Trials, Tribulations and Trees

Merry "After" Christmas

2012-01-11T08:55:00.003-04:00

Happy New Year! - 10 days late.

Christmas was fantastic this year; quiet and peaceful - just the way that I enjoy it. December, however, started off in a whirlwind - starting with the birth of my new little Niece Kaylee - She is such a little adorable cutie I wanted to steal her and run home; but I'm sure my brother would have tackled me and would have threatened to spit in my eye if I didn't pass her back over. She looks so much like Ryan (Even the high forehead...that child will need to grow bangs ) although I'm sure Mommy will surface as she grows older *She turned 6 weeks yesterday*. Of course she was born a bit later than expected, and up until she was born I had every weekend free and clear to make the speedy trip over to PEI for the meet n great, however she had her own plans and on November 29th she graced this world - and I was heading to Boston the following weekend....talk about "bad" timing ;)
Boston was fantastic, we took a couple of extra days and made it a long weekend together - NFL Football (Pats vs Colts), shopping (Wrentham Outlet Mall) and Uggs x 3. It was great to get away as Mr. Fidler was super busy over the month of November, being a one-man show so we didn't see much of each other with our conflicting schedules. I didn't purchase all that much for ourselves, beyond my Uggs, but oh my did we spoil our nephews & neices to the max! OshGosh, Uggs, Nautica, Nordstroms!! They are now decked out with all new clothes, and of course I couldn't forget the toys. This vacation was a bit of a "fly by the seat". We had a few hotels book for our stay but Friday night was up in the air - my Husband the worlds greatest compass decided for us to stay in Rockport, MA for the night - he knew the direction and we just started driving, no map and no internet - and after 30 minutes of driving we found our location and our hotel for the night. Fantastic! The next morning the lil'town of Rockport was having their annual tree lightning ceremony - the town was a buzz of activity! We purchases some of the cutest christmas tree ornaments and had breakfast at this little diner that made the best eggs I've had in a long time. It was such a gorgeous little town - a must go and see if you are ever in the area.

I know, I'm about to talk about the Weather - as a Maritimer it is my god given right to do so.... It has been fanastic this year, we have had only one snow storm followed by warm temps and rain (bye bye snow) - we received about 10cm prior to Christmas (Yippee! White Christmas) and now there is just a light dusting covering the ground to help elimiate the ugliness of the dead grass...and they are calling for rain and 7 degrees tomorrow. I know the real cold weather will find us eventually but having this type of weather in January is suiting me just fine.

I know I don't post as much as I use too - I also don't have time to bake or to be online as much as I did when I was online almost 24/7 - I prefer life this way, busy and active. (Speaking of active, I can't tell you all how much I love Yoga!).

Well my office is becoming a buzzing little community of patients - so I best get my 'work-face' on and get something done (Although I Do look busy typing up my blog entry)

Washed away by the rain

2011-09-06T09:12:00.003-03:00

I'm sitting at my desk, looking out amoungst the PMQ's and playground equipment watching the rain fall silently - I find it weird and a little eerie not to see any kids out running around or jumping in the newly formed puddles. School is back in session; Autumn is right around the corner. I for one, love Autumn - the crisp morning air and the changing leaves leave me in a constant state of pure giddyness. I can't wait to pull my comfy leather jacket and scarf from the closet and spray my Uggs for another season of slush, snow and sleet. Wait...okay I'm letting the seasons get ahead of me; it was 32 degrees with humidity yesterday; I was still laying outside catching rays. (I actually have a tan this year!!).

Life has been good, per usual - Hughie and I finally had a week away from the Valley, we spent a week in Toronto (Buffalo & Niagara Falls) visiting Hughie's Brother and Sister-in-law (aka my Brother in law and Laura!)It was a fantastic week - although like always, we didnt' get a chance to see everyone that we would like. We are hoping to get down for a weekend in February, where we will sound the alarm nice and early that we are coming so we can work around people's work & life schedule.

*Side note: Never EVER go into Buffalo and stay on the US side of Niagara falls - it was basically "Jane and Finch". We were warned almost immediately by our bellman not to walk after dark and/or walk past a certain point in the daylight (needless to say it was only a block away from the Sheraton). He also pointed out that our housekeepers had "sticky fingers". Yikes!! Needless to say we were planning on staying two days, we made it one night! However, I will say the shopping at the outlets was fantastic.

My Brother is doing fantastic. He had his Esophagetcomy (*See bottom for description) surgery on the 15th of July, 4 months from the day he was diagnosed with Stage III Espophageal Cancer. He is on his second last chemotherapy dose (3 prior to the surgery and 3 post surgery), and while this is a lot harder than his first three doses prior to the surgery he is being a trooper and my hero for how he is managing this. On a happier note, his girlfriend and him are going to be having a little wee girl in the upcoming weeks - she is 34 weeks along and is feeling as uncomfortable and irritated as she has since her first trimester.

Well, there ya have, my last 4-6 months described in a couple of paragraphs - patients have started to grace my waiting room so I best get to work!

Happy Autumn!

_______________________________________________________________________________
Esophagectomy --

The principal objective is to remove the esophagus, a part of the gastrointestinal tract ("food pipe"). This procedure is usually done for patients with esophageal cancer. It is normally done to remove cancerous tumors from the body. It is best done when an esophageal cancer is detected early, before it has spread. If taken up early enough, an esophagectomy might prove to be life saving. Despite significant improvements in technique and postoperative care, the long term survival for esophageal cancer is still poor. Currently multimodality treatment is needed (chemotherapy and radiation therapy) for advanced tumors. Esophagectomy is also occasionally performed for benign disease such as esophageal atresia in children, achalasia, or caustic injury.

Classification --There are two main types of esophagectomy.

A trans-hiatal esophagectomy (THE) is performed on the neck and abdomen simultaneously.[1]
A trans-thoracic esophagectomy (TTE) involves opening the thorax (chest).

In most cases, the stomach is transplanted into the neck and the stomach takes the place originally occupied by the esophagus. In some cases, the removed esophagus is replaced by another hollow structure, such as the patient's colon.

After surgery, patients may have trouble with a regular diet and may have to consume softer foods, avoid liquids at meals, and stay upright for 1–3 hours after eating. Dysphagia is common and patients are encouraged to chew foods very well or grind their food. Patients may complain of substernal pain that resolves by sipping fluids or regurgiating food. Reflux-type symptoms can be severe, including intolerance to acidic foods and large, fatty meals. Jejunal feeding tubes may be placed during surgery to provide a temporary route of nutrition until oral eating resumes.

I didn't disappear.....at least not on purpose.

2011-05-11T10:13:00.004-03:00

I have to apologize for the lack of updates - I've been looking at my blog for the last month wondering if I could spare a moment of "Downtime" to type up a legit blog instead of a quiz or a two liner. At this moment, I really should be working as I'm sitting here at work, however, with going to bed with a impending cold and waking up with a sore throat & ear pain my will to work has dissipated.
Things are pretty much status quo for Hughie and I - we are both "enjoying" our work. I hang out with a great group of people for 40-hours a week, and some days if I can look past all the unwell people, it is almost not even work.
We are slowly fighting our way through the spring yard work. I have about another day of leaves, needles and branches to clean up (Yes I do the yard work, I find it very therapeutic) So hopefully this weekend I will be able to work my way through spring cleaning my house on Saturday, and on Sunday after a couple days of drying time (+++rain) I will be able to complete the yard. I'm just hoping this cold will go by the wayside so I will be able to complete my list.
So, we didn't' do a spring vacation this year, it was on our to do list but we couldn't get things to line up as well as other years. However there was two main issues that kept holding us back, 1. We kept judging everything up against Ladera; in St. Lucia which was a mistake to do as it was a 5 star resort and our dream vacation and 2. My brother (26 years old) has been diagnosed with Stage 3 Esophageal/Stomach & Lymph node Cancer. The latter has taken my very straight and narrow life and flipped me ten ways from Sunday. He is currently receiving his second round of treatment with an impending surgery to take place in June/July. He looks fantastic and has a very positive kick ass attitude, so I'm sure everything will be good to go and he will have a clean bill of health before long.
So somewhere between visiting the Island, (Prince Edward) and hiding in needles and leaves I haven't found the time to update my blog. I'm thinking about doing some major blog upheavel, changing around my site, but first I have to find the time to get it done.
I wish there was 8 days a week.....

Tenderized

2011-02-23T08:22:00.002-04:00

Do you know when you take a piece of meat or chicken, place a piece of waxed or parchment paper over top and pound the living snot out of it to make it all tenderized...well that is how I feel this morning. Since moving home, I have been running approximately 7k-5 days a week - it has been great to have that alone time at the end of a busy day to clear my head before I step into "wife" mode and make supper and spend time with Mr. Fidler, however, I felt like I was stuck in a rut. So either A. I could join a gym and waste my money - since that would mean I would have to force myself to jump in the car and drive to the gym..work out, then drive home or B. I could find myself another aerobic work out video that targets the core. Well I decided on "B". It is definitely cheaper than a gym membership. I did some search online and after careful research I decided on two DVD's "Jillian Michael" 6-week abs and "something" Yoga (Can't remember the name since I haven't pulled it out of the wrapper). So last night, after I got home from work I pulled off the wrapper and popped it into my dvd player and hit the play button. 35 minutes later I was a piece of meat..I could have wrung out my ponytail...I did manage to jump on the ellipitcal for a 25 minute run..a couple of K; but that was all my poor body could take. Now this morning, just as the title says I feel like I've been attacked at the core by a blunt object. (I don't recall what those meat tenderizer mallets are called). I haven't tried the Yoga DVD yet, however, I think that will be a weekend DVD - since I don't run on the weekend (unless I miss a day during the week), I would like to do something to center my body and mind....

Stay tuned folks - I just purchased a new Dyson Handheld and a review of this new item is coming!

Tag, you’re it.

2011-02-20T15:32:00.001-04:00

I normally don’t really have any real need to do these little games. However I was tagged…but it will not go any farther than this blog; cause god forbid someone feels the need to waste a couple of hours….or minutes of your day. Sigh, without further ado:

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals or are they members of your family?

Chakotay (7) was my first “on my own” pet - A Sib-husky, with all the charateristics of one to boot. He loves to sook for attention and rubs up against you when he knows you are wearing black, however he is my fur-son and love him regardless of his fasination with wanting to turn my clothes into a hairy mess.

Sekaya (2.80) is a little white princess (Sib-husky) with bright blue eyes, who scare the pants of people when her eyes glow red when the light hits them the right way. She is the polar opposite of Chakotay however when she curls up with you on the couch with her head in your lap all just seems right with the world.

They are my fur-kids I would protect them as a mom would protect their sons or daughters. I just wish people wouldn’t give me that “look” when I say I have fur-kids not real kids….

2. If you could have a dream come true, what would it be?

Dreams are only meant to come true in your dreams.

3. What would you do with a billion dollars?

This question is just a bit “out there” but…I would pay off all my families/mine debts and settle down in some field, build a dream home and a husky sanctuary! (and go to every Canuck game!! Go Lu!)

4. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Running!

5. What is your bedtime routine, with your kids?
Fur-kids……Well first I let them outside on their leads – and hit the washroom and do all the normal stuff…plus remove my contacts and brush my teeth – take the pooches in and then give them their evening treat – cause if I forget that step, they won’t let me go to sleep.

6. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your significant other?

Married and through a mutual (not anymore) friend.

7. What kind of books do you read?

I’m a avid reader, and will spend hours reading without really realizing that hours have past. I love Romance/Adventure/Science Fiction and plan ol’ Jane -Fiction…

8. How do you see yourself in 10 years?
I rather not look into the future, instead I enjoy what I have today.

9. What’s your fear?
I don’t believe I want to face my fear today, therefore I won’t list what it is.

10. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to see outer space?
Damn straight – what an opportunity.

11. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
It snooze once, and then meander out of bed – cause if I don’t get a move on fast enough I have two fur-kids staring at me doing the “tip tip tip tip” dance with their nails.

12. If you could change one thing about your significant other, what would it be?

That he would put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher…

13. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?
I love my name, however I would love to have a Celtic name….I’m not fussy.

14. If you had to choose between six months of sun or six months of rain, what would you choose?
LOL I lived without sun and rain for about that same amount of time….and replaced both with snow…. so I’m not fussy about what type of weather I’m dealing with.

15. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

Spinach salad with poppy-seed dressing w/strawberries/raspberries/cheese and chicken…yum

16. What is the thing you enjoy about blogging the most?
I use to love blogging since it would eat up at least an hour of my day, and while living in the North it allowed me to keep my friends and family up to date about my daily life. However, since moving down South I really don’t spend near the amount of time I once did…I rather miss it, but…I really don’t have that hour any more.

17. Do you prefer salty or sweet foods?
Salty – give me a Almond over a piece of Chocolate anyday!

18. What items are in your purse right now?
Aleve, hand cream, lip gloss X 2, A spare necklace, a couple of set of keys …..and the usual purse stuff.

19. If you had to choose between vacationing at the beach or in the mountains where would you go?
I had the best of both worlds in St. Lucia, we were on the side of the mountain but a short car ride to the beach.

20. What do you watch on television that you know you shouldn’t?
I don’t really watch anything outlandish…. plus I’m old enough to watch pretty much anything I want too.

There you have it, my first official post in 2011. Sad really that it has taken me almost 2 months to find the time to sit down and post – and it was a “filler”.

Happy first day of Winter!

2010-12-21T09:12:00.002-04:00

and...it is downpouring rain!

I'm very disappointed in the weather as of late. You would think, that after living in the GWN for two years I would be pleased with the mild wet weather. Don't get me wrong I'm glad that I'm not wearing three layers of clothes but I would love to be wearing at least one 'extra' thermal layer. I've been hoping, fingers crossed,that we would have at least a white Christmas. However when I started my car this morning my temp gage registered a balmy 4 degrees...no snow today!

I'm as ready as I can be with regards to Christmas - our tree is lined with decorations and presents adorn the floor beneath it. The dogs walk by the tree daily and give each present a little sniff, much to their chagrin their presents are not wrapped this year, but waiting for their stockings to be be hung by the fireplace.

I meant for this to be a longer Christmas related post - however work is beckoning for my return so I must go.

2010-12-01T08:54:00.002-04:00

Once again you find me sitting at my desk at work drinking a XL-Christmas Cup of Tim Horton's. December has snuck up on me this year, I've known it has been coming for quite sometime although for some reason while I was rolling over in bed this morning to slap my alarm clock I caught a glimpse of the letters D.E.C on my Blackberry...and that seemed to freak me out a little. This time last year, while I was dealing with the bitter cold, I had at least a couple feet of white snow on the ground. Everything looked fresh and clean. I love the Autumn and the leaves but now I'm just ready for that powder to fall from the Sky to give December that magical feeling. I have so much shopping to do over the next couple of weeks I don't know where to begin. My nieces and nephews shopping is finished and that is all that I have completed. Thankfully I know what I'm getting everybody else, it is just a matter of driving to either New Minas or Halifax to purchase those thought-up purchases.

One thing has been bothering me lately and that is how often that I've been blogging - trying to find the time to sit down and type out how my life is doing is quite hard considering that all my family and friends are so close; and I update my life frequently on facebook or pick up the phone. I'm contemplating closing down this chapter of my life albeit keeping this blog around so I can read about my life in the north, and anyone else that may happen to find it. I'm not 100% sold on the idea of ending a three year portion of my life but I rather hate blogs that lay dormant for months with only the odd little post here and there about nothing particular (Just like this post is turning out to be). That is one big question I dwell on...Southern life isn't as exciting as moving to the unknown North.
People know how to live in the South.

Christmas Countdown
====================
24-days!

Some Northern habits never go away.

2010-10-27T10:42:00.002-03:00

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.

2010-10-11T13:01:00.001-03:00

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

2010-10-04T09:52:00.002-03:00

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

2010-09-08T19:31:00.001-03:00

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?

2010-08-29T18:29:00.001-03:00

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

2010-08-21T16:37:00.001-03:00

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

2010-08-01T16:05:00.001-03:00

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.

Cameron

2010-08-01T15:41:00.001-03:00

There are times when I forget all about justification processes and wants vs need. In this case ..I both wanted and needed my latest purchase. Last Thursday, July 22nd, 2010; Hughie picked me up from work, and weirdly we turned left out of my workplace instead of the required right to drive home. After a few minutes, and when I finally saw the Dodge dealership looming in the distance I finally knew where he was taking me.

I have been looking for a vehicle for the last 6-8 weeks, dealing with a Dodge dealership out of town and after weeks of not getting what I wanted I was starting to get frustrated to say the least. I could only say so many times that “No I don’t want a Journey or a Honda Civic, I want a Dodge Caliber”. So as we pulled into the dealership I saw a beauty… a black 2009 Dodge Caliber. After looking up close, and with Mr. Fidler looking over my shoulder, we deemed the black Caliber a misfire (there was over 50,000 KM on her and there was no cruise control) then I looked closer to the Dealership’s main office and there he was – a Sunburst Orange Caliber glistening in the ….well dang there was no sun, but to me he was glistening in the sun. Walking up to him, I thought there is no way I can afford a 2010 Caliber – and as I looked closer I was realizing that I may have to go back to the Black Caliber that I just said was a “misfire”. This orange Caliber has everything….and I mean everything, even a nice little button to turn my volume up and down and the channels on my steering wheel and a IPOD jack! After Hughie nodding his head in approval, he said “Take him for a drive” . Needless to say after 2 minutes in this car I was ready to jump off the nearest cliff for this vehicle. So I did the march into the office, where I realized HOLY CRAP I could afford this, and it was only going to be $70.00 a month more than what my OLD Sunfire was costing me when I financed Keely….I jumped on that deal faster than…..[well my analogies suck today so I got nothing]..so I just jumped on the deal. So after all the financial fun was all figured out, and I signed the paperwork – Cameron the Caliber came home with me on Monday Evening. He is sitting pretty at 295Km just waiting for a nice long drive….Bay of Fundy here we come!

First Day

2010-07-19T20:35:00.001-03:00

I felt like a kid walking into grade one all over again. Walking slowly but full of purpose, yet at the same time anxious and a little bit nervous.

Today was my first day at work – my first day back to work in 2 years. I woke up super early this morning, yet at the same time I was rushing to beat the clock to get out of the house on time. I haven’t found my morning stride. For the last two years, I woke up – made Hughie coffee and then spent the morning cleaning, organizing, reading blogs and Facebook. Now, this morning I found myself running around trying to put my retainer in my nose (for my nose ring), get the dogs outside and then…inside, Sekaya in her kennel and Hughie out of the shower so we could take off for work. By the time I got to work I was already exhausted.

I know once I get into my routine things will be tickity-boo but until then I may just have to wake up at 5am! (I don’t work until 9:00am)

Oracle

2010-07-16T21:25:00.001-03:00

(The Trash Heap, a wise being (referred to as an "oracle"), serves as the garbage dump of the Gorgs. She and her heckling heralds live near the Gorg's garden, and she gives the Fraggles guidance and advice, which the Fraggles regard with reverence, although they do not worship her.) – Wikipedia.org

Yes this is exactly what you think it is – a pile of garbage, or what I kiddingly named “Oracle” and it grew by leaps and bounds as we emptied box after box of items that I haven’t seen in 2 years. Our long-term storage stuff arrived on Tuesday, a great set of guys who brought along his significant other (wife, girlfriend…I didn’t really ask) and there 4 month Great Pyrenees, who was the size of Sekaya. Such an adorable little pup. There was approximately 50 boxes, a half munched on couch, a peed on Papasan chair and about a dozen odd little items that I honestly thought I had threw out many many moons ago. We did realize that we both read A-LOT! I believe we must of kept Chapters in business during our stay in Manitoba consider the amount of boxes that were labelled “Books!”

However, I’m now sitting at my dining room table (very carefully I may add - our tool box is enroute from Kugaaruk) looking around at my ever changing house. We now have more stuff in it than we did when we moved in. We also finally got an answer from Future shop with regards to our appliance order: RANT ALERT!

So on June 30th Future Shop comes out with this crazy 36hour or 15hour I can’t really remember Canada Day Sale, and one of the sales that caught our eyes was the 15% off all Appliances – now we love Futureshop because of their product service plan and all the great service they gave us over the years. So we jumped on that sale like you jump on grapes during St. Martins Day Celebrations. However, weird as it may seem we didn’t receive a “Congrats you have purchased….” email like you usually do. However, we did not worry as we thought it was normal because they were big ticket items. Days went by, and we could see the Order Number on our History page – but it wasn’t pulling up our order. After spending a week calling Futureshop (3 different occasions) receiving the same “We will take your email address and get back to you with an answer”..Hughie snapped – giving the lady his ‘Bad-dog’ voice…..FINALLY after 8 days of waiting for an answer they decided to honour the price that we were suppose to get…. We then decided to ask for a little pain and suffering discount – I mean we are without our fridge and stove, and considering they are now delivering it within a week – I’d be cooking up a storm right about now , if the order wasn’t lost in limbo..so their idea of pain and suffering is …….offering us $20.00 dollars off the total price… I was shocked to say the least…… But we filled out a form, and received the same “Give us your email…….”So we are not holding our breath – all we ask for is free shipping…I don’t think that is so much to ask for…. But regardless, our Fridge and Stove will be arriving Thursday!

So, with that above rant said and over with I can continue – we now have a guest bedroom that is all outfitted with the required “guest” bedroom materials – although Chakotay & Sekaya have called that room as their own. Don’ t worry though, the bed is nicely protected from their hair and paws…and the floors are hardwood so Swiffers take care of the fur quickly.

