Saw family, hung out with friends. Just ruled as a day.

Also bought the first bit of make-up in my life. A light eye-liner, because my lashes are so bleached out I look like I don't have any....pale anemic looking space around my eyes.

Eldest claims it is a mid-life issue....may be. Wracking up the firsts this summer: heels, bras and make-up. Turning into a girly girl it would seem. Then again, I already ran off and lived on a boat in the Bahamas then moved to Spain with a beautiful Catalan man....whats a little girly stuff in the end, eh? Peanuts.

Long WeeeEEEEkkkkend!

It's the WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO.....

Whatcha doin'?

If I weren't so sleepy I would giggle gleefully, but I am sleepy.

We are doing very very little which is JUST fine.

Plan to read, watch the girls swim, nap, read, visit some family and friends, maybe sail. Did I mention read and nap and watch the girls swim? Maybe watch a movie or three?

My plan and I love it.

Must stop moaning

Thank God it's friday. It just feels so very very friday. Simply want to put my head down on my desk and be left alone all day.

Then again, it is Friday.