Wherein My Skin Crawls

Tonight I heard a little "arrahhh...Erin...will you...heeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeee" coming from upstairs.

Thinking that the dog had stolen something she wasn't supposed to have or the world was ending or some other disaster...I lept up the stairs like a klutz walking in pants that are too big up multiple flights of stairs like SUPERMAN TO THE RESCUE!

I inquired as to what I could do..and my cousin pointed to the bathtub.

Wherein I saw the most disgusting bug I've ever laid eyes on.



And I grew up in the country - I've seen some pretty disgusting bugs. And I'm not really afraid of them. I was *that girl* who would pick up spiders and taunt her bug hatin' friends with 'em....but alas...this little fella...well...he creeped the bejezus outta me.

In complete disbelief of what he could be I immediately ran and grabbed my camera to document what I could only imagine could be a strange new breed of GDB (gross disgusting bugs)...was he a spider? A caterpillar? Some sort of...hybrid? I didn't know....I just knew that he was disgusting.

And fast.

He ran around the bathtub like he was running a marathon.

Which of course got me even more freaked out.

Between the antenna on both ends of his body. The myriad of legs and the rigid nature of his body...I had no idea what I was up against when he started running.

But I did what I needed to do. I put on my big girl country pants and asked for my bug killin' tools..and smushed the heck out of that thing.

And then from underneath the paper towel I had covered it with BEFORE killing it...I could see it twitching - and being the kind person that I am...I didn't want it to suffer...so I smashed the living daylights out of it again.

And man - am I glad I did.

Because I googled that thing.

And it has eyes.

And venom.

AND LIKES TO FOOL THINGS INTO THINKING ITS DEAD BY TWITCHING AND RELEASING ITS INJURED LEG TO GET AWAY.

Let's just say - by the time I was done....it was not getting away.

Ugly gross thing couldn't fool a country girl like me.

And because I know you're all sitting on the edge of your seats worried - have no fear...the shoe is okay. It was protected by a brave piece of paper towel (which sadly, gave up its life for our dear shoe...) and is now resting comfortably and recuperating after being sterilized where all traces of possible contamination were removed.

And now yours truly wants to go and have a shower to remove any possible trace evidence of gross off of herself...and to stop her skin from feeling as though bugs are crawling all over it...but she fears that she is probably scarred for life from showering...seeing as though the worlds most gross disgusting bug climbed out of the drain today.

Vicious cycle. Vicious, vicious cycle.

The Beatles Vs. Britney

Yesterday we packed up ourselves and headed two hours south into The Big City.

As in, Torana. Or for your NON Ontario natives...Toronto.

We headed down because my Mom and my aunt wanted to see a musical, and my cousin and I aren't REALLY working and bum around all day and thought we might as well thought we'd tag along.

My mom had wanted to see the musical 'Jersey Boys' for quite some time...as did my aunt...so last weekend we bought ourselves the last couple of cheapie tickets (which actually turned out to be really good seats! Horray for cheap entertainment!) that they had available and yesterday we headed down to see what there was to see.

Turns out...even though I had no idea WHAT the musical was about, had failed to google it before leaving and on the car ride there was like....I have no idea if I actually know any songs by the Four Seasons (I plead ignorance and youth, your honour)...I actually really really enjoyed myself. Turns out that they sang basically all of the classic oldies that you love that you have no idea who wrote them. Or that have been re-done by countless people so that you have no idea where the original even came from.

The dancing was hilarious, the set was fabulous and I had a lovely time.

Not nearly as lovely as my mother and aunt though...who I'm pretty sure re-lived their childhood watching American Bandstand every week during the 2.5 hours we were in there. They proceeded to giggle..and they danced in their seats and reminisced during the intermission about how they couldn't believe that they had essentially worshipped these singers 40-50 years before. I enjoyed the show, but I enjoyed how much THEY enjoyed it even more.

