heading east...

And we are back in our homeland of Ontario! I suppose it's the homeland - I was born here and my parents were born and raised here. However, I have to say that with family and friends and the mountains and the sea and the seawalls and walks (and being okay with rainy days), BC is the homeland too, at least for me. Anyways, homeland schmomeland; after a great visit with friends and family in the west, we are doing the same in the east. It was a bit sad leaving Vancouver - it was so great to spend time with some of our favourite people, and the 10 days went by sooo fast... but of course we will be back. I feel like I'm always saying that. One thing that we haven't missed (yet) is the weather that was chilling the lower mainland - it was cold when we left Vancouver and it has been HOT here... hot hot hot. Yesterday's temps were record breaking, and Toronto lows are higher than Vancouver highs for the next few days. Sure, maybe it's been a bit too hot BUT I'm not one to complain - flying over the prairies we saw snow on the ground, and according to the Toronto Star, there's supposed to be a high of seven in Calgary today - ugh. Did we make our move at the right time? Perhaps.

So, all has been well besides one too many visits to the dentist and the onset of pregnant-brain. Yup, folks, there you have it... I'm pregnant! I wanted to write a lament about not being able to eat real-deal sushi (Japanese) or drink deliciously dry Japanese beer (Asahi), but alas, that blog was never born. So, here you have it... news is news, and pregnancy brain has hit. As an aside, I just googled 'pregnancy brain' to see if this was an acknowledged thing, and some say it is and some say it isn't. Men are Better Than Women and Wise Geek had some, ummmm, interesting things to say (3rd and 1st in search results - actually), and while BBC says it's a myth, there seems to be a lot of support for the reality theory (perhaps by pregnant women and their spouses and friends, as opposed to lab-coated scientists). In any case, after driving into Oshawa on Wednesday to get a new driver's license, I was told NO not possible by an indifferent overweight blond woman with facial piercings - not without a passport or birth certificate; my wallet full of valid ID was not good enough. My second annoyance came at the pool yesterday: after 30 minutes of swimming I was kicked out by a lifeguard and 20 aqua-fitness aerobicizers, and told that I wasn't even allowed to stay in the pool to stretch... OUT! I would have really appreciated it if the front desk lady had told me that I was paying six dollars for half an hour of pool time. I would also like to be able to tell the difference between AM and PM. ANYWAYS! That's that. As far as the dentist goes, I've been three times in the past 8 days: for a cleaning, for a temporary filling, and then, after the temporary filling fell out/disappeared 24 hours later, I had the hole in my tooth permanently filled - this morning. Ugh... I hate going to the dentist!

I didn't hate going to this doctor - my doc in Tokyo was great - Dr Morita!

SO! Besides the bebe news (due at the end of November) and my filling, not too much is new. We've been visiting with family and friends out here, and are getting ourselves ready for another move - the final one! - back to Gatineau. It will be nice to settle in, unpack (finally) and feel at home after a few weeks on the road and seven months overseas. Also on the agenda is planning the summer; usually, by this time my schedule is full of camps, coaching, weddings and plans for visits and trips, but so far I only have a few things planned. I'm going to coach some vball in Ottawa, and we want to spend some time up at the Brinkman/Tukker cottage on the Crowe; I also want to make it to Denver to visit sisters and friends, and of course plans are in the works to make it back out to Vancouver and Thetis. It feels a bit funny, not having a full timetable... but, people keep telling us that with a babe on the way, we should be sleeping in and enjoying our free time. Can I make that a priority for the summer? I think I just did. Steve's schedule looks pretty full with national team stuff - a trip to Australia, a series in Ontario somewhere (I think) against Cuba, and World Championships this fall in Italy. With his busy schedule and mine sure to fill up, I think we can agree on a few priorities for the summer: volleyball, family, friends, fishing and cottage time. Let's just hope the weather is good, that we enjoy our sleep while we can, and that the babe keeps growing - stay healthy and strong little one!