Again...

I know, post overwhelm... but there's lots of things to catch up on and not so much time to do it in. Because as you see, by this time tonight - if all will have gone well and there were no major hitches, i should have taken possession of my house and moved the majority of my possessions into its four outdated walls. I'm excited, truly, i'm finally getting there - i do believe for a while i kinda ignored reality and pretended i hadn't really done such a thing as purchasing a home - i might have been on overwhelm - i might still continue to be for the next few months - i'll just need my dear friends and family to haul me out of such wallowings!
I am scared - that i won't keep up payments, that i'll miss bills, that i won't keep things up like they should be kept up, that i won't manage to get the renovations done that i'm been dreaming of - but then again, i know i shouldn't be all that pessimistic since God will provide the strength to get through this too - and this isn't a trial - it is a joy, despite all the grumblings... i just suppose having slept for the last night in this house on Glover and remembering all the memories here - i am reluctant to leave that too - another chapter over in life - yet another one to begin - another step on the journey per se.

I love company so feel free to drop in, my friends and family! I would love to have you over for tea and scones (wait, that means baking right? hmm... okay, tea and Oreos would do? Heehee - seriously, i do like baking - just haven't had much time to do it lately!)

Anyhow, i'm got to go and finish the last of my packing, organize my day and take down the shower curtain - all seems so final eh? I'll see you in green meadows - what a name!! I love it!

Images of Curacao - long, long overdue...

In the fair month of August, my dear friend Carina and I betook ourselves on a vacation. Not a strange thing to do in August, by all accounts and purposes, yet this one had a twist - as most of my vacations do. We decided not to go camping or up north, but rather to head out on a Caribbean vacation (is it Caribean or Caribean? or is that like tomaytoes or tomatoes?). We were headed for the island of Curacao... Curacao, you say? Where in the world is that? Is that like beside Africa? Nope, my geographically ignorant friend (said lovingly since i formerly only had a vague knowledge of its location as well), it is off the coast of South America, about 40 kms away from Aruba (the most well known of the former Dutch holdings!)

Who goes on such a trip in the summer? After all, it's already hot and sticky at home, why do you need to travel far away to get that kind of weather - you'd be better off to go in the middle of February when you need some sun and a tan to make everyone else jealous. Well, as i've seemed to spend most of the summer inside at work or such and since it's been relatively cool and not so sunny when i was off, a tan was a welcome side effect of the trip!

Mind you, we did crispify ourselves several days - whilst snorkeling about the reefs - forgetting that salt water probably magnifies the effect of the sun's rays on parts of our bodies which had up til then had limited exposure to the damaging effects! Hence i ended up burning the inside of my arms and a little strip down the back of my bathing suit where the top rode up without my knowledge. Suffice it to say, we walked like little old ladies as we stepped off the plane in Buffalo! But we were grinning from ear to ear as we had had a wonderful time! We had enjoyed some of God's wonderful creation, we had had a lot of fun doing lots of new and exciting things - learning about Curacaoan history, going snorkelling in azure blue waters, poking around the capital city of Willemstad, and absorbing local island culture and life. Altogether a truly worthwhile experience and well worth the hours of peeling when we got home! I've included a mishmash of pictures to give you a little clue as to our adventures there!Watching the waves crashing in at Boka Pistol on the northern coast
Two very hot and sweaty girls in some very hot temperatures!

We were blessed with a couple of gorgeous sunsets

At the floating market in Willemstad, there were some pretty big knives!

Wouldn't want to make this fellow angry! We think he was cutting up a tuna!

That's huge!

Pity you can't snug up on this picture because it shows our little rental car,

totally abandoned in the middle of the wasteland between the coast

and the mountains, the ground was just too rough for good old gutless Speedy!

Curacao is very arid and desert like in it's vegetation, there were cacti

and prickly bushes all over the place to be avoided at all costs to

avoid nasty encounters!

The back porch of our rental home - where we spent hours just chillaxin' and reading and writing journals (nope, we still aren't home yet Carina!)

One day, we tried to get to the ocean - you wouldn't think it would be a

very difficult feat on an island but all the beaches seemed to be pay-as-you-go

or inhabited by creepy men asking for money - in our desparation to

dip our toes into the sea, we strode through the casino and resort as if we

were guests there and managed to finally locate the elusive sea!

Here's Carina looking posh!

One of several iguanas who chose to inhabit the backyard of our rental house -

we fed them lettuce and tomatoes and watched them in some wonder -

what large lizards but oh so skittish!

Okay, it's been eons.. I know

My own private little oasis...

Yep, you're right, it has been eons since i last posted, or at least a month and two days... i apologize greatly, i did keep meaning to post on here but always something else came up in the way or i wasn't inspired or i didn't have time. Time, that seems to be the killer, doesn't it? The more people i talk to, we agree that it flies by so quickly! But i suppose we should just treasure each day we are given and enjoy the things that are put in that day for us by One who knows so much more than us how short time on this earth really is and how one day we will no longer worry about time! Won't that be a strange concept for us time-driven people?

Anyways, enough waxing eloquent and philosophical, an update on my life over the last month is in order. Hmm... i'm not sure i remember back that far - memory loss is a problem, it seems. Now where was i??
Well, okay, where to start? Part of July and August, i spent being sick. No fun. Who manages to be unsick all winter and when the summer time rolls around, pulls a massive chest cold out of the bag and decides to have it for a flipping long time? Me, apparently. Thankfully, i'm mostly over that and so that is a reason for thanks!

I had another visit to my little house to be on the Hamilton mountain... i have been totally busy with getting decorating books from the library, comparing paint and fabric chips and dreaming about how my house will look in twenty years when i finally am finishing decorating and renovating, etc. I am also quickly learning just how expensive it is to buy a house - there are tonnes of hidden costs... my poor pocketbook (well, do i really have one of those? I have a purse, does that qualify?) is getting a real cardiac workout this summer/fall! But i am getting excited - only 14 more days until i get my keys! Then it will probably be more real for me... i still sometimes can ignore the fact that in two weeks, i'll all of a sudden have to be a responsible home owner! Arrgh, responsibility makes me cringe at times! But it could be fun at the same time - my own house to do with what i like! And believe me, i've got lots of thoughts and ideas. The whole interest in decorating is rather foreign to me and probably amusing to my family and friends because i have ignored that aspect of life for rather a long time now! I'm going to post a few more pics of my new abode - please feel free to send along your design ideas. I'll need all the help i can get!My room with a view! My living room, stuck in a serious time warp.