Home from a few months of hobo-ness...

Traveling rocks my world. Traveling also tires me out.

So, since my last post I have partaken in another trip, a great one for many reasons. But also one that made me want to settle and relax back home for a while. I left NS on October 12th for Glasgow, Scotland. Took in my first Wintersleep show there the same night I arrived. My parents joined me the following day and we began our figure 8 tour of the UK.



It was fun (seeing places so different, old and unique), challenging (living in cramped quarters with the same people), and just the right length of time. We traveled to Inverness and explored some of the north of Scotland, then along the eastern coast and to Edinburgh for a few nights. We continued into England- Windermere, in the Lakes district, Manchester and Liverpool for a night each. We spent a few nights on the Isle of Man, where my cousin also joined us to meet and spend some time with some distant relatives. It was an amazing time- hearing stories of my grandmother and great grand parents that I have never met and slowly sorting out how my family came together. It was also an incredible time of getting to know my cousin, since we were never super close during my childhood.



We concluded our 3 weeks with a couple nights in Bath, sightseeing to Stonehenge and Lacock, then a night with an old Bielefeld friend, Philippa, in Brighton. Our last two nights were in London, and that was awesome.

Sadly, upon our landing in Halifax, we found out my last grandparent, Nanny Rowe, had passed away in St. John's, Nfld. It took me by surprise and brought questions of mortality back into my mind. Heading off on a plane the day after getting home, might have been just the tipping point.

Gladly, the funeral was a nice closure... I didn't go to my poppy's funeral when I was a kid since we couldn't afford to go back and it has always felt rather surreal. Seeing Nanny, feeling her cold hand, closed eyes, perfectly coiffed hair resting in coffin rest in my mind as the moment she was gone for me. My brothers, cousins and myself were the pall bearers- a first for me, but a fitting tribute to the fact that she was moved into death with her legacy close at hand.

Nanny despised the thoughts of people dwelling in a dreary state, gawking at her at her box and sobbing endlessly. She insisted that her funeral be a party. That was the one nice thing about the trip back home to Nfld. Many of my cousins and all my mom's siblings were back. We had a fabulous time hearing stories from Aunt Cheryl, hearing the jokes of Geoff, laughing at the silly comments about the funeral brochure Aunt Maxine picked up for herself and enjoying the wonderful cooking of Uncle Don's neighbours.

We had a champagne toast and gathered all together for a few minutes. Some of the family were missing, but most were there. It was truly a wonderful moment of togetherness. RIP Nanny.

I arrived home in time for Yarmouth's biggest party to date for 2009, the Annual provincial event- Music Nova Scotia "Music Week" Showcases and Awards. I was volunteering and when not "on the job" I was soaking in the new acts and old acts of NS musical ability that I'd never seen before. Showcases were happening Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights with a large award show and gala on the Sunday night at the arena. It was quite something. I enjoyed every minute of it, have added many artists to my iTunes as a result and many new friends to my FB and life.

This month has been an eye opening one. I have learned a lot about myself, my desires, my family (distant and near) and about the world in general. I have much more that is swirling around my head, but I think it might actually require me to consider starting a separate blog... a little more anonymously to get those thoughts out there. So as not to incriminate the innocent. Sadly there are some of you that I think could contribute to that but that would defeat the purpose of anonymity... But I digress... Inquire within if the suspense is now killing you!

It's too late to be adding pictures, so I will try to VERY quickly find a couple to highlight the last few months on the road! Enjoy!

5 months later...

I am home sick today, but good sick. (If that makes any sense?) Sick that comes when you have had a week full of extremely good physical, emotional and spiritual activity, the kind that leaves you 100% empty, drained but VERY pleased with the experiences you have had.

Last week, I was chosen to be a chaperone for some students to go to the Snow Festival in Puvirnituq, Nunavik where they would take part in a follow-up project to last year's highly successful Hip Hop week. This project was still with the same organization, Blueprint for Life, but would focus on teaching the students to be leaders in their groups at home, to help maintain the project even when the Blueprint people are no longer around. To say that I was flattered for having been chosen as an escort, is an understatement, but I was extremely happy to be involved, despite the long hours that I knew it would entail.

