The revenge of the bugs.........and Run Forest Run....

Hello friends! It has been awhile since I have written. Don't worry, I have been told that my slack-ass ways are not acceptable and that I need to be much more vigilant about keeping this blog up to date.....(thanks Chrissy...lol) So this is my attempt to be compliant and obedient (shaa, as if.....lol) Anyway, life continues to be grand in Nevis, 34 degrees everyday, sun shining all the time, hanging at the beach with the kids, snorkeling, horseback riding, SOS fun nights, karaoke and much much more....REally people, I am going to need oodles and oodles of support (and possibly alcohol) to help me cope with real life next year when I return. This is the life that I was meant for, this life of leisure, this R&R simple life stuff.....I absolutely love it!
So let's see, what to tell? Hmmmm......well, this might come as a shocker to all of you who know me, but I am now exercising every day and contemplating a triathalon in march......ok stop laughing before you read on......lol.....I am serious. I have made this wonderful new girlfriend, Stacey, from Louisiana, she conveniently lives right across the street, and she has done half marathons before. Well she is kicking my ass out of bed at 545 every morning and making me run......we are only at 3-4 miles a day, and we walk some of it too, but it is a great start. we also climb this very steep road/hill that goes up for a mile......a few times a week. In addition, we are using the 30 day Shred, an exercise video. We are both tired of having that extra "baby weight" (well hers is baby weight because she actually has a baby, mine is more like chocolate and french fries weight, but baby weight just sounds so much better...but perhaps the gig is up, Christian is 6 after all! Lol) I am also doing pushups and crunches....working very hard trying to get fit! Oh and of course still trying to ride a few days a week. Stacey and I have a fellow lined up to start training us in January for the tri.....whether we compete or not, we are going to do the leg work.....the running doesnt scare me, it is only a 3 k run and a 10 k bike, which I am sure I can do.....it is the 250 meter swim that has me terrified......do you think they will let me wear Christians floaties? I know the life jacket is out! Or maybe use a flutter board? is the dog paddle an acceptable method of swim?? I am sure I will figure it out......even if I just do the training I will be proud of myself! So all in all, I feel great, I am finally starting to accomplish the skinny part of my Caribbean tanned and skinny goals......(the tan goal was accomplished many months ago!!)
I am keeping very busy, have tons to do, and can't quite figure out how I ever fit work into my busy schedule?? I am sure it will all come back to me next September when I return home! (you will have to take it very easy on me for a while Marylou! There are no promises of stellar job performance for at least the first month......lol)
The boys are doing well. Monty is doing awesome at his school in St Kitts and Christian is enjoying his school as well....they really enjoy this island, they are both pretty active with different camps and activities, both into riding, love the beach and snorkeling, just having lots of fun......I have to tell you, that Christian is turning into quite the boy! He really has quite the sense of humor (finally, glimpses of my personality, he has been all Joe!) I always thought that Monty was the funny one, very dry, quick wit like my brother,Kris, but lately Christian has been coming out with some pretty good lines too.....for instance the other day, Christian and Monty were their regular breakfast war ( you know where they fight during breakfast and you go into an Ally McBeal moment and imagine punting them across a football field...lol) Christian was egging Monty on (which of course we know is like waving a red flad in front of a bull) and Monty was responding, very predictably......so after we dropped Monty off I had the chat with Christian about not picking at Monty in the morning, Monty being very sensitive blah blah blah...Christian looks at me with those killer blue eyes and that cute blond hair, and he say s "ah mom, you know I love messing with Monty" and he cackles.....yes CACKLES......I was like "WHAT??" I had to stifle a giggle as I tried to be stern and tell him that he needs to try not to antagonize Monty in th mornings.....lol....too funny....then later in the day, i picked Christian up from school and we were driving home and I ran through another pothole! (ok I regularly run through potholes and Joe has had to replace 4 tires on our car.....he blames me of course.....well what do you expect, the potholes are frickin' huge here! And our car is so low to the ground....and.....oh whatever, the point is I keep blowing up tires! Get over it!) anyway, so I hit a pot hole and I said oh no, I ho pe I didnt blow another tire, Christian looks up and he says Mom , Dad is going to be mad at you if you did it again......I said I know.....Christian looks at me and he says, dont worry mom, we'll go home and bust into the piggy bank and I will buy the tire and we won't tell Dad....and he giggles and cackles that same little giggle from the morning conversation.....I looked at him and started laughing, I couldn't help it. so I say Christian! First this morning you admit to purposefully antagonizing your brother and now you are suggesting that we decieve your Dad?? He was laughing so hard, it was quite hilarious.....I tried my best to look stern, but really people, it was near impossible!! Anyway the boys are doing great. Joe is also doing well with school. He is very excited to be done another semester (well as of next week) Did I tell you that he bought a scooter?? And yesterday, he took me out all afternoon driving around the island! It was so fun....i think when my mid life crisis starts, I might have to get myself a scooter, or a bike....lol.....
So the bugs.....yeah......there is 1 advantage to having winter, it substantially decreases the bug population.....and here, with eternal summer, there is no bug control.....and there are so many bugs it is unbelievable.....the ants are the worst.....they are everywhere, and there are nasty biting kinds (and they hurt!! esp the fire ants!) You absolutely cannot leave a crumb anywhere or the ants show up with a whole town! Seriously, you know the song the ants came marching 2 by 2? well they dont march 2 by 2, I have witnessed.....they march 10 by 10 at least, and a line that can stretch from one end of you house to the other.....dee-sgust-ing! Other people seem to have serious cockroach issues (shiver...oh yuch) We have been very lucky and have not seen one in our house or around it.....which is good, because over at the barn , I have seen plenty, and they are the size of my pinky finger, so I am ever thankful that they do not come into my home....there are bugs everywhere, the dogs are all loaded with tics (which the boys like to pull of dogs and squish, watching them explode....aren't boys yucky) there are tarantulas, other weird spiders (spider webs EVERYWHERE), strange caterpillars, fireflies, mosquitos, centipedes (which also deliver a nasty bite) Oh and lots of bugs in the food.....yes you read that right.....the cake mix was just the tip of the iceberg.......I went to make another cake mix the other day and it was so gross I had to throw it out.....and we bought miniwheats the other day, the boys were so excited because it was the first time we had seen them here.....well we pour in the milk, and lo and behold, there are bugs in the miniwheats.....we were all gagging, it was so gross........so needless to say I am DONE with boxed baking goods and I now make things from scratch! (yes you read that right.....it is amazing what a girl will do to avoid bug confrontations!
Alright, well my horsies are calling (well whinnying) so I have to get over to the barn......
oh I forgot to mention, we head to St maarten next friday for a day and then off to Calgary for 3 weeks! I can't wait to hit the mall (real shopping with my non money) and the grocery store (can we say selection?? lol) and to see dear friends and family....I am NOT looking forward to t he weather, apparently they are in the midst of some nasty snow storms! But at least I know that in 3 weeks I will return to paradise!! And then I will have only 8 months left, wow!
Talk to you soon, dear friends,
Love Dawn

Weevils....the other white meat.....

Hey friends,

I apologize for not getting to my blog in awhile....I am sure that you are all just on the edge of your seat wondering how things are going down here in Nevis...Lol.....well things are fantastic and quite busy so I rarely get much time these days to blog! We are all having a wonderful time here in Nevis, really enjoying it! The weather has been absolutely beautiful, albeit slightly hotter than i would like (yes I said it!) It has been 34 most days and about 40 with the humidex! I have sort of gotten used to sweating all the time....ahhh...nothing like sweat rolling down your back or into your eyes and blinding you....Lol.....so subsequently we have been spending alot of time at the beach. Nevis has some great beaches! Our favorite is Oualie Beach (you can google it http://www.oualiebeach.com/) It is a great place to go swimming and build sand castles, very calm and they have nice beach chairs to sit on as well as a little beach pub that you can order fries, drinks and other good grub. I have gotten to know the owners a bit, the woman is Christian's spanish teacher, she is a lovely woman. The daughter, Rachel is in grade 11 at Christians school, a very nice girl. Anyway we love Oualie! We also like to go to Paradise beach, it is close by and has a great spot for snorkelling (for an amateur like me) There is a sunken cannon, which the boys love. We went for a snorkel after school today and Joe and Monty saw a moray eel, which apparenlty was quite exciting to them! According to Joe, it was about 3 feet long.....according to Monty it was about 6 feet long...(hmm could he be related to me??) It was lots of fun and a great way to cool off after a hard day of.....oh ...who am I kidding......after a day in the sun! Lol....I am telling you people, I am so loving this not working for a living thing. I told Joe the other day that I was staying here forever, he could go off and be a doctor or whatever, but this is where I belong! Of course then the reality of 1) I have no money and so cant stay and 2)I am not allowed to work here (officially anyway) so again money will be an issue longterm! (esp with the cost of living, can we say a $400 US electricity bill for september....GULP)