Sometimes I think that I was born in the wrong era for a lot of different re sons..but one of the biggest is music. I love oldie goldie music like that..The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Buffalo Springfield - there are so many fantabulous musical artists that were way before my time and I'm eternally confused as to how music has changed SO much...and have always had a soft spot for the music of the 60's and 70's.

So I sat there thinking...how cute they were and how much they loved this reenactment of their childhood. Then I wondered to myself...in 30 years what would I take my kids to see..that was something from MY childhood?

The musical of Britney Spears? I think that'd probably have some pretty high PG ratings and probably not be okay for children.

Okay so what about The Backstreet Boys. Classic. Except that...well...yeah..they're the BACKSTREET BOYS. Who is going to make a musical out of THAT crap? Hopefully..no one.

Spice girls? Maybe? I mean - they have already made a movie and then gone back out on tour. It's a possibility. A scary possibility..but none the less...a possibility.

What from MY generation is going to stick out and be that thing that our kids look at and go - wow - so once upon a time THAT was cool...and my parents actually LIKED it? And despite themselves...they know all of the words too and sing along. Is there going to be anything? And if there is..am I going to be more ashamed than not of my generations contribution to the musical world?

Let's pray my parents generation has staying power..because I don't know if I have enough stomach power to handle sitting through a musical of any of the fabulous and famous popsters of today. Let alone admitting to my future hypothetical children what music we listened to...while I shudder in embarrassment..

Sometimes I wish that someone would just take me back to the place where I belong...

Peace, love and happiness..Dude.

The Opposite of Erin is...

My brother and I are complete opposites...and sometimes that's difficult.

We always have been, and I`m sure we always will be...it`s just the way that we are. Where I like reading, writing, shiny things and shopping..he`s more of a...save your pennys, i can do math, fixing things sort of guy. So far in our lives...it works out okay...we each do the things we like and since we`ve basically signed on to be business partners for life...that's kinda a good thing I think...especially since our roles in the business vary DRASTICALLY and we each need our indivudual skill sets in order to be able to prosper.

Sure, we have our differences....and I think that it makes it harder for each of us to understand the other and what they're doing sometimes...but that's life. Despite this...I think that we`re able to hang out and get along and manage to work together is because now that we`re older because...as much as we are different from one another...we are still very similar in our key foundational morals and values sort of way.

That being said...we're still very very VERY different.

I've always said that if he's good at fixing things...then well....I'm good at...breaking them. Opposites..yeah?

Need an example? Okay. I GUESS I could PROBABLY come up with one or two or a hundred gagillion.

So - last night I was all fiddling around with my laptop...when I noticed that some little piece of something had gotten lodged underneath one of the keys. Being the genius computer expert that I am...I was all...I can get this out..no worries.

So I was working away with various sophisticated tools (definitely not tweezers, a q-tip and a toothpick) to help me do this when suddenly...my ctrl key makes this weird breaking sound.

It doesn't look like that big of a deal - it's slightly askew..but nothing horrible..and then I gently nudge it to try and send it back to where it should be...and it REALLY pops RIGHT off.

Not good. Not good at all.

So I sit there for a good half hour fiddling with it and this little wire thing and these plastic bits (who knew keyboard keys had so many PARTS - they're KEYS for crying out loud.) in an attempt to put it back together..when I see my brothers fiance walk past my bedroom...she looks at me, looks at the keyboard and laughs - walks into my brothers bedroom and tells him that he needs to go help me...probably telling him what I doofus I am in the process.

He comes in, snip, snap, pop - and my computer is magically fixed and he leaves me staring after him wondering how the heck he did it.

Okay - So sometimes being opposites is just plain old awesome afterall.

Definitions

On the ride home from the airport the other day..my cousin and I were discussing our degrees..or rather..the lack of use-age of our degrees.

She has a degree in Life Sciences. And after she finished this...she spent five years in South Africa getting her Veterinarian qualifications. She's now moved back to Canada and while her husband continues his education and is specializing in a specific vet practice, she's staying at home to take care of her aging father who suffers from Alzheimers.

