Let me show you ‘round my town

So.  A lot of you already know where I live.  Some of you even live in the same town, or in the area.  And right now, I know what all of you are saying.

“Whhhaaaaa???  Why, Jill?  Why do we need a tour of Quyon??”

You don’t.  But the other night, I was out for a walk, and I thought, Y’know, this isn’t such a bad place.  In fact, it’s kind of pretty in it’s own way.  At least in some areas.

So today, when I went for my walk, I took my camera and photographed the highlights of Quyon. 

For those of you who are NOT in the know, that’s the name of my town.  Quyon.  (Pronounced “Kwi-oh”.  Yes.  I’m serious.)  Outside of our little city limits, it’s often mocked and mis-pronounced.  I believe it’s been traced back to some old native language to mean “muddy waters”.  Makes sense, considering we aren’t supposed to drink the water in our town 97% of the time…

It’s  a quiet little mostly-English-speaking village in Quebec (Canada),  nestled along the shores of both the Quyon River and the Ottawa River.  Despite being small and having lost most of our businesses over the years, we do have several claims to fame, which I will point out a long the way.

I only took pictures of what I considered to be “pretty stuff”.  You won’t find any pictures of the abandoned house on Main Street that the Municipality is threatening to tear down, or my neighbour’s house where people sit on the front porch and drink all day.  Nothing like that.  (Although that might’ve made for a more entertaining blog post…)

Also, I had a bit of paranoia, afraid that people would think I was being a stalker, taking pictures all over town, and that they’d call the police, so I was constantly looking around like  a weirdo to make sure no one was watching.  But I think I caught most of the points of interest, if you can call them that.

Here we go…

This is me.  iPod on.  Ready to rock.

And a picture of my house.  This is the church Manse, but since our student minister (and frequent commenter on the blog – Hi Nancy!),  already lives within driving distance, they rented it to me.  (Please note how tidy my bushes and flower beds are…wonder why…)

I live right next door to the church that I go to, Quyon United Church.

A view of main street from right outside my house:

This is a little further down the street.  The big brick house with the black roof is the home my dad grew up in when his family moved into town when he was a kid.

This is St. John’s Anglican Church.  Such a shame this beautiful church closed in the past few years…

Here is one little local business that has a big reputation:  McCann’s Chips, or “Mae’s” as it’s more fondly known to locals.  Mae has owned the chipstand for over 40 years, and people come from far and wide for the poutines and chicken burgers.  (It’s a two-minute walk from my place, and a big reason for my summertime fatty blahs…)

We’re also well-known for our watering hole, the legendary Gavan’s Hotel.  I’ve spent many  great weekends here!   In the picture below, you can see the mural that a local artist was commissioned to paint on the hotel to commemorate the history of the town.

Outside the front of Gavan’s:

Next we have Marcotte’s, the only depanneur in town and the hub of most of the activity, as you can see!

This shot is looking out at the soccer fields and fairgrounds:

Here is the Ag Hall, or as I call it, “The Elvis Building”.  Yes.  We have a giant Elvis.  On the left side of the building, you can see a stage where the annual Jamfest is held in early July every summer.

Some people in town are embarrassed by our giant Elvis.  I, personally, think it’s pretty cool.  The summer I turned 18, I was the student hired to look after the grounds down there.  At the time, Elvis was in pieces inside the building, and I spent many rainy days stuck in there with him as my only company.  We got to be good friends…

Skate park in the summer, outdoor rink in the winter:

The ball field, home of the Quyon Flyers, and where I spend many a summer night.

We have a rough campground.  As you can see, not too popular on a Thursday in August…

Here’s a picture of the park, and the Lions Hall in behind it.  We are currently trying to raise money to replace that old building, more commonly known as “The Beach Barn”.  It’s none too pretty, but I have many fond memories of events held there.  That old barn has seen some good times…

I love these signs at the park:

This is the flag pole at the Ferry dock, where we have our flag raising ceremony every Canada Day.  I love seeing that massive flag flying in the wind!!!

Scenery down at the river, at the boat docks:

There was a heron in the water!  At least, I think it’s a heron…

This is the Quyon Ferry dock, home of the Quyon Ferry, another of our claims to fame.  The Ferry runs during the spring/summer/fall months, taking passengers from Quyon to the Ontario side of the river.

A view of the mighty Ottawa:

I took a little break on this bench and watched the Ferry for a while:

This is St. Mary’s Catholic Church.  I’m not Catholic, but my God, what a gorgeous building, and definitely one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in town.

