Well I have been running off my feet at work this month, so it has been difficult to find the time to sit down and work on my WIP, let alone write blogs posts and short stories. However, this past weekend was the start of my summer holidays, where my husband and I take 2 weeks off from work to just enjoy the summer with the boys. Unfortunately, this summer in Saskatchewan so far has been unbelievably hot. I suppose that means I should spend less time outside though and more time working on my WIP, but that just hasn’t been happening yet. I would love to be able to start querying this book and starting to write my second book by September, so I need to get on it.
Now here we are today. Day 1 of holidays was spent packing up and driving up to Nipawin, which is where I was born. I still have some family members that live up here, so we try to come up whenever we get the chance to visit. Particularly, my 91 year old grandmother. Thankfully she has a close relationship with my 3 boys, as they fell in love with their great grandmother right away, and really took a shining to her before COVID hit. Since then, they have been phoning her almost every night before going to bed to tell her all about their day and what they are excited about at that particular moment. They couldn’t wait to get there on Saturday and were talking her ear off every chance they got for the entire 2 nights that we were there. I am so glad they are getting to know her in a similar way that I did, as she is an awesome woman that I have so many amazing memories with.
Of course, being back in that house is also a little sad, as I miss my grandfather. He passed away around 8 years ago. My oldest was able to meet him, thankfully, but he was also quite young at the time. It’s interesting how being in a home that was such an integral part of your childhood can bring back so many emotions and memories. I love that house. I am a little sad that I can’t go back to my childhood home to say “hi” to the ghosts that live there (see my previous post about my childhood home if you are interested to hear about them!). My middle child is empathic like me, so he was picking up on my emotions while we were there. I had to convince him that not meeting his great grandfather is sad, but that I’m also sure that he is watching over him and loves him very dearly. He couldn’t sleep the first night because he was enthralled with one of the many pictures of Grandpa Wally around the house. I spent a lot of time also sifting through the many photo albums that he put together throughout his lifetime. I even found some old stories that I wrote and illustrated when I was quite young. My Grandpa kept everything of mine.
After taking Grandma all over the town of Nipawin, looking at the old bridge that was recently shut down and checking out the Regional Park, the trip to Nipawin was coming to a close way too fast. I knew we had to go, as we had to see my husband’s side of the family next before returning to Regina, but part of me wanted to stay all week with her. I know that she doesn’t like living alone and she misses being close to family. I wish that she wasn’t a 4 hour drive away so that I could visit more often and she could attend the hockey games and swimming lessons of the boys. I know that she loved doing that with my brother and I, so it would have been particularly great to do that with her with my children. I suppose that’s the nature of moving away from your childhood town though. I outgrew what it had to offer and needed to move on. I am glad that we can still go back and visit though, so we hope to go again before the boys return to school in September.
The next two nights of our trip was spent in Saskatoon. It was a whirlwind of kids activities and trying to fit in time with my husband’s family every chance we could get. Thankfully, my mother-in-law was able to take the full Tuesday off from work, so the boys were able to spend many hours playing with their Grandma. I was amazed by all the cool kids activities that were available in Saskatoon. It felt like there was way more options than in Regina. So we were only able to visit a few of them. The boys enjoyed the WonderHub, particularly the Discovery Mine. Then we spent more time over at the Kinsmen Park, where each of us adults took a turn taking the boys on the three different rides (Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, and a small train). Then they played in the park until it was time to go for an early lunch. I must admit, by this time I was struggling. Since I hadn’t realized that my hubby had told his mom to meet us by a particular time, I didn’t get to eat breakfast or have a coffee until we went for our early lunch! One thing about me that you may not know, I need that morning coffee and breakfast. I do not do well without it!
The rest of the day in Saskatoon was a little less energy required. I had coffee with coworkers for the first time in person since before COVID while my husband went and visited his dad with the boys. Then we went back to the hotel to let the boys play on the waterslides, as there was no one in the pool area so they had it all to themselves. We didn’t get a chance to go to the Zoo or the Forestry Farm, and I’m sure there are other things we also missed! I am glad we came home though, as the boys have become overtired and constantly fighting. So they need a couple days rest at home before they go camping with my parents on the weekend. It will be the first weekend without kids in 2 years! I can’t wait!
K. D. Kulpa 