My Summer Wrap Up - with pictures!

 Summer has come and gone! It seemed to fly by so quickly. After my last blog post, I seemed to have a never ending carousel of visitors! My nieces came, some stayed a few days with us, some stayed one night. My mom loves to have the kids over, but I find it so stressful. To be honest, I am finding all my family gatherings stressful lately (left over sadness from my sister's wedding) sigh. We also had the lovely lady who took care of us when we were kids stay with us for a MONTH. She is wonderful, easy guest to have around but working and then entertaining after work was so draining.

But we all took her out and showed her the best Ontario has to offer. She went to Ripley's the big aquarium, we took her to a buffet, she did some shopping, ate a lot of good food and saw all of us a lot. But boy I am glad to have no visitors! The weekend before she left, my mom rented a cottage in a tiny town 7 hours north of Toronto. I am NOT a country girl! But it was a beautiful little getaway. I thought I had video of being on the lake on the pontoon boat, but I cannot find it so far. I am going to add some pictures (literally 3) of our time there. 

Work continues to be busy, but Thanksgiving is coming soon. We need more long weekends in Canada.

This was the view from our cottage - just gorgeous. The original cottage we chose had no water, so our hostess graciously upgraded us!

We took a drive up to see these falls in Aubrey Falls Provincial Park - just beautiful!! It was a short walk from the car to the view, well worth it! Next, this was the view while we were on the lake on the pontoon boat!!

Above - you have the view of the lake, the hostess and her husband were nice enough to take us on their pontoon boat, it was pure bliss! Last but not least, I saw these cute little moss thingies, and thought it looked like a mountain on a mountain, lol!

Bad at Blogging

 Oh gosh! I meant to come back guys. My trip was wonderful. I am now wrapping up a week off of work, so while I did relax, I have to go back to a mountain of work :/ I did the Toronto Carnival (similar to Trinidad's carnival) and I had an OK time. My cousin came in from Ottawa and is asking if she can come again next year, and honestly, I don't know, lol. It was a lot. I got a ticket for driving through a part of the city I should not have. Maybe next year I can take the train down and skip driving in the core? But she also felt faint and we ended up having to leave early which I don't mind but I think I am over driving people around for a while. It is a recurring theme where I drive folks to and fro and they cannot return that favour. I will say though, my cousin was super nice and we had a blast.

When I figure it out, I will post some Bermuda/Caribana pictures!!

Slogging Away

 Oh my gosh, this last week has been bonkers! I cannot wait to go on my trip next weekend. A few days away is just what the doctor ordered. So many requests, my boss is being stubborn, it goes on and on and ON! Just, ugh. I hate going on trips sometimes. I feel like I deserve the break, but something goes wrong and work and then I feel all crummy. 

Otherwise, life rolls on. On Father's Day, we took my dad out for brunch. He let us know his brother is ready to retire. Currently, my dad lives in the apartment of his aunt - when she died, she willed it to our uncle (dad's brother) so now, if my uncle sells, my dad either goes and rents a room, lives with one of my siblings (no one has real space) OR he moves to the Philippines with his wife. Meanwhile, I am not earning enough to buy the condo which I would like to do - and I don't want to buy it when my dad lives there, LOL. Ugh, life!

Trouble Up Ahead

 I know no one is reading! I am just here expressing my thoughts. My grandad did visit, and it was pretty nice. We had to interact with one family member who is really nasty but we lived. We got a 4 generation picture, which is so sweet. Truly a few days to remember. My birthday passed and it was fun, I have been partying every weekend, LOL. No complaints! It feels good to be loved and appreciated. I have lots of birthdays to celebrate this month and I am so happy for that.

On the other news, my brother told us he wants to separate from my sister in law. Apparently things have been tough for a while :( ugh! the worst. so we are hoping they go to counseling and discuss their issues, i worry for my niece who is 8. my parents had the worst divorce and things are very rocky for us, still. I DO have a vacation booked however, so I am excited about that :) I am off to Bermuda with a friend for a few days at the end of June!

Life Rolls Along

 Work is busy, life is busy. My grandad who is 93, is coming to stay for a few nights in June - so I have to clean my room bit by bit - hot mess! I have done like .5% - pray for me. My car is on the chopping block, I just need to clean it and do some cosmetic touch ups before selling. I am just so lazy, can I outsource it?! Plus, cars are so expensive. It is so different from when I sold my car the last time about 5 years ago or so. Sigh! A lot to do and I want no parts of it. Meanwhile, May is shaping up to be very busy! I have a wedding reception and friend meet up next week, the long weekend in two weeks, then another friend meetup at the end of the month. Along with seeing a friend this Saturday. Throw in some mani/pedi time, it is going to be quite costly as usual. I am so looking forward to the summer and sunshine however. I hope everyone out there is being safe, I am as always sending love.

Easter!

 Well, my Easter long weekend is over. I took the Thursday before Good Friday off, in the hopes that I would be able to enjoy a nice drive out of the city, maybe spend some time with myself post wedding and emotional lows. Unfortunately, my car had other ideas! It decided not to start on Wednesday! Luckily my brother was coming into our area before his vacation, and he got it started! And I decided as soon as he is back, we are going car hunting! I am so over this car, lol. The used car market really is not great price wise, but it is time! Unfortunate, as I had hoped to drive the car for more than 5 years but :/! It is what it is.

Work continues to be busy, SO.MUCH.PAPER! Everyone has gone paperless but my office it seems. We did go to my sister's today for Easter, I told my mom I didn't want anyone to come over. She does too much and it becomes overwhelming, and people stay here til past my bedtime, LOL. We had a wonderful time except at the end of the afternoon, as we were leaving, my niece fainted!!!! I haven't seen anyone faint, let alone a young person so we were all pretty shocked. She had been leaning on my brother in law- so I thought they were playing around and she just fell but my sister of course was pretty distressed, as we all were. My niece was fine, but she got upset as we started to ask her what her name was etc. Her poor little sister was also freaked out, and honestly, it took a few years off me, I genuinely have not heard my sister sound so scared before. I think my niece is ok but it's just scary! So that will probably be with me for a few days. I hope everyone is doing well, and feeling *insert positive feeling here* xx

Wedding Wrap Up!

 My friend's wedding is over, one week ago today, she and her husband said I do. The weather was so bad, I forgot my toiletry bag, a bridesmaid forgot her DRESS, but it was an amazing day! My friend is really happy, and her husband is truly the one for her. I also saw the guy I last dated there, and I ended up pretty sad about that this week because I probably expected more to happen that really did. He has a girlfriend! 

We talked, it was nice, I texted him, it was nice, and he advised it was better we didn't keep our conversation going right now because of his relationship which I respect. Imagining the what ifs is really what had me sad this week, I feel too old to feel this way. It was also around this time that my friend and her husband started really dating, and that is when we went on our blind date. So I've been in my feels, sending teary voice notes etc. I haven't even told my friend yet (they're on their honeymoon, I ain't stupid!) *SIGH* So it's really been a week, and I send everyone love. I cannot wait for spring!