 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Dad driving
|
Jetlagged Nova
|
Dave pondering his big decision
|
Adam working |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Rollo
|
Bella
|
The Queen of Highgate
|
My new tiara |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Local celeb, the Gruffalo
|
Scarlett and Nova hang with the Gruffalo
|
Which one’s daddy?
|
|
October 31, 2004I am just exhausted these days… I think it’s still the jet lag, and the last thing I need right now is the clock going back, when I’ve finally managed to shift my waking up time from 5:30am to 6:30am… Adam took Nova off to church, and I prepared a marinade for the racks of lamb that John is barbequing this afternoon for his farewell supper. I went a little bit Greek, mashing up garlic cloves with a bit of salt, lots of fresh oregano, and some lemon juice and olive oil to loosen it up. Prepared a shopping list, then set off for the farmer’s market to buy root vegetables, chard, fresh apple juice, cheese and olives while Adam and Nova ate sausage sandwiches. I dropped them off at the pool, then headed home to do my veggie prep: roast potatoes, roast parsnips, squash, and red onions, and beets baked with balsamic vinegar and thyme, plus an apple crumble using apples from the garden. John helped Adam fix the broken chair again (the last fix lasted about three weeks…) so we’d have enough seats for everybody. John’s friends Brooke and Jan arrived about 3:30 in the afternoon. Brooke is from Prince George and an old school friend of Jackie’s, but has been in the UK for about twenty years. We sat around drinking wine and chatting until about 5pm, when the food was ready. No surprise that Nova loved grilled lamb. She kept saying, “I need more meat!” She wasn’t fooled by the roast potato I cut into “chips”, but did eat some roast parsnip, which she tried last week at Antonias. Nova and I slipped out to go trick-or-treating before dessert. She wanted to be a witch this year, and wore her hat from the fairy party, and my black teeshirt over her black bodysuit and tights. She looked adorable of course. Ruby was a “princess fairy” in a beaded flapper dress, sparkly shoes and wings. They were quite a contrast. Jemima had put together a beautiful display of Halloween treats: specialty chocolates “lollies” from Thorntons, foil-wrapped truffles, rubber rats etc. The first house we went to had a big tub of luxury chocolates, the one after that gave out mini-Toblerones… I was starting to feel quite sheepish about the bag of candy chews I’d dumped into a bowl before we set out… Pete and Pasc were more of a similar mind to us, and gave Nova some sort of gobstopper on a stick. We were done in about half an hour, and returned home for apple crumble and ice cream. Brooke and Jan left soon after, and Brian did the dishes (with only minimal arm-twisting from his dad)… We’re going to miss those guys… |
|
October 30, 2004I’m feeling exhausted as usual… I had an appointment for a haircut in the village first thing, and set off for that while Adam prepared a big pancake breakfast for everyone. I’d put off cutting my hair until after the marathon, so I’d be able to tie it back, and not have annoying strands hanging in my face, but it’s been driving me crazy. It felt great to have it all cut off. I didn’t do anything too radical, just back to shoulder length. Alyssia always goes to town on the blowdrying, and I emerged with my hair silky straight and flipped up at the edges. A bit of a Farrah Fawcett do actually… Today was my first real day to do anything around the house since I’ve been back. I put in a bit of work in the garden, and started clearing out of garage in preparation for those boxes that are chugging their way across the Atlantic. Sam came round to babysit in the evening so we could go to Nick and Jane’s housewarming party in Brick Lane. It was quite a warm evening, and the streets were thronging with young people hanging about outside the trendy bars and cafes. The curry house touts were out in full force, and we dodged a dozen invitations by the time we reached the door of their flat. They are renting a studio apartment from a photographer in Fashion Street. The entrance was a bit scruffy, but the flat itself was modern and minimalist and sleek. Most of the room was taken up by an enormous table, laid for about 30. They’d decorated it with palm fronds and other leaves, and had a line running above the length of the table, from which they’d hung sheets of Moroccan flatbread. They served up the most wonderful Moorish dinner: baba ghanoush; orange-olive salad; white fish roasted with cumin; a spicy vegetable stew thick with fresh herbs, a yogurt-pomegranate sauce/salad; and cardamom ice cream strewn with rose petals. I think most of the recipes came from the Moro cookbook, and although I have far too many cookbooks, I’m pretty tempted to add one more. The table was pushed to one side after dinner, and a DJ friend hit the decks. There were some pretty funky moves going down on the dance floor, and Adam had a bit of a bop, but it was after midnight by this point, and time for us to get back for Sam. |
|
October 29, 2004Another quiet Friday at the office… feeling exhausted, as usual. Too many late nights… But did we let that stop us? Hell, no! Adam went out for yet another Highgate pub crawl with the basement boys, mopping up those North Hill pubs that they missed last night. Adam called from the toilets in the Victoria, and we arranged to order a curry from the Parsee to be waiting when they got home. That’s the kind of subterfuge you have to resort to if you want to pay for something with John around… Of course, John attempted to give me some money for it when they got back, but I stood my ground. “You used to be such a good little girl,” he complained. More red wine, more music, more late night drunken conversation… |
|
October 28, 2004Well the downside of going to bed so early was waking up at 5am. At least I got a few hours in on the revised job description I need to put together for work.At 10am we shared a taxi to the Mystical Fairies shop in Hampstead. There was a special Halloween fairy morning in their fairy grotto, and Jemima had organised tickets. We left the girls in the care of two woman and a man in adult-sized fairy costumes and headed off for a coffee. The fairy event lasted three hours, so we filled the rest of the time with a visit to the Freud Museum. While everyone associates Freud with Vienna, in 1938, at the age of 82, he was forced to flee Nazi persecution. He set up home in London. He was able to bring all his possessions with him and recreated his entire working environment, and that is where the famous carpet draped couch now resides. Another toilet poop this afternoon. Whatever phobia she had around toilet pooping seems to have been laid to rest… “Who can we phone?” she asked me as I was wiping her bum. We settled on Pasc this time, and told John as well. Adam got back from Paris at bedtime, and headed straight off with the guys to sample the local pubs. They returned after last orders with a Thai meal from the Prince of Wales — the pub, not the man…;-) “Did you pay for it?” I asked discreetly, which had been the plan. “What do you think…” he replied. John is one of those incredibly generous people, and seems to think that being our house guest, he should pay for every drink and meal that we share together, while we’d quite like to treat them to a dinner. Stayed up late drinking red wine and listening to music: old Captain Beefheart, Christy Moore, the Pogues. Learned some of John’s history, like the fact that he initially emigrated to New York where he has lots of family, and spent a year tending bar there before moving to Prince George to be with Jackie. That must have been a culture shock… |
|
