So I've already been grounded for 2 days, but have been hard at work and trying to debrief myself from my arguous journey. Okay, so maybe it wasn't so arguous but it was long and most definately overwhelming.
It's hard to say, exactly, how my trip affected me. Nothing bad came as a result, which was to be expected, but it seems as if so much good came of it that my brain simply can not digest all that happened. I felt connected. I have a family. I really, truly have realized that I am not alone in this vast world. I know where my laugh comes from, where I get my nose, my sense of humour, my wits, my passions, my strengths--my history. I know the story behind my own: where my folks come from, where Dad's uncle, Grand-dad's, and uber great Gran-dad's hail from and what amazing things they did with their lives.
Growing up I know nothing of the Tomlinson's (nor of the Mills') and now, I know fully that I come from a line of people who have done great things with their lives. Here I had always thought and been told that my family tree had been lazy bums, but that's not the case at all! I would like to thank everyone who set me straight. I'm proud to be a Tomlinson.
Anyway, the trip home was alright. I was excited to be going home as I missed some people a lot, but terribly sad to be leaving Ontario. I've also come to realize that I am as much and Ontario-an as I am Albertan. I was with complete strangers (despite the blood relations) and on strange turf, and yet was completely at home. Is that naive?
At the airport, after a lovely last meal with my Aunt and Uncle, I was forced to part ways with them. Going through security I was choking up, but managed to hold it in until I passed through. I of course had to call Dad from the airport and talk to him to feel grounded again, and there I was, blubbering the whole time. But not like, all out crying; tears just seemed to fall from my eyes on their own steam. Weird.
The plane ride home wasn't exactly comfortable either. I sat next to a lovely couple on their way to Vegas and enjoyed getting to know them, and out flight attendents were quite commical, but there was so much turbulence. At one point the Captain had to issue a warning vocally and turn on the seat belt sign and we were just tossing and bouncing everywhere. Coming into Calgary was the worst though. I've never gone through turbulence that bad. Despite that, I was laughing the whole time. Turbulence, so far to my experiences, is fun.
David and Curt picked me at the airport and we came home right away, much to my appeasement. However, I quickly learned that my homecoming would be one filled with work. Withing hours of touching down I was at work, and then worked another 10 hours the next day, and was supposed to today. Except today...it SNOWED! It snowed at the end of May; thick heavy snow that took off all the limbs from trees and our power lines. I thank God for my earlier-than-expected day of rest. The snow's already melting and the power is finally back on (came back around 5:30pm after going off at 10am) and my clothes are starting to dry. And I write this all now from the most comfortable place I know...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Day Four, Five, and Six: The New World
The past few days have been unbelievably busy, and unbelievably short. Friday was spent mostly with Aunt Barb and Uncle Mark. We went for a bit of a hike in a beautiful valley, and just enjoyed each other's company. Later that evening we ventured over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Sue's for tea and cookies on our way out to Aunt Peg's and Uncle Don's (where I stayed for the night). I got to visit with my cousin Heather for a bit, met my adorable little cousin Sarah (who is actually 5), and hung out with her older brothe Eric, who was maybe a year old last time I saw him (8 years ago!). People have gotten older!
Saturday morning came bright and early with a 6:30am wake-up call. That's the earliest I crawle out of bed since I got here! Aunt Peg and I then went to pick up my Aunt Kathy and the three of us girls booked 'er out to the Tomlinson cottage on Gull Lake. We stopped in Little Britain and got these amazing, unwholesome treats called "Chelsea Buns," on our way. They were fabulolus.
We met Mark, Tim and Eric at the lake and so began my very first weekend of "cottaging." I loved it! The lake was stunning. It was a wee bit nippy so I didn't go in, but there were plenty of boat rides and fireworks, games and photo ops. It was so much fun! Except for the huge spider I brought in with the wood. Oh, and the cottage had been broken into sometime before we got there (which is weird because the cottage is on an island). And the fact that the place smelled of moth balls. But other than that, I loved it!
