Friday's What the Heck / Where has the Summer Gone

Here we are, already it’s August 3rd with only 32 days before school year begins for some of our children. 

In Ottawa the weather thus far is amazing… if, that is, you’re not a plant or an animal who enjoys this hot draught weather. In all things there should be balance. But the weather has been extremely hot and dry. Yup, beginning in June the temperature has barely dipped below the 25 Celsius and coupled with below levels of rain made this one of the hottest summers ever.  In fact, Ottawa has had a drought level 2 for most of the summer.  I’ve never seen the Ottawa River this low before.

The pool covered with cement dust!

For me, the frustrating part of this summer has been waiting for the pool repairs to be completed.  

The target date for completion was by hubby's birthday in mid June.  As I write this post, the concrete having been poured yesterday, the men are doing something out there, not sure what, other than making a lot of noise with a saw and spewing clouds of fine dust everywhere, including into the pool (not sure why they didn't cover the pool). How long is it going to take to clean the pool, I wonder as the layers of dust settle on the pool surface.  

Friday before another long weekend and we are without a swimming pool, and once again, the weather is expected to be hot. In fact, according to our national paper, Ottawa public health issued a heat warning as the forecast called for humidex levels of above 40 Celsius on Saturday and Sunday. Whew! 

On the bright side, can't wait for next week when the pool will finally be done, leaving us with the balance of summer and perhaps even the fall of pool time.  

Meanwhile, thankfully, we do have air-conditioning!

And a river!

And, I bought a new vehicle! Now, hubby can have his car back. And I must say hubby gives it two thumbs up. That means a lot  because, he, of course, has great taste in cars. You can read about his car here. 

my new ride!

A Range Rover, Evoque is a dream car. But I didn't buy the special edition Victoria Beckham one!  Still, I am stoked and immediately it called for a road trip. So, off I drove with Andrew to Montreal, where he was taking a two-week summer course.

Simply the best cake!

Montreal is fantastic!  On our first evening there we ordered in from room service and Andrew had the best chocolate cake ever. Of course, in the following days he  had compared other chocolate cakes from around Montreal, but nothing measured up to this one. 

I enjoy the friendly people, the scenery, and going to all the places we went to last summer. My favorite, place was “Café Smoothie” in Pointe Claire.  Each day after Andrew was done for the day we would slowly drive along the beautiful lake to Cafe Smoothie. He would have a mango smoothie, and I, would have fresh carrot and apple juice.  It was yummy,  but I think I'm turning a shade of orange. LoL!

Andrew got into reading the Hunger Games while we were in Montreal.  After he completed reading chapters, we would listen to the audio book up to the point he had read, in the car (a good reason to drive around in my Evoque!). Admittedly, finding any excuse to drive around was not too difficult.

I think the reason summer appears to go faster than any other season is because we do different things in the summer.  We change our routine. We do things we enjoy, like hanging out and visiting with people, sleeping in, and this summer watching the Summer Olympics.  The energy of the olympians is so inspiring! 

Taking my time by being present, savoring each and every delicious moment.   My app for meditation is insight timer, which lets me know I'm not meditating alone. The design of the app is  insightful providing information on who is meditating with me world-wide.  No matter what time I meditate, I know I'm not alone.  It also keeps stats of my meditation times, and allows me to journal my sessions. I love this app!  

I hope you are all enjoying your summer too! 

Friday’s What the Heck! Be Spontaneous!

A boat ride is perfect on a hot day

Out of the blue my big sister, Mary, called and said she was coming to visit. Really??? I said, with a note of skepticism.  Who could blame me, after all her last visit was over twelve years ago.  I’ll be there this week, she added.  Right on, email me your time of arrival and I’ll pick you up at the airport, I said cheerfully.  Oh my, I was so excited, but then again I didn’t want to get my hopes up!

The day before she was scheduled to arrive I still wouldn't let myself believe she would be coming.  That night she called and said “I’ll be there at 6 pm tomorrow”.  Whoa!!! She was actually going to visit us!!! I had to get my butt in gear and clean my house, even though my housecleaner had just cleaned.  I quickly realized that I would be cleaning all night.  Therefore I called my back-up-cleaner (see why here) who, lucky for me, was available the next day.   I also, had to call my handyman to do a few things around the house, touch ups and stuff.  I changed the light bulbs and wash all the towels so they were all soft and fresh. There was a flurry of things to be done before picking her up at the airport.  I took the day off from work, and although I wasn't planning to take my holidays, yet, I decided to take time off for her visit.

Then she called to say she missed her first flight.  What??? I spoke to her that morning hours before her flight and she was packed and almost out the door.  What happened, I asked?  Apparently, she decided at the last minute to grab a muffin and didn’t hear the final call.  They called three times but she didn’t hear and the plane left without her after they removed her bag.  And, all I could think of was, YES!  That muffin may have cost her $150 in change fees. But, missing her plane gave me a few more hours to prepare for her visit.  Everything was perfect when she arrived, I think.

My son, Andrew had an appointment in Montreal.  He suggests we go to New York from Montreal.  It is only a short drive, he says, and we all know Andrew loves NYC.  What the heck I thought, this would be a wonderful experience since my sister had never been there.  And besides the pool still was not completed. Hubby went on line and made reservations for us at the New York Helmsley Hotel. It is closer than where we stayed before which is across the Brooklyn Bridge at the Marriott Hotel.  I suggest hubby fly down to meet us Friday night after work (some of us can’t just take time off!)  He agreed. Now to find a place for our dog, Bohdi, on a long weekend, which we did!  He was excited to stay at Tails andTrails Country Pet Resort.

The Fort William Henry Hotel

We decided to take our time driving and stopped over night at Lake George, a picturesque lakeside resort.  We stayed at a lovely hotel, The Fort William Henry Hotel.  There is much history in lake George and we enjoyed a lovely evening there. The next day in the parking lot we met a guy who is a ghost guide who said that there are several ghost in and around the hotel.  Thankfully, we were leaving, yikes.

Mary, first night in NYC @Osteria Laguna!

I really got to appreciate the in car GPS, which made driving in NYC a snap. We arrived in time for dinner, which we had at Osteria Laguna Restaurant directly across the street from our hotel.  You know what it's like when you first arrive at a place you're excited about, everything taste amazing. Osteria didn't disappoint.  My insalata caprese was simply delicious!
  

New York from Empire State Building!

Of course, we tried to do all the tourist stuff we could in the three days we were there, and had a wonderful exciting time.   However, nothing made me more excited as when we found a place that made fresh green juice and smoothies on Lexington, which is just around the corner from our hotel.  I so missed my fresh juices. Score!!!  We also, went to Hell's Kitchen flea Market  where I bought a lovely zen singing bowl. Yeah! 

Porgy and Bess

It was difficult, but we even managed to get some tickets on Broadway to the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, which was playing at the Richard Rodgers Theatre.  Andrew wanted to see Harvey, but we couldn't get reasonable tickets.  With only a limited time, it was too bad we missed it because andrew is a fan of Jim Parson from The Big Bang Theory. 

The only complaint, if I could have one, would be  that we decided to visit NYC in the middle of a heat wave, (36 Celsius) made walking in this heat not pleasant!  


But what is summer about, if not to be spontaneous, huh?  It's a good thing Andrew didn't pinch my sister every time she said, pinch me, Andrew! Otherwise, she would have been black and blue. lol. All in all, this impromptu trip is one to be treasured.  

Not quite Thelma and Louise, but we had a blast!
Thank you, Mary!!!