And We're Off Again!

I've yet to write anything here about my June trip to Iowa with sweet potato girl to see her grandparents' (my parents) home for the first time (and it was her first flight)! I haven't yet written a word about our trip to Utah over the 4th either! And tomorrow, we're leaving for a 10-day trip Montreal!

Today will be spent scrambling to finish last minute work for the office, running miscellaneous errands and packing the last bit of packing. Oh and I'll be trying to get the baby girlie to the portrait studio before the day's end! And I've been up since 5am! And I'm wired outta my mind! Can ya tell?!?

Maybe I'll get to blog from Montreal, but who knows ~ Toodaloo for now!

New French Phrases

Keep in mind, I have NO IDEA how to write any of these in french, and even if I did, most wouldn't know what I was trying to write anyhow... So... parle an englais (sp!?!) - and I can't find the quotations marks on this french keyboard either...

You chew like a cow...

I feel like a diaper (refering to what one might say to the driver of a car, who is riding the back end of the car ahead of us)...

One glass is never enough (refering to wine)


I could go on... but I won't.
Needless to say, we're having a wonderful time.

Au Revoir ~ or Buh Bye Now!

After cuddling in bed for an hour this A.M., with the snooze sounding off every 10 minutes or so, we finally got up to prepare the rest of our packing... collecting any last minute shove-it-in-the-bag items and switching over any liquids or gels from my backpack into what would have been only carry-on lugguge, but must now be checked. [SEMI-RELATED TANGENT: We both normally DO NOT check any bags of any kind. We both prefer to carry it allll on to the plane, taking it with us, keeping things 'with our person' at all times. My air travel motto is this: DO NOT SEPARATE FROM THE LUGGAGE! why? - well, it's based on several very BAD experiences, having lost my luggage more times than I'd like to recount (e.g. Didn't have any of my luggage for FIVE days once and it wasn't found until 2 days before my trip was over!?!), plus the fact that I really do not relish, nor do I ever appreciate my time spent standing around the baggage claim area. Naah, I'd rather skip that part. Oh, and there is the fact that I just don't usually pack more than what will fit just fine in a carry-on bag - - with the exception of ski trips; ski trips always require TOO MUCH STUFF to be brought along. And yes, I take great pride in my EXCELLENT packing abilities. I do! "I'm an excellent..." packer. I won't continue to ramble on about exactly how it is that I am a packing genius, but I'll share this: Right now, for instance, I have enough in my mere CARRY-ON SIZED BAG to wear 14 non-repeat outfits, plus 4 sets of jammies and I could go on and on, but it's basically everything else a 10-day trip requires. Not bad, eh? END OF TANGENT]

The angel boy-O is still dozing in bed, while my honey-man and I also attempt to wrap up work-related emails and whatever. The kitties (so freakin' cute) have been fed and they're mug shots have been taken for a "LOST" flyer I always prepare for the kitty-sitter for any 5+ days-long trip away, so they're now lying around, looking supremely pleased and relaxed. The iShuffle has almost finished loading all of the tracks for Harry Potter's Prisoner of Azkaban. Ahh, the boy is stirring! Time to prepare breakfast.

My blogging may be spotty (or non-existent) until the 22nd. Until then ~ Avoir!

Annnnd R-E-L-A-X, but not yet!

With packing underway for our Montreal trip, while getting the office ready for my 12-day absence, and Helen's family to visit tonight (sigh), much later tonight, I'll need to stop for a moment and BREATHE!

I should keep these two in mind, when the time comes...

OHHHLD Montreal

okaybee, here's MONTREAL! FINALLY! Check it out ~ the next FIVE posts are all about my August trip. hope ya Enjoy!
For Larger views, click on the images.

Mmkay, I have absolutely no clue - ZERO CONTROL - as to how these photos will spread and position themselves on the page, so I'll just describe the photos and hopefully you can figure out which is which on your own... Our first day in Montreal, I was first introduced to the city from the water, then by horse-drawn carriage, and later that evening, by the use of my own two legs, walking the cobblestone streets of old Montreal. See the pic with the white clock tower with the strategically centered Canadian flag to the side? We were going up river and past this location, and I was taking, oh? a couple dozen or more shots? trying to get "the very best" angle! This one is it, I'm tellin' ya - the best I could get. You can even see old Montreal in the backdrop. The single spired church set behind a line of trees on the water = this is the marina where the boat of my honey-man's father is kept, where we spent 4 of our 7 nights' stay.