So we are all very busy and doing great. Joe is doing very well in school, he is busy and he doesnt get to enjoy the island quite as much as the rest of us do, but he is happy and content overall and working his butt off!! Christian is happy in school and doing great...he is learning spanish, and he can still remember how to count in Dutch from Saba! He is also enjoying riding a few days a week, is becoming a master snorkeler and swimmer and is now taking Tae Kwon Do. (and loving it) Monty is doing quite well now, we moved him to St Kitts to the Montessori school as he was not doing so well in the little school here and we were also afraid he would get behind. He likes the school in St Kitts, but the downside is that he has to travel back and forth every day on the ferry (45 minute ride) then catch a cab (same fella everyday) then school and back home. There are 5 kids coming from here so at least he has company. He finds the day long but he loves the school and he has a fantastic teacher. Monty is still in survivor camp and marine bio camp and he and I have been out riding alot. He is becoming quite the horseman....getting braver all the time. It is really nice that we can get out and share this together, I hope that we are creating many lasting memories! And I couldnt be better, really, I am so loving it here in Nevis! I am riding almost every day now, starting to get in shape and tomorrow going to be running to the beach with my friend Stacey.....we are going to run the 2 miles to the beach (ha ha) and then swim for 15 minutes then run back......(so she thinks....lol) I am thinking alot of walking is going to be happening since I havent run since my failed attempts at running the last few summers!! I really want to get in shape though......So the riding on the beach is awesome.....really.....loving it.....I feed and water the horses every day for the fellow, and I also take tourists out on beach rides....probably about 3 rides a week for now....busy season starts next month.....I love it, what a job to have. I dont get paid but I get to ride as much as I want and take the kids riding too so that is definitely payment enough for me......being around the horses every day is so soothing, good for the soul.......I am loving it. So what else am I doing? well, I have made some great friends through SOS and I am on the executive so i spend alot of time helping with planning and organizing activities for our organization. It is alot of fun and we do get to enjoy each others company quite often. If you are curious you could check out our website at http://www.muaspousesofstudentsandfamilieso.shutterfly.com/

So you are probably wondering by now where I got this entries title......or maybe not.....well people, shall I say the bug population is abundant down here? We have ants, ants and still more ants.....I hate ants.....little nasty biting fireants....I want to kill them all......we have the biggest cockroach/beetle thing i have ever seen (the size of a hamster!) and oh yes, we have tarantulas...christian and I saw our first one up close last week....and I am still shivering.....big hairy ugly spider....yuck......one of my questions when I get to Heaven....ummm God, about the bugs? " Anyway, I have seen all kinds of ugly, bizarre, crazy bugs these past few months.....including recently while making Christians birthday cake. I open the packaging of my Duncan Hines mix ( or was it Betty Crocker? ) feeling very domestic to be making a cake instead of buying one at superstore like I usually do.....our friends Joka and Jim were here visiting from Saba.....(she is a physician) anyway I digress......so I pour the packaging into the bowl and start to add the other ingredients and I look in and I think what is in the cake mix? is it moving? is it a bug?? Lo and Behold, it is a bug! Several to be precise......uck....I choke back a gag......and I stare in horror at Joka, my friend......she laughs.....says this is quite normal. I ask her how did the bugs get inside the bag of mix and manage to stay alive????? Apparently this is not uncommon all over the world AND she announces that the bugs are called Weevils (hang on a second while I retch again) Anyway, I am horrified but also in a bit of a conundrum.......cake mixes are not always easy to come by here and we bought one of the only ones......sooooo....if we throw it out.....what kind of birthday is it without a cake????? You see where I am going with this dont you??? I had decisions to make.......lol......lmao actually.....(this is one of those times where I am down on my knees thanking God for celiac disease.....) anyway, Joka says "Dawn, they are just weevils, no big deal really, I mean if you have another cake mix, use it but if not just PICK THE BUGS OUT" (again the gag reflex) So I get the sifter thingy out of the cupboard and I start sifting weevils out of the cake mix....I know, I know,......I am horrible......we got alot of them out, probably most, but definitely not all........there were body parts that went through the sifter and a few weevils that managed to as well (no idea how) Bottom line is I made the cake, weevils and all......and no one was the wiser.....well except for Joka and Joe and I......and they both ate a piece...can you imagine?? I wanted to vomit as I watched them all shoving cake in their mouths.....and usually I want to grab the cake and stog it down......anyway I am happy to report that Christian had a great birthday AND he loved the cake!

Well folks, I can barely see the screen now from laughing/crying over that story, so I better sign off....I will try so so hard to be more diligent in writing regularly....I do love writing this blog!

I hope that you are all happy and well, we certainly are....we do miss you all! Take care and have a great week.....God Bless......

I remember how much I love horses now......

Hey all,

Well it has been a great week in Nevis.....we are slowly getting into a routine, Joe at school, the kids at school and me, well.....that is the good part....me.....I am RIDING HORSES!!!! ON THE BEACH!!!! I have been out riding 4 different times this week, all along the Caribbean ocean and I have to say that it is the ultimate ride! It is so beautiful, so peaceful, so serene......I absolutely love it. My whole life I had a love affair with horses, they are without a doubt my favorite animal.....and I have ridden since I was a little girl....but once we had kids, it just got difficult to own/ride/visit horses. So I got away from it for a while......and I forgot that I loved it so much....or perhaps suppressed it because I couldn't have it?? So these last few days have been so amazing.....getting back in the saddle again.....feeling the horse underneath me......enjoying the Caribbean ocean from horseback! Riding the horse into the water and getting soaked by the waves! Well I just wish you were all here to experience how wonderful it really is! Having said that it is also exhausting, time consuming and my butt is objecting a little (can we say bruising?) but I am sure that with time I will toughen up. I convinced Joe today to come with us for a family ride and so the 4 of us went on a beach ride today. It was awesome!! The kids loved it, even Joe looked like he enjoyed himself! So basically I have been taking care of a fellow's 10 horses in exchange for riding privileges......sweet deal in my opinion! All I have to do is pop over to the barn twice a day for about 30 minutes to feed, water and check the horses.....keep the paddock areas tidy.....(and to be honest I spend alot more time than that there, just hanging with the horsies, enjoying their company, bonding!)

Other than that, things are going fairly well....Joe has first round of block exams tomorrow so we are praying that all goes well! The boys are slowly getting settled into their school.....they each have some nice new friends....Monty is very busy with survivor camp, sea stars and he starts tennis lessons on Monday....so lots of stuff on the go!

Anyway, it is a short post tonight....I am really tired....all this fresh air, sunshine, riding and beach stuff makes a girl tired you know! LOL.....so take care and God Bless and talk to you all soon! D

Hey there hi there ho there friends! Well we are entering into week 3 of our Nevis adventure and I have to say that I am really really pleased so far. I really like this island, it has much to offer and we feel that we made a great decision in coming here. I have so much to tell you but to get it all in would require a novel length document....soooo I am going to try to give you the readers digest version.....(and you know how good I am at keeping my stories short and to the point....NOT) but I am gonna give it a go.
So Nevis is beautiful, the beaches are awesome, there is lots to do, we are meeting many new and fantastic people....I feel so blessed to be here......I am not going to lie, that the first week was tough and an adjustment....leaving PEI after getting to spend the summer with family and friends was not easy.....but I am feeling really positive now that we have been here a few weeks!
I will start with Joe since he is the reason that we are here.....he seems to be liking the med school so far, likes his profs, meeting some nice students....there is actually a guy from Montague PEI here in his class and they knew each other a bit as this fellow was a nurse in Montague and Joe was a paramedic there....so that is kind of neat. Joe misses some of his Saba peers obviously, but he is adjusting well and appears to be happy with the decision to move......He has been snorkeling and swimming for stress relief......and loving the water and the beaches here. He is hoping to get out golfing sometime soon and he has a few fellows who are interested in doing this with him.....so overall h e is pretty pleased I think.
The boys are doing well. They have had their first week at their new school and they are both settling in. Monty made a new friend, Lu, who just moved here as well from Cancun, Mexico (his parents run a hotel here in Nevis) and they have really hit it off. They are a very nice family and they live closeby so the boys have had a few playdates already. Monty being Monty isn't completely thrilled by his school but he isn't hating it either...so I will count that as a positive! Christian is enjoying school so far and has made some friends there. He has an awesome teacher, originally from Sweden and recently from England. She is lovely and so kind and he seems to really like her. The school is very tiny and so this has been an adjustment for both of them. Monty is excited though because on Fridays the school offers archery lessons to the older kids...so he thinks that is pretty cool!
Monty is enrolled in a few programs here and he is very excited about them. The first one is called Survivor Camp (based on the reality show) and the leader calls it "Scouts on Steroids!" which I think is hilarious. the leader is a special ops fellow who was in the army in South Africa and he is a real outdoors fellow! Basically he takes the kids up the mountain and they learn how to survive off the land, making shelters out of whatever they have, making fires (without matches), making spears for fishing and catching and cooking the fish, learning what bugs they can eat if they are hungry!! (he ate a centipede on Saturday...the guide, not Monty) Anyway it sounds so great and I think Monty is quite excited about it.....the second program he is in is a marine biology camp, where he will learn about sea life and conservation and will go out on a boat snorkeling and learning about underwater creatures.....it will be a great opportunity for him and the leader, Barbara is a very nice lady.....I am only slighly nervous about Monty going on the boat snorkeling as last week a local was eaten by a tiger shark....so that freaks me out a little....apparently that is extremely rare and not usually something to worry about...but you know me! I love to worry...it is like a sport for me....and I am an Olympic calibre worrier!! Unfortunately, Christian can't attend these camps as he is too young...but that is ok because he is having lots of fun anyway! He is doing so well with snorkeling I can hardly believe it.....he just skims across the top of the water now like a pro......it is so amazing to watch him! Not that long ago he was afraid of the water....now you should see him!!
The beaches here are amazing and we have spent alot of time down the road at Oualie Beach Resort (you can google it) the beach is great there, very safe and calm. We just had a big SOS bbq there yesterday and it was a blast. We have a fantastic SOS group and I am meeting so many wonderful people from all over who are here for the same reasons....to support husbands through med school! (so basically we are all crazy!) I have to tell you a funny story about yesterday......we were all sitting around and chatting and beside me was Hedda, a quite pretty blond woman from Norway.....well Hedda looks pretty good in her bikini and I see Monty eyeing her....finally he looks at me and says " so Mom, look at her, isn't that the body that you have always dreamed of having?" Said so matter of factly that it was as if he was asking me h ow I enjoyed the bbq!!!! I nearly died laughing....and poor Hedda....she thought it was pretty funny...some of the other moms weren't sure how to react! it was just Monty being Monty so i wasn't too put out over it! I mean, really, its not like he was saying something that wasn't true! I would have loved to have Hedda's figure! Anyway he is a funny funny kid.......
So I am having a great time.....I am connecting with my new SOS friends....i am now the Treasurer of SOS......(yeah I know....me with money......) I am exploring the island and learning my way around.....I am learning to drive on the wrong side of the road....it is going much better than I expected;....well except for the part where I continue to turn on the windshield wipers instead of the signal lights and then I get flustered and turn the wrong signal on......LOL.....but overall it really isn't that hard to get used to.....I also have a very cool opportunity that has popped up here.....kind of like my dream job! There is a stable here that has been closed for a while for a number of reasons and I searched the owner out and offered my assistance with the horses in exchange for some occasional riding....Well he was so thrilled to have me to help out (he works full time and drives to the stable to feed the horses 2 times a day) and in exchange i can ride all I want, anytime I want and he may start up some trail rides and have me be the guide.....so that will be taking people from the cruise ships on beach rides with horses....ok really people....does life get any better than that!! So I am excited that I will get to do some riding and so will the kids...and maybe some evenings all 4 of us will go down to the beach on horseback.....so exciting I can hardly believe it....
Anyway I better run....lots more to say but it is very hot out and the boys want to go over to their friend's pool for a swim......so I will talk to you all again soon!!
God Bless and have a great week!
D

