March 3, 2011
In less than 24 hours, I will finish teaching my last class before the March Break.
The March part is correct.
The Break part. . .that is open for interpretation.
We plan, at this moment depending on the weather, to travel to Montreal for a couple of days.
Sans enfants, chiens et chats.
The enfants all have to work.
Empire has re-instated the March Break toonie matinee, so my kidlets will be busy, busy, busy keeping the masses entertained.
The chiens et chats are, for the most part, not amenable to public consumption.
Especially consumption that requires an eight hour car drive in a car that resembles a life size dinky car.
Eight hours with Stephen, in the car, listening to the 70s on 7.
Pray for me.
A lot.
More importantly, pray for Stephen.
And if you see him on the side of the Jean Lesage Highway, please feel free to pick him up.
But don't let him near your satellite radio.
We'll only be away from Sunday to Wednesday, so it isn't as if we're leaving the kids and the critters alone for an extended period of time.
Cab fare to get back and forth to work and enough milk, granola bars, boneless, skinless chicken breast, baby carrots and french fries, and they won't even know we're gone.
Plus the unlimited texting at no extra charge provides some cushion.
The only sad part is that we're not leaving until Sunday, which means I won't have an opportunity during this visit to go to St. Sophie's Ukrainian Orthodox church.
But I will be going to Adonis: http://www.adonisproducts.com/pages/accueil_en.asp.
Let the shopping commence!
We'll stock up on jumbo sized containers of herb de provence and boxes of petit fours for the kids.
Perhaps a new purse or two or four. . .
A visit to the multi-storied HMV and Chapters.
The kids have placed their orders for egg bread.
Meaning we'll be the silver Ford Fiesta barrelling down the highway towards New Brunswick with a back seat full of egg bread.
Stephen has put his mother to task looking for tickets to a matinee performance of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
And most importantly, we'll get to spend some time with Stephen's parents and his Aunt Irene.
Plus, Stephen's mum will get to see me 50 pounds lighter than the last time she saw me.
The little things, remember.
Not that there won't be any work happening during this mini-vacation.
In fact, there will be a lot of work happening.
Marking, funding applications, data coding, book reading. . . .
All must happen during these few days away from teaching.
Hence the fuzziness regarding the definition of "break."
Because this week away from teaching will be the only teaching break I'll have until June.
Intersession begins at the beginning of May.
And I am teaching two courses: one in the morning, one in the afternoon.
Intro to Qualitative Methods and of course, Crime and Popular Film.
So I must enjoy this break while I can.
Because there won't be another one for a while.
Ultimately, this visit represents the challenge that Stephen and I face on a daily basis.
The fears and concerns regarding what is going on with our parents.
Only with mine it is a little bit easier, because they are close.
I can hop into the car, and in just a few minutes be with them and be able to assess how they are doing, see if there is anything I can do for them, or try and fix any problems they are having.
Provided the fixing is within my power.
And because my parents and my brother are close it is easy to take that closeness for granted.
Stephen's parents live a reasonable drive away.
Eight hours isn't anything we can't do in a day.
But it does require some planning.
We just can't get up and leave.
And as his parents get older, his father is 80 and his mother is in her late 70s, Stephen worries more and more about them.
Increasing number of medical appointments and procedures.
Mobility.
All the things that you worry about as your parents become older.
There have been times when Stephen gets upset because he isn't closer to his parents, and I can see mine essentially whenever I want.
I know he isn't angry with me.
Rather he is angry at not being closer to his parents.
I often feel helpless at these times.
A feeling I do not like.
And because we live in Canada, where winter reigns supreme 6 months out of the year, planning a trip from November to April can be challenging.
We wanted to go the week after Christmas.
Snowstorms.
The weather isn't perfect this coming week, but we are hoping as the weekend comes closer, we'll have a better sense of what the weather will be like while we're away.
Cause it isn't just the getting there, it's the getting back that we have to think about.
Because I don't know how long the kids could manage the dogs on their own.
Or more accurately, how willing they would be to look after the dogs on their own.
I could come home to the dogs chained up outside because the kids have had enough.
Or, perhaps, vice versa.
Now THAT would be interesting!
Title Lyric: Roadtrip by Wendy Bucklew
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