I on the other hand have a double major in History and Psychology. Oh - and before you point out how virtually useless that degree from my perfectly respectable university is.....I also have a Bachelors degree in Education. Useful in the practical sense - I think yes.

Unless of course..you're me.

Because if you're me..then you still don't really know what you're doing with your life. You've got it generally figured out - at least until anyone asks you a question pertinant to the real world and your position in it - and then you just stare at them gasping like a fish out of water.

Now this cousin and I were discussing how completely ridiculous it is that people judge us for our choices. People who think that she should put her father in a home and get a "real" job. (I dare you to even try to spend a day doing what she does - seriously one of the most difficult and heart wrenching things to have to go through EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.) And of course...the people who ask me if I've secured a teaching position yet - and try not to gasp when I tell them I haven't even glanced at the job postings.

From the time I was a little girl...everytime I turned around..someone told me I would be a wonderful teacher. I was so good with children, I have so much patience....and on and on and on. And when I volunteered in schools, teachers would write my reference letters and tell me how I had so much potential and how wonderful I would do. Once in teachers college, my professors praised my ideas and gave me glorious feedback of my teaching abilities.

But still - I wanted more. It made me happy, I loved it..yes...and it was something I was passionate about..that I AM passionate about...but I just couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life...at TWENTY TWO. There were too many places, too many things that I loved and wanted to explore for me to settle down.

When I left for Zurich I thought that in a year I would come back, find myself a teaching job and settle down.

But something happened - something changed.

I realized that just because I had all of these degrees, that just because people told me it was something I was good at, that just because that's the way that I or other people had pictured my life path going...it wasn't necessarily the right reason to do something.

What it all boiled down to...was that how we each defined our lives wasn't dependant on how many degrees we have. Or what we're doing with them now..it's that we both feel GOOD about our lives and where we are..and know what we won't have regrets and that we are happy.

I've realized in the last year that maybe there are other things that I love in life MORE than teaching. That maybe there are ways to balance maintaining them all in my life...and maybe that's okay.

That it's okay to not base all of your decisions on money and society's value of success.

Because I'm happy where I am - I really am.

And nothing is worth more than that.

My Little Tattle Tale

Tonight I was at my cousins house when one of their dogs started barking.

I don't have favourites. But she may be one that I love LOTS and LOTS and LOTS. Not that I don't love them all or anything. 'Cause I don't have favourites. But we do have a special bond...I mean...we have the same taste in clothes and EVERYTHING.



Erm - Please excuse the horrid picture. And the hair. And the sweatpants. And the general ick. I hadn't slept in days and it was the middle of the night trying to unpack my cousins house after we'd spent the entire day moving all of their crap in. So I was really tired. And a mess. And apparently gave up showering. And wearing normal clothes. But it's the only picture I have of us together wearing our twin shirts. It means we're soulmates. Duh.

ANYWAY. Her name is Dottie..and she's a tattle tale.

You see, they have three other dogs besides the dot-ster...and the biggest of the bunch is named trouble. Well - not actually. Her name is Alba..but it SHOULD be trouble. She is sneaky and far too smart and always finding ways to get into trouble.

And ANY time that she's even THINKING about getting into trouble..along comes Dot like a dirty sock - barking her little head off...sounding the Alarm that Trouble is coming. Trouble being Alba...of course.

So tonight we're playing some cards - when suddenly - barking happens. Not too unusual - it's a house with four dogs. And then I'm like...that's Dottie barking. Where's Alba? And of course - she's nowhere to be seen.

So I go into the kitchen and low and behold..She's opened the kitchen cupboards and has her head jammed in the cupboard staring at something.

If you guessed Alba in the Cupboard with a bottle of Vodka....AND if we were playing clue...you'd totally win. Totally.

Too bad we're not...sucka.




PS - Please note how in the horrid picture featured above...Alba is sulking in the corner and Dottie is staring her down. Point proven? I think yes.

