Occupying a day or several

I'm getting in the swing of things a little bit more each day.

I have my on line course starting in 3 weeks. I don't know much about what is going to happen with that but I think I'm going to enjoy it. One at a time though, I was thinking I might take two at a time but that might be a little much. I hope it doesn't get cancelled. That would be a bummer. So I can say that I'm a student at Fleming college and Georgian College. Neat!

Over the past several days we've had the wildest weather so I thought I might wander out to have a look at some of the changes Mother Nature has given us. First there were the pretty little purple flowers out back of the house. I'm glad I got the picture when I did because the rain has mashed them into the ground.

 

 

The snow drops have ventured down the slope to the ravine but gamefully hang on and are quite the nice spring show.

 

I'm waiting for the daffodils but it's gotten cold again so they are not budging from the tight pre bloom stage.
As the wind starts to really pick up after the torrential rains we've had it's going to be very interesting what tomorrow brings (snow???) so I thought some pictures today might be a good idea.
I headed up to Sauble Beach to check out the abandoned town. The whole main street was vacant and shuttered. The only happy sign was the one that said that Dairy Queen was opening on weekends beginning May 4th. Oh yeehaw! This is a good thing. The boards are off the front of the place and I can only keep dreaming of my Skor Bar blizzards. Yum.

Sauble Falls is a summer hang out where the water washes gently over the limestone rocks and wanders to the lake. Today, not so much.
A white water rafter would be challenged with this mess.
Really noisy too.

 You can't even see the rocks and shelves that the water is going over.

 A picnic table on the edge...

 I don't know that I've seen that much water heading over the falls.

In some areas the water was higher than I was with it's swells over the rocks.

Now I know we've had a lot of rain over the last little while but this river really shows it. Now if it all works together and gets the level of the lake up we'll be laughing.

Golf courses still aren't open up here and now they're hoping for a dry few days so they can open next week. Everything is completely saturated and it's been so cold that there isn't a hope of surviving a round without long johns on. All in good time I guess. I hope to have a golf lesson next week in Toronto but that's pending on the weather too.

Did we always have April's like this? Maybe it's weird for me because I watch the weather more than I did because I'm in the middle of it and not staring at it from a 6th floor window in downtown Toronto. The weather has never set me back (okay, when they close the roads up here it does) so I just do what I'm planning to do anyway but it seems that everyone wants the warmer stuff to get going.

I must admit that yesterday sitting out on the front porch reading my book was really, really nice. Chatted with the neighbours, said "hi" to the 4 legged friends that were walking with them. (Rockie and Maggie think they're people, not dogs, just say'n). It was great and only wished it could have lasted but the rain chased me inside and it really came down.

I have some "homework" to do as I am meeting with an employment facilitator in Walkerton on Tuesday and she is going to review/revamp/rework my resume and cover letters. All a free service! Nice. I'm all for the free stuff and I certainly need some newness to my resume's and stuff. Looking forward to it. I'm also just enjoying being me. Doing my own thing. Volunteering at PRANCE, meeting people there, connecting with my friends here and getting into a routine. I'm loving it all. Still so much to do but there's no panic and I like that part. All good.

The next part is getting on the golf course!
Nice.
Come on spring... let's go!



Finally the windows are open!

It's finally a day when I can open the doors and windows and let a real waft of fresh air come through the house.
The favoured budgie Snowy is enjoying a good conversation with the wild feathered friends and seems somewhat overwhelmed by all the noise. She tries in vain to answer some of the calls, I know that American Gold finches are her favourite friends and crows her enemy but for today everyone's calls are coming through.
Yes, it feels like spring.
Wow! Finally.

I really don't know how I did as much as I did when I was working. Okay, I know that at the moment there is a lot going on and still a lot to organize in my world but it's 4 pm already, I feel like I've been puttering away at all sorts of tasks all day long.
Got the income tax done,
signed up for an online course at Fleming College (the Georgian College one seemed to disappear off the course catalogue when I went back into the college's website-weird) anyway I am happily awaiting the start of my new online learning career. The email receipt actually welcomed me to being on the road to re-inventing myself, which is something that I think I'm going to enjoy.
Arranged to have the snow tires taken off the beloved Equinox and asked if the service guys will change the windshield wipers too. You know, when you own a vehicle that's way taller than you are it's beyond a real challenge to get the windshield wipers off without performing some weird yoga move on the hood to do it. So, I asked if the nice gentlemen at Hal Wright Chev Olds, who look after the beloved Equinox, would do it for me. Yup. Ha! challenge solved. No weird yoga moves for me.

