It's been to long.....

Where does time go?  How many times have we asked ourselves this question?  One minute  we are starting school, next thing you know we are graduating, going to college, getting a job,maybe getting married and having kids.  Our kids grow, they have kids and next thing you know we are grandparent and yet we still feel like that 20 something starting their first real job.  Yes time has a way of flying by.

Case in point, I looked at the last time I posted and it was just over a year ago!  Wholly cow, yes where has time gone?  I look at the past year and oh my goodness so many changes in my life.  My relationship of almost nine years came to a screeching halt, I moved not once but twice and in between I was a bit of a nomad.  I've changed jobs but not careers. I now find myself back in the big city, but still with the smalltown way of life embedded in me.

It's been a huge adjustment with stress causing changes. New environment is hard enough, but then  throw in a new job with a totally different focus of care and living accommodation's and you are setting yourself up for some major stress.  I am hoping that I have managed it well enough, but I could be a wee bit biased on that.  I think my children and those around me that know and love me might have a different perspective of how I have been.  Regardless, I have forged a new path and I continue to explore and see life differently.

What has helped me through this transition is mediation, yoga, and running.  With regards to the running,  I was running so much I was reminding myself of Forrest Gump "Run Forrest Run"  and so I ran.  I ran off stressors, I attempted to run off the tears, the guilt, the frustrations but most of all the sadness and the strong sense of loss I was experiencing, and continue to feel to this day.

I won't keep this long, but it's my introduction to saying hello again.  I'm still the Smalltownrn I'm just living in the big city for now.  I have so many adventures and misadventures to share, I hope you will stay tuned to read about some of them.

“You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

The house

Well it's almost the end of summer vacation and the barbeque I was hoping to have this summer never happened and likely won't happen. Why you might ask, simply put, we are still not back into our home.  Yes June 16th has long come and gone, so has July and now we are nearing the end of August.

As each new occupancy date approaches I try to remain optimistic, but those dates just keep coming and going.  There is another house inspection scheduled for this week, but some of the things which failed the last inspection still aren't complete and I am not holding my breath that they will be.  I personally am preparing myself for not being back into our home until October.  I'd love to be in our place by Thanksgiving so that is my goal.

Progress is being made but ever so slowly.  Sometimes I think we would have been better off if the house had burnt to the ground.   Many people have said to me how you could get a new house built in 4 months rather then this now 9 months that we are going into.  However, if the house had burnt to the ground I wouldn't have some of the possessions they were able to save most importantly my family photos and family heirlooms.

I wouldn't wish this process on anyone.  Not only do you have to deal with all the emotions that goes along with the loss of your home, but then you have the pleasure(not)of dealing with insurance companies, adjusters and contractors.  In the beginning this process appeared seamless and I was highly optimistic that things would continue along this path.  Not so much.  Insurance companies as much as they would like you to believe they are there for you they are not.  They are there to make money, that's the bottom line.  If they didn't have to pay you a cent they wouldn't.  You have to be on them constantly, and you really have to be your own advocate.  Although your adjuster might try and make you believe he/she is there for you, again they are there to represent their adjusting company and ultimately the insurance company.  Same goes for your insurance broker.  As our insurance was coming up for renewal this month I went in and had a little chat with my broker, only to find out that one, he didn't know about our house fire until 3 months after the fact and the only reason he found out was because he didn't get the kick back he was expecting from the insurance company because we had made a claim!

Anyhow, back to the house.  I know I will be very pleased when it is all said and done, but the process is very taxing.  Seems like so many things in your life are put on hold as you try to deal with  putting a roof back over your head.  Hubby and I have been very fortunate that we have been able to live in the basement suite at his father's, which is right next door to our home.  This accessibility has been great as hubby has been able to keep a watchful  eye on the contractors and keep things flowing as best he could.  I can't imagine what would have happened had we not been living in such close proximity.  You know if I were a witty person I know there are a few funny stories I could tell about things that have taken places during this rebuild, however witty is one thing  I am not.

At this point I was hoping to share some photos of the house the the progress.  But that's another issue that I will have to write about.  The loss of items in the fire of course included computers and hence I had to get a new computer and learn new programs and transfer data and well there just aren't enough hours in a day for me to figure all that out...but as I said I'll save the story of my lack of techno wizardry  for another day.  So instead of house photos I'll share some random photos of the night sky.

Happy Wednesday all!

Our weekend away....

Most of you who follow me on FB know that we had a house fire back in November.  Since that time we have been living in my father-in-laws basement suite.  I am very thankful for that, as the alternative would have been living in a motel, and in my area there aren't that many places that I would want to stay in for long periods of time.

