Part of My Charm

It’s 2:47 a.m. and I’m sitting here in the dark, on my laptop, waiting to get sleepy. RB and I had a really good day today. I don’t know if I’ve told you much about how BAD at making decisions i am we are. I fully admit to being picky and RB always claims that he’s very easygoing and most of the time, he is. But today, after saying, “I don’t care where we go for lunch! I’m easy!” - he was the one giving the thumbs down to all of my suggestions. We’ve tried out many (most) restaurants in our city and we’re getting sick of the same old thing. We spent lunch talking about future business ideas - we’re both really into the thought of owning our own business(es) one day, and we’re sort of leaning toward something in the food industry. Those are our thoughts for now but we talk quite a bit about what we could do, and want to do, in our futures, career-wise. It’s tough to choose because I feel like I want to do everything. 

After frustrations and giggles, we finally decided to just leave and decide in the car. We ended up at a local restaurant that we both kinda like. It’s nothing special but it’s food. And we all know how much I like foods. I had a tuna sammich, RB had a canadian triple decker sammich & we both had fries w/ gravy. After filling our bellies, we headed over to the mall where we got our free (yep, free!) cantaloupe, some cherries and cheese curds & free samples of different sausages for the BBQ. RB even got some new shoes, which were needed, for an AWESOME marked down price. 

I worked from 3:30 -8:30 this evening & actually really enjoyed the shift. I never thought I’d actually like being a cashier, but I do. I get to talk to so many random people and and see familiar faces; it makes me happy. I love (most of) the girls I work with and everyone seems to get along really well. Amber, the girl who trained me, is my new girl crush. We get along really well and I always seem to have really great shifts when she’s managing. I also saw one of my oldest friend’s parents at work and they brightened my day even more by going on & on about how great I looked and everything. They’re really nice people who I hope I run into like that, lots more in the future.

I text messaged RB when I walked out of work and gushed to him about the awesome clouds that were hanging out over the lake; they looked very regal and reminded me of Moufasa - from the ‘Lion King.’ We’re very lucky to have the Lake Ontario, pretty much right in our backyard. Aside from the smell that permeates when it gets real hot around these parts, the view and breeze it provides our neighbourhood is well worth it. I got home, changed & grabbed my camera and we were on our way. The sunset had painted the sky with pretty pink hues and provided us the backdrop for some nice pictures. Btw, picture taking has become my new favourite thing to do. Thinking that I’ve scored some great photos makes me really happy and excited.

We stopped at home for awhile to check movie times & then headed back to basics where we picked up some sour patch candies & peanut m&m’s. Can we say, fatties? Fattie-fat-fats? Yup. But the movies aren’t the same without treats! We saw ‘The Hangover’ and while it wasn’t the BEST movie ever, we really liked it and laughed A LOT. The whole theatre did. The only downfall to the whole day, which was awesome, is that the chocolate, sugary candy and diet pepsi I ate/drank is leaving me a wide awake Jordie and I really want to get to sleep. I only work 11-4 tomorrow so an afternoon nap might be a must.

I’m getting up early Monday morning to go with RB to his dentist appointment. We both have the day off and I think we could turn the trip (it’s in the next city, about 30 minutes away) into another of our adventures. Which I seriously love. I sort of freaking love this summer. And my life. I love my jobs, the people I work with, my family, my friends, nature, photos, blogging, and I had to save the best for last - RB. He’s the best partner you could ask for. 

I feel like I’m learning so much from him. And from myself, the people I meet, work with, pass on the street, smile at - I’m changing all the time and I’m really excited to see how I’ll end up. I’m finding myself and the process makes me giddy with excitement. 

I think I’ll get back into bed and give sleeping another try. Before I go though - I’m not usually one to borrow things from other people’s blogs, but after hearing this song (that I’m listening to right now and have a dozen times already) on GirlsGoneChild - I was hooked. Instantly. It was love at first chord. 

RB and I have packed up the car and we’re heading up to the Huntsville area to go camping with three of our closest friends. Between us, we have about .. 10 friends. It may seem sad, but I don’t have a TON of time for being social, so when I do, I have a few trusty friends to choose from. That sounds mean. I’m just going to stop now.

We’ll be gone until Monday evening and our plan is to spend most of the last day at my cottage. SQUEE. Right now we’re sitting around watching t.v. and talking about the trip, while I try to cram as much interwebs in as I can, until we leave. Our last minute errands are to get snacks for the drive and ice for the cooler. RB’s dad made us a delicious dinner of the most tender and flavourful steak ever, grilled veggies and baked potatoes. It was heavenly and now, because we’re fatties, we need more stuffs to munch on while we journey.