Kathy taught me how to play Chinese checkers and, with joint effort, she and Mark showed me up at crockinole.
Sunday I was taken to Minden and given the Kawartha dairy experience (similar to the Foothills Creamery out West), which was fabulous. In the evening, much to little Eric's amusement, we set of some fireworks (Roman Candles) and lit some GIANT sparklers. I love Ontario!
We came back to civilization yesterday. I was sad to leave to cottage, and even more sad to realize that the end of my vacation was fastly approaching. Peg and I stopped by an apple market and I picked up some Apple Butter (some for Mom and Dad too) and real maple syrup. I can't wait to have some back home. I was able to have a longer visit with Heather and Don yesterday too. Heather and I went on a bike ride all 'round Streetsville, which was rather exerting.
I was back at Barb and Mark's for supper and a quick unpack and repack. We drove into Toronto for the fireworks last night, and stood right across from the Expo and on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was breath-taking! The vast expanse, the fireworks everywhere, the view; it was amazing.
So this whole trip has been busy as ever, but definatly eye-opening. I've really learned a lot about my parents and where I come from. It's weird because, despite the fact that I have basically been away from these people all my life, we have the same antics, the same strengths, the same trains of thought, senses of humor....It has been amazing to see myself being related to people. It's been fascinating learning more about my parents and seeing similarities (and oh, how many!) between my Dad and his younger siblings. Even more cool is seeing just how functional my family actually is. I was blown away by how Dad's family actually loves him and how some of his younger siblings deeply care about him. I was humored by the Grandma Mills and how she is so funny (she has such a witty humor). These are people I was either terrified of or unaware of growing up, but really, they are all amazing people!
All in all, to this point, I have decided that I am a Tomlinson/Mills from Alberta/Ontario (and a little BC). I was expecting to be more one than the other I guess. But as Aunty Barb said at the airport: "You're a perfect blend of your Mom and Dad." Makes sense, now that I can actually see it.
Saturday morning came bright and early with a 6:30am wake-up call. That's the earliest I crawle out of bed since I got here! Aunt Peg and I then went to pick up my Aunt Kathy and the three of us girls booked 'er out to the Tomlinson cottage on Gull Lake. We stopped in Little Britain and got these amazing, unwholesome treats called "Chelsea Buns," on our way. They were fabulolus.
We met Mark, Tim and Eric at the lake and so began my very first weekend of "cottaging." I loved it! The lake was stunning. It was a wee bit nippy so I didn't go in, but there were plenty of boat rides and fireworks, games and photo ops. It was so much fun! Except for the huge spider I brought in with the wood. Oh, and the cottage had been broken into sometime before we got there (which is weird because the cottage is on an island). And the fact that the place smelled of moth balls. But other than that, I loved it!
Kathy taught me how to play Chinese checkers and, with joint effort, she and Mark showed me up at crockinole.
Sunday I was taken to Minden and given the Kawartha dairy experience (similar to the Foothills Creamery out West), which was fabulous. In the evening, much to little Eric's amusement, we set of some fireworks (Roman Candles) and lit some GIANT sparklers. I love Ontario!
We came back to civilization yesterday. I was sad to leave to cottage, and even more sad to realize that the end of my vacation was fastly approaching. Peg and I stopped by an apple market and I picked up some Apple Butter (some for Mom and Dad too) and real maple syrup. I can't wait to have some back home. I was able to have a longer visit with Heather and Don yesterday too. Heather and I went on a bike ride all 'round Streetsville, which was rather exerting.
I was back at Barb and Mark's for supper and a quick unpack and repack. We drove into Toronto for the fireworks last night, and stood right across from the Expo and on the shore of Lake Ontario. It was breath-taking! The vast expanse, the fireworks everywhere, the view; it was amazing.
