Timber me shivers...or Shiver me timbers...something like that.

Hey guys! We haven't chatted in forever. It's been busy on this little island: 1) Apparently I may or may/not have a shitty gallbladder, but an ex-CFL football player is keen to remove it, 2) We took a fabulous "road" trip (in a 12 seater plane) to Little Cayman for some world class diving/palm tree climbing competitions, and 3) The pirates invaded Grand Cayman and took our Govenor, just in time for our buddy, Stacey Weber to arrive and witness Evan Lindsay in a dance-off. Whoa. Busy times.

Dancing pirate

1) What's a gallbladder good for anyway?

First off, for all of you who've known me for the last few years, you may recall, "Angry knee Kirstie." The Coles' Notes version: It was discovered that my knee cartilage was gross and diseased, I had 4 knee surgeries, 1 epic cartilage transplant, and remained in a heavily medicated stoned state, on crutches or a cane for approximately 18 months. Good times. This experience definitely motivated me to "seize the day," and search for a life in a warmer climate. I immediately noticed that my joints ached much more in colder weather, and like an old lady with a hip replacement, I was able to predict major snowstorms by the creaking in my right knee. No lie. I am happy to report that this warm weather is most certainly benefitting my joint health. When I arrived on the island in August, I was still taking 3 prescribed medications for pain and swelling. I've now managed to dwindle that number down to 0. ZERO! Whoo hoo! Isn't that great? At one point, I was taking dozens of pills every day and now I am taking none. Success. I'm more active - I take 2-3 walks a day, I do modified work-outs at the gym, and I swim in the pool. My knees have never felt better! So, I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little frustrated with the fact that I'm now experiencing some weird abdominal pain since my trip to the ER in September. I met with a surgeon - the first Caymanian to be drafted in the CFL - for real. I'm not exactly sure how he went from the Winnipeg Bluebombers to general surgeon; however, he explained that the pain I am experiencing may or may not be due to the fact that I have some yucky things growing on my gallbladder. Football surgeon would like to remove it. I kinda like my gallbladder though. We've had 35 solid years together. I'm NOT down for surgery right now. Not at all. So I choose to currently ignore it and talk about....

2) Little Cayman

Wow! Have you ever dreamed of laying in a hammock and sipping pina coladas on a small white sand island surrounded by the most magnificent coral reefs in the world? This is your place! With 2 super fun couples I've met through work, Ev and I hopped on a tiny little plane (Ev's knees were touching the pilot's back - "Excuse me sir - what does that button do?" haha). We flew

boarding our plane

 5000 feet above the ocean and landed on Little Cayman in 30 minutes - the airport was a tiny little building labelled "Gate 1A" haha! We then headed off to our own beach house, equipped with a crystal blue pool, floaty toys, paddle boards, and a magnificent view of the Caribbean. It was paradise with a capital "P." We awoke first thing every morning to meet our dive boat out front. The diving was incredible! At one point, we made our way through a narrow swim through at a depth of 50-60 feet and arrived out the other end to witness the wall dropping 6000 feet into the abyss. The colours of the fish and the coral was unbelievable. That moment is engrained in my mind forever. Happy place! We then returned to our beach house, drank pina coladas until we each passed out in a hammock, and awoke in time for happy hour(s) from 4-10pm. During one epic happy hour, my friend Barrett created some very happy margaritas - margaritas infused with courage. I felt so brave that I recommended a palm tree climbing competition. This is how it went. Obviously, I did not win. Oh dear.

it definitely seemed higher in my mind

our little piece of heaven on Little Cayman

That's Ev wrestling a shark 

I have to admit, prior to this trip, I was feeling a little low. I know you want to biatch slap me right now, but it sucks to feel unwell when you don't have your trusted doctor, family and friends around. I was homesick. This escape made me feel incredibly grateful for this opportunity that Evan and I are experiencing together. Life is good.


We had a really great weekend and feel super lucky to have already met such great friends. I can't wait to bring our Canadian friends here when they come to visit!

Happiest of happy hours!

sunset on our dock

3) Pirate's Week with a Weber - AARRGGGG!

