(Parts One, Two, Three, Four, and Five)

Considering it has been two months since this trip, I think I should probably wrap this thing up, so here's the final installment of our Halifax trip photos.

Where were we?  Lighthouses, scarecrows, "whalewatching", beaches, scary animals...ah yes.  Well, after a few days outside the city, we decided to spend our last two days exploring Halifax itself.  Our first stop was the Public Gardens.  My camera and I were very happy there:

In the middle of the pond is a replica of the Titanic:

Loveliness all around.  I could have spent the entire day there, I think, and I hope to get back to Halifax some day to do just that.  It was really beautiful and, considering it's right in the heart of the city, remarkably peaceful.

We then went to the Discovery Centre, which is like a science centre-type place.  We had a lot of fun, but I have no decent photos to share.  We returned to the waterfront and made our way down toward Pier 21.

You may be familiar with Pier 21.  It is where many immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century arrived and first set foot on Canadian soil.  My maternal great grandmother Henna arrived here from Finland in 1927, with a four year old and a sick 4 month old in tow.  At times when I find myself complaining about the struggle to get my children out the door or another of a million frustrations, I think about Henna.  And then I whisper a thank you and shut my trap.  My paternal grandfather also immigrated to Halifax from Finland, in 1928 I believe, so the place holds a lot of significance for me.

I had hoped to be able to stand out on the pier, where my ancestors once stood, but because it is still an active pier and there were cruise ships docked, this was not permitted.  Curse you cruise ship!

I was pretty crushed, I must admit.  Almost as disappointing was discovering Pier 21 shot glasses in the gift shop, amongst other random paraphenalia completely removed from the history of the place.  But it does have to be said that the folks at the museum itself seem to be doing an excellent job of keeping the site's history alive and working to maintain and improve the records of those who arrived at the Pier.

We took some photos outside and, despite the tourists and the tacky gift shop offerings and the modern buildings encroaching on the pier, it felt good to be there and I felt like my ancestors would have been happy that we made the trip.  I'd like to take both my girls there again some day, when they're old enough to understand what the place is all about.

Wednesday October 12th was our last full day.  We spent the morning at an awesome park near the Museum of Natural History, and then had a wander through the Museum itself.  I have no interesting photos to share of either, but here's a pretty cool mural nearby:

We then headed back downtown.  We passed by St. Paul's Anglican Church where, the story goes, "as a result of the intense light and heat generated by the Halifax Explosion in 1917, the profile of one of the church's deacons was etched into one of the windows on the second storey."  Judge for yourself, why don't you:

An interesting story, in any case.  Next, we caught a ferry over to Dartmouth which afforded some nice views of Halifax from the water.  Unfortunately my camera did not do them justice.

Back in Halifax we went out for a last night dinner at a place called The Wooden Monkey.  Most enjoyable.  And then the morning of the 13th we had a quick trip to Point Pleasant Park before grabbing lunch and heading to the airport. 

It was an amazing trip.  It was fantastic to see my sister Leah and her boyfriend Chris, to spend so much one-on-one time with my sweet Isla who is growing up way too fast, and to see a beautiful part of the country.  And we had amazing weather to boot, with not one drop of rain until we were heading to the airport to go home.

We're hoping to get back some day, with the whole family in tow, so we'll have to start saving our pennies.  And next time, NEXT TIME, I will preorder my whales in advance. 

This is going to be quick because (a) I already had to return the book to the library so I don't have it in front of me for reference and (b) I'm tired and sleep is awesome.

So, The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich was recommended to me by my friend Jen Malarkey.*  It is about, as the title suggests, a midwife in Venice.  Wait, I remember more!  It's set in the 16th century and the midwife, Hannah, lives in the Jewish ghetto.  Her husband Isaac has been captured at sea and is enslaved in Malta.  One night, she is summoned to the home of a wealthy Christian family to aid in a difficult birth, an act which is criminal and punishable by death, as Jews are not permitted to provide medical treatment to Christians.  She attends the birth out of duty and the promise of enough money for her to sail to Malta and buy her husband's freedom.  DRAMA ENSUES.

I enjoyed this book immensely.  I really like historical fiction and I thought that the author did a good job of quickly setting the scene and drawing me in.  How she did that, I don't know.  I should probably have paid more attention, but I was too busy enjoying the story.  The main characters of Hannah and Isaac were very likeable and relatable - good hearted, strong willed people who I wanted to see succeed and be together.  The plot kept a good pace and there were enough twists to keep me interested.

If I had one complaint it would be that at times, it seemed a bit too easy.  There were times when the drama was built up, with the suggestion being that something bad might happen, and then it just didn't and it was like "Oh, what was she so worried about then?"  Likewise the ending wrapped up a bit too tidily for my liking.  However, I think this could be redeemed by a sequel.  There is certainly the potential for one (the author's website doesn't suggest there will be one though).

All in all, I definitely recommend this book.  And I'll leave it at that.  Bedtime!

*Name changed for the purpose of my enjoyment

Wow, really?  Eleven days since my last post?  I guess so.  Well I'm sorry for my lack of posting but it has been a helluva few weeks around here.  All fine and good, just busy and stressful and requiring the bulk of my already limited attention.  

So November.  I'm happy to see the end of you.  That said, although I didn't meet the goals I had set for myself, some small amounts of progress were made toward my 101 Things:

• I submitted a piece of writing to the Writers' Union of Canada's Short Prose Competition at the beginning of the month (Thing 1).  I can't believe I completed something in time, let alone something I'm actually kind of happy with.  I'm hoping to do some more writing this month.

• My husband and I went out on a date (Thing 51)!  Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had been unable to go out at all in September or October so it was nice to get this Thing back on track and spend some time together.

• I tried seven new recipes, bringing my total up to 32, so I'm nearly a third of the way to my goal of 101 (Thing 43).  The best find was this recipe for allergen-free pancakes.  Mine did not turn out quite as fluffy as those in her photo, but they were still pretty damn good and easy to make.  It's nice to have something to eat for breakfast other than rice cereal, because I'm not an infant.

• I managed an afternoon to myself (Thing 92), before meeting up with some friends (Thing 53) in Toronto for a super fun girls weekend. 
  

• I also wrote three handwritten letters.
  

• And my daughter Evy decided she was tired of waiting for me to get around to it, so she literally took it into her own hands to "Gleefully take down the wallpaper in the kitchen" (Thing 49).  My attempts to stop her were only half-hearted. 

So, some progress, but I have a few incompletes this month.  I didn't manage to get out to take any photos (Thing 14).  I also don't believe we went out on an outing as a family of four (Thing 59) and I'm not sure I spoke to my sister on the phone twice (Thing 60).  Not good. 

I'd like to say that I'll do better in December but I don't think the busyness and stress are going anywhere any time soon.  But I'm going to try, because I set these Things as priorities for a reason.  It is much too easy to get lost in the tasks and to-dos and problems of life, and far too tempting to put myself and my own personal goals last on the list.  I don't want to do that anymore.  I'm a much healthier, happier person (and correspondingly more productive) when I can make time for myself, and I don't think it's any surprise that, with the lack of attention paid to myself in November, I experienced a downswing in mood and energy.  It's probably no accident that I also had more RA flareups.  So, I'm going to try to get back on track.

And given all this stress, I'm thinking it might be the ideal time to Try a Meditation Class (Thing 99).  Or perhaps Become an Expert in a Specialist Subject (Thing 27) wherein that subject is wine.