Confessions of a...

Wishing, Day 1, A Trip and School, School, School, written evidence that the Carr Family was here for week number 4.

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Wishing
Over the summer, I caught Nathalie telling Julia to stop “wishing your days away”. I think it was in early July, and she was longing for our end of the summer cruise to hurry up and arrive. What she never seemed to get her head around was that with the arrival of the cruise meant that it was that much closer to school. I think we are all victims, at one time or another of looking forward to something in the future so much that we in effect wish our time away. When we are young, we want to be older, when we love to ski, we long for snow in the middle of the summer or around February 10, us living in the north are always wishing for April 1st.

I only wonder if there is some way to collectively create some kind of space-time continuum, that would allow us to do both and still be happy, wishing for something in the future, but NOT affecting time. Because just as I suspected, our cruise finished last week, and here we are back at school, and all I can think about is wishing I was back at the start of July, over hearing a conversation between Nathalie and Julia about wishing her days away.

Travel
As I said in my last post, I love to travel with my family. The girls are so great in the car. We laugh at silly things, and sing loud at our favourite songs and just always have a good time during our adventures. Our second “mini” vacation was to run just outside of Detroit to visit Pat and the boys for 4 days. We normally end our vacation with a stop in these parts of the woods, but my work commitments had us rush back after our cruise for a couple of days of meetings. Then we got to head back out on the road for a 4 hour drive for a quick visit and some back to school shopping in Michigan. I came back one day earlier on the train, so I could DJ a wedding Saturday night, so it was Nathalie left to her own devices for the bulk of the BTS shopping and lonely drive back home on Sunday.

It was not the longest visit but it was a nice one and each time we go, I am so amazed and in awe of how much the boys have become men and how much of a great job Pat is doing running such a busy household. Thanks again for playing host to the whirlwind that is the Carr family!

Day 1
Today, for what I estimate is the 50th time, I stood in front of crop of 1st semester radio students and talked about the course I love to teach the most at Seneca. Over the last 17 years of teaching it, I have meet more then 1040 students in this same way, talking commercials and interviews and the 15-minute radio shows in the first semester production course. All, with the same jokes I have used over and over, complete with my favourite Karate Kid movie analogy. And after looking over my master list of all past students, to arrive at this magic number, with the flood of old student names, came flashes of past projects, smiling faces, laughter and even tears.

Although the names and faces have changed, what makes me laugh each year is that I always have the same type of students. The quiet one, only brave enough to speak when spoken to, and never offering more than required. The loud one holding court and amusing all with a “you will never believe what happened to me” story from the past, and the happy go lucky, just pleased to be part of something student, all ready and willing to learn. I love this class, because I meet the future each year. For in the shinny new black chairs of room S2026, sitting before me today, is the next generation of broadcasters, hitting the floor running in just a couple of years from now and it all started with a day 1.

School
Another Labour Day, and yet another first day of school for ¾ of our household. It was also Nathalie’s first day back at work since before we left for New Orleans, so a big day in the Carr household for sure. The girls got to meet their new teachers, and although the teaching assignments did not work out for the little one, quite as she had originally hoped, in the end and after some discussion, everyone is happy with the arrangements.

They are each in classes with handfuls of old friends, and some friends they have not had too much time to get to know yet, so I think all in all it will be a great year for the girls. I meet half of my new students, and not only did Nathalie get a hug from her boss, but she also got a “We really missed you” too, so I think in the big book, when the dust settled on this day, the whole Carr family had a good experience for the 7th of September. Ohh and I almost forgot, Bentley the super dog celebrated in his own way today as well, turning a happy 14 years old.

In closing
I had thought I was going to have each of the girls write a paragraph on their summer vacations, to close this week’s blog, but one thing led to another and time got away from me. Not to mention, at the mere suggestion of “I have something I want you to do girls” the eyes glazed over and it ended up seeming like a little too much like work, so I opted for just their input. I asked them both, while parked outside of Shoppers Drug Mart, what it was that they wanted to say about their summer vacations.

