Canadian Myths or Falling in love with Tumbly

At the beginning of this year several friends and I made a list of ten things we would like to accomplish this year. Rather than make a sweeping, impossible resolution we picked ten smaller things that could reasonably be done throughout the year. Mine included things such as reading Game of Thrones ( not yet completed, said book has grown legs and run away to a better circus) and leaving the county. I am incredibly proud to say that I have actually accomplished the latter.

At the end of July Tumbly and I went to Montreal and Quebec City in Canada-land.
[It should be noted that my only vacations in life have been to Disney themed locales and therefore I require land or world to complete the name of any vacation destination. Thank you for your patience. ]

Going to Canada-land isn't exactly climbing the Alps as far as international travel goes, but for this east coast girl, it was very exciting. We found Montreal to be absolutely charming, easy to get around, and a really splendid place to people watch. While it was a great introduction to navigating a place where the primary language is different than our own, none of the historical sites really compared to those available in Europe or even at home for us. When you get the chance, please drive the King's Highway from Montreal to Quebec City. I'd like to know if it is actually a scenic highway or if we did experienced it as the proper Canadian myth it is.

The absolute best part about going on the trip was being there with Tumbly. We have been dating a little over a year now and this was a very big step. Spending eight days with someone around the clock is a great way to see how you mesh with your partner on an everyday basis. I learned more about myself and my boyfriend than I ever thought I would.

Here are some of my findings----

1. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, including ourselves.
I am great at planning where to be, at what time, with what ticket, yet horrible at actually getting there at said time. Tumbly is fabulous at getting us there perfectly on time with snacks and water. The tickets however, are mine to hold. By the end of the week, we learned its okay to push each other on the things we aren't great at and sometimes it's fine to just take over that section of the trip. Waking up to tea and fruit so I wouldn't be hungry by the time we hit the train station was so well done, I was in awe.

2. Food is a huge part of life.
Agreeing on meals and the time of those meals takes more coordination than we ever considered possible. If you need a coronation dinner planned, we are your people.

3. Even if you've spent the weekend together, there may be parts of the day you have never spent together. There might be habits that go along with those parts of the day you might not be a part of.
Every morning Tumbly says his prayers and sings as a part of being the most perfectly balanced religious and secular person I've ever known. He truly inspires me daily. Anyway, I never felt so apart of his life than when I would wake up just slightly to his voice. The first morning after the trip I truly missed it.  It's really a little moment in the grand scheme of our relationship, but sometimes those are the moments we grow the most through.
On the other hand, I still closed the door when occupying the ladies' room. Some things are better left a mystery.
[ The real mystery? How I decided those two habits existed in the same point. Oy.]

4. Life is exactly what you make of it.
We missed buses, found surprises, forgot tickets, and changed plans instantly at least once a day. Since we were visiting a major city and renting an apartment rather than a hotel, our vacation was a lot more like daily life than we expected. I hope I made him smile at least half as much as he did for me through all the ups and downs. It's good to know a trait like this is a standard rather than reserved for dates.

After all is said and done we had an amazing time. Montreal was a lovely city to fall in love all over again.

Merci!

Mother's Day

This day is simply marvelous for many reasons, not the least of which, it was started in my favorite city, with the help of one of my favorite people, at one of my favorite times in history, for a wonderful reason. A woman by the name of Anna Marie Jarvis along with Philadelphia merchant John Wanamaker established Mother's Day in 1905 to commemorate her mother, Ann Jarvis, who had recently passed away. Ann was a fiery sort of a dame who set up Mother's Day Work Clubs all around the county to fight for better sanitation and work conditions. During the Civil War, these groups provided services to both Union and Confederate soldiers neutrally, because all soldiers are always also a mother's son.
I am not a mother. I'm not sure I have any specific inclination to be one. Nevertheless, there are few solid guarantees in life and one of them is that at some point, everyone in this world had or has a mother. Your best friend, your train conductor, the clerk at that grubby little stand outside your office who remembers your favorite three o'clock snack, and the love of your life all had a mother who for nine months, carried a heart beneath their own. The choice to share their body to nurture a new life is a sacrifice and a joy worth recognizing in and of itself. Also likely, that same woman shaped your favorite people into who they are today. Maybe not. But someone did. It is even more likely that lots of someones were involved in the process. As a godmother and an aunt who read a story, changed a diaper, and kissed the tear stained cheeks of a very darling 2 month old, I think that it is worth mentioning that no one person raises another.
So Happy Mother's Day to my mother and the mothers of my best friend, of my train conductor, of my shop clerk, and of the love of my life. And to all of the women in-between who added a smile to a day or picked up where a mother could not always be. Thank you. You make the world go round in a very pleasant manner.