Pirate's week is an annual festival in the Cayman Islands. It begins with an invasion of the pirates, the capturing of the Govenor, and ends a week later with the sentencing of the pirates and an elaborate fireworks show. There's live music, daily events, local food stands, and tons of pirates partying in the streets. Good times. Our buddy, Stacey, couldn't have chosen a better time to visit the island. On the final night of Pirates Week, we boarded the Jolly Roger (a pirate ship, obviously) in full pirate garb, for 3 hours of legit pirate partying. It was unreal. We AAARRRRGGGG'ed all night, sipping  chugging our rum punch as we watched an amazing firework display over the harbour. After the pirate ship party, we joined in on a proper Caribbean street party. As an awesome Jamaican band pumped the tunes from a stage, hundreds of people danced in the streets. For those of you who know Evan Lindsay's dance history (he danced ONCE...at our wedding. It was more of a "hug...and turn"), you will be as shocked as I was to learn that Evan had voluntary entered himself in his own Caribbean dance-off. I looked towards the stage and witnessed Evan dancing/squatting low to the ground (the goalie move?), encouraging a young Caymanian man to match his low profile. When it was apparent that Evan had achieved a lower status to the ground than his dance competitor, Evan stood tall and proud, hands outstretched in the air in a victory pose. People high-fived him and hugged him in congratulations. Who is this guy, and what did he do with my introverted husband? Stacey and I were still laughing hysterically 2 days later as we recalled Evan's epic dance moves. It was great having Stacey with us for a week and we look forward to many more visitors - hopefully these pictures will entice friends to visit as the temperature plummets back home!

Thar she blows! The Jolly Roger

Yo Ho Yo Ho we drank a bottle of rum

Awesome visit with our great buddy!

Confession Time

We all have little things we think or do that we inherently know are a little crazy, right? - little secrets that we keep to ourselves at the risk of appearing "off" to others. I think it's totally normal and acceptable. But sometimes it feels good to confess your little idiosyncrasies to others. Who knows? Perhaps someone out there shares a quirky quality? Or maybe they will laugh and point, and shout, "That's crazy!"It's a gamble.

On that note, I have a confession to make.

Well, actually, I have a few weird secrets and since I've decided to confess something at the risk of appearing crazy, I may as well lay them all out there. Why not.

Here it goes:

1) Sometimes when I am alone, I mix together butter, icing sugar, and cocoa in a small bowl. It's called "Kirstie icing." I eat it. Just like that. I can hear you "ewww"ing. Whatevs. I'm not ashamed. Well, obviously I am because I only do it when I'm alone. I wouldn't want to gross out Evan. It actually tastes delightful and makes me incredibly happy. In fact, it makes me a better person. I know it does.

2) Until I was about 12-13 years old, I actually thought that if a male and female were naked in close vicinity, sex would just happen. Like the male parts would just "find" the female parts. Like a magnet. Boom. You have no choice. You are naked and suddenly it happens. I don't know where I became misled. I'm pretty sure my parents and school provided me with the basics. For whatever reason, I was slightly confused.... and terrified of getting naked in change rooms that were within a few meters of a boys change room. Perhaps it is a brilliant teaching method. There was no way I was taking off my clothes anywhere near a boy that might even be thinking of getting naked! Ack! In case you're wondering, I'm got it all sorted out now, thank you very much.

Finally, the point of this blog post:

3) I have this irrational fear that a tidal wave/earthquake/asteroid/major destructive force is going to swallow this beautiful little island that I live on and we will all be sucked into the sea, never to be seen again.

I blame the following disaster flicks: "Armageddon," "The day after tomorrow," and "Deep Impact."

This thought first occurred to me as I saw the island for the first time from the airplane's window on descent. I knew the island was small, but seeing it from 10,000 feet solidified the fact that this island is small, people. Fricken small! It seemed so insignificant from the air. We could have easily flown past it and if I had been struggling to open my bag of crap airline peanuts, I would have completely missed it. An entire country!

I don't suffer from constant anxiety about this "issue." It just occurs to me from time to time. Especially at night when I'm looking out to sea and can't see anything. Nothing. Eerie. I've mentally tried to prepare for the tidal wave/earthquake/asteroid/destructive force by mapping out an escape route, but so far, I've got nothing. Where would I escape to? The highest point on this island is about 60 feet above sea level. That's not so high. And wouldn't all 60,000 people on this island be headed to that same location? Ugh. The bottom line is, the risk of tidal wave (so I've been told) is very low and an asteroid could hit anywhere, I suppose. In addition, there is no evidence that we're under attack by unidentified flying objects (they only attack major American cities like LA and NY anyways - so says Hollywood). My fear is totally irrational.

