Every occasion in life can either be categorized as a good time or a good story.
I attended my first yoga class last week and although it's supposed to make you more flexible it's going to take me a while to reach that description. When the instructor was assisting me in how to extend my feet while holding on my chair (yes it's seniors yoga - okay there I've said it) I gasped "I can't go reach any further - my teeth are really expensive" but it was unnecessary panic as she meant for me to shorten my stretch. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's class and hopefully I won't be slower than those 80 year olds who attend.
Four of us enjoyed the latest James Bond movie - Skyfall - and it was (as expected) excellent. To be able to watch Daniel Craig for extended periods of time without his shirt on is a good thing. And to those who say that the 007 movies are too violent, I say "was there shooting?" because for me it's all about the secret agent. Sigh.
Due to rough weather on Monday and an official postponement, the first day of lobster season was Tuesday. It was a lovely day to get the traps in the water and I made my way over mid morning (I never get up when the men go lobstering and first day is no exception) to snap some photos.
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| Coming in for 2nd load |
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| Let's get them on and out there |
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| Busy spot |
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| Both FV Kylie Ann's together |
After I delivered the orange rolls to the captain and crew - with all of them under 25, you can be assured that there were no lunches packed - I headed in to town to get my annual flu shot. Aside from a slightly tender arm the next day there were no problems. Groceries, a trip to the hardware store for supplies - was going to try a sharpie mug (the clerk even asked me if this was where I found the idea) and I have to say it was the first Pinterest fail I've had, then a stop at Frenchy's for craft supplies and to see if the tractor trailer had delivered any more Christmas presents for my family. I found a friend's description of Frenchy's on FaceBook as she tried to describe it someone from out of province so am sharing it here:
Frenchy's is a gift from God to those of us who love a bargain. There are a number of locations in Nova Scotia, the best ones at the western end of the province. Inside you'll find 4' x 8' plywood bins at waist level, filled with used clothes -- sorted into kids', men's and women's, and then further into shirts, sweaters, pants, etc. There are coats hung on racks around the perimeter of the room, along with suits and some "fancy" items. The clothes come from the US, and many still have their original tags, although there are some items that show signs of wear like tears or stains so you have to look carefully. Prices have gone up a bit since the stores were introduced, but there are still some amazing bargains to be found. It's not for everybody, but I love it!
Then home to continue on with my elf projects - if you're into crocheting here's a lovely blog I discovered - has some really cute baby hats amongst other things :
and then do some baking. I am trying to use oranges in various recipes and sending them home with anyone who visits, as both the shore captain and myself managed to order citrus from the local school. I spent some time with livechat at Philips in trying to register my GOLiteBLU therapy lamp. Apparently the difficulty was that I live in Canada but bought the product online from Amazon in the USA as it wasn't available here, then tried to register it according to the directions in the box which were for......you guessed it - the US. As she kept typing 'may I know the model number' and 'may I know where you live' I wanted to SHOUT "I don't know if you may or not" and my friend said it reminded her of the Leslie Neilson line where he says "and don't call me surely". At least I didn't have to register it in both countries - what were all those NAFTA negotiations about if you have to go through all this?
I had visits from several friends this week and lots of smiles - ahh, did I mention that it's nice to be off for two months? Then on Friday as I looked to escape from the house (as the cleaning lady comes that morning) I headed out to meet a friend for a tea and catching up. Amazing who hangs out at Tim Hortons I found out.
In chatting online with my former roommate (she of polar bear story fame) I discovered that she'll be joining me in Taloyoak in February. She suggested that if I've run out of supplies or have forgotten anything, that she'll be able to bring them in - how decadent to have my own personal courier. And I promised to try to save her some of the seafood I'll be taking in with me. Will be nice to see a familiar face by then.
Since I've been organizing my stuff, which means I've been donating bags of clothes, sorting my jewelry, and finding all kinds of things...I unearthed a Maeve Binchy movie which I plan to watch with my buddy. Since the life partner has the laptop which plays DVDs hooked up to the large TV I asked him for directions on how to work it. The directions (which he spontaneously spouted after having been shown them once at the store) which I recorded, cover half a page of paper. Remember this is from a man who cannot recall more than two items on a grocery list. Adult ed principals in action - the teachable moment is where you WANT to learn to do it to learn it. And speaking of movies....to distract him from the woes of this lobster season - record catches and a shaky economy have driven the price down, there is a shortage of crates to keep lobsters in, fishermen are still insisting on selling and for buyers the uncertainty of the markets makes this a risky endeavour, long hours and high overhead costs etc etc. - I convinced him that we'd watch one of the movies the computer tech downloaded for me up north. Since the shortest one was Hot Tub Time Machine, that was the choice made by himself - sort of a cross between The Hangover and Dumb and Dumber - but it did take his mind off his troubles for a bit. The weather was rotten today and tomorrow promises a repeat so not only lobster boats to worry about but the fishing boat is out as well - no wonder he doesn't sleep, it's like waiting for a house full of teenagers to return with the vehicle.
Off to run a few errands in the morning. I have to return the personal humidifier as I couldn't get it open - and I was so hopeful for something to put some moisture into the air in Nunavut - will have to keep my eyes peeled when shopping for a similar product. A friend and myself are heading in to the city this week to get our passport renewal organized and to order a prescription snorkel mask for myself.
And in closing, I leave you with this list to enable you to stay creative:
