Paul + Jenn

*** I KNOW! Some stuff took over my life and I'm just a little behind on blog posting. Here's what I had planned to post last week. Forgive?

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So.

Activities that took place last weekend:

-Bocce

-Putt-Putt

-Napping

-Campfires

Before I proceed, you probably want to know what Bocce is (unless you already know, then you can just read for my awesome writing skills).

Bocce is a game where you through a smallish weighted white ball, and then throw bigger colored (different colors for different teams) weighted balls and see who can get the closest to the white ball...I think. I didn't actually play. I just took pictures. But Julie, Marty, Ashely, and Pauly played.

And you probably want to see my mad putt-putting skills, eh?

[Yes, look at my ball-watching face. You can tell I'm a serious golfer. By the way, I came in second to last]

[hott : )]

Napping:

And as for the campfire...I didn't get any pictures because it was night...and you couldn't see anything...you know, unless you were there. But Paul did do chubby bunny. And it was grand.

The end.

On Friday at 11am, I left work (boasting a mere 45-minutes drive home!), got home, ran on the treadmill, showered, packed, shot out the church newsletter, scarfed down a sandwich, and Paul and I were off to Tugaloo State Park on Lake Hartwell.

Aside from a brief poor direction choice (thanks to our Magellan) which caused us to go through a little more traffic, the drive was a breeze!

We arrived to find everyone (Paul's dad, stepmom, sister, brother-in-law...and later stepsister) on the dock. Thus began a weekend of campfires, putt-putt, eating, Bocce, and just plain relaxing it out.

Before we knew it, it was Sunday checkout time. The weekend flew by, but it was so very enjoyable.

Here are a few pictures to give you a sense of our mini-vacation:

[I may have been tripping while taking this picture...not THAT kind...like, literally falling on my face.]

[My weekend exercise. :)]

[Bocce.]

[SIL]

[Oh, Ashley would KILL me if I put this on Facebook.
Good thing it's just on my easily accessible blog instead. Julie looks tired...]

[Ugh. Sorry for the blur. These guys just would not sit still!]

The end.

On Saturday morning at 7:15 almost 4 weeks ago, I pulled into my driveway after attending my WW meeting. I had 0 minutes to collect my things and make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before departing the country.

My sister-in-law and brother-in-law (in-law) arrive to pick us up sometime before 7:20, and we were off.

It was a long day. We didn't arrive in Ottawa until after 5pm, and we still had a two-hour drive ahead of us.

But during my 8.5 hours on planes or in airports (not counting the initial hour drive to the airport) and then an additional 8+ hours a week later, I learned a few more things about international travel and travel in general. Here are a few of the things I gleaned:

1) Sign your passport. It's just the right thing to do. Even if the young Canadian Customs employee doesn't notice that you haven't signed the passport you've had for nearly three months now, sign it immediately after exiting her eye/ear area. Don't wait until you are headed back OUT of the country, and the gentleman checking paperwork and passports, who joked with your sister-in-law about paying $5,000 for a form and your husband about not letting him out of the country, says to you "I can't let you go.", and you smile and giggle and think it's a joke until he looks at your husband and says "No really, I can't let her go." (Was that the longest sentence you've ever read?) It's just one of those things they want you to do. I know this may come as a shock. But just check your passport for signature before you try to leave/enter another country.

*Also, don't stick your chin to your neck and look freakishly lifeless when the Postal employee goes to take your picture compelling a totally separate Canadian airport employee to question whether this (pointing to the picture) is really you at a point in time when you are totally freaked out because he has already asked you all kinds of really hard questions about packing your bag and such. That is all.

2) There is one right way to put things in an overhead compartment. Especially if it's a pilot's bag. That is with the top handle facing you, vertically in the compartment...if that makes any sense. If it doesn't fit in this position, don't waste everyone's time and space by attempting to cram your bag ON TOP of another person's bag REPEATEDLY despite the wide open space in the available compartment adjacent. First, um, dumbest man ever, quite possibly. Second, you could break something in the other person's bag or damage the bag itself (duh, Captain You Planet). Third, part of the general idea of carry-ons is to be able to access your bag once the plane reaches 10,000 feet. Sigh. I meant to tattle to a stewardess, but I forgot.

