Kitty’s Place

This time next week we will be getting ready to go to the airport and home to Sweden. I can’t believe we have been here almost 3 weeks already!

We are at Bryan and Carole’s, will be heading to Eric and Marla’s tomorrow and then to Aunt Maud’s for the final few days. I have done all the shopping I wanted to, organized the shipping of our stuff from storage and had a wonderful time visiting with family.

Yesterday we went out to the cemetary and saw my grandparents headstone, it just went up the week we arrived here. It is very nice, their names in intertwining hearts, a pair of lovebirds and the date of their marriage. Very appropriate for a couple who were together for over 70 years. We saw my parents headstone as well, the yellow roses engraved on it had been repainted, so that was nice. Then we went to my other grandparents stone, LL never met them of course, since they both died over 20 years ago, but he wanted to see where they were in the cemetary. We stood there for a few minutes and talked about them and had some laughs, something probably not really appropriate in a graveyard but it was nice. *laugh*

Today I am being lazy, Carole is mowing the lawn at the moment and LL is playing a Sponge Bob game. He asked if we could buy some flowers and take them to the cemetary. He has had a couple cries since coming here because he misses my grandparents. That is understandable since we saw them every day of his life until we moved to Sweden and then stayed with them every time we came to Canada on vacation. Losing the two of them last year was hard and coming here and realizing they really are gone was tough on both of us.

This morning we went to St Catharines and I signed the final papers for shipping. Then we went to a used video and game store where we got the kidlet a used game boy color and 5 games. He was thrilled to say the least. *laugh* Next stop was Wendy’s where we had lunch, then WalMart where I got my fellow a couple new shirts and the kidlet a watch. We stopped at Aunt Pearl’s but no one was home so we headed back to Carole’s where the kidlet went swimming and played with the fish and fishing pole that Carole bought him. I talked to my fellow online for a couple hours and phoned him as well because I was lonely for his voice. *smile*

Tonight the kidlet was in bed by 2100 and now we are watching “The Island”. I think it will be an early night for the rest of us as well. It was a very warm day and looked like we would have a storm but sadly it never materialized. I so want a thunderstorm. *laugh*

We headed to Bryan’s Monday afternoon. Carole picked up us after lunch so we had a little extra time with Kelly since she came home for lunch. Once we got settled in here, LL went swimming with Matt and they just moved back and forth between the pool and the hot tub. After James got home, they played on the playstation and just had kid fun. Dinner was wonderful, it was great to see my brother and his wife since we had not seen them at the party at Eric’s. LL slept downstairs in the den, on one couch and James slept on the other and they watched a movie till they fell asleep. He made his last trip up to me about 2330 but then he crashed. *laugh*

Today was a lazy, wind down kind of day since it was gloomy and rainy most of the day. James and LL played ps2, swam and went in the hot tub, played pool, played Life and watched tv. After dinner my brother chopped some wood for a fire and then the boys and him went swimming. After they got dried off, they sat around the fire, toasted marshmallows and made smores. I tried a shot with black sambuca and banana liqueur that was great as well as a butterscotch liqueur. Ben and I had wine as well, a real lush night for me. *laugh* The kidlet slept downstairs again and he crashed, it was definitely a busy day for him.

Tomorrow we are going to sign the final papers for the shipping and we are going to look for a used game boy for LL. We are having a lovely time here and LL is in his glory with all this boy stuff to do. *laugh*

Yesterday we went to Marineland with Kelly and Mike. It was a sunny, warm day and we had a lovely time. It really was not very crowded at all, we saw 2 shows and a baby beluga whale that was just 2 days old. LL had a wonderful time!

First was the seal training and we saw 3 different types of seals and a sea lion. We went down and saw them through the windows of the pool they were in and then walked around an underground aquarium and saw lots of different fish. Next was the show with seals, dolphins and sea lions. It was really well done, very entertaining. The “janitor” made the show. *laugh* By then it was noon and LL was hungry so we stopped for lunch. His chicken nuggets were cut in the shapes of the animals in the park.

After lunch we walked to the killer whales, stopping to get some water and an ice cream for LL, who said he had a headache, something he has never said before. I thought it might be dehydration and the fluid did the trick. The killer whales were cool, one of them was very young and followed close to mom at all times. Then we walked again and saw the beluga whales. As I said, one of them gave birth on Friday the 23rd and there were 3 other pregnant whales in that pool. There is someone watching there round the clock until the other babies are born. The girl watching was saying that when the killer whale had her baby it was while the park was open and people phoned to complain after that their children had been traumatized by seeing the birth. I suppose they never thought to take their children out of viewing area? We went to the other pool and saw lots of belugas swimming and playing. By then everyone had seen enough so we headed back to the entrance where LL bought a blow up killer whale and a walrus hand puppet.

