Mainly Maine!

This morning we woke up extra early in an effort to get to Saint John, NB from Dover, NH in time to see the reversing falls do it's thing. We were thwarted by one issue after another. We got on the highway finally only to discover that my GPS refused to acknowledge the satellites and therefore could not give us directions. This was not the first malfunction this trip, so I pulled into the next Best Buy I saw and grabbed a new one, on sale, and tax free, so what the heck I thought.
Then I plug it in and go to pull out and discover that it's actually only loaded with USA maps, which I'd have known, if I'd had my glasses on.
So, I did what any horror fiction fan, when faced with having to chose a destination in Maine, while headed toward the border to NB. I used Stephen King's address to get me to Bangor Maine while we stopped at several wifi locations in an attempt to load the map software. There aren't a lot of bathrooms on the way, nor gas stations once you leave Bangor. We did meet some fellow Ontarians, making all the same pit stop and gas stops as us, which was kind of fun.
Anyway, many many hours later, we are finally in NB, and we got to see some very interesting parts of Maine. FYI, the highway in NB has moved and part was completely blocked off costing us another 10 minute detour.
Saint John was a little bit more...industrialised than I expected. And um... something about the site of that big ass paper plant made me almost turn the car around. But I went on. Into the incredibly tight construction lane!
Holiday Inn express Saint John, is no Holiday Inn express Westfield, MA, but it has a little bedroom for the kids, with ikea table, chairs, etc. and bunkbeds. Also down by the pool is a kids play area which we used after playing in the pool which was nice. The pool was an insane madhouse, so the playroom was a nice diversion.

Day 2 down, day 3 begins!

I'm sitting here starving while my slug a bed children sleep in. Why doesn't this ever happen at home?!
Yesterday we drove from Westfield, MA to Kittery, Maine. At which point I learned that my GPS can't tell the difference between US bypass RTE 1 and RTE 1 itself. So that was super awesome, and cost us 45 minutes of driving and getting stuck on a lift bridge, that we couldn't actually see anything when it lifted (the little kids were excited that they might get to see the drawbridge go up. for the record we just saw traffic).  We did see the USS albacore sub, which i might take the kids in to see today if I can find where I was. The littles should find it interesting for a few minutes at least!
Almost got stuck in a large traffic jam after leaving the kittery outlets and thankfully were able to get off right away and pop into an Olive Garden for supper, without any wait. Yay!
This hotel, the Homewood in Dover, NH is theoretically bigger than the one we had in Westfield, but honestly, there was more place for us to sit and actually be in the room at the Holiday inn.  
Back to shopping today, and hopefully some lunch at Bob's clam shack, which we saw once on the food network. Who knows might try to squeeze in a stroll at the state park if the weather is crappy enough to keep most people away, but not crappy enough to keep us away-
Thrills and Chills ladies and gents, 'cause that's how I roll.
Tomorrow we wind our way North to Saint John. Hopefully it stops raining. Damn you weather network for being crazy far off the forecast!

Day 1 is done!

We made it approximately 759 km today. Got in the car by 7:30 am and pulled into the hotel at 7:38pm.   We spent 2 1/2 hours playing at the museum, made 3, or so bathroom stops, and still had time to get some swimming in!The kids enjoyed their brief visit to the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester.   http://www.museumofplay.org/    We've been there before, and they knew they were basically taking a break to stretch their legs, so they picked the parts they wanted to see the most before we hit the highway again.(Be warned, the exit is under construction as of July 24, and had a detour that I missed, which threw me off a bit)   We then spent the next 5 1/2 hours on the road to Massachusetts.
Surprisingly there wasn't a massive amount of whining, though one teen with an upset stomach was still periodically sick throughout the day. I blame the gravol.
We got off the highway in Westfield, MA for the night. The Hiexpress
This Holiday Inn express is decent. It seems fairly new,the bedroom is two double beds, and then a separate area with a sofa bed as well, some benches to rest our stuff, or us on, and a nice chair/ottoman combo. A desk, fridge, etc as well.  The pool's ph or something is a little off, but it's nice and warm, we were pleasantly surprised all around. The kids think the big aquarium in the lobby is neat too.  At this point, I'd stay here again. Of course I have no intention of driving this far again for  a while...
 Well, not until the way home anyway! Tomorrow we head for NH. Live Free or Die. Is that the best state motto ever or what?

1800+ km to go!

Dawn has arrived and is gloomy and cold.  Not sure whether to be glad it won't be scorching in the car or not.  4 days till we hit PEI ! Currently one preschooler is crying because daddy can't go with us.  Another is crying in bed because he has to get up (usually he's up ages before the rest of us). One teen likely never slept, and the other has taken gravol and is nursing an anxious upset stomach.  Woohoo! It's time to hit the road!  Maybe I should go without the rest of them. At this point it might be more fun 😛.

Approximately 750km to our first night stop- hoping to squeeze in a stop at the Rochester Museum of Play to break the ride up a bit.  

Start your engines, cause this road trip is about to begin!

This is Z and I on the carousel at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester.  I was actually trying not be be sick. Rides and I are not friends, but he's usually terrified to go on, and wanted to, so I braved it.

