Beautiful Dawn...




And the countdown is on...

12 Days: Our Honeymoon in Greece
24 Days: Our Puppy Molly Comes Home
2 Months: Andy's brother's wedding in a Glorious Scottish Castle (where we are also sleeping for the night - keep your fingers crossed that Andy's mom will have Alex for the night!)
4 Months: Andy's and My 1st Wedding Anniversary
7 Months: I'm going home for Christmas (and although I'm not wishing for the winter, or even Christmas so much, I am longing for the day I step off the plane in my beloved Nova Scotia).

So... as much as I am not wishing time away, I am eagerly anticipating the good things to come this year, but let's get through these first two exciting occurrences first!

Is It Back To the Beginning?

When I first came over here all I had to do in regard to driving was master the art of driving on the other side of the road. Luckily for me, I had been driving a standard/manual transmission car for over 12 years so I didn't have that to face on top of everything else. I had been told by my husband who checked online, that I could drive for a year on my NS License and could then exchange it in for a UK Issue.

Of course nothing is ever as easy as it seems. I now have two weeks to get my license exchanged. That isn't the problem. The problem is this: To exchange my license I need to send my passport in to the DVLA. If I send my passport in I won't be able to go on holiday to Greece a week Sunday. If I don't send my passport in with attached paperwork, I exceed the 12 month grace period and will have to go through the process a brand new driver would have to undertake in order to get a British License... hmmm.. nice eh? (I'm looking at my 12 month period from the date I was granted Leave To Remain - if they don't take it from this date then I've completely gone and blown it.)

Nevermind the fact that if I do in fact come up with some sort of way to get around the passport issue (i.e. having our solicitor photocopy it and verify it) I will still only be granted a provisional license that says I can only drive an automatic car when driving on my own. If I drive our standard car I have to have a fully licensed person in with me. Right. I suppose I can understand this as you don't have to pass a manual test in Canada, however it is a bit annoying after I have been driving a manual car here for over a year already, not to mention the 12 years back home... This however could easily enough be corrected with a manual test once I've received the provisional license. I just hope that I can figure something out so that I don't have to go back to the beginning and have to take the theory test, etc. Gawd... Let this be a lesson to all of you great procrastinators out there - stop sticking your head in the sand, get off your asses and check things out for yourself, and especially, stop leaving things to the very last minute. You'd think I'd have learned my own lesson by now.

I'm In Love

Stacy and I had debated buying this cd at various points throughout her visit. I'm sorry we didn't buy it sooner because after buying it today and listening to it, I have to say that it's the best damn CD I've listened to in AGES... There is not one song on it that I don't like. Naturally I like some more than others, namely the first 7, lol but the whole thing is wickedly good. James Blunt has so much depth, beauty and talent - he is an incredible songwriter, a unique singer and an extreme breath of fresh air. It doesn't hurt one little bit either that he is absolutely lovely to look at. Looks aside though, his videos are even fantasatically interesting and unusual - each has a neat twist and show lots of imagination. If you miss out on this CD, you are missing a lot... take my word for it. (Unless you are only in to pop and R&B - then you might want to give it a miss.) (Oh and Stace - I'll get ya a copy... no worries.)

I'm hoping my husband might just surprise me with tickets for his concert in Leeds or Manchester for the weekend of our first anniversary in October ;)

PS: I will be getting back to blogging about Stacy and the rest of her trip shortly for those of you that are interested.

I Just Can't Believe She's Gone...

We spent our last day/evening with Stacy in London last night before taking her to the airport this morning. I can't begin to express how lost I feel now that she is gone. Even though I am not alone the house seems empty tonight, especially now that we have dropped Connor home as he was a great comfort all day. He (along with Andy) kept cuddling me and telling me how much he already missed Stacy. Alex asked in the car if we could call Stacy tonight. Andy talked about all the great times we had. So you see, she will not only be missed dreadfully by me, but by my family here in New Waltham.

I'm sitting here blogging while Stacy's favourite UK show (My Family) is on the television and I can't believe the irony that it is on tonight of all nights when its usually on on Monday nights. The house feels strange now without her presence and I think it will honestly take me a few days to get over her being gone. We had a wonderful time together and once I get myself sorted out I will begin blogging again about our adventures.

For the time being here are a few pictures from our last hours together.


My Beautiful Sister Underground...


Goodbye Big Ben (I think we are both feeling a little 'drained' by this point)


My Lovely Sister and I... (notice her lovely new top;)

We CAN do this... (I Hope!!!)

After a wonderful weekend away (will update at a later date), Stacy and I are now up and eagerly getting ready for our four day trip to Glasgow. I only have one concern: As we couldn't get a train ticket at a half-way decent price I will be attempting to drive five hours into the city of Glasgow.

Good Grief.

Stacy is definitely looking at it from an Amazing Race perspective and is quite excited. Me? Well it will be a terrific boost for my driving ego if I do this without getting lost (or worse), especially the streets of Glasgow! (But that's where my navigator comes in right?)

See you when we get back!

