June update
Well, here it is, summer already, June almost done, almost a month since my last update. I'm off work today, a well deserved vacation day. At the beginning of June, I was gone to Quebec City for work for 6 days, though it felt like longer! It was my organizations annual conference, and I worked every one of those 6 days, including the weekend, from 7 am till 11pm. It was pretty tiring, but got a lot of good work done, and our team really worked well together. Many good memories, as well as a few stressful ones as we were working behind the scenes to make things work smoothly for the attendees at the conference. They all said best conference ever, so that was gratifying.
The boys survived just fine without me, though I know I was missed. On the Sunday, Mack bought lace up shoes for Owen (finally, we've been talking about it for years!), and he got very excited at the prospect of wearing new shoes to school, so applied himself to learning how to tie laces. He accomplished it fairly quickly, though he gets frustrated that they come untied from time to time. Now I have to think about getting him new sandals, so he doesn't spend all summer with his feet cooped up in hot running shoes.
After I returned from Quebec City, Mack's parents arrived for a short visit, and we all had fun while they were here. Drives in their convertible, trip to IKEA, shopping, good meals. They're off again, to South Carolina to visit family. (Hello, Sandra!! :-) Owen and I had a fun event that same weekend, a Lego expo type thing. A big warehouse divided into different Lego themes, each section having huge tubs of Lego pieces that relate to that theme. You could build whatever you wanted, take pics, etc. (though the pieces stayed there :-( ) Some of the themes had a "scan it in" area at the back - they'd scan in what you made, then it would display on a big screen, and you could play an interactive game with your creation displayed in the background. Sometimes you had to swipe your arms to defeat bad guys, sometimes you held your arms out like you were flying, and sometimes you held your arms up like you were driving a car - all the games were slightly different. Neat games, very cool technology. I got to play one early in the morning before the lineups got a bit longer, and enjoyed it. The rest of the time I just let Owen take the lead. But we were having just as much fun building with the actual pieces, using different themes, ones we don't own pieces for (yet!). We had tickets for this event which gave us admission from 9am to 1pm, and we practically had to be kicked out at 1pm ... I sat in the car wondering if there were still tickets available for the afternoon session, because he and I had had so much fun together. It's a travelling expo thing, and is making its way across Canada - maybe it'll be back next year. Some people complained about the price, but I think he and I both got our money's worth. If Mack had been able to join us, yes, it would have been even more money, but I think he would have had as much fun as we did. Here's hoping it comes back to town next year, but the attendance was pretty lacklustre, so I have my doubts. I hope word gets out, and other cities have better turnout - Ottawa was the first one.
This last weekend we took a few days off work (and pulled Owen out of school), and drove down to my parents place in London. On the Saturday morning, Mack and I drove another 2 hours back to my hometown, for a celebration at my high school. It's closing permanently at the end of the month, and this was a last hurrah, so I wanted to be there. I'm glad I went, I had a good time. Not as many people as I'd hoped, but it was good to see the ones who were there. A number of my teachers, which made me happy - and many of them recognized me from across the room, didn't even need my nametag, which made me happy too. I was memorable, maybe - hopefully for good reasons. :-) I had meant to pull out my old yearbooks before going, to prep, but I'd forgotten. So, that's one job I set for myself today - find yearbooks!
After we left the school, we drove around the county for a while, which kind of turned into an impromptu wine tour - there are a LOT more wineries down there compared to when I lived there. Mack and I bought a few bottle here, a few there, and before you know it, we had a whole case. :-) Dinner in Harrow at a small little pub, then the 2 hour drive back to London.
Owen spent the day with my parents, and had a grand time. 36 holes of mini putt, watching soccer and golf on tv, swimming in their indoor pool, baking brownies with Grandma, and dinner out for burgers. He barely had time to miss us. My parents have noticed a big difference in him in terms of storytelling (i.e., they don't go on and on and on ...) and maturity of his humour - he gets sarcasm, and can recognize when someone has said something in a sarcastic way. He's got a lot of funny mannerisms - when he asks for something and we say no, he says, "... still." Mack and I imitate this, and I think my parents have started doing it too. He was a little grumpy on Sunday when we went to my Grandma's for lunch, but he eventually got a little happier. Both Mack and my dad made comments about them remembering doing the same thing when they visited their great-grandparents - rather than pay attention to the person who invited them there (i.e., the grandma), they would just go off and do other things. Still disappointing. He had a good chat with her before we left, so that made us a little happier. He was great in the car on the way there, reading a chapter book to himself while the rest of us talked. And then we played a car game on the way home, all 5 of us. It's a game we've played before called "Who's stronger" - one person picks two things, and the rest of the car have to choose between the two things and give a reason why they picked what they did. The first person awards points for the right choice, and the right reason. Prompts a lot of fun discussion and jokes.
