Summer 2010

It’s All Fun and Games

Dog Lake  The morning after.......

It has been so long since a blog post. I often sit and write posts for the blog and letters to people in my head when I am day dreaming, and especially while on holidays. Problem is, it can take months to make it onto blogger.com! Finally, on a gorgeous late summer morning, post Hurricane Earl downpour, I am once again inspired to give an update.

Graham and friend on the tube!

Graham the kneeboarder.

As I write this, I am in a small village called Battersea, about half an hour north of Kingston, ON. Dog Lake is connected to the Rideau Canal system, and I have rented a cottage for 5 days over the Labour Day weekend. The boys have various friends coming throughout the time, and the weather has been beautiful so far. The boat has had lots of use for tubing and kneeboarding; I get so much pleasure watching the kids have fun on that boat. On Thursday, I ventured out to try kneeboarding: I got up the first time, and then after a very successful run, got cocky on the second, and decided to jump a wave….. like the boys do….wipeout! It’s now two days later and I am paying for my stupidity. Neck is stiff and back is aching. It’s so hard to admit that you aren’t a teenager anymore isn’t it? So Franky and I are cuddled up on the couch, covered in a blanket on this early Saturday morn, while the four teenagers present, sleep.

Let’s go back 2 months. Father’s Day weekend began what would be a crazy month for me. For 18 months, there have been many scenarios of where to live. In mere days, the universe set my course, and finally laid out what feels like the right plan. I moved from one of my rental properties to another, after long-time tenants vacated, and my apartment rented in 48 hours. This home is much better for us, and the layout will permit a lifestyle that I was missing; that of having all of us on one floor as well as a place to entertain guests, both inside and out. It’s amazing how much you can miss a yard/courtyard when you don’t have one. A large deck is being built that will provide space for coffee and paper in the morning, or room for a summer party, which is already planned for later this month. As I feel evermore settled in my new home, I am reminded again that we don’t need the big house, fancy car and every new electronic toy to be happy. (I think I do need to travel though, and books and friends….)

Amsterdam

Mark, Steph and Scott on North Sea in Niewpoort, Belgium

At the height of my exhaustion from a quick turnaround of homes (one week from start to finish), good friends stopped by in mid-July to invite me on a boat trip in Europe (gotta love THOSE kinda friends, eh!?). Ten days later, I was in Amsterdam, a beautiful city of canals and cafes, bicycles and 20 year olds (we know what they were there for…). Alone for a few days, I explored the shops, the Canal Bus system, the Concertgebouw and the odd café. My one regret: gorgeous leather shoes for 175E, the likes of which I never did see again.

That was followed by 4 days in Baarle, then a week on Le Boat, where we toured Ypres, Brugge and Nieewporte. This trip was a perk in exchange for writing an article for Canadian Yachting Magazine, which will appear sometime next year. ( I didn’t write it, but Scott will be.)

Ypres Commonwealth Cemetary

Aunt Stephanie and Rachel

After those two weeks, I returned home to the Civic long weekend, where I met up with the Sole gang at our annual family reunion. We stayed at the gorgeous Rawley Resort on Georgian Bay. They were all even happier to see me, when I pulled out the big box of Belgian truffles. With great gusto, Grandpa, Jim and Kevin went off to the nearby LCBO to get the best bottle of scotch. Apparently, the chocolate was just not the same without the scotch! (YUCK!) This is the first year that EVERYONE was there is a very long time. There also, not to be outdone by teenagers or a 50 yr old, I jumped off a 20 foot high boat!

Summer is a very quiet time for me at work, so rather than fight it, I decided long ago to just ‘go with the flow’. It makes for lots of opportunities to get caught up at home, with the kids, and with visiting. It also gives lots of time for both long vacations and a day here and there to enjoy the beach or go to a museum, eat out on patios or have a beer with a friend.

It’s also a time to watch your children grow up in front of your eyes: Graham is 5’9”, an inch taller than Ben now, and both much taller than me. They are both in high school this year, each excited and scared for the change in schools. Graham attended the Stratford Shakespeare School this summer. Together, we saw Christopher Plummer show us, once again, why he is one of the best, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Ben worked full-time, learning many things; the value of money, how to save for post-secondary and a MAC computer, how to use a nail gun and especially about why we need an education and to find something we love to do in life; hopefully by combining the two. He had two weeks off (this week being one of them), so we enjoyed a couple of days of golfing with Poppa and exploring colleges, and now the cottage.

Ben and a friend

This fall, I have plans to be in Toronto to see the Dalai Lama and am off to Halifax to visit my best friend for a long weekend. Unfortunately a conference in Arizona waspostponed for November, so maybe I can fit in NYC again? Who knows what the future will bring. For me, this quote that I read today on Twitter is powerful, and so true of many people I know: Fears keep you from change. Fear of failure, self-doubt, anxiety. Take a deep breath and stand up to them.—Hanns Oskar-Porr

Books I’ve read: The Neighbour, Loving Frank, Best Love Rosie.

Movies I’ve seen: Nothing too intellectual here.....The Expendables (Stallone still hot at 64!), Eat Pray Love, Toy Story 3D, Amelia (well then there’s Richard Gere…better not comment on him…might embarrass myself), Primal Fear, Henry V.

One of many bridges in Amsterdam near where I was staying.

All the best.  May try to do a small book review next....