I'm Alberta bound

After a teary farewell at the pharmacy where I've worked for the past 2 years, we finished off our last day in Timmins by visiting a good friend of ours and having a wonderful glass of wine. Our super-neighbors, Bob and Janie, then had us over for barbecued T-bones, potatoes, casserole, and rhubarb torte. We chatted for awhile and then went to the house to do a couple last minute things, like fix the bannister that the movers didn't put back together, and the door sweep they broke, and clean up the cigarette butts they flicked onto my neighbors driveway...classy. Finally at 10:30pm we checked in at Cedar Meadows, a wonderful resort hotel in Timmins.

6:00am we were up having breakfast at CM and then were out of Timmins by 7:30. I am driving the Prius with my father-in-law. Not only is it going to be a nice drive, but it gives me a chance to put my Prius gas mileage to the test. I will update you on each leg of the trip of some things we saw, how long the trip took, and what kind of mileage I got with each tank.

Day 1: Timmins to Thunder Bay (See the map)

I decided to take the Lake Superior route instead of the Hearst route because it runs all along Lake Superior and is much more scenic. Although the day started out very dreary and foggy, obscuring any views, we did see a lot of the beautiful Superior. I can see why the old explorers thought they'd reached the Pacific when they hit Superior. It's massive.

After Timmins, the first major town we passed was Wawa. There is a huge Canada Goose there, keeping with the small-town Canadian tradition of building oversized objects to attract tourists. It is, however, a charming little town lying on the shores of Wawa Lake.
Shortly after that was White River, a small town where A.A. Milne met the bear that inspired his classic Winnie the Pooh stories.


We continued on along the shores of Lake Superior, where we eventually had to stop for gas.

We stopped in a little place called Terrace Bay for lunch and then continued west. Finally the sun came out and we could see remarkable views of Lake Superior. It was amazing.







Outside of Terrace Bay is a place known as Aguasabon Gorge, a waterfall that drains into Lake Superior. It was only a short trip off the road, so we decided to check it out. It was worth it.
The only real snag in the trip was about 50 km outside Thunder Bay where we hit 2okm of heavy construction. It must be damn expensive to build roads in the Canadian Shield. They were literally blasting the rock off the side of the road just to expand it. But the views were worth it!
The final tally for the day:

MPG on first tank of gas: 52
Total km driven: 811
Total driving time: 8hr 37min 45sec
Total travel time: 10 hrs
Average speed: 94km/hr
Coffees drank: 2 cups breakfast, 1 XL DBL-DBL, 2 L DBL-DBL=5 coffees
Total metal albums tolerated by father-in-law: 3
Total Goodies candies eaten: lost count

More Canada quizzes

I must admit, I love taking Canada Day quizzes and even though it is over now, it is REALLY slow at work, so I am taking quizzes for funsies. Below are two more quizzes to take. The first is REALLY hard, and the second tests your relative knowledge of Canadian versus American history. On the first I got 50%. On the second I got 9/10 on Canadian, 10/10 on American. Try and whoop me!

Test #1
Test #2

Oh Canada

Thought all you proud Canadians would like to know that a study done by Maclean's magazine found that Canadians are more wealthy than Americans now. Not only that, but we have more fun, drink more beer, and have more sex. The previous three are in no way connected. Check out the article at Macleans. While you're there, click on the Hardest Canada Day Quiz ever. Silly questions, but fun. I only got 50%. That sucks. Oh well, at least it wasn't questions that actually matter.

Get off my back

So I know it's been a month since I've posted. I work full-time, am moving in 2.5 weeks, and have two boys under the age of 2. Give me a break. I don't get a lot of time to post.

Anyways, back to my original post. You may wonder why any self-respecting man would wear the jersey to the left in public. Allow me to explain.

I was born and raised in a family of Dutch origin. My father was born in Canada, but his brother and his parents were all born in the Netherlands (NOT HOLLAND; HOLLAND IS A PROVINCE IN THE NETHERLANDS). I am fiercely proud of my Dutch heritage and make every effort to show it off. So strutting about around town with the jersey of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (Royal Netherlands Football League) is one way of showing my pride. Another is wearing bright orange Crocs outside on my days off. But then you may ask, why would a whole nation have such a bright color as their national color? I was asked this question by a colleague and learned something new today.

William the Silent, also known as William I, Prince of Orange, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg was the first founder of the House of Orange-Nassau, the royal house of the Netherlands, and at times other nations in Europe (namely England in the form of William III). He led the revolt against the Spanish in the 17th century that started the Eighty Years' War and led to Dutch independence in 1648. He is therefore a national hero as he essentially caused the birth of their independent nation.

The Dutch flag, the Prinsenvlag, is based on the colors in his coat of arms, and has a large band of orange in it. The Dutch coat of arms is also based on his. The Dutch national anthem is about him. And, since the current Dutch monarchy is still based out of the House of Orange-Nassau, wearing orange is a way to pay tribute to the Dutch queen, who at this point is Queen Beatrix.

Another thing I learned about the Netherlands is that they were considered to be the first true capitalist society in the world and had the world's first stock exchange. Maybe that's why I have been so interested in the stock market of late. That's for another post!