Monday morning we went for a walk through the park near my parents place, which goes along a river, and is quite nice. Lots of mature trees, so nice shade to protect us from the blistering heat. And a ton of wildlife encounters - birds, chipmunks, bunnies, a snake. I think I even found a hollow where a deer had slept the night before. It was nice to get out before spending 6 hours in the car to drive back to Ottawa.
We stopped at the Big Apple on our way home, north of Toronto (it's a Giant metal apple, along with a rest stop and activities) - we've never actually stopped there before, despite driving past there for the last 20 years! Bought some pies, and other treats. Had to tear Owen away from the mini golf there, convincing him we should get on the road to be home for suppertime. Made it home just as the heavens opened up for a very welcome thunderstorm. Sadly, after 3 days with no rain and no watering from me, most of my flowers (in pots on the balcony) are not looking so hot.
Summer is going to be very busy, for all of us. Owen has two more weeks of school, though there's no homework assigned now, so they may not be doing too much during the day. Mack is busy on another project at work, and I'm still playing catch up after being away for a week. As well as the usual accounting/quarter-end tasks I have to do, my boss (the executive director of the organization) resigned/retired, and she'll be done at the end of July. So I may have to step up and take on some of her tasks on an interim basis, till she's replaced. The Board hasn't even met about what do to do replace her, so this could be a rough fall until this gets sorted out. I'm hoping one of my colleagues will be chosen to replace her, I think she'd be fantastic - but it's not my call.
Owen will be pretty busy this summer too. He's got three weeks of summer camp once school is done (Eco-Zoo, Farm camp, then Bike Camp), then Rebecca arrives to whisk him off to Halifax/the cottage. His buddies from Newfoundland and Halifax will be at the cottage too, so his "pack" will be playing hard every day, I'm sure. Mack and I will be busy eating out, drinking, playing video games, watching movies, staying up too late ... it'll be great! We're also headed to Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal again this year, at the end of July. Looking forward to that - I even have a "field trip" planned for one of the free mornings, walking around an area of Montreal we've never been to, then stopping at a farmer's market. I just reviewed the schedule of music groups, and we don't have a lot of conflicts - always a concern at a big music festival where there's 5 stages, which are all occupied at the same time!
Once we get back from Montreal, we have a few more days of work, then we're off for two weeks at the cottage. So looking forward to that - always the highlight of my year. Hopefully with my boss being gone then, I won't have to spend time working/answering emails while away.
And goodness, when we're back from the cottage, summer will practically be over! How does that happen ... crazy.
Anyways, I'll do my best to update more often than I have been. There's wi-fi at the cottage now, so less excuse. Though I do like to try to make reading more of a priority there, rather than just surfing Facebook/other websites.
Well, I think I'll leave it there - the basement is calling me - I have to go move boxes and try to find my yearbooks! Hope you're all well, and keeping cool!
The boys survived just fine without me, though I know I was missed. On the Sunday, Mack bought lace up shoes for Owen (finally, we've been talking about it for years!), and he got very excited at the prospect of wearing new shoes to school, so applied himself to learning how to tie laces. He accomplished it fairly quickly, though he gets frustrated that they come untied from time to time. Now I have to think about getting him new sandals, so he doesn't spend all summer with his feet cooped up in hot running shoes.
After I returned from Quebec City, Mack's parents arrived for a short visit, and we all had fun while they were here. Drives in their convertible, trip to IKEA, shopping, good meals. They're off again, to South Carolina to visit family. (Hello, Sandra!! :-) Owen and I had a fun event that same weekend, a Lego expo type thing. A big warehouse divided into different Lego themes, each section having huge tubs of Lego pieces that relate to that theme. You could build whatever you wanted, take pics, etc. (though the pieces stayed there :-( ) Some of the themes had a "scan it in" area at the back - they'd scan in what you made, then it would display on a big screen, and you could play an interactive game with your creation displayed in the background. Sometimes you had to swipe your arms to defeat bad guys, sometimes you held your arms out like you were flying, and sometimes you held your arms up like you were driving a car - all the games were slightly different. Neat games, very cool technology. I got to play one early in the morning before the lineups got a bit longer, and enjoyed it. The rest of the time I just let Owen take the lead. But we were having just as much fun building with the actual pieces, using different themes, ones we don't own pieces for (yet!). We had tickets for this event which gave us admission from 9am to 1pm, and we practically had to be kicked out at 1pm ... I sat in the car wondering if there were still tickets available for the afternoon session, because he and I had had so much fun together. It's a travelling expo thing, and is making its way across Canada - maybe it'll be back next year. Some people complained about the price, but I think he and I both got our money's worth. If Mack had been able to join us, yes, it would have been even more money, but I think he would have had as much fun as we did. Here's hoping it comes back to town next year, but the attendance was pretty lacklustre, so I have my doubts. I hope word gets out, and other cities have better turnout - Ottawa was the first one.
