Sowrey.org

Our last day in Calgary — yesterday — was filled mostly by me repacking all of our bags so we could fly out, and then the actual travel here to Burlington, Ontario. We’re here to visit with family (today is Alex’s family reunion) before we leave for Costa Rica.

Or face the long-distance wrath of scorned relations…

Read the rest of this entry »

When we started planning this crazy little excursion to Costa Rica oh-so-many months ago, there was always the need for me to leave in advance of my family, and then come back to get them. The logistics of making everything happen were basically impossible to handle any other way. That month away wasn’t easy, which you already know. Issues of living in Costa Rica aside, the reality of being that far from my family was far more harsh than I had ever imagined.

Needless to say, when I arrived last night, I was overjoyed to see that Mi Pequeña Niña (I think I’m going to use “MI Niñita” from now on, by the way — that seems to be the prefered version of “little girl”) recognised me. You have no idea how good that felt.

Today was packing day. And also my 36th birthday.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been in Costa Rica for over three weeks now. Three weeks away from Alex and Mi Pequeña Niña. Each day has been a challenge being so far away from them. The longest I’d ever been away before was six days. Six short days. That was hard — I missed them both a lot, and that was just after spending over two weeks with them every waking moment.

My well, you could say, has run dry. I have nothing left in my reserves. I want to go home now. I want to be with them both right now. If I could just get on a plane and go there this afternoon, I would.

But I have to wait another week.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re bringing Asia with us. Not the continent; she’s our cat. We don’t want to part with her. She’s a wonderful pet and truly part of the family. She was our first baby before Mi Niña Pequeña came along. Giving her up is just not an option.

Getting her through the border is the trouble. Mostly because there is no de facto source of information on how this is done properly. What I have found is confusing and very contradictory. For someone who is going to be spending 12 hours with an annoyed kitteh (LOLCat spelling) — she might be stuck in that cage the entire time — I need to know that getting into the country isn’t going to kill her.

Or me.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the few minutes I have before I dive back into another conference session, figured I’d cover some of the items of our last vacation. This was a 2.5 week excursion mostly to Scotland, with a few days in England. Alex planned most of the trip, with me handling things like the transportation and hotels to stay along the way. Overall, about a 50/50 split on the events et al.

Sadly, at the end, it wasn’t a usual vacation. Until now, it’s always been either just me, or myself and Alex. Now there’s three of us, and the Wee One doesn’t have our stamina for travel and has a pseudo-schedule that needs to be followed from time-to-time.

Read the rest of this entry »

I just realised — after I’d already posted this year’s review — that this is the 10th one I’ve done. Ten years already! Man… I’ve been doing this longer than I’d thought!

It’s that time of the year again — to look back on the year passed, and reflect on the things I’ve done. Where did I go? What did I do? What have I honestly got to show for myself. It’s been an insanely long year. Sure, it was still 365 (and 1/4) days, but it felt at least three times longer…

Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, what another roller coaster year. Highs, lows, excitement, disappointment, joy, sorrow, laughter, and pain. Things I regret, things I wish I did, things I wish I didn’t do. Lots of potential, lots of opportunity. And if nothing else, a validation that I do finally seem to understand the job I have and how to do it. It ain’t perfect but at least it’s a start.

Read the rest of this entry »