Things I Learned on my Christmas Trip to NB

Number One — It is possible to drive ALL the way to Fredericton from London in one day. We usually stop in Montreal at Kate and Pierre's house, but this time we knew they had Christmas company and we wanted to make it as far as we could so the second day's drive would be a shorter one. Our goal was Levis, PQ, just beyond Quebec City, but on Christmas night we found out there was a whopper of a storm heading up the east coast. We decided the best thing to do was to drive until we hit snow. This worked out great for the most of the day. Boxing Day = no traffic. Driving conditions were perfect. The kids were happy. We had a total of about 2.5 hours of stops for meals and bathroom breaks. So we soldiered on. We didn't encounter snow until Woodstock, NB (which, ironically, is about the same distance from Fredericton as Woodstock, ON is from London — we drove through Woodstock twice in one day!) We briefly flirted with the idea of stopping in Woodstock. It was 1:00 a.m. in NB, but only midnight according to our internal Eastern Time Zone clocks. The kids were both sleeping soundly behind us. We only had an hour to travel, and if we were to stop in Woodstock we would have that much further to go to Quispamsis the next day, and we may even be stuck in a hotel an extra night. We quickly cast aside the notion of stopping and headed down the Trans Canada Highway. It was awful. So many times we said to ourselves "We should have stopped in Woodstock". We could barely see the sides of the road, and I had visions of the travellers airlifted from Highway 402 just a few weeks before. But Chris is a wise and seasoned Maritime driver, and he knows how to drive in a snowstorm. He got us to our destination (Bliss and Doreen's house) safely at 2:30 a.m., a mere seventeen hours after setting out the previous morning.

Number Two — Christmas is not the best time for a quality visit to New Brunswick. Don't misunderstand me — I loved every minute of it, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate Christmas with my family and dear friends. But time is just too short. We only had a week to visit, and since my family and Chris's family live in different cities, that time had to be divided into two 3.5 day visits. It wasn't enough. When I see my family and my friends in New Brunswick I want to settle in and enjoy some quality time.

We did manage to fit some quality visiting into that short few days. Tracy had the Finlay clan over for a visit. Nurnie was staying with Mom and Dad, so I got to spend some time with her. The kids had plenty of play time and four sleepovers with their cousins, Jill and Charlie (their all-time favourite people on earth!) They went swimming at the Aquatic Centre and went sliding at the awesome Quispamsis Rec Centre hill. We had a late Christmas dinner at my Mom and Dad's, which I appreciated so much. No turkey dinner tastes like Mom's turkey dinner! I had lunch with Shari and Julie and got caught up with them. We got a babysitter for the four kids and went out to dinner with Tracy and Blair and Mom and Dad. We saw Brad and Jody's newly finished basement, and got reaquainted with Hailey, who hasn't forgotten us after all! We managed to crash two New Year's Eve parties in Fredericton, at the Hansons and the Inmans, and shared some laughter with old friends. We had New Year's Day dinner with Bliss, Doreen, Justin, Natalie and Mariana, and learned a new favourite game while we were together (Ticket to Ride — it's awesome!). We went to FWC on Sunday morning and saw many dear friends there. We shared another turkey dinner with Nana on Sunday afternoon, and Chris hooked up a webcam for her so we can easily visit often face to face (We did this for my Mom and Dad, too. It has been wonderful to be able to visit this way from London!) Mark and Krista invited a whole gang of our friends over for an evening visit, so we had the opportunity to spend some time with many dearly loved friends. Monday was a bonus day, when we had planned to be travelling home but had learned that the weather would be better the next two days. So, Janelle spent the day with her BFF, Taylor, and Connor had an afternoon on Crocket Street with Joshua, Jordan and Seldon. I went to Heidi's for coffee and a cozy visit in her new home. On the way home, we stayed overnight with Kate and Pierre and Maddie and Remi, which is always a treat in the middle of a long trip.

We did pack a LOT into a week. But it wasn't enough. And by the end of it, we were pretty exhausted. We've decided that next year we'll probably stay in London for the Christmas holidays. After that we'll know which is worse: the mad rush of travelling at the holidays, or the loneliness of not travelling.

