Happy Birthday from a Grateful Mind

What a wonderful day it's been!

My morning started off with my mom calling to wish me a happy birthday and telling me all about a humming bird she saw in the backyard. It's pretty early for humming birds, so this really was something special. Mom said that it was a sign of good luck for me since it appeared on my birthday.

At work, a lot of my co-workers wished me a happy birthday and Xtina gave me a lovely candle from Bath and Body Works. One of our newer staff, MA, make strawberry shortcake for my birthday, which we ate out of red solo cups, which was awesome. In the afternoon, my co-worker and I had our last French class for this session. We both passed :) So we celebrated with some cupcakes that I baked. After class, the pair of us had coffee with our teacher and thanked her for making class fun.

After work, I met up with NB and we went out for dinner. We caught up and decided that we're far too young to be this old so there must have been a mistake somewhere along the way!! We split a free dessert which was served with a sparkler in it. That's as close as I've come to blowing out a candle today.

Right now, I'm doing the dishes and trying to think if I forgot to pack anything. I'm heading home for the long weekend and for a party for my great aunt, who turns 80 tomorrow. That certainly puts turning 35 into perspective. I'm really looking forward to getting home to see my family. I haven't seen them since Christmas. Plus I get to do some celebrating, which is great. I usually miss all the family parties.

LOL. I just discovered that the Google Doodle for today is Google wishing me a happy birthday! That's pretty freakin' cool. Guess it helps when you have a Google profile. Awesome.

Since I still have a sink full of dishes and I should have been in bed 11 minutes ago, I'm going to borrow someone else's wise words tonight:

"Pleas'd look forward, pleas'd to look behind,
And count each birthday with a grateful mind."
~ Alexander Pope

Good Night!

Sarah

Montreal, Pt. 3 - Random Montreal Stuff

I suppose I should finish the story about my trip to Montreal. Days 3 and 4 were much more subdued than days 1 and 2. Largely due to how busy and how much walking we did on those first 2 days.

We started day 3 by heading to the Eaton Centre, near McGill University. After we got Michelle some new shoes, we headed over to the 2 story Addition Elle store. While we do have those stores here, we don't have them quite like this one. It had lines/clothing in it that aren't in our stores yet. I ended up with a new outfit (top/bottom) and a strapless tank top. We decided to go back to the hotel and drop our stuff off so we didn't have to lug it around town with us. We were meeting up with my co-worker for lunch since he was in town and had told us that he knew were to get the best poutine in Montreal. We were sold.

At this point, Michelle and I were very tired and our feet/legs hurt, a lot. It was also cold and had started to snain (kind of rain, kind of snow). So my poor co-worker had to listen to us bitch while he lead us through the plateau area of Montreal (which I'm sure it quite charming when you're not cold/hungry/in pain). We finally arrived at the restaurant only to discover that there was a line up...out the door. After assuring us about a dozen times that the poutine was indeed worth waiting in the snain, we relented and waited. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait outside long. Within 5 minutes we were inside and within 20, we were seated. I'm not going to lie. It was the best damn poutine I've ever had (well, ever had sober). I'm not sure if it was due to the fact that it was food after a long day or if the pogo cut up on top of mine added to it, but it was amazing. And very affordable too. Probably the best value we'd found thus far.

That evening, we venture out to an Irish pub that was within walking distance of the hotel. It was a cold and windy walk over. The pub was packed and was kind of cool. It was a typical Irish pub/sports bar, but the building was beautiful. The ceiling looked like it might have been copper and had neat designs in it. The Montreal game was on CBC so everyone in the bar was watching that. Unfortunately, Montreal started to lose very early and the bar got really quiet. I'd had 3 porn stars to drink so I was feeling pretty good and couldn't care less about the game. We headed back to the hotel after the first period. It was a sobering walk thanks to the crazy wind and low temps. The hotel was only 4 blocks away, yet Montreal was losing 4-0 by the time we got into our room. We stayed in and watched hockey for most of the evening.