Once we were back at Kelly’s it was a total relax time, which we both were glad of. We took about 90 pictures total during the day. *laugh* We watched Pirates of the Caribbean in the evening and LL was scared a couple times and left the room but at the end he deemed the movie “hilarous”. *laugh* His english vocabulary is definitely growing here.

At the moment he is still sleeping but once he wakes we are heading over to Bryan and Carole’s for a couple days. I have no idea what they have for internet access and am worried my portable won’t work out there in the countryside, so updates could be delayed.

I am such a sucker for shoes and purses. *laugh* Yesterday I walked over to the tattoo parlour hoping to find a door knocker for my tongue. They were closed so I walked to Family Shoe Store, a store we have shopped at since I was a kid. I actually went in to get a pair of $4 flip flops that were on the sales table outside but when I got in there and started looking I saw shoes that would match a purse I got from baba-studios last fall and a really cute pair of black leather heels. So home to Kelly’s I went and got the purse so I could check and then at 1400 I went back to the shoe store where the purse was a match and the shoes fit perfectly. The black heels did not however but I spied a cute pair of black heels that look like boots that fit great and I got them too. I also got this. *laugh* The store owner kept looking at me and finally asked if I had a sister who worked at the hospital, I looked familiar to her. I said no and the last time I had been there was 6 years ago when I was buying boots to take to Sweden. She made the connection right away, remembered that the boots were called sweden and that I had a little boy and we walked past most days with the baby carriage when I lived in Port. It was funny how she was trying so hard to place me mentally. Sadly the tattoo place had no tongue jewellery at all.
Later in the afternoon LL and I walked to the corner store and we stopped at the shoe store on the way back because I had seen Crocs and knew he wanted a pair like his cousin Jared had. Crocs and Heelys are the two shoe fads here this summer and now LL has a pair of both.

I was really down Saturday, terribly homesick and I was looking at booking earlier tickets home. I love being here and seeing family but this moving from place to place is hard. We just get comfortable and it is time to move again. I also was being way over sensitive to a remark my sister made about kids not being made to take any responsibility for thier actions these days and then she went on to point out a cousin of ours who was still wearing diapers to bed at age 5. I bristled since LL wears diapers at night still. I told her that this is not lack of responsibility, this is a medical thing and he doesn’t get to go glibley along wetting at night, we see a nurse twice a month, he fills in charts to show what he is drinking and how often he goes to the bathroom in the day, he has gone through two regimines of nasal spray and pills to stimulate the part of the brain that controls this and he has slept with an alarm that wakes him when it detects dampness. I am just tired from the travelling and absence of routine so that is why I reacted so much. Luckily for me, my fellow stayed up late and we spent some time talking and I got over my upset.

Today we are going to go to Marineland! I put new batteries in the camera and am sure LL will love it.

Friday the kidlet and walked about and did errands. It is sad to see how this town is kind of fading away. It was a wonderful place to grow up.

We went to the bank and I asked about withdrawals, since my card for my account here expired a few years ago. I was thinking this would cause a hassle but instead she issued me a new card that can be used in Sweden as well, right on the spot.

I took the kidlet to a restaurant and we had cheese sticks, wings and a couple other munchie type foods. He thought that was cool. Then we went to a bargain store where he got gifts for a couple of his friends at home and a small chair that folds up and fits into a little canvas bag. It looked as if it could be packed in a suitcase and he wanted it so much. *laugh* I got a puzzle for him as well and some playing cards.

We stopped at a corner store and found a Cars comic book so that went into the bag as well and he read it at bedtime. Then it was home to my sister’s where he watched all his favourite shows in english: Franklin, Little Bear, Bear in the Big Blue House and Caillou. I talked to my fellow online once he got home from midsummer with his dad and that was great. I just keep counting down, now it is just two weeks till I am home with him again and while that is way too long, I can manage as long as I am in touch and hear his voice every day.

LL had a riot with Kelly. We watched Chicken Little, played cards and he did card tricks for us. Kelly gave him a token from the skyway, something from our childhood.

Deb phoned and we talked a bit, that was great. I miss her and wish we could have seen her this time. I promised that next trip we would give her lots of advance notice for saving purposes. After the kidlet went to bed I surfed some and watched my favourite shows, CSI, Law & Order and even saw Married with Children, before I called it a night.