Summertime

You make me feel something like summertime
Top down ain't nothing but time
Radio's on and you're by my side
Feels something like summertime
Like that first slow dance and that first long kiss
There ain't nothing baby better then this
It's like a beach blanket and a bottle of wine
It feels something like summertime
Summertime
-- Bon Jovi

You know the weather so far this summer absolutely totally blows, sucks lemons big style. Nothing but rain and clouds and thunder and lightning and more rain and clouds and humidity and wind and on and on and on. Blech! BUT (and that's a big but) it honestly doesn't seem to make a freaking difference. I'm having a great summer so far! And everyone I know seems also to be having a great summer. Why is that? I can't speak for anyone else, but yesterday John Mayer blogged about this summer. And he nailed it:

My point is that whenever that someday comes, when I slide into the MRI scanner and the thing starts spinning up, spitting lasers and screaming into my ears, I may very well say to myself "I wish I had just one more of those summers."

I don't care if it rains every day all summer long, I'm going to have a great one, because I'm young and healthy and I love my life. I love my family, my friends, my work, my home, everything. Life is fabulous!

***

I had a great weekend. Saturday evening Stacy arrived at my house for a sleepover. We don't do this very often. We always say we're going to do stuff, go places, but we seldom seem to bring the plans into action. So we were excited! We went to Jungle Jim's (hadn't been in eons) and had chicken quesadillas then booted across the street to the movie theatre and the early showing of Wanted. Loved it! Go see this movie! Angelina kicks some serious ass in this one. And James McAvoy ... oh boy! He's a cutie! I really enjoyed it.

After the movie we went to the liquor store and bought some refreshments then headed back to my place to have a drink and abandon the car. We cabbed to Chatham just in time to catch the Sail Past of Lights, which was pretty disappointing at only three boats. But lots of people out and about on the Green. Water Street was blocked off for a street dance and there were vendors selling food and drinks. Echo was playing and they weren't bad. When we first arrived I thought the band might have been a John Fogerty/CCR tribute band, but they soon moved on to other types of music even the Scissor Sisters.

We travelled around there for a bit and then went to O'Donaghue's Pub. By the time we arrived, it was a little later and the place was packed with a line outside waiting to get in. Not having any other plan we decided to wait it out, and 25-30 minutes later we were in. The house band Mooseknuckle were playing. They're pretty good, entertaining. We had a good time. Lots of laughs.

Stayed til closing and made it home in one piece though in a round about "dropping off everyone and their dog first" way.

I had a hang-over Sunday morning, which I didn't really understand because I didn't seem to drink all that much (yet I did seem to be quite drunk). I guess I had one of those night's where I'm an easy drunk ... or else one of the bachelor party guys tried to eff me up by slipping me something ... nah, I was just an easy drunk. I could feel it right off the first glass of wine at Jungle Jim's.

Anyway, I was totally hung-over Sunday morning and Stacy had not put in a very good night either, so we got dressed and ventured out for breakfast. We decided to try Mike's Bar & Grill because they advertised an all-day Saturday and Sunday big breakfast special. It is a big breakfast. It comes on two plates, one with pancakes, the other with eggs, baked beans, deep fried potatoes, toast, and choice of bacon, ham or sausage (we had bacon). The pancakes were pretty tasty. My beans were ice cold. The bacon was too smoky. The potatoes were overcooked. The place was dark and dreary. The music was an all love songs all the time satellite radio station (think Jim Croce's Time in a Bottle followed by The Carpenters We've Only Just Begun). The waitress appeared to have never worked in food service before, though I'm sure she's a lovely bartender.

In other words, this is the place where people go to die. Seriously. Feeling suicidal? Not sure whether you can pull the trigger or not? Go to this place, have a drink, and by the time you leave you'll be so depressed you'll likely forget about the gun completely and just rush right out into the street in front of the next big transport truck passing by. I'm not kidding. We did not stay long. We did not eat much.

After breakfast we went to SuperValu where everyone and their dog apparently had gathered for some Sunday afternoon shopping therapy. Then Stacy dropped me off and headed home.