Number Three — Living this far away does not seriously alter close friendships and relationships with family. When we moved, one of my biggest worries was that my niece Hailey, who is two years old now, wouldn't know who I was, or who my kids were. When I went home this summer, she didn't know who I was, but over the course of our month long visit, we got to know each other. This time, it didn't take more than an evening to get reaquainted, and she was calling Connor and Janelle by name when we arrived. She has stayed aware of us through pictures. She is the same age Connor was when we moved to Kingston, and he never forgot his grandparents or aunts and uncles. Now that we have a webcam, we can have regular visits with Hailey, so hopefully next visit she'll be as comfortable with us as any other members of her family.

The night of the party at Mark and Krista's, my friend Amanda was one of the first ones I hugged, since I hadn't seen her yet on this trip. After we pulled out of our hug she said "I feel like I just saw you the other day!" It's true! My friendships with all those friends to whom I was closest have not changed. We can't get together as often as we used to, but with our lives as busy as they were, that was always an issue. I know eventually my friends will come visit me in London, and I will always get down for a summer visit, and with Facebook and email and telephones and this blog, staying in touch is easier than it has ever been before. I have moved away, but my friends are still there, and they are still my friends. And that made coming back to London much easier this time than it was in August.

Which brings me to Number Four — I am richly blessed with wonderful friendships, in New Brunswick and in London. Seeing my friends in Fredericton was wonderful, but for the first time I came back to London excited to see my new friends here! We have found a wonderful church and have met some great people there, and Jocelyn (who has been bringing me out of my shell since I was 14) is here and has connected me with a wonderful new friend, Tina. The three of us spent the morning together today, and I always feel so blessed by my visits with them. They make me feel truly loved and appreciated, and they are happy to share their precious babies with me once or twice a week, so I get my "baby fix". No one will ever replace my friends "back home", but I wouldn't trade these new friendships for anything either. I'm a lucky girl.

Thanksgiving in Indy

Living a single day's drive from our friends, Peter and Ellen Moore, and their three awesome daughters, Mallory, Julia and Shorey, has been one of the greatest perks of living in Southwestern Ontario. This past weekend was our third visit with them since moving here. We shared the Fourth of July celebrations with them there; they came here for Labour Day weekend; we celebrated American Thanksgiving with them. It has become a bit of a pattern, and one that I am happy to see emerging. Before we left the discussion had already begun about when they would be coming to London next. Long weekends are a necessity, since it is a six to seven (plus, if you don't pay attention) hour drive. Looks like we'll see them again sometime between February and April. I can hardly wait!


Shorey (not a good representation of her always beautiful
smiling face!), Mallory, Janelle, Julia and Connor.


This weekend included so much it has to be a list:

• Thanksgiving morning started at 4:30 a.m., when I got up to get in line at a department store with Peter and Ellen to check the most important items off their "to buy" list.
• We returned home at 7:30 to sleep.
• Thanksgiving turkey dinner.
• After-turkey nap in preparation for marathon shopping beginning at 10 p.m.
• Ellen and I left the house at 9:00 Thursday night to go in search of "shopper-sustaining" coffee and head to Toys R Us. When we arrived and saw the line of at least 1000 people we decided there was nothing in that store that was worth standing in line for. We headed home for warmer clothes and a game of cards with our husbands.
• We headed out again at 11:00, and stayed out until 5:30 a.m., with a break for "lunch" in the middle. It was definitely like nothing I had ever seen! Line-ups galore, some great deals, and some crazy people. An education. Not my favourite way to shop, though.
• Friday, Ellen and I slept while Chris and Peter took the kids to the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
• That evening, we met them in downtown Indianapolis for the lighting of Monument Circle. Sandi Patti sang to open the evening, which was a treat for me, and a trip down memory lane.
• Saturday we didn't have to do anything! But Ellen and I headed back to Kohl's to shop without a thousand other people. A much more enjoyable experience! And I am nearly finished my Christmas shopping.

And now to finish my "cliff-hanger" from yesterday. We left the Moore's home at 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning, and I drove the first leg of the journey, stopping at 1:00 p.m. an hour inside Michigan at McDonald's. We were pretty happy with our progress, figuring we were halfway home, not counting the inevitable line-up at the border. We let the kids play in the play place for a while, and then we got gas and were on the road, this time with Chris behind the wheel. Our children were happily occupied with movies in the back seat and I started the People magazine crossword puzzle. We had unplugged the GPS in favour of charging Chris's cell phone, but were sure we wouldn't need it since I-69 goes all the way from Indiana to the border at Port Huron/Sarnia. Neither Chris or I were paying much attention to the road signs, and he was helping me with my puzzle as we travelled. However, about an hour into our drive Chris said "Leanne, I don't see any signs that say I-69 anymore". Sure enough, I dug out the GPS and plugged it in. We were in Grand Rapids, Michegan, about 45 minutes from where I-96 branches off from I-69. It added about 1.5 hours to our trip, and the border added another 1.5 hours. We arrived home just after 8 p.m., where we all fell happily into our beds after a LONG day of family togetherness.