I can’t believe we’ve been living in Nova Scotia for almost two-weeks so much has happened in that time my head is still swimming. I’m very much looking forward to working in Middleton in the near future. I did have another job lined up in a town ~35 minutes away but after driving that highway more than once over the last two weeks I’m very happy to be car pooling with Mr. Fidler for the time being.

Final Talley of Garbage bags: 5 with about 10 bags of Recycling…a big half munched on Couch, a peed stained papasan chair with the added bonus of chewed up wicker, a old television stand and a couple of half broken items that don’t need a claim…. all and all, not as bad as I thought it would be.

The Difference between the South vs North

2010-07-13T01:03:00.001-03:00

1. I don’t know my neighbours or my neighbours kids.

2. Smiling at random kids may have me arrested.

3. I don’t know where everything is located in my grocery store.

4. Shopping in my Pj’s while drinking coffee may have me committed.

5. Too many have alcohol that shouldn’t, instead of just a few.

6. I have to pluck my eyebrows, wax face, shave legs, apply makeup, shower and wash my hair on a daily basis.

7. Summertime darkness.

8. HST.

9. Recycling (Although we love to contribute to a healthier sustainable environment).

10. Humidity. (For the sake of the argument, I love the humidity, although I know not everyone agrees with me.)

The Difference between North vs South

2010-07-13T00:49:00.001-03:00

1. I have only seen one Sewage Truck, and it was driving down the highway.

2. We have two Tim Horton’s within a 5 minute drive from one another.

3. When people say they drive a “Honda” they drive a Honda.

4. Fresh produce all the time!.

5. Cold Beer (Only makes sense if you lived in a Dry-Community)

6. Wearing seatbelts

7. No officially designated “Animal Carcass” pile at the dump.

8. Not one white wall in my house.

9. My water comes from the ground, not a container under my house.

10. I wore short-shorts & a tank-top while shopping in July.

From the GWN to the GGP (Great Green Province)

2010-07-13T00:34:00.001-03:00

I can’t believe it has been well over a week since we left the Great White North. It really doesn’t seem all that long, but if I actually sat down and put everything in perspective over the last week I only wonder how I’m standing.

The dogs managed the trip – not much squawking or screaming – but on a huge 737 you really don’t hear all that much anyways. The red-eye flight from Edmonton to Nova Scotia was clutch. Although considering how tired they were when we arrived in Halifax, I hardly think they slept all that much. Apparently their seat-buddy down in the cargo hold was a CAT. I’m sure Chakotay was thinking more along the lines of “this was his airline snack”.

I have to admit we lucked out with the purchasing of our house, by this I mean we had a great team of Lawyers and Realtors – I highly recommend, if you are moving to the Greenwood Area to speak with David Proudfoot & Paul Mann (Lawyer and Realtor respectively) – they held our hand (figuratively speaking of course) the whole way through. David took the time to outline and made us understand the legal aspects of our mortgage while Paul was a god sent! He helped us more than he ever will realize.

With that said, we are now living in our house! I’m falling more in love with it every day. There is still lots to be purchased and organized but I love the feel of knowing that “this is mine”. I promise I will post pictures as soon as I can, we are still waiting for some valuable items. [There is a rant with regards to shopping via online with Futureshop for Appliances, but I’ll save that for another post]. Nova Scotia is just as beautiful as I remember – lush trees and grass as far as the eye can see. I have yet to see a pile of snow or a dog tied up on the outskirts of town with no one around for miles (although I’m sure it does happen).

I look forward to visiting every nook and cranny of my Province, but for now I’m off to bed – Long term storage is arriving tomorrow. Anyone like to guess how many bags of garbage that will be.

Packers become Movers

2010-06-29T12:09:00.001-03:00

I’m exhausted, drug out and rung through the ringer, and all I did yesterday was run 5K and watch packers = pack my house. I didn’t lift a finger or offer up any lifting help – I just sat down and offered them coffee and cookies every couple of hours. (Well once an hour for three hours). I love to move, to purge, to clean and reorganize but I find the Pack/Load day to be the worse. Not that I mind people packing up my worldly goods – I just rather do it myself (and get the insurance coverage..). I find it hard to justify that we had two men fly up from Edmonton, stay over night in our Inns North (I’m hoping they shared a room) and then fly back this afternoon with all our goods on the plane. It would have been so much easier to allow me to pack up my stuff over the last couple of days and have it placed on the plane. Although, with that said I’m sure I’d be complaining about packing myself vs allowing someone to come in to pack for me. C’est La Vie…

So after all the curling brooms and 4-bags of dog food are packed we end up with 35 boxes, approximately 15 boxes less than what we arrived with. Like I said, I love to purge.

One big negative to all this, my house doesn’t feel like my home anymore – so I’m definitely ready to head to NS now! 4-days until we head home…5 days until I can grab a Grande Non-Fat Latte!

Trials Tribulations and ____

2010-06-28T02:08:00.001-03:00

As I sit here covered in dog-hair (Yoga pants love dog fur )I can’t help but feel a excitement burning in the pit of my stomach. I’m finally happy with the amount of clothes and accessories I have semi-organized in my two pieces of luggage. The movers arrive on the plane tomorrow and will spend at least an hour or two packing up my house. If I had to guess I would assume there would be at least 25-30 boxes full of household effects that will be making its way down from Kugaaruk to Nova Scotia. I use to feel apprehension with random strangers coming into my house touching my “stuffs” but not anymore, I guess it comes with the territory – once you get through your first Government move all the rest are just formality – something you accept and love, as you don’ t have to do it yourself. My favorite part of moving is the purging that I can get away with – I’ve thrown out so much stuff this weekend I have filled my garbage bin and still have 5 garbage bags sitting in my cold-porch. I’m sure over the next 24/48 hours I will fill a couple more bags of stuff that no one wants..or at least never asked for.

At this point, I don’t think there is anything left to do with regards to our official move South. We have all our move organized as well as our airplane tickets – we leave on Saturday! (I did a quick overview of our route in my last blog). Our house possession will take place a week from Tuesday, all we have left to do at this point is the final walkthrough and to pay for our down payment…Then we will have the KEYS! There is lots to organize with the actual house, we have started an Excel file which is basically 3 lists in one, trying to figure out what we need ASAP, not ASAP, what is in our household affects that have been in storage for the last 18 months. I look forward to having a big yards ale to get rid of all the “University” style furniture we have gathered over the years.

I have a busy week forthcoming, although once our household goods are packed and gone there isn’t much for me to do but do a major clean of the house. I’m not sure how much I’ll be blogging in the near future. We have Eastlink coming by our place on the 7th – so hopefully I won’t be away from the Internet for too long. I’m also changing the name of my blog..to Trials Tribulations and ____________. I need a new word that starts with the letter “T”. If anyone has any ideas, I would love to hear them.

Long Walk Home.

2010-06-24T13:27:00.001-03:00

I promised myself I was not going to do the official countdown anywhere, either on my blog or on Facebook but I’m biting at the rope that is holding me in Kugaaruk. Everyday is stretching into the next compounding the amount of paperwork that needs to be completed in order for us to be free. It doesn’t help that I’ve been having a fascination with any song that has the word HOME in the title – and last night while watching the NHL Award (Congrats Sedin!) one of my old favorite bands, who I saw by complete accident when they opened for Bon Jovi in Toronto 6 or 7 years ago (I know I’m getting old when I don’t remember official dates) – Goo Goo Dolls; and they just released a new song..HOME, CD is to be released the end of August.

I guess I’m not helping matters as I’ve been downloading all songs (that fit my genre of music) that have the word HOME in the title.

Carry Me Home - AC/DC

Home – Goo Goo Dolls

Home – Daughtry

Mama I’m coming Home – Ozzy

Home Sweet Home – Motley Crue

Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd

He calls Home – Candlebox

Home Tonight – Aerosmith

Long walk Home – Bruce Springsteen

Welcome Home – Metallica

Who says you can’t Home – Bon Jovi

**You really don’t realize how many songs have the word Home in the title until you start looking, but with that said…..

I haven’t blogged in over a week, with so much going on in my life I find it hard to sit down and put my thoughts in order. Should I be sad or happy…should I be happy or sad – it is a double edge sword. For so long I wanted out of this town, and I was almost willing to jump on the closest dogsled and mush my way out of town – but now that the time is rolling to a close I’m wondering why I wanted to leave so badly. It is funny how a stretch of nice weather combined with a relatively _uiet town makes you forget about all the shit you’ve dealt with in the past. The winters are long and harsh on the head. They can mess with your head – and no one is really to blame but yourself. Thank god we are moving in the Summer.

We are almost ready to book our plane tickets – we were very happy to see a direct flight from Edmonton to Halifax, although it is the red-eye, we should be able to get some sleep enroute to Halifax. It will be much easier on the dogs too – we leave Yellowknife at ~7:30; have a hour and a half layover in Edmonton and then onward and upward to Halifax where we would arrive in the wee-hours as the sun is rising at 6:30am. We haven’t booked it yet but it automatically lowers our stress. Our dogs are our fur-kids, we treat them as they were two legged vs four legged, well almost …they still have to eat out of a bowl on the floor. Sekaya doesn’t so much mind flying as she was kennel trained from day one, but Chakotay as he is getting older he is getting “set in his ways” and he prefers to have all four paws firmly planted on the ground. {I’m not sure he forgives Hughie for lifting him up last night to weight him….and low and behold, he has lost 5lbs! prior to moving up he weighted ~60lbs, he is now ~55lbs!}

He seems happy about the weight-loss

We celebrated Aboriginal Day this past Monday as well as Summer Solstice – I’m not a Pagan but I just feel a shiver of joy course through my soul on Summer Solstice.

Aboriginal Day - National Aboriginal Day is a day recognizing and celebrating the cultures and contributions of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

We celebrated by the guys getting dressed up in their finest and serving Hot Dogs/Juice/Cookies to the town and chatting with all the parents/kids that came along for lunch. It was a great time, but WOW the amount of people that turned out this year compared to last year was fantastic. It was nice to see the community come together.

*I’ll post some pictures soon, either on here or on Facebook.

I look forward to a few more blogs over the next couple of days – I’m hoping to get outside for some photo-walking over the next couple of days, I just keep waiting for the “perfect” day…

Spring 2010

2010-06-15T14:36:00.001-03:00

For those who are living south of Nunavut, I’m sure you are all shocked to find out that YES we still have snow on our ground, and on occasion we do get the odd flurry in June. However, to us Great White Northerners this is as much Spring as we will get– with Summer looming just around the corner. However, with that said the amount of snow still lingering around – I will not be surprised if there is still snow on the ground as we leave in July.

(June 8th, 2010 – approximately 4:00pm)

(June 8th, 2010 – approximately 4:01pm)

(Taken at 12:19am June 12th, 2010)

Things have been definitely warming up, when I can go for a walk with just my cap on my head and my gloves stored in my pockets not my hands – I realize that Spring is definitely here to stay. I look forward to warmer weather over the next couple of weeks – but I rather not have to deal with all the Mud – thankfully though, we have laminate floors throughout the house (minus the bedrooms, but those each have doors that can be shut). When I venture out this afternoon for a walk to the office to jump on the Elliptical – I will take photos to show how much difference a week of sun-like weather can do to really kill the snow piles up here.

I can’t wait for Summer weather, where I can sit on my deck with a grape popsicle in each hand (for the dogs of course) and bask in the warmth. [18-more days]

**Addendum – the better-half (or other-half) took the camera with him when he came home for Lunch; so there will be no “can you see the difference” photo’s taken today.

I’ve been Meme’d!

2010-06-11T13:09:00.001-03:00

I usually don’t do these things when asked – but considering Lindsay is within a snowball-throwing distance from my house, I better do as she asks of me.

1. Favorite age you have been so far?

I wish I could say that there was specific age that I keep in my memory recall so I can pull out random images when I need a little uplifting in my life, however, there is not. However, if I could turn back the hands of time I would love to be jetted back to a random age in the 20 bracket. I loved that inner-psyche battle of misguided youth vs young adult.

2. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be?

I would love to be fluent in Gaelic. I’m a huge Scottish-folklore history buff so to be able to speak the language of Morrigan, Dagda and Cúchulainn would be a great privilege. I’m hoping that now that I will be living in Nova Scotia that the opportunity may unveil itself and I’ll be able to take classes.

3. If you could have something right now, anything, what would it be?

A Grande Non-fat Latte from Starbucks and/or the same thing from Caribou Coffee. There are just some mornings my perked Tim Horton’s just doesnt’ cut it.

4. What is one aisle you always have to walk down when you go to Wal-Mart?

It has been so long since I’ve been in a Wal-Mart for pure enjoyment. Usually they are a hustle/bustle in and out – got to catch my plane in 45 minutes kind of visits. Although, now that I think about it the one aisle I always walk down would be the candle aisle – I hardly, if ever, purchase candles from Wal-Mart but there is just something that draws me to that aisle.

5. What is one thing your spouse/partner does that drives you crazy (don’t worry, we won’t tell:)?

There are a million little things that bother me, and he is quite aware of them, so I know he does them pretty much on purpose now just to see if he gets my goat. Although the two major things (I know you only asked for one) is…

1. Leaves the cover off the toothpaste 2. Fidler-Time

---------------

There ya have it, 5 answers that I’m sure I’ve mentioned a time or two or complained about in random blogs – but now I have just saved you some past-blog entry reading. I’m not going to continue this Meme – as I’ve only had one cup of coffee today and I can’t really think of 5 more questions to ask.

Home Owner

2010-06-08T17:36:00.001-03:00

It is hard to believe that in just under a week the snow has went from high and mighty to low and slushy; but with that said, I find it also hard to believe that in only a week I went from a home renter to a home/truck owner. (Although my husband would say that he is the official owner of HIS truck, I just get visiting rights..and I’m okay with that logic too)

We left last Sunday for the long trek to Nova Scotia – one that was made longer by the fact that we ran into some mechanical issues with our Air Canada flight leaving Yellowknife. We were pretty organized this vacation making sure we had plenty of time between layovers but a malfunctioning gas regulator on the plane had us scrambling just to get to Edmonton. I was very impressed with the Stewardess and the pilot for keeping us informed. The only negative aspect of the whole situation was that we were required to remain sitting on the plane for well over an hour without air conditioning. Normally that wouldn’t been an issue – it is Yellowknife, but the temperature was a sunny warm 23 degrees! After meeting up with Security three different times.. (The third time they were just making it “look good”..) we made it to Edmonton. Since it was mechanical Air Canada took care of our food vouchers (Mmmm party platter with way to many calories to even count) and our Hotel (Nisku Inn). So with all that trouble behind us; we left Edmonton early the next morning (Tuesday June 1st and made our way to NS)

We arrived in NS – I was nearly in tears with happiness; there is just something about the deep salt air combined with lush green trees and grass. We grabbed our rental and off we went driving off into a Monsoon. After a long wet trip (with a few hydroplaning incidents – I’m so glad that Hughie loves to drive) we made it to the Best Western Aurora. (Not a bad little place). With nothing left to do when we arrived we took a tour of the area as well as stopping long enough to hit up the local NSLC. I toasted with a bottle of Boones (I couldn’t believe they still made it…and it is still delish!) and Hughie was very happy to see Keith’s light – he basically did his version of the “Dance of Joy”.

We only had a few must haves with our houses that we were looking at: 1. 2-bathrooms; after getting the stomach flu (or food poisoning we are not sure) together back in January – 1 bathroom just isn’t enough. 2. 3-bedrooms – a must for all our friends that will be visiting us. 3. A completed basement – for Hughie’s Man-Cave. 4. Privacy.

The next couple of days are a blur, we saw 12 different houses on Wednesday and while some of the houses were a complete shock others were not so. I find it hard to look past all the fluff – thankfully Hughie is just the opposite so I’m thinking we complimented each other well during the day of house hunting. After much discussion (over DQ…yes another healthy lunch..mmm Calories). We cut our list of 12 houses down to two. We looked over my notes that I had took during our initial walk through and decided to take another run through our 2nd choice house (Our first house that we were really excited to see fell flat…quickly). After our 2nd walk through we were sold! Now we just had to finalize all the paperwork….and holy crap there was enough of it. Luckily they all seemed to take pity on the property virgins..and we got walked through it all nice and slowly.

The only one of the four must-haves that we faulted on with our future home was the privacy – we have a few neighbours and were are in a subdivision (a older generation). The final decision factor was the resale value. If we were planning on staying in the area for the rest of our life, then I could actually see us purchasing somewhere out in the country…but for now this will be the perfect little starter home for Hughie and I.

The house is officially ours – the SOLD sign should be gracing the sign sometime this afternoon/ tomorrow. I can’t wait until July 6th – when I can walk into my house and get to work decorating.

I would never recommend purchasing a house and a truck within a 72-hour period but it can be done with a little bit of luck and not giving into the growing frustration and hunger. I’m hoping that the next time we have to purchase a house, we have a least a full week to play with.

Oh, would you believe when we were flying back up to Kugaaruk after our exciting/stressful week we ran into Electrical mechanical failure on yet another Air Canada flight coming out of Toronto – luckily we didn’t have to spend the night, yet again, in Edmonton…. …..

Now that we are back I can relax and catch up with the laundry, because I know there is still so much more that needs to be done.

Lack of ranting and raving.

2010-05-25T13:19:00.001-03:00

There seems so much left to do and accomplish and when you put it in perspective of our remaining Northern time; we really don’t have all that much. I only realized yesterday while I was reading Newbies-in-Nunavut's Blog (Everyone give a big ‘hello’ to one of Nunavut’s newest bloggers, Lori – who will be taking over my little niche here in Kugaaruk). She has her countdown listed at ~38 days, which means considering that she wrote her blog yesterday and we are only staying a day or two after they arrive – it only gives us ~40 days to get everything packed, bought and organized….Why am I not freaking out! I was laying in bed last night, going over our t0-do list and it is extensive. The last time I had a list this large was my Northern-shopping list. Somehow I’ve developed some kind of weird mechanical-calming affect over this huge task ahead of us. I like to be prepared and organized, and while we are to a point – I should be pulling out my hair, ranting and raving about purchasing a house, truck, furniture, appliances and….well everything else; but I’m not.

Oh well, maybe I should stop ranting and raving over something I’m not ranting and raving about.

May 2-4 weekend has come and gone; and while the rest of Canada seemingly spent the last three days basking in sun and the water from nearby pools and beaches – I was bundled up against the chill that has been prominent in our air lately. This weather almost reminds me of early winter in the East – damp and cold. ( I guess I better not complain to loud then)

I have officially finished packing for our HHT – it is easy to pack for warmth and sunshine when you have neither here in Kug. Should be a whirlwind couple of days – lucky for us, pending on our decision – one of the hotels (lol pretty much the only hotel) in the area we are staying at has a Tim Horton’s directly across the street…. I somewhat doubt they have the Coldstone Creamery attached yet; but for now Coffee that I don’t make myself is all I need.

One year older

2010-05-22T16:46:00.001-03:00

Today I turn a year older, and as I look at the clock I’ve been officially 32 for almost 2-hours. Do I feel older..look older… ‘No’ on both accounts. Last year, I felt the need to hide for the day – this year not so much. I was scared to see/hear what last year held for me – and actually a few bad things did happen that warranted the “bad feelings”. This year, there are so many changes happened that I’m not sure what I feel at this moment, but at this second I’m feeling hopeful for the unknown.

Happy 32nd Birthday to ME!

Trials Tribulations and TREES?

2010-05-21T13:40:00.001-03:00

My so-called peaceful life in the North has been rocked into submission. We are vamping up our Southern mentality hoping to kick start it into gear. There is so much to do between now and July 3rd *give or take a day*. The HHT is all but planned; just waiting on the most important aspect – the relief member to even out the odds here in Kugaaruk. We spoke to our Relocation guys and have everything set in line with them – the best thing is that they do most of the work for us; they have a list of required Realtors, Home Inspectors (MIKE HOLMES PLEASE!) and Lawyers – so not knowing any of them ( luckily we are moving to a very “small” town – where everyone knows everyone and everyone’s business), we will pick the few that other Members have used before in the past. I love small town chatter (or call it gossip). Speaking of which, we are very thankful to have let Hughie’s parents know about our impending move prior to letting the cat out of the bag to the rest of the world. Hughie’s mom ran into two random (old family connections) friends at a conference in Antigonish – who mentioned off handed that they had heard through the grape-line that Hughie' was heading to Bridgetown to work…That could have been an interesting conversation. So now all we do is wait – wait for the final word to go on our HHT..and then buy a house…Wow, holy crap – I’ m going to be a home owner…Scary concept – I figure if my brother (who is 7 years younger than I) can purchase a house at the snap of his fingers and make a crazy awesome financial decision, that I can too! Not sure it will be so finger-snapping though.

On a totally related topic, I still make my bed in Kugaaruk (which, is still not made) so it wouldn’t be a northern blog if I didn’t bring up the fact that spring has arrived. To the local observer just passing by the town or looking at the photo’s I post you may think I’m a bit crazy – but when the snow starts to melt to the point of falling through where you didn’t fall through a week ago; and the snow melting and forming ice in the evening..you know Spring has arrived – there even is mud in some places.

A bit of proof:

Yes, that is both the oil-truck & front end loader stuck in the soft wet snow; a month or even three weeks ago you could walk on top of it like it was pavement. Needless to say this picture has a happy story, both were removed safely.

