Anyone who has been following my meandering muses here at OhMeNerves.com knows that after a period of sporadic or non-existing posts comes the obligatory post falling under the category of writer’s block. That post usually contains a bunch of shtuff that could arguably be a virtual cesspool of blog posting inspiration leaving you, my faithful reader(s) wondering why I’ve abandoned you for so long.
Well, I hate to disappoint so this post will be no different.
Our summer here in Atlantic Canada has been a pretty shitty one so far. Through to the end of July it’s been mostly miserable, wet, and unseasonably cool. To make the weather even more unbearable, the nice days we did have were coincidental to days that our son had to work. So our weeks consisted of a sentence of rain, drizzle and fog punctuated with a lot of complaining from our offspring. Then August came. The first week was a little cool, but since then someone turned up the furnace. It’s been hot as a one night stand for two solid weeks now, and it hasn’t been a dry heat either. As everyone knows, it’s not the heat, it’s the stupidity. I was stupid enough to think we could get by without installing our air conditioners. It was fine for a while, but now… boy oh boy. Now I’m saying it’s not reasonable to put them up if we are starting vacation in a week or so anyway.
Speaking of segues, our vacation is a little late this year. We normally go during the first two weeks of August. But this year we are going during the first two weeks of September because our son is off to Memorial University in St. John’s. So we postponed our vacation by a month to bring him off to the gates of adulthood and help ready him for a year without dear old Mom and Dad.
The funny thing about segues is that Jody over at SteelWhiteTable.org also took his vacation in Newfoundland this year. While he was there he came across a souvenir that reminded him of me. Check out the hat in the picture… “Oh Me Nerves!” I don’t get it, but you never know what triggers an associational thought. I’m grateful Jody. Believe it or not, I don’t already have one, but I do have a couple of coffee mugs with that phrase on it and I have another friend that went to Newfoundland and bought a T-Shirt (for herself! Thanks Chrissy!) with that same phrase on it.
Our next-door neighbours moved out after nine years of putting up with sharing a wall with us. They decided that they would move all the way across town and change their phone number, names, and license plate. When they settled in, they immediately went on vacation at the opposite end of the country. I’m doing my best not to take it personally, although I have invested in Costco quantities of deodorant and breath mints just in case.
I played in a pool league this summer too. Played very well, my best season ever. We are in the midst of playoffs now… we’ll see if I manage to fall short of the championship (again).
Besides all that, we’ve spent a fair amount of time riding our four-wheelers, sitting on our asses, walking, eating like seagulls, dieting and generally being pissed off with enjoying each other’s company.
Now, as I look at the calendar, I can see that we have eight more sleeps before we leave to make the 2000 kilometer journey to our home town and the place where we will say “so long” to our son as he starts his own journey through the ranks of higher education and, hopefully, a full and prosperous life. Eight more sleeps.
Saturday morning. I kind of enjoy it when I’m up earlier than the others. Brew a pot of coffee, toast a couple (4) of slices of raisin bread and sit out on the back deck. There’s a gentle, warm breeze and the soothing sounds of other people working on their lawns.