The other fortunate or at times I think unfortunate thing about staying in the suite is that it is right next door to our home that is being rebuilt.  Pros and cons to that. Hubby has been able to monitor the progress to the tee.  Everyday and sometimes numerous times at day he is over at the house chatting with the contracts about adjustments he/we want made to the house, monitoring the installation of the electrical, where the outlets go, the light fixtures.  Monitoring the plumbing where the pipes go, reconfiguring closet space, planning the new kitchen island...oh there is so much to consider it is mind boggling.  I don't know how people enjoy doing that for a living.  To many decisions to make, flooring, windows, counters, cabinets, fireplace, positioning of the electrical box, staircase, where to to move the furnace.  Since our house was built 14 years ago building codes have changed and thus changes and adjustments needed to be done to the house as well. So again, hubby has been busy working with the contractors.

I finally said to him, we need a little break.  Although, I think we live in a beautiful area I thought a little get away was in order.  It would give us an opportunity to clear our heads and to not think about the house for a least one weekend.  With fishing season soon approaching I suggested we go out to Ucluelet and check out moorage for the boat and just relax.  So I checked to see what kind of deals were to be had and managed to find a waterfront condo with a jetted tub.   The facility also had free access to kayaks and bikes which we took full advantage of.

The first morning we woke up to a glorious sunrise, here is view of the sunrise from the deck....

After watching this glorious sunrise I went for a run and upon my return hubby had made me a lovely breakfast and a latte.

Once I devoured the scrumptious breakfast and showered we decided maybe it was time to get on the bikes and ride around town.  Our intent was to ride out the light house and check out the wild seas of the Pacific Ocean....here are a few shots of what we saw....

As you can see in one of the photos there is a fishing boat heading out to sea.  What you might not notice is that the swells on the water were at least 8-9ft!   I use to say to hubby when we would be bobbing up and down on the oceans "land no land" meaning as you dipped down into the swell you would not see that land....here are a few more photos of that boat and how it's bobbing up and down....

I often think about how luck we are to have navigational equipment i.e. radar and such.  I can't imagine they days when the explorers where coming to a new land and the wild seas and the rocky shores how they navigated their ships.  I guess that is why there were so many ship wrecks.  Even to this day there are ships lost at sea and capsized due to ocean conditions.

The next day we had booked a pedicure for me and a massage for hubby.  Shear decadence I know, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.  After our little spa treatments we booked the kayaks to take a little tours or the surrounding shoreline.  I did bring the camera, but the water was a little rough and I didn't want to risk taking photos and either losing my camera or capsizing so I opted to just store it in my memory bank.  Each even we treated ourselves to a soak in the jetted tub on the deck...looking out at the water and looking up to the brilliant night sky sparkling and full with twinkling stars.

Our final day the weather turned cold again, and raining.  Boo, but that wasn't going to detour us. We had decided we wanted to go Longbeach and check out the stormy sea from that vantage point....

Looking out to sea.....

It was a great little get away.....

Sky Watch Friday

These photos were taken in late February at a lake 10 mins from my house.  It's called Horne Lake.  It is very popular in the summer,but now a lot of folks are making it their homestead.  Horne Lake is well known for it's camping, fishing and the caves where you can explore by yourself or on a tour.

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out other wonderful skies at Sky Watch Friday

An update on my brother.....

Where on earth does time go?  Here we are the 4th of April already, Easter has come and gone, spring is well on it's way and in only a couple of months school will be out!

It's been quite a winter and early spring.  Weather wise it's been very mild.  We had snow back in late November early December and nothing since then.  It rains but that is par for the course around here.  Although, I must say my little area is suppose to get the most sunshine than anywhere else on the Island and I tend to believe that.  For my friends in the mid eastern states and eastern Canada I'm sorry for all the terrible weather you have been having.  This past Easter weekend we hit a whopping 23 Celsius, people were walking around in shorts and flip flops.  Yes spring is here.

One of my last posts I wrote about my brother Mike and his need for a double lung transplant.  Any of you who follow me on Facebook will know that he did get his double lung transplant on February 13th 2013!!!  The joy that brought me rated right up their to how I felt when I gave birth to my daughters. It was such a wonderful birthday gift to his daughter whose birthday is Valentine's day!  There actually was a lot of lucky 13's connected with Mikes transplant, for example, his birthday is September 13 and this being 2013, his surgery was on the 13th and he was released from the hospital 13 days post transplant.  Yes 2013 seems to be his year!  I'll never say 13 is unlucky again!