Welcome to Nevis...the land where Heelies are cheaper than Rice Krispie Treats!

Hello friends and greetings from Nevis.....I don't officially have internet yet so I feel a bit cut off from all of you fine folk....I am currently sitting on my beautiful deck, with a lovely caribbean breeze blowing (ok so maybe it is the remnant of the tropical depression but whatever) It is about 28 degrees out.....lovely and warm.....I can hear the crickets chirping in the background, and maybe some frogs?? And I am "borrowing " my neighbors internet.....mine should hopefully be hooked up within a week and then I will be able to get back to communicating with the rest of the world! This moving to a new island in the Caribbean and having no internet is tough stuff!! So we arrived on Sunday morning in St Kitts, hopped a cab and a ferry and another cab and arrived without too much incident to our new home for the next year in Nevis (no vomiting, no snow storms, although there was the threat of a hurricane!).....our initial impressions of the island are that is beautiful, and flat, with real roads and beaches, beaches, beaches! Some of the things that we will have to get used to are driving on the wrong side of the road, and paying alot of money for things.....as well as watching out for tarantulas (yikes, shall I remind you that I am an arachnaphobe) and green vervet monkeys! So we are getting ready for this next phase of our journey through medical school. Leaving PEI was pretty tough.....lots of tears....we always hate the going, you know I have addressed my aversion to goodbyes (I will have to follow that up in counseling some day...ha ha) So we were very sad to leave. We had a great summer with my mom, staying in her home, driving her crazy most days! We got to see lots of family, visit with friends and just had a great time. So leaving was tough.....and arriving here to start all over again was hard because the reality of my loss of my Saba network started to hit right about when I was rolling into my new home in Nevis.....Luckily, to cushion the blow, my new neighbor, Stacey was there to greet us! Her husband is a med student too, they are a wonderful family from Houma Louisiana.....and they have 4 beautiful children....so our two families have really hit it off and I feel like I have a great friend already! My downstairs neighbor Afton and her husband and little baby are very nice too....med students as well from Nashville Tennesse.....I also met a few others and we will have our first SOS meeting this Saturday so I am very excited to meet some of the others as well. We have the boys registered to start a very tiny private school on Monday.....this school is interesting, and has a policy of a maximum of 12 students per class....so currently Christian has 10 in his class for Grade 1 and Monty will have 5 others with him! So it could be interesting and very different from what they are used to! We are busy trying to orient ourselves to our new home, figure out where everything is (this island is much bigger than Saba) and of course learn to drive on the "other"' side of the road.....I have yet to try it...it freaks me out a little if I am honest! But hopefully tomorrow I will be brave enough to give it a go! And I will remember to stay on the right (or is it wrong?) side! I keep trying to climb in the drivers seat though so that must mean something??? (yes that I am utterly confused!!) Anyway we have been able to buy a few groceries and I must say that the prices here are pretty steep for food! We found this great store with an upstairs that has everything....from toasters to bikes to heelies and remote control cars etc....well the Heelies were very cheap ($22 ish dollars a pair) and so the boys convinced us to get them each a pair....so we did because they were such a great buy! We bought our groceries and supplies and we were heading out heelies in hand when Christian spotted a big box of Rice Krispie treats.....he was so excited as he loves them....so I said I will run back in and get them so that the boys can have a special treat in their lunch next week! Well I grabbed the box and ran through the cash and when she told me the price I was sure that my hearing was gone and I was hallucinating (heat stroke?) I said pardon me? She repeated the same number.....so then I was standing there with a bunch of people behind me and the girl with her hand out waiting and Christian half way to the car with a big Rice Krispie treat type of smile on his face.....so I took out the money and paid it.....all $40 of it.....yes you read that right......$40!!!! But in my defence it was a jumbo box!! With 40 treats in it.....and they are Christians favorite...and the boys needed an "adjustment" treat...ok you are right, it was a ridiculous decision....but what do you do...so I told the boys that the treats were quite expensive and they were for "school only" and that we would not likely ever get them again so they should enjoy them!! Joe was floored and he stared at me like I grew another head or something.....then he just laughed...we both giggled about how the heelies were cheaper than the treats.....funny stuff I tell ya!
Anyway I think overall we are doing ok....it isn't easy, so we are trying to look at the bright side of t hings.....we are so thankful for our new friends across the road because without them we would be lost! They have been wonderful and perhaps the type of people that we will be friends with for years to come!
I better run, just wanted to say a quick hi and let you know that we are here, we are safe, we are working on the getting settled thing.....once my internet is established I will get back to my regular updates!! I miss all of you and I had such a wonderful summer with you! Take care friends and God Bless.....D

Never a Dull Moment......