The black screen of death greeted me when I booted up my computer. "Oh God! Not again!" I cried. I crossed my fingers as I waited for the computer to go through it's little corruption check while I hoped the O/S would catch and start, not shut-down. Ten minutes later it started up. Whew! Narrow escape. But yeah, it might last another year or it might not start up the next time I turn it on, so I immediately took some time to get my affairs in order and backed up my work onto disc. My inbox has 0 messages currently. To be fair it only had 14 or so yesterday, but there were some important ones that would have been a bad loss. I have been doing a decent job of dealing as things arrive. Now the thing can die and I won't lose anything.

I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening lying on my futon draped in my fuzzy blanket and watching episodes of Mad Men and Swingtown. I really enjoyed the first season of Mad Men and can't wait for the second. I watched a few episodes of Swingtown and it seems really good too. Check them out, if you haven't.

Mood: scattered
Drinking: coffee
Listening To: me, typing
Hair: dirty

Catching Up

Tuesday evening after a crazy hot day of cleaning and packing and working and getting ready to move myself for an extended away, I went to my mom's and spent the night. Nick was happy to see me. I guess. Wednesday I left my parents' and moved up the road and into Stacy's house. She is gone on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks and I am house/cat sitting. Yes, not being a cat person, I was wary of undertaking this task. And can I live/work in Barnettville without losing my mind . . . remains to be seen, lol.

The cat is a little challenging. She's probably upset by this change in her life. Her mommy is gone. I mean, if I were a cat I probably wouldn't be very pleased with me as the substitute caretaker. I've been trying. I'm following the routine. I'm getting up at 5:30 to let her outside. I'm rolling her ball around and trying to get her to play. I'm giving her treats and letting her sleep with me in the bed (as if there's a choice for me to make there! lol) Still, it's an adjustment. For both of us.

I am tired. I'm not sleeping well. And the cat seems to meow all night long, starting anytime after 2am and continuing periodically through until I let her out after 5. So I've slept maybe 8-10 hours total in the three night's I've been here, none of it deep and refreshing, just surface half asleep/half awake stuff. I drank a bottle of wine before bed last night. Knocks me out semi, but it's probably not the best medication either. I'm hopeful we'll adjust soon. Me and kitty. She did seem to sleep more herself last night, no meowing until around 5 when she could go outside. So I'm thinking it's just been the upset, the change, and now we'll get into the groove. Fingers crossed!

Yesterday was a DAY! I mean a real doozy! Sherry called and asked me if I wanted to go to town. I did! I wanted to check my mail at home, pick up a cd I had forgotten, check on things in general and pick up a few things at the grocery store.

There was a severe thunderstorm warning in effect.

Kitty was outside and I wanted her to come in before I left in case the storm happened while I was gone. I called. Sherry called. We both shook the treat bag and called some more. No kitty. So I called Janice and left a message on her machine that the cat was out in case it stormed, and could she come later and put her in. Then we went to pull out and I saw the kitty under the step (ignoring our calls and treat rattlings). So I got out took the treat bag and tried to coax her out from under the step. She was having none of it really.

The other evening when she escaped from the house past her outside time nearly after dark, I just picked her up and brought her back inside. Easy peasey. So when she came out from under the step I went to pick her up the same as I did the other night . . . not so easy peasey . . . she FREAKED OUT! I wasn't expecting claws and hissing and crazy squirming, yet I didn't let go, raced up the steps and put her in. Quickly closed the door. Crazy!

I had to go to Mom's and wash my scratches (bleeding) and douse my arms and hands in peroxide because everyone worries about infection. Note to self, up my garlic intake these next few days.

When you begin your day with a bloody fight, you should just stay home and hide.

No sooner had we got to Douglastown, when the brakes went on the van. We hung around Gary's work for a good 15-20 minutes and then ended up having to take his car and leave the van behind. No air conditioning. On the hottest most humid day yet. Yay!

Off to Newcastle with our hair whipping in the wind and the sweat dripping off the ends of our noses. We decided to go to Dixie Lee for lunch. Also, curiously, without air conditioning, only fans.

