gottawonder

Today I am grateful for:

Being able to sleep for a fair chunk of the afternoon. I felt very worn out and tired, and congested. I needed to rest.

My home, my animals, living in a rural area.

Wonderful food.

I loaded all the clothes up that I decided I didn’t need, as well as some shoes, more bedding, and some toiletry stuff I don’t use.

All together, it was about three garbage bags worth.

It was fun seeing my sister try on some of the clothes, and they looked great on her. I’m glad I sent them along, because I wasn’t wearing them. Things shouldn’t just rot in my closet, they should be worn by someone who will enjoy them.

Normally I would take the bus, but the bus was sold out, again. The same thing happened at Christmas. I just got so angry I decided to try the drive.

I’m not a comfortable driver, and this was an immense trip for me. Roughly 13 hours of highway driving, by myself, at high speeds, which I don’t really like.

The trip to my Mom’s was okay, I made it. I was more comfortable than I thought I would be, but very tired.

Then there’s the usual mixed blessing of a family get together. We get together at the family farm every May long weekend, and visit. It’s wonderful to see everyone, and then, there’s the usual challenges and disappointments that come with seeing everyone’s current situations.

Like my one niece, who is living with my Mom, and though she is working, she can’t afford to move out. She’s become surly and uncommunicative to almost everyone, and makes life very uncomfortable for my Mom at times. Everyone knows she should get her own place, but there just isn’t anywhere she could go right now. My Mom is starting to worry that my neice is just not going to move out, and it is unpleasant to consider that she could still be there for another year, and then what? Her job won’t likely pay more, rent isn’t getting cheaper, what is she going to do?

The drive back home was going really well, until I drove over a really rough patch of bad highway (Saskatchewan is famous for their horrible roads. I wasn’t on the main highway because I didn’t want to go through Saskatoon). I ended up damaging the oil pan, and having to call a tow truck, then having my husband meet me with our neighbour’s trailer (we were able to haul the car home). Luckily, the damage seems limited to the oil pan.

Not great, but not really a “bad driving” problem, just a circumstance of driving, period.

Now that I have this trip under my belt, I might be able to do it again, only I’ll have to stick to the major roads. With more experience, they shouldn’t be so daunting.