*Sigh*

I've spent the past 20 minutes sighing over a bunch of pictures a blogger took during her recent trip to Paris.

My heart aches to go visit, again. There are a few places in this world that I'm inexplicably drawn to, and Paris is right there at the top. Maybe it was the timing of my first trip - 4 months into dating a sweet boy I now call my husband. It was a trip full of holding hands and giggling like idiots. We wandered all around the city, sans tour-guide, with only an out of date map and our own minimal knowledge of the place to lead us. It was perfect.

I'd love to go back and see the city with my older eyes. To sit on a terrace at night, drinking (and appreciating) wine and eating cheese. I'd love to walk hand in hand along the path to the Eiffel Tower with S and try to find that tree we carved our initials into. There's a laundry list of things I want to see, things I only heard about after I came home.

One day... One day...

Thunder Bay

I'm having a wonderful time on vacation, up here in Thunder Bay!

I left on Thursday afternoon. Hopped on an Air Canada Jazz flight, I'd never flown in such a tiny plane before!! There were only 50 seats! Here's what the plane looked like:

It took off like a BULLET... One second we were taxiing the runway, and the next we were in the air! Kinda took my breath away... The flight was good, and QUICK. It's 16 hours to drive up here, but less than 1.5 hours to fly. All that water gets in the way, I guess.

Here's a shot of Thunder Bay from the Plane:

My hostess, Jaimie, and her friend Jason have been SO accomodating! I've been able to do everything I've wanted to do, and we've seen SO much of the city (and the outskirts).

The first day, I took some shots of "The Sleeping Giant" and then we went to an area on Mission island where, at dusk, deer gather out in the open... They're so tame! It was pretty neat!

Yesterday we visited some of Jaimie's friends - the people are so damn nice up here! -, stopped by the Terry Fox Monument and saw BEAUTIFUL Kakabeka falls - it was all iced over:

Last night we went out on the town, had some bevvies and danced the night away at C2 - it was a tonne of fun! I haven't been out clubbing in AGES, so needless to say a "sleep in" was definitely in order today ;)

Today we went up Mount McKay part of the way - it was really icy, and didn't want to get caught in the ice & deep snow (like another unfortunate guy - who we helped get un-stuck!!! ), and we took Jaimie's puppy for a walk on Lake Superior - yes that's right - WE WALKED ON THE LAKE!!! Crazy, eh?! I was a little apprehensive, until I saw a couple of other people walking out way further than we were!! Here's a shot from the lake:

I've got 50 bajillion other photos, but I won't bore you with them all, right now :) I will say, though, that this little get-away has been so refreshing. It's been so amazing to catch up with my old friend, and to recharge my parental batteries. I'm missing my boys SO MUCH MORE than I thought I would (I mean, I knew I'd miss them, but SRSLY - NEED BBY HUGZ NAO!), and find myself texting S and longing to call so very frequently.

Tonight and tomorrow are jam packed full of places to go, and people to see, so I will - no doubt - have more pics and stories to share! I'll talk to y'all very soon!!

Lotsa luv, K.

Blargh.

Okay, so I'm getting on a plane tomorrow and flying a bazillionty lightyears up north, and I'm not sure what I'm the most freaked out about. Let's see, what are the options?

a> The boy is sick. Icky crusty nose, general crankiness, spitting up mucous, whining for mommy. He's a handful at the best of times, but when he's sick he can be over-the-top clingy, especially at night. When there's 2 of us to switch him off back and forth, it's manageable, but it'll be just S for 3 nights. I'm hoping and praying he feels better.... for S's sanity.

b> I've never flown by myself. Never done the whole "plane" thing alone before. I know it sound like a sucky-baby type of thing to whine about, but the whole thought of going through security and then getting on a big 'ol cage 'o flying steel all by myself is daunting. A few guzzles of wine before the flight might help that, though.

Okay... That's it. Wow, it looks so trivial all typed out in front of me now. It's funny how making lists can help me feel better. OCD much?

*sigh*

I'm sure I'll add another post tomorrow. From the plane, a little tipsy from the wine ;) , all relaxed and such... But it'll be a little bit of a struggle for me to get to that point.

TTYL.

Sun Sand, Surf and Snow Blindness?

I booked me a vacation! Well, technically, I haven't BOOKED it, and while the term "vacation" usually conjures up images of hawaiian shirts, pina coladas and sunny, sandy shores - this won't be THAT type of "vacation".

I'll be travelling to... Wait for it... Warm, tropical THUNDER BAY!

Now I know what you're thinking. She's lost it. She finally snapped. The endless months of not sleeping, and long, stressful hours at work have taken their toll. She's packin' her bags and takin' the short bus to crazy town.

I haven't lost it, and YES, I do realise that the temperature RIGHT NOW in Thunder Bay is... Hey wait, it's only -12. It's -7 here... That's not too bad!

Here's the thing. Someone really close to me lives in Thunder Bay, and I've been TELLING her and TELLING her I'd come and visit. ALSO, I really need to get away from the everyday stuff. I need to go SOMEWHERE ELSE. And sicnce I'm not made of cash, it has to be somewhere cheap. Like, really cheap.

So yeah, flights to Thunder Bay are really inexpensive (no one wants to go to Thunder Bay in February?! WTF?!), I'll have GREAT company for a few days, and be able to catch up with an old friend (who won't be able to complain anymore that no-one comes to visit - LOL!!!!), and I'll be able to get some R&R.; Something I haven't been able to do in FOREVER.

If you've got any ideas of things to do in TB (even though I know I'll have an awesome tour guide), please let me know! :)