Well friends....Hello! It has been a while since I updated the blog and I was sitting here this evening thinking that it might be a good idea to let everyone know what is going on in our lives as there is plenty! So we have been on PEI since June 24th.....about 6 weeks now and we are having a wonderful time with family and friends.....the weather hasn't quite been "caribbean weather" but ahhh well, can't have it like that all the time! And soon, we will head south again and we will be basking in the sunshiny weather every day for the next year or so......we are missing Joe (he is still in Saba) but we are having lots of fun....we have spent lots of time with friends, on the beach, swimming, shopping, eating fast food (yum).....I have been to summer work parties, hung out with friends, visited with family and been to my 20th high school reunion....yup....that was such a blast from the past! I had the opportunity to catch up with people that I hadn't seen in well.....20 years.....it was a fantastic night and I didn't get home until quite late (errr...early) but I haven't had that much fun in a long time....my stomach muscles were so sore the next day from laughing so much.....many thanks to Melanie for hosting a superb pre and post party!! Personally, I think we should make it a yearly event! Any others interested?? LOL
So we have some interesting and exciting news......it will come as a surprise to some of you.....Joe and I have made a decision to move to another island for medical school.....Joe has applied and was accepted and is transferring to MUA (Medical University of the Americas) which is located in Nevis - St Kitts. There are many reasons why we decided to do this but bottom line is it is a great decision for our family. Monty was finding life on Saba pretty tough and so we feel that Nevis has alot more to offer for his age group, better schools, has alot more activities than Saba, way more in the lines of things to do, and beaches, beaches, beaches......we feel really good about this decision. Joe has been over to Nevis 2 times already and is very impressed by the staff at the medical school. He also really likes the island. He has rented us a stunning house (I think it belongs to Angelina and Brad...lol) and has a car purchased already for us (that Joe is such a go-getter!) It is all a little overwhelming really, but exciting and has the makings of another "excellent adventure"! The downside is that we are all going to miss the wonderful friends that we have made in our time in Saba.....The Koot family, Marylene and the boys, Amanda and Nathan, Lucia and little Harlow (and Jonathon too) Lisa and Billy, Rachel and Greg, Becky and Jaron, Heather and Ben, our church friends, Brother Reilly.....so many more .......wonderful wonderful people that have been a very important part of our lives in Saba....so saying good bye to all of them is going to be hard (you know how I love goodbyes...NOT) I am so grateful to have met and made so many wonderful friends in our short time there.....you have all been fantastic and I will miss you soooo much.....I am hoping that each and every one of you will come to visit us in our new home! We would welcome company any time!
So Joe will be arriving this weekend coming and we are all very excited and happy to have him back......7 weeks is too long to go without Joey! Someone please remind me of that next time I consider leaving him for such a long period of time! Actually we have done quite well, managed fine, but we certainly have noticed his absence from our lives....and we will be excited to have him with us for the rest of our vacation...which by the way , is hurtling by faster than the speed of light! I can't believe how quickly time is going and in about 2 and half weeks we will be flyiing back to Saba.....we will arrive on Saba the 29th for the evening and then finish our final packing (Joe has most of it done now) and then we will fly over to Nevis likely on the 31st.....(quite the jetsetters we have become!) We will have just 2 days to say our goodbyes and get the final business of life in Saba wrapped up! It will be a whirlwind of activity.....
Oh and for those of you who have been following along on our animal adventures....here are the updates:
the guinea pigs are multiplying...we think that someone has been throwing water on them or feeding them after midnight (gremlins) Anyway Joe went out to feed them one morning and lo and behold.....one of our girls had 5 babies overnight.....yes you read that right....5......so that made 10.....ok I am an animal lover (freak whatever) and even I think that 10 guinea pigs is a bit much! So our friend Marylene has agreed to take over our flock and find homes for them as we can't bring them with us to Nevis....they have very strict rules for importing animals so we are going to even have trouble bringing our dog there......anyway that is the story with the guinea pigs! As for birdie....the little pigeon that we hand raised....well she has flown the coop......literally....she finally decided that she was ready to be independent and away she went.....she started off by flying away for a few hours at a time and slowly progressed from there.....one of her last adventures she was gone for 3 days so Joe figured that was it....she was gone.....until our dear friend Joka came by with Birdie and a great and extremely funny story....Joka is one of our dear friends, and one of Joe's profs as well as one of the Island Physicians. She and her husband have been meeting with Dutch officials as Saba is revamping its Health Programs....anyway Joka is this tall, elegant, classy dutch lady and she was in a meeting with all these Dutch suits.....at a very fine out door restaurant....as she sat talking about serious issues (health care transformation in Saba) a funny thing happened.....a pigeon swooped in and landed in her hair! causing quite a fuss I might add.....so Joka reaches up and pulls at the bird in her hair.....and gets the bird out and looks at it and exclaims "oh my, thats Birdie, thats Joe and Dawn's bird!" True story I swear it.....anyway Joka brought Birdie home to Joe once the meeting ended......I laughed for about 2 days after I heard this.....and of course wondered what are the chances that Birdie would pick Joka out of a crowd?? Did she recognize her as a lift home?? a familiar face?? (Birdie would have met Joka a bunch of times) Anyway it was such a great story that I felt that it had to be shared here!! so since that time, Birdie has flown away again.....she hasn't come back this time, on her own accord, or with neighbors! It has been almost 2 weeks so we figure she is rehabilitated and free as a bird! Just the way it should be!!
Anyway friends , it is getting late, I better get to bed....just wanted to quickly update you on what is happening in our lives! So start saving your pennies people....we want visitors! And when are you going to have a free place to stay in Nevis?? This is your opportunity!!
Have a great night and God Bless.

Obsessed with Twilight.....

Hey everyone! How's your week? Mine has been great.....+30 everyday, sun, sun, sun, no working, carefree lifestyle, beaches, snorkeling.....what more could a girl ask for?? I am busy preparing for our trip home....well maybe busy is a bit of an overstatement...more like every now and then again thinking about it, what to bring ( some clothes), what to not bring (the dog...Monty isn''t impressed).....I am looking forward to coming home and seeing all of you fine folk (well the ones that live in PEI anyway!!) Monty has been excited since we booked the tickets and he is counting down the days....and Christian has finally gotten really excited now that it is getting so close.....I am happy about it too....but a little anxious for a couple of reasons....1) I am going to miss Joey (the obvious) and 2) the not so obvious...I have never flown across countries by myself with my kids before....I usually follow Joe around the airport like a lost puppy....I know ...shocking.....and I never pay any attention to where the gates are, what to say at customs (I was cut off after my fiasco with customs and forgetting to declare fruit and getting in trouble...long "Dawn" story) etc.....so I have to admit I am a little nervous about the travelling...I am sure I will be just fine.....right?? anyway we head over to St Maarten on Monday afternoon...Joe is coming with us....and we will spend the night there at the Sonesta Bay Maho (you should google it to see what you are missing! It is awesome....and a quick walk to the famous Maho beach where all the planes fly in) Then tuesday afternoon the boys and I will leave St Maarten bound for Halifax....it is really kind of hard to believe actually that by this time next week we will be home......
So this week has been pretty good...the boys are winding down at school, amost done...only 2 school days left for them! We have spent some time down at the beach, had supper there with friends last night and you should see Christian snorkel....last night he took off the floaties and started to snorkel all on his own....I was a bit terrified...ahem....nervous....after all that is my little baby floating around in the water out there.....anyway he was delighted as he and Joe followed a stingray for a few minutes.....and he was pretty proud of himself for going without the floaties! (it was only about 4 feet of water and Joe stayed right beside him the whole time.....anyway he had a wonderful time! Monty played in and out of the water with his friend Helke and Helke's 2 brothers, Martin and Jella....it was alot of fun....I am definitely going to miss our beach suppers....
This week has also seen the development of a new obsession for me (along with my hotmail, facebook and reading the Guardian every morning) People kept offering for me to read the Twilight books and I kept saying no thanks....I mean really.....a story about teenage vampires.....yeah, I don't think so, but thanks.....anyway my next door neighbor Lucia said they were so good that she couldn't put them down and she was thinking about them constantly when she wasn't reading.....hoping her baby would take a nap so she could spend a little time with Edward.....so she offered me the first one yet again as well as the movie....so I said ok I will take it home and read it (maybe) and I could watch the movie...I like movies.....anyway on tuesday I picked up Twilight late morning and sat myself down on the couch and thought "what the heck" I have nothing to lose by reading......and that was it......a few chapters in and I was a gonner.....hooked.....I could NOT put the book down.....I read the whole thing ( a few hours in the morning) and then completed it at midnight on tuesday night.....then I was a bit crazed because i didn't bring book 2 home until I remembered the movie....I had to have more of Edward and Bella.....so at midnight, I started watching Twilight....yes, I know, a bit nutso really......although the movie didn't blow me away....I found that alot of the book was cut out....but I didn't care, watching Edward and Bella come to life was awesome......so first thing Wednesday morning, I ran to Lucia's house and gave her Twilight and said "I must have book 2" I need to know if Bella is going to become a vampire? " Lucia laughed and said "I see you liked it" Anyway so yesterday I couldn't wait to get everyone out in the morning so that I could spend some more time with Edward and Bella....and again I read the whole book....all 563 pages of it....I couldn't stop.....so now here I am.....Lucia is reading book 3 so I don't have it and I am absolutely dying to know what is going to happen next! I guess I will have to wait until we get to St Maarten on Monday and I will buy myself a copy to take on the plane!! anyway if you haven't read the Twilight series.....run, don't walk...run to the bookstore right now and get them......I promise that you too will be obsessed!!
Other than that things are going along....the guinea pigs are growing, the pigeon is growing and Joe is studying......not much new to really report!
So I guess I should go....I have to take Monty to a birthday party in a few minutes and they are both out there claiming that they are starving.....so take care and hope to see alot of you soon!
God Bless.

Guinea pigs, pigeons and Gumbo......

