Happy Birthday Megan

Today Meg is 13, and we are with Joe’s sister Kelly (and the very gracious Dave and Camille) in Cape Breton. Megan’s going to spend the day cavorting in the ocean, playing dressup with her cousins Savannah and Kamilah, and enjoying the company of Asha, thier friend from London. Meg will also dedicate about 7 hours of this day to jumping on the trampoline and all of this will be done (possibly including the cavorting in the ocean) wearing a new poncho. (I finished fringing the poncho at 2am. My previous positive feelings about fringe are now largely neutral, with tendencies toward complete hatred). Meg loves it (the fringe is, apparently, the best part.) Meg is a funny, witty kid, and she hates a lot of stuff. Meg only has big feelings. I’ve never asked her for her opinion and gotten a neutral one. Meg either loves something more than life itself and would die to defend and protect it, or she hates it…and would rather die a death of a thousand paper cuts to avoid it. This intense personality has made being her mother a bit of an, er…engaging process, and it’s been a pleasure this last year to watch Meg grow into herself, and begin to possess wonderful qualities like patience, reflection and the gracefulness that comes with learning to keep your trap shut some of the time. I enjoy her a very great deal, and I’d fringe a thousand ponchos for her.
We left Newfoundland behind yesterday, crossing the Cabot strait on the “Caribou”. The Caribou is a big ship. The biggest I’ve ever been on, and I was a little nervous. This nervousness was compounded by this little old guy who I now believe was tormenting me for fun. Every time I looked out the window at this huge expanse of water this old guy looked at me, looked at the sea and said “Now, now…gonna be some weather”. This scared the crap out of me. Once you’ve caught on to what Newfoundlanders call “Weather”, it isn’t much of a leap to figure that you are about 14 minutes away from a hurricane, a Wall of Water and a sinking ship. (This gave Joe reason #17 to laugh his arse off. I have been very slow to learn that frightening people from “away” is a provincial pastime.)
I am so close to Baadeck yarns that I can smell it. Ken arrives tonight with the bikes, and we take the ferry to PEI tomorrow and begin the bike ride part of our vacation, camping and cycling our way across the province, so Baadeck may have to wait until I return to Cape Breton in a week.

22 thoughts on “Happy Birthday Megan

  1. I dag er det Megan’s foedselsdag
    Hurra, hurra, hurra!
    Hun sikkert sig en gave faar
    Som hun har oensket sig i aar
    Med dejlig chokolade og kager til!!
    Happy birthday, Megs – you’ll get the singing part when you come home. Have a wonderful day.

  2. Not to tweak you like the old gent on the boat, but you might want to look at the weather forecast. the remnants of Hurricane Charley, now just a tropical depression, are headed to PEI for late monday early Tuesday. sounds like a great opportunity to hole up in a knit shop… enjoy!

  3. I’m very, very jealous of your imminent visit to Baddeck Yarns – my fiance is from CB but we don’t get out there very often, and the last time I was there Baddeck Yarns was closed for Christmas 🙁 It’s a charming town, so enjoy your time and fondle some fiber on behalf of those of us stuck in Ontario!

  4. Happy Birthday Megan. My Erin was 13 on the 6th, with many of the same personality traits. I am forver telling her that she can “not prefer” things rather than telling someone she “hates it and would never touch it.” This, with food, clothes, music, colors, the list is too long to spend time on here. Must have been the moon and the stars were aligned a perfect way to contribute to these wonderful kiddos in August of 1991. I have to ask-is she the youngest? Mine is, and for a reason——–her! Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade a single hair on her head, we have so much fun, but she has exhausted me beyond belief starting at conception and my dream of five or six kids started looking nightmarish when she was about three weeks old. I blame it all on Meg (my 16 year old middle child), the most easy going baby and child ever. If Erin had been more like that she would have a gaggle of younger sibs.

  5. Happy birthday to Meg from Asha’s mother. Will there be a photo of Meg’s poncho?

  6. Happy birthday Megan. I’ll sing with Lene:
    I dag er det Megan’s foedselsdag
    hurra, hurra, hurra ………etc.
    After singing to you danes end with 3 extra hurras and on top of that “og saa det lange”, meaning a hurra you drag out until the cows come home, which is what I’m doing right now.
    Hope you had a wonderful day.

  7. Sunday! You posted on a Sunday — and a birthday, too. I’m all verkelmpt. I only checked because I so wanted there to be one, but had no real hope. (I’m priming a long-stripped bathroom for a daughter/boyfriend unexpected visit — she stripped it, then went back to school. I don’t believe in astrology except for Leos. This is my break and you’ve renewed my hope. PEI had better be GORGEOUS.) Thanks, pud.

  8. Huxley was asking about you the other day… hence I went to your blog to see what you’re up to… WOW… sounds like a great trip. I’m also glad your not missing another birthday (grin)…
    Anyway, just poking around online and I found this mill in PEI that you might want to pop by
    http://www.minimills.net/home.htm
    See you when you get back to T.O.

  9. I had an Anne of Green Gables marathon this weekend – largely inspired by your trip. It is so wonderful (all 10 or so hours of it). It sounds like your trip is going along fabulously and I hope that your excursions on PEI are every bit as gorgeous as L.M. Montgomery claims.

  10. What a pleasure to read about your trip, I was working in the maritimes in may/june and we had to take the Caribou also. Isn’t it cool that you can watch a movie on a boat? Hope you stopped at the little boutique too.
    Don’t forget it will cost you 40$ to cross the PEI bridge back to the coast.

  11. I swear, that old guy was on the boat when I made the crossing over thirty years ago. The boat rolled and rocked violently, buddy’s chair kept swooping up and down, and all he said was, “It’s a calm one, it’s a calm one” in that way that inhabitants of the Rock have…

  12. It’s so nice to take a vacation vicariously through you…Mmmmm…That yarn store sounds divine.
    Isn’t it nice to have a knitted gift so loved? Have fun on the rest of your trip! 🙂

  13. Belated happy birthday Meg! 13 is a fun age
    And happy camping to all of you – sounds awesome!
    liz 🙂

  14. I’m in sunny pei and there is sunshine forcasted til Sunday, the parks people are on strike though so you won’t be able to get into Green Gables house. Good Luck

  15. If you’re touring Nova Scotia, I’d also recommend a stop in Have a Yarn in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Great selection of yarns, and excellent service from knowledgeable staff, particularly Marian Bell. She’s saved my bacon many a time when I’ve visited Nova Scotia and embarked on too ambitious knitting projects!

  16. Visit Mini-Mills when you are on PEI. You will love it. Your family will love it. No matter that the weather, it will improve your vacation and be the highlight of it.
    Lulu

  17. hey thankx to you all and my b day was great i am wearing the poncho now and i am loving it and i will never take it off!!! and when we were on the bike trip ther was rain it was rainy rainy rainy rainy but we were in our tents so HA but on my side there was a leak and thanx to lene and bea and i am awaiting tthe b day song and i cant wait!!! hurra hurra hurra!!!! : . )

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