October 27, 2004Oddly enough, I had a nightmare last night… I’d always heard that eating cheese before bed gave you nightmares. I’d lost Nova and nobody else seemed the least bit worried. Adam kept saying things like, “she’s probably gone to a friend’s house, or popped to the shops”. “She’s only three years old!” I kept yelling at him… Adam’s off to Paris today for a Body Shop meeting. He stayed at home with Nova for the morning before dropping her off at Jemima’s after lunch, I came home a bit early to pick her up. Apparently, the girls had a great afternoon together, but started fighting the minute I walked in. I didn’t even have time to drink my tea — things were getting so fraught that it seemed best just to separate them. It was all hugs and kisses at the door at least, and I headed off with my little combatant. The problem was Ruby’s fixation with attaching Nova to a collar and leash and leading her around like a dog. Nova just doesn’t want to go there, and I can’t say that I blame her… After dinner tonight Nova needed to do a poop. I purchased her a cleverly designed potty for use in Kelowna — it’s a three-in-one design: it’s a potty (with a little cup to capture results), it’s a kiddy toilet seat, and it’s a step stool. In Kelowna we kept it as a potty, but since we got back, I’ve installed the little seat on the toilet, and she’s been willing to climb up there and do her business. What she’s not willing to do is poop without the little cup in place, which means that I still end up washing poopy dishes. This time, I simply snuck the cup out without her knowledge… She was very surprised with the plop-splash effect, but so pleased to realise she’d done a poop in the toilet. “NOW I can have the Barbie chocolate!” she yelled, remembering a failed inducement from about three months ago. (Fortunately, I’m not a chocolate person, and the Barbie chocolate was still there waiting for her…) We phoned daddy and Jemima so she could tell them the big news. Spent the rest of the evening doing her jigsaw puzzles. John and Brian were out for a drink with their friends. They’d suggested joining us for a drink when they get in, but I was asleep by about 9pm… |
|
October 26, 2004I woke up exhausted, but without a hangover oddly enough… Adam was feeling terrible, but somehow I must have just stopped on the right side of the line. Or maybe I’m just too tired to notice… Bought a large coffee on my way into work, and sat listlessly at my desk trying to work up enthusiasm for any of my pressing projects. I couldn’t help but feel for Adam, who had a meeting with a headhunting agency about a company who was interested in hiring him as a director. My energy flagging by mid-afternoon, and I sloped off discreetly a half an hour early. Nova’s was in a funny mood, contrary and tearful and dinner was a complete washout. Managed to get through bath and bedtime without any further upsets. I was too tired to cook anything for our dinner, and we ended up having cheese and crackers. |
|
October 25, 2004I’m still suffering jetlag — I was up at 4am catching up on my work email, and in the office by 7am with a big coffee to jumpstart my battery. The website was looking neglected, but the new search engine and publications database finally went live in my absence, and seems to be working well. Nova spent the day at Antonia’s, as it’s half term week at her new nursery. I left work a bit early (I was starting to flag) and took the tube, then bus, to their house in Archway. Apparently Nova had a very nice day helping Antonia with baby Marni. We’d arranged for Sam to babysit so we could go out for dinner with John and Brian. We took a taxi to Belgos in Chalk Farm. We thought they’d enjoy the range of Belgian beers, and the food is good as well. Got through three rounds of beer, and the guys had a fourth for dessert before we caught a taxi home. We should have called it a night, but stayed up for a few hours knocking back the red wine and talking about old times. Supplies ran out eventually (a small mercy)… Topped myself up with Vitamin C, ibuprofen and water before bed… |
|
October 24, 2004Adam and Nova headed off to church first thing. I woke up feeling like I’d been run over by a bulldozer, but after a couple of hours I really got the urge to go for a run. I did my usual six-mile route, running for nine minutes, then walking for one, and felt pretty good the whole way. Set off for the farmers’ market to pick up groceries for the coming week. I didn’t have time to make a list, and just chose what looked good. Back home, we settled Nova in our bed with a big bowl of popcorn and a video so we could watch the Arsenal-Man U game. I never really enjoy that fixture — tempers always run high. In the end, Man U won, breaking Arsenal’s unbeaten streak that stretched back two seasons. Oh well, it had to end sometime, Adam…;-) Ate spicy veggie burgers for dinner. John and Brian came up to watch Match of the Day with us — or at least with Adam, as I fell asleep on the couch in the middle of it… |
|
October 23, 2004…Nova dozed until about 9am London time (1am in the morning for her, poor little thing…) She ate a yogurt for breakfast, then I got her changed into her clothes, and stuck her earplugs firmly into her ears. They really seem to help — she didn’t complain about earache at all on the descent.S he was an absolute sweetie this morning — walking all the way to the Arrivals hall (about a mile and a half) without complaint, and waiting very patiently in the immigration line. When we cleared customs, Adam was waiting to drive us home. London looked drab and dirty and flat and gray, the way it always does when I’ve been away. Back home, we unpacked the many bags. Nova was so pleased to see all her things — I could hear her in her bedroom, saying, “Tigger! I missed you, Tigger!” etc. to her various toys. Had a bit of a nap in the afternoon, until Adam woke me for a simple supper of tortelloni and red wine. We were just thinking of going to bed when we heard John and Brian come in. We went downstairs to say hello, and John being John, we ended up having a few more glasses of red. They’ve come to England on a father-and-son football holiday, and are planning to see several Premiereship games while they are here. It’s good to see John again — growing up, he was always a great favourite of mine. |
|
October 22, 2004Our last day in Kelowna… We took a few armfuls of mom’s best outfits to the Second Time Round consignment store. Mom had already established an account there, although I don’t think she’d actually given them any clothes to sell. They keep your items on display for three months, and after that, they are donated to charity unless you specifically request them back. Stopped at the Super Store where dad bought Nova a present: a Shrek teeshirt and a kid’s music CD. I made tomato sandwiches for lunch — I’m going to miss those beautiful, ripe, garden tomatoes… We were late leaving for the airport, and the traffic on Harvey was actually quite heavy, so it took us longer than expected to get there… We needn’t have worried — there was no check-in queue, and no mile-long hike to your departure gate the way there is at British airports. Nova behaved like an absolute maniac while I was getting the boarding passes — racing away to the far ends of the airport, throwing herself on the floor and rolling about, plunging her arms into the fountain. At least it provided a bit of a distraction from my sadness at saying goodbye to dad. I hate the thought of leaving him on his own in the house… The flight to Vancouver was incredibly turbulent — we bounced and bucked and plunged all the way to Vancouver. Nova was pretty scared by it. She kept saying, “I don’t like this, mommy!” I didn’t like it either, but I tried to put a brave face on things for Nova. We were sitting in the very back row, and the stewardess, who spent most of the flight strapped into her jump seat, assured us that you feel the turbulence the most at the back of the plane. I’m sure it was smooth sailing in those front row seats… When we were finally safe on the ground, and I extracted my fingers from the holes they’d dug into the armrest, I was able to see what we’d just travelled through. The sky was completely clear in one direction, and a seething black wall of cloud in the other. Our London flight left promptly, and we had a bank of three seats in the centre of the plane to ourselves. The turbulence was nothing compared to what we’d experienced on the Dash-8, but it was persistent enough that we needed to keep our seatbelts fastened for the whole flight. Nova was pretty cooperative about it. She ate her packed dinner, then we read a few dozen stories, changed her into her pyjamas and settled her for the night. It was tricky getting her all bundled up and still belted, but I managed it. There was no way I was getting any sleep in a plane that rattled like an old truck on a gravel road. I halfheartedly watched the films — The Stepford Wives (unmitigated tosh) and On The Waterfront (as good as ever) — and counted the hours… |
