Nova Scotia, We Have Arrived!

On Friday night, Jim and I caught a red-eye from Edmonton to Nova Scotia to visit his family (my family!) and friends for 10 days. It's been two years since we were last out here. I love visiting his parents. They live in a large, beautiful house on a big piece of land, that Jim's dad built with his own hands. Even though I didn't grow up here, this house just feels like home. People always ask me "what are you going to see, what are you going to do while you're there", and while I'd love to provide them with some elaborate itinerary, to be honest, I love just coming here and being. Sometimes just hanging out with the people you love, with NO itinerary, is the best vacation there is.

With that being said, once we caught up on sleep and kicked jet-lag in the ass, we did have a rather productive day today. And by productive I mean, read, eat, stop at the beach, check out a cemetery, eat, shop, eat some more and then get ready to watch a movie in our PJ's. And in case you don't believe me, I have proof!

Even though it's too cold to swim in the ocean, it's still nice enough to walk along the beach, especially since we pretty much had the beach all to ourselves! This is the beach Jim spent his childhood at.

On our way home from the beach, we stopped at Greenwood Cemetery to see where Jim's dad's grandfather was buried. These pictures don't do this cemetery justice - it's the coolest (and oldest) cemetery I have ever seen. As soon as we spotted the first 'Fraser' tombstone, Jim and I made a game out of who could spot the most 'Fraser' graves. We lost count once we got over a dozen, at which point I jokingly exclaimed that I couldn't believe I had given up my much-less common maiden name for their dime-a-dozen one!

After the cemetery we went home to freshen up (and eat a snack), before heading out to one of the used book stores in town, The Downtown Book Exchange.  Just because I'm on vacation does not mean I stop scouting for good book deals ;)  I'm proud to report that Jim's dad bought the most books!

Book shopping built up an appetite so we headed to Murphy's for their famous fish & chips.

Clearly our eyes were bigger than our stomachs! But it was soooo yummy!

After dinner we popped into Winner's to have a look around and then over to Superstore. Somehow, the one thing I forgot to pack was pajamas. Jim didn't get why this was a bad thing - har har, but I love hanging out in pajama pants in the evenings (and Jim's mom is a just a wee bit shorter than me). Luckily, Joe clothing had some PJ's on sale and I scored these bad boys for 7 bucks! When Jim saw me come down the stairs he exclaimed: "You look like a pink nightmare!"  (Bonus points if you know the movie reference!). Then he also said they came with my own set of testicles. I married a comedian, guys.

Saigon Sundays: Please Don't Go

Jim and I caught the red-eye to Halifax on Friday night. The hardest part about leaving is saying good-bye to Saigon. Fortunately, we left Saigon in good hands with my brother, who will be watching him while we are in Nova Scotia visiting my in-laws for 10 days. But anytime Jim and I have a planned trip coming up, I swear Saigon just knows and he mopes around for days before we leave. Needless to say, we miss him already!

Typical "pouty" face

Saigon always has to go over our bags with a fine-tuned nose!

Final good-byes

Watching us go from the front window...

Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova

Sometimes I don't know why I wait so long to read a book. I loved Lisa Genova's first novel, Still Alice, and from the first time I read the synopsis for Left Neglected, I just knew I would love it. Yet...it sat on my bookshelf for months! Until recently that is. One day, not sure what to read, I picked it up and devoured it in a few short sittings. When I finished reading it, I was angry with myself for having not read it sooner! Maybe it's the nurse in me, but I generally love novels that have a medical aspect to them. Now, I don't want the concepts and terms to be too technical - just that right amount of fascination without boring me to death or having me roll my eyes at the medical jargon - and Left Neglected did not let me down. 

Left Neglected is the story of Sarah, a middle-aged, happily married (yes, happily!), full-time working mother of three young children. She is one of those "I don't know how she does it" moms. Seriously, I don't know how she did it. Even though we get a good outline of her daily life in a play-by-play fashion, I was mesmerized by how she was able to do it all. But then again, I'm mesmerized by how my girlfriends manage with just one kid and no job.

We know going into this book that Sarah, the narrator of this story, is going to be involved in an accident that will cause her to  lose all awareness that the left side of her body exists – in other words: left neglect.  Even though we know this accident is inevitable, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for it to happen. Like a part of me was hoping that there would be a different outcome- that Sarah wouldn’t take her eyes off the road for that split second to use her cell phone like she does – but then of course we would have no story.

After the accident has happened, the rest of the story deals with the aftermath of surviving such an accident – and the physical and emotional trauma that can occur. I love that Lisa Genova’s books are told in the first person as it allows you to feel, see and hear exactly what the person is experiencing.  It makes the experience tangible and affects you in such a way that you will never forget this book. I still find myself thinking of Sarah from time to time.

The concept of left neglect is so fascinating and mind-boggling. It literally meant that Sarah had no idea the she even had a left side of her body or that anything to the left of her even existed. It was like there was no such thing as “left side” in Sarah’s world.  At first, I couldn’t even wrap my head around this concept. While reading, I would find myself trying to picture myself as Sarah, lying in her hospital bed, trying to grasp the concept of “left”. Imagine trying to eat your lunch off your plate and you can only see the food on the right side of the plate. You have no idea there is even a left side of your plate, let alone food on it. Or someone enters the room you are in, but the door is on your left and so you don’t even know this person has come in until you hear them. MIND-BOGGLING I tell ya.

This book easily could have been depressing and sombre and full of “woe is me” attitude, but instead, we get to read about a woman who is both strong and determined and even a little stubborn at times, learn how to adjust from the life she once knew to her reality now. This is a story about dealing with the cards fate hands you, rediscovering relationships with the people you love, and doing whatever it takes to find happiness once again. It’s a story worth reading, my friends.