There's No Place Like Home

What a great day. That is all I can say about today. It was the first un-official day that spring has arrived. I was able to brave the day in capri's and sandals...yes I said sandals.

I had the pleasure of meeting my mom today, which means a trip to the North end of the city. Considering I reside in the South end of town; it's a bit of a trek. But no matter how long of a drive I still make it, there's something about going back to the old neighbourhood of where you grew up. Don't get me wrong, we didn't live in one house forever...in fact we moved so many times I stopped counting how many schools after 21. But no matter how many times we moved we always seemed to be just down the road from where we started. Funny how that happens eh?

Anyhow, like I was saying going back to your old stomping grounds seems to bring all the memories back. I like that it's familiar and I like that I know all the shortcuts. I also like all the big trees because all the neighbourhoods in the North end are established. It's been around the longest and yes, there are some parts of the North end that are pretty run down...but overall it's pretty great. I lived in the North end practically my whole life and when I decided to move to the West end of the city, it was a very big change. I had to get to know all the neighbourhoods again and find all the shortcuts and basically find all the things that I needed again. I felt like I had moved to a whole new city, even though I was 25 minutes away from home. The West end move only lasted for about 3 years; then I made my way back to the North end for about a year and a half until my brand new condo was completed. Did I mention that the condo was on the South side…the far South side? We're talking 15 minutes away from the airport South side. I had to make the transition of getting to know this side of the city...AGAIN. I wasn't completely upset because there were a lot of new shops for me to discover. Three years later I'm still here and enjoying it, but there is still a soft spot in my heart for the North end. It doesn’t matter how long I've been away from there I always feel so comfortable when I go back.

There have been a lot of changes since I was last there, but they're good changes…new stores, new buildings, new neighbourhoods. It's all nice to see the good changes. Despite all my feelings for the North end, I don't anticipate moving back there anytime soon. It's just nice to get back there every now and again.

Paradise in the Oddest Place

Who would've thought we would discover a small piece of paradise nestled away in the hustle and bustle of the big city? It turns out taking the dog for a nice evening walk can really uncover a lot of hidden gems.

It started out as the usual routine of walking the dog, peering into the backyards of others (purely to get landscaping ideas) and nonchalantly catching up on our days activities. We decided to take the dog to an area that she hadn't been to before and maybe even hit a garage sale or two on the way. As we made our way through the row houses and the cookie cutter houses, we came across a path. Normally a path all by itself wouldn't warrant a change of direction, but it was the mature trees and slight glimpse of a small road that caught our eye. We decided the garage sales could wait and we would take this unknown path to see what lay beyond the trees...

Once we turned the corner, we both knew we weren't in Kansas anymore. At first we were uncertain what lied behind the trees, but we walked a bit further and then we saw them. In the clearing we could make out 3 acreages, yes acreages in the heart of the city. We couldn't believe our eyes, with this discovery we decided to proceed down the tree lined roadway that somehow got us to the 'Twilight Zone'. As we continued on our little excursion, we soon discovered not 10, but 20 acreages hidden away. We're not talking tiny acreages either; from what we could tell some of them were 20-30 acres in size. All I could think was "…This is unbelievable."

Once the shock wore off, we proceeded to do more "investigating" and it turns out from what we can gather, these houses were built in the late 70's, early 80's. We thought back to when the owners initially purchased 20 odd years ago...and wondered who would’ve predicted these out of the way acreages would someday be a part of our ever growing city?

As the night sky started to grow darker we decided to leave what we now call "Our new favourite place in the city", we couldn't help but smile and think to ourselves...what a lovely hidden gem. Then we turned the corner back into the cookie cutter, row houses and reality. I guess paradise really is where you least expect it.

Coming of Age

I was able to catch the tail end of one of my favourite movies on TV last night. It was the one where Molly Ringwald gives Judd Nelson one of her diamond earrings...c'mon anyone who was a teenager in the 80's will know this one! If you guessed The Breakfast Club, then you are right!

Not only do I own this movie; guaranteed I will be watching it if it's on TV. There is just something so magical about that movie, could it be because it's one of my many coming of age movies?? I stop and I think back to that particular era of movies and am surprisingly able to name all of them. Pretty in Pink (Own it), St Elmo's Fire (Own it), The Breakfast Club (Own it), Flashdance (Own it), Footloose (Own it) and last be definitely not least Dirty Dancing...sadly I own this one too. Anyhow my point is, these movies played such an integral part of my life, probably in many others' lives as well.

At that time they really pushed the envelope, nothing like they do now days. But maybe that's what the charm was about them; they conveyed the message they needed to without overdoing it. All of the characters, whether it was Dirty Dancing to St Elmo's Fire seemed to have an innocence about them and we could all relate. I really miss those types of movies, you know the ones where you already know the ending but you still watch it because the characters don't know what's going to happen. I don't know it just puts a smile on my face thinking about it...

Not only will these movies forever be in my heart, but they will forever be in my movie collection.

Snow, Snow Go Away...

Ugh! That was my first thought this morning; more snow?!?! Where in the hell is this weather coming from? Just a few weeks ago I was getting excited knowing that spring was making a comeback.

