Today I...May 30th

Today I...

...am sharing two pictures of Charleston, South Carolina's, Catholic Cathedral, St-John-the-Baptist.
...am feeling better than yesterday. I'm still a bit sad, but a good night's sleep and more stable hormones (sometimes I feel better during PMS than right at the end of my period) are helping, along with keeping busy.

...went shopping!!! I bought myself a pair of flip flops to serve as my summer slippers, 'Breaking Dawn', the final book of the Twilight series, a new purse from my favorite handbag designer Jak's. I also stopped by Juliette et Chocolat for a take-home snack of a brownie and a raspberry and peach smoothie.

...got my groceries. I don't normally do that on the weekend, but I was totally out of both breakfast and lunch food, so it was a must.

...tore through the first...gosh, I think three chapters? of Breaking Dawn. I'm going to try and head to bed early to avoid reading way too late.

...hid away my remaining empty moving boxes. It feels good to have them out of the way!

...did a single load of laundry and am now waiting for it to finish drying.

Today I...May 29th

Today I...

...am sharing another photo that I took last weekend of Niagara Falls at night with you. This is one of my favorites out of all the ones I took :o)

...went to help my friend G take measurements of the apartment she's moving into with her boyfriend in July. I don't think I'd ever seen a place with so much clutter, no wonder the people living there now are moving into a bigger place.

...am missing my Sweetheart like crazy. A week ago I was with him, but it already seems so far...he's in town for the weekend, but he father was coming home from a nearly two month stay in Poland, so he warned me that his family would probably take up all of his time except for his appointment with his banker. I understand though, they haven't all been together since at least March if not February and I got him all to myself (almost, we did have a visit from one of his friends) for three and a half days last week. I can share...but I'm not always good at it :oJ I keep hoping that my cell phone will ring and that it will be him asking if he can stop by. Best remedy for this: I must keep busy, so clean my fish tank tonight I shall!

...finished Eclipse, the third book in the 'Twilight' series. I wanted to get out to buy Breaking Dawn tonight, but it turns out that the bookstore closes at 10:00 P.M. and not 11:00 like I thought it did. So yes, clean the fish tank I shall and then I guess I'll watch a movie and tomorrow I'll hop across to the street to the little neighborhood bookstore and buy Breaking Dawn there :o)

Monkey faced Squirrel

This week's camera critter is a monkey faced squirrel that my grandparents and I came across while we were finishing up my visit of the golf courses in their gated community in Aiken, South Carolina. We were absolutely fascinated by this critter as we had absolutely no clue what the heck he was!!! I was wondering if he wasn't the product of a raccoon heading in to the wrong nest one night and having a roll in the hay with a gray squirrel because he really did look like a perfect cross between a raccoon and your run of the mill squirrel. I hunted around on the internet for quite a while trying to find out what he was and finally got my answer when I posted his picture on Facebook and asked my friends if they knew what he was and some of them did! Good thing too, because the curiosity was driving me nuts lol

I hope you all have a great weekend, be sure to add to it by checking out all the other fun critters over here

Today I...May 28th

Today I...

...am sharing of photo of the irises and other lily-like flowers lining the shore of the lake in Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, South Carolina. They were even more enchanting to see in person :o)

...had a bit of a hard time waking up. My cats were lunatic last night and didn't sleep much and therefore I didn't sleep much either. Yes, they honestly are sensitive to the full moon sometimes.

...gave a tour to a group of high school seniors from Lafargeville, NY. They were wonderful and adorably funny as they tip-toed around the issue of whether I could speak English or not before they hear me talk. Then they all laughed when I told them not to worry, that my English was fine :o)

...had a quiet afternoon after my morning tour and watched the clock tick down to the weekend.

