From Travel to Sickness and Back..Our journey in 2014

January 2014 will be part of the winter, which Toronto-nians will never forget. Hammered with weather, worthy of “Frozen” Princess Elsa had nothing on this mayhem. 0-43C and a truckload of snow made life miserable. So what did we do ??? Suzanne along with our little minion, Elliot, and myself ventured across and below to San Diego. There, we stayed with my Uncle Des & family. Their penchant for being superbly hospitable and mixing it up with warm weather...aaaah Paradise!!
We forgot winter for those lovely warm days. Mind you, it was a San Diego winter of 21C. Compare that with -43C - hey we will take it!  Alas, all good things must come to an end.  We returned home to the dreaded temperature and conditions.

Moving to April, the night shifts were getting the better of me and my back. Another visit to the Hospital and a shot or morphine does wonders.

Come summer and all is well. The in-law’s visit and I sense relief. Suzanne and myself are finally free to do what we do best…Work some more (Crazies!) Elliot is on his vacation. At this point Elliot is getting pampered by the grandparents to where we seem non-existent. But extra hands made our lives so much easier. I went back to day shifts and loved every moment of it.

We visted Grand Bent, London over one of the weekends. Such a beautiful beach along Lake Huron. Loved every minute of it. Will surely visit again.

Vacation arrived shortly for me and lo and behold, the in-laws wanted to do a trip. Where did we go? VIVE LAS VEGAS, the most “Family UN-friendly” place ever!!

Now that says a lot about the strip. The only children we saw were the ones that stayed in the hotel. They do not call Las Vegas, “Sin City” for nothing, for everything you heard /saw about it true. My In-laws had a blast with the Chinging and chiming of the casinos. Suzanne and  myself tried Blackjack. Overall, I think we had a great time. To top it all, we ate authentic Tacos . How did we know they were authentic ? The place was where the locals ate. Spanish speaking, no-frills and food that had flavor and not just salt. And the cherry on top? we also  found an Indian food joint in a food court, that served a neat Masala Dosa and Channa Masala! (We cannot seem to swerve away from our Indian roots)

 

In addition, we rented a Jeep Compass and headed dare-devilishly into the Grand Canyon. It was definitely a "strike one off" from my bucket list. It was the best /scariest experience ever.  Why scary- My constant fear of running out of gas, and then living the life of Wiley Coyote, going nuts chasing that road runner  (too many Looney T cartoons as a kid)

  On my return, I continued with my favorite pastime, fishing. Need I say more!

 

 

In all of this, Suzanne started a business called Deliciae, which deals with cake decorating supplies. I am a partner in this venture. I get all the assignments with no pay. Felt so much like marriage. The husband has the title but no clout (Just teasing). She has the passion and dedication to see this venture through. I wish her all the very best.

 December arrived and all seem to close up like the end of a carnival. The in-laws left for India. Suzanne and myself shifted gear into reality.  I returned to night shifts. The heat disappeared and it snowed. On December 25, the Grinch came and left us with the monstrous flu that availed our hospitality. Like an unwanted guest, we pray it leaves soon.

Overall, a great year 2014.  We look forward to 2015 where there will be more disses and surprises. But hey, life goes on and every day is a gift from God (some religious funda here!). So without further ado, I wish you and your families a fun-filled, blessed and joyous 2015 !