On our final morning, we scored a free breakfast at the hotel thanks to a special connection I had. LOL. It was quite nice. We just rested and watched tv and then ventured out to pick up some food and snacks for the train. The train ride back was un-eventful and went by rather quickly. We played a game of "look, there's another church" to keep ourselves entertained.

All in all, it was a great weekend away and I think we both had a lot of fun. I can't wait to do it again next year but maybe this time we can find someplace warmer to go :)

Good Night!

Sarah

Ducks in the courtyard of our hotel

Montreal, pt. 2

I've been too sleepy to write the last couple of nights so I'll try to get a post in tonight.

Day 2 in Montreal started with a trip to the BioDome. It's a kick ass place that has re-created 4 environments indoors. They each feature flora and fauna native to that environment along with some animals and fish. There are lots of educational things along the way to read too. It's very cool to experience the different environments as you move through the building. The tropical rain forest is very hot and humid while the Maple Forest is like walking through a local park. I highly recommend this to anyone going to Montreal.
I loved watching the otters. They almost seemed to know that there were people watching so they were putting on a show for us and almost totally posing for photos!

After that, we headed back to the hotel. We picked up some sandwiches en route and had lunch in our room before heading back out. This time we were off to the incredibly beautiful, Notre Dame Basilica.  When you first walk in and see the stunning alter standing before you, in all its glory, it kind of takes your breath away (I had the same reaction the first time I saw the inside of the Library of Parliament on the hill in Ottawa). I've seen this church a couple times now and the beauty still takes my breath away. If I got to sit in something so historical and so gorgeous every week, I might just be inclined to go to church on a regular basis! 

We did the self guided tour and were able to take our time and look at all the fine wood work. The really big treat for me this time was getting to see the Chapel of the Notre-Dame du Sacre-Coeur. The chapel (located inside the Basilica) burnt down in 1978 but was restored and re-opened in 1982. The chapel is so bright and airy and has a slightly more simple beauty to it. I really enjoyed seeing it as I missed it the last time I was there. Michelle and I wrote in the guest book and continued our tour. The size of the church really is something else. We lit a couple of candles and then moved on out to the gift shop.

It was a crazy windy day and we almost got blown away while sitting on a bench in the square across from the church. We decided to head to the Old Port and check out the St. Lawrence River next. We were able to see Montreal Island and the amusement park during our walk along the river. After resting for a bit and once again nearly getting blown away, we headed back into Old Montreal for dinner.

Old Montreal is just that: old. It's narrow streets and gorgeous old buildings. Some of the roads are still cobble stone. Since I'm a history buff, I love the place. Even if half the shops are cheap souvenir stores. We had dinner at a rustic Italian restaurant called "The Spaghetti Factory" (not to be confused with The Old Spaghetti Factory) and then did some shopping in said cheap souvenir stores. 

We finally got back to the hotel and decided that a nice swim in the pool would be awesome. The hotel's pool is an outdoor pool. Normally, one doesn't go swimming outdoors in Canada in April, but this was no ordinary pool. It's a heated one. We went swimming in the cold rain and totally enjoyed ourselves. If your head got cold, you could swim over to the waterfall and stand there for a bit or just dunk down under the water. It was very awesome.  Michelle and I were pretty darn tired by the time we got into bed. Kind of like how I am now.

Stay tuned for part 3 of the Montreal trip!

Good Night!

Sarah

Sunny Saturday, Spring Cleaning and Strength

I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately and frankly, I've been too damn tired. So I decided I'd better log in tonight and get some words on the screen. Thanks to Daylight Savings Time, I'm going to bed an hour later than planned. To off set this, I shall attempt to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow morning. Not sure if it will work but it's worth a try. My mother tried to tell me that clocks go back an hour tonight instead of going an hour forward. I think she was just trying to find a way to sleep in an extra hour tomorrow.