|
October 21, 2004Happy birthday, mom — you would have been 77 today… Drove out to Kurt and Irene’s for coffee. Irene is a Scots woman, and a great baker, and there were freshly baked buns with cheese, and coffee cake. She makes great coffee as well, which I attribute to the influence of her Danish husband. Those Danes really know their coffee… They’d invited a neighbour couple they’re friendly with to join us as well. They were all very nice people, but as I often find when I hang with the retirement crowd in Kelowna, most of the opinions expressed were well right of Attila the Hun’s. I have no desire to argue with people, but it is hard to let some of the more outrageous statements go. They were upset about gay marriage, outraged that government has signed the Kyoto agreement, all for the war in Iraq, and consider downtown Kelowna much too dangerous to consider visiting at night, because of all the panhandlers, drunken Indians and other undesirables. Fortunately the neighbours had a daughter who’d just run a half-marathon in Toronto, so we were able to talk about that… Bought a set of luggage from the Office Depot to help transport all my stuff home. I have three boxes of stuff in Kelowna, and am going to be able to pack two of them back to London with me in my new luggage. We also swung by Codfathers on the way home to buy some scallops and shrimp. Everyone in the family is making coquilles St. Jacques tonight in our various locations. Ours turned out very nicely, although I’d inadvertently added half a teaspoon of cayenne instead of a pinch… Spent most of the evening on the phone talking to family and friends, and the rest of the evening packing. |
|
October 20, 2004Since arriving in Canada, I’ve been joining dad in his current breakfast, bran buds with frozen blueberries and skim milk. The berries soften slightly in the milk, dyeing it a lurid purple colour reminiscent of Gestetner mimeograph ink. After breakfast, Dad went to return the truck via another trip to the dump. Nova and I left home an hour later, and picked him up. He was standing by the side of the road (he’d realised belatedly that I wouldn’t be able to get into the Budget site following the directions he’d given me) clutching his broom he’d brought to sweep out the back of the truck, and looking like the old guy in that American Gothic painting. Stopped at the FarWest discount centre and bought a proper all-weather coat for Nova. We’re hoping it will help her get over her pathological aversion to being out in the rain if she has clothing that keeps her warm and dry. Continuing this theme, I bought her a pair of snow pants as well, but it will be at least a year before she grows into those… It got me thinking how adults, or at least adult women, tend to shop the opposite way: “I’ll get the size 12 — it’s a bit snug, but I’m sure I’ll shrink into it…” Took Nova to the swimming pool for a session. We were there for almost an hour before they turned the spray from the pirate ship on. Once she got over her initial alarm she really enjoyed it, and had a major meltdown when it was time to leave. She argued loudly with me all through the shower (“She’ll make a good lawyer some day,” said the woman showering next to us) and kept up the kerfuffle while I dried her off and got her dressed. Adam says she gets her stubborn streak from me, but I doubt I ever carried on like that…;-) Went for lunch at White Spot to continue the pirate theme. She was pretty well-behaved, and certainly ate her food nicely. On the way to the toilets, she announced loudly to two women eating their lunch that “she was going to do a wee!” On the way back, she updated them with the news that “she’d done a BIG wee — and washed her hands!” I spent the afternoon sorting through mom’s clothes. I put a few things aside for Wendy or me, and then divided the rest into things for consignment and things for the charity shop. I felt quite sad about it at first, but once I got absorbed, it became a job. She had lots of clothes, and some really lovely outfits. I made me happy to think that she’d made up for all those years of being overweight and wearing tent dresses and muumuus by splashing out on herself a bit. By the time I was finished, there were eight big bags in the hallway, and her closet and dresser drawers were pretty much empty. I know dad will just fill the space up with his junk, but it seems like the right thing to do to clear up her belongings for her. Watched the Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years or something. The last few games have been such nailbiters that this one was a bit of an anticlimax, at least for non baseball fans. |
|
October 19, 2004We picked up a hire truck from Budget first thing after breakfast, and spent a couple of hours loading it up. In addition to the mountain of stuff already piled on the lawn, we extracted a bunch more junk from the bodega and grandma’s studio. The studio is in a ruinous state: the floor is heaving upwards as roots from the hazel tree swell underneath the linoleum; the roof is sagging and leaking; and much of the stuff in there is water-damaged and rotting. There were a few mouldy suitcases that were like something out of a horror film — completely covered in a thick coating of white mould like icing on a Christmas cake. Wearing my safety gloves (I would have liked a mask as well) I gingerly opened one to reveal… a heap of grandpa’s old underpants. Now I loved my mom to bits, but you’ve got to question the thought processes of someone who would save a trunkful of an incontinent — and deceased — old man’s underpants… There is also a hidden shed halfway down the garden. The entrance has been almost completely obscured by forsythia(?) but we battled our way through and extracted an old vacuum cleaner (at least the third) to add to the heap. To my eye, everything in there could go straight to the dump, but dad felt otherwise. We drove in convoy to the dump, Dad driving the truck and me following behind with Nova in his truck. You’re charged by the weight of stuff you throw away: they weighed the truck on the way in and again on the way out. Things were surprisingly well organised, with different heaps for appliances, scrap metal, and mixed rubbish. It took a good half hour to unload everything. Actually, it was harder getting things out than in — you can’t stand up properly in the back of the van, and it was murder on the back after a while. Still, it was very satisfying to get rid of it all… Made panfried oysters and salad for dinner. Oysters are one of my favourite “Canadian” meals, and one mom would cook for me when I visited. We did them her way, breaded in cracker crumbs and cooked slowly in the electric fryingpan. |
|
October 18, 2004Dad headed off to his recorder playing class after breakfast, and I took Nova over to the playground. We’d only been there about ten minutes when it started to rain, and she started agitating to head back.Sat at the kitchen table colouring and practicing cutting instead. Nova drew a great picture of Dad, and another one of grandma Fern to hang on the fridge. I made tomato and bacon sandwiches for lunch. Nova was initially suspicious of the bacon until she recognised it as meat. Honestly, she must have been a tiger in a previous life… Went to London Drugs to try and find a zoom lens for the digital camera. They had a couple, but I wasn’t happy with either of them. The camera is very light, and adding a large lens makes it feel unbalanced. Margo has sourced a particular zoom lens that works well with this camera, but apparently it isn’t available in Canada. I’ll have to look into it when I get back… Swung by Codfathers on the way home to buy some salmon for dinner and bought some apples from the grower’s outlet as well. Nova’s developed an annoying new habit of hiding things whenever we go into a store. She’ll stuff her meggie behind a wall of cans in the supermarket, then three aisles later wail, “Where’s my meggie?” She kept trying to hide her plastic moose in the apple barrels, but I’m onto her now… A more alarming version of this game is when she darts off and hides herself in a rack of clothes. I’m starting to see why some parents opt for those child leash things… I cooked Nova’s favourite dinner of salmon, rice and broccoli tonight. I was surprised to learn that dad doesn’t like salmon. Apparently he ate too much of it growing up… |