I don’t know how much I will blog over the coming weeks – things are going to be moving quite fast once we get the okay to head out on our HHT – but I have decided to keep a blog going even when I move to the land of apple cider and pie, it helps to voice my concerns and it is a easy way for my friends and family from across Canada to keep up with my day to day rambling. Maybe my new blog will be called “Trials Tribulations and TREES”

Home

2010-05-19T16:55:00.001-03:00

"Well I'm going home,
Back to the place where I belong,
And where your love has always been enough for me.
I'm not running from.
No, I think you got me all wrong.
I don't regret this life I chose for me.
But these places and these faces are getting old,

So I'm going home.
Well I'm going home.

Excerpt from “Home” by Daughtry

It is OFFICIAL – Hughie and I are moving back to the land of the “Bluenose” and we can’t be more excited about it. We are moving to Bridgetown/Middleton Nova Scotia also known as Annapolis Valley. (See arrow on Map) I am looking forward to sitting out on my deck (yes my new house has to have a deck ) and drinking my morning coffee and finishing off my day with a glass of white as I watch the sunset on my newest chapter. We are hoping to purchase a house on a lake or possibly the Bay of Fundy. We have lots to chose from, as it seems to be a buyers market right now.

There is still lots to do before we are ready to leave; although with our replacement coming in July we best place a fire under our butts.

I’m sure once I get settled in my new life that I will have time reflect on my last 18 months and realize it wasn’t so bad – don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate the north – I have some very fond and not so fond memories, I’m just hoping that once I get back down south I’ll be able to recall only the good and let the bad memories float down the Bay of Fundy on a raft.

However, the only thought I have right now is what country will I buy my first bottle of wine from (I’m thinking a Chardonnay from Australia).

*Anyone that wants to attend a Kitchen party, at any time just give me a shout – the beer will be cold and East Coast Music loud.

The bullet has been bit.

2010-05-08T17:37:00.001-03:00

I can’t believe how quiet things have been over the last couple of weeks. I don’t know what I was expecting, but after being away for a month you almost forget what your life is truly like living in the North, all you know is that you want to get back to your little niche in the North and relax after dealing with the hassle and bustle of your vacation alter ego. I have been slowly organizing my life, as I said in my last blog – I can’t believe the stuff I’ve accumulated over the last 18 months – while some of it is worthy of keeping, most is sellable. We are still waiting on “official” word with regards to our impending transfer out of the north so I’m keeping rather mum on that whole topic.

One thing that I forgot from last year is how fast we are turning into the land of the 24-hour sun. The sun sets now at approximately 9pm and rises at 2am. I’m hoping that the clouds stay away long enough so I can get outside tonight and capture the rise of the big orange sphere rising over our mountains.

Mothers day is upon us, as is the commercials for greeting cards and flowers. I’m lucky enough to have my Mom as my best friend; and know plenty other Moms that have the same relationship with their daughters. For all of them and all the Mom’s out there “Happy Mother’s Day

I finally bit the bullet and purchased myself and my hubby new pots-n-pans. We have been using the same pots since 1999 – during the time we spent in Fredericton. I happen to think these pots are fantastic; I’m not sure if I should use them or just place them on the mantel for display. I’ve ordered them from Paderno and got a fantastic deal: They were regular 799.99 on sale for 279.99 – and since the Frying pans were on sale as well, I had to order one– regular $99.99 on for $24.99. Paderno has some crazy deals, but you just have to keep your eye out every so often to catch them. I saved approximately $595.00.

http://www.paderno.com

lol I also purchased a Colander – aka Strainer – the last one I purchased was a plastic white one from the dollar store back in 1999. Yikes! – Paderno also has one big sale (correct me if I’m wrong) per year; last year it was in November where all their products on there website are on-sale. I did some Christmas shopping last year during that time; and I believe I only paid $10.00 for shipping. (They determine the shipping costs on the weight). For my purchase I just made I paid under $50.00 for shipping, which isn’t bad considering what I ordered. I’m not sure if they ship up North, as I ship all my products to my family back east – eventually, if need be, they will make there way up North via Canada Post at a cheaper rate than Purolator.

I don’t know how I will ever assimilate back into the land of shopping in malls; when I can easily sit on my computer in my jammies with my coffee sitting behind me and shop with ease and relaxation. I don’t have to worry about someone stealing my size or bumping into my coffee – all I worry about is whether or not Sekaya will try to steal my coffee when I’m off in search of the hubby’s visa number. I do look forward to shopping at stores where shipping fees are astronomical. My favorite store LUSH has crushed me lately making me order my products expedite therefore paying a arm and a leg for shipping fees. Thankfully and hopefully wherever I move will either have a store within driving/walking/jogging distance or at least cheap shipping via Canada post again.

I’ll take my leave now, but I wanted to pass along my favorite Mother’s quote.

“Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William Makepeace Thackeray

Windows are cracked….open

2010-04-26T13:24:00.001-03:00

Things have been relatively slow here, which explains the lack of updates lately. I have been spending quite a bit of my time organizing my life (aka house) and walking the dogs. The sun is too beautiful to stay indoors for long. As my facebook status says today, I have opened my windows. The snow has finally melted off my windows and now they are free and clear. The air smells so fresh and crisp (Sewage truck doesn’t come around this end of town until tomorrow) and I can almost see my house shake off the winter blues that it has been holding on to.

On a completely different topic, It is funny how you almost forget you are in the North until odd little things happens to you:

1. I walk both Chakotay & Sekaya separately for my benefit and for their own – it gives them some time apart and I don’ t have to look like I have rubber arms being pulled in two directions. There is a little girl who lives just down the street to me, who has taken to Chakotay (no surprise) and Sekaya (very surprising) however, that isn’t the odd little thing. She was playing with Sekaya (throwing her snow – but not getting too close) and she stopped looked me up and down a couple of times and then said “Where are your boots” – now I was wearing my North Face hikers – I was about to answer her, when I noticed for the first time she was NOT wearing mittens.

2. I was outside yesterday morning with Chakotay, while he was doing his morning constitutional I had a local lady come up to me and ask if I saw her missing dog. When I inquired when her dog went missing she said “I didn’t notice”…. So did her dog go missing two weeks ago or two minutes ago, needless to say I didn’t see her dog. I wonder if she “didn’t notice” when her dog returned… or if he did?

On another note, it is Hockey Playoffs – which means in my household hockey is on the television 7 days a week no matter which team is playing. However, with our team being the Vancouver Canucks we have been glued to the television for the last 12 days. Last night was nerve wracking to say the least but the Canucks were victorious – once again jumping all over the Kings in the 3rd period. The Kings played a heck of a game, and we will definitely see them in the Playoffs next season, Drew Doughty isn’t going anywhere.

Sekaya my little puppy is no longer a little puppy, she turned 3 on Friday. I didn’t do an official post about her birthday because in all honesty it only seems like yesterday I posted about her 2nd birthday. Although with owning two huskies comes BLOWING..hair blowing that is. Yellowknife has exacerbated the hair blowing – last year it didn’t start until the end of May. I have been dodging hair tumbleweeds all weekend as they filter down the hall. So I guess I am back to vacuuming twice daily to keep up with the hair. I look forward to the future where I will have a huge fenced in back yard,where they can shed to their hearts content.

This n That Vacation Photos

2010-04-13T02:24:00.001-03:00

Caribou Coffee, Mall of America - Minnesota

Caribou Coffee - Minnesota

Team Jackets - Timmins

Mine shaft – Timmins

Dressed up as “Bluenosers” – Timmins

New nose ring – Winnipeg, Manitoba

Chubbs – Markham, Ontario

Return to sender

2010-04-13T01:34:00.001-03:00

I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m sitting in my kitchen writing a blog – 30 days flew by. I know this sounds weird, but it feels good to be home. Living out of your suitcase for 30 days, even when you place your clothes into an available closet or dresser, is not fun after the initial excitement wears off.

This vacation was fantastic, although, we did lose a couple days due to flying, whether it was the flight from St. Lucia where we were stuck in the Toronto airport for 7 hours (3-hours of that was us carting around our luggage..blah!) and then sitting in the Edmonton airport yesterday for 6 hours. However, I will admit those hours did fly by with the help of alcohol and Starbucks/Second Cup coffee. I also broke my “sleeping in a airport virginity”. I dozed a time or two in airports, but yesterday after only 1.5 hour of sleep the night before I crashed on a bench for 90 minutes and snoozed quite comfortably.

I won’t bother with an official play-by-play of this vacation but I will give a few highlighted points for those who read this blog and not the updates I place on Facebook. (No particular order)

- Hair foils, waxing, manicure & pedicure. I have fallen in love with the Oasis Mineral Spa in Winnipeg as well as Cedar Springs Spa in Timmins, Ontario.

- Seeing the Manitoba Moose as well as the Minnesota Wild lose…brutal luck but the beer was cold and crisp.

- Palomino Club in Winnipeg…what a spot.

-Sourpuss (Raspberry & Green Apple)

-Manitoba winning the Championship, and knowing the only team they lost to in round-robin was NWT/NU! (Sorry Gary)

-Hospitality Suite with the added bonus of $2.00 drinks.

-Quarry Physiotherapy; Gimli, Manitoba

-Meeting the most charismatic cat, Chubbs.

-Ikea with Andrew & Laura.

-Mall of America – Nordstrom's, Victoria Secret, Yankee Candle.

-Wearing boots that are NOT Sorels

-Toronto Eaton Centre

-Winnipeg Polo Park

-The North Face store in Minnesota

-Bubbles replica

-I know I did the official blog post but..LADERA, ST. Lucia.

-Caribou Coffee, Starbucks, Second Cup & Tim Horton's.

-Seeing my dogs for the first time after vacation.

I can go on and on about this vacation, it was just that good – but then if I did that I should have just wrote a “play by play”. I’m glad to be home even with all the vacation laundry that has to be completed. They are calling for some nice “seasonal” weather over the next couple of days, so I’m looking forward to hanging outside with my pups taking in the fresh crisp arctic air. Our time is coming to a close and I want to take advantage of every nice day that I can. (No we don’t know where we are going…lol).

Ladera, St. Lucia

2010-04-10T22:35:00.001-03:00

I find myself sitting in the Sheraton lobby drinking a Sleeman’s Honey Brown waiting patiently for our next flight to Timmins, Ontario. Our vacation is half over, yet we still have 8 days ahead of us that will be filled with curling and hospitality suites. I’m looking forward to unpacking my luggage and having some non-wrinkled clothes. I am still in awe at how well this vacation is going – I know that may jinx us, but I’m willing to take that chance. I am however, starting to miss my fur-kids – it always seems to be about this time, when I have a moment to sit back and reflect on the last 20 days. We have been purchasing them little “treats” along the way so their homecoming will be as exciting for them as it is for us.

**Addendum: I’m currently sitting in Timmins Ontario watching Mtl vs Tor on HNIC, during our last night of CPCA curling. I started this post a week ago, I feel the need to complete the Ladera post prior to finalizing the rest of vacation.

Enough with the jibber jabber, I know you are all wondering how my big week-long all inclusive vacation to Ladera was. The easiest and best way to organize my thoughts is to rate all the major points on a scale from 1-10 (10 being FANTASTIC and 1 being CRAPTASTIC)

Travel - Ladera is a 45 minute drive from the airport [twisty & turns, so if you are prone to nausea from car-sickness take a gravol] – if you choose a package with Ladera most will cover the taxi fare – if not expect to pay approximately 80 (USD). Our taxi driver was fantastic and stopped along the way to allow us to take pictures of the Pitons from afar as well as other notable items. (I’ll post a few pictures once we arrive back in Kugaaruk). The taxi driver, Edmund who drove us back to the airport was equally as attentive and we had a great chat about deep-sea fishing and fish. (8.5/10)

Check In – Hughie was so out to lunch in awe over Ladera and the beauty of our resort that I handled the check in – that and he did/does enough paperwork while he is working so he didn’t need the added “stress” of more paperwork. They offered us cool facecloth spritzed with rose water & fruit punch (without the rum – the added rum part came later and it was DELICIOUS).

Resort - As you will see from the photo’s the resort maintains an open feeling with all rooms having a open wall to the outdoors *as you see in the photo below #1. We were complimentary updated to a two-bedroom villa. (We had booked a one bedroom villa)

Every room has there own plunge pool* as you see in the photo below . The pool was so warm at nights that it seemed like a giant bathtub; we even had to to turn off our waterfall on occasion just so the water would cool down slightly. I spent many hours in our pool; nothing is more refreshing that coming in from the beach and jumping into your own pool

Overall the staff went out of their way to help us, they were always asking if we needed anything, and that included keeping our fridge full of Piton beer and diet-cokes; and had no problems keeping the “lovely ladies” in my hands – I fell in love with coconut milk!

The best thing, was when we woke up in the morning we awoke to this. (Picture - Gros Piton)

This is what we went to sleep to every night.(Picture - Petit Piton)

We didn’t take advantage of a lot of “off-resort” festivities or tours; we were quite happy staring at our Pitons and drink refreshing beverages; however, we did manage to take a “Sunset Tour” and “Dolphin & Whale watching tour”. The sunset tour was fantastic, the beers were cold and the Skipper was quite knowledgeable about his Island. Unfortunately the Dolphin tour didn’t leave me with the same kind of euphoria. We did not see one Dolphin or whale, just flying fish.

Some photo’s from the Sunset Tour:

I could spend hours posting pictures of our resort, Ladera and St. Lucia..but I’m due at the hospitality suite soon. I promise to update more frequently and tell all about the CPCA-Timmins when I get back to Kugaaruk.

Dear Agony..just let go of me.

2010-03-12T13:29:00.001-04:00

Time is ticking down; the bags are packed the I-pod is charged and updated with all new travel tunes and cds. The only hindrance that can surface is the weather; and believe me, I’ve been watching the Government weather site like I was watching a Reese Peanut Butter Cup (reminder: No PB for 40 days.) In the last three days they’ve changed the weather 3 different times; cloudy, sunny w/cloudy periods and now SNOW. I wish I could explain how much I need out of this town, not just for my southern transformation which is to start on Tuesday, but for my Mental sanity – I feel myself slipping lately. I need a Starbucks to level out the chemical imbalance. I wish I could blame my lack of mental stability on SAD, but the sun has been beautiful the last couple of weeks and I’ve been enjoying it’s rays while walking the pups in the afternoon. I just think I’m so close I can almost roll up my first rim and I don’t want to wait an extra day.

So this is my final, “Going on Vacation” post – if I don’t get out of this hamlet on Sunday you just may hear the worlds largest curse word resonate through the hills and rocks. I’m hoping my next update will be from somewhere “warm” with a hot steaming cup of Starbucks sitting next to me, or better yet…a BEER

I’m not sure how I’m going to do anything for the rest of the weekend, my fingers and toes are all crossed…

*Title “Dear Agony” is currently playing on my IPOD – performed by Breaking Benjamin

Hangover

2010-03-02T14:26:00.001-04:00

I find myself flipping through the channels; 212, 400,406,407 over and over again – never settling on any one show or program. I can’t remember what I watched or what I did prior to the 2010 Olympics. For the last 17 days I watched CTV, TSN & Sportsnet religiously all hours of the day; and even found myself catching the replays of the events I missed during the day. I even miss BRIAN….[Williams]. I think all the patriotism that I was growing and expanding inside me has started to deplete and breakdown into a bitter aftertaste. I’m starting to get tired of hearing “Believe” and seeing, still, the Olympic commercials.. I wonder if Advil will help the Olympic Hangover.

Thankfully, tomorrow will be a day of curling up on the couch wearing my comfy clothes watching the TSN ticker and Sportsnet's coverage on the NHL Trade Deadline 2010. I’m hoping the Canucks are active, yet not to active. With Willie Mitchell possibly being out for the season and Bieska still a couple weeks away from playing we can use some increase coverage until they are ready and 100% healthy. If I had to guess, I would say Hodgson, Schneider, Demitra are going to be up on the trade block, but that is all just speculation.

This weekend also brings the first couple days of the Halifax 2010 Brier. “Its a shore thing…”…that always makes for some good curling and amusing ‘statements’ from my husband – who has played against most of them at some point in his curling career; and if hasn’t played against them he knows of them.

Although after the Brier and the NHL Trade Deadline is over, I’m going to be lost for those final few days until we are FREE…well free for 30 days. The vacation is 100% booked and planned – just need to compose a list of all our emergency numbers for the Kennel in Yellowknife and to leave here…just in case. Hughie finally ordered his curling shoes (and they are beautiful…lol yes curling shoes can be beautiful) as well as a new broom and bag. So now are just waiting; 12 more days until we are in Yellowknife rolling up the rim! I’ve started in on the weather network, I’ve said it numerous times that I’m addicted to checking the weather – well now I’m well into the 14 day advance window for Yellowknife, Edmonton & Winnipeg – so needless to say I’ve been driving myself crazy looking at the long range forecast – I should know and realize that after living up here that there is no controlling the weather…lol I suppose whatever I need to do in order to pass the time…

At least my dogs know how to pass the time until they are off for a month of relaxation and visiting amongst otherdogs at the kennel.

*Above* Sekaya with her Entourage (Pluto, Bolt & Baby – if those three dogs are not in the kennel with her she will go “looking” for them)

*Below* Snoozing in the sun-beam

*Below* Chakotay snoozing; apparently Sekaya felt the need to share her toys with Chakotay; but only as long as he is sleeping.

Hotels-✓Car Rental-✓Flights-✓Packing✓

2010-02-24T16:50:00.001-04:00

Vacation is almost upon us; 17 days are remaining in our countdown and we have everything officially booked and confirmed. We are just filling in the odd gaps with friends from afar and family outings. I can’t wait to be sitting under Connie’s hairdryers and enjoying the heavy feeling of a head full of foils.

As the title says, I’m even packed – or about 98% – we have some items coming from Nova Scotia as well as a couple of items from the states that I purchased to wear while on vacation. I find it fairly amusing that I’m packing swimsuits and shorts/tank tops when tonight we are suppose to dip down to –60 (with wind-chill). So for that very reason I have two bags; one for St. Lucia and one for the chilly State of Minnesota and Toronto/Winnipeg. I’m in love with my new duffle-roll luggage from Eddie Bauer; the color makes me smile (Rustic Orange) and it will hold all my summer gear (I have more summer gear than winter gear; how is that possible) and I have a second duffle Eddie Bauer bag for my winter-garb. I think that someday I will have to grow up and purchase real luggage; but until then I will enjoy my new rolling duffel.

GO CANADA GO!

I’m thankful for the Olympics and all CTV’s coverage to help pass my time during the day and evening. I’m very proud of all our accomplishments during these winter games and I wear my Red-Mittens & Red Olympic T-shirt with honour and pride. Sure there has been some controversy with regards to some of the events and the security but even that isn’t enough to snuff the Olympic Flame, or to stop some crazy Canuck from coloring his body and face red & white. However; the best thing I love about these Olympics is….. there is no CHANT!!! (NO Eh, Oh Canada GO!!)…I didn’t realize that the Olympics are sanctioned by COKE not Pepsi…so therefore there are no signs that depict the “New chant” or not that I’ve seen….or heard! I look forward to this evening; when I will cheer loudly for my Luongo and the Canadian Hockey Team when they take the ice against Russia. If I recall my history we are going on ~50 years since the last time we won against them in any shape or form (someone correct me if I’m wrong please)

We have finally got 100% go ahead on Police curling in Timmins this year; and I look forward to walking into the ice shed, grabbing a beer and cheering on my husband. He is at his best when he is on the ice; so confident and calming – I could only imagine how relaxed he would be here if there was a curling club…

I’m still running 4/5 times per week and thankfully have been hitting all my milestones that I’ve been setting for myself. This week my goal is to run between 30-35km and I’m half way to 30km and after tonight I’ll be over the 21/22km mark. I enjoy pushing myself to my limits and then going one step further. I’m hoping in two weeks I’ll be running between 40-45km a week; but if I don’t get to that I won’t be too bummed as initially my goal was to hit 35km; last week I ran 33km – so I’m only 2km from my initial goal. There is nothing better than jumping off the elliptical dripping in sweat and feeling the rush of adrenaline. It is that rush that keeps me going; nothing like perking up the endorphins in your blood to keep you smiling. Believe me, I need to keep smiling!

“Go Canada…Luongo Go”!!

Vanoc 2010

2010-02-19T23:02:00.001-04:00

After spending numerous hours over the last 6 months wanting and wishing for a pair of RED-mitts they finally arrived. Quickly too I may add – I only ordered them last Thursday night!

Go Canada Go!

*Don’t mind the flimsy gym hair..or the fact I haven’t had it cut or foiled in almost 6 months.

FurKids Part II

2010-02-16T15:05:00.001-04:00

It isn’t often the weather warms up enough to get outside and snap some photo’s especially bare handed – but today, if you look past the wind-chill, was only minus 14 (-14). So I bundled up, first took them for a long walk to tire them out some, and then I let them loose in their kennel for some photo-tastic fun. They truly do love each other but when they are outside there is only fun & fighting…take a look:

Nature at its finest.

2010-02-11T13:49:00.001-04:00

It is official, or as official it can get when dealing with the weather, we have our vacation approved. I’ve been pacing the floors waiting to blog and Facebook the good news to all my friends & family. Although I believe in Karma and I didn’t want to push my luck and speak out of turn too soon. 31 days until we fly out of Kugaaruk onward and upward to civilization and fresh hot perked Starbucks Grande Non-Fat Latte with a sprinkling of Twin sugar and cinnamon…oh god, I can almost taste it!