By no means "old" when compared to OLD Montreal, the oddly stacked cube-like building of sorts is called the "Habitat," built for the 1967 World's Fair Expo held in Montreal, now serving as private condos. The arrangement is way, way cool - can't think of any other way to describe it - very trippy.

The buildings in "old" Montreal are very much, indeed, quite OLD - the city was founded in 1642! Serving as a river port city, all the old building storefront "signs" were painted on the buildings themselves, intended to be visible from the river and they can still be seen. And the streets follow the crazy curve of the river. Sometime in the mid-1800s (sorry baby, I can't remember the year! -although you told me how many times? Edit: I've been informed once again - "sometime in the 1850s"), Montreal was nearly destroyed in a major city fire. Thereafter, the buildings were all built with staggered rooftops to prevent city fires from easily jumping from one wooden roof to another; structrually, everything but the buildings' rooftops are made of stone.

Montreal's "Notre Dame" cathedral - I love these old churches. The architectural design and the many decorative details are amazing. By the way, Montreal has loads and loads of Catholic churches!!! - the landscape is absolutely dotted with them, many topped with gleaming metal rootops that can be seen from far distances, shining in the sun. I know that on my next trip, I will want to take an afternoon alone (won't drag the boys along with me - I love them too much) so I can check out the local churches.

Le Bateau - dats "Boat" in French (just so ya know)

For Larger views, click on the images.

The big white boat - we cruised up and down and all around the St. Lawrence river in this beauty for 3 days and we had a total blast - we slept on it too, 4 nights. It was sooo fun and sooo relaxing.

Traveling the St. Lawrence river was a most wonderful way to see Montreal - all the various water ways, its industry, the many locations found off port and all the many, many islands - a ridiculous amount of islands - did you know Montreal itself is an island? The views from the river were fabulous. Oh, and the plaque shown for Landlubbers? - this was up on the wall, posted above each toilet found on the boat.

On the 2nd day of our stay, we went up the river and anchored off the isle of Sainte Marguerite, as can be seen in the boat's GPS monitor - the lil' red triangular thingy represents the boat. While I relaxed and read the new Harry Potter (didn't really read all that much), laying out on the front of the boat, my honey-man and his angel boy-O enjoyed the cool, clear waters, diving off the boat to swim. We saw a couple heron/cranes flying about and an adorable beaver -my camera caught him juhhst as he dove beneath the water's surface, lil' bugger. And we saw a little red fox come to the water's edge for a drink. That day we also used the Sea-Doo "dingy" (as his father calls it) to zoom around and investigate the waters (and harass the seagulls) - was a total blast. My honey-man said he could see the wreckless-thrill-seeking "Jacobson family influence" in me... It was another fabulous day.
Mah honey-man's father is a riot - here's my imitation of him: Now imagine (yes, this is somewhat pointless, but I love it!) - point a wagging index finger, and say (apply deep and heavy french accent, followed by a deep rumbling chuckle),

"Heeey yoou!" = My smiley muscles ached often. One time he had a most clever little idea - he was quite pleased with himself, actually... With all my picture-taking from behind the camera, there are often very few pictures of me, so he suggested that my honey-man take my camera from me for a picture; the first is well-composed despite the shadows, right? but the 2nd shot? For the 2nd, his father had planned to place a cold water bottle against my leg - you can see the top of the bottle in the lower righthand corner of the shot!

Seein' Dah City

For Larger views, click on the images.

The Olympic Stadium = purty dang cool building, I say! My first glimpse was from the air and later on, we could see it across the water from the marina. Up close? the place is phenomenal. One thing I noticed, the older apartments around Montreal, many have spiral staircases outside, leading to the upper floors. I asked around as to why this is (there are reasons for everything), and I even accidentally found stuff about this very subject online - The Reasons: with the very COLD winters in Montreal (not that I know yet from experience, but I'm from IOWA, so I KNOW COLD), these staircases are built outside rather than waste interior space and high heating costs on having interior stairwells. They're very different, but they give everything a very unique syle and an artistic appeal, regardless of any practical argument. I still can't imagine trying to maneuver a couch up those stairs though, moving into an apartment, nor do I see how it could be safe at all to scale such stairs during an ICY, SNOWY winter?!?