3) If the captain announces on a delayed flight after arriving at the destination that passengers should allow others with connecting flights to stand and exit first, please allow them to. The captain is a smart man. If you're in any luck, he's done this a few times before. Also, it's nice to let people make their connecting flights. Then they won't have to sleep in an airport or follow you to your car and slap you silly. This really is a good concept. Unfortunately, it didn't work for us, as E-V-E-R-YONE on our flight had a connecting flight. Which is quite a feat for 300+ passengers.

4) The airport, wherever it may be...Ottawa, Detroit, Atlanta-International-busiest-flipping-airport, is a busy place. You do not get a bubble of space. You do not get privacy. So, if a short woman who is tired of running through airports and just wants to get home walks three feet in front of you, says excuse me, and doesn't look back while you were trying to read a sign from 40 billion feet away, let's not be dramatic and wave your arms and eyebrows in such a way that her sister-in-law is required by SIL pact to make a face at you in return.

Hope this helps. You can print these off if you like...you know, for easy access.

You'll have to excuse my no blogging on Friday. You see, Paul is devastated that we cannot put videos on the blog. He's been just beside himself with grief, and, like a good wife, I've been tending to my husband, bringing him hot tea and extra pillows and such....

Ok, so maybe that was just me.

And ok, maybe my blog video sadness was not the cause of my blog absence.

And ok, maybe it's because I'm lazy and forgetful.

So, there. Happy?

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[Being Silly.]

Paul's grandparents are delightful! They were both born and raised in Canada. And while they had a short stint in Ohio and used to spend winters in Arizona, they made it all the way back to their hometown.

Currently they live in an assisted living facility just 30 minutes from their cottage. Up until about a month ago, Gordon (91) and Marie (89) were pretty independent. And let me tell you, Gordon still is! And I have proof! But more on that later...

Unfortunately, Marie suffered a hip injury recently and has been in the hospital due to her small frame. I hear good things, though! She is now able to sit up, feed herself, and walk around, which are things she wasn't doing when we were there.

Gordon is one young buck! You have to keep up with him or else he'll be miles ahead of you in minutes. He walks everywhere! While we were there, he decided he wanted to fall some trees (is that right? I mean, is "fall" a transitive verb? That's what those guys kept saying...) on his 90+ acre property over near the cottage.

[Gordon says: "I think I see a pipe that needs re-sautering,
and I'll wrangle that wild bear cub while I am at it."
(Or something. Is that a thing? Sautering? Soldering? WELDING.)]

So, one of his neighbors picked him up and they went to work. This is one of those videos I am truly sad I could not show you. But believe you me! The sight of a 91-year-old man falling a tree is enough to get anyone motivated!

I mean, right? Ninety. One.

Ironically, the next morning, after walking away from a day of falling trees and other such handiwork, we couldn't find Paul's grandfather anywhere. We had arrived at the hospital for our daily visit with Marie when the cousin that was supposed to pick up Gordon and bring him there called to say she couldn't find him!

Well. We jumped in the car and drove all over the little town looking for him in his favorite places but to no avail. Finally, we headed back to the hospital waiting to hear something from both the assisted living facility (his emergency contact) or the cousin.

But what did we find when we walked into Marie's room but Gordon!

You'll never believe what happened.

He had awoken early that morning and walked to the tiny town mall for a trinket. As he was stepping up onto the curb of Staples (the one place we didn't look), he tripped. He hit his head and his arm. A Staples associate called an ambulance and he was taken to the ER.

Do you know what that means? For the 45-60 minutes we were upstairs visiting with Marie, Gordon was seated 2 floors beneath us getting stitches and hospital lunch! The whole time!

Needless to say we were relieved to find him ok. But what a story, huh? The man falls some trees without a scratch and tries to go to an office supply store and a curb jumps up and smacks him! Just to quell any worries you have, he is fine. Aside from a few bruises that looked worse than they were, he's better than ever!

It was such a treat to be able to see Paul's grandparents and listen to them talk about the past. That's the first time I've seen them since Paul and I were married! In fact, the last (and only other) time I saw them, Paul and I weren't even courting yet!

[This picture's a little fuzzy. But it's one of my faves. : )]

I hope to see them again soon.

*I refrained from posting pictures of Marie as she was in a hospital bed, and I want to protect her privacy. Also, there are pictures of Paul with his grandfather, I just don't have them for some reason.

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I have some terrible news: "Technology" is an unyielding jerk! (I hope by now you realize I am referring to something very specific and not technology in general)

As such, I cannot bring you the videos I so wanted to bring you. However, I will be making some BIG changes so this does not prevent our fun for the future. More on that later. Stay Tuned!