I had a pretty darn good day today. One of the best I've had in a while. The sun was out and that seemed to be the key. I stood on my balcony in the sun for a bit this morning and it felt glorious. I'm in spring cleaning mode too. I had originally planned to stay home and just clean all day but this afternoon I decided that it was too nice to stay home all day so I escaped for a bit.

Before I left, I managed to get the dishes done, a load of laundry done and some dusting done. I then went downtown, had a Beavertail, walked around the market, taking in the wonderful sunshine, stopped at the butcher and bought a beautiful New York Strip for dinner and then came back home. I did some more cleaning once I was home. I tackled the greasy vent cover that's in the hood over my stove. Thanks to Pinterest, I got it clean without any effort. Just some boiling water and baking soda. Amazing. I also got the burner inserts clean that way. My stove is spotless (for now). I got the toilet cleaned and my bookshelf dusted too. I was on quite the roll. I really do love Pinterest. I was standing in the kitchen, holding the filter and trying to figure out how to clean the damn thing when suddenly, magic words popped into my head. They were "go check on Pinterest". I'm so smart! The answer was there and it worked and now I have a clean filter. Yay!

Tonight I watched the movie "The Other Guys". It was horrible. So I watched the first half of Mall Rats to make up for it. I'll finish watching it sometime tomorrow. I'm hoping to continue my cleaning spree tomorrow.

Adding to my good mood today was that I booked 2 trips this morning. Nothing overly exciting but I'm happy about them. The first is in April. I'm going to Montreal with my old friend Michelle. We're taking the train from my house, which is awesome since I love taking the train and it's a great trip from Ottawa to Montreal (and faster than driving). The best part is that I used some networking skills to get us a LUXURY hotel room for a very budget friendly price. I'm very excited. I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans we get up to when left to our own devices in Montreal. This is going to be great.
The other trip I booked was just a train ticket home for the May long weekend. My bday (a kind of big one) is one the Thursday before the long weekend and my Great Aunt's 80th bday is the Friday of the long weekend, so I'm heading home to go to her party. I'm really looking forward to seeing my family. I haven't seen them since Christmas so this will be great. I hope the weather is nice.

Since it's actually 12:34am instead of the 11:34pm that my clock says, I really should get to bed. I have a lot more cleaning ahead of me tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be warm but cloudy and maybe some rain in the late afternoon. Perfect cleaning or book reading weather. I have a couple of books that need to be read so we'll see what happens. I found a very yummy sounding scone recipe on Pinterest too that I might attempt. LOL. This truly was a good day. I'm starting to feel like myself again and I really don't have the words to explain how amazing that feels. It's more relief than anymore. The days are getting longer, the shadows are weaken. Step by step, I'm walking back out of the darkness and into the light again.The birds chirping this morning is the kind of sound that makes my soul smile. We're not totally out of winter's grasp yet but we're close and I'm experiencing a strong sense of relief and accomplishment. I've made it through another winter in one piece, coming out into spring, just a little bit stronger than I was when I went in late last fall.

Good Night!

Sarah

My favourite sign of spring: Lily of the Valley

If I See Another Happy Couple/Person on a Beach Photo, I Might Just Self Combust

I keep sitting here, looking at this blank screen and suddenly my thoughts are as blank as it is.

I guess some thoughts really are too personal to share. 

I am very tired. The irony being that despite how tired I am, I'm sleeping like shit. I either can't fall asleep for hours or I do fall asleep but then wake up 4-5 times in the night since I can't seem to stay asleep. The snow plows clearing the mall parking lot at 1:30am on Monday didn't help matters any. 

There is one thing that's kind of pissing me off right now. It's everyone posting beautiful photos on Facebook from their assorted vacations in tropical places. Everyone looks like they're having/had so much fun and the weather and the beaches look so awesome. And I'll admit it. I'm down right jealous. 