The first thing they both said, in unison was “The cruise” and I guess that was expected. So, I asked, “Ok, what was your next favourite thing about the summer”, wanting a little more then a sentence to end, my epic “what I did on my vacation” blog, and so this time, they both said “The pool”. I am thinking, clearly I need to look for a different way to ask the questions if I want more then one word answers, so I say, “If you had to tell all your friends in front of your class what you did on your summer vacation, what would you say?” After a long pause, Jordyn with a smile on her face says, “I had a fun summer because I went on a cruise, got a pool and played with my friend Nicole” Now we are getting somewhere I am thinking, and Julia pipes in “that’s the same for me, all but the my friend Nicole part!”

And now I understand how homework is going to be this school year!

Thanks for reading and have a great and safe week!
Jim

The Bahamas, a Boat, and a Birthday wish from a distance, the week 3 recap from the Carr family.

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A Boat
If there is one thing that I have learned this week more then anything, it is the fact that there are some people that you just can’t please. I mean we are on a boat that looks like a fancy hotel, floating in the Gulf of Mexico with more than 4500 people on it. In 6 days, we have not had to cook, clean or in most cases work, and yet there are still people that are not happy. On the second day of the cruise, we met a lady by the forward set of elevators and all she could say was how frustrating it was to have to wait for a free car. “It seems all we have been doing is waiting for these stupid things, I mean they should have more”. Really? 12 in the front of the ship, another 4 in the mid and 4 more in the “aft”, and we need more? Waiting 5 or 10 minutes for an elevator at a busy point in the day on YOUR vacation, is that bad?

Friday I watched a lady pressing the “Iced Tea” button on one of the 6 or 7 juice machines within a 60 foot radius, repeatedly with NO success, and all she could say was “Ah forget it! I just want this cruise to be over, nothing works on this ship. I had to change the remote control in my cabin 3 times, and the workout machines had problems and no one seems to care”. Come on lady, you are on vacation, why are you working out and if you DO want some exercise, why not take a stroll to the other juice machine right over there!

This is our first ever cruise, so I didn’t know what to expect and I guess our expectations are such that just about anything for us is cool, even if the one overweight lady in the lounge said “The food on this ship is horrible,” or that the dance teacher in the hot tub was criticizing the choreography in all of the shows. The way I look at it is, there are 4 ice-cream machines on each side of the Lido deck, that you can access 24 hours a day. When it comes down to it a self-poured cone anytime you want has a way of making things awesome and I am happy with that.

Bahamas Day 1
We had our first ever trip together to a Caribbean island and for just a quick couple of hours in two different ports, I did get a sense of what island life is like. Not sure how much of sense it was, but we can say that we like Freeport more than Nassau. Our first stop in the capital city of the Bahamian island chain, consisting of more than 700 islands is the country’s largest city. Nassau was pretty, but crowded and because we had the girls in tow, we seemed to have big tourist targets on our back and because of that we were the subject of many calls across the street for everything from hair braiding to 2 for 1 t-shirts. Stopped on the beach several times for “deals” on chairs or umbrellas and “unforgettable” rides on worn out and tired looking sea-dos or banana boats patched up with bathroom silicone. In a just 15-minute walk on the beach, we were all done – – just about. Not only because of the constant barrage of cat calls, but the heat was almost unbearable.

Even as I write that it was too hot, I feel a little like the complainers I talked about before, so I should say that it WAS too hot, but I loved it anyway! We made it to the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island and bit the bullet and paid our way in to use the facilities for the day. It included a tour of their aquariums, a freshwater pool with a waterfall, and of course the beach. Well, it didn’t really include the pool but Nathalie likes breaking the rules that way! The package did included lunch at 1 of 3 restaurants and we could walk to the Dolphin Cove and were able to see them in the distance but not touch. Of course, like anything on vacation if you have an endless supply of money you could do just about anything you want, including swimming with the dolphins.