While we were in the liquor store the storm started. Thunder. Lightning. Rain. LOTS of rain! Soaked running to the car from the store. Sherry couldn't figure out how to run the wipers so I had to reach over and hold them on while she drove. No place close to park at Super Valu. A little lull in the storm though, so we didn't get any more soaked going in. Idling around the fresh produce there was a huge crack of thunder and simultaneously all the lights in the store went out. We looked out the big windows and all you could see was rain and debris. You couldn't see cars parked in the lot. You couldn't see the King George Hwy. Just rain and debris that seemed to be coming from two directions at the same time. You could hear the wind roaring. I wondered if a tornado struck directly onto the store how badly it would be damaged. It would be a bad place for a person to be, with so much stuff flying around. I wasn't surprised at all to find out that a tornado had been on the radar later when we got home.

We pretty much drove home without incident, but discovered we didn't have the keys to Sherry's house because we had switched vehicles in town, so we had to lug all her perishable groceries to Mom's fridge and wait for Gary to come home from work. Kitty was happier to see me when I got back. Didn't give me a hard time or anything. Slept better last night than others. So that was good.

Today I'm going to my family reunion. I'm making jerk chicken nachos for snacks. Yummy! Going to stay overnight. Will pass on cat duties to Janice for a day. Monday, we'll settle in for the long haul.

Mood: pretty good
Drinking: coffee, starbucks french roast, black
Listening To: wind chimes
Hair: pulled back in a pony

Taking the Long Way

Up at 6 this morn. Feeling pretty well rested. The humidity is a killer on energy, makes me want to sleep, weighs heavy on my body, in my joints. Last night the elderly couple who live two doors down on the ground floor were having drinks (a few too many maybe) and entertaining some company. Music blaring. But like Sinatra and similar. Old stuff. Classic. So it wasn't too bad. One of the women got a little tight and teetered around the backyard singing about loves lost, swaying to the music, dancing with her beer. Kinda sad.

The boys from RW return this morning to finish my window. I requested bullet-proof glass . . . they didn't quite know what to think. Do I look like an arms dealer? Anyway, looking forward to getting the window done. THIS just in time for Rock 'n Roll Festival fireworks!! Yay! I think that'll be nice.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot going on this weekend on the Newcastle side of the river for Canada Day. Some bands at Ritchie Wharf, the parade, a pancake breakfast and that seems to be about all. Lots happening in Chatham. Next weekend is the crazy one for me. Too many things, not enough time. Ah well.

And now the day beckons.

Mood: chipper
Drinking: coffee, black, and water
Listening To: when you're smiling, michael buble
Hair: we shouldn't even talk about it anymore

Cookies

I bought a box of girl guide cookies to support my niece in Brownies. The original kind, not the mint ones. I always liked the original ones best, especially the vanilla flavour, but alas like everything else in the world, Girl Guide cookies have changed :-( They're not what I remember. Still, I'm eating them.

Last night I went to a special event at O'Donaghue's Pub in Chatham. It was the first time I'd been there when there were a lot of other people, but it won't be the last. I may not have been able to find decent housing on that side of the river, but I can certainly find my way over there to have fun. A group of international journalists on a fishing trip had been invited to enjoy an evening of Miramichi hospitality and have an audience with the Premier. Lovely fellows. I had the opportunity to chat with a few of them and get some advice for BnM. One of the men seemed particularly enthusiastic about it, and I came away with his contact information for follow-up. I met the Premier and he told me he loves what we're doing and to keep up the great work. I was a bit surprised he had seen it, but I know we had distributed copies to the delegation, so perhaps it's not such a long shot.

Connie & Paul, Owen Murdoch and the legendary Matilda Murdoch were on hand for an old fashioned Miramichi Kitchen Party that had Premier Graham rolling up his sleeves and playing the spoons right along with them. Raw footage from a documentary film being made for a German audience was shown. Some following a truck driver I know in Blackville, but more from down the Bay with generations of fishermen ice fishing smelts. Afterward the eldest man from the film stood and spoke about their way of life and how it has changed since he first started and also about the Escuminac Disaster. The foreign press asked questions and then Connie & Paul sang the saddest song about the women who must wait for their men at sea.

