Monika, Meghan and Samantha along with pets Ellie (dog), Flip (cat) and Nick (hamster) hit the road Friday afternoon at 4pm after a long day of work with the sun shining, tunes blasting and a box of pizza to keep us company. The weather was gorgeous and roads perfect! We had a few laughs in the car and listened to a masterfully crafted 1990's and 2000's playlist which set the tone for the trip.
We made really good time on the James Bay Highway with not an incident to report! It was awesome! We even saw a linx!! Rolling into Amos around 1am, I promptly collapsed into bed and woke around 8:30 to get the day started. Saturday felt longer for me but was still a great drive with great roads and weather. Making a pit stop at the local Tim Hortons that morning I discovered their new Nutella products. Sometimes I have regrets about living in the north....
Anyways after dropping off Meghan in North Bay where her parents drove from Ottawa to pick her up, then Samantha in Etobicoke and then Monika in Oakville just north of me, I made it back to good old Pinegrove Road at about 7:30ish. I was POOPED but glad to be home in one piece!!!! (Or so I thought... Turns out I ran over a nasty nail the size of a French bread stick requiring a repair, you just can't take me anywhere!!)
Since Saturday I have really packed it in and I'm paying for it now. I caught up with Clair and Ryan and Heather as well as went for a really nice dinner at the Lowville Bistro with family on Sunday. I got my first sunburn of the season and discovered that I packed horribly for this tropical southern weather. Monday I had brunch with Hilary and Mummy and literally shopped the entire day, picking up many items on my list which felt good but I also spent so much money I felt a bit of panic. I saw my first theatre movie in months (the James Franco and Jonah Hill one, pretty good!). Today I had my winter tires changed over to my summers, repaired the puncture (thank goodness I didn't have to replace yet ANOTHER tire) got my oil change, ran some more errands and had to literally and forcibly crash at home. I've been in bed ever since. Bobo has been my constant and loving companion over the last few days, following me around the house, laying with me, giving me kisses on demand and really just being an all-around prince.
On a more somber (yet celebratory) note, I have finally gotten rid of my last hamster, Nick! All of the 8 babies born to sweet Carmonika either died peacefully (...hopefully) or were adopted out. When Carmonika herself passed (too soon), I decided it was time to finally get Nick a home that would appreciate him and love him.
Traveling long distance with hamsters is no easy task believe it or not and had become somewhat of a burden. I had looked for months for someone to take him with no luck. While he used to be a classroom pet last year, certain circumstances with my new class meant that I couldn't keep him with us. I also didn't want to advertise him on the Internet incase some sicko took him and wanted to use him as their weird play toy or for anaconda food so I decided to take him to my local humane society. Did you know you needed to be INTERVIEWED in order to surrender an animal? Yeah. I had to make an appointment and fill out a looooooong application/history as well as pay a $35 fee. Gone are the days when you could just leave an unwanted pet on the doorstop in a wicker basket in the night.
Since they took my drivers license information I'm pretty sure I'm blacklisted forever from adopting from there so that's great. Feeling judged and like a knob for having to surrender him, I made sure every person I came into contact with at the shelter knew the backstory. I was given a beautiful gift of a hamster who turned out to be pregnant. I tried my best to care for a billion hamster babies (buying the best cages, food, bedding, toys and treats - all of which I donated to the shelter) but I just couldn't do it anymore. It's hard being a single grandmother to 8 babies.
Its a no-kill shelter so they assured me no one would be plotting his death with a string of dental floss and that since he was the only hamster in the shelter, he would likely be adopted out soon. I pranced out of there with my sister and I am now a free agent!
So as I lay here in my bed, feet up and the window open, I am grateful for the past few days and a relatively intact car. I'm so happy to see my family and friends and am really looking forward to the next week and a half of reunions and catch up. I'm saving my big Costco and Dollarama shops for the end of the trip since there really is no space to store all that stuff in my mom's house while I'm here.
Anyways I'm going to watch a show or something. I leave you with some words of wisdom from Cookie Monster.
Yay for no accidents! I also got my first nail in the tire ... thankfully it was an easy repair.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that about the Humane Society. It does make people think a lot harder about giving up animals. I think it's important. I suppose the $35 can't be used as a taxable benefit donation?