Covering a lot of ground ...

Usually if the week has been too busy to blog, I catch up on the weekend. Well, this past weekend was even busier than usual.

On Saturday morning I got a phone call from my sister, Krista, in Halifax. Her father-in-law was in the hospital and she sounded like she could use a hand, so I hopped into my car and drove down. I arrived on Saturday and then left to come back yesterday morning.

Although it was not a trip under ideal circum- stances, we did have a good visit together. I spent all day Sunday with my niece, Emily, whose main concern seemed to be that the Sea Dogs are my favourite team, while the Mooseheads are only my second-favourite. We had a great time together, though.

First of all, I took her "treasure-hunting". Even though I didn't have the GPS receiver with me, I looked online and found a cache that I was pretty sure I could find without it, and off we went! I wish I'd had the camera ready for the look on Em's face when we found the cache. She was absolutely beside herself with excitement.
After the geocaching expedition, we went to the local playground, and I amazed Emily by telling her that it was a school that both her mommy and auntie attended almost thirty years ago. She had fun on the playground and I got to take some good pictures. (Even though I don't scrap nearly as much as I used to, I'm still all about the pictures.)

That afternoon was a costume party at the MFRC, and I have to tell you, my niece makes the cutest little lion on the face of the planet. Her "RARRRR!" might not be ferocious, but boy, was she having fun!

It was a little awkward being the "tag-along-auntie" at the Halloween party, but besides seeing all of the cute kids in their costumes, I got a huge kick out of seeing some of Canada's finest military men decked out in some very silly costumes, all for the happiness of the kids. I had a great deal of respect for them before, but seeing them dressed up in puffy pirate shirts and vampire fangs and snug, stripey polyester pants really tickled me to the core. These men truly are fearless!

Unfortunately Monday was a bit of a wash-out because the little cold that was taunting me finally reared its ugly head. I just hope I didn't give it to anyone else.

Leaving the apartment yesterday morning was kind of hard. Emily really didn't want me to come home, and while it's flattering to see someone cry because they don't want to say goodbye, it's more heartbreaking than anything else. I love that little girl as if she were my own. Hopefully I'll see her again before too long.