Boggle is packed, as are cards and poker chips. I’ve got a novel and a word search book, but I’m kind of disappointed that I didn’t get to go to the library before we left. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow and a long day in the tent with no book will be sad. Other than that, we’ll swim and eat toasted marshmallows, drink and look at the stars, eat hot dogs and other camp foods and of course, explore.

I wasn’t sold on the idea of this camping trip, as I have my monthly friend. Even on a good day, with a comfy bed, t.v. and clean bathroom, I still feel like crap, so being out in nature while my uterus is contracting at an abnormal pace, I might get a bit uncomfortable. I’m going to try and have a good attitude anyways because RB is really excited and I’m trying to be more supportive, no matter what the situation is. 

Anyways, this post has turned into a ramble about nothing important, but I felt like blogging. Which is rare, so I felt I should do it while the mood was striking. I’ve got to run now, gotta decide what snack food to get for the drive. Gosh, life is hard. Have a good weekend, lovers.

Before we left for the cottage, RB and I talked about where we could go to explore, hike & just get away from everyone and enjoy some alone time. It’s a good thing that we planned ahead of time (even though we have wifi at the cottage now - wtf?) because it pissed rain about 80% of the time and we were getting stir crazy sitting inside, watching the rain fall. And my six year old cousin run around screaming, which is always fun and .. cute. I’ll expect it when we have our own kids, but for now, I stay sorta far away when the hollering ensues.

Our first full day there was sunny, gorgeous and picture perfect. We spent the day with my brother, cousins and the rest of my family. We went swimming, took pictures, went to Kinmount for fish & chips, got jostled (don’t ask) and just enjoyed the weather and great company. I’m really glad that we got at least one decent day to spend in the sun, doing normal cottage things. The boat was still in storage, until the day we left of course, so our lazy afternoon picnics were sadly missed. 

Everyone spent hours mulling over various puzzles that were started AND completed during our couple day stay. They get really into their puzzles, but they’re just not something I can get into. I *am* proud to say that I contributed two pieces! What a big help, eh? I really just don’t have the patience for it. 

I’ll have to dedicate a whole new post to the MASS amount of food we ate on our vacation. It probably didn’t help that it rained so much and we were stuck inside more than we had planned. There were just so many delicious options - cookies, fresh bagels, chips, candy, ice cream (twice a day .. ahem..) and french fries by the bucket. Ok, not really, maybe two or three times. The chip trucks are right there & so tempting & .. I can’t help myself! I’m weak but oh-so well-fed. It was hard to come home and NOT eat 14 meals a day, but people, I’m working on it. We’re down to eight and slowly dropping still. I also hope you all know I’m being sarcastic, kind of.

Petroglyphs Provincial Park was one of the places we visited, and probably the furthest, which was about an hour drive away. It was fun, blasting the music and driving down the country roads, seeing new sights together. We really do enjoy our adventures. I think RB’s favourite part was when I was completely grumpy and hysterical over the bugs on our hike, the broken boardwalk that I was infuriated over and threatened to write the park a letter about, or possibly the snake I saw and literally almost gave myself a heart attack over. To sum it up, I’m really fun sometimes. Other than the bugs, snakes and other unpleasantries, the park was nice, the rock carvings were highly impressive AND RB bought me a cute new buddy to make me a happier Jordie. His name is Glyph (after Petroglyph, obviously) and he’s the cutest stuffed owl you ever did see.

(I was still red from our hike/hyperventilating over the SO not threatening or poisonous snake I saw while on a broken, rickety boardwalk.)

Our next mini adventure was to Elliott Falls. My family and I have been hundreds of times, to swim, explore and jump off the “cliff” - in reality, it’s a concrete wall with a fence at the edge. Kids have been climbing over the fence (and jumping from the TOP of the hydro building, so dangerous) for years and years I’m sure and I admit that I gave into temptation, once. Never again. I’m deathly afraid of heights so getting over the fence was an hour long process. I cried & panicked but I’d already made it to the other side and was afraid to go back. So I let go. And fell backwards. Not one of my best decisions, but thankfully I made it out alive and scared enough to never ever attempt it again. 

We explored the forest a bit here, took a break on a rock that hurt my bum, and took lots of pictures of the waterfalls and such. It was a beautiful day and I’m glad that I got to share a place like it, with RB. A place that I know so well and have fond memories of. I like making it “our” thing, as well. 