See - terrifying, right?

Now this is ominous. Disaster is imminent. 

So after almost 3 months on the island I thought that I had conquered this irrational fear and could live in peace in paradise. Not so much.

On Thursday, I was driving out to my schools on the north side and east end of the island. The East End is the furthest distance from where I live - approximately 22 miles away. This drive typically takes me about an hour in the morning with rush hour traffic - (there actually is "rush hour" traffic here. For real). I had driven about half the distance only to come to police road block. The police motioned that the road was closed and diverted me to a secondary road. I obediently followed the traffic and quickly came to a standstill. On an unknown "back" road, I sat, unmoving with hundreds of cars for 2 hours. Police cruisers whizzed past us in both directions, and people began turning off their vehicles and walking down the road. Initially I imagined a bad traffic accident, but I couldn't understand why we would all be required to sit and wait for 2 hours. Unmoving. Suddenly it occurred to me. Picturing the scene in all the disaster movies where Manhattaner's angrily get out of their cars in traffic only to be smashed by giant wave/asteroid/UFO, I thought, "Dammit! It's the tidal wave/asteroid/major destructive force. My little Japanese care, EDO Japan, does not pick up any radio signals (why would it, it thinks we are in Tokyo!), so I quickly went to my phone to text Evan: "Go online. Is there something bad happening on this island?" When he didn't reply and it was apparent that none of my texts were being transmitted, I was pretty positive that it was happening. I hate being right.

Finally after 2 hours of preparing for the tidal wave/asteroid/UFO/destructive force to take me down, traffic began to move. I glimpsed out to the ocean only to see calm, turquoise waters - no tidal wave. The sky was clear - no asteroids. No UFO's appeared to be entering our atmosphere. Reaching my destination, 2 hours late, I learned that it was, indeed, a very bad traffic accident that had caused the diversion.

Moral of the story: I need to avoid disaster movies, remain fully clothed in all public places, mix up a bowl of Kirstie icing... and calm the frick down.

This is where I ate lunch that day - Whoa! Scary stuff. 

Evan says, "chill out...ewwww, you eat butter and icing sugar?"

Diving for cheeseburgers

Happy Thanksgiving Canada! Today I'm thankful that I spent a third of my weekend underwater. After battling (and winning!) this stupid bacterial infection, and then cancelling a dive last weekend due to Ev's newly acquired cold, we were so thankful to finally get beneath the surface this weekend. It's kinda silly - we spend all winter planning and waiting for a 1-2 week vacation, where we typically smash out 2 dives a day; yet, we've been here for 2 months and haven't been underwater once! Thank goodness we managed to get our ass in gear and oxygen tanks on our backs. Yesterday we attended my new friend, Katherine's snorkelling birthday party at a beach called Smith's Cove. This beach is awesome! It's hidden in a little cove, there's excellent snorkelling with tons of fish just a few feet off shore, and there's lots of shade for my buddy, Ev, whose freckles are beginning to join to the create the "ginger tan."We spent an hour or so snorkelling and then Katherine and I pulled up our big girl bikini bottoms and went cliff diving jumping off a 5 foot rock. It felt more impressive than it looks. Haha

Ready for it!

Go! yes, that's the paparazzi taking pics from the water

Today we did a shore dive, aptly name, "The Cheeseburger" because of its location directly in front of Burger King (how do we have BK, yet no Starbucks? How? What I would do for a pumpkin spiced latte...) A buddy notified us that the "Silversides" were in town. After realizing that he wasn't talking about a band, we researched (www.google.com) that the silversides are little silvery fish that arrive in the thousands - typically between June and August here in Grand Cayman. For whatever reason, they just happen to be in front of Burger King....today! Not just "The home of the whopper," people!

The dive was pretty incredible. It was shallow - we never descended further than 40 feet. We entered a long swim through (like a cave, with an opening) to discover a curtain of thousands of sparkly silver fish. In order to see where you were going, you actually had to reach out and spread the glittery fish with your hands - imagine thousands of tiny silver fish all moving as one, swirling around you as you swim through a narrow cave. Super cool! On the other end of the swim through were huge Jacks, just waiting to snack - on the silversides, not us!) Overall, great experience. I'm glad we were able to witness that, especially given that it only happens a few times a year.