How disappointing to see all this white stuff; this far along. I am craving for the days when I can put away my scarves, gloves and boots. I honestly can’t wait until the sweaters and other layers of clothing are packed away for the summer.

I went to pay my ball fees today and found out that the season will start on April 28th; yes, 20 days from now! With all this snow on the ground I am very doubtful that we will be out there swinging the bat and throwing the ball around. How can I pull my ball bag out now and get excited? Ho, hum! I know that I will muster up the excitement to pull the ol’ ball bag out, but it’s hard when the weather is so yucky!

Cleaning House

Yuck is all I can say. I hate cleaning, I hate it so much that here I sit complaining about it...we all know what I am really doing...procrastinating!

How much I despise cleaning, yet it’s in my blood to be such a clean freak... Damn family genes!

How does one find the time to enjoy all the things in life and still have a clean house? I realize all the moms are out there reading this and pretty much telling me to get a life...and a part of me wants to agree with them. The problem with that is that I want a clean house too; yes I want it all.

I just can’t seem to find the time to clean or maybe I just don’t want to find the time to clean. I honestly get sick of cleaning; it drives me nuts. Just when I think I am done; there in the dark corner is a dust bunny...taunting me, letting me know that I’ve missed it in the initial sweep of the floors. I tell ya, I just don’t know how moms find the time...kudos to them. I’ve let the cleaning go because I just can’t find the time or energy and it’s getting pretty gross. If I am cleaning something it’s because I can’t stand it and it’s just creeping me out.

Let me set the record straight though before all you moms lay judgement on me...I may reside alone; but I have weekly visitors twice a week. I get them on weekends and once during the week. They are furry, messy creatures and pretty much pop in and then pop out...not before leaving a mess of hair, slobber and toys all over the place. I’ve just stopped cleaning hoping that maybe it will miraculously get done...but no such luck.

I dust on Tuesday only to be dusting again on Thursday; vacuuming...that’s a joke! Why even bother?!?! The hair is so matted into the carpet I’m afraid to move the furniture to see what the carpet use to look like. I’ve also noticed that my once pristine couch and loveseat are starting to show a tinge of darkness... My coffee table...well it’s scratched all to shit and looks like it’s a used lint roller. I guess I just get so frustrated that I live alone yet my place is a disaster.

And people wonder why I don’t entertain??? Too much cleaning!

Thawing Out

A collective "Ahhhhh..." is coming from the mouths of all the people outside enjoying the beautiful spring-like weather. With the grass starting to peek through the snow and the days getting longer and longer; it's no wonder that there are more and more people outside these days. It seemed like such a short time ago that I was pulling out my winter coat and dreading the first snow fall. But here we are a short 5 months later anticipating the arrival of spring.

What is the most exciting to me at this time of year? It's not the longer evenings or the increase of sunshine; it's actually the light layers that we get to wear for such a short period of time. I know that sounds stupid but that really is true; I love getting into my car and not having to warm it up or scrape the windshield. The things that really seem to bug us about winter; I prefer to just turn the key; turn up the music, put on my sunglasses and just drive. I love the freedom I feel when I'm driving and I don't have a jacket constricting my movement. That is true heaven to me..I know it's a simple pleasure but it's my simple pleasure.

Another thing that I love about this time of year is that not only are the animals waking from their hibernation; but so are people. People that I haven't seen in ages. I've been trying to wrangle seeing all these 'hibernators' this month; I have an appointment almost every week this month! I know I'll be busy, but it'll be nice to catch up with them.

Hopefully the warmer weather will stay for awhile and not only bring the birds, flowers and other creatures back...but also the friendships that have been frozen over our long winter.

To See or Not to See...

So it's been a total of 11 days since my cataract surgery and here I am in front of the computer with what I feel is no difference since the surgery day. In fact if I were being totally honest I think that my eyesight is worse than it was when I went in. Which makes me very sad because I went in thinking it would help to improve my eyesight; which is the reason everyone gets any surgery with the hope that it helps to improve whatever it is that ails them? For me it's something that makes me even angrier because I can't control it; I can't tell it to get better. All I can do is hope that the things I do strengthen it. For now it's something that I can't really NOT think about as it is after all my eyesight; something that we use every day and will continue to for the remainder of our lives. I know it's not the end of the world for me, as I may end up getting glasses and that may make a bit of a difference; but for now I just want to be sad for a while about it.

I know that I am usually the one who is pretty optimistic and that there is always a silver lining somewhere in the far off distance...but I just need to wallow for now. I don't mean to be feeling sorry for myself but with all the other people I know out there and they all have wonderful success stories; I feel as though this surgery has been a complete and utter failure. Not only did it take time out of my work life; but it took time out of my social life. And yes, I know it could've been worse...I could've lost my eyesight all together. But to me, not being able to see and the thought of possibly having to give up playing ball...makes me want to just sit down and cry.

For now I will continue to just do what I do with it and see the eye doctors to see what their input is and also to just keep trying to get better. Maybe I am just one of those people who heal very slowly and miraculously one day my eyesight will improve...just like that. Realistically I know that won't happen, but I guess I just need something to 'hope' for.

I know that I will come out of this "funk" and realize that I have so much more to be thankful for...but it's like Terri Clark said in one of her songs..."I just want to be mad for a while".