The highlight of our trip, is that Hughie and I have decided on a Caribbean All-Inclusive trip; after spending months and months as well as gigs of our upload/download speed we decided on St. Lucia as our Island. The biggest selling feature of St. Lucia is how it seems “out of the way” and it doesn’t seem to draw the “youngsters” like Jamaica or Mexico or Dominican Republic. [We looked at all three of those places and found some awesome resorts; for example: Montego Bay Sandals Jamaica – was our first choice until we heard and saw via youtube that planes are taking off pretty much on top of your head…they are that close].

The resort we decided on is called Ladera – it is situated on the side of a mountain with direct views of the Pitons. (Grande & Petit). Their website had this to say, and says it much better than I ever would be able to

“Taking full advantage of its natural surroundings, Ladera offers a unique design in guest accommodations. The 9 villas and 23 suites all have an "open wall" - the west side of each unit is left open to expose the breathtaking view, and the orientation of the buildings maintains complete privacy. The villas and suites are constructed of tropical hardwoods, stone and tile, furnished with 19th century French furniture or replicas, wicker and accessories crafted by local artisans. All units are decorated with local artwork and feature magnificent views of the Pitons and Caribbean Sea.”

This is one of the rooms located on the Resort, I will take plenty of pictures of our room when we arrive, I just wanted to give you a taste of what the rooms are like with their open wall concept.

http://www.ladera.com/

I’m looking forward to five-star Camping; and drinking little fruity drinks, and the best thing was that we got a promotional deal and a seat sale with West Jet so we managed to snag this for a reasonable discounted price!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a true Hughie & Tammy vacation if we didn’t hit up a hockey game. We are heading to Minnesota to catch the Wild verses the Blackhawks near the end of the month. We have our favorite hotel booked, within stumbling distance to the Xcel Centre. We wanted to do a Vancouver Canucks game but the price of the tickets were crazy, pretty much due to the fact that the game we wanted to go to was pretty much their first game back to GM Place since they left almost two weeks ago for their big long road trip due to the Olympics.

Although we are not going to be able to get back East for this vacation we are still going to visit Toronto to catch up with Andrew & Laura; it wouldn’t be a vacation if we saw no family. We look forward to catching up with them and having a couple days of downtime before we head off to Timmins for Police Curling for 10 days.

There you go our month broken down as simply as I can. There will be not as many flights as our last vacation, but just enough so we don’t start getting antsy in one location. We are spending our first week in Winnipeg with myself hanging out at a Physiotherapy clinic, Spa and Hair/waxing locations. There is nothing better than taking a week of downtime to bring yourself back up to snuff in the world.

Now I can take a deep breath and relax for the next 31 days!

28 days

2010-02-04T14:26:00.001-04:00

What???? Another 6-weeks of winter? What the hell… … wait a second, if Sam or Willie said we would “only” have another 6 weeks of ice and cold I should be and would be jumping for joy! Although, I realize that is pretty much false information for us Northerners, so much for getting excited. So I remain hunkered down for the next 3 months wearing my comfy worn Sorels and Toque-Scarf with matching gloves and jacket until the sun shines bright enough to start melting the snow off our windowsills. I was very much looking forward to February this year, January was just a down in the dumps kind of month – nothing major happened; just small little annoyances that got under both mine and Hughie’s skin. Hopefully this month leads to exciting blog titles and blog worthy posts. I’ve been running low on ideas, even heading out for a walk around to take photo’s have been hindered by the chilly temperatures and I’m not willing to freeze my fingers to take the gloves off to capture the daily grind. However, before I leave this town I’m wanting to walk around the town just taking pictures of whatever captures my attention; I got a million scenic shots but I want some reality, everyday shots so people can really see what life in Kugaaruk is really about.

Things are still up in the air with pretty much everything. We have been “planning” our vacation – booking our vacation slightly without touching the first week or last week due to not having an official date to leave. The dogs have been booked at the kennel but even that can be changed by a day or two…so we are still waiting on a definite “yes you have your dates” so we can book the first/last week – however if there is police curling then the last 10 days are spoken for and we will spending our time in the curling club in Timmons hanging out at the club (I can’t wait to smell the curling club…I know you may think it is weird, but all clubs have that ice-smell that just curls my toes in a happy-go-lucky way). I’m actually looking forward to sitting behind the glass going over the strategy and calls - “behind the glass curling” and visiting and shooting the shit with all the other members/officer’s and there significant others. Although if we don’t get to police curl this year due to circumstances out of our control then I’m looking forward to hitting up a concert at the ACC. Like I said everything is pretty much up in the air; usually we have our vacation planned out fully by this point but the Olympics are slightly messing up that plan.

I’ve been doing some major online shopping lately, thanks mostly to my hubby’s American Express! (I love aeroplan miles). I realized that I don’t have any “summer'” clothes – sure i have some shorts and t-shirts but nothing for a “dressy” 5 star resort. So I’ve purchased a couple of Summer dresses via Victoria Secret and some new luggage from Eddie Bauer. That is probably why we went over our 5+1(purchased) gigs two days before our “start over” day with Qiniq. I’m not sure what else I need for our vacation, I think I got a good solid foundation; and unless I find something that really sticks out then I’ll probably do the rest when I hit civilization. I plan on not needing that much clothes as I plan to sit in our pool, drink lots of Pina Coladas and catch up on some reading and movie watching. One thing for sure on this vacation I doubt will be landing “19” times – I think we are only planning on about 10-12 landings…which I suppose is a bit more than most people do.

I’m hoping these 28 days will give us some peace of mind and give us some closure on open story lines – until then we are as in limbo as we were in January. The only difference is that I’m not going to loose our camera case!

Patience

2010-01-25T13:19:00.001-04:00

There is one major item I’m lacking in life, and for those who know me will understand this completely. I lack patience. I check my bread at least 5 times while it is in the toaster – I check my cool water to hurry it along when it is placed on a burner. I’ve never been good with long waits or mix-ups, even when they are out of my control. So waiting patiently for something big and life changing to happen is “grinding my gears” to quote Peter Griffin. I find myself itching, waiting and hoping throughout the day to find out anything-something to appease the burning of not knowing. I know that I could be bringing on bad karma – that I may not want to know what the future holds; but I rather know something than nothing, whether good or bad. Although, with my lack of patience comes one large balancing stone on the scale – ‘Positivity’. That can be a huge asset in life, however, when it is pared alongside lack of patience it can be a huge mix-up in emotions at the same time. I suppose what it comes down to is that from my perspective, it is easier to learn patience but becoming positive when negative is a harder thing to overcome. I guess I’m just a complicated person.

On another note: The teams are set for the Superbowl (Colts verses Saints). I was wishing for Farve to win for no other reason except the man is 40 years old and as soon as his helmet comes off the ball-cap comes on, and I find that hilarious for some unknown reason.

The sun is starting to become stronger, I haven’t caught a peak of the sun up over the hill yet but it should be any day now. I look forward to seeing the sun, not that it warms up anything – but still seeing the bright sunshine can make you pretend it is nice and warm outside verses cold and …well cold.

(January 25th @ 12:40pm)

I think we have officially decided on a all-inclusive vacation spot for our next IPA – we haven’t booked it yet and we are just waiting on the good word whether or not the resort is available for the 6 days that we want it (6 days = promotion that the resort is offering). Once everything is booked and our vacation is approved I’ll give you all a peak. I’m interested to know what you guys think.

* I posted a question last week regarding Haiti and relief efforts, and I was told it was a bit “mean” by a couple of people so I removed the post, however, I just wanted to thank Clare for answering my question – your answer made perfectly good sense.

Goddess & God of the Royal Throne

2010-01-20T17:57:00.001-04:00

I wish drinking was the reasoning behind me being sick, then I could justify it and then say in self-loathing pity that “I’m never drinking again” only to drink again in a couple of days… however that was not the case and can’t be the case here in Kugaaruk. On Sunday evening, I decided to try a new product that M&M meats was offering, the Bistro Ricotta/Spinach stuffed Chicken Breast – at the time I was eating it I wasn’t sold on the product and I started to flick the green and white Ricotta on my plate while eating the Chicken. (Hughie on the other hand was enjoying the chicken with the added bonus of the green and white Ricotta). A couple of hours later after a hot bath I just started to feel “not right” like something was off-kilter, I was irritated-bloated and felt like I was on a ferry boat in the middle of the St.Lawrence. Needless to say Hughie was having the same feelings only x3. I haven’t seen Hughie sick like that in about 5 years, and I’m not sure I want to see him that sick again. Although, with him being sick, it gave me a chance to put my lingering stomach and bowel issues aside (I know TMI) and baby my hubby. He takes being sick as well as any other man does. Although I regret putting my “sickness”on the back burner as I still feel rocked today. My energy level reminds me of a newborn kitten all weak and tired. I did manage to eat a banana yesterday and then today shared a sandwich with Hughie, who is still feeling like he is fishing in the high-seas.

So that is where I have been over the last couple of days, curled up with my hubby under the blankets feeding each other liquids, mmm Gastrolyte, and watching Spiderman 1&2. We haven’t been able to force ourselves to watch Spiderman 3 yet….I suppose if we were sicker we could have. We tried to pass the time making conversations about our next IPA which is coming up in about 55 days (I haven’t officially started the countdown yet, as we don’t have a relief member lined up) however it is hard to make any solid plans when the person you are talking to falls to sleep mid-sentence…. lol, I suppose we should make those plans when we are wide awake and feeling better.

Am I the only one that finds it hard to believe the amount of dirt and clutter that gathers around your house while you are sick. I haven’t seen so many pj pants and t-shirts floating around my laundry pile in ages. There was 3 bags of garbage about 12 empty cans of ginger ale and two sink full of cups and glasses with about 6 cans of ginger ale still linger inside those cups and glasses. I’ve slowly spent my day today cleaning and disinfecting my house – I even opened my back door for a half hour just to get the stench of sick out of my home…although I think that is all in my head..it really doesn’t smell that bad with two vanilla biscotti candles burning and a peppermint plug in..but somehow the air just seems fresher now..

So there you have it, all those that emailed me to ask why I disappeared off the blogosphere here I am! Just gathering up enough energy to shovel out the dog run.

I promise that my next blog entry will be free of any germs.

Lost but not found

2010-01-12T19:58:00.001-04:00

It should be no surprise to folks that I’m having a hard time concentrating and feeling slightly “short” with friends and family. I chalk it all up to the fact that we “should” be going on vacation, if not already in civilization. This year the 2010 Olympics have caused a embargo of all vacations, transfers and anything else that may cause Members to be away from their posts (Mid-January to Mid-March). I definitely understand why those down south have to be more diligent with their vacations & transfers when a good chunk of their Members are already in Vancouver, or getting ready to be on their way to Vancouver to help prepare for the security they will need in order to keep the Olympians safe. However I can’t for the life of me get my head around why Nunavut is in a stand-still as well ….… Oh well, I’m just complaining and the light at the end of the tunnel is a long ways off – however we should have our Relief Member approved before the end of the month according to the new guy in that department; so maybe once that happens my frown will turn upside down and I’ll be my normal chipper self, until then I will continue to mutter under my breath and give beer commercials the evil eye. If I’m this bad at the 4 month mark without a vacation how will I be in 2.5 months from now..maybe I will hide my computer so you guys won’t be forced to face the wrath of Tammy.

As I alluded too in my last post we have lost our camera case, not the Camera itself (Thank god) but our charger, extra battery, USB connection cord & a USB PORT!! (with pictures of our wedding, niece etc etc etc…). We were told that a member of the Canadian Rangers picked it up and was too take it to the Herc to see if any of the VANOC members dropped a case; needless to say we’ve been in touch with everyone beyond this specific guy..lol isn’t that always the way. We are speaking with this guy tomorrow, pending he is in his office. Although if he doesn’t have it we are shit out of luck to knowing where it is – we placed a couple announcements on the Radio and at the school with the added bonus of a reward (Chocolate & Cash) and nothing has turned up. I will say that while we got no where close in finding our Camera case I will have to say that the members of the Flight Crew have been EXTREMELY helpful! I’m very appreciative of all that they have done for us considering the HERC broke down twice during their Vanoc Spirit Box deliveries (Once in Rankin and then in Whale Cove – where the Herc # 2 is relaxing and waiting to be fixed)…They only got back to Winnipeg/Yellowknife last night considering they should have been done with their trek on Friday…

(ADDENDUM: THE CAMERA CASE HAS BEEN FOUND!! )

With all my complaining I forgot to mention the most important part. The Spirit boxes arrived in Kugaaruk on Thursday, January 7th to a crowd of approximately 50 kids/adults at the school’s gymnasium – unfortunately rumour was circulating that some of the teachers were not aware of this celebration, however it was nice just the same having the amount of people there that we did. The Spirit boxes had hockey sticks, jerseys, soccer balls, lacrosse sticks, basketballs, baseballs, mitts, etc etc etc… what a great presents for the Hamlet of Kugaaruk to receive. Nothing like having two big cozy looking Mascots to help pass on the goods – it was like a second Christmas to our town! As you can see from the photo’s everyone was having a good time even when the themometer was bottoming out at about –50 (with windchill)

(Above: Miga & Quatchi (Vancouver Olympic Mascots)

(Above: Miga & Quatchi hitching a ride)

(Above: Watching the VANOC committee pass out the sports equipment from the Spirit Boxes…Hey there is me..yep I like Brown…)

(Above: She was an Olympian for Diving??..and the VANOC Committee guys)

Welcome back.

2010-01-11T12:22:00.001-04:00

I should promise myself and my readers that I won’t go on a huge tangent every time a big event finalizes. However, being that this is our transfer year all the big things need to be documented for posterity. So without further ado:

Sunrise: 10:15
Sunset: 12:00

The sun has officially returned to Kugaaruk. Unfortunately, due to the slight cloudy, windy and blustery-snowy day I won’t be able to take photo’s of the sun…

Oh yeah, I can’t take photo’s anyways because we lost our camera case (okay I lost our camera case) that has a fresh battery, charger and USB cable. I won’t get into the logistics of how it got lost or how the fact that we have knowledge that a person (we even have his name) flying with the VANOC committee delivering the ‘Spirit Boxes’ picked it up thinking it may have been one of their flight-mates camera case and now needless to say it is still MIA and we haven’t heard back recently from the above mentioned person or anyone else for that matter in the last 48/72 hours. Anyways I said I wasn’t going to get into the logistics of our lost camera case in this post.

Welcome back Mr. Sun…Welcome Back!

Eh O’ Canada Go!

2010-01-06T14:05:00.001-04:00

I have to say that chant has me cringing in my seat. Just hearing the commercial, seeing the signs and flags circulating the rinks just makes me want to cover my ears and scream “NO!!”. As much as I love being Canadian; I try my hardest not to say “EH” especially when I spend time circumventing the United States. So here we are placing emphasizes on the word I despise the most in our Canadian dictionary. I had and continue to have no problems cheering “GO CANADA GO!” It got our point across without making us sound like hick-backwoods- igloo living- dogsled driving Canadians. After watching the World Juniors for the last 10 days I heard more “Go Canada Go” verses the “Eh O’ Canada Go” I’m hoping people in their drunken stupor (you know it will happen) will break down during the Olympic Hockey games and go with the old proud & true chant “Go Canada go!”. I also wonder if Pepsi will get the million signatures they want on their website because of the new chant or because those million people will have there name [size 2 font] placed in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario Canada…

Now….The gold-cup game last night; it was a good game, I love the old rivalry Canada verses United States. However, if I had a bookie and IF I had the money to waste on that sort of thing (I don’t) I would have placed all my money on the United States to win. After watching they way they played during the NYE game and their quarter/semi finals to win their way into the Gold medal game ..Wow..they had the speed and the determination behind them, not just a legacy of 5 gold metals pushing them. Don’t misunderstand me, I was cheering for Canada and when we scored two goals in under 2 minutes at the end of the 3rd period I was floored! I just knew that it was just delaying the inevitable. I am Hockey Fan (GO VANCOUVER GO!!…Love my Lu!) so therefore I must believe in the Hockey gods…Outside all their speed and determination the American’s had. I had the sinking suspicion that the Hockey gods handed them this win to help promote the 2010/2011 World Juniors being held in Buffalo…

However, at the end of the day 2nd place for Canada isn’t a bad place to be, they still have a silver medal around their necks and the support of their Canadian Fans….who knows maybe we will win it back next year, or maybe the Russians will grab hold. Canada is a true hockey country; we will get it back again at some point….. I was always taught to share, maybe it is time for Canada to share too.

Klutz

2010-01-04T14:49:00.001-04:00

klutz Pronunciation: \ˈkləts\Function: noun Etymology: Yiddish klots, literally, wooden beam, from Middle High German kloz lumpy mass — more at clout Date: 1960 Definition: a clumsy person

I’ve always been known to bruise easily, with my pale skin that is pretty much a gimmy. I know that when I fall or slightly bump myself into a random object I’m going to see the outcome of that slight bump for at least a week afterwards. I think my klutziness all started when I was ~4/5 years old and fell over my big feet, or big shoes, either way you want to look at it, and jammed the bottom part of a Pepsi bottle into the bottom of my left hand. Needless to say I I haven’t seen blood like that until last night. I was all excited to be making my first ever Caramel Latte with my handheld blender, so I was going to change the blade until I realized the smaller blade would be to my benefit (quicker foam action). I started putting all the components away and I picked up the new freshly opened big blade to place into the cupboard and somehow, I pinched the blade slicing open my thumb just below the first knuckle (approximately a inch in diameter and about a blade deep – I looked at my hand and flicked it into the sink…blood everywhere; dang I hit a capillary – I honestly thought, and I should have went to go to the health centre for a stitch or two but no…I did not. I grabbed my first aid kit with the help of my concerned and helpful husband and doctored my own cut; after years of watching physiotherapist take care of severed fingers and severely cut tendons I have a slight understanding of bandaging. So after a couple of butterflies and 3 band aids I covered my cut and managed to make a pretty passable Caramel Latte.

The thumb still has good range of motion, and typing doesn’t seem to hurt at all so I know the tendon is still intact so I’m hoping that the healing will start now that it has been cleaned and bandaged again. Although I’m afraid that I’m going to be telling this story for years to come when people notice the inch sized scar on my inner thumb. [I would take a photo, but it is rather gross and still a bit on the nasty side].

I was hoping to get through the next 12 months without any noticeable scars, however, I should realize I am who I am, and no matter where I live I can never change that.

Unknown Possibilities

2010-01-01T17:10:00.001-04:00

I have been dwelling over whether or not to do a big New Years Day post and I think I’ve decided against it especially since I’ve been blogging for the past year. Last year when I did my big “2009” post I only had a half dozen [or a little more] posts to my name and I wanted to remember, for my own sake, the prior year especially the process we went through to move North.

Last night after a hearty NYE supper of Chicken Nachos & Buffalo Chicken wings with Hughie & Ian I came to the conclusion that while I complain about living in the North I’ve really enjoyed my time living in a settling that I necessarily will never see myself in again. However with that said I’m looking forward to 2010 and our transfer back to civilization. Things are still up in the air on that storyline, and considering the way things progress I’m sure I’ll have at least another 60/180 days, if not more, of sleepless nights ahead of me until we get our first of many pages of paperwork. I tend to worry about the unknown; those who know me may find that surprising as I tend to be relaxed and cool about all aspects of my life. The only time my stress comes out is when I settle down for the night and my brain starts to run with the “What If” questions.

So my resolution this year is to try not to sweat the “What ifs” and to let the unknown remain the unknown. With that said I’ve deemed 2010 the year of “Unknown Possibilities”.

So today, I start 2010 off with a hot cup of coffee and the Winter Classic [Go Boston!] with my best friend and my pups {Who are both sleeping on the couch in their little husky circles with their tails situated over their noses}. Who could ask for a better start to 2010.

May you all have a happy and safe 2010.

Until Next Year.

2009-12-30T14:13:00.001-04:00

Christmas 2009, Kugaaruk Nunavut.

(Above: Nativity Scene made by Emily Illuitok)

(Above: Christmas Tree sugar cookies)

(Above: Showing our love to Sekaya)

(Above: Chakotay’s favorite part of Christmas is the wrapping paper)

(Above: All done for another year)

Today marks a milestone.

2009-12-28T20:37:00.001-04:00

Today marks a first; my first Kugaaruk blizzard. I’ve been living here for almost 14 months and have yet to see an “official” blizzard, bizarre I know – I have seen blustery days with the added bonus of snow and some pretty crazy winds but today marks my first “official” blizzard, and the Weather Network agrees. Not that it means much, I’m still going about my day in a normal manner; Hughie is playing Dead to Rights and the dogs are vegging in their rooms after eating a hardy supper of Iams.

Christmas was a resounding success and I’m actually a little sad that this will be our last Christmas in Kugaaruk, a milestone that I though would have taken a lot longer, it only seems like yesterday we were celebrating the beginning of 2009. We did not have a repeat of last years sewage drainage issue which we are very thankful for; and we even woke up early enough to make our way to Christmas Day Mass at church. While we did not understand what they were saying, the meaning of it was not lost on us. We made it home with time to put the Turkey into the oven (Hughie even helped make the stuffing) and curl up on the floor with our cups of coffee and then glasses of Egg Nog & Chocolate Milk. We had a awesome time opening all our presents (THANK YOU Everyone!) we were spoiled yet again, as well we spoiled each other purchasing more than we necessarily need. I’m now the proud owner of UGG slippers (Sekaya has been warned repeatedly if she touches them I’ll make slippers out of her fur…..) and Hughie can wear his Roadhog-The North Face pants with honour; anyone that knows Hughie can understand why I purchased him those pants. We received plenty of BluRay & DVD’s this year, and we have been making use of them from watching Star Trek on Christmas Day Night and then Transformers II on Boxing Day. We still have Angels & Demons to watch along with the DaVinci Code but that will keep until the weekend (New Years Eve/Day).