This isn't actually from our camera - it ran out of batteries 10 minutes into the dive but this dude got a great pic

found this perfect conch during my Thursday lunch on the beach

In addition to some great water time, we had a pretty good week on the island. I'm not going to complain about the heat...ever...I promise (watch 325 people defriend me instantly on Facebook); however, I must say, I do miss some variation in the weather. Weather is such a huge part of our lives back home. We have hundreds of adjectives to describe the weather: "blustery," "frosty," "heatwave," "coldspell," "frigid," I can go on and on. The weather is always changing. It can be hot and 30 degrees Celsius one day in May turning to blizzard-like conditions the very next day. It gives us something to talk about - something to praise and something to bitch about. Here, we have hot, hotter, hot rainy, hot breezy, and finally... a brand new one this week...wait for it...."windy." I woke up at 6:30am on Wednesday for my daily morning walk with Dundee and I immediately noticed that something was different. There was a strong breeze and it felt almost...well, almost "crisp-ish." It was still like 28 degrees celsius, but the wind was actually refreshing. I came bouncing inside, "Ev! It's different outside today. It's like windy, but kinda cool windy or something!" Wowsers. If this doesn't make theweathernetwork.com, then I don't know what will. haha.

Even my buddies - the other new recruits noticed! At The Wharf bar and grill during Friday happy hour, my American friend commented, "Did anyone notice that there was kinda, I dunno, almost like a cool wind the other morning?" "YESS! we all chimed in. Exciting times. Exciting times. I have been told that the humidity will fall around November and the air will feel cooler during the "winter" months. My scarves (I only packed the "tropical" scarves!) are waiting patiently, hanging with anticipation in my closet. Stay tuned.  I look at pictures on Facebook from back home - colorful leaves, pumpkin patches, pumpkin-spiced lattes (sorry, I'm obsessed), family Thanksgiving dinners, and I definitely feel a bit homesick. It's only been a few months, but I find myself having to really remember what Fall looks, smells, and feels like. I'm so thankful for skype/facetime, which at least allows me to see everyone I love and miss. There's always a strange balance between missing the familiar and yearning for something completely new - so we're embracing the balance and eating our Thanksgiving meal out by the pool this year.
Happy Thanksgiving! Cheers!

mmm...stuffing from a box

Reunited and it feels so....TERRIBLE! I need a Doctor!

Last we chatted, I was excitedly preparing for Ev's return to the island. He was flying in at noon on Sunday, so on Saturday, I prepared by buying his favourite groceries (MEAT!), purchasing some Czech beer, and tidying up the house for his arrival. Every now and then I would turn to my captive audience (dog and cat) and exclaim enthusiastically, "Evan's coming home tomorrow!" Their ears would go back, the dog wagged his tail and the cat looked at me expectantly. Exciting times.

Things went downhill quickly.

By midnight Saturday, I was laying on the bathroom floor, dripping in sweat, experiencing what I could only guess was a case of food poisoning.

I took some meds and set my alarm for 11:30am so that I could pick up my man from the airport.

A romantic reunion of lovers (ew, I hate that word) beaus embracing lovingly after 3 weeks of separation -  it was NOT. Hunched over the steering wheel, perspiring profusely, I slowly drove up to the terminal, rolled down the window, and muttered, "Let's. Go."

Poor Ev.

By Monday evening, things had gotten worse and I was experiencing severe stomach pain - the kind that doubles you over and takes your breath away (ginger ale ain't fixin' this!) Ev and I decided to visit the hospital - I mean, may as well try out that free healthcare.

Because I am a government employee, I am entitled to free healthcare. Unlike Canada where our tax dollars pay for our healthcare, the Cayman Government foots the total bill - which is great; however, I was a little concerned what my free healthcare would get me. First, I knew that the insurance only covered me at one of the three hospitals on the island. I envisioned the hospitals in the US (as seen on TV) for peeps with very limited or no insurance - crowded chaos.

I was pleasantly surprised. Within an hour and a half of entering the hospital, I was in an emerg bed, was examined by a doctor, had IV fluids, and had just returned from an ultrasound. Boom. Not bad.