Ahhh, and the subject of gasoline costs... For our trip, we had a Dodge Durango for our driving use/pleasure - a.k.a. - TOTAL GASOLINE NIGHTMARE! Gas is priced by the LITER in Canada - it was at least $1.14/liter while we were there = yes, DO THE MATH PEOPLE! Well OVER $4 bucks per gallon!?!? PLEASE NOTE: No where on this earth does anyone outside of the U.S.A. care or sympathize with our whiney woes over increased gas prices, unless it will effect their economy (which it does). AMERICA - QUIT YOUR BITCHING!!! AND JOIN THE REST OF THE WORLD IN THE REALITY THAT IS HIGH GAS PRICES!!! - Conservation is the ONLY answer and this is why I drive a Toyota Echo - 43 mpg on the highway, baby! and Yes, if I lived in a city with a semi-halfway decent Metro system, my butt would so be on it! I would catch up on my reading each and every day instead of suffering through HWY traffic, stuck behind a steering wheel, staring at someone else's bumper for an hour - I love NPR, but sometimes I just wanna GET TO WORK!!! Now, I must offer a correction here: I haven't yet really had to "suffer" through major traffic with any real regularity, but I'll be in Cali next year and so, knowing this? I'm already saving up for psychiatric care. On to the next subject...

See the church pictures angled up toward the sky? The facade of this church is all that remains of the original structure - if you walk around it, to the side, you can see plain concrete, red bricks and modern utility windows = a totally different building built right onto the back of the church front, now serving as a University building.

See the old building with archways and lots and lots of little windows, streaked with age? I took this shot (and several others, quite blurred) from the window of the car as we drove by - I just thought it looked cool. Have I mentioned I love architecture? Yes, I know I say I "love" a lotta stuff, but I do!

See the church with the big, black set of exterior doors? This church has an oh-so lovely "god-light" breaking down through the tree branches, down toward the inner courtyard. Our Defition of God-light: Sun rays that either streak down and/or break through tree branches or from above/behind parting clouds. My honey-man will even produce the accompanying "angels chorus" vocals whenever we see this kind of light ~ I giggle like mad whenever he does this.

The pic of me with the crazy whisps of hair blowing, was taken in the parking lot of the Metro railway station in Longueuil. On our 3rd day, after lunch with Grand-Papa, we took the angel boy-O to downtown Montreal via the Metro, so he could experience a subway system. It was there that we crammed ourselves together in a blk & white photo booth for a 4-frame photo strip of our silly faces... Also there, the angel boy-O later saw a color-shot photo booth and we had to spend at least 5-10 minutes explaining why he had to "be happy with what you have." And it was there that the angel boy-O saw a crippled and twisted man in a mangled wheelchair begging for food. With big puppy-dog eyes and a clear interest and desire to help out somehow, my honey-man's angel boy-O asked if he could please give the man some money. Watching him then run over to that man, to stand in front of him so earnestly, a look of fascination, pain and pity upon his little face, and then see him give what he had to give ~ I thought my heart was going to burst! Brings tears to my eyes recalling the moment.

Zee Little Details of my Montreal Trip

Again, for Larger views, click on the images.

Mmmm, the yellow-wrapped candy bar is my favorite... "Votre cafe, vous le prenez comment?" Translation: "How do you like your coffee?" My sophomore year at Ricks College (gag - excuse me - clearing my throat), I had several Canadian roomies and was introduced to various Canadian candies... it was through dear Jodi that I discovered Coffee Crisp! - pardon me, I don't mean to drool! I think I bought 6 of them while we were in Montreal? And no, I did not eat each one - I brought some home, including a couple other Canada-exclusive candies and gave them to office mates. I also brought home some "Robin Hood Crepe Mix." While perusing the shops of Sainte Dennis (the 'hip' and trendy part of Montreal), we found a killer candy shop ~ hence, the first-time purchase of Harry Potter's Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans for my angel boy-O and his cousins - 4 boxes. We have a hilarious set of photos taken during our tasting of these AWFUL jelly beans.
The pic that shows FUNK written in red, was taken from a large, most-awesome, most-coveted poster illustration of the American Family Tree of Jazz, kept in the my honey-man's SIL's office. I took the shot for Maceo Parker - and I was also sure to first find the name of Bill Evans and take a pic for my honey-man.