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Here is a *photo* tour of the cottage we stayed in. Let me just say that in this little corner of the world (Sheenboro, Quebec, Canada) EVERYTHING, whether it be house, apartment, treehouse, or tent, is a cottage as long as it has a bed and a roof.

So without further ado:

[The Exterior: Left is riverside, Right is as you come down the driveway]

[The Living Room with a tv/VHS combo; The Kitchen: the only picture I have, sadly; sink and nook around the corner to the right and a portable (yes!) dishwasher that hooks up to the sink faucet...it was actually just behind me when I took the Living Room picture.]

[Bedrooms: What? It's vacation. No chores. Actually...not. Not at all.
We were washing e.v.e.r.y linen in the house and beds were folding workspaces.]

[Big mean ol' door-holding shell that jumped out in front of my big toe!]

[Bathroom! YAY! Annnddd...the mirror across the hall for checking for stowaway spiders upon exit. Hello!]

[My fav'rite room ever ever ever EVER! Look at all that light! This was an addition made to the cottage later. We ate breakfast in here every morning. And since mornings and breakfasts are my favorites (seriously) I can honestly say it was the highlight of my days.]

We scrubbed this place from top to bottom. My first 4 days were spent scrubbing the stove and wiping down the inside of cabinets. I also helped with some other tasks such as folding laundry and dishes. It was more of a...um...working vacation, if you will.

Since my video woes have left me without a few posts, I'll be rounding out the Canada series in the next couple of days with a post about Paul's grandparents and one about Jenn-approved travel tips. Stay tuned!

[Comments? Voting? Over there please...--->]

One might think that the prevalent form of fowl in Canada is the CANADIAN goose, of course. But in actuality I saw one flock flying low over the water one evening.

What I DID see a lot of were...seagulls.

That's right, seagulls. I suppose the water from the Ottawa River draws them. At any rate, we saw them everywhere.

At McDonald's:

[Obviously this guy spends quite a bit of time at the Mcdonald's]

At the Grocery (that's what Canadians call it..."The Grocery". Actually, I don't know if that's true...but somebody calls it that. And I want to be like them):

[Note the weight difference. Also, that is a sucker he's carrying. I thought this was hilarious.]

Aside from the fine River Birds, we also encountered many a spider. Including the Mutant Spider of the Cottage Trash Bin, of which we have video, of which I will not share. Because no one wants to see that.

However, one of the most frightening starts I had all week was when I looked out the window one morning and saw this creature:

[He carries his weight well, no? Look at him on that little tree.]

It seems when we arrived the night before in pitch darkness, I had missed this little guy. But rest assured, his presence was quite clear the next morning. All I can say is I had less than a sip of coffee in me, no contacts in, and vacation had only just begun.

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The nearest large city to where we stayed in Canada was Ottawa, which is a two-hour drive. While we didn't do any activities in Ottawa, that is where the airport is located. So, you can probably already guess that we made the drive at least twice.

We did.

Drive it twice.

Anyhow, my husband is quite a character. And I think tight spaces and a lack of activity (since he wasn't driving) made him a little loopy. So please enjoy this string of pictures of a 2-hour car ride with Paul:

[Recap: Crazy, DS, talking into his DS like a phone, using his DS to be a duck, dancing, dancing, dancing, dancing/flirting, sleeping, sleeping, waking, faking, happy.]

So there you have it. This is basically life with Paul minus work, bathroom breaks, and meals.

Love this man! : )

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Please note: I have organized my Canada posts topically rather than chronologically. There's not really a schedule when you're on vacation anyway, right? Just be aware of this as you read through. Thanks for letting me be weird.

Word on the street, or amongst the passengers of certain Ford Escape rental last week, is that Canada has such a beautiful and clear view of skyscapes, because they are so environmentally concious, and they don't allow their smog to reach CODE ORANGE (as it is in Atlanta today) . Being out in the middle of nowhere helps. I'll let you judge for yourself:

And please indulge me:

[I just love this picture. : )]

Don't you just love how creative and giant God is?

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." -Psalm 19:1

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Every once in a while, I would forget I wasn't at some lake cabin in the States, but then something like this would shake me out of it:

[Above the Kraft logo it says, "It's not Delivery! It's Delissio!" Sound familiar?]

Also, I think we had the "Brand of the Yankees" on our foreheads, because everywhere we went, people seemed to look at us like they knew we were "Yanks". Must have been our awesome style.

Welcome to Canada!

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