OH-EM-GEE

Tonight my brother blew my mind.

He sat down infront of me. And solved a Rubik's cube.

Just like that. Twist twist. Turn turn. Twist twist. SOLVED.

And it's not like it was anywhere CLOSE to being solved to begin with. It was a big old giant mess of rubiks cube.

And I was like...WHAAAAAAAAAT. You DID that? And you didn't even move any STICKERS?!

Turns out...he's a genius.

Then he TAUGHT ME HOW TO DO IT.

A bazillion instructions later, a couple of frustrated 'no, I said turn it COUNTER CLOCKWISE - THATS CLOCKWISE"'s and probably an hour later...I too had solved a rubik's cube. WITHOUT TAKING ANY STICKERS OFF. Well, solved in the sense of...he basically told me step by step what to do. But I was the one who moved the sides (Totally counts - just sayin') to make each side it's own colour - so cool!

All this time. I thought it was just a giant game to mess with my head that was probably invented by 'the man' to smash me down and be like..YOU KNOW NOTHING - BOW DOWN TO ME.

Turns out...I just need to bow down to my little brother and do everything he says.

..Or pretend that I don't know that he's smarter than me until he finds this written on here and uses that statement against me for the rest of my life.

Smashing Walls Is Fun.

For years, my family has been talking about re-doing our kitchen. Back in the day, before my father deciding to move to the country and take up farming, he was a cabinet maker. He designed peoples kitchens, made cupboards and made their kitchens lovely and beautiful.

We use to live in a cute little house on an adoreble little street in a city not too far from here. When I was little..my Dad re-did the kitchen and made it absolutely beautiful. From the little I remember, and what I've heard about it...it was their dream kitchen, absolutely perfect in every way. And shortly thereafter...we moved out to this here farm. Typical. To a farm where the kitchen hadn't been redone since sometime in the 60's and was redone poorly then. It's a typical farm house...where everything was just sort of a jumbled mess. Complete with the ugliest linoleum you ever did see on all of the floors. Oh, and when we first moved here there was a woodstove in the kitchen. It was big, black, constantly covered in sawdust. When it felt like it...it shot little burning specs out of it onto the worlds ugliest linoleum - which in turn, caused my mother to scream, run and stomp them out with her slippers. Leaving lovely little burn marks all over the already hideous floor. It was far from their dream kitchen.

So, after twenty years of maternal nagging waiting...the kitchen is finally being redone. Again.

And of course..the project that probably should have been redoing the cupboards and floor and what have you...has turned into this whole big production. Including redoing all of the wiring, moving plumbing, moving doors, windows, walls and instead of simply doing the kitchen..we're now ripping apart the entire laundry room, downstairs bathroom AND kitchen. And because we're farmers...this can't be done during the busy season (February --> October) so if it's ever going to be done....it has to be done..now. When the thermometer sometimes gets up to the single digits..on the negative side. When the wind is blowing a cold brutal wind, and there are a couple of feet of snow covering everything up. Did I mention that as of right now..you can see the outside..from inside. Where there AREN'T windows or doors? Fuuun tiiiiiiimes. Especially since we no longer have a sink. Or running water in the kitchen. And our stove and fridge are currently beside the dining room table. And our living room is filled with so much crap that you can't see the floor kitchen stuffs.

Did I mention that it was a balmy -8 today? Warmed up real nice so that my Dad could smash through yet another wall on the outside of the house!

I'm a real good helper, in case you weren't aware. I kinda like ripping things apart. And smashing. The smashing is just some plain old fashioned fun. But now that we're getting back into this whole BUILDING stuff thing..and putting things back together. Well...it's not quite my forte. Not like the smashing anyways. Unless you count smashing nails into wood to put something back together. Then I'm really good at that. Sometimes. Sorta. Kinda. Maybe. Okay, not really at all. Okay - so I'm REALLY good at putting them in on an angle. All crooked like. And bent in half. That and smashing...those are the things I excel in.