So it was on another trip to Peter and Ellen's, on the way home this time, at Thanksgiving, this time in November, with our long-ago-named children in the backseat, that we learned that history does repeat itself. I assured Chris that he'll laugh about it someday, but I've decided that today is a good day to start!

Take a Number

I sat on the train yesterday with a sweet young woman named Sydney, and we had a lovely time chatting all the way from Toronto to London. She is a 21 year old native Londoner in her last year at Western University, and is looking forward to moving to "the city" when she is finished. I laughed to myself at her youthful enthusiasm when she talked about leaving "the country" (London — our city of 360 000 people) and settling in for a few fun years working in Toronto. She is studying something that I can't even remember the word for, but it relates to the insurance industry and is basically really hard Math. I couldn't help chuckling when she told me about her love for anything that involves Math, and I thought to myself "Good for her! The world needs more Math girls!" I am clearly not one of them. But maybe my daughter will be. Although it would be quite a miracle with me for a Mom!

The whole exchange about the joys and evils of Mathematics reminded me of this lovely little poem by Mary O'Neill, one that makes even me appreciate the numbers in our world. This is for you, Sydney!

Take a Number

Imagine a world

Without mathematics:
No rulers or scales,
No inches or feet,
No dates or numbers
On house or street,
No prices or weights,

No determining heights,

No hours running through

Days or nights.
No zero, no birthdays,
No way to subtract
All of the guesswork
Surrounding the fact.
No sizes for shoes,
Or suit or hat....
Wouldn't it be awful
To live like that?

Mary O'Neill

Treasure

I finally arrived at the hotel, found my sister, and filled my aching belly. I drove Tracy and her four friends (crammed in the back of my rental Cube) around Lowell, searching unsuccessfully for a Target. We did find a Marshalls and I was the only one who did not leave any money behind. The shopping portion of the weekend had begun.

And it continued the next day. We got up at our leisure and made our way to the hotel's continental breakfast, before heading next door to check out The Cracker Barrel's famous gift shop. I have to say, that is a great place to find something to take home to a 10-year-old boy! Treasures galore! Spy glasses! Exploding pop bottles! All sorts of toys that make endless amounts of noise! All I needed was some piece of Red Sox memorabilia and Connor's souvenir needs were met.

The daytime agenda for Friday had been a trip into Boston for shopping and sightseeing, but the tropical storm was apparently barrelling down upon us, so our wise bus driver and tour leader made other plans. They found a mega-mall in Burlington, MA, that easily satisfied this group of ladies, all with purses full of credit cards and US dollars waiting to be spent. Tracy and I spent the majority of our time at Justice (a little girls' clothing store), Crate and Barrell (beautiful things, but a waste of time when you only have one suitcase) and Macy's, where we found some awesome deals on children's clothes (including that important Red Sox t-shirt). We met the rest of Tracy's gang of girls at The Cheesecake Factory for lunch, where we wisely ordered our cheesecake to go. Afterward we spent 45 minutes chasing down a few other favourite stores before we hopped back on the bus to head back to the hotel. We passed a lazy couple of hours in our hotel room with our cheesecake and a quart of milk, and then got ready for the main event, the Living Proof Live conference.

I know I've mentioned Beth Moore and the awesome Ladies' Bible Study group I left back in Fredericton. We have shared many hours and many tears with Beth over the years. I was so excited to finally hear her speak in person. She always seems to know exactly what I need to hear when I need to hear it. God has certainly used her to get through to me on a number of occasions, and I wondered what He was going to show me through her this time.

On the way to the arena, the tour leaders handed out a gift for each of us: pink Dollar Store tiaras, so we could identify each other in the crowd, and maybe catch Beth's attention, too. I was clearly travelling with a bunch of ladies who did not take themselves too seriously, because every one of us donned our crowns and headed into the building. We arrived at the Tsongas Arena along with 2800 other women of various backgrounds and denominations, and the evening started with the Living Proof worship band led by Travis Cottrell, a tremendously talented musician with a wonderful gift for leading people in worship. I don't think I've ever experienced a time of praise more focused and intentional. As we were singing one familiar song after another, dozens of names of God were being flashed on the screens over the stage area. Clearly our attention was being turned toward the One to whom we were offering our praise. Then Beth took the stage. She immediately established a rapport with the audience. She even mentioned the Moncton church that was the group we were travelling with (although she never did comment on our stunning head attire!)