She's Really Ours

Today we went and saw our little puppy. She's just turned four weeks old and we have to wait until the middle of June before we can bring her home at which time she will be the around the size of little Coco (the chocolate lab in the photo with me). All these labs are working labs and they are lean and gorgeous no matter the color. I can't wait until the day she is in my arms and we can bring her home!


Aunty Stacy with Our Baby...

We are thinking of a few different names to call her, predominately Molly, but I think we need to wait until we pick her up to see if it suits or not. In the meantime we are definitely open to suggestions!



Me & Coco

Here is a pic of a few of her brothers and sisters. This is just so exciting for us! She is going to be a very loved and special addition to our family!


Four of Ten...

As I blog this I must admit that I've been out drinking tonight so please excuse any bad spelling on my behalf...

So on Saturday the title would have went something like this...

A bit of Sickie, A bit of Snot and a Lot of Hail

So Saturday we made our way to Pleasure Island, a small theme park that is located on our waterfront. The day was slightly overcast to begin with but that didn't stop Stacy, Tash and I from going on the Hyperblast... its nothing too exciting but it shot you high engough in the air for a thrill... (notice the black clouds)


What a Ride

Later that day we had to make our way into Tinkaboo land with the kids as the skies opened up and HAIL, I repeat hail, not rain began to pour down upon us... only moments before had we made our way from the rollercoaster where believe this - Stacy - my sister who is a daredevil and LOVES rollercoasters, became sick to her stomach... not to mention the fact that during the ride we heard Tahsa scream 'gross' as Alex had sneezed during the ride and ended up with snot all over his face... all in all that particular ride was not successful...


Stacy and our baby

As we were leaving the park it would figure that that the sun would decide to shine...


Me and my mates...

Tonight Stace and I went to a pub quiz night with my friend Helen. Stacy and I talked to a local chap at the bar who joined us for some sad conversation and who ended up being absolutely hopeless (I was thinking of him as possibility for my single friend in my ususal druken way). But all the same we had fun!


Sorry!

Since Stacy has arrived we have gotten used to hearing 'sorry' followed by a giggle. When we first heard her say this, we were in the car and asked why - her response - "you'll know in a minute". It was soon followed by the most Gawd awful stench ever... now the big joke is that whenever of us fart we giggle and quickly say 'sorry'... whatever happened to the good old 'excuse me'???? Either way we are living thru some God awful smells that are always being giggled about. I suppose this is bound to happen when you have large groups of people living under a small roof!!!

Friday turned out to be an exceptionally good day for Stacy and I. We found our way to the city of Lincoln without any trouble at all. The drive down was smooth and easy going and it was so like old times for the two of us as we listened to our favourite songs. It seems to be that whenever my sisters and I now get together we always seem to have a 'theme' song for the duration of our time together. Last summer with Tawny in Toronto (and again with Dawn in Mercy River), it was sadly enough 'Eye of the Tiger'. There's something about that song that just makes you want to sing and shake your fist... hmmmm fist shaking seems to be a big thing with some people ;). Anyway, I am digressing. My point being, that this trip Stacy and I have adopted 'The Way You Move' by the Body Rockers as our chosen song. It plainly just 'rocks'.

As time is short, I have just downloaded a few of the pictures we took from our day out on Friday. I will hopefully be back to blog within the next day or so, maybe even tonight as I have a few funny things that are just needing to be told.


Lincoln Cathederal


Princess Stacy in the Tower at Lincoln Castle


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Happy Birthday Ruth!

Today my dear friend Ruth is celebrating her birthday back home in Nova Scotia. Not only does she have her fantastic life to celebrate on this day, but also the fact that after many years of putting it off, she has just this week become a fully licensed driver!!! HOoRAy!!! I'll be expecting a drive with you when I next make it home! Have a great day my friend, you deserve it!

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of two very special and wonderful people. My sister Tawny and her husband Taylor are at this moment having a widly romantic time together in the place where they were married one year ago yesterday: Las Vegas Nevada. I hope that the rest of their lives together are as good as this past year has been. Cheers to the first of many!!!

Five Minute Update

Stacy is upstairs at the moment getting ready as today I am going to attempt to drive us to Lincoln so that she can see this beautiful city, but more specifically to see the historic and beautiful cathederal that sits so proudly above the city.

We have been keeping fairly busy - last weekend Andy and I took Stacy to a working village called Beamish to show her how a typical village would have looked in the late 1800's, early 1900's. We stopped over in Newcastle to check out a few of the sights and to have a drink with an old friend before making our way to Robin Hood's Bay, a small village set on the side of of mountain above a gorgeous cove... it was breathtaking. The only trouble is my poor sister in her quest to download the pictures we'd taken that weekend, lost them all. We had some great pics, including one of Stacy in an ancient pub in Newcastle holding up (one on each side of her face) a tin of Red Bull and a glass of Vodka... (I'm sure the person this photo was taken for knows who they are ;)!!! Maybe this is what happens when we try to 'best' our friends! Anyway, on Monday (it was a holiday here) Andy and I took her to Horseshoe Point in the hopes of her catching sight of the seals, but alas no luck. However despite the absence of any seals, we did have a good hike out to the water and Stacy was quite thrilled to be frolicking around in the North Sea on the first of May as the shallow water was suprisingly warm.