But at least I try?

And I'm sure I look mighty cute with my tongue sticking out of my mouth in concentration as I do.

Firewood Frenzy

Today I participated in such a Canadian stereotype.

And no, I did not use a serviette after eating poutine on my chesterfield.

Instead...I climbed into my long johns and collected wood for the evaporator.

Translation: I turned myself into a lumberjack to get some wood for the fire to make maple syrup in the spring.

After fighting off a blinding headache this morning...I was back to my normal self this afternoon, so I spent the afternoon running around the farm helping my brother to collect firewood for the spring when we make maple syrup. My brother Ben and I are what you call...umm..opposites. We're not EXACTLY a like in such obvious ways. He's good at building things and machines and fixing things. Whereas...I'm good at..uhh..breaking things for him to fix.

So, I jumped in and did my best to help. I used my massive strength to carry huge trees as if they weighed nothing. I scaled rock fences in search for more wood like it was nobodys biznaz. I stacked wood like I've been doing it since I was a baby. I even drove a MANUAL TRACTOR.

Okay, I may be slightly exagerating. I used my strength to carry huge trees as if they weighed as much as...huge trees. I huffed and puffed and pulled and tugged until I got them out of the brush and into the open where they could be cut up into smaller more manageable (but still H-E-A-V-Y) pieces. I may have also been distracted picking up what I thought could have been a-okay firewood..which I quickly got the 'Erin, we're looking for FIREWOOD, not MATCHES' look from my brother as he pointed further down the field to where some giant dead trees awaited us. I may also have not so much...SCALED...as stumbled and scrambled up, around and...uhhh..down rock fences. Where the rocks may have beaten me up like it was nobodys biznaz. I stacked wood like someone would if they had no idea what they were doing...and let Ben take over that job and took to lifting it off the trailer and handing it to him instead. Hey, it's important..if no one handed it to him..he'd like, have to do it HIMSELF or something.

But the driving the tractor thing...I did. That, I'm not exagerating. It wasn't that the particular tractor was EASY or anything..I'm just AWESOME. And maybe a little bit that the gears had picture guides on them. If all cars had gears that were 'turtle', 'person' and 'car' on them for 'slow', 'medium', 'fast' - I'd TOTALLY know what to do. For those of you who know me..you know that this is kind of a big deal. I had a hard enough time learning how to drive an automatic car...the thought that I could ever be driving a tractor..let alone a MANUAL one..that's HUGE.

It didn't hurt that I had a teacher who actually had some patience and understanding and despite the fact that this stuff doesn't come naturally to me..he sat there patiently showing me how to work the clutch and explaining it to me in lamens terms why it works and how it works and making sure that I was getting it. Those are the best kind of teachers :) It's just funny to watch as we grow up and become responsible adults who can work together, and better yet..teach each other how to better ourselves. As I watch my brother grow up..I see so many qualities in him that I admire..and I see so much of my Dad in him and it just makes me really happy to see the person that he's becoming.

It really was amazing to me how much we've grown up...that we can work together and get things done..and amazingly..still be on speaking terms when we're done. It's not often that we work so closely together in our daily lives, even though we're both here working away on the farm. Our skill sets are just so different that we're both busy doing different things that we're good at..but spend little time actually working together to get something done 'round here. So when we do work together..I think that a lot of time we're destined to clash because we ARE so different in a lot of ways that it's harder to see where the other person is coming from..but today really showed me that perhaps we are..growing up. It also showed me that I'm REAL glad we don't heat our house entirely with wood. Man, that's just crazy talk...getting enough just for the evaporator in the spring is hard work. I did one afternoon of it..and I'm pooped. I'm gonna sleep SO GOOD tonight!

So, I'm proud to say that not only did we collect a bunch of firewood to go in the woodshed..but we did made a dent in filling it up, he taught me how to drive a TRACTOR..and despite working with machinery, chainsaws and EACH OTHER...we both have all of our limbs and are alive and well.