...met my friend V for an evening of sushi, ice cream and girl talk!!! We had a blast :o)

...was creeped out by an old weirdo in the subway station who was either drunk as a bottled owl or high as a kite or maybe both. He was going after all the women in the station and I was relieved to see the station attendant calling him in to the cops when I got upstairs. As a side note: subway stations in Montreal are generally extremely safe in the nearly 10 years since I've started using the subway very regularly, this was only the second time that I ever felt truly threatened and it was also only 8:30 P.M. when this happened. The other time was around 11:30 P.M. and I was waiting outside the same station at the bus stop. So please, if ever you are in Montreal, you don't have to feel unsafe using our transit system. Incidents are few and far between and are usually dealt with in a very timely fashion. Random creeps turn up anywhere you go, even in little bitty towns. And actually, I find that they're more dangerous and creepy in little bitty towns, because there are fewer people around to help you if there is a problem. In this case, trust me, if the guy had come any closer to me and I had screamed, about five other guys would have dealt with the creep. Fortunately that wasn't necessary as the creep ended up yelling and cursing at me in a very slurred voice because I skittered out of his way and ran up the escalator. Doesn't he sound like a charming fellow?

Skywatch Friday

This week's Skywatch features are two shots I took of the ferris wheel on Clifton Hill on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. I took the top photo at dusk and the one below at mid-morning the following day.

For more great Skywatch photos, head on over here . Have a great weekend!

Today I...May 26th

Today I...

...am sharing a picture of an old cemetery in Charleston with you. I love old cemeteries so was absolutely charmed when I saw this one. I was disappointed when I couldn't get inside it though, the gates were all locked, so I took all my pictures of it through the fence and gates.

...had a very quiet day at work.

...went for a walk on my lunch hour, despite the sweltering heat. Try 34 degrees Celsius that felt like 40 with the humidity thrown in. But yeah, I was in South Carolina less than a week ago and walked around taking pictures for a few hours in similar conditions, so a 20 minute walk was nothing, even though it was all uphill :o)

...went to run a few errands after work. Hauling a bag a cat food home in the sweltering heat? Yeah, that was a bit harder lol

...am looking forward to watching CSI New York tonight! It's the season finale, so the last new episode until the Fall, but there are still a few episodes in this season that I missed I think, so I should be able to get a treat now and then when I watch the reruns this summer.

While on vacation I...

While on vacation I...

...had a wonderful stay at my grandparents' place in Aiken, South Carolina. I swam in their pool and spent a lot of time rocking in their hammock, while reading my book, listening to the hundreds of birds that nest around their house chirp away and looking up at the sky.

...headed off to visit my Sweetheart in Toronto after spending six days relaxing at my grandparents' place.

...went to the opera with my Sweetheart.

...rented a car with my Sweetheart and went on a road trip with him to Niagara-on-The-Lake and Niagara Falls. It was my second time seeing the falls during the day...

...and my first time seeing them at night :o)

Consider this my official return to the blogging sphere. I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures. I missed out on a lot of things on everyone's blogs while I was away and I'm sorry, but I really needed to disconnect as much as possible, so I blogged when I had the time and the itch to do so. I'll be back on my regular schedule now though, no worries :o)

Skywatch Friday

Greetings from South Carolina! I've been vacationing here at my grandparents' place for nearly a week a have fallen under this beautiful state's Old Southern charm. The people here are incredibly friendly, I could hardly get over it! And as for the skies...these photos barely do them justice :o) The one above was taken at sunset on Monday and the one below was taken at Hopelands Gardens on Sunday through the wrought iron canopy of a tiny garden pavilion. I have gathered enough Skywatch images on this trip to last me a while, so expect to see more fairly regularly :o)
For more Skywatch images from around the world, click here Y'all have a nice weekend now, ya hear? ;o)

Yesterday I...May 15th and Today I...May 16th

Yesterday I...

...got up at the ungodly hour of 5:00 A.M. to get to the airport to catch my flights to beautiful South Carolina.

...discovered two new airports, the ones in Charlotte, North Carolina and Augusta, Georgia. My impression of them? Charlotte airport is very bright with lots and lots of windows, but it looks more like a mall than an airport with more stores than I've ever seen in any airport. Augusta's airport is itty-bitty and looks more like a country club from the outside than an airport. Arriving there was the first time I ever had to go down the stairs of an airplane and walk across the tarmac to get into the terminal. There were also only two luggage carousels for the entire airport and they seemed to be amply sufficient.

...was struck by how green and hilly South Carolina is, you can see just how green it is from the two photos I'm including with this post. It really is incredibly beautiful here.