Ignoring the fact that I don't have anyone who'd be available to go on said vacation with me, the long and the short of it is that I simply can't afford to go on a tropical vacation. The only time in my adult life that I've got on a real vacation was May 2007, when I went to Vegas for 4 days with my buddy Cam. And I was only able to do that because my Gram had passed away and left me some money, which came with the instructions "Have some fun with it". So I took 75% of it and paid off one of my student loans (no, that wasn't the fun part) and I took what was left and went to Vegas.

One of my co-workers recently said "Travel is totally worth going into debt for". Unfortunately, I can't agree with him. Speaking as someone who's spent the better part of the last 10 years trying to get out of debt, I can't really think of much that's worth being put back into the brutal whole. I can finally kind of see the light at  the end of the tunnel. I keep looking at the money in my investment account and thinking that I could really go on a kick ass vacation with that money. But then I remember why that money's there. It's there so that in 30 years, I can go on that kick ass vacation, every year. I think of spending it and then I'm reminded of what and who I still owe. I think of spending it and then I look around my crappy apartment at all my hand me down and worn out furniture and realize that a new couch is much more practical than a week in Cuba. A new kitchen table and a new arm chair would serve me so much better than a Caribbean Cruise.

Some days I wish I wasn't so responsible. If I wasn't, I'd probably be on a beach somewhere right now. What really frosts my cupcake is watching people who constantly complain about having no money go on said trips ( these are the same people who tell you about their horrible debt in once sentence and then tell you about their new jumbo screen tv/new fully loaded car/new top of the line phone in the next sentence ). I could buy a whole new living room set for less than the cost of a trip to Mexico. No wonder the economy is such a mess and so many people are in debt. No one cares about the consequences anymore. Why bother worrying about your bills when you can just file for personal bankruptcy and sweep it all away? Or so all of the "credit counselling" commercials lead you to believe.

No one takes responsibility anymore. I had not one but two independent financial planners tell me that I was the "perfect" candidate for personal bankruptcy. That kind of surprised me. They didn't try to offer me any advice, any re-payment ideas - nope, take the quick and easy way out and start over.

But I didn't do it. I keep at it and finally managed to find a better solution. I still have to pay back every single cent of my debt, I just managed to be given an opportunity to do it sooner and without my credit rating taking a nose dive. Truthfully, I thought about it but I felt bad at the idea of shirking my responsibilities. I wasn't raised that way. I realize that some people get themselves so far into trouble that that is the only option for them and that's fine. That's what it's there for. That's what it's intended for. 

We're told to live within our means. I get it. I'm doing that and my means aren't that fantastic but it's a work in progress and I know that it will slowly get better, if I just keep at it.

That isn't to say that I don't keep an eye on the travel websites. You never know when an absolute steal of a deal will come along.

But for the time being, I'll just keep plugging away and will look forward to my trip to Montreal in April. It's only a couple of days and it's only 2 hours away but it's a fun change of scenery. The BioDome and Botanical Gardens do feel like you're in a tropical paradise too.

Enough venting for now. I'm going to go and attempt to sleep, if I don't end up maiming my upstairs neighbour first. He's been banging/thumping/dropping crap for the last 5 minutes. No wonder I'm not sleeping well. I really need to move.

Good Night.

Sarah

Around The World

Day #2 of my training session was pretty good. I only got lost once but was able to figure it out and get back on track. Here's hoping I remember it all :)

We finished early so I had enough time to go back to the office. I kind of wish I didn't. LOL. I now have a rather long "to do" list as a result. Oh well. It will keep me out of trouble and make the day fly by.