Once it was determined that I had a bacterial infection (I haven't a clue how I got that but most google searches reveal "ingesting feces" - awesome) and IV antibiotics were administered, I chilled out and we took this picture: romance at its finest.

Hospital selfie. Some people tour the beaches, I prefer the ER

I felt pretty rough for a few more days, but I dragged myself to work on Wednesday, concerned that my schools would be searching for me, needing me, wondering where the h their new speech therapist went (for the record, no one noticed that I was missing).

I went back to work too soon. I was tired. I was weak. I was incredibly cranky and totally "over" this whole experience - I just wanted to be back in my house in PA surrounded by familiar things. I knew I had had it as I watched the vicious dogs (they're baaack!) tear apart a snake from my treatment window (no lie!) and asked the 8th child of the day, "What does a policeman do?" (we're working on occupations) Aside: Best response ever from a second grader: "You pay them to go away, ma'am." I'm assuming that kid has seen way too many movies...yikes.

The day just escalated from challenging to "What am I doing here? "quickly. I was told by the ER physician to make a follow-up appointment with a Doctor as soon as possible, so I was frustrated when my island cell phone completely failed to power up. I immediately took it to the nearest cell dealer and the woman oohed and ahhed and stated matter-of-factly, "You need Kirk Sullivan."

Um. Ok. I don't know Kirk Sullivan. Tell me more.

"You need to call Kirk Sullivan about your phone," she continued.

"Great. But I don't have a phone to call him from," I responded.

She directed me to Kirk's office in downtown Georgetown and told me to hurry, as the office closed in 1 hour. I high-tailed it in EDO Japan (my little foreign car), feeling rotten. I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the rearview mirror. Skin sallow, eyes dark and sunken in, I was not the poster child for Cayman Island living. And I just needed a working phone to make a Doctor's appointment, dammit.

Georgetown is the area where the cruise ships dock. Pretty cool when you first arrive on the island, but a total pain in the ass when you're attempting to get anything done. Cruise Ships equate to hundreds of lost tourists, aimlessly wandering the streets, looking for rum cake and cheap booze (tip: there is NO cheap booze on this island. Trust me, I have looked) In addition to the tourists are the tour buses lined up and down the streets, leading to excess traffic and complete chaos. There just happened to be 3 cruise ships docked on this particular today. Ugh. Turning onto the main street downtown, I became angered by the lack of rules these drivers were adhering to. You can't just wave someone through a 4-way stop! There are rules! Annoyed and overreactive, I finally found a parking spot and raced into the office building. It was 4:45pm and my greasy hair was pasted to my sweaty face as drops of sweat dripped down the back of my legs.

"I need Kirk Sullivan!" I stated.

"Yes, this way ma'am."

I was escorted to a small room with a ticket window - no one was behind the window.

"Kirk!!!!" yelled my escort, "He'll be right with you, ma'am."

I turned around and was shocked to see 9 other customers, waiting in chairs.

"Are you all waiting for Kirk Sullivan?" I inquired.

They nodded.

"Is there a line?" I questioned

They shook their heads.

How the h do we know who is next without a line?

As more and more customers entered the room, with the escort yelling, "Kirk!!!" I seriously began to wonder if this was a joke. Is there even a "Kirk" ? Does this phone whisperer even exist?

After 45 minutes of waiting - yes, the office was actually closed at this point, a man, who could only be Kirk Sullivan appeared behind the window.

"So whose phone is broken?" asked Kirk from behind the window. Five out of nine people began talking simultaneously, waving their phones in the air, explaining their phone issues.

This is how he fixed the phones. There was no line. No one person was served before the other. We were all kinda "served" at the same time. Wow.

Frustrated but satisfied that my phone was in working order, I left after a 2 hour wait at the office.

At this point I had worked an 8 hour day, battled cruise ship traffic, spent 2 hours waiting in line a non-line, and was feeling sick, exhausted, and fed up. I decided the only thing that could cheer me up was a Smoothie from Smoothie King. I entered the Smoothie shop to a room full of customers wandering aimlessly around in circles...or squares...I'm not sure.

"Is there a line?" I inquired.

15 people, perplexed, looked back at me and shrugged.

Good Gawwwwd. I'm done. Done, I say!