Today I...

...thoroughly enjoyed my first day at my grandparents' place in South Carolina.

...went for a walk through Hopelands Gardens in Aiken, the town where my grandparents live. It was a gorgeous place and I took a slew of photos there, which I will gradually share with you.

...went for ice cream with my grandparents after our walk, I had two scoop of dark chocolate ice cream with fudge in it, yum!!!

...relaxed and read my book in the hammock in my grandparents' back yard. I'm still working on 'New Moon', but am almost done, so I may end up looking for a bookstore later this week :o)

Since Tuesday I...

Since Tuesday I...

...haven't posted and haven't commented on anyone's blogs. I'm sorry, but I've been very busy and very tired.

...went to watch the Canadiens boot the Penguins out of the playoffs on the jumbotron at the Bell Center and it ROCKED. Will the next team in line for elimination on our behalf please step up?

...loved watching the amused faces of the tourists who came out to take pictures of all us hockey fans taking over the streets chanting and cheering after the game.

...was dismayed when I got up on Wednesday morning and found out that a handful of troublemakers made it into the crowd on Ste-Catherine street in order to break into and loot stores once most of the hockey fans had left. Please note that there were 30 000 people celebrating on Ste-Catherine street on Wednesday night and only about 500 of the caused trouble. Canadiens fans as a general rule are very devoted and we love to give praise where praise is due, but the true fans are not the ones who cause trouble and this can be seen by the fact that most of the people who broke into the stores were not even wearing Habs jersey. It disgusts me to no end when people commit this kind of act since it penalizes the rest of us and gives us a bad name.

...gave a tour yesterday morning and then went to a meeting. They always serve us lunch at these bi-annual staff meetings and the food was very good yesterday, but something must have been wrong with something I ate, I'm suspecting it was the apple salad, because I had bowel issues today if you know what I mean...I feel like my gut has been put through a blender. Anyhow, I'm hoping this really is just something I ate and not a bug creeping up on me, because I have to get on a plane to my grandparents' place tomorrow. I'm feeling better now, so I think I should be perfectly fine by tomorrow morning, especially since my appetite is fine.

...stayed home from work today, naturally. I got to sleep in a bit and it helped because I have been incredibly tired all week. I never really recovered from my move.

...washed my two sets of sheets and put my nice, new blue ones on my bed.

...am going to and find something to eat that I hope will not harm my delicate digestive system :ox

Today I...May 11th

Today I...

...gave a tour to some very energetic 3rd graders.

...had a lovely lunch hour with my book: New Moon. I'm racing through it as well, but at a slightly slower pace. I'm getting tired from going to bed so late, so I can't read as much before falling asleep lol

...went for a spa appointment after work.

...soaked in the tub for a half-hour when I got home.

...ate dinner a bit late.

...ironed all the summer clothes I'm bringing on vacation with me. It took me a good hour to get it done, it's a good thing I had the TV on while I did it, otherwise I might have given up!

Now, a little side note. I may not be posting much before leaving on vacation on Saturday. I'm going to watch the hockey game on the jumbotron at the Bell Center with my brother and a group of his friends tomorrow night. I'll try and get my Skywatch post up on Thursday, but I make no guarantees for Friday since I'll have to pack and try greally hard to get to bed early since I'll have to get up around 4:30 or 5:00 on Friday morning. After that, while I'm away, it will depend on what I'm up to and if I feel like posting or not. My rule while I'm on vacation is: I do what I feel like doing when I feel like doing it! I'm seriously wiped out, so I may just forgo posting until I feel like I've rested up enough, but we'll see :o)

Today I...May 10th

Today I...

...had a relatively quiet day at work.

...was itching to read 'Twilight' all day. by the end of my lunch hour and my afternoon break I was down to the last 30 pages, so on the way home from work I ducked into the little bookshop across the street from my apartment building and got 'New Moon'. I brought them both on the bus on the way to choir with me and went straight from one to another. I my rate of reading Twilight is anything to by, I should get through New Moon on Friday or possibly Saturday on my flights on my way to my vacation. I may need to make a trip to a bookstore while I'm away :oJ

...enjoyed the sun, but boy, was it nippy out there!

