Just NB

It's been forever since I just sat down and wrote an update of what's going on. I guess living the Canadian life is a little less exciting than living the Expat life. Or...maybe not? The last year or so of the Expat life was pretty blah (apart from the travelling) (ok, and having a job) (and a cool boss). (Okay, maybe it wasn't that blah after all). In no particular order (well...maybe except #1), here's my current Life To Do List Find a job Plan Meals Work Out Adapt to Quebec Life Do whatever I can to be happy Lose Weight 1. Find a Job I have a job interview today (interview #2!!!) for a company that I really, really want to work for. Of course I have questions about the role...and I'm not hired, but if the role is what I think it is, I really, really want this job. Otherwise, I have a potential interview and another position sort-of-but-not-really in the interview process (I'll explain later) going on. Not too much action. 2. Plan Meals I to...

Hello again. I haven't had the best couple of days lately. Sometimes my brain just works TOO much and I forget to take a step back, remember that I'm dealing with some big changes, and that things will take time. Last night I went to bed feeling pretty lonely, pretty homesick, pretty tired of Le Francais, and pretty cranky. It's great that Louis and I are here together and can finally give a domestic life, but we need friends too. Something that I don't have here (yet). I need to do a better job of keeping in contact with my Edmonton friends...which I haven't been doing like, at all. Anyway, even though I've been a bit blue, last night we had a few hours of pure hilarity. Claudie had brought up the idea of having an "English Night" where everyone must speak English. Wow. First, they are all really good at speaking English, and second, they are really good at speaking slang/trash talk. Obviously I haven't set the best example. Normally, I...

I'm still going through my "I hate French". I'm still speaking it most of the time (today when an insurance broker called speaking English but he was so hard to understand that I started to reply in French), still around it most of the time...it's just all around me and it isn't going anywhere. I usually understand what's going on, but I miss the subtleties that really make up the entire conversation or whatever is going on. I'll stop and ask for clarification (unless I'm at a grocery store!!!), but it's sometimes...well, I'm just kinda going through a phase where I'm easily frustrated, which isn't helping me. I go to our room sometimes to watch something on-line rather than hang out with everyone if something French is on. I find at the end of the day, I'm just tired of asking for clarification, and sometimes my frustration gets the best of me and I give up instead of saying, "Hey guys, I don't know what the hell is go...

We don't have a set schedule for the girls yet (the end of year exams complicate the matter), but we basically have them the entire week for the month of June. This kind of helps me with my transitioning to life with teenagers...but on the weekends they go back to their mom's place...and I'm not so sure Louis and I know how to hang out together. Last week when both girls were gone during the day, we were BORED!!! It was cold and raining and there's only so much of chilling out and lovin' that can happen...so Louis came up with the idea to make cupcakes. So we made cupcakes. Normally there are a gazillion festivals, but it's not really the season for it yet. Closer to the end of June every day there will be a music/comedy/arts festival of some kind, some where. But for now...this weekend...we got bored. Saturday was a day of errands. Errands take us longer. Especially me. I keep writing my grocery list in English, which then means I have to do a Google Trans...

Sadly, I don't have any pictures from last night, but it was quite an event. Claudie, my youngest step-daughter, was nominated for an award at her school. Every year they have an "Excellence Awards" ceremony. She struggled in earlier years getting the marks that she wanted and finally this year, after putting her incredibly demanding cheer leading on the back burner and working her tiny ass off, she's getting the marks (and recognition) that she deserves. Initially there was a tiny bit of controversy because each nominee is only allowed to invite 3 people, and her mom, sister, and dad, obviously have precedence over me. Thankfully, Louis was able to talk to the right person at school, explain our situation, and get me a ticket. I would have been happy to celebrate with her in any way, but being at the ceremony was a much better way. Unfortunately, she didn't win, but when I heard about all of the absolutely incredibly amazing students (who rank highly across C...

A few posts ago , I wrote about how I've been reading more about different types of regimes/diets and different types of eating, on my journey to change the way that I eat for the better. I don't think I'll ever be someone that can never have treats, but I would like to have them in a healthier way. I'm also very interested in learning about what foods can be harmful or helpful to different people's bodies. One category of food is called Nightshades. Nightshades are a botanical group known as solanaceae – making up over 92 varieties and 2,000 species. Some examples of nightshades are: Potatoes, all varieties (except for sweet potatoes and yams) Peppers (red, green, yellow, orange, jalapeno, chili, cayenne, pimento) Tomatoes, all varieties (including Tomatillos) Paprika Eggplant   Certain conditions can be aggravated by nightshades, such as arthritis, joint-pain, and autoimmune diseases. BUT, it's not a hard fast rule. This is more on the homeopathi...