Here is our little library, which I just recently started going back to for the first time in years!!

Next we have St. Mary’s School, one of two elementary schools in town.  When I was a kid, it was considered the “Catholic” school, but now the religious denomination is no longer considered of importance.  It’s the French Immersion school.

This is just a picture of my feet… ;)

This is another loop I take down by the river…so peaceful down there. 

Coming up the hill to my place again…this is my back yard! 

Here is Kelly’s Funeral Home, which is kitty-corner to my house.

This is looking down the Mill Road, where the old Mill still stands, though it closed over a year ago.  The Quyon River runs under that bridge.

Looking up Main Street.  The building on the left used to be a grocery store that my aunt & uncle owned, but now it’s an apartment building.

Yet another funeral home.  This is Hayes’ Funeral Home.

And this is Onslow Elementary School, which was considered “Protestant” but is now the English school in town.  This is where I spent Kindergarten to Grade 6!

This is a snapshot heading back home again.

I know.  Kind of a sleepy little town, right?  Not too much excitement.

But I love it.  I walk these streets and every few feet, I have to raise my hand and wave at another friend or neighbour.  It’s not perfect, but it’s where I call “home”.

And hell, we have a giant ELVIS.  Seriously.  How cool are we?!?

Yeah, where I was born, where I was raised.
Where I keep all my yesterdays.
Where I ran off 'cause I got mad,
And it came to blows with my old man.
Where I came back to settle down,
It's where they'll put me in the ground:
This is my town…

I’m on holidayyyyys!!!

Did you guys know I’m on holidays?

No?

Me neither.

Clearly I made a mistake when I kept telling my family, “Nope, I have no plans!  I’m probably going to be bored.  I have nothing booked at all.”

Because my mother apparently took that to mean, “Okay, I’m going to spend all week at Jill’s pulling weeds with her and pruning shrubs with her and taking loads of brush and weeds away with her.”

GAHHHHHHH!!!!

Alright, I’m exaggerating.  A little.  I’ve been off work four and a half days so far, and there has been plenty of resting and eating and movie watching and rum & lemonade drinking.  (Along with the pulling weeds and pruning shrubs.) 

The rest was much needed after a wild, wild weekend.  I let Sadie out.  Twice.  I don’t remember the last time I let her out, and you can all rest assured she has been stowed safely away again for a very long, long time.

Twice in one weekend was almost too much for me to handle.

First off, Friday evening was Troy & Steph’s wedding.  They got married on the 9th green at the Arnprior Golf Club.  It was absolutely stunning.

Troy grew up down the road from us (our parents are still neighbours), and his bride Steph just happens to be my brother’s girlfriend’s twin sister. 

It was a great party.  I could definitely feel it the next morning, when I woke up still feeling very tired, a little yucky, and with my toes still numb from dancing in heels.  Definitely not used to that…

BUT I had to get geared back up for Round 2.  My cousin Donna & Ellard’s 25th wedding anniversary party at Barb & Stu’s. 

Yeah…they’re kinda the BEST!!!

For a long time I thought it was going to be a tame night.  The drinks weren’t going down well, and I was so so so tired.  But, as we say around here, I must’ve “drank tru it” because next thing I knew I was jumping into the pool while still in my jeans.  Nice.

I also don’t know if cousin Donna is even speaking to me, since I think I accidentally pushed her in fully clothed, too…

Thank God I left the camera in the car.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful week.  Try not to worry about me and my mom and our yard work…

PS – I’m finally approaching 50 followers…It’s only taken me 5 years!!  Thinking about throwing together a giveaway, if I ever get there…go on and spread the word!!

One Year Ago Today (Part Two)

*****

…Sink me in the river at dawn, send me away with the words of a love song…

*****

One year ago today, I found out first-hand the true meaning of the word numb.

Sure, I knew what it felt like before.  You sit on your foot, you lose feeling in it.  You go to the dentist to get a tooth pulled, and they freeze your mouth.  I knew what that kind of numb felt like.

But when you find out that, for the second time in two weeks, your world has been rocked to the core?  That’s the truest sense of the word numb.  At least, that’s how it was for me.

Two weeks to the day that I had received a phone call that my cousin Jeff had been in a terrible accident (he succumbed to his injuries a day later), I found out that my cousin Troy had passed away.  Another early Sunday morning.   This time, though, instead of a phone call, I found out on Facebook.