All in all, not a bad way to spend an evening.

Mood: headachy
Drinking: coffee
Listening To: muted sounds of other people's lives around me
Hair: thick, straight, and stubborn

Tabu

Heading downriver today. Road trip, other side of the bay. I have been before but not recently. It's been a few years. This story is taking me all over. I will even be going to the Miramichi Country Music Opry some Saturday night soon'ish. That should be interesting. Perhaps I'll get in touch with my country roots . . . Last night I quickly did a brief search for hotel rooms in Moncton during Frye Fest. This could be tricky it seems. The usual suspects are showing no vacancy. Need to work this out. There is still a part of me that wants to blow off Frye for financial reasons. It's not a very financially responsible decision to go and stay for almost a week in a hotel, even if I do have a press pass. Have to see what I can work out.

Off to the races!

Mood: awake
Drinking: coffee
Listening To: birds singing!!
Hair: reverse bobbed

Move Along

Had a great day yesterday down on the Bay! Drove around with a guy getting the tour, getting the names of contacts. But even if I spoke to nobody else, I've got enough for a story. That's always good. Got back around 4:30 or so and went to supper at the Bull & Lyre. Fulvia had burgers on special so I had to try one. The best burger I've had in a long while! Tres yummy! They'll be on special next Friday too, you should go, try them. I think I'll have to return. Home-made bun, real burger, lettuce, tomatoe, mushrooms, melted cheese, served with a side of chips and coleslaw. Six bucks! Can't beat that! She also had fish chowder on special, two specials every day, but I'm not much for the seafood. Despite having spent the day in Escuminac.

Johnny Newman is playing the blues at the Bull & Lyre next weekend. Perhaps we'll have to go. I think that'd be pretty cool. Still haven't gotten to the new Irish pub in Chatham, O'Donaghue's. Soon! Must go!

I see that the My Mother's Kitchen guys from Chatham Head have moved to around the square Newcastle under a different name Bistro 110 or something like that. Where the Pick of the Vine used to be. Be some good eats there for sure. Put that on the list of places to hit some day soon.

Went to the movies last night. Saw "Ghost Rider." Don't even ask how THAT happened! :-) Needless to say it was hilarious once we realized it was based on a Marvel Comic Book character. You gotta wonder whether all these people were dying to be in this . . . or if they needed to fulfill studio contracts. I suspect the latter. Still, we had a pretty good time. Had worse times. The DaVicni Code comes to mind. This was more fun than that. This one even had some scary jumping moments, and it flowed along quite quickly.

Today my mother might be dropping by. Though right now it is snowing . . . so, maybe she won't come until tomorrow. We need to see about getting curtain rods, a box spring, etc.

Mood: sore from sleeping the wrong way or arthritis or something
Drinking: king cole tea with skim milk
Listening To: had itunes on earlier but . . .
Hair: getting long again

Star Light, Star Bright

Arthritis kicking in. Left wrist, fingers. A bit excruciating actually. I might have to take something for it. It's been awhile since I've had it so focused and acute. I wonder if it's not arthritis at all, but rather I bumped my hand or something.

What a day! BnM Meeting, movies, and visit with my kids. Saw Arthur and the Invisibles at the theatre. Pretty much the last of the free tickets before they expire end of the month.

Watched Mambo Italiano and had supper and it's not yet 8pm. I should have invited kids to stay for supper. Never thought of it. Never think of food unless I'm hungry. And I'd just had popcorn and kisses. I need to work on my social skills now that I actually have guests from time to time.

Too early to go to bed, as I'm not that tired. Yet not wanting to really get into any work or housework that would wake me up more. It's odd, this lifestyle of the past week. Days are really long. It takes little time to do things that used to take ages. I don't know what's going on. Progress seems easier here or something. I remember I used to go downstairs to do dishes and be gone for hours. The littlest amount would seem to take forever. Did I daydream? Did I lose time in thought? I washed everything when I arrived. All of it. Not in one sitting, but in a few pretty big loads. And I'd do all these dishes and find I'd only spent 20 minutes on the whole thing. It's strange.