One of the rainy afternoons, and there were many, we took a drive to Minden. A cute little town about 30 minutes from the cottage. I’ve been there a few times, mostly as a kid. Our grandparents would take us around to all the little towns when we stayed with them, for a week or the whole summer. I loved that they changed it up & was excited to go to every one of them because they were all just a bit different. The town was pretty uneventful so we headed up to the panoramic park lookout to get a nice view of everything. We took a few pictures for about two minutes and were hit with a huge amount of rain. It was kind of nice to just sit up there in the car, listening to music, the rain and talking. It was peaceful and calm. Once it let up we drove back and hung out at the cottage.

Other than our outings, we watched a few movies: Blue Planet/Planet Earth, Milk and Notorious. The Blue Planet/Planet Earth series is beautiful and amazing and we love it. My cousin and her husband brought it up so we watched a few discs and swooned. Milk was really good. It starred Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, James Franco and a few other well-known celebrities. It was about the first gay politican who was eventually assassinated. It was made very well. Notorious was actually a decent movie as well, but I have to say that it was a little awkward watching it with my dad, his wife, my cousin and her husband and my grandparents, when every word was a curse and there were some raunchy sex scenes. I’m not a huge prude or anything, but staring at boobies with my dad just isn’t my thing. 

Our nights were spent in the bottom cottage with my brother, cousins and neighbours. We listened to music, drank and laughed a lot. I had a really good time with my brother. Not that I haven’t before but he’s always been very immature about a lot of things and can be domineering over me; it was completely different. He’s really grown up lately and I’m really glad that we’ll be able to have an even better relationship from now on. He’s always taken care of me though, no matter what. 

We spent lots of time on the deck, overlooking the lake, listening to music and talking. I was very nostalgic this year and spent lots of personal time recalling memories and getting myself giddy, remembering certain things I’d forgotten about. It’s healing being there. I seriously didn’t want to leave and I hope so much that we can get back up there again, if not more than once. 

I’ll leave you with a few more pictures from our trip and fill you in next time on the food we ate. I really do need a whole post. It’ll be epic. 

I don’t know if it gets any easier, leaving the cottage. Driving down that familiar dirt road, back to reality. After days filled with family, laughter, stories, sun, rain, puzzles, movies and secret trips, it’s harder to go back than you can imagine. 

As always, we had an amazing time and I was literally heartbroken as we drove away, back down that dirt road, back home. I thought about it & my memories, the entire time. Tears welled up in my eyes as I thought about everything I’ve done there, we’ve done there, my family has done there. I thought about how we just celebrated my Nanny’s 79th birthday and as much as I hope she lives to be 100+, it may not be the reality. She’s getting older, they both are, and the reality of no more cottage is closer than I ever thought it would be. 

How do you explain memories to your children and not be able to show them, and not be able to experience them? It’s a hard thought. How do I convey how truly amazing the times we had were and not be able to pass that tradition onto my own kids? They may not get to experience swimming with Nanny, and boat picnics. May never hear her deep laughter or one of her famous stories. They might never witness a card game between them & miss out on seeing their banter, that is so familiar to us. They might never get to go on a walk to find wildflowers with her, or pile onto her bed and have their feet rubbed. 

I’ll only have stories to tell of my experiences and I’m sad that my own children might not get to have the same ones. 

But then, at least I do have those memories. I’ll be able to tell my own children about our pig-sty parties on the beach. About our lunches & baking together. About how she’s kissed our boo-boo’s and made everything better with a pancake or a big warm hug. They might never get to experience it themselves, but I did, and I’ll gladly share every memory, every detail. My kids will know my Nanny, whether she’s still around or not. She helped shape me and make me into the woman I am today, and the woman I’m becoming and I’ll be eternally grateful for everything she’s done for this family.

She said something, the other day, that stuck with me and made me ferociously proud to be her granddaughter. “I just figured that life was short, so I quit my job so I could stay home and take care of my grandkids. I wanted to create happy memories for them.” 

Well Nanny, I can surely say that you’ve succeeded. I love you more than you know and I will always be your “little bitch.”

Can you see why?
More to come!

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed that I’ve had a, countdown of sorts, for the last couple of days. You see, tonight, RB and I are packing the car with clothes, junk food, music and lurve (I just added that in for extra fromage factor, but there will be love) and heading up to my family’s cottage. 

I’ve tried to write post after post about the cottage, about my (and our) experiences up there, about how I feel about the place and my memories with my family, but they all turn out wrong. There will never be enough words to describe how I feel about having had the opportunity to spend weekends, and sometimes the whole summer, up by the lake with my cousins, friends and wonderful grandparents. 