Bahamas Day 2
Our second day stop in port was the much smaller, second largest city of Freeport. It gets it’s name, according to our taxi driver Uncle Bill, from the fact that when the island was a busy transport hub and before it was part of the full Bahamian chain, they made a deal that more then half of the island would have NO duty on anything, as long as it was used in the Freeport area. So cars with the special “bonded” number plates could be only used in the part of the town designated for its use.

We found the pace easier, with far lass pressure to buy things. It might have had something to do with the fact that the kids both did not want to come, opting to stay in “Camp Carnival” instead. But I am sure it also had to do with the fact the market was much less crowded then Nassau. Both Nathalie and I enjoyed a “Bahama Mama” at a beach side bar with our souvenirs and trinkets in tow. A great excursion, even if we had to “sit small” on the taxi ride back to the dock.

Back in the USA
A quaint little city with more bars per-capita then any other place in the world including Jimmy Buffett’s original Margaritaville, was our 3rd and final port on our second last day of our vacation. Key West is also the southern most point in the continental United States and one time home to Ernest Hemmingway! We enjoyed a “hop on and off” tour of the island and stopped long enough to visit a Butterfly Conservatory, and the zero-mile marker and sipped a cold one at the bar made famous in the Jimmy Buffett song. The girls will never forget the ice cream, and the half-pound cookie they enjoyed at Mattheessen’s Cookies, Fudge and Ice Cream. All in all a great stop and an enjoyable visit with some nice people and a lovely place in the USA.

All done but the…
Well tomorrow we arrive back at our home port of call, New Orleans and are planning one last tour of the city, before we hop back into our car and point it north to see if we can get me back home for my meetings this week. The trip has been a whirlwind, but a much needed and well worth it “time out” from our lives and although it is all waiting for us upon our return, I hope that the mood and happy feelings will tied us over, at least until our next trip.

Feelings
Our first cruise experience was more then what we had expected. From the amazing food, to the talented performers and to the incredible staff in the service areas, we felt like our needs were their top priority. Special thanks to our personal room steward, Artha and his team for not only making our room over twice a day but also smiling and greeting us each time he saw us in the halls.

Our personal head waiter Ionel and Samuel our wait staff, made each dining experience special by not only going over and above with the food service but by engaging us in conversation and making us laugh each night at table 523 in the Paris dining room. Special touches like remembering that Julia likes fruit for dessert, and that I like my meat medium rare made the service they provided more than awesome. Nothing excited us more than hearing the words “It’s SHOWTIME” and watching our very shy head waiter come out of his shell as the dining room came to life with waiters dancing on tables. The last night, they even sang a version of “Leaving on a jet plane/Leaving on a Fun Ship” which left all of the guest just a bit teary.

We met a lot of people including the dad and his two daughters from Windsor, the two crazy Greek sisters and their kids, and their kid’s friends from New Orleans, 3 sisters and their families from Detroit, and the nice mom and daughters from Seattle and it was nice to be part of each of their memories of a great vacation experience. Other notables were “The Quest”, the ocean water pool, Karaoke, the launch of the Carnival “Burlesque Show: Good Night Kiss”, the hypnotist/comedian Tim Triplett and our Cruse Director, Kevin Noonan and his team of Fun Specialists made for great entertainment. Tomorrow, we start saving for our NEXT cruise, because this was so much fun!

Birthday
Friday on the cruise was my Mom’s birthday. It was a little hard to celebrate being that far away, but I finally did get a cell signal from the top deck of the ship and with the wind blowing and the distant lights from passing ships on the Mississippi River as a backdrop, I was able to personally wish her a happy one. Birthdays mark the passing of time by counting days, and I guess when we are young the days mean more on some level then when we are older. With that in mind, my birthday wish for my Mom is that she holds onto the moments like they are years and hold each one in a special place.

In closing
On the 21 hour trip home, locked in the car with all my girls, there is bound to be a couple of conversations, worthy of using in my closing. I will save the Big Jim’s Boobie Bungalow billboard for another post, but this conversation happened within the first couple of hours. Nathalie was talking about how all the girls have some how ended up with colds and laughed when she told them, “Don’t worry about it I will give it to daddy!” and almost together, the girls responded with a resounding “NO”. Nathalie asked, “Why?” and Julia said, “Who will take care of us then?” Well, thanks Julia, I always do my best to take care of my girls!