The bacteria, the snake-eating dogs, the lack of traffic rules, and the absence of lines had completely sent me over the edge. I felt like the Cayman Islands had officially flipped me the middle finger.

Cranky, miserable, and defeated, I arrived home. Evan led me to the pool area and encouraged me to chill out. And then this happened:

Ok, CI's - I forgive you

And I took a deep breath and began to settle down. Tough week. Remind me not to ingest feces. Maybe lines and traffic rules are overrated? Next week will be better.

Cheers

Iguanas and roosters and "mom" voice, Oh My!

As I gazed out the window of my treatment room, I took a deep breath and inhaled the scenery: a palm tree swaying in the tropical breeze. A butterfly fluttering through the bright pink flowers. A tiny hummingbird hovering next to my window. A dog sunning himself, stretching on a tree, pulling a 2 foot iguana out of a branch...and...viciously eating the iguana. What? Good Gawd. NO! NO! NO! I had to absolutely look away when I saw a mama hen waddle into the scene of the iguana-cide with her babes. Turn Around! Turn around, mother hen!

Unsuspecting Iguana

The scene from my treatment room window: Sh*t's about to get real

It's been 7 weeks of island life and, occasionally, I actually forget that I'm somewhere "foreign." That is, until I witness lizards falling from trees, dogs hunting iguanas, and trapped roosters (...if I had a dollar for every time a student says, "Ma'am, Ma'am! there's a rooster stuck in the garbage again!")

The roosters looking to dumpster dive in the school

Yep, life on the island isn't all beaches and cocktails...there's some hard realities. You know, the circle of life and so on. Otherwise, I must admit that I'm really feeling like this a fabulous place to call home. Cayman is pretty magical and I'm settling in - and trust me, there have been many moments where I've questioned if I will ever begin to feel like I'm "fitting in." My surroundings are becoming familiar, I have a really great core group of people whom I can now call my friends, the homesickness is beginning to subside, and I feel myself acclimating to "island life." I even found myself muttering in traffic when an inpatient driver honked at my hesitation, "Seriously dude! this island is 22 miles long. I know for a fact that you don't actually have far to travel, so settle down!" (For the record, on Thursdays, I travel the total 22 miles across! Whoa - pack a lunch!)

My new job has probably been one of the most challenging aspects of this move. I went from working with adults with strokes and neurological diseases in a hospital setting to working with 4-8 year old children with speech and language delays. Although I have worked in the school setting before, I was very comfortable and confident working in the hospital with adult patients. Working with children, although less emotionally gruelling than working with hospitalized adults, requires a whole new set of skills and energy. Initially, I would come home exhausted from attempting to "sell" the /sssssss/ sound to a child with zero interest. Now; however, I've gotten to know my schools, the teachers, and the kiddos on my caseload. I see some really awesome children - funny, smart, interesting kids. And how can you not feel the love upon entering the classroom to, "Good morning Ms Kirstie!" followed by the desperate whispers, "Pick me! Pick me! Please pick me Ms Kirstie!" Haha. So, although the job is posing a set of new challenges, overall, I'm enjoying it.  (I did use my "mom" voice this week. I didn't know I even had a "mom" voice:  "ENOUGH! This game is OVER. There will be NO stickers today!" Yikes!)

Evan has been away for 3 weeks now. I miss him so much and I cannot wait to pick him up at the airport tomorrow afternoon. 3 weeks is much too long - reminiscent of our long distance hockey life, which I vowed to never repeat again in our relationship. We've suffered enough! (Try msn messenger chatting on dial-up internet or communicating via pay phones because it's the only way to score a decent international phone rate!) Since my mama left a week ago, I've definitely had some lonely moments, but I also feel independent and capable, which is a good way to feel, especially after 2 years of depending heavily on others with my knee struggles (remember:"who wants to bathe me today?" Yikes!).  This feels good. This is the first time in 7 weeks that I genuinely feel confident about our decision to try out this new and exciting life (prior to now, I was totally faking it. Just sayin')

my morning on the patio - it still blows my mind that I live in a place where cruise ships frequent!

On Thursdays, I drive to the remote east end of the island - it's incredible

Friday happy hour is my favourite hour(s) of the week! Cheers!

Wine dispensers, Sunday brunch, and ocean dips: Mom is on the island!