Yesterday was a movie day. The Man and I hadn't seen Quartet and had heard so many great things about it. If you didn't see this movie on it's swing through the theatres (we saw it on a repeat showing at the Port Elgin Cinemas as a benefit production) it is well worth the rental. As I watched it I did (sorry guys) think of my musical friends that could have fit in at Beecham house just perfectly. I really enjoyed the movie and the cast was one in a million. I can just see they had fun doing the film. Then it was off to Owen Sound to see G.I. Joe in 3D. Yup, nothing like turning your brain on it's ear with the difference in genres there. Nothing beats a good blow up movie on a Sunday afternoon.

But what about The Masters? For those that know me know that I love sports of all kinds and have always loved the Masters golf tournament. It's practically tradition that Saturday and Sunday afternoon of the tournament I'm parked in front of the TV enjoying the scenery of Augusta National. This year The Man suggested PVRing the event so we could fit the movies in and I could catch the last round. We didn't even have the radio on in the car coming home from the movies lest I hear who won. So, yup, I was up until the wee hours watching Adam Scott, the first Australian ever, to win the Masters. I loved skipping the commercials and all the schmaltzy stuff to get to the meat of the game. Very cool. How far we've come from worrying if the VCR tape we put in would last if the event went over time.

So tonight, with The Man working away, I'm going to take a lovely walk over to my pal C's place for dinner with a bottle of wine and a relaxed feeling that I've done my To Do list and tomorrow's just another adventurous day!

Until next time...

What's Next?

All my life I have had an agenda (this sounds like a post I made during my travelling year so if I seem to be repeating myself, then, well, I'm having the same feeling again) and now I have to make my own agenda.

If I hadn't had my year off to "practice" this way of life I know I'd be a ship at sea. I know now what many retired folk feel when they are finished their working life and really don't have much to get up for in the morning. Now I'm a morning person so I like to get going but I'm finding by mid afternoon the nap attack happens and if I don't have something going on I'm in snoozeville. I don't know if this is a bad thing or not. I love my naps.

I have been "programmed", sometimes reluctantly, over many, many years of the same thing, same place, same way. Now I have to remember that repetativeness as a memory and bring some "I have no idea what I'm going to do today" into the mix. From elementary school through university and then into working life I have spent over 40 years with a set schedule of events, required attendance or due dates. Now those have dwindled to a mere handful.
Is this what retirement is like? Trying to figure out what to do each day? I think I have to work a little harder at making an agenda.
Today, writing the blog but first, taking some pictures...

Last night we had an ice storm. Yup, it's April 12th and we have 1/2 and inch of ice on everything.

Doesn't that look like one of those old parlour lamps with the fringe on it?

 

In some areas to the south there are multiple hydro poles down. It was really windy last night and though they are new poles they couldn't handle the onslaught. I decided to add some pictures of the event. Though not very exciting it does show how wild the weather is here. Even in April. Everyone is waiting for spring and Wiarton Willy better watch his back because I think he predicted and early spring. Liar.

Some flowers in the back garden are trying.

While other trees, though green, now are just hanging in there.

Spring is a time of renewal and as the weather hopefully begins to change for the nicer I am seeing signs that it's coming along. Yesterday I went for a walk down to the beach and in the calm there were lots of ducks and geese swimming along. It was quite chilly but you could feel spring was near. It is April for heavens sake.
That excursion was part of my "agenda" for the day. A walk, then I didn't feel guilty about sitting in front of the TV watching the Masters. I need an excursion or chore for each day or I'll become a mushball. Mentally and physically. The volunteering I'm doing at PRANCE is very rewarding and I'm really enjoying it. Some good physical labour thrown in for good measure too.