We left by plane on Monday, and were promptly rushed onto another plane, earlier than expected, since the flights were all "up in the air" excuse the pun, due to the Snow Fest. I sadly missed my lunch date with Andie, Scrabble and pizza, but was pleased to know that we would at least make it to POV, since bad weather had been in the area all week. When we (Jeremias, Christy and I) arrived we learned of our living arrangements, a KSB house that was empty, would be our home for the week- 10 students and 3 chaperones- my only concern was the one bathroom, but otherwise I was happy to find Junior Ranger cots, so at least I wouldn't be on the floor all week. We were told that the real workshops would only begin on Tuesday, but we were free to go to the Snow Fest events that night at the Community Gym.

The week flew by, the Blueprint team, as expected, were full of energy, passion and a sensitivity that really causes them to break through the hardest kids in a matter of minutes. (I wish more teachers had their compassion and kindness at times, but THAT is another story!!) The students went from being strangers to being a very tight knit group of confident, young leaders. They impressed me a lot, and will always stay in my memory! As will the battle of Friday night, at the Snow Fest gym.

The crowd was large, noisy and hyper- small kids running all over the place in excitement. The area where were stored our coats to the left of the stage and waited reeked of sewage, was warm and crowded. But despite those things, the anticipation and creative energy of the weeks work overflowed from the students and coaches in an undeniable way. We were told the battle would be the third act of the night, everyone was anxious. Teams would be drawn from a hat and would dance three rounds if they succeeded in going to the finals.

When the battle began, the students for the most part, tried things that they had never tried before, did routines with attitude and passed on a message- they were not afraid. The would no longer be afraid- of challenges, of expressing themselves, of being leaders and making the tough decisions that such a role entails. As I watched, I was in awe of the change that I could see in those students. In my heart, I was encouraged by the thought that these students would not just be dancing into the future, but they would be carrying the region into the future- the new government and cultural identity would be passed on their shoulders; they would not drop the ball.

I'll add pictures of the important faces I want to remember from this week! Enjoy!

Plans are big, but action little...

So, holidays are actually ALMOST over and I have not spent as much time and I had PLANNED at the starts of the break. Blame it on Facebook, it's such a tangled web of people and pictures and news and updates and snooping... It's just hard to keep both places up and running, and sometimes I am doubtful that many people are even checking out this blog as there are not many comments nor posts...

I did get a bit of inspiration to share my thoughts on my newest Frenchys book. I bought it last week and just started reading it a couple evenings ago. Since it was kind of cool outside, I decided to read on the deck after supper before heading to a bonfire and kite flying session. So, I read a few pages and it was really quite interesting. The book is called, "Eat Mangoes Naked" by Sark, and I really don't know much about the purpose of the book. I mostly picked it up because it is FULL of pretty, bright colours, and instead of typed, it is actually handwritten, or a copy of the authors handwriting to be more specific. It was different and something told me it would be memorable and thought-provoking. It is non-fiction and is kind of a narrative of the authors thoughts on "pleasure".

Now, before you get all excited, it's not a sexy tale, but about having pleasure and recognizing the things that bring pleasure or joy to our lives. Some of her ideas I find a little "out-there" but some of her ideas are ones that I have thought and contemplated, but am encouraged to hear them from her "voice". the pages that stood out to me this session were all about being good "receivers". It's something that I know I am NOT very good at. She started with a short page about being givers, but made the comment that giving is easy, it's fun. it's satisfying, it's an enjoyable thing to do, and most of us really are good at it. We don't do it to get things in return but because it makes us feel good to do good for others. BUT we are, in many cases, excluding those who are takers and greedy people, most often poor receivers, we don't like to ask for help or "inconvenience" people, but within 5 or so pages she shares her really interesting thoughts on that... how to be a good, positive receiver.