Mirror Mirror

I was reading a blog post tonight over at "The Militant Baker".In truly magical internet fashion I got there after checking out Luved Clothing's website  where they claim their clothes are made to fit all body types.
I don't know if their clothes fit all types, but I do know that their clothes look soft and lovely, and also that  the Militant Baker made me think about body image and being happy with the skin you're in; With attitude! She writes in a voice that I wish I was comfortable expressing- But I'm not happy with how I look. My body image has been shite since roughly...birth?? I remember wishing I was the lightest kid in the class in grade 4. I was uber jealous of the scrawny girl that was smaller than me, and fainted all the time. I know, I know. I was tiny myself, yet already messed in the head body-image-wise.
And now, I'm...well...I guess I look like I ate that 9 year old me. And a few of my friends.
That's how I feel like I look. Maybe I don't. I have no idea. I look in the mirror and sometimes I think I look ok. Then I see a photo of me and realize that my mirror must have magical properties to make me look normal! (I should market that thing! Fame and fortune here I come)*  pre-sale victory dance*  and then I spot-myself in the reflection on my dishwasher. Seriously, is that my ass? Mirror Mirror on the wall, please magically make my ass small!

As someone who has watched what they eat for years, including not ordering dessert as a treat in a restaurant even though I haven't eaten a dessert in months, because I know that while the skinny woman next to me is scarfing down a giant platter, with an appetizer , salad and hugely caloric dessert, people are saying "wow where does she put it all?!" If  I order a meal instead of a salad, I know very well that people are saying to themselves (or table-mates), "should she really be eating that?"  And yeah, I should. But I don't.
Shame on the people who say things out loud, like " people should accept people the way they are" while being Judgey-Mcjudgerson's on their insides. Sometimes, people do exercise and eat right, and who the frig knows why they don't lose weight. Just like no one knows why some people can sit on their butts eating chips and anything they want, and never exercising, and they don't gain a pound.  
Anyway, for a blog with some big bold attitude check out the Militant Baker.
To see the most disturbing freaking underwear I've ever seen and hope I never have to wear... check out the c-string....warning, your eyes might be offended if you don't want to see a person wearing what has to be the least comfortable underwear on the planet. Almost looks like a headband for your privates. C-string. Seriously.

Spiderella

One night when I was a teen and  I was doing homework, while talking on the phone to my friend, there was an audible thunk and a hideous black spider dropped off the roof right into the middle of my textbook. It was so big that my friend heard it through the crackly 1980's phone technology.
I've always had a love hate relationship with spiders. I hate them, and they cleary love me, because they find me no matter what.  I don't know when it started-

I imagine it went something like this.

Me; innocent and helpless in my crib, too young to turn over, let alone escape.

Enter 1 spider. 8 terrifying legs of sheer terror. 6 eyes staring as it inches closer... coming into focus as I cry in terror, and my parents, following the methods of some quack sleep Dr, leave me to cry it out, never knowing the horror that awaited their infant daughter! And paralysed by fear it comes right up to me and meeting my eye with it's horrible nightmare eyes- it somehow marked me. No matter where I go or what I do, spiders find me.I'm a freaking spider magnet.  My only reprieve is when my oldest daughter is nearby, because spiders seek her out too.   

So many heinous spider tales, so little time-  Not too long ago, I was zipping along a highway when one crawled out of my steering column and almost sent me off the road.Another time i watched one crawl across a classroom, up and down  desks as it made it's way through all the students and made a bee-line right for me. Or a spider-line I guess?

I enter a room and automatically scan for spiders . One nightmare rental we had, I had to kill spiders in the tub every morning.There was always a spider or two lurking around our computer desk, or up by the ceiling. So gross.  Then the most marvelous invention came along- THE SWIFFER!
That original swiffer was awesome for killing yellow sac spiders that crouch where the ceiling and wall join- or for ones out of reach. So handy with that swiveling head, giving so many angles for attack. The old model was a stiffer version, but the modern one has a slightly padded end. This means you have to use a little more force than with the older version, (because those little buggers curl up and play dead) but it still allows spiders to be dealt with from a distance.In the middle of the night the other night my husband rolled over and there was a plump juicy one the size of a twonie just crawling on the wall by his face. And that's why that is his side of the bed ;)
I've considered changing my name to spiderella. Might as well, it's like a fairy story/nightmare the way that they find me.

Maybe you are sitting there all smug, thinking how lame I am for being afraid of spiders.Or I'm horrible for killing them. Yeah. Whatever. Have you ever seen how many spiders hatch at one time? I have. 

Time's a cheetah

I was thinking earlier about how the memory of bringing my almost 17 year old home from the hospital is crystal clear. It really feels like it was yesterday, his floppy little baby head, the brilliant July sunshine-How we worried the car seat wasn't in right, the overwhelming love we had for this tiny person. In my heart, my memories this moment just happened. The same for each of my children's births, or serious illnesses, and so many moments in time that feel like they just happened. 

People always say that time just slips by somehow. I swear I was just 16 yesterday. Ok, maybe not 16, but more like 21.  Time doesn't slip by- . It runs. It bolts away from you like a starved cheetah after a juicy gazelle.   Hug those kids, cause next thing you know, you're hugging them at their grad, then hugging them as they move away,then their wedding,  or one day maybe hugging your grandkids, then if you are lucky, they are hugging you at the end of your days-

hell ya I'm cheerful today.