The fact that it was once again minus fucking cold here had me thinking about summer and wishing I could go away somewhere. I'd love to go to Europe. I really, really would. But financially, that's not going to happen for some time yet. So I was thinking about travel in Canada. I'd really love to go back to BC. I want to spend some time in Victoria again (since I was there in the winter) and I want to go to Vancouver. On the flip side, I'm really interested in seeing Newfoundland. Only problem with NFLD is that I'd like to tour the province and see some of the smaller villages and such and I don't drive. So I need to find someone to go with me who does drive. In BC, I can take a ferry from Vic to Van so it's not an issue. Money is still the key factor in both places, but they'd be really awesome to visit. I haven't had a "real" vacation since 2007. Going home to visit is nice and all but it's not quite the same as going away somewhere new and getting to explore and experience a new place. Kind of like how I'd love to be in Turks and Caicos right now :)

I'm pretty darn sure that if I ever win it big on the lottery, I'd spend the first year travelling all over the world. Just seeing it and taking it all in. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our day to day routines, get buried in our work, consumed by out lives that we forget that there's a HUGE world out there and we're just living in one small piece of it. Sometimes thinking about it make me sad because I'm afraid that I'll never find the money or find a way to get out there and see it all. Other times I just sit and daydream about what it's going to be like when I get there. I make a pretend itinerary of all the fabulous things I want to see, taste, smell and experience. All the world history, art, food and beauty. And that makes me smile.

One day.....

Good Night.

Sarah

Viva Las Vegas!!!! That was an awesome trip!

Home!

I know, I know, I didn't blog last night. By the time I even thought of my blog, I was already in bed, all cocooned up in my blankets and there was no way that I was getting back out of that warmth again until I absolutely had to.

I made it home, safe and sound, with no thanks to Mother Nature. When I woke up yesterday, Ottawa resembled the inside of a snow globe. Steph made it to my house and while I was taking out the garbage and watering my plants, she was shovelling out the end of my street where the plow had made a nice pile from plowing the main road. When we were ready to go, Steph had me stand on the corner, in the snow and watch for traffic on the main road. It's 5am and we're in the middle of a snow storm, there's no traffic! But I did as I was told and I gave her the all clear and she gunned it out of my street, through the snow pile and onto the main road. YAY! I then had to run around the snow bank and get into the car.

Partway there, we saw police lights in the distance. As we creeped closer, we saw that both of our lanes were blocked by an accident. Thankfully, being insanely early and a snow storm, we were able to drive in the other lane and go around it all. It was a van vs tow truck crash. Steph said "I wonder who was the cause of that" and her husband and I both said "Tow Truck" at the same time. But judging by where the van was, I think it might have been the van.

We got to the train station at a good time. In fact, we beat the attendant to the station. Most people were huddled around the front door but it was in the wind. I stood by the back door, where it's protected and I could watch the snow fall. I also lucked out since this was the door the Via guy used and I was the first person to be let into the warmth of the train station.

Via Rail has come a long way in the last 10 years. They've introduced seat assignment and are fixing up their cars. But when it comes to holiday travel, Via sucks. The seat assignment goes out the window. They just tell everyone to "sit where ever" This really sucks if you're travelling in pair because it means that you might not get seats together. Anyhow, the boarding announcement said to get on at car 3. So we hustled there. An elderly lady and I had been hiding under a covered area until the train was ready for boarding, so we were one of the last ones to get to the car. Once there, another lady said to go down to where the man was sweeping, car 5. So we trudged through the storm to that car. I was the 2nd to last to get one. First problem - no more room for luggage. Despite Via advertising the hell out of their new baggage policy, people ignored it. So I told the Via guy that there was no more room for luggage. He said not to worry about it and to leave it on the floor and he'd take care of it. This is code for "I'm going to hide it somewhere and you're going to spend 30 minutes in Toronto searching the train for it". Sigh. Next problem, there was only 1 seat left on the train. It was in a 4-seater, with 3 young University guys. Oh hell no. I got back to the Via guy (who was looking increasing frazzled) and said "There are no more open seats on this car" and I put my hand on my hip for good measure. So he said "I can let you onto car 4, there are seats there". So I followed him into the oasis that was car 4.