*I enjoyed both Star Trek & Transformers II – however I will say that Star Trek held my attention to the point where I did not finish my Diet-Coke – that is how much I loved that movie. Transformers II wasn’t as bad as I thought as long as you watched it as a “action” film and not a remake of the 80’s cartoon.

100th Post – I wanted to make an official “OMG I reached 100 post” post…but why draw attention to just one random number, sure I have wrote 100 posts – it is only I who makes a big deal out of it; so after a publish this post on my blog I will jump up and down, twirl around and kiss my husband. … ….

So here is to the beginning of 2010…will there be another 100 posts before our time is up in the north?

Merry Holidays

2009-12-24T15:08:00.001-04:00

“First we'll make snow angels for two hours, then we'll go ice skating, then we'll eat a whole roll of Tollhouse Cookie-dough as fast as we can, and then we'll snuggle.” – Buddy The Elf

I’m prepared and ready to face the big day! My presents are wrapped, my turkey is defrosting and my tree lights are glistening against a backdrop of a winter wonderland. I would start the official “Here Comes Santa Countdown” but I wouldn’t want to warn the naysayers to his arrival down south – I mean, who wouldn’t want to try to catch Santa on Christmas Eve….

I can’t wait until later this evening when I can curl up on the couch with Hughie and our cups of steaming peppermint hot chocolate to watch Scrooge (1951) and our yearly tradition ELF. We may just have to add in Garfield’s Christmas; as we both seem to miss it this year when it aired on YTV. This is my favorite time of the year, not because of the gifts and all the commercialism but because of the family time that Hughie and I share together. We are hoping that next Christmas we will be able to share that time together with our extended & immediate families back home, however until then we will just enjoy our time together with our two little fur kids.

May all my readers have a SAFE and Happy Holiday Season.

“It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms... and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me...” - Buddy The Elf

Warmth

2009-12-14T21:45:00.001-04:00

My husband has excellent ideas, so this one was no surprise. As you see from my previous posts we are fanatics when it comes to “real” Christmas trees. So this year we decided to take it one step farther and purchase a tree for the community. Thanks is especially due to Hughie’s parents, since they made it possible.

The tree arrived on Friday and today it was passed over into our hands – we were stumped about where to ‘donate’ this tree. We were contemplating where it would get the most use without being picked on by little tiny fingers…lol cause you know it does happen, especially in a community that doesn’t have any real trees around. So after deep thinking on the subject we have decided to donate the tree to the local Catholic Church. We are heading over their momentarily with the tree!

I love Christmas!

Addendum: That has to be the most heart-warming thing I have done since moving here, We are thinking about making this an annual donation.

The Christmas Tree & Fur-Kids

2009-12-14T16:36:00.001-04:00

The excitement of a real tree isn’t only for us “adults”, our pups have found this Christmas tree enchanting and mesmerizing. I can only imagine how it will be when we put their gifts underneath this weekend.

Since we have decorated the tree it has lost its attraction, every now and again Sekaya will walk by to hit a bulb with her nose or to give the tree a sniff but that is all. They haven’t even tried to eat the candy-canes. I’m sure Chakotay is just counting the minutes until the tree is placed in his kennel outside after Christmas.

10 days until Christmas Eve

Tree lights glistening

2009-12-12T23:18:00.001-04:00

I made my first batch of “Hugh’s favorite Chilli” this evening and I have to admit it turned out pretty well. I always find it slightly scary when I make a dish for the first time, especially when we are having a guest over for supper. We have a relief member in our community for the month and I like to try and feed them at least a hot meal once a week. I can only imagine what they are feeding themselves. I’m already looking towards a big spaghetti supper next weekend and then of course we are looking at Christmas Dinner. He is also a big coffee drinker so lingering and chatting over a pot of coffee with the tree lights glistening relaxes us into a slight stupor – luckily cheering on hockey is waking us up…I suppose the caffeine buzz is kicking in as well.

I can’t believe Christmas Eve is in 12 days, I officially finished wrapping my Christmas gifts. I swear I only cursed a half dozen times, but Hughie wasn’t here so I didn’t have to add a dollar to the swear jar. I love Christmas but I truly hate..almost despise wrapping Christmas presents. However, Leo had a hard enough time finding me wrapping paper so I knew looking for Christmas bags was going to be almost impossible. I look forward to making my Christmas sugar cookies next weekend. I’ve decided to play Cookie-Santa and deliver my cookies around town on the 23rd during their coffee breaks – I plan on making about 60 Christmas Trees. (Red n Green). I’ll take photo’s of my mound of cookies next weekend.

Otherwise there really hasn’t been anything new to report – the weather is definitely warming up, but with that being said they are calling for some snow over the next couple of days (2-5cm). I, for one cheer snow, anything to cover up my yellow spots that are scattered around my back yard. I also enjoy shovelling!

*Smile List*

- The upcoming snow being forecasted so my yard will look all fresh and white.

- Having a typical Hockey filled Saturday night.

- Seeing Chakotay walk in the house last night after a run with Hughie, all smiles and walking with his tail held high.

- Howard winning over Stoughton. (Looking forward to tomorrows game verses Martin) Go Howard Go!

- Having my chilli turn out.

- My Christmas Tree

- Yule Log Channel w/ Christmas Carols.

Seasonal Bliss

2009-12-11T13:04:00.001-04:00

This to me is relaxation. I don’t care if a single gift gets placed under my tree. I woke up this morning, at 7:20am (thanks Sekaya!). I poured myself a cup of coffee, turned on the television to the Yule Log and flicked on the tree lights and just took in the peace and quiet and seasonal bliss.

Shipping Blunders take…6

2009-12-09T18:37:00.001-04:00

Well, Hughie just walked in with the LOST yoga mat, the one that was deemed “lost in transit” (sound familiar) … …. …. I really have nothing left to say about the whole thing.

Shipping blunders …take..5

2009-12-09T17:30:00.001-04:00

Well apparently UPS’s manage was on vacation for the last 6 weeks in Yellowknife. I just got off the phone with them in Yellowknife where they are waiting for a $2.02 payment in order for me to receive my DISNEY store purchase. According to UPS that parcel has been there since November 3rd, 2009. When I spoke to UPS the end of November, looking for that parcel, they couldn’t tell me where it was and I was to speak to the shipper in order for them to divulge more information.

Disney’s customer service was awesome, they spoke to UPS and it was deemed lost in transit and they reshipped me the same products, but this time I was smart enough to have them sent to my house on PEI.

So…wow..I’m just speechless over the whole thing. Why they held the Yoga mat is beyond my knowledge. I can understand the extra duty on my Disney parcel it came from the States but why didn’t they call me on November 3rd when it came in verses sending me a letter stating I owned the money, which came from HALIFAX, NS. They called me today looking for their $2.02……

Electrically Charged

2009-12-08T13:35:00.001-04:00

I’m not sure what has been going on at our Electrical plant here in town but we have had some small power-surges and power outages over the last couple of days. I won’t lie, the power outage we had on Saturday night was great – it flicked on and off for a good hour and a half with outages clocking 10-15 minutes in length. So Hughie and I lit my candles and turned the switch on our camping lantern and enjoyed each others company. Although I’m not sure he has the same opinion of the outage. I kicked his butt twice at Crib (I’m not sure he’ll ever play me again) and at Scrabble. Although, in his defence when we are down to the last of our letter chips and he is stuck with Z, Q, A, I, I what can you do. I on the other hand was forming 5-6 letter words throughout the game. I guess I take after my mother – she is the Scrabble Queen in our family.

The most recent outage was this morning, luckily my coffeemaker is programmed to go off at 8:30am, so we had hot coffee. I was in the bedroom making the bed at 8:59am (so I would have a spot to store my clean clothes before I put them away sometime this evening…I hate putting away clothes) and everything just went dark and all I heard over Chakotay whining (he doesn’t like the sound of the fire alarm beeping when the power first goes out) was OOPS! I thought Hughie did something at first, what I don’t know, but in retrospect his OOPS was just that he forgot to tell me, prepare me, that the outage was happening this morning. So I got him out the door and off to work and I curled up on the couch to read Twilight (again!) and eat my PB on Pita. It is a great way to start the day, even with the lack of sunlight. Nice and quiet (now if I didn’t have my coffee maker set I, and Hughie would have been bears)

With that being said, I was a little worried about the power being out this morning considering we are under a wind-chill warning in Kugaaruk:

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Wind chill warning for Kugaaruk
Extreme wind chills developing this evening. This is a warning that extreme wind chill conditions are imminent or occurring in these regions. Monitor weather conditions..Listen for updated statements.
Brisk southwest winds will combine with temperatures near minus 40 to give extreme wind chill values below minus 55 this evening and overnight at Kugaaruk. The extreme wind chills will continue into Wednesday as little change in temperature or wind speed is likely.
At these extreme wind chill values frostbite on exposed skin may occur in less than 2 minutes.

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I hope these conditions don’t last, I have a couple of steps that could use a good shovelling. I don’t mind the cold, but when it reaches –50/-60 I rather just keep it nice and toasty. Although the power outage was suppose to last an hour, after 42 minutes the power was up and running and I was still nice and warm under my blanket drinking my coffee and watching the snowmobiles fly by house (god they must be really really cold).

So last night, I finally said enough was enough – we have been stock piling gifts for our friends & family over the last couple of weeks with the last of them coming in just a couple of days ago. Hughie and I trekked to the office with all our boxes and proceeded to wrap them and address them. Unfortunately for us, Leo did not order in any wrapping paper this year, as he had a hard time selling it last year, so we had to make due with brown postal wrapping paper! lol, but we live in the North so it is to be expected. Thankfully my mother is a Christmas genius so she is sending up Christmas wrapping paper for me! My mom is awesome! We are hoping to send them out on today’s plane, as long as it arrives. I’m not so much worried about the adults receiving their gifts on time, as long as the kidlets get theirs before Christmas.

(Chakotay being a ham – he knows there is a Gingerbread house on top of the fridge!)

16 days until Christmas Eve!

Best find those long-johns!

2009-12-06T15:49:00.001-04:00

I admit it, I’m slightly addicted to knowing the Weather. The first site I check in the morning is the same one I check at the end of the night. The weather network. I need to know which parts of Canada are getting a snowstorm/blizzard (Sorry Maritimes) and which part of Canada are getting warm toasty weather. I always need to be aware of the temperature outside my house on a hourly basis. For example today is: –26 with a wind-chill of –36. This is the normal as of late, however looking a head a few days I’m seeing temperatures of –40 to –50 (that is without wind-chill) which means this December is right in line with December 2009. I experienced some of the coldest weather of my life last December and it looks like it will be the same this year.

As of December 5th, we are now no longer having sunrises & sunsets although if you look outside you can see the lingering rays of sun trying to filter around our hills. However, they are not very strong and dissipate quite quickly. We will now be without the sun until mid-January.

We are still in the process of planning our vacation; we would go through a TA but we’ve heard so many ghost/horror stories about TA’s gone wrong. I know it would be easier especially if something goes wrong – that we would have an escape goat to throw things at but I think we decided to plan this vacation ourselves. I figure if we can plan and enjoy a vacation where we landed 19 times in a run of a month we can plan one that finds us sitting on a beach drinking Mimosas and Pina Coladas. We are slowly adding to our list of top 5 locations; and once we get it finalized I will post them for some general feedback.

Christmas season is finally here! I have done my major Christmas cleaning overhaul with the hope to do one more before our Christmas tree arrives (My FIL: [Family-in-law] sends us a Nova Scotia REAL Christmas Tree…Love it!) I’m definitely ready to have my tree up and decorated. I finally received my Gingerbread kit from London Drugs – so I got decked all out in my most comfy purple pj’s and set to putting my house together. I decorated one years ago while living in Nova Scotia and I loved it however when decorating a Gingerbread house in Kugaaruk you have to realize that the dryness works against you. (I still have a bit of structural damage to the roof but I think I covered it well)

(The finished product)

(That is a little-gingerbread man hiding behind the tree with his Keith’s red drinking them while his wife knows no better in the front of the house)

Christmas show list: [That I’ve watched up until December 6th]

Blizzard
Shred The Halls
The Grinch
Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer
All Dogs Christmas Carol

Merry Holidays!

Smile List

2009-12-03T16:59:00.001-04:00

First off I have to admit I did not think up this fab-tanstic idea. I was being nosy per usual and I happened upon this wonderful idea from a fellow blogger who finds herself far away from home.

I’m going to attempt to make this a weekly or bi-weekly event, it will help pass the time as well make me really think about what I’m truly thankful for.

So without further ado

The beautiful frost that is covering every available surface outside – including myself after I walked the dogs for an hour this morning.
The full moon that seems so big you can just reach out and touch it.
The Yule log on Channel 285 (BellTV).
My husband who just does the most unexpected things and the way he justifies things makes me wonder why I should be surprised about the unexpected things.
My family and their Christmas present secrecy rules
The Mini-Wheat's Commercial
My huskies who never stop amazing me. (Sekaya and her hamster like fascination for the toilet paper roll – which is a very new occurrence and Chakotay is no longer fighting over Hughie’s spot and is content to sleep between us)
White Christmas – it may be cold, and the snow may be as hard as pavement but we will still have a White Christmas.

I think I will go and decorate my house a little bit more, somehow I’m feeling festive after thinking about all the things that make me smile.

21 Days until Christmas Eve.

*NOTE: I write my blog on “Windows Live Writer” and it transfers to Blogspot. So the pretty little flowers are really numbers. I’m corny but I have limits.

Why quiet isn’t always good.

2009-12-01T17:47:00.001-04:00

(Above: Sekaya: This is what a quiet husky does when you are not paying enough attention to her and yes, the toilet paper was attached and she was pulling at it like a little gerbil)

Water Woes

2009-11-30T13:54:00.001-04:00

It is almost like someone doesn’t want to me start “Christmas Cleaning”. I got all my products together, lined up on the counter and then I sprinkle some happy dust [Arm & Hammer dog & cat carpet deodorizer] on all my carpets (happy because it helps lift up the dog hair 10-fold). I have to be quick though, some how Chakotay developed a fetish for licking that stuff off my carpet (yes I realize how that sounds) but it is true, I sprinkle – turn my back and when I turn back around there he is having a mid-morning snack. Gross – so needless to say I can only sprinkle one room at a time, vacuum and then proceed to the next room thankfully I only have a couple rooms.

So I start a load of laundry, and for some reason I seemingly have about 5 loads (between two people that is a lot), however, since I’m CC’ing I want to wash all dogs bedding and my own. I managed to get one load of wash complete and in the dryer before I ran out of water! Blasted! Although I wish I only said that..Luckily I set the coffee maker before bed last night, and still have a full Brita-system in my fridge for the dogs drinking water.

So I’m sitting here, dusting, vacuuming and placing the odd little Christmas decorations around my house. Things are slowly coming together..but by god just don’t look at my laundry room.

Enlisting your help:

2009-11-27T13:15:00.001-04:00

My lovely-darling husband and I are planning an all-inclusive for our next vacation; and I believe I have him on the fence now about where to spend our time kicking back with umbrella laced drinks.

We are stuck trying to figure out a location; up until recently we were 100% decided on St. Lucia and we still are on the St. Lucia fence but I’m willing to widen my horizons to check out other locations in the Caribbean.

So my question to all my fellow bloggers is do you have any negative or positive things to say about your all-inclusive?

The only two guidelines I have is that I would love it to be a “Adult Only” resort, or at least a resort that offers partial restrictions to anyone under the age of 18 and a nice soaker tub where I can throw in a lush bomb and relax with a glass of wine and kick back to the sounds of waves crashing the shore.

We are not booking anything until after Christmas as we are still in limbo about our official dates. So any help you can pass along would be awesome and very much appreciated.

Tis’ the season.

2009-11-24T19:32:00.001-04:00

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Getting kissed under the mistletoe or in the snow?

Well since I live in the Arctic where you couldn’t find a piece of Mistletoe if your life depended on it. I would say snow. (Did you know that Mistletoe can be used as poison)

Santa or Rudolph?:
They come as a pair, no choosing.

Stocking or presents?:
I love stockings as you never know what could be hiding in the very bottom.

Egg nog or hot cider?:
Both, however I prefer my nog with some Rye or Rum; although I’m in Kugaaruk so neither is available.

Decorating the tree or putting lights on the outside?:
I love decorating the tree, with Christmas Carols playing in the background with an open box of chocolate nuts.

Snow ball fight or snowman?:
Snow is only snowball/man snow here in Kugaaruk very very early in the winter..September. So neither at the moment. I’ll just have to make due with Frosty the Snowman.

Open presents quick or slow?:
As a kid I dived under the tree with my brother & sister and went crazy, I’m now more refined and we take turns opening our gifts.

Fake tree or Real tree?:
I grew up with a fake tree and it was awesome but my husband has since converted me to a Real tree and you can’t beat that smell.

Red and White Candy Canes or Colorful Candy Canes?:
Well since we bought Sour Watermelon, Sour Peach and Peppermint candy canes, I will say “All of the above”

Get up early or sleep in late?:
Depends on what time we get to sleep

Old Christmas Movies or New ones?:
Love them all, nothing beats the classics: Scrooge & Miracle on 34th Street…but I love The Santa Clause & Elf

The Grinch movie or Elf movie?:
Both but as I said above, I love to watch the ELF movie, it is our Christmas Eve Tradition

White Lights or Colored Lights?:
I prefer white lights on a house, and colored lights on a tree, as long as they don’t blink or flash.

Do you put up a Christmas tree?:
It is on its way from Nova Scotia!

If so is it fake or real?:
As real as a Nova Scotia tree can be!

Do you put lights on the tree?:
yes – last year we had a Vancouver Canuck colored tree.

How about popcorn and cranberries?:
Nope, the dogs would be snacking.

Christmas Movie?:
I’m a sucker for them all.

Christmas Song?:
Winter Wonderland

When do you open your gifts?:
Around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, after the Turkey is in the oven.

Do you like wrapping gifts?:
I’m addicted to Christmas bags, I dread wrapping presents.

Do you make Christmas treats?:
yup, I love baking

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Online shopping Limbo

2009-11-23T12:49:00.001-04:00

It seems like all our ‘good’ luck with online shopping has been fizzling over the last couple of weeks (excuse me for a moment, Sekaya just dashed into the spare room with one of Hughie’s slippers). So first we had the mishap with UPS and my Disney store purchase. Then my exercise mat is stuck in the land of limbo in a warehouse in Yellowknife, or so UPS says.

The most recent item of merit is London Drugs. We purchased a lot of Christmas Treats, stuff we really don’t need, although we did order candy canes that will taste like fuzzy peaches and sour watermelons. Yum! Anyways, the problem was that I ordered a Gingerbread house – I love to be artistic and unfortunately for me I haven’t had the gumption to put pen to paper or pastels to canvas in a good many years, so I figured this year I would play with my artistic side and decorate a gingerbread house. There was NO gingerbread house to be found, although, according to our shipping list manifest there should have been, they also failed to produce a couple other things as well. (If I list them, you would definitely think my blood is made of pure sugar, but in all honesty the house is for me and everything else was for the Mr.)

However with that said Customer Service has won out again, I was on the phone with them minutes after opening the box and they promised to check it out and get back to me. Well it was Friday night, I didn’t expect to hear from them until today or tomorrow (Monday or Tuesday). Needless to say they called last night on a SUNDAY to help rectify my Gingerbread house mishap. They are reshipping the lost products. They were quite interested to find out that the box was not tampered with or open prior to arriving here in Kugaaruk.

I’m a stickler for good Customer Service, no matter which company that I call or deal with. I guess that comes from years of working in the Customer Service world. I worked the Toys/Seasonal department at Zellers for almost 4 years in my younger days….yikes I just realized how long ago it really was! There is nothing worse than bad Customer Service, although I’m sure I’m one of the few that realizes that everyone has a bad day or a bad call and sometimes you are just the lucky person to talk to that person.

Christmas is almost here! We got the call yesterday (although our phone lines sucked here last night from what I was told) our Christmas Tree is ON ITS WAY! Yippee!! I pulled up the Christmas Decorations last night from the crawl space and put Dawson and Brookie’s Christmas presents in a box last night getting ready to ship it off to the Island. I’m officially done shopping for Mr. Fidler, the dogs ordered him one more gift last week so we are just waiting on that to come in. I still haven’t purchased anything for my parents or my Sister/Mark but they are just getting back from a whirlwind shopping adventure in the States so I was waiting to see what they came back with.

31 days until Christmas

*Addendum: According to UPS my Disney stuffed toys for the pups will arrive on PEI and in my mom’s hands tomorrow.

*Addendum: My Yoga mat has been lost in transit according to UPS somewhere in Yellowknife, being refunded and we need to replace the order.

Happy Birthday

2009-11-19T15:06:00.001-04:00

(Above ~ Approximately 6-9 months old) – The photo that made me fall in love with “Mickey”. *Name was changed to Chakotay the day I knew he was mine* I saw his face on an animal rescue site and I was head over heels. Chakotay has been my protector, and my best friend ever since.

(Above) He was ours the second he walked into our apartment, he claimed us as his “people” and left his hair all over the place. Needless to say that hasn’t changed.

(Above) He claimed my papasan chair from the moment I brought it in the house, the big comfy cushion was just too much to pass up.

(Above) He was very happy to have a little sister join his family.