The day was so long today that I thought it was the whole weekend, came over to my desk to prepare my calendar for Monday morning, but tomorrow is Sunday. If I can find quarters I'll do laundry. I could do laundry now. I doubt many people here do on a Saturday night. A lot of them seem to have washers and dryers in their places. I hear them spinning in the evenings. You can do laundry in the shared washer until 11pm. Even that seems a little late.

Last night one of my neighbors (next door I think) had guests and played music and I thought maybe were working up for a party, but it never happened. Petered out before I went to bed even, they must've just had a couple of drinks in before going out or something. Lying in bed last night I could almost make out a conversation happening on the catwalk above my window where people go to smoke. A guy, a girl. Every second word he said started with F. She was too quiet to make-out anything, just murmurs. All you could hear was his Fs. Grumble, F, Grumble, F, murmur, F, F, Grumble, Grumble, F, F, F, Grumble, F, murmur . . . bizarre. They went in after their smoke though and I heard no more. I'm not real sure how thick the walls are here. I think we're all pretty quiet. I never hear anyone from the other half of the building, the other shared wall. It's odd.

I've observed that the ambulance is called out a lot in the evening. Last night something went on somewhere, at least 2 sets of cops and ambulance crossed the Morrissey within five minutes of one another. Never heard what it was all about. I'm here, but I'm not really in the thick of it. I do not yet have my finger on the pulse of the community. But I want to. I wish it were warmer. It's been so cold for walking around town. But this week, I must. Cold or not. This week I need to walk places, do things. Now that I'm almost all unpacked (something else to do tomorrow) and settled in.

And that's enough rambling and talking to myself for one evening. I think I'll watch another movie.

Mood: fantastic
Drinking: rooibos
Listening To: again, nothing but the hum of my computer . . . i'm getting a little concerned
Hair: pushed back off my face

Storm Surge

"A man can do only what he can do. But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day." - Albert Schweitzer

Amen to that!

My new morning trend continues. Up at 6 today. Slept in til 7 yesterday. I love watching daylight descend. I've always wanted to be a morning person, but I've loved the night too much to make it work. That's not a problem now, as it's dark early in the evening, light later in the morning. But by the time the days are longer maybe I will have developed an unbreakable habit. One can hope. I suspect this summer I will need to concentrate getting more of my work done in the early morning and later evening. I may be surprised but methinks afternoons here will be sweltering affairs where I'll be better off vacating and going to hang out in air conditioned buildings (the library? restaurants? bars? shopping?) or the hopefully breezy wharf.

Last night it was nearly midnight before I got to sleep. What I can't get over is how rested I feel though. I'm waking every couple of hours throughout the night. Anyone of which I feel wide awake and well rested like I could get up and begin the day. But anything before 5am is a bit excessive. Even for me, who thrives on excess.

There'll be no sunrise this morning. Though daylight is gradually creeping in and the worst of the snow seems to have ended. Last night I couldn't see the lights of Chatham Head across the river. Still, there's this warning from Environment Canada for Miramichi:

A storm surge associated with higher than normal waters levels will occur during the high tide this afternoon. This could lead to rafting of sea ice.

I'm sure they're talking about further out the bay. I'm sure there'll be nothing to see here. I doubt the ice will heave and break up this far up. Right? Up home this has never been an issue. I know nothing of these things. But I'm living by a bigger part of the Mighty river now, so who knows what all goes on here. I wonder if I'll see cargo ships in summer, loading and unloading at the docks. I suppose I will. It was only a few years ago we ran into those Egyptian sailors at the Super Valu and helped them find suitable margarine. So ships must still come up this far. There will be tall ships for sure, I think. Or maybe everything docks in Chatham now, doesn't come up this far. Guess I'll find out.

And that's enough lollygagging for this morning. Daylight's coming fast. Lots of work to be done.