It’s not the kind of news anyone should ever have to find out on Facebook.

But that’s how I found out.  I sat in my bed, scrolling through my newsfeed on my Blackberry, and there I saw it.  I held my breath.  For a long, long time.  My hands shook.  I whispered aloud to myself, over and over, “No.  I can’t do this again.  I can’t do this again.  I can’t do this again.”  There were no tears this time, at least not right away.  Just shock. I felt frozen.  Stuck.  Numb.

I prayed it was a cruel, sick joke.  But when I called my parents’ place and my dad answered the phone, I knew it wasn’t a joke.  My dad never answers the phone.  When I asked casually, as though I had no idea something was wrong, “How’s it going?”  and he answered, “Not too good.”,  I knew.

I found out later that my mom had gone to be with my aunt & uncle, and had decided to wait until she knew more details before calling us with more shattering news.

Troy had passed away in his sleep during the night.

One year ago today.

I honestly don’t think I could’ve made it through another week of sadness that deep and painful, unless I was numb.  To lose someone you idolize as much as we idolized him?  It’s incomprehensible.  Compounded with the loss of another close relative during a 14-day span, it felt entirely surreal.

It still feels that way.  Surreal.

I used to count myself lucky and blessed to have lived a fairly pain-free life.  I did not know grief of this magnitude.  I did not know it was possible to shoulder it, to carry on with it, and to continue to live.

But during the past year, I’ve discovered it is possible.  Some days are harder than others.  Some days the tears come more easily.  Some days you try to push aside the memories, but they flood your soul and refuse to be pushed aside.

I’ve learned to accept those days for what they are.  Endure them.  Wallow in them.  And know that the next day will be better.

I’ve often thought of how my feelings must be felt ten-fold by the parents, siblings, and close loved ones of my cousins who passed away.  I honestly shake my head in amazement at how they’ve been able to pull themselves together.   I’ve had a hard time dealing with all of this, and I only saw Jeff and Troy a few times a year. I admire the ones who suffered the greatest loss; for their strength, for their faith, for their ability to put one foot in front of the other.  I strive to do as well as they have.

We have made it a whole year.  In my mind, I think of it as the year from hell.  I wonder what any of us did to deserve it.  I wonder what any of us could have done to avoid it.

But in the end, there is only acceptance.  Acceptance that this is something we could not change.  The reason is unknown, and I will likely always wonder why my families were tested in this way.

Yet, we’re still here.  We’re closer than ever.  We know now how fragile life is, and we know to be grateful for every day we have with one another.  We know how important a hug, a squeeze of the hand, a reassuring smile is.

Family is everything.  And if there’s anything positive to take from all of this, it is that. 

I’m so thankful for the people who have traveled this difficult path with me this past year.

I don’t know where I would be without them.

*****

(Part One)

Gettin’ back in shape…one step at a time.

I’ve been a sloth this summer.  A real, 100%, lazy old sloth.

Give me a break, though, k?  July was hot.  Realllllly mother-effin’ hot.  When I got home from work, all I wanted to do was lie in the air conditioning or float in a pool.  I didn’t even want to cook things.  I ate twigs and berries and celery for a month. 

(LIE – I ate poutines and cheeseburgers.  I live too close to the chipstand.)

Basically, my activity had dwindled down to nothing.  And I was starting to feel like crud.

Oh, I know.  I got a Wii, and a Zumba game, and I had that stupid b*tchface Jillian Michaels sitting there, waiting for me.  No reason for sloth and laziness.

But I was doing a damned fine job of ignoring it all.  I had TV shows to watch and books to read and chips & dip to eat…no time for exercising…nope, not at all…

It hit me this week.  After a weekend of stuffing my face and the most exercise I did was the five minute walk home from Audrey & Joey’s (which I’m pretty sure didn’t count after all the rum & coke I drank) – I was hit with the fatty blahs.

Nothing fits.  Nothing looks good.  Nothing feels good.

And you know what I realized I was really missing?  My nightly walks.

I used to go for a walk every night after work.  On my really energetic days, I’d walk for over an hour.  Some days would be shorter – a 20-minute walk.  Either way, at least I was outside, getting some fresh air, and moving.

I couldn’t remember the last time I went for a walk.

So I loaded up the iPod with some new fun walking music, and Tuesday night, I went for a walk.  Not a long one.  About half an hour.  Last night, I did the same. 