Happy 6th Birthday Chakotay!

Have a magical day!

2009-11-18T19:09:00.001-04:00

I don’t know if I should or shouldn’t be surprised that it took over a year for a parcel to go M.I.A. I purchased Sekaya & Chakotay stuffed Disney toys for Christmas (yes I spoil my dogs)..A stuffed Bolt dog for Sekaya and a Dale (Chipmunk) for Chakotay. According to UPS-Canada it arrived in Yellowknife on November 4th and left Yellowknife via an air service. From that date - no one knows where that parcel could be, it is like it disappeared into thin air. Although I have a hankering that it is wrapped under someone else’s tree. (Although I definitely have NO proof of that).

I have to say I’m very impressed with the customer service I received from the Disney Store Online. I emailed them a generic “Help me” email at 2:30pm this afternoon and by 3:10 I had a reply. They contacted UPS and it was deemed that my parcel was “lost” in transit. Therefore they were issuing me a replacement order. Learning from my first MIA mail I was smart enough (or not smart enough, as I should of done this the first time around) I’m having The Disney Store online send my parcel to my parents place on PEI. Who will then stuff the presents in the generic brown box they will ship to me for Christmas. There is definitely something to be said about being wished a “Have a magical day” that just instantly cheered me up after this ordeal.

The next step is to find my Yoga Mat that Hughie ordered me from Costco that should have arrived approximately 2 weeks ago. Working out on my living-room mat leaves little indentations on my upper back/body…freaky looking but still annoying.

I look forward to Christmas 2010 when all I have to worry about is parking spots, finding a coffee shop and my Christmas list.

Spam

2009-11-17T13:47:00.003-04:00

No not the lunch meat in a can but the Spam known as Email-worms. This morning I log onto my hotmail account only to see approximately 10 “undeliverable emails”. Excuse me? The only time I use hotmail is to receive invoice and the occasional family response. From what I can see and my limited experience I have been hit by an Email Worm. Blasted!! I wonder if the people expect individuals to call the International #? If they don't, then why, is it just to slow down hotmail’s servers?

In all honesty, I’ve been a member of Hotmail since 1997 and this has been my first “hack” into my contact list. I have to admit that is pretty good. Lucky for me my husband has a knack for computers so he will figure this out.

So, once again I apologize to all my friends & family that received this spam-email from my account. It wasn’t my intent to make you purchase products that probably don’t work, smell bad or just cost too much money.

*Addendum
1:52pm
I can't believe how bad my grammar/spelling is when I write a post pre-coffee. Yikes!

Gingerbread

2009-11-16T15:13:00.001-04:00

I didn’t see the sun rise today, however, as I look out my kitchen window I can just see the dim glow over our ‘mountain’ as the sun sets. It is a blustery-snowy typical day here in Kugaaruk with one main difference, it isn’t –20. I was able to take the dogs for a walk today in just my pants, no long-johns or ski-pants. I enjoy the extra freedom, although jumping in the snow with Chakotay and Sekaya tends to be a little on the chilly side.

We are now more than half way through November. Christmas is sneaking up on us faster and faster. I have officially finished most of my shopping, although like I said in my last post I still have a couple more presents to go. I wish I could make my days go faster, I love December and the Christmas season. All the presents around the tree and the Christmas carols & cartoons on the television. It is hard to be glum about the lack of sunlight when you have Frosty learning life lessons in his feature film “Frosty the Snowman”.

In order to boost my Christmas spirit I ordered a Gingerbread House Kit from http://www.londondrugs.ca. The rule of thumb if you want to order from London drugs is to make sure you first don’t go over 10lbs (shipping up to 10lbs is $29.99 – Over 10lbs is $39.99). The second rule of thumb is to use up your 10lbs of shipping weight to make it worth while to pay that shipping fee. They have a vast collection of Christmas Treats. So I managed to wrangle Hughie into the chair and let him go shopping. I’m not a huge Christmas Candy fanatic however Hughie is. So with my Gingerbread House Kit we purchased the mandatory Christmas Nerds, Mint Christmas M&Ms and a few other things. They also have a Christmas Decoration section, however most items are breakable. If you do wish to look at their site, look at it daily as some products that “are not available at this moment for online purchase” do come available.

I’m just biding my time before I start decorating my house, now that Remembrance day is past I can officially start humming Christmas Carols. I am even becoming antsy to wrap Christmas presents, and I HATE wrapping presents…. I know..surprising considering I’m a huge Christmas fanatic.

I’ve recently ordered a couple of presents through different sites that I normally wouldn’t. Once they come in I will be sure to add my thoughts and opinions on their shipping and handling. Until then…

Punch Buggy – No Punch Backs

2009-11-08T19:39:00.001-04:00

I have fully immersed myself into the world of Christmas Shopping. I started early this year, as my source of income is now dry and cracked beyond repair. Although; with that being said, I do have access to other funds, I just rather use them on myself! I only have a ‘few’ more gifts to purchase (My parents & my sister and her “better” half). I have a few things to send back East for my niece and nephews and then I can sit back and wait for the Christmas wrapping paper to be placed on the shelves at the co-op so I can start wrapping. I still have a few gifts in limbo somewhere between point A & B so I’m not in any rush; and Christmas is still a month and a half away. So no need to worry yet.

After a long process of thinking and dwelling over the what ifs and if nots.. I decided to get both the H1N1 injection and the seasonal FLU shot this year. I think the deciding factor was that we don’t have access to respirators and ICU’s if the situation called for them. So on Friday afternoon we all made the huge trek to the school gym (a 2 minute drive away). After waiting in line for what seemed like hours – at one point I thought I was sitting in the same chair for two hours; and in retrospect was only an hour of my time. (The clock in the gymnasium was not set back an hour). It was finally my turn. The needles were quite painless, however my left arm where the H1N1 vaccine was placed feels like I played “Punch Buggy” while sitting at a beetle bug convention. Nothing that a bit of Advil couldn’t cure, however for whatever reason I haven’t gotten up to get one yet, I call it a bit of laziness on my behalf. It is funny though, that no matter where you live there will always be people complaining about the way things are run. I’ve seen plenty of news broadcasts with regards to the way things were run in the south regarding the immunization clinics, I happen to think that things were nicely run in our community compared to those clinics down south; I much rather waste an hour of my life here in the north in a line up verses spending upwards to 5 or 6 hours in a line up down south.

The weather along with the sun has been progressing towards the land of 24-hour darkness. The air has turned dry and crisp, making you feel like a popsicle after only a couple of minutes outside; however, with two huskies you really don’t have much choice but to get outside…

Here are two pictures so you southern readers can see what I see when I look out my window.

Oídche Shamhna

2009-11-01T16:57:00.001-04:00

Meaning : The night of Samhain

Samhain (pronounced “Sauwain”) – The autumn equinox. As Beltaine (May 1st) marked the beginnings of summer, so Samhain recorded the end. Samhain was celebrated with ritual bonfires and is the origin of Halloween. The Celtic year began with Samhain at the end of October, a time of deliberate misrule and contrariness. It was also thought to be a time when the dead could return to warm themselves at the fires of the living and when poets were able to enter the Otherworld.

Halloween pumpkin lanterns may have originated with Celts’s customs of placing the skulls of ancestors outside their doors at this time.

“Decoding the Celtic. Revealing the legacy of the Celtic Traditions, Claire Hamilton & Steve Eddy.”

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Last night was the beginning of Samhain. On my bucket list is to go to Scotland, but if I could put an asterisk next to it, it would say “Go during the celebration of Samhain”. I’m deeply in love with Celtic history with all of its lore and mythology and I have Michael Linkletter to thank for that. He was my Celtic professor at STFX (6/7 years ago). Since that class I’ve read everything that I can with regards to their deep history. Someday I hope to return to study the Gaelic language and divulge my time into taking another Celtic History course. However until then I will bide my time reading my Celtic Lore, History & Mythology books

Meanwhile Halloween in Kugaaruk is over and the kids are probably holding their bellies after consuming all their treats from last night. We gave out suckers, skittles – starbursts, goldfish crackers and tootsies pops. It was a great evening and over all we had approximately 110 kids, unfortunately we didn’t get to see a lot of costumes, half the kids were out in their winter garb considering it was –35 with wind-chill. We did get to see plenty of face paint that turned the kidlets into mice, cats, clowns and scary creatures. We also had a couple of furry animals grace our door early in the evening; a very adorable puppy & bear.

We thought about heading over to the Hamlet for the Costume Contest however it was damn cold out, and considering we spent a considerable amount of time there last year we felt that we wouldn’t see anything different. So Hughie and I decided to kick back with a couple of good “old” horror movies. Pet Semetary and Night of the Living Dead. Two classic horror movies that still had my skin crawling. I’m just glad we don’t own The Ring. It was a great spooky evening.

I came to the realization that we must live in one of the safest Trick n Treating locations. The whole town knows one another as does the kids and the chances of someone tainting the candy is not even thought of. As a child I was never allowed to eat “homemade” candy that was given out the doors however here I saw fudge, popcorn balls and squares in the bags of the kids . There are also no pumpkins in town for kids to destroy no hay bails to burn and eggs are so expensive kids don’t buy them to throw at doors and cars. It is nice to wake up in the morning look out the window and see nothing; in Selkirk you would see Toilet paper, destroyed pumpkins and egg shells spattering the roads and sidewalks.

I hope everyone one had a safe Samhain.

I’m not sure if it is too soon for this but…54 days until Christmas Eve.

Like it was yesterday.

2009-10-31T03:03:00.002-03:00

October 31st, 2008 a very tentative and slightly nervous woman walked off a First Air flight onto the snowy tundra not knowing what the next two years would hold.

That’s me!! I was that tentative and slight apprehensive woman and today marks my one year anniversary in the GWN (Great white north). I like to think the North hasn’t changed me, but I know that it has. I’m not the same nervous apprehensive woman I once was. I hate to say I’m more abrupt and abrasive but I do border on both of them, however, on the other end of the spectrum I’m more open and friendly towards people I hardly know and that is a huge change as I use to be very sceptical about new people; judging the book by the cover.

I also find myself thinking about things that I normally wouldn’t be thinking about if I was living down south.

1. Water truck…In a happy good world the water truck would arrive like clockwork 3x per week. The world we live in is not always happy and good.

2. Sewage truck…will it arrive today; and must remember to flush the toilet in case they suck my tank dry.

3. Wednesday = Fresh produce day; the best time to go is when school is in session and preferably when it isn’t the hamlets or the co-ops payday.

4. Starting Christmas shopping in October because you never know how long you’ll wait for your shipment to arrive.

5. How I can put on enough layers to keep out the –4o weather and still manage to get some outside activity.

6. How long until my next IPA (Vacation)

I like to think I’m older and wiser and I’ve grown in leaps and bounds in the last year, but really I think all I’ve learned is that I can dust my woodworking everyday and there is still hair that collects immediately after. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining about living in Kugaaruk. I wouldn’t change a thing about the last year, well okay I would…but that can be saved for another time and place. I couldn’t ask for a better hamlet to be living in for our two year posting. We have beautiful landscaping and post office that runs consistent and clear open water with a fresh smell of salt that permeates the skin on a cool summer day.

I’m not going to rush the next year, although I know without doing so that I will be. I’m a Southern girl at heart and while I love living here and all that it entails I’m looking forward to being back in civilization where I can get my Starbucks with my Chapters with a side order of Futureshop without making do with perked coffee and the internet.

Losing the sun = October 30th, 2009 @ 2:00pm

Bring on the long stretched out winter, I think I may even enjoy this one.

To inject or not to inject.

2009-10-21T12:49:00.001-03:00

Unless you live in a hole you would have heard about the newest news frenzy and the subject of my blog today. H1N1. The virus was/is highly contagious and infectious. Therefore the need for a vaccine was pushed through the conveyor belt and is now approved for public inoculations.

I have never been one to receive a FLU shot. I can’t even recall getting a FLU shot as a child. I did receive all the required inoculations as a child; Measles, Meningitis, your required baby & young child needles, and to this day I have no clue what they were for. I have worked in the “Medical” field for the past 5 years and had direct contact with both the young & the old. I will admit I did contact the FLU on the odd occasion, but I never said “I wish I got this years FLU shot”.

I’m on the fence about this upcoming injection. I like to think I have a fairly healthy immune system. However, the fact that I live in a isolated community is slightly concerning. Although, I’m a neurotic hand sanitizer and washer and I admit I’m a compulsive Lysol cleaner. Should I be concerned about the mutation of this virus, and we all know that it will mutate especially when everyone Tom,Dick & Harriet will be injected with the vaccine.

Will this become as common as the FLU shot; and if that is the case, do I really need to protect myself when I can build up a natural immunity.

What do you think? To inject or not to inject?

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I read an article today on the cbc.ca website, and this section caught my eye, does this mean that we are going to be human guinea pigs. “Canadian trials began this week

Worldwide trials of the vaccine began in September. Canadian vaccine trials started this week.A German trial involving 130 adults looked at the new vaccine itself. Several other trials involving more than 45 million people looked at various components of the vaccine, including the adjuvant.The Canadian clinical trials will look at 2,000 people at 30 sites across the country. The main goal is to determine which dosage of the vaccine, with or without the adjuvant, will provide the best immunity to the general public. Groups being tested include seniors, aboriginal people and those with compromised immune systems.The Canadian trials are useful for several reasons, said Dr. Ben Lasko, clinical director of Manna Research in Toronto."We can make changes on the fly, because we're going to have our data coming back to us fairly quickly," Lasko said. "Secondly, H1N1, I think, is going to be around. We expect that perhaps next year there will be some mutations of the virus and we can adjust the dosage next year for its use."The Canadian data will be valuable as immunization campaigns roll out, public health officials say. In about six weeks, the data will help inform regulators here whether some people may have to come back for a second shot to develop immunity.”

Autumn has returned to Prince Edward Island.

2009-10-15T12:54:00.003-03:00

These two adorable little kidlets are none other than my niece & nephew. There are moments like these I wish I was able to fly back and forth from Kugaaruk to home on a moments notice.

Thanksgiving

2009-10-11T17:37:00.001-03:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends & family.

There is something relaxing about the smell of turkey roasting in my oven, the smell is inviting me to curl up on the couch with a good book and a glass of wine, unfortunately we live in a dry community, therefore a glass of red cranberry juice with a splash of Sprite will have to do.

I’ve decided to follow in the footsteps of other bloggers from around the world and of course my fellow Nunavut Bloggers and post a couple of things I’m truly thankful for: (No specific order)

1. My family: Both my immediate family and extended family. I love you all.

2. My friends: While we don’t see each other near enough for my liking. I think about you everyday.

3. My health: For all my friends and family as well as myself. You should never take your health for granted.

4. Good food: Coffee, Chocolate, Pumpkin Pie *YUM* the three things that get me through the cold Kugaaruk winter. (Warm pumpkin pie with whip cream & caramel mocha-lattes)

5. My Huskies: They keep me sane on the cold winter days and they always know when I need some cuddling and comfort. They are my everything.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~Aesop

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History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(Canada) (For all my American friends)

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean. Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations by Europeans in North America. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, in 1604 onwards also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their First Nations neighbours.

After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763 handing over of New France to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year. After the American Revolution, American refugees who remained loyal to Great Britain moved from the newly independent United States and came to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. The first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year, but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year. The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed each year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In its early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.

After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred. Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays, and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed: “
A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.”

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Online Shopping Review

2009-10-08T19:01:00.003-03:00

(This is one persons opinions of the below mentioned stores)

Bath and Body Works – When I learned that they shipped to Canada I was floored to say the least. I fell in love with this store while shopping in the states two years ago. Their anti-bacterial pump soap has been gracing my bathroom/kitchen since then.

Negative: Shipping costs changes with your purchases. The more you purchase the most you pay for shipping costs. For example: $35.00 in product (Christmas soap for bathroom, candle and a free plug in) cost me approximately $14.95 for shipping. The costs for shipping is very reasonable for Northern standards, I just wish they would set a standard straight up fee for shipping, even it if was a bit on the high side.

Positive: They offer more than the store does on their website. You can find clothes, socks and dog/cat products. As I mentioned before I’m a lover and purchaser of their anti-bacterial line of soaps and their shampoos. They don’t test their finished products on Animal and the smell of their products is quite true to the actual name of the product. (Items: Candles, soaps, shampoo & conditions, herbal, lotions, socks, trinkets, and some clothes (they run a tad small so check out the sizing chart)

Rating: 3 1/3 stars out of 5

Best Buy -- I have yet to purchase anything from this store, and I usually use it as a tool when shopping at Futureshop to determine which site has the better price. Up until now, Futureshop has always had what I needed. However, I did notice that Best Buy Canada & Futureshop must use the same warehouse company considering when Futureshop did not have something in stock at the warehouse neither did Best Buy. … Coincidence, probably not. They are also offering the free shipping promotion after you spend $39.00 *before taxes*

Cabelas *American* -- While shopping in Minnesota we were told by our friends to check out this store, not just for their products but for their displays of animals around their store. They did not disappoint. We spent hours in this store just looking at the displays and then we noticed the sales and “gear” they had to offer. This online store has the same products that you would find in the store.

Negative: This is an American site, and therefore you have to convert all the prices of the products to Canadian funds.

Positive: They have an excellent selection of Under Armour, The North Face, Columbia and Cabelas name brand items. They are all reasonably priced even with the conversion. I purchase off this site quite frequently and have found shipping to be quite organized and arrives within the allotted time the cost for shipping is approximately $14.95 I believe that is a standard fee as I have been never charged anything less or more. Products arrive approximately 14-20 days from the shipping date. (Items: Hunting & fishing gear, brand-name clothing, camping gear and accessories, and a great Bargain Cave)

Rating: 3 3/4 stars out of 5

Cabelas *Canadian* – I can honestly say since S.I.R was bought out from Cabelas I have not shopped off their website. They are still in “building” mode and don’t have the products I am looking for. I would make the assumption that shipping would be direct from Toronto so it would shave off some of the wait time that you would normally have if you shopped from the American version however I can’t say that for sure.

Chapters - I spent a lot of my afternoons frequently visiting this store back home, however the lure of Starbucks was a huge plus. However when you read as much as I do, you need to take advantage of this store from the online perspective.

Negative: On the odd occasion they don’t have the products that you are looking for, and if you purchase a toy (large) or select board games you don’t qualify for the free shipping. I also wish their packaging was better – there are times I receive my books and I wonder how they didn’t fall out of the satchel type envelope they arrive in.

Positive: Free shipping when you spend over $39.00 (before taxes). Shipping has been good to me, I receive my orders in approximately 14 days from the shipping date. Usually the date they quote me on the shipping receipt is a day or two later than when I actually receive the package.

Rating: 4 1/4 stars out of 5

Costco – Well we all love Costco however I find walking around the huge warehouse store a little frightening since I never know what I’m going to walk out with and now I find that same feeling returns when I click on the website.

Negative: I wish you would be able to purchase food items on Costco, outside the gift baskets and the odd treats you find around holidays.

Positive: Free shipping on (most) products. I have yet to find a product that I needed that was not free shipping, however with that said I have never needed a big item. However, I know of people that have ordered large items with no shipping costs. The shipping estimates and arrivals are very accurate and the boxes are well packed and secure. (Items change on occasion, however you can find pretty much what you are looking for, and if you don’t find it, check back frequently)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5

Futureshop – I am an avid music and movie watcher/listener so I have this site bookmarked as well as keep a record of the upcoming movies/music I want to purchase. I use this site more now than I ever did..the reason why is below.

Negative: I have found lately that when you want to purchase an item that has just arrived in stores you are unable to purchase it without a wait due to the product being not available in the warehouse. I had to wait approximately 2 weeks for a new box-set to arrive at the warehouse prior to it being sent out.

Positive: Free shipping over $39.00. I don’t know how long this promotion is going on for, or if this is something that will be long term like Chapters. However, approximately a month or so ago I saw the “Free Shipping” ad and I have been taking advantage of it ever since. I complained above regarding stock, however due to the fact that I waited two extra weeks for my product – my products ordered were shipped to me via expedient mail verses regular mail at no additional cost. (Items, DVDs, BluRays, Music, small kitchen appliances)

Rating: (Before F/S – 2 1/2 stars out of 5) (After F/S – 4 1/3 stars out of 5)

Lush Canada – Love, Love, Love this store. I found this store while walking through the Toronto Airport however I didn’t purchase any products until moving up North.

Negative: The products (Bath melts & bombs) can be a bit on the expensive side if you don’t break them up into halves prior to using them in your tub and/or shower.

Positive: The warehouse for Lush is based out of Vancouver, therefore most if not all of my orders have arrived within 7 business days. The items are not tested on animals and are all-natural and vegan based products. The selection is very vast and the products smell heavenly. (Just ask, and I’ll tell you a few of my favourites). The products arrive well sealed and packed. However they will discourage some items in the summer due to their ability to melt. I have not had a problem ordering these types of items especially living where I live. Shipping fees are very reasonable and I have not paid over $12.95 for an order. I placed orders approximately twice a month. (Items: Bath bombs, Shampoo & conditioner, Toner tabs, Bath Melts, Bubble bars, massage bars etc)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5. (Yes I truly LOVE this store)

Rocky Mountain - I have personally not used this store for shopping, however my husband has. They have an excellent clearance section that we frequent every now and again. Since I did not personally order from this site, I’m not aware of the shipping protocols. I will say that we managed to order a pair of Columbia & Under Armour sandals for under $40.00 – Shipping included last spring.