Mood: curious
Drinking: coffee, freshly ground, cream
Listening To: computer hum (i'm enjoying the quiet)
Hair: tousled

Little Miss Sunshine

And we're back in action. I finally got internet yesterday around 5pm. Aliant mishaps, they're not just a myth. I was disconnected twice when I called them to get things switched over. So, the initial information they gave me got changed from the first call to the third. It's a cold grey day here, low ceiling, with the smoke off the mills flattening out around them. Sitting at my computer I can see the Morrissey Bridge, the Frank McKenna Bridge, Chatham Head, and Nelson. If I lean forward just a bit I can see the Ritchie Wharf and Newcastle Downtown. If I lean back I can see the hospital, the Centennial Bridge, St. Michael's Basilica, and Chatham Downtown. There's a bird flying low, skimming the river ice, just this side of centre. I wouldn't think there'd be much food out there. On Sunday a constant stream of snowmobiles raced past. There are some thin patches in the ice, it looks like, but I guess it's thick enough for cars and heavy equipment, let alone a few snowmobiles.

I have been going to bed early and getting up even earlier here. We arrived Saturday afternoon. Sisters and boys stayed to reassemble furniture and then left around supper time. I was pretty beat, but I did a little unpacking Saturday night. Mostly I just did the dance of joy and stared out my window at the town lights. I tried to watch The Machinist, but soon drifted off on the futon. Sunday morning I woke up at 6:45 and started putting my house together. I went to bed at 8:30 Sunday night. I can't remember the last time I did that when I wasn't sick. I woke at 6 Monday morning. Asleep by 10:30 Monday night, up at 4:30 yesterday morning. Asleep by 9:30 last night and up at 7 this morning. I could've gotten up even earlier, but it was too darn cold to get out of bed. And it's cloudy, so I knew I wasn't going to get to see a sunrise. That's what I've been doing these mornings. Worshipping the sunrise and writing. It's pretty darn fabulous!

Last night I put on some jazz, turned the lights off, lit candles, filled the tub, poured a glass of wine and soaked for a half hour. I can't remember the last time I did that! Have I ever done that? I always wanted to, I know. I should make this a weekly ritual or something. I was feeling a bit knotted, feeling a little worry and stress creeping back in, but it all went down the drain with the bath water. I need to get some sea salt and cleanse my aura. I never knew how much I missed having a tub!

I don't have tv here. No channels. And I'm going to keep it that way, at least for a time. I've got plenty of dvds and lots of music and books and internet, so I don't think I need tv. I'll find creative ways to fill mind-numbing tv time. Though Cornonation Street will be missed and I wince everytime someone mentions Amazing Race All-Stars, but other than that, I'm okay. Maybe there's a pub or a restaurant or someplace that will watch Amazing Race All-Stars and I can just go there every week.

Today, I am going to the Mighty office for a BnM meeting. April issue is going to be awesome. Some great submissions in for it. This is when it all finally comes together and I get on track. I can feel it.

And now I'm off to get dressed and ready to leave. I love, love, love my new digs! I'm the most well-rested, unstressed and emotionally healthy I have been in ages. So far, this has been the best move.

Mood: joyous
Drinking: russian tea, black
Listening To: fingers on keyboard and little else, it's a quiet building
Hair: recently razored by moi

Nocturnal

I may as well become a nocturnal creature. Like the damned critters living in my walls. I wish I knew what it was for sure . . . without letting them into the house. Is it bats? Sometimes it sounds pretty batty. Is it mice? Or moles? Or squirrels? Or a FLYING SQUIRREL?! That would explain both the batty and rodent like behaviour patterns. Whatever. I feel like I could strangle them with my bare hands. I sleep with the tv on, trying to drown out their scratchings. I move from the bed to the futon when they seem as if they're about to come through into my bedroom at any moment. I don't get any rest. I just get crankier and crankier. I can't even read. Blah! I'm tired.

Oscar nominations came out this morning. I didn't see the announcement. And the nominees for Best motion picture of the year are: Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, and The Queen. I have seen only The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine, both of which I loved, for different reasons. Babel plays here in March as one of the Thursday night Film Society movies. The Queen was here before Xmas, but I didn't go. It's playing in Miramichi now though, so maybe I'll go this weekend. Yep, I'm going to the Miramichi this weekend. I had thought Thursday or Friday, now I'm thinking Friday . . . or Saturday. And that leaves Letters from Iwo Jima . . . not sure if it played anywhere. Maybe it will. One of my 101 Things is to see all the films nominated for Best Picture before the Academy Awards ceremony. Could this be the year for that? Stay tuned.