So this whole trip has been busy as ever, but definatly eye-opening. I've really learned a lot about my parents and where I come from. It's weird because, despite the fact that I have basically been away from these people all my life, we have the same antics, the same strengths, the same trains of thought, senses of humor....It has been amazing to see myself being related to people. It's been fascinating learning more about my parents and seeing similarities (and oh, how many!) between my Dad and his younger siblings. Even more cool is seeing just how functional my family actually is. I was blown away by how Dad's family actually loves him and how some of his younger siblings deeply care about him. I was humored by the Grandma Mills and how she is so funny (she has such a witty humor). These are people I was either terrified of or unaware of growing up, but really, they are all amazing people!
All in all, to this point, I have decided that I am a Tomlinson/Mills from Alberta/Ontario (and a little BC). I was expecting to be more one than the other I guess. But as Aunty Barb said at the airport: "You're a perfect blend of your Mom and Dad." Makes sense, now that I can actually see it.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Day Three: The Five
Today was a little bit slower than the past couple, thank goodness; not nearly as much travelling!
I slept in this morning (although I am still not adjusted to the time difference, so my body thought it was waking up early) and went out for lunch with my Aunt and Uncle at this huge, and I mean huge, Chinese buffet. It was huge. On our way home, Uncle Mark took us for a quick stop at Erindale Park and the Credit river, and on a tour of "Millionaire's Road," which fully lived up to its name. How and why people can have houses like that bewilders me.
This afternoon Aunty Barb and myself went off shopping to the main mall in Mississagua, not so convieniently named "Square One." We decided to be big spenders and absolutley splurged on some $7 flip-flops and frozen yogourt. But I had a lot of fun hanging out with my Aunt.
Then, the coolest part of the whole day was the drive-on. We booked 'er over to a drive-in ttheatre just down the road and watched a new movie, "Next," which came complete with cheesy (and yet surprisingly cool) old promo's for the lobby and hot dogs, oh, and frozen dill pickles. Very bizzarre. But, overall, the whole experience rocked. And it was a butt load cheaper than the theatre.
Tomorrow is my last real day, that I am aware of, at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Mark's. Tomorrow night I move up to my other Aunt and Uncle's place (after visiting briefly with another Aunt and Uncle and wee cousins) for the night to visit with my cousin before moving up to the cabin for a couple of days. Then, Monday sometime, I'll be back in Mississagua for the night and flying home around noon Tuesday. So I guess my whirlwind vacation is far from being completed and I have at least another 13 hours or more of pure travelling before I reach my lonesome bed back in tiny ol' Linden.
I slept in this morning (although I am still not adjusted to the time difference, so my body thought it was waking up early) and went out for lunch with my Aunt and Uncle at this huge, and I mean huge, Chinese buffet. It was huge. On our way home, Uncle Mark took us for a quick stop at Erindale Park and the Credit river, and on a tour of "Millionaire's Road," which fully lived up to its name. How and why people can have houses like that bewilders me.
This afternoon Aunty Barb and myself went off shopping to the main mall in Mississagua, not so convieniently named "Square One." We decided to be big spenders and absolutley splurged on some $7 flip-flops and frozen yogourt. But I had a lot of fun hanging out with my Aunt.
Then, the coolest part of the whole day was the drive-on. We booked 'er over to a drive-in ttheatre just down the road and watched a new movie, "Next," which came complete with cheesy (and yet surprisingly cool) old promo's for the lobby and hot dogs, oh, and frozen dill pickles. Very bizzarre. But, overall, the whole experience rocked. And it was a butt load cheaper than the theatre.
Tomorrow is my last real day, that I am aware of, at my Aunt Barb and Uncle Mark's. Tomorrow night I move up to my other Aunt and Uncle's place (after visiting briefly with another Aunt and Uncle and wee cousins) for the night to visit with my cousin before moving up to the cabin for a couple of days. Then, Monday sometime, I'll be back in Mississagua for the night and flying home around noon Tuesday. So I guess my whirlwind vacation is far from being completed and I have at least another 13 hours or more of pure travelling before I reach my lonesome bed back in tiny ol' Linden.