Roots - I did not visit this store a lot while living in civilization. However, shopping for men clothing online is quite hard, so I have found myself shopping at this site frequently especially around Christmas time.

Negative: They have a limited amount of products. Their website does not have near amount of the clothes that you would find in their store.

Positive: They offer $5.00 shipping as random promotions especially around Christmas time. They also ship your purchases in recycled paper and offer you the “Green” aspect of shopping both in their clothes and wrappings. (Items: Men's & Women's clothing, accessories, baby gear)

Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

The Body Shop – I have not personally shopped from this website, although I do find myself searching around it from time to time.

Negative: The Canadian site shopping section is very hard to find, you have to search the website to find the little “store” icon. I have heard in passing that when you purchase an item you have to wait to see the shipping receipt to verify that you got the item “on sale” – I’m not sure how I feel about that. I personally like to see the sale items listed before I charge it to my credit card.

Victoria Secret *American* - One of the best “Women” stores out there. I can still remember walking into the store in Minnesota thinking this isn’t like LaSenza back home.

Negatives: This is an American store, so of course you are going to have to do the dollar conversions to Canadian dollars. Their shirts and comfy clothes run a size large, and from what I hear – as I have yet to purchase – Jeans and pants run a bit on the smaller size. (Someone correct me if I’m wrong please)

Positive: The catalogues that you receive for purchasing off their site almost always offer you some kind of discount which offsets the amount of shipping and handling that you pay to have the product shipped to you. I have not had any problems with the shipping department however I usually receive my products somewhere in the 3 week mark. They have a great selection of clothes and they have some great clearance items. (Items: Everything from sexy to comfy with the option to purchase clothes, shoes, accessories and purses!)

Rating: 4 3/4 stars out of 5

Well.ca – The online drugstore.

Negative: ….. …… ……

Positive: Free Shipping! and everything you need at your fingertips without having to sealift 20lbs of deodorant. Their shipping always has the personal touch and they seem to genuinely care for their customers. I have personally spoke their customer service rep on numerous occasions just so they can verify that I got the correct items. I also love the personal touch of the “Thank you for ordering with us” written on the order in pen after it has been filled.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Whole Sale Sports & Winnipeg Outfitters -These two stores I have not ordered from however I have placed them on my list with the hope that I will be ordering from them soon. When I do so, I will add my thoughts about the store and their shipping procedures. I don’t frequent their site to know much more about them than that – however I have personally walked into their stores in Winnipeg and enjoy them in that respect.

Fur-Kids

2009-10-05T14:24:00.001-03:00

Sekaya

Chakotay:

Brotherly & Sisterly Love:

The Top Ten Reasons

2009-10-05T13:09:00.002-03:00

Many people today are celebrating one of the best birthdays around. The Birthday of Alexander Keith – the maker and founder of ALEXANDER KEITHS BEER [Those who like it, like it a lot!]

However, Today is the day I married my best friend, I know that may sound corny to some, however that is the truth. My husband is my best friend. We do almost everything together and not just because we are “duty” bound by a gold or titanium band on our fingers. We do have our moments when we get on each other nerves and we would like nothing better than a 5 minute window of solitude but who doesn’t from time to time. But at the end of the day we curl up in our bed with our two fur-kids and we realize how lucky we are to have each other. (Yes I know I’m lucky, even when you don’t put the tooth-paste back in the toothpaste holder or leave your dirty sock lint on my freshly vacuumed floors… )

Anyways, when it came time to figure out a gift to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary I was stumped and had to think long and hard. What type of gift to you give someone to show them that you appreciate and love them unconditionally…. ….

When searching online, the traditional gift giving option is “Cotton” while the more modern aspect would be “China”. If you really truly know Hughie you realizes that “china” would be a lost cause as he doesn’t speak Chinese or washes dishes. So I guess that means I went for the “Cotton” traditional gift. I thought about it, I mean a man always needs new clothes and especially warm ones where we live, however my Husband is far from traditional especially ones that span thousands of years; don’t get me wrong he has his “traditions”…like HNIC on Saturday nights and drinking his morning coffee just to name a few…but some traditions like “Cotton” needs to be broken. So I went for a more sensible gift… NHL2010 for the PS3 (Now you are wondering, OH MY GOD you just gave away his surprise…lol, he 1. Does read my blog because he lives with me 24/7 and 2…He is at work drinking his morning coffee reading cbc.ca/canada and doing his email [Yet another Hughie tradition]. . . . Now if Canada Post would only get their ass in gear and get it here then I could give it to him… …

So with that said

The Top Ten Reasons Why I Love My Husband.

(No specific Order)

10. We both think “Vertical Limit” & “Cabin Fever” stole precious moments from our lives that we will never get back.

9 He taught me all about hockey, CFL & curling..sports that I now love and curse along with him.

8 He puts up with my constant travel banter “Do you have your passport…drivers licence…boarding pass..”

7 He doesn’t complain or rolls his eyes when I go all googly eyed over Vin Diesel and Chris Daughtry. *Love my bald men*

6 He will kiss me goodbye in the morning, even with my BAD morning breath.

5 He always holds my hand so tight and never lets it go when walking in a strange place and when he does let go I know I’m safe and protected.

4 He is almost always right and even when I think I’m right.. I’m usually wrong …and he will listen to me fight my cause regardless of how winded and drawn out that fight may be.

3 He loves all animals big and small and will fight against those who hurt them. (While living in Manitoba, we walked home - 30 minutes away; while driving his truck at idle, a 13 year old husky who wondered away from his home just to make sure he got home safely)

2 He is very sensitive and has the biggest heart of anyone I know and with that said he also has a wicked sense of humour that has yet to get us into trouble…

I could say something really corny here like “You complete Me” or “You had me at hello” something that we’ve all heard a thousand time but I’m willing to keep it simple.…

1. The top ten reason why I love my husband, is because he loves me.

Honourable Mentions: We listen to the same music, enjoy the same taste in movies, we cheer for the same sports team and curse the ones we don’t, we drink oodles of beer together on vacations and hold each other up after we do..except when we forget our hotel key and you leave me in a hall way to take druken pictures of myself ….. yikes!….we can walk around Chapters for hours and not buy a thing, we can walk around Futureshop for hours and buy LOTS… … …

Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary Hughie!

Winter is nature’s way of saying, “Up Yours.” – Robert Byrne

2009-09-21T14:11:00.001-03:00

September 21st, 2009 at approximately 10:30am.

Mentally prepared, I think not….

2009-09-17T13:12:00.001-03:00

I’m usually a cool headed cucumber, I don’t worry or fret the small stuff or stress out at the littlest sign of defeat. I take everything in stride…but there is one thing I wish I could control… SNOW. Now don’t get me wrong, I love snow and a good snow storm. However…….

Last night, Hughie and I walked home from an evening of workout (boy am I stiff this morning, first official work out since returning from vacation is rough). When we walked outside the detachment we were greeted by white cold little flakes falling from the sky. Now, I don’t know why this surprised me, as we had snow on June 21st (First official day of Summer & Aboriginal day) and a few days of flurries since we returned, but this snow was different. It was sticky snow – there was snow on my front and back steps this morning. Now, the sun is warming things up nicely so the snow is melting away as quick as it came. Although, if you look out my front window you will see a scary sight. The snow is still on the “mountains” which means, WINTER!

Time to dust off the parka, and give my toques a wash I may need them sooner than I thought.

All Hands Hoay! Avast Ye…

2009-09-14T13:07:00.001-03:00

(All Hands Hoay – Avast Ye means: All Hands on deck stop and pay attention)

The Maritimer finally made it out to sea. Yesterday, along with Lindsay & Corey (with the wee-ones) and their family from afar we took the boat out into the bay. The weather was beautiful with just a little bite to the air.

The salt air was breathtaking. There is something medicinal about the smell of salt air..however when you are seeing nature at its best it is hard not to feel relaxed and honoured to be seeing what few others ever do.

We didn’t see any wildlife, unless you count the gulls that were milling about the coastline. However, with the bowhead whale hunt going on and the boats making frequent trips between the hunting ground & the docks I’m sure the seals have learned to steer clear of the area.

One of the best part of the day was that I didn’t have to cook supper. I came out of the bedroom to see Hughie pouring a can of soup into a pot. What a husband I have. The soup was delish and I added some ham & cheese sandwiches with fresh Yellowknife tomatoes & iceberg lettuce..Yum!

I’m looking forward to spending many more afternoons out on the water, however with the upcoming deep freeze that wish may be placed on hold for the next 8/9 months.

Returning to Normal

2009-09-13T01:23:00.001-03:00

Well, we’ve been back for 11 days now and things have finally settled down. The dogs have returned to their normal schedule and are enjoying sitting out in the backyard in their dog run to relax in the cooler weather. Before long they will be enjoying snow and subzero temperatures. Side note: There was ice in the water behind our house this morning and had some flurries mixed in with rain last week…winter is coming.

Hughie and I have yet to start in on the workout routine but if all goes well Monday will be the day. Drinking for 30 days is hard on the system!! I’m definitely looking forward to spending lots of time on the elliptical over these next 7 months to make up for this past vacation.

With the barge order and vacation behind us, I am now preparing for the Christmas season. I have started online Christmas shopping for the kidlets in my family as well as for Hughie. What I will be getting the other people in my family and extended family is outside the realm of possibilities right now. Kids are so easy to shop for. I am a firm believer of giving novels for Christmas presents – even if they are not at the reading age yet. A good book can last forever and when they do read the novel the story will never be forgotten.

In all honesty I’m not even sure what I want for Christmas this year – I’m glad I still have a couple of months to figure it out!

Hughie and I are already planning for our next IPA in April (or March…or May). Considering how we plan our trips we need to take advantage of the next 7 months. We are contemplating a all-inclusive trip to someplace warm and sunny where they have little umbrellas in frosty beverages. If anyone has any ideas let me know, the only place that we are not considering is Cuba and/or Mexico – we know they are beautiful locations although they are not the locations for us as this time. We are looking towards Barbados or Jamaica… so as you can tell we are a bit on the fence, so any help would definitely be appreciated.

I am now the proud owner of a Kilt. Considering I am a Celtic Folklore and Scottish History buff I’m surprised it took me this long to get one. Hughie ordered me a kilt from (Sportkilt) the states before our vacation started and it arrived sometime while we were away. I tried it on for the first time today and it fitted perfectly (I guess drinking for 30 days doesn’t make that much of a difference…well not a huge difference )….although I put it back in the box until our next vacation – no place to wear a kilt in Kugaaruk… … …. I suppose if I wore it with thermal long johns, but that isn’t the clothes statement I want to make… YIKES!

I have officially started the countdown:

103 days until CHRISTMAS

Hauling it in

2009-09-08T13:04:00.005-03:00

On Friday we all awoke to a strange red beast in our bay, however on closer inspection it was realized that it was not a beast but a saviour . The Coast Guards had arrived.

The Terry Fox was in our bay bopping around the currents and having a hard trouble latching into our cold Arctic Bay flooring. It was breathtaking to see a “real” ship in our bay and not just our little dory’s with our locals fishing Narwhale. I know I’m a true Maritimer when I can stand and watch a silent ship for hours without thinking that I’m wasting my time.

Unfortunately for us, and a few other teachers etc our goods were on a bigger ship that only arrived on Sunday. Hughie and I went down to the ‘dock’ on Sunday to find that during the night another Coast Guard ship had joined the Terry Fox. Our stuff had arrived. While sitting around the dock on Sunday admiring the boats and the Pay-loader Ballet we found out since there are very few personal items our sealift order was more likely shoved down in the hold. Meaning: We won’t get it until Monday

We waited and waited on Monday jumping up (okay I was jumping) every time a Pay loader drove by the house, which wasn’t often because yesterday was Labour day. So about 4:30/5:00 I decided to curl up on the chair and have another little catnap while Hughie killed time with the PS3. I awoke to a rumble and a very excited Hughie – our box of goodies had arrived.

Before and after shot:

We are well stocked in the “treats” category – Hughie has enough Willowcrisp & Macaroons to get thru a month of Blizzards. I on the other hand, have enough cleaning goods to get me thru a month of blizzards so it is the perfect handoff.

So let the bay freeze up, I’m now prepared for winter!

(The pictures don’t do our barge room/kitchen justice – for only two people and two dogs I’m sure we will have food left over when we move out of Kugaaruk this time next year…. yikes the food!!)

19 Landings

2009-09-02T17:59:00.003-03:00

A month seems like a long time when you look back over your thoughts. However, with a title called “19 Landings” you may be curious to know the meaning behind it, so I will start with that.

1. Kugaaruk to Taloyoak 11. Halifax to Toronto

2. Taloyoak to Gjoa Haven 12. Toronto to Chicago

3. Gjoa Haven to Yellowknife 13. Chicago to Cincinnati

4. Yellowknife to Edmonton 14. Cincinnati to Chicago

5. Edmonton to Toronto 15. Chicago to Winnipeg

6. Toronto to Halifax 16. Winnipeg to Calgary

7. Halifax to Newark 17. Calgary to Yellowknife

8. Newark to Orlando 18. Yellowknife to Gjoa Haven

9. Orlando to Newark 19. Gjoa Haven to Kugaaruk

10. Newark to Halifax

That my friends is the quickest overview of my vacation – as you can see we had a busy month flying all over North America but it was definitely worth it. It looks like we won’t be taking another vacation until after the Olympics so we had to make this vacation as memorable as we could and I do believe we did just that!

As I don’t want to bore you with too many details of our vacation I’m going to take a page from my last vacation post (March 2009) and give you the “Top 20” memorable moments of August 2009. I will apologize now if I forget something in this post, it isn’t my intention to forget an important event or a special moment. Just remember this, just because I don’t blog about it doesn’t make it any less special or tarnish the memories that I have of that moment. Now with that said, let the countdown begin!

20. Leaving KUGAARUK – I wish I could give you a play-by- play of the month of July but the month just kept getting darker and darker as the days clicked by so when August 3rd arrived the sun peaked over the clouds and we were FREE!

19. Starbucks – Caramel-Lite Frappucinos.. .. I drank oodles of them, hence the reason behind ordering the Lite versions…

18. Beer – Bud-Light Limes were my best friend this vacation they were so smooth and easy drinking that I did my best to promote this new beer at every venue and sporting event that we attended.

17. Toronto – 1. Getting my body waxed at Elizabeth Milan Day Spa at the Hilton and having my chin ripped apart from the waxing.. Ouch! but it did heal quickly. 2. Toronto Blue Jays verses New York Yankees my first game at the Rogers Centre had a great evening with Hughie, Andrew and Murray. Lots of Bud-light limes were consumed. However, the Blue Jays did lose…. and that is all I will say on that subject.

16. PEI – 1. My parents had their big 25th Wedding Anniversary Party which was a blast – I was able to see all my family without having to visit them all individually. It was fun answering all their questions about Kugaaruk and my life in the North. 2. Hanging out with my siblings and Brookie & Dawson – they are growing up so quickly I can’t wait to get back East (fingers crossed for a years time) to see them grow up and to help feed them lots of sugary goodness! 3. Cavendish has not changed in years – the only place that was missing is Rainbow Valley and really if you look across the street there is a version of Rainbow Valley just without all the trees. 4. Cavendish Maples – our cottage that we rented while staying in Cavendish was beautiful and my only regret is that I only used the hot tub once….5. Cows Ice Cream… Mmmmm I love Wowie Cowie and Cow Crunchy… Mmmm I’m very glad that we purchased two tins of Cows Hot Chocolate while we were in the Cows Creamery.. the warm smooth goodness of chocolate will taste excellent when it is –50 outside.

15. Nova Scotia – 1. Andrew & Laura’s wedding – it was a beautiful (warm) day with the sun shining down on the newly- weds. Laura was stunning per usual in her wedding dress and Andrew looked very handsome in his tux. Hughie was Andrew’s Best man so he looked very handsome as well.. (I told him the next time we get married he will be wearing a tux…very very handsome….). The heat did little to dampen the spirits to the wedding guests! (I would however be interested to find out how many beers were consumed) 2. Visiting with the Fidler clan is always an adventure and a party rolled all into one. We were able to see everyone at the wedding but sitting around the house chatting without the lag time of the usual phone conversation much much better. 3. Pomquet Cottages – the one with the “sex shower” – Long story….but if Jen reads this blog she’ll understand as she in a slightly drunken state named our shower when we stayed in the exact same cottage almost two years ago for our “Honeymoon”. The cottage was peaceful and beautiful as I remembered and look forward to spending future nights there.

14. Walt DISNEY World – it is and continues to be as magical as people hope and dream it would be. The grounds are lush and there seems not to be a bug in sight. I did however see Alligators (not in Disney) but along the roadsides – and they are as big as you would imagine.

13. The Polynesian Resort – picture lush greenery with piped in Polynesian music with the high August humidity and a Volcano pool with barefoot walk up bar (Pina Coladas and Orange Dream Frozen Drinks)…add in a white beach and the Wishes Fireworks that are held every evening above the Magic Kingdom and you basically get my version of heaven. Our room was spacious and very clean and did remain clean every day of our stay. The only negative to this resort was that they shower head was very low so even I had to stoop just a bit – however this resort is one of the original resorts on the Walt Disney property and we all know people were much shorter back then.

12. The Magic Kingdom – I am not ashamed to admit that tears came to my eyes when I saw the Castle looming above me as I walked onto Main Street USA . I was in shock and felt like I had to pinch myself to remember this is not a dream… Rides: Thunder Mountain – Roller Coaster Thrill Ride – we did this ride twice, once at night and the other during the day. I recommend doing both. Splash Mountain – I learned all about Brier Rabbit a story I have not read and at the end got a good soaking. Haunted Mansion – we did this during the day so it lacked a certain scare factor however I don’t believe there was suppose to be…I would definitely recommend this ride to all ages as the ghosts even have a cartoon image. The Dumbo Ride – Just because it was a classic we had to ride it. The Winnie The Pooh 100 Acres woods – I love Eeyore. Pirates of the Caribbean – Another classic as well as the Jungle Cruise we both rode because of their history. We came back to the Magic Kingdom 3 times during our stay and enjoyed WISHES (firework show) and their parade where all their floats are lit up with thousands upon thousands of little twinkle lights. The Great Escape = STITCH – there is no way to explain this except feeling a warm onion burp and water being spitted in your face…it was awesome but the smell of the burp stuck with me for hours…

11. Animal Kingdom – I’m not sure if I was heat exhausted or not but I didn’t like this park as much as the other three – I could have been because we were unable to ride their biggest attraction Everest because by the time we arrived at the ride the Fast pass option was at its limit for the day. Although one bright spot was the ride called Dinosaur which was another Thrill Ride which allowed you to be strapped into a “Car” to be shot back into time to catch a specific dinosaur..AWESOME. We did manage to ride the safari they have and it wasn’t as good as I expected- I’m sure when the parks are not quite as busy the safari would be longer than 5 minutes however I did get quite a few photo’s of animals living in their “natural” habitat.

10. Hollywood Studios – TOWER OF TERROR was AWESOME and there isn’t a better word to describe it! You walk up to this old hotel and learn the historical background and then you get into the elevator where you are transported onto the 13th floor and get a Twilight zone reception and then all of a sudden you are dropped 13th floor…a couple of floors at a time and then back up…and more floors..and back up…. and then the rest of the floors.. IT WAS Amazing. Rocking Roller Coaster – Aerosmith – 0 –60 in 2.5 seconds or something crazy like that and you rush through the darkness doing loops and twists… I nearly lost my lunch that I ate hours before..this ride was Hughie’s favorite and while I did enjoy it I don’t think I could do it again…or maybe I would considering I now know what to expect. The Muppets in 3D – Another Disney classic that had to be completed and it was fun. Prince Caspian – I would recommend this ride/visit only if you have seen the movie otherwise I would not recommend this as it is a definite spoiler to the movie…I love this movie!

09. Epcot – BEERS OF THE WORLD…Hughie and I managed only about 4 beers and that was enough to keep us going around all the world. We didn’t do any of the rides here as we were visiting the World showcase. We did get a chance to see Epcot’s fireworks and they were AMAZING. The pyrotechnic guys are kickass. I would be interested to finding out the amount of money that Disney pays on pyrotechnics per year…it must be astronomical.

08. Kennedy Space Centre – I’m sure whatever I write here would pale in comparison on what Hughie could write about this subject but I will give it a shot. We had the full-monty when it came to this tour – we got an up close view of DISCOVERY the shuttle, that if you were watching the news lately finally made another successful journey to the International Space Station. There is only 7 more shuttle missions left before they scrub that and move on to more of an economical “rocket” type model. We were toured around the whole facility. I also managed to catch very close view of a manatee that was swimming just outside the main viewing area of the launch pad. It was an eye opening experience. We also were allowed to have lunch with an astronaut and before we left Hughie was able to get a photo with him and his autograph. (On a side note: while waiting in line to get a photo with the astronaut Hughie started chatting with the lady behind us, who turned out to be the Mother of the Mission Commander of Discovery…very cool and humbling)…. lol, like I said Hughie could do a better account of the day then I…

07. Disney Dining Plan – Allowed for us to have two snacks, a quick service lunch and a sit down meal per day of our stay. This was a special perk that the Resorts were putting on for their guests. We took advantage of this special trying to use up as much of the plan that was allotted for us. Mickey Bars (Vanilla ice cream in the shape of a Mickey Head covered in chocolate..yum) and Coffee were our two treats that we had per day…along with lots of water. The quick service plan, we used a couple of times and most of the time the food was only sub-par I suppose that could be because of the amount of people they are serving so the food is all the same type (Burgers, nuggets, pizza etc). The sit down meal was our favorite option:

Ohana’s – Polynesian Resort – was an all you can eat buffet – however the only difference is that they serve it to you – the food was fantastic but way to much for two people, they serve your Pineapple Coconut bread to start with a salad..they bring out wings and ribs as appetizers…then noodles with people walking around with meat on a stick for you to try…. Chicken, Pork, Shrimp and Steak….. and then after they force feed you as much as you can eat they come out with this to-die-for Pineapple dessert with ice cream and warmed pineapple/banana sauce… OMG!