I think it is something powerful. I am actually challenged myself to try and become better in this area. I could explain more, but you know what- I think you should actually read the book, it's worth it! So, go to the library and borrow it, and if they don't have it, tell them it worthy! Or if you want to borrow mine, let me know, I might have somebody already in line, but I don't mind sharing...

I hate to make empty promises... but sometime in the future, I WILL add pics from this summer... but I won't give a timeline... so, just check in from time to time... OKAY??

Hmmmm... Holidays...

Gonna make this quick because it is beautifully rainy, and it is holidays and I am dying to play some music before I head over to Anne's house for my belated birthday pizza feast. YUM!

I guess things were busier the last two weeks than expected! It was a whirlwind at the end- exams, graduation painting and slideshow prepping, marking, cleaning up the classroom, picnic race, ordering for next year, report cards, etc. etc. Needless to say, I am FINALLY finished and am super duper happy. I cannot express the relief I feel. Sure having a month and a half off is a super nice benefit to being a teacher, but heck, one can barely rest and relax your mind in that time from the amount of stress that we go through with deadlines, the hormones and emotional drain we go through...

The graduation was a definite highlight of this year's finish. Three of the students from my very first Secondary 1 homeroom class were graduating. They were three superstars from that class and I was VERY proud to see them make it. I'm not gonna lie to you, they never had it easy, but they worked hard and made it, and now I will miss seeing them at school daily. It's kind of bittersweet, I'll be sad not having them around, but it is exciting to see a few success stories from the kids I taught.

I have a little less than a week left of holidays, and I am getting rather excited to go south. The blackflies are INCREDIBLY bad already and it is making it almost unbearable outside. I've having fun, catching up on pastimes I haven't found time for for quite a while, and going out by boat with Mark, Nancy and their fam. I've also gotten back into my music a bit- playing some guitar and singing a little, recording some tunes on the computer for fun. I've also started planning my visit to Ottawa and Toronto a little bit. I'll be in Ottawa for a little less than a week then to TO for a few days with Nancy and the girls. I booked tickets to "Dirty Dancing" the musical, and Nancy is taking care of choosing and booking the hotel right smack dab in the downtown. Plans so far include shopping, swimming and supper at an Italian restaurant... I'm sure other things will fit in as the date gets closer...

Well, the rain is still pouring down and I am really eager to play a few more tunes before supper... Will post some more recent pics soon... (check out my Facebook page since I have been putting many new pics the past few days!)

Pictures update... As promised... yet LATER!!

Here are some pictures from my first few weeks of holidays...
The first pictures are from the reunion...









These are from my days out with Kenneth, taking pictures around the county...











Next picture was from a sunset... it was the week after the reunion and while a few of my old classmates and I met for a drink on the patio at Rudder's...



Then on Seafest weekend, Yarmouth was host to a few Tall Ships. Here are some shots taken on Saturday afternoon when Mom and I were hanging out.







Hmmmm, oh, and then the Seafest Parade. We were lucky that the day turned so nice!! I love the parade every year. Our town works very hard to have a parade that is not just a big long commercial line of boring undecorated trucks and cars...



Then Saturday evening was the fireworks...



Rum running races took place on Sunday, and somehow I was recruited to join a few teams. I was on the dock hauling up the barrel for a mixed team, and then for a womens team I was one of the two rowers. I was surprised how well we kept up to the mens team we were racing against. It took us only 9 min 40 something sec to cross the harbour, get a barrel in the boat, row back, haul up the barrel, and run it to the finish line!



Oh and just before I finish, my brother Paul and his wife, Jessica, dropped in with the CUTEST kitty, who was found by one of my brother's co-workers and is looking for a good home... Paul and Jessica can't imagine bringing her to the SPCA and the Customs staff have even donated money to pay for the spaying/neutering (whatever the girl animal needs!) So if you are looking for a VERY cuddly cute pet, I can attest to the sweetness of this little beast. She snuggled into my neck and slept their for a half hour during their visit! (Give me a call if you want this pet!)



This shot was taken one evening as I was walking on the wharf... Thought it was a PERFECT illustration of my blog address... THIS is why "Glistening Water" means so much to me!