Where the Hell Am I??

Ok. So where the hell have I been? I haven't blogged in over a month and I've had several people point that out to me and some even tried to demand that I start writing again. LOL. While I'm glad to see that people are actually interested in the crap I write, I needed a break. And that was for a couple of reasons.

The number one reason is: I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in my right hand and yes, I'm right handed. It was so painful I could barley hold a pen or an eating utensil. Using a can opening made my hand feel like it was on fire and typing not only hurt, but made my fingers go numb. In fact, just typing these two paragraphs has made my thumb and pointer finger go numb. Thankfully, the pain is more or less gone. The doctor gave me a note for an ergonomic assessment at work (got a new keyboard tray and wrist rest) and I'll be getting a new split keyboard. I'm also sleeping with a brace on, which really seems to be helping. If everything goes well, I won't need surgery and things will correct themselves.

The number two reason for not blogging is that I needed to think some stuff through. Birthdays do that to me.

Speaking of birthdays, I had a great one. I went home for the weekend and my family threw my great aunt an amazing 80th bday party and the included me in it. I got balloons and a horrible necklace and personalized chocolates. It was fantastic. I got to see a lot of family I haven't seen for a very long time and a very special family friend too. I felt very, very loved. I really do have an amazing family. I'm so blessed and lucky to have them. I miss them all very much, especially my parents. But this is two bdays that I've been home for that my mom has gotten out of baking a cake for me. LOL.  It was a great visit and I had some good train karma on the way back and ended up and a 4-seater all to myself. I had to laugh. While looking out the window, I saw an old guy on a riding lawn mower and he waved at the train as it went by.  I waved back.

Things returned to normal when I got back. I went out for a belated bday dinner with some co-workers. I had a giant ass glass of wine. It was a very fun night. Then the post birthday blues came to visit and sadly, they're still kind of kicking around. They're nagging me at the back of my head. I know that the vast majority of them are unfounded and I now I'm leap years ahead of where I was five years ago. But there's still some major disappointments there. Things I haven't done, goals I haven't accomplished. And I'm mad and frustrated with myself and I'm a little sad.

And the universe is playing tricks on me too. So not impressed there. Work's been really stressful too. I thought we were supposed to slow down in the summer. It sure doesn't look like that will be happening. And it just seems to me that the bigger our office gets, the less people seem to know how to do stuff themselves. Example - I called in sick today. I woke up feeling like crap. I was achy and my eyes were puffy and swollen. So I took an Advil and went back to sleep. Anyhow, I was checking my work email later in the day and I got an email from one co-worker, saying that there were window cleaners doing our windows and maybe I should send an email to the staff warning them. WTF?? They're window cleaners, not terrorists and THERE'S BEEN A NOTICE IN THE LOBBY FOR A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! Shit. People really don't pay attention and OMG, I have much more important things to do in a day at work than worry about shit like that.

In case you're curious, it's taken me just over 2 hours to write all of this. I have to keep taking breaks because my fingers keep going numb.

Ok. Just take a deep breath and keep going. Everything's ok. Just be patient and the Universe will bring you what you need when you need it, not when you think you need it. Just now I think I need to plant my ass on a beach in Bora-Bora for a week. But I can't afford that trip in this life time so I guess I'm just going to have to take some more Advil and head back to work and keep heading for that light at the end of the tunnel.

Good Night.

Sarah

My very awesome birthday cake.

Home - The Other One

I am back in Ottawa. My 2nd home. Cambridge will always be my first home, since that's where I was born and raised and where my parents live, but Ottawa is where I currently live and is a city that I quite love. So I am home, again.

My train ride was good. I got good news while on train #1 - it was becoming train #2 when we got to Toronto. Awesome. It used to do that and then Via changed their schedules and I used to have to lug my bags down into Union Station and get into line to come back upstairs an hour and a half later onto the Ottawa train. But seeing as my train #84 was morphing into train #44 in Toronto, this was good news. Even better news was that I was already on the right car and only had to move up two rows and across the aisle. My train from Kitchener has "free for all" seating as in "find whatever seat is empty and take it" while the train from Toronto has "assigned seating", just like airplanes. Despite the fact that I could remain on the train, I opted to get off in Toronto and stretch my legs and walk through Union Station. It's nice being able to do that and not have a huge amount of luggage with you. So I left my bags on the train and into the station I went.

This is where I got good news #2 of the day: the bathrooms on the departure level were re-opened! Union Station is under-going a major renovation project. As a result, the bathrooms on the departure level have been closed for over a year. This meant that you used to have to walk up the ramp, past the ticket windows, down a long hallway and into the "great hall" to find the can. Very annoying. But not anymore! The new bathroom is quite nice but the soap was a little tricky to figure out. A nice old lady told me how to work it. Go figure.