Greetings from sunny Saba....the land of eternal sunshine and +30 weather! It has been awhile since I last wrote.....the days seem to go by so fast.....and before I know it 2 weeks have passed and I haven't written a thing! Time is a flyin' and before you know it I will be PEI bound....only 16 days until we depart for our little fair isle.....I am excited to see people, to shop, to eat at chain restaurants, to go to movies and just really enjoy a PEI summer....I hope that you have all ordered up good weather for me?? After all, I am leaving +30 behind so I will need to have at least +25 or I will be wearing a sweater and wrapped up in a blankie!! ( I am sure you all feel the same after that long, cold winter!)
Life continues to be an adventure here on Saba......things are going well for the most part. We have had potlucks at the beach, snorkeling, guinea pig births, park days with SOS, a cooking night with SOS (where we were taught how to make authentic Louisiana cajun gumbo!) So lots has been going on! Christian is really loving it here and he is a little sad to leave, although happy to see family back home....he has become quite the little snorkeler in the past month or so.....when we came here in January he barely tolerated swimming (in a pool) and particularly disliked getting sand on his feet at the beach....soooo....we are so pleased to see that he has changed so much...he is becoming a great little swimmer and now enjoys the beach and absolutely loves to snorkel....he throws on the floaties and his snorkel gear and out he and Joe go into the deep sea (well about 20 feet) I think I hold my breath the whole time that he is out there, after all that is my baby out there.....AND there are sharks and moray eels and stingrays swimming about! Christian was so excited the other day as he saw sea snakes...yellow ones with dark polka dots...he was pretty pumped.....Monty is now a pro snorkeler and part fish, so he loves to get into the water! The other day at the beach, Joe pointed out that I was the only one not snorkeling or swimming out past my waist....(uh oh ...he is finally on to me!) So he says why dont we go out for a snorkel together.....I'll stay with you.....our friends can watch the kids for a few minutes.....so I am not sure how to turn this down without looking like a total baby.....so I agree to go....after a few swim strokes, I tell Joe that he has to hold my hand! Because I am pretty scared and almost hyperventilating a bit.....so he does, dear fellow that he is.....and he basically drags me out into about 20 feet of water where there are literally tons of fish and sea snakes and sea urchins etc.....the sights are amazing....that is until I let it register again that I am now in 20 feet of water....nowhere to put my feet down if I am tired....no floaties....and no life jacket (people were starting to make fun of me....and they weren't buying the "I am wearing it so that I can help Christian bit anymore") So I pull on Joe's hand and motion to him towards the shore.....he thinks I am pointing at some fish....I do it again.....he still isn't sure....so I pull hard and give him a bit of a grumpy look....he gets it and takes me back in.....so after we get back in, he convinces me to go out and give it one more try....so I did....and I got a little further this time, and a little longer.....it was fascinating for sure....but still scary....man I am a big baby!! After the swimming and snorkeling we had a big potluck on the beach with friends.....pasta salad....BBQ burgers and hotdogs.....dessert etc.....it was a great time......
So another great night was our SOS cooking night....all of us gals got together and Heather, a new SOS'er from Louisiana made authentic cajun gumbo.....everyone raved about it. And we had a wonderful night of socializing....we have decided that this cooking night will be a monthly night and since we have people from a lot of different ethic backgrounds, it should be really fun and interesting.....next month (which I will miss) is mediteranean food! I am not quite sure what I am going to make when it comes to my turn....is Kraft Dinner authentic canadian??
I have been trying to get out walking every day.....uphill both ways of course! When I came here my goals were tanned and skinny....the tanned part is now accomplished...I have never been so tanned in my life and I love it!!! I am sure it will age me about 10 years but for right now it is awesome...so golden and healthy......ahhhhh.....so now the skinny part needs to be at least attempted! So I am trying to get out walking every day with my friend Lucia who has a 3 month old baby girl (the sweetest) and the heaviest stroller I have ever pushed in my entire life...I tell you we are a sight to behold coming up the home stretch (the biggest hill of all!) She pushing the stroller, me pushing her from behind.....we laugh and laugh......and have to stop every 10 steps or so! We blame it on the baby or whatever else we can find to blame it on, when really we are both just quite out of shape! (although Lucia looks like a model so you would never know!) My friend Amanda has offered to walk me too as well as a new friend Nora...Nora is a marathon runner though and in extremely good shape...her idea of a walk is my idea of punishment!! I told her I better do the hills a few times with Lucia before I attempt to go with her! I bet she could whip me into shape though!!!
So the boys are all doing decently....Joe is studying and studying (he's in the thick of exams again), Christian is having a great time and Monty is day by day! Some days he really likes it here, others he is still homesick....he is looking forward to coming home the most! It will be really nice for him to touch base with all of his old buddies.....
So our newest project is raising up a baby pigeon....and yes I know, I have become a crazy animal lady....well truth be known, I have always been like this! But now that I have some time on my hands I just am able to indulge in this hobby a little more (much to Joe's chagrin!) I really really enjoy the animals.....anyway the pigeon has been quite interesting. I have to hand feed it with a syringe every 4-5 hours, baby pablum.......it loves to eat.....and it follows me around.....so cute.....well he isn't really that cute...but the kids and I (and Joe) are having a lot of fun with him....we are sure hoping that he is able to eat on his own come June 23 as I don't think Joe is going to be so happy if he has to keep up the hand feeding when we are gone!! Anyway the kids found this little fellow on the road one day and we looked all around for a nest or some parents etc.....couldn't find one so we didn't feel we could leave him there in the middle of the road....so he came home with us...I call him Mr.Peeps and Christian calls him Whistles (because he whistles all the time!) Anyway he is neat.......
Our guinea pig babies are growing like crazy! They are about 2/3 the size of the mother now and only 3 weeks old today.....I guess we have to decide whether to give them away or not....and our other pig is due to have babies anyday as well....the kids and I have alot of fun with the pigs and they have such great personalities!
Other than that, life is slowly becoming "normal" for us (whatever that is) We feel more adjusted, more at home, more like we have made our lives here.....although some days we feel like coming home, we try to remember just how blessed and grateful we are that we are here having this amazing opportunity/adventure, even if it isn't perfect, even if it means separation from family and friends for awhile, even if it means getting away from the conveniences that we are used to, even if it means no income and incurring a huge pile of debt!! We are still so blessed to be here......Attitude is 90%, it really is....one of my favorite pastors out of the states is a man named Dr James MacDonald and he has a saying .....it goes "Gratitude is the Attitude that sets the Altitude of your life".....I love this......it is something that I think of often here....days when I start to feel a little bit down about being so far away and maybe not being in the same place as my friends back home (financially, being settled etc) or when I have to have a military shower and all i really want is a long one, or when I see an unflushed toilet yet again (when it is yellow...) or when I can't get the foods I want, or go to the stores I want, or I don't have a job or any money coming in etc......then I start hearing Gratitude is the Attitude in my head and I start to look around and appreciate the absolute raw beauty of Saba, the eternal sunshine and +30 weather, the fact that I am not working which means that I am getting to spend more time with my kids at a time when they really need it, the amazing and wonderful new friends that I am making, the tiny little church in the outdoor cafeteria that I get to attend that is so rich spiritually, and the fact that Joe will finally get to be what he has always wanted to be......so like every experience in life, it isn't perfect or always easy...but so much to be learned and gained....I've been listening to the Hannah Montana soundtrack....don't laugh....it is awesome...and I love her song "The Climb" ....it really reflects where I am in my life....that life isn't about arriving....it is all in the "getting there"....some wise supervisor that I have had for a long time (Cathy) preaches this alot and I am finding it to be more and more true every day! Anyway I hope that you are having a wonderful week.....and I can't wait to see all of you and catch up on what has been going on in your lives! Talk to you again soon,
God Bless.

My get up and go has got up and went.......

I have a serious case of the lazies......I have never not had a job before so I always have relied on the structure of the work day to kick me into gear and so now, with me not working (well outside of the home anyway!!) I am finding that getting myself into a productive state before 10 is becoming a challenge! Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining....at all!! I actually kind of like it, (ok I really like it) but I am a little concerned that when I one day return to the real world I am going to be in serious trouble (Hey Mary Lou, can I start work at 10?) So most mornings now I get up at 630, get the kids ready for school, lunches packed, clothes out, teeth brushed, you know the drill.....then I shove Joe and the kids out the door at 7:20......then I go in and stretch out on my bed for a few minutes and think about just how lazy I might be today! I usually spend a half hour or so catching up on emails, facebook and reading the deaths.....errrr....the Guardian....(gotta stay current with what's happening on the PEI homefront!....nosy freakin' islander!) After that, I usually very slowly go about cleaning the house......I do this every day for about an hour in the morning and it never ceases to amaze me that it is just as messy and dirty each time I go to do it? It is some strange phenomenon worthy of an x-files episode! Laundry, dishes, sweeping, dusting, tidying, making beds etc....there is a never ending pile of things to do! Then I get dressed and ready for the day (which usually consists of pulling my hair back into a clip or pony tail and putting on clothes instead of wandering around in my pj's) Some days I put on a little make-up...others I just go au natural.....it is funny.....most of us SOS girls here have shown each other what we used to look like pre-Saba.....nice, classy, professional looking chicks....and we always react with a "wow, you looked awesome"......did you notice the past tense.."looked"......nowadays we are all just hanging around with our pony tailed hair and not a tack of make-up.....it is liberating and scary all at the same time!! One day for fun I put on my make-up and went down into the town and every person that I met that I knew said "wow you look really nice today" or "wow you are glowing today" (I think to myself, that is not a glow, that is the magical transforming power of clinique......) Anyway it is pretty funny.....so back to my non-working topic.....I am trying to get myself motivated to at least get out and exercise each morning...I keep saying that I am going to go out for a walk (which in Saba is actually a climb since everything is a hill) I have gone a few times and come back all sticky and sweaty....see that is the trouble with exercise.....the sticky and sweaty part.,....yuck......I mean it is bad enough that my hair is in a pony tail and I have no make-up on but sticky and sweaty too?? So I have recruited a few friends who are also experiencing symptoms of this serious illness (L.A.S......short for Lazy Ass Syndrome....Melissa coined that one!) and we are now going to try to motivate each other to get out there!
So all talk of laziness aside......my afternoons are quite busy with the kids (my own and usually at least 2-3 more) And of course I am also copresident of the SOS so we have lots of events and planning etc......and Joe and I are in charge of the music ministry at our church so that involves some work as well. And today I start co-facilitating a 6 week parenting course.....I am excited to be doing this but also feeling a little like my brain has been on vacation and so I am not sure how exactly it will perform! I was speaking with the supervisor/coordinator of the agency that has contracted with me to do this course and she advised me yesterday that they are likely going to be looking at hiring a pt social worker 20 hours a week......so that may be an option for me.....it is goiong to be tough decision to give up my mornings though.....
So what else is going on you ask?
Well, we have had a good week on Saba.......the beach is wonderful right now so we have had supper with friends down there 3 times last week! The water is so lovely and warm.....the waves are a little daunting by times, but I am getting used to it.....we have had a park day with the SOS and that was fun and another one coming up this week. Also an SOS cooking class next week, where Heather, a new SOS from Louisiana is going to teach us all to cook authentic Gumbo! And we have a few women from India who are going to give us a class as well next month....we are planning a wine tasting evening.....and maybe a day trip to St Maarten for just us ladies, so lots of neat and interesting upcoming events......there are some really nice ladies in the SOS so I am feeling like I am making some great friends here......Christian is of course doing fine, having a wonderful time in Saba.....Monty is doing better now that he has 2 really good friends to hang out with......school is still a bit rough for him but we are taking it day by day...and he is counting down until we go home for the summer......Joe is studying....thats pretty much it for Joe.....he emerges once in a while from his study, but for the most part he has his head down in the books....semester 2 and 3 are notoriously difficult for students....4 and 5 become a little more manageable again.....so I will see him in about 8 months or so!! ha ha.......Oh, our ginuea pig had babies! 2 sweet little babies......they are adorable and the kids have been so excited! The pigs bring us so much enjoyment....really they do......they squeak and whistle when we come out (hoping for treats of course), we carry them around and cuddle with them, they are really alot of fun.....I highly recommend every family have 2 (maybe not 5 like we do right now!) They are cute and fun little critters....Joe is slowly warming up to them.....he says that he doesn't like them, but he often comes in to tell me that my pigs are calling to me, they must need something etc......they are definitely a great addition to our family!
Oh and it never ceases to amaze me what a small world we live in.....recently I found out that my next door neighbor Lynn rents her guest house out to students and there is a student there named Susan....so I finally meet Susan and her husband Ian.....and if you can believe it....Susan is from PEI, Cornwall! And her husband Ian is from Alberta! Red Deer ,which is where Joe grew up.....so it is so wierd....our neighbors are a couple from PEI/Alberta all the way down here in Saba.....anyway we had a wonderful chat with them and they are a super nice couple....Ian is just here for a few months as he is at the U of T working on his Masters.....so I was struck with what a small world this is....I mean what are the chances of that???
Anyway I guess that I better go enter the housework phase of my morning, then get cleaned up and pull my hair into a pony tail to get started on the day! Hope that you are all well....I am really looking forward to seeing you all this summer!! Until then....God Bless, Love Dawn.