Have a great and safe week and thanks for reading!
Jim

Driving, Comments and conversations from the highway with the Carr’s, and the first ever vacation blog post for Week 3

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Driving

I have a confession. I like to drive on long trips naked. Well, let me be more specific, I am naked from the ankle down. It started 3 or 4 years ago on the original family road trip to Florida, when after a couple of hours in the car, I noticed that my feet started to hurt just a little, and I found that being able to stretch out my toes while driving made all the difference in the world. I just can’t stop now! On long trips, I can’t wait to de-shoe and let it all hang out. Wednesday afternoon, we left Ontario and pointed the car south, and hit the road. The data on the GPS says 21 hours total travel time with 2 hours of that stopped, with an average speed of 106 km per hour. I am not sure who it was that hit the “Maximum speed reached: 166 km”, but I do know that when I was driving I was doing most of it with no shoes on.

Traveling
I have always loved traveling, especially with the whole family because not only are the girls good in the car, when it comes to amusing themselves but also for the most part they like learning new things about the places we visit. We missed a big family vacation last year because of getting our house, but the year before we went to Florida and had a blast stopping in Savanna, Georgia walking around downtown learning a little about the history of such a beautiful city. So when planning this trip to New Orleans to board a cruse ship, we purposely built a couple of extra days in to the itinerary so we could see the sights and hear the sounds of “The Big Easy”.

Not in Kansas
There are lots of signs around that make it VERY clear we are not at home. The people are great, so that is the same. It is hot here so I guess that is close to what we have been dealing with at home, and the humidity is only a little less then at home, so it is NOT the weather. No, the big difference between here and home has got to be the sounds. There is music playing, just about everywhere we go in New Orleans. The girls call it the “creepy music” in the hotel lobby, playing from an old player piano, and there is old school jazz playing in the elevator, and more music in the hallways, and this is JUST in the hotel.

Today, we walked up and down the narrow streets of the French Quarter and just about every store and street corner had music of some kind playing. Cajun, Zydeco and Creole with Ragtime, Jazz and Dixieland and some Gospel in there for good measure. We only have these couple of quick days to enjoy the sounds, because tomorrow, we board the ship for our first ever cruise, so for now we just have to enjoy the sounds.

In closing
The last word this week goes to Julia in true “Buglia” fashion. This trip, like any of our US jaunts, involves a good amount of US barging hunting. For the most part the girls have been good, and are actually turning into quiet the fashionistas, picking interesting clothing combinations and colour choices, all off the clearance racks. We almost made it out of the last store without one “PLEASE daddy” with the puppy dog eyes for something that that they for sure don’t need. In the linen section, on an end cap looking cute and calling their names was a collection of “pillow pets”. They walked around singing the jingle to each other, and acting out what must have been an infomercial they have seen a bunch of times, and it was cute. NOT cute enough for either of us to cave and actually buy one, but cute non the less. Sometimes they are good with us saying NO, and let it go, but Jordyn was not letting up. I guess she RELLY wanted one, because the arms crossed, the pouty face came out and when we finally got them to the front cash the chants of please got louder.

“Like you think that saying it one more time like that is going to make us say, Oh we didn’t know you wanted it that bad Jordyn, go get one, and get one for each of your friends” Nathalie and I say, almost in unison. It goes back and forth for a bit, and then finally, with what SEEMED like the last word on the issue, Nathalie says, “If you think I am paying 20 bucks for a pillow, you may be out of your tree!” Never wanting to give up an opportunity to add her thoughts, Julia jumps in, “But, it’s also a pet” and just for clarity she breaks into the jingle with hand actions, “It’s a pillow, it’s a PET”. Thanks Julia for your thoughts on it… but the answer is still NO…

And thanks for reading and have a great and safe week.
Jim