Day Two: The Olde World
Yesterday was another day full of travel; I was exhausted by the time I got back to my Aunt and Uncle's place.
It was my first time ever on the train, and the experience over-all was fabulous! I was completely in awe of the beauty of this place. The trip down to Kitchener was breath-taking; I tok so many pictures! Then, when the train pulled into Kitchener, I was not only greated by my second cousin, but even my Grandparents came to pick me up. It was so sweet! We promptly went back to Grandma and Grandpa's place and had chicken noodle soup. Awesome! I always wanted to go for chicken noodle soup at my Grandparents place! We visited for a while before my cuz and I had to depart. I was sad, but know that I should come back and visit them before long.
My cuz is pretty much the keeper of all knowledge about Kitchener/Waterloo. He took me on a tour (we were on foot thank goodness) of Kitchener: my mom's old old house, Victoria Park, WLU, where he works, the first house in Kitchener. He took me to his house and showed me a bunch of old pics of mom's family and his, gave me a couple books I'm looking forward to reading, and then out for supper at this old boat house in Victoria Park, convieniently named "The Boathouse." We killed a couple of hours there talking about pretty much everything under the sun and then, sadly, headed up to the train station again. My day went so quickly! I had taken so many pictures, walked so many km's, and I ended up where I had started none-the-less. It was a whirlwind, but insatiably fascinating trip to "Berlin," as it was formerly named. It truly is a beautiful city though. I mean, it obviously has it's problems, but it could easily wet the appetite of any creative mind.
It was my first time ever on the train, and the experience over-all was fabulous! I was completely in awe of the beauty of this place. The trip down to Kitchener was breath-taking; I tok so many pictures! Then, when the train pulled into Kitchener, I was not only greated by my second cousin, but even my Grandparents came to pick me up. It was so sweet! We promptly went back to Grandma and Grandpa's place and had chicken noodle soup. Awesome! I always wanted to go for chicken noodle soup at my Grandparents place! We visited for a while before my cuz and I had to depart. I was sad, but know that I should come back and visit them before long.
My cuz is pretty much the keeper of all knowledge about Kitchener/Waterloo. He took me on a tour (we were on foot thank goodness) of Kitchener: my mom's old old house, Victoria Park, WLU, where he works, the first house in Kitchener. He took me to his house and showed me a bunch of old pics of mom's family and his, gave me a couple books I'm looking forward to reading, and then out for supper at this old boat house in Victoria Park, convieniently named "The Boathouse." We killed a couple of hours there talking about pretty much everything under the sun and then, sadly, headed up to the train station again. My day went so quickly! I had taken so many pictures, walked so many km's, and I ended up where I had started none-the-less. It was a whirlwind, but insatiably fascinating trip to "Berlin," as it was formerly named. It truly is a beautiful city though. I mean, it obviously has it's problems, but it could easily wet the appetite of any creative mind.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Day 1: Landing in Unfamiliar Territory
I'm in Toronto!!! And guess what, I'm dealing with my very first (ever) bout of homesickness. That's right, I miss home and I have only been gone for a couple hours! This is so strange for me!
Anyway, I'm enjoying the Toronto bit so far, despite missing my bed and friends. And my sweet new mirror. It is 11pm here, insanely humid, at least 20-some degrees, raining (thunderstorms actually), smelling lovely and everything is so green. The tulips here are like 3 feet tall! This place is just breath-taking. Everything is so green, Lake Ontario is right close, beautiful parks, houses, perfect jogging terrain...if it weren't for the fact the most of me is a West Coast girl, I would move here in an instant. I mean, I'm in the middle of Mississagua and I feel like I'm in a village somewhere, a small one. With really rich people.