Home home on the range......

Well folks, it is official, I booked the kids and I tickets to come home for the summer......I am really excited....Monty really needs to touch base with friends and family. So Joe and I sat down and talked about it and he is chin deep in biochem, genetics, epidimiology and physiology and is going to have to study study study, so we decided that the kids and I may as well go home and enjoy the summer with friends and family.....so I am excited and happy to go...but also sad to leave my Joey behind.....we will be arriving in Halifax at midnight on june 23 and staying probably until the end of August....haven't decided on return ticket yet!! I am going to go to movies, walmart (oh sweet walmart), the kids are going to play soccer, we are going to the beach, we are just going to enjoy every minute and make the most of our time.......yippee......

I saw this on another friends blog and although I modified it a bit, it really speaks to what I have learned in my time so far on Saba:


1. not to take Wal-mart, Superstore, Shopper's Drug Mart, Sears, Canadian Tire etc for granted. For anything besides the bare basics, we have to travel to the next island over for, or have it shipped from the U.S. (which equals expensive and takes forever!)
2. how inexpensively we eat in the U.S. and Canada. Food is at least 1.5 times the cost here.....and we have so little variety here.....
3. That most days I have 3 types of currency in my wallet (US, Canadian and now Dutch Guilders). The exchange on American equals 1.8 Guilders and the Canadian money on any given day is about 20 cents on the American dollar so I have no clue how much money I carry anymore.....(my friend Amanda has it all figured out!!)
4. to think twice before using any water. We rely on rain water for everything, so conservation is a must! (when it is yellow, let it mellow....)
5. what the meaning of humidity really is. Your clothes grow mold if you don't wear them often enough. Your laundry stinks if you don't get it in the dryer quick enough....and zippers corrode off of things constantly.....dont bother zipping up that sweater!
6.how much it means to have good friends and family close by! I have met some wonderful people here but we are all pretty transient and know our time together is limited......
7. what it is like to wake up to the sound of wild goats and roosters roaming your yard.
8. That I absolutely love sunshine and it makes me happy! I also love warm weather.....and winter is an unfortunate event that the rest of the world has to endure!
9. That cars really can climb steep steep hills when they are filled with people.
10. How privelaged we are in Canada to have a washer and dryer....many people here don't have them because they use so much water or have a saba washer which is more water efficient but very labor intensive....alot of my friends here wash by hand....I am sooooo thankful to have a washer and dryer!
11. How much I love the phone (and how cut off from the world I feel when I am unable to use it as much as I want due to cost.....) I am getting vonage very soon.....
12. That I rely on the internet ALOT to keep me connected to friends back home and I may need to enter internet anonymous upon my return!
13. And finally.....that I am a true Island girl.....I read the guardian every morning, especially the deaths (you do it too, I know you do!) and that no matter how far I roam, I long for my home.

Take care friends and talk to you all soon!
Love Dawn

A few pics from our trip.......

Christian and I at Le Galion Beach


The landing at Maho Beach....so cool!

Joe and Monty checking out sea life at sunset

Taking off from Saba....a thrill every time!

When MacDonalds reminds you of home......

Hello friends! It has been awhile since I have written.....it feels like everyone in my house has been on holidays for a very long time....and with the kids at home, it is hard to find time to write my blog.....so they returned to school yesterday and Joe started Semester 2 today (good luck Joey!) so here I am finally, alone, in the quiet (oh the sweet sound of silence) staring out my bedroom patio door into the beautiful sunshine.....and I thought.....great, now I have time to sit and write and catch all of you up on the news on our little island......
Things are going well....Joe has had a break between semesters, off for 2 weeks and it was so nice to have him around every day! We decided to take the kids out of school and over to st Maarten for 5 days. And we had such a wonderful time over there.....everyone should go to St Maarten for a vacation! What an awesome place.....We went over on the plane with Win air and I had never taken off from Saba before so it was quite the experience! You get in this teeny tiny plane and you look out the front window (because they don't close the cockpit door here so we sit up front for the "view") and all you see is this tiny strip of pavement.....a few hundred feet in front of you and then a cliff that drops to the sea below....and you think Holy Hannah....we are going to die today! So I prayed....hard....that God would ensure that this little plane left the ground when it was supposed to do so that we didn't plunge into the Caribbean Sea below.....so off we go and I am watching the edge of the runway get closer and closer and I think.....ahhhhhhh.....and then up and away we go.....right from the edge of the runway.....phew! The flight is only 15oo feet above the water so you can see boats under you and waves etc....it is quite cool....then 12 minutes later there is St Maarten and we see Maho Beach and the teeny tiny runway there......we landed safe and sound (Thanks be to God!) Off we went on our adventure! We got our rental car and headed towards our hotel....and Christian looked out the window and saw MacDonalds while Monty looked out and saw Subway and people....I tell you....it sounded like Santa was standing there in the street, the squealing and excitement coming from the back seat.....they begged to go eat at MacDonalds and Subway so we said oh sure, why not....we had a light lunch an hour ago.....so we stop at Subway first and Monty gets his usual chicken breast sub and he gulps it down exclaiming with every bite "how good this is, I havent had a sub in months....mmmmmm....sub..." . Then we head to MacDonalds where Christian decides that nuggets and fries are in order.....so we place the order....then we drive up to the window.....then they open the window....and whammo! the smell of MacDonalds comes rushing in to your car......mmmmm.....the sweet sweet smell of MickeyD's floods the senses.....and I had forgotten how good it smells....it doesn't matter where you go in the world...MacDonalds is a consistent! the smell was so grand that I had to have some fries.....and a chocolate milkshake......so then you had Monty in the back going mmmmm......Subway and Christian and I in our seats going.....mmmmm.....MacDonalds......it reminded us of home sweet home and all the fast food and convenience ......ahhhh....it was sweet I tell ya! Now I never in a million years thought that I would miss MacDonalds restaurant....no way hosee....but when that beautiful odor came wafting in my window....I realized what I had been missing for these months......and every fry was mouthwatering....so yummy! Now we love our little island but there is not one franchise here in Saba.....nothing to remind you of home.....everything is small unique little businesses, which has its charm for sure.....but sometimes you just gotta have MacDonalds and Subway!!
So we had a wonderful trip, we went to Maho Beach where the airplanes fly over as the runway is right beside the beach....and those planes are only about 40-100 feet above the beach when they are approaching landing....very cool....we have a few great pics on facebook.....we went to Le Galion on the french side of St Martin,very beautiful beach.....alot of topless people so of course Monty's mouth was hanging open most of the time (Joe's probably was too when I wasnt looking!) So of course had to explain to Monty about how this is perfectly acceptable in many places/cultures....he thought that is was an excellent thing to do......then of course came the questions about why I wasn't topless when so many others were...was I afraid? Didn't I believe in it? etc etc....darn 10 year olds and their inquiry minds.....We went to Kimsha beach which was also beautiful and we ate at the little beachside bar....where we had the most unbelievable delicious chicken sates that anyone ever ate in the history of the world!! We went to the butterfly farm, which was amazing.....and learned tons about butterflies.....and the zoo where you can feed almost all of the animals.....the kids loved it! And the movies......oh sweet mother.....the movie theater with its tantalizing smells of popcorn and crap......yummy.....we saw Hannah Montana the movie and all 4 of us absolutely loved it.....it is a great family film, lots of music and very funny but a great story.....I highly recommend you to go check it out.....we laughed all the way out of the theater saying "did we really just watch Hannah Montana and we all loved it??"There is no theater or movies in Saba so this was an awesome treat......Our 5 days finally came to an end and we came back to our little island where Joe did some more scuba diving and we all went fishing and swimming down at the harbor......We had a BBQ with friends on Sunday afternoon and that was awesome......we have met some really nice people here......so our holiday was wonderful and we had a much needed family time......now it is back to reality and the boys went back to school yesterday (after basically 2 full weeks off) begging please mom just one more day at home! and Joe went back to school today......Semester 2.....biochemistry, physiology, epidimiology, genetics and hyperbaric medicine.....ick.....and I am back to my wonderful mornings off.......the sun is shining out there and I can hear my pigs whistling for their breakfast....so I guess that I better go! Oh and we found homes for 2 of our guinea pigs so we are down to 3 (2 of whom are pregnant) so I suspect that we will be right back of up to 5+ in no time! Never a dull moment in Saba.....so take care friends, have a wonderful week and I will talk to you again soon. God Bless.