Those of you who read this regularly know that I never get the new cars on the train. Call it a Christmas miracle, but Car 4 was one of the new refurbished cars. And it only had about 12 people in there. Ahhh. I ended up having 2 seats to myself until Coburg. It was great. I did got back to the other car and grabbed my suitcase and brought it onto my car, which had lots of luggage room still. I sat back and enjoyed the ride. I also gave the Via guy a tip when he came around selling food and drinks later.

Of course, when I changed trains in Toronto, I was back to crappy old cars but I didn't care anymore at this point. The ride was a smooth one and we got into Kitchener only about 4 minutes late. When I got off the train, I looked around and couldn't see my mom. So I waited a bit thinking she was having a smoke somewhere or was late getting to the train. I started to walk down the platform towards the parking lot and I finally see her pop out from the train station. I make my way over to her and give her a kiss and a big hug and then someone comes out the train station behind her - it was my dad! What an awesome surprise!

I haven't seen my family since August. I've gone longer without seeing them but any length of time seems long. So for weeks, all I keep thinking of is that one perfect moment when I get off the train and I get to see my mom and see her smile and I get to give her a kiss and wrap my arms around her. Whenever I was having a bad day or work was really stressing me out, that's what I'd think about. No matter how old I get or how independent I am, the second I get to rush up to my mom at the train station and hug her, everything feels right with the world again. The stress and anxiety of the trip just melt away. Tears of happiness spring to my eyes, my heart soars and my soul sings because I'm just so happy! And yesterday I got to do that twice!!
My mom was worried that the weather here would be bad so my dad took the day off to driver her to the train station, but she didn't tell me. I'm pretty sure that will be my favourite Christmas gift this year :)

After picking me up, we headed to Arby's for lunch and then stopped at a surplus store where mom bought me a meat thermometer and then we headed home. After a short rest, dad and I headed back out to do a little shopping. I got to check out the new Shopper's Drug Mart that was built in town and we ran into my grandparents along the way. I got to make my grandmother's day since she didn't know I was back in town yet. So that was nice.

We had a nice dinner, which mom made. I was just happy not to have to cook for myself for once! And then the 3 of us watched a "Duck Dynasty" mini marathon. OMG. That show is funny and those guys are insane. At 9 mom switched to Ghost Hunters and I almost didn't make it to the end of the show. I'd been running on just 4 hours of sleep. So I made my way to the even colder upstairs and got ready for bed. My parents' house is cold. I've mentioned this before. But the upstairs is down right chilly. It was crazy windy last night (still is this morning) yet the window in my bedroom is open a crack. Mom likes having fresh air. Being way too tired to fight with the window, I left it as is. But damn, it was chilly in there. I nearly froze to death getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. The toilet seat is so cold that you don't really want to sit, you're more inclined to just hover. And by the time I got back into bed and tried to get the covers on my again, I couldn't feel my fingers. Oh yeah, no hot water in the bathroom. You have to run the sink for a good 2 minutes before you get hot water. Brrrr.

I was the first one up this morning though and here I am, blogging. Or hogging the computer as my mother muttered and wandered off.

So I should wrap this up and go get some breakfast. Not sure what we're doing today other than braving the mall and Walmart for a few final items. This should be fun :)

Good Morning!

Sarah

Allergies :(

My ears are itchy. Which really sucks because it's not like you can scratch them like you do your arm. All I can do, is sit here and wait for the allergy medication to start working. Grrrr. Usually my allergies are insane when I'm at my parent's house but they haven't been too bad this time around. Today was the worst day for my allergies. Not sure why. Maybe it was due to my dad cleaning out the garage as he stirred up all kinds of dust and crap.

I had a very lovely dinner with my parents tonight. Dad BBQ'd a roast, mom took care of the veggies and I made a killer Peach-Blueberry Cobbler for dessert (mom peeled and sliced the peaches for me). It was nice to bake again but it made me miss my own kitchen. My parent's kitchen is much bigger than mine, but I know where everything in my kitchen is. I had to keep asking my mom where things were.