Also, I’ve been spending some time with my Wii Fit Plus (birthday present, thanks for paying attention, family!)  At first, I wasn’t too sure about it.  First of all, the damned thing sounds like it says “Ow” when I step on it, and that just didn’t sit well with me.  My Facebook friends tell me, though, that it’s okay, it does that for everyone, even the skinny people.  Then, the Wii told me I was obese.  That wasn’t a shock, but still, kind of mean, no?

Anyways, I don’t think I’m going to lose big pounds with this thing.  I played a few balance games the other night and biked for a while, and after half an hour of “activity” it told me I’d burned 16 calories.

16 calories.  I think there’s more than that in a stick of gum.

BUT – combined with the walking, and the odd night of Zumba (or, if I’m really feeling like punishing myself, that b*tchface Jillian Michaels) – I think it might work.

At least it’s a start, right?  Better than nothing?

And, just because I love music, here’s my new walking playlist:

The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga

She’s Dope – Down with Webster

Skinny Genes – Eliza Dolittle

Tonight Tonight – Hot Chelle Rae

Last Friday Night (TGIF) – Katy Perry

Purple Sky – Kid Rock

Walk – Foo Fighters

Moves Like Jagger – Maroon 5

Barefoot Blue Jean Night – Jake Owens

Country Song – Seether

These are the songs that are motivating me to move these days.  Have any suggestions for me to add to it?  Please leave me a comment and give me more ideas!!! :)

It’s my party, dance if I want to, we can get crazy, let it all out!

What the F??  It’s Wednesday??

Seriously, folks.  Where did my awesome-fun-long-weekend go?

Couldn’t have asked for a better birthday extravaganza weekend.  It was hot and sunny and filled with great times with amazing friends and family.  Totally made up for the lack of birthday fun last year.

The best way to kick it all off?  Movies with my friend Sharon.  After work on Thursday we headed to the theatre to see Friends with Benefits. 

Can I just mention here, now, how much I love Justin Timberlake? 

Thank you.  Feels good to get that out there.

The movie was hilarious.  Mila Kunis + JT = perfect funny romantic tandem.  Loved it.  And there were FLASH MOBS!!!  You know how much I love flash mobs.  It has pretty much become my favourite movie in the history of the world.  Yep.  It was that good.

Thanks again to Sharon for the fun night at the movies!!  (You can read Sharon’s review of the movie here.)

Friday I took the day off work to head to the lake with my family.  My aunt and uncle have a gorgeous lake house, which they recently sold.  I am none too thrilled with them for their decision to move, and if I had bothered to upload my pictures from Friday, you would see why.  It is b-e-a-utiful. 

This is an old picture of the dock at the lake – pretty much looks the same, except the boat is gone (sold too!!)…and Caden is bigger now, and likely wouldn’t allow Uncle Elson to carry him.

So the day was bittersweet, as we knew it would be our last family gathering on the lake.  My aunt & uncle will be moving in a few weeks to their new home. 

Which, by the way, is not on a lake.

It was a wonderful day, though.  It started out overcast and drizzly, but after lunch the sun came out, and we hit the water for a swim.  Once we were worn out, we ate cake & ice cream, and relaxed on the deck for the rest of the afternoon.  Bliss.

Saturday = another party.  Yep.  That’s right.  This time, it was disguised as my cousin Jim’s 40th celebration.  But because Jim & I share a birthday, I decided to take advantage and called it “MY” birthday party, too.

Once again, the location was beautiful, a hidden little gem right in my own little town – at our friends’ Audrey & Joey’s house on the river.  I had never been to their house, and was dazzled by their beautiful property, home, and view.  Again, no pictures.  You’ll just have to take my word for it.

We arrived around 4 in the afternoon, and it was closer to 3:30 AM before I got home.  That’s what you call a party.  Delicious food and cake, Texas Horseshoes, guitars, bonfire, a certain local celebrity stomping around with an accordion singing “And that goddamned chicken laid a hard-boiled egg!!!”…maybe a beverage or two…does it get any better than that?

I admit it.  I took Sunday off.  I napped.  A lot.  I needed the rest.

Monday was the Civic Holiday, so another day off work.  I spent it floating in a pool with my sister, brother-in-lawn, niece and nephew.

  It was really, really rough.

The best part?  My vacation starts on Friday.  One and a half more days until I get to do it all over again.  For a full friggin’ week.

I heart summer.