A-Mah-ZING.

Bedtime Blather

I had a lovely little weekend.

What did I do you might ask? Well, here's a little summary:

* Got hugs & kisses * Napped on couch(es) * Ate candy * Took photos * Went for walks * Got fast food way too late at night * Had marathon chats with ones I love and miss dearly * Left my cellphone behind * Drank Timmys * Played with oh so many puppies * Went for chinese food * Forgot my camera at the END of the weekend..doh! * Went to the cinema * Ran into people I know from the past * Danced while baking pumpkin pie * Dug through the 'five dollah' movie bin at walmart * Diagnosed spider bites * Ate lollipops * Got a pup addicted to tic tacs * Giggled * Woke up to puppy dog kisses * Had rooibos tea that soothed the soul * Googled random things with others who enjoy the random * Squished way too many people (and dogs) into my car * Went grocery shopping which has turned into an adventure of its own kind * Had a shushi lunch date where the welcome is alwasy..enthusatic * Took too many pictures * Relaxed * Smiled * Loved *

I had a good weekend :) It was lovely.

But by far..one of my FAVOURITE moments of the entire weekend?

It was late and had decided to sleep over at my cousins house as I was planning on spending the next day with them anyways. So my cousin Edana generously offered to share her lovely and comfy bed with me! After we'd brushed our teeth and gotten ready for bed...we were both more awake and spent the next who-knows-how-long playing the bedtime blather game. You know, the classic girl thing. The one where the lights are off, you should be falling asleep..but instead you lie there babbling about all sorts of things. Your hopes, fears, and dreams. The things that you think are funny, sad, happy or just plain weird. When you're going to get your hair cut, why you can't bring yourself to eat liver and if we'll ever actually 'grow up' and figure life out - or whether that's a realistic possibility or just a rumour someone started to mess with our heads.

It's just so fun and I've always loved those bedtime babbles with friends and family alike....but I just love that last night it just happened so spontaneously and was just so random and silly and serious and...good. Sometimes it boggles my mind...and I can't believe how well the kids from my family, and the kids from their family get along. I guess I just find it odd because for the most part...we were raised in completely different worlds. My brother and I moved once...they moved so often. We always lived in this area, and they NEVER did. They've spend the last 6-10 years in Africa...and oddly enough..that hasn't really been optimal for us furthering the friendship that has always existed below the surface of our family relationship. Sure, if they're back in Canada we have a blast and go out and do things and get together and whatever..and when we went to South Africa to visit them it was the holiday that dreams are made of..and we spent so much time having the adventure of a lifetime.climbing up mountains and dipping our toes into oceans, eating warthog and ostrich and springbok, sliding down waterfalls, petting cheetahs, going on SAFAAAAAARI!, and of course, that pesky little wedding thing where I gained the best cousin-in-law ever known to man! I think that it was that trip that really cemented to me just how well our dynamics as a group of friends mix. Let's just say...that we put the six 'cousins' in a bar in small town rural south africa..and hilarity and laughter ensued...and I'm sure that they had no idea what in the world to think of us. This was of course followed by stuffing my brother and his girlfriend into the oh so small boot of the car so we'd all fit to drive home..while we sang along at the top of our lungs to the radio..enough to probably frighten all of the baboons living outside our cabins into hiding for the duration of our stay. It's just rather amazing that despite the years that span the oldest to the youngest in our little group of six (almost a decade! ahh!)...we all can find common ground with each other and get along wonderfully (for the most part - there are siblings involved too yanno! :P) and I've really being loving all of the time I get to spend with them recently...and even though life has been crazy busy and I wonder how it would ever be possible for it to always be QUITE this much FUN...I've been soaking it up while it lasts :)

So it was no surprise REALLY to me..that as the lights were off and our bodys were trying to wind down from a night filled with silliness and movies and sugar..one of my favourite things to do with friends just naturally happened. So until the wee hours of the morning...we giggled, shared secrets, discussed our lives and eventually fell into a deep slumber with smiles on our faces.

