Same-same; not different

Some of you know that I made an impromptu visit to e-town due to unfortunate circumstances- such is life, but it has been wonderful to be back with my family, especially my sisters. I have generally thought the adage 'you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family' to ring true retrospectively; however, I have really enjoyed each day that I have been home, even to the extent that I put off seeing other people in favour of my fam (sorry to those of you I didn't see). As much as I enjoy being away and doing my own thing, it feels like I have refueled my connection with those I care about most. I suppose that my 2011 Horoscope Annual is somewhat correct in saying 'Home and family are central to your life, providing you with a sense of connection and continuity'... but, not to the extent that I will be moving back any time soon, so don't be getting any crazy ideas!

And if anything else has been reinforced in the past two weeks, it is that I am certainly glad not to be living here full time. Flying in, I forgot how flat this place really is. I also wasn't very excited about the presence of snow in April where Craig was reminding me on a daily basis that it was sunny and in the high teens in Brum (uncharacteristically warm for April, though). And as I sit and write this entry, it is nearly blizzarding with a total of 15 cm of snow fallen from 8am - 3pm. No Alberta, you may be trying to make me stay, but you certainly aren't doing a very good job of convincing me. Edmonton is also brown, dead, and mouldy where I was admiring the crocuses and daffodils just as I left England. There is no aesthetic motivation for me to want to look out my window, let alone set out of the house. Same streets, same buildings, same trucks, same mullets, same bums begging for cans. Nothing has changed.

I did venture out with my sisters to a spot of shopping, some restaurants, and to get perma-stamped, but only to find that even in the city centre, or on Whyte, or in WEM it's all still the same dead/robotic feeling. I am assuming that some of this is due to the long winter you have had this year; however it was sunny for the majority of my time here, and nobody was looking particularly twitterpated to me- there was a lack of spring in people's step. Or maybe this dead feeling is because everything is so open and spacious in Edmonton. Perhaps, if things were a bit more cozy, then we could feel the energy of each other a bit more.

It seems to me that everything feels a bit more vibrant and energetic in England, but then again, maybe I get this feeling because it's still newish to me. Maybe some of you should come to visit me and let me know what you think for yourself ;)

Mundane March

You can correctly assume from the title of this month's entry that March hasn't been very exciting. Not that each month should be exciting, but I'd like to think that I do something at least eventful each month that keeps my readers interested so that I don't resort to reporting about how much broccoli I have consumed the past week (not enough, if you were wondering). This lack of activity is probably also why I am really stretching this entry to the last possible time to post... I've been hoping to give you some substance.

As I sit here thinking of what to say, I have had some events this month, so I guess I am spoiled in that exciting events do happen to me, maybe just not this month. Let's see...

Work has been extraordinarily busy (still in Reading). Something that is fabulous about the UK and employment law is the holiday entitlement. Forget your basic two weeks, Canada... the UK has four weeks of basic entitlement. I've had more days off than I have known what to do with this year. Down side is that they don't pay it out to you if you don't use it; really, it's use it or lose it.

The weather has been quite mild, and another thing that is lovely about the spring in England is that there are daffodils that pop up everywhere. The harsh winter (stop laughing) is apparently good for them, and bad for our yuccas. Yes, I have started to learn a little bit about our garden. We had two yuccas, which look(ed) sort of like palm trees on the base with spiky fronds on the top, that haven't survived the winter. From what I hear from some of you in Canada, you are also barely surviving the everlasting winter. Again, not really sorry that I am here in the mild and not still wearing my snow boots.

Apart from mowing grass and cutting back all of the dead shrubs, there hasn't been much progress with our house this month. I last left you with a half painted hall/stairs/ landing and we have since finished. Seven litres and three coats of Labrador Sands 3 later, I have managed to paint every nook and cranny in this area. This did take a certain amount of bravery (balancing on top of the banister above the stairs) and restraint. I do suggest using a standard paint colour, not a foofie one off of the cards if you intend to use more than one large can of paint. Reason being, we bough the 5-L can of the foofie paint and mixed it with another 2.5-L can when the 5-L was half-way finished as recommended by the paint specialists in Homebase (Rona). Unfortunately, the new mixed paint was about one shade lighter than the first coat-and-a-half. Then after the whole lot was painted with a second coat, I had a few touch-ups to do... thinking that since both paints had already been mixed, I was in the clear to splotch it on where needed. Nope. The next day that's exactly what I had- lighter-still splotches. After a very tedious third coat, it all looks lovely. Well, the hall/stairs/landing look lovely. The kitchen is still a disaster.

Newly assembled Ikea furniture.

Craig and I did manage to get away this month to see a band, which was a welcome treat. Elbow is a band from Manchester; the best way to describe them is probably nu-yuppie-rock. They are pretty mellow (some say depressing, but we disagree when you actually listen to the lyrics), lyrical, and use other instruments than your standard guitar, base, keyboard, and drums. The best thing about them is Guy Garvey, the lead singer, who has an absolutely amazing voice. We were worried to see the band at the arena they were at because the acoustics are generally quite terrible and some of the sound from the band was lost in the room, but Guy's voice was impressively strong and worth every penny hearing it live. The gig was entertaining and classy; they were wearing suits, there was a large LED chandelier, mirror ball, and they were generally entertaining. They mainly played songs from their newest album, Build a Rocket Boys, which is not our favorite, but a grower, and Guy made everyone feel welcome and comfortable while they played. If you do want to listen to their stuff, I recommend you start with Cast of Thousands. http://www.elbow.co.uk/

On that note, I shall leave you. Next month will be more exciting; and I actually mean exciting as I will hope to have some news about our kitchen. Also, we are going to Snowden over Easter with a group of friends to climb the 'mountain'. I am not really sure how mountain-y this mountain really is, but I have already made a race of it and told everyone that I will be the winner, even though that's not meant to be the point.

I hope that winter finds you well, sorry ;) Kristyn