|
October 17, 2004And then there were three… David’s flight left in the morning, and we drove him to the airport after breakfast. I was sad to see him go — it’s been really good spending all this time together. We didn’t get to go for another run in the end… we’d been planning to run Mission Creek park, but laziness (and this tenacious chest infection) prevailed…Dad and I spent the afternoon working on the garage, hauling box after box out for inspection. A lot of them were full of old teaching supplies, stuffed under the house when he retired in the 1980s and never looked at again. Dad made clam chowder for dinner, and we sat down to watch Bowling for Columbine. He kept falling asleep though, so I eventually gave up on it and switched over to the Yankees-Red Sox game. I’m getting into knitting dishcloths, and knocked one up with a new type of cotton I bought at Michaels (a new craft emporium) this morning. I can’t go in that store without thinking how much mom would have loved the place. She would have spent hours there… Nosing around Michaels, I discovered that there is now a hobby called scrapbooking — and there are even magazines devoted to it. Michaels actually sells a thunking great piece of luggage for the “serious scrapbooker on the go”. If there was ever a hobby made for mom, scrapbooking is it… |
|
October 16, 2004Happy birthday Gale! It was David’s last night, and I cooked up a big batch of moose Madras in his honour. I don’t know how I ever managed without that cookbook…;-) |
|
October 15, 2004It struck me that I’m feeling pretty good these days, and lightened by recent developments: completing the marathon, publishing the cookbook, dealing with that old baggage from my Vancouver life… 40 has been good so far… I’m going to need another project though…It was Adam’s last full day in Kelowna. I made beef stroganoff for dinner with the leftover roast and we had a nice bottle of red. I’ve been using the cookbook quite a bit actually… |
|
October 14, 2004David and I went for our first post-marathon run this morning. My legs felt a bit wooden at first, but once I warmed up it felt pretty good to be running again. We did the Paul’s Tomb route, which took about 50 minutes.Took Nova to the playground after breakfast, where Uncle David spoiled her with all the under-ducks a little girl could want. We were going to walk up to the library to check out the marathon results on the computer, but were sidetracked by Cecil’s Perogies, which has relocated to Ellis. We all had perogies with smokies and cheese bread (David managed a few cabbage rolls as well) and cups of dishwater weak coffee. In the afternoon, we started clearing out the garage. It’s packed full of boxes that dad moved from under the Prince George house: teaching supplies; books; bags of old clothes; old vacuum cleaners; boxes of magazines Liz McGillvray gave mom in the mid-seventies judging by the dates… Made a big mound to take to the dump, took a pile of stuff up to the recycling centre, and earmarked a bunch more for Share. Went out for dinner at Earls, as it was Wing Wednesday. We got a window table overlooking the lake and a dramatic yellow sunset. Had a couple of pints of beer and a few platters of wings, while Nova demolished a big plate of chicken strips and shoestring fries. |
|
October 13, 2004Happy birthday, Margo! Being a logger, Bryan is up early, so we headed back to Hammond Bay to retrieve Nova’s bee hat, which we’d forgotten the night before. (It will be a miracle if we get all her stuff back to London…) Picked up Tim Horton’s coffees and muffins, and managed to get everyone mobilised in time to catch the 8:30am ferry. Stopped for lunch at the Dairy Queen in Hope. It was burgers and fries all round (I’ve eaten more hamburgers on this trip than I have in the last 15 years…), and various ice cream concoctions for dessert. I tried a Blizzard, which I’ve never had before, opting for pulverised Skor bar in my ice cream — even the small size was too sweet and rich for me, and this from a girl who could once polish off two banana splits. Got back to Kelowna mid-afternoon. I made a Greek salad for dinner and we ate it in front of the presidential debate, John Kerry mopped the floor with Bush, exposing him for the mindless, sneering little creep that he is, but watching the pundits afterward, all they wanted to talk about was how well Bush answered the question about his love for Laura, and how well that would play with the voters. You get the leaders you deserve… |
|
October 12, 2004I had a great night’s sleep. The bed was perfect, the room dark, the noise minimal, and I woke up at 8:30 feeling bright and refreshed. The post-marathon stiffness is pretty much gone, although those chafing welts will take a while to heal…Went down for breakfast in the hotel cafe. It was like one of those $3 breakfast joints on Denman Street had been recreated in a business hotel. The oil-stained, badly typed menu offered breakfast A, B or C — “No substitutions!” — and when Adam asked for rye toast, the waitress stared at him blankly before barking, “White or brown!” The coffee was good though, as coffee always seems to be in Canada. I don’t know why the British can’t seem to make a decent cup of coffee… Back in the room, we made a few phone calls to Vancouver Island based companies about shipping the stuff we have stored on Gabriola Island to England. Adam found a decent sounding company called Bekins, based in Parksville, and agreed a price with them. It made sense for us to deliver the boxes to them instead of having them go over to Gabriola to pick them up. We arranged for Nova to spend the day with David and Wade at Bryan’s house. It turned out that Kristie had to go into hospital in the night with a kidney infection, which is worrying when you’re seven months pregnant… We dropped Nova off (she seemed happy enough to be left) and swung by Budget to buy a few extra boxes before catching the 10:30 ferry to Gabriola. We had less than hours to pack the stuff in dad’s van before heading back to catch the 1:20 sailing. It was a good thing we’d done all that sorting and organising on our previous visit — there was a thorough inventory, and Peter is a pretty organised guy, so there was no problem finding everything. A few boxes needed repacking — they weren’t structurally sound enough to ship, and some odds and ends like tennis racquets, violin etc had to be packaged up. In the end, it just fit into the van — I don’t think we could have squeezed another box in there. We had time for a quick cup of tea, and a tour of Peter’s new sailboat building project before it was time to leave for the ferry. Drove up to Parksville, arriving with minutes to spare, and unloaded and inventoried everything with their warehouse guy. It is an amazing feeling to finally have that sorted out — it’s been preying on my mind for years. (A friend in England said that I just couldn’t stand the thought of my boxes enjoying a better quality of life — hanging out in the gorgeous Gulf Islands — than I have…) Swung by the hotel to pick up various things of Nova’s that we’d forgotten, picked up a case of beer and some crisps at the cold beer store and returned to Bryan’s for a well deserved beer and something to eat. We’d hoped to drive up to Margo and Aaron’s to spend the night, but it was getting too late. Booked adjoing rooms in one of those family-owned motels — the Bluebird Motel — near the ferry turn-off. We were all pretty tired, and weren’t far behind Nova in falling asleep. |
October 11, 2004
I woke up feeling a bit stiff, down the sides of my ankles mostly, from lifting my foot up and down so much I guess. Aside from that, I have some vicious chafing from the bottom of my sports bra and heartrate monitor strap. It’s looks like I’ve taken a few lashes. I’ve also bruised one of my big toes, and wouldn’t be surprised if I lost the nail.