And then there were 5.........

Well hello there friends!
How is your day/week? Did I ever tell you how much I love the weather in the Caribbean? It is absolutely spectacular every single day.....sunny and +27-30 most days now (getting warmer as we move towards "summer"...isn't is summer all the time here?) We have even had to turn on our air conditioning once or twice in the last few weeks due to the heat.....it is glorious....every morning when I wander out onto my deck and the sun is shining......I feel extremely blessed to be in this climate.....the Canadian climate is going to be a bitter pill to swallow when the time comes!
So I must apologize for my absence.....it has been a few weeks and I have been thinking about you all. The kids were on Easter break (spring break for 10 days) so my computer time was limited so I didn't really have much opportunity to write......anyway we had a wonderful time....we were swimming, snorkelling, hanging with friends, having sleepovers (my personal favorite...not) The beach is back now so we spent alot of time there! What I mean by the beach is back is that there is really only one beach here called Wells Bay and it is called a "wandering beach".....I will try to explain as it is a bit odd so difficult to wrap your head around sometimes....depending on how the wind is blowing, waves are rolling etc.....the sea brings sand in to the "beach area" and deposits it there on top of the millions of rocks that are normally there....then there is a beach to sit on/play on/build sand castles....but just as quickly as the sea brings the sand in, it can take it all back out again and the beach could disappear for months....leaving only rocks behind (which are not nearly as fun to walk on or sit on!) also when it is just rocks it is usually because the sea is too rough to play in, so beaching is not an everyday occurance here in Saba.....so the beach came back last week and we spent almost every day there! Nothing like packing a cooler full of snacks and heading down for a day in the sun! It was lots of fun, but also a little bit scary.....the ocean here can be pretty rough and unpredictable so you really have to be careful...it can be calm and flat one minute and then 3 or 4 huge (and I mean 3-4 foot waves can just roll in from nowhere....well from the open ocean I guess! So then these waves can be ridden with a boogie board all the way to shore, where you are thrown onto the beach and exfoliated (well that is what I call it....really it is a bunch of sand grinding into you very quickly....you should look inside my suit when I get home....i bring home half the sand with me....hmmm...maybe that is where the sand goes, it isn't the ocean it is the people taking the sand with them in all the crevices and folds of their body....ok ok I can hear Beth saying "Dawn you are way too detailed" and I can see Mike turning red so I better stop) So I have been getting better at the timing of boogie boarding and man it is super fun (when you time it right, not as much when you don't) I wear my life jacket just to be safe as those big waves lift you up quite high sometimes and it makes me a little nervous...Christian wears his too, just in case you are wondering......Monty on the other hand does not.....he is part sea creature I think and he loves the big waves.....our friend Rapha taught him the fine art of wave diving....this is where you dive into an oncoming wave and basically go under it! Monty thinks that this is awesome....he also loves the boogie board! So this week Monty got to go out snorkeling with our friends a few times and he had such an awesome time....I can't believe that I let him go....way out in the ocean in over 40 feet of water....the friends assured me they would look after him....i told them if something happened they should opt to not return to the shore....it wouldn't be pretty.....they laughed of course thinking that I was joking.....I told them about mama bears in Canada.....I think they got it and they took very good care of him! Anyway, Monty came into shore after snorkelling the other day and yelled "mom guess what I saw"? I of course said what dear? He said "SHARKS.....I SAW SHARKS.....2 SHARKS......Not what you want to hear from your 10 year old son after he has been snorkelling in the open ocean (remember that Saba has an "abundant" shark population!) So I try not to over react and he is so excited he c an barely talk....he then proceeds to tell me that they were young nurse sharks....phew I was relieved...they were only like 2-3 feet long...no biggie....better than the 18 foot great white I was envisioning....(I could hear the theme to Jaws in the background!) It turns out he also saw 3 sea turtles and they swam along with them for a few minutes as well......he had a wonderful time! We have also been swimming up at Willards of Saba....an awesome hotel with an amazing view (you could google it if you don't believe me!) So we had a lovely vacation......well the kids and I did....poor Joe basically studied and sweated about his final exams......he was quite stressed but you know what??? He kicked ass!!! He got 87 on his anatomy final and he was so worried about it....i was so proud of him....way to go Joey!!!! So semester 1 down and 4 to go.....Joe is now officially on break (now that the kids have returned to school!) so we have all decided that next week we are going to st maarten for 5 days for some family time .....the kids will get to miss some more school and we are planning to go over and do some normal things that you people take for granted (at least I did!) like movies!! and shopping!! and fast food!!! we are really looking forward to our trip together......we are going to go the real beaches in St Maarten and just spend some quality time together as the last few months have been pretty hectic.....we can't wait!!
so it has been a bittersweet week, some of our dear friends have left Saba as they finished their 5th semester....2 of them, sam and Rapha, who were our church leaders have left and it was so hard to let them go as they had become very dear to us and they both just loved our boys.....the boys miss them already, as do we....we wish them well in their next phase of the journey....Go with God, Sam and Rapha...many blessings upon you both!! This is the odd part of Saba....each semester you meet new friends but lose some old....it is a constant state of preparing to say goodbye (and you know me and goodbye....ick.........)
So do you remember the movie from the 80's...the Gremlins? do you remember what happened when you poured water on them? Yes that is right, they multiplied......so right now I feel like I have gremlin guinea pigs.....why you ask? well it is a rather funny story.....(ok not so funny?) You may recall a few posts ago that Monty purchased a 3rd pig? so we then had 3......well a few days ago , a neighbor behind us decided that she and her partner were leaving the island, she is leaving med school and she has a pig (the same one that Monty brought home a few months ago and we said that he couldn't keep so we gave it to her!) Anyway she gave it back to Monty so he brought it home and in the cage it went......so there were 4 pigs.....and of course he is a boy pig so he is thrilled with his harem.....and this is not good......THEN.....just when I thought that was not good......one of monty's friends from school came over, crying very upset, with a guinea pig in her arms....her mother was making her get rid of her pig adn she had no where to take it....so of course, Monty graciously offered to "help her" out of her difficult situation......and then there were 5!!! 5!!!! What in the world am I going to do with 5 pigs??? I have been trying desperately to find a home for a few...but apparently I am the only sucker on the island....nobody wants anymore guinea pigs!!!! So I have a big frisky boy in a cage with 4 lovely ladies.....can you imagine what is going to happen next?? Oh and by the way.....Joe hasn't looked in the cage lately.....so he isn't quite sure how many are in there? Adn luckily he rarely reads my blog....so I am ok for a few days, until he starts looking and counting now that he is not so engulfed in his studying and has a few days off......it is not going to be a good scene!!! eek! Anyway they are adorable and I don't mind them at all, but we may have gone a little overboard this time.....I have spread the word that I have some pigs to give away....any takers???
Anyway I better run, I have to go get my car to the shop for the brake pads to be replaced! these hills are hard on a persons brakes and last night when i drove it the car sounded a little like Freddy Kruger was following me.....now I am no mechanic but I can guess that is not a good sound when it comes to a car!!!
Have a wonderful week and I will talk to you all again later!
Love and God's blessings to you all.

To nap or not to nap...that is the question....the answer my friend is NAP!

