Surprise Visit

Well it's not a surprise anymore because I let it slip the other day, but Lori is on a plane coming to St. John's to visit her parents. She lands late tonight and we are going up to the cabin for the weekend. We'll be back in town on Monday.

In the meantime, I've been touring around St. John's visiting some of my old haunts. Stopped into the Duke of Duckworth for a couple of pints and I bought a couple of CD's by local musicians at Fred's Records. I also went to the top of Signal Hill. It wasn't the best time to go up there. We had a wind warning in effect yesterday and when the wind hits 60 or 70 km/h in town it's about 1000 km/h up there. I just love the view though (even when it's not that clear).

I also stopped in to see the Terry Fox memorial. It was unveiled in 2005 and it's near the spot where he dipped his foot into the water in 1980 when he started his run across Canada.

Hard to believe that happened 33 years ago. Have a great weekend and I'll talk to you on Monday.

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Snow

Last week I was raving about the weather in St. John's, but this morning I woke up to this:

I know I will come to regret this but I'm glad it snowed at least once while I was here. It wouldn't have felt like Canada if it didn't. I'm halfway through my trip and things are going well. Getting lots done and enjoying my time. After living in a foreign country and speaking a foreign language for 10 months, life at home seems so much easier now.

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Things Forgotten

I'm enjoying my time in Newfoundland and I'm getting lots of things done. The weather has been great. I didn't expect it to be this warm in November. Lorraine is taking good care of me. Between the fish cakes, cod au gratin and beef stew, I should be happily slipping into a food coma any day now.

Whenever I'm away for an extended period of time, either now or when I was in the navy, I always think about things I miss. A certain type of beer or food, watching hockey and spending time with friends and family are always at the top of the list. There are always things about life in Canada that I forget about though. 

One of the things that caught me off guard this time is Christmas commercials in the middle of November. Do we really need to hear about the 'Ho Ho Hold The Payment Event' for two months. I always forget that there are no more pennies in Canada as well. It's nice not to have a pocket full of useless pennies but now I have a pocket full of nickels. One of the best things about being home that I forgot about was the concept of personal space. It's so nice not to have someone standing so close that we could share a coat.

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What Do I Do?

The most popular question I get is "What do you do all day?" It's a reasonable question. By no means am I run off my feet, but you would be surprised at how quickly my day fills up. Imagine all those things you do after work and on weekends; shopping, cleaning, running errands. I get all those things done while Lori is at work so we can enjoy our time together. Our refrigerator is tiny and doesn't have a freezer so I am at the grocery store or market almost everyday. Our combo washer/dryer neither washes nor dries very well, so once a week I load up our largest suitcase with dirty clothes and spend a couple of hours at the laundromat.

I'm also the person who has to fly back to Canada to take care of things there. In April, I was back in Ontario to get the cottage ready to sell. In September, I had dozens of things to take care of in Alberta and tomorrow I'm flying to Newfoundland for three weeks to take care of some things. We had some airline credits that had to be used up and Lori has a couple of trips to the Middle East, so this is the perfect time to get back. Plus I need a new computer and it is a lot cheaper (and easier) to buy it in Canada.

You could call me Lori's personal assistant but I like to think of myself as the 'fixer' like George Clooney's character in the movie "Michael Clayton". Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting back to the rock for awhile. I'll keep you posted.

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Armistice Day

Yesterday was Remembrance Day in Canada but in France it's called Armistice Day. It's a national holiday to mark the armistice of 1918. There was a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown soldier underneath the Arc de Triomphe, similar to the ceremony in Ottawa. They were just tearing down everything when I took this photo.

Lori and I had our poppies with us and we received quite a few positive comments about them. They are not worn in France but some think they should. 

Personally, I think everyone should.

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Quiet Weekend

Not much to write about these days. Lori and I have been staying close to home lately. The weather is still great in Paris. We actually sat outside yesterday, which was nice considering our friends in Calgary were hit with yet another winter storm. Calgary weather is just so bizarre during the shoulder seasons. Winter is predictable, cold and dry. Summer is predictable, warm and dry. Spring and fall are crazy though. I remember a few years ago, I was barbecuing in shorts and sandals on a Thursday evening and then shovelling 8 inches of snow on Friday morning. It's never boring at least.

Although we didn't go anywhere this weekend, it was still enjoyable. We actually had a long weekend as Friday was a holiday. I'm not sure why, I just know it was a Catholic holiday. There are so many that I've stopped learning the names. We spent our time reading, listening to music and watching Netflix. We discovered Sons of Anarchy this weekend and did some binge watching. That's the only way to watch TV. I hate waiting seven days to watch the next episode. Of course you have to tread lightly around the Internet or else you'll mistakenly stumble upon a spoiler, like I did with SAMCRO. Stupid internet.

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