Other than that, I feel pretty good…;-) It’s still sinking in that I’ve run a marathon, am a marathoner etc. Something new to fit into my definition of myself…
Had a very nice waffle breakfast, then the whole gang of us went for a walk in Beacon Hill Park. Nova and Liam mauled a few baby goats in the petting zoo, and had a go on the playground, before we ended up in Cook Village having coffee. People started drifting off after that: Margo and Aaron back to Port Alberni; Greg and Wendy over to Gail’s; Wade, Liam and David up to visit Bryan Whitcomb in Nanaimo.
Dropped in on our old friend Rob Draeseke and his wife Cath. It was a flying visit, as we were expected at Bryan Whitcomb’s in Nanaimo, and they were in the midst of preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Rob hasn’t changed a bit (that’s one advantage of losing your hair in your early twenties…) Setting off, we kept forgetting things and having to run back inside: first my bag, then Nova’s doll, and the third time, dad’s hat. They must have been glad to finally see the back of us…
Heading up the Malahat, poor Nova got carsick. She threw up twice in a plastic bag, without even getting anything on her clothes. We stopped north of Duncan to give her some fresh air, and she threw up on the ground as well. She seemed to feel better after that and we made it all the way to Nanaimo without another episode. We missed the turnoff to Bryan’s house (there was some confusion about which highway we should have been on) and were half way to Parksville before we got turned around.
Bryan has just moved into a beautiful big house overlooking Hammond Bay with his wife Kristie and five boys. Kristie is about seven months pregnant with their sixth (also a boy) and was in bed with the flu. Bryan’s mom Sandra was there, and put together a turkey sandwich/leftovers supper for us all.
Headed off about 8:00 and booked rooms in the nearest hotel we could find — a Best Western back on the highway. Got Nova settled, then went next door to Ed and Dave’s room to watch Law and Order, even if it was hard to hear it over dad’s snoring…;-)
October 10, 2004
I woke on the hour throughout the night, and eventually lay there in the dark for a half an hour before it was time to get up. I’d laid everything out, and was all ready in no time. I met David in the foyer, both of us carrying a bottle of mom’s Chanel No. 5 perfume to spray the other with…
Ed drove us to the drop-off point. We couldn’t see a soul at first, and for a while I wondered if we were the only two people taking them up “early start” option, but eventually people started drifting in. An organiser came round handing out glowsticks to increase our visibility in the pre-dawn gloom.
By the official start time there were at least a few hundred of us, and I was surprised at how quickly we stretched out. Dave and I kept it very slow, doing our four-and-ones. I’m still coughing quite a bit, and had loaded the secret pocket in my running shorts with Vicks.
We reach the Dashwood about an hour later, and dropped off coats with our support team. It was turning into a perfect day, cool and breezy and a bit overcast. (It it so lucky to get such a great day to run on — it could just as easily been drizzling…) Dave was eating PowerBars like a lumberjack (he might be the only competitor to gain weight over the course of the marathon), but I was feeling anxious about my stomach, and stuck to water for the first couple of hours. I took one gel, and about half an hour later felt a diarrhea attack coming on. Fortunately, I almost immediately spotted a portaloo, so it didn’t turn into “an incident”. Made me a bit nervous about eating anything else though…
We were both feeling kind of crappy as we ground our way up the series of hills to the Uplands. Dave particularly had a moment of doubt, as he reached the 13-mile mark — the longest distance he had ever run.
It was a real psychological boost to turn around and start heading back. We were getting pretty familiar with the other runners who were going along at our pace. There was “Portland”, a 40-something woman who’d ditched her older male companion in Beacon Hill Park; another couple — he in the kind of knee brace that makes you wonder if he’d be better off lying in traction, she a bouncy brunette who literally stopped to smell some roses along the route, an east Indian woman who ran along the centre line of the road as if it were magnetised, a pair of lesbians — one obviously having a much better morning than the other… Aside from this bunch, I’d noticed that after the first hour we were overtaking far more people than passed us…
Just past the golf course, we met the first of the elite runners. (Another bonus of the early start was getting to “watch” the marathon as well as participate in it.) Most of them were totally focussed and intense, but a few smiled and one guy even gave me a thumbs up. I was starting to feel a bit achy by this point, and took a couple of ibuprofen, which helped.
We met Wendy and Gail on Oak Bay Road — they are both pretty short, but we were able to pick them out by their matching teeshirts. They were looking pretty strong compared to how I was feeling by this point. We had a quick hug then went our separate ways. I took another gel, definitely needing the energy by this point.