This last weekend we took a few days off work (and pulled Owen out of school), and drove down to my parents place in London. On the Saturday morning, Mack and I drove another 2 hours back to my hometown, for a celebration at my high school. It's closing permanently at the end of the month, and this was a last hurrah, so I wanted to be there. I'm glad I went, I had a good time. Not as many people as I'd hoped, but it was good to see the ones who were there. A number of my teachers, which made me happy - and many of them recognized me from across the room, didn't even need my nametag, which made me happy too. I was memorable, maybe - hopefully for good reasons. :-) I had meant to pull out my old yearbooks before going, to prep, but I'd forgotten. So, that's one job I set for myself today - find yearbooks!
After we left the school, we drove around the county for a while, which kind of turned into an impromptu wine tour - there are a LOT more wineries down there compared to when I lived there. Mack and I bought a few bottle here, a few there, and before you know it, we had a whole case. :-) Dinner in Harrow at a small little pub, then the 2 hour drive back to London.
Owen spent the day with my parents, and had a grand time. 36 holes of mini putt, watching soccer and golf on tv, swimming in their indoor pool, baking brownies with Grandma, and dinner out for burgers. He barely had time to miss us. My parents have noticed a big difference in him in terms of storytelling (i.e., they don't go on and on and on ...) and maturity of his humour - he gets sarcasm, and can recognize when someone has said something in a sarcastic way. He's got a lot of funny mannerisms - when he asks for something and we say no, he says, "... still." Mack and I imitate this, and I think my parents have started doing it too. He was a little grumpy on Sunday when we went to my Grandma's for lunch, but he eventually got a little happier. Both Mack and my dad made comments about them remembering doing the same thing when they visited their great-grandparents - rather than pay attention to the person who invited them there (i.e., the grandma), they would just go off and do other things. Still disappointing. He had a good chat with her before we left, so that made us a little happier. He was great in the car on the way there, reading a chapter book to himself while the rest of us talked. And then we played a car game on the way home, all 5 of us. It's a game we've played before called "Who's stronger" - one person picks two things, and the rest of the car have to choose between the two things and give a reason why they picked what they did. The first person awards points for the right choice, and the right reason. Prompts a lot of fun discussion and jokes.
Monday morning we went for a walk through the park near my parents place, which goes along a river, and is quite nice. Lots of mature trees, so nice shade to protect us from the blistering heat. And a ton of wildlife encounters - birds, chipmunks, bunnies, a snake. I think I even found a hollow where a deer had slept the night before. It was nice to get out before spending 6 hours in the car to drive back to Ottawa.
We stopped at the Big Apple on our way home, north of Toronto (it's a Giant metal apple, along with a rest stop and activities) - we've never actually stopped there before, despite driving past there for the last 20 years! Bought some pies, and other treats. Had to tear Owen away from the mini golf there, convincing him we should get on the road to be home for suppertime. Made it home just as the heavens opened up for a very welcome thunderstorm. Sadly, after 3 days with no rain and no watering from me, most of my flowers (in pots on the balcony) are not looking so hot.
Summer is going to be very busy, for all of us. Owen has two more weeks of school, though there's no homework assigned now, so they may not be doing too much during the day. Mack is busy on another project at work, and I'm still playing catch up after being away for a week. As well as the usual accounting/quarter-end tasks I have to do, my boss (the executive director of the organization) resigned/retired, and she'll be done at the end of July. So I may have to step up and take on some of her tasks on an interim basis, till she's replaced. The Board hasn't even met about what do to do replace her, so this could be a rough fall until this gets sorted out. I'm hoping one of my colleagues will be chosen to replace her, I think she'd be fantastic - but it's not my call.
Owen will be pretty busy this summer too. He's got three weeks of summer camp once school is done (Eco-Zoo, Farm camp, then Bike Camp), then Rebecca arrives to whisk him off to Halifax/the cottage. His buddies from Newfoundland and Halifax will be at the cottage too, so his "pack" will be playing hard every day, I'm sure. Mack and I will be busy eating out, drinking, playing video games, watching movies, staying up too late ... it'll be great! We're also headed to Osheaga Music Festival in Montreal again this year, at the end of July. Looking forward to that - I even have a "field trip" planned for one of the free mornings, walking around an area of Montreal we've never been to, then stopping at a farmer's market. I just reviewed the schedule of music groups, and we don't have a lot of conflicts - always a concern at a big music festival where there's 5 stages, which are all occupied at the same time!
Once we get back from Montreal, we have a few more days of work, then we're off for two weeks at the cottage. So looking forward to that - always the highlight of my year. Hopefully with my boss being gone then, I won't have to spend time working/answering emails while away.
And goodness, when we're back from the cottage, summer will practically be over! How does that happen ... crazy.
Anyways, I'll do my best to update more often than I have been. There's wi-fi at the cottage now, so less excuse. Though I do like to try to make reading more of a priority there, rather than just surfing Facebook/other websites.
Well, I think I'll leave it there - the basement is calling me - I have to go move boxes and try to find my yearbooks! Hope you're all well, and keeping cool!