An Update

Wow. It has been a long time since I have posted anything here.

I absolutely love living here. I love that I can walk anywhere I need to go. I so love this house.

And I have a job! No, not doing medical transcription. I developed the beginnings of carpal tunnel just studying to be a transcriptionist, so I abandoned that plan. There is a substitute teacher shortage here, and so that’s what I do now. I try to average two days a week and most of my work is at the local high school which I can walk to through a park. It takes me about 15 minutes to get there. The kids are so nice and so is the staff. Teaching was the career that was stressing me out in Ontario, but substitute teaching here is great. Even when my insomnia strikes, I rarely have to work two days in a row, so I’m good.

Of course, nothing is perfect. Hurricane Dorian blasted through and caused a bit of damage at the house and our trailer. Luckily, I think the full amount of what it is going to cost me to pay for the damage is $300. It could have been worse. We only have liability coverage on the trailer because it’s so old. A tree fell next to it, but didn’t land on it. We lucked out that way.

I do miss the trees that came down in our yard at home. My favourite big, old tree hit the house, but didn’t damage it. And a couple of trees that were dying snapped in the side yard. It’s weird to get blinded by the sun when I’m doing dishes in the mornings now. I do miss how shady my yard used to be, but we fared better than others.

I am very, very sad that the Homestead Trail, where R and I spent so many happy hours cycling over the years was nearly obliterated by Dorian. 80% of the trees in that end of PEI National Park were lost.

Here I’d like to post some pictures of the way it was. It was so beautiful. We’ve been to Cavendish but couldn’t get on the trail itself since it’s unsafe right now.

 

It was the most beautiful, peaceful place. I hope some day it can be again.

My son and his girlfriend now live in our upstairs apartment and have been for the last three months. They’ve both got jobs and plan to study college programs online. I’m glad to be able to help them out.

The best case scenario for R’s employment situation worked out. He is now full-time permanent and will likely get to stay on the island. After doing some term work for the organization he works for and having spent time teaching in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, he is currently based out of Charlottetown. It’s a bit of a commute, but for now it’s working out.

My brother is happy to be back working for the company he worked for in Ontario. He likes his co-workers and seems to enjoy the work.

So, here we are. Five of us living together in a nearly big enough house (because admittedly, it could use one more bathroom), sharing expenses, and supporting each other.  None of us have to work full-time. We have time to relax and enjoy life.