It was a real boost to have Dave to run with, we chatted and joked and kept each other’s spirits up. The supporters made a difference as well. Being in the early start, we received lots of personal attention from people. It’s a pretty decent sort of person who gets up at 7am on a Sunday morning and cheers on complete strangers. Of course, they are likely waiting for a friend or family member to pass by, but they still took the trouble to offer us encouragement. (Aside from the woman who said, “Keep going! You’re two-thirds of the way!” and gave us a bit of a scare, since we’d just calculated that we were three quarters done…)
Some of the homes had banners or plaques up, and one woman was standing at the end of her driveway with a little tray offering runners pieces of biscotti. “Biscotti?” I thought, “You must be joking!” But being courteous to the point of stupidity, I took a piece — and the drink they proferred to wash it down, which turned out to be a small glass of beer. I started to wonder what might have been in that biscotti, whether they were some radical pro-drugs in sport organisation… They did have a sign saying something about hash… <<I looked them up later on the web and discovered that there are thousands of “hashing” running clubs worldwide…>>
We were passed by the front runner around this time, and joked to watching supporters that, “He pulls ahead of us on these flat stretches, but totally bags on the hills — we’ll catch him again!”
We were still being rigorous about our rest breaks — even if one of David’s regular pits stops fell a minute before a scheduled rest we still took it. We were equally rigorous about running our four minute stretches even when it meant running up hill… I couldn’t help but notice that we were the only ones running the hills by this point, and wondered afterward if it might have been wiser to conserve energy by walking them. You get a lot of support from sticking to the system though. It takes some of the pressure off, and cuts out some of that internal “should I take a break now?” dialogue. I was also making an effort to appreciate the fact that I was running a marathon while I was actually doing it… For some reason, the sentence, “Look, Ma! I’m running a marathon!” kept popping into my head…
It was great to see the Dashwood come into view at the 38k mark. None of our support team was there, having already relocated to the finish line, but Al Steedman popped up a bit further down Dallas Road. We were moving slowly enough at this point that he could trot alongside us quite easily.
Felt pretty tired over the last couple of kilometres. I was willing those damn Parliament Buildings to come into view. I hadn’t eaten a couple of gels I’d planned to take, and I think my tank was empty. I also made an ill-advised decision to skip the last walk break, abandoning the system that had taken us so far… I think it was a mistake, as I felt pretty lousy when I crossed the finish line after running 11 minutes straight. You don’t mess with success — we may well have broken 5:30 if we’d taken the break, instead of finishing in 5:30:47 or something…
Everybody was there waiting for us. It was great to see them all, and it gave me a lift. Nova said, “Well done, mummy!” Margo taking photos to capture the moment, Adam ready with everything he thought I might possibly need…
I scarfed a few doughnuts, chocolate chip cookies and hunks of banana and felt immeasurably better for it. Stopping running helped as well, no doubt… Dad drove us home, and I jumped in the shower, then hurried outside to wait for Wendy and Gail to pass by. They weren’t looking as peppy as when we’d seen them last time, but they were still chugging along, and able to smile. Back in our suite, Margo and Aaron laid out a mini-feast, and I lay on the bed and knocked back a few drinks — purely for the carbs, of course…;-)
In the evening, we went for a big family Thanksgiving dinner at Gail and Rob’s. Even with thirty of us, there was still tons of food. Gail’s son Greg already had his marathon photos up on the computer in a slideshow. I ate for Britain, including a huge wodge of pumpkin pie. Nova had a great time playing with Marte, and I was the one fading at 8:00 when we headed back to the Dashwood.
October 9, 2004
We all met up for breakfast in the morning room and ate together. Wade and Liam came by just as we were finishing up. I got everyone into our room before we all broke up to do our separate thing, and gave everyone a copy of the cookbook.
Everyone really likes them and I must say they do look pretty good. They are much thicker than I expected, and look quite professional. I ended up including loads of family photographs, and actually people seem to see them as a photo albums as much as cookbooks.
Wade had something for the four marathoners as well — commemorative windbreakers that Gail embroidered with the marathon details, which was very thoughtful of her. After all the gift-giving, Adam took Nova to visit Nick and Anna, while I went shopping with Ed and Wade for some running tights (in case of cold weather) and a water belt. I’d planned to rely on the water supplied, but now that we’re considering the early start, the water stations won’t necessarily be set up for the first couple of hours.
David went off to see the Steedmans, and Al came back to the Dashwood with him afterward for a quick visit. He was very taken with the cookbook as well, and serious about wanting to buy one. Wade is convinced I could sell them. I’m not so sure myself…
After lunch (a bagel from the local bakery) Ed, Dave, Wendy and I drove the entire route, which took us almost an hour and a half! I found it pretty intimidating — it seems impossible that I have been running that kind of distance on my training runs. I’ve been very blasé about my time-based method, and just trusted that if I run for five hours I’ll have done 24 or 25 miles… I was thinking, “What if I’m wildly out in my estimates, and have only ever run 18 miles…” Adam tried to reassure me, saying that because I run loops, I never experience the whole distance stretched out, and it likely doesn’t feel as long… Hope he’s right…
It helped with the decision about whether to do the early start, though… Dave and I are going to run together with the early starters, and Wendy and Gail are going to go with the main group. From my point of view, it takes the pressure off about trying to make that five hour cut-off…
It was a funny sort of day food-wise. I was having little snacks throughout the day, and scoffing the odd PowerBar. We hadn’t made any plans for dinner, and by the time people got round to thinking about it, it was getting a bit late.
David had gone off to a potluck dinner with the Steedmans, and Wendy decided to have bread and cheese in her room. My stomach was feeling unsettled by this point, and after the others went out, I had a couple of diarrhoea attacks, which I hoped were from nervousness, not something I ate, although I suspect the PowerBars. (I’ve always found them hard to digest).
Got all my stuff ready so I’d be able to find it in the dark at 5:30am. Greg came down with a hunk of bread for me, which was good. Aaron brought me back a Thai curry with rice, so I had some of that as well… Not exactly the eating plan laid out in “Marathon: You can do it!” I’m afraid…
October 8, 2004
We’d planned on an 8am start for our road trip to Victoria, and at 7:58 we were on the bridge. The weather was bright and the roads were bare, and we were in Merritt in about an hour. Stopped for gas and Egg McMuffins (in spite of SuperSize Me).
We hit rain after the tollgate, and visibility was awful on the freeway into Vancouver. I’d made a reservation on the three o’clock ferry, but we got there just after one, and were able to get on the two o’clock. David stood us all lunch on the boat, then we hung out on the deck for the rest of the journey.