Can't say that I really have much to talk about tonight. I'm almost all packed as I head back to Ottawa tomorrow. I'll be passing my friend Kristina along the way has she's Toronto bound. We'll wave at each other near Oshawa. Instead of two ships passing in the night, we'll be two trains passing in the day. Leaving is always bitter sweet. It's been nice getting to relax and see family and visit cool places but I also miss some of the routine of Ottawa. And I miss my bed. I have slept very well being at home though, which I think is largely due to the lack of stress. But damn that mattress is hard! My dad heads back to work tomorrow so we're kind of in the same boat.

I think I'm going to log off now and go up to my room and read for awhile before going to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day of travel for me. My mom and I will leave the house around 8:15am and my train is scheduled to arrive in Ottawa at 4:27pm. So tomorrow night's blog might be a short and sweet one too.

Good Night!

Sarah

A butterfly landed on my shoulder yesterday.

Improvements my ass...

For those of you who know me, you know that I take the train quite a bit. I'm talking about the Via Rail train here, usually between Ottawa, ON and Kitchener, ON. Over the last year, I've been on it about 11 times, including today. Via has been undergoing some major renovations. They're re-doing stations and the train cars amongst other things. It seems like they've been doing work on Union Station in Toronto for forever now. But the thing that I'm annoyed about, is their new cars.

They keep posting updates, talking about all the wonderful changes to their cars, to make them more accessible and comfortable. I'm convinced they're fibbing. Out of the last 11 trips on the train, I've managed to score a "newer" car once. And that was going between Ottawa and Montreal. My good friend Cameron and his wife came to Ontario from Calgary at Christmas. They took the train. They also took the train down to Toronto to visit family. They managed to score new cars several times. WTF??? I never get the new damn cars. In fact, in June I got one of Via's oldest cars (and least comfortable) for the whole trip and then I got the same damn old style again today to Toronto!!

It makes no sense to me. For the 1.5 hour ride, I managed to get one of the pretty new(er) cars but for the 5 hour ride I get old and uncomfortable? Jesus Christ VIA!!!! No wonder you're losing money. If that had been my first time on a train, I wouldn't be in any hurry to ride one again. The least they could do is lower fares (it's peak season so they're all higher now). And given the frequency they've been having seat sales, I'm thinking they're having a hard time getting riders. My train to Toronto was pretty packed today though.

I wonder if they'll actually do anything if I email VIA? I'm a pretty loyal customer and I'm not happy. I can't say that they're known for their customer service either. I think it all depends on the crew you get on the train. The head guy on the train to Toronto today wasn't very friendly, but the lady on the train to Kitchener was great. Hit and miss.

Ok. That vent is out of the way. Thanks to Cam for coming up with the topic. Even with the uncomfrotable seats, my trip was good. My morning was a little rough as I discovered that I lost my bus pass at some point yesterday evening. Thankfully, I discovered that before I hauled my suitcase out to the bus stop. My trip was pretty uneventful. There were lots of families on the trains with very young children but I had my iPod so I was ok. My trains were also on time, so that made my 24 minute connection a very smooth one. According to my mom, my parents were almost late getting to the train station to pick me up and she's blaming my dad. Dad's defence was "I pulled in before the train did". LOL. Looking down the platform and seeing them there totally made my day. It really is one of the greatest feelings in the world.

We've got my step-nephew coming over for a visit and sleep over tomorrow. He and my dad are planning to camp out in the yard or basement, depending on the weather. I think I'm planning on kidnapping my mom and having her take me shopping. One of my favourite stores has denim on for 50% off, tomorrow only :) I'm going to need to be well rested for tomorrow, that's for sure.

It's been a long day, but a good one and I'm very happy to be home.

Good Night!

Sarah

Photo my mom took a couple of summers ago. This is from their backyard.