And that is all for . . . oh wait! Breaking news! This just in! A friend called me last night and invited me to go see a theatrical production. I shouldn't go. I'm swamped. But I'm going. Sometimes you just have to go. So we're going to see The Wizard of Oz. Should be fun.

EDIT at 12:25pm: By the way, George Stromboul . . . you know, the CBC guy with the really big name, said yesterday was Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. Did you survive? I think he was right. I nearly didn't survive. What a frigging depressing day!! Thank God I had good ole George to explain why.

Mood: semi-discouraged
Drinking: tea, King Cole
Listening To: clackity clack
Hair: mums the word

Proof Positive

Went to Miramichi on Friday. Stacy picked me up at the train station and we went to the Wharf Inn for supper. It's hard to eat out when you're trying to eat healthy. In Miramichi, at any rate. Miramichiers like their deep fried wieners and stuff. We ended up with chicken quesadillas (hold the sour cream). Who knows if that was a good choice or not? There are no MANGO stickers on the menu at the Wharf Inn. New management there too. New menu since the last time we were there. We would've got the steak special but we were in a big hurry to get to the movie theatre.

Even still, the movie had started by the time we arrived, so we just missed a bit at the beginning. Saw "The Good Sheppard" with Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie. It's a Robert DeNiro film. I enjoyed it a lot. Want to see it again on dvd. There were a lot of distractions in the theatre. I tend to forget what it's like to go on Friday evening when all the kids are in attendance. Sometimes watching them is more interesting than the movie. We had wanted to do some stuff afterward, but the movie was much longer than either of us realized and everything was closed when we left the theatre.

Saturday I interviewed the couple being featured on the cover of the next BnM. Went to their house. The whole point of the trip. Easily there for two hours. Got a good interview. Watched a full-length feature film on Alistair Macleod when I got home. On loan from the Sackville Writers' Group. Then watched Breakfast on Pluto with Cillian Murphy. Recent purchase for the collection. Love it! Love him! In bed by midnight so I could rise pretty early and catch the morning train back to Sackville yesterday.

This kind of flying trip is in some ways easier to do than the three or four day kind, and certainly much easier than the week or 10 day trip. Friday night I couldn't keep my eyes open past midnight. And I slept late until nearly noon. Yesterday afternoon I went to bed at 5pm and dozed off and on between television programs and phone calls until 11pm when I went to sleep for the night for real. I slept until nearly 11am this morning. I feel like I'm back on track now. So I've only lost 3 days really (if you count today, which maybe I shouldn't because I am getting considerable amounts of work done), whereas the longer trips I lose (or feel as if I've lost) all the days I'm away and a good two or three days after I get back. So what is this bone weariness, you ask? Well, it's exactly that--bone weariness.

This flying trip is proof positive in my mind that my arthritis is effected by this travel 3 hours north and then back south again. I feel pain. Pain causes exhaustion. Therefore I sleep and am worthless. The climate change is actually quite considerable between here and there. It's damper up there, and colder. There's more snow in Miramichi. It's dryer here, and warmer. There's been no snow here yet this winter.

Around about Rogersville as I journey north, my knees start to lock and I get uncomfortable in my seat. My thighs will ache. My wrists and elbows. If I stay up there long enough, I acclimate, and then I'll experience discomfort about Moncton on the way back. There's a period of readjustment when I return. This is one of the reasons why I must move back to the Miramichi to live. Why the back and forth is so hard on me. If I've learned nothing in the several years since I found out I had arthritis, it's that I need to listen to my body, nurture its needs and not fight against it, try to force it to bend to my will.

It is a given that my work needs me more there. It's also given that my family needs me more there. And I know the back and forth is really hard on me. So, a move is inevitable.

Mood: okay
Drinking: coffee, black
Listening To: doors slamming in the main house
Hair: greasy, greying