ESPN Club – Disney Boardwalk – was your typical pub/sport bar type of food – the portions were huge! I can’t recall what we had but we both walked out of there stuffed

Sci-Fi Dining Theatre – Hollywood Studios – Picture it 1960/70’s drive in movie theatre and that is what you arrive at. You sit in these little tables that are shaped like cars and you watch movie clips on the movie screen. The food was typical nothing spectacular but the milkshakes were think and delish..

Kona Cafe – Polynesian Resort – we were unable to get into the Ohana’s Breakfast with Characters so we decided to try a breakfast anyways. Hughie had the Tongo Toast and I the Macadamia Pineapple pancakes both are worthy to have again and I would highly recommend them…however if you don’t want to eat 4 pancakes I would ask for 2..or 3…. they were big pancakes.

Raglan Road – Downtown Disney – was by far one of the worst Irish bars/pubs we have ever been too. The food was sub-par and the atmosphere was just bad…there is no other way to describe it. If you are just looking for a beer or something simple I’m sure this would be the place for you – I just wasn’t satisfied with this table service and Hughie definitely agrees with me.

San Angel – Mexican World Showcase Epcot – was the best overall for atmosphere you would almost believe you were sitting at the base of a volcano in Mexico enjoying authentic Mexican food and drinking margaritas…. I would highly recommend booking reservations as they were turning people away. The only negative was that I found all the food looked the same, but it could have just been me.

06. Cincinnati – This city has some of the most beautiful architecture I have ever seen. Old mixed with new. I loved just sitting around and listening to the local’s accents. We stayed at the Hyatt and it wasn’t bad however the room we had, had a very shitty A/C unit…it was brutal

05. Cincinnati Bengals, Reds & Creed w/Hoobastank – We didn’t just go on vacation to Cincinnati to see scenery we went with a full evening schedule. We purchased tickets and t-shirts (to fit in) to the Bengals vs Rams pre-season game – neither one of us has ever seen a NFL game and now we can finally say we both have a team to cheer for – even when we know that the team sucked hard last year. Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers (Boooo MANNY) was a last minute decision, a very good decision we purchased upper bowl tickets and t-shirts (to fit in) to the game on Saturday afternoon…it was a great ball game and I had fun booing Manny and his need to get a hair cut. Creed w/Hoobastank put an already worthy vacation up and over…. they kicked ass – Hughie and I found a new band we enjoyed called “Like a Storm” they opened up for Hoobastank…I wish I could put into words how awesome the show was… okay maybe I can… It made suffering through the month of July worthwhile…

04. Caribou Coffee – we had a secret agenda… we picked Cincinnati for a secret mission and that mission was “COFFEE” we love this brand of coffee – we fell in love with it while living in Manitoba – we were on our first trip to Minnesota while we happened upon Caribou Coffee in the Mall of America… We purchased 5lbs or so when we first moved up to Kugaaruk in October and we ran out in June. So we had to restock – 8.5lbs later we have a full cupboard of Caribou Coffee to get us through the winter… OH, if anyone is travelling thru Minnesota or North Dakota in Jan/Feb let us know…we may need more by then.

03. Winnipeg – We hit Winnipeg running and I’m not kidding we did so much shopping in the 1.0 day that we were there I’m actually glad that we don’t have to shop for quite sometime. We did the Wal-Mart-Canadian Tire-Costco run through picking up stuff we will need over the next 7 or so months. I finally own a pair of skates again (scary to those who know me…lol) and Hughie has finally started in on the power tools – he purchased a Master craft Drill…that has a million components but that is for him to learn.

02. Chakotay & Sekaya – those who know Hughie and I, we love our dogs like people love their kids. Being away from them for so long is hard on the heart – but knowing they are safe and cared for helps, but nothing can cure the little hole missing in my heart from being away for so long. Seeing them after 30 days all happy with tails wagging…just makes life better. Now they are hanging outside in their dog-pen and sleeping the afternoon away recovering from their vacation as well. .. although they did demand their presents pretty much as soon as we walked into the door.

01. Being Home….. I know that sounds weird to some..but there is something to be said about walking into your comfort zone after being away for 30 days. Organizing your new purchases and lighting candles…. the only negative is the mound of laundry that is waiting for you and the dust that accumulated over the 30 days.

My fingers are sore…yikes, I didn’t expect it to be so long winded. I promise the next post won’t be anywhere as long. Hope you enjoyed the shortened version of our August 2009 vacation.

Still alive in the blogging world!

2009-08-27T18:39:00.003-03:00

Hello my adoring fans!
I have not forgotten my duties as a blogger, and I will be back soon with a massive update. This has been, the most exciting, awesome, kick ass vacation Hughie and I have ever had! I was definitely worth it, and I might go as far to say that it will be worth the next 7 months of winter that we will endure once we arrive back to Kugaaruk!

The house is clean, the bags are packed…the dogs are freaking out – it must be vacation time!

2009-08-02T20:26:00.001-03:00

The time has finally arrived – August 3rd, 2009 will be upon us in under 8 hours. Which means, VACATION!!

A month of relaxation, family, alcoholic beverages & thrill rides at DISNEY!. However, learning from others as well as our experiences that you can’t take the flights for granted here in Kugaaruk. It is best to TRY to keep your hopes at a minimum that you will make it out of Kugaaruk the day you planned for. I have been watching the weather like a hawk and they are calling for some Fog over night with it lifting in the morning. However, that is the least of our problems the plane could be delayed or cancelled due to maintenance or mechanical problems. It wouldn’t surprise me that they would cancel or delay our plane; considering the last 3o days! However, with that being said we deserve a bone here. We need out of this community before we both blow up and do something drastic..like eat raw Narwhale…YIKES!

So all that believe please pray that we will make it out of this community at 2:20pm tomorrow morning and make our way to Yellowknife.

If you don’t hear from me, or if you don’t hear the worlds loudest swear word I’m on my way. I don’t know if I will have time to update my blog along the way, but as I did the last time in March I’ll do a day-by-day account of the top 20 items.

Take care and be safe!

Day verses Night

2009-07-25T03:34:00.001-03:00

Sunrise: 1:12

Sunset: 23:00

It is official we made it through our first 24-hour sun season. While I wasn’t a fan it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

I will admit that I would rather 24/7 dusk then 24 hour sunlight and that time will be upon us before we know it.

Time to break out the nightlights!!

Summer has arrived: Just a few photos

2009-07-24T16:24:00.001-03:00

Not 100% sure what the above flower is called, but I love the contrast of the waxy-film on the leaves and the white flowers.

Arctic Poppy

(Correct me if I’m wrong)

I love the coloring on the rocks.

I dodged the mosquitoes to photograph water, I’m definitely from the Maritimes.

20+ days

2009-07-13T12:52:00.006-03:00

As my title says I'm approximately 22-21 days away from flying away from this icebox they call Kugaaruk into the land of warmth with sunshine by day and darkness by night! I've been thinking for quite sometime that I shouldn't be counting down to this vacation, especially since as I get closer to V-DAY (vacation day) my sleep schedule is becoming more messed up than usual. (IE: I had a dream the other night I was a orange about to become freshly squeezed OJ)
Although, with the approximation of 20+ days until V-Day comes the second countdown. DISNEY - I'm trying to push that date into the recesses of my mind in order to get at least some sleep. If I realize that Disney is only a little over a month away, I may just not sleep until after we get back...and that may prove to be my downfall. I can be a tad bit cranky without sleep.

Things have been relatively _uiet around here lately, however with the amount of rain we got this past weekend, things were a little hectic for Hughie & Eldon, but nothing they couldn't handle. Rain makes people go a little cuckoo when they can't get outside and enjoy the "summer" weather.

With that leeway, summer...where did it go and will it return or was a week of sunshine and slightly warmer weather was all we get. It has been damp, rainy and cloudy since midweek. I'm hoping for warmer sunny weather. I'm as pasty as ...well paste and I would enjoy at least one or two days of warm weather to toast me up..just a bit... ... or should I bring out my toques, parka and mittens?

Addendum: In my previous post I spoke about airline prices, well luck would have it a seatsale came up in the last couple of days and we saved approximately $900.00!!

Left behind?

2009-07-05T18:48:00.004-03:00

I thought I left these behind when I left Manitoba.
Apparently, I was wrong!

Yukai Kanada Dei

2009-07-01T12:18:00.003-03:00

Load of wash - Check
Vacuum Floors - Check
Let dogs out - Check
Got dressed - Check
....and all this before 9:30. I have way to much free time on my hands. I would prefer to be sleeping at this very moment but my puppy is a sadistic demon with cute fuzzy ears.

Today is Canada Day. I don't believe Kugaaruk is hosting fireworks that I've grown accustomed too over the last decade although if the talent is any good, I may tune in to the Canada Day festivities on television. At least then I get the fireworks without the bug bites. I wholeheartedly admit I'm not the most patriotic person in this great country of ours but I do know my Canadian History, the National Anthem and I never get the "Who is your Prime Minister" wrong and today I will dig through my clothes and attempt to wear something red even if it is my socks.

I'm very excited to note that my most favorite person in the whole world is back tomorrow (He went shopping for me at LUSH!!). To quote him, I felt like I was somewhere between "Liberation & Loneliness". I'm intrigued to see what our phone bill will be like considering all the collect calls that were made the last 4 days. However I will not complain - they were totally worth it! Even when I don't understand what he is jabbering about, or when he repeats himself a dozen times and therefore so do I...I love my husband.

We officially have our dog run up for our fur-kids and they have been enjoying it to the degree we were hoping they would be. They have their freedom and enough space to sit back and relax and watch the world go by. Chakotay is our nosy husky so he tends to perch high above on the deck to spy on all the dogs and birds he can see. Sekaya is very much happy just to chill out - dig small little holes and carries out all her toys one by one..which I can only assume is for her enjoyment and comfort.

June 22nd @ 12:42am

2009-06-22T17:04:00.001-03:00

What the hell.......SNOW?

Spring Solstice ???

2009-06-19T12:42:00.004-03:00

I wish I could say I was extremely busy and overwhelmed and that is why I haven't wrote in the past couple of days, but just the opposite there really hasn't been much to post about.

We are slowly preparing and finalizing our vacation plans. We are still holding out some hope in receiving a seat sale from Kugaaruk to Yellowknife. Did you know that I can book a round trip trip from Halifax, NS to Edinburgh, Scotland including a 4-Star Hotel for what it costs for two round trip tickets from here to Yellowknife. Does anyone find that just very very wrong? Something should be said and done. Now I understanding spending money for our flights in the winter when it is -50/60 and the planes need more fuel to maintain their systems and to keep passengers warm, but it is August.

I promise that I will never complain about airline prices again when I move back down south...

This weekend is Summer Solstice [I think it is my love of Celtic Lore that gives me goosebumps when this day approaches]. However, it is also Aboriginal & Fathers day. A triplex of celebrations. Looks like there is going to be a big roaring BBQ at the RCMP Detachment on Sunday where the feast will include Hot Dogs, Juice and Cookies...Yum..[Aboriginal Day Celebration]. Should be fun to see all the people out having a few dogs. Should also be amusing to see how much hand sanitizer I will go through before the end of the day.

The ice in the bay has finally started melting. It seems in the last week it has only begun. Hughie and I went out for a walk along the rocks on Wednesday evening, neither him or I had any energy to do our usual workout, however climbing in amongst the rocks, moss and slush was a workout enough. It was beautiful and peaceful watching the sun set slightly behind our rock face and the calming singing of our local birds [not to self: must find out the name of the song birds]

I'm not 100% sure how the ice is melting, we have had nothing but chilly weather over the past couple of days. I'm still wearing gloves, toques in the morning and just today I put on a thermal shirt to wear out for a walk... This time last year, while living in Manitoba, sure I was dodging thunderheads and tornadoes but I was still wearing shorts and shirts!

Washing away ...

2009-06-13T18:13:00.002-03:00

"Rain Rain Go Away, Come Back Another Day"

Spring has officially taken over Kugaaruk. This last week we had snow, sleet, hail and now rain fall from our over full clouds that are lingering over the town. It is so hard to figure out what to wear when you go outside as you don't know what type of precipitation that is falling. I was looking forward to this weekend, weather pending, that Hughie and I were going to take off for an adventure to the dew line & the bridge to nowhere.
Oh well, we are now enjoying today by curling up under nice warm blankets to ward off the chill of the damp rain and watching Transformers G1 Marathon on Teletoon Retro.
I will get to posting some new spring photo's now that the snow is all but gone. The only place that seems not to be loosing any snow is the hills surrounding our community but hopefully with this rain that will soon be turning the hills from white to brown/black.

Here is to hoping that tomorrow the rain will stop..

The Walk

2009-06-07T13:12:00.005-03:00

The warm sun has edged itself into the littlest cracks of Kugaaruk forcing the heat to evaporate all the water, snow and ice. We are starting to see roads, rocks and the odd bit of moss or bunches of grass? or what looks like bushes of hair..

Yesterday, Hughie and I along with our pups of course decided to take a walk to the Bowhead Whale Bone [Jaw] down by the bay. It was a beautiful sunny day and I so enjoy going for walks with just my hoodie. I am looking forward to the day when I don't have to wear my sorels...not so much for the warmth factor anymore but because of sink holes. I hit one last week while walking Chakotay ...not fun and rather a tad bit chilly.

The jaw bone looks huge up close, and I couldn't imagine hunting down that beast and dragging him to shore. Just thinking about him swimming through the ocean with his size astonishes me.

I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have two pieces of the Bowhead Whale in my house. I still have to take a minute and shake my head from time to time, if you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be living in the Arctic Circle I would have denied it to the core. Now, I couldn't imagine being anywhere else.

We did see some [alive] local animal life, an Arctic Squirrel [sicsic] ran across our path nearly taking me along for a joy ride when Chakotay saw him scurry up the bank of snow to perch on what we could only imagine was his home. The way he placed himself at the opening of his den I could only wonder maybe he was a she protecting her young. A beautiful creature, however I think the only thing that Chakotay was wondering about was more along the lines of "lunch".

We took our time just walking around with the dogs enjoying what I like to call "family time". Of course, Hughie and I see a lot of each other but even when we are sitting in the same room we are usually doing two different things. We only walked 5/10 minutes from town but you just feel this absolute peace and freedom being away from everything but each other

Spring has Sprung

2009-06-02T17:30:00.005-03:00

I think it is pretty safe to say that Spring has sprung a leak here in Kugaaruk. June 1st must be the official spring date in the north. It seems the second the clocked ticked midnight on May 31st the wind and air warmed up considerably. I can just look at my dogs and realize the warmer weather is coming. When I start vacuuming twice a day and finding dog hair where no dog hair should be found...I know spring is coming. I could also just watch the characteristics of my huskies. They become more hyper and crazy just wanting to roll around in the snow and not worry about cold toes and feet.

Here are a few spring-like photo's to help those who keep telling me about flowers, cutting grass and BBQs back home, that while we are not quite at that stage yet we are well on our way.

Vacation rituals

2009-06-01T16:35:00.003-03:00

Living in the North, you try to hold on to your Southern roots. You try to do things that you would normally do in the South. Like perk a pot of Caribou and/or Tim Horton's coffee or watch a movie with popcorn and jelly beans. Although, when the night is over you flick on your lights and you are still in the North.
You start counting down the days until your next IPA [vacation] almost immediately after arriving back in the North from your last one. All you speak about in the months ahead are vacation plans, purchases and getting approved. The week before you get less and less sleep and you start finalizing your list of items you are bringing down south with you, and if you forget anything, well you just purchase it when you get to where you are going.

We have had only one vacation since moving North, with our next one in August but I have already developed my top 10 vacation necessities.

My top ten vacation rituals or necessities:
[No particular order]

10. Starbucks - Grande Non-fat Latte or a Hot fresh brewed coffee of any kind.
09. Hair - Foils & Cut
08. Waxing - Eyebrows, Chin & Lip - and legs.
07. Pedicure and/or Manicure
06. Drinking my first "girly" drink and/or bottle of beer - and I'm not fussy.
05. Driving - doesn't matter how fast or to where....just driving
04. Shopping at my favorite stores, without worrying about shipping costs or fees.
03. Darkness - Watching and viewing the Moon & Stars [or in the Fall/Winter: Sun]
02. The unknown avenue - visiting locations that are not familiar to you, and having an adventure within the adventure.
01. Visual - This will not be a repeating ritual however, on this vacation I have made an appointment to get contacts and an updated vision test [It has been 4 years].

"Its a small world after all"

2009-05-30T19:40:00.004-03:00

I can't believe it, I've been confirming bookings and organizing dinner reservations for the last week and a half and I still don't believe it.... In August we are jumping on a plane in Halifax and heading off to....ORLANDO, FL. If you don't know what is in Orlando I will break it down for you in one word...okay two words.

WALT DISNEY WORLD....dang that was three words.

It took longer than I anticipated to decide on the Resort - there are so many to choose from, and of course since it is Disney it all comes down to the amount of $$$ you want to spend and how close you want to be to the Magic Kingdom.

After crunching the numbers and all the perks associated with each resort Hughie and I decided on Walt Disney's Polynesian Resort. We are on the Monorail course with direct access to all 4-theme parks and the best thing is that we can lay out on our beach (yep we have a beach..it is a Polynesian Resort - you just can't swim in the lake as there is no lifeguards on duty) and watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks at 10pm nightly and they pipe the music from the Magic Kingdom into the speakers outside, so you can enjoy the fireworks without the crowds! Although I think in order to have the full effect you have to be in front of the Castle at least once throughout the trip.

I am definitely looking forward to Space & Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion and of course the Tower of Terror!...Well, in all honesty I'm looking forward to being there in general...I could hardly contain my excitement when we booked the initial tickets. I honestly don't know what was more nerve wracking booking the tickets or keeping everything hush hush until it was all booked!

I've been reading everything I can get my hands on with respect to Walt Disney. From tips on Rainy Weather to tips on how to get the most of out of your Dining Plan. [Dining Plan is one breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner per person per night of your stay - it was an added perk that the Disney Resorts have this year as long as you book after August 16th to December 31st]. I look forward to figuring out how much we save.

A few good tips:

*Place camera and/or any electric items in a ziploc bag to keep out rain
*If sneakers get wet place papertowel in them to soak up the wetness
*Scotchguarding Backpack will help make them rainproof
*Beer Day @ Epcot (Try a beer at each of the countries ) - Just make sure you drink water in between. Great way to see all the countries and enjoy an "Adult" day.
*Don't turn on the television to check weather in am - it eats up valuable time (check it after you get back in the evening for the next day)
*Download Disney tunes to listen to while you fly to Disney
*Bring single Crystal Lite to add to water to give it a bit of a zing, as the water isn't the tastiest.

The countdown has officially started. Watch Eeyore as the countdown progresses!

Passing the time

2009-05-28T17:41:00.005-03:00

Since moving to Kugaaruk I had to come to the realization that heading down to Manitoba Avenue to my local Bakery had become null and void. So I had to start baking. Don't get me wrong, I love to bake. I find it therapeutic to mix and mingle all my ingredients. Personally,half the time I don't even like to eat my creations. I think baking a cake, cookies or biscuits take all the mystery out of the food... and who doesn't like a little mystery.

I wanted to pass on one of the easiest recipes that I have been baking on a bi-weekly basis. I'm an avid watcher of "Chef at Home" with Chef Michael Smith - he cooks out of his house on PEI. He made these biscuit to have with Clam Chowder. I like them with everything from blueberry shortcake to pasta salad and of course with lasagna and chili.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do.
====================================
Chef At Home

Ease of Preparation: Easy
Makes 8-10 large biscuits

These are my gold-standard biscuits. My secret? Frozen butter! It’s an old pastry chef’s trick that has served me well. Butter tastes great and when it’s frozen it becomes very easy to shred into the dough. After you try these a few times you’ll be able to bake them in under twenty minutes – and clean up the mess too!

Frozen Butter Biscuits

Four cups of all-purpose flour
Two large spoonfuls of baking powder
Two small spoonfuls of salt
Two sticks of frozen butter, eight ounces
A cup and a half of milk
A sprinkle or two of salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together until they’re evenly mixed. Grate the frozen butter into the dry ingredients. Shred it through the large holes of a box grater or potato grater directly into the flour. Toss gently with your fingers until the butter shards are spread evenly throughout the flour.

Pour the milk into the flour mixture and stir with an upside down wooden spoon to form a dough mass. The handle of the spoon is gentler on the dough. Fold the dough over a few times with your hands until all the ingredients come together. If necessary add a few spoonfuls more milk to help gather up any stray flour. This kneading will strengthen the dough a bit but not enough to toughen the biscuits. It will also help them form a crisp crust when they bake.
Pat the dough out on a lightly floured cutting board forming a loose round shape. Cut into wedges – like a pie - or any other shape you’re in the mood for. Position on a baking sheet; sprinkle on a bit of coarse salt and coarsely ground pepper. Bake for fifteen minutes or so. You’ll know they’re done when they turn golden brown. Enjoy at once with lots of brown butter!