Hello everyone....I know that I am a day late posting this week and I am going to tell you why that is....because I had a nap! Yes that is right....a NAP.....a wonderful, glorious, refreshing NAP! Do you know how long it has been since I had a nap? I would say years.....and I forgot how much I absolutely love naps.....As most of you parents can relate, it is very difficult to get a nap in when you have kids....it is just not something that you can easily do as a parent. So yesterday when they left for school, I had my breakfast and came in to the computer to check email and write my blog....(I sit on my bed to write, there is a table beside the bed that is our "computer table". So while I was checking my emails, I noticed that the bed was still warm and soft and I thought "I am just going to stretch out here for a minute"....well that lead to "I am going to pull up the covers and snuggle with Tigger for a minute (he is ALWAYS sleeping in our bed these days!) Then, as I lay there all snuggly and warm, I started thinking "what if I took a nap?" "what would that be like?" This of course was being challenged by that responsible side of me, which was saying "you don't have time for a nap, there is housework to be done, your blog to write, you have things to do"......as I was arguing with myself, I drifted off to la la land and voila.....I had a nap! 3 hours later (yes 3....maybe that is a sleep, not a nap?) I woke up feeling fantastic, refreshed and wonderful (and just a tad naughty for shirking my duties) It was noon and Christian would be home soon and I was in my pj's, hadn't really gotten up, house was a mess, beds unmade.....so up I got and started in on the days work. So my message to all of you out there who haven't treated yourself to a nap for a while.....go ahead...do it.....it is wonderful and you will thank yourself for it. It is funny you know, how we mothers especially feel that we have to be always "doing" something "worthwhile". I have noticed this in my friends, family members and myself....we don't allow ourselves some of these luxuries (napping, relaxing) very often. I am not sure why, but I am going to do some thinking about it in the coming weeks and I might experiment with that napping thing a few more times just to get myself comfortable with the concept! LOL...
So we had a pretty good weekend. Friday night I attended a parents' workshop on the psychological needs of children put on by a psychologist from St Maarten. She was excellent and I quite enjoyed the presentation. Although it wasn't really new info to me, it was a good reminder of all the things that we forget sometimes when we are parenting. Then on Saturday, the SOS (significant others of saba) teamed up with another students association to have a big easter egg hunt at the park for the island children and it was a huge success! Hundreds of people showed up, the kids went on an egg hunt (we hid 500 eggs) then there was games and face painting and food, food, food.....it was a great time. On sunday we had potbless (potluck) at church and so again a wonderful time with food and friends.....we also took the kids swimming at the pool as the weather is getting hotter here....you can feel the season changing and the sun getting stronger...noon to 3 or so is quite warm, you wouldn't want to be too active out in it, unless of course you are swimming. So all in all a pretty good weekend.
The boys are very excited as tomorrow is the last day of school and then they are on their Easter Break which is 10 days (Saba version of March Break) They are so excited that they can hardly stand it...they haven't had much down time here so they are looking forward to sleeping in, lounging around, going swimming, playing etc...I am not entirely sure how I will keep them entertained for those days but I will have to try to figure out something! And then of course, Easter is coming this weekend...I still haven't quite figured out how I am going to pull that one off! There isn't tons of shopping around here so I am trying to find some Easter treats! This weekend, our church is putting on an Easter Cafe, so Joe and I will be busy with that on Friday afternoon....we had coffee brought down from the US (Starbucks) and we will be having a bunch of baked goods for students......there will be video clips that discuss Easter and its significance to us as Christians, live music and fellowship....we are hoping to feed about 200! So we are looking forward to this event.
Joe is studying, studying, studying.....his finals are coming up and he is somewhat stressed about it.....I can't believe that the semester is over already....it is crazy how quick it has gone. The amount of information that he has to know is unbelievable...I would have thrown the towel in after the first week....but Joe just keeps on going, studying, absorbing as much as he can. So he will have a 3 week break coming up...unfortunately it is after the kids break is over (poor timing....you would think the med school and school could work together??) We are planning to go over to st Maarten for 3-4 days to hang out and spend some time together so the kids will have to miss a few days of school. We are going to hang out at the beach (because remember Saba doesnt have a beach) and try some water sports, go to the butterfly farm, zoo and some shopping for supplies at Cost-u-less.....we are excited to go.
As for me, I am so glad that I am not working, I really need this time to just decompress from the business of life. Also there is much to do to keep the house running and I was finding myself way too busy. And Monty is still having some challenges so I find it is a good thing that I am home to help him. I am sure that before long I will have to work at something, but for the month of Aprill I have promised myself a reprieve (sort of my deferred salary without the salary! ha ha) We will see from there what I may or may not do. There are opportunities in the restaurants here to waitress and there may be social work opportunities on the horizon. I haven't decided what I will be doing, but I do know that it will be part time (maybe 3 mornings a week?) I really want to take this time to be here for Joe and the kids....medical school is tough and Joe needs me more than ever to be taking care of things on the home front...some of the other spouses are finding the same thing, that being a support system to a med student is a full time job.....so that is my job for right now and in between naps I will be taking it very seriously! Tee hee......
Anyway, take care all of you and have a blessed week.....
Signing off for now,
Dawn

When is sweet too sweet? If there is such a thing....

Greetings dear friends and family,
How are you doing? I have had a very busy and tiring week and I must say that I am ready to go on an all inclusive to Dominican or Cuba ( I have been inspired by some of you travellers!) Now you might say that sounds pretty silly....after all aren't I living in the Caribbean? Isn't life just like one big all inclusive holiday etc etc....but the truth is no.....life is life, the same here as it was home....work, kids, studying, house to run, responsibilities etc.....the only difference is the absolutely beautiful weather....the responsibilities are still the same! so Joe is finsihing his first semester in 3 weeks time (can you believe it??) and i would love for nothing more than the 4 of us to go on a cruise or an all inclusive holiday.....so for a few days there Joe and I were looking up last minute deals etc.....and we could find some pretty impressive rates...BUT the problem is getting to them.....to fly from Saba to St Maarten and St Maarten to Florida for a cruise is about $600 per person....or to go from Saba to St Maarten to Dominican Republic is about $700! Air travel is so expensive...so the cost of the last minutes is amazing, but the getting there is the problem....anyway i would love a nice vacation, a reprieve from all the daily grind....so we will see....we may all go over to st maarten for a few days on Joe's 3 week break between semesters....
So I mentioned that I have had a busy week.......when really I have had a busy 3 months...I really never gave myself any downtime when I moved here.....I was working on the 6th day nearly full time (well 7:30-1 everyday feels like full time) and then after a few weeks negotiated Mondays off....anyway very busy .....so I made a decision this week to resign from my position at the school and to take some time off to just enjoy life and get some well deserved r&r.....moving to a new country is alot of work and takes alot of energy to get everyone adjusted! So I will look around and keep my ears open for opportunities but for now I am just going to have a few weeks/month of down time.....
We had some tragedy here this week....our guinea pig finally gave birth (after I was fairly certain that she was going to explode) and she had 2 lovely little babies....but sadly they both died....we aren't sure why (no guinea pig autopsy service available) and they looked so sweet and perfect....well the boys were devestated and there was much crying going on here....we had a "wake" which is a viewing of the bodies, putting them in caskets with flowers and showing everyone in teh neighborhood our dead babies....and then Saturday we had a funeral and burial service.....poor Christian was so sad, he had been going outside every morning to see if his pig had delivered so when he realized that the babies were gone, he was so disappointed.....anyway it was a sad event.....so in steps Monty....and this my dear friends is where I get todays title....when is sweet too sweet? Monty was very upset that his little bro was so sad (monty was very sad too) and so today he tells me that a neighbor will be stopping by at 5 with a delivery.....and I say "what do you mean"...he says "I can't tell you, it is a surprise for Christian" so I continue to ask what he has done and eventually he fesses up to his actions......he describes feeling terrible for his little brother about his sadness over the loss of our babies and so he took his lunch money that he has been squirreling away (again) and spoke to some people (Monty knows all the people) and he bought Christian a new baby guinea pig......I say you did WHAT??? He tells me again. I say where di dyou get the money and he replies that he has been saving the lunch money and oh yeah, he "borrowed" $5 off my dresser to help with the costs....but Mom (with those big blue eyes) Christian was just so sad and I knew this would make him feel better, so I just did it, don't be mad, I did it for Christian......(is this kid destined for politics or what?) Anyway I think Holy Hannah....what am I going to tell Joe? He is going to freak! oh and it does take an interesting twist here...he admits that actually there will be 2 pigs delivered...because he had promised one of our babies to Becka, a student who lives behind us and has lots of pets, and he didn't want to disappoint her so he talked the people into a second pig.....I am floored.....this is well, just so sweet but so not good....but so sweet....see my dilema? He is such a sweet and loving child and for all his faults he is about the most compassionate and caring little person I have ever met.....so how can you get mad? But we don't need more pigs....so I try my best to give my sternest parental lecture about what a wonderful gesture but he needs to ask permission...blah blah blah......he promises never to do it again......so now at 5 today, apparently I am about to get a shipment of pigs......so Monty leaves for a friends house and I start to think, just how am I going to explain this to Joe?? so i say to Joe....a funny thing happenend today, your son is so sweet, do you know what he did........well, joe is not smiling, and he doesnt think it is one bit funny.....so I say ok maybe funny isn't the right word to use? He says try disobedient, we said no more pets.....and I say but he meant well.....and Joe says yes and you know what they say about good intentions? So I agree, yes it wasn't a good choice......
So all in all life is interesting here...never a dull moment......we have had wonderful weather and sunshine.....and some great people around here so lots of good things going on......I can't wait to be unemployed for a while and just sit back and survey the lay of the land and figure out how I want to spend the rest of my time here.....3 months are gone already and Joe's first semester is 3 weeks from finishing.....if time goes this fast, we will be done of our 20 months and back in the canadian cold before we know it.....
So have a great week friends, God Bless and we will meet again soon,
Dawn