..Only to wake up to four eager puppies jumping on the bed telling us that it was already morning and time for us to get up and enjoy another day :)

Mish Mash O Thanks

My family has arrived from Africa!!!

Well, one cousin and her Dad, the other cousin and their mom (my aunt) come in about 10 days!! I'm really excited that they're here for thanksgiving..even though I had to work all weekend, and am as per usual am throughly exhausted! It's just so nice to have them here...it really just puts a lot of things into perspective and gives me so much more to be thankful for.

Out of ALL of my cousins, they're definitely the ones that I'm closest with..even though we've actually never lived in the same city...It must have something to do with being close-ish in age, having very similar morals/beliefs/values and being the only girl cousins for SO long.

It's rather lovely that they're moving back! My cousin Roberta will be staying here a looong time as her and her husband just bought a house in town but unfortuantly my other cousin, Edana, will only be here until the beginning of January until she moves to Boston for a job she took here. As much as it's impressive to say 'Yeah, I have a cousin who does research at Harvard'...I'd still rather she stay HERE! Ah well...just a good excuse to visit Boston I suppose!

I'm so excited to spend more time with them and actually have a chance to REALLY get to know them..because as much as I love them and we always spend time together when we're in the same city/country/continent..but it'll be nice to spend a lot of real quality time with them :) Although I am a little worried about bombarding them with love and them becoming overwhelmed with family always wanting to spend time with them...so I'll do my best not to do that..but there is only so much that I can restrain myself...haha!

Anyways, I spent a lovely evening with them tonight, just sitting around in my grampa's basement..haha! Tomorrow they come out for thanksgiving dinner..where it's quite possible that we will all eat until we explode. I'm not even joking about how much food we have..it's kind of disgusting..in the completely, totally and utterly delicious sense of the word. We've been joking all week about how we all need to get 'Thanksgiving Pants' like Joey does in Friends.



Ha. I love that show. Classic Joey moment..right there.

So, that's basically what we'll all be doing tomorrow. You know, eating way too much and then complaining about how we ate so much, probably eating some more..and then falling asleep on the couch. At least that's my plan...I might take a little walk and take some pictures of the BEAAAAAUTIFUL fall pictures...but then..the couch *is* pretty darn comfy. We'll see how COLD it is tomorrow. Eck.

All things considering..there is a lot to be thankful for this year...I'm not scaling the Eiffel Tower like I was this weekend last year, but I am surrounded by a mass amounts of wonderful family and friends. We have far too much food...we're surrounded by the beauty that is Ontario in the fall (which by the way...is TOTALLY giving Paris in the fall a run for it's money...) ..we have our health and more often than not, smiles on our faces. It seems like the older I get..the more I realize how important it is to be thankful for the smaller things, the things that I use to take for granted..and take whatever simple pleasure I can from those :)

Oh, and speaking of getting older...there's also that pesky little thing about my 24th birthday. Which, I've decided that I'm a little bit in denial about. It's not ACTUALLY my birthday tomorrow. Nah. Buuut...more to come on that later...for today I'll be thankful that I'm still 23 for another couple hours, and not one step closer to being a quarter of a century old (AHH!)

Happy Thanksgiving Folks!

Simplicity

Well, I've been procrastinating again...

Blogging has not been at the fore-front of my mind...as I've been rather busy the last month (how has it been a month since I've been home?!) and I've been enjoying the last little bits of what is apparently summer before I settle in for winter at home..

To update, I'm working on adjusting to being home. It's definitely a process...where everything feels familiar..yet nothing feels the same at all. It's hard to explain unless of course you've been through this..but even if you have..everyone experiences and feels things differently...so as much as I have people who know what I'm going through..sometimes I feel like my head is spinning...and I think that I've come to the conclusion that that's okay..because my poor little brain has a lot of stuff to process. As much I've settled back into my 'old' life..things are constantly keeping me on my toes and my mind is constantly trying to figure out everything..

