Lists

5 Things I Love About Small-Town Living

1.  The Scenery - there is something wonderful about looking out my window at the farmers fields that seems so peaceful...and if definately beats seeing the daily walkers pass by my front porch in Markham in their too-tight jogging pants or the gentleman across the street and a few doors down who liked to smoke outside topless.  To say he was fit would be like saying Richard Simmons is a hottie.

2.  The Friendly Small Town Dwellers - so apparently saying good morning to someone is not a criminal offense as the looks of disdain you receive when wishing the same to a neighbour in the city would have you believe. 

3.  The McDonalds Lady - the abbreviated version of this story is that Josh and I simply wanted to eat a quick dinner in peace during one of the times we were up working on the house...but it was not to be.  'Joyce' decided that it would be a great time to empty the garbage bins located about a foot from where we were trying to eat and strike up a conversation at the same time.  She proceeded to warn us to not bring our kids there after 1:00 a.m. on a Friday or Saturday night.  You know, because parents routinely do that...??  Apparently, once the one bar in town closes the McDonald's gets "rowdy.  All those men come in here and scream and throw food on each other...one of them even tried getting fresh with me!"  Joyce is about 65 years old and, we'll say, pleasantly plump.  We certainly learned a lot that evening.

4.  The Family Restaurants - being as Country Lovin' Boy was already on a "I don't eat at chain restaurants!" kick long before we made the decision to move, the wide variety of little places to eat are right up his alley.  And I will grudgingly admit that many of them are very good.  Angel's is a favourite, as is the Winchester Arms and their killer burgers. 

5.  Space - with almost 9 acres and a house pushing 3500 sq feet, it is so easy to find a quiet space.  Country Boy couldn't be happier playing out in the field with his toys, and the farmers love their sunfilled playroom...well, now that it has heat.

5 Things I Hate About Small Town Living

1.  The Family Restaurants - oh, you saw this already?  Yes, but there is a flip side.  Here is an example.  Last week Country Boy was insistent that we go out for breakfast.  It didn't matter that the temperature was dropping like crazy and it was snowing so hard we couldn't see across the street, he wanted to go out for breakfast.  To some little diner no doubt, I thought to myself.  AND HOW.  We pulled up to a corner which housed a gas station and a very tiny white building.  "If that is it, I'm not eating there", I told him promptly.  "But look at all the cars, it must be good if it's that busy!", was the reply.  Fine, that did make sense.  However, that very small beacon of hope was quickly extinguished when we opened the door to be greeted by a roomful of middle-aged men wearing trucker hats and lumber jackets.  Truckers.  I have nothing against them, but they will likely eat anything.  We proceeded down to a lower level where there was no one sitting.  I quickly gathered that it may be due to the lack of heating and the pile of snow inside the door.  While Country Boy and the Farmers scarfed down their food (because really, how badly can you mess up eggs and toast?) I got through my clubhouse.  *Sigh*, because I know my country boy I'm sure we'll be back.

As bad as that experience was it didn't hold a candle to the dinner we took my parents out to several nights before.  Fresh fish and chips.  Yeah.  Fresh out of the box from the freezer aisle, or even fresh out of the microwave where they were heated up. 

But even that pales in comparison to the review I could give on one of my first diner experiences in our new town.  Let's just say that when your decor involves truck stickers stuck around the top of the wall to fashion a border and brown drapes hung under the counter to hide all the dishes, etc., you must be a thriving business.  Sadly (*cough*), they closed just two weeks later.  We later found out that they close and then re-open quite regularly.  Ah, the sign of a thriving business. 

Tomorrow?  Well, most likely nothing but I promise you Before & After pictures on Saturday.  Stay with me!

This Is Me...Now

Several weeks ago, before we officially moved, I went to visit Country Lovin' Boy down at his work.  While waiting in line for the GO bus my attention was grabbed by two men talking to one of the clerks.  They were very obviously not city dwellers, or so I quickly learned by the following comments.

"We don' know nothin' bout these here big city parts.  Wese jest tryin' a git back home to Uxbridge afore feedin' time.  We came in on the train, now howda we git back on one?"

All I could think was that is me in 6 months.  What have I done?

Okay, so I may have exagerated their accents slightly, and I may never become that hick but still...my situation is dire!  I'm suffering from 'societal withdrawal'.  While this may not be a legitimate disorder it is legitimate enough in my mind as I sit with my playbook waiting 10 minutes for my Hotmail page to load.  Forget about waiting 20 minutes for all the pictures to load on People.com so I can get caught up, or heaven forbid trying to upload pictures to create a blog post.  Beyonce had her baby?  An Italian cruise ship flipped on his side?  No, I didn't know those things.  What I do know is that a Marg Creeson lost her cat, there is a sale on Uncle Ben's packaged rice at the Foodland in Hillsburgh, and the local 'theatre' is doing a showing of Babar. 

But looking out my window to the rolling countryside, watching my little farmers run through their big, old house, or seeing the snowmobile tracks outside after thinking Country Boy was cutting wood for our fire (but that's a whole other story) makes up for everything.

Yes, this Big City Girl has given up many things but I have realized that at the end of the day, they weren't the things that really mattered.  Laid-back country living is better.  Did I just type that sentence?  Hey, if Tori Spelling can do it so can I!