Cousins, Canadians and Cyclones

Day two of my pop-free week started with foot cramps. Despite several people testifying to the opposite, I completely believe that lack of carbonated sugary beverages leads to foot cramps. Expect to see my paper in a medical journal near you.

Went to Aunt Stella’s this morning to spend time with her and Steff, which was fun and then Steff and I headed out to find breakfast and wifi at the local Tim Hortons. I’ve usually use the drive through at that “nice Timothy Horton’s” so it was neat to see the inside. It was also a bit torturous since it’s a combination Cold Stone Creamery. Seeing waffle bowls and ice cream cakes that early in the morning should be a crime. But I happily had a pumpkin spice donut instead which was delicious.

(It has also reminded me that fall is on its way out and I need to get myself to Uncle John’s Cider Mill for donuts and cider before it closes for the season!)

Talking with Steff is one of those situations where my brain always has a freak out at the beginning. She’s a cousin but older enough in age that we didn’t spend a lot of time hanging out together as kids. To me, she was always one of the ‘big kids’. As we’ve both grown up, we’ve found the things that we have in common and the skewed sense of humor that most of my family shares. I really enjoy spending time with her and being her friend…but I still have that little pause where the 6 year old me says “ooooh, I’m hanging out with a big kid!”

After breakfast we went back to Aunt Stella’s, chatted, looked at pictures, shopped for cookbooks, and then Steff headed out back to Iowa and I headed home. It had been windy all morning and started raining about an hour ago but I hadn’t paid much attention to the weather at all. The moment I stepped foot into the house the tornado siren started blaring. I asked my stepdad what it was about and he just brushed it off and went back to playing on the computer (if there is ever a natural disaster…they will find my stepdad under the rubble in front of a game of Bedazzled) so I turned on the TV and sure enough there was the weatherman pointing out rotating clouds. Normally this would be the time that I would grab essentials and head for the basement but instead I just sat dumbly on the couch and tried to catch up.

I blame that as well on the lack of pop. Between the foot cramps and the inclement weather, I may not make it a week.