"Um...I have a problem...well, at least I think it's a problem..." I stammered.

The principal looked up from his computer and nodded, "What's the problem, Ms Kirstie?"

"There's a lizard, or like an iguana, um, running, well, scurrying about in my treatment room."

Unfazed, the principal stood up and followed me to my treatment room.

"You didn't shut the door the entire way. They will run in and out of your room. I'm sure it's gone now. Have a great day!"

Um. Ok.

10 minutes prior to that conversation, I was standing on a chair with a 5 year old, stifling my screams, whist attempting to not appear frightened as a 2 foot long iguana freaked out, obviously trapped in my treatment room, knocking over materials with his giant tail.

Another life lesson, I suppose.

These days are full of life lessons.

The day after Ev left the island to get some work done back home (wait..where is "home" anymore?), my mom flew in. It's been so great having her here with me. The last time we spent so much time together was after my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th knee surgery. And let me tell you: drinking cocktails on the beach definitely trumps the memory of her holding my hair back while I'm puking. We've had such a great week!

Selfies in front of the condo

I'm still working full days, so mom is spending her days lounging by the pool and also doing some work from her computer - she's a freelance Writer, you know! - cool, hey? But I'm usually home around 4pm and then we've been taking trips to the beach or just spend the  afternoon lounging by the pool together. It's so nice to just have her around all the time. I've definitely had moments where I feel incredibly homesick. In addition, work has been challenging. Pretty good, but challenging. Other than the iguana on the loose, I've also experienced consecutive hours speech therapizing (I made that verb up) children whose speech I cannot understand (I'm a speech pathologist, I should get this!) But the dialect in addition to a speech disorder is throwing my speechie senses right off!  I've definitely felt the need to unwind when the work day is over. I did manage to introduce mom to Island happy hour -  an after-work Friday tradition that my new friends and I have started. This week we toured a very magical place - a place where wine dispenses from machines - like the self-serve slurpee machine at macs - but with wine. Beautiful free-flowing wine. Pure brilliance, if you ask me.

heaven on Earth? Yes!

The GPS in my car: Yes, this is a map of Tokyo. Super helpful.

This past weekend we took a road trip ALL the way to the east end of the island! That's 22 miles away! That constitutes as an intense road trip on this island.We toured the blow holes, where the waves crash into rocks, driving a spray of water feet into the air. We stopped at Rum Point and checked out the "Disneyland" of Cayman (hello, tourist zone!!), and we stopped at one of my favorite spots "Kaibo" in Cayman Kai for a world famous (well, island famous) Mudslide (so rich and creamy!)  Overall, we had an awesome day together touring the island. On Sunday; however, we were introduced to one of the most amazing island experiences one could even begin to imagine - Sunday Brunch at Luca. This is an event. I've done Sunday brunch at Grainfields. I've even enjoyed a brunch or two at the Saskatoon Inn - but this, people, was a brunch to write home about! The food, for one, was amazing - tables of seafood, sushi, salads, roast, eggs benny, decadent desserts etc, etc, etc etc...but, the most fabulous part of Sunday brunch was bottomless Prosecco. Prosecco, if you've never had, is an Italian sparkling white wine. Mixed with a little OJ, it's the breakfast bevvy of champions - and by "bottomless," I mean that your glass is NEVER less than 3/4 full - at all times. From 11:30 until 3:30, we drank, we ate, we drank, we drank, we ate. By 3:30, the brunching ladies were slightly disheveled. Our skirts were crooked and our earrings were falling off, but we were happy. Happy! Home by 4 and passed out by the pool by 5, I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my Sunday. I'm so happy that my mama was able to take in my first Sunday Brunch with me on the island. Epic.

Caution: Ladies Lunching

Ladies Lunching with bottomless Prosecco

I can't believe my mom leaves in 4 days. I'm going to be very sad to see her go. On that note, I'm posting this quickly so I can enjoy dinner on the patio with her this evening.

Cheers!

Spotts Beach to search for turtles

Mom's swimming! She likes it! She likes it!

Happy hour!

Welcome to the blow holes!

Rum Point

Mudslides at Kaibo

Walking off the Prosecco (crookedly) on Seven Mile Beach

A simpler life

As I hugged a good friend goodbye, he commented, "You will have a much simpler life in the Caymans."

