Just another day in Paradise.......

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, screaming "WOO HOO, What a ride!"

I love this quote.....
There are days when I question our sanity.......really and truly, how many people sell everything they own in their mid (ok, almost late) 30s, put the rest of their stuff in storage, give up great jobs and move to the Caribbean to study medicine, accumulating more debt than most families make in 5 years? But then that quote comes to mind......and I realize that while what we are doing is not the norm, may not be conventional, and is totally outside the box, in essence we are skidding in....screaming woo hoo what a ride the whole way......This caribbean adventure has been awesome and I wouldn't trade it for everything.....even if we had to give up everything we had to do it.....we have gained so much in return and had so many great adventures and we will have amazing memories that no one can take away (not even the bank if we can't repay all the loans....lol) I am so thankful and I feel so blessed that we got to do this......it ROCKS......

As you can see I am in a contemplative, thoughtful mood......you see I am entering a phase where I am very aware of time.....and that our time here is now coming to an end.....and I am starting to grieve, taking stock, looking ahead to the future and what that will bring, and staring behind at what I am leaving......there is so much going on in my head that I could never share it all in a million years! It dawned on me today as I was driving home from the barn that I want to remember EVERY thing, EVERY little tiny seemingly insignificant detail......I want to have the drive from the stable to my house burned into my brain, the potholes in the road, the flamboyant bushes on the side of the road, the palm trees with no tops by Coconut Grove that stand looking lonely, the swampy area in front of Cotton Ground that is so beautiful, the barn itself with its breathtaking view of Mount Nevis....I could go on and on and on......so over the next few months....I am really going to try to record everything I can, take pictures of everything I can, write down all of the details that I am sure to forget if I don't get them on paper.......

I am going to start by telling you right now a little bit about our everyday routine ....what we do day to day.....it might be abit boring for you, but for me, it is a record of my day to day life and how wonderful it is so that I never forget this time.......
My day starts at 545.....my alarm goes off, yuck and I roll over and think noooo, it can't be morning, but it is.....my little finch friend is outside my bedroom door singing away waiting for me to fill his dish......I quickly get into my workout clothes and throw my hair into a pony and out the door I go to meet my friend Jen at Oualie Beach......we head out for our hour long walk, where we admire all the beauty and peacefulness, we talk about life as "medwives" and we work up a good sweat. I get home at 7 and wake up the kids, and work on getting them ready for the day.....I make breakfast, lunches, pack bags, and chase 2 half asleep boys around the house, trying to find uniforms, and shorts and socks and where they left their shoes etc......Monty leaves the house with Joe at 7:30 because he has to catch the 8 AM ferry over to St Kitts. He attends SKI academy over there. Then I finish getting Christian ready, clean up the breakfast mess, feed the dogs and get myself ready. I drive Christian to school (they don't hvae school busses here) and then I head over to the barn. I wander around in the pasture for a bit, saying good morning to all of my horsies, giving them a treat and a little scratch, checking their shoes and the fencing.....and watching the monkeys steal all the mangos (buggers...lol) I lift 2 50 pound food bags up and pour into a wheelbarrow and then haul it around and get the horses fed.....I fill the water tubs, I feed the turtles and the chickens, then I figure out what needs to be done.....some days I have tourists to take out on the beach, other days I go riding with a friend, sometimes I just ride one or two horses in the paddock and make sure that they are getting a little schooling.....I am usually home from the barn by noonish, dirty and covered in sweat.....I shower and clean up and start work at home. I clean, do laundry (hang it out cause we have no dryer....) make beds, all that domestic stuff. I then usually go pay a bill, or get water at Nelson Springs (we only drink bottled water here.....) On tuesdays or wednesdays i go grocery shopping because that is when the ship comes in with fresh supplies and it is really the only good time to get milk and produce ...byt the weekend most stuff is picked over or gone......on thursdays I drive to the sea bridge and pick up my meat order from the meat man in st kitts......At 3 I am back on the road to christian's school to pick him up at 3:15.....I bring him home and he gets changed and we either go for a quick dip in the pool or hang out.....at 430 we hop in the car and go pick up Monty at the ferry terminal downtown......Then we head home, have supper, do homework, hang out and then everyone heads to bed....I usually watch a bit of TV.....Joe studies.....Tuesday nights the kids have soccer at the university. On Wednesday nights I often have an SOS activity, book club or desert night or cooking night....on thursday nights I have karaoke at Rumors Bar......weekends we usually have friends over to play with the kids or go to the beach.....sometimes my vet friends from St Kitts come over and we go riding.....Sunday afternoons Monty has sailing club so he goes sailing from 1-4, very fun....did you know that he can rig up his own little boat?? he sails a boat called a sunfish.....tiny little sailboat.....very cool......so as you can see I have a busy and full life....its a different busy from home...but still busy.
So that's it in a nutshell......it is a wonderful existence really, simple but sane and pretty relaxed.....I'm going to miss it like crazy.
I am going to try to put some of my favorite pics on my next post.....so stay tuned.....
Good night friends.

The road less travelled......

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;
5

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,
10

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.
15

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference

This has forever been one of my favorite poems......Most of you who know me well, know that I don't often take the "easy" route.....that I don't always follow the conventional path, that I like to go "against the grain" a little....it's just my personality......this poem has been in my head alot lately. We have alot going on in our household in paradise and I thought that I would share some of it with y ou.....at least get some of it down in writing while it is pressing to be released. So.....we have been struggling with a few decisions over the past month.....the two choices are 1) all of us to remain in Nevis until Joe is finished with his 5th semester (december) or 2) The kids and I move back to PEI after this semester (end of august) so that the kids can start the school year fresh. We have been back and forth and back and forth and then back and forth again trying to figure out what is best for us as a family......and we have finally come to a decision.......the boys and I will be returning home August 23......back to PEI......the main reason for this is that Monty is starting junior high and he really wanted to start with his peers and we wanted him to be able to have a smooth transition back to the educational system in Canada. Although he has learned many many valuable things here in the Caribbean, the education system hasn't always been on par so it has been a bit of a worry by times, especially with Monty. Over the last month, Monty has been strongly voicing that it is time for him to go "home" to be with his family, his friends, his school....he is ready to be a Canadian again, ready to play in the snow, ready to go to walmart, read to play hockey (he is a peewee now so will be checking and he is totally pumped about that....yikes) Christian has also jumped on the bandwagon and he wants to go home too....he misses his Nana, his puppies, Bernie and his friends. So with both of the kids feeling strongly about going home, Joe and I started talking about the pros and cons of this decision. I was quite opposed initially because well lets face it people, who wants to give up paradise??? not I said the fly.....I have absolutely enjoyed this adventure so much and I am so grateful that we had this experience.....I can't believe that 20 months has gone this quickly! So as you can imagine I have ALOT of emotions right now.....excitement to go home too, back to my country, my friends, family, my job, my choir (oh my blessed choir...sigh) my church family, all of the wonderful things that I know are waiting.......sadness, because I can't believe that I have to leave all of my friends here, my horses, the lifestyle, the weather, the beauty of the caribbean, the adventure.....it's going to be a big adjustment. We have all really enjoyed our time here...some of us more than others (right Joey?) LOL.....I am going to try to sum up our time here over the next few blog entries......so keep checking back :)
so I just basically wanted you to know that we are coming home.....soon......August 23 and we can't wait to see you all.
I have to run, I'll be back soon.
Love D