My Aunty Barb and Uncle Mark picked me up from the airport this afternoon with no problem. In fact, I had no problems at the airport what-so-ever. The flight was long, but chekcing in, security, baggage--it all was taken care of within 25 minutes. A serious blessing. And landing and recognizing people I haven't seen in nearly a decade from across the room; I was trillled to see that I have some sort of magnetic pull towards my family members. They promptly brought me home, fed me yummy spaghetti, and took me out to a church ladies meeting which focused on how to minister to Muslims. I wonder why God brought me all the way to Ontario for me to hear that; to have it primarily be my first activity in this undiscovered land seems more than coincidential. In fact, on every vacation, my first activity at m destination is always something to do with a church. Coincidence???
Tomorrow morning requires some day travel though, so it is in my best interest that I retire. It has been a long, long, long day.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the Toronto bit so far, despite missing my bed and friends. And my sweet new mirror. It is 11pm here, insanely humid, at least 20-some degrees, raining (thunderstorms actually), smelling lovely and everything is so green. The tulips here are like 3 feet tall! This place is just breath-taking. Everything is so green, Lake Ontario is right close, beautiful parks, houses, perfect jogging terrain...if it weren't for the fact the most of me is a West Coast girl, I would move here in an instant. I mean, I'm in the middle of Mississagua and I feel like I'm in a village somewhere, a small one. With really rich people.
My Aunty Barb and Uncle Mark picked me up from the airport this afternoon with no problem. In fact, I had no problems at the airport what-so-ever. The flight was long, but chekcing in, security, baggage--it all was taken care of within 25 minutes. A serious blessing. And landing and recognizing people I haven't seen in nearly a decade from across the room; I was trillled to see that I have some sort of magnetic pull towards my family members. They promptly brought me home, fed me yummy spaghetti, and took me out to a church ladies meeting which focused on how to minister to Muslims. I wonder why God brought me all the way to Ontario for me to hear that; to have it primarily be my first activity in this undiscovered land seems more than coincidential. In fact, on every vacation, my first activity at m destination is always something to do with a church. Coincidence???
Tomorrow morning requires some day travel though, so it is in my best interest that I retire. It has been a long, long, long day.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Two Days!!!
May: glorious May. What a month it has been to date. I mean, the past two weeks have been something else. I have been frantically trying to get everything in order for my trip down east, syaing good bye to a lot of friends, and some are coming back to me (and oh how I have missed them!!), planning course schedules for college, as well as racking up an impressive long distance cell phone bill between calls to BC and Ontario. Crazy!
I am quite pleased to say that life is going swimmingly at the moment. I've been doing a lot of self-reflection (as I have learned is important from time to time) and been making some positive changes in my life; all in all, I have firmly realized that right now, I am exactly where I want to and am supposed to be. I am thrilled about connecting with my family, my job, my friends...everything is the way it should be. Awesome.
Well, I guess I should getting going. The girls and I are going on an Ikea run this afternoon. Now, if that doesn't make us domestic, young women, I don't rightly know what does!
I am quite pleased to say that life is going swimmingly at the moment. I've been doing a lot of self-reflection (as I have learned is important from time to time) and been making some positive changes in my life; all in all, I have firmly realized that right now, I am exactly where I want to and am supposed to be. I am thrilled about connecting with my family, my job, my friends...everything is the way it should be. Awesome.
Well, I guess I should getting going. The girls and I are going on an Ikea run this afternoon. Now, if that doesn't make us domestic, young women, I don't rightly know what does!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Say What??
So, just when people are strating to get on my nerves and when I am starting to doubt that I'll actually make it to college in the fall, God has a way of surprising me. Seriously. I started to panic a little again last night over the whole college thing (which still totally doesn't seem like it will actually happen), and this afternoon when I went into work, I was informed that a kind hearted patron o the coffee shop left me a hefty tip in my "Rebecca's Global Grounds Scholarship" jar. I almost started to cry. I mean, the cheque was enough for a textbook or so, but seriously: the fact that people are willing to tip large amounts of money for a cup of coffee boggles my mind. At recent count, the tips in the jar have amassed more than $250 in only three weeks. And this is at a small town coffee shop. It's impressive to me. Not just impressive, but astonishing! People rock. I just wanted to thank people, in general, for being nice. I like it when the world spreads a little luv.
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