We had countless days, all piled in Nanny’s room, whining about how we were bored, or wanting to hear her “famous” stories, requesting freshly baked cookies or foot rubs, and of course, play fighting with all of the cousins and friends we could fit on her king-sized bed. 

We had countless afternoons down on the beach, swimming, relaxing on the boat, having picnics far out past our bay, playing water games with Nanny and the family and trying our best to avoid The King of the Dock. AKA, my uncle Wally who had this game of throwing anyone off the end, if we got too close. 

We had countless evenings out on the screened in porch, playing card games that made us so rowdy we’d get yelled at constantly to quiet down, listening to music and to the last-minute boaters make their way around before it got dark, playing Rummoli and of course, spending quality time with family. 

Those memories are just the TIP of the iceberg on cottage times. I could tell you about how my Nan keeps binoculars in her bedroom so she can watch the boys at the scout camp, across the bay, skinny-dip at night. Or about how she’s called the “Kitchen Slut” by many; an endearing term that she loves and shows just how much she dotes on men. Or about how she, on a dare, wore her bra over she shirt and paraded around the men who were playing cards. Or about how we used to sneak out of our rooms/tent to meet the scout camp counsellors in the middle of the night. Or .. seriously, I could go on for days. 

I wouldn’t trade my cottage memories for the world. For nothing. They’re mine and I’ll cherish them forever. Just take a look at this picture (taken by RB, last year) and tell me that you can really blame me for loving it this much: 

It’s magical to me.

This weekend/week we’ll be hanging out A LOT on this:

Feeding these tame, adorable chipmunks. And yes, that’s my leg circa .. last year:

We’ll be eating on the screened-in porch of this restaurant/motel that we both adore:

We’ll be seeing breathtaking sunsets like these and searching the sky for shooting stars. Taken by RB:

And lastly, I get to do it all with this man, who supports me all the time. Who gives into my silly requests and my sometimes less than mature behaviour. Who caters to my needs. Who, most importantly, loves me and cares about me. Aww, mush. I had to, sorry. He’s just a really great person & you all should know.

I’ll miss the interwebs a bit, I’m sure, but our five days up at the cottage will be pure bliss and I’m already dreading that we actually have to leave at some point and get back to work, to reality. To the blistering heat and NO lake. SIGH. 

I heart the cottage. And I heart all of you. Have a good weekend/week - be back Thursday! One last thing before I go. I almost forgot to share this picture with you. It resides in our cottage bathroom and really shows you the great sense of humour my Nanny has. Enjoy:

Untitled from jordan c on Vimeo.

BAH HUMBUG. It’s still being wonky with the voice/sound but ya know what? I DON’T CARE ANYMORE. Enjoy! (I’m not really in *that* bad of a mood, it’s just frustrating.)

Ikea is a MAZE. A huge, confusing maze & they never ever want you to leave. At least, not before you’ve looked at EVERYthing in the whole store. I’m in the market for a new desk and chair and we went to check out Office Depot first before heading to Ikea. RB and I both had the day off so before we started furniture shopping, we went for a walk at a new park & explored the trails a bit before it started raining.

My desk now is a hand me down from my cousin Kelsi, who painted the teeny-tiny piece of furniture white & pink. Now, I have nothing against pink but the desk is made for a midget and doesn’t leave a normal-sized person much room. I’m going to haul it out to the garage, sand and paint it. And by me hauling it, I mean RB. Friends suggested we keep it for our future home. It’s small enough to use in the hall for decorations & random odd & ends, or in the kitchen as a phone/computer desk. 

The new desk I picked out is from the Jonas series, and people, I am not ashamed to admit that I very recently downloaded “Burnin’ Up” by the Jonas Brothers and listen to it while blowdrying my hair in the morning. Don’t judge, it helps get the job done.

It’s what I need - a large flat surface with lots of room for my laptop, lamp and other decorations. I felt like a grown-up when I sat down and tried it out, whereas my current desk makes me feel like I should pull out the Barbies & Play-D’oh. 

The chair is comfy and supportive, which is good because I have a bad back and leg and need the best chair I can get, in my price range. The chair I have now was passed on from my brother & is really bad for my posture/everything. I tuck my bad leg under my body and strain it even further. I also sit .. sort of leaning to the side & really, nobody likes a curvy spine. It’s bad news bears. Sorry, I’ve eaten a lot of sugar today and I’m dealing with RB’s LOUD snores at the moment. They’re very distracting, but I can deal with it. I do a lot more annoying things than snore. 