Tomorrow I'm off to a job fair in Kincardine. I have a need to find out "what's out there". I have a resume but it's probably dated in it's format and I could use some advise on how to jazz it up. What am I looking for? Well, I don't really know. I have learned that when I know it's a good fit for me then it's something to pursue. I could do lots of things but I'm not sure what I need to have in my back pocket to show a future employer that I'm the right fit. I don't know if I'm prepared to work yet, there's still things to tie up in Toronto. Maybe I take this time to upgrade in some direction. I have found several courses that have peaked my interest and they are offered on-line. I have never taken on-line education but now's the time.

So, really, in the back of my mind is the constant question, "what's next" and I have to have an answer for that question each day. I think that's a good thing and I'm working hard to keep the agenda full.

Onward!

New way of looking at things....

It's been just over 2 months since I have graced the hallowed halls of St. Michael's hospital, it's been just over a month since I got back from Florida, it's been nearly a YEAR since I last posted on my blog.
Oh dear how time flies.
I hope I remember how to do this.

Up rooting a life so set by routine after 25 years is a bit of a challenge and something that should never been done swiftly. I have had the luxury of time in many aspects of this new journey in my life but I do know that everything that has happened has happened for a distinct reason. Our lives are not governed by a "how to" manual or by a direction that we read in the morning paper but by occurances that we may or may not have any say in the direction that they take us.

In November I was given a true sense of what it was going to be like in the future at St. Michael's and being the good Girl Guide I started to prepare, mentally, physically and emotionally. As we all know waiting is one of the most painful things we can live through. Whether we wait for something fun or something dire it's all the same on the stress meter.
2 months later I had my answer to the "what's going to happen to me" question. 36 hours after that I was on a plane to Florida for a pre-arranged vacation. My advise to anyone who might be in a position that I was in is to go away once everything is signed, sealed and delivered. Just go away from the place that you are in. Decompress, re-evaluate, do something fun, sleep (I did a lot of that), remember that life is for the living and enjoy yourself. Keep in touch with loved ones, take care of yourself, do something for yourself and most of all, take a deep breath and know that it's time to re-invent yourself.

See, for 25 years (save for a year off) I had been doing the same thing in the same place. I love the people I worked with, they drove me crazy, made me laugh and were intelligent and wise team players. I know I will miss them and miss the commaraderie we shared but, it was the same subway ride (how many tokens did I go through in that time, God knows), to the same stop (Queen), with the girls in Tim Horton's knowing my order right off the bat, to the scrub vending machine that my bar coded ID badge opened up to get a fresh pair every day. The people I saw each day challenged me in many different ways. Over time that can become fatiguing for sure but they were all interesting in their own way. I will miss them too.

I have worked for and with various people and organizations since the age of 14 when I got my first job. I don't really know what it's like not to be in school or working or both at the same time. Now I get to find out. I have been given a new door to look out of, the door is open, I am walking through it to find what's on the other side.

I am thankful to so many people through this time of transition and new challenge.
First of all The Man, who said right away "pack your bags and get up here" when I alerted him to my new work status. I will never forget and be eternally grateful for his words and support during the time I was in Florida getting my ducks in a row.
To my friends L, A and M who have been supportive, jealous, worried, helpful and just there for me when I knew they would be. To The Mother who, though terrified at the sheer thought of me leaving Toronto for the first time ever (and not just for a weekend), has supported the whole process and to the host of friends and family who give me words of encouragement and joy.

So yesterday I ventured into my newest volunteer opportunity with PRANCE, Pegasus Riding Association Nurturing Challenged Equestrians, outside of Southampton. I always said that I'd volunteer with them when I was retired. Well, now's a good enough time as any. I got right in on learning to tack the horse (Sienna was a patient girl), cleaning, brushing, side walking and leading procedures and watching a class. All really good work! Such an amazing place. So much to learn! I have always loved horses, so excited....

Each day brings a new challenge and I have a list of things to do. Once L'Ann's End is open it's time to do more work but for now it's the continued sorting, packing and re-finding stuff. Long process but for the first time in my life....I have time.

Cheers!