When Beth announced the passage we would be studying for the weekend, I was surprised to find that it was Luke 2, the Christmas story. But it was the particular verse that she was going to expand upon that touched me. It was one of my favourites: vs. 19, "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." I have always loved this verse, especially since I've become a mother. I love to think about Mary just sitting back and treasuring all the wondrous things that were occurring in her life, and really digesting their significance in the grand scheme of things. The title of Beth's message was "The Lost Art Of Treasure". I can't think of any better way to share what it meant to me than by listing her eight main points.

• There are treasures out there! This really hit me from the very beginning. I remember thinking: She means there are treasures everywhere. Even in London.
• They're not my treasures until they make it past my defenses. Hmmmm... That one hit it's mark! For six months I've been quite conscious NOT to call London home, not to start loving anything about it, not to let it reach my heart. I'm not going to experience any treasures here until I let them into my heart.
• Treasures strung together can bring healing. It is finding those treasures that is going to ease the pain of being so far from home.
• Most people will miss the treasure entirely. Of all the people who experienced Jesus' birth, Mary is the only one who took the time to treasure it. I want to treasure the special things about this time in my life, and in my children's lives. I don't want to miss it because I'm bitter about not being in New Brunswick.

That was Friday night. That was a lot to think about. When we came back on Saturday morning, I started tearing up as we sang the opening song. When Beth opened by asking us to share with someone what we learned the night before, I was a mess! It's a good thing I was talking to my sister, because she's seen me a mess before. I basically cried all through the morning. But they were good tears.

• The fine art of treasuring got lost in the same trash as our time. As someone who has been a working mother in the past, I understand lack of time. But that can't be my excuse now. I have plenty of time to treasure the great things God has to offer me here and now.
• Where there is one treasure, there could be many. Really, it isn't that I haven't been treasuring anything lately. I have been very thankful for the gifts that I have recognized: our trip to Indiana, Tracy's surprise visit, our parents' visits, our trip to NB in the summer, seeing Peter Pan at Stratford, having the Moores visit us on Labour Day weeknend, my trip to Toronto next month with Julie and Denise, and this trip to Boston with Tracy. But I know there are treasures in the every day here. They are the ones I need to appreciate.
• We'll minimize our treasure if we look past the hardship and pain. Beth said: "When you go through things in life that you think should have killed you, but they don't, you know it's the all-surpassing power of Jesus Christ to save you. Treasure!" I remember a dozen years ago thinking I didn't know how people live through multiple miscarriages. I believe I treasure my children in a completely different way than I would have had I not experienced heartache in trying to have them. Not that I love them more than I would have, or more than other parents love their children, but in a very different way, on a different plane of understanding. Well, I never thought moving would kill me, but I did think I'd be pretty much miserable. And I often have been, but that's my fault. I haven't allowed God to pull me out of my funk and show me all the treasures He has to offer me here. And those treasures will be so much the greater because of what I had to go through to get to them! I think it's time.
• When you feel like you've lost the treasure, look for Jesus. I have always known where I need to go when things don't make sense. Every major challenge of my life has been overcome by taking it to Jesus. He is faithful. He has all the answers. And He holds the treasures in His hands.

Beth had us turn to each other and pronounce a blessing on each other by repeating a form of these eight points. I almost made it through without tears, but not quite. I was overwhelmed by how, once again, God knew exactly what I needed to hear. And I was ready to head home and start living it.

I headed to the front doors with Tracy, and said goodbye to her and her sweet friends that I had gotten to know that weekend. Then I went back inside for a bit to avoid the traffic, look at some of the books and CDs for sale, and see if I could find any of my BM girls from Fredericton. I was lucky enough to catch Kandy and Carol on their way out, and I had already had a nice chat with Janice and Sandra at break time. It was so good to see their familiar faces and share some warm hugs! Then I was on my way.

The trip home was much less eventful than the trip down on Thursday. I got to Buffalo at 10 p.m. as scheduled, fueled up with some English Toffee Cappuccino at an American Tim Hortons, and started the 3 hour trek home in the rain. After I crossed the border I put on a CD that I had gotten at the conference of Beth Moore speaking at another conference. She certainly knows how to keep you awake! This time her message was about desire, and she finished speaking just as I pulled into my driveway, happy to finally be home, and ready to treasure everything about it.