...had a very good time at choir practice.

...was thrilled when the Canadiens beat the Penguins, GO HABS GO!!! If they win one more, we're going to be SERIOUS contenders for Stanley Cup number 25!!!

Today I...May 9th

Today I...

...had a very busy day.

...was indifferent to the snow that fell. It was just a few flakes. Yes, it was cold and not very nice out, but since I didn't have to be outside too much, I didn't really care.

...went to lunch with my mom and my brother to celebrate Mothers' Day and had delicious potato soup and grilled vegetable sandwich.

...went to the spa.

...went to the mall and bought new inserts for my shoes, was told at the phone store that I would have to go to the Dollar Store for a phone wire, bought a dish rack, a lovely set of sheets and a stainless steel water bottle and finally, a new scoop for the litter box as the handle on the one I had cracked. Those things don't have much of a lifespan.

...went to dinner at my aunt and uncle's for their 29th wedding anniversary and Mothers' Day for my grandma. we had a wonderful time and I ate a bit too much. I had a good bit of wine too, but didn't feel it too much since I spent the afternoon and evening drinking water as well.

...am quite tired because yes, it was quite a day! A very nice one though. I am now going to have a nice, warm shower (too tired to soak in the bath) and then go to bed to continue devouring Twilight before going to sleep.

Today I...May 8th

Today I...

...was pulled out of bed by D who called me because one of our tour guides was insisting that I had told her that she had a tour tomorrow and Monday. Uh, no...we looked all the places that any wayward booking might had been together over the phone and there was nothing anywhere, we had no clue how she could have gotten the idea that she had a tour. Luckily, I was already awake when D called, I had been reading my book in bed for a few minutes, otherwise I might have been kind of grumpy about the whole situation, but instead I was just befuddled.

...got my second and last load of laundry done on the first try, as all the machines were free. I was impressed!

...did a bit more work setting on setting up my living room, it looks a lot tidier now, which is nice. Now, I just need to figure out where to put my photo albums...

...continued devouring the first novel in the Twilight series. It is a dangerously addictive book, IE: I bout it on Thursday and am already more than halfway through it, I'll probably be down to the last hundred pages by the time I put my light out tonight.

...took a half hour nap this afternoon and am now quite alert for this time of night.

...soaked in the tub for a good 40 minutes while reading my book and lost track of time. My grandma had to call me three times before I was ready for our nightly phone conversation. Sorry, Grandma...I was deprived of a bathtub for two years though, so who can blame me for reveling in the pleasure of a nice long soak now that I can?

...spoke with my Sweetheart for 20 minutes, but it felt more like five...oh, how we laughed and laughed...he's leaving for the week tomorrow and I will miss him so very much. He's bringing his mini laptop though, so maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to talk at some point while he's away on his business trip and then his conference.

...was oh, so thrilled when my niece (my best friend's 10 month old daughter) recognized me on Skype today. We smiled and waved at each other and clapped our hands together through the screen. I'm hoping to be able to meet her in person soon, as they live in Switzerland. Maybe if I make it to Rome for Brother André's canonization in October, we'll be able to get together, we're hoping!!!

We love our new home :o)

Here is this week's Camera Critters star, little miss Magique. She's enjoying the lovely, sunny windowsills in our new apartment. She had a bit of a rough time with our move last weekend and spent her first twelve hours in our new place hissing, growling and hiding, mostly in the bathtub, until we (two of my friends and I) made her realize that our new place wasn't so bad. She truly fell in love with our new apartment on Saturday when she realized that she now had not just one, but SEVERAL sunny windowsills to lounge around in the sun on.

As for dear Quinn, she was wholly undisturbed by the move. Here reaction was like 'Oh, we're living now? Fine, whatever, as long as 'my' bed is still here and my baby followed me, I don't care. Speaking of my baby, what is her problem?'

And there you have it, the narrative of our move from my cats' point of view :o)

To see more camera critters, head over here.

Today I...May 7th

Today I...

...had a busy day overall and it's still going.

...was woken up at 4:15 in the morning by the couple upstairs coming home (probably from a bar), slamming their front door and getting into a very loud argument that lasted for about a half hour. That's the second time this happens this week, I'm contemplating slipping a Dr.Phil DVD under their door.

