Go to the Water

When I do things, I do it in a big way, that includes jet lag. As you know I was recently on a River Cruise in Europe. Traveling is amazing. To get on a plane and in a few hours, you are in another continent is just short of a miracle. Having the privilege to embrace the culture and history of European countries will stay with me forever.    Then the stark reality hits, you have to go home. My first night back I was in bed at 7 and up at 3. I stumbled through day 1 in a state of exhaustion. On Day 2, I was tucked in bed at 8 and up at 4. I have a history of being a poor sleeper so waking frequently and up early was my norm. This was different, I just couldn't seem to shake that feeling of total body exhaustion. On Day 3, I learned something I didn't know. For every hour of time change you need a day to get over it. I love direction and deadlines, and I shouldn't expect myself to return to normal for 4 more days. Day 3 was the absolute worst. I was consuming incredibly large...

A C ancerversary is a definition that was created by Bestie which means a celebration to honor breast cancer survivorship.  It all began two years ago when I suggested that we should celebrate with a trip for what was going to be her 10-year mark of survivorship. She could pick whatever she wanted to do, and I would do it. We attempted to make plans, some as simple as a weekend in Winnipeg and some more elaborate like a cruise down the St. Lawerence. For one reason or another, we couldn't make anything happen. Life stepped in our way and said, "you aren't going anywhere", and we didn't for two years. Then out of the blue  I got a text from Bestie that said, "do you want to go on a Rhine River Cruise?". This was it; she had picked how we would celebrate and I was in. Yep, we planned what would be the biggest trip of our lives in a few minutes by text. That was nearly a year ago. There is considerable planning that goes into a trip like this. Our roles wer...

I t began way back in Canada in January 1943. Princess Juliana from the Netherlands had fled her country three years prior to live in Canada. Nazi Germany had invaded the Netherlands, and the Canadian government welcomed her family with open arms. Princess Juliana was due to give birth to her third child. Dutch law stated that anyone in line for the throne had to be born on Dutch soil. They had to physically enter the world on territory belonging to the Kingdom of Netherlands.  It was far too dangerous for the Princess to return to her home country. The ocean was filled with German U-boats. If the baby was born in Canada, they would be born on foreign soil which meant they would disqualify them form the royal succession under Dutch law.  In December 1942 Canadian lawyers drafted a special proclamation under the War Measures Act as a solution to this problem. The document declared that whatever room Princess Juliana gave birth in would be temporarily extraterritorial. That mean...