So, I've been spending my days working, spending time with lovely friends and trying to organize my life...or in true Erin fashion...AVOIDING organizing my life.

It's crazy to think that not that long ago I was bopping around Europe, I was country hopping on weekends, watching the sun set over lake Zurich and enjoying the benefits of a completely different lifestyle..

Now I'm back home, and it's a polar opposite. The house is never spotless, we never eat veal for dinner..people pronounce w's correctly...and I think I smile more.

I wondered how I would do, going from the big metropolis of Zurich, with it's fabulous transportation system, a host of friends nearby, a big city's attractions and lots of interesting things to do and places to go..

I mean, I live..here. In BUCKHORN. Where I'm not even sure what the big things to do are...I mean...sometimes we order in Chinese from the one takeout restuarant that exists here..and that's pretty exciting.

But, it's home.

It has my family, who I forgot just HOW much I love chatting with about everything and anything...It has wonderful old friends who I swear just keep getting better and better...It has a job that I love more than anything...It has my puppy, who loves me for me unconditionally...It has beautiful sunsets, girls nights, car rides, euchre, radio in english and so so so so so so much more.

So tonight, I could be in Zurich..where I'm sure something fun and exciting is happening..

But instead, it's 9pm..and my family has gone to bed because they've all worked ridiculously hard all day...we had dinner together, and chats together...I've talked to wonderful friends on the phone..I've tried to clean my room some more and instead, danced around my room to songs on the radio. So for now...I'm now enjoying my evening, eating green olives from the jar while watching wheel of fortune...

And for the moment...despite the whirlwind of fun that my last year was..and how simple and quaint this moment might seem...I am completely and totally content. Maybe it takes being away to see this...and maybe it will get old..but for the moment at least...life can't get much better than this.

Home Again, Home Again...Jigitty Jig.

After two weeks of bopping around Eastern Europe I made my way back to Zurich and spent my last night in Europe pulling an all nighter. I'm not REALLY sure how smart that was..my theory was that I'd get to spend some time with a friend who I love dearly and won't get to see very often once I was back home..and the other was that maybe I'd sleep on the plane and be able to switch over my sleep schedule with relative ease.

So, I spent the evening talking, playing cards and laughing...moving in slow motion to get the final loose ends put together so that I could get on a flight home.

After an extended plane ride (horray for them FIXING the mechanical errors AS we were sitting on the plane waiting to take off..:S) I finally touched down at Pearson International Airport in Toronto..

To find my two best friends (and my faaaaaavourite little boy) waiting to pick me up from the airport with glittery welcome home signs and big hugs all around :) I got my ear chatted off by a four year old who I think had been secretly bottling up EVERYTHING he could think of to talk to me about for an entire year and saving it until he finally saw me again.

It's the weirdest feeling to go home after a year away..I really don't think that words can explain it..when I left my Dad said that "everything will feel familiar, but just be different enough to not be familiar at all" and, like always, he's SO right.

Now I'm running around trying to get caught up on sleep, trying to balance all of the friends and family that I want to see, and trying to jump back into doing some work too.

I've met up with my grandfather and had lunch with him, spent a good deal of time talking on the phone with people I hope to see soon, have made tentative dates to meet up with old friends that I haven't seen in years and have hung out with my best friends every day since I've been home. I've slept on Jenna's couch after sitting around being our normal goofy selves...and I've sat in my Dad's office chatting like we use to in the good old days and laid on the bed in my parents room telling my mom a little bit of everything. I met up with an old friend who I hadn't seen in years and years...and sat in Tim Hortons having a marathon catch up coffee date with Rhiannon.

It's been a good 4 days home...and I'm excited for all of the things to come...but for now...I'd better jump in the shower and get my butt into gear because there are things to be done and work is calling my name.

For now, I leave you with a cute photo we took on Monday...



My two best friends, me, and my favourite "little" boy.
(Jenna, Me, Nicholas & Rhiannon)