Month of May
I did a simple calculation in July, and seem to have found the reason behind why my life feels like it is flying along without perspective right now, resulting in zero time to maintain this blog. I counted the number of days I've spent on the road due to work, over the number of days I could have been in the office. I came up with 78% travel for 2006, and that was prior to leaving for Perth. Sustainable? Hardly. It's an odd position to be in...to say that I genuinely enjoy my work, but that it is unrealistic to expect anyone to work these hours.
Sophie left Calgary for Ottawa 2 days before me, while I finished up on a work project. During those 2 days, I received a phone call from MB saying that my Grandmother's health had taken a bad turn, and that I should consider heading to MB as soon as possible. My schedule had me flying back to Ottawa, dropping by the office for a few hours, and leaving on the next plane for Winnipeg. My Grandmother passed away on May 4th, making it a very difficult time for family with everyone exhausted both physically and emotionally. In a turn of events that I still cannot quite comprehend, my Grandfather then passed away on May 7th, and we found ourselves planning a double funeral. I had one cousin who had said she thought it seemed rather romantic actually, to have spent over 56 years together, and to leave this life within 3 days of each other.
In good-ol' small town fashion, our kitchen and fridge were overwhelmed by soups, buns, pickles, lasagna, burritos, and mountains of cookies in the days following the funeral. I don't think we had to worry about preparing a meal for at least a week.
Mid-week, I took the afternoon off from funeral planning and met Boot and Johnny Longbody (short-legs) in LaBarriere park.
I can't recall the last time I had such a laid back afternoon. I definitely need more days like this in my life. Nothing can ground you like having a good chat with an old friend who has heaps of historical reference on your life.
While I was in Winnipeg, Sophie stayed back in Ottawa to help Marc and Lori out during the birth of their baby. Welcome to the world - little Keelin.
I managed to stay in Ottawa for all of 48 hours before flying out with Soph to foggy Halifax. Sophie took this mystic photo in Point Pleasant park looking out over the Northwest Arm.
On Saturday morning, we checked out the weekend markets that are held within the labrynth of stone tunnels surrounding the Alexander Keiths Brewery. I am always impressed at how well these local markets do, and hope that it's a growing sign of societies desire to keep their money within their local communities, and to demand quality, hand-made goods. Always feels good to bypass the GST as well.
Mahone Bay - Rambled through the shops in this sleepy village, a ended up at a small flea market down by the water. Mostly junk, but there was one dude there selling wooden boat planks painted in the traditional Scottish tartans (plaid colors) of your surname (if your Scottish). At another stand, resembling typical spring cleaning fare, I picked up the Cranberries "Everybody else is doing it..." CD, which set the mood for cruising the shoreline down into Lunenburg.
The photogenic Lunenburg, with the Bluenose II undergoing some upkeep in the docks. Walking the streets of this very old town, it is not hard to see why it was dedicated as a UNESCO world heritage site.
If you look closely, you may be able to see the ghost of Soph tackling the big wave down on the Halifax harbourfront. The next day, Sophie spent a measly $2 to take the ferry over to Dartmouth, although no whales were spotted this time around.
Alright, so that takes us up to the end of May.
Sophie left Calgary for Ottawa 2 days before me, while I finished up on a work project. During those 2 days, I received a phone call from MB saying that my Grandmother's health had taken a bad turn, and that I should consider heading to MB as soon as possible. My schedule had me flying back to Ottawa, dropping by the office for a few hours, and leaving on the next plane for Winnipeg. My Grandmother passed away on May 4th, making it a very difficult time for family with everyone exhausted both physically and emotionally. In a turn of events that I still cannot quite comprehend, my Grandfather then passed away on May 7th, and we found ourselves planning a double funeral. I had one cousin who had said she thought it seemed rather romantic actually, to have spent over 56 years together, and to leave this life within 3 days of each other.
In good-ol' small town fashion, our kitchen and fridge were overwhelmed by soups, buns, pickles, lasagna, burritos, and mountains of cookies in the days following the funeral. I don't think we had to worry about preparing a meal for at least a week.
Mid-week, I took the afternoon off from funeral planning and met Boot and Johnny Longbody (short-legs) in LaBarriere park.
I can't recall the last time I had such a laid back afternoon. I definitely need more days like this in my life. Nothing can ground you like having a good chat with an old friend who has heaps of historical reference on your life.
While I was in Winnipeg, Sophie stayed back in Ottawa to help Marc and Lori out during the birth of their baby. Welcome to the world - little Keelin.
I managed to stay in Ottawa for all of 48 hours before flying out with Soph to foggy Halifax. Sophie took this mystic photo in Point Pleasant park looking out over the Northwest Arm.
On Saturday morning, we checked out the weekend markets that are held within the labrynth of stone tunnels surrounding the Alexander Keiths Brewery. I am always impressed at how well these local markets do, and hope that it's a growing sign of societies desire to keep their money within their local communities, and to demand quality, hand-made goods. Always feels good to bypass the GST as well.
Mahone Bay - Rambled through the shops in this sleepy village, a ended up at a small flea market down by the water. Mostly junk, but there was one dude there selling wooden boat planks painted in the traditional Scottish tartans (plaid colors) of your surname (if your Scottish). At another stand, resembling typical spring cleaning fare, I picked up the Cranberries "Everybody else is doing it..." CD, which set the mood for cruising the shoreline down into Lunenburg.
The photogenic Lunenburg, with the Bluenose II undergoing some upkeep in the docks. Walking the streets of this very old town, it is not hard to see why it was dedicated as a UNESCO world heritage site.
If you look closely, you may be able to see the ghost of Soph tackling the big wave down on the Halifax harbourfront. The next day, Sophie spent a measly $2 to take the ferry over to Dartmouth, although no whales were spotted this time around.Alright, so that takes us up to the end of May.
posted by Develo @ 2:17 AM
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