The pic of downtown Montreal across the water, was taken from the window of a FAST moving, speeding vehicle, while driving across on a bridge with side and overhead beams, no less...at least every other shot included structure beams of the bridge. This one, however, came out perfect (I think). See the gorgeous, well-tempered chocolate Labrador? May I introduce you to Gaiya (no clue how to really spell his name - sounds like "Guy+yah"), the coolest Lab ever and youngest member of my honey-man's oldest bro's family. See the lovely strawberry "declenaison"? I'm tellin' ya, my honey-man's oldest bro can sure work wonders for the human palate! Try diced strawberries with pieces of crystalized ginger, garnished with Thai basil -tastes like licorice- topped with basalmic vinegar!?! WAS DUHLICIOUS! and the lil' capuccino cup was filled with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream and strawberry slices, covered in cool strawberry puree and warm ganache. OMG - soooo good! An amazing chef! I could go on and on.

See the oh-so quaint stepping stone path laid beneath the ivy-like garden archways? This is the home of my honey-man's parents!?! Um, can ya say GORGEOUS? I was utterly amazed - the whole place was like straight out of a Home & Gardens mag and it didn't feel like a museum - it was warm, relaxed and comfortable, welcoming and wonderful.

See the boy on his knees by the side of a stone bird bath, reaching into a tiny pond? this lil' spot was in their backyard and the angel boy-O discovered FROGGIES! And yes, he caught one and promptly brought it inside to proudly show his Gran-mama what he had ~ ahh, she wasn't so thrilled, but once she'd shooed him away, she graciously applauded his desire to share his find with her. He was so absolutely freakin' adorable - TOTAL CUTENESS, I tell ya!
See the little beach and lake docks? This blessed childhood haven served as a playground for my honey-man. How cool is that? and from the backyard where he lived, up on the hill (Saint-Sauveur ain't by any means "mountainous"), he could go through the woods and just hop right onto the ski slopes?!? and Yes, those are "ski slopes" = no poking fun! Growing up, did you ever have "ski slopes" accessible from your own backyard? I didn't, but I sure would have loved it! ~ even if it had to have been like skiing Miami Beach. OH, and the pic of the white hydrangea? it was loaded with busy buzzy bees! they were so cute! The flowers in Montreal were soooo abundant.
The picture of weird fuzzy green stuff is a sample of the different mosses (sp?) that were growing on the roof of the cabin we stayed at on Fraser Lake (did you know there are over 2 MILLION lakes in Canada!?!). During this trip, honestly, I can't tell you how many pictures I took of moss and fungi - let's just say LOTS. I find fungi fascinating, but right now, let's not dwell on that any further. We spent the night in an amazing location ~ my honey-man's younger, older bro just bought the cabin less than a year ago and it could be considered nothing less than a labor of love, all the work they've done since they'd acquired it. There was no electricity beyond a generator to operate the water pump and give some brief moments of light in the kitchen or bathroom. Otherwise, we were using candles and oil lanterns = way, way, WAY cool. We also went fishing and my honey-man's younger, older brother's sweetheart wife prepared the most awesome fishing fare - Before we hit the lake, I had thought she was preparing part of our dinner in advance, but it was for our fishing trip on the lake!?! Wine and wine glasses to the ready! Off that note: I HAVE NEVER DRANK SO MUCH WINE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE - and GOOD WINE at that! My honey-man's family loves to cook and dine and eat and eat some more and eat well - not in excess, but WELL. The cooking and all the restaurants were fantastic. See the forest trees shot? This is the ROAD to the cabin!!?! Can you believe it? we're talking REMOTE! BEAUTIFUL! QUIET! NATURE! UNTOUCHED! and their previously owned cabin? It had ZERO electricity and could only be reached by boating across the lake!?! Again, it was a wonderful, wonderful experience.
The fishing tackle spinner? The angel boy-O's ultra fisherman uncle/owner of a St. Hubert restaurant gave us a couple of them and they were taken from us by airport security - before they were confiscated, I snapped a couple camera shots for memory's sake.