A Whirlwind Weekend!

There and back in three days! I can't say the weekend went off without a hitch, but the flies in the ointment really just proved to make it more interesting. I'm so glad I took the opportunity and didn't let little things like a three hour drive to the airport, or needing to rent a car in Boston, keep me from making a memory.

I was in the car at 6:45 a.m on Thursday morning, only 15 minutes behind schedule. The weather was cloudy but not rainy, and I put on my tunes and settled in for a long ride. Construction in Brantford and a nosy border guard held me up a bit, but I arrived at the Buffalo airport in just under three hours. By this time it had started raining quite hard, so I was thankful I had brought my raincoat and an umbrella. I parked in an enormous long-term lot, and made my way to the shuttle stop, just as the shuttle arrived to whisk me off to the airport. Things were moving along splendidly.

Then came the first challenge. I had checked the weather on Tuesday and saw that rain was forecast for Boston on Friday (which is why I had come prepared). I remember also noticing a note about a tropical depression over Florida. I must have filed that info under "not important to my trip", and didn't think about it again until I tried to check in to my flight to Washington. It was delayed, possibly cancelled. In fact, due to the weather, nearly half of the flights to the east coast were being cancelled. They'd have to send me on a flight to New York, which was supposed to leave at 11:10, but wouldn't likely get out until 1:00, and then on to Boston around 5:00, arriving at 6:00. I figured that was fine, at least I'd get there, and only a couple of hours late. I proceeded through security and to my gate to settle in for a long wait with my book.

Around 11:00 an airport employee came rushing into the waiting area saying "We're leaving right away, but we have to board immediately". Great. I'd just have my long wait in NYC instead of in Buffalo. We arrived at LaGuardia around 12:45. Once inside the airport I started looking for a place to have lunch, but was quickly interrupted by an announcement: "Anyone with a later ticket to Boston, come to Gate 19 right now if you'd like to take the 1:00 flight". That's me! I headed to Gate 19 and had my ticket exchanged. Is this possible? Because of a tropical storm I was going to arrive in Boston early? That doesn't happen every day!

Wonderful. Two-thirty arrived, and I arrived at my destination. Sort of. I thought of grabbing some long-awaited lunch in the airport, but decided to get my rental car first. How long could it take? I found my way to the shuttle pick up area and watched for the Budget shuttle. I saw countless Hertz shuttles. Several Thrifty shuttles. Quite a few Avis and Enterprise shuttles. Where was the Budget shuttle? Finally, I saw it making its way through the traffic and beginning to slow down at the curb. I grabbed my bag and started toward the bus, just in time to see it speed up and pull away. %#$&!!! I decided to go have a seat on a bench, knowing I'd see many other rental shuttles arrive and leave before another Budget shuttle would be by again. About 20 minutes later I was finally on a shuttle and on my way to my car.

At 4:00, just after my scheduled arrival from Washington, I was in my car and ready to make the half hour trip to meet Tracy and the rest of her bus trip at the hotel in Tewksbury. The GPS system I had brought from home was plugged in with the address of the hotel programmed and ready. The woman at the rental agency had given me a map, just in case. I was ready to go. I headed out of the airport and immediately into a tunnel. Traffic was moving smoothly. Everything was working out just as it should. I emerged from the tunnel and the GPS took a few seconds to reconnect to the satellite. But there was a fork in the road ahead. Which way to go? I hadn't looked closely enough at the map to know, and my GPS wasn't ready to tell me. I picked a lane.

I picked wrong. And I couldn't get off that highway for 5 km, which had me right in the middle of downtown Cambridge. At rush hour. With a very rumbly tummy. I had eaten nothing that day except an apple danish at the Buffalo airport. And now I was stuck in an unfamiliar city in gridlocked traffic. My husband knows how I get when I'm really hungry. I'm completely irrational. So I called him to express my frustration. He was maddeningly calm, as usual. I texted Tracy on her bus trip. She did not expect to arrive until between 6:00 and 7:00. I hoped I'd arrive before she did!

In the end, I arrived at the hotel at 5:45 p.m. Only an hour and 45 minutes after leaving the airport. I drove right past the hotel to the Wendy's next door and ordered a hamburger. I sent Tracy a text telling her I had arrived and was having a quick snack before checking in. Her immediate reply came saying that they had just pulled in. What excellent timing! We had both arrived. Time to start our weekend.

To be continued...