It was serendipitous that I would be in town that day.  I had to be on the mainland for a specialist appointment.  At the time we got the call regarding my brother, my sister and I were in her car just heading into Vancouver for my appointment.  At first we were hesitant as up until this point Mike was doing very poorly and his condition was deteriorating rather quickly, so when the news of the transplanted started off by saying "I have news about Mike".....long pause......"He's getting his lungs" was the next comment.  My sister and I burst out into tears.  We were so happy we were both shaking.  We made it to my specialist appointment which was an important appointment but it's all a blur as I was so focused on my brother.

We got word that he was going to have his surgery around midnight and that evening and  if we wanted to see him pre surgery we could.  Well of course we wanted to see him, as did his children, and more of the siblings.  While I was there I was able to meet the head guy himself.  The doctor who coordinates all the transplants.  I had a great little visit with him which was very informative and helpful.  I was a bundle of nerves.  I could see the joy on my sister-in-laws face, she always believed that Mike would get his lungs and she stayed so very positive.  Never for a moment did she think he wasn't going to make.  With my nurses hat on, in the back of my mind I couldn't help but wonder if my brother or his wife had any idea as to what he would be in for post surgery.  The surgery was going to take about 9 hours.  I crossed my fingers, said a silent prayer and put the positive energy vibes out there.

It was the next morning and I was on the ferry back to the Island when I got the word that Mike had made it through surgery and was doing well.  I was able to breath a sigh of relief!  It was a short thirteen days later and he was released from the hospital.

Mike and I March 7th 2013 three weeks post double lung transplant. 

Mike and is lovely wife Arletha. She never gave up hope or faith!  Thank you Arletha for your strength and love for my brother!

Mike and his wife were told that they had to stay in Vancouver for 3 months post surgery for follow up and evaluations regarding his condition.  Apparently, Mike is doing so well that there is a strong possibility that they can move back to their home in Sechelt by May!!!

Sky Watch Friday

If you would like to join in on the fun please check out Skywatch Friday  for all the details.  Happy Friday all!

A Run A Fire Part Three

So here I am Day 2 of my Marathon of Hope, and post day 2 from the fire.

I had decided even before the fire that when I ran day 2 I wasn't going to start as early.  As I said I have never run a 1/2 marathon before and doing 2 half marathons back to back seemed like a daunting task.  I had no idea how I was going to feel.  Was I going to feel sore, how was I going to be emotionally, many thoughts ran through my mind.  What I knew I had to do was clear my mind of any negative energy, put on my runners and just run.

I was still pumped from the events of the previous day and being highlighted on the evening news the night before.  I was to meet the rest of the support crew at noon at the same spot we ended off at the previous day.  It was going to be a good day, the sun was shining and the air was crisp.

I have no idea where I got the energy to do that little jiggy dance...something just came over me and it seemed like the thing to do. 

 With my pace vehicle ahead of me and my support vehicle behind(which of course had 2 huge banners on it)the first community I ran through that afternoon was Union Bay.  I was so shocked at the reception I received.  Folks were actually out on their front porches clapping and cheering me on.  Other folks in their vehicles were honking their horns in support.  I was brought to tears.

As we wanted to draw attention to the run we had decided to make a couple of pre organized stop both of which were pubs...fancy that!!  Anyhow, my one and only stop that day was in a little town called Royston.  Royston was 16km into my run

These two gentleman were so kind and encouraging and made a great donation towards the run!

I only had a short 7km to go once I left Royston.  But that would be the longest 7km of my life.  Every part of my being was beginning to hurt at this point, my running pace was fluctuating and I was getting tired.

When I saw the sign for Courtenay I was ecstatic!

It was another 4km from there where my journey would end.  I feared I didn't have the energy, I pathetically cried to myself.  It was only a few short blocks and I was standing waiting for the light to turn green and I could see the Legion sign ahead of me.  I wanted to finish this in style.  I had to dig deep within myself to find the strength to give it the runners last push.  I sprinted the last 3 blocks when I arrived the tears were pouring down my face.

Once inside I was greeted by the Legion president and led to the front of the hall where there were over 200 people!  I was overwhelmed and honoured.  I was presented with a lovely arrangements of flowers and treated so kindly.

This is a journey I will never forget.  It made me find my inner strength and to work at over coming adversity.  At the end of the day it was about my brother and his determination to be a fighter and to never give up. Please if you haven't already done so sign up to be an organ donor.  Here's the link to BC Transplant online registration.

Thank you for stopping by and for reading my blog.