My Final Take on Montreal!

And now, as you can see, yet can ONLY imagine since my earlier confession, these pictures shown here cannot tell even half the story that was my first trip to Montreal with my honey-man and his sweet angel boy-O. I could go on and on and on...

But let me share this, 'THE' ALL DEFINING MOMENT FOR ME ON THIS TRIP: While we were anchored off the isle of St. Marguerite, I stood at the back of the boat, hands on my hips, surveying the water and the sky. My honey-man's father was playing some beautiful music over the boat stereo system (AN INCREDIBLE SURROUND SOUND SYSTEM) in a way that was totally enveloping, as if it was an inner soundtrack playing in my mind, yet I could hear him laughing in the background and I could also faintly hear my honey-man from off the side of the boat, explaining little wonders of the world, so lovingly, to the ever-curious angel boy-O. I felt this feeling swell up inside me -and it revisits me, right now- and I was absolutely overcome with GRATITUDE for all that I have and ALL THE LOVE I HAVE FOUND IN MY LIFE, all around me. Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over and down my cheeks, as if a faucet had been turned on. And I stood there feeling it, savoring the moment. Shortly later, my honey-man came to me and said sweetly something along the lines of, "You had yourself a 'moment' back there, didn't you?"

It was such a wonderful trip and my honey-man's families were all so kind and effusive, and I felt so well-received by all, accepted by everyone. I loved finally meeting everyone, all the same - I only wish we could have stayed longer. We now hope that our future schedules will accomodate an annual trip of a good length, and from here on out, we plan to save our pennies to afford the trek.

Soon to come, I swear!

Lately, I've been able to spend some time prepping posts regarding my recent Montreal trip. Note: for those of you unawares, the importance of this admission and its truth is a gross and severe understatment. I know it's been a full month's time since my return, but I'm juhhhst getting around to it! There's been a ton of distractions... I can tell you right now though, that what I will show/offer/share is only a pale description when compared to the real adventure and the personal joy I experienced on that trip - and for this, I'm sorry that I cannot possibly express all my feelings or offer each and every detail. For myself, I would like to make a record, but I am FULL. And I swear, I am still running high off that trip. And frankly, I'm hoping it'll last me 'til the end of this year - but to hope it'll last me until only the end of this year?!? that doesn't give it near enough credit. This trip I went on? It was one of the most valuable yet; loaded with self-discovery and brand new insights, adding to and enhancing my ever-increasing curiosity regarding social and cultural dynamics, building higher my understanding of the world around me, and most importantly, strengthening the ever-growing, increasing love I have for my honey-man and his dearest angel boy-O.
Have I mentioned it was FAAHBOOLUSS?

Self-Portrait Day!

Another pic from Montreal for SPD!

kinda cute, eh? ya can see mah honey-man, up and behind me...

Charred Croissant

While in Montreal, we enjoyed delicious, buttery croissants, warm from the oven. Sunday, we thought we'd try to recreate the experience. Soooo, we popped these two in my trusty toaster oven, using the "Toast" setting (my 1st time):

Click on the image for a larger view, if you dare.

The timer was set and everything?!? Poor, poor, TOTALLY HUGE and TOTALLY BURNT, now-like-charcoal croissants! yah, reeeal yummy. The mottled food item beneath them is a left-over berry pancake from Saturday AM.

Crunched fer Time

Mmmkay - I sooo so so wanna post stuff about Montreal - I'm still running high off that trip! Man, it WAS SO GRRRREAT, if I haven't mentioned that already... but I have a gazillion "just-before-school-starts" things to do. BUHT! I do intend to post - best intentions to post, I have.

'Til then, have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Self-Portrait Day!

Took these last week while we were in the Metro station, downtown Montreal - which was sooo clean!?! No, really! the station was very clean! - no joking. This "mirror" was really some reflecting mirror-like surface (not glass) on the front of a photo booth...which we tried out together (me, mah honey-man and the angel boy-O).
The first pic was a fluke, but I thought it looked cool ~ the 2nd was to be the "corrected" effort, although still out of focus.