I didn't really understand what that meant, but I think I'm starting to figure it out. 

It's not all unicorns and rainbows. My day still consists of the daily "life" things that everyone partakes in, regardless of where you live. My alarm wakes me up at 6:30am. I get dressed - contrary to what you might imagine, I can't wear shorts and a tank top to work. I wear the typical work attire - dress pants and a nice shirt (too hot for scarves - dammit!) I drive to work. Often there is traffic. Sometimes I get beeped at. Sometimes there's a jerk who won't let me in, sometimes a kind soul waves me forward. I work for 7.5 hours. Sometimes I have a good day. Sometimes my day isn't so great. Some people are super friendly. Some people are stand-offish and rude. Some days I wait in line at a crowded grocery store. Sometimes  I worry about spending too much money. I drive home, eat dinner, watch TV, and go to bed. Some days my heart hurts, wishing I was surrounded by all of my family and friends again. I miss them a lot. 

The magical part of living on a tropical island is all the wonderful little things you fit into your mundane everyday "normal" schedule. 

Instead of drinking my tea in my car or at my kitchen counter, I drink it on the patio, gazing at the ocean with Evan. On Thursdays a cruise ship floats by at 7am. Every time I see that cruise ship I think, "Wow, I live in a place where cruise ships dock! That's pretty cool!"

Although I might be sitting in traffic on my way to work, I'm often looking at palm trees, brightly coloured flowers, and occasionally the turquoise blue ocean. It hasn't gotten old...yet, and it makes the drive interesting. 

My schools are all "indoor/outdoor" buildings. You access each classroom from the outdoors. So although I'm inside most of my working day, I'm constantly walking with children to my therapy room out in the hot Caribbean sun, reminding me that I'm doing speech therapy somewhere special. One of my schools sits directly on a hill overlooking the ocean! I can actually hear the waves crashing against the shore while I'm doing speech therapy. Incredible. 

View from my school's playground with ocean in background. These kiddos have no idea how great this is!

I'm home by 4-4:30 most days. Some days I go to the gym - often Evan and I will take EDO Japan into town together for our gym outings. Sometimes after the gym, we set up shop on Seven Mile Beach, take the dog for a beach walk,  and watch the sunset. Sometimes we go home and opt for a dip in the pool. We've been barbecuing quite a bit and often eat our meals outside, listening to the waves lap on the shore. We're usually in bed by 9pm because we're exhausted (Plus, the sun sets around 7, so the evenings seem long). Overall, it's pretty great. 

I think my favorite thing about this move, thus far, is the time that Evan and I get to spend together on a daily basis. Back in Prince Albert, we both worked hard. Evan worked very hard. He worked long days, long hours, and even after returning home at the end of the day, he was often on his computer or his telephone dealing with the business. We didn't really hang out much, to be honest. We worked hard and looked forward to vacations, when we scheduled time to catch up with each other's lives. If we did have a free Saturday night together, we often ran out of ideas of things to do (in the winter, especially). Our go-to was renting a movie, during which, 95% of the time, I would fall asleep! haha. 

Here we go for walks on the beach. We swim in the ocean. I sit out and chat with Ev while he BBQ's. We play around in the pool, just like we did when we were teenagers, "How long can you hold your handstand for?" We take the dog for walks together.  I make fun of the fact that he hits either a chicken or an iguana every time he drives ("They don't take this car seriously!") We laugh a lot. We've been having a lot of fun with each other. I forgot how much I like this guy, which is an awesome feeling after 17 years as a couple. 

When I look back 10 years ago, I remember aspiring to own a beautiful house, possess a good job, and have lots of nice things. We sacrificed those things to move here. It scares me a bit...well, a whole lot, actually...but, I'm beginning to see the beauty in this lifestyle, mainly the fact that we're experiencing a new and exciting life together....and the stuff, although nice...was just, well, stuff. 

On that note, Ev flew back to Canada today for 3 whole weeks. Boo! 

But...Mom arrives on the island tonight! Whoo hoo!

I'm really going to miss my buddy but I'm so looking forward to showing my mama around the island. I'm pretty sure she's gonna dig it. The fridge is stocked with light beer and the Casa awaits! :)

The blowholes: This pic's for you, Darren Hunter!