We left Toronto on time but kept running into "train traffic" and had to slow down. By our first stop in Kingston, we were 10 minutes late. The freight trains were causing congestion on the tracks. One rather long freight train that was on the track beside us in Kingston was actually blocking a crossing and appeared to had been like that for some time, judging by the huge line of cars at the crossing and watching them try to turn around. We ran into a switch issue just before Smiths Falls and were stopped for some time. The train ended up getting into Ottawa 50 minutes late. Not too bad.

And OH MY GOD! There's all kinds of snow here. It's crazy. I'll have to take a picture of the snow in front of my apartment building. It's crazy.

My plants were very happy to see me and appreciated the water I promptly gave them. I made a curry pasta and shrimp soup for dinner and had a nice, long soak in a hot bubble bath tonight. That's one nice thing about being back in Ottawa: I have my own bathroom :)

Mom made it home past the round-a-bout. She followed a large truck though it figuring that everyone would stop for it. I agree, that sounds like a solid plan. Mom and dad enjoyed some more of the banana bread tonight too, as did I. I managed to get out of the house with a couple of slices. Dad's on his own if he wants more though. I miss them already. Watching tv isn't the same without having one of them in the room laughing along with it. And as hard as it is for me to admit, I miss watching Duck Dynasty. My parents got me hooked on those red necks!

Anyhow, it's time for bed. It's been a long day and I have to get my ass out of bed for work tomorrow. I think I can survive one day of work this week. Atleast I hope I can. I know it's a bit of a gong show there right now but I'm not going to let it stress me out. Just before I got on the train this morning, my mom gave me some great advice. She told me "Just breathe". And that's exactly what I plan on doing.

Good Night! (or Good Morning depending on when you read this)

Sarah

My wonderful parents :)

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

Packed and Read to Roll!

This is a late blog tonight. I really should be in bed, especially since I have to be up at 4am. But here I am, typing away. This always happens. The night before I travel, I run around trying to get so much done that I end up staying up half the night. The fact that I didn't get home from work until 7:15 didn't help matters much.

I think I'm all packed. I just have my toiletries left to pack and I'm good to go. My iPod and cell phone are both charging. I located the case for my camera. I printed off my boarding passes (you can do that for the train now) so I think I'm set.

And of course, it has started to snow. In fact, we have a snow storm warning in place. Fantastic. Thankfully, my friend Steph and her hubby are coming to get me at 5am and are driving me to the train station. This way I don't have to worry about a cab. Steph is very good at winter driving as she often works at schools in the middle of nowhere :) I'm hoping that knowing that she's coming to get me will ease my anxiety in the morning. It hasn't been too bad today (knock on wood).

Work was a blur. The party went off without a hitch and the food was really good. Everyone enjoyed it. My secret Santa gave me a new cookbook, so that's awesome. I also got a set of The Big Bang Theory bobble heads for my desk from another co-worker. They're kick ass! I thought that I'd gotten everything done at work but I remembered something while I was in the shower. D'oh. I may email a co-worker tomorrow and ask her to do it or I might just decide to leave it until I'm back. Either way, I refuse to stress over it.

I should get to bed since I have to be up in 4.5 hours. I plan on sleeping on the train :)

Just 1 more sleep!

Good Night,

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.

One more sleep!

Despite the fact that is after 10pm, I'm not all that sleepy. Why? Because I'm too excited to sleep. Why? Because I'm on vacation!! Woohoo! I'm catching a train tomorrow and I'm off. 10 whole days at home and I can't wait. Oh yeah, I need to finish packing too :)
I can't wait to get on the train. I have a 24 minute stop over in Toronto and that's it! I have a good book with me and my iPod is full of tunes and a couple episodes of Downton Abbey and I'm good to go. I really do enjoy taking the train. It might be slower than flying, but it is very relaxing. I love being able to sit back and listen to my favourite songs and watch the cities, towns and countryside go by.

I can't wait to see my mom and dad again. Since my dad is on holidays too, we get to spend the whole week together and both my parents will be picking me up at the train station. That moment when I get off the train and look up to see the faces of my loved ones is on my most favourite things in the world. I'm always so excited and seeing that excitement reflected back at me is amazing. The train ride in from Toronto is just shy of an hour and a half and I can barely sit still. By the time we've got to Guelph, I can hardly sit still in my seat!!

I'm really looking forward to being able to visit with family and to kick back and relax. I'm also really looking forward to our trip to the Stratford Festival to see "Much Ado About Nothing". I can't believe that my dad agreed to that one. I think we have a trip to the beach (Long Point on Lake Erie) planned as well.

It might not be as glamorous as Paris or as spicy as Vegas but home can be a very good place to go for a vacation. And it's much easier on the bank account too. I will do my best to continue blogging from my parent's house but I guess it all depends on if we're actually at home or not or if we're off, wandering Southern Ontario and getting up to all kinds of Shenanigans :)

Good Night!

Sarah