...recruited the last tour guide for next week's tours and printed out and distributed the schedules.

...gave an end of the day tour to a group from a Christian school from Ontario who then had their choir practice in the Basilica.

...was in a hurry after getting home because it was a bit later than usual and I had to make it out to an appointment for 7:00.

...was hoping to get all my laundry done tonight, but when I got down to the laundry room, another girl was already there and was using two of the three machines, so I had to use the 2$ heavy-duty one. There was no way I was risking having to wait all day to be able to get even one load done tomorrow. Ever try having to do your laundry in an apartment building with shared machines on a weekend? Yeah, not happening. I'll keep an eye on the machines tomorrow though and hopefully I'll be able to get my load of delicates in with my towels. For now, I'm waiting for my timer to tell me tonight's load is done in the dryer.

Today I...May 6th

Today I...

...woke up at 6:30 and never quite made it back to sleep.

...had fewer on-and-off headaches than any other day this week.

...gave two tours, both of them to girls' schools.

...was too tired to have been giving two tours and my voice let me know it.

...was happy when I remembered that since I'm finishing a half-hour later tomorrow, I get to start a half-hour later, which means that I get to sleep a half-hour later. Excellent trade-off, wouldn't you say?

...spoke to my Sweetheart for a half-hour and let him vent his frustration over the new marketing specialist they're working with. He was venting in a very humorous way, so he made me laugh which made him smile and he thanked me for letting him vent. I'll be happy to let him vent any time he wants if he's always going to do it like he did tonight, which he usually does :o)

Skywatch Friday

This week's Skywatch photo is St-Viateur Church in the Outremont district on Montreal. I've been posting closeup shots of it for the past few days and am now giving you a look at the church's two bell towers against last Sunday's partly cloudy spring skies...which began raining on my friend and I just as we got back to my apartment. I had been wanting to take pictures of the church and find out what it's name was ever since going by it on the bus while on my way to practice with my new choir for the first time in Spring last year and I was finally able to last weekend. Yup, it took almost a year, but it was well worth the wait. Now, if I can just get to see the inside...:o)

I hope you all have a great weekend and that you also enjoy all the other Skywatch photos that can be found over here

Today I...May 5th

Today I...

...am sharing another photo of St-Viateur church with you. I'll quit teasing you tomorrow and show you the whole thing :o)

...had trouble getting up again and had a mild headache almost all day. I really need my vacation.

...gave a tour to a great group of grade 12 religion students from Ontario.

...went shopping with D for new uniform shirts for the summer. We get to wear what we want all year, but in the summer we and all the summer guides wear uniform shirts. Normally they're blue and white striped shirts, but I kept nudging D and convinced him that after over eight years of service, the shirts were more than due for replacement by polo t-shirts that we would all be more comfy and feel better about ourselves in. The shirts looked awful on most of us and we were loathe to be seen in them outside of work, especially the women among us.

...went out to buy a book after work...and left Indigo with three. Thank heavens I had a 50$ gift card from Christmas!

...was happy to see a new episode of CSI NY!!!

Today I...May 4th

Today I...

...am sharing a closeup photo of one of the porticos of Outremont's beautiful Église St-Viateur with you. You'll get to see more of it tomorrow and in my Skywatch Friday post :o)

...am feeling better, but still get queasy and head achy if I move too much, cough too much or, as I discovered while speaking to my Sweetheart earlier, laugh too much. Concussed I am indeed, but at least today I managed to stay awake without a fight.

...was happy to have D back at work after his week off!

...was very thankful that thunderstorm cells that built up around Montreal this afternoon stayed away so I could do my grocery shopping.

...found it adorable yet again that Magique is so fascinated every time I fill my bathtub with water.

Today I...May 3rd

Today I...

...had a heck of a hard time getting up when the alarm went off.

...was very tired all day.

...found myself wishing I could have taken the day off, but the best solution I found to try and prevent myself from getting more tired was to skip choir practice tonight.

...am working myself into a new routine to go with my new apartment. I'll have the hang of it by next week.