Oh, four more random Dutch facts:
1. A statue of William of Orange sits outside of Rutgers University in the US as it was founded by Dutch members of the Christian Reformed Church.
2. Nearly half of Netherlands land is reclaimed from the sea, so people actually live below sea level.
3. The Canadian Tulip Festival is held in the Ottawa area every year and the largest of its kind in the world. During the Second World War, Ottawa provided a safe haven for Princess Juliana of the Netherlands from the Nazis. But Juliana was pregnant with Princess Margarit. So if she were born in Canada she would be a Canadian citizen. So a wing of the Ottawa Civic Hospital was proclaimed Dutch soil so this would not happen. As a show of gratitude for the treatment they received in Canada, the Dutch monarchy sent Ottawa 100 000 tulip bulbs in 1945. Over the years they sent more, and the event now houses over 3 million flowers.

Softy

My wife and I just had our second child a week ago. My boss and colleague were saints and rallied around me to allow me a week at home with my family. (This is in stark contrast to my previous boss who forced me back to work while my wife was still in hospital with our first child.) As such, since baby #2 is attached to mommy's breasts 24/7, I've been keeping the toddler busy and entertained. It's been nice alone time for us and a good time for mommy to bond with the new baby.

This morning my little guy broke my heart. Ever since the new baby arrived, my toddler has seemed much older and grown up to me. He seems to be developing at light speed, acquiring 3 new words in 1 week, effectively doubling his vocabulary This may have something to do with vying for attention with his new baby brother, or it may just be a coincidence. So anyways, we were at the local playgroup this morning. My toddler is going through a pinching phase. Any kid that gets too in his face suffers a pinch. We are trying our darnedest to get him out of it, and it is working, but it's slow. However, he is a good sharer if another child approaches him slowly and with supple warning, and especially if she happens to be one of his self-proclaimed girlfriends.

He had just finished having a breakthrough. A little girl came up to him when he was playing with a toy that he had wanted particularly badly and had finally gotten his hands on. Normally he would respond by pinching the intruder and claiming dominion over his newfound possession. This time though, he leaned in to the little girl and gave her a big kiss and proceeded to hand over the toy! She then returned his kiss and gave the toy right back. What a brilliant display of love and sharing!

Right after that he was playing with another toy. I looked over at him and he just looked so big, mature, and indescribably adorable. I suddenly had this flash of him with a little lunch pail waiting outside for the school bus. I totally lost it, right in the middle of the building, amidst all the playing children and chatting parents. I just started crying all by myself, watching my little boy grow up before my eyes.

Shortly after this, he came over to me, showed me the new toy he had found, and uttered one of his new favorite words: "Daddy". The tears just kept on coming.

It all came together

If you haven't noticed, I've been conspicuously absent from the blogosphere over the past couple of months. The reasons for this are numerous, but allow me to summarize.

1. Our house was on the market for longer than we anticipated and we needed to sell it because we are moving 3500km across the country in July and our current house is the downpayment for our new house.
2. My wife was pregnant with our second child and due May 11.
3. Our first son, Sacha, who is 20 months old, had a major sleep regression about six weeks ago, and so I have been totally sleep deprived.

At some point during this sick cosmic joke, my panic attacks threatened to reemerge. I also battled with debilitating chronic anxiety that was so bad at one point I was not eating much and lost five pounds.

So as I often do when I am faced with such challenges in my life, I sat down and had a nice long chat with the Man upstairs. I do not think I have ever prayed so hard in my life. And sure, skeptics will say it is just a coincidence, but I am convinced that God answered my prayers and looked after me and my family.

Today, May 15, 2008, will forever be known as the day everything came together. Well, almost everything.

Last week, after having a flurry of interest in our house, we received two offers in two days. This generated a bidding war which resulted in us accepting an offer for slightly above asking price and the exact possession date we wanted/needed. Things were looking great, but then it looked as if the buyers might be having second thoughts. So I spent the whole week worrying about whether the deal would go through or not. They had until tomorrow to lift all the conditions on the offer and finalize the sale.

At the same time, Sarah passed her due date. Three days later, she couldn't take it anymore. She requested my assistance in bringing on labor, and I was more than willing to oblige (in a fashion similar to that which got us into this mess in the first place). Eight hours later we had a beautiful baby boy. (You can see all the details at our website).

As I walked up and down the hospital hallways, keeping Sacha entertained, my cellphone rang. It was my real estate agent. The deal went through. The house is sold!

Just as I had earlier when my new angel emerged into the world, I fell to the floor and started bawling my eyes out. Sacha was confused and everyone around me looked at me funny, but I have never experienced physically feeling a weight come off of your shoulders.

Now, for all of that to build up to the last minute and all be wrapped up in one fell swoop like that, to me, reveals that God does listen when I pray. Whatever it was, and whatever the explanation, it sure does feel good!

Maybe now I'll post more often. Oh, who am I kidding. I have two boys under the age of 2. I'm screwed. And for the record, I may need to pray a little harder still. Sacha's sleep is still a work in progres.

Round 3 Predictions

If you haven't noticed already, it seems last year's success may have been a complete fluke (as one would suspect with something so unpredictable as sporting events). At least my original pick for winners of the Cup, the Detroit Red Wings, are still holding strong. Of course, you could have looked at the Las Vegas odds and determined the same thing! Anyways, I got my arse kicked in the 3rd round. I only predicted the DET v COL series correctly and so am now 7 for 12. That's bloody awful. For what it's worth, I'm picking DET and PHI to win the conference finals. We'll see.

By the way, my sparse posting is not due to any sudden lack of interesting things to write, but merely due to a very stressful life. We are trying to sell our house to no avail, our 20 month old is suddenly no longer sleeping, we have a baby on the way in 1 week or sooner, and we are moving in 3 months. So when I actually do have free time, I basically go to sleep.