It’s a change that needs to happen. I’m excited about the idea of a new workspace and hope that it will bring me more motivation to work on the two (secret) projects I’ve started. And maybe even to start more. I’m also looking forward to the project of sanding and re-painting my tiny desk. I haven’t decided if I want to use a dark wood stain or paint it a bright colour. I’m more of a bright person but RB is a little more traditional. A little bit of both is good, so we’ll see what I eventually decide.

Anything else? Basics is good. My “0″ key was sticking last night & was highly frustrating. Other than that, it’s fun. The people I work with are all really nice (and all really high school, but we’ve all been there) and I haven’t had any rude customers yet. I’m usually really nice and have a big smile plastered on my face, so that helps. Standing for five + hours is also a bit much, but my body is slowly getting used to it. My solution for now? Heat rub cream, so if you catch a whiff of an overpowering mint smell, you know I’ve been around. 

I’m going to finish watching ‘Obsessed’ - a show about extreme OCD cases and maybe head to bed. We’ve been pretty lazy today, other than our walk at the park and in the Ikea maze, so I can’t tell if I’m actually tired or just in a couch potato coma. Night!

I love to dance, but I never said I was good at it. I hope this gets a few laughs, at least. I was having fun & Otis (our english bulldog) was watching me, wiggling her little tail. You should have to pay for this kind of entertainment, but you lucky people get to view it for free. We’ll call it an early Christmas present. 

I has life? No. from jordan c on Vimeo.

First off: a comic, stolen from my dear friend Kendra from college who I miss a LOT. All of my friends. Steph mentioned in her last comment that she’s amazed by how much of an age gap there is between all of us, but we still work. In fact, we all get along really well. The only person I laugh with as much as I do with my college friends, is my cousin/best friend Keri. I won’t get started on Ker, I’ll have to do a separate post altogether - she’s priceless. Ok, moving on to the comic I teased you with a few sentences ago.

Seriously guys, I couldn’t stop laughing when I read this. THIS explains my humour, quite well. “WEE-OO-WEE-OO!” I’m the ambulance,” is my favourite part. Probably because I like to impersonate ambulances. And talk in silly voices. And make random noises. Ask RB, he’ll tell you all about my quirks. 

I know most of you who read this are married or at least live in your own place so you might not share in my woes, but privacy is a big thing for me & we don’t have as much as I’d like, here. I’m really not trying to complain about this because RB’s parents are the best potential parents-in-law a girl could ask for. We don’t pay any rent, have our meals made for us, we don’t have any set chores (other than our room, emptying the dishwasher/cleaning up from dinner, our laundry) and his mom, treats me like the daughter she never had. The only downfall: being interrupted while trying to get our freak on. Sorry to be so .. in your face about the fact that we make sweet, sweet love sometimes. It just had to be known. 

I’m trying to think if there was anything else I wanted to talk about. I’m posting TWO days in a row. I almost can’t believe it, I must be sick. What I really think it is sometimes - I take my writing too seriously. I’m constantly reverting back to WFN class, trying to construct the perfect story in hopes of an equally as good mark. I have to start realizing that I’m not getting graded on THIS writing. I loved all of the comments on the last post & I agree with Ames that it’s one of my favourites too. I think I’ll be “real” more often.

Last but not least, and I always save the best for last, it’s my best friend Jess’ 26th birthday today. I don’t usually call her Jess though, we refer to eachother as Pak & Pak Pak. I cannot, for the life of me, remember where we came up with those nicknames but we’ve had them for a few years now. I seriously couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. We’ve known eachother since kindergarten and it BLOWS my mind to be able to say that we’ve been friends for over 20 years. I can still picture Jess with her bright red hair and mass amounts of freckles on her chubby little cheeks. Probably licking chips. (Don’t ask.) 
Jess is the type of person you really want to be friends with. She’s supportive & unique and always there for me. We just get eachother and I love feeling like that. Currently, we’re trying to motivate eachother to get back into a gym routine. It helps that Jess picks me up & drives me home every time we go. She’s the best. She’s also the best because sometimes we avoid going home and she drives us to Taco Bell. YUM. Anyways, I have some of the best friends that a girl could ask for. Happy birthday, Pak - I love you, forever. 

Jess & I - Christmas Eve 2008 @ her family’s party. It happens every year & I always look forward to it. Her family is like mine, and vice versa. The best year - I got so drunk that I knocked over the baby gate (to keep the dog downstairs) and the garbage, spilling shrimp remains and EVERYthing else, all over the kitchen floor. Smooth move, Jordan. Sorry about the ..squishy-ness of the picture, too. 

Ok, I’m off to make eggs & toast with RB before he has to take me to work.