...am wondering if I might be suffering from a mild concussion after whacking my head last night. It still hurts and it shouldn't be by now.

...closed the window pane in the kitchen before putting down the bowl of cat food and reopened it after standing back up.

...am sharing this picture I took yesterday of a magnolia in front of a fancy red brick house in Outremont, another one of Montreal's high-class neighborhoods, with you. Don't you love the look of the tree in front of that window?

Today I...May 2nd

Today I...

...am sharing some pictures of my new home with you. Above, you can see the window and the lighting in my bedroom.
...here you can see an example of the moldings around my living room ceiling and the lighting in the room. There are four little wall lamps like this in my living room, two on each side of the room.

...and finally, here is a picture of my living room windows. As you can see, I'm pretty well set up. V came back today and we were able to find my living room floor beneath all the stuff that was piled up in there. I will, however, be needing another piece of furniture to put all my pictures and photos albums and journals in. We turned the piece of furniture I had been using that for in my previous apartment into my TV, sound system and DVD storage unit, so I was only able to put a quarter of what had been in there before back in there.

Today I...

...went to Juliette et Chocolat with V after we finished working in my apartment. It was incredibly delicious, as usual.

...walked part of the way back to my place with V so I could take some photos. I'll share some of them with you throughout the week, one of them is going to be my Skywatch Friday photo and I'll show you a few more leading up to that.

...spoke on the phone with my Sweetheart for 10 minutes this morning and 40 minutes this evening. We're getting pretty good at talking on Skype for long periods of time and I'm loving it :o)

...cooked chicken and asparagus on my gas stove and was amazed by how quickly it got the job done and how evenly it cooked everything. The chicken stayed tender and the asparagus stayed crisp. How did I ever get by with an electric stove?

...whacked my head on my open window pane in the kitchen good and hard while straightening up after putting Magique's food bowl down. I think I have a lump growing on my head, ow...All I can say is, it's a good thing I have a hard head! Seriously though, I didn't see stars or anything, so I should be fine.

Today I...May 1st

Today I...

...MOVED!!! What a relief!!!

...woke up at 4:30 in the morning and didn't get back to sleep until about 6:30 or 7:00 when I had to get up at 7:30. It's a good thing I went to bed early last night (10:30) due to a splitting headache.

...am so thankful to all the friends and family who came to help me move today. There were six of us working on my move today and eleven today. Between the lot of us we got all my furniture set up, my curtains up, all my books, dishes, CDs, DVDs, kitchen stuff, knick knacks and clothes unpacked and put away (well, most of my knick knacks. I do have a lot of those, most of them are sitting on my mantel right now).

...gave verbal Hell to the creepy landlord from the building next door to my old apartment. He had spent the past two years watching my every move every time he was outside at the same time as me and today he laid into my dad for parking my moving truck what he considered to be too far onto 'his' side of the driveway. He claimed that he tenants wouldn't be able to get their cars past my truck and he started yelling at my dad and my dad started answering back. He threatened to call the cops so yelled at him to go ahead and call and we he kept going, I screamed at him to 'Leave us the Hell alone'. He looked shocked and backed off and disappeared, not to be seen again. Guess who I'm not going to miss?

...was seriously grossed out, along with all my friends, when we found a patch of mold 50 centimeters tall by a meter wide behind my bookcase, then more in the corner by my bed where my night table had been. DISGUSTING!!! No wonder I've had a perpetual cough and allergy symptoms for the past two years. My former landlord came in, looked discouraged and took some photos of the fungus before sawing a hole in the affected area of the wall and saying that it seemed to be superficial. My friends and family and I looked skeptical, picked up the rest of my stuff and left. Good riddance to that place, I just feel bad for the guy moving in there.

...am so, so happy to be in my new place. It's at least twice the size of my other apartment, the building is amazingly sound proof and so beautiful. I promise I'll post pictures of my place as soon as it's more presentable, but right now, even though 16 of my 21 boxes are empty, there's still stuff all over the place. My friend V is coming over again tomorrow and we should be able to get the rest of my stuff put away. That's the one thing my new place has less of than my old place: storage space. I so don't care though, it's such a small price to pay for a place that is above ground, mold free, safe and quiet. :o)