Nova really enjoyed looking over the edge of the railing at the foaming black water far below. I can remember enjoying it as well, and when I was a bit older, leaning over to the point where if I just leant a little bit more I could possibly topple… Actually I used to have a recurring dream about doing exactly this and toppling over the side into the water. It was nighttime, and I bobbed in the black water watching the ferry glide away from me in a blaze of lights like a floating hotel. I don’t remember feeling scared in the dream, just incredibly sad and kind of foolish…
We stopped at the convention centre to pick up our registration packs on the way into town. David had some formalities to go through to change to the full marathon, and once I discovered I’d been registered for the early start, I wanted to talk to them about that as well.
Standing in the line to pick up our numbers, I was amazed at the various sizes and shapes of the people around me. The woman in front of us was about five feet tall and a good two hundred pounds. “She must be picking up a pack for someone else,” I uncharitably assumed. For some reason we got talking to her, and it turned out she was running her first ever half marathon. It’s uncanny how often the assumptions I make about people turn out to be wrong — there’s a lesson in there…)
The Dashwood Manor where we are staying is a beautiful old mansion on Dallas Road. Our room, the Oxford Grand, was at the front with a view of the ocean and the marathoners, both going and returning. It was a good-sized suite, with a sitting room (with fireplace, dining table, soaker tub and hide-a-bed for Nova), a sleeping alcove, little kitchen nook and bathroom. Greg and Wendy, and David and Ed had rooms upstairs, and Margo and Aaron will be taking the suite across from us tomorrow.
Met all of Wendy’s inlaws at the Macaroni Grill for Gail’s birthday dinner. There were about fifteen of us around two big tables. I had a pizza (and most of Nova’s ice cream) for dessert. Wendy’s mom Helen picked up the tab for everybody, which was very sweet. Left at bedtime and got Nova settled, and we weren’t far behind her. I’m definitely in need of a good sleep…
October 7, 2004
Dave and ran to Paul’s Tomb and back this morning. It’s the last run we likely do before the marathon. Do I feel ready? Yes and no… I wish my training had gone more smoothly, but I did do a five hour run a few weeks ago, and it can’t take much longer than that.
My injuries have had a little rest, which is good, but my cough is still pretty deeply entrenched, which is bad. I’m still pretty jetlagged, which is bad, but I am better at eating gels, which is good. One book I read said that the marathon is all about preparation, and if you don’t feel well prepared for the one you’ve entered, you should give it a miss. Personally, I disagree with that. I’ve invested too much time and effort to back out now…
Adam went off to work again this morning. He’s found an Internet cafe just a ten minute walk up Ellis that has everything he needs. He got back just in time for us to make our reservation at the Quail’s Gate winery. They were doing a wine tasting lunch — three courses with three different glasses of wine for $15 each.
Ed and David dropped us off and took Nova with them. We sat on the Old Vines terrace overlooking the lake, and enjoyed the food and the view. Roasted pepper soup with a pinot noir, crab cakes with lemon aioli matched with a terrific family reserve riesling, and a pumpkin bread pudding (a bit stodgy) with their late harvest botyris affected optima. Headed off to the wine shop to buy a bottle of the riesling before our ride returned.
Headed straight out to Joe Rich for dinner with the Weddell cousins. We were just on the outskirts of Kelowna when Nova said, “I need to do a WEE!” Fortunately a little gas station/shop came into view a moment later, and we pulled in. In the none-too-clean restroom, I discovered that Nova had pooped her pants, and judging from the state of things, it had happened a while ago on Ed and David’s watch. I cleaned her up as best I could, then walked her bare-assed to the car. Her trousers were still clean and I was able to buy a package of pull-ups in the shop to serve as underwear.
The light was fading by the time we reached Joe Rich, so there was no chance for Nova to see the animals. We got her established in the front room with the toys and television, then sat around the big kitchen table drinking beer and eating from a jar of pickled beans until dinner was ready.
It’s the first time I’ve visited since Gert died last June, and the place felt empty without her. Jimmy seemed a bit disoriented, although not as bad as I’d been led to expect. Cam and Sheila cooked a terrific pork loin with a big pan of roasted vegetables from the garden. There was more beer for dessert.
It was about 8:30pm by the time we headed off. Nova had fallen asleep in the big armchair, with their new kitten dozing in her lap. I was the only one not drinking, so was the obvious person to drive home. The night was so black, with nothing in the way of street lights out there, but we made it okay, after an initial hiccough when I started off down the wrong side of the highway…
October 6, 2004
Today is the first anniversary of mom’s death. From the minute I woke up I was thinking, “I was eating breakfast about now. I was just getting in the shower about now. We got the telephone call right about now…”
We took Nova swimming at the Parkinson rec centre, which was a welcome distraction. There were family change rooms, which is just another reminder of how civilised things are here in so many ways. Adam went off and did his laps while David and I hung out with Nova in the kiddy pool.
The water was never deeper than her chest, so her water wings were a bit superfluous. There were lots of balls and toys to play with, a basketball hoop, and a little slide. But the piece de resistance was the enormous pirate ship in the middle of the pool. Ordinarily it sprays and splashes water, but unfortunately it was closed for renovations.
Stopped off for some groceries on the way home. Dad is cooking a roast for dinner this evening and has invited Bill Livesey around. Bought some squash, horseradish, broccoli, and a tub of ice cream to go with an apple pie mom made that we found in the deep freeze.
Ate lunch at the White Spot. Adam, David and I had hamburgers, Ed had a turkey dinner for some reason, and Nova had a pirate pack. I managed to whisk the chocolate ice cream and candy money off the deck before she noticed them, and she ate most of her hamburger patty and chips before I restored them to her.
Dave and I drove over to Bill’s in the afternoon to bring him round for dinner. As we approached his front door, we could hear him thumping away on his piano. We knocked and rang the bell, but he couldn’t hear us. Eventually David stepped into his flower bed and rapped on the front window to get his attention.
Dinner was nice — roast beef, potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, squash, corn, and the apple pie for dessert. Bill is an interesting guy, with lots of stories to tell. He and Ed and I sat at the kitchen table talking, while David and Adam watched the baseball. Ed drove him home about 10pm.
October 5, 2004
Dave and I went for a two-hour run this morning before breakfast. Starting from the house, we ran up to Paul’s Tomb and back, then carried on along the lake front, past the bridge and into the neighbouring streets before turning around and heading home. It felt a lot better than the last one, which is encouraging, although I’m still coughing quite a bit.
Dave has decided he is going to run the full marathon in Victoria. When he signed up for the half, he thought he’d be running along with rest of us, and then turning off at some point and heading back. Instead, they have the half marathoners starting at a different time. We’re going to take it nice and slowly, and do four-and-ones instead of the nine-and-ones I usually do. Even if he doesn’t manage to run the whole way, he’s almost certain to log a personal best.
