Home Is Where Your Heart Is

They say that "home is where your heart is". We can certainly confirm that but with one caveat. It seems that your heart can live in two places at once. We left our home in Harbin on July 4th and when we did, we left a little bit our heart behind. It was even more difficult to leave this time then the last as we do not know if we will return as we knew we would last time. Saying goodbye if it might be forever is so much more difficult. Our extended Chinese family will be forever part of our lives.

It did not take us long to get back into our Canadian lifestyle. Thanksgiving was celebrated with  family in Victoria. Assorted aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews and the matriarch of the family, Nonie's mom who turned 86 this year.  Nonie and I took a few hours out on Thanksgiving day to run the Victoria 1/2 Marathon. A not so well thought out decision made 6 months before. Nonie finished in 2 hours 15 minutes and I limped across in 2 hours 5 minutes. The run endorphins combined with the turkey's triptophan and a couple of glasses of a cheeky Chablis had me sleeping on the couch while the grandnieces and grandnephews toyed with me.  

Halloween once again saw us donning our finest red dresses for the annual Penticton Pounder's Red Dress Run.    It involved running 5K which is quite a feat if one is wearing a slinky little red number with all the accessories.  Well perhaps, slinky may be an over statement.

Again, due to another not so well thought out decision made 12 months ago I have signed up to compete, delete "compete", make that "attempt" to finish Ironman Canada. Ironman Canada is annual race that has been held in Penticton for the last 30 years. 3,000 athletes swim 3.8 kilometres, bike 180 kilometres and run a full marathon before dinner. I turn 60 next year and so felt the need to do something to mark that special occasion. So this year my motto is "60 and STUPID". Training in Okanagan Lake and missing my swimming buddy branson, I have had to make do with whom ever was in the lake. Meet Ogie or Ogopogo as he is know by the world. He been swimming laps in Lake Okanagan since the ice age. Normally a shy and reticent creature, today he was especially chatty.


A cheap and environmentally clean way to travel or a last desperate cry for my lost youth. Either way, who cares, driving my scoot is a hoot. While driving I can't stop myself from humming Steppenwolf's " Born To Be Wild", sometimes in my outside voice, which can be embarrassing at stop lights.

And it is interesting to see the looks that I receive when I am stopped. If the driver is an older man, I get a gentle nod that says, "Way to go Man". A younger crowd and I get smiles of silent derision that say, " Look at the geezer" and the most hurtful of all, older women. Their looks of disdain says it all, screaming "Sure glad that's not my husband!" but with the occasional "Hey Sexy." when my ego needs a fix.  Well fie on them all, I just hum Steppenwolf and give them all a look of steely eyed determination that says "I am secure in my self and you can all go  +#$!  yourself man!" Oops, sorry, I was channeling my inner Dennis Hopper.

And the adventure continues. It was 38 years ago when we met on a cold Fort Nelly night in November in the local cabaret/bar. Depending on who you listen to, one of us picked up the other. So from a bar pickup, to the mother of my children and the grandmother to my grandchildren and the best of all, my Scooter Bitch once she gets the courage to get on the back.

This catches up the blog. Thanks for your patience. Not sure what life will throw at us but I suspect it will be throwing something. Keep posted.