Went to the Running Room to buy a running jacket this afternoon. I’ve been borrowing a spare one that David brought with him, and want to have something like that in case the weather is rainy. I bought a hat as well, and a couple more gels in new flavours: tropical fruit and chocolate.
Cooked pork and chow mein noodles for dinner, loosely following the recipe on the packet. I would really liked to have made pork bits Hawaiian, but I’m keeping the cookbook under wraps until marathon recipe, and that’s the only place I’d know where to find the recipe.
October 4, 2004
The hide-a-bed is doing Adam’s back in. He was up in the middle of the night doing stretching exercises… After breakfast, Adam headed off to an Internet cafe to do some work. That’s one thing about being self-employed — your boss is such a task master…;-)
Went to Costco to drop of Ed’s film and buy some PowerBars. I never thought I’d get to the point where I was buying PowerBars in bulk. Adam bought an expensive pair of Serengeti sunglasses he’d checked out at Heathrow for about half the price, and Nova, Ed and I cruised the aisles hoovering up samples: popcorn, grilled ham, chicken salad on a cracker, nuts and raisins.
Cleared a pile of books out of dad’s bedroom this afternoon. He’s built a bunch of bookshelves against the back wall and completely filled them, but there are still any number of boxes of books in the garage. There were a couple of shelves worth of bodice-rippers from cousin Derien that we were able to dispose of easily, but he wasn’t keen to part with many others.
Even when there were two copies of things (like Chariots of the Gods) or when we were talking about an old textbook, it wasn’t a straightforward decision. Still we culled about four boxes worth in the end, and David and I drove them straight to the second-hand bookstore on Bernard, before there were any second thoughts.
David made a prawn curry with rice that turned out very nicely. Once Nova was down we fired up The Sopranos and watched a few more episodes. Adam is taking his chances in a sleeping bag on the little brown couch this evening.
October 3, 2004
Another lousy night’s sleep… I was awake by 4am, but managed to doze off and on until about 6:30am… David and I went for a run before breakfast, along the lakefront to the bridge and back, about 50 minutes. I felt pretty rough for the first half, hacking and coughing, and pretty exhausted for the second.
It’s been almost two weeks since my last run, so I’m glad to be back at it, with the marathon just a week away. And on the up side, my injuries have had a bit of a rest and chance to heal. They didn’t bother me at all during — or after — the run, so that’s a bit of silver lining…
Met Uncle Bernard and his partner Ollie at Ricky’s for breakfast. They were on their way back from visiting Bernard’s kids on the coast. The food was pretty good, but for some reason it took them about 20 minutes to bring us a cup of coffee, which is unheard of in a North American diner.
We’d thought about driving down to Oliver for a wine festival event, but by the time we’d finished visiting with Bernard and Ollie it was a bit late to be setting off. Watched SuperSize Me instead, which none of the others had seen.
In one of the outtakes that they’d included on the DVD, Morgan (the filmmaker) set up this experiment where he put a McDonalds hamburger, a high-quality organic burger, McDonalds fries, and real fries in separate bell jars and left them to decompose. Basically, the real food rotted much more quickly than the McDonalds food. In fact, after about eight weeks, the McDonalds fries looked pretty much the same. Either there are crazy amounts of preservatives in them or so little actual food that there is nothing for a bacteria to eat.
Ed cooked pork chops for dinner, and after Nova was down (the little sweetie was falling asleep at the table again) we started watching series 4 of The Sopranos which David has also rented on DVD. Slept through most of it…
October 2, 2004
Awake at 2am… Look in on Nova, but she was sleeping soundly. My cough didn’t help matters — it feels like it’s getting a bit better, but I’m still hacking and spluttering. Adam couldn’t sleep either, and we ended up chatting until about 6am, when I drifted off for another couple of hours.
Nova is thrilled with the various fairy figurines around the house, and soon amassed a big gang of them which she tucked into Grandpa Ed’s bed. She’s pretty happy to be back at “Kelowna house” and has been tearing around the garden and enjoying the playground.
Bought a digital SLR camera at London Drugs this afternoon — a Canon EOS Rebel. I’ve been wanting to buy one for a while (and join that digital revolution!). Margo has recently bought this model after doing all the product research, and that was good enough for me. It’s a little bigger than my current SLR, but it’s going to be great having a digital camera, instead of all that faffing about with film and scanning.
Picked up david at the airport — he’s here for the next couple of weeks, and is planning to run the half marathon in Victoria. Stopped at London Drugs again on the way home, and Ed bought a combo TV/VCR/DVD — so they’ve had a pretty good day off us…
Ed made sausages for dinner tonight with canned pears for dessert. Nova was pretty exhausted by dinner time, and actually fell asleep at the table, poor little thing.
October 1, 2004
Three hours sleep… we’ve really got to stop running our lives like this. It was one thing when we were younger (and not parents). We could stay up all night getting ready, then sleep on the plane, but that’s so not an option now…
Managed to get the rest of the list done (plus tidying up behind cyclone Nova) by the time the taxi arrived at 9am. Masood could have given Schumacher a run for his money – he got us to Heathrow in 45m, which is unheard of at rush hour. Halfway there, Nova announced that she was going to throw up. We scrambled around and found a bag for her just in case. Later, in the check-in queue, I said, “Nova, did your tummy ache in the car?” “No,” she said. “But you said you were going to throw up…” I said. She looked serious for a moment, then said, “Don’t worry, mommy. I’ll throw up later.”
Air Canada was such a breath of fresh air after BA: check in and boarding went smoothly, but they had no control over the ground crew, and it took over an hour after we were sitting on the plane to load the luggage.
The flight itself was uneventful. Nova was very good, but not the least interested in trying to sleep. It was after 10pm London time before she went down, which meant she had only an hour’s sleep before we landed. I managed to get her through immigration without waking her up, and I laid her out on a bench while Adam off to get the bags. Nearly everyone who passed smiled at me, and by the time Adam returned my cheeks were actually getting sore from all the smiling back I had to do.
Made the Kelowna connection with minutes to spare. It was a glorious afternoon, and the views over the Rockies were amazing. Dad showed up as we were collecting our bags, and we headed back to the house (with a short detour to the cold beer store). Nova was dead on her feet. (It was 3am London time by this point, and she’d had only an hour’s sleep. She managed a quick spaghetti supper before we settled her in mom’s room for the night. We hung in ourselves until about 8:45 before pulling out the livingroom hide-a-bed and hitting the lights.
